Final Fantasy V Four Job Fiesta, Run 2-??

So, the Fiesta has ended, and my run was unfinished due to my laptop dying.

Or was it?

I recovered the remainder of my data at 6 PM on the 31st of August, the final day.  I then elected to go all or nothing on my laptop, previously been booting to Ubuntu off a DVD, and do a full factory restore.  This worked.  Using no less than 2 external hard drives, I maneuvered my FFV data back onto my laptop...and you guys probably don't want to hear this part.  I had 4 hours remaining to defeat Exdeath for my victory to be counted.



Standing outside Phoenix Tower at Level 26 with 4 hours to beat the remainder of the game doesn't look good for any team, not even one with a Ninja.  I knew what I had to do, as I'd had several weeks with which to think of strategies.  I skipped everything optional except for 2 specific items.  The first was the Magic Lamp by Istory Falls, accessible only by Yellow Chocobo, useful only to summon Odin vs. Neo Exdeath to kill one part instantly.  The other was a Rainbow Dress to double the odds of Sword Dance, picked up in Dimensional Castle.

Team Sidequest was an unstoppable force, destroying WoodSprite with Pinwheels and Hydra, Apanda with Hydra and Flame Scrolls and Pinwheels, Catastrophe (the first real threat, as Earth Shaker would have been a party wipe) in 1.5 rounds of combat going all out.  At this point I picked up the Rainbow Dress, cutting down a few Alte Roite/Jura Avis enemies with Pinwheels and an Odin summon, as the jura Avis form is not Heavy.  Halicarnnassos or however you spell it died to a flurry of Pinwheels.  As I walked through the dungeons, I killed everything with Odin, Pinwheels and Bahamut-I had items to burn, why waste time on slower methods?  Twin Tania was defeated merely by waiting 3 rounds and summoning Odin vs. the Giga Flare form, akin to how I defeated Carbuncle.  If you think this is cheap, it is, but time was of the essence.

Gilgamesh took 2 Pinwheels, and then Exdeath.  I summoned Golem vs. the first phase, prepped the Magic Lamp for Odin, and threw all the Pinwheels I could.  Neo Exdeath, however, posed a serious threat for this underleveled speedy team.  Almagest, a guaranteed attack, could not be blocked in any way, and would always wipe my party.  The only way to survive was to deal enough damage to that part before it could hit me with Almagest.  As it turns out, on the last possible attack, a !Dance from Krile with the Chicken Knife, she pulled a Sword Dance for 8000 damage.  This defeated the part.  Pinwheels and Hydra summons knocked off the remaining 2 parts (I opened with Magic Lamp Odin to kill one part) at the same time, dealing enough damage to avoid Grand Cross.  That's right: this team at level 29/28/29/29 had the offensive power to defeat Exdeath avoiding White Hole, Almagest, Delta Attack and Grand Cross.

And that is how I beat the Fiesta with 2 and a half hours to spare.

But it's not the end of the story.  I kept my save from outside Phoenix Tower, and fully intend to complete the run the way I intended to: even if eventual Shinryu and Omega victories won't count towards the fiesta proper, I still want to see if I can.  After that...probably a break from FFV before jumping into my solo class challenges.  I already know the order I intend to do them in-can anyone guess what comes first?  Hint: it hasn't been used in any of my fiesta runs so far.