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Do you remember this topic? I sure do, and I love making lists of things, so here's one for FF VI. Interested to see other peoples' lists as well. I'm ranking from best to worst in battle; character stories and personalities are not considered. Ease of use IS considered. NOT considering sketch glitches, Wind God Gau, or Psycho Cyan.

(if this is tl;dr, I understand. Don't feel bad.)

1. Terra

Terra has powerful Magic, can equip heavy armor, powerful swords, and female equipment, and is with you for a very large portion of the game. Morph is a major boon when available. She can be an elite attacker or elite magic user depending on your preference. She'll be one of the best characters in any party you devise.

2. Celes

Stats, equips, and role in battle are nearly identical to that of Terra, but Runic is situational at best while Morph is quite powerful. Celes scores major points for being available for much of FF VI's first half and the entire second half. Terra and Celes are so similar and powerful that it almost seems unfair to have both of them.

3. Edgar

Basically a more physical version of Terra and Celes (really), because he can use the same heavy armor and powerful weapons (plus spears) and has good Strength instead of good Magic. The Tools items can be quite useful (Chainsaw!), but really Edgar is just a beast that is perhaps the best candidate to wield Illumina or go Jump-crazy with the Dragon Horn and Dragoon Boots.

4. Gau

If I were going to rank the characters in overall power and versatility, without considering usability, Gau would be #1. Rage gives him incredible variety, he can equip the mighty Snow Muffler, and he has good Magic (tied with Mog for fifth overall) and an awesome exclusive Dragon's Den item to boot. But collecting good Rages is time-consuming and tedious, and not being able to control him can be frustrating. So that keeps him out of the absolute top tier.

5. Sabin

Big physical damage. High Strength, Stamina, and Speed, powerful Blitz attacks, and decent endgame weapons make Sabin your best source for physical damage throughout the game until you can give the best swords to Terra, Celes, Edgar, or Locke. Maybe the best candidate for a Merit Award if you want to go an attacking tank route with him. Sabin's also an available part of your team more often than anyone other than Terra or Celes if you recruit him early in the WoR. Everybody loves Sabin.

6. Locke

Locke was one of the more challenging rankings for this list. His only really good stat is Speed, and his weapon and armor selection is lacking until the endgame, when he can use the Valiant Knife and the best swords. His range weapons aren't half-bad as you find them, but they're no Atma Weapon. So Locke's an excellent physical character eventually, but is mediocre for most of the game. Locke helps his case by being a mandatory part of the team for most of the game's first half. Oh, and Steal. That's a thing.

7. Relm

Highest Magic in the game and solid Speed. Boom. Sketch and Control aren't great, but Relm's Magic stat is an awesome starting point. Her equipment selection is terrible at first, but by the endgame a Behemoth Suit, Cat Hood, and a stat-boosting brush makes for an excellent magic user. Her only weaknesses are her frailty and a total lack of physical damage. But who cares? Best starting Magic in the game!

8. Mog

Good Magic, good Speed, Spears, and Snow Muffler are a decent combination. Dance is okay, but lacks the versatility and success rate of Rage. Really it's that Snow Muffler and solid base that makes Mog really good - by the endgame Mog can be your best tank and a solid all-rounder if you can grab a Snow Muffler for him.

9. Shadow

Great Speed, very good Strength, decent everything else. Throw is nice, but not as good as Blitz and Shadow's regular attacks are potentially better. Lack of good armor selection hurts, and Locke or Sabin are better choices for a Merit Award. The Stunner is an awesome endgame-weapon, and combining it with a Striker or his Dragon's Den weapon makes Shadow a very good Genji Glove / Offering attacker.

10. Gogo

Probably the worst stats in the game, made YET WORSE by the lack of Espers to increase them. Equipment choices are subpar as well, but Gogo's singular ability to use almost every skillset is tons of fun. Gogo can fix his/her damage problems with skills like Bum Rush or Drill and can use Big Guard or White Wind just as well as Strago can. What Gogo lacks in power, Gogo makes up in versatility.

11. Setzer

Setzer's stats are average, he can equip heavy armor and shields, and his Gambler weapons range from weird to surprisingly good. Slots isn't very good at all, but GP Rain / Gil Toss can deal pretty good damage if you don't mind spending money and giving up a relic slot. By the endgame Setzer's a capable attacker and tank (back row helps a bit), but he's not a great magic user and lacks an edge to make him better than Edgar, Sabin, Locke, or Shadow.

12. Strago

Strago's Magic stat is decent (only behind the three ladies), but it's his only good one. Strago's equipment selection is terrible until near the end of the game, and Lore is only good for a few defensive skills - otherwise it's outclassed by regular Magic. Too bad.

13. Umaro

Umaro is a unique character and can be an effective teammate, but he has almost zero versatility and the lack of control can be annoying. The permanent Snow Muffler doesn't make up for a lack of equipment manipulation, even if his Dragon's Den item in the Advance version is awesome. Still, Umaro has great Strength and Stamina (even with lack of Espers) and can deal big damage, especially with a creative selection of relics / accessories.

14. Cyan

This pains me. Cyan is one of my favorite characters from a story and personality perspective, but he's in the toilet from a gameplay perspective. His only good stat is Strength, he can't equip Illumina or Atma Weapon without a Merit Award, and SwdTech's time delays are awful. Sure, his weapons aren't bad and he can use armor, but they aren't better than what half the cast can use. Cyan's probably your best option to be an Imp, since he's lacking at just about everything else.

So that's my list. It's long-winded and overly detailed, but that's kind of how I roll.

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this is a blog mostly about comics and videogames
END SPOILER

Since the game was pretty easy (in terms of ability to complete the game with the characters), my evaluations will be based mainly on the characters' abilities, rather than their stats. (For example, I know Relm has high magic power and Gogo's stats suck, but I find Gogo far more useful than Relm.) I'm also not counting use of Economizers or Gem Boxes.

Super Awesome Tier
* Sabin: reliable high-power Blitz attacks against single and multiple targets, on demand, very easily (at least I found them to be such), for free.
* Edgar: Tools are free like Sabin's Blitzes, but less high-power.
* Gau: Can do almost anything, and for free, but can't control him. Can give him a simple script which is almost as effective anyway, though.

Great Tier

* Terra: High magic power plus the ability to do double damage while Morphed. Yeah, she needs MP to make use of this great power, but so be it.
* Gogo: Can do pretty much anything in the game, albeit not quite as well as anyone else. In terms of versatility, though, if you want a consistent damage output from Gogo, or any of the special skills (like Capture, Dance, or Slot), you've got it.
* Strago: Not as powerful as Terra but has access to a huge variety of spells via Lore.

Okay Tier

* Setzer: Like an underpowered Edgar or Sabin, thanks to Slot.
* Umaro: Hits randomly, but hits hard.
* Mog: Dances are like an unreliable but more versatile version of Tools.
* Locke: With vanilla Steal, Locke is almost useless. With Capture, he's much more useful, though still not as great as anyone with free healing or damage-dealing.
* Cyan: His skill has an annoying mandatory wait time.
* Shadow: His skill requires using up items; otherwise he has none.

I'd Prefer Not To Use Tier

* Celes: Her only skill is Runic, which...simply prevents magic from being used by anyone, if I recall correctly. Or it simply absorbs the next spell to be cast. Considering how magic flies fast and furious by the endgame, this is nearly useless, though maybe Ultima can be absorbed or something.
* Relm: Celes with lower attack power and an even less useful skill. She's useful for one thing, which is (with the FakeMustache) Controlling monsters to let Strago learn lores.



Also, Ultima is a boring spell.

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current games (2024-02-19):
Fairy Fencer F ADF
Pokémon Perfect Crystal

finished so far this year:
Gato Roboto
drowning, drowning
New Super Mario Bros.
TMNT 3: Radical Rescue

tabled: Lost Ruins

Awesomeness:

Terra:Most poweful spells in morph form.
Sabim:Blitz is amazing in dmg and always has been
Gogo:He can do anyone's technique making him op.

Great:


Mog:In the world of balance, he is very very useful, and in world of ruin, he is still useful, as long as you take the time to get his abilities

Gau:His abilities are really overpowered if you use the wind god tech, but his techniques aren't as good if not.They are still decent though.

Edgar:He is very op in wob, but during world of ruin, he isn't so good with his techs.

Strago:He is mostly useless during wob, because he doesn't get all his spells till late in the game.Spells like:Grand train and force field are very late, and some require relm to get.Once you get to the world of ruin and start farming his spells and get them all, you can do some serious dmg, and he more than makes up for his less usefulness.

Ok:
Setzer:Give him dice: and he becomes useful with his multi hit dice attack, making him a really good damage dealer.His slot otherwise, is mostly random, and i am not a fan of it.
Cyan:He's not as bad as people make him out to be, but he is nowhere near as good.He can one shot kefka with his technique doing max damage i think though, and one of if not only abilities which allows multi hits, unless you do psycho cyan trick.

Locke:He doesn't do much dmg, but his steal tech is useful sometimes.I don't tend to think of him as a powerhouse ever, but he can be useful.

Shadow:He leaves you often, making his use in wob very limited.Sometimes, like the trip to zozo, is simply not worth it, unless you want some extra dialogue.His attacks are very good though, and both his dog and his throw tech are very powerful.In wob though, i think those magic items aren't as good as single target dmg items.


mostly useless:

Relm:I really don't like using her.Aside from her control ability to learn other abilities, and the sketch glitch, she isn't all that great.

Umaro:Umaro is the most useless class in the game.There is almost never a reason to use him, and best not to use him, except in tower of fanatics, because you get benefit from his attacks.

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We are stardust.Our bodies are made from the guts of exploding stars.

Neil Degrasse Tyson.

Why I found the characters useful. In terms of fully completing the game. Not my personal fav's.

I'm referring to the console versions of FFVI.

1. Locke: Without the help of Odin he has the highest speed in the game. Able to use magic, steal, or attack more times than anyone. Without him it's also more difficult if not impossible to collect every item. Ribbons, Economizers, and other rares if you want.

2. Gogo: If you're in a hurry to steal stuff and/or need to blitz some more. It took me several playthroughs to notice it on my own.

3. Mog: To not spoil it, there's a certain item that makes it easier to move around. I will spoil he has maximum defense and good to lead Umaro to level 99. Didn't find dance that useful.

4. Relm: On low level games her magic power is high enough to wipe out enemies easier. At higher levels I can see other characters supercedeing her.

5. Terra, Celes, Strago. The ladies can equip some heavy armor or the Minvera giving them some advantage. Strago for lore like big guard. Terra's morph gets worse over time with the 9999 damage cap. Celes Runic is very situational. It doesn't feel as good later on since you 'The Returners' use the most power magic in the game. Runic is a little self-defeating in that case but it's better than nothing.

6. And the rest. Their abilities can be put to good use. Everyone has at least 'one' unique ability to not be a complete clone of one another. It comes down to choice in the end. Casting Terra as lead makes sense to me.

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https://www.youtube.com/user/Greatermaxim

Terra - LV 99 - HP 9999 - MP 999

Equipment - - - Abilities

Illumina - - - - - Fight
Genji Shield - - Morph
Oath Veil - - - - Magic
Minerva - - - - - Item
Ribbon
Economizer

One can always make it work. There are situations almost tailor made for these characters to excel at one point or another. I tend to switch things around in the game, if I'm not worried about story or personality.

With the use of Espers and items such as the Paladin Shield, you can have anyone be the most useful. It's all in how you make it, honestly. By the end of the game, special attacks become meaningless save for spells.

As far as "most useful" in VI- I'm not a virtuoso in playing the game, but then again, does it really need that kind of a player?

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"So, are you a fan of the Fett?"

"Nah, I'm more of a Star Wars guy."

Almost topic worthy is asking your goals with games. Though games vary and depending who you are - it can be too much or too little of a task.

The true answer looks personal to me. Final Fantasy VI isn't technically hard to some. It matters not when your only goal is to beat the game and put it away afterward.

Edit-IE: It's possible to beat the game solo with every character except maybe Umaro. Even with Ribbon, Marvel shoes as relic I don't see Umaro recovering enough HP in time. Knowing Kefka's spells Umaro probably wouldn't live.

Gogo will have difficulty with only items as recovery unless the abilities carry over. I don't think they do. ?

The other twelve characters can solo easy thanks to magic. Quick without the GemBox is good enough.

This post has been edited by Eagle Caller on 4th February 2015 08:11

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https://www.youtube.com/user/Greatermaxim

Terra - LV 99 - HP 9999 - MP 999

Equipment - - - Abilities

Illumina - - - - - Fight
Genji Shield - - Morph
Oath Veil - - - - Magic
Minerva - - - - - Item
Ribbon
Economizer

1. Terra - The absolute best magic stat in the game, and Morph makes her indisputably the strongest character. No competition here.

2. Celes - Second-best magic makes her my second-favorite character. Runic is nigh useless except for some early boss battles, but her magic stat still rules.

3. Relm - She's not Terra, but her magic is still quite good, and her speed is the best. Sketch is glitchy and Control tends to throw off my groove, but her magic and speed still win for me.

4. Umaro - Being the best tank in the game makes him perfect for my offense-based playing style.

5. Strago - His magic is pretty good, but his speed is weak and I was never good at finding Lores.

6. Sabin - Second-best physical attacker, and Aura-bolt never stops being useful against undead.

7. Shadow - As a huge grinder with plenty of money and basically infinite items, Shadow is a really good character for me. I can always make good use of Throw.

8. Edgar - He's somewhere between a magic-type and a fighting-type, which makes him kind of hard to rank. Chain Saw and Drill are very powerful and completely free, which gives him lots of points.

9. Cyan - The time delay for Techniques is basically a huge bummer, but he is still among my favorites. Even Dispatch is not a bad attack, and Cleave is fun against large groups of weaklings. Quadra Slice is really one of the best attacks out there, and it is definitely worth the wait.

10. Setzer - I was always really good at Slot, so I am inclined to make him one of my favorites. However, even his better attacks just don't compare to the other characters. I never mind having him in my party, but I would not usually choose him.

11. Locke - Steal is a lot of fun for me, but his magic is not the best, and his attacks are just okay; I tend to play him as a healer, and put him in the back row most of the time.

12. Gau - Considering how high Umaro was on my list, it is kind of weird having Gau this low. Most of the reason is that I just never got good at choosing Rages. Stray Cat has one of the most powerful attacks, though.

13. Mog - Dances have no especially powerful moves, although Sun Bath and Ice Rabbit are always helpful. I never use Moogle Charm, so that makes Mog just about useless to me.

14. Gogo - He can do just about anything, but he is really good at just about nothing. Perfectly terrible for my particular playing style.