FFVI - Secrets & Tips - Battle Tips
Metamorphing
Call Ragnarok in battle to turn an enemy into an item. Most Metamorphs will give you common items or Dried Meat, but some can give you great items! The success rate for Metamorph is close to that of Doom, so it may take a few tries on the tougher monsters.
| Monster | Morph To Item |
| Tap Dancer | Marvel Shoes |
| Dahling | Ribbon |
| Woolly | Safety Bit |
| Borras | Ogre Nix |
| Mag Roader(big,yellow) | Gold Lance, Gold Shld |
| Covert | Trump |
| ProtoArmor | Crystal Shld, Crystal Mail |
| Balloon | Flame Shld |
| SrBehemoth | Thornlet, Cursed Ring, Relic Ring |
| M-TekArmor | Mithril Helm, Mithril Mail, MithrilBlade, Heavy Shld |
| Rider | Gold Helmet, Gold Lance |
| HadesGigas | Ogre Nix |
| Chaser | Mithril Mail |
| Bomb | Flame Shld |
| Spit Fire | Gold Helmet |
| Ninja | Assassin, Striker |
| Intangir | Megalixir |
| Cruller | Elixir |
| Mag Roader(small,brown) | Mithril Mail |
| Pipsqueak | Mithril Helm, Mithril Blade |
| Rhyos | Ice Shield |
| HeavyArmor | Heavy Shld, MithrilBlade |
| Barb-e | Ribbon |
| Harpy | Exp. Egg |
| Spek-Tor | Tintinabar |
| L.80 Magic | Ribbon |
| L.90 Magic | Ribbon |
Desperation Attacks
Each character has a desperation attack. Occasionally, when someone is near-fatal and you tell him or her to fight, he or she will strike with a special attack:
| Terra | Riot Blade - Green, rotating half-moons strike enemy. |
| Locke | Mirager - He jumps toward enemy and makes the sound of the blitz BumRush. |
| Edgar | Royal Shock - Light rays leap from enemy. |
| Sabin | Tiger Break - Leaps toward enemy in a tiger or dragon head. |
| Cyan | BackBlade - Jumps toward enemy, screen turns black and you see a circular sword slice. |
| Mog | Moogle Rush - Exactly like the blitz Pummel. |
| Setzer | Red Card - Throws three sets of three cards. |
| Relm | Star Prism - 3 orange stars rotate around the enemy and kills it intantly. |
| Strago | SabreSoul - Jumps toward enemy and there is a funny noise like Quartr and a sword slash; kills instantly. |
| Celes | Spin Edge - She spins with her sword out. |
| Shadow | ShadowFang - Jumps at enemy and makes claw marks. |
| Gogo | X-Meteor - Causes a large meteor to hit all enemies. |
Gau and Umaro have no desperation attack, because you cannot command them to fight.
Relic Ring
Ever wonder what the Relic Ring does? It makes your character undead, but not zombified. Cure spells and potions will harm him, but Doom will heal him. There are other properties of being undead -- Drain, Osmose, and other attacks which steal HP will do the reverse. Also, if you equip the party leader (the person shown in overworld walkabout) with the Relic Ring and cast Doom on him/her, the entire party will be healed. The description, "Makes body cold", means that it takes the life out of the bearer, so he becomes cold, like the dead...
Learn Spells Fast
There is a monster called Intangir on Triangle Island in the World of Balance (top right corner). He will sleep until disturbed by magic, then counter with Meteo and fall back asleep. He is invisible while asleep and cannot be harmed with weapons. Use Doom or X-Zone on him while he sleeps, or have Mog dance the Dusk Requiem or Desert Aria. The Snare and Antlion dances will get him when he's invisible. If you defeat him, you will earn 10 magic points! Hang around there if you want to learn spells fast.
The best place to learn magic spells in the World of Ruin is the desert south of Maranda. Every Cactrot you fight will earn you 10 Magic Points, and every Hoover you fight will earn you 5. Equip as many characters as possible with Thunder Shields, to make "Sand Storm" ineffective.
Beat the MagiMaster
To beat the MagiMaster with no problems, simply cast Bserk on him. He won't be able to WallChange and he'll lose a lot of spellcasting abilities. Be sure to cast Life3 on party members, because he'll cast Ultima at the end of the battle.
Vanishing
When you cast "Vanish" on a creature, the creature becomes very vulnerable to magic, so spells almost never miss. Try using "Vanish" on an enemy, then cast "Doom", "Break", "X-Zone", "Demi", or "Quartr". This even works on some of the strongest bosses (including all 8 Dragons). Note: Do not use Vanish/X-Zone on Doom Gaze. You will not get the Bahamut Esper. Vanish/Doom is fine.
Uncursing
To uncurse a cursed item, have a character in your party wear it for 255 battles. To counter the terrible effects of the curse, equip a Ribbon on the character. When uncursed, the Cursed Shield becomes the Paladin Shield, and the Cursed Ring becomes the Paladin Ring.
Cast 5 and 8 Spells per Turn
To cast five spells per turn - equip a character with the Gem Box relic, and on his/her turn, cast the first spell, then Quick. Then you can cast four more spells. You can use this as an opportunity to Regen your whole party, casts Haste and Slow spells, Life3 your entire party, or devastate to the attacking party. It would be wise to equip this character with an Economizer so that MP won't be drained.
To attack eight times per turn - equip a character with a Genji Glove and the Offering. You can find a Genji Glove in the Returners' Hideout (when Banon asks you to join the Returners, refuse, then talk to to people inside the cave), the Cave to the Sealed Gate and also in Cyan's Dream (on the train).
Keep Locke Stealing
Most monsters have more than one thing to steal from them. Keep Locke equipped with the Sneak Ring and Thief Glove to get some good weapons, armor, and relics, especially fom bosses. Remember, the higher the level for Locke, the better your chances of getting an item.
Gogo Can Do More Than Just Mimic!
Check Gogo's status and you can add three special abilities to his list. If you choose Magic, then the magic he knows will depend on what everyone in your party knows.
Easy Wrexsoul Victoy
To beat Wrexsoul and the Soul Savers (in Cyan's dream) easily, just cast X-Zone.
Make Umaro Stronger
Give Umaro a Green Cherry to make him stronger during battle, just like when you fought him.
Undead Weaknesses
Tonic, Potion, X-Potion, and Cure spells will cause damage to undead monsters (such as Zombies); use Revifify, Fenix Down, and Life Spells to destroy them. Do not use the Doom spell or Dispatch weapons, because they will heal the undead.
Give Locke More Chances...
Equip Locke with the Thief Glove and Offering (Relics) and he'll have four chances to Capture per turn.
Gain Spells Without Gaining Experience
If you want characters to learn spells without gaining levels, go to the Veldt or the Fanatics' Tower and fight monsters. You will not gain any exp. points in either of these locations. The Veldt is also a good place to uncurse cursed items, steal and Metamorph enemies to get items, and learn Lore spells. Many Lore spells can be learned from Gau's Rages and Relm's Sketch/Control.
Get More Experience Points
To gain levels faster, try taking only three or two party members. You'll get much more experience per battle. If you want to build up levels for one fighter, bring only him/her. But make sure he or she can survive!
Easily Defeat The Dirt Drgn
To easily defeat the Dirt Drgn, Equip all characters in the party with Gaia Gear. All earth attacks from the Dragon will heal your party. (All members who cannot equip Gaia Gear should be Floating.)
Unlimited Genji Gloves
You can get unlimited Genji Gloves by stealing them from Dragons (found on the Floating Continent).
The Blizzard Orb
The Blizzard Orb, an often-missed Relic for Umaro, is found in a treasure room in the Ancient Castle. It causes Umaro to randomly attack with an ice spell that hits all enemies.
Unlimited Cursed Rings
You can get unlimited Cursed Rings (and thus, Paladin Rings) by defeating Veterans and Didalos in Kefka's Tower. They are in the Gold Dragon's room. Also try using the Ragnarok Esper on them.
Good Combo For Genji Gloves
A good combination of weapons for a fighter wearing a Genji Glove is the AtmaWeapon and ValiantKnife. The Atma is stronger when you have higher HP, the ValiantKnife is stronger when you have lower HP, so you'll always do a sound amount of damage.
Unlimited Ribbons
You can steal unlimited Ribbons from Brachosaurs. Brachosaurs are found in the forest north of the Veldt. This is an excellent place to build up experience levels in the World of Ruin.