Character Building, no spoilers please

[JustAnotherCid]

I'm in the World of Ruin, just before Daryl's Tomb - hahah this is my first time playing FF6, I bought the SNES cartridge to play it in its original format, so please, no spoilers.

Basically I'm having trouble deciding how to build my characters. I looked up some algorithms to see what attacks are what type so I could better know who to level with strength and who to level with magic power. Basically I know to always level Sabin with the +2 Strength (I'm sure there are other Espers later that give better bonuses, but generally I know to level him with the best) because basically all his attacks work off of Vigor/Strength. I have pretty much given up on Celes as a fighter, she does great with Gauntlet and best weapon equipped but Atma = no Runic is frustration, so I don't like to use it with her. I could Genji it though, still considering that. But her stats are better for Magic anyway, so I think I'll stick with Mag Power +1 when I level her. I'm having trouble placing Setzer and to a lesser extent Edgar. It seems based on Hyper Wrist equip/unequip testing that his tools are based off his vigor, so I guess it's best to level him with Strength, but with Setzer I have no clue what his Slot abilities work off of. I'm thinking of just building him for magic and using GP Rain when in dire straits since it's got nothing to do with his stats, but I don't know how good of an idea that is. Otherwise if/when Gau and Relm show back up I have no interest in doing anything with them. As far as Locke is concerned (who I know will show back up) I like the Genji glove with atma weapon equipped - in fact it's frustrating that he's about the only character I can happily use Atma on, since just about everyone else gets more mileage from their innate abilities like Swordplay or Blitz and the rest can't even equip it. It's just a little lame... I would've loved to make Celes a sword lady =(
What are you guys' thoughts? Are there any particularly good combos I don't know about/am not seeing? I looked up some algorithm FAQs but they mostly yielded formulas for fight damage and "physical damage" but don't actually tell me what sorts of things (like Slot, or certain Blitz attacks) fall under the category of physical damage. Any help would be appreciated - any specification on categories of attacks would as well, or a better FAQ. Thanks!

[VeloZer0]

The first couple times I played through FFVI I didn't even realize that Espers gave stat bonuses, so in the long run it doesn't really matter. I'm also assuming that since you consulted FAQs you looked up what Espers were best for what stat.

- The stats cap out at 128, not 255. I was not pleased to learn I had wasted a few dozen levels grinding a stat while at the stat cap.

- You won't be doing much grinding until you have gotten all the end-game side quests done. By far the best place in the game to grind is available as soon as you get airship access again, but it is a prohibitively difficult.

- Don't neglect leveling your HP, a) you need high max HP to fully utilize Atma Weapon. b) 9999 HP on everyone is easily possible, and if one character falls short your status screen will drive you crazy.

- Ditto MP

Try looking up FF III on GameFAQs. There are way more guides in the FFIII(SNES) than the FFVI(PSX) section. I started looking, but it will take me a while to get it all sorted out. (And the fact you have all but forced me into another FFVI play through.)

[Wolf Kanno]

Actually Sabin's Blitzes do use the Magic stat so you may not want to neglect it. Edgar Vigor and Strength affect his tools so go that route but better for Edgar is actually giving him the Dragoon relics cause the game fails to mention that Spear weapons (which only Edgar and Mog can equip innately) do 2X damage with the Jump command.

Setzer's Slots use Magic stat but later in the game you can acquire his ultimate weapon the Fixed Dice which perform random damage that is "fixed" towards your benefit. Even better is that its algorithm ignores the balancing algorithm that the Offering Relic uses. The Offering allows you to attack 4 times in a row with an equipped weapon, 8 times if you are using the Genji glove but the weapon halves the damage of the weapons so in the end you are doing something close to 2.5x the damage as opposed to 4x damage as you would think. There are several weapons that ignore this property and do full damage per blow, Fixed Dice, Valiant Knife, Atma Weapon and I believe the Ragnarok and Illumina weapons as well though I could be wrong on those two.

Terra and Celes are good with Magic but they also are some of the few characters that can equip the best weapons in the game. They pretty much have the best options overall but technically Terra is debatably better than Celes cause her Magic stat is higher and the end game weapons compensate for Celes have slightly better strength, not to mention Morph makes Terra damn near indestructible by end game. Runic's usefulness is situational since you are now reaching the point where your party gets access to all the really good magic so Runic will be a bane in any party that has a dedicated mage.

Basically I would go this route. Be sure to note that raising HP and Speed should always be in there somewhere. Stamina is useless so don't bother.

Terra - Any (I usually gear her towards a mage)
Locke - Speed and Strength
Celes - Any (I usually gear her towards a fighter)
Edgar - Strength
Sabin - Magic and Strength
Cyan - Strength and Speed
Gau - Any (He's got funky algorithms that make him broken)
Shadow - Strength and speed (Magic if you want his Skeens to do more damage)
Setzer - Magic and Speed
Relm - Magic and HP
Strago - Magic and HP

If you are going for really good stats you should try to keep your levels low until you acquire most of the Espers.

[blackmage_nuke]

Celes' runic is rather useless after the first boss fight you have with her anyway.

[Flying Mullet]

I've never bothered raising HP with espers as everyone's HP are around +/- 9700 at level 99, which still gives you 9999 damage with Atma Weapon. I always felt it was better to focus on Strength (Vigor), Magic and Speed.

WK's list for building characters using their inherent strengths and abilities is spot on. Another approach you can take for building characters is to try to average out everyone's stats, so they have, for example 45 Vigor, Magic and Speed. You'll have a well rounded team where no one has any weaknesses, but you also will have 12 characters (not Gogo and Umaro) that are all mirror images of each other for the most part and they lose some of their unique individuality when it comes to battles.

[methanol]

There are a lot of programming bugs in the original SNES cartridge version, but suffice it to say the ONLY stat of any importance at all is mblock %. With an mblock% near 128% your character will effectively become an immortal god, regardless of any other stat.

This is the number you want to optimize with your itemization on all the heroes, in every circumstance.

As far as esper growth goes, try to focus on improving magic power (tritoch, maduin etc); magic is powerful enough as it is given every FF3 character can use it, but the ability to arbitrarily raise your heroes' magic power just breaks the game.

Also, for an easy ride, use Gau, as he is far and away the strongest character in the game. With the right rage (I won't spoil it) he can solo any foe including the final boss.

[Inferno]

But her stats are better for Magic anyway, so I think I'll stick with Mag Power +1 when I level her.

If you want to easily get a Mag Power+2 bonus, read this. Don't worry, it doesn't tell you anything important, or change the storyline or whatever.
Go back to Jidoor, go to the auction house, and wait until they sell a magicite ! In fact there are 2. It may take a while, but I think it's worth it. Plus, they're cheap.

[Greatermaximus]

Terra in my signature should give you an idea of what you should do. Unfortunately we all know that the game is too easy at the point you can max them out.

The FAQ wants you to put Bahamut or the 50% bonus in life at levels 69, 70, and 71 I believe. That should give you 9999 HP for all the characters that can equip espers.

At first you're going to beat the game at a high level. Even around level 30 the game isn't too hard if you've played it enough. I only hold a level 19 completion.