Which summoner is better? Garnet, or Eiko?

[Elemental Alchemist]

Eiko seems to be the best summoner. Although she doesn't have as many summons as Garnet, Eiko's summons seem to be more powerful. Also, Eiko's white magic is better than Garnet's

[Goldenboko]

NO WAY! Ark is much better then ANY summon Eiko can get.
What part of the game are you at to be claiming this.

[TheSpoonyBard]

As long as he says it's an opinion, he can claim whatever he wants.

In general, Dagger is the better summoner while Eiko is the better white mage. However, in certain situations, Eiko's eidolons can be more useful than Dagger's.

Eiko's eidolons may be more powerful than Dagger's because i) her Magic is higher or, ii) you don't have many jewels to power up Dagger's eidolons.

[Elemental Alchemist]

Well, I did finish the game... but I never obtained the Ark summon. I never got the jewel. But I still think Eiko is better.

[f f freak]

I think they are both great I normally have both of them in my party. Garnet for mega damage with Bahamut and Ark. Eiko for healing and Phoenix.

[Zeromus_X]

I always found it ironic how Garnet has more powerful summons while Eiko has better White Magic, given their circumstances in the story.

That said, I like Eiko, because she doesn't go mute and stagger over in battle, skipping her turn. But other than that one part of the story, I prefer her now, because I really don't care for Garnet's summons anyhow.

But Garnet's 'Auto-Summon' as a part of her Trance is pretty wicked.

Edit: It should be noted that I've never bothered with Ark. But wow, it'll do 9,999 damage. Not very impressive, considering how much most other attacks can do anyway, unless it's like Eden and goes over the damage limit, which I doubt seeing as how it's FFIX.

[Elemental Alchemist]

That is true. Couple with Vivi for even more damage, and Quina, and you get the whole magic team which, leveled up, can be unstoppable

[Goldenboko]

Edit: It should be noted that I've never bothered with Ark. But wow, it'll do 9,999 damage. Not very impressive, considering how much most other attacks can do anyway, unless it's like Eden and goes over the damage limit, which I doubt seeing as how it's FFIX.
Not very impressive? I don't see how doing the max amount of damage isn't very impressive. And break damage limit in this game would make it so the game is no longer fun. I mean come on "Hey look at this I could kill hard bosses with one hit" that takes all strategy out of a game where no enemy gets 70,000 Hp.
Plus what would you rather do power up Zidane's Thievery or get Ark.

[Dynast-Kid]

IMO,Eiko is better 'cause she has a better outfit and an actual summoner's horn!
PWNED!

[TheSpoonyBard]

Garnet had a horn but her father removed it, remember? To be honest, I don't think style of dress and whether or not they have a horn are reasonable factors to consider when discussing one's summoning ability.

[Elemental Alchemist]

eiko's horn definitely adds flair to her overall appearance. no one can deny that.

[Dynast-Kid]

i've actually never played the game but I just thought Eiko looked better,even though she's like,five.

See, Elemental Alchemist's got the right idea.

[Zeromus_X]

Edit: It should be noted that I've never bothered with Ark. But wow, it'll do 9,999 damage. Not very impressive, considering how much most other attacks can do anyway, unless it's like Eden and goes over the damage limit, which I doubt seeing as how it's FFIX.
Not very impressive? I don't see how doing the max amount of damage isn't very impressive. And break damage limit in this game would make it so the game is no longer fun. I mean come on "Hey look at this I could kill hard bosses with one hit" that takes all strategy out of a game where no enemy gets 70,000 Hp.
Plus what would you rather do power up Zidane's Thievery or get Ark.

Well, it isn't like most attacks can do 9,999 damage without going through a lengthly side-quest and defeating a giant luminescent multicoloured orb of destruction. Sephiroth1999AD mentioned a few of them. Point being, most attacks can do around 5,000 ~9,999 damage.

I'd rather do neither, though Dragon's Crest is the easiest of the 'up to 9,999' attacks to power up, as you'll probably slaughter a multitude of Grand Dragons during the process of leveling up. But like was said, I can do adequate damage with other attacks.

Well, at least it isn't like FFVI...

[Elemental Alchemist]

thank you, al-bhed_kid0827. at least someone understands what i mean. and for those that don't find 9,999 attack damage impressive, let me tell you that the producers limited the damage to that number for a reason. and that reason was to balance and make a great game.

[Xurts]

Eidolons are worthless in the game, except for Phoenix.

Eiko is an overall better character than Dagger.

[Dell]

Garnet's Eidolons > Eiko's Eidolons
Garnet's White Magic < Eiko's White Magic
Both have specialty.
That's why there are two characters with same job.
Garnet have 8 summons while Eiko have 4 summons.
All Garnet's Eidolons is attack-base, that'll make Garnet a mage-fighter (White Magic and Attacking Eidolon).
Eiko's Eidolons is offensive/healing-base, Madeen and Fenrir deal a damage while Phoenix and Carbuncle support your party, that'll make Eiko a healing machine.
And Goldenboco is right, Ark is a better summon than any of Eiko's.
White Magic can be useless in FFIX after you got Auto-Regen (You know how Auto-Regen works, right?).

Another reason Garnet is a better summoner than Eiko is her trance, Eidolon, if Garnet is a worst summoner, Square should have give her another trance. The same goes for Eiko's Double White Magic.

In my conclusion, Garnet is not a weak character, FFIX give importance to all character.
Nevertheless, I still prefer Eiko in battle but if I ever repair my PSX, I will start a new game consist of Zidane, Vivi, Garnet and Eiko.

[Xurts]

Garnet's Eidolons > Eiko's Eidolons
Garnet's White Magic < Eiko's White Magic
Both have specialty.
That's why there are two characters with same job.
Garnet have 8 summons while Eiko have 4 summons.
All Garnet's Eidolons is attack-base, that'll make Garnet a mage-fighter (White Magic and Attacking Eidolon).
Eiko's Eidolons is offensive/healing-base, Madeen and Fenrir deal a damage while Phoenix and Carbuncle support your party, that'll make Eiko a healing machine.
And Goldenboco is right, Ark is a better summon than any of Eiko's.
White Magic can be useless in FFIX after you got Auto-Regen (You know how Auto-Regen works, right?).

Another reason Garnet is a better summoner than Eiko is her trance, Eidolon, if Garnet is a worst summoner, Square should have give her another trance. The same goes for Eiko's Double White Magic.

In my conclusion, Garnet is not a weak character, FFIX give importance to all character.
Nevertheless, I still prefer Eiko in battle but if I ever repair my PSX, I will start a new game consist of Zidane, Vivi, Garnet and Eiko.
Eiko doesn't need Eidolons. She has Holy, which is just as strong as Ark. Plus her Trance is much better than Dagger's useless one.

[Dell]

Garnet's Eidolons > Eiko's Eidolons
Garnet's White Magic < Eiko's White Magic
Both have specialty.
That's why there are two characters with same job.
Garnet have 8 summons while Eiko have 4 summons.
All Garnet's Eidolons is attack-base, that'll make Garnet a mage-fighter (White Magic and Attacking Eidolon).
Eiko's Eidolons is offensive/healing-base, Madeen and Fenrir deal a damage while Phoenix and Carbuncle support your party, that'll make Eiko a healing machine.
And Goldenboco is right, Ark is a better summon than any of Eiko's.
White Magic can be useless in FFIX after you got Auto-Regen (You know how Auto-Regen works, right?).

Another reason Garnet is a better summoner than Eiko is her trance, Eidolon, if Garnet is a worst summoner, Square should have give her another trance. The same goes for Eiko's Double White Magic.

In my conclusion, Garnet is not a weak character, FFIX give importance to all character.
Nevertheless, I still prefer Eiko in battle but if I ever repair my PSX, I will start a new game consist of Zidane, Vivi, Garnet and Eiko.
Eiko doesn't need Eidolons. She has Holy, which is just as strong as Ark. Plus her Trance is much better than Dagger's useless one.

Holy didn't do 9999 damage to all enemies, only certain enemy will receive 9999 damage. Ark is a guaranteed 9999 damage once powered up.

[Goldenboko]

And Goldenboco is right, Ark is a better summon than any of Eiko's.

Thanx :D
Imagine having to fight that ark.

[Elemental Alchemist]

Eiko is more useful, 'cause her summons go farther than just damage the enemy, and her white magic skills are awesome. But you can't go wrong using her along with Garnet. Don't forget Vivi and Quina for a complete magic team!

[chronic_Maniac]

Blah I like hitting them with a sword......
dude attacks dagger, dagger dies...
Dude attacks eiko, eiko dies too....
Then both them fight and kill off some zens

[Heero Yuy NWZC]

Garnet. She just complements my line up a lot better than Eiko.

[Darkwing Bahamut]

Garnet can summon Bahamut and Ark, she's the better summoner. But Eiko has useful White Magic spells like Holy. Overall I'd say Garnet's better, I never used either of them much anyway.

[Zeromus_X]

thank you, al-bhed_kid0827. at least someone understands what i mean. and for those that don't find 9,999 attack damage impressive, let me tell you that the producers limited the damage to that number for a reason. and that reason was to balance and make a great game.

I think you misunderstand. The reason why I find Ark not impressive for doing 9,999 damage is because other attacks can easily do that much, or high enough damage anyway.

[Xurts]

Garnet's Eidolons > Eiko's Eidolons
Garnet's White Magic < Eiko's White Magic
Both have specialty.
That's why there are two characters with same job.
Garnet have 8 summons while Eiko have 4 summons.
All Garnet's Eidolons is attack-base, that'll make Garnet a mage-fighter (White Magic and Attacking Eidolon).
Eiko's Eidolons is offensive/healing-base, Madeen and Fenrir deal a damage while Phoenix and Carbuncle support your party, that'll make Eiko a healing machine.
And Goldenboco is right, Ark is a better summon than any of Eiko's.
White Magic can be useless in FFIX after you got Auto-Regen (You know how Auto-Regen works, right?).

Another reason Garnet is a better summoner than Eiko is her trance, Eidolon, if Garnet is a worst summoner, Square should have give her another trance. The same goes for Eiko's Double White Magic.

In my conclusion, Garnet is not a weak character, FFIX give importance to all character.
Nevertheless, I still prefer Eiko in battle but if I ever repair my PSX, I will start a new game consist of Zidane, Vivi, Garnet and Eiko.
Eiko doesn't need Eidolons. She has Holy, which is just as strong as Ark. Plus her Trance is much better than Dagger's useless one.

Holy didn't do 9999 damage to all enemies, only certain enemy will receive 9999 damage. Ark is a guaranteed 9999 damage once powered up.
It does 9999 for me. I have her equipped with a couple items that increase Holy damage though, just to make sure it is always 9999.

[Zeromus_X]

Even if it doesn't do straight nines, it's enough. Not everyone is going to slay the aforementioned luminescent multicoloured orb of destruction. Eiko just is better than Garnet, factoring in that most of the Aeons Eidolons suck anyway. Eiko is a better White Mage than Garnet will be, and some of her summons are more useful than Garnet's anyway.

Edit: Holy usually does at least over 6,000 damage for me. But, I'm not level maxed though. Still, that's quite enough damage.

[Rantz]

In my opinion, Dagger is a more all-round character. She can deal damage in all elements, as far as I can recall, while she still can heal good.

Eiko on the other hand is an exceptional healer and party supporter. While her summons are useful in certain situations, as Endless Twilight says, they are very limited in other.

If you go with Dagger in your party, my advice would be to include someone else with decent curative/supportive abilities as a backup healer, for example Amarant.

If you go with Eiko in your party, you should only need to be able to revive her in the case that she dies, and she should be able to handle the rest of the healing. Quina with Auto-life to cast on her could be a good complement.

As for the thread's original question, "Who is the best summoner?", I'd say Dagger. She is pretty clearly meant to be primarily a summoner and secondarily a healer, and the other way around for Eiko, as suggested by the order in their respective command lists, their Trance and the difference in amount of summons.

[Thorn]

I played it twice and had Dagger rather than Eiko both times. Eiko's summons always seemed kind've lame.

[Toodleena]

Eiko for me. She's so much cooler, and her summons were more imaginative. Oh well, maybe I'm wrong, but I've always prefered her.

[Sefie1999AD]

I think Garnet's a better summoner than Eiko, and her Eidolons like Ramuh, Ifrit, Shiva, Leviathan and Bahamut are relatively easy to power up to do loads of damage. Odin's good against Yans, especially with the extra ability that does some additional wind damage if Zantetsuken doesn't kill someone, so Climhazzard and Dragon's Crest will most likely finish off the survivors after that. The only Eidolon I really remember using with Eiko is Madeen, and that one did about 5000 damage even with Boost. I think Eiko's White Magic is better than Garnet's, though, as she gets better healing spells sooner. I can't remember if she learned Holy when I played, though even if she did, I don't think it did much damage since I hardly ever used it.

[TheSpoonyBard]

Odin's good against Yans, especially with the extra ability that does some additional wind damage if Zantetsuken doesn't kill someone
Odin's Sword causes non-elemental damage, not Wind.


The only Eidolon I really remember using with Eiko is Madeen, and that one did about 5000 damage even with Boost.
Madeen's Attack Power is 71 + Eiko's level, which is why it won't cause much damage if you don't use her much.

[Ozmoid]

If ff9 want's to redeem itself on a glaring plot hole, then Garnet MUST be the better summoner as eiko is 10 yrears too young to even begin to think about summoning. As she isn't dead, then we must assume that 16 is the age that a summoner can smmon an eidolon well.

[Elemental Alchemist]

Eiko is better! She does more than just attack with the summons. Just like the summoners from, say, Tactics. They do more than just attack.

Also, wherever did the word "eidolons" come from? I can't remember, but I've heard it in a game....

[f f freak]

Eiko is better!
That is your opinion but I find Garnet much better. Oh wow Eiko has Holy. Umm Garnet has Bahamut so Garnet wins.
Also this thread was about who was the better summoner so I don't think we should mention white magic anymore. I find Garnet a lot better because her summons are much better that Eiko's. I found Garnet to be more suitable in a battle situation.

[Elemental Alchemist]

Eiko is better!
That is your opinion but I find Garnet much better. Oh wow Eiko has Holy. Umm Garnet has Bahamut so Garnet wins.
Also this thread was about who was the better summoner so I don't think we should mention white magic anymore. I find Garnet a lot better because her summons are much better that Eiko's. I found Garnet to be more suitable in a battle situation.

You know, you're right. I made this thread for the best summoner, period. Maybe I'll start another thread about most useful character or something else. Everyone who replied in this thread is welcome to reply in the other one I'll make.

Oh, my opinion on the summoner remains with Eiko.

[Jimmy Dark Aeons Slayer]

Well actually i think summons are completely unecessary in the game so they both pretty much aren´t worth it, but Eiko is a better healer so i would say Eiko totally owns Garnet, she is really just a Super Sweet 16 prototype

[f f freak]

I always found them to be on the same par with the healing. The only difference was that Eiko had more White magic spells.

[kealthalas]

i hate using magic and summons(exept vivi hes ok) i prefere to have all melee its more fun...but ive only made to disk 3 so i wouldnt no...besides magic takes the fun out of the game

[Doomie]

Odin is the best summon in the game. One hit KOs are wonderful against Yans. And seeing as how Garnet has that summon, I guess she wins.