JP to master: 7900
--MY THOUGHTS--
Bards can cast a variety of buffs to your whole party, regardless of where the
characters are standing. Boosting your speed and attack/magic power, or
quickly filling your CT gauge, can help your whole team fight more effectively.
On the other hand, Bards can’t do much ELSE; they have very little HP or MP and
a weak attack. Also, their buffs don’t always succeed and will miss quite a
few of your party members each time they’re used.
Bards can learn Fly, which costs an astronomical 5000 JP! Since Fly is
basically just a more expensive Teleport, it’s not worth the JP cost at all.
On the other hand, Move +3 is much more reasonably priced and is extremely
effective for getting around the map quickly! Of course, if you have Move +3,
then Move +1 and Move +2 become completely obsolete.
---DANCER----------------------------------------------------------------------
Required jobs : Geomancer lv. 5, Dragoon lv. 5, FEMALE characters only
Needed for jobs : none
Equippable weapons: Knives, cloths Movement range : 3
Equippable armor: Hats, clothes Jump height : 3
Physical evade : 5%
Stats When Active Job:
HP: * MP: * Phys. Atk.: **** Mag. Atk.: *** Speed: ***
Stat Growth Rates:
HP: * MP: * Phys. Atk.: *** Mag. Atk.: * Speed: *
--ABILITIES--
--Action Abilities: Dance--
Damage based on user’s: Physical Attack (Witch Hunt/Mincing Minuet)
RNG RAD
MP TIC H/V H/V TAR LF JP EFFECT
---------------------------------------------------------------
Witch Hunt 6 All enemies N 100 Lowers enemy MP
Mincing Minuet 6 All enemies N 100 Lowers enemy HP
Slow Dance * 8 All enemies N 100 Lowers enemy speed by 1
Polka 8 All enemies N 100 Lowers enemy physical attack by 1
Heathen Frolick * 10 All enemies N 100 Lowers enemy magical attack by 1
Forbidden Dance * 10 All enemies N 100 Causes Blind, Confuse, Silence,
Toad, Poison, Slow, Stop, or
Sleep
Last Waltz 20 All enemies N 100 Empties enemy CT
Dance abilities activate repeatedly until a new command is entered for the
character. This means that even if you wait out your turns, you can keep
activating the ability.
Dance abilities do not affect enemies afflicted with Sleep status.
--Reaction Abilities--
TRIGGER BRV JP EFFECT
----------------------------------------------------------
Fury Any HP loss Yes 600 Physical attack power + 1
Bravery Boost Physical atk Yes 700 Bravery + 3
--Support Abilities--
none
--Movement Abilities--
JP EFFECT
----------------------------------------------------------
Jump +3 1000 Jump height + 3
Fly 5000 Can fly over terrain and enemies
JP to master: 8000
--MY THOUGHTS--
Whereas Bards cast buffs to help your entire party, Dancers lower the stats of
the entire party. Mincing Minuet does far too little damage to bother with,
but lowering enemy speed or attack power, or inflicting status conditions with
Forbidden Dance, can be useful.
Dancers tend to be better than Bards. Since there are generally more bad guys
on the map than party members, it’s more effective to drop the enemies’ stats
than boost your own. Plus, they have a stronger physical attack. Dancers also
work well with the Knight’s Parry ability, as their cloth weapons have a VERY
high parry rate (50%).
As with Bard, Fly is definitely not worth 5000 JP ... and Jump +3 is pretty
pointless too, since Teleport essentially duplicates all its effects and costs
fewer JP!
---MIME------------------------------------------------------------------------
Required jobs : Squire lv. 8, Chemist lv. 8, Summoner lv. 5,
Orator lv. 5, Geomancer lv. 5, Dragoon lv. 5
Needed for jobs : none
Equippable weapons: None Movement range : 4
Equippable armor: None Jump height : 4
Physical evade : 5%
Stats When Active Job:
HP: ***** MP: * Phys. Atk.: ***** Mag. Atk.: **** Speed: *****
Stat Growth Rates:
HP: ***** MP: **** Phys. Atk.: ***** Mag. Atk.: **** Speed: **
--ABILITIES--
NO ABILITIES
The Mime copies every action that your other characters take.
--MY THOUGHTS--
Mimes aren’t quite as good as you’d think. They only mimic abilities in the
exact direction and range that they were originally used, which means they
usually miss. However, if you use them very carefully, they can be useful, as
they could potentially double the number of actions you take. Try pairing a
Mime with a Arithmetician -- everything spell the Arithmetician calculates, the
Mime will repeat for twice the effect (of course, you could just make two
Arithmeticians instead...).
The main asset of Mimes is that they have great stat growth, making this a
great job to level up with. (Along with a level 8 Onion Knight, they’re the
only generic job that can raise your Magick Attack.)
---DARK KNIGHT-----------------------------------------------------------------
Required jobs : Knight MASTERED, Black Mage MASTERED, Samurai lv. 8,
Ninja lv. 8, Geomancer lv. 8, Dragoon lv. 8, must kill 20
enemies (so that they turn into chests/crystals) with the
character
Needed for jobs : none
Equippable weapons: Swords, knight’s swords, Movement range : 3
fell swords, axes, flails Jump height : 3
Equippable armor: Shields, helms, clothes, armor, robes Physical evade : 0%
Stats When Active Job:
HP: *** MP: **** Phys. Atk.: ***** Mag. Atk.: ** Speed: ***
Stat Growth Rates:
HP: ** MP: * Phys. Atk.: **** Mag. Atk.: * Speed: *
--ABILITIES--
--Action Abilities: Darkness--
Damage based on user’s: Physical Attack & Weapon Strength
RNG RAD
MP TIC H/V H/V TAR LF JP EFFECT
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sanguine Sword * 0 3/* 1/- Any N 500 Drains HP
Infernal Strike 0 3/* 1/- Any N 500 Drains MP
Crushing Blow * 0 3/2 1/2 Any N 300 Attack, causes Stop. Element of
this attack is based on element
of user’s current weapon.
Abyssal Blade * 0 #Cone#/2 Any N 1000 Non-elemental attack; does more
damage to units closer to
caster. Consumes HP equal to
20% of user’s maximum HP
Unholy Sacrifice 0 Slf 3/3 Any N 1200 Dark attack, causes Slow.
Consumes HP equal to 30% of
user’s max HP. The greater the
user’s max HP, the more damage
this ability does.
# Abyssal Blade has a "cone" attack pattern. Within its vertical range of 2,
it strikes the first tile in the orientation you’re facing, three tiles in a row
behind that, and five tiles in the row behind *that*. In other words, it looks
something like this:
X
XX U = user
UXXX X = affected tiles
XX
X
All Darkness techniques have a 100% hit rate. However, they cannot be used
unless the user is equipped with a sword, knight’s sword, or fell sword.
Damage from Darkness techniques increases when you have a stronger weapon
equipped. When you have two weapons Dual Wielded, only the weapon in the
upper slot counts (whether it’s a sword or not!).
--Reaction Abilities--
none
--Support Abilities--
JP EFFECT
----------------------------------------------------------
HP Boost 2000 Increases maximum HP by 20%
Vehemence * 400 Increases by 50% the effectiveness
of user’s attacks and HP-restoring
abilities, but also increases
damage received by 50%
--Movement Abilities--
JP EFFECT
---------------------------------------------------------
Move +3# * 1000 Movement range + 3
Jump +3# 1000 Jump height + 3
#: Move +3 is available for female Dark Knights, Jump +3 for males.
JP to master: 6700
--MY THOUGHTS--
Well, Dark Knights are very strong. They have the strongest attack power of
any regular job, can equip knight’s swords and heavy armor, and pretty much
all of their abilities are great (though Crushing Blow, Abyssal Blade, and
Unholy Sacrifice are all height-limited). Note that you can negate the HP
costs associated with Abyssal Blade and Unholy Sacrifice by equipping the
Time Mage ability Mana Shield. Unlocking the Dark Knight job allows even
generic characters to use sword techniques, and the HP-draining effect of
Sanguine Sword makes it a particularly advantageous attack to have. Vehemence
is also a great support ability for characters who aren’t too fragile.
Dark Knights are also the only job (aside from Onion Knights, of course) that
can equip the fell swords, special weapons found in the game’s multiplayer
mode. Fell swords aren’t really that great, though, since they require both
hands and don’t carry all the buffs that knight’s swords do.
So what’s the catch? Well, the requirements for this job are also
astronomical. You need to completely master two other jobs (one physical, one
magickal) and get four other jobs up to level 8 ... plus you need to kill
20 enemies with the character. By the time you do all that, you’ll probably be
tough enough that you don’t even *need* the Dark Knight job to complete the
single-player mode!
So, while the Dark Knight is indisputably powerful, you definitely don’t need
to jump through the hoops to get it just to use in the single-player mode. On
the other hand, if you want to finish all the Rendezvous Mode missions, the
Dark Knight and its HP-draining ability is quite important!
---ONION KNIGHT----------------------------------------------------------------
Required jobs : Squire lv. 6, Chemist lv. 6
Needed for jobs : None
Equippable weapons: All Movement range : 3
Equippable armor: All Jump height : 3
Physical evade : 5%
Stats When Active Job: when job lv.8: 30%
HP: * MP: * Phys. Atk.: * Mag. Atk.: * Speed: ***
Upon reaching job level 8 (see below), the Onion Knight’s stats will increase:
HP: ***** MP: ***** Phys. Atk.: ***** Mag. Atk.: **** Speed: *****
Stat Growth Rates:
HP: ** MP: *** Phys. Atk.: * Mag. Atk.: * Speed: *
Stat Growth Rates at job level 8:
HP: ***** MP: ***** Phys. Atk.: ***** Mag. Atk.: **** Speed: *****
--ABILITIES--
NO ABILITIES
The Onion Knight cannot use any abilities, but can use any kind of equipment.
Even items normally reserved for female characters can be used by male Onion
Knights (and by female Onion Knights, too, of course).
--MY THOUGHTS--
Taken in their base form, Onion Knights seem how exactly how the game describes
them: sad. Sure, they can equip any piece of equipment, but they have
terrible stats and NO abilities. Even if you gave them a good sword and armor,
they’d still be just a weaker Knight with no abilities. Plus, they don’t gain
experience from taking actions.
So what’s the point of Onion Knights? Well, for every two other jobs you
master, the job level of Onion Knight increases. (Squire, Chemist, Mime, Dark
Knight, and special jobs that replace Squire do not count towards this count.)
If you master 14 jobs and get Onion Knight to job level 8, their stats will see
a BIG increase. (Yes, mastering 14 jobs is a LOT of abilities to learn.)
Also, if you play the game’s multiplayer mode, you can earn the Onion gear,
very strong equipment that can only be used by Onion Knights. With these two
things, Onion Knights can be very strong melee fighters, although they still
have no abilities.
Once at job level 8, the Onion Knight also gains the best stat bonuses on
level-up, but since they don’t get EXP from attacking and can’t equip Steal
EXP, the only way to level them up is with the Wild Boar’s Bequeath Bacon
ability (available with the Beastmaster support ability). Since Wild Boars can
only be obtained by breeding them from a Swine or from other Wild Boars, this
can take quite a while.
If you’re not interested in spending a lot of time leveling up your jobs or
breeding Wild Boars, you probably won’t have much use for the Onion Knight.
(And you certainly don’t *need* them for the single-player mode!) But, if you
want to spend the time, you’ll end up with the best stats available in the
game!
%%%SPECIAL JOBS%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%00job2
These are special jobs used by specific story characters. They aren’t
available to generic characters. In all cases where a story character has a
special job, the special job replaces the Squire job for that character.
All the special jobs have the same reaction, support, and movement abilities as
the Squire job (which they replace). Therefore, I haven’t bothered to list
them. The exceptions are the Ark Knight, Automaton, and Byblos jobs, which
do have different abilities.
---SQUIRE [RAMZA]--------------------------------------------------------------
Used By: Ramza Movement range : 4
Equippable weapons: Knives, swords, Jump height : 3
knight’s swords (ch. 4), flails Physical evade : 10%
Equippable armor: Shields (ch. 2+), hats, helms (ch. 2+),
clothes, armor (ch. 2+), robes
Stats When Active Job:
HP: **** MP: **** Phys. Atk.: **** Mag. Atk.: *** Speed: ***
Stat Growth Rates:
HP: *** MP: **** Phys. Atk.: *** Mag. Atk.: ** Speed: **
--ABILITIES--
--Action Abilities: Mettle--
Damage based on user’s: Physical Attack (Rush/Stone)
Magick Attack and Faith, plus target’s Faith (Ultima)
RNG RAD
MP TIC H/V H/V TAR LF JP EFFECT
---------------------------------------------------------------
Focus * 0 Slf 1/- Self - 300 Raises physical attack power by 1
for duration of battle
Rush 0 1/1 1/- Any - 80 Weak physical attack, may knock
enemy back one tile; does
variable damage (may be more or
less than estimate)
Stone 0 4/* 1/- Any Y 90 Weak (ranged) physical attack,
may knock enemy back one tile;
does variable damage (may be
more or less than estimate)
Salve 0 1/2 1/- Any - 150 Cures Blind, Silence, Poison
Tailwind * 0 3/* 1/- Any N 200 Raises speed by 1 for duration of
battle
Chant * 0 1/3 1/- Any - 0 Restores HP, Ramza loses HP equal
to 1/2 of amount healed
Steel (ch. 2+) * 0 3/* 1/- Any N 200 Raises Bravery by 5 #
Shout (ch. 4) * 0 Slf 1/- Self - 500 Raises Bravery by 10 #, physical
and magick strength by 1, speed
by 1
Ultima (ch. 4) 10 5 4/* 2/1 Any N & Non-elemental magick attack
JP to master: 2570
# Note: These abilities increase your Bravery. Most of this change remains
only for the battle, but for every 4 points you increase your Bravery during
battle, you get a 1 point permanent increase in Bravery.
Ultima can only be learned by having Luso or an enemy cast it on Ramza; see the
"Learning Ultima" section under Advanced Tactics for more information on this.
--MY THOUGHTS--
Ramza’s Squire job is powered up quite a bit relative to a regular Squire. He
has better stats, some extra abilities, and he can equip knight’s swords and
heavy armor. (Unlike a regular Squire, though, he can’t use axes, oddly
enough.)
Most of Ramza’s extra abilities are quite useful. Tailwind is a speed boost,
Steel is a Bravery boost, and Shout raises all stats but only works on Ramza.
Steel is particulary useful as it’s the fastest way of permanently adding to
your Bravery; it has a 100% hit rate and costs no MP. Whenever Ramza has a
spare turn, it’s a good idea to have him use Steel to boost a teammate’s
Bravery (or Shout to boost his own); increasing your Bravery makes your
reaction abilities much more effective. In a pinch, Chant is good for healing
too. On the other hand, the Ultima spell is actually pretty weak, especially
given that you have to go out of your way to learn it.
So, Mettle makes for a good set of support abilities. But since Ramza doesn’t
have much in the way of direct attack abilities and only one healing ability
that also hurts him, you’ll probably eventually want to supplement Mettle with
some other abilities. You can switch Ramza to another job (I like to make him
Monk or a Ninja) and equip Mettle as your second command. Or, since his Squire
job is pretty strong statistically, learn abilities with a different job and
then switch him back to Squire!
If you’re trying to master lots of jobs for the purposes of powering up Onion
Knight, note that Ramza’s Squire job isn’t Mastered until he learns Ultima.
---SQUIRE [DELITA]-------------------------------------------------------------
Used By: Delita (ch. 1) Movement range : 4
Equippable weapons: Knives, swords, flails Jump height : 3
Equippable armor: Hats, clothes, robes Physical evade : 5%
Stats When Active Job:
HP: **** MP: **** Phys. Atk.: **** Mag. Atk.: *** Speed: ***
--ABILITIES--
--Action Abilities: Mettle--
Damage based on user’s: Physical Attack
RNG RAD
MP TIC H/V H/V TAR LF JP EFFECT
---------------------------------------------------------------
Focus * 0 Slf 1/- Self - 300 Raises physical attack power by 1
for duration of battle
Rush 0 1/1 1/- Any - 80 Weak physical attack, may knock
enemy back one tile; does
variable damage (may be more or
less than estimate)
Stone 0 4/* 1/- Any Y 90 Weak (ranged) physical attack,
may knock enemy back one tile;
does variable damage (may be
more or less than estimate)
Salve 0 1/2 1/- Any - 150 Cures Blind, Silence, Poison
Chant * 0 1/3 1/- Any - 0 Restores HP, Delita loses HP
equal to 1/2 of amount healed
JP to master: 1620
--MY THOUGHTS--
Like Ramza’s, Delita’s Squire job has superior stats to a regular Squire,
although he only has one extra ability, Chant. Chant comes in quite useful
during Chapter I, as it lets Delita heal other party members for a substantial
amount (albeit at the cost of some of his own HP). Expect to see the guest AI
using it fairly frequently.
---SQUIRE [ARGATH]-------------------------------------------------------------
Used By: Argath (ch. 1) Movement range : 4
Equippable weapons: Knives, swords, axes, flails Jump height : 3
Equippable armor: Hats, clothes Physical evade : 15%
Stats When Active Job:
HP: **** MP: **** Phys. Atk.: **** Mag. Atk.: *** Speed: ***
--ABILITIES--
--Action Abilities: Fundaments--
Damage based on user’s: Physical Attack & Weapon Strength
RNG RAD
MP TIC H/V H/V TAR LF JP EFFECT
---------------------------------------------------------------
Focus * 0 Slf 1/- Self - 300 Raises physical attack power by 1
for duration of battle
Rush 0 1/1 1/- Any - 80 Weak physical attack, may knock
enemy back one tile; does
variable damage (may be more or
less than estimate)
Stone 0 4/* 1/- Any Y 90 Weak (ranged) physical attack,
may knock enemy back one tile;
does variable damage (may be
more or less than estimate)
Salve 0 1/2 1/- Any - 150 Cures Blind, Silence, Poison
Rend Helm 0 Weapon Any Y 300 Destroys target’s headgear
Rend Armor 0 Weapon Any Y 400 Destroys target’s armor
JP to master: 2320
--MY THOUGHTS--
Again, compared to a regular Squire, Argath has better stats and a couple extra
abilities: Rend Helm and Rend Armor. They’d be nice to use, but since Argath
only gains JP during story battles (he doesn’t participate in random battles),
you likely won’t even have a chance to learn them. Instead, you may want to
supplement him with a Black Magick spell or two if available, or perhaps Items.
---FELL KNIGHT-----------------------------------------------------------------
Used By: Gaffgarion Movement range : 3
Equippable weapons: Swords, knight’s swords Jump height : 3
Equippable armor: Shields, helms, armor, robes Physical evade : 15%
Stats When Active Job:
HP: ***** MP: **** Phys. Atk.: *** Mag. Atk.: *** Speed: ****
--ABILITIES--
--Action Abilities: Fell Sword--
Damage based on user’s: Physical Attack & Weapon Strength
RNG RAD
MP TIC H/V H/V TAR LF JP EFFECT
---------------------------------------------------------------
Shadowblade * 0 3/* 1/- Any N 100 Absorbs HP from target
Duskblade 0 3/* 1/- Any N 500 Absorbs MP from target
Fell Sword techniques have a 100% hit rate. However, they cannot be used
unless Gaffgarion is equipped with a sword, knight’s sword, or fell sword.
JP to master: 1650
--MY THOUGHTS--
Gaffgarion is cool, but he’s only in your party for two battles plus the intro
battle at the start of the game. But, his Shadowblade technique is quite
powerful (and restores some of Gaffgarion’s HP!), so he’ll be helpful while
you’ve got him.
---HOLY KNIGHT-----------------------------------------------------------------
Used By: Agrias, Delita (ch. 2+) Movement range : 3
Equippable weapons: Swords, knight’s swords Jump height : 3
Equippable armor: Shields, helms, armor, robes Physical evade : 25%
Stats When Active Job:
HP: ***** MP: **** Phys. Atk.: *** Mag. Atk.: *** Speed: ***
Stat Growth Rates:
HP: **** MP: **** Phys. Atk.: *** Mag. Atk.: * Speed: *
--ABILITIES--
--Action Abilities: Holy Sword--
Damage based on user’s: Physical Attack & Weapon Strength
RNG RAD
MP TIC H/V H/V TAR LF JP EFFECT
---------------------------------------------------------------
Judgment Blade * 0 2/* 2/0 Any N 0 Physical attack, causes Stop
Cleansing Strike 0 3/2 1/- Any N 400 Physical attack, causes Doom
Northswain’s Strike 0 3/1 1/- Any N 500 Physical attack, instant KO
Hallowed Bolt * 0 3/* 2/1 Any N 700 Physical attack, causes Silence
Divine Ruination * 0 4Dir 5/2 Any N 800 Physical attack, causes Confuse
Chant (Delita only) 0 1/3 1/- Any - 0 Restores HP, Delita loses HP
equal to 1/2 of amount healed
Holy Sword techniques have a 100% hit rate. However, they cannot be used
unless Agrias/Delita is equipped with a sword, knight’s sword, or fell sword.
Damage from Holy Sword techniques increases when you have a stronger weapon
equipped. When you have two weapons Dual Wielded, only the weapon in the
upper slot counts (whether it’s a sword or not!).
The element of these techniques is the same as the element of your weapon.
(And if the weapon has no elemental affinity, then the attack is non-
elemental.)
JP to master: 3450
--MY THOUGHTS--
Agrias’s sword techniques makes her an invaluable member of your party as soon
as she joins, and she’ll stay that way pretty much throughout the game. Her
Holy Sword abilities are great because they do a lot of damage, require no
charge time or MP, and have a few panels’ range! She’s likely to be a major
part of your offense, especially before you get Orlandeau, who has all of
Agrias’s abilities and then some. Even with Orlandeau available, though,
Agrias still makes for a good fighter; she’s just not quite *as* strong ;).
You may want to save up your JP for Hallowed Bolt and Divine Ruination, her
best techniques. Divine Ruination is her strongest technique and can damage
quite a few enemies if they all happen to be standing on a straight line.
Hallowed Bolt isn’t quite as strong, but it works on a diagonal and can strike
multiple enemies standing next to each other.
Note that since sword techniques are considered physical attacks, the
Geomancer’s Attack Boost can make them even stronger!
Delita’s version of the Holy Knight job is even tougher, but he only shows up
as a Holy Knight for a few battles.
---PRINCESS--------------------------------------------------------------------
Used By: Ovelia Movement range : 4
Equippable weapons: Staves Jump height : 3
Equippable armor: Hats, clothes, robes Physical evade : 20%
Stats When Active Job:
HP: *** MP: **** Phys. Atk.: **** Mag. Atk.: *** Speed: ***
--ABILITIES--
--Action Abilities: Holy Magicks--
RNG RAD
MP TIC H/V H/V TAR LF JP EFFECT
---------------------------------------------------------------
Aegis * 30 4 5/* 1/- Any N 0 Gives Reraise, Regen, Protect,
Shell, and Haste status
Dispelna 20 4 4/* 1/- Any N 0 Cures Stone, Confuse, Silence,
Vampire, Toad, Poison, Stop,
Sleep, Immobilize, and Disable
JP to master: 1050
--MY THOUGHTS--
Well, Ovelia only fights in a few battles, but she’s actually a useful
character (you wouldn’t expect her to be, but she is!). Aegis is a great spell
since it casts 5 different buffs at once; unfortunately, since you can’t
control her, she’ll mostly cast it on herself.
---MACHINIST-------------------------------------------------------------------
Used By: Mustadio Movement range : 3
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