Character Guide Overview

Current Version

The current version Brave New World is 1.5.0; this guide is written according to it. Earlier versions of the mod may not have the same content, same values, or same in-game information.

How To Use This Guide

This guide is meant to help players with a passing (or passionate) familiarity with the systems of Final Fantasy VI and/or the Brave New World mod understand how the characters behave. It is meant to overview their stats, special abilities, and build options, without necessarily being a definitive guide to how each character should be built. There are many options for each character both in terms of stat growth and possible role; nothing should be taken as definitive just because it is or isn't in this guide!

General Information

How Stats Work In Final Fantasy VI

Every character in Final Fantasy VI has numerous statistics which govern their behavior in battles. While not every character in Brave New World can raise every stat naturally, nearly every stat is useful to every character in some capacity. The stats are as follows:

Level: Each character has a level between 1 and 50 (down from a cap of 99 in the unmodified game). Level is a major determining factor in how much damage a character can deal and how much baseline HP and MP the character will have. Brave New World normalizes most level gains between characters, so characters will gain the same general benefits for leveling up as other characters do. In addition, leveling up allows a character to earn bonus stats when they equip Espers. Two characters - Terra and Celes - will also learn some magic spells, and two other characters - Sabin and Cyan - will learn new abilities for their unique command, at specific levels.

HP: A number representing the character's health. They will be KO'd (unable to act) if HP is reduced to zero and will require an item or spell to revive back to fighting shape.

MP: A number representing the character's magical capacity. All spells used through the Magic command (including Esper Summons) cost some MP, and some other abilities or equipment effects may also cost MP. If the MP cost of a spell or ability cannot be paid, the ability will not work.

Vigor: This stat is equivalent to Strength (and is called such in later translations of the official game). It is used in a calculation to determine how much damage is dealt by the Fight command, as well as certain characters' special commands. It has no defensive benefits.

Magic: This stat is used in a calculation to determine how much damage is dealt by offensive spells, as well as how much HP is healed by most healing spells. Some characters' special commands also make use of their Magic stat. It has no defensive benefits, except that it can boost the power of healing spells.

Speed: This stat determines how quickly a character's Active Time Battle (ATB) bar fills up. The faster a character's ATB bar fills, the more often they can take action. Some special abilities also utilize a character's Speed stat. It has no defensive benefits, although a higher Speed may allow a character to act before enemies can attack.

Stamina: This stat did very little in the base game, but has a greatly expanded role in Brave New World. While Stamina can take the place of Magic in a few offensive abilities' calculations, this is rare. Most of Stamina's benefits are defensive in nature: It influences the severity of the Regen, Poison, and Seizure statuses, and it allows characters to avoid certain effects (especially status effects) that they could not otherwise evade. Stamina is the only stat that every character (except Gogo and Umaro) can raise through Espers, but it is also often the lowest starting stat for most characters.

Battle Power: This stat is added to the Battle Power of a character's equipped weapon, and is used in a calculation alongside Vigor and Level to determine how much damage is dealt by a character with the Fight command. It generally has no effect on the damage dealt by characters' special commands, such as Blitz or Bushido. Characters in Brave New World have slightly different base Battle Power, so two characters using the same weapon may deal different damage even at the same level and Vigor total. Battle Power is capped at 255 unless a character is dual wielding (using two weapons) or two-handing their weapon.

(Magic) Defense: These stats represent a character's ability to take less damage from attacks. Defense governs damage from physical sources and Magic Defense governs damage from magical sources. The formula for defense is non-linear, meaning very high levels of Defense will lower damage taken by significantly more than low levels of Defense will. Equipment in Brave New World is generally designed to prevent a character from having extremely high Defense and Magic Defense at the same time, so a character may have to choose between noticeably resisting physical damage or magical damage or taking slightly less damage from all sources. Some attacks and abilities ignore Defense and will not be reduced by it no matter how much a character has! Like Battle Power, characters have different baseline Defense scores.

(Magic) Evasion: These stats represent a character's ability to avoid attacks entirely. Evasion governs physical attacks and Magic Evasion governs magical attacks. Note that a bug existed in the original release of the game that made the Evade stat worthless and non-functional; this bug does not exist in Brave New World, so both stats work correctly against only physical or magical attacks respectively! The percentage chance of avoiding an attack rises as the Evade stat rises, but the value is not a straight percentage; 100 Evade is not the same thing as 100% physical evasion rate! It is generally not possible to avoid every attack of either type even with full equipment dedicated to that purpose, but evasion rates can become very high if a character is dedicated to them. Some attacks cannot be evaded, no matter how high the respective Evade stat is! As with Defense, characters have different baseline values for their Evades, and some are better at avoiding one type of attack than others.

Run Chance: This is a special stat which is hidden in-game. It is used in a formula that determines when characters can flee a battle (by pressing both the L and R buttons simultaneously in fights that permit fleeing). This value cannot be directly adjusted; some characters are just better at running away than others.

Esper Restrictions & Stat Growth

The primary feature of Brave New World is its Esper system. Final Fantasy VI allows characters to equip "Espers," the remains of powerful spirits, to teach them magical spells as well as to summon in combat for various benefits. In addition, Espers will raise a character's statistics each time the character levels up with that Esper equipped. These bonuses are permanent, and Espers may be swapped around at any time to raise different statistics on the next level up. This aspect of Brave New World is identical to the base game.

Unlike the base game, however, Brave New World restricts the various Espers so that they may only be used by select characters. This means that not every character can learn every spell, or summon every Esper, or even raise the same stats! Due to the selection of Espers available, some characters simply cannot raise certain stats at all when leveling up. The idea behind these restrictions is to create "roles" for certain characters, allowing them to be built for certain purposes but not for others.

For example, Gau can no longer learn the Cure line of spells. Thus, Gau cannot easily be a healer without the use of his special Rage command, and is therefore less reliable than a character like Setzer, who learns many more direct healing spells. Setzer, in turn, does not have as many supportive spells as Gau, making Setzer more fit to be a healer than a supportive caster and offensive character like Gau is. The Espers available to each character reinforce this: Setzer can raise his HP and MP along with his Magic, making him a much better healer who can take a hit, while Gau cannot raise any of those statistics but can raise his Speed, allowing him to attack far more frequently than Setzer ever could.

Rather than being seen as limitations on gameplay, see Esper restrictions more as a way to focus each character on a role that makes sense for them to allow for more diverse parties. Cyan, for example, makes an excellent physical damage dealer or a hearty physical tank with some healing abilities, but he is not really capable as a mage. To complement his abilities, you might choose to level up Terra as an offensive caster with strong healing on the side, and place them in a party together. Or perhaps you intend to make Terra a physical powerhouse as well, and instead build Sabin with a great deal of Stamina and HP so that he can heal Cyan or Terra when in a party with them. As a result, you can build a party not simply based on preferred characters, but on roles each character is able to play based on the levels they have gained with Espers and their special abilities, which generally assist them in those roles.

Equipment

As with the base game, Brave New World restricts what equipment characters can use. Not all characters can equip shields, or wear heavy armor, or utilize powerful two-handed or dual-wieldable weaponry. A character's base statistics from Esper growth are only part of the equation when determining their total stats, as equipment can raise certain stats significantly, as well as increase HP and MP by large percentages. And of course, what weapons a character can equip can have a strong influence on how powerful their Fight command will be.

In addition to weapons and armor, Brave New World has significantly overhauled the Relic system. As in the base game, each character may equip up to two Relics at once. Unlike the base game, most Relics have their own advantages and disadvantages and few are direct upgrades. Some have weak passive effects, but significant boosts to stats; others provide significant defense on top of a character's armor; still others have powerful and unique passive effects that can completely change a character's playstyle, grant them new special abilities, or greatly increase the amount of damage and healing they can dish out.

An advanced tactic is to look at the equipment that a character is likely to be able to use and plan their build around the stats they are going to gain from their equipment. A character who can raise their Speed significantly by equipment might not need to raise it through Esper levels, but on the other hand, a character who already has high Magic might want to combine their Esper levels and equipment to boost Magic as well in order to massively increase the damage they deal. Compensating for a characters' weaknesses or enhancing their strengths can sometimes be done with either Espers or equipment, but in some cases only equipment will raise certain stats. Esper levels are also permanent, while equipment can be switched out for other gear at the player's discretion. Keep that in mind when planning your characters.

Characters

Terra Branford

A versatile character and powerful spellcaster with the capacity to deal incredibly potent damage through her Morph command. Terra can serve as a healer, a physical or magical damage dealer, or a little bit of all of the above.

Locke Cole

A speedy physical damage-dealer and thief with surprisingly viable healing and offensive magic. Locke can easily carry a party through the early stages of the game, or hold off and turn himself into a late game supporter.

Edgar Roni Figaro

A support character who can clear random encounters with ease and deal surprising single-target damage through the Tools or Jump commands. His utility runs from spells to restoring life and MP to just plain taking hits like a champ.

Sabin Rene Figaro

A powerful brawler with high base stats and great HP who can use his Blitz command or elemental claws to deal potent damage or restore his party's HP and MP while laughing at status effects and regenerating mountains of his own HP.

Celes Chere

A versatile support caster and resilient fighter with high base stats and the ability to build herself for almost any role. Celes has the equipment and Esper selection to branch out in almost every direction, but no matter what she does she'll be incredibly difficult to take down... and her Runic ability can shield the rest of the party from hostile magic, making them hard to kill as well.

Cyan Garamonde

A powerful samurai whose blade and Bushido abilities can do enormous damage while also having a surprising degree of versatility in debuffing foes. Oh, and he's solid as a rock (although about as slow as one too).

Shadow

A ninja who is everything you'd expect out of one: Fast, evasive, strong both in offense and supportive roles... and quite fragile. He also has a dog who might be stronger than some members of the party! One of the hardest characters to recruit, but well worth it when he's finally secured.

Gau

A wild child with the ability to mimic the powers of monsters, plus use some potent support magic on the side. Monsters are incredibly strong in Brave New World, and as a result, so is Gau. His complex nature can make him hard to grasp, but with a little study and preparation he can shut down battles on his own.

Setzer Gabbiani

A gambler through and through, Setzer is also a bulky healer who can win even when he loses at his Slots command by providing the party with free HP. With tons of healing spells and access to heavy equipment, Setzer will stay on his feet even when the chips (and rest of the group) are down.

Mog

A wacky dancing moogle, Mog is no mere mascot and certainly no joke. With a variety of eclectic builds, Mog can exploit either powerful free abilities, a Dragoon build, or serve as a unique tank who can hurt enemies with magic as much as with his Fight command. His quirkiness can make him hard to build, but his fantastic equipment options should never be overlooked.

Strago Magus

No doddering grandpa, Strago may be a bit slow and not as good at taking a punch as he used to be, but his unique Lore command supplements his powerful magical abilities, letting him do things few other characters can do. And with the highest Magic stat in the game, he can hit like a truck too.

Relm Arrowny

A little girl who enjoys painting, swearing, healing her party, and whipping every ass, Relm may not look like much when she first joins but can quickly become the project character to end all project characters. With plenty of Magic and Speed, she can serve as a pint-sized healer with apocalyptic offensive power and a near-bottomless reserve of MP.

Umaro

The noble yeti does what he will. Fortunately, what he will is "smash your foes into powder." He's slow, can't be equipped with anything but Relics, and can't equip Espers, but his base stats are so high it'd be overkill if he could be. Turn him loose and you have quite a lot of physical damage on your hands... just don't expect him to listen to instructions.

Gogo

The versatile mimic can't equip Espers, but there's very little else it can't do. Utilizing other characters' skills and the potent Mimic command, Gogo is still extremely multifaceted in Brave New World. However, other characters' ability to increase their stats with Espers means Gogo is generally a jack of all trades but a master of none.