As mentioned on my Secrets page, there's a spot north of Pravoka that has a lot of really strong monsters. If you have a mage with HARM2 or FIR2 and you're feeling lucky, you can go try to find some Frost Wolves or ZomBulls there. They'll give you a TON of G and EXP, especially compared to other monsters you might be fighting at this point in the game. It's so much G that it's almost cheating actually. But if you don't mind that, take a bunch of Tents, camp out there, and keep trying until you find Forst Wolves or ZomBulls. It's a lot faster than fighting Ogres. (I still prefer the Ogres though. It's more fair than taking advantage of what I have to assume is a programming error.)

If you've ever hit the SELECT button on your controller, you've noticed that you can change the order of the characters your party. So what, you ask? Well, the people at the top (front) of your party will receive more of the enemies' attacks than those in the back. So, put the member with the highest HP, or the best armor, in the front to take most of the attacks; let your mages stay in the back, out of harm's way.

Throughout the game, you'll encounter a whole lot of elemental enemies. Elemental enemies are almost always weak against spells of the opposite element. That is, use ICE on Fire monsters, use FIRE on Ice monsters, and use LIT on water monsters. (Air elementals unfortunately aren't weak against any elemental magic.) Using the right magic on the right elemental monster will make many battles alot easier.

There are about a trillion Undead monsters in Final Fantasy. You'll find big gangs of them in just about every dungeon. The best way to deal with them is to use FIRE magic. FIR2 and FIR3 in particular will almost always wipe out all the Undead in one shot. The White Mage's HARM Magicks are just as effective. Use them wisely and Undead will not be a problem.

One major flaw in Final Fantasy (that was fixed later in the series) is that if two characters both attack the same monster, and the first character kills the monster, the second character will swing his sword in the air like an idiot, or shoot a FIRE spell at nothing, and the message INEFFECTIVE will appear. This is not good. To get around this, try to estimate when a monster is about to die, and only have one character attack it. And spread out your attacks. For example, if you have a Fighter, Thief, Black Mage, White Mage party, and you're fighting three Imps, have your Fighter attack the first one, your Thief attack the second, and both your Mages attack the third. That way, each character should do at least some damage to one Imp.

Generally, you should not run from battles; the EXP and G you gain from constantly fighting monsters is essential in Final Fantasy. However, there are some monsters that it is always best to run from. A key example is the Sorceror. Sorcerors have the ability to kill a party memeber instantaneously if they hit you for even 1 DMG. The Ribbon can help protect you somewhat, but it's still best to run from them, unless you want your party to be wiped out. It's also a good idea to run from large groups of monsters with one-hit killing spells, like Coctrice, Perilisk, Medusa, Mages, Fighters, and Sand Worms. The EXP gained from these battles is not worth the risk of having your party wiped out in 5 seconds. And of course, if you're up against monsters that are most likely going to kill your entire party, just run. At least you won't have to restart.

How easy Final Fantasy will be for you depends basically upon one thing: how much time you spend leveling up. If you spend time fighting monsters to gain levels, you will breeze through the game in no time; as an added bonus, you'll be filthy rich from all the monsters you killed. On the other hand, if you try to get through the Marsh Cave at Level 4, you had better get used to running from battles and getting your butt whooped. Taking time to gain levels is the key to success in this game.

There are some key places that make gaining levels and getting G much easier. One of these is the grassy plain just to the east of ElfLand. Ogres and Creeps abound there. Walk around in that area for awhile, kill a couple Ogres, and rake in the cash. Another good place to level up is a hallway on the first floor of the Earth Cave where you'll fight a Giant every step. Giants are worth a decent amount of G and EXP, so spend some time there. Fighting the Eye in the Ice Cave over and over is also a good way to level up. In general, find a place with monsters that are rather easy to kill, but give a large amount of EXP and G, and you're set.