Most Useful Mage?

[FF Gurl]

Which mage do you think is most useful, Vivi, Garnet, Eiko or Quina?

I find Garnet the most useful. She has powerful magic and a decent amount of HP and MP.

[bakabakabaka]

garnet!
although she dosn't get all her summons for a while and her white magic is weak and it is annoying when brahne steals all her magic and when she gets depressed...
but once shes ok and strong, shes all i use!!!

[Lon611]

maybe i did someting weird with my game, but i beat it with only being able to summon ramuh, lol. neways, so for me personally, vivi would be the most useful. plus him and steiner make a lethal combo.

[rubah]

Quina, because he/she can decently physically attack:P

*isn't into magic too much*

although it was fun whenever garnet was equipped with a racket to attack with her. It was like using a butterfly net.

[YunaXTidus]

my dagger was mt highest level person when i beat the game, but it took me a while to make her useful.

so i wud say dagger or vivi

vivi + steiner = yay!! magic sword!!

[UltimateSpamGrover]

Vivi + Steiner = Death

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

White Wind is the only healing spell you'll ever need.

Once you've caught the frogs, Frog Drop is guaranteed to do 9999 damage every time it's used.

So, Quina.

[theundeadhero]

So true. So useful.

[Buster Sword Strike]

Fun: Quina

Useful: Vivi/ Dagger they are hard to compare.

One Very Useful Summon: Eiko

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

I like my White Magic, and the summons as an added bonus put Garnet on top.

[Dking'squeen]

garnet and vivi
i think that if i didn't have a white mage and black mage in my party, it's be harder

[UltimaLimit]

~ Quina's a pain in the ass, though useful when it has all its skills. (Having to weaken/eat enemies is a major drag, though, FF7's enemy skill system was better.)
~ Garnet is unreliable for reasons already mentioned in this thread, though she does come in handy, especially early on. (Later, Amarant's Chakra, Freija's Reis' Wind, and people using Potions usually gets the job done.)
~ Vivi is probably the best; though he's weak physically he has some strong offensive magic and will probably be the brunt of your offense most of the time in the final area (that tree place). Auto-Reflect + (magic)2 on all allies = 9999 for enemy most of the time. :D
~ Eiko's a weak knockoff who is mostly there for storyline purposes and should've been killed off, IMHO.

[Necronopticous]

Garnet... FF Gurl... Any relation to FF Babe?

[SeeDRankLou]

Garnet is only really useful when she starts getting her eidolons. Eiko at least has a powerful offensive spell to make up for the sort of lack of offensive eidolons. Vivi is rather useful, as he is the brunt of your offense for the first half-ish of the game. His attack sucks and I find he uses MP way too fast. So the prize goes to Quina. Quina's blue magic is awesome, and I'm doing a playthrough of this game right now and have realized that quite a few enemies succumb to the Frost and Mustard Bomb spells. So Quina can cast Frost on, say, a Red Dragon in the Mount Gulug area. It will freeze, then you can have, say, Vivi attack it and it will die with a single weak attack. Oh it's wonderful. You can get a quite a few good Blue Magic spells early on. A really easy way to defeat some enemies is to kill Quina, and use a Pheonix Down on him/her. If it only gave him/her 1 HP (which has a good chance of happening), then s/he can use Limit Glove and you've won. Quina is cool, not to mention s/he can have a high attack power.

[Flamethrower]

Am I the only one who thinks Eiko is really freaking good?

She has better white magic than Garnet, and Holy is just as powerful as Flare and Doomsday.

Eiko & Quina > Vivi & Garnet.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

I didn't like Eiko so much because I thought that her Double White was excessive, I didn't really find myself in such a condition where it might be needed.

[Flamethrower]

Eiko's double magic is great. You can heal your party while causing damage to the enemies with Holy. Or if your team doesn't need healing, you can cast two Holy's to cause A TON of damage.

Still, I personally don't think Trances are that important compared to the rest of the character's abilities. I find Quina's trance to be most of the time useless but that doesn't stop him/her from being very useful in battle.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Well, I never picked up Holy, so it wasn't nearly as good for me. One heal was pretty much always sufficient.

[rubah]

If you're comparing trances between garnet and eiko tell me this. . .

What exactly is garnet's trance FOR?

It really seems like it's the exact same as the original command-_-

[Yuna1983]

Garnet is the best one. She rules. :)

[TheSpoonyBard]

Am I the only one who thinks Eiko is really freaking good?
No, you're not. I thought Eiko was the best! Holy beats Flare or Doomsday anyday, her eidolons and white magic are far superior to Garnet's, her Trance was the only one in the game I found to be of any use, plus there is the random chance of Phoenix being summoned if your party is defeated.

I also usually have a team of Zidane (bleh), Eiko, Freya and Amarant, so with White Draw and Chakra, Eiko never runs low of MP, allowing me to Holy and Madeen away to my heart's content.

[Armisael]

I find Vivi the most useful..like some of you mentioned above,he may be weak physically but he has some pretty good abilities(Auto-Reflect) and very strong spells..

not to add that he and Steiner really do a great job together..

[Ultima Shadow]

Vivi. Drain + Flare + Doomsday + Bio + OSMOSE!!! (yea, I think Osmose is 1 of the most usefull spells in the game.)

[TheSpoonyBard]

I find Vivi the most useful ... he has some pretty good abilities(Auto-Reflect)
Everyone has Auto-Reflect, it's hardly a distinguishing factor. Anyway, if you're going to put Auto-Reflect to use with Reflectx2, that's 32 stones used, which is far too many and makes the result negligible, especially as the more powerful spells (Meteor, Doomsday, etc) cannot be reflected anyway.

[Flamethrower]

I think Vivi is extremely overrated.

Steiner's Climhazzard and Shock, Freya's Dragon Breath, and Eiko's Holy all do just as much damage, if not more, than Vivi's top spells.

[Ultima Shadow]

Everyone has Auto-Reflect, it's hardly a distinguishing factor. Anyway, if you're going to put Auto-Reflect to use with Reflectx2, that's 32 stones used, which is far too many and makes the result negligible, especially as the more powerful spells (Meteor, Doomsday, etc) cannot be reflected anyway.
Vivi-Trance-Flarex2-Dammagex2= Extremely Powerful.
And once again... Osmose is a godly spell + the Steiner combo.

However... Quina is actually the absolutely most powerfull. Frogdrop, Mighty Guard, Limmit Globe, Wite Wind, Angels Snack, Bad Breath etc. All quinas spells can be very usefull. She/He also have more HP and stronger phsycical attacks than the others... but Vivi have Osmose, Drain and double Black... if you don't include the HP bonus and stuff... then I think they are pretty equall.


I think Vivi is extremely overrated.

Steiner's Climhazzard and Shock, Freya's Dragon Breath, and Eiko's Holy all do just as much damage, if not more, than Vivi's top spells.
Shock= High MP cost. Steiner= Low max MP.

[Fate Fatale]

Vivi is best cause he gave the finishing blow "flare" to Ozma! Go Vivi!!!!

(BTW: did you notice that in X's Lulu is repeted just like IX's Vivi! are any other games like this in the FF series?)

[Alexander]

I can't decide which mage is IMO the most useful. All the four are useful /o/

Dagger: Good eidolons, a good Trance (I find it useful), she is pretty (/o/) and stuff XD

Vivi: Black magic simply rules, he rarely runs out of MP after you get Osmose, Focus boosts the damage, Double Black is useful too and he is kawaii XD

Eiko: She is MORE kawaii, have good eidolons (aside from Madeen... Madeen sucks), Full-Life really takes me out of sticky situations, Might is simply one of the most useful magic of the game (two or three of these and Climhazzard does 9999 damage. TO ALL ENEMIES. \o/) and Holy is strong and in FFIX has a BEAUTIFUL animation *-*
And Double White is mor euseful than Double Black (Curaga + Holy... Holy + Holy... + Might + Might... Protect + Shell... \o\)

Quina: He (I CAN'T see him as "she" or "it") is very fun, have a lot of useful magics, and he is essential for my trainning at Disc 3 (Level 5 Death.... Grand Dragons... *evil grin*). And he double my Gil with Millionaire XD

[TheSpoonyBard]

Vivi-Trance-Flarex2-Dammagex2= Extremely Powerful.
Only really useful if you could break the 9,999 damage barrier, but you can't, so it isn't.


BTW: did you notice that in X's Lulu is repeted just like IX's Vivi! are any other games like this in the FF series?
I don't understand what you are trying to ask here.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

(BTW: did you notice that in X's Lulu is repeted just like IX's Vivi! are any other games like this in the FF series?)In FFVI, there's Gogo and Mugumugu.

[tokyogirl87]

Yeah, all around, Vivi ;)

[Slade]

Quina. I had alot of fun collecting his Blu Magics.......and he came in use for things like autolife, whitewind and the big magics like Twister.
Night cracks me up.....heh sweet dreams :D

[*~Nirvana~*]

I found Vivi and Garnet most useful in battle. I never really used Eiko because I didn't like her that much and Quina???? She scares me way too much :eek: and I prefer to keep her tucked away somewhere where I can't see her.... or is it him? :eyebrow: I guess we'll never know....

[Dark Matter]

Garnet!!! :love:
I don't like to explain why....
Anyway, I'll tell you! ahem, i-it's becasue I trust my feelings towards her! Good enough, huh? ;)

[Old Manus]

Vivi. End of story. He wins. This thread is now obsolete.


Because I said so.

[Macp]

Vivi is the best because in Trance he can cast two magics in a row and also his magic spells can be combined with Steinner's sword.

[ViVincent]

Vivi is easily the best in the game. His flare owns all.
You dont need Garnet or eiko or quina, just equip auto haste and regen, and you will never die again.
I won the final battle with a berserked steiner and a half dead Vivi, they are unstoppable!

[Del Murder]

Quina kicks major butt.

[Flashback007]

Say Mage and FFIX and you automaticly get Vivi. Vivi owns everyone his buts. He's strong, he's cool and he's great. Vivi just rocks.

[boris no no]

i've actually been using eiko quite alot recently!
i9 love garnet! i want to be her!! :love: and marry zidane! ;)

[la monk]

ive seen about two people say eiko. i always found her to be best.

[Narcissus Reborn]

I like Vivi myself... his Black magic spells got you through most of the tough spots in the first parts of the game before summoning was possible and it kept getting better!
Also Eiko I think came in a very close second for me because of her Holy spell, which, correct me if I'm wrong, is the only White Magic that can harm an enemy (excluding reverse effects, zombies/cure&life ect...) and the aforementioned Pheonix and White Draw come in handy.
Garnet... what can I say about Garnet. She... *sigh*... she doesn't really have any particularly defining aspects about her, White Magic is shared with Eiko, Summons shared with Eiko... her summons were only good until Eiko came along with the same things plus a few extra cool spells. And Ark was a cool summon, powerful and the full sequence was cool... but... it was too long. All the other summon sequences lasted at longest like 40-60 seconds (don't quote me on those times, I'm not really all that sure) but Ark took like 3 minutes (again don't hold me to that) just to be considerably more powerful than the others.
Now Quina was cool, he had physical attacks and cool blue magic... but it wasn't enough to deal with the frustration of having to beat up you're enemies until they had only the smallest health left and then eat them! Out of all the enemy skill/ blue magic systems, this was the most difficult for me, although it was quite rewarding at times. Even though his Trance was useless against bosses but the Blue Magic you could use made up for it in most instances. Personally though, I really didn't take the time to learn all the magics.

[Sepho]

Vivi - I can't imagine living without Black Magic. He's not the most useful Black Mage in the series history, but I simply have to have on in every game.

I suppose if I had to pick one class, it would be White Mage, since the WM has always been considered the essential class (though in FF9 a Rei's Wind from Freya or a White Wind from Quina should suffice in most scenarios).

I must say, I didn't think so many people thought Garnet was that useful. While she is (arguably**) a more capable Summoner then Eiko, Eiko is a far, far better White Mage. Her white magic spells are superior to those of Garnet; it's as if the developers intentionally gave Garnet the most useless White Magic spells in the history of the series.

A few examples of Garnet's lack of cool spells include: Full-Life, Regen, Haste, Dispel, Might, and Holy, all of which Eiko has, while Garnet does not. In addition, Eiko's Trance is more useful (if that matters to anyone).

I think most people don't realise Eiko's potential because you team up with her relatively late in the game, and the majority of players aren't very willing to just dump their considerably well-developed Garnet. But I think Eiko is worth the time for the above stated reasons. Plus, her flute sounds are, like, so totally cool.

**The majority of my summoning is support-based, because I rely on physical attacks and Black Magic for dealing damage to the enemy, which is why Eiko is also a better Summoner for my play style (Carbuncle plus a variety of stones rocks my socks). And, Madeen is always there when I need a strong physical Eidolon.

[Dreddz]

Is it me or isnt Eiko the best. Sure her summons werent very good but she had some decent white magic and had Holy which was one of the best spells.But then again Garnet had Ark

[Flamethrower]

I think most people don't realise Eiko's potential because you team up with her relatively late in the game, and the majority of players aren't very willing to just dump their considerably well-developed Garnet. But I think Eiko is worth the time for the above stated reasons. Plus, her flute sounds are, like, so totally cool.


I actually think one of the reasons not many people give Eiko a fair chance is because a big number of video gamers are horny teenage boys who would rather have a "hot" character like Garnet in their party rather than a six year old girl.

Just a theory.

[UltimaLimit]

My Garnet was never exactly high-leveled, but I think what really puts people off of Eiko is having to level her up and get her basic skills that others learned long ago. (Though I'd bet my FF9 disc 4 that Flamethrower's guessed correctly in the case of some gamers.)

[Dark Sage]

No questions: Vivi is the best!
But why he can't cast ULTIMA :( .
Doomsday is cool too, but I always like Ultima.
Interesting question: Who else than Kuja can cast "Flare Star"?

[Sepho]

I actually think one of the reasons not many people give Eiko a fair chance is because a big number of video gamers are horny teenage boys who would rather have a "hot" character like Garnet in their party rather than a six year old girl.

Just a theory.


Your theory, like UW said, probably does hold true under many circumstances. While actual effectiveness in battle holds more worth than anything, it's hard to completely ignore the aesthetic appeal altogether. Hormonal teens will likely find appeal in Garnet, no doubt.

Personally, however, in the case of Garnet vs. Eiko, I'll take Eiko anyday as a result of her battle animation (Garnet looks like she's on a dirtbike in a whoops section on a motocross track), as well as the nice sound effect caused by her flute. I look more at the way the character moves than the overall physical look of their player model. Polygonal models on the original playstation are relatively lacking in detail, anyway, in comparison to those found on the current generation systems, or even those found on the N64.

[la monk]

yeah, using dagger cuz you think she's hot is terrible reason. the battle graphics in 9 are not the best ive noticed.