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Final Fantasy 2was an interesting game for a number of reasons - it begins with the heroes getting destroyed in an in-engine battle, it utilises a neat keyword system, and it’s vaguely open-world in that it is possible (if discouraged) to travel anywhere at the beginning of the game.
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The game’s most memorable (and infamous) mechanic, however, is its stat-boosting system. Instead of earning experience and levelling up like normal RPG protagonists, Final Fantasy 2 has a system whereby your actions in battle contribute to your chances of a stat growing after the fight.
How Do Stats Grow?
In Final Fantasy 2, stats grow based on theactions taken during a battle. It is important to note that taking these actions only increases your chance of a stat growing, it won’t guarantee a boost.
The table below lists each stat and the actions that make them grow.
How To Increase
HP
There is a chance that HP increases regardless of your actions, but it has a higher chance to increase if you take damage.
Losing HP in battle.
Agility
Randomly based on the weight of your equipment. The heavier your equipment, the lower chance you’ll gain Agility after battle.
Magic
Using magic in battle.
While increasing MP and Magic is intended to happen based on your magic use, the game actually only checks for yourMP levelsthroughout the battle - if you lose MP through spells such as Sap or Swap, that also has a good chance of increasing your MP and Magic.
There are other stats in the game, such as Attack and Accuracy, but these arederived stats. This means they are calculated based on the other stats (i.e. those listed in the table above) and your current equipment load. They cannot be levelled up directly.
Weapon Levels and Magic Levelsalso increase through use in battle. Each weapon type (e.g. Swords, Bows) and every individual spell level (e.g. Fire, Blink) has its own level per character. The higher the level, the more potent the weapon or spell.
Why Is My Weapon Level Not Increasing?
Final Fantasy 2 uses an internal enemy power system to determine whether or not a weapon or spell gains experience when used in battle. You’ll need to befighting against enemies that are about on par with your current level or stronger than youif you want your levels to increase.
Fighting Goblins constantly around Altair, for example, will eventually stop raising your weapon levels.You’ll need to find stronger foes.
Alternatively, your levels could have stopped increasing as they’ve hitlevel 16. This is thelevel capin Final Fantasy 2 for weapons and spells.
