Basic Tips
- For those of you who are new to Final Fantasy VI, espers, or in their dead/usable form, magicite, teach you spells. Ramuh, for example, can teach you Bolt, Bolt 2, and Poison. You usually gain Magic Points when you win a battle, which help you learn spells. The rate of learning is what percent of the spell you learn for each Magic Point you earn. (So if you learn something at a rate of 1x, that means you learn 1% of the spell for each Magic Point and have to earn 100 Magic Points to learn the spell. But if you learn something at a rate of 20x, you learn 20% of the spell for each Magic Point and only need to earn 5 Magic Points to learn the spell.)
- When you gain a level, you can gain extra HP, MP, strength, etc. with Espers that give additional amounts of such. Ramuh will give you an additional 2 stamina at a level up, while Kirin doesn't give you anything extra. So it is useful to check your experience often to see if you will be gaining a level soon, and when you are going to be gaining a level in one or two fights, you should equip an Esper that will give the most useful stat bonus.
- Summoning Espers takes up a lot of MP, (not including Ragnarok) but it can be very useful. If you have one character left whose HP is low, Phoenix would be worth much more than the 110 MP it took to summon it. However, if your condition is not too bad, save Espers like Phoenix and Sraphim for when in need, for they can be summoned only once a battle.
Ramuh:2.5 stars out of 5
Spells:3 Summoning:2 Level Up:2
Spells: Ramuh's spell "Bolt" can be very useful when you first get him. "Poison" isn't very useful, and you probably won't learn "Bolt 2" before you get Maduin, which teaches it to you faster.
Summoning: If you need a strong bolt spell and haven't learned "Bolt 2" yet, this will be great!
Level Up: Equip Ramuh to people who have low stamina naturally. Stamina benifits everyone equally, and you don't want any characters to be stuck with low stamina!
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Kirin:2 1/2 stars out of 5
Spells:4 Summoning:3 Level Up:0
Spells: Healing is the most useful magic type in the game, and of the healing spells, "Cure" is probably the most useful of all. Spells such as "Antidote" and "Scan" can come in handy, too!
Summoning: I usually will summon Kirin at the beginning of boss fights. It's not worth equipping it just for the summon ability, though.
Level Up: Kirin gives you no level up bonus. In other words, don't use it.
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Stray:1.5 stars out of 5
Spells:3 Summoning:1 Level Up:1
Spells: Stray teaches "Imp" which can be a very helpful substitute for a green cherry. "Float" can sometimes be useful, but I'd much rather just learn it with Palidor later on. "Muddle" is useless.
Summoning: If the spell "Muddle" is useless, it's not as if you're going to waste 28 MP just to cast it on all opponents.
Level Up: When your magicians are going to gain levels, this can be helpful.
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Siren:2.5 stars out of 5
Spells:2 Summoning:1 Level Up:3.5
Spells: Siren's best spell is "Fire." It's worth equipping her for it. "Mute" can also be used to your benifit sometimes.
Summoning: If you're facing several tough magicians, you could put this to use.
Level Up: This is Siren's strong point! Any character would benifit a lot from more HP. Until you get magicite that raises your HP more, use it!
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Shiva:3 stars out of 5
Spells:4.5 Summoning:3 Level Up:0
Spells: Well... All of Shiva's spells can be very useful! She's a must-equip one!
Summoning: Great to replace "Ice 2" if you don't know it! It's still a little stronger, so why not use it anyway?
Level Up: Shiva gives no level up bonus, forget it.
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Ifrit:2.5
Spells:4 Summoning:3 Level Up:1
Spells: Ifrit is the only magicite that teaches you "Drain", a rarely-useful spell. "Fire" and "Fire 2" are very useful, and they're taught at good rates.
Summoning: Great to replace "Fire 2" if you don't know it yet! It's still a little stronger, so why not use it anyway?
Level Up: You'll soon be getting magicite that teaches you Strength+2, but before then, give it to fighters!
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Unicorn:2.5 stars out of 5
Spells:4 Summoning:2 Level Up:0
Spells: Already know most of what Kirin teaches? Great! Unicorn is sort of like a level 2 Kirin! It teaches you more advanced recovery magic. I reccomend learning "Cure 2" and "Remedy" because the others aren't all that useful and you can learn them faster with other magicite later on.
Summoning: Everyone have a lot of bad status effects? It's time to summon Unicorn!
Level Up: Unicorn doesn't have a level up bonus.
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Maduin:2.5 stars out of 5
Spells:4 Summoning:3 Level Up:1
Spells: From the time you get Maduin to the time you get the Falcon, Maduin's spells are great! They're all taught at a reasonable rate, too.
Summoning: It's a strong attack. Why not use it?
Level Up: Magic + 1 is good for magicians if you don't have any better magic bonuses.
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Bismark:3 stars out of 5
Spells:3.5 Summoning:3 Level Up:3
Spells: Don't know "Fire," "Ice," or "Bolt" yet? Equip Bismark for a really quick catch-up. You'll also be getting a head-start on "Life," but you probably won't finish it with Bismark.
Summoning: If your opponent(s) are weak against water and you need a big attack to kill them, Bismark is the key
Level Up: Use it for your fighters!
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Shoat:3 stars out of 5
Spells:3 Summoning:2 Level Up:3.5
Spells: Shoat's spells aren't that useful, but that doesn't mean don't learn them! When you have nothing better to learn, learn them!
Summoning: Shoat often misses, so forget it.
Level Up: Equip Shoat to anyone for their level up.
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Carbunkl:2.5 stars out of 5
Spells:3.5 Summoning:3 Level Up:0
Spells: All of Carbunkl's spells can be quite useful at times, but they aren't necessary. When you know all the more important stuff, equip Carbunkl!
Summoning: If you're fighting a boss who casts a lot of magic on you, undo its efforts by summoning Carbunkl!
Level Up: Carbunkl doesn't have a level up bonus.
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Phantom:2.5 stars out of 5
Spells:2.5 Summoning:2 Level Up:3
Spells: Not worth it if you don't have anything useful to learn, but not terrible
Summoning: Vanish is more useful on the enemy so spells like "Doom" and "Break" can hit them, so forget it.
Level Up: If you want a little more MP, use it!
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Zoneseek:3.5 stars out of 5
Spells:5 Summoning:2 Level Up:3
Spells: "Osmose" is GREAT! "Rasp" and "Shell" aren't terrible, either. Not only that, you can learn "Osmose" and "Rasp" really quickly! Zoneseek gets a 5/5 in this category!
Summoning: If you're fighting a magic-using boss, I don't see why you shouldn't summon Zoneseek
Level Up: Use this for your magicians' level ups!
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Golem:3 stars out of 5
Spells:3 Summoning:4 Level Up:3
Spells: If you don't already know "Cure 2" and don't have Sraphim or Starlet yet, learn it with Golem! "Safe" and "Shell" can be convenient at times.
Summoning: Great if you're fighting a boss with strong attacks. If not, don't bother.
Level Up: Stamina is equally useful to all characters. Use it for Relm and Strago's level ups especially, so they can have as much stamina as the others
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Sraphim:2.5 stars out of 5
Spells:4 Summoning:4 Level Up:0
Spells: Most characters you use should already know all of Sraphim's spells except "Life" by the time you get it. If you don't, this will be good for catching up. It'll be a little while before you can get magicite that teaches you "Life" faster, so I reccomend Sraphim for everyone who doesn't know it yet.
Summoning: Sraphim recovers a good amount of HP when you summon it, so go right ahead and summon it when you need to!
Level Up: Sraphim has no level up bonus
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Fenrir:3 stars out of 5
Spells:3 Summoning:2 Level Up:4
Spells: When you're too lazy to leave a dungeon by walking out, "Warp" will be a big help. "X-Zone" can sometimes be helpful, too.
Summoning: With multiple images of yourself, enemies won't know which image to attack and many of their attacks will miss. Still, it's usually not worth 70 MP.
Level Up: If you feel like raising your max MP, use Fenrir!
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Palidor:2 stars out of 5
Spells:3 Summoning:3 Level Up:0
Spells: If you're fighting a tougher boss, "Haste" and "Slow" spells are very helpful. "Float" is good against enemies who use "Quake."
Summoning: Fun, fun! Time to have strong attacks and waste all the enemies' turns! It costs a lot of MP, so it's not worth it unless you desperately need it or have a gold hairpin or economizer equipped.
Level Up: Palidor has no level up bonus.
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Starlet:3 stars out of 5
Spells:2 Summoning:4 Level Up:3
Spells: You should know all of Starlet's spells except "Cure 3" by the time you get her. If somebody doesn't know them, equip Starlet for a few fights to catch up. Until you get Phoenix, Starlet is the only way to learn "Cure 3" so equip her for that!
Summoning: Starlet recovers A LOT of HP when you summon her. If you need the HP, don't hesitate to summon her!
Level Up: Best for Relm and Strago, but anyone could use stamina.
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Tritoch:3.5 stars out of 5
Spells:4 Summoning:3 Level Up:3
Spells: I know it's slow, but level 3 spells are definitely worth the wait!
Summoning: A strong attack on all. Pretty good- not much more to say.
Level Up: Great for magic users!
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Terrato:3 stars out of 5
Spells:1.5 Summoning:2 Level Up:4
Spells: These spells may be strong, but it's not as if you're ever going to bother using them.
Summoning: Summoning Terrato is stronger than "Quake" so you might use it one day. Just be sure to cast "Float" first.
Level Up: Gaining levels with Terrato is great! With 30% HP bonus, Terrato should be one of the first espers you think of when you're about to gain a level.
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Odin:4 stars out of 5
Spells:2 Summoning:4 Level Up:6
Spells: "Meteor" is strong, but you learn it too slow. You can learn it at ten times the speed with Crusader.
Summoning: Annoyed by your opponents who have too much HP? Summon Odin to do away with them in one hit!
Level Up: GREAT!!!!! Odin is the only esper who teaches speed + 1, and that can transform your slow, slow Cyan into the fastest member of your group! Whenever you're about to gain a level, you should instantly think of Odin. Yes, Odin is good enough to go above 5/5 in this category.
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Alexandr:3 stars out of 5
Spells:4 Summoning:3.5 Level Up:0
Spells: "Pearl" is a very strong spell. Alexandr's other spells aren't too great, but they're worth learning. Especially since you'll automatically know them all by the time you finish "Pearl".
Summon: Enemies tend to be more evil than holy, so this super-powerful holy-elemental attack should do you good.
Level Up: Alexandr has no level up bonus.
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Phoenix:3.5 stars out of 5
Spells:5 Summoning:5 Level Up:0
Spells: Phoenix's spells are GREAT! Phoenix is the only way to learn "Life 2" and "Life 3," which are among the best spells in the game. "Cure 3" and "Fire 3" are taught much faster with Phoenix than with Starlet or Tritoch. Not to mention, you can learn "Life" very quickly if for some idiotic reason you don't know it already.
Summoning: Summoning Phoenix revives all party members. It's great!
Level Up: Phoenix has no level up bonus.
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Ragnarok:3 stars out of 5
Spells:5 Summoning:3.5 Level Up:0
Spells: One of the only two ways in the entire game to learn the all-powerful "Ultima." The only other way to learn it is to get the paladin shield, which is hard to get. If you're planning to go through the trouble to get it, I recommend choosing the sword instead. But, if you're not, you can't learn "Ultima" without the Ragnarok magicite. So in this situation, get it.
Summoning: Most of the time, Ragnarok will just miss or get you a normal item, but it can get you some very good and useful items, too.
Level Up: Ragnarok has no level up bonus.
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Crusader:4.5 stars out of 5
Spells:5 Summoning:3 Level Up:5
Spells: In my opinion, the highlight of Crusader's spells is "Meteor," not "Merton." Why? The 10x learning speed, of course! Also, you'll have to equip fire shields to protect yourself against the awesome powers of "Merton."
Summoning: Summoning Crusader is a strengthened form of "Merton." Equip fire shields, and summon away! (Well, you can't do that more than once a battle, but...)
Level Up: If you're interested in MP, Crusader is the best. There's no bigger MP bonus.
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Bahamut:4 stars out of 5
Spells:4 Summoning:3.5 Level Up:5
Spells: "Flare" is VERY strong! Learn it!
Summoning: Bahamut cuts through magic defense, so summon it against enemies with high magic defense, or just to get some good damage done.
Level Up: Of all magicite in the game, Bahamut is #2! Everyone uses HP, and Bahamut gives you an extra 50% bonus for it!
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Raiden:4 stars out of 5
Spells:4.5 Summoning:4 Level Up:3
Spells: "Quick" is a very good spell. Definitely worth the wait.
Summoning: Raiden does the same thing as Odin: Kills all enemies. It's quite useful, especially if you're lazy.
Level Up: AAAAAAAK! You mean you have to lose Odin's speed + 1 to get some stupid little strength + 2? Well, you do, and you should do it sometime in the game. I recommend turning Odin into Raiden ONLY when you have all the speed you need.
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