Final Fantasy VI Guide for the PS and GBA Versions: All 14 Characters’ Unique Commands and Learnable Skills in Full Tables, Plus Treasure Chests Across 483 Maps

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Final Fantasy VI is an RPG where each of the 14 party members has their own special command, and anyone can learn any spell as long as you hand them a piece of Magicite. All that freedom is exactly why it is easy to get stuck on questions like who to level up and when to open which treasure chest. The GBA version pushes the finish line for completionists even further out, adding the Dragons’ Den, the Soul Shrine and four new Magicite.

There are three pillars to clearing this game: designing your stats around Magicite level-up bonuses, learning all 14 special commands so you can put the right character in the right slot, and recognizing which treasure chests you should not open until the World of Ruin.

This guide covers both the PS version, released March 11, 1999, and the GBA version, Final Fantasy VI Advance, released November 30, 2006. Dungeon layouts, chest placement and the abilities each character learns are identical in both, so I have gathered all 14 characters’ special commands and learnable abilities into per-character tables, and laid out floor maps for all 58 locations and 483 maps with every chest numbered. Anything exclusive to the GBA version is tagged [GBA], and wherever a chest holds something different in the PS version, both contents are listed right there.

My FF6 was the Super Famicom version, and the memory is not even of my own house but of a friend’s. I did not own the cartridge, so I practically moved into his place and camped there until we had seen the whole thing through to the ending where Kefka goes down. Somewhere in the middle, on a break, I pulled a thin Sailor Moon doujinshi off his bookshelf and got more worked up over that than over what happened next in the game. That room and FF6 are welded together in my head, embarrassing parts included.

On that same playthrough, when we escaped the Floating Continent, the countdown spooked me so badly that I instantly picked “Depart” and left Shadow behind. I still think about it. This guide exists partly so you do not repeat that mistake.

What Kind of Game Is Final Fantasy VI? The Basics of the PS and GBA Versions, and What They Add

Final Fantasy VI was born on the Super Famicom in 1994. The 1999 PS version is a straight port, and the 2006 GBA version is the definitive edition, adding two new dungeons and four new Magicite.

The story opens with Terra, a Magitek soldier under the Empire’s control, and the entire structure of the game flips at the collapse of the world. In the World of Ruin, the moment you get the airship Falcon your destination is wide open, and you decide the order in which you recruit characters and clear side events. The SpotGeeks editorial team rates this as the series entry with the most freedom in party building, and the reason sits in the design: there are no fixed jobs, and Magicite lets anybody learn magic.

The GBA version reportedly sold about 280,000 copies in Japan. That is a solid number for a port arriving 12 years after the original, and the added Dragons’ Den dungeon is what answered the demand from the completionist crowd.

How Do the Super Famicom, PS, GBA and Pixel Remaster Versions Differ? This Guide Covers Both PS and GBA

Here is the short answer: dungeon layouts, chest placement and the abilities characters learn are the same across every version, and the differences are concentrated in added content and quality-of-life features. This guide serves the PS version and the GBA version at once, tagging GBA-only material with [GBA] and listing the PS contents alongside any chest whose contents changed in the GBA version. If you are playing the PS version, skip anything tagged [GBA] and the rest applies as written. One more thing to know up front: the Pixel Remaster does not include the GBA version’s extra dungeons or new Magicite.

What the GBA Version Changed (the Differences from the PS Version)

• Instant-death magic no longer works on an enemy under Vanish. Bosses with status immunity cannot be killed by slapping Vanish on them
• Sabin’s Blitz inputs can now be entered with nothing but the D-pad and the L and R buttons (Suplex is R, L, Down, Up; Mantra is R, L, R, L, Up, Down; Spiraler is R, L, Up, Down, Right, Left)
• In the Cave to the Sealed Gate, a chest’s Remedy became a Gold Needle and its 2,000 gil became 293 gil. Chests in Owzer’s Mansion got the same treatment: Hi-Potion to Potion, Turbo Ether to Ether, Remedy to Gold Needle, 2,000 gil to 293 gil. The map walkthrough tables list the contents for both versions side by side
• Mog can learn Water Rondo from the Leviathan fight, so you no longer have to go fight at the Lete River or the Serpent Trench during the World of Balance
• Movement speed in towns is doubled. Put on Sprint Shoes and it doubles again for 4x speed
• You can save after the ending, which lets you carry items stolen from the final boss over and head for the Dragons’ Den
• The old versions’ bug where magic evasion was used to dodge physical attacks has been fixed

The more time you sank into the Super Famicom or PS versions, the more the GBA version will throw you with Vanish-Doom gone and Sabin’s commands reworked. Get those two things straight, though, and the GBA version is a safe “the original plus extras” experience, while on the PS version everything in this guide outside the [GBA] tags applies exactly as written.

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What Is the Magicite System? Every Spell and Level-Up Bonus for All 31 Magicite

Magicite are stones with an Esper’s power sealed inside: the character who equips one banks the magic AP earned in battle to learn that Magicite’s spells, and gains bonus stats on level-up.

The mechanics are simple. One Magicite is equipped by one character, and the learn percentage advances by the magic AP earned on a battle victory multiplied by each spell’s rate. A spell with a ×20 rate hits 100% after a single battle worth 5 magic AP. A ×1 spell, on the other hand (Ultima, Meteor, Curaga and the like), needs a full 100 magic AP, and that is what decides how long character building takes.

The other pillar is the level-up bonus. Level up with a Magicite still equipped and you add that Magicite’s specific bonus (Magic +2, HP +30% and so on). Magicite that carry a bonus are already in the mix among the first four you get in Zozo, so whenever you are leveling a character you want to invest in, make sure a bonus Magicite is attached. This is the core of character design in this game, and if you level up without thinking, there is no taking it back.

All 31 Magicite: Where to Find Them, Spells Learned and Bonuses

The standard approach to character building is to hang Bismarck (Vigor +2) and Zona Seeker (Magic +2) on your main party early, then rotate in Valigarmanda (Magic +2), Bahamut (HP +50%) and, in the GBA version, Diabolos (HP +100%) from the midgame on. Raising Magic pushes the power of both Curaga and Ultima, so anyone who is not a physical attacker should get a Magic +2 Magicite first.

Special Commands, Learned Abilities and Starting Stats for All 14 Party Members: A Character-by-Character Party-Building Guide

There are 14 party members, and every one of them gets Fight, Magic and Item plus a single special command on top. Anyone can learn magic from Magicite, so what actually defines a character is the pairing of that special command with their starting stats. Below, in the order they join, I break each one down: starting stats (Vigor, Speed, Stamina and Magic at Lv1, with where they rank among the 14), special command, abilities learned, and the character-grade weapons you can only get from the GBA version Dragons’ Den. If you are playing the PS version, just skip the [GBA] line at the end of each entry.

The starting stats show each character’s raw tendency if you never apply a single Esper bonus and simply grind levels. Part of what makes this game great is that a low ranking can be flipped completely with Magicite, so treat these tables as nothing more than a baseline: this is how they turn out if you do nothing at all.

Terra (Magitek warrior and protagonist, in the party from the start)

Terra is one of only two natural-born mages in the game who learn spells just by leveling up, no Magicite required. Her Magic ranks 2nd out of the 14, and she can equip both swords and knight swords, so she covers the front row and the back row equally well. Her special command, Morph, is the trump card: she transforms into an Esper, dealing double damage and taking half. It unlocks after she rejoins in Zozo. The Morph gauge fills as you bank magic AP, and once it empties you cannot use it again until you have earned another 8 AP. In the World of Ruin, the duration gets longer.

Desperation Attack: Riot Blade. [GBA] Apocalypse (Attack 250, spends MP to land criticals), dropped by the upgraded Red Dragon in the Dragons’ Den, is Terra’s ultimate weapon.

Locke (treasure hunter, joins in Narshe)

Locke is a thief with the best Speed of all 14, and his special command, Steal, lifts items straight off enemies. Equip the Thief’s Bracer and it turns into Capture, which steals while it attacks; the Genji Glove’s dual-wield gives you two steal rolls, and the Master’s Scroll gives you four. The success rate is decided by the level gap between Locke and the target, and even on a success, rare drops only come up one time in eight. Equipping the Brigand’s Glove doubles the success rate.

Abilities learned: none (Steal and Capture are both available from the start). The Valiant Knife, which you pick up later in the Phoenix Cave, is a character weapon that grows stronger the lower his HP falls, and it turns him into a genuinely scary physical attacker in the endgame.

Desperation Attack: Mirager. [GBA] The Zwill Crossblade (Attack 220, 25% chance of triggering Sleep), dropped by the upgraded Yellow Dragon in the Dragons’ Den, is Locke’s ultimate weapon.

Edgar (King of Figaro and machinist, joins at Figaro Castle)

Edgar’s special command, Tools, uses dedicated gadgets to hit every enemy at once or stick them with status ailments. The big selling point is that their power does not drop off from the back row, and in the early game the AutoCrossbow is a damage source on par with Terra casting Fire on all enemies. Tools are sold at the item shop in Figaro Castle, and if you put Edgar at the head of the party before you talk to the clerk, the price is cut in half.

Desperation Attack: Royal Shock. [GBA] Longinus (Attack 235), dropped by the upgraded Storm Dragon in the Dragons’ Den, is Edgar’s ultimate spear.

Sabin (monk and Edgar’s twin brother, joins at Mt. Kolts)

Sabin’s special command, Blitz, fires only after you punch in a button input like you are playing a fighting game. He ranks 2nd of 14 in both Vigor and Stamina, and his Blitzes never miss and lose no power from the back row. The PS version uses the same inputs as the Super Famicom version, while the GBA version trims them down to the D-pad plus L and R. Diagonals can be replaced with the two neighboring D-pad directions in any version. Blitzes come with levels, with one exception: Bum Rush can be learned regardless of level through the event at Duncan’s house in the World of Ruin.

Desperation Attack: Tiger Break. [GBA] Godhand (Attack 220, holy element), dropped by the upgraded Earth Dragon in the Dragons’ Den, is Sabin’s ultimate weapon.

Celes (former Imperial general and rune knight, joins in South Figaro)

Like Terra, Celes is a Magitek warrior who learns magic without Magicite, and her special command, Runic, absorbs exactly one incoming spell and converts it into her own MP. It does not care which side cast it, so be careful: it will swallow your own party’s Cure too. Her stats are strong across the board, and since she is the character you control first in the World of Ruin, she holds the front line for a long stretch.

Desperation Attack: Spin Edge. [GBA] Save the Queen (Attack 240, Evade and Magic Evade +40), dropped by the upgraded Blue Dragon in the Dragons’ Den, is Celes’s ultimate weapon.

Cyan (the samurai of Doma, joins at the Imperial Camp)

Cyan’s special command, Bushido, is a charge move: the gauge fills, and whatever number it lands on decides which technique comes out. His Vigor ranks 4th among the 14 characters, but his Speed and Magic sit near the bottom, so he is a poor fit for a spellcaster. Bushido techniques are normally picked up by leveling, but in the World of Ruin you can beat Wrexsoul in the dream dungeon inside Doma Castle and get all eight at once, regardless of level. None of it works unless he has a katana equipped.

Desperation Attack: Fang. [GBA] The Zanmato (Attack 245, holy element), dropped by the enhanced White Dragon in the Dragons’ Den, is the best weapon you can hand Cyan.

Shadow (the assassin, a mercenary who works for money)

Shadow’s special command, Throw, attacks by hurling shuriken and ninjutsu scrolls. The Fire Skean, Water Edge and Bolt Edge scrolls hit with the same elements as magic and lose no power from the back row. The other quirk is his dog, Interceptor, who sometimes takes a physical attack for him and counters. In the World of Balance he comes and goes every time you hire him, and if you do not wait until the timer is down to five seconds while escaping the Floating Continent, he never joins again.

Desperation Attack: Shadow Fang. [GBA] The Oborozuki (Attack 225, Evade +50), dropped by the Pudding Princess in the Dragons’ Den treasure room, is the best weapon you can hand Shadow.

Gau (the wild boy of the Veldt, joins on the Veldt)

Gau has no Fight command at all. His special command, Rage, reproduces a monster’s behavior instead. You use Leap on the Veldt, and when he comes back he has learned the techniques of the monsters that were out there. While a Rage is active you lose control of him, and he alternates roughly fifty-fifty between normal attacks and the monster’s special attack. His starting stats are excellent — 3rd in Vigor, 2nd in Speed, 3rd in Stamina — and since he cannot equip weapons, you make up the difference with armor and relics.

Desperation Attack: none (Gau does not have one). [GBA] The Duel Mask found in the Dragons’ Den treasure room is the head armor to put on Gau.

Setzer (the gambler, owner of the airship Blackjack)

Setzer’s special command, Slot, leaves it all to luck: three reels spin, and the symbols that line up decide the effect. Hit 7-7-7 and Joker Doom wipes out every enemy. Hit 7-7-BAR and it wipes out your own party instead. That is the gamble. Equip the Coin Toss and Slot turns into GP Rain, which throws gil for guaranteed damage. His stats are average across the board, so the safe plan is to grow his Magic with Magicite and run him as a caster.

Desperation Attack: Red Card. [GBA] The Last Resort (Attack 215, no power loss from the back row), dropped by the enhanced Ice Dragon in the Dragons’ Den, is the best weapon you can hand Setzer.

Strago (the blue mage of Thamasa, joins in the village of Thamasa in the World of Balance)

Strago’s special command, Lore, is blue magic: he learns specific enemy techniques by watching them used in battle. There are 24 in all, and two of them carry the endgame — the defense-ignoring Grand Delta and the party-wide heal Pearl Wind. His Stamina and Speed are dead last, so commit to the obvious role: pump his Magic with Magicite and fire off Lores from the back row.

Desperation Attack: Sun Bath. [GBA] The Stardust Rod (Attack 180, 25% chance of casting Meteor), found in the Dragons’ Den treasure room, is the best weapon you can hand Strago.

Relm (the girl from Thamasa, a pictomancer; joins in the village of Thamasa in the World of Balance)

Relm’s Magic of 44 is 1st among the 14 characters, which makes her flatly the strongest magic user in the game. Her special command, Sketch, draws an enemy and has the illusion use its abilities, and equipping the Fake Mustache swaps it for Control, which lets her puppet enemies directly. Her Stamina is low, so the standard build is to park her in the back row, push her Magic higher still with Magicite and let her spam Ultima.

Abilities learned: none (Sketch and Control are both available from the start). She is the only character who starts with a relic equipped, the Memento Ring. Sketch’s success rate changes depending on how the enemy looks, and a failure costs you nothing.

Desperation Attack: Star Prism. [GBA] The Angel Brush (Attack 170, 25% chance of inflicting Confuse), dropped by the Plague in the Dragons’ Den treasure room, is the best weapon you can hand Relm.

Mog (the Narshe moogle; joins in Narshe during the World of Balance)

Mog’s special command, Dance, learns a routine tied to whatever terrain he fought on, then fires off one of four random abilities every turn until the battle ends. Match the dance to the terrain and it lands every single time; use it on the wrong terrain and he trips over his own feet half the time. The Moogle Charm, which you pick up in the moogle cave after the world breaks, switches off random encounters entirely while it is equipped, and that makes it the trump card for walking your third party safely through the split-party stretches of Kefka’s Tower and the Dragons’ Den.

Desperation Attack: Moogle Rush. [GBA] The Gungnir (Attack 240) that Nesragh drops in the Dragons’ Den treasure vault is the strongest spear Mog can hold.

Umaro (the yeti; joins at Yeti’s Cave in the World of Ruin, and you need Mog with you)

Umaro tops all 14 characters in both Vigor (57) and Stamina (46), but you never get to pick his commands; he just does whatever he likes in battle. He cannot equip weapons, armor, or Magicite, so accessories are the only way to build him up. To recruit him, bring Mog along, examine the skeleton at the deepest point of Yeti’s Cave, win the fight, and then talk to him.

Abilities learned: none (he acts entirely on his own). He cannot equip Magicite, so he never learns magic either. If you shuffle accessories around between characters, Umaro has a habit of quietly hanging onto the good ones, so check his equipment screen when something goes missing.

Desperation Attack: none (Umaro simply does not have one). [GBA] The Dragons’ Den treasure vault adds an Umaro-specific accessory, the Bone Wrist.

Gogo (the mimic; joins inside Zone Eater in the World of Ruin)

Gogo’s special command, Mimic, repeats whatever the last ally did without spending MP or items. On top of that, you can assign up to three of your other characters’ commands to him from the status screen, so he can use Steal, Blitz, or Bushido at will. His stats are bottom-tier across the board and he cannot equip Magicite, though, so the copies always hit softer than the originals. To recruit him, let Zone Eater on Triangle Island swallow the whole party, then talk to Gogo at the far end of its innards.

Abilities learned: none (he uses the commands you set for him). For magic, he can cast anything that any of your characters has learned.

Desperation Attack: Punisher. [GBA] The Scorpion Tail (Attack 225, poison element, no damage penalty from the back row) dropped by the Dragons’ Den’s upgraded Skull Dragon is Gogo’s strongest weapon.

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Walkthrough: How to Get From the World of Balance to the Dragons’ Den

This section lays out where to go, what you are there for, and which bosses are waiting, all in story order. For floor plans and treasure chests in each dungeon, check the map section.

World of Balance (1): Narshe to the Lete River

World of Balance (2): The Three Scenarios and the Battle for Narshe

World of Balance (3): The Search for Terra to the Floating Continent

World of Ruin: From the Solitary Island to Kefka’s Tower

The GBA Version’s Postgame: The Dragons’ Den and the Soul Shrine

Six Things Players Trip Over

(1) Leave the chests in the Narshe mines and South Figaro Cave alone until the World of Ruin

Open the chests in those two spots after the world breaks and the contents change into a Ribbon, an Elixir, a Hero Ring, and a Guard Bracelet. Open them beforehand and you walk away with a Phoenix Down and an Ether. The tables in the map section list the World of Balance and World of Ruin contents side by side, so check there before you lift a lid.

(2) Wait for Shadow when you escape the Floating Continent

During the escape scene, keep choosing Wait until the counter is down to five seconds, and only then pick Go. If you leave early, Shadow is gone for good. In the World of Ruin you rescue him in the Veldt Cave and bet the Striker at the Colosseum to get him back.

(3) It is Mog or the Gold Hairpin, not both

In the Lone Wolf event at Narshe, saving Mog puts him in the party during the World of Balance, while saving Lone Wolf hands you the Gold Hairpin and pushes Mog’s recruitment back to the World of Ruin. In the PS version, Water Rondo can only be learned on the Lete River or in the Serpent Trench before the world breaks, but the GBA version also lets Mog learn it during the Leviathan fight, so there is far less reason to hold out for the early Mog there.

(4) Vanish-Doom works in the PS version and does nothing in the GBA version

Casting Vanish and then wiping a target out with Doom or Banish was the go-to trick in the Super Famicom and PS versions, but in the GBA version it no longer lands on enemies that resist instant death. On PS it is a fine way to cut boss fights short; on GBA, plan on winning the honest way and get your levels and spell list in shape first.

(5) Never level up without a Magicite bonus equipped

Magicite bonuses only apply at the moment a character levels up. From the early game on, keep Bismarck (Vigor +2) or Zona Seeker (Magic +2) on your core fighters, and always check who is holding what before you start grinding. In the World of Ruin you can design for durability too, with Diabolos (HP +100 percent) or Bahamut (HP +50 percent).

(6) Put Mog in the third party for the Dragons’ Den

The Dragons’ Den uses the same three-party structure as Kefka’s Tower, and its enemies are several notches nastier. The standard play is to stack your real fighters into two parties and leave the third party as Mog by himself with the Moogle Charm equipped, acting purely as a switch-puller. You earn no magic AP in there, so finish learning your spells before you walk in.

Map Guide: World Maps and Floor Diagrams with Chest Lists for All 58 Locations and 483 Maps

From here on we present 483 floor diagrams covering all 58 locations. Each dungeon is split into sections labeled Map 1, Map 2 and so on; the red markers are items in chests, pots, barrels and the like, and their numbers match the table directly below. For chests whose contents change between the World of Balance and the World of Ruin, each period is written out separately.

The maps were generated mechanically from walkthrough diagrams whose layout is shared by the PS version and the GBA version, so fine details such as wall thickness and door shapes may differ from the actual game. Chests whose numbers could not be read off the floor diagram are shown as red markers without a number, and their contents are still listed in the table. The world maps include only the spots whose place-name labels could be read.

World map (World of Balance)

World map (World of Ruin)

Floor diagrams for dungeons, towns and the Dragons’ Den (with chests)

Chest contents are the same in both versions, except that some chests in the Cave to the Sealed Gate and Owzer’s house were changed in the GBA version. Those chests are written with both, as in GBA version: Gold Needle (PS version: Remedy). The Dragons’ Den is a GBA-version-only dungeon.

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Can You Still Play the PS and GBA Versions of Final Fantasy VI on Current Hardware? A Platform-by-Platform Guide

(1) Playable on a Subscription or for Free

Neither the Super Famicom version nor the GBA version of Final Fantasy VI is included in Nintendo Switch Online (as of October 2026). There is no way to play it through a subscription.

(2) Playable With a Standalone Purchase

(3) Playable via a Remaster or Remake

The Pixel Remaster is the remaster built on the Super Famicom version. Its selling points are the boost options that let you change the multipliers for experience, gil and Magic AP and switch encounters on and off, plus auto-battle and a fully voiced opera scene. It does not include the Dragons’ Den, the Soul Shrine, the four new pieces of Magicite or the extra bestiary entries, so none of the GBA-only content in this guide is playable there.

(4) Hard to Get on Current Hardware

The PS version is easy to track down, since used discs are plentiful and the PSone Classics release is still for sale. For the GBA version, a used cartridge is the only physical option left: the Wii U Virtual Console release (December 22, 2015) could no longer be bought once the Nintendo eShop closed in March 2023. The old mobile version, which was based on the GBA release, was delisted on July 28, 2021. If you want to play the Dragons’ Den, your only move is to dig out real hardware, whether that is a GBA, a Game Boy Micro, or a Nintendo DS or DS Lite.

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Final Thoughts: Final Fantasy VI Is the RPG Where All 14 Characters Get to Be the Lead

The PS version of Final Fantasy VI, which launched March 11, 1999, is a straight port of the Super Famicom version, while the GBA version, Final Fantasy VI Advance, arrived November 30, 2006 at 4,800 yen (about US$31, before tax) as the definitive edition, adding four new pieces of Magicite, three new spells, the Dragons’ Den and the Soul Shrine. This guide serves both versions: GBA-only material is marked [GBA], and treasure chests whose contents differ between the two are listed side by side.

The core of the strategy is Magicite level-up bonuses and the 14 special commands. For Magic, the order is Relm 44, Terra 39, Celes 36; for physical power it is Umaro 57, Sabin 47, Gau 44. Leave the chests in the Narshe mines and the cave to South Figaro shut until the World of Ruin, and on the Floating Continent, wait for Shadow until there are five seconds left.

The final goal is beating Kefka in Kefka’s Tower, and in the GBA version, Kaiser Dragon in the Dragons’ Den and the 128 back-to-back battles of the Soul Shrine are waiting beyond that. The PS version runs 1,200 yen (about US$8) on PSone Classics, and if you only want the main story the 2,200 yen (about US$14) Pixel Remaster will do the job, but the Dragons’ Den is still GBA-only.

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