AFinal Fantasygame is incomplete without magic, which is why players love to control a mage that can channel their mystic powers and unleash hellfire on their foes. While someFinal Fantasygames feature characters who don’t necessarily need to embody these roles, other games make these roles pretty clear-cut.
As a result, players are bound to control mages who may be useful in their way but feel weak to use. This isn’t a bad thing in the slightest, especially since some of the most useful party members across theFinal Fantasygames embody support roles and can’t take too many hits.
The picked characters are analyzed within the context of their games, and not compared to each other. Also, nearly all these characters can be useful with exemplary builds, they just might require more work than usual to get there, are situational, or are overshadowed by other party members.
Out of the two pure mages that players controlinFinal Fantasy 9, many people feel that Dagger is inferior despite being useful in her own way. This mage uses powerful healing magic to aid the party along with some powerful Eidolons to damage foes.
While Dagger may have access to better Eidolons, these moves should usually only be reserved for tougher opponents. This makes her a decently powerful character but one who pales in comparison to the other party members inFinal Fantasy 9.
Since Rosa embodies the role of a White Mage inFinal Fantasy 4, it’s easy to see why she may not be the strongest character in the party. Her strengths are healing and support magic, with players having to stick her in the back row if they don’t want her to be downed in a few hits.
Even afterRosa gets access to Holy, she’s still a glass cannon who should be protected at all costs if enemies start targeting her. Losing a healer can be disastrous in a tough battle, especially in the 3D Remake ofFinal Fantasy 4.
The firstFinal Fantasygame let playersselect the roles for each Warrior of Lightbefore they embarked on an epic journey. White Mages were a must-have in most parties since their healing and support skills could be a huge help in tough boss battles.
However, these mages had to be placed in the back row since they could barely take a few hits before getting KO’d. It didn’t help that these mages had a laughable physical attack, and it wasn’t until players gained access to Holy that their White Mage could be useful against powerful bosses.
The Junction system made it so that every party member had the potential to be equally effective in combat as long as players were prudent about drawing as much magic as possible. This meant that the only real differentiator between party members were their unique skills.
In this regard, one can argue that Quistis is the worst party memberinFinal Fantasy 8in terms of pure strength. Her Limit Break allows her to access Blue Magic, which is interesting but boasts nowhere near the power other party members bring into battle with their Desperation Attacks.
Quina is one of the oddest characters inFinal Fantasy 9, with players having the option to recruit them early on to make the most of a new party member in battle. However, it won’t take long for players to realize that Quina is nowhere near as effective as other characters in battle.
Their attacks aren’t as strong as other party members, and building up their Blue Magic skills can take a while and may not be worth it. Auto-Life and Mighty Guard are useful abilities, but that does nothing to take away from Quina’s status as the weakest party member inFinal Fantasy 9.
Geomancer is a unique job that players will love to mess around with once unlockedinFinal Fantasy 5. However, it won’t take long for players to figure out that this job is a bit too situational.
Exploring dungeons without any fear of triggering traps is welcome, but this comes at the cost of a Geomancer being rather ineffective in combat. Most of the job’s power is governed by the terrain type in combat, and enemies will likely be resistant to whatever environmental magic a Geomancer can utilize.
Kimahri is an interesting character who gets his moment to shine when facing off against his Ronso brethren, but this character is frustrating to use in gameplay. He starts at an interesting spot on the Sphere Grid, positioning him as a Blue Mage who can pursue whatever path he wants.
However, this means that Kimahri will always lag behind the party member he’s emulating, making him one of the weaker characters in the series. His Blue Magic can only be accessed as an Overdrive, which can dampen the effectiveness of his Ronso Rage and prevent players from accessing these enemy skills whenever they want.
By the time Tellah joins the party inFinal Fantasy 4, he’s already well past his prime. The character is so weak that his MP growth stops after a point, preventing players from casting the powerful Meteor.
While chasing Golbez to avenge his daughter’s death, Tellah pushes his body to the limit and casts Meteor several times before eventually breathing his last. It was clear that his weak body couldn’t bear the strain andhe requested Cecilto avenge Anna before passing away.
