Gau: Rage Against The MagiTek

Gau
Rage Against the MagiTek

BASE STATS

Vigor: 42 / Magic: 36 / Speed: 36 / Stamina: 30

HP: 12 / MP: 0   BatPwr: 128 / Def: 30 / M.Def: 24 / Evade: 24 / M.Evade: 18

EQUIPMENT

Weapons: Clubs
---
Shield: Light Shields, Elemental Guards 
Head:  Hoods, Hats
Body: Light Armor, Hides, Parkas, Vests
 

SKILLS (Rage)

(Note: Rage grants all inherent statuses, resistances, and elemental weaknesses of the selected enemy) 
Adamantite (WoB) - 2/3 Strong Attack (Vigor) | 1/3: Holy Wind
Albatross (WoB) - 2/3: Fireball (Magic) | 1/3: Strong Attack (Vigor)
Anemone (WoR) - 2/3 Discharge (Magic) | 1/3: Attack +Poison (Vigor)
Antlion (WoB) - 2/3 Stop (Attack) | 1/3: Snare
Behemoth (FC) - 2/3 Strong Attack (Vigor) | 1/3: Meteo (Magic)
Belladonna (WoR) - 2/3 Moonlight (Magic) | 1/3: Raid (Magic)
Bomb (WoB) - Exploder
Brainpan (FC) - 2/3 Blow Fish | 1/3: Rerise
Buffalax (WoR) - 2/3 Landslide (Magic) | 1/3 Stronger Attack (Vigor)
Cephalid (WoB) - 2/3 Tentacle (Stamina) | 1/3: Attack +Slow (Vigor)
Chickenlip (WoB) - 2/3: Attack + Muddle (Vigor) | 1/3: Net
Chimera (WoB) - 2/3 Aqualung (Magic) | 1/3: Fireball (Magic)
Conjurer (WoB) - 2/3 Rerise | 1/3: Attack +Sap (Vigor)
Crawler (WoB) - 2/3: Magnitude (Magic) | 1/3: Attack (Drain HP) (Vigor)
Doggo (WoB) - 2/3 Stronger Attack (Vigor) | 1/3: Step Mine
Exocite (WoB) - 2/3: Rock (Stamina) | 1/3: Strong Attack (Vigor)
Eye Goo (WoB) - 2/3 Lode Stone| 1/3: Glare
Flan (WoB) - 2/3 Life | 1/3: SlowX
Gargoyle (FC) - 2/3 Sun Bath (Stamina) | 1/3: Quake (Magic)
Griffin (WoR) - 2/3: Giga Volt (Magic) | 1/3: Air Blast
Grizzly (WoR) - 2/3: Cave In | 1/3: Stronger Attack (Vigor)
Hornet (WoB) - 2/3 Stronger Attack (Vigor) | 1/3: Blink
Io (WoR) - 2/3 Atomic Ray (Magic) | 1/3: Diffuser (Magic)
Jinn (WoB) - 2/3: Discord | 1/3: Attack +Mute (Vigor)
Leafer (WoB) - 2/3: Wind Slash (Magic) | 1/3: Air Blast
Locust (WoB) - 2/3: Gale Cut (Magic) | 1/3: Mirage
Lich (WoB) - 2/3: Rasp (Magic) | 1/3: Elf Fire (Magic)
Kudzu (WoB) - 2/3: Raid (Magic) | 1/3 RegenX (Stamina)
Magic Pot (WoR) - 2/3: Cure (Magic) | 1/3: Strongest Attack (Vigor)
Mantodea (WoR) - 2/3: Shrapnel (Stamina) | 1/3: Attack +Sap (Vigor)
Marlboro (WoR) - 2/3: Bio Blast (Magic) | 1/3: Bad Breath
Mesosaur (WoR) - 2/3: Holy Wind | 1/3: Landslide (Magic)
Nastidon (WoR) - 2/3: Snowball (Magic) | 1/3: Absolute 0 (Magic)
Ninja (FC) - 2/3: Wave Scroll (Magic) | 1/3: Vanish
Onion Kid (WoB) - 2/3: Brown Note (Magic) | 1/3: Attack + Bserk (Vigor)
Osteosaur (WoR) - 2/3: Doom | 1/3: Petrify (Attack)
Rain Man (WoB) - 2/3: Acid Rain (Magic) | 1/3: Bolt 2 (Magic)
Raven (WoB) - 2/3: Break (Magic) | 1/3: 1/3: Attack + Sleep (Vigor)
Repo Man (WoB) - 2/3: Step Mine | 1/3: Vanish
Revenant (WoR) - 2/3: Holy (Magic) | 1/3: Blaze (Magic)
Rhydon (WoB) - 2/3: Strong Attack (Vigor) | 1/3: Sun Bath (Stamina)
Rocky (WoR) - 2/3: Harvester (Stamina) | 1/3: Rock (Stamina)
Sand Ray (WoB) - 2/3: Sand Storm (Magic) | 1/3: Strong Attack (Vigor)
Scarab (WoR) - 2/3: Starlight (Magic) | 1/3: Mega Volt (Magic)
Scrapper (WoB) - 2/3: Strong Attack (Vigor) | 1/3: Chakra (Stamina)
Sewer Rat (WoB) - 2/3: Poison (Magic) | 1/3: Attack + Bserk (Vigor)
Shokan (WoR) - 2/3: Dark (Magic) | 1/3: Raze (Magic)
Soldier (WoB) - 2/3: Cure 2 (Magic) | 1/3: Strong Attack (Vigor)
Spirit (WoB) - 2/3: Demi | 1/3: Quartr
Stray Cat (WoB) - 2/3: Snowball (Magic) | 1/3: Stronger Attack (Vigor)
Tek Armor (WoB) - 2/3: Barrier | 1/3 Strong Attack (Vigor)
Templar (WoB) - 2/3 Stronger Attack (Vigor) | 1/3: Remedy (Stamina)
Titan (WoR) - 2/3: Avalanche (Magic) | 1/3: Stronger Attack (Vigor)
Troll (WoR) - 2/3: Stronger Attack (Vigor) | 1/3 Refract
Tumbleweed (WoR) - 2/3: Cure 3 (Magic) | 1/3: Attack (Drain HP) (Vigor)
Tyrano (WoR) - 2/3 Stronger Attack (Vigor) | 1/3: Firestorm (Magic)
Vagrant (WoR) - 2/3: Flash Rain (Magic) | 1/3 Stronger Attack (Vigor)
Vaporite (WoB) - 2/3: Plasma (Magic) | 1/3: Blind (Attack)
Vulture (WoB) - 2/3: Razor Leaf (Magic) | 1/3: Harvester (Stamina)
Weedula (WoR) - 2/3 Quake (Magic) | 1/3: Razor Leaf (Magic)
Werewolf (WoR) - 2/3 Stronger Attack (Vigor) | 1/3: Regen (Stamina)
Windrunner (WoR) - 2/3 Aero (Magic) | Attack +Bserk (Vigor)
Witch (WoR) - 2/3 Refract | 1/3: Fire 3 (Magic)
Zombone (WoB) - 2/3 Cave In | 1/3: Zombie (Attack)

ESPERS

Stray - Stamina+2  ---  24 MP:  sets Muddle/Slow/Sap on all foes
Fenrir - Speed+2  ----  24 MP:  sets Image on party

SPELLS

Imp
Sleep
HasteX
Float
Warp
---
Regen - Stamina

GAU

Thou! Thou Thou!

Strengths

• Very diverse, with:
• Great set of physical Rages, healing Rages, AoE damage/control, and debuffs
• Good set of elemental control & buffs, especially Bolt damage
• Secondary Healer; has Rerise & Harvester
• Speed +2 esper
• Good elemental resistances, Unique Hide/Muffler armor
• Unique mage helmet
• Good p.eva

Weaknesses

• Proper grammar & pronunciation
• Rages are many & highly specialized with no in-game reference sheet
• Rage is untargetable & a little random
• Switching Rages mid-battle is awkward; Gau can't gear for both Vigor & Magic
• No HP espers, no heavy armor, low p.def
• Speed is unavailable until the WoR
• Mid-game damage upgrades are missable (stealing a Club, Blizzard Orb, speed esper)
• Many debuff Rages are either unreliable or require deep memorization.

The finer details of Gau's abilities require a lot of memorization, both of Rages & of enemy encounters. But, even with just a few Rages, Gau makes a great speedy glass cannon & healer/buffer.

Builds

Like Shadow, Gau only has two espers. Therefore, its debatable whether or not he has different builds, especially since the mixed Gau is perfectly viable.

Berserker

The standard Gau build, raw speed, with or without a little stamina. Biggest downside is that it's not available until the WoR. Turns Gau into a living bullet, allowing him to really lay on the damage or healing despite having "lower" numbers than other characters, spam buffs like Conjurer or Witch, or just have a strong opening to randoms. Even the healing from his stamina-based Rages is still pretty good, thanks to how many turns Gau gets relative to everyone else.

Stamina

The other build, built with mostly stamina levels (though not purely with stamina). The main sell of the this build is it's ease-of-use: it's available from the WoB, it only needs a very small set (see below) of multi-purpose Rages, one set of equipment will suffice for said Rages, it doesn't need a Club to upgrade it's damage in the WoR, and the high stamina provides some defensive boons, allowing the player to soft-ignore the "what defensive benefits does this Rage give" aspect of using Gau.

The downside is less potential. The stamina-damage Rages are good damage, versatile, & easy to use, but Rageserker's raw speed will win out once it's got a good Rage or two backing it (see the Simple Rages below). Umaro's better if you just need a beatstick against a boss. So, by mid/late-WoR, it's mostly just Harvester and Rock setting this build apart. (Rocky ftw!) Even then, speed is just as needed for the healing Rages as stamina is, considering Gau's random nature, so it's not like we're totally outclassing the Rageserker as a healer either. So, again, this build's claim to fame is its simplicity.

Don't forget to equip the Blizzard Orb in the WoR!

Mixed

The mixed build. Possibly the build you're using if you use Gau in the WoB.

Good Rages

Simple

• Physical: Pick one:
  • Hornet for speed and utility. (Auto-Haste and Image)
  • Templar for bulk and healing, but beware your weaknesses. (auto Safe, Shell, Ribbon, Amulet.  Uses Remedy.  Weak to Dark/Water)
  • Tyrano for immunities. Ice Weakness is easily fixed with Snow Muffler. (Immune to Earth, Wind, and all Statuses)
• Albatross: Solid early-game AoE & sap setter. Windrunner is the WoR AoE & sap setter.
• Vaporite: Solid ST magic damage with auto-regen for WoB. Titan for WoR.
• Rocky: Harvester spam FTW! Scrapper/Rhydon provide some WoB healing.
• Conjurer: Rerise spam can win fights *cough Dadaluma*. Also has Refract utility later on in Witch.
• Antlion: Stop/Snare is a vicious combo.

Extra

• Fire: Albatross for the WoB. WoR follows up with not-quite-as-effective Witch. If it's just undead-killing, then Lich (WoB) followed by Revenant (WoR)
• Bolt: Vaporite for the WoB, Griffin and Anemone in the WoR. Gau may be the game's best Bolt mage.
• Water: Vaporite in the WoB, Ninja in the WoR.
• Dark: Sewer Rat in the WoB, Shokan in the WoR. If it's a group of humans, Marlboro is an option.
• Other ST Magic: Stray Cat (WoB), Io/Griffin (WoR)
• Other AoEs:  Leafer/Crawler (early-WoB), Vulture (late-WoB), Windrunner/Anemone (early-WoR), Weedula (late-WoR)
• Other Healers: Soldier (WoB), Mesosaur/Gargoyle (WoR)
• Status Control: Exocite (muddle) mostly, or his actual Magic (imp, sleep). Maybe Jinn (muddle/berserk/mute) as an option too.
• Gamble: Behemoth (1/3 Meteo), Spirit (Demi/Quartr), Onion Kid (Brown Note), and Marlboro (1/3 Bad Breath)

Stamina

• Early-WoB: Exocite for damage, muddle, and auto-regen. Scrapper is an MP healer.
• Late-WoB: Cephalid for damage and auto-shell. Rhydon for an HP healer.
• WoR: Mantodea for strongest damage rage. Rocky provides Harvester & damage (Rocky is perhaps stam Gau's overall best deployment).

Misc

• Don't forget Gau's actual Magic. HasteX & Fenrir are especially good as opening salvos for a boss fight. His other Magics also have their utility.
• For WoR, grab a Bone Club, asap! The BPow is critical to Gau's damage in the WoR, as is the Magic +7 is you trade it for a Magic Bone. A Blizzard Orb is helpful as well.
• Black Heart combined with the right shield, hide, and Rage can make Gau quite bulky. It's even compatible with Harvester spam! Especially useful if you snag the hidden WoB Heart, or for anytime prior to earning the Snow Muffler.

It's difficult to remember Gau's rages well, and the printme doesn't really lay out the information in a way that's useful specifically for Gau use. Here is a spreadsheet (for 2.0) of my own design that gives the full details of every rage Gau can do, when it can be obtained, and where the formation is.

Updated for 2.0

Buffs to Gau's base Vigor and Magic make him better right out of the gate. Further, a buff to his base BatPwr aims to make his physical attacks more relevant early on (where they were completely overshadowered by magical damage). His late-game physical damage is now balanced around 3x attack multipliers, which gives him a lot more options than the single 4x he had before, as well as helps keep them from completely overtaking his magical damage once he gets his hands on the Bone Club. Also helping keep his late-game magic damage alive is the fact that the Magic Bone is now a Colosseum trade (for the Bone Club, natch) rather than a hidden item.

Oh, yeah, and at least half of the rages in the game have been changed, too. There's a lot more variety now, particularly in regards to healing rages.

Started playing blind, and now I'm down to everything except a few Colosseum wagers, secrets missing from the  WOB and the entire Kefka tower thing, which I'm honestly fine with, I can discover the secrets latter.

However, concerning Gau here, I'm finding out that I'm missing the Kudzu and Locust rages - you just spend so very little time outside Esper Mountain that IMO, it doesn't make sense to not have an island in the WoR where you can find said rages. Same for formations like  Stray Cat, Raven or WoB permanently missable formations. He's such a fantastic source of cheap AOE damage with Io and Behemoth, and a nice nuker with 3X Attack rages and the Bone Club/Power Glove. I just find it a bit irksome how I'm missing these two just because I didn't hang around Esper  Mountain enough, I guess.

As for Esper builds, I went 50/50. Gau certainly appreciates the speed, but since the guy is really damn frail I found myself going for Stray just to enable Gau to dodge all the magic crap thrown at him. Overall, a very enjoyable character, I just would like if he was a lot less random - maybe add a way in later updates so you can control at least what Gau is targeting or what attack he's using? Or maybe a way to switch Rages - all three of these are fine options and I would be fine with any of them excluding each other - after all, we don't Gau to break open the game, but a bit of reliability for boss fights like Hidon, Wrexsoul would go a long way. IMO, just enabling him to target something would go a long way.

There is a way to switch rages, @NiccSucc. Use a Green Gerry on him.

.... *quietly stocks up*

Updated.

I would add that Marlboro is great utility for shutting down formations of dangerous humanoids in the WoR (Gogo's cave, Cyan's dream, KT, possibly others I'm forgetting). Usually they're hitting you with lots of physicals or spells (including some nasty spell counters), and the Blind+Mute from Bad Breath is a giant NOPE button for these enemies. Sure, it's only 1/3, but the 2/3 (Bio Blast) isn't exactly unwelcome in these situations either.

Fair enough. Added.