Gamer Corner Guides

Cornelia has the cheapest and most basic items in the game for sale, and you will need them, since you begin the game with 400 gil and no gear. Your top priorities are a Spell for your Black and White Mages, and gear for everyone in the party. (Depending on your party setup, you may be able to afford a Spell for your Red Mage as well, but they can hold their own in melee combat so this is much less important.) Everyone should get the most expensive Armor they can wear. You'll note that Red Mages can wear Chain Mail, so they make an excellent choice for your second party slot after your Warrior at this stage of the game. 15 Defense will all but negate most attacks this early in the game. As for Weapons, most of the choices are clear. Don't be tempted to have your Monk fight unarmed just yet—the Nunchaku is a far superior Weapon for several levels yet. Warriors, Red Mages, and Thieves all perform best with Rapiers, while a White Mage is best equipped with a Hammer. Your Black Mage won't be doing a lot of your melee damage anyway, so feel free to choose between the 10 extra Accuracy of the Knife or the 1–2 extra damage of the Staff. Personally, I prefer the Accuracy, but it makes little difference at this stage of the game.

The Item Shop in Cornelia is extremely basic, providing only three Items. You always want more Potions, though they are quite expensive early in the game, and it pays to have an Antidote or two just in case you run into Werewolves in the Temple of Chaos. You won't run into any other poisonous Monsters on your way to Pravoca unless you stray far from the beaten path, so you can skimp on extra Antidotes for now. Sleeping Bags are a cost-efficient form of full party healing, especially after gaining a level, and the cheapest way to save outside of an inn. In fact they're cheaper than most inns later in the game.

Buying Spells is trickier than buying gear, since you can only buy three Spells of a given level. For specific Spell advice, view each Spell individually. The abbreviated version is that Cure1 and Fire1 are your most immediately important level 1 Spells. Dia1 can also be useful for taking out Undead (especially Ghouls) in the Temple of Chaos. Shld1 is probably the best level 1 Spell in the long run, but they all have their uses. Don't forget that you can buy Spells that are good now and drop them later when they become obsolete (or when a better Spell becomes available, as with the Red Wizard and Blink).