Final Fantasy/Parties


 * This is only for the NES, Wonderswan Color, and PS1 versions. The Dawn of Souls version has a separate page.

Short answer:
 * Warrior, Thief, White Mage, Black Mage to experience the full spectrum of classes and attacks
 * Warrior, Warrior, Red Mage, White Mage to smash your enemies without trying

Long answer:

First of all, before deciding on a party, you should understand what each class can and cannot do. You must assign one of six classes to each party member at the start of the game, and you can never change classes. You can have multiple characters with the same class, though in most cases this isn't recommended.

Picking a party
There is no "best configuration" (though there are plenty tied for "worst configuration"). There are some good setups, plenty of bad setups, and the rest are simply okay. You want to have a good balance of fighting ability, offensive magic, and curative magic.

A good party consists of:
 * 1 Warrior
 * 1 White Mage (the Knight is not a good replacement)
 * 1 black magic user (the Ninja does not count) - Black Mage or Red Mage
 * 1 other physically strong class - Warrior, Thief, or Red Mage
 * 0 Monks

Note that while the Thief should not fill the black magic user role, it does qualify for the "other physically strong class" slot, and is, in fact, recommended for beginners. You will also want to put the characters in a specific order (though you can change this at any time during the game).

The order, from front to back should be:
 * 1) Warrior
 * 2) Thief
 * 3) Red Mage
 * 4) Monk
 * 5) White Mage
 * 6) Black Mage

This is based on how many hits a character can take before getting killed (so factoring defensive power as well as HP). Always keep your White Mage/Wizard in the third or fourth position, even though a Thief/Ninja may have less HP, since you do not want your Life caster to die.

Using the above formula, we have reduced the number of possibilities from 1,296 to six.
 * Warrior, Warrior, White Mage, Black Mage
 * Warrior, Thief, White Mage, Black Mage
 * Warrior, Red Mage, White Mage, Black Mage
 * Warrior, Warrior, Red Mage, White Mage
 * Warrior, Thief, Red Mage, White Mage
 * Warrior, Red Mage, Red Mage, White Mage

See the next section for more on the differences between these six.

Great parties
These are the most balanced parties, with characters that not only excels in at least one of the three areas - fighting ability, offensive magic, and curative magic - but properly balance out the other three's weaknesses.

Warrior, Thief, White Mage, Black Mage

 * Combat - 8/10
 * Black Magic - 8/10
 * White Magic - 8/10
 * Speed - 10/10
 * Defense - 6/10
 * Magic Defense - 8/10
 * Overall - 8/10


 * Pros - Two strong physical fighters, access to all magic, all characters can use magic, the ability to flee from most battles
 * Cons - Three characters have moderate to low defense, the strongest black and white magics are limited to one character each

The biggest problem with this setup is that you only have one character than can brush off damage. You will have to keep a close eye on your second character's (probably the Thief) HP at all times, and heal up immediately if it drops too low. Despite this, it is still one of the best parties because the speed of the Thief will allow you to run from almost anything (except mandatory fights, of course).

Warrior, Red Mage, White Mage, Black Mage

 * Combat - 8/10
 * Black Magic - 10/10
 * White Magic - 10/10
 * Speed - 8/10
 * Defense - 7/10
 * Magic Defense - 9/10
 * Overall - 8/10


 * Pros - Two strong physical fighters, access to all magic, most black and white spells can be used by two characters
 * Cons - Three characters with limited armor selection

An excellent setup, though the lack of a thief will make it more difficult to run from battles. The fact that you are doubling the number of characters that can cast mid and high level spells makes you a nearly invincible. You have all three areas covered twice - two strong fighters, two healers, two magic users. In terms of surviving, combat, the Black Mage is still your weakest link, but you have three characters that can heal. The Red Mage will generally take as much damage as a Thief, though it has much better magic resistance. The Red Wizard's best weapon is weaker than the Ninja's, but at that point you can handle anything anyway.

Warrior, Warrior, White Mage, Black Mage

 * Combat - 9/10
 * Black Magic - 8/10
 * White Magic - 9/10
 * Speed - 8/10
 * Defense - 9/10
 * Magic Defense - 8/10
 * Overall - 9/10


 * Pros - Two very strong physical fighters, access to all magic, three characters capable of healing to some degree
 * Cons - The strongest black and white magics are limited to one character each, only one character can cast black magic, have to distribute one-of-a-kind weapons & armor among several characters

This certainly solves the problem of having a vulnerable second position character - with warriors now taking most of the hits, and three characters capable of healing, you won't really have to worry about staying alive. The biggest problem is that a lot of the better equipment in the game is found in one place only. Of course, even with weapon that isn't the best, a Knight can do more damage than a Ninja or Red Wizard.

Warrior, Thief, Red Mage, White Mage

 * Combat - 9/10
 * Black Magic - 8/10
 * White Magic - 9/10
 * Speed - 10/10
 * Defense - 7/10
 * Magic Defense - 8/10
 * Overall - 8/10


 * Pros - Three strong physical fighters, access to all magic, all characters can use magic, the ability to flee from most battles, redundant mid/high level healing spells
 * Cons - One character with low magic defense, two with moderately low physical defense.

Basically all your doing for this party (compared to the first) is trading a few high level black spells for a mid level healing. You will still have the Thief, so fleeing will not be a problem, and the Red Mage has decent defense. You will want to get the class change quickly so the Red Mage can start using the better spells.

Warrior, Red Mage, Red Mage, White Mage

 * Combat - 9/10
 * Black Magic - 7/10
 * White Magic - 10/10
 * Speed - 9/10
 * Defense - 8/10
 * Magic Defense - 9/10
 * Overall - 9/10


 * Pros - Three strong fighter, three with good defense, high magic defense across the board, four white magic users, two with most black magic spells.
 * Cons - The Red Mages can be a little weak at times, especially right before the class change.

You may have problems going after the first crystal and getting through the two dungeons needed to get the class change. However, once the Red Mages become Red Wizards you will become very powerful, very quickly.

Warrior, Warrior, Red Mage, White Mage

 * Combat - 10/10
 * Black Magic - 6/10
 * White Magic - 9/10
 * Speed - 8/10
 * Defense - 10/10
 * Magic Defense - 9/10
 * Overall - 10/10


 * Pros - Three strong fighters, two with excellent defense, all have healing abilities, access to most black magic spells.
 * Cons - Not many, besides a somewhat limited selection of black magic before the class change.

The hardest part will from when you go after the Earth Crystal to when you get your class change. There are quite a few low level spells that the Red Mage cannot equip. However, most of the enemies will be either undead or ice-based, so you will be able to use your fire magic. Two Warriors will be able to hit anything hard enough that a lack of offensive black magic won't hurt much. After the class change you can utterly decimate anything you come across.

Good parties
These are the setups that, while not balanced very well, are still good parties. While not recommended for the novice, they are good to use if you want a bit more of a challenge. Their weakness (or flat out lack of ability) in one of the three areas - fighting ability, offensive magic, and curative magic - will not make the game next to impossible, but will require you to rethink your strategies.

Bad parties
These are the parties that are so bad they deserve a mention simply as an example of what not to do. Of course, if you are trying to make the game harder, go with one of these combinations.