Final Fantasy VI Tips Thread

Hey everyone.

Just making a quick thread since I'm currently playing Final Fantasy VI and would like to post some things that have helped me with the game, as it can be quite challenging at times, especially on "Active" ATB where the enemy does not wait for your turns to strike.

Also, some of these points I have simply forgotten over the years, as I'm sure some of you have, so it's important to refresh ourselves with the game.

#1 - Use Gau. Seriously, this little guy is a freak of nature. Not only is he very strong, but his "Rage" ability is by far the best special ability in the game thus far. Here are some interesting abilities that I've discovered:

a. Mu. Use this against larger enemies or any enemies that you feel could be snared. The snare attack causes the enemy to be instantly defeated, and it works against a large range of enemies, including large types.

b. Bomb. Casts Flare, sometimes on all the enemies on the screen and is nice against magic-susceptible enemies.

c. Gold Bear. Uses the Gouge feat that causes a high amount of physical damage against your opponent.

These are my 3 most-used, but half the fun of using Gau is developing a strategy of your own and experimenting with his various Rage abilities.

2. Steal from everyone. Locke is a must-have in the party because of his Steal/Mug abilities. You can steal rare items from bosses as well as regular enemies, and often you will find certain characters carry very useful items that you can pilfer every time you encounter them. Make sure to steal the boss's item before killing him, if you are a more advanced user.

3. Choose your equipment carefully. Raw defense power is not always the best if you're giving up an item that boosts statistics in some way. There is a careful trade-off that must be considered when purchasing and upgrading your character's gear.

4. Browse the Bestiary after fighting a new enemy type in a new area. Often, you will encounter this enemy type quite a few times while exploring the area, and it's a good idea to figure out the most efficient way to deal with them. Some enemies can be confused, or petrified, and knowing these weaknesses will save you time and money in the long run.

5. When considering a party to take on magical enemies or a special, magical boss, consider using Celes's "Runic" ability as a means to diffuse their magic spells. This ability renders many offensive magic users defenseless once you start absorbing their magic attacks. Just make sure to quickly select "Runic" as soon as her turn comes up or you could be too late for the next round of attacks.

I'll think of more, but here are 5 tips to start out with. Enjoy, and feel free to add any of your own tips in this thread!

#1 - Use Gau. Seriously, this little guy is a freak of nature. Not only is he very strong, but his "Rage" ability is by far the best special ability in the game thus far.

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I would recommend the opposite. He, Cyan and a 3rd character I won't spoil are borderline useless. Gau and the 3rd character are borderline useless due to how unpredictable they are, which makes them a liability in the fights that actually matter (there is a 3rd "random" character as well that has some niche uses). Cyan suffers from his special ability scaling horribly. The stronger moves require more time, and the ones that have an impact on the late game will take so long to wind up that you could have got two attacks through with everyone while waiting, which would have had far more impact than the move Cyan would end up using.

Actually, the character balance in FF VI is not very good. Terra & Celes are both incredibly strong, Locke, Edgar & Sabin are good through the entire game, but fail to impress when it matters, and one of the hidden characters has the potential to be great in the right party. The rest are unimpressive to say the least. The blue Mage is one that I never bothered with because I was lazy, the "pure" mage was useful in the right situations but was more effort than she was worth, the gambler was at least a bit useful, as was the ninja, and three characters were built on randomness and only one was actually useful due to something you'll find late game.

The latest port changes Cyan's ability so that others can attack and move while Cyan is charging up. So, at least there's that.

Gau is unpredictable but perhaps the AI has been tweaked in the Android version, because he performs more than he fails. I can't tell you how many powerful enemies Gau has snared with the Mu ability, I've lost count. When he's not casting his special magic, he does a regular attack that also deals good damage. Surprisingly, he's also decent with magic, but I would focus him more on a speed and strength build.

I think all the characters are useful, but I don't powergame things or take it too seriously. I enjoy just coming up with my own little group and being creative putting it together based on how I feel, not on how powerful it will be. I look forward to trying more characters as I get them. It's going to make it tough to just use one group, that's for sure.

If you don't mind cheating by reading old FAQs for the most overpowered rages, Gau is great and always was -- especially on long slogs when MP conservation matters.

No cheating for me. And yes, he's great when you have to conserve MP as well.

Thanks, this will come in handy.

Is it possible to make combat more turn-based? (no enemies attacking while you think on what to do) I think I remember the game saying so, but I can't figure out what options need to be changed.

Elel said:

Thanks, this will come in handy.

Is it possible to make combat more turn-based? (no enemies attacking while you think on what to do) I think I remember the game saying so, but I can't figure out what options need to be changed.

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Yes, this is possible by going to the Config menu and turning the *whatever it's called* to "Wait" instead of "Active". "Wait" essentially slows the pace drastically and turns it into more of a turn-based game. "Active", on the contrary, speeds up the game and leads to a higher difficulty level as well as a faster pace. Both are fun to play depending on the player, but for the added difficulty bonus, I prefer "Active". You can even adjust the speed of the Active setting to make it harder or easier based on your own skills. Fun stuff!

Cool, thanks. I wish "more turn-based" didn't mean "easier", but it's ok. I prefer turn-based to action so much that I'm going to flip it to "wait" no matter what.

I'm playing this game for the first time, hopefully it's as good as people keep saying. Playing some newer FF games (X, X-2, XIII, XIII-2, etc.) still has me disbelieving in FF franchise on the whole. I didn't really like those and didn't want to touch another FF with a hundred-foot pole for a while. But friends say old games were different and done by different people, you must try, you must try!

Elel said:

Cool, thanks. I wish "more turn-based" didn't mean "easier", but it's ok. I prefer turn-based to action so much that I'm going to flip it to "wait" no matter what.

I'm playing this game for the first time, hopefully it's as good as people keep saying. Playing some newer FF games (X, X-2, XIII, XIII-2, etc.) still has me disbelieving in FF franchise on the whole. I didn't really like those and didn't want to touch another FF with a hundred-foot pole for a while. But friends say old games were different and done by different people, you must try, you must try!

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The older Final Fantasy games are great games. VI is probably my favorite out of all of them, with VII a close 2nd.

Unfortunately, it does seem that "Wait" means easier. I wish there were a difficulty slider or something, but the added difficulty comes from the "Active" setting, since enemies can attack you even while you are browsing to find an attack to unleash.

"Active" is sort of like speed chess, in a way.

In that case maybe I'll switch to Active eventually, after playing more and getting used to this system. It's pretty new to me. And I have bad habits like stopping in the middle of the battle and going off to drink tea.

Yeah I hope this game is great, but I'm trying not to have high expectations. This way if it's great I'll be pleasantly surprised, and if not no big loss.

Unfortunately I think I got spoilt about one pivotal plot moment. It's hard to avoid spoilers for games that are very old even if you go out of your way to do that.

Elel said:

In that case maybe I'll switch to Active eventually, after playing more and getting used to this system. It's pretty new to me. And I have bad habits like stopping in the middle of the battle and going off to drink tea.

Yeah I hope this game is great, but I'm trying not to have high expectations. This way if it's great I'll be pleasantly surprised, and if not no big loss.

Unfortunately I think I got spoilt about one pivotal plot moment. It's hard to avoid spoilers for games that are very old even if you go out of your way to do that.

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Yeah. That plot twist is one of the best ever. But the game still has plenty of plot and intrigue to fill in the rest of the game as well, so don't worry.

I really like taking my time and connecting more with the "cutscenes" and characters. The translation of the new version is truly modern and excellent, if a bit different than the original translation. You can really get sucked into this strange world if you let yourself get absorbed in it, and that's one of the best aspects of the game - pure immersion for those who invest.

I think you'll eventually want to switch to "Active" to have more of a challenge. I'm thinking of boosting the speed to maximum myself for more of a challenge, because once you have a few winning strategies, it's cool to test them out in the speed gauntlet, so to speak. And this approach certainly makes for some tense, exciting and blood-pumping moments, for sure!

Plus, you can always switch back to "Wait" if you want to try new strategies or practice and experiment. Learning what each of Gau's abilities do, for example.

I sincerely hope you have fun and enjoy it! Wish I could go back and play it for the first time again, but I'd have to rewind about 23 years or so!

One new tip - Take your time! Have fun experimenting with new battle strategies. Learn what the different characters are capable of. Form a party that you like and don't be afraid to switch in new characters to get a feel for them. Each character is very unique and brings something new to the table, so find out which characters speak to you and use them.

Well, the game is mostly very easy so it doesn't matter which characters you use... just use your favourite ones

Also here is one spoiler which you might want to read as it is really annoying:

I heard something about an items that allows one to avoid random encounters. If possible, I'd like to be spoiled on when and where to obtain it!

Elel said:

I heard something about an items that allows one to avoid random encounters. If possible, I'd like to be spoiled on when and where to obtain it!

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Rage quit at the opera. How are you supposed to get by all those rats so fast!? I tried a smoke bomb and just got a "you can't escape" message. I *should* be able to dodge them but the controls really aren't accurate enough to get me through doors reliably, never mind getting around these rats. I don't think I'm going to be able to take that "singing" again tonight.

P.S. Keyboard definitely seems better than controller on this version.

Zloth said:

Rage quit at the opera. How are you supposed to get by all those rats so fast!? I tried a smoke bomb and just got a "you can't escape" message. I *should* be able to dodge them but the controls really aren't accurate enough to get me through doors reliably, never mind getting around these rats. I don't think I'm going to be able to take that "singing" again tonight.

P.S. Keyboard definitely seems better than controller on this version.

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I got by them by simply fighting most of them, except for one near the beginning which I was able to dodge. Fight them as fast as possible.

That's what I ended up doing, Fluent. Basically, I threw mana to the wind and summoned at them every time. If you don't bring those rats down fast, more rats show up and really burn your time.

I recorded some of the opera just in case I need to torture myself sometime in the future.

Everyone… I finally got to playing this game, and I'm shocked. Unpleasantly. Maybe you can help?

Spoilers will follow.

In the beginning everything was ok. The story was ok. The problems started to crop up when they entered the train and it turned out that it was a train delivering the departed to the other side. I had trouble coping with this. I thought FFVI was a realistic game, why did it mix in supernatural elements? So, eventually they pulled two levers and stopped the train. And then the train TALKED. It TALKED. TALKED! I don't know how to cope with a talking train… And then they fought with the train! Running backwards… They beat up the train with their freaking SWORDS…

Am I supposed to laugh at this, are these comedy elements? I just don't get it. I'm trying to find some desire to continue, people say it's a masterpiece and I want to see why for myself.

Any comments? Weren't you put off by all this?

Laugh at it, assume they were high or something when they wrote it, and play on. It does get even weirder down the road, but that's ok, it's all make believe and stuff. All those final fantasy games I find hugely creepy, but mostly in a good way, albeit it strange and incomprehensible at times.

So in a game in which you've been battling all kinds of monsters and using magic from the start, you're suddenly put off by supernatural elements because you thought FFVI was realistic?