If you are reading this, you are either using Gau and want a little more information on how to use him correctly or you just got him and you want to get an idea of how he works. Or maybe you think: "Gau is crap. Why am I even using him!?" and then you notice there is an achievement called King of Beasts on the card (get all 253 Rages). Or maybe you are a returning fan and you are sick of using Stray Cat and want a new use for him. Whatever the reason, the Gau Bible is here for you.

After completing the game 5 times now, I used Sabin almost religiously. However, of the 5 playthroughs, I only did Gau once. At the time though (it was my 3rd playthrough), I didn't fully grasp his usefulness and I mostly abused Stray Cat (Catscratch) and Tyrannosaur (Meteor). It wasn't until I bought this version, started using him more and used the knowledge of Stat Maxing I got from my 4th playthrough. Eventually, I came to the revelation of his usefulness when I brought him to the Magitek Facility and plowed through all the formations with 2 Rages. It was then I really started to enjoy playing around with Gau and figure out everything I could about his mechanics. Eventually I was able to beat all the major bosses of the game with Gau's assistance or Gau just flat out wrecks the enemy single handedly.

If used correctly, Gau can be one of the most adaptative and brutal characters in the game. His Rages have multiple advantages:

• Some have access to attacks that you don't have at that point in the game, whether it would be from Magicite, Dances, or Lores. There are some attacks you have NO means of accessing and are exclusive only to him.
  
• They can carry Elemental and Status Defenses for tricky monsters.
  
• They can offer effects that can either hinder or greatly benefit Gau.

Although there are weaknesses, such as some rendering him Undead or making him more vulnerable to Fire. However, you can easily adapt with the correct Rage choices, put up safeguards through equipment, or use alternatives to maintain them in battle (eg. Death or Poison can heal Undead or you can utilise absorptions as an alternative to heal). If you want to be a Gau player, you will also need to have some general idea on which Rage does what and their general strengths and weaknesses. With 253 Rages in this game, this can definitely be troublesome to some players, especially those starting out or even late game when your Rage Menu gets massive and full of options.

I will warn you that this guide is not only for those who wish to acquire all 253 Rages, but it will also be more centralised on using Gau in actual combat and enjoying it rather than seeing him as a tedious chore to complete. If you wish to play to collect the Rages, you can still use this guide, follow the Walkthrough and use the provided checklist in the Appendix section. However, I suggest you still give a Gau a try when you can, even if you must use his OP Rages to do so. The guide's length is both a side effect of being thorough and to prevent 20 questions from being asked later.

Also, if see any mistakes or have any suggestions to improve the quality of this guide, post them in the Comments section. This guide is indeed massive and it is a lot easier when multiple eyes pick up on mistakes.

On an off note, I call this the Gau Bible because I refer to him as God Emperor Gau and his teammates are nothing more than his disciples or librarians; smiting those who dare challenge the presence of the one, true God.

If you notice in my Attacks section and my videos that my font for the game is different from yours, this is because I changed the font to Book Antiqua Bold. You can download the font file and instructions to replace it here.

Finally, I am aware that there is a Pixel Remaster, GBA and SNES versions of this game. Although this guide was originally written for the Steam/iOS version of this game, you may use this guide to assist you with the other ports. Note that the enemy and item names are those of the non-SNES ports, so you may need to consider that. I also have no desire to purchase the Pixel Remaster of this game, but you may feel free to use the strategies and information to help you tailor Gau. You have my permission to link this guide on the discussions or the Guides section of that board, provided you mention who wrote it. I will not tolerate this guide being copied word per word and then posted in the Guide section.

In Sabin's Scenario, you will eventually have to face a series of Opinicus Fish and a Rhizopas boss. After surviving the encounter and washing up ashore in The Veldt, Gau will appear. You can name him whatever and he runs off to the Veldt Badlands.

The overworld theme will then change to Wild West while you wander the Veldt. The enemies you face will consist of previously encountered enemies and their formations (mechanics will be further explained in the Veldt Batlle Formations seection), including Surrounded and Pincer Attack formations. These also include enemies in areas are no longer accessible, such as the enemies on the Phantom Train or World of Balance World Map when you are in the World of Ruin.

When you slay all the enemies, there is a chance Gau will appear (See the Leap portion of the next section for more details). He will then say he is hungry and wants food. If you attack him by any means, he will Run Away. You will need to purchase Dried Meat from the town nearby and then feed it to him. When you select the Dried Meat from the Item command's menu, you will need to press the Select button (Tab on keyboard or Back button on Xbox Controllers by default) so that you can target Gau, since he is classified as an enemy.


Once fed, he will join your party permanently. You will then get a brief tutorial from an Imp on how to use Rage and Leap. You can then head to Crescent Mountain or stay and get some Rages. I recommend doing the latter as his starting Rage pool doesn't have much to offer.

Once you done with the Split Scenarios, you can easily get back to the Veldt at any time before acquiring the Airship. Doing so helps if you plan on bringing Gau to Zozo or the Magitek Research Facility. The con is it is a massive hike there and back.

• From Narshe, go south and go through the South Figaro Cave
  
• On the other side, go through Mount Kolts
  
• Go back into the Returner's Hideout and head to where the Raft was, then jump onboard. Take the shortest route possible.
  
• After the raft ride, you will be at the Old Man's House where you started Sabin's Scenario. Head to the Phantom Forest
  
• Take the path you took to get through to where the Phantom Train was and you will end up at the other side
  
• Travel to Baren Falls then jump off again. You will then be back in the Veldt
  
• If you wish to return, go through Serpent's Trench and hitch a ride in Nikeah to South Figaro. In South Figaro, a man will help you sneak out of the occupied city and you will be back on the world map again.

In order to get Gau back, you need the Falcon and at least 1 other character already acquired (Gogo, Mog and Terra are the easiest to acquire and require the least amount of work) or you fly to Kefka's Tower, split your 4 party members across the 3 teams, then re-enter the ship. Either way, you can then switch party members around if there is at least 1 person below deck. With a blank slot in your team, wander around the Veldt and Gau will have a chance to return after a battle. You will not need Dried Meat this time.

Outside of Magic and being under Berserk, Gau cannot directly attack enemies. He must "attack" through the Rage ability. When you select Rage, a list of monsters will then appear, made up of all the Rages that you have learned. You simply select a monster, confirm it on Gau and you are done.

Once Gau commits to the first attack, he will then enter a Rage state and begin getting the Rage's side effects: The side effects are:

• Purple, rising bubbles emit from Gau's head
  
• Any elemental resistances and weaknesses the monster has, provided Gau's gear doesn't overwrite them (see the Stats and Raising Gau section).
  
• Any automatic status effects, be they positive or negative the monster had, provided Gau's Relics don't make him immune to them (see Rages with Benefits section).
  
• Gau's typing will change to that of the monster. For example, if the monster was Undead, then Gau becomes Undead (see Rages with Curses section).
  
• Any status immunities the monster has. However, this will not remove any statuses Gau has beforehand if he becomes immune (eg. Intagir is Silenceproof and Gau enters the Rage with Silence, Gau will still be Silenced and he cannot cast Transfusion until cured of it).

Each turn, Gau can either do a standard attack or a special ability associated with the Rage. Each has an equal 50% chance of being executed. Some abilities are on the enemy's attack or Confuse card (eg. Wyvern using Cyclonic or Behemoth using Meteor), while others are completely foreign to them and don't exist (eg. Cirpius using Hastega or Io using Flare Star).

Once he starts Raging, the player forfeits complete control of Gau and he will attack on his own with random targeting when his ATB gauge fills. His targeting will work as follows:

• All attacks and special attacks that deal damage will be targeted at a random monster, regardless of Auto effects like Reflect or resistances.
  
• If the attack has the option to attack all targets, there is a chance he will do so.
  
• If the special involves buffing or healing, he will use these on random allies regardless of status. Cure-based spells also have a chance to be cast on your entire team.
  
• If Gau has been hit with Entice or Zombie, targeting is reversed towards your teammates. Confusion has no effect on Gau's targeting.
  
• If Gau is under Berserk, then he will still have a chance to use the special attack, even if it is Magic-based. Gau's physical power will still be amplified by Berserk's effects.
  
• If Gau is Silenced and the Rage's special is Magic-based (costs MP if standard cast) and isn't a Mog Dance move, then Gau will not use it and just attack normally until Silence is removed.
  
• If Gau has turned into an Imp, then not only will Gau be unable to use any special attack outside of Dance attacks or Special Physicals but his physical power gets reduced. Luckily, most Rages are Impproof.
  
• If Gau has been hit with Overture and either him or another party member attacks the caster with a standard or an amplified physical Special, then the attack will be redirected towards Gau. The effect lasts until Overture is cast on someone else or the caster or target are killed.

The Rage continues until either Gau is KO'd, Petrified or the battle has ended. Upon KO or Petrify, all the benefits and negative effects the Rage bestows will be negated and Gau will return to normal typing if he was Undead. When Gau is restored, you can then control Gau again and either repick the Rage, do a different one or do different commands.

A helpful strategy to temporarily shut down Rage attacking in boss fights is attempt to Run Away. While running away, Gau will not fight back and will run away every chance he gets, but he will still maintain their benefits and disadvantages. This is a helpful strategy against bosses like Angler Whelk or Chadarnook who's weak spot disappears and reappears. Be warned! This affects all party members as well, so make sure you are in good standing status and HP wise before you apply the leash.

There are 253 possible Rages in the game, all with their own combination of powers and defenses. The player will need to ascertain which Rages are good for which purpose based on:

• The skill the Rage has a chance of doing
  
• The enemies in play.
  
• The attacks the enemies are capable of
  
• The positive and negative effects of the Rage
  
• The equipment and stats of Gau himself.

In the World of Ruin, you will eventually meet Gogo the Mime. Gogo can have his command card set to whatever you wish and he can Rage like Gau. The difference with Gogo doing it is he can equip weapons (Flails, most Daggers and Rods) and certain armors that Gau cannot use himself. Gogo can also team up with Gau to do 2 different Rages at the same time and Gogo's Rage selection is the same as Gau's. See the Raging with Gogo section for more details.

To learn new Rages, Gau has to use the Leap command, which is only available in the Veldt. When Gau Leaps, he will be temporarily removed from the party and the battle will end in a draw. Leap cannot be selected under the following conditions:

• He is the only character on the team
  
• The rest of his teammates are under a combination of KO, Petrify or Zombie.
  
• If he is under an effect that forfeits control like Confuse, Berserk, Zombie, Entice or already Raging.

Afterwards, there is a 5/8 chance at the end of every battle that Gau isn't there that he will return. After a few seconds, Gau will then say a few things and then he will rejoin your party again. If you attack him by accident during his speech, he will run off and you will have to repeat the process until he returns. Note that Gau will not return if:

• The battle started off with you Surrounded
  
• The battle started off or ends in an Ambush.
  
• You surround the enemy yourself.
  
• You run away.
  
• If you replace Gau with someone else from your party to make it a party of 4.
  
• Factoring in all conditions, the formation has a maximum of 6 enemies

When Gau rejoins your party, he will learn the Rages of the monsters that are learnable from the fight he Leaped and the battle he rejoins you, factoring in original combatants in both. He will not learn Rages from any monsters that appeared in between the fight he Leaped and the fight he comes back and any monsters where he leaped and returns that don't have Rage entries. If you whacked Gau by accident, the fight he appears in is void and doesn't count.

It is wise to make sure that you spare the last monster in battles in the event any allies are under Berserk of Zombie. Purge the effects or put the character under Stop or KO them if you cannot remove it. If you fail to do so, there is a chance Gau will return and your Berserked character may attack him, forcing him to flee and you lose potential Rages.

Say you enter this hypothetical battle, in this case it is 2 Vector Hounds and a Commander. It is a fight from Locke's scenario.
And let's slay you end up slaying both Vector Hounds, then you cast Leap.

Then, after a few battles, Gau returns after defeating this party, a Valeor and a WIld Rat (Although Gau is here, I am using this battle as a hypothetical example).

Gau will learn the Rages for the Vector Hound (since they originally participated), Commander, Valeor AND Wild Rat if he has previously not done so and you can use them in future battles.

In either Leap or Rejoin scenarios, you will not get drops, Bestiary information, Gil or AP from either battles. However, you will keep any stolen or morphed items earned in battle.

As you accumulate more Rages, you will find your Rage menu can get incredibly cluttered. This can be not only an incredible turn off. but it can quickly turn into a disadvantage when you are playing with Gau on the Active ATB setting. You can end up taking damage or even killed trying to find the Rage you wan or eat up a large amount of time on Wait. As time goes on and you use Gau more and more, you will get more comfortable with the menu and you can alleviate the disadvantages. Here are some tips I have found while dealing with the menu:

• When the battle starts, analyze the combatants and immediately decide a Rage before Gau or Gogo's AT guage fills. This will save on browsing time.
  
• If you are at the top of your list, you can press Up to go to the bottom instantly. Make sure you browse for your Rages carefully so you don't overshoot the one you want.
  
• Figure out patterns between their locations. For instance, General and Guard Leader and Covert all hang out together. Io and Baalzephon will always appear near the bottom of the list, etc.
  
• Set your Cursor to Memory. This will save the last selection you made for the next battle and will also keep your current position if you need to back out of the menu and see whats going on. Note that Gau and Gogo have separate selections when using Memory.
  
• If your time is set on Active and you see attacks going off, have someone stall for time by using a long animation attack, general commands or heal spells while you find the Rage you need.
  
• Consider picking a Rage for the attack and not for the side effects if necessary. Just make sure you know that Rage's strengths and weaknesses when you select it.
  
• If you are about to face a Boss and your cursor is set to Memory, you can use a normal encounter to get the Rage you will use against that boss ready. That way, the moment the gauge fills in the boss fight, you can Rage immediately.

The Master Rage List is as follows (attack in parentheses):

The two empty slots are Siegfried (Flare) and Typhon (Tornado), but they are omitted as they never appear in the Veldt. Although you can learn them with a save file hack, they do not count towards the Master of Beasts achievement.

After Io (Flare Star) is also Tonberries (Knife). Although you can enable the bit for this Rage and they do appear in the Veldt, they will not be added to your selection in battle. If they could, it would be the game's most fatal Physical Rage (Attack x8, Garm's status immunities and absorbs Water).

The reason for this is all your Rages are stored in memory in a 255 Bit array (Bit 0 is Guard to Bit 255 is Io). When you learn a Rage, that bit will be flagged as 1 in memory and the Rage becomes available in the menu. Tonberries unfortunately takes up Bit 256, which is outside the bounds of the array. The game will give you Master of Beasts if your current Rage variable and the variable for the complete Rage list is the same [Current List & Finished List == 1 (And operation returns true)].

The way the Veldt handles encounters are both fixed and random. All formations are stored in memory and are split up across 64 groups. The game will start by picking a random Group number and selecting a battle formation at random from within that group, provided that the player has encountered at least one formation in that group. The game will then go to the next group when you end the current battle (run, win, Leap or reclaim Gau) and pick another encounter from the next available group. If you haven't encountered anything in said group and/or the group is completely empty, the group is skipped and it will keep skipping until a non-empty group is encountered or it reaches Group 64. At Group 64, it will return to Group 1 and repeat the process from the start.

In order for the formation to be available, it must be encountered and the outcome must be:

• You are victorious by any means.
  
• You escape or all hands get ejected
  
• You get defeated but you don't get a Game Over (eg. dying to Heavy Armor in Locke Scenario).

Despite the randomness of the Group selection and the sequential flow of the Group rotations, there are methods to manipulate these mechanics in your favor. These 2 methods will greatly assist you in getting the Rages you want with minimal headaches and downtime.

If you Normal Save and reload the game in this version, it will completely randomize the Group location and you won't know what Group until you enter battle. This can be both a blessing or a curse. It is helpful when you want to skip a large number of Groups as it can potentially make huge leaps in a short time, However, you may end up moving as small as 1 group or completely skip your intended targets. Only do this method if you are either doing King of Beasts and the enemies you are missing are clumped together or if you don't want to cycle through 50 battles again just to get to 1 enemy.

However, if you reload from a Quick Save in this version, the next fight will always be the same. The game will save your Group location and current selected battle formation everytime. You can manipulate your current Group's outcome by "rerolling it" with the following method:

• Quick-Save at the Group with the formation you want, then reload the save.
  
• Enter battle in Veldt. If the enemy isnt what you want, kill the game (Alt-F4) and run the game again.
  
• Reload your Quick Save and do a battle either in Bomb Forest (WoB) or Cave on the Veldt (WoR), then Quick Save after.
  
• Reload your Quick Save and fly back or walk out to Veldt. When you enter battle, you will find your current Group is the same, but it will random a new formation (At most 1/8 chance it won't)
  
• Repeat the process until the desired formation appears.

The Quick Save Method is also helpful if you released Gau into the Veldt and you want him to come back on the current Group and pack you are facing. The steps are the same but you don't refresh the Group. You simply do your battle in the Veldt. When you are victorious, check to see if Gau comes back. If Gau doesn't return, kill the game and reload your Quick Save and keep trying until he returns. Just note the conditions of his return as stated in the Leap mechanics.

If you have to slug it through the Veldt, either because the Group you need is close by or you are just here for Gil and AP farming, then here are some helpful tricks to help accelerate the grind:

• Edgar is the ultimate Veldt companion. The Auto-Crossbow, Flash and Chainsaw tools will allow you to plow through all the weak enemies without fuss, MP, or long animations. Use Auto-Crossbow if you built Strength or Flash if you built Magic. Chainsaw is for enemies you can instant kill.
  
• Sabin is another solid choice. Rising Phoenix regardless of Magic Power can plow through most of the early enemies. Higher up the list you can use Razor Gale and Phantom Rush if your hands are fast enough and your Magic Power is high. If you did Physical, Raging Fist is effective against single targets later down the cue.
  
• Strago's Grand Delta is also a swift, decent move at dispatching more tougher enemies in the Veldt where you think Auto-Crossbow or Sabin's multi target Blitzes will fail. However, this is collected rather late, but it serves you well when you want to get King of Beasts at the end game. You may need to also slow down at some points to steal MP from your enemies via Osmose. Try to Osmose enemies that have MP 0 = Death effects (see Rages with Curses).
  
• If you have the Scrolls and decent Magic Power, Shadow can throw these to swifly eliminate enemies. Just make sure you factor in Elemental Resistances when tossing these. You may also need to purchase many scrolls for this. Shuriken and Fuma Shuriken are also effective against high health targets.
  
• Gogo can be specced to meet the above commands at any time, but you will have to put up with his low stats, which may make using Tools or even Throws and Lores not as effective as the actual character doing them could.
  
• Some Rages can help swiftly cut through the weaker enemies just as effectively with minimal animation time. Make sure you factor in resistances if you use an elemental attack and have a backup attack ready if you fail to roll the Special Attack. Examples include:
  
  • Guard Leader or Covert (Wind Slash)
    
  • Marchosias or Sprinter (Aero)
    
  • Ninja (Water Scroll)
    
  • Lesser Lopros (Fireball)
    
  • Kamui (Snowstorm)
    
  • Great Behemoth or Tyrannosaur (Meteor)
    
  • Yojimbo (Shock)
• Do not use attacks and spells with long animations and/or large MP consumption without Celestraids such as Ultima, Espers, some of Strago's Lores, Cyan's Tempest and Master's Scroll offense.You will be wasting MP and seconds on something that Auto-Crossbow could have killed just as efficiently. If an enemy has more than 10000 HP, then use multiple characters to focus attack, resort to Crowd Control like Petrify and Death or arm a Genji Glove on a character and do a simple Attack with 2 weapons.
  
• Wear an Alarm Ring on 1 character. This will prevent back attacks and getting surrounded so that you can waste enemies efficiently and have Gau return sooner. Be warned: This will not stop forced Surrounded like the Spitfires and 2 Tyrannosaurs.
  
• Do not use the following while in the Veldt, as you may accidentally hit Gau or take longer than usual:
  
  • Jump
    
  • Mog's Dance
    
  • Umaro (never bring him, period!)
    
  • Rage on Gogo
    
  • Ward Bangle or Molulu's Charm
• Do not attempt to find Rages with the following Level conditions. These can mess up your rhythm:
  
  • Divisible by 3 with no Confuseproofing
    
  • Divisible by 4 or your Gil's one digit without high health.
    
  • Divisible by 5 with no Deathproofing.
• Make sure Gau and his teammates have Zombieproofing via Amulet or Ribbon. Some enemies apply Zombie and that can be the end of you in some cases.
  
• Try to limit the groups you face so that you get better draws in each Group and try to get groups that have a larger diversity. For example, Stray Cat, Aeopynris and Nettlehoppers together is 3 Rages on leap. If you want to keep your list small, try to aim with groups with less diversities. Like if you just wanted Stray Cat, but you didn't want Nettlehopper or Aepyornis, you can aim for the 3 Stray Cats together. Note that some enemies only appear in one formation and are unavoidable (eg. Gold Bear always spawns with an Acrophies).
  
• The Monster-In-A-Box group or ones with good weapons worth Stealing like Holy Dragon are worth slaying as they drop their items again. This is helpful for making extra currency, getting helpful items (eg. Satellite drops Green Beret at beginning or Behemoth King dropping more Suits) and even ammo for Shadow's Throw (Holy Lances, Sasuke, etc.).

• Silver Lobo
  
• 2 Silver Lobo
  
• 2 Guard
  
• 2 Foper, Urok
  
• 2 Silver Lobo, Guard Leader
  
• 2 Hornet, 3 Foper
  
• Leaf Bunny
  
• 2 Leaf Bunny, Darkwind

• 2 Leaf Bunny, 2 Darkwind
  
• Sand Ray, 3 Alacran
  
• 2 Sand Ray
  
• 3 Alacran
  
• Sand Ray, 2 Alacran
  
• 2 Hornet
  
• 3 Were Rat
  
• Hornet, 2 Urok

• 2 Gorgias
  
• Megalodoth, Silver Lobo
  
• 3 Urok
  
• Belmodar
  
• Belmodar, 2 Mu
  
• 2 Mu, Unseelie
  
• Belmodar, Unseelie, 2 Mu
  
• 2 Unseelie

• 4 Mu
  
• 2 Imperial Soldier, Magitek Armor
  
• Bandit, Spritzer
  
• Magitek Armor
  
• Trillium, Gorgias, 2 Cirpius
  
• 3 Cirpius
  
• 2 Trillium
  
• Gorgias, 3 Cirpius

• 2 Zaghrem
  
• Zaghrem, Trillium, 2 Spritzer
  
• 2 Magitek Armor
  
• 2 Lesser Lopros
  
• 2 Zombie Dragon
  
• Nautiloid, Exocite, Lesser Lopros
  
• Nautiloid, Exocite
  
• Lessor Lopros, 2 Exocite

• Empty
  
• Silver Lobo, 2 Guard
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• WereRat, Bandit
  
• 2 WereRat
  
• 2 Doberman
  
• 3 Actinian

• Empty
  
• 3 Stray Cat
  
• 2 Nettlehopper, 2 Stray Cat
  
• 3 Nettlehopper
  
• 5 Chippirabbit
  
• Aepyornis
  
• 2 Aepyornis, Stray Cat
  
• Aepyornis, 2 Chippirabbit

• 3 Chippirabbit
  
• Aepyornis, Stray Cat, 2 Nettlehopper
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Satellite, 4 Imperial Soldiers*
  
• 3 Doberman
  
• Empty

* - Fight starts with lone Satellite, spawns reinforcements later

• Heavy Armor
  
• Ghost
  
• 3 Ghost
  
• 3 Actinian, 2 Aspiran
  
• Ghost, 2 Poplium
  
• 2 Ghost, 3 Poplium
  
• 2 Angel Whsiper, Cloud
  
• 2 Spritzer

• 2 Bomb, 2 Cloud
  
• 2 Lich, 2 Provoker
  
• 4 Angel Whisper
  
• 2 Oversoul
  
• 3 Bomb
  
• Bomb
  
• Oversoul, 2 Living Dead
  
• Empty

• Angel Whisper, Living Dead, 2 Cloud
  
• Angel Whisper, 3 Cloud
  
• Anguiform
  
• 2 Anguiform
  
• 2 Guard, 2 Megalodoth
  
• 3 Living Dead
  
• Anguiform, Actinian, Aspiran
  
• Hell's Rider

• Heavy Armor, 2 Corporal
  
• Fidor, Corporal
  
• Angel Whisper
  
• 4 Corporal
  
• Hunting Hound, 2 Corporal
  
• Fossil Dragon
  
• 2 Bloodfang
  
• Paraladia, Iron Fist, Vulture

• 2 Iron Fist, 2 Rock Wasp
  
• 2 Bloodfang, Vulture
  
• 2 Paraladia, 3 Rock Wasp
  
• 2 Vulture
  
• Vulture, Iron Fist
  
• 4 Rock Wasp
  
• Hill Gigas
  
• Crawler

• 4 Gobbledygook
  
• Veil Dancer
  
• Veil Dancer, 3 Gobbledygook
  
• Harvester
  
• Veil Dancer, 2 Harvester
  
• Harvester, 2 Gobbledygook
  
• Hill Gigas, Harvester
  
• Magna Roader (Purple)

• Goetia, 2 Stunner
  
• 2 Goetia, 3 Stunner
  
• 4 Crawler
  
• 2 Belzecue, 2 Sergeant
  
• 2 Belzecue, Sergeant
  
• Magna Roader (Purple), Magna Roader (Red)
  
• 3 Trapper
  
• 2 General

• General, 2 Onion Knight
  
• 4 Onion Knight
  
• Chaser, 3 Trappers*
  
• Chaser, 3 Onion Knight
  
• Lenergia
  
• 3 Commanders
  
• Death Warden**
  
• Empty

* - Trappers spawn when Chaser is slain
** - You need to face this enemy in the Soul Shrine in order for this to be flagged correctly

• 2 Lukhavi
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Baalzephon, Murussu*
  
• Empty
  
• 3 Desert Hare
  
• Bomb

* - Soul Shrine exclusive.

• 6 Bomb
  
• Io
  
• 3 Cancer
  
• 2 Fossil Dragon
  
• Fossil Dragon, 3 Bug
  
• 3 Bug
  
• 6 Bug
  
• 2 Don

• 2 Wvyern, Don
  
• Don, Wyvern, 2 Litwor Chicken
  
• 3 Grasswyrm
  
• Don, Joker
  
• 3 Joker
  
• 5 Litwor Chicken
  
• Zombie Dragon
  
• Zombie Dragon, 2 Outcast

• 3 Outcast
  
• 2 Provoker
  
• 3 Antares
  
• Antares, Lich, Provoker
  
• 3 Lich
  
• 3 Imperial Elite
  
• 3 Balloon
  
• 6 Balloon

• Briareus
  
• Chimera
  
• Devourer, Briareus
  
• 3 Devourer
  
• Adamankary, 2 Bonnacon
  
• 2 Adamankary
  
• 5 Bonnacon
  
• 3 Mandrake

• Mandrake, 2 Land Grillon
  
• 2 Venobennu
  
• Gigantos
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• 2 Gigantos*
  
• 2 Sky Armor, Spitfire

* - Soul Shrine Exclusive

• Sky Armor, Spit Fire
  
• Behemoth
  
• Apocrypha, 2 Misfit
  
• Apocrypha
  
• 2 Ninja
  
• 3 Platinum Dragon
  
• 3 Apocrypha
  
• 2 Brainpan, Misfit, Apocrypha

• 3 Brainpan
  
• Dragon
  
• Behemoth, 2 Misfit
  
• 2 Behemoth
  
• 2 Ninja, Platinum Dragon
  
• Grenade
  
• Chimera, 2 Devourer
  
• 2 Briareus

• 2 Peeper
  
• 3 Peeper
  
• 2 Peeper, Land Ray
  
• Black Dragon
  
• Daedalus, Ahriman
  
• 2 Fafnir
  
• 4 Fafnir
  
• Killer Mantis, Fafnir

• 2 Killer Mantis, Fafnir
  
• Murussu, 2 Gigantoad
  
• Rukh, Luna Wolf
  
• 2 Luna Wolf
  
• Rukh, Murussu, Gigantoad
  
• Cherry, 2 Ahriman
  
• 3 Ahriman
  
• 2 Zokka, Nightwalker

• Empty
  
• 3 Scorpion
  
• Intangir
  
• 4 Nightwalker
  
• 2 Vector Chimera
  
• Devoahan
  
• Devoahan, 2 Delta Beetle
  
• 2 Vampire Thorn, Lizard

• 2 Vampire Thorn
  
• 4 Delta Beetle
  
• 2 Vampire Thorn, Delta Beetle
  
• Devoahan, Lizard
  
• 2 Cancer, 2 Desert Hare
  
• Cactuar
  
• 2 Sandhorse
  
• Sandhorse, 2 Cancer

• Oceanus
  
• Oceanus, 3 Desert Hare
  
• 2 Fiend Dragon
  
• Landworm
  
• 3 Humpty
  
• Cruller, 2 Humpty
  
• 4 Humpty
  
• 2 Neck Hunter

• Neck Hunter, Cruller, 2 Humpty
  
• Dante
  
• 3 Dropper
  
• 3 Tonberries*
  
• Marchosias
  
• Slag Worm
  
• Marchosias, 2 Deepeye
  
• 2 Bogy

* - Although appears in Veldt, Leap will not give you Tonberries Rage

• 5 Deepeye
  
• 2 Deepeye, 2 Mousse
  
• 3 Mousse
  
• Mousse
  
• 2 Borghese
  
• Borghese, 2 Cloudwraith
  
• Skeletal Horror
  
• Cloudwraith

• Cloudwraith, 2 Exoray
  
• 3 Exoray
  
• Malboro, Exoray
  
• Malboro
  
• Empty
  
• Tonberry
  
• 4 Knotty
  
• Illuyankas, Tzakmaqiel

• Tzakmaqiel, 3 Knotty
  
• 3 Illuyankas
  
• 2 Anemone, Onion Dasher
  
• 4 Anemone
  
• Illuyankas, 2 Onion Dasher
  
• 3 Luridan
  
• 2 Punisher, Devilfist
  
• Glasya Labolas

• Glasya Labolas, Mugbear, Devil Fist
  
• Mugbear
  
• 6 Luridan
  
• Mugbear, Punisher
  
• Twinscythe
  
• 2 Twinscythe
  
• Gorgimera
  
• 4 Vector Lythos*

* - The Vector Lythos will be stacked on top of each other

• Primeval Dragon, Great Malboro
  
• 3 Garm
  
• Test Rider
  
• 2 Garm, Lukhavi
  
• 3 Wizard
  
• 2 Wizard, 3 Psychos
  
• 2 Garm, 2 Psychos
  
• 6 Psychos

• 2 Magna Roader (Yellow), Magna Roader (Brown)
  
• Magna Roader (Yellow), 2 Magna Roader (Brown)
  
• 2 Primeval Dragon
  
• Empty
  
• 2 Blade Dancer, 2 Crusher
  
• 2 Cakadrius, Coeurl Cat, 2 Crusher
  
• 2 Caladrius
  
• Blade Dancer, 4 Coeurl Cat

• 2 Misty
  
• 3 Rafflesia
  
• Still Life
  
• 2 Aspidochelon
  
• Mahadeva
  
• Aspidochelon, Moonform, Creature
  
• 3 Moonform
  
• Moonform, 3 Medusa Chicken

• Sorath, Warlock, Creature
  
• 2 Sorath
  
• Warlock, 2 Medusa Chicken, 2 Creature
  
• Great Behemoth, 2 Vector Lythos
  
• Fiend Dragon
  
• 2 Devil
  
• Devil, Figaro Lizard
  
• 2 Lunatys, 2 Figaro Lizard

• Lunatys
  
• Armored Weapon
  
• 2 Enuo
  
• Enuo, Devil, Figaro Lizard
  
• 4 Lunatys
  
• 2 Al Jabr
  
• 2 Al Jabr, Samurai
  
• 2 Pluto Armor

• Coco, Alluring Rider
  
• Pluto Armor, Schmidt
  
• 3 Parasite, Weredragon
  
• Alluring Rider, 3 Pandora
  
• Weredragon
  
• Coco, Samurai, Suriander
  
• Suriander, Pandora, 2 Parasite
  
• 3 Crawler

• 2 Tyrannosaur*
  
• Tyrannosaur
  
• Brachiosaur**
  
• Sprinter, Greater Mantis, 2 Lycaon
  
• 4 Leap Frog
  
• 2 Greater Mantis
  
• Leap Frog, 2 Basilisk
  
• 4 Tumbleweed

* - This battle is forced Surrounded. Gau will not return to you here,
** - Be aware this enemy has a 33% chance every 3rd attack to Snort. If your team gets completely Snorted, the battle is lost.

• 2 Sprinter, 2 Lycaon
  
• Great Behemoth, Great Malboro, Vector Lythos
  
• 3 Great Malboro
  
• Vasegiatta
  
• Vasegiatta, Purusa
  
• Purusa, Gloomwind
  
• 3 Gloomwind
  
• Empty

• 2 Face
  
• 3 Clymenus
  
• Face, 2 Necromancer, Zeveak
  
• 2 Clymenus, Necromancer
  
• 5 Seaflower
  
• Ouroboros, 2 Seaflower
  
• Chaos Dragon, Ouroboros, 2 Seaflower
  
• 2 Chaos Dragon, Galypdes

• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• 2 Kamui
  
• Covert, Kamui
  
• 2 Wartpuck
  
• 2 Shambling Corpse
  
• 2 Covert, Amduscias
  
• Amduscias, Baalzephon

• 2 Baalzephon, 2 Shambling Corpse
  
• Wartpuck, Kamui
  
• Empty
  
• 2 Magic Urn
  
• 6 Flan*
  
• 4 Flan
  
• Empty
  
• Empty

* - Flans come down in groups. Gau will not return in this battle.

• 2 Destroyer
  
• 2 Lenergias, Destroyer
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty

• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• 2 Vector Hound, Commander
  
• 2 Vector Hound
  
• Cartagra, 2 Acrophies

• Gold Bear, Acrophies
  
• 3 Cartagra
  
• 2 Acrophies
  
• 2 Darkside
  
• Darkside, Specter, 3 Eukaryote
  
• Valeor, Wild Rat
  
• 3 Valeor
  
• 2 Valeor, 3 Wild Rat

Nothing. This group is skipped

• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• InnoSent, Fortis
  
• 2 Fortis
  
• Empty
  
• 2 Duel Armor, Death Machine
  
• Gamma

• 3 InnoSent
  
• 3 Junk
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Proto Armor, 2 Onion Knight
  
• 5 Onion Knight
  
• 2 Magna Roader (Purple)
  
• 4 Magna Roader (Red)

• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• 2 Templar, 2 Imperial Soldier
  
• 4 Balloon
  
• 2 Imperial Soldier
  
• Death Machine, 4 Metal Hitman
  
• 3 Metal Hitman
  
• Fortis, Duel Armor

• 4 Sergeant
  
• Empty
  
• Sergeant
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty

• Behemoth King (Undead)*
  
• 2 Dark Force
  
• 2 Yojimbo, Dark Force
  
• Demon Knight, Yojimbo
  
• 2 Outsider, Cherry
  
• 3 Mover
  
• Muud Suud
  
• 2 Daedalus

* - Does not spawn in this version. Learn from Group 57 (see note)

Nothing. These 2 groups are skipped

• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Behemoth King*
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty

* - This is the living one. In order to learn the Undead Rage, you must Leap after you kill the living one. Drops spare Behemoth Suits to help wager at Coliseum for Snow Scarves.

Nothing. These 3 groups are skipped.

• Empty
  
• Holy Dragon*
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Empty
  
• Cherry, 2 Outsider, Dark Force**
  
• Empty

* - Will not drop spare Holy Lances, but they can be stolen along with X-Potions.
** - Soul Shrine Exclusive

Nothing. These 3 groups are skipped

If you plan on using Gau regularly for the game, you must get an understanding of how you want to use Gau. Either a Physical Gau (Strength-based) or Magic Gau (Magic-based). By default Gau has:

• 45 HP at Level 1. Ends with 9793 HP at 99.
  
• 10 MP at Level 1. Ends with 971 at 99
  
• 44 Strength
  
• 38 Speed
  
• 36 Stamina
  
• 34 Magic

The stats are pretty above Average compared to the other characters, but you will need to use your Espers and level ups wisely to improve his performance. The best method for controlled leveling is to figure out the average XP of the monsters in your area, then about 1-2 battles left, immediately switch in the Esper you want to use. If two people or more are fighting over the same Esper, either kill the others in battle and let that person level up or give him a +1 Variant.

As of the Advance port, Gau cannot use the Merit Award, which allowed him to equip weapons and any items that were mostly forbidden to him, so you can no longer do the Wind God Gau or Fixed Dice Catscratch setups. However, this doesn't stop you from tempering Gau to fit your needs.

Note that there are times where Level Averaging takes place and if Gau is less than the level average, he will automatically be set to that level, skipping stat ups in the process. The points in the game this happens are as follows:

• You first get him. It will take the average level + 2 and set that to Gau.
  
• After the Magitek Facility
  
• After the events in Thamasa
  
• When you reclaim him in the World of Ruin for the first time

You can circumvent these Level Averaging points by having Gau leap in the Veldt when you hit these points. While in the Veldt, he is omitted from Level Averaging. This will allow you to keep Gau's level low so you can milk more level ups for stat maxing or for LLP challenges.

Determines how much damage Gau can withstand before getting slain, This caps at 9999.

Raised by:

• Siren (+10%/level)
  
• Catoblepas (+10%/level)
  
• Midgardsormr (+30%/level)
  
• Bahamut (+50%/level)
  
• Diablos (+100%/level)
  
• Green Beret (+1/8th Max HP, Helmet)
  
• Muscle Belt (+50% Max HP, Relic)
  
• Red Cap (+25% Max HP, +3 Speed, +2 Stamina, +4 Strength, Helmet)
  
• Dueling Mask (+6 All Stats, +25% Max HP, +50% resist All, Helmet)

Siren, Catoblepas and the Green Beret are your only means of raising this in World of Balance.

When you are able to strike down Deathgaze, you get the superior Bahamut Magicite, about 3 levels of this and your HP should be 9999 at 99. However, you should also factor in the Red Cap and Dueling Mask into the equation as both can easily get you to 9999 without even raising HP at all.

Determines how many spells Gau can cast when he isn't Raging or outside of battle. This stat caps at 999.

Raised by:

• Phantom (+10%/level)
  
• Fenrir (+30%/level)
  
• Crusader (+50%/level)

To be honest, you don't need this stat to be maxed on anyone. Osmose already does a good job of restoring MP, Ethers become easier to acquire in the World of Ruin and the Gold Hairpin or Celestriad can reduce MP costs. The only time Gau should use MP is if Rages aren't a good idea (like Skull Dragon in Dragon's Den) or to heal outside of battle and you want to save the MP for your other teammates.

This will be factored alongside Gau's level to determine how much damage Gau's normal attack or his amplified physicals like Catscratch, Gouge or Growl do.The higher the number, the more damage dealt. This stat caps at 255.

Raised by:

• Ifrit (+1/level)
  
• Bismarck (+2/level)
  
• Raiden (+2/level)
  
• Gilgamesh (+2/level)
  
• Hyper Wrist (+50% Strength, Relic)
  
• Twist Headband(+1 Speed, +2, Stamina, +3 Strength, Helmet)
  
• Tiger Mask (+1 Speed, +2, Stamina, +3 Strength, Helmet)
  
• Circlet (+4 Magic, +1 Speed, +3 Stamina, +2 Strength, Helmet)
  
• Red Cap (+25% Max HP, +3 Speed, +2 Stamina, +4 Strength, Helmet)
  
• Dueling Mask (+6 All Stats, +25% Max HP, +50% resist All, Helmet)

You don't get to buff Strength until the Magitek Facility. Once you get Ifrit you can begin to do so, but try to save it for when you escape as Bismarck becomes available as it doubles Ifrit's effect. Later, you can get Gilgamesh from the Coliseum and upgrade Odin to Raiden. Both will help if another person is competing for Strength alongside Gau.

As your Strength builds up and gets closer to max, you will begin to start doing 9999 more and more, even without the aid of Stray Cat or Gold Bear and their high multipliers. This allows you to open more options for Gau. Although there are many (Attack x1.5) Rages, some of them either have absorptions and status defenses that can be beneficial (more covered in Physical Attacks section).

For items, there are some good ones that can make Gau pack an extra punch. The Hyper Wrist may sound nice, but the Hero's Ring does a better job by buffing both Physical and Magic attacks in 1 slot. The Twist Headband is good if you plan on bringing him to the Magitek Facility, but with enemies there packing 180 to 220 Defense, even Catscratch won't put a dent. Once you get past that dungeon, it becomes useful.

Once you get access to Thamasa or you pull off a Rare Steal on Dons, you can get yourself a Tiger Mask, which is the ultimate Stray Cat and Gold Bear support helmet you will get. Once you get the Snow Scarf, you can freely move the Red Cap to someone else if needed and wear the Tiger Mask all the time or get a Circlet to maintain balance.

The Red Cap is a nice solid choice but you only get 2 of them in the game. As stated above, the Tiger Mask with Snow Scarf gives you the option of freeing up a Red Cap slot.

Once you get access the Dragon's Den, the Dueling Mask can be collected or you can get one earlier by gambling the Bone Wrist if you don't like Umaro. Once you acquire it, it is the ultimate equipment for him. So use that!


This stat increases the amount of damage and healing Gau does if he uses a Magic-based Rage from both the non-elemental and elemental schools. Note that Fixed Damage attacks and status effects will not gain bonuses when this rises. This stat caps at 255, but the game will stop registering anything past 127 for damage calculations.

Raised by:

• Cait Sith (+1/level)
  
• Maduin (+1/level)
  
• Zona Seeker (+2/level)
  
• Valigarmanda (+2/level)
  
• Barrier Ring (+2 Magic, Relic)
  
• Circlet (+4 Magic, +1 Speed, +3 Stamina, +2 Strength, Helmet)
  
• Dueliing Mask (+6 All Stats, +25% Max HP, Helmet, +50% Resist All, Helmet)

Although there isn't much that can buff Magic outside of Magicite, what makes Magic Power good in this game is it has a larger influence on offense than Strength does on physicals. Gau's Magic Rages also gives him more adaptability at the cost of more planning.

However, as your Magic Power rises, your spells will get close to 9999. Much like Strength, this opens up options as you can even use downgraded versions of your elements (eg. using Templar or Devil Fist over Primeval Dragon for Fire) and still do max damage.

You should try to hold off on leveling Magic until you get the Airship, which is when you can purchase Zona Seeker at the Auction House. Use him to level Magic in the World of Balance and add on Valigarmanda to prevent competition between characters.

The Barrier Ring isn't worth blowing a Relic Slot over. Until you get the Dueling Mask, the Circlet will be the ultimate Magic bonus item.

This stat increases the amount of damage and healing you take from Sap and Regen ticks. It also provides resistance to Instant Death style attacks. The higher the number, the more you take and heal while Death works less often. Deathproofing can easily be done via Rages and Safety Bits.

Raised By:

• Ramuh (+1/level)
  
• Golem (+2/level)
  
• Lakshmi (+2/level)
  
• Leviathan (+2/level)
  
• Power Sash (+1 Speed, +5 Speed and Stamina, Armor)
  
• Twist Headband(+1 Speed, +2, Stamina, +3 Strength, Helmet)
  
• Tiger Mask (+1 Speed, +2, Stamina, +3 Strength, Helmet)
  
• Circlet (+4 Magic, +1 Speed, +3 Stamina, +2 Strength, Helmet)
  
• Dueling Mask (+6 All Stats, +25% Max HP, Helmet, +50% resist All, Helmet)

To be honest, Stamina is sort of the moot stat in the group. Although you can buff it and utilize Auto-Regen to a more potent effect, the ticks don't happen too frequently and Regen is designed to be a support buff and not the means to fully restore HP. There is a reason White Wind and the Cure line are much better at healing.

If you must use it, Golem can add a few levels and you get that after the Magitek Facility from the Auction House. Lakshmi and Leviathan can prevent competition amongst your teammates.

However, the same helmets that buff your other stats can be used to make Stamina better. The Power Sash also helps you in the World of Balance where Regen is a great addon. Use those instead.


Speed determines how fast his ATB guage charges or how fast his menu rises before you can select a command or he uses his Rage move. At high values, you can rely on Haste less, fight through Slow if necessary and you get better chances at getting your Specials faster (since you make more commands in less time).

Raised by

• Odin (+1/level)
  
• Cactuar (+2/level)
  
• Ninja Gear (+2 Speed, Armor)
  
• Power Sash (+1 Speed, +5 Speed and Stamina, Armor)
  
• Black Cowl (+6 Speed, Armor)
  
• Mirage Vest (+6 Speed, Auto-Blink, Armor)
  
• Twist Headband(+1 Speed, +2, Stamina, +3 Strength, Helmet)
  
• Tiger Mask (+1 Speed, +2, Stamina, +3 Strength, Helmet)
  
• Circlet (+4 Magic, +1 Speed, +3 Stamina, +2 Strength, Helmet)
  
• Red Cap (+25% Max HP, +3 Speed, +2 Stamina, +4 Strength, Helmet)
  
• Dueling Mask (+6 All Stats, +25% Max HP, +50% resist All, Helmetl)

Espers do not raise Speed until the World of Ruin. Odin should stay as Odin until you acquire the Cactuar Magicite from the Desert. Once you do, upgrade Odin to Raiden and use Cactuar instead. Even +1 speed is better than nothing and has a great influence in attacking with Gau.

Equipment truly assists Gau with Speed. There are a large variety of helmets to choose from until you get the Dueling Mask with Red Cap providing the best boost to Speed for the Helmet Slot. However, you only get 2 of these legitimately in the entire game (Kefka's Tower and Mount Zozo).

If you don't need the Snow Scarf, there are plenty of effective Speed increases on Chest Armor. You can strip Shadow of the Ninja Gear before he leaves your party in the Sabin Scenario to get things going. This armor also lasts a very long time, going as far as the Cave of the Sealed Gate.

Later, the Power Sash will allow Gau to dominate the World of Balance once Thamasa's Armory opens to you. In the World of Ruin, you can easily purchase a Black Cowl until you start getting a supply of Thornlets going (be it steal or Morph) to gamble for the Mirage Vest, which adds the added effect of Image status at the start.


As the game progresses, Gau will acquire more Rages and sadly, some although powerful come with hindering elemental weaknesses. This can be a major downer in some battles. For example, you are facing the Red Dragon, but you want to use Baalzephon (Blizzaga) but it has a Fire weakness, or you want to use Aspiran (Gigavolt) against Ninja but it takes double from Flame Scrolls and Cloud (Thundara) won't cut it.

This is where Armor and Shields come into play. Some equipment pieces can provide these resistances, which can give you tactical options and overcome deficits. For instance, a Flame Shield on Baalzephon can now have Gau absorb all but Holy and strike back with Blizzaga or using the Gaia Gear can safely deploy Litwor Chicken (Quake) without the need of Float.

Elemental Resistances are handled in the following order:
Force Field Cancellation > Absorption > Immunity > Resist (50%) > Weakness > Normal

For instance, if you wear a the Snow Scarf and use Killer Mantis (weak against Fire), it will now nullify Fire and absorb Ice as the Immunity overwrites Weakness. If Strago then casts Force Field (makes it so 1 element on the field does 0 damage) and it applies the effect to Ice, then the Snow Scarf's absorption will heal 0.

Being able to work with elemental resistances is vital to both Gau and your allies, especially if you are fighting tough bosses or doing Low Level Playthroughs (LLP).

Resistances from Shields

• Force Shield (Resists Fire, Ice, Lightning, Water, Earth and Wind)
  
• Flame Shield (Absorbs Fire, Immune to Ice, Water Weakness)
  
• Ice Shield (Absorbs Ice, Nullifies Fire, Wind weakness)
  
• Thunder Shield (Absorbs Lightning, Nullfies Wind, Resists Fire and Ice)
  
• Aegis Shield (Can randomly block spells)
  
• Tortoise Shield (Absorbs Water)
  
• Paladin Shield (Absorbs Fire, Ice, Lightning, Holy, Nullfies Poison, Wind, Earth and Water)

The Force, Aegis and Paladin's Shields help but it is only available in limited quantities and is better served on Gau's support than Gau himself. But if you are doing Solo Gau challenges, then they are Godsends until you get the Dueling Mask.

The Flame and Ice Shield are entirely situational but you need to be aware of those weaknesses, especially if you fight any Casters, Ninja, the final bosses and Samurai Soul and low levels. You can also Metamorph Chimera and the Bomb genus into Flame Shields, then gamble them at the Coliseum for the Ice counterparts.

The Thunder Shield is a nice solid Shield that can give you good defenses, available in mass quantities (you find 2 legitimately, you can steal extra from Muud Suud and sacrifice your Genji Gloves or Gauntlets at the Dragon Neck Coliseum for spares), and can fix a lot of pesky weaknesses, especially since it covers the 3 major schools and Wind.

The Tortoise Shield should only ever be used in emergencies or when you you are facing a dominant Water attacker. But there are a few Rages that absorb Water anyways and fight back with a completely different attack or spell (especially Anemone and Aspiran who have a Lightning attack).

If you rely on swapping equipment. Make sure Gau has at least access to the 3 elemental Shields (Flame, Ice and Thunder) so he can equip them on the fly and I recommend always having a Thunder Shield or Genji Shield on him (Genji is no resistances but highest Evasion and Defense stats behind Paladin and Imp wielding Tortoise).


Resistances from Helmet

• Saucer (Absorbs Water)
  
• Dueling Mask (+6 All Stats, +25% Max HP, +50% resist All, Helmetl)

The Saucer is probably the safest Imp equipment item you can wear without heavily penalizing your defenses, as shields and armor make up about 80-90% of your Defense stats. If you need to face off against a dangerous Water-elemental attacker, here is your helmet. You should spare 1 anyways for the Cat Ear Hood at the Coliseum.

Once you get the Dueling Mask, it becomes the Best in Slot for Gau as it will overwrite any weaknesses, plus offer many benefits. Gau may not be able to equip weapons, but the sheer strength of the Dueling Mask is definitely not to be underestimated.

Resistances from Chest Armor

• Gaia Gear (Absorbs Earth)
  
• Reed Cloak (Absorbs Water)
  
• Snow Scarf (Absorbs Ice, Nullfies Fire)

The Gaia Gear helps in the World of Balance as it allows you to make Lifeshaver work in reverse (big time screw overs for the Misfit genus) and will allow you to deploy Litwor Chicken (Quake) without fear of harming your team or reapplying Float. Cyan and Edgar cannot wear this armor without the aid of the Merit Award.

The Reed Cloak isn't worth using unless you are an Imp as most of your character's armor stats are determined by the Chest piece. If you need Water absorb badly, either use a Water absorbing Rage, Tortoise Shield or Saucer.

The Snow Scarf is Gau's ultimate chest armor. It provides high amounts of Defense (128) and Magic Defense (90) while having a permanent Ice Shield without the Water downside. Some of the best Magic based Rage attacks (Blizzaga, Bio, Metal Cutter, Meteor, etc.) suffer from these weaknesses primarily and this Armor cancels them both. Also, if Gau is in the back Row, he will most likely take 0 damage from any physical attack.

The only cost is one of the Behemoth Suits you get from the Behemoth King boss. Once you defeat him and he appears in the Veldt, you can acquire more.

Some Rages come with various status immunities, usually associated with the Monster that had them. Some protect against very little (eg. Stray Cat or Gold Bear), while others protect you from a lot of different negative effects (eg. Tyrannosaur or Holy Dragon) and some sadly cost you some benefits as well (eg. Chimera cannot be made Invisible and anyone who resists Slow cannot be Hasted).

Relics can provide Gau with immunities to compensate for these deficits, especially you plan on doing a Strength based Gau and you get virtually no protection from status effects, unless you use Bogy (Stoneproofing, Auto-Protect, Attack x2) or Garm (large status defense pool, Attack x1.5, Holy Weakness).

• Silver Spectackes (Blind)
  
• Star Pendant (Poison)
  
• Jeweled Ring (Petrify)
  
• Fairy Ring (Poison, Blind)
  
• Peace Ring (Berserk, Confusion)
  
• Amulet (Blind, Poison, Zombie)
  
• White Cape (Imp, Silence)
  
• Ribbon (Blind, Zombie, Poison, Imp, Petrify, Silence, Berserk, Confuse, Sap, Sleep)
  
• Safety Bit (Zombie, Petrify, Doom, Death, Gravity-based Attacks)

Everything Peace Ring onward you definitely want to have. The Peace Ring is nice for blocking Confusion, but Berserk is a helpful effect for Gau since it increases Physical damage and Gau can still use Special abilities as Rage acts independently from that effect. The only reason you want defenses against these 2 is so you dont get slammed by these effects before you Rage.

White Cape is also extremely helpful as both those effects hamper Gau's combat effectiveness. Imp prevents Gau from using any special abilities except for Wind Slash and Imp, while reducing his stats to a natural state. Silence will prevent Gau from using any Special Abilitiy that would normally cost MP for your characters or the monster to cast. Luckily, most Rages are immune to both these things, but some are not and you can still enter a Silenceproof Rage under Silence.

Amulet protects against 2 annoyances (Poison and Blind) and a very dangerous one called Zombie. Not only does Gau flagged as Dead, but while Zombie, he will use Rage specials on your own teammates. This can be extremely dangerous if you rely heavily on Rages like Marchosias or Sprinter (Aero), Antares (Magnitude 8), Tyrannosaur (Meteor) or Yojimbo (Shock). If Gau does get Zombified, immediately purify him or just always wear an Amulet and ignore the issue.

Safety Bit is your only method of stopping instant death moves and it also stops Gravity based attacks like Shamshir and Cyclonic from ripping Gau to critical levels. However, there are only 2 legit Safety Bits that can be acquired and 1 has to be rare stolen. To compensate for this, you can use Ragnarok on any jester enemy (Clymenus, Baalzephon and their Level 60 and 90 Magic counterparts), Holy Dragon or Alluring Rider and have a 1/32 chance of making a Safety Bit if it succeeds. I recommend using Holy Dragon to make spares as you can Silence it to render it helpless, steal a X-Potion and it always appears at the end of the Group Cycle (always after Behemoth King).

The Ribbon protects you from all major harmful effects. Make sure you have at least a Ribbon at all times. You get 3 throughout the course of the main game from chests, a few more in the Dragon's Den and you can make more by using Ragnarok on any Woman Caster (Coco, Misty, Cherry and Level 80 Magic) or Pandora in the Dreamscape. Like the Safety Bit, it has a 1/32 chance of yielding one.

Be warned! Some effects cannot be stopped, such as Entice, Freeze, Physical Death (Yojimbo's Eye For an Eye, Great Malboro's Infernal Kiss, etc.). You may also want to consider the monster's status immunities so you can spread around your Relics as well.


The Hero's Ring can buff all of Gau's damage by 25% after calculations. This is especially handy since even Gau's Magic rages still have a chance to physically strike instead. You can also get one as early as your trip to Zozo (inside pot at Dragon Neck House).

The Miracle Shoes can bestow Gau with Auto-Haste, Protect, Shell and Regen all in 1 Relic slot. You not only get to make more commands quickly, but you get Slowproofing, cut most damage in half and getting constant healing. Be aware that Regen becomes Sap when Gau goes Undead Rages.

The Alarm Earring prevents your team from being Back Attacked or Surrounded by most formations. This can be incredibly helpful if you are Solo Gau or LLP.

If you do not have Mog with you, Gau can use the Ward Bangle (earned from maximum performance at Vector dinner) to cut down the encounter rate by half. This can be incredibly helpful if you are not using Mog or maintaing a LLP. Just remember you still need to encounter enemies to make them appear in the Veldt at least.

The Genji Glove will still let Gau attack twice, but it will come at the cost of the Shield slot and Defense. If you use a Rage that has an amplified or status inducing physical, then the attack will be done twice. However, I recommend getting at least the Snow Scarf and Dueling Mask or applying Protect to compensate for the armor loss.

The Master's Scroll allows Gau to attack 4 times back to back but at the cost of random targeting and 50% strength each hit. This effect also applies to amplified or status inducing physicals. It does stack with the Genji Gloves, but you sacrifice a lot of potential Status Immunity (unless you use Garm) and your Shield slot to do so. I would recommend you pick one or the other and just stick with that, but as stated above: Compensate for the weakness.

After you acquire Gogo, he can be outfitted with the Rage command. This is helpful for a few scenarios:

• If Gau is specced for Physical and has poor Magic or vice versa.
  
• You are in Phoenix Cave, Dragon's Den and Kefka's Tower, where you cant have Gau be in 3 places at once.
  
• Gau and Gogo are together and you think 2 Rages are better than 1. Eg: You can have 1 go Peeper or Vector Lythos (White Wind) while the other attacks or both do Tyrannosaur (Meteor) or Yojimbo (Shock) to deal untold devastation.

Gogo, at the cost of Stats and being unable to use Magicite has two definite advantages: He can equip weapons and use any Command setup for battle. This is also helpful as some characters, like Locke can be difficult to reacquire at the early parts in World of Ruin.

Being able to equip weapons along with the Rage command can have benefits. For instance, if you use the Flame Rod and attack, all your physicals and Special Physicals will do Fire elemental damage and there is a chance either of these attacks will set off a Fira on the enemy you attacked. Resistances still apply, so you can potentially do double damage to enemies through weakness or spell your doom through their absorptions or buffs like Auto-Reflect. On top of this, Special attack multipliers stack onto the triggered spells. So if you use Stray Cat's Catscratch on a Poison Rod and smack Yojimbo with it, you will do 8x damage (Attack x 4 (Catscratch multiplier) x 2 (Poison weakness) and the Poison that is triggered will also do 8x damage thanks to the same multipliers, for a total of 16x across 2 hits in 1 attack!


Unlike Gau, there is a chance Gogo can use his Desperation Attack (or Blitz) if his health meets the criteria at any time. The attack is called Punishing Meteor (pictured above). It has a Spell Power of 146 and deals unavoidable, Defense-ignoring Magic damage to 1 enemy. If this attack is done upon initialization of a Rage, it will count as the start of the Rage. Punishing Meteor can override an attack or special ability at any time during the Rage if the criteria is met afterwards. Gogo will not use Punishing Meteor if under Zombie, Vanish, Image or doesn't have the Attack Command equipped before battle.

Note: For the sake of simplicity, I will use the Knives at the World of Ruin.
Daggers

• Man-Eater (146 Attack, Double vs Humans)
  
• Swordbreaker (164 Attack, 30% Evasion)
  
• Gladius (204 Attack, Holy-elemental)

The Man-Eater has potential against women casters, Ninja, Samurai, Dancers and some of the final bosses as it will do double damage to these enemies. However, the Man Eater can be turned on you if Gogo gets Confused, Enticed or Overtured. Some Rages will overwrite the Human typing but it won't protect you from harming your allies.

The Swordbreaker (bought in Maranda or bet Assassin's Dagger) is a helpful knife as it does reliable damage and it stacks on a 30% Evasion bonus, making it the Main Gauche for the World of Ruin. This should be your Bread and Butter knife for non-elemental Strength Gogos or enemies who rely on heavy physical offense by stacking with a Shield.

The Gladius can cause untold devastation to anything Undead or fearing Holy Power. Although the Holy Rod can potentially outdamage this knife when the spell triggers, this only happens 25% of the time where as the Gladius always does it's full damage on hit. There are also times using the Gladius overall trumps the Holy Rod. Examples are if the enemy has Reflect, high Magic Defenses, you are using Runic or if the enemy has a counter to Magic attacks.


Staves and Maces

• Mythril Rod (60 Attack, +2 Magic)
  
• Flame Rod (79 Attack, Fire-Elemental, 25% chance to cast Fira)
  
• Ice Rod (79 Attack, Ice-Elemental, 25% chance to cast Blizzara)
  
• Thunder Rod (79 Attack, Lightning-Elemental, 25% chance to cast Thundara)
  
• Poison Rod (86 Attack, Poison-Elemental, 25% chance to cast Poison)
  
• Punisher (111 Attack, consumes MP for Auto-Critical)
  
• Gravity Rod (120 Attack, Earth-Elemental, 25% chance to cast Graviga)
  
• Holy Rod (124 Attack, Holy Elemental, 25% chance to cast Holy)
  
• Magus Rod (158 Attack, +7 Magic, +30% Magic Evasion)
  
• Healing Rod (200 Attack, Heals target and damages Undead)
  
• Scorpion Tail (225 Attack, Poison Elemental, 25% chance of casting Bio, +4 All Stats, Ignores Row Configuration)

The Flame, Ice, Thunder, Gravity, Holy and Poison Rods may have low damage, but when they strike the weakness, they can be as fatal as any weapon you can find in the World of Ruin. Gravity also has the added bonus of being able to strike a Float enemy for full damage if they aren't Earthproof. The spell effects can also be just as devastating as the staff strike itself if paired with high powered Phyiscal Rages like Stray Cat, Gold Bear or Bogy. One should capitalize off the Debilitator to open more options with these weapons. Just be aware that all these magic effects succumb to Runic, Reflect and will trigger counter conditions that involve Magic attacks. Gravity also fails on the target if the enemy is Deathproof.

The Swordbreaker outclasses the Punisher. The Healing Rod is better served for manual attacking, gambling in the Coliseum or damaging weak Undead. These two aren't worth equipping on Gogo.

The Magus Rod allows you to buff Magic by +7, which can let Gogo do Magic Rages should Gau be doing physical or worse Magic than Gogo. Plus, it is the magic version of the Swordbreaker, when you need Magic Evasion over Physical Evasion. By giving up the Healing Rod in the Coliseum, you can make a spares for your other characters.

His ultimate weapon, the Scorpion Tail is basically the Poison Rod on steroids and Gogo can sit in the Back Row and still do full damage. However, this weapon is ill advised against Undead or enemies resistant to Poison (which in the Dragon's Den and with Kaiser Dragon, are pretty frequent).

If you wish to have Gogo do physical based rages, have the following weapons at the ready in some fashion when you select Equip, then begin your Rage:

• Gladius
  
• Swordbreaker
  
• All elemental Rods
  
• Magus Rod
  
• Scorpion Tail

Gogo can also use various Magic bonus armor through the Magi Hats and Robes, which makes up for Gau's inability to use these items and instead buff Strength.

• Magus Hat (+5 Magic)
  
• Circlet (+4 Magic, +1 Speed, +3 Stamina, +2 Strength)
  
• Red Cap (+25% Maximum HP, +3 Speed, +2 Stamina, +4 Strength)
  
• Mirage Vest (+6 Speed, Image Status)
  
• Black Garb (+6 Speed)
  
• Magus Robe (+5 Magic)

The Magus Hat is outclassed by the Circlet when you get it as it gives you other stats at the cost of 1 Magic. The Black Garb is outclassed by the Mirage Vest as you get stacks of Blink at the cost of some Defense. The Magus Robe is the best Robe he can equip for Defense and 5 magic.

The Red Cap is arguably his best helmet here. Since it makes up for him unable to max out HP with Magicite. It also improves performance with Physical Rages against enemies.

However, Gogo will have to rely on Shields for elemental resistances as he cannot use the Snow Scarf. He can however wear the Gaia Gear for Earth protection.

Gogo benefits from the same Relic draw as Gau, plus he can use Ability modifier ones like the Fake Moustache and Brigand's Armlet.

Another potential Relic is the Gauntlet. This adds 5 Defense and forces Gogo to use the Daggers and Staves with 2 hands for double hitting power. But he will lose the Shield slot to do this.

Some Rages give buffs to Gau or Gogo when they enter the Rage. These buffs start applying after the first attack and are considered Auto effects. These effects cannot be removed or dispelled in any fashion with the execption of the Rage ending via Death or Petrify. If Gau or Gogo are targeted by Dispel or Rippler, the buff is immediately reapplied with the exception to Vanish, which is reapplied on the next attack. Knowing which Rages have these buffs is key for all playstyles, be they common or especially LLP or Solo Gau.

Glow Color (color the character's black edges flashes): Red.

• Harvester (Haste)
  
• Vector Hound (Bite)
  
• Intangir (Transfusion)
  
• Unseelie (Shell)
  
• Neck Hunter (Imp)
  
• Magna Roader (Red) (Silence)
  
• Outsider (Holy)
  
• Coco (Overture)
  
• Desert Hare (Cura)
  
• Devil Fist (Will O' The Wisp)
  
• Punisher (Thundaga)
  
• Magna Roader (Brown) (Level 4 Flare)

Increases the rate at which your ATB guage charges. In tandem with high speeds, this can allow Gau or Gogo to execute more attacks faster and have a better chance at getting Special attacks faster. Auto-Haste will help save on a Haste cast until you get Hastega from Queztalli, but this version can be dispelled by Slow or Dispel.

Also, while under Auto-Haste, you are completely Slowproof (even if the Rage isn't naturally Slowproof) and Stop wears off at half the speed, making up for the lack of Slowproof and Stopproof from equipment.

Another nice thing about Auto-Haste is that there is quite a nice spread of attacks here. You have a physical attacker, a healer, 3 very effective attack spells and an effective defense against both magic and physical attackers. Just note that when these enemies are fought, they also have Haste themselves.

You can mimic the same effect on all Rages if you wear Hermes' Sandals or Miracle Shoes. Try to aim for Miracle Shoes when you get Morphing going (morph the Veil Dancer genus) as this gives you Regen, Protect and Shell with it as well.


Glow Color: Yellow

• Templar (Fira)
  
• Magna Roader (Purple) (Bio)
  
• Zokka (Net)
  
• Cartagra (Poison Barb)
  
• Nautiloid (Ink)
  
• Magitek Armor (Magitek Laser)
  
• General (Cura)
  
• Destroyer (Reraise)
  
• Murussu (Stop)
  
• Devourer (Shell Slam)
  
• Heavy Armor (Magitek Laser)
  
• Intangir (Transfusion)
  
• Land Ray (Mighty Guard)
  
• Imperial Elite (Protect)
  
• Illuyankas (Gigavolt)
  
• Knotty (Stone)
  
• Bogy (Growl)
  
• Lukhavi (Snowstorm)
  
• Adamankary (Acid Rain)
  
• Platinum Dragon (Cyclonic)

Protect will cut any incoming physical damage in half. The buff helps against enemies with high physical potential either due to high attack stats or high multipliers for their Special attacks.

Quite a few nice Rages are blessed with Auto-Protect and most of them are effective at the early game (Fira and Cura) and even throughout the game (Reraise, Cyclonic, Acid Rain and especially Gigavolt). You can also scrap half of Stray Cat's power for Bogy's Growl if you want to physically harm enemies but want some defense. It maybe a small price to pay, but you will be thankful Auto-Protect is there.

You can also apply this effect with Protect or Mighty Guard, but these effects can be dispelled. Wearing the Guard Bracelet or Miracle Shoes also applies the same effect.


Glow Color: Green

• Exoray (Venomist)
  
• Intangir (Transfusion)
  
• Mousse (Transfusion)

Shell will cut any incoming magical damage in half. Which helps against abusers of high powered Black Magic, Lores or Enemy Abilities. However, note that some spells like Hyperdrive, Meteor or Ultima will pierce this effect and Magic Defense in general, so be ready for them.

The problem with this beneficial effect is that only 3 Rages have them and 2 of them have an attack that kills Gau. You can apply Silence before you Rage, but then you would just be mindlessly attacking. If you wanted to do this, you could have used Stray Cat, Gold Bear or Bogy.

Exoray is Undead and Venomist isn't exactly a worthwhile attack in the World of Ruin. However, if it gets struck with a Fire or Holy attack, then the weakness damage is set as if you took normal damage. This is a good point to consider if you are using a Rage that has a weakness to your attacker, you can null some of it off with Shell.

Shell can be applied by the spell, Zona Seeker or Mighty Guard but these can be dispelled. The Guard Bracelet, Miracle Shoes and Force Shield are your best bets at keeping Auto-Shell on at all times.


Glow Color: Blue

• Armored Weapon (Gravity Bomb)
  
• Flan (Sticky Goo)
  
• Lunatys (Meteor)
  
• Devil (Thundaga)
  
• Figaro Lizard (Dischord)
  
• Enuo (Tsunami)
  
• Clymenus (Fira)

Reflect causes any Reflectable spell (most known Magic and a few enemy skills) to bounce back and target the caster's team at random. It is also the only means of attacking someone who already has Reflect with Magic as you can bounce spells off your own Reflect to target them.

2 Rages really stand out here, Lunatys and Enuo. Not only do they have Auto-Reflect, but have an anti-Reflect spell with Meteor being able to pierce Magic Defenses for direct damage.

Just know this: You cannot heal someone under Reflect without using an enemy's Reflect or using White Wind. items, certain skills or exploit an absorb effect. Also as stated above, you cannot dispel this effect by any means outside of ending the Rage. You can achieve the same effect on Reflect Rings, but only do so if you do an area that relies heavily on Magic, like Cultist Tower.

Character hovers above ground.

• Ninja (Water Scroll)
  
• Al Jabr (Thundaga)
  
• Angel Whisper (Gravity)
  
• Lesser Lopros (Fireball)
  
• Fiend Dragon (Northern Cross)
  
• Darkwind (Break)
  
• Vulture (Shamshir)
  
• Vasegiatta (Cyclonic)
  
• Trapper (Level 3 Confuse)
  
• Hornet (Iron Stinger)
  
• Nettlehopper (Berserk)
  
• Satellite (Sonic Boom)
  
• Sky Armor (Magitek Laser)
  
• Spitfire (Magitek Laser)
  
• Spritzer (Blaze)
  
• Outcast (Lifeshaver)
  
• Humpty (Poison)
  
• Brainpan (1000 Needles)
  
• Harvester (Haste)
  
• Bomb (Blaze)
  
• Lunatys (Meteor)
  
• Mover (Meltdown)
  
• Aspiran (Gigavolt)
  
• Ghost (Thundara)
  
• Darkside (Blizzara)
  
• Joker (Thundara)
  
• Provoker (Imp)
  
• Cloudwraith (Flare)
  
• Cirpius (Hastega)
  
• Lenergia (Shamshir)
  
• Marchosias (Aero)
  
• Rock Wasp (Sleepsting)
  
• Grasswyrm (Berserk)
  
• Luridan (Rock Slide)
  
• Schmidt (Mega Berserk)
  
• Chaser (Plasma)
  
• Poplium (Cling)
  
• Intangir (Transfusion)
  
• Misfit (Lifeshaver)
  
• Grenade (Blaze)
  
• Pandora (Revenge Blast)
  
• Parasite (Gigavolt)
  
• Moonform (Flash Rain)
  
• Face (1000 Needles)
  
• Zeveak (Flash Rain)
  
• Caladrius (Acid Rain)
  
• Land Grillon (Wing Snap)
  
• Platinum Dragon (Cyclonic)
  
• Psychos (Lifeshaver)
  
• Balloon (Self-Destruct)
  
• Lich (Fira)
  
• Rukh (Shamshir)
  
• Bug (Stop)
  
• Galypdes (Cyclonic)
  
• Junk (Transfusion)
  
• Necromancer (Death)
  
• InnoSent (Venomist)
  
• Clymenus (Fira)
  
• Baalzephon (Blizzaga)
  
• Death Machine (Death)

Float prevents the target from taking Earth damage with the exception of the Gravity Rod or Lifeshaver. It doesn't seem like much, but you will find out quickly that Earth is a very dangerous and powerful element and some of it's best spell powers are over 100 and your learnable Earth attack spell harms both the enemy and your allies. Also, some bosses use 50 Gs to try and dispel it, but the Float Rages will just re-apply it right after the attempt. Another nice thing about Float is that it will stay on after battle except when a player uses a Tent or Inn, has it dispelled or gets KOed. However, the Float that applies after battle and before a Float Rage is not Auto and succumbs to 50 Gs or Dispels.

Quite a few enemies grace this list and some of them have attacks you need. Keep a mental note on these species if you rely on Gau or Gogo for Earth attacks. If you encounter any of these enemies, utilize a different weakness, primarily Fire, Ice or Wind affect these enemies.

You can also bestow Float through the spell, but this can be dispelled. You can also use the Angel Wings accessory to always have it or you can skip this altogether and wear Gaia Gear and absorb the attack, but the Defense value doesn't really protect you from everything else. Just remember: Float doesn't stop Lifeshaver, you need Earth absorption or immunity (Gaia Gear or any Rage that absorbs Earth (see Earth Defense)) to protect yourself from this move.


All but outline of character can be seen.

• Intangir (Transfusion)

Vanish helps against heavy physical abusers who have either no spells or have been sent into a mindless rage by Berserk. The Vanish effect is broken upon getting hit by a spell but Auto-Vanish will recharge once you attack.

However, the issue here is the Rage that has it. In order to keep Gau on the field, you have to apply Silence and then enter this Rage (it is Silenceproof), then you will always attack with a mass collection of buffs and full absorbs. But as I said before, you are better off using a Physical Rage instead of doing this and using Vanish as a spell when needed. Like Float, Vanish will stay until you use a Tent or dispel it via Magic or Dispel.

Note that this port's Vanish/Death has been fixed (A bug from the SNES version that allowed you to bypass Deathproofing by casting Death on a vanished target), so there is no more cheap instant kill strats that work on all enemies.

As with any Final Fantasy game, you must watch not only your HP and MP, but any negative effects that impair your characters. They can range from sheer annoyance to downright dangerous. Luckily, some Rages come with Status Immunities that are activated once Gau commits his first attack in that Rage. Some Rages have none and some have many defenses. Gau is also the only character who can get natural Stop and Slowproofing (outside of Auto-Haste items).

Note that status immunities will not cancel existing effects before entering them (eg. being Silenced when entering a Silenceproof Rage).You can also wear Relics that provide immunities and these effects will carry into the Rage.

While Raging, you should be aware of the following while choosing a Rage:

• KO (Death) - You can't fight back as you are dead. This is also a Game Over effect. If you are not immune to Death, you also succumb to the effects of Dischord, Doom and Gravity-based spells. Magical Death has no effect on Undead Rages.
  
• Petrify (Stone) - You can't fight back as you are a stone statue. This is also a Game Over effect.
  
• Zombie - Your Rage targeting is flipped (you heal enemies or damage your own team). This is also a Game Over effect.
  
• Stop - You are completely helpless for ~30 in game seconds. You cannot fight back and your Evasion stats are 0. If you are hit with Blaster, this attack will ignore Evasion. Only Rages can provide this immunity, Dispel can destroy it and Auto-Haste cuts the downtime by 1/2.
  
• Slow - Your speed builds up at half rate, which can make doing anything a chore. Only Rages and Auto-Haste can block this.
  
• Imp - Gau cannot use certain Special Attacks while an Imp. His attack and defense stats are also reduced to base, as if he has no equipment (exceptions are elemental and status resistances). Imp Equipment will maintain full power.
  
• Silence - If Gau's Special irequires MP if not cast through Rage (Magic, Lore or Enemy Skills that cost MP), then Gau will not be able to cast them. He will instead attack every turn unless the move is a Special Physical, Dance, Water Scroll or Shock.
  
• Sleep - Like Stop except can be broken if the target is physically attacked. Also wears off on own after a duration.
  
• Poison and Sap - Gau will take constant damage and it increases as the battle continues. Poison will continue after battle, but if Gau is Undead or absorbs Poison, Poison becomes Regen If weak against Poison, the damage is doubled per tick. Sap is non-elemental.
  
• Blind - If Gau relies on a Strength-based Rage like Gold Bear or Stray Cat, then he will have a harder time landing hits. He will also dodge less often.
  
• Confuse - Has no effect on Gau while Raging as he will always target the enemy. However, you cannot select a Rage if Gau is not raging under this effect.
  
• Berserk - Has no effect on Gau while Raging as he will always have a 50% chance to use his special ability, even if it is Magic. He gets the enhanced attack power bonus that comes with Berserk for his amplified physical Specials. However, this is undesirable effect before Gau rages.

There are also 3 effects that cannot be blocked regardless of what you do, but you must find a way to either work around them.

• Overture - If affected, any standard attack made against the Caster by anyone will be intercepted by the affected. This can be fatal for people who rely on Ultima Weapon/Valiant Knife combos.
  
• Frozen - Exactly like Stop except twice as long but can be dispelled by taking any Fire damage
  
• Entice - Basically Confusion but it cannot be dispelled until either the caster or the affected are killed by any means. This can be fatal for people who rely on the overpowered combos or spells like Ultima.

Key
X - Immune to that effect. For Death, it only applies to Magic based Death, not physical ones (eg. Yojimbo's Eye for an Eye). Will also factor in Auto abilities (eg. Auto-Haste cancels Slow).
U - (Death and Poison Only) If exposed to Death or Poison, it will heal instead (Poison becomes Regen and Death is a full HP recovery).
W - (Poison Only) If exposed to Poison, the damage output will be doubled due ot Poison weakness.
N - (Silence and Imp Only) Not immune but won't affect Gau's ability to cast the special attack associated with it.
A - Carries that effect once the Rage begins. Can be cancelled with immunity Relics.
No text - Without Relics, the Rage has no defense against that effect

Key
X - Immune to that effect. For Death, it only applies to Magic based Death, not physical ones (eg. Yojimbo's Eye for an Eye). Will also factor in Auto abilities (eg. Auto-Haste cancels Slow).
U - (Death and Poison Only) If exposed to Death or Poison, it will heal instead (Poison becomes Regen and Death is a full HP recovery).
W - (Poison Only) If exposed to Poison, the damage output will be doubled due ot Poison weakness.
N - (Silence and Imp Only) Not immune but won't affect Gau's ability to cast the special attack associated with it.
A - Carries that effect once the Rage begins. Can be cancelled with immunity Relics.
No text - Without Relics, the Rage has no defense against that effect

Key
X - Immune to that effect. For Death, it only applies to Magic based Death, not physical ones (eg. Yojimbo's Eye for an Eye). Will also factor in Auto abilities (eg. Auto-Haste cancels Slow).
U - (Death and Poison Only) If exposed to Death or Poison, it will heal instead (Poison becomes Regen and Death is a full HP recovery).
W - (Poison Only) If exposed to Poison, the damage output will be doubled due ot Poison weakness.
N - (Silence and Imp Only) Not immune but won't affect Gau's ability to cast the special attack associated with it.
A - Carries that effect once the Rage begins. Can be cancelled with immunity Relics.
No text - Without Relics, the Rage has no defense against that effect

Key
X - Immune to that effect. For Death, it only applies to Magic based Death, not physical ones (eg. Yojimbo's Eye for an Eye). Will also factor in Auto abilities (eg. Auto-Haste cancels Slow).
U - (Death and Poison Only) If exposed to Death or Poison, it will heal instead (Poison becomes Regen and Death is a full HP recovery).
W - (Poison Only) If exposed to Poison, the damage output will be doubled due ot Poison weakness.
N - (Silence and Imp Only) Not immune but won't affect Gau's ability to cast the special attack associated with it.
A - Carries that effect once the Rage begins. Can be cancelled with immunity Relics.
No text - Without Relics, the Rage has no defense against that effect

Key
X - Immune to that effect. For Death, it only applies to Magic based Death, not physical ones (eg. Yojimbo's Eye for an Eye). Will also factor in Auto abilities (eg. Auto-Haste cancels Slow).
U - (Death and Poison Only) If exposed to Death or Poison, it will heal instead (Poison becomes Regen and Death is a full HP recovery).
W - (Poison Only) If exposed to Poison, the damage output will be doubled due ot Poison weakness.
N - (Silence and Imp Only) Not immune but won't affect Gau's ability to cast the special attack associated with it.
A - Carries that effect once the Rage begins. Can be cancelled with immunity Relics.
No text - Without Relics, the Rage has no defense against that effect

Key
X - Immune to that effect. For Death, it only applies to Magic based Death, not physical ones (eg. Yojimbo's Eye for an Eye). Will also factor in Auto abilities (eg. Auto-Haste cancels Slow).
U - (Death and Poison Only) If exposed to Death or Poison, it will heal instead (Poison becomes Regen and Death is a full HP recovery).
W - (Poison Only) If exposed to Poison, the damage output will be doubled due ot Poison weakness.
N - (Silence and Imp Only) Not immune but won't affect Gau's ability to cast the special attack associated with it.
A - Carries that effect once the Rage begins. Can be cancelled with immunity Relics.
No text - Without Relics, the Rage has no defense against that effect

Key
X - Immune to that effect. For Death, it only applies to Magic based Death, not physical ones (eg. Yojimbo's Eye for an Eye). Will also factor in Auto abilities (eg. Auto-Haste cancels Slow).
U - (Death and Poison Only) If exposed to Death or Poison, it will heal instead (Poison becomes Regen and Death is a full HP recovery).
W - (Poison Only) If exposed to Poison, the damage output will be doubled due ot Poison weakness.
N - (Silence and Imp Only) Not immune but won't affect Gau's ability to cast the special attack associated with it.
A - Carries that effect once the Rage begins. Can be cancelled with immunity Relics.
No text - Without Relics, the Rage has no defense against that effect

Key
X - Immune to that effect. For Death, it only applies to Magic based Death, not physical ones (eg. Yojimbo's Eye for an Eye). Will also factor in Auto abilities (eg. Auto-Haste cancels Slow).
U - (Death and Poison Only) If exposed to Death or Poison, it will heal instead (Poison becomes Regen and Death is a full HP recovery).
W - (Poison Only) If exposed to Poison, the damage output will be doubled due ot Poison weakness.
N - (Silence and Imp Only) Not immune but won't affect Gau's ability to cast the special attack associated with it.
A - Carries that effect once the Rage begins. Can be cancelled with immunity Relics.
No text - Without Relics, the Rage has no defense against that effect

• As stated in the Key, take advantage of Relics to add more status immunities to your favorite attacks. For instance, Auto-Haste from Hermes' Sandals or Miracle Shoes can make you Slowproof and Ribbons can make ones like Stray Cat be more effective.
  
• If you want the status immunities but can't stand the associated attack (eg. Intangir), then apply Silence BEFORE Raging and make sure Gau isn't Silenceproof via Relics. However, you will end up forfeiting casts of Esuna as it will dispel the Silence effect. Some attacks ignore Silence checks (as stated by N or XN).
  
• As stated in Part 1, Deathproofing also makes you Doomproof and prevents Gravity effects and Dischord. If any enemies have access to these kind of attacks, take in a Deathproof one (Undead won't protect you from Dischord or Gravity).
  
• If an enemy is Deathproof but not Stoneproof, Break or Catoblepas will not affect you or the enemy, but Dread Gaze and Delta Attack will. You will get access to Dread Gaze via the Deepeye Rage, so you can exploit this for yourself.
  
• Note that if a Rage is Undead, Poison (if the Rage absorbs Poison) and Regen reverse effects. Sap is unaffected.

Just as there are positive effects, there are some negative ones. Some are a mere annoyance and can be fixed with a Ribbon or correct Relics, while others can drastically change the way you fight. A true Gau user must learn to either avoid these Rages or adapt to them if you desperately need to use them in battle.

• Borghese (Holy)
  
• Angel Whisper (Gravity)
  
• Oversoul (Will O' The Wisp)
  
• Skeletal Horror (Banish)
  
• Fossil Dragon (Sandstorm, doesn't absorb Poison)
  
• Vampire Thorn (Bio)
  
• Spritzer (Blaze, doesn't absorb Poison)
  
• Outcast (Lifeshaver)
  
• Humpty (Poison)
  
• Brainpan (1000 Needles)
  
• Cruller (Sticky Goo)
  
• Ghost (Thundara)
  
• Darkside (Blizzara, doesn't absorb Poison)
  
• Provoker (Imp)
  
• Cloudwraith (Flare)
  
• Mahadeva (Death)
  
• Behemoth King (Undead) (Firaga, weak against Poison)
  
• Zombie Dragon (Doom)
  
• Dragon (Revenge Blast, Deathproof, doesn't absorb Poison)
  
• Exoray (Venomist)
  
• Poplium (Cling)
  
• Misfit (Lifeshaver)
  
• Pandora (Revenge Blast)
  
• Moonform (Flash Rain)
  
• Specter (Fire)
  
• Living Dead (Osmose)
  
• Death Warden (Quake)
  
• Nightwalker (Drain)
  
• Aspidochelon (Landslide)
  
• Eukaryote (Fire)
  
• Dante (Level 3 Confuse, weak against Poison)
  
• Shambling Corpse (Thundaga, Deathproof)
  
• Lich (Fira)
  
• Necromancer (Death)
  
• Daedalus (Meltdown)

Undead Rages cause Gau or Gogo to take damage from healing items or Cure-based magic and instant kills them if they are hit with Life, Arise or Phoenix Downs. Regen also becomes like Sap status, making it difficult to summon Kirin and use Regen bestowing Relics. These effects apply to enemies as well. This can be a problem if you need to mass heal your team after a devastating attack. Also, most Undead Rages have a weakness to Holy or Fire to watch out for.

However, being Undead does have positives. For starters, most of them have large status defense pools. Most of them absorb Poison damage (turns Poison status into Regen as well). If targeted by Drain, Osmose or Lifeshaver, the effect is reversed; the target gets the healing and the caster takes the damage (limitations still apply, you cannot overshoot your Maximum HP or MP if you are the target and your enemy cannot drain more than what he has). Also, if they are targeted by magical Death spells (Death, Roulette (enemy only), countdown on Doom hits 0), the target is fully healed. If you need to heal an Undead Gau or Gogo, cast Bio or Death on them. Note that some Undead are Deathproof (Death will not heal them) and absorb Poison (Poison does normal damage instead, so be aware of these points when you start using Undead Rages.

Also note that these Death effects will still kill Gau, Gogo or the monster, bypassing Undead checks. Except for the first one (which you need to dodge or block the strike), these effects can be blocked by natural Deathproofing or Safety Bits.

• Physical Death attacks (Megaton Punch, Eye For An Eye, Rest's Repose, etc.)
  
• Oblivion Bushido
  
• Snare
  
• Banish
  
• Blaster
  
• Roulette if cast by Lore or Ahriman Rage
  
• Chainsaw and Air Anchor Tool
  
• 7-7-7 and 7-7-Bar slots
  
• Odin or Raiden Summon

Despite the Undead downsides, some of the Rages are quite effective. For instance, your earliest Holy user is Undead (Borghese) and 3 of them (Misfit, Outcast and Nightwalker) all have a spell that drains HP and heals the caster, which is the only other way outside of Bio and Death you can heal Undead. Plus, a lot of Undead in the World of Ruin utilize Death or Zombie style spells and you can have their positives turned against them with these Rages, especially if you use Borghese.

You can also make any Rage or any character Undead by having them equip the Lich Ring Relic.

• Guard (Critical)
  
• Imperial Soldier (Fire)
  
• Templar (Fira)
  
• Ninja (Water Scroll)
  
• Samurai (Lullaby)
  
• Borghese (Holy)
  
• Yojimbo (Shock)
  
• Cloud (Thundara)
  
• Misty (Cura)
  
• Al Jabr (Thundaga)
  
• Zaghrem (Stone)
  
• Dark Force (Tsunami)
  
• Commander (Break)
  
• Hell's Rider (Venomist)
  
• Onion Knight (Imp)
  
• Bandit (Self-Destruct)
  
• Harvester (Haste)
  
• Veil Dancer (Blizzara)
  
• Hill Gigas (Magnitude 8)
  
• Guard Leader (Wind Slash)
  
• Corporal (Swing)
  
• General (Cura)
  
• Covert (Wind Slash)
  
• Kamui (Snowstorm II)
  
• Warlock (Holy)
  
• Cherry (Holy)
  
• Joker (Thundara)
  
• Iron Fist (Stone)
  
• Test Rider (Flash Rain)
  
• Onion Dasher (Traveler)
  
• Neck Hunter (Imp)
  
• Alluring Rider (Doom)
  
• Blade Dancer (Osmose)
  
• Gigantos (Magnitude 8)
  
• Specter (Fire)
  
• Living Dead (Osmose)
  
• Death Warden (Quake)
  
• Outsider (Holy)
  
• Coco (Overture)
  
• Zeveak (Flash Rain)
  
• Demon Knight (Shockwave)
  
• Imperial Elite (Protect)
  
• Wizard (Gravity)
  
• Devil Fist (Will O' The Wisp)
  
• Sergeant (Reflect)
  
• Dante (Level 3 Confuse)
  
• Punisher (Thundaga)
  
• Gobbledygook (Vanish)
  
• Amduscias (Slowga)
  
• Valeor (Stone)
  
• Glasya Labolas (Revenge Blast)
  
• Clymenus (Fira)
  
• Baalzephon (Blizzaga)

Human is the base modifier for all your characters, several enemies and some bosses. This may seem harmless, but it can be an issue if any of your characters are using Man Eater knives and they get Confused, Enticed, Overtured or Zombified. The Man Eater does double damage to these kinds of enemies and can be pretty painful depending on the Strength stat that person has.

Any Rage not mentioned on this list will remove the Human modifier, allowing Gau and Gogo to take normal damage from these knives. But if you face these enemies in battle, consider equipping a Man Eater before going a Physical Rage on Gogo. Even some of the final bosses (Power, Magic, Rest, and Kefka himself) suffer from this Human typing. Note that Throwing the knife will still do double damage to these opponents and ignore Defense.

• Cloud (Thundara)
  
• Al Jabr (Thundaga)
  
• Misty (Cura)
  
• Apocrypha (Level 3 Confuse)
  
• Dark Force (Tsunami)
  
• Skeletal Horror (Banish)
  
• Fiend Dragon (Northern Cross)
  
• Vampire Thorn (Bio)
  
• Humpty (Poison)
  
• Brainpan (1000 Needles)
  
• Cruller (Sticky Goo)
  
• Still Life (Lullaby)
  
• Lunatys (Meteor)
  
• Magic Urn (Curaga)
  
• Mover (Meltdown)
  
• Sandhorse (Sandstorm)
  
• Warlock (Holy)
  
• Cherry (Holy)
  
• Devil (Thundaga)
  
• Cloudwraith (Flare)
  
• Mahadeva (Death)
  
• Dropper (Confuse)
  
• Test Rider (Flash Rain)
  
• Intangir (Transfusion)
  
• Misfit (Lifeshaver)
  
• Alluring Rider (Doom)
  
• Pandora (Revenge Blast)
  
• Blade Dancer (Osmose)
  
• Parasite (Gigavolt)
  
• Moonform (Flash Rain)
  
• Face (1000 Needles)
  
• Coco (Overture)
  
• Zeveak (Flash Rain)
  
• Nightwalker (Drain)
  
• Illuyankas (Gigavolt)
  
• Dante (Level 3 Confuse)
  
• Mousse (Transfusion)
  
• Shambling Corpse (Thundaga)
  
• Lich (Fira)
  
• Magna Roader (Yellow) (Haste)
  
• Amduscias (Slowga)
  
• Necromancer (Death)
  
• Clymenus (Fira)
  
• Baalzephon (Blizzaga)

Gau or Gogo while Raging as these enemies or facing said enemy in combat can be killed not only if their HP goes to 0, but if their MP is 0 as well. This effect also bypasses Deathproofing. This can be an issue if the enemy knows Rasp, Osmose, attacks like it or you accidentally do something like give an Ether to an Undead Gau or Gogo.

When Gau or Gogo don't have MP pools (pre-Zozo for Gau or if Gogo isn't using Magic or Lores on his command card), these Rages will not kill them. If you enter the Rage with 0 MP post-Zozo, then Gau or Gogo will immediately die once the Rage fires off an attack. Make sure you have at least 1 MP before you Rage.

The enemies affected by this often have tiny MP pools, so Rasp or Osmose become devastating tools against them. Be aware of the limits on both (low power and cannot exceed enemy MP or your own difference respectively).

• Zaghrem (Stone, Auto-Berserk)
  
• Angel Whisper (Gravity, Auto-Sap)
  
• Anguiform (Aqua Breath, Auto-Blind)
  
• Actinian (Clamp, Auto-Blind)
  
• Cruller (Sticky Goo, Auto-Blind, Auto-Poison (becomes Regen due to Poison absorption))
  
• Devoahan (Slowga, Auto-Sap)
  
• Darkside (Blizzara, Auto-Sap)
  
• Provoker (Imp, Auto-Sap)
  
• Cloudwraith (Flare, Auto-Sap)
  
• Peeper (White Wind, Auto-Sap)
  
• Dropper (Confuse, Auto-Sap)
  
• Enuo (Tsunami, Auto-Sap)
  
• Land Ray (Mighty Guard, Auto-Sap)
  
• Aspidochelon (Landslide, Auto-Sap)
  
• Black Dragon (Snowstorm II, Auto-Sap)
  
• Mandrake (Leech, Auto-Confuse)

These Rages (and their associated enemies) have these negative effects when entering the Rage. These effects also cannot be dispelled or cured by Esuna as they will just be reapplied again on the next hit. However, if you enter the Rage wearing equipment that renders you immune to said effect, it will be canceled upon entering the Rage. This is helpful primarily on Peeper until you get Vector Lythos for White Wind (who isn't under Sap).

Berserk and Confuse are ruled out as Berserk and Confuse do not hampering the targeting for Rages. However, Berserk is beneficial as this offers a 50% attack boost while you Rage, making users of Stray Cat, Bogy or Gold Bear more vicious. Note that some Rages become Berserkproof upon activation.

Auto-Sap is the one you should be worried about as you constantly lose HP at a rate, which is increased with Haste, high Stamina and over time. Auto-Blind can also be a problem because the Blind lingers after battle and it could make using other rages (especially if you rely on Anguiform early on or Actinian for the Water absorption) difficult to use. However, both attacks quickly get outclassed. Anguiform gets replaced by Chimera for Aqua Breath and Actinian already has Exocite to do damage and absorb Water.

• Samurai (Lullaby)
  
• Chimera (Aqua Breath)
  
• Holy Dragon (Holy)
  
• Tyrannosaur (Meteor)
  
• Rafflesia (Entice)
  
• Satellite (Sonic Boom)
  
• Armored Weapon (Gravity Bomb)
  
• Cactuar (1000 Needles)
  
• Still Life (Lullaby)
  
• Magic Urn (Curaga)
  
• Mover (Meltdown)
  
• Dropper (Confuse)
  
• Cancer (Esuna)
  
• Gamma (Dischord)
  
• Bonnacon (Sticky Goo)
  
• Coco (Overture)
  
• Imperial Elite (Protect)
  
• Io (Flare Star)

Once you enter these Rages, you cannot apply Fenrir's Esper effect or Shadow's Image Scroll on Gau or Gogo, rendering Image useless. Fenrir will still bestow Image stacks on your other characters. This can be a problem if you fight Physical Death (Eye For An Eye, Megaton Punch, Repose) or high powered physical fighters (Tonberry's Knife or Kaiser Dragon's Last Breath) and you use Fenrir as a safeguard. To add insult to injury, some of the high quality Rages are on this list, such as Holy Dragon, Rafflesia, Tyrannosaur and especially Io for LLPs.

If you plan on using this effect, you must summon Fenrir before you commit to Raging. If you wear the Mirage Vest then Rage, you keep your stack of Image while you Rage.

• Al Jabr (Thundaga)
  
• Mugbear (Net)
  
• Suriander (Aqua Breath)
  
• Chimera (Aqua Breath)
  
• Rafflesia (Entice)
  
• Hell's Rider (Venomist)
  
• Satellite (Sonic Boom)
  
• Armored Weapon (Gravity Bomb)
  
• Cactuar (1000 Needles)
  
• Still Life (Lullaby)
  
• Magic Urn (Curaga)
  
• Guard Leader (Wind Slash)
  
• Dropper (Confuse)
  
• Gigantos (Magnitude 8)
  
• Bonnacon (Sticky Goo)
  
• Coco (Overture)
  
• Imperial Elite (Protect)
  
• Mandrake (Leech)
  
• Io (Flare Star)

Once you enter these Rages, you cannot apply Vanish, use an Invisibility Scroll or summon Phantom on Gau or Gogo. Phantom will still work but Gau or Gogo will not get the benefit. This is also a problem if you rely on Vanish to dodge incoming physical attacks for the same reasons you would use Image. It also puts a dent into quite a few enemies here, especially if you use Hell's Rider in Zozo (where Vanish helps you a lot here) or rely on Chimera, Guard Leader or Io in constant battles.

If you must use Vanish, apply it before Raging so it stays on when you Rage. Just remember that Healing and Buffing Rages are ill advised to stack Vanish on as ANY magic will break the effect.

Character appears fatigued. Gau will be on all 4s with a worried expression and Gogo will kneel.

• Ninja (Water Scroll)
  
• Magna Roader (Purple) (Bio)
  
• Yojimbo (Shock)
  
• Misty (Cura)
  
• Al Jabr (Thundaga)
  
• Apocrypha (Level 3 Confuse)
  
• Dark Force (Tsunami)
  
• Muud Suud (Snowstorm)
  
• Chimera (Aqua Breath)
  
• Holy Dragon (Holy)
  
• Fiend Dragon (Northern Cross)
  
• Tyrannosaur (Meteor)
  
• Zokka (Net)
  
• Rafflesia (Entice)
  
• Lizard (Break)
  
• Satellite (Sonic Boom)
  
• Armored Weapon (Gravity Bomb)
  
• Cactuar (1000 Needles)
  
• Still Life (Lullaby)
  
• Lunatys (Meteor)
  
• Magic Urn (Curaga)
  
• Mover (Meltdown)
  
• Devoahan (Slowga)
  
• Malboro (Bad Breath)
  
• Kamui (Snowstorm II)
  
• Covert (Wind Slash)
  
• Cherry (Holy)
  
• Sorath (Cave In)
  
• Wartpuck (Rasp)
  
• Dragon (Revenge Blast)
  
• Sprinter (Aero)
  
• Marchosias (Aero)
  
• Dropper (Confuse)
  
• Ouroboros (Quake)
  
• Cancer (Esuna)
  
• Medusa Chicken (Break)
  
• Test Rider (Flash Rain)
  
• Gamma (Dischord)
  
• Intangir (Transfusion)
  
• Enuo (Tsunami)
  
• Blade Dancer (Osmose)
  
• Magna Roader (Red) (Silence)
  
• Coco (Overture)
  
• Demon Knight (Shockwave)
  
• Imperial Elite (Protect)
  
• Desert Hare (Cura)
  
• Illuyankas (Gigavolt)
  
• Luna Wolf (Face Chomp)
  
• Tzakmaqiel (Imp)
  
• Greater Mantis (Wind Slash)
  
• Purusa (Rock Slide)
  
• Adamankary (Acid Rain)
  
• Mousse (Transfusion)
  
• Shambling Corpse (Thundaga)
  
• Scorpion (Poison)
  
• Chaos Dragon (Disaster)
  
• Vector Chimera (Aqua Breath)
  
• Rukh (Shamshir)
  
• Amduscias (Osmose)
  
• Garm (Bodyslam)
  
• Baalzephon (Blizzaga)
  
• Ahriman (Roulette)
  
• Io (Flare Star)

When an ally drops below 1/8th of their maximum HP or an enemy drops below 1/20th of their maximum HP, they enter Critical status. If something is Criticalproof, then the Critical flag is locked and cannot be changed from it's current value. You are probably asking, why is this important?

Being unable to enter Critical state hampers a few mechanics that can be useful to Gau or Gogo, especially if you are playing LLP style runs. If the Critical flag cannot be turned on, then Gau or Gogo have the following issues:

• You cannot have an ally with Knight's Code take a hit for Gau or Gogo.
  
• Relics that activate effects upon reaching Critical HP won't react or enable (Eg. If Gau or Gogo have the Knight's Code equipped).
  
• Gogo will not have a chance to fire off Punishing Meteor while he is Raging.
  
• You will not get a bonus 25% Evasion while at Critical HP

However, if you enter these rages while at Critical status, then you will be effectively under Auto-Critical status until the rage ends either by battle victory or the character gets a Game Over effect (KO, Zombie, Petrify, etc.). You can also use Gogo to steal Critical from an enemy via the Rippler spell if he is equipped with the Lore command. Being under Auto-Critical can be exploited to allow Gogo to use Punishing Meteor every turn or to stack another 25% Evasion on your defenses when you need it.

If you work Critical into strategies, you will have to steer clear of these Rages or activate them when you are at Critical already so that the Critical status can stick.