So, I just finished FFIV DS (which was excellent by the way), and I'm just beginning FFIII DS, which I had never played before. It's a great experience so far because I've never completed any FF games after 7, and I've played many of the one's I have beaten over and over since they were originally released...so playing a fresh new classic FF game is a nice change! Anyway, I figured I start a thread here where I can ask questions to those who have played. I know I can find pretty much all of this info from online FAQs, etc...but I'd really rather not look to much into them because of spoilers. I have a job FAQ that I've glanced through and that's it.

Anyway, here are a couple questions I have so far. First, is there anything I should know early on that I will regret not knowing about or missing later in the game? I know with the FFIV remake, they added the whole augment aspect, and I didn't realize that giving augments to characters that were going to leave the party meant gaining new better augments, so I ended up missing a bunch. Stuff like that you can't really figure out on your own until its too late.

Second, I jsut recieved a crystal shard. Can I do anything with this, or is it going to be useless until something else happens in the story line later?

Last, is it worth training my characters on multiple jobs, or should I just stick with one each until a better job comes along? I figured out that actions increase job level, so fighting a simple enemy and just guarding a bunch of times LVs up my job, but I don't want to waste countless hours doing this if there is really no benefit. Also, what jobs do you all recommend? I started with Luneth and Arc as Red Mages, adn I think Arc will become a Ranger eventually. Refia is a White Mage, and Ingus is a Monk, and I will probably move him up to a Black Belt eventually.

Oh yeah...also...what is the deal with the Onion Knight option? Do I really need to get a bunch of friends and email them? I don't have a single friend who owns FFIII!!!

Thanks guys! I'll post more questions as I continue on I'm sure.

If you don't have Wi-Fi or friends with FFIII DS, you can't get the Onion Knight.

Shards, fangs, and similar key items can't be used normally. So, no, you can't do anything with it yet.

It's your choice, but I tend to train my characters in one job and keep it until the next crystal and the next set of jobs. Sometimes, when you get a new set of jobs, you should keep your old job for some characters - I just saved the Earth Crystal and got the last job set, but my Arc is still a class one job (Thief). One thing about only training in one job is that your job level gets really high and then it isn't worth changing jobs (Arc's Thief job level is 99). The higher your job level, the better your character is at everything.

Also, getting a job level to 99 unlocks a special reward, but you have to talk to the Master Blacksmith to get the reward, and you can't unlock the Master Blacksmith without Wi-Fi or friends with FFIII DS.

Finally, people differ on what jobs you should use. I chose these jobs (and party formation):

Arc: Thief
Luneth: Warrior
Refia: Red Mage
Ingus: Black Mage

I also trained Refia in White Mage. Currently, Refia is a Geomancer and Luneth is a Knight, with Arc and Ingus still having their original jobs (although that might change when I review the jobs I just got from the Earth Crystal).

And when you get the jobs from the Water Crystal, train your characters in Dragoon (for Garuda and some other bosses) and Dark Knight (for the Cave of Shadows). You don't have to switch them permanently to those jobs, however.

And one last thing: switching between jobs causes a short period of time called "job transition phase". During this time, which last for a certain amount of battles (anywhere from 0 to 10, when you switch jobs it tells you how many), your stats are temporarily lowered.

Also, getting a job level to 99 unlocks a special reward, but you have to talk to the Master Blacksmith to get the reward, and you can't unlock the Master Blacksmith without Wi-Fi or friends with FFIII DS.

MAN!!! Are you kidding me? That's so lame. Well how many friends do I need? Maybe I can just get enough from here. Doesn't it involve just sending an email to each and getting one back...or something? =(

Since your game can't connect to your e-mail account, no. Instead, it uses a system called Mognet, which in turn uses Wi-Fi. All you have to do is connect with one person who has FFIII over Mognet, trade messages, and do this as many times as you need to. Different quests are unlocked depending on how many messages you've sent. You also have to send other messages to the FFIII denizens such as Topapa, Alus, and the rest.

What I do know is, even if you have Wi-Fi, you need to exchange friend codes with another player before you can send messages to them. I'd ask around on the Gamefaqs FFIII DS board for a person to exchange friend codes with, there's always someone there wanting to exchange FCs.

Recieving a Mognet message doesn't really do anything. You have to send a message to unlock stuff.

The minimum amount of friends you need to trade with is, mercifully, one.

Since your friends don't have FFIII DS: If you don't have access to Wi-Fi, you can't unlock the Master Blacksmith or Onion Knight. Sorry. Find a Wi-Fi hotspot near you or something.

I suppose I'm not really the guy to ask about Mognet. I think Gamefaqs has a guide or two to Mognet, though.

Short version: Mognet is a very confusing thing. Kupo.

EDIT: Another thing you can unlock using Mognet - or can't unlock, in your case - is the Iron Giant and his dungeon. He's the toughest boss in the game, not counting bosses you can't beat such as the first version of the Cloud of Darkness. (For the record, you can beat the Nepto Dragon, as well as the first time you face Bahamut. If you've overleveled to around level 50 or above, that is. Which is technically possible, but practically impossible, and requires a hell of a lot of patience.)

Great info man...thanks! Well, I DO have Wi-Fi, thankfully....but friend's I have not. How sad! =( I'm gonna take your advice and troll around on the GameFAQ's board for people to exchance codes with.

I'm pretty hardcore...generally against my own will...and I tend to not be happy until I've done everything possible in the game. I made it to the end of FFIV DS and I read about all the rare items and how low of a drop rate they were. After spending literally 6 or 7 hours waiting to get Rainbow Pudding, you think the idea of doing the same thing for every single rare item (which almost all have the same drop rate) would be enough to push me to just forget about. Nope. I spent weeks and weeks fighting the same damn enemies over and over...at home...at work...in the car (while I was driving...not very safe). These damn developers are evil I tell you. They know the items are essentially worthless since you can easily beat the game without them...but they also know suckers like me will waste as much time as it takes to get them just to say I did. *sigh*

Anyway...enough whining. Thanks for the info man! I really appreciate it. That Iron Giant quest sounds awesome!

A tip: An optional boss named Odin has a Gungnir that can be stolen if you have a Thief with a job level of 71 or above. This is one of two places that the Gungir can be found. The other one is a a very rare drop item - dropped by Odin. You can only face Odin once. If you want both Gungnirs and a complete item list, you gotta level up your Thief's job a lot...and be prepared to reset after fighting Odin, when you've stolen his Gungnir and he doesn't drop the second one. Reset, as in, again and again and again.

Personally, I was content to have just one Gungnir, but if you're the type of person who spends days and weeks trying to get some pudding from an enemy, this is a quest for you!

(The Gungnir is the strongest weapon for a Dragoon.)

As of reviewing my new job list, I've changed my party to:

Ninja
Summoner
Devout
Magus

So I don't have a Dragoon, and therefore no use for a Gungnir. And seeing as I don't want to spend days waiting for Odin to drop one...

Ha ha ha! You know what's funny? That stupid rainbow pudding I took so long to get can be dropped by a few different enemies, and one of the enemies I had to fight to get another item called a Pink Tail is one of them (I didn't know this until later on). Anyway, while fighting THAT enemy (trying to get the Pink Tail), I ended up getting five more rainbow puddings...which by this point in the game were useless. How's that for a slap in the face?

Thanks for the tip man! As of right now, I will plan on only getting the one Gungnir (by stealing it), but knowing me, I'll steal it...finish the battle, not get the second one as a dropped item, stare at the screen for a few seconds while debating in my head if the second one is worth it....and then reset the damn game and waste another 5 hours of my life fighting Odin over and over.

I do have Arc trained as a LV10 thief already. I switched him to a thief to pick the locks in Argus Castle and just LV'd him up a bit for the hell of it. Guess it wasn't a waste of time after all!

Do you know about the job LVing trick where you just have everyone guard over and over in a battle to gain job points? I've been doing it in the starting area with goblins so I don't boost my character LV (I don't want to hit LV99 super early in the game or it won't be any fun). I figure if I get a few different jobs leveled up high I can swap jobs if I get bored with one. Plus (if I can get friend codes) I can get some of those special items by maxing out different jobs! =)

By the way...how do you like your new jobs?

Haha, job lvl 10? You've got a long way to go!

I only found out about the Goblin Guard trick a few days ago, and it works wonders. (Doing it as I post.) Once I hit a high enough job level, I'll switch over to another job - sometimes bosses require physical attackers, sometimes mages. So, I might as well make sure my characters can be either depending on the boss.

I'm loving my new jobs! I'm trying to get each job at least one level higher than the previous job I had, if possible. Which means I'll be leveling up Arc's Ninja job for a long time, to 99. My new, versatile team:

Arc: Thief, Ninja, Dragoon
Luneth: Knight, Summoner, Ninja
Refia: Geomancer, Sage, Devout
Ingus: Magus, Dark Knight

And since I'm planning to eventually get every job up to 99, the jobs that each character will be proficient in:
Arc: Scholar (fits his personality, eh?), Ranger, Evoker
Luneth: Freelancer, Warrior, Monk
Refia: Red Mage, White Mage, Viking
Ingus: Black Mage, Bard, Onion Knight, Black Belt

My job levels are around 50 for Arc and Ingus, and around 30 for Luneth and Refia. I'm definitely making progress!

Ha ha...that's awesome man! Now I'm sort of regreting starting off with two Red Mages. I could have been leveling up another job. =( I had read that Black Mage and Warrior weren't really worth playing as...but I guess if I'm gonna level every job to 99 it doesn't matter....I'll have to do it eventually.

I still have that guy Desch following me around. Am I gonna get a new crystal any time soon do you know? I guess I'll switch Arc abck to a thief again and make him a Red Mage any time I need him for a big fight.

Yeah I have all four of my characters at around 50-60. I really need to start power leveling my jobs. I can't wait to try out some new ones, so I really need to get these to 99 asap.

Oh...I meant to ask you! WTF is up with KOs in this game?? You can't revive your KOed players in the inn...does this mean phoenix down is the only way until I get a spell?? What would happen if I ran out of phoenix down? I have 9 and I haven't used any, but whenever one of my players dies I end up restarting because I don't want to waste them. What a pain!

I recommend the Warrior and Black Mage (and don't recommend the Monk).

50-60? You mean job levels? My job levels were only about 20-30 at that point in the game!

Well, until you get the spell Raise (and much later, Arise) you can either use Phoenix Downs or a revival spring (The other type of spring besides HP/MP; the third type, Status remove, only appears once, so it isn't even really worth noting). I'd choose the springwater; there are a limited amount of Phoenix Downs in this game. About 30 or so, I think? If you aren't averse to glitches, you can use the item duplication glitch to get yourself 99 Phoenix Downs out of 1 and never worry about running out. But I don't know whether you use glitches or not.

Desch leaves your party before the next crystal. What was the last thing you did storywise?

Yeah, I almost have Ingus (monk) to 99 now, actually. I've been spending a lot of time job LVing over the past couple of days. I'm making sure I don't character level though...don't want to end up with high level characters so early in the game and ruin any challenge. If my characters jobs make them too powerful, I'll just give them other jobs they aren't so powerful in. I'm thinking about reaching LV 99 for each job from the first crystal before reaching the next crystal. I couldn't help moving forward a bit though, so I played through to the point where I can begin the dungeon on the dwarves island to find their missing ice horn. I haven't started yet though. I also found the island of Gystal (and that spring where your status is healed, by the way). I was wondering what those springs that just said "nothing happens" were for! Well that's a bit of a relief at least. Thanks man!

Have you leveled up a monk at all yet? He's my strongest attacker by far, although I don't have a warrior. For one thing, he gets more job points per move than the others, so his job level has been rising much quicker. Also, I don't know if you figured this out yet or not, but giving him weapons (like knuckles) actually LOWERS his attack power! Bear handed, my monk has 216 attack...with sonic knuckles he has 56. He's LV19 and job LV89. He also gets around 18-20 hits per attack.

Meh, I just don't prefer Monks in FFIII. Their ability sucks and their magic defense is pitiful. But, if your Monk is doing well for you, keep him, by all means. I read a guide which rated him as "the lowest of the low when it come to jobs", but it also said that the Monk does "little damage, and he can only attack with claws". >.< I didn't really realize that the guy who wrote that didn't know about fists (or knuckles, apparently) until just now.

I suppose I might revise my opinion of Monk, although I prefer Warrior in this game. Monk did work very well for me in Final Fantasy I: Dawn of Souls, after all...

Speaking of which: Was the item name "Sonic Knuckles" supposed to be a reference to "Sonic the Hedgehog" (and his echidna friend)? Or did Square do that unintentionally? I cracked up when I found that item...

If you're at the Dwarven Hollows, Desch should have left your party already. Interesting fact gleaned from Saronia's library: Desch was Owen's son. That tower he was guarding? It was built by his father.

And the status spring is in the "Healing Grove" or something like that, not Ghysal. The reason nothing happened is because none of your party members were unconscious. In cased you're looking for the status spring, the Healing whatever is north of Tozas, at the entrance to the peninsula where you ended up after you battled Bahamut.

I've beaten the game now, but I didn't save because I didn't know if you could play the game after beating the final boss (apparently, you can). In any case, I've leveled up Arc and Luneth's Ninja job levels to 99, as well as Refia's Devout job level and Ingus' Magus job level. I'm now training my party in:

Arc: Dragoon
Luneth: Summoner
Refia: Sage
Ingus: Dark Knight

I now know I can beat the final boss, but this time around I'm not ready to sell all my equipment in order to purchase 30 Shurikens, so I'm stuck grinding for Gil whenever I get bored of Goblin Guarding.

Yeah...retaliate doesn't have too much use. I've leveled him up to 99 now and I'm training him as a warrior. I have a LV 99 monk now and a LV 99 red mage, and very soon I'll have a LV 99 white mage and a LV 99 thief. I haven't advanced in the storyline since my last post...still at the dwarves island. Am I anywhere near being able to find the master blacksmith? I'm itching to get my mastery items!

So you said you can do a second playthrough? Is it like FFIV where some of the attributes carry over? Is there anything different about it?

It isn't a New Game +. It just returns your party to outside the Maze of Ancients after the credits roll, with the story events at the top of the Crystal Tower not having happened yet. However, all the bosses in Eureka that you've beaten will remain beaten, your stat gains and level gains and item gains and bestiary gains will be the same as when you beat the final boss, etc. Basically, everything is the same, but you can beat the final boss again if you want. I've played a lot of games like that, actually. Even your stats are the same, so be sure to revive any party members that fainted during the final battle and heal your team up. Oh, and if you parked the Nautilus anywhere that isn't in front of that cave where you get the Invincible, it gets moved back.

I haven't really been playing that much, but I have gotten my party's new job levels to 50-60.

And I'm still waiting for a working Wi-Fi connection, so I don't know when you can find the Master Blacksmith. I think there's a guide on Gamefaqs?

No Wi-fi? That sucks. Do you have a Panera Bread or Starbucks nearby? They have wifi...although I think Starbucks makes you pay. Yeah...I still haven't entered any friend codes. I should really do that. I definitely want to get all of those mastery weapons. I now have a LV99 monk, thief, white mage and red mage...but nothing happens when you hit 99 without the blacksmith I guess. Now my crew consists of a geomancer (which kicks MAJOR ass!), a ranger, a scholar, and a knight.

Yeah, I glanced around at a FAQ and I don't think I'm far enough to even access the blacksmith. I'm still on the floating continent. I get the feeling I'll be off of it soon though.

One of my friends has a copy of FFIII, and he said he didn't want it anymore, so he's mailed it to me. So it looks like I'll be able to get the mastery weapons after all. Oh, and I've changed my party a little. My Dark Knight, Summoner, Sage and Dragoon got to level 99, so I switched them to a Black Mage, a Knight, a Geomancer and a Scholar. Wow, it really does go fast...

Ha ha! Lucky!! I've been trying to convince a few of my friends with DSs to go out and buy it but none of them like RPGs apparently. Weak.

friendcodes.com is a good place to trade friendcodes...i think its just seven msgs and yer done...i sent and received i think seven, and was able to unlock all of the sidequests available in the game...

also, if you want 9999hp for all characters you need to begin using the blackbelt job as soon as its available...the hp a character gains at level up is based largely on the vitality stat and blackbelt gives the highest vitality of all jobs...there is of course math involved in the hp gain (part of the equation is a random number generated by the system) but if you stick with blackbelt when characters are about to level up you should be fine regardless of the random number factor...search around the net for an "hp gain chart" to see if you are on pace to get 9999hp by level 99...btw, i would not even worry in the slightest about this until you are around level 55 or so...

Great info! Thanks a lot man. I'll check that site out. As of yet I still have no friends, so this could really help.

Yeah, I heard about the black belt HP thing a little while ago. I don't think I'm gonna do it though. I'll definitely make Ingus one, but probably just him. My primary goal is getting all of the master items, and by making everyone a black belt all the way to LV99 will waste a TON of time I could have been working towards the other jobs. Also, the game has been pretty easy so far I think, and I dont' want to make it so easy that it isn't fun anymore. I love it when I get to a boss that takes more than one try to beat!

Great info! Thanks a lot man. I'll check that site out. As of yet I still have no friends, so this could really help.

Yeah, I heard about the black belt HP thing a little while ago. I don't think I'm gonna do it though. I'll definitely make Ingus one, but probably just him. My primary goal is getting all of the master items, and by making everyone a black belt all the way to LV99 will waste a TON of time I could have been working towards the other jobs. Also, the game has been pretty easy so far I think, and I dont' want to make it so easy that it isn't fun anymore. I love it when I get to a boss that takes more than one try to beat!

Mr3dPHD, you dont have to waste time to get everyone to level 99 blackbelt...you can just switch all party members over to blackbelt for the one battle which bumps them to the next level...you dont even have to worry about the "adjustment phase"...if your powerful, and skilled, you wudnt even have to equip armor and weapons...its worth the extra effort to switch them over, you can make party members level up for geomancer, or rogue, or dark knight and then just cross over to blackbelt for a few battles while they reap the benefits of the insane phat hp gains...

Ahhh! I see. Great advice man! Okay, maybe I will give it a shot. Thanks again for all the great help!

Just curious but is there a topic here where people give out their friend codes, because I'm trying to get Onion Knight and most cases on other sites have a large amount of american gamers and since I'm in europe I can't add them so is there a topic here about that

If you don't have Wi-Fi or friends with FFIII DS, you can't get the Onion Knight.

That is bullshit. Pure, unadulterated, bullshit. It should be perfectly possible for one player to get every feature out of a game. Kind of like how they raped Zelda: A Link to the Past for GBA; the main game is just as amazing as the original, but Four Swords requires you to know somebody who owns the game. I don't, so I can't play it. Again, utter bullshit.