Gamer Corner Guides

You will need to create three separate parties when you enter Kefka's Tower. Unlike in the Phoenix Cave, the parties start out separated, and each path has its own distinct Encounters, Treasures, and bosses. Any Character can be used to traverse any path, but if you are trying to learn every possible Lore, make sure Strago is in party 1 or party 3. Doom, one of the three Statues you must fight before confronting Kefka, is the only Monster in the game that uses the ForceField Lore, and the only way to learn it is for Strago to participate in the battle with Doom.

On the whole, party 1 has the easiest time of it in Kefka's Tower. They will need to wait on both party 2 and party 3 to flip switches so they can proceed, but face no bosses along their path. Once they reach the Grand Hall and enter the large double doors, they have to choose whether to turn left or right. They will follow the chosen path, while the party on the side they chose will be diverted to the opposite side, and the remaining party will head up the middle. This third party will face two bosses, Guardian then Poltrgeist, while each of the other parties will face only one boss each (Doom on the left and Goddess on the right).

Party 2 and party 3 will face two bosses each. The second of these are the final two legendary dragons, the Gold Drgn (encountered by party 2) and the Skull Drgn (encountered by party 3). Party 2 also faces Atma, an optional boss that unlocks a save point. Party 3 is blocked by Inferno, but has access to a save point before that battle. For this reason, I recommend starting your exploration of Kefka's Tower with party 3.

Character Selection

As mentioned earlier, you probably want to bring Strago if you're looking for a complete Lore list. You can bring 12 Characters into Kefka's Tower, but if you recruited everyone including the secret Characters, you have 14 to choose from. Who should you leave behind? If you didn't save Shadow on the Floating Continent, he won't be available anyway, making one of your choices easier.

The most obvious choice of a Character to leave behind is Umaro. Because he cannot be controlled, he tends to trigger counterattacks you may want to avoid, and his physical attacks aren't always effective. His Attributes also can't be increased. If you've been diligent about maximizing your Esper level up bonuses, your other characters should far outclass Umaro at this point. He is a perfectly viable option for this dungeon, but not the best.

Assuming you did save Shadow, there is not necessarily an obvious second choice. If you've completely neglected a Character or two to the exclusion of the others, you may want to leave them behind. The Exp and Magic Points are plentiful in Kefka's Tower, so if you've neglected a lot of Characters, it's a good place to help them catch up.

The two most popular choices for a second Character to leave behind are Gau and Gogo. Gau is incredibly powerful if you put effort into his Rages and get him some good gear, but as this is a time-consuming requirement, many players do not bother. His uncontrollable nature when using Rage can also be a problem for the same reason as Umaro. Gogo, on the other hand, is an infinitely flexible Character that can do almost anything. His lack is in Attributes. Like Umaro, Gogo can't equip Espers and therefore cannot benefit from level up bonuses. He too may have been left behind by your other characters, depending on how you've played the game.

Once you've chosen your participants, you'll need to arrange them into parties. I recommend balancing physical and magic damage, and making sure each party has at least one and preferably two competent healers. Kefka's Tower throws a very wide variety of Monsters at you, and you'll want to be prepared for anything. Of course, when all else fails, Magic is always an option (Umaro notwithstanding).

Gear and Espers

There are two basic strategies you can follow when it comes to assigning Weapons, Armor, Relics, and Espers. You can try to balance all of your equipment between all 12 party members, or you can change gear every time you switch parties. The latter option is obviously more effective, though it's time consuming and goes against the spirit of the game to some degree. Trying to split your considerable arsenal among the triple the usual combatants is a lot of fun to a certain type of RPG fan. Even if you don't swap gear, though, you may consider swapping Espers. You'll be very limited in what a given party member can learn when 11 other Espers are in use rather than 3, and that can be frustrating.

Remember that you can Warp out of Kefka's Tower at any time (you can also have any party grab the crane moving between the starting points), so if your setup isn't working, leave and try a new one. Level up or teach Characters Spells if you need to. Visit any locations you may have skipped. Before long, you'll have three strong parties ready to go.