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i dont think there is, in fact, i believe this is one of the few games where almost every character is a god. now i am the first to admit that i am a locke groupie, not to mention a relm and shadow one.
but seriously, how many other games have so many characters that rock this hard??

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once you can accept yourself, you will never be alone

I to believe that this statement is true. But, I must say that I don't like Realm. I hate the idea that she uses a paint brush to defeat her enemies.

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I will be the mustard of your doom!

Statistically, I'll have to say no. With the right combination of levels and espers, anybody can conceivably be the "best" character in the game. Basically it comes down to which special abilities you like the most, since they're the only really important difference at, say, level 80, when all of your characters already have the best spells and equipment available. I'm sure that ZED could point out some minor differences between them other than ability and equipment, but for the most part I'd consider these negligible.

Of course, when it comes to an actual matter of personality and development, some characters are obviously better than others. I'll leave that up to subjectivity, of course.

...

Okay, okay, Shadow's the best.

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"I always have a quotation for everything - it saves original thinking."
~Dorothy L. Sayers

"The truly remarkable thing about television is that it allows several million people to laugh at the same joke and still feel lonely."
~T.S. Eliot

"Defeat is not defeat unless accepted as reality - in your own mind!"
~ Bruce Lee

There is really no best character, many people like Locke others like Shadow. If you mean best liked character I think most people like Locke, Setzer, or Sabin. They did a post on it a while ago and they were the top three. I myself liked Cyan and of corse Sabin.

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Hiding only delays the inevitable.

I will agree that there is no best character, it is basically who you use and build up the most. Hell even Gau could be the best with enough work. I see Umaro as the only exception since you cannot control him, give him weapons and armor, and can't use magic.

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War is for the participants a test of character; it makes bad men worse and good men better. - Joshua Chamberlain

U sir R a n00b >:-( - Cactuar

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This post has been edited by Guy on 16th July 2012 04:56

i thought of one,( and thereby answering my OWN question) valkyrie profile.
pure pwnge. in any case, i think that most characters have a good story. the ones that I DONT THINK are good are: relm(but i still like her), strago, umaro, mog, gogo, setzer, and...KAPPA! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

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once you can accept yourself, you will never be alone

Everyone knows Kappa is the best character in the game.
What beats a heavily armored Imp Dragoon, you may ask?
Nothing. Except a constipated goose, but that's another matter...

any character that can equip the atma weapon and sniper sight, and go first!
so...most likely locke, edgar, and terra.

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once you can accept yourself, you will never be alone

setzer owns all.

now you know. pass it on.

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You watch the world exploding every single night
Dancing in the sun, a newborn in the light
Say goodbye to gravity and say goodbye to death
Hello to eternity and live for every breath

Your time will come...

Terra, Locke, Edgar, Sabin, Shadow, Cyan, Gau, Celes, Setzer, Strago, and Relm all have a significant amount of plot development. These are arguably the best-constructed characters.

In terms of usefulness in battle, I consider Terra, Strago, and Sabin to be the most powerful; Locke, Edgar, Shadow, Cyan, Gau, Celes, Setzer, Mog, Umaro, and Gogo are on the middle tier; and Relm tends to be well less-than-useful.

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

Quote (BGrugby @ 13th November 2003 20:21)

Hell even Gau could be the best with enough work.

Are you trying to imply that Gau is in any way weak? Alright, the biggest beef I have with the "who's the best character" threads is that people fail to realize that Gau is one of the most powerful characters of the game. No, not when you train him up. Right when you get Gau, he already has 4 attacks that do more damage than anything that any other character has to offer at that point in the game.

At the end of the game you can make most characters equally power with attacks that do 9999 HP damage, with high stats including evasion... but what about the rest of the game? I'm talking about the other 90%. Out of the box, it becomes clear which characters deal the most damage. Let's look at the beginning of the game:

Terra
Edgar
Locke

Edgar wins this one by far. He deals more damage than Locke and Terra combined.

Terra
Edgar
Locke
Sabin

This is a toss up between Edgar and Sabin.

Alright this is an example. It seems obvious to me that Locke is weak at this point in the game. His fight command often fails to kill monsters in one hit. Steal gets you tonics, antidotes and potions that you could just go buy. I fail to see a benefit here. His speed stat starts at 40, putting him in first place above Gau and Shadow for speed (they start at 38). Locke makes a good clean-up man, killing whatever Edgar couldn't with the autocrossbow. If Locke had to fight 4 monsters alone, it would most likely take 6-8 turns to kill them. Edgar fighting alone could take them out in 2 turns. Terra could consume her limited quantity of magic and kill 4 monsters in 2 or 3 turns. Without magic it would also take her 6-8 turns. Who's more powerful here? Edgar of course. You could say "Well yeah but at the end of the game Locke can be just as strong as Edgar". Yeah, you're talking about the final 10%. I think the other 90% is a little more important. So let's keep our mindset there.

Now you have Sabin's quest. First:

Sabin
Cyan
Shadow

There are no obvious weaklings here. Without Quadra Slam Cyan falls behind Shadow and Sabin. Shadow doesn't have the routine power output that Sabin has, but he can throw powerful weapons when he needs to and make himself invisible and give himself image status. His stats are almost as good as Gau's with high speed and evasion, and he's got a helpful dog. However the throw command is not routine, so Sabin is the prominent force here, while Shadow is the clean-up man that never gets hurt.

Sabin
Cyan
Gau

All of the sudden you have a character capable of casting Fire 2, Elf Fire, Bolt 2, Demi, Bio, and Fire Ball among others. Plus this character can protect himself with Safe. But wait a minute, arn't we just getting introduced to Terra's Fire and Celes' Ice? Whoa, this is overwhelming. It doesn't end there either. His magic casting costs nothing. There's even more than that. Here's a character that has the most powerful physical attack in the game, Stray Cat's Catscratch. Yep, the ability that's depicted in the game's artwork of Gau. This attack sets the damage infliction record throughout the WoB. Who is this character? Gau of course. Does it end there? Nah. He's got stats! Let's see here... Vigor at 44 (2nd place), Speed at 38 (2nd place), Magic Block at 18 (1st place), Stamina at 36 (2nd place), and Magic Defense,34 (2nd place) and Magic Power at 34 (5th place). Arn't Sabin and Cyan strong though? Yes they are. This is a very strong group right here. Gau becomes the prominent force. Why not Sabin? IF, if Sabin has Fire Dance at this point he rivals Gau when it comes to clearing monsters. Otherwise Gau's magic can clear out large groups of monsters quickly, while taking little damage with Safe. Cyan should have Quadra Slam by now. Unfortunately all the monsters are dead before he has a chance to use it.

Locke
Celes

Now we're introduced to enemy magic with Celes' Runic, an ability that's useless on 95% of enemies at this point. This basically makes her a Terra #2, except she casts Ice instead of Fire, which is a tad more powerful and costs 1 MP more. When she's not using magic, she becomes Locke #2. Her speed and vigor are a little less than Locke's at the expense of good magic power. Ice and Cure come in handy, so Celes is the better character here.

Setzer

A bit later on comes Setzer. Here's a man with high vigor and defense. Forget stats though, let's talk about abilities. Slot. It's a gamble. Will it be a worthless ability or will it actually do something. Chocobop is a little more powerful than Fire/Ice/Bolt. Not impressive. 7-flush is a little more powerful than Fire 2/Ice 2/Bolt 2. That's good. It doesn't cost anything. That's good. H-Bomb is a tad more powerful than Fire 3/Ice 3/Bolt 3. Nice! Um... and how often can you pull off an H-Bomb? 2 Fire 2's = 1 H-Bomb. You waste turns mugu muguing and you mugu yourself into worthless territory. Even H-Bomb becomes useless. Poor Setzer. Well you can pull off a 7-flush often. At this point in the game everyone is learning Fire 2/Ice 2/Bolt 2, but Setzer has an advantage. Uh oh, you got competition. "Swdtech" is getting hot, "Blitz" is hot, "Tools" is hot, and "Rage" is hotter. Where does that put Slot in comparison? Cold. But don't worry Setzer, your ability is still better than "Steal", "Runic" and "Magic". Nothing within the magic command can top 7-flush, assuming you can do a 7-flush everytime you use "Slot".

Who's the strongest in this statistical mess? Yep, Gau. Let's look at this quote again:

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Hell even Gau could be the best with enough work.

What work is required?

This post has been edited by i90east on 14th November 2003 05:46

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FFXI (Siren server)
Tauu the Windurstian Tarutaru!
White Mage & Paladin

i like smiley faces

Moderator Edit

What. Apparently you like useless posts, too. Don't post like this again. If you don't have anything to say, don't post.

This post has been edited by Neal on 14th November 2003 14:32

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My life is a chip in your pile. Ante up! - Setzer

Asheron's Call Characters
Azraelz - Level 133 Crossbow/Life Mage
Azacast - Level 86 Battlemage
Final Fantasy 11 Characters
Corwin - Level 10 Warrior

gau may seem to have made his way up to the top, but then again, umaro wasnt put into this mix.

Rage makes you vulnerable to attacks until you do something. We'll take your catscratch, for instance. That attack does max damage if im not mistaken. he may have the strongest attack in the game as you say, but not the abilitys of umaro.

Umaro can absorb fire and ice, which is way more useful later in the game. The magic Merton will tear up your team.....except umaro, who will get massive healing. if you feel like putting weak items on gau to prevent fire damage, then lets look at the randomness of attacks. Unless you have the blizzard orb on umaro, you dont do weak attacks. Gau may do regular attack...or magic...and thats just in one rage version...you know he wont always do the same thing. therefore i seem to believe that umaro is one of the best powerhouses in the game

This post has been edited by EdgarFigaro on 14th November 2003 15:19

That's great except for one thing: Gau wears the same armor, also making him able to absorb fire and ice. Plus Gau can wear a helmet and use a sheild, making his defensive abilities that much better than Umaro's (about 75 points better magic defense, with 88% evasion). Umaro's evasion is terrible! 15%! He dies all the time when I use him. Gau blocks nearly everything. Illumina and the Aegis Sheild make whoever is using them a great blocker as well (Celes in my game). With a Paladin Sheild Gau absorbs Fire, Ice, Lightning, Poison, Wind, Pearl, Earth and Water.

Umaro is a powerhouse, but you can't upgrade his stats, and he's not controllable at all. I doubt that Umaro's elemental attack does more damage than Shock, Flare Star and Ultima. That Magic Power stat stays at 37. Late in the game that's a very low stat. Plus some monsters absorb ice. You can't tell Umaro not to attack with ice, so he keeps healing the enemies.

Umaro's fixed stats:

Vigor 57
Speed 33
Stamina 46
MagPower 37
BatPower 198
Defense 217
MagDefense 158
MBlock 15%

A level 85 Gau:

Vigor 63
Speed 58
Stamina 60
MagPower 60
BatPower 109
Defense 255
MagDefense 226
MBlock 88%

Late in the game a speed stat of 33 is ancient. Gau's speed is almost twice as fast, as well as other properly trained characters. If Gau uses "Battle" instead of the specialty move, he's ready to attack again in no time. By the way "Battle" still does 4000-5000 damage late game, which is not bad.

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FFXI (Siren server)
Tauu the Windurstian Tarutaru!
White Mage & Paladin

relm starts with the highest magic ability in the game. she can also help strago get lores much easier with her sketch/control ability. her physical attack is weak however. but the thought that a ten year old can out magic the half-esper or magitek knight is rather amusing.
and gau--well gau just r0x. a brachosaur criting with swing STILL does 1 point of damage. w00t

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once you can accept yourself, you will never be alone

Storywise it doesn't make any sense that Relm has such high magic power. She's not a mage or anything, just a typical 10 year old girl who can paint. Heh

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FFXI (Siren server)
Tauu the Windurstian Tarutaru!
White Mage & Paladin

well, she decendes from the mage village, which are nothing but a buncha magic peoples(who for whatever reason, cant learn magic on thier own ) so thats how she would have strong magic power. but at 10--yeah, storywise a lil overpowered.

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once you can accept yourself, you will never be alone

Quote (the n00binator @ 14th November 2003 17:19)

but the thought that a ten year old can out magic the half-esper or magitek knight is rather amusing.

But Terra beats that by far when she morphs. As I know it, morphing doubles her magic power.

Also, I looked back at the first post in this thread, and I noted that somebody (the n00binator, I believe) mentioned that almost every character is a god. I couldn't resist thinking, "Hey, if the archvillain thinks he is and comes real close to becoming one, would the protagonists have to be too?"

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

It seems like a lot of us care about stats, but I usually pick my favorite characters based on personality and then level them up extra if I need to.

I like everybody in FF6, but I just don't like Relm as much as the others, and I like Strago only a bit more than Relm

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Get me off this Disciplinary Committee so I can play any FF except for FF8!!!

well, i fell in love with locke my first time thru the game. i saw him as the main character, and i always used him.
shadow...the badass ninja. nuff said. plus his music ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOX
relm is the smartmouth magic blasting child. with the only music other than gau's that rival shadow.(i actually may like hers best).

i like a few others...umaro, and strago. both because they are neat looking. and quasar is the COOLEST spell in the game, or i think so. and umaro throws people.

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once you can accept yourself, you will never be alone

there really isn't a best character, there isn't really anyone that even takes the role of main character.

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"Have you ever seen a baby do that before?"

This is the beauty of FF6. The wide array of characters make for an interesting play for people of all ages and personalities. While some characters develop more and have deeper storylines, each character has his/her own singular role that he/she is supposed to fit, so no matter who you are there's going to be a character your favor/like more than others.

As far as statistically/battle wise is concerned, I'm going to have to disagree and counteract some of the things i90east was saying about his most coveted character Gau..

.. I believe Gau's Berserk can cripple the party in situations where the party isn't supposed to attack.. Of course, you can easily say, "Just Don't Use Him", but if you're speaking in terms of "Availability" this can limit that category for Gau, and put him off to the sidelines in my "Critical/Key" portions of the game ..

.. His Statistics may be the highest when you first encounter Gau and begin to use him, but the fact that once you decide upon a Rage you no longer have the ability to Opt to another limits him as well, especially when there is a mixed proportion of enemies on the screen ..

Quote

All of the sudden you have a character capable of casting Fire 2, Elf Fire, Bolt 2, Demi, Bio, and Fire Ball among others.

.. Some enemies may be critically damaged by Elf Fire, some may be Healed by it, like in the Esper Cave .. He may be the strongest character statistically, but under a slightly limited basis .. Sometimes he can impede your work unless you're a Gau Expert and know every attack/command that comes along with each Rage .. So in saying, Gau can be your strongest at certain times, and completely useless at others, where as some characters can be the Strongest all the time, depending on how you use and play them, and are useful all the time ..

.. Sorry to rant .. lol ..

Well my friends this is all subject to opinion. But the best characters in my opinion are a toss up between Terra and Celes. The single most strongest female personalities ever in any Final Fantasy. Some could say Lulu from FFX but she has the advantage of everyone hearing the tone in her voice and her body language.

Terra overcomes being kept in the dark about her whole life for 18 years. And discovers the greatest emotion of them all.

Celes one must admire her as she starts the quest to rally the heros against Kefka.

Hi Living Tribunal.

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I believe Gau's Berserk can cripple the party in situations where the party isn't supposed to attack.. Of course, you can easily say, "Just Don't Use Him", but if you're speaking in terms of "Availability" this can limit that category for Gau, and put him off to the sidelines in my "Critical/Key" portions of the game.

If your party isn't supposed to attack, then use "Def". If you're talking about the boss Presenter, by then Gau can rely on magic in that situation. If there's another situation I'm not thinking of, please explain. Thanks.

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His Statistics may be the highest when you first encounter Gau and begin to use him, but the fact that once you decide upon a Rage you no longer have the ability to Opt to another limits him as well, especially when there is a mixed proportion of enemies on the screen.

In situations like this, the non-elemental attack Catscratch is a good bet. You definately have to think before choosing a rage. I understand what you're talking about. Once I used the Templar rage when fighting Shiva. Fire 2 did a lot of damage on her, but it healed Ifrit. Well after restarting at the nearby save point Catscratch did the job just fine. On the boss Number 024, Gau can rely on magic learned or use Catscratch again.

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Sometimes he can impede your work unless you're a Gau Expert and know every attack/command that comes along with each Rage ..

While it's fun experimenting with different rages, you don't need to know all of them. Just having a knowledge of the best rages is good enough.

It helps to know what elements enemies are weak or strong to, but unless you have a perfect knowledge of the game some trial and error is involved. Casting scan is also a good idea to figure out what works and what doesn't. This applies to all characters, not just Gau. When in doubt, use a good non-elemental attack like Catscratch.

Hey MorgueN.

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Well my friends this is all subject to opinion.

The "best character personality" is 100% subject to opinion. However certain characters clearly excel over others in combat. Combat situations are variable, but I believe that overall certain characters are better than others. It's really a balance issue in a statistical point of view.

This post has been edited by i90east on 17th November 2003 22:05

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FFXI (Siren server)
Tauu the Windurstian Tarutaru!
White Mage & Paladin

Y'all all don't realize the awesome power of Locke.
Not only is Locke the character whose story is developed the most, he is also the character that is most easily upgraded.
Using espers, no matter what stat you want to raise, it can be done. And, if you go to Tangnir Island in the WoB, you can teach him (as you can any other character) any spell you want. Most importantly, he can steal awesome weapons from most bosses.

The first time I beat FF6, Locke, Terra, Celes, and Sabin were my best characters and Locke was the strongest of all. He knew every single spell (as did Celes and Terra) and, with the magic +2 upgrade, he had a magic level of 99 at level 61. Terra only had level 76 and Celes 54. Sabin was really only good for his Bum Rush and 89 strength.
Locke can be upgraded any way you want. That's why he's so darned awesome. And he's loved by just about everyone cuz he's an awesome character and Square did a good job develping him.

I NEVER USED GAU EXCEPT IN THE BATTLE FOR NARSHE THE FIRST TIME!!!!! The time before you go to Zozo for the first time.

GAU IS A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME.
He can be upgraded only as much as any other character.

I don't think people like Gau for his story and looks not so much how strong he is. Take Locke for example, he may not be the best fighter but people just like him.
People usually don't pick their best character based on stats. They use someone they like. So what I'm saying is Gau could have perfect stats, skills, and magic and still not be liked.

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Hiding only delays the inevitable.

kiraillian, or whatever(i only looked at your name once, sorry to misspell). i am the #1 locke fanboy in the world, and even I realize he is not the best. he is ONE of the best, and id have him at third, going after shadow and gau(who i think are best over all). then would be terra. relm also has her merits(being the most powerful magic user). but once again, everyone is psycho gods in this game.

btw, you should try using gau. he has insane power with the stray cat rage.

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once you can accept yourself, you will never be alone

I have just heard something rather interesting on Shadow. I don't know if this is ture, but I think I read or heard from somewhere that if you use Shadow to throw the atma weapon at the last boss, you can kill him in one hit! So that would make him the strongest character in the game, unless other characters can kill Kefka in one hit.

As for Gau, I have always liked him. I just never could figger out on how to level what paticular stats up. I have heard, however, that he has some rages that are very powerful.

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I will be the mustard of your doom!

kirillian, your comments concern me.

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Not only is Locke the character whose story is developed the most, he is also the character that is most easily upgraded.

How is it easier to upgrade Locke in comparison to other characters?

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Using espers, no matter what stat you want to raise, it can be done.

Yeah, just like any other character. Unfortunately for Locke he has the 12th worst magic power stat, the 10th worst magic block (real evasion) stat and the 7th worst stamina stat. It takes a long time to get his stats up to a respectable level. You still want to go on about how competitive Locke is?

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Most importantly, he can steal awesome weapons from most bosses.

If that's all he's good for, then bring Shadow along with a theif knife. That way you'll have the throw command too.

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Locke can be upgraded any way you want. That's why he's so darned awesome.

Your arguments about how you can upgrade Locke mean absolutely nothing since you can upgrade any other character the same way.

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I NEVER USED GAU EXCEPT IN THE BATTLE FOR NARSHE THE FIRST TIME!!!!! The time before you go to Zozo for the first time. GAU IS A COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME.

Just because you don't use him doesn't mean he's a waste of time. If your ignorant then stay away from this discussion. If you're not ignorant, then feel free to explain away the disadvantages of using Gau. I'm interested in the motives behind your reasoning. If you simply don't like Gau's personality, then don't attack others who like him by saying he's a waste of time. It's not respectful.

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FFXI (Siren server)
Tauu the Windurstian Tarutaru!
White Mage & Paladin