playing this on the side, whats the most powerfull class setup?

[mindfray]

Ive read some of the debate in another thread. i can't really make my mind up.


wanted to make a party of
black mage
white mage
warrior
????????
PROFIT!

jokes aside, i don't like the idea of the theif since he has no steal ability.

[VeloZer0]

What version are you playing? They have really changed the mechanics in most of the newer ones, so it changes things quite a bit depending on your answer.

[mindfray]

GBA game boy advance dawn of souls I and II

[Wolf Kanno]

This is kind of a loaded question I'm afraid cause most people can't agree on this, it really depends on your play style.

Warriors - Great damage dealers and excellent tanks, they can equip heavy armor and shields as well as wield the best weapons in the game. They can be upgraded into the Knight Class which gains the ability to use low level white magic.

Thief - Is a mediocre class, they can use light armor and knives as well as some swords. They have no magic or skills whatsoever and are pretty terrible imho. Yet, they upgrade into the Ninja class which actually can equip some of the best armor and weapons in the game, as well as access to black magic.

Black Belts - BB can equip light armor and bangles and use Nun-chucks and Staffs as weapons. They have decent strength and HP but low defense, but their is a trick to them. If you unequip them after they reach level 10+ their damage and defense rise dramatically, they are meant to be unhindered by constraining armor and weak brittle weapons. They have a very high critical hit rate and multi-hit like nobodies business. They upgrade to the Master Monk which garners them slightly better M.Def stat growth and higher damage modifiers, but are mostly unchanged.

White Mage - self explanatory but it should be noted they are the only class that can use Heal All and Undead damaging spells. Their upgraded White Wizard class gives them access to spells like Arise and Holy.

Black Mage - Self explanatory, except unlike W.Mage he has no unique spells that Red Mage and Ninja can't use. His Upgrade Black Wizard class does get exclusive access to Death, Break, and Flare.

Red Mage - Is like a mix of Thief, White Mage and Black mage. He has a better equipment pool than thief but shares some of it with his mage brethren. He has access to all of the Black Mage spells but cannot use Heal All or the Harm spells that White Mage has, meaning as a healer he is restricted to the single target Cure spells. His upgraded Red Wizard class gets a few of the Black and White Wizard skills but none of the major spells like Holy or Flare. His equipment pool is more mage like in this form as well so he's not as good as an offensive fighter like Knight, Ninja, and Master Monk unless you give him the Masemune.

In my current file, I'm using a Warrior, Black Belt, Red Mage and Black Wizard which is a very offensive based party. I do have to rely on items a bit more than usual but it hasn't been that detrimental. A good party that most favor is two Warriors, a Red mage and a White Mage. It gives you a nice balance though I personally hate having to grind for more gil to keep the Warrior's equipment updated, so you may want to switch out a Warrior for a Black Belt. Despite what everyone says, Black Belts are actually really good (my BB is actually better than my Warrior currently), they just lack pizzazz because they don't need equipment and can't use spells, but a party of them can finish the final boss off in two rounds.

[Sefie1999AD]

I can only talk about NES, WSC and PSX versions. Not sure how different the GBA and PSP versions are. Anyway, the most powerful party is probably 3 Fighters (Warrior in the non-NES translations) and a Red Mage or a White Mage. However, having 3 Fighters is quite expensive, not to mention boring, so you may also want to consider a party of 2 Fighters and two different mages of the following: White Mage, Black Mage and Red Mage (RM and WM for defensive playstyle, RM and BM for offensive, WM and BM for a bit of both but less physical strength). If you don't want to take two characters of the same class, replace the other Fighter with a Black Belt (Monk in the non-NES translations) or a Thief. Summarized, here are some pretty powerful class combinations:

Fi/Fi/Fi/Rm (or Fi/Fi/Fi/Wm)
Fi/Fi/Rm/Wm (or Fi/Fi/Rm/Bm or Fi/Fi/Wm/Bm)
Fi/Bb/Rm/Wm (or Fi/Bb/Rm/Bm or Fi/Bb/Wm/Bm)
Fi/Th/Rm/Wm* (or Fi/Th/Rm/Bm or Fi/Th/Wm/Bm**)

* = my personal favorite
** = the default party in the PSX version, if I recall correctly

[ignoman]

It's true, it depends on what version you're playing, but generally:

Quick Class Analysis:

Fighter/Knight - Easily the best class in the game. High HP and strong armor means these character will rarely die. There are also plenty of good weapons to use in the game, so melee attack output will be good. Once upgraded, they can use all the best equipment. If you want an easy game, take a Fighter or two, more than this and you'll get diminishing returns, as extras will be relegated to using hand-me-down equipment.

Thief/Ninja - Not a bad class, but until the upgrade their melee potential will be limited. Ninjas however can use a lot of the best equipment, as well as cast FAST, making them good support fighters. They're not as good as fighters, but interesting to use, so I usually take one.

Black Belt/Master - Low defense, attack power and lack of magic hurt these guys early on. After a while, their hands will start doing excellent damage, and at extremely high levels they'll outpace the Fighter even. They're also dirt cheap, as you need only buy Nunchaku and Bracelets for them. They fare better in updated versions over the NES. Great for the max-level party, otherwise mediocre.

Red Mage/Red Wizard - Great early on, they can use almost all magic, weapons and armor. Sadly, toward the end of the game, they don't get any of the goodies that high-level characters do, as they can't use the best armor, weapons, and spells. They do however get FAST and EXIT, which keeps them useful in the endgame. Overall decent. All of the classes seem to have gotten a boost in the updated versions, but Red Mage less than the others. It's still fine to take one, they're just a bit more impressive on NES.

White Mage/White Wizard - Very weak, can use only crooks and hammers, but they do get the awesome FADE, EXIT, and LIF2 spells. Their HARM magic also rocks undead monsters. Overall their somewhat average, but it doesn't hurt to take one, especially if not using any other kind of mage. Without one, you'll be relying less on magic and more on potions and items for healing, which is fine, but if this is the case, consider taking more durable characters, or at least a Red Mage instead.

Black Mage/Black Wizard - Like the WM, also very weak, using crooks, daggers and claws. Their magic toasts monsters en masse, and it's good to use that power before they are subject to attacks, as they are quite brittle. They tend to run out of gas in long dungeons, especially early on, until extra spell charges and items help. NUKE, FAST and WARP, as well as the level 3 elements, really help these guys out. Pretty average overall, but nice, since it's a good idea to take at least 1 mage, and these guys pack the most offensive punch in the endgame.

What a Good Party Needs:

1) Durability. You'll suffer against a LOT of attacks in the TONS of random battles you'll fight, so having the first two slots filled with strong characters will make keeping everyone alive much easier. Fighters are a natural fit, but Ninjas work too. In the early game, a Thief or Red Mage can fill in. Black Belts and mages should stay in the back the whole game, which get attacked less often.

2) Magic. You need some, not a lot. Having EXIT or WARP is handy, and there are a few monsters that are best dealt with by magic (large groups, some oozes, those with paralyzing attacks). Pick whichever one you like, whichever flavor suits your taste. I think having too many mages hurts the party's durability more than the extra magic helps, so for the best overall party there's no need to go overboard. If you DO want to go overboard, just be sure to go full-throttle with element and harm magic, keep your levels high, and visit the INN often.

3) Attack power. You should have a couple of good damage dealers. Fighters are the best at this, with Ninjas and Masters able to help out. A good strategy is to cast FAST on these characters to really pour on the hurt. Unlike magic, swords and items never run out, so creating a melee-oriented party is a good idea.

Party Recommendations:

F/?/WM/BM - the basic party formula. Having the fighter in front is a good idea, and you get all the best magics. This lets you see most of what the game has to offer in one run. As for the 4th guy, I'd recommend a second Fighter, a Thief, a Red Mage, or a Black Belt, in that order.

F/F/T/? - as a general rule, the more Fighters you use the better. With these three up front, you can bring all the best gear to bear. The last slot should be used for a mage, I like RM here for variety, but any will work. Having access to WARP or EXIT is handy. Unlike many, I think magic is pretty situational in FF (and a lot of other RPGs for that matter) and thus fighting classes tend to be more reliable.

F/T/BB/RM - the default party is actually quite good. Lots of variety in melee, some good endgame power, and RM has enough magic to handle the big mobs. The first time I beat the game I used a WM instead of RM, and it was quite easy. Again, use whatever suits you.

F/F/F/RM - probably the best overall party, but somewhat boring. I usually use Thiefs or Black Belts just for sake of variety. Fighters are the best, use a lot of them. The RM is just there for utility purposes, you could just as well go F/F/F/F if you don't care about being able to cast WARP and running from the (very very few) melee-resistant foes encountered before magic items become available.

These parties are probably the best mix of enjoyment and utility up through what's needed to beat the game quickly. If your goals for "best party" are somewhat different, like maximizing damage potential at extreme levels, then things like BB/BB/BB/BM and F/BB/BB/BM start becoming more attractive.

The GBA version is a bit easier, at least up until postgame, so just about any party will work, it just depends how quickly you want to move through the game.

[Tamagon]

Since he's talking about the GBA version, I'd say Warrior/Thief/White Mage/Black Mage would be the best. It's ridiculously difficult trying to beat the Soul of Chaos dungeons without lots of healing, which the Black Mage and White Mage can help with.

[ReloadPsi]

To put it simply, the Fighter/Warrior is always awesome no matter what version you're playing, and the Black Mage is almost always this glass cannon that needs constant healing while it stands around doing nothing as you try to conserve its magic in the early stages, until you hit that middle point where you have spells like Fira that make it easier to level grind. (I'm not a fan of the Black Mage at all.)

White Mages are usually a good thing to have on a first run regardless of what version you're playing, but again, get ready for it to selfishly hog a lot of healing to itself, and the Monk does a lot of damage very cheap (eventually completely outperforming both a Warrior and a Black Mage) but isn't very good defensively despite the fact that it theoretically should be.

After that, the Thief and Red Mage completely depend on your version. Thief's usually not worth it, Red Mage is expensive and seems to get nerfed with each update. For earlier versions, pick a Red Mage, later versions, pick a Thief.

Personally I would recommend that your first party contain a Fighter/Warrior/whatever, a Monk/Black Belt and a White Mage, and whatever else takes your fancy.

[VeloZer0]

My Black Mage almost never needed healing. Though he was really lazy, spending most of his time lying on the ground napping while everyone else was fighting.

[Wolf Kanno]

You guys must have terrible luck, my BM is usually my second to last character to bite the dust when trout hits the fan. Thank god for the monk who is currently several levels higher than my party since he has a knack for surviving these unfortunate moments.

[theundeadhero]

That in part is because the first character has a 50% chance to get attacked, the next has a 25% chance to get attacked, then the last two have a 12.5% chance to get attacked. I imagine your BM would be in one of the last spotsso he's second to last to die.

[ReloadPsi]

My Black Mage almost never needed healing. Though he was really lazy, spending most of his time lying on the ground napping while everyone else was fighting.

That too. They're smurfing useless in this game.

[Sephex]

So in other words, just choose whatever party you desire. The fact that this subject brings up so many conflicting opinions shows that picking an inefficient party is actually pretty more tough than picking the "best" party aside from picking four White Mages or four Thieves without changing classes.

[Tigmafuzz]

Four thieves would be ridiculous. smurf that.

[Hollycat]

Four thieves would be ridiculously easy. I think I will do that.

In the GBA version and onward, they become much more powerful and will often be the only party member standing after going through places such as marsh cave.