Discussing Esper time is a waste of my time. I don't even understand the lame discussion on how Sabin sucks on the Floating Continent? (He's awesome, and not as crippled as suggested).
The only thing of note that is worth paying a little attention to is Edger and Cyan not being able to equip the Gaia Gear, as exposing Lifeshaver as an awesome reverse Drain (regardless of being undead). Since it is the best armor at the time (IMO, I don't recall how much better that is over the Power Sash) and I'm usually not much of a Gold Armor fan at this point, it makes the journey slightly easier.
It is ideal to bring Locke, regardless... because the major source of Genji Gloves is all up to him vs the Dragon.
I love Genji Gloves at this point.. where the shields are generally worth meh at this point of the game. Additionally.. avoiding the use of Celes makes the last moments of the journey a bit easier.
Bringing Mog and abusing Wind Song and Earth Blues makes random healing worthwhile to boot. The spell worth learning is Stop for Shadow... with the limited time you get him. Golem and Zoneseek should make him immediately useful... and make abusing Dragons at the more easy.
