Min-maxing

Mix-Maxing is a gameplay term used in reference to many video games, particularly RPGs. Mix-maxing refers to maximizing the potential strength of a character through a specific and planned-out skill path as they level up, at the same time minimizing their weaknesses. In the Final Fantasy series, getting the most out of a character's stats usually means keeping the character at a low level to exploit level up stat bonuses acquired later in the game, or giving the character specific skills to influence their stat growth.

Final Fantasy IV
In the DS release only, at Level 71 characters stop gaining stats innately. Instead, further stat boosts are dependant on what augments the player has given the character, each augment being tied to one or more specific stats and thus giving a set boost to those stats on level up. The stat boosts are HP +10, MP +5, Strength +1, Speed +1, Stamina +1, Intelligence +1, and Spirit +1. By giving the proper augments to each party member, they will gain in all stats at each level up, allowing for an extra +280 HP, +140 MP, and +28 in all other stats once they hit level 99.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
When he defeats Dark Kain and becomes a Holy Dragoon, Kain Highwind will retain his level, but his stat growth is different from his time as the Hooded Man. Most of his stats simple change to their Holy Dragoon values, but his HP and MP remain as they were when he was the Hooded Man. Thus, keeping Kain at a low level up until the battle will result in significantly higher HP and MP as Kain levels up afterwards than if he leveled up as the Hooded Man. At Level 50, the level cap in Kain's Tale, the Hooded Man has 3,150 HP and 105, while if the player keeps the Hooded Man at his starting level of 15 and levels Kain to 50 after he becomes a Holy Dragoon, he will have 4,036 HP and 206 MP.

Final Fantasy VI
Espers grant bonuses to stats at level up, so the best way to maximize stats is to keep characters at a low level until the player earns stronger Espers, so that they will get more stat boosts. The best Espers for this are as follows:


 * Bismarck, Raiden, Gilgamesh - Strength +2
 * Zone Seeker, Valigarmanda - Magic Power +2
 * Golem, Lakshmi, Leviathan - Stamina +2
 * Odin - Speerd +1
 * Cactuar - Speed +2
 * Bahamut - HP +50%
 * Diabolos - HP +100%
 * Crusader - MP +50%

As Leviathan, Gilgamesh, Cactuar and Diabolos are Espers exclusive to the Advance release, in the Super NES and Playstation versions of the game, Odin is the only Esper to grant a Speed bonus, so for purposes of min-maxing it is best to not upgrade it into the Raiden magicite.

Guarenteeing 9,999 HP and 999 MP at level 99 without equipment bonuses is fairly simple. With regards to HP and MP growth, at level 99 all permanent characters have well over 9,700 HP at minimum, and at least 990 MP, with the exception of Umaro who has 989. All characters gain different HP and MP per each level, and between level 50 and level 77, a character will gain at least 130 HP, while MP growth is maximized between level 10 and level 35.

To ensure 9,999 HP, a character must equip Diabolos for any two levels between the given range, or equip Bahamut from Level 68 to 71 - the most character needs is 216 HP, which Diabolos 200% bonus ensures regardless of specific level, while for Bahamut the three given levels offer 160 and 162 increases to HP, the highest of any natural gain, which multiplied by 150% will give a net bonus of 240 HP. 999 MP is easier to track, as each character gets 11 MP from level 97 to 98 and 13 from 98 to 99, so the player just needs to remember to equip Crusader for the last level or two. Otherwise the player can focus on leveling up Strength, Stamina, Speed and Magic Power at all other times.

Final Fantasy VIII
Some GFs have innate support skills that grant a permanent increase to base stats on level up, so to maximize stat growth the player should keep their characters at a low level. The five bonus abilities and the GFs that bear them are:


 * HP Bonus - Brothers
 * Str Bonus - Ifrit
 * Mag Bonus - Siren
 * Vit Bonus - Carbuncle
 * Spr Bonus - Leviathan

Uniquely, the Cactuar GF has all five of these abilities itself. Unfortunately due to a limit of four support skills at a time, it is impossible to equip all of these abilities at once, so the player will have to leave one stat out, or can raise them all equally.

Final Fantasy X
Once the player earns the ability to purchase Clear Spheres at the Monster Arena, they can use them to blank spots on the Sphere Grid and fill them in with stat-boosting spheres of their choose. Stat boosting nodes created this way offer higher boosts than pre-existing nodes, and the player can eventually choose to blank ability nodes as well.