¶ What is the Encounter Table?
Final Fantasy Randomizer includes random encounters that occur in a fixed pattern based on steps taken on the overworld or in dungeons. The encounter table is this pattern, which consists of 256 steps and loops as follows:
forward forward backward forward backward backward forward backward forward repeat
To determine how many encounters occur in the 256 step pattern, we use the Encounter Rates section from the Scale tab of the randomizer.
In the image above, we see that the Overworld Encounter Rate is set to 60% of the vanilla value of 10, which results in 6 land encounters per 256 steps or 2 sea encounters per 256 steps. The Dungeon Encounter Rate is set to 70% of the vanilla value of 8, which results in 6 encounters per 256 steps. Adjusting the sliders will update the encounter count on the randomizer site. We’ll come back to this later.
¶ How does the Encounter Table operate?
When you generate a seed, the encounter table is set for the seed. It will always operate the same way for the entire seed. One way this is commonly described is like a giant deck of cards. Most of those cards are blank and represent steps you can take without an encounter. Some of the cards are labeled as an encounter. It’s important to note that the cards are only shuffled during the seed generation, not during gameplay itself. Following the loop order above, you’d then reveal those cards in order as follows:
- top to bottom, then pick up the entire deck and reveal…
- top to bottom, then pick up the entire deck and reveal…
- bottom to top, then pick up the entire deck and reveal…
- top to bottom, then pick up the entire deck and reveal…
- bottom to top, then pick up the entire deck and reveal…
- etc.
Using our encounter counts from the image above, you could have an encounter table where all 6 of the land encounters occur right in the first 6 steps, then there are 250 steps with no encounters in a row. That represents the first arrow of the looping order. You’d then have 6 encounters in a row again, followed by 250 steps with no encounter for the second arrow. For the third arrow, you’d have another 250 steps in a row with no encounter, then 6 encounters, and so on.
Another way that people describe the encounter table is dots and spaces. For the 6-in-a-row example above, it would look like this:
|...... |
|...... |
| ……|
|...... |
| ……|
Etc.
¶ What happens when encounter rates are different?
Good news! The encounter table didn’t change at all. What did change is whether an encounter “card” or “dot” is used. Using the example above, if you’re traversing the sea, only 2 of those 6 cards/dots actually have sea encounters. To illustrate this better, let’s look at a different Encounter Rate scale and encounter table.
Let’s suppose that the dungeon encounter table, being the biggest, looks like this:
- 10 steps
- 70 steps
- 95 steps
- 220 steps
- 240 steps
The overworld land encounter table might look like this:
- 70 steps
- 95 steps
- 220 steps
- 240 steps
Notice that the dungeon encounter at 10 steps was removed from the overworld land table, but all the other encounters happen at the same number of steps as before. Along the same lines, the sea encounter table might look like this:
- 220 steps
- 240 steps
Using our card method from before, we can think of our encounter cards as having 3 possible sections: dungeon, land, and sea. Every encounter card will have whatever the highest count is - in this example, 1 card will have only dungeon and it’s the 10th card in the deck. 2 of those cards would have both dungeon and land, which would be the 70th and 95th cards. The final 2 cards would have dungeon, land, and sea, which would be the 220th and 240th cards.
Using our dots and spaces method, we might notate this same concept using different symbols. Below, a period represents only dungeon, a semicolon represents dungeon and land, and a colon represents dungeon, land, and sea.
| . ; ; : : |
¶ Encounter Groups
An encounter group is a specific formation of enemies and every zone in the game has 8 encounter groups. Each of these groups has a set frequency and order in a separate chart based on how many encounters you have taken since the start of the game or the last hard reset and these frequency values are shuffled by the randomizer. There is a separate set of 8 encounter groups for each dungeon floor, each of the 64 overworld tiles on this map for land, northern canoe-able areas, southern canoe-able areas, and the sea. Note that the sea does not use the tiles for land as it’s a single set of encounter groups. Additionally, the encounter groups do not loop on the same schedule as the encounter table. Reaching the 6th dungeon encounter is still the 6th encounter group in the progression.
Why the randomizer confuses things is that the encounter shuffling changes the formations around between their encounter numbers. 1 might suddenly be 8 post-randomization, which means its frequency in the table drops like a rock.
In vanilla, Sky 5 has the following table (simplified but close enough on odds):
- [12/64] NAOCHO x 1-2
- [12/64] AIR x1-4
- [12/64] SORCERER x1-6, MudGOL x1-2
- [12/64] R.HYDRA x4
- [6/64] GrNAGA x0-1, AIR x1-3
- [6/64] SLIME x3-6
- [3/64] WarMECH x1
- [1/64] FIGHTER x1-2
- [Boss] TIAMAT
If WarMECH goes from 3/64 to 12/64 because of the randomization swapping it with the AIR x1-4 formation, then you're more likely to see the mech in that seed. You have no way of knowing the formation group change prior to getting on the floor. Sky 5 also has an odd trait in that its base encounter rate is higher than other dungeon areas at 24 encounters per 256 steps (3x vanilla dungeon encounter frequency).
¶ When is a step not a step?
There are certain tiles that don’t increment the step counter. On the overworld, the grassy area around Coneria and any tile with a boat dock is a free tile. In dungeons, the bottom wall of interior rooms, doorways, the tile in front of doorways, and damage tiles (lava and icy water in volcano and ice cave, respectively) are free tiles.
¶ How can I use this information?
First, let’s talk about hard and soft resets. These are available and button-mappable in most emulators.
- A hard reset is equivalent to powering off the console and powering it back on. This clears the game memory when it comes to the encounter table and encounter groups, putting you at 0 steps and no encounters fought. Doing this ensures that your first encounter will be the same formation and the same steps away each time.
- A soft reset is equivalent to using the reset button on the console. This does not clear the game memory, so your position in both the encounter table and encounter groups is retained and you’re brought back to your last save.
Using our 5 dungeon/4 land/2 sea encounter table example above, you can use this in several ways. Here are a few examples:
- If you want to walk over large portions of land or sea, you can save before step 70 and hard reset to skip every encounter.
- If you want to enter a dungeon with a significant run before having an encounter, you can save, hard reset, and walk 10 steps on the overworld before entering the dungeon, which means you’re already past the first dungeon encounter and won’t have one until step 70.
- If there’s a desirable first encounter in a dungeon, you can enter and walk 10 steps to reach that encounter, leave the dungeon, save, and hard reset, and re-enter the dungeon to do it again.
- If you know that the 3rd encounter off the hard reset in a dungeon is bad, you can soft reset to start the dungeon after that encounter.