Final Fantasy (NES) Secrets

About these Secrets…

The secrets and tricks listed below are a companion to my Final Fantasy Walkthrough and serve to fill in some of the gaps that I did not cover in that guide. Most of these tricks will work in later versions of the game, such as the PS1 release. However, they were not tested on the Game Boy Advance and mobile versions, so results may vary as they say. As always, I am more than happy to answer questions or get feedback on my work, so feel free to leave a comment at the end of this page.

World Map

To access a map of the world of Final Fantasy and your current location, hold the B Button and press Select.

15 Puzzle (Sliding Puzzle Game)

To play the 15 Puzzle, acquire the ship at Provoka, then enter it. Press the B Button 55 times while holding the A Button. A sliding puzzle that has the numbers 1 through 15 marked on it will appear. Arrange the blocks in numerical order and you will win 100 Gold. Other versions of Final Fantasy offer different prizes.

Max Stats Tricks

Stat bonuses in Final Fantasy are randomly awarded upon level. While each class will always get a set amount of Strength, Vitality, Agility, Intelligence, Wisdom, and/or MP every time they gain a level, other stats are awarded by chance. To get the most out of your level ups, save your game before someone gains a level and reset if you do not like the stats you get. Gaining an extra point of Agility, Vitality, and high HP bonuses every level can make a huge difference in a character’s performance.

The fact that your party members gain experience at the same rate can make pulling off this exploit difficult. Purposely let some characters die, then complete a few battles while they are unconscious to ensure that not everyone levels up at the same time. This way you do not have to worry about getting good stat bonuses on four characters at once, which is nearly impossible. Bring a few tents along to make saving and reloading easier.

Use Your Weapons and Armor to Cast Free Spells

One of the most useful secrets in this game is the ability to cast spells like HEAL and LIT2 by using a weapon or armor in battle as an item. This allows players to keep their party healed or damage monsters without spending precious magic points. Most of the magical weapons appear later in the game, so keep an eye out for the items listed below as you explore the second half of the adventure.

Weapon	Spell
Bane Sword	BANE
Defense Sword	RUSE
Heal Staff	HEAL
Light Ax	HRM2
Mage Staff	FIR2
Thor Hammer	LIT2
Wizard Staff	CONF
Armor	Spell
Black Shirt	ICE2
Heal Helmet	HEAL
Power Bracer	SABR*
White Shirt	INV2
Zeus Bracer	LIT2

*The SABR spell is bugged and completely ineffective on the NES version of Final Fantasy, but it works on many other versions of the game.

Fore more specific info on the locations of these pieces of equipment see my Final Fantasy Walkthrough.

Magic Defense: The Hidden Stat

Ever notice that some of your heroes are practically immune to spells cast by enemies, while others (namely the Black Belt/Master) take massive damage from magic? This is because there is a hidden magic defense stat in this game.

Most classes get a decent amount of magic defense with every level as well as protection from spells provided by armors like the Ribbon. Experimenting with various armors can give your party members a lot of magic protection near the end of the game.

The Black Belt also gets a high magic defense bonus per level, but only gets a small amount of magic defense if he class changes to the Master thanks to a bug. This can leave a Master extremely vulnerable to magic if he undergoes the class change from Black Belt at around level 30.

One way to offset the Master’s poor magic defense is to give him armor, but this will slow him down and is not as effective against physical damage as his natural defense. Alternatively, you can let everyone except the Black Belt die before getting the class change, then solo level him up outside of a town until he is a high or even max level to ensure that he has high magic defense. The Black Belt can plow through most mid tier monsters fairly quickly thanks to his high damage. When you are ready to change classes, simply revive everyone and see Bahamut.

The Black Belt: An Unarmed Fighting Machine

While this is common knowledge today, it was not obvious that the Black Belt/Master was better at fighting without weapons then he was with them in the past. In fact, the game even encouraged players to equip him with Nunchucks since he can use them early on and they are stronger than his fists at first. That said, the Black Belt/Master gets a damage bonus and defense bonus with every level up that eventually outpaces the bonuses he gets from equipment. While his defense bonus is mediocre, his hits are doubled when unarmed and he can even out damage a Knight with the Masamune when fighting unarmed later in the game.

Cast FAST for the Win!

The FAST spell is one of the deadliest abilities in Final Fantasy as it increases the number of hits a character gets on an enemy when using the Fight command. FAST can even make relatively weak fighters like the Black and White Mages into killing machines, so it is worth learning and using in combat against powerful enemies. The FAST spell can be learned in the Black Magic Shop in Elfland. The Red Mage/Wizard, Black Mage/Wizard, and Ninja can all learn FAST, so it is possible to have quite few charges of this spell on hand.

Defend Against Death

Instant Death magic is a big problem later in this game. Luckily, there are pieces of equipment for everyone that can protect against it to some degree. The most common is the Pro Ring, which can be bought in Gaia for 20,000 Gold, but the White Shirt also provides Death Protection. The Pro Ring also provides the best defense for hand armor with only a small evade penalty, so heavy armor guys like the Knight and Ninja can wear them to great benefit.

The Ninja can Wear Heavy Armor!

While this may seem counterintuitive (because it is) the Ninja can actually wear armor like the Flame and Ice Plate. He can also equip shields like the Ice shield as well as some of the heavier helms and gloves. This makes the Ninja nearly as durable as the Knight later in the game, so save some heavy armor for him!

The Invisible Man

This secret is actually an old bug that was covered in Nintendo Power Magazine years ago. It is not very useful, but it can be fun to find and may explain why some people find themselves bumping into something in an empty space in Corneria Castle. You can find an NPC that does not have a sprite in the square room just north of the queen’s chamber on the first floor of the castle. Just walk along this area until you bump into something, then hit the A Button to see what this NPC has to say. The message will change after you save the princess from Garland.

References

I have played Final Fantasy a lot over the years, so this set of secrets is mostly the product of experience and things I have read along the way. That said, I’m getting old and had to jog my memory a bit when it came to the names of certain pieces of equipment. The sources listed below are really useful if you want to know what every piece of gear in this game does, so take a look at them if you have questions. I also learned the 15 Puzzle trick and about the “invisible man” from Nintendo Power Magazine, so credit goes to them for those secrets.

Weapon List:

https://guides.gamercorner.net/ff/weapons/

Armor List:

https://guides.gamercorner.net/ff/armors/

Thanks for using our Final Fantasy (Nintendo Entertainment System) Secrets!