FFVI Pwned

I haven't gotten very far yet. I've brought several characters up to 99 several times when I've played through the game in the past. I honestly think that I won't have much problem with the extra dungeons, even if they're really tough. I've played through FFVI more than I've played through any other game ever, save for Mega Man X and Super Mario Bros, which are both really short by comparison.

What other characters do you usually use in the end?

For the longest time I only ever used Locke, the Super Figaro Bros, and Celes or Terra. Last couple times I've played over the past year or two I've experimented with Strago, Relm, Shadow, and Gau. Strago and Relm are by far the best magic users in the game. Shadow and Gau can deal out damage like nobodies biznotch. That didn't suprise me with Shadow, but it did with Gau. I always hated using Gau, but damn does he hit hard if you know how to use him.

Well my usual line up really depends on what I am fighting. If it is a magic duel, I would get Terra, Celes, Sabin, and Umaro. Umaro really is like one of the best characters in the game. At level 45 he does well over 3000 damage, and with the Berserker Ring (absorbs fire, negates lightning) he is awesome.

If it is a heavy melee duel, I would use Cyan (my favorite character), Edgar, Shadow, and Sabin. Cyan is usually my best character mainly for his sword techniques. Flurry is awesomely good (yet it takes SO long to charge) and when he has his best weapon (I forget the name on advance, its Sky Render on SNES) he does like 5000-7000 each hit when he is only in the 60-70ies. Edgar is probably the best all-around character though, since he, like I mentioned earlier, has the Lightbringer (Illumina)/ Ultima Weapon (Atma Weapon) combo with the Master's Scroll (Offering). LB does at least 3000-4000 each, and UM at max HP does from 6000-8000. Shadow is just an awesome guy, and lately I haven't really used his attacks, and I have just thrown Fuma's. They do 9999 so I am happy. 😊

Sabin just is sweet because of Phantom Rush. :sly:

I also think that Kefka should have gotten a make-over because when you get to the 50ies and up, he is just shitty. He barely does any damage, and in about 3-5 turns, I move up to the next form. After the Omega Weapon, you should be teleported to a completely dark room, where all you can see is Kefka, laughing with no sound. Then you face him in his final form with over 500,000 HP. It sounds ridiculous because it is. :evil:

Jeez, I am getting VERY worked up about this...

I've beaten Kaiser Dragon, and the guy that replaces him the second time through, [spoiler]Omega Weapon[/spoiler]
Basically, I had Terra, Celes, and Locke around Level 70ish, Terra and Celes are extremely powerful mages, Locke is dual wielding Ultima Weapons (one was stolen from the 3rd tier of Kefka) and is equipped with the master's scroll, and because he is at such a high level with maximum HP, he does almost 9999 with each attack, 8 attacks. He also knows Quick, for more madness.

I haven't bothered with the Soul Shrine yet, but I should probably get around to it. Good stuff. I love Final Fantasy VI. 😃

I'm considering playing through a ROM of the game, but I'm not sure if it is really worth all the effort. When I was much younger I raised everyone to Level 99, and taught them all every spell. I could do that again easily, it would be tedious, and I'd probably steamroll the new dungeon if I did so.

Well, I really dont know where to get ALL the espers, but I usually only miss one, Ragnarok. I learn Ultima from the Paladin Shield, yet I never really take the time to do 255 battles in it. Is there a quicker way to do this?

Not without cheating, unless they changed something in Advance.

Just got home and started playing the Gameboy Advance port about 30 minutes ago. The updated dialogue is refreshing. I expected the graphics to be a little dumbed down due to the screen size, but so far, they don't disappoint.

KJAZZ wrote:...Locke is dual wielding Ultima Weapons (one was stolen from the 3rd tier of Kefka)...

Does this mean you get to save your game after the final battle so you can keep the stolen items and weapons from the final battle?

Yes, as that is how you unlock the Sound Test. It's the same as in FFIV and FFV Advance. You can also steal a Ragnarok from the 3rd tier, so you don't have to pick between the Esper and the Sword, you can get both. 😃

If you really had the patience, you could get multiples of each, but I don't really think it's that necessary to get that many.

I imagine there might be plenty of swords that are superior to Ragnarok in the new dungeon. I did play all the way through FF4 Advance, and there was some crazy equipment in there. Part of me wants to play this to see the new equipment.

I heard many people didn't like parts of the new script, but I'd like to see it anyway.

I think I'll go grab the game now. I could use a break from WoW for a few days.

Really, the changes in the script didn't bother me at all, and I'm a very big fan of FF6. People were freaking out because "Son of a Submariner" became "Son of a Sandworm". It's ridiculous. All of the changes were essentially for the better.

Oh, and I don't mean to ruin anything for you Glenn, but Lightbringer (Known as Illumina in the original SNES, what you get for betting Ragnarok) is still the best sword. No question.

Is the Banon/raft cheat still in this version?

Dark Nation wrote:Is the Banon/raft cheat still in this version?

Don't you need a turbo controller for that anyway? If it's still there, it'd be easy to do on a rom...

Dark Nation wrote:Is the Banon/raft cheat still in this version?

Someone told me it wasn't because the menu options work slightly different. I don't know. I wouldn't really call it a cheat though. You get so little XP from it that it's kind of pointless to bother. The game isn't *that* hard :P

The *cheat* (or bug) about insta-killing any enemy (including bosses) with Vanish + X-Zone (Banish in this version) is gone though. They fixed that.

Yet at the same time, they didn't bother to fix Gau's rages. So disappointing. You *still* cannot leap Proto Armor or Tonberries (well you can, but you can't get their rages), the rages are still ordered in a rediculously cumbersome manner (seriously, alphabetical! how hard is that?!), and there are still weirdities about some creatures appearing on the veldt that maybe shouldn't (Holy Dragon for example - though at this point it's a bit late and removing said monsters would be annoying), and some not appearing that should (i.e. Deathwarden). Overall they should have gone in and reorganized this whole area because it's rather buggy.

Also in a similar vein, the monsters Doberman, Darkside, Specter, and Eukaryote don't show up in the Bestiary, despite having rages. *boggle* I guess Tose forgot them (or excluded them?) because they are hard-to-find enemies (Doberman requires kicking a chest in an area that only shows up in Sabin's scenario, and the rest involve taking the wrong path in the Narshe cave so the light beam hits you and you fight those monsters - the path thing is gone in WoR). But honestly, if they were worried about players missing them, that's what Soul Shrine is for (for example - the Red Magna Roaders show up in Soul Shrine - easily the *easiest* to miss enemy because the encounter relies purely on "luck of the draw" whether you see them in the Megitek mine cart ride)

I remember doing that for hours at a time. It really is a waste though because the Espers give level up boosts, and the higher you are, the less you get.

I have started over the Dragon's Den, and there are SOME cool weapons, but none are as good as Lightbringer. I am having trouble now though as I have been in there 2 hours and I still have 2 Dragons to go....

I started the Dragon Den over the weekend but it's a real maze. I hate three-party combos. At least in Kefka's Tower it was pretty obvious which switches you needed to press - for the most part it was just "get to the end with Party X and step on whatever switch is there". But this is requiring a lot of effort :P

Maybe I will stick Moggle Charm (whatever the translation is, I don't remember) on Mog so I can expore in peace :P I do think it's crap that none of the monsters here give AP though. What's up with that? I eventually decided yesterday after just beating the Ice Dragon and then getting lost to go back to the desert and kill Cactaurs to skill up the characters I never use. At least then they are less useless. Though Gau still is - he's at lvl 33 and I have no desire to level him *now* :P (I have just been excluding him in place of Gogo who at least offers an extra Steal party :P) What I'll probably end up doing is running him through the Veldt - there is enough there he doesn't need to leap that he'll get lots of XP.

I completed and utterly mastered this game back in my early teenage years. I feel that Gau and Umaro are the most worthless characters in the game. You should ignore them, and just build up the other 12. That's all you will ever need. I don't like Umaro because you can't control him, so he'll do things you don't want him doing. Gau, like you said Warlock, is crap.

Everyone else you can control, and even if they suck otherwise (like Relm), they can still use magic, so they are still perfectly viable.

I'm personally glad the vanish+doom combo won't work anymore. I was never comfortable with it for the simple reason that if you Vanish+XZone an enemy, you receive no items from it after the fight. You can lose a lot of great equipment if you do this on the bigger bosses, and if you do it on DoomGaze, you will not receive the Bahamut esper. I don't think a lot of people realize this fact. Vanish + Doom was safe though.

I never liked Gau much, (or Relm or Strago for that matter) but I hear he can be a valuable asset if you know how to use him and get the right rages.

In regards to the changes in the game, I don't think the dialog changes would bother me, but the changes in the item names and spells/espers would drive me crazy. So, I think I'll keep my SNES cart and play that. (I actually never finished the game - I am about to enter Kefka's tower. Maybe I will replay it someday)

I've played a little ways through a ROM of Advance, and I'll say I'm being pleasantly surprised.

Contrary to what a lot of people say, I think the sound and music quality is better in ways. Overall the game sounds and visuals feel cleaner and more polished. While the GBA console's sound system is technically inferior to that of the SNES, the sounds in this game seem to be better utilized to be easier to listen to. This might be something only appreciable when using headphones on a computer. I hear that the voices in the opera scene are supposed to sound more lifelike, and I look forward to that.

The new script is pretty good so far. In the negative reviews I saw, the critics were pointing out a few very bad cases and ignoring the rest, which is turning out to be pretty good.

Another point of contention was the immense slowdown in the game. When I started playing the ROM, it was very noticeable, and I could understand peoples' frustration with it. However, I was able to tweak my emulator's settings a bit to make it all but go away.

And Vegeta, I can assure you it is worth it to push through Kefka's Tower. The end parts of the tower and then the final fight are in my opinion the shining highlights of the game. I loved fighting the Statues, the Guardian, getting their loot, and then fighting that amazing battle against Kefka and that bizarre work of art you face.

Well Gau *can* be amazingly good, but he requires knowing SO much about what every Rage does and what to use when that it's not worth the effort. Some people do Low Level Games and then they swear by him for that.

I have no issues with the translation - I think it's great. Even the Espers and Items. Finally Cyan and Shadow use weapons with PROPER Japanese names (being a Samauri and Ninja respectively), even though this is a bit confusing to some people. But honestly, what do you need? All you need to look at is the stats or the special effect (i.e. Kazikiri/Tempest for Wind Slash). The espers all match their classic mythological counterparts as well, and of course, Stray was properly named Cait Sith (yay)

The music is definately worse, but more-so at the beginning of the game. I think part of it is also due to the GBA/DS speakers, as I have heard that the GB Player sounds much better. I didn't notice any problems near the end of the game though. Mostly it's the WoB overworld theme that sounds really off. And yeah, the voices in the Opera are better.

As for slowdown, I have heard that it's more apparent on emulators. On the DS there is barely any slowdown. The only real slowdown I've seen are in battles with a lot going on (i.e. many enemies + flashy spells like Meteor) and in some areas like outside Kefka's Tower (the spotlights) and a few others. It seems to mainly have problem with sprite flickering that causes the slowdown. This is true for all of them - the worst I saw was FFIVA's Ex-death battle where the background animates and the whole battle is laggy as hell.

Glenn the Great wrote:I completed and utterly mastered this game back in my early teenage years. I feel that Gau and Umaro are the most worthless characters in the game. You should ignore them, and just build up the other 12. That's all you will ever need. I don't like Umaro because you can't control him, so he'll do things you don't want him doing. Gau, like you said Warlock, is crap.

Well, I use Umaro all the time, and he is awesome for me. If you have the Gauntlet and Berserker Ring on, you annihilate all fire enemies. (I am not sure what it negates, if anything.) His armor is very strong, and he really hits harder than all of the characters. But still, Gau is a piece of shit. Even if you took the time to get every rage, he would still suck because if the enemy had i.e.- Ultima and a really horrid attack, he would attack 8/10 times. But the best thing to do with Gau, is to not even get him in the WoR. He probably has under 1000 HP for that matter 😃 .

I have been thinking about this, and I still wonder, what is best, Ultima Weapon for power, or Lightbringer for Evade? I have tried them both out, and LB gives godly block, but kinda crappy attack (3000-4000, 8 hits), and UW has godly power, and no block (9999-9999 😎 8 hits).

Which would you choose? (These hits are from a level 83 Edgar with 74 Strength.)

The Destroyed wrote:Well, I use Umaro all the time, and he is awesome for me. If you have the Gauntlet and Berserker Ring on, you annihilate all fire enemies. (I am not sure what it negates, if anything.) His armor is very strong, and he really hits harder than all of the characters. But still, Gau is a piece of shit. Even if you took the time to get every rage, he would still suck because if the enemy had i.e.- Ultima and a really horrid attack, he would attack 8/10 times. But the best thing to do with Gau, is to not even get him in the WoR. He probably has under 1000 HP for that matter 😃 .

I have been thinking about this, and I still wonder, what is best, Ultima Weapon for power, or Lightbringer for Evade? I have tried them both out, and LB gives godly block, but kinda crappy attack (3000-4000, 8 hits), and UW has godly power, and no block (9999-9999 😎 8 hits).

Which would you choose? (These hits are from a level 83 Edgar with 74 Strength.)

No, Gau has some really good rages. For example, there is one that will charm (i.e. confuse) any enemy INCLUDING bosses. And it hits every time. He also used to have a really broken thing in the SNES version (it was fixed here). If you put the Merit Award on him (which he can no longer wear) you could equip two Tempest swords (Kazikiri) plus Offering (Master Scroll) and use the Catscratch rage. He would basically hit for 9999 eight times plus the Wind Slash effect of the sword goes off every time which I think hits for that or close to that. So it was like 9999x16. At least that's what I heard. They called it Wind God Gau. Gogo could also do this (less effectively), even in the PSX version, but he was fixed in this version too.

Anyways, Lightbringer is better. Both can hit for 9999 easily, but Lightbringer has a chance to cast Holy for an additional 9999. Also, I believe Ultima loses power when you are low on HP (at least, I've had ~7000hp characters that will hit for 9999 with it, but if they were around critical status they only hit in the 300 range). Of course, what I do is have Celes with Genji Gloves and Ultima + Lightbringer. Broken ftw!

I know that things are different in Advance, but here are my thoughts considering the SNES version.

AtmaWeapon is the best sword in the game because of the damage it does. Once you reach a high enough level, the Illumina would do 9999 also. At that point, you take the stats. Lightbringer sounds clearly superior at Level 99.

I'm not exactly looking forward to the new fights though. I watched a YouTube video of a fight against the Kaiser Dragon, and it was pathetic. The poor creature can't stand up against just a few 8 hit AtmaWeapon combos. He was dead before he even hardly got to do anything.

And what is up with that Barrier Change crap? At that point in the game, only idiots are still using elemental spells.

He is a big disappointment.

If they did this correctly, he'd have more than 10 million HP, and he needs to make generous use of Ultima. I'd also like to see a lot of Whirlwind action. He also should buff himself in every way possible at the outset.

Also, he needs Reflect and on Dispel he needs to rebuff. As people who played the new content in FF4Advance know, reflect greatly screws over Lightbringer and other weapons that can cast a reflectable spell.

Glenn the Great wrote:I know that things are different in Advance, but here are my thoughts considering the SNES version.

AtmaWeapon is the best sword in the game because of the damage it does. Once you reach a high enough level, the Illumina would do 9999 also. At that point, you take the stats. Lightbringer sounds clearly superior at Level 99.

I'm not exactly looking forward to the new fights though. I watched a YouTube video of a fight against the Kaiser Dragon, and it was pathetic. The poor creature can't stand up against just a few 8 hit AtmaWeapon combos. He was dead before he even hardly got to do anything.

And what is up with that Barrier Change crap? At that point in the game, only idiots are still using elemental spells.

He is a big disappointment.

If they did this correctly, he'd have more than 10 million HP, and he needs to make generous use of Ultima. I'd also like to see a lot of Whirlwind action. He also should buff himself in every way possible at the outset.

Also, he needs Reflect and on Dispel he needs to rebuff. As people who played the new content in FF4Advance know, reflect greatly screws over Lightbringer and other weapons that can cast a reflectable spell.

I havn't gotten that far yet, so I don't know. But I've heard a lot of reports that he is hard. Either way, after you beat him you can go back and fight Omega Weapon in his place.

I have gotten through most of Dragon Den though. Some of them are not that bad, others are crazy annoying. For example, the new Skull Dragon frequently turns members to zombies, and uses an ability that will cast every status effect on many (or all!) party memebers, which basically leaves you with a muted confused imp with doom numbers over his head. On top of this, he hits decently hard (2000-3000 per hit, usually twice in a row) and he cannot die until you drain all of his mana. You have to Rasp him to death. It's crazy :P

Earth Dragon requires all members to have Angel Wings because he will dispel Float (but the wings prevent this) and then instantly fire off several earth spells rapid-fire that hit like a truck. He's easy enough with Angel Wings on though, although if you don't kill him fast enough he will enrage and hit everyone pretty hard with physical attacks (like a Berserk).

Red Dragon was weird - he goes rapid fire, balls to the wall, all out on you with stong attacks. But after awhile he just dies. At the beginning of the match it says he sacrified his life energy for power, so you basically just need to outlast him to win. He wasn't hard. Ice Dragon actually splits into three Ice Dragons. Not hard but neat.

Really the hard part of that dungeon is that most normal enemies have instant death attacks, hit like a truck, and cast annoying debuff spells (ex: there is one that will cast a spell and say "Protect me!" and then that character will block almost every attack against her until either one dies... some attacks like omni-spells - such as Ultima - and Jumping, Throwing, etc are not effected by this though). The worst is Blaster which many have and that can wipe out your entire party in one cast if it doesn't miss.

Oh, and on top of that this is a 3 party dungeon so none of your parties are really optimal. But I did find a nice cheat - make Mog his own party by himself and put Moogle Charm on him. He can explore, stand on switches, etc for you. Then make one power-house party and one "ok" party with a ward bangle. The powerhouse party fights all dragons and does most of the work. The "ok" party is only occassionally needed to step on a switch, but for at least most of the early dragons you only need two parties (so Mog works great).

Warlock wrote: But I did find a nice cheat - make Mog his own party by himself and put Moogle Charm on him. He can explore, stand on switches, etc for you. Then make one power-house party and one "ok" party with a ward bangle. The powerhouse party fights all dragons and does most of the work. The "ok" party is only occassionally needed to step on a switch, but for at least most of the early dragons you only need two parties (so Mog works great).

I actually used this exact same tactic back when I was 10 years old playing through for the first time. This is how I always do the Phoenix Cave. Mog goes in one group with his charm, and my 4 top characters go in the other group. The really nice thing about it is that you don't have to remember which group to assign Mog to, since you can easily attack the Fire Dragon after the two parties regroup.

Another way I like to exploit this is to grab Mog as soon as possible in the WoR, and fly him into Kefka's Tower, and let him loot the 3 branches of the dungeon (only up to the minibosses, of course.)

Yeah, it's nice 😊

BTW, comparisons of the Operas:

Final Fantasy III (SNES):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6K25HpI6ew

Final Fantasy VI Advance (GBA):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohp9KQ7KcLE

You can hear the slightly lower sound quality of the GBA one, but you can definately tell the voices are better. And the translation is worlds better.

P.S.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLVU3RkeMPk

This is the GBA one but with better sound quality - the difference is that it's in Japanese 😞 This is probably a better reflection of quality. It's not as dramatic as the above, but I *do* think it partially depends on the device like I said. I'd estimate the above is about how it sounds on an actual GBA/DS, while this one is how it sounds on GB Player. They just have sucky speakers 😞

P.S.S. - Easier translation comparisons:

FFIII SNES:                               FFVIA GBA:
Oh my hero, so far away now.              O my hero, my beloved,
Will I ever see your smile?               Shall we still be made to part,
Love goes away, like night into day.      Though promises of perennial love
It's just a fading dream.                 Yet sing here in my heart?
I'm the darkness,                         I'm the darkness, 
you're the stars.                         You're the starlight
Our love is brighter than the sun.        Shining brightly from afar.
For eternity,                             Through hours of despair,
for me there can be,                      I offer this prayer
Only you, my chosen one...                To you, my evening star.
Must I forget you? Our solemn promise?    Must my final vows exchanged
Will autumn take the place of spring?     Be with him and not you?
What shall I do?,                         Were you only here
I'm lost without you.                     To quiet my fear...
Speak to me once more!                    O speak! Guide me anew.
We must part now, my life goes on.        I'm thankful, my beloved, 
But my heart won't give you up.           For your tenderness and grace.
Ere I walk away,                          I see in your eyes,
Let me hear you say                       So gentle and wise,
I meant as much to you...                 All doubts and fears erased!
So gently, you touched my heart.          Though the hours take no notice
I will be forever yours.                  Of what fate might have in store,
Come what may,                            Our love, come what may, 
I won't age a day,                        Will never age a day.
I'll wait for you, always.                I'll wait forevermore!

Edit: Yay for perfectly aligned lyrics!

I beat Kaiser Dragon yesterday. You're right, he's not too hard. He's not a slouch though. He'll frequently cast Heartless Angel followed by some physical attacks, which can wipe out your party quick. Having Reraise on your party is pretty essential. Otherwise he is not that bad. I think he cast Ultima at the end ala Mage Master (sp?) in Cultist's Tower which 9999dmg kills everyone, but having Reraise will obviously prevent you from losing :P

But he was easier than the other dragons in the area. They were all pretty difficult, which is good. So the whole thing is not a waste. Diabolos esper has a neat graphic too, they did a good job with that.

I'll have to try Omega Weapon and Soul Shrine next :P

I'm right now power-levelling since all my "big 4" characters are right around the "put Bahamut on them or else they'll never reach 9999 hp" mark.

I'm going to attack Dragon's Den near the 70s and honestly you guys make me kind of worried but I think I can handle it. I'm playing by some special rules so here's the party:

Celes: super mage w/100+ magic stat
Terra: super mage w/128 perfect magic and the Soul of Thamasa
Cyan: super damage w/100+ strength, Genji Glove + Master's Scroll
Gau: gee whiz Gau is a broken character

Hmm, I feel like I'm left behind, because I only beat the Dragon's Den in my high 50s to low 60s... Oh, wait, that's a good thing 😊

Kaiser wasn't that difficult (the second time, when I remembered to put all my good equipment on my fighting party). Terra (all magic), Setzer (fixed dice + master scroll), Mog (Dragoon boots + Dragon horn, all magic), Strago (all magic).

I must say, though, that the Kaiser Dragon battle was roughly twice as long as all of the Kefka battle. (Which was still harder than Exdeath in FFV, though).

Until I read this thread, I had no idea that Omega Weapon replaced Kaiser Dragon. I knew he existed, but I didn't know where. I figured he was at the end of the Soul Shrine. I guess I have to get my hands dirty again 😊