Good items are the only thing that keeps me coming back for more after I win Wiz8 the 1st time but its been pretty frustrating so far. At least the last game I found the *lightshield* but this time round I didn't even find that! And I've been hunting for the *lightsword* and the phasor with no luck too. Part of the problem is that I've been lugging around 2 RPC's for most of the game. RFS-81 and Sparkle and entering area's at too low level. But what's the point if I can't get the really good stuff early on?

in that case you might as well download the Wiz 8 editor to give to the so called good stuff that you wanted.

Part of finding the items is knowing what items are found where and how to get them. For instance, the Light Shield and Frontier Phasor can be found in 3 places:
1)Chest in Bayjin hut with single Rynjin Sentry has chance for both
2)Jan-ette may drop either when she dies
3)Buccaneer Ghosts may drop when killed

RPC's slow the growth of the party. Try a group of 4 or less. It allows you to focus more on character development, makes the game more challenging, and will force you to find the best equipment possible as you no longer have those 2 to 7 extra bodies to take hits and dish out damage.