Reading your logs on FF5, it almost slightly surprises me that you consider Blue Mage not so hot until world 2, but that's more a matter of picking up knowledge on the game's metadesign than anything else, and it's a slog to memorize it all (I had a FAQ handy for most of the game, given I hadn't played it in nearly two decades). The Fiesta really drove into my head just how amply Blue Mage can make mincemeat of nearly everything given the right skills and lore at hand (Vampire and Goblin Punch for the very early game, exploiting various status holes starting with Garula's vulnerability to Pond's Choir, going through White Wind being ridiculous, 1,000 Needles having a window of sheer dominance in ST offense if you get it in Ronka Ruins, Dark Spark and LX skill exploitation - which is one of the ways to manhandle Atomos with Blue Mage! -, and going all the way to lategame, also passing through Air Knife Aeroga's somewhat brief window of greatness and capping off at Mighty Guard, which, paired with MT healing, trivializes all damage to no end), but part of it was also being fairly thorough on getting just about every skill as soon as possible. The only Blue Magics I missed in that playthrough were Self-Destruct and Roulette, which weren't at all missed. Beastmaster is pretty key on obtaining those skills, though, and the class is kinda awkward, if rewarding with enough patience and knowledge. In fact, Beastmaster with a Hypno Crown is -really- helpful against those dragons in Exdeath Castle, since they're perfectly vulnerable to it and some of the skills they have wreck their own asses.
I've been pretty vigilant about getting spells ASAP too. Honestly outside of a Fiesta context, Blue Mage is competent but easily outclassed. By the time you get 1000 needles, you also get Titan (easily breaks 1k), Dual Wield + Spellblade on a weakness consistently broke 1k, and so did Berserk Monk. White Wind is good, but really expensive compared to MT Cura, and in W1 Cura is usually enough to get you by. Goblin Punch admittedly got a lot of use, but the Aero spells before Aeroga are all kinda lackluster compared to the other elemental spells/summons, since they can be boosted by rods and Gaia Gear while nothing boosts Wind until the Air Knife. Hitting status holes also didn't really come up for me until W2, because everything else got blitzed down so quickly.
Don't get me wrong, it's a competent class regardless, and unlike the other classes it is capable of filling literally every niche on its own. But when you're not intentionally blocking out other Wind Crystal jobs, not banning yourself from stupid good offense synergies (Dual Wield/Spellblade, Barehand/Berserk, Summon/......Summon) nothing he does is really hands down better than what other classes could do.
Admittedly, in a Fiesta scenario? Easily the best Wind crystal job you could get. Filling every niche possible becomes a lot better when you can't necessarily fill those niches in other ways.
Actually, side note, for your Fiesta did you also get Beastmaster? If not, how did you get 1000 needles and WhiteWind in W1?
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FF5 - For the first time I venture into W3. Kinda wish they kept the W2 pallet for the overworld, but meh. Nice overworld theme. Just got Lenna back after beating the Pyramid.
Gilgamesh 3 - Gilgamesh is second best character behind Galuf. Possibly best, because his Leitmotif is the best song in the game. Not a hard fight, even with a semi-gimped party (wasn't expecting the fight, everyone's in the classes I'm levelling up instead of the classes they're awesome at). Just, uh, long. Fortunately being in Thief for it means I get the Genji helm... whoopie? TBH I wish I had stolen the other pieces of equipment. My freelancers should be using Ribbons endgame, or Gold Needles.
One note, Hayato Bow on an unleveled Ranger is pretty damn awesome. Second note, this fight is really where the differences between FF6's mechanics and FF5's really become apparent. Level halving matters SO much in this game, to the point where Gilgamesh discording my entire party halves their damage (it matters so little in FF6). Additionally, the range of damage outputs is much smaller, which is great. Above all, you can switch to a level 0 class and have it be pretty competent as long as your spell list/gear is up to date, which encourages switching but still rewards mastering only a set of classes quite a bit. Much better balance in that regard.
ExDeath - Didn't really see what he could do, tbh. Hastega and Shell then throwing all my damage at him and healing as necessary made it a pretty quick battle.
Antlion - lol
Pyramid - Really, game, you're taking away another character for a full dungeon? Um. OK. Fine. You know this gimmick is stupid right? In any case, this place was pretty draining on my MP resources. Titan no longer one shots, though usually Titan and Aeroga wipe up everything. But, I only have one Gold Needle helm so I burn through my ether supply a little. FF6 spoiled me with being able to give everyone Osmose. Not that that would have mattered in this dungeon since IIRC everything is undead here. Midway through Krile masters summoner, so I throw her in Black Wizard to round out her MP when she goes Freelance. At some point Bartz masters Thief so I put him back in Time Mage to master that. Faris is almost done with Ranger, so once that's done I'll put her back in Mystic Knight. I'll probably get Cover for Lenna, since the game is just showering me in APB right now, and then... uh, honestly I may be done getting levels in jobs after everyone rounds out their 3 jobs. Maybe rush through Geo so I don't have to deal with dungeon traps. Nothing else seems to offer passive skills I really want, and my final active skills I've already decided on.
Really, the one reason why I may do a Fiesta is just so I have a reason to use all these jobs that I haven't touched nor do I really have any incentive to touch. It's just like... Samurai, Dragoon... why bother when I already have a couple good physical set ups? Meh.
