Final Fantasy VI battle system

Thundara from FFVI Pixel Remaster — Battle in *Final Fantasy VI*.

Final Fantasy VI has a pseudo-turn based battle system based on Active Time Battle (ATB). Players control up to four party members who can act when their ATB gauge is full. At this point, a menu opens for that party member to select from standard commands, a character-specific ability, a variety of learned magic spells, or summon an esper from an equipped magicite. Normal attacks in critical condition have the chance to be Desperation Attacks, special character-specific attacks that deal immense damage.

The player can customize their characters' weapons, armor, relic, and magicite, making use of a number of set equipment slots available. The magicite controls not only the characters' summon, but also any magic spells they can learn with continued use, and any stats gained on leveling up, though HP and MP are gained even without equipping a magicite. The two relic slots can also greatly affect a character's form and function, as they range from basic stat improvements to providing major support abilities to the character that can alter their playstyle. Beyond these customizations, a character's playstyle depends upon their built-in character ability and the equipment options available to them.

The ATB system in Final Fantasy VI is based on the combat system introduced in Final Fantasy IV. It carries over some changes introduced in Final Fantasy V, namely the negligible wait time after inputting an ability, and the use of four party members rather than five. The Desperation Attacks introduced in Final Fantasy VI serve as a precursor to the limit breaks introduced in later games, starting in Final Fantasy VII; similarly, the battle formations introduced by Final Fantasy VI were used in later games. Many of the character abilities introduced in Final Fantasy VI were later re-used in other entries of the Final Fantasy series.

Mechanics[]

Overview[]

Final Fantasy VI uses the Active Time Battle system with up to four controllable party members at a time. Both the party members and the enemies have an ATB gauge (with only the party member's gauges visible) and can act once their gauge is full. By default, the actions for party members are Attack (perform a basic physical attack, with a chance to perform a Desperation Attack when in critical health), Item (using an item in the player's inventory), Defend (guarding to reduce physical damage until their next action), and Change (to change to the front or back row). The player can also attempt to use Escape to flee from the battle, wherein individual party members leave at different times, if successful, receiving no rewards but ending the battle early.

The battle system has either Active or Wait mode, where Wait is default. In Active mode, ATB continues to fill regardless of what is happening in-game. In Wait, time stops when the player is navigating sub-menus to select a specific action, such as a specific item upon selecting Item or a specific spell when using Magic. The Active mode is optional for players who wish for an added difficulty level.

The player arranges their party's formation in the menu, and determines each member's row. Party members in the back row halve physical damage taken, but also deal 50% less physical damage than in the front row, aside from when equipping certain long range weapons, or using a character's special ability. Party members with access to ranged weapons or mostly rely on spellcasting may prefer to be in the back row, while those who use physical attacks often (such as with the Black Belt equipped) may prefer to remain in the front row.

Battles begin normally as random encounters in certain fields, or in boss battles that occur, normally during story beats. Depending on the enemy formation, chosen from a number of formations assigned to that field, a battle may occur in one of five attack formations: a normal formation (four party members face down enemies on the opposing side), preemptive attack (same as before, except the player's party begin with filled ATB gauges), back attack (where the party's row is reversed, and enemies attack first), surrounded (where two groups of enemies surround the party either side), and side attack (where the party is split in half, but surrounds the enemy).

When a party member reaches 0 HP, they are KO'd until revived by an ability. If all party members are KO'd in an inescapable battle, it is Game Over, and the player must return to a previous save. If the party loses a random battle, the game will not display a Game Over screen, but plays a short animation where the topmost party member rises from the ground, and the game will continue from the last activated save point.

Standard attacks have a 1 in 32 chance of being a critical hit, doubling damage. Some weapons, such as the Rune Blade, Ragnarok, Lightbringer, Final Trump, consume [12..19] MP from the user upon attacking for an automatic critical hit. If these weapons have an added spell, it will deal a critical hit as well, despite spells normally being unable to do so.

Random encounters[]

Formation[]

Stats[]

Main article: Final Fantasy VI stats

Status-Menu-FFVI-iOS — Character stats in the Status menu.

Party members and enemies each have a level, HP, MP, and a set of stats that determines their performance in battle. These stats are naturally improved by party members leveling up with EXP. Enemies' stats and levels are pre-determined. HP and MP refer to how much damage can be taken before being KO'd and how many spells can be cast, respectively.

Each character has unique base stats that do not grow naturally, but the player can boost them once they gain access to magicite, as most confer a stat bonus to the character who levels up with that magicite equipped. Party members can also equip certain relics that boost stats.

Strength: Increases damage dealt by physical attacks, along with the Attack stat (see formula below). The stat is core to physical party members, and can be increased by relics and magicite. Enemies lack a Strength stat, but it is determined randomly at the start of battle.
Agility: Determines the rate at which the ATB gauge fills. Unlike other party member stats, this stat is directly used and does not determine a derived stat. Enemies also have this stat, though it is hidden.
Stamina: Determines HP-related effects, e.g. the chance to survive against death attacks, the amount they are healed by regen, the amount of damage dealt by poison, sap, and HP leak, and the amount of healing per step done by Tintinnabulum.
Magic: Determines the amount of damage/healing done by magical abilities. It is multiplied with the user's level and the magic spell's power when determining damage in the following formula: ${Spell~Power} \times 4 + (Level \times Magic \times {Spell~Power} / 32)$ . The stat is core to party members, and can be increased by relics, magicite, and equipment.
Attack: Determines the damage dealt by physical attacks, along with Strength (see formula below). The stat is increased by equipment.
Defense: Determines the resistance to physical attacks. It reduces physical damage in the following formula: $(Damage \times (255 - Defense) / 256) + 1$ . It is increased by armor.
Evasion: Determines the chance to block a physical attack against the party member or enemy. It calculates the block value (chance to block an attack) in the formula: ${Block Value} = (255 - Evasion \times 2) + 1$ . It caps at 255 and the minimum value is 1. Evasion was bugged and did not work in the original SNES version, as Magic Evasion was used instead.
Magic Defense: Determines the resistance to magic attacks. Magic Defense has an identical formula to Defense, but for a different type of damage. It is increased by armor.
Magic Evasion: Determines the ability to block magic attacks, with an identical formula to the Evasion stat. In the original SNES version, this stat was used for all types of damage instead of only magic damage.
Hit Rate: Determines the chance that the user will land an attack, reducing their chance of missing. It is calculated in the following formula: $((Hit Rate \times BlockValue) / 256) > [0..99] = Hit$
Escape Success: A hidden stat for party members that determines their ability to flee from battle. It determines how quickly each character escapes individually.

The full formula for physical damage dealt by party members, taking into account Strength and Attack, is as follows:

$Strength2 = Strength \times 2$ (caps at 128)
$Attack2 = Attack + Strength2$
If equipped with Gauntlet, $Attack2 = Attack2 + Battle Power \times 3 / 4$
$Damage = Attack + ((Level \times Level \times Attack2) / 256) \times 3 / 2$
If party member is equipped with a Master's Scroll: $Damage = Damage / 2$
If the attack is a standard attack, and the party member is equipped with a Genji Glove but only one or no weapons: $Damage = ceil(Damage \times 3 / 4)$

The formula for physical damage dealt by monsters is $Damage = Level \times Level \times (Attack \times 4 + Strength) / 256$ .

Elements[]

Main article: Final Fantasy VI elements

Final Fantasy VI has a number of elements that can be applied to attacks (most often magic attacks). The element determines the damage an ability deals based on if the target is weak, resistant, immune to, or absorbs an element. Elemental affinity can be determined by equipment.

If the element is nullified, or the target is immune to damage of that element, the attack will deal 0 damage. If the target absorbs the element, then they will gain HP instead of sustaining damage. If the target resists the element, it will deal half damage. If the target is weak to the element, its damage will be doubled.

The eight elements are fire, ice, lightning, earth, wind, water, poison, and holy.

Statuses[]

Main article: Final Fantasy VI statuses

Party members and enemies can be afflicted with certain status effects by abilities. These statuses can have either positive or negative effects, depending on the status in question. Enemies can be immune to certain statuses, and certain relics can grant party members with the same immunity. The Esuna spell, the Remedy item, and the esper Unicorn can be used to remove negative statuses, while Dispel can be used to remove positive ones.

The regular status effects are as follows:

KO, when a party member's HP reaches 0.
Petrify flags a target as defeated (similar to KO) unless cured before the battle ends.
Imp disables most abilities, including all magic aside from the Imp spell spell (which heals the status), and reduces Attack and Defense to 1 (aside from some equipment).
Invisible makes all physical attacks against the target miss, but magic attacks will hit. In the SNES version, this could be used with the Vanish-Doom bug to kill any enemy.
Magitek, a rare status granted to party members during some story beats, grants the Magitek command to the party member.
Poison causes a target to take poison-elemental damage each turn (and causes party members to take 1/32 HP damage each step when outside of battle). The amount of damage taken increases each turn until cured.
Zombie causes a character to become uncontrollable, attacking either allies or enemies, and is classed as KO'd in Game Over terms.
Darkness halves the target's hit rate. In the SNES release, the Evade bug makes the status's changes to hit rate irrelevant.
Sleep stops the target's ATB gauge and prevents them from acting or evading, until they are hit with a physical attack or the status is otherwise cured.
Sap causes the target to take damage over time.
Confuse causes the target to attack its own allies uncontrollably (though some abilities will never be used when confused).
Berserk increases the target's physical damage by +50%, but makes them attack enemies uncontrollably. This can be desired in some circumstances.
Silence prevents a target from using the commands Magic, Dualcast, or Lore.
Image causes a target to evade all physical attacks, though each physical attack against the target has a 25% chance to remove the status.
Critical, when a party member is on critically low HP. This gives the party member a small chance of using their Desperation Attack instead of a normal attack, and can trigger some equipment special effects.
Doom places a timer over a target's head to inflict KO when the target expires.
Reflect bounces most magic attacks made against the party against the opposing group (meaning spells against them will hit the enemy instead). This both affects Attack spells, but also some Healing and Effect spells.
Protect reduces physical damage taken by the target by approximately 1/3.
Shell reduces magic damage taken by the target by approximately 1/3.
Stop freezes a target's ATB gauge, prevents them from acting or evading attacks, and pauses the timer on most status effects.
Haste causes the target's ATB gauge to fill almost 1/3 faster, but also speeds time for most statuses.
Slow halves the speed the target's ATB gauge fills.
Regen causes the target to regenerate HP over time, dependent on the Stamina stat.
Float causes all earth-elemental attacks against the target to miss.
Reraise causes a party member to be instantly revived with the Raise spell upon hitting KO.
Frozen freezes a target's ATB gauge and prevents them from acting or evading attacks.

A few specialized statuses, such as those based on specific character abilities, affect the battle in other ways.

Active Time Battle[]

In battle, party members and enemies each have an ATB gauge which, once full, allows them to act. The Agility stat determines the speed at which the gauge builds, while other statuses affect it (the Haste status doubles it, and Slow halves it).

After inputting a party member's action, a small wait on the ability is taken while an ability is charged. The wait is calculated as:

{Wait time} = 255 * {Ability's wait counter}

As these counters are typically between 0 and 10, the wait times are negligible.

Battle rewards[]

Party members[]

Terra, with the job Magitek Elite. She learns magic spells by leveling up and has access to the Trance ability, which temporarily doubles all damage dealt while halving magic damage taken. Terra has access to a wide variety of weapons and equipment, including most swords and all female-exclusive equipment. This makes her an excellent spellcaster but also a strong physical fighter . Though she has great versatility, Trance gears her more toward an offensive role.
Locke, with the job Adventurer. He has access to the Steal ability (upgradeable with relics) and a variety of weapons and equipment, including swords. This makes him a potent physical fighter, and Steal makes him an invaluable asset in many battles.
Edgar, with the job Machinist. He has access to his Tools skillset coming with a variety of tools that each have strong strategic uses. He can wield almost all possible weapons. Tools make Edgar extremely powerful with little equipment, while his equipment options allow him to be geared effectively to many physical fighter roles.
Sabin, with the job Monk. He has access to his Blitz skillset that gives him a number of powerful (mostly magic-based) attacks, but which must be input by the player using button combinations to perform the attacks. In the hands of a player who can use these abilities on command, Sabin is extremely formidable.
Cyan, with the job Samurai. He has access to the Bushido command, which can have a variety of powerful effects depending on how long it is charged for. Cyan's Bushido can be unwieldy in versions of the game prior to the 2014 release, but in most cases he is a competent physical fighter.
Gau, with the job Feral Youth. He has access to the Rage command, which allows him to take on the properties of certain previously fought enemies—taking on their elemental affinities, status resistances, and special abilities—but makes him uncontrollable. If played correctly and strategically, Gau is a versatile character who can be effective in nearly any role.
Celes, with the job Rune Knight. She has access to the Runic command, which absorbs the next spell cast. Like Terra, Celes learns magic spells by leveling up. She also has access to the same equipment as Terra, making her a more defensive and equally very powerful and versatile option, where she can similarly fill any role.
Setzer, with the job Gambler. He has access to the Slot command (which can be changed to Gil Toss with a relic), which has a variety of effects in battle and is potentially very potent. Setzer also has a unique set of equipment, making him a more ranged attacker. His most unique is Fixed Dice, which performs random but potentially devastating damage to an enemy.
Strago, with the job Blue Mage. He has access to the Lore skillset, allowing him to use abilities learned from enemies after he sees the enemy perform them. Strago is geared toward spellcasting, and his Lores can have a variety of potent strategic effects, though his lack of female-exclusive equipment puts him at a slight disadvantage.
Relm, with the job Pictomancer. She has access to Sketch (upgraded to Control with a relic), allowing her to use an enemy's attacks on itself. Relm has the highest Magic stat and has access to female-exclusive equipment that make her potentially the most powerful spellcaster, although unlike Terra or Celes, she is locked into this role due to her equipment selection.

A few party members are optional:

Shadow, with the job Assassin. He has access to the Throw command, allowing him to throw weapons, as well as shurikens, at enemies. More notably, his dog Interceptor allows him to dodge an attack only for Interceptor to respond with more powerful damage.
Mog, with the job Moogle. He has access to Dance, which allows him to induce a variety of effects depending on the terrain. He is one of two party members, along with Edgar, to have access to spears, giving him a variety of options in battle with associated relics.
Gogo, with the job Mime. As well as having access to the Mimic command—which repeats the last action used by the player at no cost—they can also equip the commands and skillsets of other party members, making them extremely versatile. Gogo's limited stats and equipment in comparison mean they will not completely substitute their role, but Gogo can fit into any team.
Umaro, with the job class Berserker. Umaro is in a permanent berserk state, and all he will do is uncontrollably attack enemies, albeit for very high physical damage. Though a small number of equipment options are available to him, his uncontrollable nature and limited skillset mean Umaro is typically best used for the Dragon's Neck Coliseum or simply for players who do not wish to control four party members at once.

In addition, some temporary party members join:

Biggs and Wedge (Final Fantasy VI): Briefly controlled, and both with the Magitek command.
Ten Moogles: Various characters with different abilities and equipment. Mog is among them.
Banon: Briefly controlled, and possessing the Pray ability, which provides a free heal to the party.
Ghost: Optionally recruited in the Phantom Train. Limited in its ability, but can use Possess to instantly defeat an enemy, sacrificing itself.
Leo: Briefly controlled, and providing the Shock ability, which deals heavy damage to a target.
Maduin: Controlled only on the field.

Abilities[]

Main article: Final Fantasy VI abilities

Celes using her Runic ability (top), and Terra using her Trance ability (bottom).

Party members by default have the Attack, Item, Defend, and Row abilities. Party members who have learned magic spells from relevant magicite, or innately through leveling up (in the case of Terra and Celes), also have access to the Magic command to use any permanently learned spells. An equipped magicite will also provide the Summon command and allow them to summon the magicite's esper into battle.

Each party member also has a unique command, which may be a simple ability in itself or a skillset of abilities they can obtain throughout the game. The command, along with their equipment selection and stats, is what gives a party member their specific function in battle and determines their playstyle. For instance, Sabin's Blitz command gives him a skillset of mostly magic-based attacks, meaning he should be geared toward boosting his Magic stat; conversely, Cyan's Bushido command gives him mostly physical-based attacks, meaning he should be geared toward boosting his Strength stat.

Each character also has unique Desperation Attacks, a more powerful version of their basic attack. Because these attacks are only rarely used by party members in critical condition, many players may never see these.

Equipment[]

Main articles: Final Fantasy VI weapons, Final Fantasy VI armor, or Relic (Final Fantasy VI)

Party members have a total of six slots: two hands, headgear, clothes, and two relics. Party members have an innate list of possible equipment they can wield. Pieces of equipment are acquired throughout the game from shops, enemy drops, treasures, or rewards for certain quests.

The two hands are by default used for a sword and shield, though the Genji Glove allows a party member to equip weapons in both hands. Most weapons simply boost a character's stats (either their Attack stat to boost physical damage, or their Magic stat to boost spellcasting prowess), while some have unique abilities that make them more potent and affect a character's playstyle (such as Ultima Weapon, which deals more damage based on the wielder's HP, or Organyx, which consumes MP to always deal critical hits). Shields boost a character's Evasion or Magic Evasion stats, improving their ability to block attacks.

The headpiece and clothes are basic armor that improve a character's stats, specifically defensive stats. A few of these also grant the ability to absorb certain elements, and some rare armor pieces teach spells with AP the same way magic would.

The two relics have the greatest impact on a character's playstyle. Some relics have basic effects, such as stat increases or resistances to certain statuses. Others can upgrade or otherwise change a character ability (such as, Fake Moustache, which changes Relm's Sketch to Control), grant entirely new command abilities (such as Dragon Horn, which changes Attack into Jump), grant unique support abilities (such as Black Belt, which allows a character to counterattack), or other effects that potentially define a character's playstyle (such as Celestriad, reducing MP costs of spells to 1). A combination of relics can be used to devastating effects, such as the Genji Glove—allowing two weapons to be equipped at once—and the Master's Scroll—causing the Attack command to hit four times against a random enemy.

Magicite[]

Main article: Magicite (Final Fantasy VI)

Terra summoning the Valigarmanda esper in battle (top) and receiving its magicite's stat bonus upon leveling up (bottom).

Each character can equip a magicite piece, associated with an esper, and obtained at different points the story. Magicite serve three major roles: teaching spells, granting stat increases on level up, and granting an esper to summon. The esper summoning is often the least-used component, as—aside from some exceptions (such as Metamorphose)—their effects are basic attacks.

The main role of magicite is to teach spells permanently to party members. A party member equipping a magicite has access to its spells, and the spells are taught by different magicite at different rates. The AP dropped after a battle will be multiplied by the spell's multiplier on the magicite, and when a spell reaches 100 AP, the spell is learned permanently. For instance, the Phoenix magicite teaches Raise spell at a x10 modifier, meaning only 10 AP needs to be gained with Phoenix equipped to learn Raise permanently; conversely, the Bismarck magicite teaches the spell at only a x2 modifier, meaning 50 AP needs to be gained with Bismarck equipped to learn Raise.

A major role for magicite is the stats taught by them on leveling up. When a character levels up through EXP, as well as gaining the boosts they were due to receive at that level, they will also gain increased stats provided by the magicite. For example, if Terra levels from 30 to 31 with Valigarmanda (with a +2 Magic stat provided) equipped, she will also gain +2 Magic at that level. This means that party members should always level up with a magicite equipped to provide a boost to the stat they most benefit from (namely whichever their command can take advantage of). It is not worthwhile to level-grind before the magicite system becomes available.

Enemies[]

Main articles: Final Fantasy VI enemies or Final Fantasy VI enemy formations

When a battle begins, a group of enemies is fought from the selected enemy formation for that encounter.

Enemies each have a set of stats that determine the damage they deal and receive. In addition, enemies have elemental properties including resistances, weaknesses, and immunities, as well as possible immunities to many status effects. Enemies also have items that can be dropped, stolen, or earned from morphing them. Gau can make use of enemies' battle scripts by leaping into them on the Veldt.

External links[]

Final Fantasy III (VI) Algorithms by Terii senshi on GameFAQs

Place	Explanation	Encounter rate	1/2 rate (Ward Bangle)
Overworld 1	No encounters	0	0
Overworld 2	Decreased	96	48
Overworld 3	Normal	192	96
Overworld 4	Increased	384	192
Dungeon 1	Decreased	64	32
Dungeon 2	Normal	112	56
Dungeon 3	Increased	352	176
Dungeon 4	Increased a lot (unused)	512	256

Formation	Explanation	Range	Percent
2-pack 1	Common	0–191	75%
2-pack 2	Uncommon	192–255	25%
4-pack 1	Normal	0–79	31.25%
4-pack 2	Normal	80–159	31.25%
4-pack 3	Normal	160–239	31.25%
4-pack 4	Rare	240–255	6.25%