I guess its a bit obvious from my profile name, but I'm a big FFVI fan.  It was my first exposure to Final Fantasy as well as my favorite of the franchise.  One of the reasons I found Vizzed is because I didn't have a physical copy and wanted to play of one of my favorite games of all time.  Since then, I've been working on beating it at lower levels, obtaining perfect spell, item and skill lists, etc.

   One thing I noticed when trying to get these things, is that it's necessary to use various line-ups for different skills on different enemies at several points in the game.  There are times when you need to have Locke to steal something from a rare creature, make decisions between getting an esper or a sword, save a character or lose a rare item, etc.

What decisions do you make throughout the game and what is your go-to line-up?

Personally, I like to have:

-Edgar: Genji Glove & Offering (gives 8 attacks in one turn when selecting "fight") Equipped with Illumina & Atma Weapon (if level is high)
-Sabin: Genji Glove & Black Belt (hits with a hard physical counter attack when hit) Equipped with Dragon Claws X 2 (need to steal one)
-Celes: Economizer & Gem Box (all spells cost 1 MP and get two spells in one turn) Equipped with whatever the current optimum is
-Locke: Sneak Ring & Thief Glove (higher success of "steal" and some damage done when stealing) Equipped with current optimum

   Pretty much, I like to rely on physical attacks and being physically strong in my files.  This doesn't cost magic points, is almost always reliable and ensures high hit points.  That's why I have two physically strong characters, like Edgar and Sabin, equipped with weapons in both hands with abilities to attack multiple times or counter when attacked.  Of course I learn all spells and increase magic points for all characters, but I utilize these two as warrior class characters primarily.  I make sure to always have a mage-type character, just because they always seem to do more damage to enemies when using magic.  I usually choose Celes over Terra because she has the "runic" command which absorbs magic attacks-very useful if you're not leveled up enough to stand up to enemies with strong magic.  Everyone I see commenting on the subject always seems to love Locke.  Personally, I don't.  I will say, however, that his "steal" command is what makes him valuable to the party.  Some items are so rare and only give you a chance or two in the entire game to obtain them.  This is why, despite me not liking him all that much, I make sure he's in the party most of the game.  He obtains rare items which I need to make my team just that much stronger.

   Also, I make a few distinct decisions throughout the game for certain reasons.  I like to choose Ragnarok as a sword, rather than the esper.  This is because I can always un-curse the cursed shield and obtain the Paladin Shield (which teaches "Ultima," the spell Ragnarok would have taught you.  Plus, you need Ragnarok to obtain Illumina-the strongest sword in the game.)  This causes me to lose the opportunity to summon the Ragnarok esper, which turns enemies into items (sometimes very rare, valuable items.)  I also choose to save Mog rather than Lonewolf.  This causes me to lose out on a Gold Hairpin (rare relic that halves MP consumed) but I do so for a few reasons...there are other Gold Hairpins in the game, Locke can steal them and if you don't get Mog to join your party in the World of Balance, you will miss out on the opportunity to learn the dance "Water Rondo."

Well, those are some decisions I make for my files.  How about you guys?

I used Sabin a lot because his attack is so strong and his Blitz techniques were useful. I tended to pass the Espers around from character to character until I forgot who hadn't had which Esper yet.

I think the most useful characters are Edgar and Celes. Edgar because his tools can take out a bunch of enemies and don't require any man, so they can be used over and over again. And when you level up Celes's magic, she can really kick a lot of butt.

I personally loved using Terra, Mog, Sabin, and Locke. That lineup provides a good mixture of magic and attack. After that, my next 3 choices would probably be Celes, Edgar, and Shadow.

My favorite party has to be Sabin, Edgar, Locke, and Celes. Sabin's Blitzes are the strongest in the game (Bum Rush boosted by dual Earrings). Edgar's Tools are very useful (Noiseblaster's confuse, Autocrossbow's multiple targeting, Chainsaw's X-death). Locke's Steal/Mug gives you the ability to get lots of extra items/weapons/armors which can be very helpful, and also his long-range weapons help with defense. Celes is a better magic caster than Terra mostly because her Runic is far more useful than Terra's Morph. 

Obviously you can boost any character with Espers which is why the special abilities have to be the deciding factor.

The order of characters:

1. Sabin - Earrings, Earrings (before Bum Rush - Hyper Wrist, Black Belt/Runningshoes)
2. Celes - Gem Box, Economizer
3. Locke - Thief Glove, Sneak Ring
4. Edgar - Safety Bit, Marvel Shoes
5. Cyan - quadra slam makes him a better fighter than Edgar late, but later in the game I turn Edgar into a magic caster anyway (Offering, Hyper Wrist if you do use him)
6. Gogo - his versatility is nice (Blitz, Mug, Magic, and Throw). His ability to use Throw gives him a slight edge over Shadow.
7. Terra - Celes has the superior special ability
8. Shadow - Interceptor is nice, but he's too one-dimensional
9. Strago - his magic is good, but certainly can't touch Celes
10. Umaro - strong, but not having the ability to control him is rough (even w/ Blizzard Orb/Rage Ring)
11. Gau - see Umaro...not strong enough to challenge any top 4
12. Mog - the only way he's of any use is if you equip him with the Dragon Horn, even then still not worth it
13. Setzer - weak, poor collection of weapons
14, Relm - even weaker, pretty worthless

eclipse9508 : Hahaha...so true!  "even weaker, pretty worthless."  It might be different if her "sketch" or "control" commands worked on any enemy that you may need special commands for, but they only seem to work on really weak enemies.  Yeah, weaker characters like Gau, Setzer, Strago and Relm I usually only teach spells and level up before Kefka's tower.  

So, generally I'll level the characters up in that dinosaur head-shaped forest north of the veldt in the world of ruin.  This way, you get a lot of experience and magic points...and every once in a while, brochosaur will leave behind an economizer-which is what I equip all the weaker characters with, making them much more useful as spell casters.  

Good post!

Dragoon26 : Some time last week, I was playing Final Fantasy VI and leveling up my weaker characters for Kefka's tower and teaching all the spells to the party and I decided to try using the "Stray Cat" rage.  You were so right about "cat scratch."  I never really used rages from weaker enemies, but he was hitting with 9999 hit points with "cat scratch" and I think he was only at like level 40 something.  That, paired with the fact that it's physical, non-elemental damage, makes it a really useful and reliable rage-even against Tyrannosaur and Brachosaur.