When Assembling Parties in an FF game......

What job classes or ,type of characters ,do you always try to aim for in a 3,4, or even 5 group of party members? You can answer for just one type of party( 3,4, or 5) , all of them, or just list at least one type of characters you usually go for.

• Mine would be a Dragoon, Warrior, and White Mage - 3
• Add in a Monk - 4
• Supply me with a Black Mage - 5

Remember these are just ideals that you try to search for when playing a Final Fantasy game. Of course not every one of them will give you your ideal party.

I always try to use the party that makes the most sense for the story. One of my favorite Final Fantasy games is Final Fantasy IV. I liked it because it gave me a wide variety of parties to work with at various parts of the game. I got to try everything from a party of mostly mages and a party of mostly melee.

I don't pick a party based on what they do or what class they are really, I always just pick my favourite characters!

Hot chicks.

I choose my favourite characters, think about convenience and what I think is stylish. The two protagonists if there are two are always included. Also, because I think they need to be included as the main characters and because I normally also like them the most.

VI: Terra, Setzer, Celes, Gogo (before you get Gogo Locke, Shadow or Cyan)
VII: Cloud, Vincent, Aerith/Tifa/Yuffie
VIII: Squall, Rinoa, Irvine
IX: Zidane, Sarah, Steiner, Vivi/Eiko
X: Tidus, Yuna, Auron/Rikku
XII: Vaan, Ashe, Fran
XIII: Lightning, Fang, Vanille/Snow/Hope

Black and White Mages are always a must for me. I try to make my parties balanced yet varied, and I usually shoehorn my favourite characters in somewhere.

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Originally Posted by Sephiroth

VII: Cloud, Vincent, Aerith/Tifa/Yuffie
VIII: Squall, Rinoa, Irvine
X: Tidus, Yuna, Auron/Rikku

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Aaah we have like, the exact same preferences!

I dislike using melee characters unless I absolutely have to (ie, they are main characters).

I experiment with different classes every time I play through a Job system Final Fantasy game. But first time through the game I usually pick a class that fits the most with the story.

I make sure everyone gets a turn so that just about everyone is around the same level.

>>> FF1 party..:luca:

I try to use all of my characters so that they all progress. This is how I work my parties.

3 party: Healer, black mage, physical character
4 party: Healer, black mage, physical character, jack of all trades character.

When all else fails, I must have at least a healer in my party. Always. Always always always. I HATE using items in a fight. I don't know why, it just bugs me. I don't mind using them outside of a fight, but I will not use them in a fight unless absolutely necessary. That means a healer at all times when I can.

I have a swap out system in place in every game I play to make sure all of my characters develop and get points.
For example:
Party: Character A, Character B, Character C.
Character A levels up to desired level (for example: 40)
Character A gets swapped out by Character D who has similar abilities. So if Character A was a healer, Character D is also a healer and will replace Character A
Character B levels up to 40 (is a black mage)
will be replaced by Character E (who is a black made, or maybe a red mage, or another job class that has offensive magical abilities)
and so on. Once Character D reaches the next desired level (50) they will be replaced by Character A, or maybe a third character, depending on the number of playable characters.

And yes, the games where they don't have those clear defined roles, you can bet I customize them so that they do.

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Originally Posted by shion

And yes, the games where they don't have those clear defined roles, you can bet I customize them so that they do.

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How do you manage to do that in VII It's easy in XII and sort of in VIII but whenever I play VII everyone except for Aerith becomes a jack of all trades character.

It's really not that hard. Give Tifa the healing materia. Give Yuffie things like throw and steal. Give Cloud things like HP up and the attack all materia (I forget what this one is called?) Give Cait Sith things like Sleepel, Silence, Toad, Mini. Give Vincent things like Haste, Protect, Wall etc. Just adjust the materia so they each have a role. Support/healer/tank what have you. I tweaked it a bit in VII though so that they each also had an element assigned to them. Red XIII was my primary 'black mage' but besides that they each had one black magic materia based off of an element. Berret had Lightning for example. Tifa had Ice.

Diverse spellcasting. If any characters use melee they have line of effects. I prefer Time Mage, Red Mage, Monks and any of their offshoots. Though as you know the Thief is better at certain areas of the game getting items for spellcasters obviously. It all depends on the game too.

Eh, I just pick who I like. It doesn't really make sense to have a party with a bunch of characters that you can't stand or loathe.

FF IV After Years- Kain, Rydia, Spoony Bard, Cecil. Favourite characters, though to be honest there was so many characters that I had so much fun testing out almost everybody at one point.

FF VI-Setzer, Celes, Edgar, Sabin. I love these characters the most, I would add in Locke too but I would rather not trade out the Figaro Brothers, Celes or Setzer.

FF VII- Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie/Nanaki- I always have Cloud and Tifa together with Nanaki. I sometimes trade out Nanaki out with Yuffie because of her limits, and sometimes she makes me lol with the random things she says, like calling Tifa " Hey, Boobs " !

FF VIII- Squall, Quistis, Zell/ Rinoa- Quistis gets treated like trout throughout the game, Zell is a sweetie-pie and I don't mind Rinoa to be honest, if she's not in the party all the time.

FF IX- Zidane, Dagger/ Eiko, Quina/ Vivi, Freya- I prefer Eiko over Dagger, but if I get bored of her I do trade her out with Dagger. Quina and Vivi have turns, but usually it's mostly the Viv-ster. Freya is just not Amarant or Steiner.

FF X- Auron, Rikku/ Yuna, Lulu/ Kimahri- Anybody but Tidus or Wakka to be honest.

FF XIII- Sazh, Fang, Hope - These were the only characters that I liked in this game, so yeah, no trading here.

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Originally Posted by shion

I try to use all of my characters so that they all progress. This is how I work my parties.

3 party: Healer, black mage, physical character
4 party: Healer, black mage, physical character, jack of all trades character.

When all else fails, I must have at least a healer in my party. Always. Always always always. I HATE using items in a fight. I don't know why, it just bugs me. I don't mind using them outside of a fight, but I will not use them in a fight unless absolutely necessary. That means a healer at all times when I can.

I have a swap out system in place in every game I play to make sure all of my characters develop and get points.
For example:
Party: Character A, Character B, Character C.
Character A levels up to desired level (for example: 40)
Character A gets swapped out by Character D who has similar abilities. So if Character A was a healer, Character D is also a healer and will replace Character A
Character B levels up to 40 (is a black mage)
will be replaced by Character E (who is a black made, or maybe a red mage, or another job class that has offensive magical abilities)
and so on. Once Character D reaches the next desired level (50) they will be replaced by Character A, or maybe a third character, depending on the number of playable characters.

And yes, the games where they don't have those clear defined roles, you can bet I customize them so that they do.

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So you try to use all of the characters instead of just sticking to three?

I like having a healer and a mage for well heals and high dps then a physical character either a thief or a warrior. It balances well.

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Originally Posted by Reverof Enola

So you try to use all of the characters instead of just sticking to three?

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Yes.

I usually go with the standard setup:

1. Tank/Leader (high HP and Defense)
2. Physical attacker (high Strength)
3. Magical attacker (high Magic Power and MP)
4. Healer (high MP)

To mix it up I often switch up one of the above with:
5. Speedster (high Agility)
6. Unconventional attacker (like a Blue Mage or Geomancer)

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Originally Posted by shion

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Originally Posted by Reverof Enola

So you try to use all of the characters instead of just sticking to three?

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Yes.

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But that will take forevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Unless the characters level up when they are not in your party then I understand.

I usually try to include a thief since Im an item hoarder.

That's a good point. In games where Steal is a option, I try to include someone in my party with access to the skill, especially for bosses or rare enemy fights.

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Originally Posted by Reverof Enola

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Originally Posted by shion

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Originally Posted by Reverof Enola

So you try to use all of the characters instead of just sticking to three?

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Yes.

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But that will take forevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Unless the characters level up when they are not in your party then I understand.

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I do that too and I'm still able to beat the game in around 40hrs which I think is average for the series.

Really, these are the only ones I generally stick with in FF games.

VI-Terra, Celes, Sabin, Cyan (Two heavy-hitters and two great spellcasters).

IX-Zidane, Freya, Vivi, and Quina (Very versatile. You have two hard-hitters, two people who can heal and support, and two spellcasters. Quina can fill most areas, Freya can deal insane damage while having good support abilities and HP, Vivi has his spells, and Zidane can deal damage while also protecting others with his Protect Girls and Freya's respective Cover.)

X-Tidus, Auron, and Rikku. Tidus is fast, Auron deals and takes damage, RIkku can serve as a surrogate healer/spellcaster with het items.)

XIII-Lightning, Sazh, and Vanille. (Covers all six major paradigms, Sazh and Light can do the attacking, Lightning and Vanille can heal, Vanille and Sazh can support, and all three are decent Ravagers.)

I tend to prefer versatility to specialization.

First priority is liking the characters, second is how fun they are to use in battle, then I try to use the characters I like effectively, but if I can't use them well I sadly replace them. :(

I have to say I've always just used the character I thought were coolest, although that has made some of the games harder than they needed to be. :p

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Originally Posted by Cecil Leonhart

I have to say I've always just used the character I thought were coolest, although that has made some of the games harder than they needed to be. :p

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So you wouldn't ditch that party member if they were doing poorly in stats?

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Originally Posted by Reverof Enola

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Originally Posted by Cecil Leonhart

I have to say I've always just used the character I thought were coolest, although that has made some of the games harder than they needed to be. :p

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So you wouldn't ditch that party member if they were doing poorly in stats?

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What if Edward was cool? *shivers*

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Originally Posted by Gamblet

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Originally Posted by Reverof Enola

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Originally Posted by Cecil Leonhart

I have to say I've always just used the character I thought were coolest, although that has made some of the games harder than they needed to be. :p

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So you wouldn't ditch that party member if they were doing poorly in stats?

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What if Edward was cool? *shivers*

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I may not be getting the reference but Edward from FFIV was pretty bad in both the original and sequel. He was the joke character.

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Originally Posted by Reverof Enola

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Originally Posted by Gamblet

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Originally Posted by Reverof Enola

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Originally Posted by Cecil Leonhart

I have to say I've always just used the character I thought were coolest, although that has made some of the games harder than they needed to be. :p

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So you wouldn't ditch that party member if they were doing poorly in stats?

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What if Edward was cool? *shivers*

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I may not be getting the reference but Edward from FFIV was pretty bad in both the original and sequel.

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Well, that was the point..

:jess: Well, luckily I've never been a fan of Edward, so no I never used him (except when mandatory obviously). But yea, say if Rosa had been the bard instead I would still stick with her

I'm a bit middle of the road and like the Black Mage/White Mage/Knight/Monk type setup which has all my bases covered. Occasionally I'll swap out the WM (e.g in FFIX I've been known to use Quina). I don't tend to use everyone except in FFX, where there's no penalty for variety.