Final Fantasy: Thief Party Guide + Walkthrough
Version 2.01 (Final)

Writen By:

`   |_|_
`   /0  \   
`  `~-_ o\    Aspie
`      \ o\     Giraffe
`       \o \____
`       | o o o \_/
`       |o_o_o_o|
`       | |    | \
`       \ \    \  \



The NES game Final Fantasy is (c) 1989 by Squaresoft, all 
rights reserved.

This FAQ is property of Aspie Giraffe, Copyright (c) 7/15/04, all rights 
reserved. Any relation to guide books or other websites dedicated to 
Final Fantasy are purely coincential, for this FAQ was put together 
by experience of playing the game without any form of manual or other 
FAQs. Feel free to distribute this FAQ or link this FAQ to your 
website. Just be sure to give the proper credit where it's due.

I have removed my e-mail info, because I don't have time to answer questions
about video games anymore. You may best consult another FAQ if you have
questions regarding Final Fantasy. There's certainly enough of them.

Last Updated: 3/2/08

--- VERSION UPDATES ---

Version 2.01: This is the 'final' final update of this FAQ. I 
have basically updated this to change my contributor info, to
remove my e-mail, and to correct a handful of errors.

Version 2.0: This will be the final update of this FAQ.
I've decided not to do a solo Thief FAQ, and to just leave
my first ever FAQ the way it is. However, I have added a
very brief guideline as to what you need to do to beat a
solo Thief. But there is one major correction in this whole
deal. I'm glad there are no Thief fans in FF world, otherwise
I would've been swamped with several e-mails stating that
THERE IS NO PRORING IN THE CASTLE OF ORDEAL!!! I have
readjusted the FAQ to make up for this really stupid
mistake created by myself from 5 years ago.

Version 1.5: To my surprise that this FAQ was accepted, I've
gone on to correct errors that are present all over the
Walkthrough. 

Version 1.0: This FAQ is submitted as-is. Updates to follow,
considering the age of this FAQ (see LOST FAQ section.)

--- TABLE OF CONTENTS ---

- A Lost FAQ, Finally Rediscovered
- This is Not a Detailed Walkthrough/Quickie FAQ
- Not as Useless As People Think
--- Advantages
--- Disadvantages
--- Preps
- Choose Your Damage Dealers
- Have Imp Will Slaughter
- Ruined Temples Must Be Evil
- En Garde! Battle Vs. Garland
- Why Do Pirates Have Fewer HP Then Imps?
- Sorry, the Penninsula Trick Won't Work Here
- The Choices, The Choices
- I'm At Level 10 Now, I'm Sick of Leveling!!!
- Individual Level Raising
- As the Thieves Go Marshing On
- One Crown To Rule Them All: Battle Vs. Astos
- CALL US TREASURE HUNTERS!!! (Part 1)
- Boredom To Follow Soon
- Two Options Here
- Revampiring Your Plans
- For Unlawful Thief Carnage Knowledge
- Ninjas!? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Ninjas!
- Walking On Ice Hurts For Some Reason
- CALL US TREASURE HUNTERS!!! (Part 2)
- A Trick of the Tail
- Kary, Things They Change My Friend
- The Great Agama Controversy: An Alternative To Leveling
- A Real Kraken-Pot
- Use You Like A Tiamat
- Raiders of the Temple of Fiends
--- Pre-Fiend Floors
--- Lich's Floor
--- Kary's Floor
--- Kraken's Floor
--- Tiamat's Floor
--- Four Thieves Sure Turned Into A Solo In A Hurry: Battle vs. Chaose
- Thus, Completes A Long Lost FAQ.
- Brief Guideline to Thief Solo.


--- A LOST FAQ, FINALLY REDISCOVERED ---

It was March of 1999. Aspie Giraffe (then called Pelivor) completes his 
first ever NES FAQ: A Thief Party Guide for Final Fantasy. The next day,
his PC crashes without warning! His hard drive failed on boot-up, and 
his Thief Party Guide was lost.

It is now July of 2004. After a friend rediscovered a lost cd-r, Aspie
Giraffe received a long-lost second copy of the Thief Party Guide. Now, 
after a refresher game, a touch of ambition, and a LOT of editing, the 
Thief Party Guide is available for the first time in 5 years!!!

--- THIS IS NOT A DETAILED WALKTHROUGH/QUICKIE FAQ ---

Like with all Expert FAQs, details are few and far between. Do not attempt
unless you've memorized every aspect of FF1. If you need a refresher course,
here's what you do:

Garland
LUTE & BRIDGE
Provakia & Pirates
Elfland
Level-Up
Marsh Cave --> CROWN
Astos --> CRYSTAL --> HERB --> KEY --> TNT --> Dwarven Cave
Earth Cave --> Vampire
RUBY --> Titan --> ROD
ROD --> Lich
Crescent Lake --> CANOE
Castle of Ordeal
Ice Cave --> FLOATER
FLOATER --> AIRSHIP
Pirate in Gaia
OASIS --> BOTTLE --> Fairy in Gaia --> OXYALE
Sea Shrine at Ornac --> SLAB
SLAB -- Dr. Unne at Melond --> Lefein --> CHIME
Waterfall Cave --> CUBE
Find all useful items
Find best level-up place
Defeat the Fiends
Temple of Fiends Revisited --> CHAOS

And that is the briefest FF1 FAQ you'll ever see. Don't say I didn't
warn you about the lack of details.

--- NOT AS USELESS AS PEOPLE THINK ---

Final Fantasy fans have rediculed the Thief to be the most useless
character in the game. But since no walkthrough has been made for a group
of four thieves, I decided to make one. 

Before starting this ill-fated quest, you must first keep in mind the
strengths and weaknesses of your character.

-- DISADVANTAGES --

-- Thieves are horrendous at the start. (worse than White Mages, because 
|  Thieves don't even have Ruse.) 
-- They're limited to second-rate swords (Sabre, Scimitar, etc.) and have 
|  very few armor options (Bracelets and Wooden Armor). 
-- They have no spells to defend themselves with, so they're survival is 
|  depended on heavily on a high evade % and a low attack power.
-- At max level, Thieves end with a low average HP (my average has been
|  between 600 and 700.)

-- ADVANTAGES --

-- Thieves have high luck (good for running from battle. At least
|  the reset button can have a rest.)
-- They're HP is third to Fighters at the start.
-- Their high Agility (which produces the best average Evade % in the game)
|  makes up for their limited choices for armor. Single-attack monsters will
|  miss often.
-- Because of a lack of weapon and armor options, most of which are found
|  and not bought, Thieves don't need a lot of money for equipment. This
|  allows you to use your spare change for many needed Heal and Pure
|  Potions.
-- If assuming you're 'cheating' your level-ups (explained later,) Thieves
|  can also end up with the best overall stats in the game. (combined Str/
|  Agl/Int/Vit/Luck)

--- PREPS ---

Start a new game by creating 4 Thieves, and enter Corneria. Purchase 
4 Rapiers and 4 Cloths (that's right. Cloth, NOT Wooden Armor!) The reason
why I say this is because Thieves have limited armor choices, so I will
emphasize a higher Evade %, rather than a higher Absorb. 4 Absorb isn't
worth the loss of 8% Evade.

UPDATE: Wooden Armor does reduce damage, but you'll notice that the
number of times Imps hit you will increase by a bit. Experiment until
you find which fighting style fits you best.

--- CHOOSE YOUR DAMAGE DEALERS ---

Because of the Thieves' limited weapons choices, dealing damage is
gonna be difficult. Choose two "Damage Dealers" and place them in the
back row (they will now be referred to as DD's henceforth.) The other
two Thieves are your "Shields" (referred to as SH's from now on.) 
Whenever you're near a level-up, save your game. When you raise your 
level, if both your DD's don't get a Str. Up, then reset the game and 
level up again. This is the age-old trick of making sure that your two 
DD's will have maximum strength to deal maximum damage.

Another important thing, because you'll be relying heavily on Evade %
for the first part of the game, I would also recommend resetting the
game if AT LEAST THREE of your four Thieves don't get an Agl. Up, 
including the DD's.

So therefore, at each level-up, reset if:
---At least three Thieves, including DD's, don't get an Agl. Up.
---If both DD's don't get a Str. Up.

The two SH's will be placed in the front two spots, acting as protection
for the DD's. They can fight, but their purpose is to keep the two DD's
alive.

NOTE: There will be no more reminders of the above mentioned.

--- HAVE IMP WILL SLAUGHTER ---

Fight Imps until you reach Level 3. Obviously, you'll make trips to the 
Inn when HPs run low. You'll notice that your Thieves will miss as much as 
the Imps do, so you may have to tag team just to take them down. (attack 
one Imp with Two thieves.) If you lose a Thief, reset, because you can't 
afford the Clinic.

At Level 1, you can handle 2-3 battles, but I wouldn't go for 4 unless
you get the rare "Chance To Strike First" encounter. Even if you don't 
take much damage, you should still save your game just in case you get 
unlucky.

At level 2, Imps are a breeze. If you're impatient, you can handle a 
few battles against GrImps and Wolves in the Northern part of Corneria's
Forest between Inn-visits. RUN from the occassional Madpony, because 
they'll shred your group and give little in return.

At Level 3, You can now take on Garland. Use your hard-earned gold 
on two Tents and four Heal potions, then go north and Tent outside 
the ToF.

--- RUINED TEMPLES MUST BE EVIL ---

In the first trip, try to get the treasures without getting too badly
damaged. Equip the Cap on the first SH. You'll be able to handle most 
encounters, but watch out for Ghouls and Creeps. Tent outside again once 
you have the treasures.

--- EN GARDE! BATTLE VS. GARLAND ---

You can't do much other than thrust your mighty Rapiers. If you don't
miss too often, you should be able to take Garland down without having
to take a trip to the morg.

PRINCESS = LUTE + BRIDGE

Use your remaining money to replace your Tents and to buy 4 Pure
Potions. Just make sure you have enough money to save your game.

--- WHY DO PIRATES HAVE FEWER HP THAN IMPS? ---

You got two options: You can try to get to Level 4 before going
to Provaka, or you can take a suicide trek, running from everything
that's stronger than a Wolf (though you might be able to handle a
single GrWolf if he doesn't get a critical hit.) It's your call.

You'll get to Provaka, you'll talk to Bikke, and you'll fight Pirates.
if you're lucky, you won't miss too often. Hope the Pirates distribute 
the damage equally without getting a critical hit. Have that reset 
button handy if you lose a character.

After getting the Ship, use your remaining gold on as many Scimitars
as you can buy (maybe one or two if you're lucky.) Watch your damage
soar by 1 WHOLE POINT! That's power! If you can't afford the Inn after,
Tent outside.

--- SORRY, THE PENNINSULA TRICK DOESN'T WORK HERE ---

Because of your limited fighting options, the level-up trick that may 
have worked with most party combinations won't work with this group.
Your only choice is to level-up the slow way, by taking on the water
and land creatures.

Worse than that, the Kyzoku trick won't work, because they'll flaten 
your Thieves in no time. Instead, get to the Corneria port using the 
ship, and stay at the inn; All monsters pose a threat, and there is 
very little you can handle.

At Level 3, you can handle OddEyes by themselves (if they don't stun
you.) You may also be able to take down 2-4 Sahags if they distribute
the damage equally (they rarely don't. Reset if you lose a character.)
Run from everything else. You will have to stay at an Inn after every 
battle. When you get to within 50 exp from your next level-up, fight the 
Imps, Grimps, and Wolves North of Corneria to be on the safe side. That 
way, you'll have the reset button handy if you don't get the level-up 
stats you need.

At Level 4, if you have enough gold, go back to Provakia and get 
Scimitars for the rest of the party. Sahags and Kyzoku are a little
easier, and now a single Shark is fair game (if you don't miss often.) 
Red Sahags are still out of your league, unfortunately.

If you're feeling lucky, go steal the Dwarves' gold at their cave, 
and go back to Corneria to save your game. If you can't pull it off,
get to Level 5 first, then try again.

At Level 5, you're now finally strong enough to fight either land
or water creatures (it's your call, the levelup process will be
very slow either way.) Your next goal will be to earn enough gold
to purchase 4 Copper Bracelets. This will give you the protection
of Wooden Armor without the penalty to Evade %. 

--- THE CHOICES, THE CHOICES ---

Generally, I stick to fighting in the seas until Level 6 or 7, but 
if you want to try the Elfland area, remember to reset if you're 
poisoned or killed, and not to stay at the Inn until you can offset
the 100 GP cost.

On the sea, You'll have to stick to the usual single Sharks or Sahag
groups. On the land, you can handle a single Ogre (maybe 2), packs
of wolves (run if there are more than 2 GrWolves,) and Asps (if they 
don't poison you.)  

Now, enjoy the level-up process! You won't get to your first damage
muliplier until Level 10. 

--- I'M AT LEVEL 10 NOW. I'M SICK OF LEVELING!!! ---

Bored yet? Well, we're not through. I assume that your levels are at
10, and your DD's have got the max str. that they can have? (should
be 14.) Good. Now go fight an Ogre. Watch as your mighty 2-hit damage
shreds through the Ogre with ease! You're not missing as often anymore,
and now you're actually dealing an occassional critical hit!!! Your 
Thieves can now handle multiple battles of Ogres without problem!

--- INDIVIDUAL LEVEL RAISING ---

The odds of getting the best possible stats with all four characters
leveling up at the same time is unlikely. If you want to cheat, you
can kill off your Thieves and raise the levels of your two DD's and
two SH's individually. Here's how you do it:

--- Raise your Thief levels to 10 (when they get 2 hit damage with
|   Scimitar.)
--- Unequip all armor on all the Thieves except one of your DD's.
--- Get into a fight with a poisoness monster (Asp, Arachnid)
--- Get all characters poisoned, then run.
--- Use a Pure Potion on the DD you want to raise.
--- Enter Elfland, and walk around until your three poisoned 
|   Thieves drop to 1 HP.
--- Get into another encounter. Your Thieves will die the next round.

Now you've got DD1 ready to go. Fight groups of Arachnids and Asps to
earn exp. Granted, they have a chance to poison, but they deal low
damage, and often give as much exp as a single Ogre. You can also
try 2 Ogre battles, but you'll have to stay at the Inn after the
battle. Earn 7,500 exp with DD1.

Now revive DD2, and use the above method to kill off DD1. Use
DD2 the same way, but earn only 5,000 Exp. 

Revive SH1 and use the same methods, but earn only 2,500 Exp. 

Revive all your Thieves when done. Now you have a 2,500 Exp gap
between every Thief. This will make your stat maxing much easier,
because you can control each level-up, rather than all 4 at once.

--- AS THE THIEVES GO MARSHING ON ---

Back to boredom. Make sure your lowest-level Thief is at Level 12
before going through the Marsh Cave. Use the gold you earn for the 
typical adventuring gear (99 Heal and Pure Potions, many Cabins, the
usual bare-essentials.) Also pick up 4 Sabres from the Weapon Shop.
At Level 12, you'll be able to equip them without losing your 2-hit
damage.

With high HP and your 2-hit damage, you should be able to get to the
Wizards without too much problem. Just watch out for stunning Ghouls,
Crawls, and the Gargoyles and Scorpions who can inflict massive 
damage on your armor-hurting Thieves. You can take a treasure or two,
though it'll only amount to replacement cash for your used Heal
Potions. Kill the Wizards before they kill you, and the Crown shall
be yours.

--- ONE CROWN TO RULE THEM ALL: BATTLE VS. ASTOS ---

Regardless of your average Thief level, you will not be able to muster
enough strength to defeat Astos. You will be relying on Critical Hits
alone!

The absolute bare minimum level of your Thieves should be 13. I've
pulled off the Astos battle at Level 12, but not until after 
multiple failures. It isn't until Level 14 when you can pull off 
the Astos battle consistently without too much problem, as the number 
of delivered critical hits seemed to jump tremendously.

Your fighting options against Astos are few and far between. 
Hack 'n slash, hack 'n slash, and hack 'n slash some more, and
pray you get some critical hits (It's the only way you'll
deal more than 1 or 2 damage.) His Rub spell doesn't bother me,
because there are low expectations for survival as it is. The spell
you should be worried about is his Slow spell, which reduces your
hits to 1, hindering any good chance of dealing critical hits.

ASTOS --> CRYSTAL --> HERB --> KEY

--- CALL US TREASURE HUNTERS!!! (PART 1) ---

The Key gets you all the goodies, including some nice explosives
that let you continue your journey to Melmond. All your locked
door treasure hunting will land you four weapons upgrades, The
Dragon and Rune Swords (equip these on your 2 DD's,) and a couple
Silver Daggers. Though damage is less than the Sabres, Hit % is
tremendously better. But if you prefer damage over Hit %, then
sell the Daggers and get Falchions instead. (there's one in Astos
castle, and purchase another from Melmond.)

--- BOREDOM TO FOLLOW SOON ---

One last errand. Go to the Earth Cave, and find the Coral Sword
that is located in the northeast room of Floor 2. Equip this 
Dragon Sword-clone on the DD with the Rune Sword, and trade the 
hand-me-down to one of your SH's.

--- TWO OPTIONS HERE ---

With a formidible offensive front (FINALLY!!!) you can now start
building levels. The Vampire is doable at this stage, but we can't
think short-term. Lich is one mean skeleton-esk creature who will
laugh pathetically at your weapons upgrades. Since increasing our 
damage output should be top priority, the next step is to get to 
3-hit damage. 

Use the money you earned from selling useless equipment and
purchase as many Cabins as you can get. Now you've got two
options:

1. We can take on the Vampire and Lich, which is doable at as low
as Level 15. I know, because I've done it. At the end of battle,
the Clinic thanked me for my donation. ;( 

OR.........

We can build levels to the next damage multiplier. Here's how you 
do it:

Level 13-18: The Mummies in Astos Castle. Though they pack a
punch, even groups of 5 can be brought down with your pack of
muggers. Exit and use a Cabin after every 1 to 2 battles, or when
you're about to level-up. 

Level 19-21: With the money you earn, replace your Cabins and 
buy yourself 4 Silver Bracelets from Melmond. With a mediocre-
at-best absorb, you can now take on a Giant or two in the Earth 
Cave. Like with the mummy battles, sleep outside if your HP run 
low. If you face an Iguana or two, kill them off first, because 
their physical attack is just as painful.

Level 22-24: Here, you have a choice. You can continue your
Giant massacre, or you can go to the Death Penninsula east of
Provakia and finally put up a fight against Zombulls, Giants, 
and Trolls. (though if you don't want casualties, stick to
the Hall of Giants.)

When you reach the magic number of 24, the Hit % of three of
your Thieves will be high enough to deal 3 hit damage!!! Your
Falchion-bearing Thief will feel left-out though, because his
Hit % won't be quite high enough. Make him feel better by letting
him lead your party, This will leave a nice buffer between the 
monsters and your 3-hit DD's.

--- REVAMPIRING YOUR PLANS ---

Since your only method of healing at this stage are Heal Potions,
don't spend a lot of time finding treasure. Just get to the third
floor, beat the Vampire (no strategy necessary. You can only Fight
anyway,) and get out with the Ruby. Run from all battles, and 
take down Wizards if you face them. With your newly acquired piece
of jewelry:

RUBY --> TITAN --> ROD

--- FOR UNLAWFUL THIEF CARNAGE KNOWLEDGE ---

There is little to discuss if you know your way around the Earth
Cave. The Rod gets you the fourth and fifth floors, and get to
Lich while running from every battle (except for Wizards, which 
you must fight.)

Like with Astos, The strategy against Lich is the same: Fight 'til
you puke, and hope you get some critical hits. At level 15, the hoping
becomes more necessary. At Level 24, The possibility of hitting 
three times greatly increases the chance of dealing criticals. The
strength earned from level-ups also increases the possibility
of dealing more than 3 damage per attack.

With Lich defeated:

Crescent Lake --> CANOE

--- NINJAS!? WE DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' NINJAS! ---

Yep, the Castle of Ordeal is next, but it isn't for a Tail. This
is a 4 THIEF walkthough, after all. It would be a shame to give
this group of pathetic losers some unnecessary and undeserving
power. Instead, the other treasures are much more juicy. Run
from everything (including the MudGols who guard the Zeus Gauntlet.)
When you get the Zeus Gauntlet, give it to the Falchion Thief, and
now he's got a decent attack to boot! (and the only real attack
that you can use against the Nitemares and ZombieD's.) The treasures
of importance are the Gold Bracelet and Heal Staff. 

--- WALKING ON ICE HURTS FOR SOME REASON ---

With the addition of the Gold Bracelet and Zeus Gauntlet
(which I hoped you gave to the Falchion Thief,) he can now single-
handedly support your Thieves through the Ice Cave (if assuming
the Eye and Sorcerers don't kill him. Place him in the back row.) 
The other three Thieves (including the DD's) are nothing more than 
attacking shields for the Ice Cave. Get the Floater and escape.

FLOATER --> AIRSHIP

With your newly acquired airship, Go through the following sequence
of things:

Pirate in Gaia
OASIS --> BOTTLE --> Fairy in Gaia --> OXYALE
Sea Shrine at Ornac --> SLAB
SLAB -- Dr. Unne at Melond --> Lefein --> CHIME
Waterfall Cave --> CUBE

--- CALL US TREASURE HUNTERS!!! (Part 2) ---

With the above sequence of events completed, you can now steal
all the world's treasures. I have listed the ones of importance,
as well as where they're located:

WEAPONS
Defense (Ruse in battle, in Waterfall Cave)
Bane Sword (Bane in battle, in Sky Palace)
Mage Staff (Fir2 in battle, in Sea Shrine)
Thor Hammer (Lit2 in battle, in Mirage Tower)
Wizard Staff (Conf in battle, in Waterfall Cave)
2 Light Axes (Hrm2 in battle, both in Sea Shrine)

ARMORS
Opal Bracelet (best armor for a Thief, in Sea Shrine)
3 Ribbons (one in Sea Shrine, one in Waterfall Cave, one in Sky
Palace.)
Procape (in Sky Palace)
White Shirt (Inv2 in battle, in Sky Palace)
Black Shirt (Ice2 in battle, in Sky Palace)
2 Heal Helmets (Heal in battle, one in Sea Shrine, one in Sky
Palace.)

However, keep in mind that without Exit or Warp, you will be doing
a LOT of backing and forthing (and at times you may lose a Thief
or two along the way.) 

Sell the other treasures you find along the way, and purchase Gold
Bracelets for the other Thieves. You will find a couple more ProRings
during your treasure hunt. You'll only have room for 3 Prorings, so 
one Thief will be left for sacrifice at all times. (not by choice, 
because you just don't have enough Armor slots.)

When you've found everything you need, set up your equipment like
this:

SH1                SH2                DD1              DD2
Falchion           Rune Sword         Coral Sword      Dragon Sword
Light Axe          Thor Hammer        Defense          Mage Staff
                   Wizard Staff       Bane Sword       Heal Staff
                   Light Axe

Gold Bracelet      Gold Bracelet      Opal Bracelet    Gold Bracelet      
Zeus Gauntlet      ProRing            ProRing          ProRing
Heal Helmet        Ribbon             Ribbon           Ribbon
Black Shirt        Heal Helmet        ProCape          White Shirt

You're now ready to do some leveling and some Fiend hunting.

--- A TRICK OF THE TAIL ---

At this point, you're probably extremely frustrated, because let's
face it, Thieves are the lowest of lowlives in all of Final Fantasy.
If you do choose to take the Ninja route to make things easier, then
I don't blame you. 

However, for argument's sake, the rest of this walkthrough sticks to
Thieves. It's your call what you want to do.

--- KARY, THINGS THEY CHANGE MY FRIEND ---

Fly to the Gurgu Volcano and tread through the lava-filled dungeon.
You've got all you need, so treasure hunting is pointless. Just get
to the bottom floor and fight Kary. 

DD1 should use Defense twice, then attack with Coral Sword.
DD2 should use the White Shirt every round of battle.
SH1 should use the Black Shirt to attack, or the Heal Helmet if damage
has been taken.
SH2 should use the Wizard Staff until he can Conf Kary, or use the
Heal Helmet if the group has taken damage.

With one, possibly two characters dealing all the damage, the battle
will drag out. But you'll be so Rused up that Kary's attack will be
worthless (with the exception of a lucky critical.) You will win
eventually.

--- THE GREAT AGAMA CONTROVERSY, AN ALTERNATIVE TO LEVELING ---

With tradition, the best level-up places have been the ZombieD's in
the Castle of Ordeal, or the Eye in the Ice Cave. But with the 4
Thief group, neither one should be used. Here's why:

-- With the Ice Cave, you still have to tread to the Eye and then
|  escape. The odds of surviving the Ice Cave are low enough, and
|  the ProRings don't guarantee survival against Eye's death attacks.
-- ZombieD's still have a pretty strong attack that can potentially
|  paralyze characters. 

I have found an even better alternative to leveling, made especially
for the Four Thieves. In the last room of the sixth floor (north of
the stairs leading to the seventh,) there are two treasure chests,
each with fixed squares containing an Agama. This is key to quick 
level-ups. Here's why:

-- The Agama's attack is pathetic (with exception of the occassional
|  critical.)
-- His Heat attack is just as sad, dealing single-digit damage to a
|  Ribboned Thief.
-- Agama gives 2472 exp each! (612 per character.) Not quite as good
|  as ZombieD's or Eyes, but at a much lower risk of death.

The best way to level-up is to do each Thief individually, since there
is truly, only one good set of armor equipment. Choose one Thief and
equip him with DD1's stuff. (check the list above.) Place him in the
back row. Now, save your game and enter Gurgu volcano. Keep walking
in lava until all characters are down to 1 HP. Exit the volcano and
use Heal Potions to heal your one character. Finally, enter a battle
and kill the other three Thieves off. Now you're ready for leveling.

Buy Heal Potions until your maxed out, and make your way to the room
on the sixth floor. Try NOT to walk on lava, because you want to 
conserve heal potions. And with your good armor, monsters will struggle
to hurt you (with exception of Red Giants and Grey Worms, whom will
ALWAYS hurt you.) 

When you get to the fixed squares with the Agamas, continually fight 
them. At 3-hit damage It should take no more than 3 rounds to defeat
them (2 rounds on critical hits.) Keep walking up and down, fighting
Agamas, and you'll level-up in no-time. (be sure to use heal potions
between battles.) Keep fighting until you are down to 15 Heal Potions,
then escape via Kary's room on th 7th Floor. Restock your Heal Potion
supply, then go at it again. It only took me 3 trips to max my level 
to 50. 

Take note that you won't be able to control your level-ups using this
method (unless you're using save states instead of an original cartridge)
so hope that the level-ups were generous with your strength stat.

From here, it's up to you. A single level 50 character can support
a whole group of Thieves up until the Second Temple of Fiends. But
if you want to build your other Thieves, you can use the same method
above to raise them all to max level.

(Keep note that from here on, I used a Level 50 Thief, and the others
were at Level 30.)

Time to defeat the other Fiends. You know how to get there, so from
here on out, I'm only listing strategies for each.

--- A REAL KRAKEN-POT ---

The Sea Shrine isn't too difficult. The Zeus Gauntlet and Thor Hammer
will make all random encounters easy. The Mage Staff and Light Axes
will take down the occassional ghost. You'll get to Kraken in a jiffy.

Trade SH1's Black Shirt to DD2's White Shirt for this battle. Your 
equipment should be set up like this:

SH1                SH2                DD1 (lvl 50)     DD2
Falchion           Rune Sword         Coral Sword      Dragon Sword
Light Axe          Thor Hammer        Defense          Mage Staff
                   Wizard Staff       Bane Sword       Heal Staff
                   Light Axe

Gold Bracelet      Gold Bracelet      Opal Bracelet    Gold Bracelet      
Zeus Gauntlet      ProRing            ProRing          ProRing
Heal Helmet        Ribbon             Ribbon           Ribbon
White Shirt        Heal Helmet        ProCape          Black Shirt

SH1 Should use the Zeus Gauntlet.
SH2 Should use the Thor Hammer.
DD1 Should attack with the Coral Sword.
DD2 should use the Black Shirt.

Kraken will fall in 2-3 rounds. By far, your easiest boss.

--- USE YOU LIKE A TIAMAT ---

Despite your power, the Blue D in Mirage Tower still hurts. If you 
don't defeat him before he kills your ribbonless Thief, reset.

The Sky Palace is fairly difficult. Run from battles that you can
run from, Defense/White Shirt the battles you can't run, Bane Sword
the Eyes, and reset if you fight a WarMech.

Your equipment should be set up like this:

SH1                SH2                DD1 (lvl 50)     DD2
Falchion           Rune Sword         Coral Sword      Dragon Sword
Light Axe          Thor Hammer        Defense          Mage Staff
                   Heal Staff         Bane Sword       Wizard Staff
                   Light Axe

Gold Bracelet      Gold Bracelet      Opal Bracelet    Gold Bracelet      
Zeus Gauntlet      ProRing            ProRing          ProRing
Heal Helmet        Ribbon             Ribbon           Ribbon
Black Shirt        White Shirt        ProCape          Heal Helmet

Strategy vs. Tiamat:

SH1 probably won't survive the battle, so use the Black Shirt until
he bites the dust.
SH2 Should use the White Shirt repeatedly. After 4 or 5 uses, use
the Heal Staff repeatedly.
DD1 should use Defense twice, then attack with the Coral Sword.
DD2 should use the Heal Helmet every round.

It will take awhile if DD1 doesn't throw many critical hits, but you 
should prevail. 

--- RAIDERS OF THE TEMPLE OF FIENDS ---

A few factors must be taken into consideration when taking on
the Temple of Fiends:

-- 1. Lich's Nuke. On every attempt, he nuked me on the first
|     attack. If your HP average isn't AT LEAST 400, you'll
|     lose a Thief or Two.
-- 2. Accept the fact that your Ribbonless Thief will fall
|     to Tiamat. There's no way to avoid it, even with leveling
|     up.
-- 3. You cannot Exit or Warp, so you MUST get the Masmune AND
|     defeat Chaos in one trip.

On top of that, you have a lack of Heal Potions. So you will be
using your heal items many a times to conserve potions.

Here's a quick rundown of random encounters:

--- PRE-FIEND FLOORS ---

You can't run from Worms. So Defense/White Shirt multiple times
until they miss. Have your Lvl 50 DD fight and the others use
healing items.

Run from all other battles.

Reset if you fight a Gas D.

For some reason I couldn't get the Bane Sword to work vs. Phantom.
If you have problems, just use physical attacks.

--- LICH'S FLOOR ---

You can't run from Earth Elementals, so use the Worm strategy. 
Run from all other encounters.

Use the Light Axes on Lich, and the Lvl 50 DD should attack with
the Coral Sword. DD2 should heal. With luck, you'll survive before
he can finish you off after a Nuke.

--- KARY'S FLOOR ---

You can't run from Agamas, Fires, or Grey Worms, so use the Worm 
strategy to defeat them. Run from all other random encounters.

Against Kary, use the Defense/White Shirt strategy. Afterward, DD1 
uses Coral Sword, SH1 uses Black Shirt, then the others Heal. Kary 
rarely uses anything but a physical attack, so the Defense/White 
Shirt strategy works well.

--- KRAKEN'S FLOOR ---

With exception of the Lobsters, GrSharks, and WzSahags, all other
encounters can use the Worm strategy to conserve heal potions. Or
if your HP are ok, just Thor Hammer/Zeus Gauntlet everything to
death. Quite possibly the easiest floor. 

Kraken, though, isn't so easy. Thor Hammer/Zeus Gauntlet doesn't
seem to work well this time around, so follow the usual strategy
and White Shirt/Defense several times, then attack with Coral
Sword, and Heal with the others. You can also repeatedly attempt
to use the Bane Sword, but where's the fun in that?

--- TIAMAT'S FLOOR ---

The first thing you should do is get the Masmune and equip it
to your Lvl 50 DD. Give the Coral Sword to SH2, and the Rune
Sword to SH1 thereafter. Run when you can, and use the Worm
strategy on all other encounters. 

Tiamat could very well kill your Ribbonless Thief, so don't
panic if he does. Just use the Black Shirt until he is killed.
For the others, use White Shirt/Defense strategy as you have
all this time, then attack with the Masmune while the others
heal. It'll take awhile, but with luck, you'll beat Tiamat
before he can take out your other Thieves.

--- FOUR THIEVES SURE TURNED INTO A SOLO IN A HURRY...---
------------------ THE BATTLE VS. CHAOS -----------------

Place your Lvl 50 DD in the back row. You'll be relying
on luck alone to win the final battle against Chaos.

Take note that Chaos' physical attack can paralyze, so
if he paralyzes your Lvl 50 DD, you mine as well hit reset.

Like with all battles previously, Defense twice, White Shirt
twice more, then have your Lvl 50 DD attack with the Masmune
while the others heal. The Masmune will deal between 200-350 
damage on a critical, and a lot less on non-criticals. Even 
though Chaos Cur4'ed on the 4th Round, I still defeated him 
with 45 HP remaining.

--- THUS COMPLETES A LONG LOST FAQ ---

There you have it, my first ever FAQ, rediscovered for the first
time in 5 years! While some of it has been edited to be up-to-date,
a majority of it has remained in-tact. 

--- BRIEF GUIDELINE TO A THIEF SOLO ---

There are other FAQs on my mind that need completion, so I haven't
bothered with adding a solo Thief walkthrough. Instead, I'll leave
brief guidelines as to what you need to do:

Corneria Equipment: Rapier + Wooden Armor (with one Thief taking all
`                   damage, you need the extra Absorb.
Fight Garland at Level 5-6 (Imps to level-up)
Fight Pirates at Level 7-8 (Imps to level-up)
Provaka Equipment: Scimitar + Gloves
Level to 10 (Asps and Arachnids)
Elfland Equipment: Copper Bracelet + Sabre (don't equip Sabre until
Level 12.)
Level to 15 (Sea creatures.) 
Marsh Cave + Astos at Level 15.
CRYSTAL --> HERB --> KEY
Call Us Treasure Hunters!!! (Dragon Sword)
Melmond Equipment (Silver Bracelet)
Earth Cave Equipment (Coral Sword)
Level to 23 or 24 (Hall of Giants)
Defeat Vampire. Get Ruby.
RUBY --> Titan --> Sarda --> ROD
Defeat Lich.
Crecent Lake --> CANOE
Castle of Ordeal --> Zeus Gauntlet, Gold Bracelet.
Ice Cave --> FLOATER --> Airship.
Call Us Treasure Hunters!!! (Part 2.) Get all equipment like in 
`  the 4 Thief walkthrough. Use dead characters for backpacks, and
`  swap your equipment as needed.
Gurgu Volcano --> Defeat Kary
Level to 50 (Great Agama Controversy)
Defeat the other Fiends.
Temple of Fiends Revisited. Defeat Fiends. Get Masmune. Defeat Chaos.

Using the walkthrough for 4 Thieves, you should be able to hold
your own from Lich onward.

Other Note: If you decide to get promoted to Ninja in your solo,
keep the same armor (Opal Bracelet, Ribbon, ProCape, ProRing,)
use the Katana instead of the Coral Sword, and purchase a Fast 
spell. Along with the Masmune later on, this should be more than
enough to defeat Chaos.

--- SPECIAL THANKS ---

Thank you CJayC and GameFAQs for hosting my lost Thief Party Guide.
It really means a lot to see my first ever FAQ see the light of day.

Then the usual suspects: Earthshaker for the inspiration, family
for being there for me...

And my friend (though he chose to remain anomyous) for finding this
FAQ for me on a backup cd-r that I lost 5 years ago!

--- DISCLAIMER NOTICE ---

The NES game Final Fantasy is (c) 1989 by Squaresoft, all 
rights reserved.

This FAQ is property of Aspie Giraffe, Copyright (c) 7/15/04, all rights 
reserved. Any relation to guide books or other websites dedicated to 
Final Fantasy are purely coincential, for this FAQ was put together 
by experience of playing the game without any form of manual or other 
FAQs. Feel free to distribute this FAQ or link this FAQ to your 
website. Just be sure to give the proper credit where it's due.

I have removed my e-mail info, because I don't have time to answer questions
about video games anymore. You may best consult another FAQ if you have
questions regarding Final Fantasy. There's certainly enough of them.

Last Updated: 3/2/08