Can Mario Beat Every Boss at Level 1?

What if we locked ourselves at Level 1 in Paper Mario? We start with 10 Heart Points, 5 Flower Points to use strong abilities, and 3 Badge Points for special moves and passive in-battle bonuses. By the end of the game, you can reach 50 HP, 50 FP, and 30 BP... but what if we stay at Level 1 the entire time?

It's definitely possible to take on every boss at Level 1, but we'll have to get creative to win!

There are many boss challenges throughout the game, and a lot of them have interesting mechanics. Take Huff N. Puff for example - each time he takes a hit, he'll spawn Tuff Puffs that deal damage and can be inhaled to restore health. Or Crystal King, a boss with multiple phases that adjusts his moveset according to his remaining health. Understanding exactly how these bosses function becomes crucial when placing additional challenges on Mario, and it turns out many AI patterns can be exploited.

Before taking on each boss, I drafted up a turn-by-turn strategy, making note of what badges and items to bring along, how much damage we've done at the end of each turn, how many Heart Points and Flower Points we have left, what move the boss will use on their turn, and whether or not blocking that attack is required. I also attempted to optimize each fight in order to defeat the boss in as few turns as possible, within reason. You could speed things up slightly with riskier moves but it probably isn't worth it. An example strategy used in this video looks like this:

Crystal King: Start at 10 HP. Mega Rush, D-Down Jump
Turn 1: Use Shooting Star; Electro Dash (9 Damage) (Summons Bits)
Turn 2: Use Egg Missile; Electro Dash (18 Damage) (Block Bit Spit x3)
Turn 3: Jump Combo; Electro Dash (31 Damage) (Summons Bits)

Note: We do not want to exceed 31 damage done in turns 1 - 3 because Crystal King has a chance to heal starting at 32 damage done.

Turn 4: Time Out (50% Chance to work, -2 turn modifier on Crystal King); Untimed Electro Dash (32 Damage) (Kills Crystal Bits and Stuns Crystal King)

Note: We needed at least 1 more HP of damage, but waited until after Time Out stuns the Crystal King so he doesn't have any chance to heal. An untimed Electro Dash is the fastest way to deal 1 damage in this case.

Turn 5: D-Down Jump (3 / 5 FP Remaining); Do Nothing with Watt (46 Damage Done) (Still Stunned)
Turn 6: D-Down Jump (1 / 5 FP Remaining); Do Nothing with Watt (60 Damage Done) (Still Stunned)
Turn 7: Jump Combo (70 Damage Done) (Dead)

Here's the full document of strategies: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AW32OnevbGXvnz41x1rP2ZkZw8WSESH8eDR63mOhwRs/edit?usp=sharing

Hope you guys enjoy this one, it took a while to put together :)

My Socials:
• Twitch: https://twitch.tv/Stryder7x
‌• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Stryder7x
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Stryder7x

Video intro animated by TheSneakySpy: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheSneakySpy
Video border by totallynotjon_: https://twitter.com/totallynotjon_