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I don't think that they are useless. When I get stuck with crappy characters, I use Kirin to make sure that I don't get pwned by the enemy and if the enemy primarily uses physical attacks, Phantom comes in handy. Not to mention that if the Espers weren't there, NONE of the people would have magic unless they were Celes or Terra, or if they learned it from equipment.

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j00 be teh pwned

If the Espers weren't therednobody would NEED magic because

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The Empire would never have become obsessed with magic, Kefka would never have come to power and General Leo would pwn everybody. Also without espers neither Terra nor Celes would have magic (Terra gets hers from her Esper blood and Celes' comes from an esper magic infusion.

But I think the question was: Are espers worthless compaired to the spells they teach?

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There is a time and a place for everything, and I am niether

That is true that they wouldn't need the magic, but what kind of a FF game would it be if there was no magic to learn/use?

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j00 be teh pwned

I think we all agree that offensive summons are useless, but status-inflicting summons, be it on the enemy party (Siren) or on yourself (Phantom, ZoneSeek) can be very usefull, especially since normal spells only target one target at a time.

Oh yeah, and what's up with that Stray? He seriously has NO use. He costs a lot of MP, has a Hit Rate inferior to the NoiseBlaster (Perfect Hit Rate) and doesn't even look cool at all.

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The Collapse of Heaven and Earth

The only summon that I have ever found useful is phantom. Other than that, all the summons that I have ever got are completely useless. The only reason I use summons is to get either magic or stat bonus's. I usually use sommons to get the stat bonus's and when they reach a high lvl with that bonus I then start training them with a bit of magic. It's longer and more difficult this way, but the ending results have always been good.

But look at me going on and rambling about this. So basically, I've never found summons that useful.

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I will be the mustard of your doom!

The only useful thing I think that espers have is that they have you learn spells and they give extra bonuses for gaining levels if you have certain ones equipped when you gain a level.

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Profanity is for those who lack the intelligence and imagination to otherwise express themselves.

Revelation 19-22
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Favorite FF -------------- FFVI
Favorite FF character - Unsure (Setzer or Vivi)
Favorite FF songs ----- FFVI
Favorite Esper: Ragnarok
Favorite Magic: Ultima

This is by Master Zed

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Other than that, Palidor may be the only truly underrated summon since the power that drives that spell is the entire party's ability to deal physical damage. It's not as cheap as GG/Offering since to max its effects you'd need to dedicate four members to the attack, but the effects can be far more horrific. Four members plus four Dragon Horns equals eight to sixteen hits on the enemy party. Hell, just having four members means four hits to the enemy party. Now add in stuff like Tempest (not wholly endorsed, read the Glitches and Bugs guide), spears, and the fact that your non-Palidor-casting members can combo their attacks with the Palidor-cocerced jump attack so that when they land they immediately launch another attack, and the amount of hits you could get are incredible indeed. Think of it this way; One guy decides to cast Palidor and is guaranteed to move before the other members do. Let's say he has a Dragon Horn, as do the other three, but they also have the Gem Box, the Offering, and the DragoonBoots. Caster lands for 2-4 hits, Gem Box guy lands for 2-4 hits but immediately deals out something like Ultima/Quick which in turn allows him to deal four more Ultimas, guy with the Offering lands for 2-4 hits then Fights for four more hits, then the last guy lands for 2-4 hits and jumps again leading to another 2-4 hits when he comes back. You could even make one of those people Gogo and have two guaranteed Palidors before making the combination strikes. Overpowered? Hell yes it is. I'm just saying that if you're fanatical about five Ultimas or Offering, that you're missing out on the most powerful combination attack in the game by ignoring Palidor.

K, I'm done ranting.

This is by The_Pink_Nu1

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I heartily agree with Master ZED. Yes, while most Espers are useless (even though I love using Alexander for looks) besides Odin and Raiden, Palidor is often looked over. ZED did shed new light on it for me, citing a zillion attack combinations. I usually used Palidor, however, when I tried something crazy...like tackling Kefka's Tower under Level 30. One of THE best moments in video game history for me was when I was fighting Atma. Well, under Level 30, this is one tough customer. Thanks to Life 3 I managed to hang on to the fight for a while. After a long time, though, I had exhausted everything - and I mean EVERYTHING (down to the last Phoenix Down and Tincture). All four characters were alive (although extremely weak - down into the 100 - 500 HP range), and Shadow had MP but no curative spells, BUT he had Palidor equipped. Well, Atma gears up for an Ultima spell (you know, when he lights up). OK, given my situation, I'm fucked. As a last resort, I call upon Palidor, seeing that's all I can do really anyways besides pull off a lame attack with a crappy knife. The bird picked me up, and Ultima MISSED when Atma cast it! My guys jumped down and killed him!! It was so wonderful! 

I totally agree with the both of you! Palidor is one of the best summons in FF6, and it is also one of my top 5 favorites. Palidor saves lives, probably better than the other summons, and can even give you some time to hide and think of your next move if you are fighting a tough enemy. I use Palidor, and Fenrir very often when fighting the Brachosaur, cause it really does help alot. and yes, Master Zed is right, that is the best combo ever in the game, and that is some crazy damage.