Preparing for Kefka's Tower

Character Configurations

For this section, I'll be discussing how each character should be performing at this point in the game, just to give you some comparison and advice. I won't be assuming anything too spectacular, like Illumina or Paladin Shield, as I can't really expect you to have it. Most Relic slots will be left empty to whatever you see fit if no Relics are vital to the set-ups we're going for.

As far as the Illumina goes, you'll want to give it to Locke if you do have it, as the girls really don't need it and Edgar has enough damage potential without it as well. The Paladin Shield is best given to a character that otherwise needs Thunder Shields to gain elemental advantages; characters such as Strago, Gogo, and Sabin come to mind (especially because they really enjoy the defensive increases).

A note about the Genji Helmets here. Genji Helmets are often the best helmets you can land on a character, yet they are rare. At the end-game, you should have two Red Caps, a Coronet, and a Regal Crown in your inventory; all can be turned into a Genji Helmet at the Colosseum (Red Cap to Coronet to Regal Crown to Genji Helmet). Red Caps are superior to Genji Helmets in my opinion, the Coronet is usable in a natural magic game and the Regal Crown is plain garbage in the end. All said, you can have up to five Genji Helmets, but you'll probably only want two or three. In the suggestions I list, I list five characters with a Genji Helmet, as well as two with a Red Cap. This isn't possible per se. However, you can switch the Genji Helmets between groups, and with the party recommendation I give it's entirely possible. In the final battle, hey, you can't. Circlets are the best back-up helmets. Gau is the only one who has specific use for a Genji Helmet, since, disregarding oddities such as the Paladin Shield, Thornlet and Merit Award Crystal Helm, he needs it to reach 255 Defense.

Terra

"Normal" Setup	Magic Block Setup
Enhancer Aegis Shield Mystery Veil Minerva	Enhancer Force Shield Mystery Veil Force Armor White Cape White Cape
Vigor: 32 Speed: 36 Stamina: 29 Mag. Pwr: 53 Bat. Pwr: 147 Defense: 200 Mag. Defense: 180 MBlock%: 87	Vigor: 31 Speed: 34 Stamina: 28 Mag. Pwr: 49 Bat. Pwr: 147 Defense: 145 Mag. Defense: 206 MBlock%: 137
Nullifies: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind Resists: Poison, Pearl, Earth, Water	Resists: Fire, Bolt, Ice, Wind, Earth

Terra has two good looking setups for the endgame, one that makes her overall more powerful and one that gives her a 128% Magic Block.

Terra kicks all kinds of ass late-game; she gets to wield all the best equips out there; I won't count on your having the Illumina, but I will count on the Minerva being in your inventory. Late-game Terra nullifies four elements and takes half damage from the other four. Her main point of offense is her Magic skillset, obviously, meaning that she can fling the four of the most often exploitable elements - Fire, Ice, Lightning, Pearl - with considerable force. A level 3 spell coming from Terra is going to leave a mark given her horribly bloated Magic Power, and her MBlock% isn't too bad either.

Her alternate set-up is to shoot for 128% MBlock (well, higher, but 128 is the highest effective value). Her Defense suffers Greatly in this scenario, but, with only a few moves able to hit you in the first place (Red Dragon's !Eraser, SrBehemoth 1's !Evil Claw, Doom's !Demon Rage, and Tentacle), that's of minor concern. This setup doesn't hog Illumina or Paladin Shield either, so that's a bonus.

Locke

Optimal Setup
Valiant Knife Thunder Shield Genji Helmet Genji Armor Muscle Belt
Vigor: 42 Speed: 43 Stamina: 33 Mag. Pwr: 31 Bat. Pwr: 159 Defense: 215 Mag. Defense: 169 MBlock%: 12
Absorbs: Thunder Nullifies: Wind Resists: Fire, Ice

Pretty much the only remarkable feature of this set-up is the fact it includes the Muscle Belt. Locke lacks any real awesome armor (in fact, he's pretty much the schoolbook average Defensive character), so the Muscle Belt helps to boost him in that regard. In addition, the more HP Locke has to lose, the more power he can channel into that blue blade of happiness he carries around, the Valiant Knife. Nothing much else to say, really; Locke can really benefit from the Offering if you're looking for another Relic to accompany the Muscle Belt. Note that Red Cap doesn't stack with the Muscle Belt when it comes to HP boosts. Locke's primary concern is his complete and utter lack of MBlock% (which doesn't quite fit an agile thief such as our Byronian hero), and this is his best shot.

Cyan

Optimal Setup
Scimitar Aegis Shield Genji Helmet Genji Armor
Vigor: 45 Speed: 31 Stamina: 35 Mag. Pwr: 28 Bat. Pwr: 233 Defense: 220 Mag. Defense: 190 MBlock%: 41

I don't really like this set-up, but then again, I don't really like anything to do with Cyan. This is as good as it's going to get, though. Defense, Magice Defense and Mblock are all normal. The only point of debate is the Cyan's weapon choice. Some claim that, since Dispatch outdamages the Fight command at all times, you should only consider using a weapon that has an added effect, be it either Scimitar's 25% slice effect or Tempest's 50% Wind Slash attack. If slicing is any kind of option, I find a Doom spell vastly superior. And Wind Slash? Considering Cyan's 48 Base Power magical attack? Nay, despite that the above philosophy is actually supported by some respected peers, I find that Fight's targetable nature is often more useful than Wind Slash or random instant death, so stick with your strongest weapon. This still applies when you find the more powerful yet featureless Sky Render in the near future.

Shadow

Optimal Setup
Thief Knife Thunder Shield Genji Helmet Genji Armor
Vigor: 44 Speed: 44 Stamina: 32 Mag. Pwr: 36 Bat. Pwr: 111 Defense: 216 Mag. Defense: 171 MBlock%: 29
Absorbs: Lightning Nullifies: Wind Resists: Fire, Ice

What can I say about Shadow here? Apart from his weapon, his defenses are entirely standard. You'd expect something more evasive and less durable for a Ninja, I'm sure, but this is what the game gives us. You can take Shadow any ol' way you like: Give him two Earrings and watch his magical Skeans perform decently, give him a Hero Ring and a Hyper Wrist (due to Throw, actually fairly effective) and watch feeble Shuriken clean house, pass on both Force Armor and Force Shield to make for that mad-dodging-Ninja you might think would fit him, I don't really care. Shadow has, as is befitting of a true cold-hearted warrior, no actual weaknesses to defend or extreme strengths to exploit, so have a field day with him.

Edgar

Optimal Setup
Pearl Lance Force Shield Genji Helmet Genji Armor Dragoon Boots Dragon Horn
Vigor: 59 Speed: 30 Stamina: 34 Mag. Pwr: 32 Bat. Pwr: 214 Defense: 176 Mag. Defense: 210 MBlock%: 51
Resists: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Earth, Water

A confirmed Hiryuu Dragoon Edgar if I've ever seen one. Obviously there's always the choice of which (if any) piece of Genji equipment to replace with an item that grants elemental properties. I liked this one the best, as it gives Edgar superior Magic Defense (honestly, 210 is really good), and, while his Defense is lacking here, his status as Dragoon makes sure he will take far less physical hits than other characters anyway. Inherent Shell resulting from his shield is nice icing on the proverbial cake, and 51% MBlock is plain solid. Edgar is mainly working his Jump attacks here, which means he's fairly limited to rather uncontrollable and random Pearl-elemental damage, but he's very good at it. The only non-Magic skills Edgar may still use are NoiseBlaster and Air Anchor (possibly Drill if you want to go for a sure and quick kill when you know the enemy is weakened enough).

Sabin

"Normal" Setup	Merit Award Setup
Tiger Fangs Genji Shield Red Cap Red Jacket	Enhancer Genji Shield Circlet Genji Armor Merit Award
Vigor: 59 Speed: 44 Stamina: 47 Mag. Pwr: 32 Bat. Pwr: 241 Defense: 209 Mag. Defense: 143 MBlock%: 24	Vigor: 54 Speed: 41 Stamina: 44 Mag. Pwr: 42 Bat. Pwr: 161 Defense: 222 Mag. Defense: 170 MBlock%: 44
Nullifies: Fire

Sabin can shift things just by adding a Merit Award.

With the Red Jacket as your ultimate armor, you can't expect to be very well suited to take hits, and having a grotesquely low Magic Defense (143) will quickly become apparent. It was a toss-up for me between Thunder Shield and Genji Shield; Sabin could use the elemental properties, sure, but switching means that Sabin's Mag. Defense drops to 121, which is just plain unacceptable. Since, in this game, extra Defense tends to only matter more if you have a high enough Defense in the first place, Sabin will benefit more from the Red Cap than the Genji Helmet's superior defenses. The defense in this setup is more or less okay-ish, though slightly lower than most characters. It has horrid MBlock, sadly. On the offense, Sabin is basically a two-trick pony; Air Blade for multi-target damage and Bum Rush for single-target damage. Unless you know it'll do the trick or you have a good follow-up move, Air Blade is pretty obsolete in the final dungeon; you want to kill or disable, not randomly throw damage around (it ain't Seiken Densetsu III, folks). Once again, Sabin relies on his Magic Power, so stick at least one Hero Ring/Earrings on him. He will also profit from defensive Relics, such as Pod Bracelet and Marvel Shoes. A Muscle Belt will do the trick as well, in which case it would be worthwhile to swap the Red Cap for a Genji Helmet.

On the alternate set-up: Some players frown upon the Merit Award, but I feel it will help Sabin greatly in the final parts of this game. At the loss of a single Relic slot and the ability to nullify Fire damage, Sabin gains +10 Magic Power, 13 Defense, 27 Magic Defense, and 20% MBlock. I say Sabin wins with this one. Replace Enhancer with Magus Rod where possible for 10% extra MBlock and 33 extra Battle Power.

Celes

"Normal" Setup	Magic Block Setup
Enhancer Aegis Shield Mystery Veil Minerva	Enhancer Force Shield Mystery Veil Force Armor White Cape
Vigor: 35 Speed: 37 Stamina: 32 Mag. Pwr: 50 Bat. Pwr: 151 Defense: 202 Mag. Defense: 178 MBlock%: 89	Vigor: 34 Speed: 35 Stamina: 31 Mag. Pwr: 46 Bat. Pwr: 151 Defense: 142 Mag. Defense: 199 MBlock%: 129
Nullifies: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind Resists: Poison, Pearl, Earth, Water	Resists: Fire, Bolt, Ice, Wind, Earth

Like Terra, Celes can also max out her MBlock. The setup is virtually identical.

Celes is entirely like Terra with some very, very subtle stat differences and one major one: Celes has 2 extra inherent Mblock, which means that she needs 10 coming from equipment to reach that perfect 128. This, again, means that Celes can easily pull off Terra's goal of perfect evasion while still making room for a Relic. That's good!

Relm

"Normal" Setup	Magic Block Setup
Magus Rod Genji Shield Cat Hood BehemothSuit	Magus Rod Force Shield Cat Hood Tao Robe White Cape White Cape
Vigor: 32 Speed: 42 Stamina: 28 Mag. Pwr: 61 Bat. Pwr: 179 Defense: 216 Mag. Defense: 186 MBlock%: 69	Vigor: 26 Speed: 36 Stamina: 22 Mag. Pwr: 60 Bat. Pwr: 179 Defense: 146 Mag. Defense: 193 MBlock%: 129
Resists: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Earth	Resists: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Pearl, Wind, Earth

Oh, hey, Relm can max that Magic Block too!

61 Magic Power! No doubt about it, Relm is a pure Mage end-game. Sketch sucks beyond all human comprehension, and her physicals are nothing compared to her magical damage output, meaning she won't actually absorb or nullify anything, which is a darn shame. She will still take less damage than most characters, however. On the alternate set-up: A perfect MBlock% set-up. The good thing here is that she only needs one item of value to another character to achieve it; everything else is either store-bought or pretty much Relm-focused anyway. This setup still boasts great Magic Power, and her elemental resistances don't suffer either. In short, it is a far greater set-up than the 'basic' one if you have the goods to spare.

Strago

Optimal Setup
Magus Rod Thunder Shield Circlet BehemothSuit
Vigor: 36 Speed: 32 Stamina: 28 Mag. Pwr: 51 Bat. Pwr: 178 Defense: 195 Mag. Defense: 147 MBlock%: 47
Absorbs: Lightning Nullifies: Wind Resists: Fire, Ice

Yes, as you can see, late-game Strago's Magic Power doesn't differ much from Terra's, even though the old man's less magically adept than the she ever was; you can thank the Magic-boosting equips for that. Strago is inferior to Terra in his role as Magic wielder, but where Terra has Morph, Strago has Lore. This is only partially useful late-game; Big Guard, Pearl Wind, and GrandTrain (if Strago is Ultima-less). In the end, I'd say Strago isn't the hottest mage around, but, since his Lores do add a certain degree of extra flexibility that Terra lacks (even though it's mostly on paper), Strago isn't completely outclassed. He has pretty bad Magic Defense though, especially considering Strago is a mage himself.

Setzer

"Normal" Setup	Imp-y Setup
Fixed Dice Genji Shield Genji Helmet Force Armor Offering	Fixed Dice TortoiseShield Titanium Imp's Armor Offering
Vigor: 36 Speed: 32 Stamina: 32 Mag. Pwr: 29 Bat. Pwr: 19 Defense: 207 Mag. Defense: 182 MBlock%: 51	Vigor: 36 Speed: 32 Stamina: 32 Mag. Pwr: 29 Bat. Pwr: 19 Defense: 255 Mag. Defense: 234 MBlock%: 31
Resists: Fire, Ice, Wind, Earth	Absorbs: Water

Hey, you know how you can turn characters into imps and give them special equipment to make them weirdly powerful? Yeah, Setzer might be better that way at the endgame.

I had a hard time deciding between Thunder Shield/Genji Armor and Genji Shield/Force Armor; the first pair has great Defense and handles Lightning- and Wind-elemental attacks better, while this one resists more elements and has a higher Magic Defense. Since magical attacks tend to be more dangerous at end-game, this setup won the goose. In this setup, Setzer boasts Solid Defense, solid Magic Defense, pretty much standard MBlock, and the Fixed Dice. Setzer will be throwing the Fixed Dice for damage. That means that he's entirely random, especially when paired with the Offering, as you can't target specific enemies either that way.

On the alternate set-up: Yes, this will require you to have the Imp status set. Perfect Defense, stunning Magic Defense, Setzer will just be a lot harder to take down. His bane here is a weakness to status ailments, as 31% MBlock isn't that high, and you can't equip a Ribbon either, since you need Imp. He'll lose his Magic skillset too, so unless you have three other characters with decent Magic skillsets, the tradeoff might not be worth it.

Mog

Optimal Setup
Pearl Lance Genji Shield Circlet Snow Muffler Dragoon Boots Dragon Horn
Vigor: 31 Speed: 37 Stamina: 29 Mag. Pwr: 42 Bat. Pwr: 210 Defense: 255 Mag. Defense: 195 MBlock%: 42
Absorbs: Ice Resists: Fire

The reason I'm going with this set-up is simply the fact that, gosh-golly Colonel Sanders, I'm afraid we're running out of Genji Helmets. This isn't much of a concern to Mog, though. This is his Dragoon set-up, and it's pretty much his only choice, as the little guy doesn't have the equipment to back him up as a great mage. He does, however, boast perfect Defense, great Magic Defense, and very acceptable Magic Power should you should want to sneak in a spell or see a Pearl spell employed on that ever-precious final Jump attack. He is tad scrawny on the 'elemental protection' category, but, with nigh-200 Magic Defense, it's not that much of a concern.

Gau

"Normal" Setup	Wind God Setup
Thunder Shield Genji Helmet Snow Muffler White Cape	Tempest Genji Shield Crystal Helm Snow Muffler Merit Award Offering
Vigor: 44 Speed: 38 Stamina: 36 Mag. Pwr: 34 Bat. Pwr: 109 Defense: 255 Mag. Defense: 195 MBlock%: 48	Vigor: 44 Speed: 38 Stamina: 36 Mag. Pwr: 34 Bat. Pwr: 200 Defense: 255 Mag. Defense: 193 MBlock%: 48
Absorbs: Ice, Lightning Nullifies: Wind Resists: Fire	Absorbs: Ice Resists: Fire

Gau has two setups as well, with the second being the mythical Wind God.

In my opinion, the Thunder Shield/White Cape combo is superior to Genji Shield/ Whatever-Relic-you-want-for-255-Defense setup; he's better with the elements and gains immunity to two nasty status ailments. Genji Shield gives more Magic Defense though. If you're really into Rages, Genji Shield is the superior option, as you don't need the other shield's elemental properties since you know how to self-apply them at every turn. Anyway, this set-up turns Gau into a tank: 255 Defense means immunity to physical damage that isn't barrier-piercing, and 195 Magic Defense is very high as well. It makes for very nice elemental attributes too, as well as a standard amount of MBlock. In the offensive category, Gau really doesn't have a lot to offer anymore. Rages tend to be inferior to Magic by now, so he'd just be left casting spells with far less power than characters such as Celes and Relm. Gau shines on the defensive side, though.

On the alternative set-up: Wind God! Rage Stray Cat; you'll have a 25% chance of a 200-power Wind-elemental physical, a 25% chance of a 48-power Wind Slash attack, a 25% chance of a 800-power Wind-elemental physical (Catscratch), and a 25% chance of a 198-power Wind Slash attack, which is comparable to Crusader's attack without hitting the caster. With the offering, you'll have four hits, each sporting the above odds. The physicals will be halved in damage, but the Wind Slash attacks will not. The Wind God is very, extremely, obscenely strong and needs to be taken advantage of: Needless to say, I favor this one. I picked a Crystal Helm for his head since you may want to save the Genji Helmets for other people, and giving one to Gau really doesn't open up any other options concerning 255 Defense.

Gogo

Optimal Setup
Magus Rod Thunder Shield Red Cap Tao Robe
Vigor: 29 Speed: 33 Stamina: 22 Mag. Pwr: 38 Bat. Pwr: 181 Defense: 174 Mag. Defense: 120 MBlock%: 56
Absorbs: Lightning Nullifies: Wind Resists: Fire, Ice

As you can see, Gogo does not take hits very well. Choosing Genji Helmet over the Red Cap would have helped its defenses somewhat, but the 25% HP boost will help Gogo more in the long run. A Thunder Shield's elemental resistances really help boost Gogo's survivability, but it's best to stick a protective Relic on there nonetheless. If you go with Muscle Belt, swap the Red Cap for a Genji Helmet. As far as Offense is concerned, Gogo should totally go with Throw for bosses and Bum Rush for randoms.

Umaro

Optimal Setup
Bone Club Snow Muffler Rage Ring
Vigor: 62 Speed: 33 Stamina: 46 Mag. Pwr: 37 Bat. Pwr: 198 Defense: 217 Mag. Defense: 158 MBlock%: 15
Absorbs: Fire, Ice Nullifies: Lightning

Yes, Umaro's stats are pretty good, but it's a shame that we can't really take advantage of them. Umaro's Defense is above average, but the flip side of the coin is that you'll want him in the Front Row to deal better damage with his Fight attacks. Magic Defense is obviously sub-par here: Better than the likes of Gogo and Sabin (and even Strago), to be fair, but sub-par nonetheless. The ability to absorb or nullify the three basic elements is great, but on the offensive, Umaro is both strategically unfit and too weak to make a good party member, even with the previously named advantages. Umaro is still superior to a Magic-less Relm or a poorly raised Gau, though.

Party Preparation

Right. When you're fully prepared to tackle the final dungeon, you can fly over there. What does 'fully prepared' mean? Well, here's a little checklist of nice criteria to meet:

• Make sure you have good equipment on everybody. Crystal Mail and Mithril Shields are unacceptable. Check out the sections for each character for more detailed advice.
• Fenix Downs are great. After all, it's likely not every character knows a Life spell, and you will want to respond ASAP to fallen allies.
• You should have more Gil than you'll know what to do with. Buy some Thunder Blades, Blizzards and Flame Sabres in the Albrook Weapon Shop. They make great ammunition for Shadow and Gogo to Throw against the many bosses you'll be fighting.
• Speaking of Gil, do you remember L? Pearl? No enemy in Kefka's Tower will ever drop an amount of Gil that's not divisible by 10. This means that when you set the last digit of your Gil stack to 1, you'll gain a multi-target Pearl-elemental attack that's as powerful as an multi-targeted level 3 spell. The easiest way of reaching that digit is by obtaining and selling Magicite, which sell for 1 Gil a piece.

Team Recommendations

The table to the right is the best overall formation I could come up with. Why is that? I'll explain.

Locke, Terra, and Celes are all on different teams. I figured that Edgar was less likely than the other three to use the Illumina (it doesn't go with the Dragoon set-up), so this way you'll always have a place for the Illumina.

Locke, Setzer, and Gau are the characters that will benefit the most from the unique Relic that is the Offering; this way, none of them will ever have to go without it as you can switch it around to whichever party currently in use.

The first party is focused around the Control command, although you don't have to use it in order to make the party effective. You can Control monsters with Relm and Steal 'til you drop with Locke. Strago can learn more Lores with Relm around (though this probably won't be much of a concern by now), and his presence conjunction with Shadow's allows for every kind of attack you could want (magical, physical, targetable single-target, non-elemental multi-target). Besides, the Thamasian Duo will appreciate fighting in the same party, right? And maybe Shadow, I guess.

The third party is focused around Cyan. The poor bloke needs it, to be honest. Gau can move automatically during boss fights (which are the only fights where SwdTech will be useful without the Quick spell), and Mog will spend time in the air as well. Set a Rage on Gau, have Mog Jump, Celes perform a spell, and maybe a monster will use a spell to follow up; Cyan should be around Stunner and Quadraslice by then. The party could use a little more targetability on the whole, but Celes can do that if you want. It's a very defensive team too; Cyan is the only one who isn't either a 255 Defense tank or a Minerva wearer.

The second party is basically what's left. Edgar, Setzer, and Sabin can't target very well (unless you trade in offensive power; Edgar's Tools and Setzer's Fixed Dice without the Offering are perfectly targetable), but the team consists of three of the easiest characters to use. The only one who isn't a fan-favorite, Setzer, has the broken Fixed Dice/Offering combo to work with. The Figaro brothers, plot-wise, are nice to have together too.

The above is assuming you want to take all twelve 'character' characters with you, and not the hidden characters that can't equip Espers. You can replace Gau with Umaro if you want, and Gogo can pretty much replace any character in the teams, provided you give him the right skills and equipment (Merit Award necessary). Without sufficient Esper Boosts, Gogo and Umaro will probably be the two characters you want to leave behind anyway.

Here's a quick rundown on what each of the three parties will face. Note: Half-way through, there's a switch for party #1. Going left or right affects the paths of all three parties, so I'll give both scenarios here.

Group one will be hampered with the most random encounters in the first part of the dungeon, but doesn't face any bosses before the left/right choice. If #1 goes left, it will have to face off against Doom; if #1 goes to the right, it'll have to face Goddess.

Group two will meet Atma and the Gold Drgn. If #1 goes to the left, #2 will have to face Goddess; if #1 goes to the right, it will face off against Poltrgeist.

Group 3 will have to defeat Inferno and the Skull Drgn in their travels. If #1 goes left, it will have to face Poltrgeist; if #1 goes to the right, it'll come across Doom.

Party #1 will fight the most random encounters, but will only have to fight two bosses instead of three. I'd say the #3 party sees the toughest road ahead of it; Inferno is one of those Number 128/Air Force-esque "One Main Man And Two Parasitic Lackeys" bosses who tend to take a lot out of the party.

Our walkthrough has Party #1 go to the left.

Contrary to what is said above, you might not want Locke in Party #1 (it'll ruin his chances of seeing Guardian, and you'll want him to Steal from it). Strago will probably want to face Doom, so you'll want him to be in Party #1 as long as you follow this walkthrough. If you make an alternate choice, stick him in #3.

All done? Ready. Set. Go.