Sabin (Final Fantasy VI party member)

Sabin is a playable character in Final Fantasy VI. He is a Monk, which makes him an excellent physical combatant, and he can also use magical attacks through Blitz commands that channel his ki. He is only a required party member for a brief portion of the World of Balance, but makes a powerful ally to bring along throughout the game.
==Battle==
===Stats===
Sabin has naturally high physical stats. His Strength and Stamina are the second-highest in the playable cast, second only to Umaro, yet his Speed is tied with Gau for the third-highest, and he also has great Evasion. Sabin's main flaw is his low Magic, which is tied with Locke for the third-lowest in the game. Additionally, his Magic Defense is the second-lowest, and his Magic Evasion is below average.
While Sabin's stats incline him towards physical combat, most of his Blitzes deal magical damage. This makes training Sabin a bit counter-intuitive, as in the long run it will be far more beneficial to boost his Magic than his Strength. It is therefore best to train him with magicite that include Magic stat gains on level up.
Name 	Initial Stats
Strength 	47
Speed 	37
Stamina 	39
Magic 	28
Attack 	26
Defense 	53
Evasion 	12%
Magic Defense 	21
Magic Evasion 	4%
Escape Success 	4
HP Gain 	58
MP Gain 	3
Level Averaging	+2
Level	HP 	MP 	EXP 	+
1 	58 	3 	0 	
2 	69 	7 	32 	
3 	81 	11 	96 	
4 	95 	16 	208 	
5 	112 	21 	400 	
6 	132 	27 	672 	
7 	154 	33 	1056 	
8 	178 	40 	1552 	
9 	204 	48 	2184 	
10 	231 	56 	2976 	
11 	259 	65 	3936 	
12 	289 	74 	5080 	
13 	324 	84 	6432 	
14 	363 	94 	7992 	
15 	407 	104	9784 	
16 	457 	114	11840 	
17 	511 	124	14152 	
18 	568 	135	16736 	
19 	629 	146	19616 	
20 	694 	157	22832 	
21 	761 	168	26360 	
22 	830 	179	30232 	
23 	902 	191	34456 	
24 	978 	203	39056 	
25 	1057	215	44072 	
26 	1139	227	49464 	
27 	1225	239	55288 	
28 	1315	252	61568 	
29 	1410	265	68304 	
30 	1509	278	75496 	
31 	1609	291	83184 	
32 	1710	304	91384 	
33 	1812	318	100088 	
34 	1914	332	109344 	
35 	2017	346	119136 	
36 	2121	360	129504 	
37 	2227	374	140464 	
38 	2334	389	152008 	
39 	2442	404	164184 	
40 	2552	419	176976 	
41 	2663	434	190416 	
42 	2776	449	204520 	
43 	2890	465	219320 	
44 	3006	481	234808 	
45 	3123	497	251000 	
46 	3242	513	267936 	
47 	3362	529	285600 	
48 	3484	546	304040 	
49 	3609	563	323248 	
50 	3737	580	343248 	
51 	3867	596	364064 	
52 	3998	611	385696 	
53 	4131	625	408160 	
54 	4265	638	431488 	
55 	4401	650	455680 	
56 	4538	661	480776 	
57 	4677	671	506760 	
58 	4819	680	533680 	
59 	4963	688	561528 	
60 	5108	695	590320 	
61 	5255	701	620096 	
62 	5403	706	650840 	
63 	5553	711	682600 	
64 	5705	717	715368 	
65 	5858	723	749160 	
66 	6013	730	784016 	
67 	6169	737	819920 	
68 	6327	744	856920 	
69 	6487	752	895016 	
70 	6649	760	934208 	
71 	6809	768	974536 	
72 	6964	776	1016000	
73 	7115	784	1058640	
74 	7260	791	1102456	
75 	7400	798	1147456	
76 	7536	805	1193648	
77 	7668	811	1241080	
78 	7794	817	1289744	
79 	7914	823	1339672	
80 	8031	829	1390872	
81 	8144	834	1443368	
82 	8254	839	1497160	
83 	8362	844	1552264	
84 	8467	849	1608712	
85 	8569	854	1666512	
86 	8669	859	1725688	
87 	8767	864	1786240	
88 	8862	870	1848184	
89 	8954	876	1911552	
90 	9044	882	1976352	
91 	9132	888	2042608	
92 	9219	894	2110320	
93 	9304	901	2179504	
94 	9387	909	2250192	
95 	9469	918	2322392	
96 	9549	928	2396128	
97 	9632	939	2471400	
98 	9718	951	2548224	
99 	9806	964	2637112	
===Equipment===
Sabin is focused on lightweight options. He joins the party equipped with a Metal Knuckle, Leather Cap and Leather Armor. His weapons are limited to claws, and his armor options consist of universal shields, hats, and light armor.
Sabin's weapon draw is limited; there are only a handful of claw weapons in the entire game. As his Blitzes are universally superior to normal attacks as long as the player can master their inputs, his weapons are more for utility options. Most of his claws have elemental properties, and his stronger claws offer helpful stat bonuses. Because Sabin's strongest Blitz commands rely on Magic, his ultimate weapon, the Godhand, is actually less effective for him than the Tigerfang, as it boosts his Magic and the Godhand does not.
Along with Edgar Sabin has exclusive access to the Royal Crown and Red Jacket that are very strong armor pieces with helpful stat bonuses. 
====Weapons====
Claws	Universal
*Metal Knuckle
*Mythril Claws
*Kaiser Knuckle
*Venom Claws
*Burning Fist
*Dragon Claws
*Tigerfang
*Godhand	
*Unarmed
*Impartisan
====Armor====
Shields	Helmets	Body Armor
*Buckler
*Mythril Shield
*Flame Shield
*Ice Shield
*Thunder Shield
*Aegis Shield
*Force Shield
*Genji Shield
*Cursed Shield
*Paladin's Shield
*Tortoise Shield	
*Leather Cap
*Plumed Hat
*Bandana
*Green Beret
*Priest's Miter
*Twist Headband
*Tiger Mask
*Royal Crown
*Black Cowl
*Circlet
*Red Cap
*Thornlet
*Genji Helm
*Saucer	
*Kenpo Gi
*Mythril Vest
*Ninja Gear
*Power Sash
*Gaia Gear
*Diamond Vest
*Mirage Vest
*Black Garb
*Red Jacket
*Reed Cloak
===Abilities===
Sabin's unique ability is Blitz, which lets him perform a special attack depending on the player's button input. When the player chooses Blitz in the command menu and confirms their selection, they must then input a specific sequence of other button presses before confirming them. If they input them improperly, Sabin will waste his turn trying to perform the Blitz incorrectly. Sabin learns new Blitz commands as he levels up, and his final Blitz, the Phantom Rush, can be learned instantly through a sidequest in the World of Ruin. Despite Sabin being a physical fighter, all of his Blitzes except for Raging Fist and Meteor Strike rely on his Magic for damage calculation.
Provided the player can master their inputs, there is no reason to perform any command other than Blitz at most any point in Final Fantasy VI. Raging Fist is a powerful attack that ignores defense and has a very simple input, and the Rising Phoenix provides a powerful group attack comparable to tier-two magic spells. Sabin's sixth Blitz, Razor Gale, is not as powerful as late-game spells, but has utility as one of the few wind-elemental attacks the player has access to, the others being the spell Meltdown and a few Lore and Dance commands.
In the World of Ruin, as soon as the player has access to the Falcon, they can travel to Duncan's Cabin and learn the Phantom Rush immediately. Phantom Rush is extremely powerful, a non-elemental magic attack on a single target that ignores defenses. With a spell power of 128, it is more than twice as powerful as Flare and almost as powerful as Ultima. With good training to Sabin's Magic, Phantom Rush can easily hit the damage cap. The only drawback of Phantom Rush is the complex inputs needed to execute it, but if the player can do so without difficulty, Sabin can pull his weight through the entire rest of the game simply by using Phantom Rush every turn.
Sabin's Desperation Attack is Tiger Break, which deals magical damage to one enemy.
==Quests==
===Recruitment===
In the World of Balance, Sabin joins the party on Mt. Kolts during the fight with Vargas. Once Vargas's HP falls below a certain threshold, a cutscene will play and the player will command Sabin alone. Using a Blitz command will instantly end the fight. Sabin remains a required party member through the Lethe River and is the focus of one of the Three Scenarios. After the Battle for the Frozen Esper at Narshe, Sabin is an optional character available for the rest of the World of Balance.
Sabin is recruited in the World of Ruin by visiting Tzen. Upon entering town a cutscene will occur, and the player becomes unable to leave town. Sabin is holding up the Crumbling House which the party must enter, save the child in the basement, and get out within six minutes. Afterward, Sabin rejoins the party. Sabin can be recruited at any time of the World of Ruin, but is available as soon as Celes reaches the mainland, and it is preferable to recruit him then as a second party member is extremely helpful.
===Story role===
After recruiting Sabin on Mt. Kolts, if the player goes all the way back to South Figaro and speaks to Duncan's wife, there is a brief scene where Sabin informs her of Duncan's fate. This must be done before reaching the Returners' Hideout; the scene will not trigger when visiting Duncan's wife later in the game.
When the player visits Figaro Castle with both Sabin and Edgar in the party and rests the night, a cutscene will occur of Sabin reflecting on the events that made him leave the castle ten years ago. The scene offers no gameplay benefit, it is purely for story. The scene can be viewed in either the World of Balance or the World of Ruin. If the castle is visited with only Edgar in the party, he will comment on Sabin not being there; if the castle is visited with only Sabin in the party, an identical scene will take place of him going to explore the castle upon entering it, but the cutscene of Sabin's past will not occur.
If Edgar and Sabin are both in the party when the player meets Setzer, Sabin will react in surprise at the presence of Edgar's two-headed coin. If only Sabin is in the party, there is no change to the scene compared to how it plays out when Edgar is not in the party.
During the Imperial Banquet, Sabin has an additional line when General Leo greets the party.
When the player defeats the Tentacles in Figaro Castle, Sabin will have a few lines of dialogue that occur during the cutscene with Edgar afterward. There was also a line of him address a disguised Edgar when speaking to him in Nikeah, but the line was not implemented.
North of Narshe in the World of Ruin is a grove of trees in the shape of a cross. This is Duncan's House; if the player visits the house with Sabin in the party, a cutscene will occur where Duncan automatically teaches Sabin his final Blitz technique, the Phantom Rush.
If Sabin was not recruited in the World of Ruin, Edgar's ending scene that they share will be different when escaping Kefka's Tower at the end of the game.
==Gallery==
FF6SabinSprites.PNG|Sprite sheet of Sabin (SNES/PSX/GBA).
FF6 iOS Sabin Sprites.png|Sprite sheet of Sabin (Mobile/PC).
FFVI Phoenix Dance Sabin Image Sprite.png|Visual effect when Sabin uses Rising Phoenix (SNES/PSX/GBA).
Rising Phoenix Sprite FFVI iOS.png|Visual effect when Sabin uses Rising Phoenix (Mobile/PC).
FFVI Tiger Break's Sabin Sprite.png|Sprite of Sabin using Tiger Break (SNES/PSX/GBA).
FFVI Tiger Break's Tiger Sprite.png|Visual effect when Sabin uses Tiger Break (SNES/PSX/GBA).
Tiger Break Sprite FFVI iOS.png|Visual effect when Sabin uses Tiger Break (Mobile/PC).
Sabin Spellcasting Animation.gif|Animated sprite of Sabin casting a spell (SNES/PSX/GBA).
Sabin Spellcasting Animation FF6 IOS.gif|Animated sprite of Sabin casting a spell (Mobile/PC).
Sabin from FFVI Pixel Remaster spellcasting sprite.gif|Animated sprite of Sabin casting a spell (Pixel Remaster).
FFVI Sabin Blitz Anim.gif|Animated sprite of Sabin executing a Blitz (SNES).
FF6SNES Sabin Victory Pose.gif|Animated sprite of Sabin's victory pose (SNES/PSX/GBA).
Sabin Victory Animation FF6 IOS.gif|Animated sprite of Sabin's victory pose (Mobile/PC).
Sabin from FFVI Pixel Remaster victory sprite.gif|Animated sprite of Sabin's victory pose (Pixel Remaster).
Category:Character gameplay in Final Fantasy VI