Thanks alot for the info. Yes you are right. I didn't realize the 2 handed symbol doesn't pop up when I equip the whale whisker. Kinda lame but whatever. All the other sticks are 2 hand able. I've looked at all kinds of patch notes. Maybe I missed this info. There's alot to go through. Hard to find the information I need sometimes.
As for the faith rod I just picked up Cloud so hopefully after I train him and Mel up I will zone in on it soon.
For growths I remember back in the day I felt like I had a hell of a time dealing with speed, and having my units do enough damage. So this time I spent alot of time researching the growths and leveled my characters at mandalia a specific way. Ramza for example is lvl 98 with base stats 13 speed, 17 Pa, 14 ma, 388 health, 124 mp as a squire. He is highly effective. Much better than last time I played this. So I don't know for sure if it is generally worth the effort but my party feels really strong and the battles have gotten easier. Except Elmdor. Dear god that was a nightmare, but I got all his stuff took 12 attempts.