Chrono Trigger update

I started it up with the intent of doing another full playthrough.  Instead, when I got to Lucca and Taban's show at the Millenial Fair, I parked Marle and noticed that she got removed from the party, so I went and soloed Lavos with Crono.  Not too hard given that he was max level with everything but magic maxed and magic only needed three more tabs.  No healing was necessary (equipment was Rainbow/Haste Helm/Nova Armor/PrismSpecs).  Had to refill his MP a few times, of course, but that's normal.

The game doesn't do anything special if you solo Lavos, but it's a massive personal achievement.

Next I started again and blitzed to The End of Time without anyone in the party taking damage.  Fought Spekkio since at level ** he gives you, among other things, 10 magic tabs.  Maxed Crono's magic finally.  Saved, then said "what the hell", set up my equipment, used the bucket, and defeated Lavos with Crono/Marle/Lucca right then.  The ending you get for doing it at that point is the one where the frog and the Nu are chasing each other around and then they fall asleep.  Nothing special really.

Saved my system file after that one, and headed into extras mode to see what it unlocked.  I got part of the Treasure finder, where you can scroll around each area of the game and see what items are in chests or otherwise obtainable and where they are, and more music tracks.

Started it up again and kept on playing.  Grabbed the 10 magic tabs off of Spekkio again, and continued on.  I eventually stopped just before the Ocean Palace.  In the process I found another magic tab I'd neglected to get before, by charming Golem.  Since I don't use Frog's magic too much and he's the next character I'm maxing, I'm just saving the tabs.  I'll apply them when I notice I have enough to max him out.  Then it'll be on to Robo; and finally Ayla, who does use her magic stat, but not for much.

Also the entire time I've been naming people differently.  Specifically, since a portion of the cast uses names that aren't actually their real names, I've been naming people with their real names.  I hadn't actually paid attention to the name dialog before, but you do indeed get hyphens, so Robo can actually be R-66Y.  I would have renamed the Epoch to its name in the Japanese version, but you only get five characters and Silverado is too long.  Fits into five in Japanese though...

As far as notes about my achievement list go, the "make it through an area containing enemies without triggering a single battle" one is possible in more areas than I originally thought.  I almost made it through Lab 16 without triggering a battle.  The last enemy got me.  A couple of 2300 AD's domes are possible.

Also, I defeated Magus while only casting one spell.  I hit him with physical until he changed his barrier to lightning and then used Luminaire.  It didn't immediately kill him (I think the lowered magic defense from getting hit by the Masamune doesn't last very long), but I think I glitched the fight.  He took a bit over 5000 damage from it, and after getting hit he just stood there and didn't do anything.  No "Magus risks casting a spell", no *DarkMatter, nothing.  A few more physical hits took him down, during which time he didn't retaliate.  So there's that achievement done.

I think beating Level ** Spekkio should be an achievement.  He's fairly difficult, as he's balanced to be difficult for maxed characters.  He uses Hallation (party's HP goes to 1), and often follows it up with Luminaire (around 700 damage to the party with proper equipment) before you can get a chance to heal sufficiently.  His use of Salt (heals one character to full health) doesn't really happen often enough or predictably enough to be relied on.  With Crono/Marle/Lucca I made extensive use of the dual tech Aura Whirl, which heals everyone for around 540 when Marle's magic is maxed.  He's easier if you bring Frog or Robo, both of whom have a single tech that heals the entire party (Robo's is better, and his Shock is only a little less damaging than Lucca's Flare), but he's still difficult.

I'm thinking that the remaining magic tabs won't take more than four more playthroughs after this one.  I just have to remember to put off fighting Spekkio until I have everybody so I can bring better healing power and can experiment with dual techs some.