Would it be wise...

[Lunatic Pandora]

Would it be wise to stick with the same 4 characters through the rest of the game once you obtain the airship? I just recruited Mog and have watched the events after making it to the end of the cave leading to the Sealed Gate. I wasn't sure if picking 4 characters to level up and obtain magic for the rest of the game was a good decision or not. If it is, which characters should I use?

Thanks!

[Takara]

If you only level up 4 characters, you risk having problems in the dungeons that use 2 or more parties in the World of Balance, like the Phoenix Cave and Kefka's Tower, and the Dragons' Den in the GBA version. You'll have 4 characters that have high levels, and the rest of the characters risk dying a lot against the stronger monsters.

[Lunatic Pandora]

Okay, thanks for the heads up. It just seems like spreading the Espers across all of these characters would take forever for them to learn magic.

[,,,]

If there's a character or two you absolutely hate, you can get away with not leveling up those two. You get 14 characters if you don't screw anything up, and the most you use at one time is 12.

I find that to be one of the most fun aspects of the game-- keeping my party as level as possible. I always take my weakest characters so they can get the experience, then when one of them surpasses the people on the sidelines, swap that character out for a weaker one. That makes you use lots of different party combinations and you never have the same party for the same task in replays, except of course for where your party is determined for you.

[Slothy]

Teaching spells is easy enough if you fight in the desert east of the opera house in the world of ruin, so focus on the main ones like the cure and life spells, Osmose, and some of the higher level black magic spells. At most you'd have to level secondary characters to the mid 30's. As long as they have decent spells at that point (and sometimes even if they don't) they can hold their own against pretty much anything with one or two of your main characters mixed in with them. Slapping the moogle charm on Mog can also get weaker characters through a dungeon without fighting when you're forced to use them. Even then though, the game itself isn't too hard anyway, and like I said, by the time you hit your mid 30's for levels most characters can hold their own, especially in regular battles so don't worry too much about leveling everyone. I don't know what it would take for characters to hold their own in the Dragon's Den in the GBA version though, as I've never gotten around to playing all the way through that version.

[Crossblades]

I don't know what it would take for characters to hold their own in the Dragon's Den in the GBA version though, as I've never gotten around to playing all the way through that version.

I did the entire dungeon with characters level range from 50-60. The dragons there are really tough

[Wolf Kanno]

If you're worried about magic for your party, remember that all though most of them can learn magic, only a few are really talented at it to start off (the esper system can fix this issue) Terra, Celes, Edgar, Mog, Stago, and Relm all have natural talent for magic. Teach healing spells to everyone but if you're worried about grinding focus on these character when it comes to teaching support and offensive spells.

As the game progresses you start to to get espers that teach low level magic fairly quickly so its not too difficult to teach everyone, but in my experience, half the cast really doesn't need it.Mog, Cyan, Edgar, Sabin, and Setzer can easily hold their own without magic.;)

[Flying Mullet]

Every character doesn't need every spell. A few of the major ones, like Ultima, Cure3, Quick, Life2 and Life3 are nice to have. Other than those, you can teach specific spells to specific members and probably get by just fine.

[Roogle]

You may want to wait until you have a diverse pool of Espers before you start learning magic with all of your characters. As Wolf Kanno mentioned, you will receive Espers that teach some spells very quickly and you can walk out with some new magic after a handful of battles as opposed to investing a lot more time in learning them early.

[Xurts]

I used every character pretty equally (except for Gau and Shadow) in the WoB, but once I entered the WoR I found and used Terra, Sabin, Relm, and Gogo as fast as possible and used them the rest of the time. I took Celes, Terra, Relm, and Strago to the Tower of Fanatics, so they had all the magic when I was done. My alternate party in the final dungeon got along fine and with little trouble, and my main party killed everything in a few turns. Spamming Quick, XMagic, and Bum Rush makes quick work of everything.

[theundeadhero]

I never get into fights for the purpose of leveling up magic, except occasionally before the Floating Continent in the WOB. I just make sure everyone has an esper equiped and learn as I naturally progress through the game.

[Lamia]

I always had 4 super characters that were at high levels and all had superior equipment. These characters would spearhead my parties. (Level 60 Terra, equipped with a gem box and economizer can get through Kefka's Tower ALONE! ULTIMA! ULTIMA! ULTIMA!). Don't worry about teaching all of your characters magic! What to do with competent melee fighters like Sabin? Level him up with espers that push up his strength, and vigor. Utilize his ability with relics like Hyper Wrists, Genji Gloves, and Offerings. Final Fantasy 6 has some of the best accessories of all the Final Fantasy games. It's not necessary for every character to learn all the magic, or even a good portion of it! Be selective and customize your characters.

[FFVIFan]

In the GBA version of the game the other characters level up even if they weren't use in any battle exept they do not have any Esper abilities.

[Slothy]

In the GBA version of the game the other characters level up even if they weren't use in any battle exept they do not have any Esper abilities.

No they don't. At certain points in the game everyone you're not using gets their levels reaveraged based on the average of everyone I believe, but they don't level up normally without being used in battles.

[Flying Mullet]

In the GBA version of the game the other characters level up even if they weren't use in any battle exept they do not have any Esper abilities.

No they don't. At certain points in the game everyone you're not using gets their levels reaveraged based on the average of everyone I believe, but they don't level up normally without being used in battles.
Correct. When you regain a character in the World of Ruin that character can be auto-leveled to a certain point, but they never gain experience when they aren't in the current party when you're out leveling your in-party characters.

[FFVIFan]

In the GBA version of the game the other characters level up even if they weren't use in any battle exept they do not have any Esper abilities.

No they don't. At certain points in the game everyone you're not using gets their levels reaveraged based on the average of everyone I believe, but they don't level up normally without being used in battles.
Correct. When you regain a character in the World of Ruin that character can be auto-leveled to a certain point, but they never gain experience when they aren't in the current party when you're out leveling your in-party characters.

Then why did my characters that I left in Narshe had their levels about the 24s and my party characters also? Everyone knows that the GBA versions of the FF games (except for FFV) auto levels those party members that aren't in the party.

[Flying Mullet]

When did you see them again?

[FFVIFan]

In the GBA version of the game the other characters level up even if they weren't use in any battle exept they do not have any Esper abilities.

No they don't. At certain points in the game everyone you're not using gets their levels reaveraged based on the average of everyone I believe, but they don't level up normally without being used in battles.
Correct. When you regain a character in the World of Ruin that character can be auto-leveled to a certain point, but they never gain experience when they aren't in the current party when you're out leveling your in-party characters.

I know that. I know that they don't gain exp. Im just saying that they auto level.

[blackmage_nuke]

If you level up 4 characters enough you should be able to get though the 3 party dungeons by spliting the 4 person party and putting one in each group then going all out. The 3 group dungeons tend to be good places to level up anyway, so if you can keep your characters alive for a few battles and theyre only level 20 or something they'll probably jump up a few levels.

[Kenshin IV]

Like most (all?) Final Fantasies, it doesn't matter what characters you use. They pretty much all have their own levels of ass-kickery to work with, and game's not hard.

[Slothy]

Then why did my characters that I left in Narshe had their levels about the 24s and my party characters also? Everyone knows that the GBA versions of the FF games (except for FFV) auto levels those party members that aren't in the party.

There are a few spots in the game where levels will be raised to about the party average. Generally this happens when your characters split up but it would be difficult or impossible to go back and change party members. This includes when some of your characters stay behind in Narshe, when most of them stay behind in Vector, and when you get everyone back in the World of Ruin. Other than those instances (and maybe one or two others if I'm missing any), your characters levels are never raised to what your main party's levels are.