You get six classes and four party slots. Once you pick, that's your team for the entire game. The Pixel Remaster fixed two major bugs from the NES original: the Intelligence stat actually works now (it was broken for 30 years), and the flee mechanic runs off Luck like it was supposed to. That means Red Mage no longer outscales dedicated casters, and Thief's high Luck finally matters. Every combination can win; some just make the trip easier than others.
Starting Classes
Warrior and Red Mage peak early with strong gear and spell access right out of the gate. Thief and Monk are the opposite: weak starts that pay off hard after class change. You'll want at least one mage (White, Black, or Red) for healing; parties with zero magic rely on Potions and Tents, which gets expensive fast. Can 4 Monks beat the game? Yes. Should you try it on a first playthrough? Probably not.
Warrior
TankHeaviest armor in the game, including Dragon Mail and Aegis Shield. Expensive to gear but the safest front line you can pick; absorbs hits so your mages don't have to.
Monk
DPSFights bare-handed and outdamages every other class by endgame. Highest HP, cheapest to gear since you skip most weapon shops. Bare-fist damage scales with level times 2.
Thief
UtilityWeak early with limited gear options. Fastest class; placing a Thief in slot 1 boosts your preemptive strike rate. After class change, Ninja is one of the best classes in the game.
Red Mage
HybridBest flexibility early on: can heal, nuke, and swing a sword. But the Pixel Remaster fixed the Intelligence stat from the NES, so dedicated casters outscale Red Mage by midgame.
White Mage
HealerDia line shreds undead (half the game's dungeon enemies). Healaga sustains through long dungeons. Can hold the front line with Defend plus Blink if your tank goes down.
Black Mage
NukerGroup damage that wipes random encounters fast, and deadly against bosses with elemental weaknesses. Fragile; bring Tents and Cottages to restore spell charges between fights.
Party Building
With 6 classes and 4 slots (duplicates allowed), there are 126 possible party combinations. Of those, only 15 use 4 different classes; the other 111 double or triple up on something. Most players end up in one of three categories based on how they handle group damage.
Party position matters more than you'd think. Slot 1 takes roughly 50% of all physical attacks. Slot 2 takes 25%. Slots 3 and 4 split the remaining 25% at about 12.5% each. Put your tankiest class in slot 1 (Warrior or Monk) and your mages in slots 3-4. If you're running a Thief, slot 1 also boosts preemptive strike rate; you can pair Thief in slot 1 with Warrior in slot 2 so the Warrior still absorbs a big share of hits.
For new players. Warrior, Red Mage, Thief, White Mage. Double healing covers mistakes, Warrior handles the front, and Thief becomes Ninja later. It's boring (in a good way) because nothing goes wrong.
Swords parties run zero Black Mages. All your damage comes from physical attacks, which means you don't burn spell charges on random encounters. The trade-off: groups of enemies take longer to clear since you're killing them one at a time. Swords parties love the endgame once Haste and Temper are online.
Balanced parties bring exactly one Black Mage for group damage when you need it, plus physical attackers for everything else. This is the most common setup in the community for a reason; it handles every situation without any glaring weakness.
Blaster parties run 2 or more Black Mages and nuke everything. Random encounters vanish in a single round. But you'll chew through spell charges fast, and your party is fragile; bring plenty of Tents and Cottages to recharge between fights.
Timing is the other factor. Warrior and Red Mage carry hard through the first half of the game; their early spell and gear access keeps the party alive when resources are tight. Thief and Monk are the slow burn: mediocre until class change, then damage gets absurd fast. A party that's strong early and strong late rarely exists; you're picking which half of the game you want to be comfortable in.
Recommended Lineups
Double healing, strong front line, Thief turns into Ninja late. Forgiving from start to finish.
Probably the most popular FF1 party ever. Covers every role; no dead weight at any point in the game.
Rough until class change. Once Thief becomes Ninja, your physical damage doubles and you get a second Haste caster.
No White Mage. Red Mage handles healing while Monk and Black Mage shred bosses. Requires careful charge management.
Two Black Mages erase random encounters instantly. Warrior tanks while White Mage keeps everyone standing.
All physical damage, all the time. Red Mage covers light healing. Monk punches everything else to death.
Class Change
After defeating Lich (the first Fiend), you can enter the Citadel of Trials. Grab the Rat's Tail from the chest at the end, then bring it to Bahamut on the Cardia Islands. All four party members upgrade at once, no cost. The full walkthrough covers the exact timing for when to make the trip.
Warrior becomes Knight (gains White 1-3). Monk becomes Master (bare-fist damage spikes). Thief becomes Ninja (equips almost everything, gains Black 1-4 including Haste). Red Mage becomes Red Wizard (White and Black 1-7). White Mage becomes White Wizard (all White spells). Black Mage becomes Black Wizard (all Black spells). One note on Monk: class-change him as soon as you can. Master's Magic Defense scales based on level *at the time of upgrade*, so delaying costs you defensive stats permanently.
Knight
from WarriorGains White Magic 1-3: Cure for self-healing, Protect for physical defense, Blink for evasion. Your tank can now patch himself up between healer turns.
Master
from MonkHuge stat boosts. Bare-fist damage jumps hard and keeps climbing. Magic Defense scales with upgrade level, so class-change your Monk early.
Ninja
from ThiefComplete transformation. Equips almost every weapon and armor in the game. Gains Black Magic 1-4, including Haste. One of the strongest physical attackers late.
Red Wizard
from Red MageAccess to level 5-7 spells in both White and Black. Gets Curaga, Firaga, Haste, and Temper. Still locked out of level 8 spells like Holy and Flare.
White Wizard
from White MageFull White Magic access. Gets Full-Life (revive at full HP), Holy (strongest single-target damage in the game), NulAll, and Dispel.
Black Wizard
from Black MageFull Black Magic access. Gets Flare (non-elemental nuke), Stop, and Kill. Can also cast Haste and Temper to buff your physical attackers.
Endgame Strategy
The late game revolves around two spells: Haste and Temper. Haste doubles your hit count; Temper adds flat damage to every single hit *and stacks*. Cast both on a Master (highest natural hit count) and the damage output is absurd. Ninja, Red Wizard, and Black Wizard can all cast both spells, so any party with at least one of those classes can run this combo. Check the magic page for full spell details.
For defense, you have two options: Protera reduces incoming physical damage across the whole party, while Invisira boosts evasion. Against bosses that hit hard with single attacks, Protera is better; against bosses that attack multiple times per turn, stack Invisira instead. Blink on your Knight works for either situation.
Weapons. Masamune is the best weapon in the game and any class can equip it. Excalibur is Warrior/Knight-only but hits nearly as hard with a bonus against undead and evil enemies. Both are found in the final dungeon. See the weapons page for the full list.
Armor. Dragon Mail and Aegis Shield go on your Knight for the best physical and elemental defense in the game. The final dungeon also has 3 Ribbons; these prevent all status effects and should go on your squishiest characters. Ribbon placement wins fights by itself. Full armor stats are on the armor page.
Against Chaos, buff your physical attackers first. Haste your Master or Knight on turn 1, Temper on turn 2, then swing. White Wizard handles Healaga and Full-Life; Black Wizard handles Haste/Temper duty or Flare if you need burst. Skip most offensive spells in the final fight. Buffed physical damage is just better.