ff7hero

Yeah, if I ever master Slots, my opinion of Setzer might change. Using a team without two super squishies like Vig Terra and Shadow might have also helped. No one else can repeatedly wake two characters up from their dirt naps. Even with Setzer, Celes and Terra, I couldn't Rerise fast enough to keep up.

I'd say it has more to do with an increase in general balance. My choice was up in the air until I hit the final battle. Celes, Setzer and Shadow were all in the running until Locke turned a very tough battle into a borderline cakewalk. The balance that has been achieved over the past few versions has a sort of cascading effect. More balanced (usually less difficult overall) bosses and enemies allow a wider variety of builds to be viable. At the same time, other characters and Locke's other builds have been (mostly) brought up in power. This leads to people playing with non-Phoenix Locke, which is totally fine, but it leaves them less familiar with the power of Locke's X-Magic. I feel like I made my point, but I want to make sure I point out that everything I'm saying is positive. Text can be woefully inadequate at communicating tone, and as I read what I wrote, it sounds much more negative than I intended. Can't wait to see what new character builds become viable in 2.0! (Dog Farts, yo!)

My vote goes to Locke almost entirely because of my experiences in the final gauntlet. Having always been a fan of Rerise, I decided to try taking a team of Double-Wing Vig Terra/Phantom Shadow/Crusader Celes/The Bank Setzer into the final battle, but Setzer just wasn't able to keep everyone on their feet, we never even made it past Tier 1 I replaced the Bank with Phoenix Locke and sailed right through, beating the whole tower and Kefka in one go. Such is the power of the Sage Stone.

I'm partial to stacking Phoenix on Locke, which is as much about the HP as the MP.