Worst to Best - Final Fantasy 6 Espers
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 มิ.ย. 2024
- Unlock the power within Final Fantasy VI Espers! Join us on a journey through the realms of magic as we rank and explore the Esper lineup from worst to best. Whether you're a seasoned FFVI veteran or a newcomer to the world of Espers, this in-depth analysis is your ultimate guide to harnessing their abilities.
In this video, we delve into the unique strengths and weaknesses of each Esper, unveiling hidden secrets and strategies to master the game. From the formidable Ifrit to the elusive Bahamut, we leave no stone unturned in this comprehensive ranking.
Are you ready to optimize your party, conquer challenging foes, and unravel the mysteries of Final Fantasy VI's magical beings? Hit play now and level up your Esper game!
Shoutout to DNKA for the footage for the Odin summon as I didn't have anything for that footage. It sucks since Odin and Raiden have the same animation but a different name on the screen.
0:00 Intro
0:54 Crusader
2:40 Unicorn
3:50 Ragnarok
5:18 Midgardsormr
6:29 Shiva
7:32 Alexander
8:43 Kirin
9:47 Phoenix
10:55 Carbuncle
11:51 Cait Sith
12:46 Seraph
14:02 Siren
14:58 Bismark
15:52 Phantom
16:51 Zona Seeker
17:42 Ramuh
18:42 Ifrit
19:36 Raiden
20:51 Valigarmanda
22:04 Golem
23:05 Maduin
24:07 Fenrir
25:10 Odin
26:09 Catoblepas
27:19 Quetzalli
28:25 Lakshmi
29:23 Bahamut - เกม
First off, yes I realized as of this morning after the file no longer exists that it says Seraph where Siren's name should be. That's a my bad. Secondly, as of a Pixel Remaster update as of yesterday there were a couple of upgrades. Raiden goes from +2 Strength to +2 Speed which would bump him up a a point or two. Alexander now goes from no level up bonus to +2 Strength which would bring him from bottom to around 3rd. Again, file no longer exists to edit so big sad. With THAT out of the way, who is your favourite esper and why?
Quetzalli goes from no stat update to Speed+1 on PR too.
No worries mate. This worst to best videos are going to give me a good game on ff6 as soon as I finish the 5
Never used summon in this game 🤡
love the content though
@@Loyyid Only a handful are really worthwhile but they quickly lose their luster. In the GBA, Leviathan and Diablos are definitely some of the stronger summons, especially Diablos.
Ramuh. A weak attack spell but at least he actually has some personality.
Love how people still post stuff like this, this game was my childhood
Some games are timeless
I feel the same way. It's 2024 and people are making content about my favourite game from 30 years ago.
Don't sleep on ragnarok. Ribbons, genji gloves, safety bits, megalixers, thunder shields (bet for genji shields), miracle shoes, ichigeki/assassins dagger all can be obtained through metamorphosis.
Metamorph is god-tier for farming on SNES and Pixel Remaster. God-tier-plus on GBA.
Also, hours of fun playing "Will It Jerky?" on random enemies. (Don't forget the dinosaurs!)
The actual trick to getting the most out of Ragnarok? Pairing its user with Gogo, to mimic that until the battle ends, or you need to heal. Very high rate of goodies.
Also XP eggs on the bird enemies. But you need to know what enemies morph into what. Also you gave up the Ragnarok sword (& Lightbringer/Illumina) in the process. I can't really rate it. But that's the old Ragnarok debate for ya.
@Chadius I wish the extended dungeons from the GBA version were included in the pixel remaster. The ability to steal those ultimate swords from the last tier of the monument to nonexistence made it very worth before going to the post game dungeons. Also, those summons were neat.
its still crap since it never really works and even the VANISH and doom glitch SNES and PS1 version will NOT give the Esper a 100% success rate so Ragnarok is still crap I'll use the Paladin Shield for Ultima.
Cure rings/Miracles shoes later game makes HP regen FROM Kirin useless so I'll never really summon Kiren at all.
I love Golem. That giant stone hand coming out of the ground to protect you is awesome. Plus... they have him looking like a robot. Who wouldn't love a magic robot??
Robo lovers rejoicing rn
I never thought about it before, but I guess they designed Golem as a robot in FFVI to fit with the "Magitek" theme?
It’s just a shame you can’t summon multiple times in VI. In V, Golem was a summon with basically the same effect. But since you can summon him as many times in one fight as you want, he’s amazing for defensive options.
3 ways to get Image:
- Summon Fenrir
- Shadow uses the vanish edge/shadow edge (Gogo can do this too)
- Equip the Mirage Vest, you start off with Vanish. It's honestly one of the better armors in the game.
The only reason Crusader sticks out in my head is that I remember spinning it on the Esper slots and getting sent back to the last save point.
lmao rekt
When I first played this, I very distinctly remember first getting the "Magicite" item that summons a random esper in the sealed gate cave, immediately using it out of curiosity, and getting Crusader. I never used the item again.
@@salculdSame thing happened to me.
@@salculd
I always try to avoid such random effects in games.
That's why Caith Sith sucks theirs no FF7 summon that kills its user but FF7 still has Cait Sith's version of Joker doom the One that kills your OWN party that's why in FFF7 I'll never use Slots for his 2nd limit break at all.
IRC Shadow has a scroll that gives himself image.
And mirage vests. Applies to anyone but Umaro I think.
Yes. I don't know what Shadow's scroll is called in later versions, but in the Super Nintendo version it's called "Inviz Edge," I think. I thought that was garbage until I saw this video and its comment section! Now I may try buying him some once he joins permanently!
Shiva is one of my favorites purely for teaching Osmose, which means infinite free MP for the rest of the game
Plus the fact that at that point in the game you want to learn Ice 1 & Ice 2 (as well as Fire and Lightning 1&2).
One of the best spells in the game.
On top of NEEDING osmose to slay one of the dragons
I always keep Odin, at least for a while. Not for the +Speed. But for the Meteor spell. It's a nice spell that sweeps many randoms. Especially in the Cultists Tower (the mobs there have numerous elemental resistances, and some even have innate Reflect, which Meteor simply disregards).
I can't believe you rated Quick (and thus Raiden) so low...
Quick is one of the most busted spells in the history of the franchise. Extra turns are overpowered in any turn-based RPG, and Quick not only gives you two extra turns, but also disables anyone from doing anything else until you're done. Jump becomes "instant", Cyan can take his time charging up Bushido... also, enemies can't counterattack. There's a reason why we haven't seen this spell in the numbered games since VI: it's that busted.
Also, Raiden increasing Speed is an amazing improvement.
He's ranking these summons with speedrunning in mind , quick is game breaking in casual play but when you speedrun it has one of the slowest magic growths imaginable (x1) , and at the point where you'd have unlocked quick you could've already gotten into kefka's tower fully decked out in gear. That's also why ragnarok magicite was placed so low despite ultima being the best spell , it's too out of the way and loses time
He also had the esper that teaches Ultima basically last on his list. That is the best/most busted spell in the game. This list is completely inaccurate
@@CosmicCosmo1 ultima is fair enough. Just get the paladin shield and enjoy one of the best weapons in the game
Quick + gem box + ultima or quick + offering + genji glove are both so completely busted.
That's because on the GBA onwards remakes that can no longer be done it only works on the SNES and PS1 games.
“Wimpy horse is higher than a castle of lasers.” Dead.
So sad, so true
@@Bdewd Question..... Not that it matters to ranking but with Kirin being a mandatory story event and first group of espers you get, how is that not a 10/10 accessibility? You literally can't not get Kirin and the others in the group.
@@cyrusttoille Seriously. Kirin should teach Vanish for how little presence he has with the player.
@@cyrusttoille 10/10 would be you start with it
@@dynenuitari8930 or as soon as you can get it, it's given to you..... If there is not a way to not get it, it should be 10/10.
Man, I'm so used to do Natural Magic Only runs that I totally forgot that equipping Espers grants you stat bonusses on Level Ups.
I don’t think I ever realized the stat/leveling bonuses were a thing on any play throughs I’ve done 🤯
@@zrayburtoni agree i have NEVER factored stat bonuses in my history of playing the game.... magic only
@@zrayburton magic+2 and strength+2 will turn your characters into war gods real fast. You can beat the game at low level 30s if you apply the bonuses correctly. Only your HP and MP increase when you level up, so every boost counts!
The Pixel version still allows that simply increase exp to a 4x Boost and AP gain to zero.
It's been a very long time since my last playthrough, but getting the slower characters speed up to match Lock's natural 40 was always a priority for me. Cyan is much more formidable when he attacks more often, etc.
You can also get Image statut with Shadow Scroll through the Thrown command with Shadow (or Gogo).
Noted thanks!
Imma level with you, Crusader needs extra points taken off for every time I died to it in my first play through's early game by using a magicite shard.
EDIT: Other sources of image include Shadows scroll (forget the name) and the mirage vest (which I have never seen a single person use).
Or slots 💀
Yeah, I died to Crusader once. Never summoned it again.
If nothing gets a 10/10 rating, is there a point to the cap? As it stands, the final scores should be out of 36, since none of the scores, not even the insane +2 speed on level up, manage to achieve it.
If the concern is weighting certain things more (which accessibility may be guilty of) then the preferred solution would be to weigh each category differently.
I do agree with this, I was also torn on consistency with the rest of the series. Future ones thats probably the idea going forward
Agreed. If the first Esper you get isn't a 10/10 Accessibility, what is the point of a 10 point scale?
There is two other ways you can apply Image status other than Fenrir:
1. Using Shadow Edge through the Throw command.
2. Mirage Vest
Both of which only work on one character, while Fenrir works on *the entire party.*
If the first available espers don't get a 10 in accessibility then your methodology is off.
Fair point
its his video... and his ranking. that being said, only the first four should get a 10 in accessability.
You are going to need an update of this video, because after the update a few days ago, Alexander now gives +2 STR bonus and Raiden gives +2 SPD, which is awesome.
There was an update?
EDIT: Holy shyt there was! I been waiting for this for a long azz time. Thanks for the comment.
Always lookin forward to every video! We are all learnin' so much! Great, great video, once again, buddy! Hell yeah! FF6
Hecking ff6 lessgoooo
Today you earned my sub. Keep these coming!
The typo in the phantom scorecard got me more than it shouldve
I apparently was looking at the wrong stuff during the "its done, make sure stuff is all right" part D: lolol
@Bdewd you did well. Typos happen we all know editing can get mind numbing lol
And unicorn. Just way off
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the first 4 you get in zozo should be 10/10 accessible since you get them by default. Would love to hear why they are docked a point.
Yeah. He underrated Kirin mad bad.
To me a 10/10 is perfection. So that would mean get it instantaneously. So 9/10 is next best bet. I'm a stickler on 10s tho
@@Bdewd I can see where you're coming from, and thanks for the reply. I still disagree because, in order to earn a 10 in your logic, we would have to redesign the game to have Terra start with one. At that point, it's not the same game anymore. In the context of FF6 as designed, there's no esper more accessible than the zozo 4. The combination of being the first available to be acquired and the fact you cannot miss them makes them a 10.
Either way, I enjoy the content. Keep up the good work.
Trying to route a high stat run so these videos have been super helpful.
I'm pretty sure Shadow can inflict the Image on himself if he used a scroll. Forget what it's called though.
You're 100% correct, it's the Shadow scroll
Just discovered your channel recently, and I am loving your Final Fantasy videos. One minor bit of advice I wanted to offer: I noticed that when you speak about your evaluation criteria, you seem to refer to the categories as "rhetorics" (at least that's what it sounds like to me). I think perhaps the word you're looking for would be "rubric," or maybe "metric," which both can refer to grading systems. Just my two cents, anyway. Looking forward to checking out more from your channel!
IDK if anyone else knows this, but using Gogo to mimic Ragnarok summon (which can be done infinitely) you can actually morph the entire bunch of enemies in an encounter (where there are more than 1). The only thing you have to remember, is Gogo "wastes" a morph turn right after a successful morphing because it doesn't re-target right away after an enemy has been morphed for some reason, but the next turn, it will lock on a new target and you can lather, rinse, repeat. While it's still tedious, it does make the chances of getting an item greater than not doing that.
I did a run where I didn’t spend any money unless absolutely necessary and Unicorn’s x4 Cura was worth its weight in gold there. That’s about what it takes to make the esper useful.
Also, Shadow can set Image using the Vanish Edge.
Now there's an idea. I'm always up for new challenges. No gil spent would be interesting, especially stacked with a few other handicaps like low level run or something.
The minimum gil you have to spend is 151 (you’ve gotta purchase Dried Meat for Gau at 150 gil and you have to sleep in the Thamasa inn to the tune of 1 gil). I haven’t found a way around either of those.
The Mirage Vest also gives the wearer image.
Generally agreed with most of this tier list, but the Str +2 & especially Mag +2 level up bonuses should be worth 10/10.
agreed, I did my own list, giving speed +2 a 10, mag +2 a 9, and str +2 an 8
Great video! I love your channel. Regarding Fenrir’s Image, I think Shadow has a skean that causes Image!
Thx for the info and glad you enjoyed it :)
He does but Shadow can only cause Image or Vanish on HIMSELF the Fenrir and Phantom espers cause Image and Vanish to the entire party.
Loved the list and your ranking system. There were quite a few mistakes in terms of video production, but I think that‘s something you can improve on in future videos. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
I also share your disdain against gravity magic!
Fenrir isn't the only source of image. You can get unlimited Mirage Vests from the colosseum which are equippable by everybody except umaro.
Mirage skean? I think one of Shadow's scrolls casts it.
@@dansmith1661 Shadow edge, yeah. Only usable by Shadow and Gogo sadly.
fun vid! as someone else mentioned in the comments, shadow has a scroll he can throw to give himself image. I believe there is also a relic in the coliseum that gives an image... could be wrong about that one though
The Mirage Vest is an armor that grants Image to the wearer.
Mirage vest....makes sense!!
Ragnorok should have been lower. You can get ultima from the paladin shield, which is a pain in the butt to obtain, but this game is easy enough to where it really doesn't matter whether you have ultima or not anyway. On top of that, if you get it in it's sword form, you can trade it for the lightbringer in the colliseum, which is the most overpowered piece of equipment in the game. It's just not worth keeping it in esper form.
Good morning Bdewd! Just to let you know, I noticed a small error on your "chapters" so to speak in the video bar. It looks like you forgot to add the "Bismark" part and his part of the video is still labled along with Sirens.
Ty fixed!
The most important tier list in the history of mankind
well, i had taken the time to make a comprehensive list to add to yours, and i misclicked and closed the page and it's gone >.> overall, a solid assessment, but I would recommend you adjust the way you judge spells and more uniformly judge the level up bonuses. the stats are always more impactful than the hp/mp considering at max level, you'll all have 9500+hp and 950+mp. I do recognize they would possibly benefit a low level run more, but so would the stat increases.
my list put bismark at the top because his bonus is the earliest way to raise str effectively, and he's the earliest way to get access to raise, additionally, despite his damage being largely unimpressive, he's one of the very few sources of water damage, making him critical in the house fire. summons like palidor are also overlooked because their damage isn't amazing, but against single targets, he's one of the best for many reasons- firstly, it makes all your characters un-target-able for several attacks, then causes 4 instances of high damage as each player comes crashing down, well exceeding the 9999 damage cap on any other esper against a single target. ragnirok is also the only way to obtain some very rare gear, which you mentioned, but it boost his (best) status considerably.
Bismark is absolutely crucial during a Max Stats 100% completion playthrough.
But for 9999 damage Physical hits or Ultima spells most party members only need the 2 stats around 50 to 60 points but Rage doesn't really use stats so Gau with only like 50 to 60 magic using the Mover Rage may only get 5000 damage out of the Meltdown spell casting the spell NORMAL with 50 to 60 magic and Gau may actually get 9999 damage/healing with Fire shields out of it.
So for the Mover rage to actually do 9999 damage/healing 50 to 60 magic isn't good enough he needs around 120 magic to do 9999 damage/healing party with it Same with the 2 Quake using rages.
Fun list, here's my personal thoughts on some of the choices:
With the right setup, Crusader can barely touch you while demolishing foes (same with other similar spells in the game)
Don't ignore what Ragnarok can do, though I do feel like it is also worth noting the great Ragnarok debate: The sword, or the summon
Shiva also grants Rasp if memory serves, which can be an alt way in the WoB to defeat at least some bosses.
Cait Sith is actually REALLY powerful, especially WoB when a lot of enemies are vulnerable to confuse. It's also good to help learn some Lores as well.
Zone Seek is probably the most consistently useful (or very close to it) Esper in the game: It's summon effect is always useful, it's magic isn't bad, and it's level-up bonus is arguably the most useful (along with the other +2 magic ones) in the game.
Raiden is probably the most amusing Esper in the game from a purely "I did this because it sounded stupid"-sort of way. Quick is way too good, even if it's not 'as' good as it was in FFV simply because the damage output of your party members can get utterly ridiculous, even in the mid-game, let alone the end. Thus you can turn any char with high damage output into an utterly ridiculous behemoth of raw power and cheese the hell out of most encounters.
Depending on circumstance, Golem can be better over Fenrir. Image can be dispelled, or pierced if memory serves, and some enemies can and do attack multiple times to overcome that as well. Golem however is more consistent, and will block an attack even that exceeds it's "HP", and thus can stop even a death-blow in a lucky situation, but if someone's focused down, once Image runs out, that's it.
Quezacolli is my 2nd fave in the whole game purely for the wild shit you can do, like 'Jump only' (which is "technically" not possible unless you allow for a lot of required exceptions). But it is hilarious, and Jump is surprisingly strong in this game.
Ragnarock was such a huge disappointment to me because from the name you'd assume it's out there with Bahamuth, Odin, and Alexander, then my disappointment was doubled after I learned that having it as equipment is much better
Buh... Ultima!
Ragnarok can grant you incredibly powerful items. Your guys can always use magic that hits the cap quickly enough.
There is an armor that gives the image buff (Mirage Vest) that you can get via colosseum battles i believe. Shadow may have a skean/scroll he can use to give himself the image buff as well but can't recall for sure on that one.
Not sure which version of the game you were basing this off of, but Meltdown/Merton was originally fire-based and you could equip flame shields to recover HP when casting it.
use the moogle charm and get the dragons as soon as you have the airship. It's three trips, you'll need to abuse the system, switch to wait for the two dragons but it's a fun mid-game challenge and having crusader for the rest of the WOR is fun.
Kirin is #1 if you ignore lvl up bonus, easy.
5/10 is a huge underrating on his summon. It's the only all cast of regen in the game (very OP in WoB). Summon should be 7 or 8.
There is absolutely no way Carbuncle is better than Kirin. Insanity.
Bismark was always on Cyan for that plus 1 or 2 on strength on level up Cyan is who I used the most at that Coliseum.
We don't use Bismark for spells thayd for certain haha
Honestly I use him for fast learning on subs because your mains should already know the basics on that lvl but mainly I use it for the STR boost after that. Currently Edgar has him because I am going dragoon build on him.
There is another way to get "image" on your characters: Mirage Vest (armor). Also Shadow can get Image status early on, if you buy him some Shadow Edge/Scroll item for him to throw (like in front of Gau's dad's house in Sabin's scenario). How to get Mirage vest? First, you take Gogo with you to the veldt after killing the Senior Behemoth in the cave of the veldt, and use Ragnarok to morph Senior Behemoths until you get a Thornlet (your two other possible results of morph are Cursed Ring and Lich Ring aka Relic Ring). Take that Thornlet to the Coliseum, fight an Aspidochelon (Opinicus) with any Character wearing Gaia Gear (like Gau) for an EZ win, and there you have it, Mirage Vest. It's probably a good idea to give Gogo a Wall ring or toss a Reflect on him first before you multi-morph so the sucker can't Death him to death and interrupt the mimic chain.
As a kid playing this game, I never bother with the level up bonus for Espers. I used them all just to learn spells for everyone. Some had faster spell rates to learn. Otherwise, my favorite espers to use is the bird that makes us all dragoons! Fun one that is!
Raiden for the heavy speed boost. I usually transform Ragnarok into a sword because you can get the second best sword in the game by betting it in the coliseum and you can learn Ultimate by equipping the Paladin Shield once you break its curse. Genii Glove/ Master Scroll/ Illumina/ Ultima Weapon= highest damage output in the game at late levels usually around 60k per turn with an additional chance to may cast Pearl. The espers IMO are mostly for visuals.
I was surprised to see Crusader at the bottom of the list. The summon is garbage, but the meltdown spell is amazing. If you have four flame shields equipped it automatically becomes both a huge heal for all your party members and massive damage for 90% of the enemies you encounter. Usually I equip one of my parties like this and they absolutely breeze through anything.
I think you mean to say "rubric" and not "rhetoric".
i r stoopid
okay good now i don't have to say it, thanks
The first esper you can get has a 9 accessibility that means it's a 1 - 9 scale instead of 1 - 10...
I had thought the same thing, but since you learn magic in ways before obtaining them, I feel it's somewhat justified
Quick isn't just a "pretty good spell", it's essentially game-breaking. If you also farm and equip Economizers, it costs 1mp. Can we say "infinite turns" boys and girls? I did this back in the SNES days, and Kefka only got one turn per phase. The rest was all constant Genji / Master Scroll attacks and Mime, then re-casting Quick... lol
I go in under leveled and he gets no turns. Maybe it's a bad spell :) (this is for last phase, not sure if you mean the tiers as well)
Behamut at number 1? Interesting.
I don't care about Flare that much. But the summon spell Mega Flare is another option that can mindlessly obliterate Cultist Tower mobs (it's basically a weaker Ultima).
And to kill Doom Gaze faster, buy a bunch of Pearl/Holy Rods from Thamasa, then use them as items in battle for a crapton of damage (especially if Morph Terra does so).
Using Fire Rods as items can work too, for almost as much damage.
can you even use Espers in the Cultist Tower?
yes only Lores you can't use.
The Steam PR finally got that patch and some magicite changed level up bonuses.
Dude I knooooooooooo
Osmose is booty? Really? It's one of the best spells in the game since it lets you use your other spells with reckless abandon. No idea how Zoneseek's spells are rated so low.
Also, a huge amount of monsters instantly die if you reduce their MP to 0, including bosses.
Seconded. Especially in the late game when your casters have access to multiple MP-fueled nuke spells like Tier 3 elemental spells, Meteor, Grand Train, Ultima, etc., not having to dedicate items to MP recovery or precious relic slots to cost mitigation items and just spamming nukes with wild abandon because you can refill on command is huge. That plus the coveted Magic +2 put Zoneseek high on my list, and mitigating incoming magic damage with fewer downsides than reflect make the summon not half bad either.
Osmose always hit me as a "im bad at mp management, the spell" hahahaha
@@Bdewd Maybe in other games, since you either get it late, or it's weak. In FF6 it's basically "MP management? What MP management?". You can just go wild with magic and recharge for a cost of a single turn off a random non-undead schmoe.
In FF 6 their great in FF5 Osmose barely drains even 1 MP off enemies that have 50+ of it its useless and for Rydia in FF4 not worth using in the final dungeon it would barely drain any MP IF at all.
I forget which Esper gives a +Vigor, but i would always assign it to Cyan (my fav character).
Well, by mid-game, his quadra slam would be taking away 9999 FOR EACH SLICE!!
It was insane!
Ragnarok has the ability to give you infinite genji gloves as well as the cursed ring without wasting the cursed shield. Sounds like a good deal to me!
You know, it occurs to me that maybe your "Accessibility" category really should be replaced with something like "Usefulness Time". As in, rather than rate how long (potentially) you have something, rate how much of the game overall you are going to use it. IE: With Gau, if you use him, you can get Stray Cat right away with him, and you'll probably be using it for most of (if not all of) the entire game. Some of these Espers you get later game, you're going to be using the entire rest of your playthrough (especially if they have a good Level Up bonus), while others you get early, you probably won't use much (if at all) outside of teaching a few spells to a a character or two. So your overall use time for them (even if they're useful early, like Maduin) might not be very high.
Its a bit awkward and I'm def open to ideas for improvement. Ty!
Mirage Vest that you can win in the arena auto casts Image on the wearer. I love this armor for Locke.
Fun fact in case nobody knew you can put vanish on enemies and almost all bosses and use x-zone! Works like a charm. 😊
As for Ragnarok, half of the player's pass it up for the Ragnarok sword (which can be bet for an even better sword).
You can still get the spell Ultima from the Paladin Shield (just gotta grind a lot to uncurse the Cursed Shield).
From a pure completionist standpoint, the sword is better then the esper.
Damn it! I didn't know that super nes had such stunning particle system
all of the capture for this video was taken from the pixel remaster that you can get on steam/switch/ps4/ps5 :)
There was a bug in the SNES version (and I think the PS1 version) where if you did the Vanish + Xzone trick on any monster (ESPECIALLY Doomgaze), you wouldn't get any dropped items. That included the Bahamut magicite. So then I never really used Vanish + XZone, but rather Vanish + Doom instead (unless undead monster, then I just threw a phoenix down at it lol).
Gotta love those espers with no stat bonuses. 😜 I know that stats aren’t everything, but when that’s the only way to boost your characters’ stats, it definitely hurts the overall score.
Ragnarok is one that I’ve thought about digging more into on the metamorphose ability, to see what all you can get from it. I doubt there is anything that is crazy good from it.
And as for the top of the list, I’ll just say… long live the king!
You can get a few 'rare' items, like miracle shoes, genji gloves, growth eggs and ribbons. But FF6 in general is not a hard enough game to really need extras of any of these items, outside of a low level run... And if you are doing a low level run, you can't be grinding with Ragnarok to begin with.
You can with the new patch that turns off random encounters and XP gains. @@Selgeron
Long live the king!
I'm confused how the first summons both siren and Cait sith only have a 9/10 accessibility?
They are the first summons you get as the story progresses
Came to comment something similar. I got to Shiva and saw it's 8/10, but there's so little of the game in between getting the first pieces of magicite and getting Shiva and Ifrit. Basically just the Opera House and then the first part of the Magitek Factory. The first four you get should be 10/10 accessible, and AT LEAST Shiva and Ifrit should be 9/10, if not all the espers from Magitek Factory.
Because the 10/10 slot for Esper accessibility goes to Terra.
@@WillRennar Terra should only get 5/10 accessibility because she's only half esper.
Joking aside, her esper form is only available after the magitech facility so... shouldn't she be 8/10 or 7/10?
@@-Keith-
That makes her 9.5/10 😂
At the moment (I'm doing the Super Nintendo version on emulator), I'm just starting the World of Ruin, and my favorite thus far is Sraphim--Seraph for you modern players, I guess? Cure 2 (Curaga) has saved my characters' bacon more times than I care to count, but I'm looking forward to getting Phoenix and the one from Owzer's mansion, that's for sure...!!
Since I trained my characters, some of the best espers for me are Quetzal, Phoenix, Golem and yes, Bahamut, because I only use their abilities if it gives me more options in the fight. Phoenix is situacional, but with equipment you can literally choose who survives till the end, Quetzal allows to dodge and counter migthy attacks, and Golem is a good defense with some bosses.
Don't forget how good Carbunkle is offensively with bouncing off 4 spells off of yourself
I'm ranking based on the Esper's effects and not the spells they teach, I've played too many randomizers to remember how spells affect them. My bias is mostly for the final battle.
S - Always makes me smile when I find these, always useful
Bahamut (weaker Ultima without needing the Ultima grind)
Golem, Fenrir (stops repose/calmness during the final battle)
A - Mostly for the final battle
Unicorn (counters Trine/Train uh the silence + dark effect from Tier 3 and Kefka)
Quetzalli/Palidor (Jump over Heartless Angel/Fallen One! Emergency against final attacks if you can count their HP)
Kirin (great during the final battle or any long battles)
Siren (silences Magic during Tier 2)
Phantom - (gotta count the enemy HP, but great against Tier 3)
B - Rare/barely resisted damage types
Alexander (Holy damage!)
Bismark (Water damage!)
Midgarsormr/Terrato (Earth attack without the Quake prep)
C - Mostly situational or beaten by the spells they teach/imitate
Zona Seeker/Zone Seeker (how many times do you need Shell? Magimaster?)
Carbunkle (how many times do you need Reflect?)
Seraph, Lakshmi/Starlet (worse than Cura? It ignores Reflect)
Cait Sith/Stray (highly situational)
Phoenix (you'll never cast this, be honest)
Odin & Raiden (Only good when you need an instakill... and they still miss)
Catoblepas/Shoat (A weaker instakill... yeah OK)
D - You could just cast the attack spell and deal more damage instead.
Maduin - At least dad is non elemental
Ramuh, Ifrit, Shiva
Valigarmanda/Tritoch - If the target absorbs fire, ice OR lightning it absorbs ALL damage.
F
Crusader - End game esper, Meltdown requires equipment setup, never summon Crusader!
Ragnarok
Ragnarok gets its own tier, as you have to give up the sword and the Lightbringer/Illumina. Morph is only good if you know what to morph into what. Flare is great, especially in later versions where the animation is much, much faster (SNES Flare is slooooooow)
So what does it take for a 10/10 accessibility?
I think stat gains should have been out of 5 instead of 10, felt weighted too heavily. Really enjoy these videos
I thought about that for a while, but its also the secondary reason ppl equip espers which seems like a huge deal. Maybe accessibility should've gone down tho
@@Bdewd that was another thought I had about it. Accessibility makes sense, but as better options come up the fact that they are accessible is kind of irrelevant. If it is obsolete for half the game how good is it really? Especially since how useful it is in the hardest fights should have a little more weight to it.
Stat bonuses is the strongest thing in the whole game and can make you hit at 9999 with mid spells and mid weapons.
Stat bonuses should count for 50% of the espers utility.
Fave Esper??? oooOOooo...and here I am still wondering how to get the yeti to equip the gear you get for it...the rom for some reason did not let me. Getting them in Zozo was the best part of all. I love that setting above even the ghost train! I need to play the second world more to tell you a good assessment there. I have an unfinished file on my laptop.
you know your mission, all you need to do is complete it now :D
@@Bdewd Pricking Kefka with a PEENIX Down can be Bucket list worthy. Hmm...I just have issue with the ROM because Umaro's gear the relics won't successfully equip, making him quite weak. I played 20 years ago and never got the character but finally did a few years back, always wondering if it is a character to actually get.
Are you not going to mention how Shiva and ZoneSeek are the 2 espers that teach Osmose? It's basically the spell that unlocks full spellcasting potential
Osmose and rasp are amazing. Shame they get no love in this vid.
Sorry. I stopped the video to ask. I am not trying to be a jerk I am just curious.
Why did you give the unicorn a 7/10 accessibility when it is part of the Magitech Factory batch when it is like one of the first espers you get and also very hard to miss?
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I just looked it up and apparently you CAN miss it, but still why the 7/10?
I feel like if the first ones you get without any major trial gets a 7/10 I don’t know how you would get higher unless it was REQUIRED for plot reasons.
Yet again. I am just wondering what qualifies at a 10/10 for accessibility to you.
Anyways… thank you for this content.
I am a random jackass from rural America eating peanuts and watching your video because my insomnia is playing up.
I scrolled through my feed for like 240 videos but this is the one that caught my eyes. I truly appreciate the work you did on this even though it is stopped at 4:59 currently lmao.
I was so irked by Ifrit and Shiva with those level-up bonus. Why didn't the devs give Shiva +1 to magic. It pairs well with Iftrit being her opposite. She teaches ice and healing, he teaches fire and drain. She should give +1 to magic to compliment Ifrit's +1 to strength.
I do like how Golem and Zoneseek are both in the auction house. Shell and Protect for the party. I just like espers that compliment each other. I'm weird like that.
Pretty sure if the GBA Espers were on here (sad that they haven't been added since), I can see Leviathan being in the top 10 because of being the only source of water magic, and Gigantuar being either under Bahumat or taking his place, since his summon is kinda busted, and he was the first +2 speed bonus. The only part hurting him is accessibility, since he's an absolute pain in the ass to take down to get.
Idk of it's just me, and I never played FFVI Advance long enough to get to the new summons but what I have seen of them is that the graphics for them look so out of place stylistically.
These are the Pixel Remaster graphics and yes it's very jarring
@@BJGvideos I was aware the video wasn't using GBA footage, I was just using it as an opportunity to air my grievances lol
Pallidor was my go-to for biss fights. 4 free attacks.
A properly timed palidor let's you skip ultima hitting most people against magi master as well!
i really do recomend playing the GBA version at some point, it has the good script, bonus content, and the gameplay you remember
Worst to Best Magic (might need to break this up into White, Black, Green lists)
The pixel remaster added level up bonuses to ALOT of the ones who didn't have any. I'd like to see how this list would change because of this.
Hey bdewd, for the golem section, you showed zona seeker! Not golem. I'll assume the re-upload to fix this aggrievance is imminent
ayyyyyy what an eye. i bet you found that all by yourself
While I like some of.your method to rank them, I think Amy Esperanto that is mandatory to grab would be a 10/10, and then all other based on difficulty and time needed to grab. Over all cool
So who's going to tell him that none of the espers survived the magi-tek facility...
I'm surprised you gave Phoenix such a high summon rating. For getting it so late in the game, it wouldn't be on my list of 4 magicites to equip (unless learning the spells).
Also i loved ragnarok as a summon, you could get so many powerful relics and items. But then again i loved that game and had a hard time moving on between the worlds by the time i fought kefka he was a joke.
Kefka is usually fairly weak as far as final bosses go, which is disappointing given what a good character he is and how hatable and vile he is
Rasp and Osmose from Zone Seek/Shiva are far more useful than most people realize. Until you grind the Economizer relic from the colosseum osmose will keep you topped up on magic and rasp can make magic based bosses and strong enemies like T-Rex harmless while trying to level grinding by removing their ability to cast spells. Also if you rasp the Archmages MP on top of Fanatics tower he dies and cant cast ultima cause of 0 MP.
I think this makes it the last "Worst to Best video" for FF6. You literally ranked EVERYTHING that ALLIES have!
I mean he could still do items. Or weapons, armors, shields, relics, etc.
Elemental and status effects.
I plan to rank the characters themselves and maybe my top 5 fave grinding spots or something. But then I'm kinda out for "good" ideas for 6. Move onto 4 and 5 maybe :)
@@Bdewd Great idea!
As for moving, move to 4 and PLEASE include the After Years! Many people hate it but because of it, 4 became my favorite FF of all time instead of 6. PSP's Complete Collection is still 4's definitive edition for me!
@@Bdewd Could rank top broken strategies as well. Wind God Gau. Fixed Dice with Offering. Dragon Boots + Horn with lance. Quick. Etc.
Just commenting to add some engagement points to my favorite Canadian streamer.
Theres my happiest like :)
Seems like you might need to add "Looks badass" to the rubric. Pretty sure that'll get Alexander up a couple of places.
Him getting a +2 strength as of a day or so ago is enough to bring him to 3rd. They had to update it after I finished smh
Actually, the key to Ultima Weapon's damage is level, rather than HP... all characters, with no level up bonuses, will have around 9700-9900 HP at LV99, so a couple of levels with high HP bonuses is all it takes to ensure maximum HP.
As for Doomgaze at lvs over 50 Pearl Rods should do 9999 damage each TO break 7 of them to kill IT BEFORE it runs auto haste + auto reflect the entire party play on WAIT mode and turn down Battle speed/message speed to slow or very slow on the Pixel version.
Where would you put the gba espers at?
Not top but pretty high. Only cuz they come in hecking late
Do you think you’ll do a Relm sketch/control best and worst abilities!?
not really cuz honestly, they all kinda suck for the most part or were covered in other videos to *some* extent if they were useful haha
Crusader also makes random Esper summons inherently risky, which makes Magicite Shards go from a gimmick to a liability.
If the first set of Espers have a 9/10 for accessibility, what would it take to get a 10/10 there?
Think he's comparing to other videos where stuff can be gotten earlier
Don't forget for those learning Ultima. Uncurse the Curse Shield and add it alongside the esper with Ultima (I forgot who has it) and you'll learn it x 2 instead of 1. I usually wait to upgrade Odin to Raiden once I am done with Odin's speed stat at level up. I don't recall but I think I did HP 50% bonus using Bahamut at level up till I reach near 9999 HP (probably around level 75? I forgot) then switch to stat bonus depending on char. If it's any of the girls speed > magic attack > magic def for guys it's speed > physical attack > magic def. I hate when I use Crusader that shyt always hits my party for over 9k or even 9999. I always gotta do life 3 on me so I can have fun using the spell. I think it's dumb how Square put the dragons in Kefka's tower instead of somewhere else since it's a waste of having to go there twice ruining the experience when I want to finish the game and get the ending.
Mirage Vest and Shadow Edge both grant the image status in addition to Fenrir.
Anything that grants Magic Power growth early and often is flat out the most busted Esper in my eyes, because way too many abilities scale way too strongly from Magic Power vs anything else in the game. Slots, Lore, Blitz, Magic Rods (Item, as consumable), and of course, plain ol' Magic in general is very OP in FF6.
Sabin's Blitz in particular scales murderously fast with Magic Power growth, turning Aura Bolt into a Holy powered railgun with Fire Dance sweeping basically 90% of everything else until World of Ruin. (and Air Blade being a screen wide kill if you somehow overlevel him for that)
I've turned Bum Rush into a delete key that hits near the damage cap before level 40 and nothing in the game has more than 60k HP. And that's just pumping +30 MagPwr into him, or about 20 odd levels between Stray (Cait Sith) and Maduin.
Funny thing is, that's child's play compared to the walking nuclear holocaust you can turn Terra into since her Morph ability flat out DOUBLES her Magic Power while active and even tier 2 attack spells will hit like the fist of an angry god before you're even done with the World of Balance segment of the game. Her amazing equips from the moment you get her back onward only helps this, changing her from a crappy early game bop-stick who occasionally casts Fire and Cure into arguably the strongest, most flexible (and RELIABLE, sorry Gau) character in the game.
As for the other stats:
+HP% is nice if you're racing through events in World of Ruin and manage to get Bahamut early. However, HP growth is quadratic without any pumping whatsoever, spiking rapidly around level 33 onward for everyone. It's nice to have, but unnecessary as enemies will rarely hit above 1000 damage until Kefka's Tower anyway.
+MP% is the same story, since once you've cleared the MagiTek factory, you have access to Zoneseek and rapid Osmose training and unless you keep accidentally trying to drain Undead monsters of their MP, it's basically floating around in nearly every encounter for free. Nice, but unnecessary.
+Speed is the most interesting stat since there's something of a choice here since only Odin grants speed growth in vanilla FF6. The problem is, he's an Esper that you may possess for literally 30 seconds before upgrading him and that Speed growth vanishes when he turns into Raiden. Odin vs Raiden is really a choice between roiding your characters innate speed stat at a piddling rate vs learning one of the most busted spells in all of FF history: Quick.
Frankly, the only time I'd ever look sideways at Odin's Speed growth is if I was doing some OCD fueled max stats levelgrinding project.
+Vigor (Strength) is only really useful on Edgar/Mog and Cyan. Everyone else has better options through magic power in one form or another. (Quadra Slice is Cyan's sole saving grace from being rendered completely obsolete, but oh what an attack it is when pumped up.)
And +Stamina is...not worth mentioning.
Learning Magic Spells is important, but for any character to do well in FF6 they only really need the Tier 2 elemental spells, Tier 2 curatives (Life, Esuna, Cure 2), Rasp+Osmose, Vanish, and Flare and Meteor (or Ultima if you nab the Paladin's Shield/Ragnarok magicite early enough). You get access to nearly all of those after finishing the MagiTek factory.
The other spells are nice (busted, if you want to abuse the Vanish+Doom combo in the original SNES version) but not really necessary for clearing the game's regular content. There are only a tiny handful of encounters / bosses that give me any real pause once I get my hands on the Bahamut Esper in early WoR, and that's largely due to the fact that FF6 just gives the player access to so many absolutely busted options, that's it's really just a matter of learning how to exploit them properly that negates any need for excessive level grinding.
Fun fact about Crusader. Its name in the original Japanese version is ジハード, pronounced ji-hā-do. It’s supposed to be Jihad.
I’m surprised Rasp didn’t make Shiva worth more. Eh, oh well.
Did rasp strats on intangir on the pixel remaster, he got stuck in a script loop and I had to reset. Forever scarred