Pandemonium and Escape from Terra

When I started the game up again, I set up my party as follows:

Zidane              Freya                   Steiner                  Amarant

Orichalcon        Dragon's Hair      Defender               Kaiser Knuckles
Adaman Hat      Barbut                Genji Helmet         Bandana
Bone Wrist        Venetia Shield     Venetia Shield       Bone Wrist
Gaia Gear          Minerva's Plate   Diamond Armor    Power Vest
Rebirth Ring      Barette                Dark Matter           Black Belt
_________________________________________________________
Accuracy+        Auto-Float          Auto-Float            MP Attack
Alert                 Accuracy+          Distract                 Bird Killer
                         MP Attack          Bird Killer             Devil Killer
                         Bird Killer           Ability Up             Man Eater
                         Dragon Killer                                   Body Temp
                         Level Up

Amarant is now all set with his abilities until I get the Excalibur II.

I then made my way through the Pandemonium maze, gathering the treasure along the way. I needed one encounter to set up Charge! and it went perfectly. I encountered an Abadon. I began by having Amarant attack. Abadon then cast Thundaga on Freya, which she survived with only ~100 HP remaining. Zidane and Amarant then self-KOed, and Freya attacked Abadon to finish it. Freya went up to level 30 and Steiner went up to level 20 as a result of this battle.

I then continued through the maze until I reached the moogle, at which point I delivered the letter and saved. When I reloaded, I used an Ether on Steiner, revived Zidane and Amarant, and adjusted my equipment and abilities for the next battles as follows:

Zidane              Freya                    Steiner                  Amarant

Orichalcon        Holy Lance          Coral Sword            Kaiser Knuckles
Green Beret      Mythril Helm        Cross Helm            Coronet
Bone Wrist        Venetia Shield      Thunder Gloves     Bone Wrist
Power Vest        Minerva's Plate    Diamond Armor    Power Vest
Dark Matter      Barette                 Power Belt              Black Belt
_________________________________________________________
Accuracy+        Accuracy+           Distract                 (no changes)
Distract              Distract               MP Attack    
MP Attack        MP Attack            Bird Killer    
Bird Killer        Dragon Killer        Man Eater    
Man Eater         Man Eater            Counter        
                         Counter                Ability Up
                         Body Temp      
                         Locomotion

I also put everyone in the front row and switched Zidane's and Amarant's positions because Zidane is the weakest attacker at this point. If you only have one Power Vest then you can give Zidane a Judo Uniform instead. I then proceeded to the battles. Silver Dragon went down instantly from just one use of Charge! After the battle, Amarant learned Man Eater, Gamble Defense, and HP+20%, Freya learned Dragon's Crest and Auto-Float, Steiner learned Charge!, MP Attack, and Ability Up, and Zidane learned Detect.

Garland opened the next battle by casting Flare on Amarant. I had Zidane revive him and everyone go all out with attacks and Charge! Garland then used Psychokinesis on Zidane, so Amarant returned the favor of reviving and I ended the battle with another attack from Freya and a Charge!

When I fought Kuja, he began by casting Demi on Amarant, knocking him out, so I had to revive him again. I then continued the pattern of attacks and Charge! Kuja then cast Thundaga on Steiner, so I revived him and had to content myself with just normal attacks that round. Kuja cast Thundaga one more time on Zidane, but I didn't bother reviving him because the battle was over with more attacks and Charge! I didn't have to restore anyone's MP during these fights thanks to my leveling of Steiner.

With the fights over, I breezed through the escape and evacuation scenes as quickly as possible and then saved at the end of disc 3 with a time of 10:46:58. Just one more disc left!