Contents |
Basic Information
Base Stats
Vigor | 36 | Battle Power | +99 | Bonus HP | +12 |
Speed | 36 | Def/M.Def | 30/24 | Bonus MP | +0 |
Magic | 30 | Block/M.Block | 24/18 | Run Chance | V. High |
Stamina | 18 |
Gau has fairly decent stats all around, though he gets an almost trivial amount of extra HP, so be wary of that. His BPow is unusually high, but this is in part because Gau can equip only a handful of weapons, so he will spend a fair part of the early game unarmed.
Special Skill - Rage
Gau's primary ability is Rage. It's so important to how he functions that he lacks access to the basic Fight command that most other characters possess. Rage allows Gau to essentially mimic any monster that he has observed on his home turf, the Veldt, copying their various traits.
To learn a Rage, Gau must be on the Veldt, a specific area with unique music that the game introduces to the player in Sabin's scenario. While on the Veldt, various monster groups the player has already fought will appear in a semi-predictable order. The order can be thought of as a series of "slots" in which a handful of possible formations can appear; it may take a few cycles to get a different formation to appear (formations can also be "rerolled" by fighting a battle off the Veldt; the "slot" will not change).
Also while on the Veldt, Gau gains access to the special command "Leap." As long as he isn't alone, Gau can use "Leap" to immediately end the current battle. After a random number of additional battles (sometimes as few as one), Gau will return and rejoin the party as long as there is room for him. Gau will return knowing the Rage of every monster in the fight where he used Leap and the fight where he returned, but not from any fight in between.
When Gau knows a monster's Rage, he can use it at any time in battle. While in Rage status, Gau will become uncontrollable and will use one of two moves belonging to the monster. The first move will happen 2/3 of the time and the second will happen 1/3 of the time. In addition, Gau gains any inherent statuses or status immunities that the monster he's Raging has, as well as any elemental resistances or vulnerabilities that the monster possesses.
Rage is an incredibly complex ability and using it properly will depend upon knowing what each Rage does and what the monster it's associated with has for statuses and immunities. Remember, however, that Gau can wear equipment, and this can help him get around the normal weaknesses of the monster he is Raging. For example, if a monster is weak against Fire damage, Gau can equip an item that nullifies Fire damage, and the null property will take priority. Gau can use this to cover up weaknesses or just gain a ton of different status and element resistances, depending on what he is Raging.
A basic rundown of each monster and its attacks can be found in the Printme file; there's far too much detail to cover here. However, basic Rages fall into a handful of categories, so it's worth going over them generally:
Physical Attacks: Gau basically uses the Fight command. However, some attacks have a multiplier, meaning Gau's damage is actually multiplied by that amount. This can add up to a ton of damage with a 3x or 4x multiplier attack. Some physical attacks instead set a status; usually these have no multiplier and some don't do physical damage at all. Since these are physical attacks, they tend to be weaker if Gau is in the back row.
Magical Attacks: Gau uses some spell, Lore, or monster-specific ability. These are magical attacks and most use Gau's Magic stat to determine damage. A few Rages use Stamina instead of Magic; consult the Printme to determine which is the case for a given Rage. Since these attacks are magical in nature, Gau's row position doesn't matter.
Support Abilities: Gau uses a spell or healing ability, or casts some kind of buff on the party or debuff on the enemy. These are usually secondary Rages (the ones that happen 1/3 of the time), but sometimes they appear in the more common slot. They tend to either not depend on Gau's stats, or to depend on his Magic or Stamina depending on the ability.
NOTE: Some of Gau's Rages utilize Lore abilities. If Gau is in a party with Strago and uses a Rage that casts a Lore, Strago can learn it from seeing Gau use it. This can be helpful if you encountered a foe while Strago wasn't around but Gau picked up the Rage for it.
Espers
Stray | Stamina +2 | Fenrir | Speed +2 |
Gau has fairly basic selection where Espers are concerned. He has one WoB Esper and one WoR Esper, and both offer him +2 to one stat. As a result, he generally will want to mix the two to some extent.
Spells
Regen | (Fenrir) | Muddle | (Stray) |
Imp | (Stray) | ||
Bserk | (Stray) | ||
HasteX | (Fenrir) | ||
Warp | (Fenrir) |
Gau's spell selection is lean, owing to his relative lack of Espers, but what he does have is rather impressive. Regen is a modest heal, but Gau can acquire quite a lot of Stamina and so can make some good use of it. He has a handful of debilitating spells which go nicely with his wide array of damaging and supportive Rages, and he has the incredibly powerful Haste X spell to buff everyone before he starts Raging. He can also summon Fenrir to put Image on the whole party once per battle. Starting a boss battle with Haste X and Fenrir, then Raging something that is strong against the boss, can be a good way to use Gau effectively.
Equipment
Gau has a much broader equipment selection than might initially be expected for a monstrous kid. He can wear Light Armor as well as Hides and the Snow Muffler and Mirage Vest, most Hats (including the Cat Hood and Tiger Mask, amusingly enough), and he can equip most "light" Shields (primarily the elemental ones). Shields and Hides can go a long way toward shoring up Gau's defenses, and the Snow Muffler in particular provides exceptional protection. Think carefully about Gau's armor when deciding what to Rage, and try picking equipment that will offset any vulnerabilities or that will ensure extra immunities on top of what his Rages will provide. Combining Hides, an elemental Shield, and the right Rage can make Gau immune to an enormous number of elements in the right configurations.
Gau has only two weapons, not counting his reasonably strong bare hands. The first is the Bone Club, which will push his BPow to the cap. It makes his physical Rages vastly stronger, but it will be tricky to get it early in the game. The second is the Magic Bone, which raises his BPow far less than the Bone Club but provides a boost to his Magic stat. Since Gau cannot raise Magic with Espers, it's a good piece of equipment to use if he's Raging things that cast spells. The Magic Bone is not easy to find, but it may be possible to "acquire" one somewhere if the player is diligent. If you have either bone weapon, Gau should be using one; if not, he'll have to go bare-handed (but don't forget to give him a Shield!).
Gau has many Relic options, and what he can pick will depend heavily on what he is Raging at any given time. One thing to be aware of is that Gau will often pick up status immunities, so ask whether you really need a status-protecting Relic if Gau will be immune to most of what his enemies are likely to try to use on him while he's Raging. Offensive and general survival Relics are both good picks. Gau can use Umaro's Blizzard Orb and Rage Belt as well; although he cannot access the special attacks Umaro uses when he has those Relics equipped, they work as a magical and physical booster respectively for Gau and provide some elemental immunity.
Availability
Gau first appears in the World of Balance toward the end of Sabin's scenario, where he must be befriended on the Veldt through liberal application of Dried Meat. After he joins, he'll help Sabin and Cyan to the final dungeon of the scenario, but he can also stick around on the Veldt for a bit learning helpful Rages. Gau is available for the Narshe Battle, Zozo, IMRF, and Sealed Gate sequences, but not for Crescent Island. He comes back for the Floating Continent.
In the World of Ruin, Gau is right back where he usually is, on the Veldt. As soon as the party acquires the Falcon, Gau can be recruited by simply flying to the Veldt and fighting with a party of no more than 3 members until he appears and enters the party automatically.
Note that it's sometimes possible to Leap Gau off on the Veldt and then leave the Veldt - and Gau - to progress the story. In these instances Gau will not be available until the player can return to the Veldt and get him back. There's no good reason to do this intentionally except in the case of certain weird Low Level Game strategies, so try not to forget Gau when you're ready to leave the Veldt!
Build & Role Options
The Brutal Beatdown
Gau can act fast, and Gau can hit hard. One theory behind using Gau, then, is to crank up the attack power and turn him loose. While Gau cannot raise his Vigor or Magic directly, he has enough in the way of equipment options and Rage benefits that he can become an especially deadly attacker, particularly given how much Speed he often has.
It's impossible to recommend a specific set of equipment for Gau as an attacker as it will depend entirely upon what Rage is being used to deal damage. Elemental Rages probably want a Magic Bone and equipment that supplements and boosts Magic, while physical multiplier Rages will want the Bone Club and plenty of Vigor and Speed. The main thing to always remember is that some Rages can put additional holes in Gau's defenses, so plan his equipment spread to cover those deficiencies.
The main weakness of an attacking Gau is that he will be using equipment more oriented toward offense, and Gau is a character with low HP. Think carefully about his inherent Rage-set statuses, his gear, and how enemies are going to attack him before using him in an attacking role. His Speed is no advantage if he keeps getting killed. It may well be worth sacrificing a little offensive power to equip something like the Snow Muffler or Red Cap for extra defense and HP.
CRITICAL ESPERS - Fenrir
Gau does more damage the more frequently he attacks, and with Rage putting him on auto-pilot his only real delay is the small command delay every time his ATB bar fills. He arguably benefits from Speed more than any other character due to the automatic nature of Rage, so Speed can literally kill for Gau.
USEFUL ESPERS - Stray
That being said, too much Speed can also literally kill Gau. Some Stamina can help him immensely, giving him boosted Regen ticks and protection from fractional damage and status spells that can short-circuit his Rage. There's no harm in up to half of Gau's levels being Stray even if you intend to build him Fenrir-heavy.
The Feral Supporter
While Gau can be a fast attacker, that's hardly the only thing in the massive toolbox that is Rage. His various Rages contain heals, buffs and debuffs, and all sorts of other good things that he often supplements with a decent, if not fantastic attack as a secondary or primary to the initial Rage. Many of the "weaker" Rages also have pretty fantastic inherent statuses or overall immunities. While Gau certainly likes being fast, he's already pretty fast to begin with, and it doesn't take that much Fenrir to make him plenty fast overall. Why not use the lion's share of his levels for Stray instead?
Plenty of Stray gets Gau a number of things. It doesn't really affect the actual power of his Vigor or Magic-based Rages, since those are more gear-oriented; it just makes them a tiny bit slower to execute. In exchange, he needs less +Stamina from equipment to get similar or superior Regen ticks and spell protection. Plus, there are several Rages that actually use his Stamina to calculate damage, so he could very well make up the difference by Raging one of them instead! All that Stamina also means Gau can wrap himself up in a Snow Muffler, pick the right elemental shield, wear a Life Bell, Rage the right Rage, and become effectively unkillable. In a few instances, it might even be possible for Gau to defeat some bosses all by himself. It won't be quick, necessarily, but set up properly it can be remarkably safe.
The only real weakness to Gau in a supportive role is the same weakness Rage generally has: It's fairly narrowly-focused. If you want to change what Gau is Raging, he's going to need to die or be incapacitated first. That's not a big deal when Gau is just supposed to attack, attack, attack, but it matters a bit more if Gau is meant to be buffing or debuffing and keeps doing the wrong thing or is no longer needed for that role. If using Gau for a specific defensive or supportive Rage, make sure the rest of the party can cover the niches Gau isn't filling.
CRITICAL ESPERS - Stray
If an offensive Gau would want up to half his levels in Stray, a more defensive Gau can easily take vastly more levels than that, perhaps as many as 3/4 or even more. It's not entirely unimaginable to take nothing but Stray levels, even, though at least a little extra Speed is a good idea.
USEFUL ESPERS - Fenrir
A more Stamina-heavy Gau probably wants no more than 5 or so Fenrir levels, depending on how many levels Gau has available to work with. A little more isn't bad if he has extra levels, but the goal here isn't to make him a speedy demon, just speedy in general. If he's set up right, he shouldn't need a whole lot of +Stamina gear, so if he does go offense-oriented he can focus more heavily on +Speed and +Vigor/Magic anyway.