I'm curious about what everyone does with Shadow in FF6. He's the most on-again-off-again character in the whole game.

You have many opportunities to talk to him or use him in battle that you don't have to take:

- talk to him in South Figaro (if you want)
- use him in Sabin's journey (if you want)
- find him in Kohlingen, use him as a fourth party member (if you want)
- meeting Strago and Relm (the first time that you don't have a choice!)
- fourth character on the Floating Continent (if you want)
- save him on the FC (if you want)

And then, of course, there's getting him in the World of Ruin, first in the cave of the Veldt, and then the Colosseum.

How much of this do you guys actually do? Do you avoid him altogether? Do you take him whenever possible?

I like shadow, he is one of my Favourite characters in the game. His past just adds to the mysteriousness of him as well. So yes, I use him whenever possible, and save him from certain death during the game.

I take him usually, but it depends on what scenes I'm trying to scene and what I'm trying to do.

Well... once you have him for good in the WoR, he's just like any other character, so there's not much to be said about that... I just meant all the stuff beforehand.

I don't usually talk to him in South Figaro... I like Shadow's theme song a lot, and talking to him makes the song go away when I walk through the cafe. I don't get him in Kohlingen either... I usually forget, and he's not worth ditching a party member for. Other than that, I use him whenever I can in the WoB.

I think I've always had Shadow during Sabin's quest... always all the way to the waterfall, where he takes off. But I've heard that he might leave earlier than that. Is that true?

The same thing about Kohlingen, really, I never remember he's there for hire. On Floating Continent, he's always been my fourth guy. And I always wait for him in the end... his last second return is too cool to be missed.

Do you mean that South Figaro stuff, is it the first time you get to meet Shadow? I always talk to him there. The whole "don't-you-know-HIM?" scene is mighty. Oh yeah, gotta love that assassin guy... and his dog. He's nice to have in battle - I use him to throw the enemy with the most obscure junk I can find. Shuriken, bah! Paintbrushes!

But I've heard that he might leave earlier than that. Is that true?
Yeah, that is true. Sometimes in a battle on the world map, he might say "I've earned my fee." and then leave. So it's a good idea to save fairly often when you're traveling with him on the World Map --- that way you can reset and hopefully he won't leave again.

i ahve always used shadow throw can do some serious damage and he is pretty cool.

How you behave in battle actually effects whether or not he leaves. He leaves the party saying, "I've earend my fee," If you rely on him too heavily, or if you use him too little. And a common cue for it, is if you hesitate in making a decision, and it causes the monster to attack before your character when your character probably should have been the one to strike first, it will quite likely promt Shadow to leave the party. It's to add a level of realism. He's a mercenary; he's out for his own skin and his dog, and if he thinks your incompetence of command is going to get him or his dog killed, he will leave.

Whoa, really? Where'd you see that? I never knew any of that, but it makes sense. I'd love to read more about that.

Oh, and as I mentioned, I actually have had him leave on me before, but the trusty old save trick works like a charm. And am I right in thinking he'll never leave while you're in the Empire base area, or the Phantom Forest / Train? Only the on the World Map, right?

And am I right in thinking he'll never leave while you're in the Empire base area, or the Phantom Forest / Train? Only the on the World Map, right?
I've had him leave on me in the Phantom Forest before, if I recall correctly.

I didn't read it anywhere. I learned that by playing FF6 a lot, and by remembering, that every time that Shadow had left me in combat, had been after Shadow's dog got hit, due to a decision making error on my part. It's always after the player makes a goof up. And I've also played enough FF games to know that most of them have many private variables that are stored in the save memor, that one may not be able to look at them, but their results will have definite effects on the game. One of these sets of variables are a set of performance ratings. They are shown to you once in FF8 but they are present in other FF's as well. I don't remember them all, but I know there was Teamwork, Attack Rate, and Judgment. And how they are affected varries. If you run from a battle just to avoid the fight, your Judgment and Attack Rate both go down, but if you run from a battle with a superior oponnent, only your Attack Rate will go down. If you choose to fight a superior oponnent, and get half your party killed, your Attack Rate will likely go up, but your Teamwork and Judgement will likely go down. If you take on a superior oponnent by keeping your party healed, and using magics that it is weak againts, your Attack Rate will go down, for using mostly magic, but your Teamwork and Judgement will go up. In FF8 Where the variables are displayed to you once, they range from 1 to 100. Now I mention FF8 because that's the one where they are shown. But the scores seem to exist in FF6 also. And they seem to have an effect on many of the events that most players think to be random. Such as when Shadow will actually join your party, and when he leaves. Now there are points in the game where he will automatically leave even if you haven't driven him off. Then there's always the save trick. For the whimps.

Yeah, I know about the hidden variables. There's some in FFVII and FFX too --- specifically the hidden "compatibility" variables that affect who "dates" Cloud in the Gold Saucer and who throws the blitzball / who gets certain special scenes in FFX.

who cares shadow can leave the party but once ur in the other world if u saved him he cant run.