FF2 Solo Magic Only

Well I've been talking about doing this challenge for a bit, and I finally decided to start it up today. I'm playing FF2 on Origins on "Normal" mode (the one you unlock after beating the game - does anyone know what is different other than not allowing retargeting, dashing, and the world map? Does it re-enable the INT/SOUL penalties on shields or anything like that?). I killed off everyone except for "Maria", and I'm only allowed to kill enemies with magic. I did allow myself to double equip shields and use the "Fight" command to increase my shield level, but other than that, I won't be making use of any tricks or glitches for leveling.

The start went pretty well so far. I sold nearly all of our equipment to buy Cure and Ice, then I just continually attempted fleeing battles while the monsters were nice enough to focus all of their attacks on Firion/Gus. Once they dropped, I started blasting groups with Ice over and over. Got some decent stat ups and lots more HP/MP. Got enough cash to buy Fire/Bolt. My shields are level 4 and most monsters miss me now. Things are looking pretty good.

Sidenote: I only plan on playing about an hour a week, so my progress on this will probably be quite slow.
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182/262 7/5/6/4/3/4/3 H0 P3
HDCEA: 42/19/4/69/17 Int/MDef: 47/64

Thanks for the info, seems like kind of a useless difference between the two versions really.

And no, I don't plan using the cancel trick to boost my spell levels. I'll just stick around towns casting spells constantly to "grind" legitimately when I need to.

I believe the hardest part of the game is going to be getting to Mysidia to buy Holy which I think is the only spell available at that time that can kill Shrieker. With a solo it's going to be brutal surviving that trip back.
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182/262 7/5/6/4/3/4/3 H0 P3
HDCEA: 42/19/4/69/17 Int/MDef: 47/64

Made a little more progress tonight. Advanced the story a bit, got Mindu and killed him off. At first I thought it was going to be tough with his 175 HP, but then I saw he had the Swap spell. haha That was awesome. He swapped HP with a Goblin and then instantly was killed by the same Goblin. Took my new canoe across the lake and found some new spells. Bought Blink and then thought I might have a chance at winning some tougher battles, so I hit the pennisula of power below Altair. Met some Flan and Mousse, cast Blink twice, and then they couldn't hit me, so I blasted em with some spells and made a quick grand and got some stat ups. I failed in the rest of my attempts, so I think I need to go fight some medium difficulty monsters to up my HP more.
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182/262 7/5/6/4/3/4/3 H0 P3
HDCEA: 42/19/4/69/17 Int/MDef: 47/64

Yeah, I tried the Captains for a bit and it looked like I might be able to beat them if luck was on my side, but I never quite managed a win. My HP was only 75 at the time, so even their Arrows would nearly kill me, so HP growth didn't work. I played a bit more today and just ventured out and explored the next few towns. Found a couple more enemies that use weaker Arrows that can bypass my crazy evasion, so I was able to nearly double my HP on a few battles and get quite a few other stat ups as well. My spirit is going through the roof since when I want to prolong a battle I'm stuck casting white magic only. I need a black spell I can spam without killing the enemies. lol Speaking of which... I'm not as familiar with the spells in this game as FF1. Any suggestions on which spells I should grab and which ones I should avoid? Keeping in mind that even though most spells aren't useful in a normal playthrough, since I'm playing a magic only solo, lots more spells are very useful for buffing/debuffing, etc. Of particular interest, I'm wondering which of the spells at Bafsk and Salamand I should buy since they're pretty expensive for me right now.
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214/262 7/5/6/4/3/4/3 H0 P3
HDCEA: 42/19/4/69/17 Int/MDef: 47/64

Thanks for the tips. What exactly does Life do to enemies? Also would Ultima really be that useless just because of my lack of weapons? I'll have all of my spells highly leveled.
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214/262 7/5/6/4/3/4/3 H0 P3
HDCEA: 42/19/4/69/17 Int/MDef: 47/64

Played a little more today and cleared out Semitt Falls. Quite a few opportunities to raise my HP in there, mainly on Goblin Guards/Balloons. Had some rotten luck though as I only got 3 HP ups despite losing half my HP in at least 10-12 battles, I was getting quite frustrated when I was on a string of about 7 failures in a row. Overall easy dungeon though since I had plenty of MP for it and nothing could hit me physically. Now I have enough HP that I should be able to grind a bit on Captains for some much needed spell shopping cash. Here are some of my current stats:

HP/MP: 259/120
Spirit/Int: 27/22
Shield Skill: 7
Spells: Cure2, Ice3, Fire2, Lit2, Blink2, Shield2, Shell2
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214/262 7/5/6/4/3/4/3 H0 P3
HDCEA: 42/19/4/69/17 Int/MDef: 47/64

Yep, I was always healed to max before the start of the battle and never cast cure in battle. I was fighting Goblin Guards who can hit me with Arrows and Balloons who can self-destruct on me (all other physical attacks miss), so there were no status effects, and I had 179 max HP at the time and always made sure they got me below 90 HP before finishing them off. I was quite baffled as to what was going on since I was pretty sure there was nothing else that could be affecting my chances. I almost stopped trying, but then it suddenly started working again. Must have just been some really horrible RNG luck. ...at least I was still getting endurance ups. lol
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214/262 7/5/6/4/3/4/3 H0 P3
HDCEA: 42/19/4/69/17 Int/MDef: 47/64

Did some grinding today, got tons of cash and a lot of stat ups and most importantly a lot of HP/MP. Nearly double. The Captains in Fynn were perfect for HP ups now that I could survive their Arrows. Also now that I know Banish, that one is helping me get Int ups in any battle I choose. I tested a couple battles in the direction of Mysidia and was shocked at how difficult those monsters are to kill. The couple I fought couldn't kill me, but it took every bit of MP I had to kill them, and since I couldn't run from them, I really could only handle a single battle or else I'd have to reset. Now that I have plenty of cash, it's time to shop for a couple more spells and continue on with the story.

HP/MP: 405/219
Spirit/Int: 35/32
Shield Skill: 7
Spells: Cure3, Ice4, Fire3, Bolt2, Blink2, Shield2, Shell2, Warp1, Life1, Banish2, Curse1
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27/262 7/5/6/4/3/2/3 H0 P3
HDCEA: 42/19/4/69/17 Int/MDef: 47/64