Challenge Runs - Rudra No Hihou Low Level

Goal

Face Mitra with the lowest cumulative party levels (estimating this’ll be 60ish/5/1/1 for the final scenario), only using base mantras through the entirety of the playthrough (no word combination).

Since there is no way to really avoid gaining experience, this will be achieved by - killing off all but one characters at the end of all mandatory fights (to have one character absorb all of the experience), and then letting Dune get all experience during the final scenario (since he joins at level 50 already no matter what).

Rules

• No glitches: Glitches such as Ark Warping and Magic/Life Leaf duplication is not allowed.
• Only base mantras allowed: No combining multiple words to have stronger/cheaper/more efficient mantras. More info below.
• All optional encounters must be skipped: Only mandatory encounters will be fought.
• When given a choice between two encounters, the one that will yield the less experience must be fought: There are a few instances of this:
  • In Sion’s scenario, Nergals must be fought 1v1 (Sion loses against the Nergal Master, Foxy and Ture win their fights)
  • In Sion’s scenario, Amatistas must be fought without mantras (they give less experience this way)
  • In Sion’s scenario, both Rudras give the same exp, however fighting Thunder Rudra allows to skip a fight on Surlent’s scenario so that one’s chosen

Why not play using the english patch?

While the english patch is extremely good quality-wise, it adds a small unintended side-effect in battle. Basically, everytime an enemy uses a skill, its speed stat (its technically a speed boost byte) gets overwritten by a value corresponding to the used skill. This makes fights very unpredictable since the speed of enemies can change wildly on every turn, and turns speed into a shaky, unreliable stat that kills off many strategies in the game, specially when you need them the most - against scary boss fights on a low-level challenge. One of the many aspects about this game that I love is how you can have great control over your turn order to pull off strats and better control the flow of battle, and unfortunately this glitch really hinders that. This is really the main reason why I prefer using the original version for this kind of stuff.

Base Mantras

A base mantra is considered as one that's composed by a single "word", as defined by the in-game dictionary. I know this can be hard to explain/prove but bear with me here.

As an example, the mantra ZERO is a base word, which translates to "16 power, magic defense down to one enemy". However, adding prefixes or suffixes to this mantra (such as PIKUGAZERO or ZEROHEGU) will turn it into a complex mantra, which is usually stronger and/or more MP efficient than its base counterpart.

Complex mantras can be really strong and efficient, taking away a lot of the challenge from a low-level challenge run, which is why I decided to add "base mantras only" as an additional restriction to this challenge.

Some of the most useful mantras for this challenge:

• CLEVER (KU RE BA): Spirit up, all allies / 32 Power / 13 MP - Spirit is the most useful stat on a low-level challenge run too, since it will power up the effect of all other mantras casted after.
• STROM (SU TO RO N): Defense up, all allies / 32 Power / 13 MP - This mantra will also apply a buff that reduces all incoming damage by half for 4 turns, in addition to increasing physical defense. In later fights, this is extremely important not to wipe to a single attack.
• KOH (KO -): Strength up, all allies / 32 Power / 13 MP - Increases strength, plus adds a buff to deal increased damage for 4 turns. A must-cast for any encounter where you will be dealing physical damage.
• ZERO (ZE RO): Magic defense down, single enemy / 16 Power / 7 MP - Debuffing bosses so they take more damage is incredibly important.
• SOFT (RU KA): Physical defense down, single enemy / 16 Power / 7 MP - Same as ZERO but for physical defense.

General Tips

• Picking up every single Life and Magic Leaf (+20 max HP and +10 max MP) to feed to the main character of each scenario is gonna be vital. There's a handful of them you can pick up on each scenario and you definitely want those boosts, specially planning ahead for the final scenario.
• It pays to be prepared with a different assortment of elemental gear. Against bosses with certain elemental attacks, proper elemented gear will be the biggest source of damage mitigation, specially considering that under the Base Mantras Only restriction, its impossible to use elemental barrier mantras.
• On that note, its also good to know when a piece of equipment will no longer be useful so it can be sold. Gold is really limited in this challenge, only coming from boss kills, gold from treasure chests and whatever you might no longer need and decide to sell, so its important to have something that resembles a plan, thinking of what you might need to acquire later and what you no longer need and can just sell to get the money you need.
• Most bosses have distinct attack patterns, and knowing each pattern for each boss is crucial. Maybe a boss will have a chance to use certain skills after some percent of damage has been dealt to them. Maybe they will follow a set and predictable attack order. Knowing how to avoid certain attacks, or when a dangerous attack might come your way so you can prepare for it is crucial.

Sion's Scenario

Experience Sponge: Ture