FFIX Job/Character Tournament Final

[Del Murder]

Not since FFIV have the characters in a Final Fantasy game been so distinct. I personally loved it since it defined them in such a unique way.

Defining a character only by their job class/abilities, which did you find most useful in this game? Vote for up to 4, the top four will face off in a mini-tournament later.

[Rantz]

If you keep Amarant updated with the latest weapons and such, I find him to be remarkably useful. Granted, the same could be said for most characters depending on how you use them, but I've always found Amarant to be a great addition to any party.

[Quindiana Jones]

I play this game as a damage dealer. My party usually consistes of Zidane, Steiner, Freya and Amarant. All deal 9999 on every attack. Two can heal the party. I never need anything more than what a monk and Dragoon can supply because my party never takes that much damage.

[Depression Moon]

oh man I voted before i submitted my post. Well it was too long for me to redo it so I'll just sum up and say I found Quina, Garnet, Freya, and Vivi most distinguishable by their job class and abilities with Zidane, Steiner, and Amarant taking the rear.

[Wolf Kanno]

I'm going with Vivi, Steiner, Freya, and Amarant.

Dagger has to be the worst summoner in the series and she's a terrible White Mage. Eiko is a better white mage and her summons are more useful but she quickly gets made obsolete due to the customization system and Quina.

Zidane bugs me... He sufferes from Locke syndrome where he's obviously a specific class but the Gaming gods have decided he needs to have main character status which throws the conventions of his class out the window. Now how is my thief capable of out damaging my Knight and Dragoon with a knife again? Ignoring that minor gripe, I actually don't really use Zidane as a damage dealer cause he's too busy stealing for me. Even with a maxed out Thievery and one of the most broken Trances, they get in the way more than help cause I need those precious items for my collection dammit!

Quina is awesome and she's one of my fave classes but she's still not as overwhelmingly overpowered or useful as my Blue Mages from FFV-VII. Not to mention they nerfed White Wind and Mighty Guard in this game. She's awesome but my four choices are just a tad bit more useful for me. Though it was a tough choice between her and Amarant.

[RedPouch]

Zidane, Vivi, Steiner, Freya.

Dagger has to be the worst summoner in the series and she's a terrible White Mage.

Can I ask why? I don't remember much about her, other than the fact that she doesn't get Holy and one other white magic spell that's escaping my memory at the moment.

[Del Murder]

For the record I voted: Zidane, Quina, Eiko, Aramant.

Zidane for Steal (essential for an item collector like myself) and with his best weapon his attack is up there. I never really bothered powering up Thievery. His Trance is also pretty good.

Quina is versatile and has the easiest to power up 9999 attack (Frog Drop). He/she also comes with a variety of other useful spells like Auto-Life and Angel Snack which makes him/her easily the most useful character in the game.

Eiko is by far the better summoner/white mage combo. She is more white mage than summoner, but her limited amount of summons just as good if not better than Garnet's.

Aramant has a nice variety of abilities in his Flair set, including buffs, cures, and damage. I never use throw but that's not what makes him great.

[Wolf Kanno]

Zidane, Vivi, Steiner, Freya.

Dagger has to be the worst summoner in the series and she's a terrible White Mage.

Can I ask why? I don't remember much about her, other than the fact that she doesn't get Holy and one other white magic spell that's escaping my memory at the moment.

Eiko gets a better selection of White Magic (the majority of Dagger's are single target single status heals) such as Holy, Esuna, Might, and Full Life. She also has better spirit stat so she heals better.

Garnet has the big FF summons but she doesn't get access to all but one of them until the start of the third disc which is when she gets inflicted with her story based ordeal that makes her completely useless. So in essense you won't actually see Ifrit or Shiva until halfway through the third disc where they are useless on arrival. You could always power level her in the beginning but that's tedious.

Eiko at least has useful summons cause they can cast useful buff spells on your party and their effectiveness isn't really affected by the annoying "full animation" nonsense.

The game is completely built against Garnet. On the other hand though, Dagger is better to look at than Eiko...

[Depression Moon]

Oh man I be forgetting things so easily and IX wasthe last FF I beat yeah I used more abilities with Amarant. I forgot about No Mercy and Chakra. I would notice Eiko's pluses more if the game was more difficult. You can do fine without ever using Might, Esuna, or Full-Life.

The only summon that Eiko has that gives buff is Carbuncle and that's still affected by long animation. Ruby Light on long gives protect and reflect on full and I believe reflect lasts longer as well.

I think yo'ure exaggerating on the part where Garnet loses her voice. She fails inputs on occassion it's not like it's every turn or every other. The third disc starts after Brahne's death right? In that case the first time you're actually going into battles is when you depart to the black mage village and you get the stones then so it's not halfway through the disc when you get them.



The only summon that Eiko has that casts buffs is Carbuncle.

[RedPouch]

Zidane, Vivi, Steiner, Freya.

Dagger has to be the worst summoner in the series and she's a terrible White Mage.

Can I ask why? I don't remember much about her, other than the fact that she doesn't get Holy and one other white magic spell that's escaping my memory at the moment.

Eiko gets a better selection of White Magic (the majority of Dagger's are single target single status heals) such as Holy, Esuna, Might, and Full Life. She also has better spirit stat so she heals better.

Ah, Esuna. That was the one I was thinking of. I remember after seeing Eiko's selection of spells, there was something that made her more preferable to Garnet, but couldn't remember why aside from Garnet's lack of Holy [for whatever reason I really like Holy, it's always been one of my favourite spells JUST because]. But it's strange that Garnet also lacked Might and Full Life, which I certainly don't remember. I suppose this was done to make Eiko appealing somehow as a character? But I never really cared for her that much, and I wish that she didn't join your party so that Garnet could have all of the abilities that were stolen from her by Eiko. I don't understand the notion of forcing two characters into a party that are both basically the exact same class/same concept/etc. Usually when this is done, the designers attempt to balance them out to give them equality in their pros and cons to balance each other out, which always fails and 80% of the audience ends up preferring one over the other.

I really hate little girls, unless it's the Red Queen.

[Wolf Kanno]

Doctor Tot give her most of the stones before her coronation at the start of the disc. The voice thing varies but in my recent playthrough she screws up more than I am willing to forgive, almost every other action in my playthrough.

This still doesn't change the fact that Ifrit and Shiva don't become regular summons until Disc three and you are almost a dungeon away from the Octogon Rod that makes Vivi get -aga spells that put these summons to shame especially since her summons need Boost in order to work fairly often. You are also getting much better equipment for Amarant, Freya, and Steiner who all can consistently out damage Dagger.

Eiko's Carbuncle is the only one that does (which create four major affects like all party haste or protect) it but seeing as how she also gets Phoenix and it occasionally activates when the enemy kills your whole party, whereas Dagger gets some powerful summons that seriously need special abilites to keep them in league with the rest of your team. Vivi is just a way better alternative to causing consistent elemental/non-elemental damage. Eiko also has a better tTrance that is immediately useful while Dagger's basically makes her do what you wish she could do normally and its special feature is lost since most battles don't last very long by the time she gains variety in her summons.

[Vermachtnis]

Zidane, Eiko, Vivi, and Steiner for me.

I love the thief class, especially in IX. You can keep stealing after you grab an item, so you don't have to reset if you grab the common item.

Eiko, has been pretty much covered. Better spells and her Trance is mean. Dual Cast Holy is just well mean. And I have no idea what people mean when they say Garnet is better to look at. Well I do, but I find Garnet ugly and with a big head.

Vivi, adorable little bad ass. Pewpewpewkapew!

Steiner by him self is pretty decent. But combo'd with Vivi and Doomsday Sword he's the best.

[Depression Moon]

Doctor Tot give her most of the stones before her coronation at the start of the disc. The voice thing varies but in my recent playthrough she screws up more than I am willing to forgive, almost every other action in my playthrough.

This still doesn't change the fact that Ifrit and Shiva don't become regular summons until Disc three and you are almost a dungeon away from the Octogon Rod that makes Vivi get -aga spells that put these summons to shame especially since her summons need Boost in order to work fairly often. You are also getting much better equipment for Amarant, Freya, and Steiner who all can consistently out damage Dagger.

Eiko's Carbuncle is the only one that does (which create four major affects like all party haste or protect) it but seeing as how she also gets Phoenix and it occasionally activates when the enemy kills your whole party

I thought that only activates if you have guardian mog on. Not entriely sure though. Phoenix was a good saver.

[Raistlin]

Vivi. It almost goes without saying from me.

It's been a while, and I actually voted for just Vivi before I noticed the "vote for four" part of the OP, but the others I would've voted for would be Zidane, Steiner, and Freya.

[Wolf Kanno]

I thought that only activates if you have guardian mog on. Not entriely sure though. Phoenix was a good saver.

Its based on how many Phoenix Pinions you have in your inventory from what I've heard. At 99 PP, the formula is suppose to give you like a 40% chance of Phoenix resurrecting your party when Eiko dies.

The odd thing is, I checked up on Gamefaqs to see what the ability Guardian Mog does and no one seems to know, most of the faqs that list it basically list what the game says which is very vague. One faq theorized that it might lower the encounter rate but wasn't sure. How interesting...