Character leveling - is everyone needed?

[Tirigon]

In all party-based games I play I have a habit of quickly finding my favorite characters and pretty much ignoring everyone else.

Now, since only characters that actually participate in battles gain experience, doing the same here would mean that some party members are stuck at lv 1.

So to my actual question: Is it possible to play through the game in this way, or do I have to train everyone because you're sometimes forced into a specific group?
(Please keep spoilers to a minimum. I just started the game, just want to make sure I don't have to throw a save away halfway in because I'm stuck).

[Bobby Digital™]

as long as you have enough items like potions, eye drops etc. you can stick to the 3 characters you like. you don't need to level everyone but there are a couple instances where some characters might not be available for a couple hours worth of the main story.

a character only needs to hit an enemy one time or buff/debuff one time to get the full amount of xp. you can swap characters for one turn then swap them out and not use them anymore for that battle and they will get the full amount of xp. if you do't want to take the extra few seconds to do this per battle, at least let each character get a hit in on bosses.

[Tirigon]

^
Ok thanks for the answer, guess I will do this then.

[Hinnyuu]

This game is perhaps a bit different from many other RPGs in that at endgame, the characters all end up with completely identical stats. The only real difference between them remains their overdrives (and Yuna's unique ability to summon), though even those are not hugely impactful at endgame even against the hardest superbosses.

As a result, you can absolutely use whatever team of 3 characters you enjoy the most, for whatever reason, and still beat all of the game's content including every single superboss.

HOWEVER some of the characters have ultimate weapons that are vastly easier to unlock than others. While the weapons themselves are largely identical in power level (a few minor but almost irrelevant differences), the challenges involved in unlocking them range from completely trivial (Auron) to this-is-the-most-BS-challenge-ever-thought-of-in-any-game-ever (Lulu). If you are only interested in the main story, this doesn't matter. If you want to play postgame and beat the optional superbosses, it very much does.

[Tirigon]

Originally posted by Hinnyuu:

If you are only interested in the main story, this doesn't matter. If you want to play postgame and beat the optional superbosses, it very much does.

This will depend on how much I like the gameplay. I will play through the story for story's sake, and then decide if I go for 100% or move on to something else.

I was mainly asking because I am afraid of getting stuck somewhere. For example in FF13 there are many parts where you are forced into a specific group, and I always died first before I could level them up, because I hadn't used them before. But at least in 13 they have the XP, I just needed to allocate it. If something like that happened here I would be screwed if I didn't level them before.

[Bobby Digital™]

at most, only 1 character can't be used in certain parts. so you might be down to 2 characters you have leveled, and have to use 1 that is not leveled

[Hinnyuu]

There are some parts where you are restricted to a few characters, however they are not in any way difficult and should pose little threat even to a completely unleveled character.

Also, if you are using UnX (and you should, for various reasons) then there is a handy option that will give XP to all characters, regardless of whether they have had a turn in the field. Very helpful if you are tired of switching people in and out just so they can spend a turn on Guard for the XP.

[WNxManiacMan]

I'd go with Hinnyuu's suggestion if I were you and use UnX for the option he mentioned. There will be situations where character selection is limited, so if you want to avoid getting stuck and you don't want to actively play with all characters, I'd say you end up being screwed without that option.

Originally posted by Bobby Digital™:

at most, only 1 character can't be used in certain parts. so you might be down to 2 characters you have leveled, and have to use 1 that is not leveled

Wrong, some situations are worse. I'm writing this to Bobby, not to OP, so there will be spoilers: In Via Purifico your party will be split into two (Tidus, Wakka, Rikku and Yuna, Lulu, Auron, Kimahri). And there's also the battle where Kimahri fights against two Ronsos alone.

[Bobby Digital™]

yeah ty, i forgot about that

[Tirigon]

Originally posted by Hinnyuu:

There are some parts where you are restricted to a few characters, however they are not in any way difficult and should pose little threat even to a completely unleveled character.

Also, if you are using UnX (and you should, for various reasons) then there is a handy option that will give XP to all characters, regardless of whether they have had a turn in the field. Very helpful if you are tired of switching people in and out just so they can spend a turn on Guard for the XP.

Hmm, what is UnX? Might be a noobish question, but I am pretty new to all this.

[Bobby Digital™]

it's a mod, the thread about has like 4000 posts

[09 F9 11 02]

It's going to be a LOT easier to play to each character's strengths for the story content. Wakka's accuracy, Tidus's speed, and Rikku's Use/Mix, Auron's big armor piercing attacks, Kimahri's versatility, Yuna's Aeons and healing, Lulu's black magic. Given that it doesn't cost a turn to switch in an ally the only reason NOT to do this is keeping everyone's sphere levels up so nobody "falls behind" - and UnX "fixes" that.

[ShinkuTear]

Originally posted by infernusknight:

It's going to be a LOT easier to play to each character's strengths for the story content.

I find it is actually easier to stick to a smaller group in FFX. Tidus, Wakka, Rikku, and Yuna can cover everything you ever need. 3 fighters(TWR), a healer(Yuna/Rikku), and a mage/meatshield(Yuna).

Early game is the only time Lulu stands out, because Flans still exist as enemies and Yuna can't have -aga spells just yet, Auron can be used as little as the game demands with no issues, and Kimahri never needs to see battle until his boss fight, since the boss stats seem to scale with Kimahri's own stats.

[Matemo]

You should not be thinking so much about strategy when taking such a great RPG for a ride the first time. Get the hell off the forums before you ruin it. Even the fact that someone told you stuff about Yuna further up would piss me off.

[Matemo]

Wow, I can't believe slang for urine is censored...

[WNxManiacMan]

What has been spoiled about Yuna? Just did a ctrl+F and didn't find anything noteworthy.
EDIT: Oh that Yuna is alive at the end-game? Could definitely be a spoiler

Originally posted by Matemo:

Wow, I can't believe slang for urine is censored...

piss EDIT: lol yeah I don't get that either