Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door isn’t exactly hard as far as RPGs go. So long as one pays attention to the enemies they’re facing and equips their badges accordingly, they should do fine in all but the later boss fights and challenges like the Pit of 100 Trials.
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Not all badges are created equal, though. Some are borderline useless, while many are either only good situationally or too expensive to wear most of the time. There are a few badges, though, that are too good not to use and can even be vital to your build. Of those, these are the best.
1Spike Shield
There are Too Many Spiked Enemies in This Game
Nintendo must love spiked enemies, because both this game and its predecessor are full of them. A fair few are of the flying variety too, so unless Mario has this badge equipped, dealing with them is a hassle.
It’s not so much that Spike Shield has a cool effect that lands it here, but rather that it’s kind of essential. One can try to get away with unequipping it for a time, but the game will almost certainly take that opportunity to spawn a spiked enemy on you. Just keep it on.
2Power Plus / Power Plus P
Bulking Up With a Buddy is Often Its Own Reward, But More Damage is Plain Awesome!
At six BP, the Power Plus badges are among the most costly badges to equip, but they’re worth it. One might think that all it does is add an extra point of damage for each attack, but it’s not that simple. That one point can mean the difference between damaging an enemy and not even scratching them.
This makes Power Plus P the more useful of the two, as Mario has other ways of pumping up his attacks. This badge can suddenly make low attack allies like Yoshi and Goombella more useful in more fights, and that extra damage helps end things more quickly.
3Double Dip / Double Dip P
A Little More Sauce Can Be a Very Good Thing
Mario isn’t allowed to carry all that many items in The Thousand-Year Door as he is in, say, Super Mario RPG. For most of the game, he can only carry ten items, but can increase that to twenty if he gets the Strange Sack on Floor 50 in the Pit of 100 Trials. This is all to say that the game wants players to use their items.
Double Dip lets you make the most effective use of them. Put it on and use mushrooms and fire flowers on the same turn! That is, double upon healing, attack or both with this one!
4Flower Saver / Flower Saver P
Saving a Flower Today Will Pay Off in a Big Way Tomorrow
Normal attacks are great and all, and with damage-boosting badges, they can be fantastic. It’s special attacks that carry the day in Thousand-Year Door, however, and special attacks cost FP. With Flower Saver, that FP can be stretched a lot further.
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This badge reduces the cost of specials by one FP, which can and will add up over time, especially in boss battles. This means fewer turns wasted on Honey or Maple Syrups and more spent on dealing damage.
Sometimes You Just Have To Take What You Need
FP Drain’s cost might not seem like it’s worth it at first, as it reduces Mario’s attack by one. The effect more than makes up for it, though, as FP Drain allows Mario to regain one FP every time he hits an enemy.
That means he gets two FP for his standard jump attack and up to four FP for attacks that hit all enemies. That’s nothing to sneeze at right there. Combine this with Flower Saver and Mario likely won’t be running out of FP even in the most drawn-out fights.
6Damage Dodge / Damage Dodge P
Remember to Dodge; It’ll Save Your Life One Day
At two BP, Damage Dodge is fantastic for what it does. All one has to do is land the timed defense hit, and the damage they take is reduced by one. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but just like with Flower Saver or Power Plus, a difference of one point is actually a big deal.
With all damage reduced by one, Mario and his allies can last a lot longer in a fight and can even be rendered invulnerable to low damage attacks. Honestly, for such little cost, this one should be a no-brainer.
Make Them Pay For Every Attack
Zap Tap’s effect is nice and simple: for each attack an enemy lands on Mario, it takes one point of damage. Even better, HP leeching enemies cannot latch onto him, thieves cannot steal his items and he can jump on electrified enemies without penalty. Basically, electricity is Mario’s friend and everyone else’s enemy.
This one is especially useful in the Pit of 100 Trials past level thirty, as there are more than a few enemies that are difficult to damage normally.
8All or Nothing
Mastered Timed Hits? Great! Have a Free Damage Boost!
By the time one gets this badge towards the end of the game, they should have mastered most of Mario’s timed hits. All or Nothing serves as something of a skill check in that regard in that it’s potentially a risky badge to equip.
If onehasmastered timed hits, then this badge adds one point of damage to all jump and hammer attacks. If theyhaven’t, then they’ll do zero damage. This badge stacks with Power Plus, so it can be a real boon for those with good timing.
9Piercing Blow
When Your Hammer is Sharp Enough, You Don’t Have to Worry About Defense
Piercing Blow operates exactly as advertised: it completely pierces enemy defenses. No matter how high an enemy’s defense stat is, Mario will be able to deal his normal amount of damage with this attack.
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This means that if Mario has both Power Plus and All or Nothing equipped, he’ll be able to go in for at leastseven damageif he has the Ultra Hammer. That’s almost enough to make it worth equipping a second Power Plus to get those instant KOs, don’t you think?
10Quick Change
Changing Partners For Free is Just Plain Broken
At seven BP, Quick Change is the most costly badge to equip in Thousand-Year Door, but it’s worth it. With Quick Change equipped, Mario’s entourage becomes a toolbox since it allows him to pull out the best partner for the job at no cost.
Got a bunch of ground-based enemies? Just call out Kooper. Got some Bill Blasters on the field? Bring out Admiral Bobbery and blast them to bits! It’s kind of silly how much easier this one badge makes the game, so verify to buy it from Dazzle right away.
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