thzfunnymzn

1 hour ago, BTB said:

Making Rune Edge early WoR is actually a pretty good idea. It's not like it sees much sue where it's at right now, anyhow. I'll put that in the "1.8.7" pile along with a Blackjack nerf.

W00T!!

1 hour ago, BTB said:

An earlier Mantra is a tougher sell... I agree it would be nice to have a healer other than Celes for Zozo, but healing is really the only thing she's bringing to the table there, anyway. Frankly, I'd be more keen on swapping Mantra and Aurabolt and maybe giving Aurabolt a little boost. If needed.

I'm really not impressed with Celes as a healer in Zozo. Mostly because of the Dadaluma fight & Dried Meats for OoB healing. Runic is useless in that fight, NoiseBlaster takes care of the Fighters quite nicely so there's not critical need for AoE healing, and Cure isn't the best answer to Jump, Elbow Drop, or Spoon. A Conjurer Rage + Healing Shiv combo is far better suited for Dadaluma than Celes. Also, again, I'd rather spend money on a Dried Meat stockpile for OoB healing, rather than Tinctures for Celes.

If you want Celes to have something besides healing for Zozo & IMF, the things you need are Poison (Zozo) and defense-ignoring (IMF). Poison is possible via her natural magic - axe Ice 2, maybe exchange Alexander's Demi for Remedy (Alex all ready teaches Quartr). As for defense-ignoring, I say the flails: undead killing flails are hugely redundant with Flametongue & Cure 2 anyways. It'd give vig Celes some immediate use. Also, Celes would have to choose between attack power (flails) or Runic guard (swords), so it's not a straight buff, it'd be more about opening up options. Which is something vig Celes might appreciate even in the FC - unlike Terra, she's all ready got Ice/Bolt access, so this allows vig Celes to play differently from mag Celes in the WoB. (Rune Edge WoR is still great. Thank you!! ^ _ ^ )

Again, the important thing to remember is that, the more healing resources become available to the player, the less valuable Mantra becomes. After the IMF, it's competing with Go Fish, Terra, and Gau's shiny new Rages. Even Locke's & Edgar's Cure 2 puts up hard competition at this point. Also, you'd only really gain the Sealed Cave & the IAF. Aurabolt is more valuable for the former, so...one boss sequence ain't gonna make-or-break Mantra here.

Guess another option is for stam Sabin to learn Chakra earlier.

Finished 1.8.6.

Oh, by the way, Gau can Leap in the Final Battle. Hoping to get the Kefka Rage.

Hey, uh, you seem to lose the Float status when transitioning from tier-1 to tier-2, but not Rerise. Dunno about Safe, Shell, or Haste. A bit of an oddity. Biggest thing is it means I couldn't open with X-Quake on that horrible tier. Oh well, got Merton strats.

20 hours ago, SuperHario said:

Seeing as you're an experienced player, finding the game easy is no surprise.  Sounds like you need to try lower levels or some other constraint to give you a bit more of a challenge. 

* bites lip *

I probably did complain too much. Still have a nagging feeling that it's not wholly because I'm a vet.

3 hours ago, BTB said:

I could probably lower the power a bit if it's warranted.

BTB, have you considered making one of the Slots a ST attack?

You have very few degrees of freedom to make different the three Slots attacks. You can perhaps get a minor difference between a defense-respecting AoE vs. a defense-ignoring AoE, and that's it. Making one ST helps differentiate them better.

A harder (to code) idea would be to gate Blackjack behind Dullahan. The animation is actually the Falcon after all. This both gives you some more freedom to differentiate the Slots and is very aesthetic. Perhaps have Chocobop as the WoB AoE, Solitaire as an ST, and Blackjack as the WoR AoE? Blackjack would still need a nerf - perhaps 36 BPow is a good starting nerf?

Whelp, Orthanc of Isengard Fanatics' Tower & Ebot's Rock done. Now alls that's left is Barad-dûr in Mordor Kefka's Tower. Everyone's at level 25 - 27. Only reason I'm going to grind up at this point is to get the lvl.30 natural moves (RegenX, Bolt 3, Air Blade). Otherwise, I'd be a stubborn mule and just pound my way through Kefka's Tower underleveled.

Playthrough & KT Plans

Low Difficulty of the mid-WoR

Ice Dragon: O, hai gaiz! I heard you liek Step Mine! Imma hit ur support chara with it! K? :3

Finished Phoenix Cave, Cyan's Soul, White Dragon, and Brown Dragon. Probably should go finish Magimaster before Narshe & Ebot's Rock.

Whelp, finished Cave on the Veldt.

************

I think Eye Goo Rage is bugged. Manticore is susceptible to Sleep, but everytime Gau used Eye Goo's "Slumber", it missed.

************

Only other real thing to talk about is stam Strago.

At this point in the game, the difference in magical damage that he takes is negligible. mag Strago would've taken ~60 more damage from Meteo, the strongest attack in the cave. Meanwhile, mag Strago's X-Ice2 would've done ~800 more damage against Tiamat's first form. ~800 ain't the end of the world, but it's at least a somewhat meaningful difference, unlike the difference between 360 and 420 damage. (I calculated all the stuff out). Otherwise, stam Strago was mostly just taking 230 damage from Manticore's Magnitude instead of 260, or taking 20 from sap instead of 40.

So, at this point in the game, the only benefit to stam Strago is "dodging status." Too bad he decided to NOT dodge X-Zone from Bonelord. - _ - To be fair, there's very little status in this cave. I'll need to bring him to a place where status dodging is more useful. (Not sure how useful that is compared to just grabbing a Ribbon and having extra magic power). I doubt this build is really going to matter much until the endgame though.

Finished an early Ancient Castle with vig Terra, vig Edgar, spd Relm, and stam Cyan.

************

Been banking vig Terra's ELs so that I can grab Phoenix for HP instead of Unicorn. I got away with it quite cleanly in the WoB, even when I Morphed vs Atma. Now? I can't Morph - everytime I Morph, I get a Game Over. Otherwise, with early Wing Edge x2, she ain't terrible. Not particularly great either. Damage is mostly "passable," but not exemplary. Also lacks her top-tier healing. Shines for Floating bosses, though not as much so as if she had some actual HP.

Biggest problem is that Wing Edge x2 is what Mishrak would call a "veteran" strat - kinda requires that you know which dungeons to raid for the early Wing Edges. Except the benefits from doing so aren't that great, unless you just absolutely have to have Morph vig Terra blow up the Wind Dragon when you first go through Mt. Zozo.

iow, early-WoR vig Te/Ce still kinda struggling here.

************

Otherwise, not much to say. stam Cyan did his thing, vig Edgar did his thing, spd Relm still blew stuff up. If I hadn't had so many Tinctures from Fanatics' Tower EL Grindings, I would've worried about Relm's MP - I definitely felt that Osmose nerf against Water Dragon. Oh, and Partisan wasn't too bad for Water Dragon - not great, but I guess it did its job of "Outdamage Chainsaw for early-WoR boss fights." Got unlucky on double jumps though.

************

Time to grab the last two characters. And stam Strago is along for the ride for both places. Gonna see how well he tanks that Meteo from Tiamat.

And I would go grab Merton for Ice 3 + Merton strats on Tiamat, but nooOOOooo, Tiamat just has to null Wind, doesn't he? - _ - There goes one neat use for Merton. Guess I'll wait 'til later to really try out Merton. Useless on Tiamat & Fire Dragon, and I doubt I'll need "Heal & Attack on the same turn" for the random encounters I'll fight.

Cyan

The Samurai, The Retainer to the King of Doma, The Most Improved in This Hack, and the Infinitely Cooler than Cloud Strife or Sephiroth.

Strengths

• Hits like a truck
• Incredible HP espers, Heavy Armor
• Great Out-of-Battle Healer (thanks to Empowerer); Has in-battle healing
• Cleave & Flurry Bushidos for AoE control/death

Weaknesses

• No shield, forced two-handed (stats from only one weapon)
• Slow
• No party support
• Limited status control
• Bushido is untargetable (not applicable to AoE Bushido)
• AoE damage is limited (either Eclipse, or late-game Mutsuno/Quartr)

Cyan is the simplest character not named Umaro. Grab lots of HP, maybe lots of vigor, hit like a truck, and tank. He's got some minor healing, AoE, and status control, but for the most part, he's your resident heavy tank.

Builds

Samurai

Vig/HP Cyan. A late bloomer who really shines after you've cleared his Soul, giving you access to Crusader levels and all of his Bushidos. (Flurry is more about status control, and Mutsuno comes late unless you do an early Ebot's Rock). Carves enemies up left and right. Enjoy.

Not recommended to go pure vigor. Cyan's a heavy tank, not a glass cannon like Shadow. Get this guy some serious Crusader levels to go with his vigor levels.

Sentinel

Pure Kirin Cyan. Infinite HP, heavy armor, spams Dragon, and ain't afraid of anything. Pretty much dominates the whole game up until Kefka's Tower, and even then, still has his uses. All that stamina gives him a high counterattack rate, so don't forget to keep him in the front row. Oh, he's also got some AoE and healing too.

No, seriously, if the mid-game is giving you trouble, use this build.

Misc

• Stalwart Cyan dominates the mid-game, while Samurai Cyan shines best in the lategame. Ultros' Esper Reset allows you to enjoy the benefits of both. Build Cyan as a Stalwart for the mid-game, then esper reset over to Samurai after clearing his soul. This is honestly quite abusive, but Samurai Cyan isn't fun to play as in the mid-game.
• Don't forget your Force Armor lategame. Cyan needs magic defense.

King Edgar Roni Figaro

The King, The Chainsaw, The Engineer, One of the Figaro Bros., The Ones Who Uses Main Character Weapons Without Being a Main Character. He and Sabin can break the rules like that.

Strengths

• Incredible Versatility
• Strong throughout the whole game
• Very Tanky; Golem levels, Great Armor Selection, HP+ Spears
• Superb AoE & status control; Lots of status debuffs
• Solid physical damage; defense-ignoring, elemental control, high multiplier, even an AoE physical
• Secondary Healer, has Defibrillator Tool
• Solid party support abilities; Has unique MP recovery Tool
• Has two speed espers
• Unique damage booster, boosting physicals & magics

Weaknesses

• Low stamina, slow growth
• Magical damage limited to AoE
• WoB Spear Selection is weak
• Slow in WoB because of armor, Speed builds slowly

Edgar has few weaknesses, with his only major weakness being his low stamina. He's a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-several, and nearly a master of the rest. Easily a contender for best character in Brave New World, even if he's not as simple to use as his brother. (Still simpler than Gau & Gogo).

Builds

Dragoon

Vigor Edgar, taking an even mix of Golem & Palidor levels. Golem in the WoB, solidifying his HP, and Palidor in the WoR, correcting his slow speed. Don't let the class name fool you: Edgar will easily spend half or more of his time running support or using the Chainsaw. Save Jump for boss fights, unless you don't have Chainsaw yet or unless you just hate a particular random.

This build can easily fit into any party and perform exceptionally well. Just don't forget to give him the Nirvana Band to boost his healing (Cure 2 & Defibrillator) alongside his damage.

Engineer

Siren (magic & speed) levels, with some Unicorn (HP) levels for bulk. Pure support Edgar, possibly a primary healer. He's mostly about abusing his free & powerful revive, though the Mana Battery, boosted Cure 2, and other support skills certainly play a solid role too. Lacks offensive options outside of AoE magical damage, though for how great a support character Edgar is, such damage is still pretty good.

Red Mage

A mix of both vigor & magic levels. Can grab either Golem for some bulk, or Palidor to focus this build around speed ELs. Golem version is honestly more of a variant on the Dragoon build. Unlike other characters, the two stats at play here (vigor & magic) actually play different roles for Edgar, so the hybridization actually works. The hybridization also works because Edgar's so powerful, so moreso than other characters, he can get away with a lack of focus.

Sentinel / Phalanx

Bit of a cute build, honestly. Unicorn (stamina) Edgar, possibly with some speed levels (Palidor or Siren). Main shtick is better chances to defend the party with the "Cover allies" property of spears & ultra bulky Golem summons. Equip all Genji & Nirvana for better Cover chances, absurd physical defense, & for boosting your damage. Equip Palidor for randoms; for boss fights, equip Golem and just apply Haste manually.

Downside is that Edgar's slow without either good ST/AoE damage or stronger healing, with still one of the worst Cover chances amongst the whole cast. Zantetsuken can help provide some counterattacks and speed (use Hero Ring for Cover), or maybe you can two-hand a spear with Black Belt prior to Zantetsuken. Could also try an Aegis Shield, since Edgar probably has enough HP to ignore Genji and Force.

Misc.

• NoiseBlaster + BioBlaster/Flash is a stupidly good combo, especially in the early game. Please abuse it.
• Equip the Nirvana Band, regardless of build. The only other character who has any reason to equip it is Kirin Cyan, and he lacks the raw diversity the Edgar gains from the band. Optimally, keep Kirin Cyan on a different team from Edgar.
• Elemental Blade Jumping is solid all game long, even into the final dungeon. Jump with these in the WoB, and never sell them.
• Gungnir is less powerful than Longinus, but it's HP boost is HUGE - big enough that Edgar can scorn the lack of a shield.
• Certain X-Mages can burn MP too fast for even the Mana Battery to keep up if you get careless. So don't get careless.
• Golem is stupidly powerful, especially paired with Image, and you should abuse this powerful summon.

Sabin Rene Figaro

Hikes halfway across the world, recruits a master samurai, ninja, & wild child with magic to his cause, Suplexes a Train, and survives jumping into waterfalls and fast ocean currents. Why isn't he the main character? What were Terra, Locke, & Celes doing at this time anyways?

Strengths

• He's Sabin
• Easy to use; High damage options are easy to find
• Incredible defense-ignoring damage & elemental control
• Very high HP, Incredible HP espers, Royal Jacket for HP+
• Solid party support; Possesses unique party MP recovery Blitz
• Great status control
• High base stats, Claws give solid stat boosts
• Good physical evade

Weaknesses

• Very low defense, low mg.eva, Average Equipment, cannot equip shields
• AoE is highly limited; Just mid-WoB (Fire Dance) and lategame randoms (SleepX)
• Healing is a little volatile
• Defense-ignoring damage is untargetable & falls off by endgame
• Potentially frail in mid-WoR if HP esper or Royal Jacket aren't obtained swiftly

Less versatile than his brother, but Sabin's raw power and ease of use secures him a spot as one of the best characters in Brave New World. He's almost always a very solid pick for team needing a high damage character.

Builds

Master

The standard Sabin build; just lots of vigor and HP. Some people prefer raw Golem, some like to grab a little Terrato once he becomes available. Remember to use both Blitzes AND elemental claws - Sabin's potential damage is lessened if you ignore his elemental control. This build is awesome all game long, though he's trickier to use in the mid-/late-WoR. It's highly recommended to keep an HP booster equipped at all times.

Monk

Support Sabin, built with oodles of stamina and some / lots of HP. Chakra is the main selling point, followed by Mantra. Very useful if you've got a team of MP users but you're struggling to maintain their MP; because of this, this build is probably easier to use effectively in the lategame, compared to his standard vigor build. Also boasts very beefy regen ticks, an ultra-high (near 100%) counterattack rate, and even some endgame AoE utility with Sonic Boom. Do be aware that Mantra isn't as useful after a big party-wide AoE; though this is counter-acted by his own natural pairing with mages, who usually boast good healing.

Guardian

HP Sabin, built with Terrato - either pure, or with a handful of either Stray or Golem. Almost certainly requires an endgame respec. Sabin's only true tank build, both for himself and for Cover allies. All the HP also greatly strengthens his Golem summons, further strengthening Sabin's role as party guardian. Sabin's high vigor & strong attacks (especially elemental claws) insure that he stills hits hard. Also helps his Mantra, though Mantra is weaker and much more volatile here compared to his stamina build. A few Stray levels can help stabilize Mantra a bit, as well as boosting Chakra, Cover/Counter chances, and Sabin's status evade.

Red Belt

Hybrid Sabin. The build's name comes from Final Fantasy 1's "Black Belt" and "Red Mage" class. Sabin's the "black belt" (martial artist) class from Final Fantasy 1, but this build is more of a hybrid, like Red Mage. Hence the name "Red Belt."

Build Golem levels first, then switch to stamina & HP levels when Mantra, Chakra, and Terrato become available. Like his brother, the hybridization works because the two stats (vigor & stamina) play two different roles for Sabin. This build's damage is honestly quite close to that of the full vigor build. The real catch is the reduced HP. A handful of Terrato levels are indispensable.

This build is about giving vig Sabin more frequent counterattacks alongside some healing (Mantra/Chakra) utility, sacrificing the raw damage/HP from pure Golem + Terrato.

Misc.

• Pay attention to the enemy's elemental weaknesses & defense stats. Sabin's claws have much higher damage potential than his Blitzes. If it's a fight for claws instead of blitzes, consider Berserking Sabin.
• Golem is stupidly powerful, especially paired with Image, and you should abuse this powerful summon.

Celes

The General & Opera Singer, The Tough Girl & Love Interest, The Heavy Swordsman & Supporting Mage.

Strengths

• Very Versatile Magic, Equipment, & Esper Levels, with good all-around base stats
• Good Weapon Selection; Weapon Selection complementary to Magic (neutral damage vs. weakness sniping)
• Very Tanky; Incredible HP espers, Heavy Armor, Soul Box
• Secondary Healer, has Rerise
• Great Party Support Skillset (Rerise/Seraph esp.)
• Good mid-game Elemental Control
• Modest status control (Siren/Berserk, Slow)
• Good WoR AoEs with ??? and Quartr
• Unique ??? provides Cover, Counter, and 100% Accuracy

Weaknesses

• Weak AoE without ???; Quartr comes late
• Status control is limited
• Weak / Average Elemental Control in early-game and mid-WoR
• Superb dps set-ups are niche
• MP builds slowly (otoh, it is an HP+30 esper)
• Offensive Abilities require MP (otoh, see above)

Celes is easily one of the best support characters in Brave New World, and also one of (if not the) bulkiest characters. Also boasts some good attack power and potential speed, unlike certain other supporters & healers (Strago, Setzer).

Builds

Knight

Vigor Celes with lots of HP (Crusader), serving as a solid tank with good support magics & a solid weapon selection. More defensively-focused, while Terra is more offensively-focused. You have a couple of choices here. Ramuh will build pure vigor for raw damage, giving you the Paladin set-up. Phantom will give you some stamina (lots of utility) with your vigor, giving you a Dark Knight set-up. The Dark Knight set-up will greatly appreciate ???, but then again, Paladin likes it too.

Don't discount her support skills - even Knight Celes will spend a good deal of time playing support. She's not as good at it as Cleric Celes (lacks speed), but she's got overall better damage and more raw HP.

Cleric

Building HP, MP, and speed, with a side of magic and/or stamina (Siren or Alexander), to solidify Celes as possibly the game's best support unit. Her damage is still solid with Ice 2/3, Bolt 2/3, Holy, and even Merton, but you'll find that she spends most of her time playing Team Mama. Don't neglect Crusader - Circlet & Soul Box will give Celes plenty of MP, so Crusader levels will definitely be appreciated later on.

A Celes built with Shiva & HP/MP, despite the lack of speed levels & slightly more offensive focus, is probably still considered a "Cleric" more than a "Mage." It's generally recommended to grab some Siren levels even if you're running mostly Shiva, though it's not absolutely required.

Remember your Flameguards for Merton. Merton + x4 Flameguards is a good set-up, allowing good damage and healing in one turn.

Red Mage

Builds a mix of HP, MP, speed, magic, and vigor (Siren, Ramuh, Seraph, Crusader) to give Celes some speed for supporting while still trying to take advantage of her weapon selection for good neutral damage. Alternatively, could swap out Ramuh & Siren for Phantom & Crusader, giving the Red Mage a slight stamina focus. (Again, good for ???).

I have no idea if this at all works as well as hyb Edgar or hyb Sabin. Never played it and most people think this suffers too much from "jack-of-all-trades hybrid syndrome." It's there if you want to try it though, and it's probably not too terrible. After all, the espers in question are sorta doing different things for Celes (damage vs. support).

Misc.

• Keep an eye out for when Runic can be used. It's niche compared to other sills, but unlike vanilla, it's actually somewhat useful here.
• All of Celes' builds want Crusader levels. Her magic build only needs so many MP levels before she hits critical mass with Circlet and Soul Box anyways, plus whatever potential MP support.

Shadow the Hedgehog

The Ninja, The Assassin, The Horrible Father, Mr. "I'm Emotionless But Not Really". I wonder if he's trying to be cool and edgy.

Strengths

• Incredible damage output, with options for neutral or weakness sniping
• Incredible party support, except for healing
• Very high speed
• Very good AoE
• Great Elemental Control
• Unique counterattack helmet (Ninja Mask)
• Unique magical relics (Rogue Cloak, Memento Ring)
• Decent access to ST healing (Regen, Rerise, Healing Shiv, high speed for Item)
• Great all-around base stats

Weaknesses

• Frail; No HP espers, cannot equip shield, no heavy or mage armor
• No personal AoE heal, unlike all other characters
• Very limited debuffs
• No MP espers, only basic access to MP+ equipment

Shadow is defined by his extreme nature. Extremely powerful glass cannon with arguably the best support skill set in the game. However, this is counterbalanced by extreme frailty. Curiously, he's also the only character without access to AoE heals, though his raw speed combined with Potion & Rerise make him arguably a better healer than some others.

Builds

With only two espers, the line between builds is fuzzy. There's definitely a difference between a pure build of one esper vs. a pure build of another esper. However, hybridization is also a very real thing.

Tiger

Vig/Stam Shadow. The main boast of this build is physical damage output, Shadow's main source of single-target damage. Throwing Ninjatos or Ninja Stars with this build is the game's best neutral source of single-target damage (iow, ignoring weaknesses or hitting low p.def), and this build gives high numbers per throwable. The stamina also boosts his counterattack rate, which pairs well with Ninja Mask & Kagenui, so keep this guy in the front row. It's not like he'd tank a hit anyways.

Still quite speedy thanks to Shadow's equipment. Some people also like his ST healing with Regen with this build.

Lotus

Speed, speed, and moar speed! Incredible party support & Ninja Scroll thrower, both which depend only on gear & speed. The magical damage is incredible, and physical damage is still quite good. All that speed means he goes first in combat, making him an excellent random clearer with scrolls. The raw speed also allows for Item spam, making this build the game's best Item user. MP might be an issue if you over-spam Rerise, so be cautious.

The physical dps is honestly probably equal to the other build thanks to all the speed, so don't be afraid to Throw stuff. The other build is better for this because of other reasons. (GP spent per Throwable, triggering more enemy counters, weaker counterattacks, lower counterattack rate).

If you ain't using physicals, you can equip the Lazy Shell with near impunity, greatly helping Shadow's defenses. Still not incredible, but much better than what Shadow normally gets. The Mirage Vest is an option for more speed & even some mg.eva, though it's probably overkill, & Shadow's got HasteX for boss fights anyways. (Also, how useful mg.eva is is arguable anyways).

Shadow

The hybrid build.

Misc

• Don't forget to buy equipment & stock up on Throwables before the Floating Continent (Jidoor).
• The Mutsunokami is another good source of AoE magical damage. Obviously, pair with Kagenui & Rogue Cloak.
• If played well, Shadow isn't too terribly expensive. Smoke Bombs are dirt cheap, Ninja Scrolls are also pretty cheap, and he's got plenty of damage options besides Ninjato. Save Ninjatos & Ninja Stars for Kefka's Tower or other times when you can't snipe a weakness.

Setzer

Look at that pale skin & bleached hair. He's been living on the airship for too long.

Strengths

• Very tanky; Good HP esper, heavy armor
• Primary Healer, has Rerise
• Very good AoE with Slots (Blackjack, Chocobop) and Shoat summon
• Good Offense thru unique Daryl's Soul relic; Endgame Fixed Dice is amazing

Weaknesses

• Slow
• Slots require practice/skill to use
• No Party Buffs (besides Rerise), Doesn't learn Life
• Few Debuffs not tied into Slots

Like Locke, a simple yet effective character, defined by his top tier healing capabilities. In contrast to Locke's speed, Life, and knife/sword use, Setzer prefers heavy armor, Rerise, and AoE spam. Though his single-target offense can still be rather good.

Builds

Cleric

Standard Setzer, built with magic and HP/MP espers. Solid bulky healer with good magic AoE, a multi-target Petrify summon, and potential for good physical offense thru equipping the proper weapons with Daryl's Soul. Build up his HP before magic; Slots is strong enough early on, and Setzer becomes nigh invincible tank once his HP is built up. A very strong character throughout the game.

One alternative is to build raw HP/MP. Your AoE will suffer and his healing won't be quite as effective, but everything else works. In fact, everything else works even better because of your stupidly high HP & MP. Known affectionately as The Bank. The Bank can grab a handful of stamina levels if you're feeling cute.

$$$

Stamina Setzer, with some HP/MP as well. Main boast is very high & consistent single-target damage with GP Toss, alongside the usual increased Cover chance and regen ticks. Genji armor + Hero Ring if you want to Cover; otherwise, Red Cap. Also boasts solid healing from RegenX. Just don't overuse RegenX as your main heal, as it's a more expensive heal on the Setzer build with less MP. (iow, use Cure 3 if Regen status ain't needed. Use Cure 2 for spot healing).

Misc

• Shoat is amazing, and you should use it.

Mog

The Mascot that has Nothing to do with the Main Story, Kupo.

Strengths

• Huge damage potential
• Good Weapon Selection
• Tanky; Good HP esper, heavy armor, unique Muffler
• Speed esper, Unique +7 spd relic
• Very good AoE & status control
• Diverse elemental control
• Potentially a tertiary healer, has Harvester
• Has a solid buff
• Shoat & Dusk Requiem

Weaknesses

• Dance is random, untargetable, & subject to stumbling; Can be very unreliable
• Rods (elemental control) are streaky
• Only one reliable buff
• Neutral magic damage is MP-hungry or otherwise difficult to use
• Healing is random
• HP esper & Muffler come late
• AoE damage is subject to randomness (dance) or troublesome (quake)

Mog is a mixed bag. Part of his toolkit is quite similar to the Figaro Bros. (Jump; speed; bulk; debuffs/AoE), part of his toolkit is similar to Gau (random; lots of AoEs, elementals, & debuffs; high base evade with Harvester & Haste), and part of his toolkit is like Cyan & Strago (huge attack stat fueling a slow, powerful, multi-hitter). No matter how he's built, however, he's going to be a tank with some quirky utility and damage options.

Builds

Dancer / Geomancer

Simplest Mog build. Wreck the mid-game with Dance (Rondo, Jazz, Blues, Suite) and Rod (Ice, Bolt, Punisher) attacks and counterattacks. By late-game, you've transitioned into being a bulky healer (Suite, Song), who also happens to have some utility with buffs (Haste, Aria), debuffs, AoEs (don't forget your new WoR options), elemental control, and even some modest neutral damage (Blues, Sage Stone). He's even got Cover/Counter synergy, or can forgo the Moogle Charm to just Dance (though he can't cover while dancing without the charm). Just don't expect him to be your primary or even secondary damage dealer against a big late-game boss or mini-boss.

His healing suffers from randomness, but he's still an easy-to-use, bulky Harvester user with lots of utility.

Magic Moogle / Black Mage / X-Mog

Same as the Dancer in the mid-game, but instead, maintaining the high damage into the late-game by transitioning into an X-Mage. By far Mog's hardest hitting build, the Magic Moogle has potentially some of the highest damage in the game, right up there with your berserkers, glass cannons, and tier-3's slamming a weakness. But, if you don't use him well, you'll be wishing you used Dancer or Mogoon instead.

While you shouldn't discount your late-game Dances for AoE or Rods for elemental-sniping (or both for MP management), your reliability (randomness), damage, and utility will fall behind unless you take up the Sage Stone and get some MP (Chakra/Battery) support. With said support, however, even Mog's second best attack rivals Tempest, X-Dark, or Shadow; while his best, X-Quake, is one of the strongest moves in Brave New World. And he's still a tank, as well as some nifty debuffs and buffs. Still, you do guzzle MP very quickly and can run into encounters where Wind or grounded Earth damage doesn't work.

Love Sonata can help maintain MP, but once you find a Crystal Orb, I personally recommend using it. After all, what makes the Magic Moogle special is his damage; if you ain't goin' for it, you're better off with Mogoon or Dancer. Even still, don't discount Love Sonata, Punisher, or your other less expensive crowd control (Jazz, Muddle, SleepX, etc) as options for maintaining MP in long dungeon crawls.

Mogoon

Moogle Dragoon, another easy-to-use build, with lots of vig/spd and late-game HP. Unusable for the WoB, but a good bulky fighter throughout the WoR. Despite lacking magic for Dance or Rods, Mogoon still has solid crowd control with his statuses or Shoat. Raw speed also allows him to be a utility healer with Wind Song, Forest Suite, or Item, though don't rely on Song/Suite after a big AoE attack. Be forewarned, the full Jump set-up does have very restrictive gear requirements.

Don't forget that you can snipe weaknesses with Wing Edges or Rods! Also, if you want, the Punisher and Doomstick are still perfectly good beatsticks, prior to getting your ultimate spears.

Misc

• Moogle Charm has very special effects for both builds. Though a mag Mog dancing Blues/Suite can probably ignore it.
• Rod spellcasts are strongest in the front-row and compatible with counterattack (Black Belt), but they're also compatible with the safety of back-row Jump.

Relm

The Foul Mouth, The Artist, The Living Nuclear Weapon, and The Poor Girl Without Father or Mother ; _ ;

Strengths

• Great offensive options, both ST and AoE
• Primary Healer, has Rerise
• Has Osmose; Magic esper gives MP
• Speed esper
• Can get Interceptor, greatly raising her p.eva
• Unique Hide armors & magic helmet
• Decent party buff & ST heal options
• Sketch is sometimes quite useful

Weaknesses

• No HP espers, no heavy armor, low p.def
• No debuffs; doesn't learn Life
• Offense is MP hungry, Osmose isn't terribly strong
• Interceptor requires killing an extremely valuable character
• Brush healing & buffs are so-so
• Most Sketches are mediocre/useless, with a few being an active detriment

A simple character. Nukes stuff, heals the party, spams Rerise, drains MP with Osmose, and prays desperately that she doesn't eat a physical or defense-ignoring nuke. In many ways, she's like the magical version of Locke, except without the option to become tanky.

Builds

Sage

The simple, standard magical nuke, built with a mix of magic, speed, and MP. Could simply build pure Zoneseek, lots of Ifrit with some Bahamut, or some other mix of Ifrit, Bahamut, and Zoneseek. Does everything you expect out of Relm and does it well. Gear her for magic & speed and blow stuff up. Don't forget those good Sketches! Heavy Zoneseek will lead to more damage and fatter MP pool, while heavy Ifrit's faster reaction time / more turns lends her more to support (best chance to gamble on Brush spellcasts). Still, it's more of a continuum, rather than strictly different builds.

Highly recommended to always equip the Bahamut esper, unless it's a boss fight where you want Zoneseek but have someone else to set Image/Safe/Golem. Or unless you have Interceptor, but why would you kill Shadow?

Stamina

Relm trying to be tanky by building stamina, with some speed & MP as well. There's some decent synergy with stamina-based damage (Interceptor, Wind Breaker), equipping Black Heart and nullifying much of its downsides with elemental shields / hides, and RegenX spam, including those beefy regen ticks. Also, her attack power doesn't suffer too much, as it was only a +1 magic esper. Also, if you build only stamina, then by endgame, Relm may have enough stamina to reliably dodge status effects, even without immunity relics; though that does mean sacrificing MP & speed to help round out the build.

The biggest problem is that much of Relm's defense toolkit works just as well on the Sage build (Interceptor, Bahamut, elemental defenses, immunity relics), meaning the main benefit is still adding the Regen + Black Heart combo to her defensive set-up. Also, the Interceptor part of the combo requires killing a valuable character. Mind you, it's not a bad set-up; RegenX + Black Heart + potentially good status evade + elemental defenses + Interceptor + Bahamut equip is a good combo, and frail characters are gonna appreciate what help they can get. At the end of the day, however, she's still a low HP character with poor physical defenses.

Sketches

Relm does have a solid selection of good Sketches to go for. However, the majority of Sketches are still mediocre / useless (can't circumvent those MP issues that easily), and there are a few Sketches which are just straight up "avoid." Provided below is first the handful of Sketches to avoid, after which, the longer list of good Sketches. Do note, I'm only listing the primary Sketch (happens three out of four times), as well as ignoring Sketches prior to getting Relm, in Owzer's Mansion, or on the WoR overworld.

Good

• Floating Continent: Several good ones. Atma (Flare/Raze), IAF (Diffuser), Behemoth (Meteo), Dactyl (Aero), and Brainpan (Blowfish)
• Doom Gaze: Bolt 3
• Cave on the Veldt: Intangir/Z (Meteo), the Cluck + Basilisk encounter (Net and Glare respectively)
• Phoenix Cave: Roc (Giga Volt), Umbro (Bolt 3), Revenant (Holy; beware the Witch's Reflect though)
• Narshe: Tritoch (Fire 3), Wizard (Dark), Hoodwink (Aero). Also, Rhyperior (Sun Bath) is decent too
• Cyan's Soul: Soulblazer (Flare/Meteo), Larry (HasteX). Also, Suriander (Harvester) is decent too
• Ebot's Rock: Hidon (Quasar), Hidonite, leftmost (Shield), Warlock (Dark), Opinicus (Surge)
• Ancient Castle: WEAPON (Diffuser). Boxxy (Bolt 2) is decent too
• Fanatics' Tower: Magimaster (Dispel), Level 1 (Holy), Level 2 (Quartr), Level 3 (Bolt 3), Level 7 (Starlight), Level 9 (Flare/Meteor)
• Kefka's Tower: Asura (Dark), Isis (Holy), Myria (Flare), ??? (Ultima), Inferno (HasteX), Atma (Flare/Raze). Warmech (Diffuser), Searcher (Diffuser), Ahriman (X-Zone), Ogre Nix (Avalanche). Raptor (Holy Wind) is decent too.

Bad - Sketches that the foe will absorb the damage, or otherwise hurt the party.

• Elemental Dragons: All eight of 'em absorb their Sketches
• Phoenix Cave: Anemone (absorbs), or Witch (nice Sketch, but it'll be reflected right back at you)
• Narshe Mines: Fuzzy (Exploder, killing Relm)
• Cyan's Soul: Eukaryote, Gorokan, Parasoul (absorb)
• Ancient Castle: Sponge, Pond Scum, Mephisto (absorb)
• Kefka's Tower: Tarokan, Thanatos (absorb), Prometheus (Merton)

Misc

• Black Heart's problems can be mitigated with the right shield + hide, although the hide simply brings you back to normal damage. Works with RegenX, though not with Cure 3.
• Pure Zoneseek levels with an MP booster gives Relm an enormous amount of MP. It's very possible to drown out Relm's "MP hungry" weakness under a giant pool of MP.
• Radiant Gown, brushes, and speed levels can sorta combine to make Relm a decent buffer. Sorta. It's still a gamble though

Berserker

GIVE IMAGE!! UMARO SMASH!!

Equip Storm Belt and your pick of Black Belt or Hyper Wrist. Pair him up with Mog, set Image on Umaro. (Set Berserk if you equipped Black Belt). Smash stuff, throw allies. Throwing Mog nets 9999 damage. Could even have some Dragoons on the team (not Mog, obviously; rather, Edgar and/or Gogo) to increase Umaro's chance to throw Mog.

Big, Dumb Bodyguard

WHY UMARO NOT SMASH?!

Equip Black Belt & Knight Cape. Let Umaro tank hits for the whole party with his stupidly high stamina stat, and counter those hits nearly 100% of the time. Don't set Image (doesn't work with Cover). Safe & Regen support preferred.

Abominable Snowman

HOW MAGIC WORK?!

Equip Blizzard Orb for Ice weak foes or for random clearing. Probably still use Rage Belt as your other relic.

Strago

Wise Old Man (maybe), Killer of Endangered Species (Hidon), The Man Whose Last Name is Magus (wonder if he hates frogs).

Strengths

• Incredible party support; All Buffs except Haste & Golem
• Solid elemental control, X-Dark is very powerful
• Very good AoE damage
• Lots of speed gear, Unique Hide gear
• Has Raid & Osmose for MP healing
• Tertiary healer
• Solid status control (strong trio of Bad Breath, Discord, and Raze)
• X-Zone

Weaknesses

• No HP espers, no heavy armor, low p.def
• Neutral ST damage is limited to front-row Rods or endgame magics
• Most offensive options are MP hungry
• Very low base speed; good gear set-ups are limited to lots of speed
• Holy Wind doesn't work after big attacks
• Mediocre / so-so in the WoB

Strago can make for either an excellent party support with fairly good magical damage as back-up, or as a high-end damage character with X-Magic. He can even have some surprising bulk with the right combo of elemental resistance, HP+ gear (Black Heart), and Refract/Shield. Just make sure you equip him with as much speed gear as you can get.

Builds

Blue Mage

Lots of magic, with however much MP you feel is needed. The obvious use it to turn Strago into your primary attacker through a mix of taking advantage of elemental / low mg.def weaknesses, controlling the battlefield through big AoE, or the endgame nuclear option in X-Dark. However, again, Strago also makes for excellent party support. Don't be ashamed to commit him full-time to party support instead; he can't always be a primary damage dealer, but his high magic will still find its use doing solid damage on Strago's off turns. So, equip lots of speed gear, support the party, blow up stuff, and hope you don't eat a physical.

Do not forget your Rods! Lore's great for AoE, but prior to your endgame magics (Dark, Black Omen), Strago needs Rods to fill out his elemental control and neutral ST damage. Thunder Rod does a very good job filling a gap in Strago's elemental control, while Punisher is just as good as Black Omen against a single target. Rods also pair with Black Belt, a beautiful +7 speed relic that gives powerful counterattacks, and they're nowhere near as MP hungry as Lore, so Punisher's not totally eclipsed by Strago's endgame magic. Just don't do this without at least a Guard Ring equipped, if not also a Green Beret / Red Cap as well as Refract support.

Stamina

Lots of stamina, with however much MP you feel is needed. An extreme latebloomer and somewhat niche. The idea is that stacking so much stamina allows beefy regen ticks and stamina's rather modest magic damage reduction to begin to seriously help Strago's bulk, while also granting some serious status evade. The build has its utility in big endgame boss fights with AoE magic nukes & status effects flying around, and the regen ticks & mg.dmg reduction do indirectly buff Holy Wind. The Wind Breaker rod serves as a serviceable attack, with the stamina providing a 100% counterattack rate; again, Refract, Guard Ring, and the HP+ cap that you'll be equipping anyways, will all keep the old man from dying. Just please don't try to use Strago as a Cover tank.

The flipside, however, is that Blue Mage can imitate much of this build's utility through proper gear set-ups (Ribbon, Amulet, Black Heart w/ elemental gear), while also having the flexibility of better damage on Strago's off-turns when he ain't supporting, or just switching over to "big damage" for a given fight. The regen ticks are real. But Blue Mage's regen ticks ain't bad either, the status immunity relics are right there (esp. the Amulet), and the actual extra mg.def that stamina gives, honestly, is just straight up insignificant. Also, the status evade isn't terribly reliable as a "free Ribbon" until you're hitting that 96+ mark, so, again, the build is very late-blooming.

This build does help him defensively, mind you; if you're never attacking, then this is strictly better than the Blue Mage. At the end of the day, however, the benefits are minute, and Strago's still a low HP, physically frail character.

Misc

• Black Heart combined with the proper shield & hide can make Strago quite bulky. Just be aware that Holy Wind won't self-heal a Black Heart Strago.
• Strago's one of the best for Reflect strats. Can set it quickly with X-Magic, Holy Wind pierces it, and can even restore the MP of a Reflected unit (cast Osmose on them).
• Don't discount Refract. Image is a powerful buff, especially for glass cannons, and Reflect has utility too.
• The Dark Hood is a very viable alternate to the Circlet or Red Cap.

Gogo

He banished himself from FFV and found himself in FFVI.

Strengths

• Very versatile support skill set
• Good AoE / debuff / crowd controll skill set
• Rod + Rage is good synergy for raw damage
• Decent mg.def with Hide / Muffler armors
• Decent speed gear options
• Mimic

Weaknesses

• Bad stats with no esper growths
• Poor HP, no heavy armor
• Magic is dependent on team composition
• Damage set-up (Rod + Rage) is untargetable & a little random

Gogo's role on the team is as a semi-speedy, frail, all-around support guy who can choose to go full ham with damage. He also has a very wide range of minor application. He's honestly quite similar to Strago, just less powerful but more diverse. Another good comparison is that he's a weaker but more controllable Gau.

Set-Ups

Support

Gear Gogo for speed, pick 3 of Tools, Runic, Throw, Lore, Magic (with a proper team), Steal, or Item. Maybe even Slots (Go Fish) or Blitz (Chakra). Also has some niche uses for Fight with Brush (heal) or Rod (elemental sniping). Solid support character. Mimic can be used to copy a teammate's attack on any off-turns; just be aware that you don't Mimic Rage / Dance, lest you lose control of Gogo.

Noticeable characteristics include being a:

• 3rd MP Battery
• 2nd Runic user
• 3rd (reliable) Image user whose also the 2nd (reliable) Image user with a shield
• 2nd Shield user
• 4th Life 2 / Defib user

Tools, Lore, & Magic could also give him some AoE debuffs / crowd control for randoms. Cleave (Bushido) or ??? with speed gear is also a great random clearer, though these skills do little else and are incompatible with Rod or Brush equips.

Rod Rage

Gear for mag/spd, Equip Rod, pick Rage, blow something up. Your options are Dragon (raw damage), Tek Armor (Safe), Allosaurus (1/3 AoE debuff), or Defender (1/3 heal). While the physical hit itself won't be too amazing, the random spellcast will do absurd damage, possibly hitting 9999 even without a weakness. You do need to be in the front row for maximum damage, so it's a glass cannon set-up.

Rage also gives a few other options for AoE control (Cicada, Adamantite) or healing (Tumbleweed), so there's some flexibility between fights here. If you equip a knife in the offhand, you can equip ??? or Bushido (for Cleave) as your second Command for solid all-around offense. Fill the other two commands with whatever other utility you want: Magic, Item, Tools, Throw, Lore, Steal, Slots, Blitz (chakra), or Runic (with a knife in the off-hand).

Misc

• N/A

Locke

The Thief Treasure Hunter, the Almost Main Character, One of the Much Improved in BNW.

Strengths

• Great speed; Good base, Speed+ Equipment, Speed+2 Esper
• Very strong weapon selection with a personal counterattack helmet
• Primary Healer; has X-Magic with Cure and Life (2)
• Incredible WoR Fire Elemental Control
• Two personal boosters (physical & magical)
• Good HP espers
• Great shield selection
• High physical evade, good equipment options for p.evade

Weaknesses

• Equipment gives little mg.def or elemental resistances
• Best Attacking Options require dual-wield (no shield, glass cannon) or absurd amounts of MP (X-Fire3)
• Poor AoE damage
• No party buffs
• No status control
• Low MP for WoB; For WoR, MP grows slowly

Locke's a very straightforward guy. He's arguably the best healer in the game alongside Setzer, has solid single-target damage, and potentially a LOT of HP. Simple, straightforward, to the point. Most complicated he gets is deciding which weapon to use.

Builds

Rogue

Lots of vigor & speed levels with a few Phoenix levels, or just lots of vigor levels with a few Phoenix levels. Simple, thematic build for Locke. Not the greatest healer and the Paladin is easier to use for the WoB, but dual-wielding good swords or knives with your raw speed makes you a top-of-the-line damage dealer. You'll even have top-of-the-line counterattacks & first strike in combat to go with it.

Locke's special knife, the Valiance, gets stronger as he loses HP. If you can, play that to your advantage for even more attack / counterattack damage. Just try not to get Locke killed, as he IS one of your only users of Life 2.

Paladin

Heavy Kirin build with some Phoenix levels. Bulky thief & resident team brick, tanking & dodging hits (possibly for the team with Cover) while dealing decent attacks & counterattacks. Omega Weapon preferred once you hit the WoR. He's got more than enough HP to dual-wield without any real worries about his health, but don't forget to use a shield if you need elemental resists or something. Also, you may want one of Sage Stone or Rogue Cloak to help with healing & conserving MP.

This build has the Omega Weapon + Valiance set-up. Both weapons are defense-ignoring, and as one weapon grows weaker as HP drops, the other grows stronger. Nice counterbalance that keeps Kirin Locke's damage consistent, despite the crazy HP shenanigans of the weapons he uses.

Red Mage

A 1:1 mix of Ramuh and Phoenix, forming a hybrid of Rogue and Paladin. You lack the Paladin's ease of use for the WoB or the extra cover/counter chance, and you also lack the raw dual-wield dps of Rogue to make up for the frailty of dual-wielding. On the other hand, you're still a solid, speedy, & evasive Sword + Board user, with more consistent damage than Paladin or X-Mage (Valiance) & more MP than Rogue or Paladin.

X-Mage

Raw Phoenix levels, maybe with some speed levels thrown in. Some people even like a near 1:1 mix of Phoenix and speed. You're mostly the game's ultimate bulky healer: an invincible X-Cure & X-Life flinging thief-physician with a huge supply of MP. This is also the best build for X-Fire Magic, though against foes not weak to Fire, you'll likely conserve your MP for healing and just resort to either lower levels spells (lvl.2 magics) or hitting stuff with a sword.

Recommended that you abuse Ultros' Esper Reset for this build: build something else for the WoR, esper reset to this. Unless you're willing to tough out the Magitek Factory & Thamasa without HP levels (which is plenty doable, though frustrating). Also, the Lazy Shell rare steal is a very attractive armor for X-Mage Locke. He can eat the speed loss, doesn't care for the vig loss, and really appreciates the extra mg.def, as Locke lacks any other high mg.def armor.

Misc

• As a healer, the Sage Stone is more about stretching Locke's MP by doubling up on the smaller heals (Cure, Cure 2, Life). Don't use the big heals except for emergencies.
• HP levels are very desirable if you want to run a dual-wield set-up. It's not advised to go full ham with dual-wield & raw vigor/speed - you'll likely eat be KO'ed more than you'll contribute to the party.
• The Ninja Mask is awesome, and you should be using it. Unless you're running mage Locke. Then go for a Red Cap or something.
• In encounters with multiple human foes, Mug can act as an AoE attack for the first round, because Locke will get his turn right back if he successfully steals.

Terra

The Main Character, the Esper-Human Hybrid, the Magitek Knight, the Caretaker of Orphans. (Oh, you thought "love" meant teenage romance? Haha, you're silly).

Strengths

• WoR Elemental Control
• Primary Healer, has Life 2
• High Base Magic with Magic+ Equipment
• Tanky; HP Espers with Incredible Armor Selection
• Good Weapon Selection; Weapons Complementary to Magic (providing weakness sniping vs. neutral damage, or vice versa)
• Can Stance Shift to a Glass Cannon for Boss Fights (Morph)
• Solid Status Control
• Decent Party Buffs (esp. Regen & Shell)

Weaknesses

• Low Speed
• Party Buffs are either single-target, niche, or very latecoming
• For almost whole game, AoE damage is niche, mediocre, or average
• For most of WoR, no great neutral magic damage options (Fire 3 is average)
• Offense uses Lots of MP
• Morph may be Tricky to Use

Terra's role on the team is as a bulky attacker & cleric, who can optionally stance shift during boss fights into a glass cannon (& healer, still). Surprisingly, her job is not about being an all-around mage - that is more of a job for the Thamasa Duo.

Builds

Magic Knight / Battlemage

Vigor Terra, building vigor & HP to strengthen Terra's role as a tank & dps fighter. Grab one or two of many of her good weapons, Morph (for boss fights), kill things. Dual-wielding works especially well with self-Berserk (and Morph). Terra can also build a little bit of MP through Phoenix (HP +30, MP +15) to strengthen her healing (Life 2 & Cure 3 are expensive), and perhaps even her lategame elemental control.

Going without HP ELs is not advised. Even her Morph stance wants HP, so that she can at least survive one, maybe two, attacks. Also, if you're doing Apocalypse + shield for the endgame, Morph & Berserk are only half as valuable.

Paladin

Jedi Esper Terra, built with HP & stamina (Unicorn & Tritoch), maybe some MP (Carbunkl). Grab the Atma Weapon, Genji gear, and hack things up with a lightsaber. Less potential damage than vig Terra, but much tankier. Your high stamina also gives you a very high counterattack rate, so don't forget to wear a Black Belt. You also still have Terra's solid magic selection at your disposal, as well as a stronger RegenX come endgame.

Thanks to all the stamina, Morph is a safe move with this build. You can ignore normal precautions & just rely on Morph Terra's absurd regen ticks for survivability. Berserk strats are also still a very real thing.

Unfortunately, Covering allies probably won't work as well, as it's anti-synergistic with Atma, Morph, & Berserk.

Cleric / Sage

Healer/magic Terra, built with some mix of HP, MP, & magic (building the HP and MP first). The HP & stamina make her an excellent tank and potential bodyguard (Cover), and the MP & magic insures she's an excellent healer with her magics. Also still has her usual Wind magic & elemental sniping options, with more MP than any other build to actually utilize them. Best Ultima user for the endgame as well, if that's your thing.

While it might be flavorful & thematic to think of her as the "frail wizard with powerful magics," she's, again, more of a bulky healer & party tank. Her powerful magics are limited to either modestly powerful Wind magic or elemental sniping for most of the game. Elemental sniping is hardly bad, just enemy specific, and it's going to do great damage, regardless of how you build Terra. Also, Maduin isn't a good esper for building a "pure" mage. Still, if you just want to nuke stuff (and I don't blame you), an endgame respec into raw Maduin & Ragnarok for Ultima spam isn't bad.

Misc.

• Protect Morph stance with Image, Golem, elemental resistances, and HP ELs.

GAU

Thou! Thou Thou!

Strengths

• Very diverse, with:
• Great set of physical Rages, healing Rages, AoE damage/control, and debuffs
• Good set of elemental control & buffs, especially Bolt damage
• Secondary Healer; has Rerise & Harvester
• Speed +2 esper
• Good elemental resistances, Unique Hide/Muffler armor
• Unique mage helmet
• Good p.eva

Weaknesses

• Proper grammar & pronunciation
• Rages are many & highly specialized with no in-game reference sheet
• Rage is untargetable & a little random
• Switching Rages mid-battle is awkward; Gau can't gear for both Vigor & Magic
• No HP espers, no heavy armor, low p.def
• Speed is unavailable until the WoR
• Mid-game damage upgrades are missable (stealing a Club, Blizzard Orb, speed esper)
• Many debuff Rages are either unreliable or require deep memorization.

The finer details of Gau's abilities require a lot of memorization, both of Rages & of enemy encounters. But, even with just a few Rages, Gau makes a great speedy glass cannon & healer/buffer.

Builds

Like Shadow, Gau only has two espers. Therefore, its debatable whether or not he has different builds, especially since the mixed Gau is perfectly viable.

Berserker

The standard Gau build, raw speed, with or without a little stamina. Biggest downside is that it's not available until the WoR. Turns Gau into a living bullet, allowing him to really lay on the damage or healing despite having "lower" numbers than other characters, spam buffs like Conjurer or Witch, or just have a strong opening to randoms. Even the healing from his stamina-based Rages is still pretty good, thanks to how many turns Gau gets relative to everyone else.

Stamina

The other build, built with mostly stamina levels (though not purely with stamina). The main sell of the this build is it's ease-of-use: it's available from the WoB, it only needs a very small set (see below) of multi-purpose Rages, one set of equipment will suffice for said Rages, it doesn't need a Club to upgrade it's damage in the WoR, and the high stamina provides some defensive boons, allowing the player to soft-ignore the "what defensive benefits does this Rage give" aspect of using Gau.

The downside is less potential. The stamina-damage Rages are good damage, versatile, & easy to use, but Rageserker's raw speed will win out once it's got a good Rage or two backing it (see the Simple Rages below). Umaro's better if you just need a beatstick against a boss. So, by mid/late-WoR, it's mostly just Harvester and Rock setting this build apart. (Rocky ftw!) Even then, speed is just as needed for the healing Rages as stamina is, considering Gau's random nature, so it's not like we're totally outclassing the Rageserker as a healer either. So, again, this build's claim to fame is its simplicity.

Don't forget to equip the Blizzard Orb in the WoR!

Mixed

The mixed build. Possibly the build you're using if you use Gau in the WoB.

Good Rages

Simple

• Physical: Pick one:
  • Hornet for speed and utility. (Auto-Haste and Image)
  • Templar for bulk and healing, but beware your weaknesses. (auto Safe, Shell, Ribbon, Amulet.  Uses Remedy.  Weak to Dark/Water)
  • Tyrano for immunities. Ice Weakness is easily fixed with Snow Muffler. (Immune to Earth, Wind, and all Statuses)
• Albatross: Solid early-game AoE & sap setter. Windrunner is the WoR AoE & sap setter.
• Vaporite: Solid ST magic damage with auto-regen for WoB. Titan for WoR.
• Rocky: Harvester spam FTW! Scrapper/Rhydon provide some WoB healing.
• Conjurer: Rerise spam can win fights *cough Dadaluma*. Also has Refract utility later on in Witch.
• Antlion: Stop/Snare is a vicious combo.

Extra

• Fire: Albatross for the WoB. WoR follows up with not-quite-as-effective Witch. If it's just undead-killing, then Lich (WoB) followed by Revenant (WoR)
• Bolt: Vaporite for the WoB, Griffin and Anemone in the WoR. Gau may be the game's best Bolt mage.
• Water: Vaporite in the WoB, Ninja in the WoR.
• Dark: Sewer Rat in the WoB, Shokan in the WoR. If it's a group of humans, Marlboro is an option.
• Other ST Magic: Stray Cat (WoB), Io/Griffin (WoR)
• Other AoEs:  Leafer/Crawler (early-WoB), Vulture (late-WoB), Windrunner/Anemone (early-WoR), Weedula (late-WoR)
• Other Healers: Soldier (WoB), Mesosaur/Gargoyle (WoR)
• Status Control: Exocite (muddle) mostly, or his actual Magic (imp, sleep). Maybe Jinn (muddle/berserk/mute) as an option too.
• Gamble: Behemoth (1/3 Meteo), Spirit (Demi/Quartr), Onion Kid (Brown Note), and Marlboro (1/3 Bad Breath)

Stamina

• Early-WoB: Exocite for damage, muddle, and auto-regen. Scrapper is an MP healer.
• Late-WoB: Cephalid for damage and auto-shell. Rhydon for an HP healer.
• WoR: Mantodea for strongest damage rage. Rocky provides Harvester & damage (Rocky is perhaps stam Gau's overall best deployment).

Misc

• Don't forget Gau's actual Magic. HasteX & Fenrir are especially good as opening salvos for a boss fight. His other Magics also have their utility.
• For WoR, grab a Bone Club, asap! The BPow is critical to Gau's damage in the WoR, as is the Magic +7 is you trade it for a Magic Bone. A Blizzard Orb is helpful as well.
• Black Heart combined with the right shield, hide, and Rage can make Gau quite bulky. It's even compatible with Harvester spam! Especially useful if you snag the hidden WoB Heart, or for anytime prior to earning the Snow Muffler.

Are the subforums a place for build discussion, theorycrafting, & advice AND a place for balance discussion, or is balance discussion still going on in the main topic?