Archives June 2022

As we continue going through each generic job in Final Fantasy Tactics, we will cover the competitive viability of the Ninja job as the main role in PvP.

PvP Performance Statcard

Based on the ratings, Ninja is one of the top-tier jobs for PvP. Let’s focus on more of why that is the case below.

For more information on this job, visit the job link: Ninja

Abilities

Ninja’s Throw ability allows you to propel weapons, shurikens, and bombs from a distance for instant damage. The item thrown is consumed from your inventory so you do want to make sure you have a decent quantity at the ready. Throw’s damage scales up with the weapon’s Power and your character’s Speed which is fitting with Ninja’s innately high Speed which we will cover in the Stats section. Since there are multiple properties with Throw we will cover them first before going over abilities:

● Is considered a physical attack (can be mitigated via Protect and Defense Boost).
● Throw’s element becomes the thrown weapon’s element (if any).
● The range is based on your Move stat.
● Throw cannot be reflected but can be evaded, stopped via Shirahadori, or caught via Sticky Fingers.
● Throw does not benefit from Attack Boost or Vehemence.
● Weapons only obtainable in multiplayer modes can never be thrown.

Now with that being said, let’s look at their job abilities:

Throw (action, high weapon power) – Throw, coupled with weapons with high power such as Chaos Blade or Chirijiraden, can deal quite a bit of damage instantly.

Reflexes (reaction) – This always-on reaction ability doubles all of your physical and magic evasion rates. This paired with cloaks enables you to be quite evasive even from behind, a specific issue with using shields.

Dual-Wield (support) – This passive enables you to equip two one-handed weapons, allowing you to strike twice with a basic attack as well as providing an extra slot for weapons that have stat bonuses. This also gives you a second chance at rending via Arts of War. Ninjas innately have this ability.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 70% | MP: 50% | SP: 120% | PA: 122% | MA: 75%
C-EV: 30 | Move: 4 | Jump: 4

Can equip: Knives, Ninja Blades, Flails, Hats, Clothing

Ninjas are the fastest generic job with their 120% Speed (tied only to Mime), have an excellent starting Move and Jump of 4 and 30% evasion, and fairly high Physical Attack. Because of their Speed, they are also good options for opening plays with support Iaido skills, like Kiyomori (protect and shell) to quickly get vital buffs out to the party. On the downside, they aren’t bulky and are not keen on magicks, but their versatility is what makes them such an enticing primary job in PvP.

Conclusion

Ninja is easily one of the top PvP job options because of their ability to make fast plays happen quickly, which in formats like Starter, is very vital towards success. They synergize very well with other physical skillsets and Throw is an all-round good ability even as a secondary for instant damage. Their innate Dual-Wield opens up a variety of different stat optimizations. Ultimately, Ninjas are a great asset for any team.

As we approach the 11th job and halfway point of the PvP Job Series, we will focus on Geomancer’s role in PvP.

PvP Performance Statcard

Based on the above ratings, Geomancer is a good choice in competitive PvP. But why is that the case? Let’s take a look by first analyzing some of their abilities.

For more information on this job, visit the job link: Geomancer.

Abilities

Geomancer’s Geomancy ability tree uses the terrain the character is standing on to have a 19% chance to apply a status effect based on that tile and always deals area damage. Geomancy isn’t a powerful damaging ability, but where it shines is the chance to status someone from a distance. This of course is map-dependent so mileage may vary. Geomancy scales up with both Magick Attack and Physical Attack in its calculation. Since the action abilities in this skillset differ based on tiles, we won’t really focus on that, but will highlight job passives instead:

Contortion (action) – This action ability is mentioned because it is more commonly accessible as most maps have the following terrain: Gravel, Flagstone, Stone Wall, Earthen Wall, Gravestone. This ability has a chance to inflict stone status which is one of the more serious status effects in the game since the unit is considered KO’ed and there are not as many immunities to it normally.

Nature’s Wraith (reaction) – This Bravery%-based reaction causes you to counter-attack with a Geomancy ability after taking physical damage regardless of range. The tile used for this reaction is based on who dealt the damage, not the caster. This still scales like a normal Geomancy ability.

Attack Boost (support) – This passive ability increases the damage of most physical-based attacks and abilities by 33%. Just to note, this passive does not increase Geomancy damage, Black Mage’s Arcane Strength does.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 110% | MP: 95% | SP: 100% | PA: 110% | MA: 105%
C-EV: 5 | Move: 4 | Jump: 3

Can equip: Swords, Axes, Shields, Hats, Clothing, Robes

Geomancer has balanced stats making them versatile for various builds. Having access to swords and shields gives them a plethora of options for offensive power and evasion; if focused on amping up your Geomancy damage, Runeblade is a good pick with +2 MA. They also have 4 Move compared to Knight, Archer, and Dragoon’s 3 Move, so they have better base mobility. Compared to caster jobs, they have higher Move as well and can equip shields. Their jack-of-all-trades approach can be great for an off-meta build and male and female genders both can benefit from this job.

Conclusion

Geomancer is a balanced job that focuses on dealing damage from safety and with opportunities to cripple your opponent. They aren’t the best at anything, but they aren’t the worse either. Their Geomancy skillset is mostly for utility, and Geomancers can be placed into melee or magic setups.

Today, we focus on how the Summoner job as the main role compares in competitive PvP.

Based on the above performance rating, Summoners are a decent option in the PvP environment. Let’s take a look closer by first analyzing its abilities.

For more information on this job, visit the job link: Summoner.

Abilities

Summoner’s Summon skillset focuses on evoking the power of espers to deal damage or provide beneficial effects to the party. Just like the other mages we mentioned in previous PvP Job Series articles, Summoner’s magicks rely on both the caster and the target’s Faith to be the most effective. One interesting tidbit is that summons do not hurt friendlies and you can target your allies to “attach” a summon for later turns. While we won’t go over each of their abilities, we will highlight a few notable ones that make up their arsenal:

Shiva/Ramuh/Ifrit (action) – These ice, lightning, and fire-elemental magic damage summons are best known for their short cast time and also scales up with gear, like Black Robe.

Golem (action) – This defensive summon creates a “damage shield” around all allies that is based on the caster’s maximum HP. This shield absorbs damage from basic attacks, Jump, Throw, and Aim up until the damage exceeds the shield value. This is a very good ability in the Starter format.

Zodiark (action) – Though this summon has high MP cost and slow casting, it is very hard-hitting and attaching it to an ally early can lead to devastating blows to your opponent.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 70% | MP: 125% | SP: 90% | PA: 50% | MA: 125%
C-EV: 5 | Move: 3 | Jump: 3

Can equip: Rod, Staves, Hats, Clothing, Robes

Compared to Time Mage and Black Mage, Summoner has less Speed and Magick Attack with less HP bulk. However, they do have access to both rods and staves so you have a wider variety of weapons to choose from. Sadly, Summoners as the main job isn’t the best in most cases as Time and Black Mage both can utilize Summon more effectively with higher MA. Make sure to use Time Mage’s Swiftness ability to cut down the cast time in half, rounded up.

Conclusion

Summoner has a variety of magicks in its skillset that can be handy at the right moment. With that being said, Summon seems to be best as a secondary ability on the other mage jobs when looking at min-maxing damage or support. Summoners sadly fall short of being a competitive job option in most PvP formats.

Continuing onward, we look at the viability of the Thief job as the main role in PvP for competitive use.

PvP Performance Statcard

Based on the above ratings, Thief is not looking to be a good fit for most PvP compositions as a primary job. Most of their shortcomings will be due to their stats and limited gear variety. Let’s expand more on that below.

For more information on Thief, visit the job link: Thief.

Abilities

Thief’s Steal enables them to take chance at removing the selected gear from the target, which can cause disruptions against the opponent. To get the best results out of Steal, you are going to want to invest in Speed as their success rates scale further up with it. You must be within 1 range for most abilities and you should always aim to Steal from behind. We will take a further look at the abilities that will see the most PvP use:

Steal Heart (action) – Has a chance to charm the opposing gender or monster. This is very disruptive and one of their better abilities. You don’t gain control of them (acts like a guest), but the charmed unit will perform actions that further disrupt/damage your opponent until they take damage.

Steal Weapon (action) – Removing an opponent’s weapon most cases reduces their combat effectiveness, espcially jobs like Dark Knight or the “sword” jobs that require a sword at minimum to be equipped. Since stealing a weapon adds it to the inventory it also makes it an option to be thrown in PvP.

Steal Accessory (action) – Removing an opponent’s accessory can in most cases, lower their evasiveness, make them susceptible to status, or lower their stats depending on what they have. Always check in advance to see if it is worth stealing.

Move/Jump +2 (action) – These abilities are quintessential with traversing any map, especially Move +2, which is needed to get up close to the enemy to use Steal.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 90% | MP: 50% | Speed: 110% | PA: 100% | MA: 60%
C-EV: 25 | Move: 4 | Jump: 4

Can equip: Knives, Hats, Clothing

Thief’s best stats are their Speed, Evasion, Move, and Jump, each important to utilizing their skillset. They are a good candidate for the “Equip” support abilities since they have limited gear options. Gender will play a role to use Steal Heart effectively based on the metagame. Ninja’s Throw, Dragoon’s Jump, or Monk’s Martial Arts are all good secondary abilities since Throw and Jump synergize with Thief’s Speed and Martial Arts can utilize their PA.

Conclusion

Thief is in a rough spot for PvP use. Knight’s Arts of War tends to do a better job at removing gear which is primarily what thieving is all about with the exception of Steal Accessory. Ninjas tend to be a better Thief while utilizing Steal in most cases. Overall, you can see why Thief as a primary job isn’t the best for PvP.

As we continue the Tactics PvP Job Series, we will have a look at the viability and the performance of the Monk job as the main role in PvP for competitive use.

PvP Performance Statcard

Judging the statcard, Monks are an excellent primary job pick for any team. Let’s focus more on why that is the case below starting with their skillset.

For more information on this job, visit the job link: Monk.

Abilities

Monk’s Martial Arts pack quite a wallop with its mixture of support and damage abilities. While Monks can only be barehanded, they do have innate Brawler (50% more damage from physical attacks while barehanded and some bonuses on other abilities), so it frees up their support slot for anything you may need on them, such as Attack Boost for more damage. While we won’t focus on every ability they have, we will highlight the ones that are quite popular in PvP:

Aurablast (action) – Deals ranged physical damage. This is likely to be your spammable while not within a 1 tile range of your target. I will mention Pummel here strictly because its high-end damage varies off of randomness whereas Aurablast is more consistent.

Shockwave (action) – A 8-ranged line physical attack that gives Monks further ranged coverage. This ability is also a spammable when there are multiple targets in the targeted line.

Chakra (action) – Restores HP and MP to nearby units. Chakra scales up with Physical Attack which you would be typically stacking into, so this ability is a nice instant area burst heal. I will also note that this is one of the few ways to heal undead units.

First Strike (reaction) – Bravery% chance to cancel an incoming attack, Throw, Arts of War, or Aim based on your weapon’s range and counter-attack instead. This reaction does deserve a mention especially when equipped with ranged weapons as this enables the possibility of countering from afar, but this will vary on the skillsets your opponent is using.

Brawler (support, innate to Monk) – This ability not only increases your physical attacks while barehanded by 50% (excludes Jump and Throw), it also increases the effectiveness of your Martial Arts abilities and most Steal abilities, though it is not as significant for most chance-based abilities.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 135% | MP: 80% | Speed: 110% | PA: 129% | MA: 80% | C-EV: 20 | Move: 3 | Jump: 4

Can equip: Clothing

Monks have naturally good bulk because of their HP. This, coupled with their PA makes them great offensive characters while being fairly tanky, especially with males getting a PA bonus. Their barehanded basic attacks scale up with PA and Bravery. Monks do have some drawbacks in not being able to equip weapons and headgear. They can equip clothing, but you may be more reliant on their accessories for damage or status coverage. Martial Arts is very flexible and is a great choice as a secondary for physically-focused builds.

Conclusion

Overall, Monks are a solid choice as a main job in PvP. They have a great skillset with ranged utility, strong melee damage, and some support abilities as well. Their stats enable them to be great frontline offenders while sustaining damage. They do have some limitations with their job restriction on gear options, but they contend well even with that in mind.

As we continue the Tactics PvP Job Series, we will have a look at the viability and the performance of the Time Mage job as the main role in PvP for competitive use.

PvP Performance Statcard

Based on the above ratings, Time Mage seems like a decent job role especially if looking for something in the mage department. Let’s focus more on the reasoning below.

For more information on this job, visit the job link: Time Mage.

Abilities

Time Mage’s Time Magicks ability tree primarily focuses on slowing down or speeding people up with a few damaging magicks in their arsenal. Like any other mage in Tactics, their magicks require time to cast, so it is always important to utilize Turn Order to get the best spells off. The status effect ones are also best served when the caster and target have fairly high Faith, increasing the odds of it landing. Let’s take a look at Time Mage’s notable magicks below:

Haste (action) – This ability applies a status effect that increase allies’ CT gauge by 50% causing them to get more turns often. Very vital in order to dominate the field quickly.

Slow (action) – This ability removes the Haste status (if any) and halves the target’s Speed stat, effectively reducing how often a character gets a turn.

Quick (action) – Has a chance to give the target an immediate turn once casted. This can be utilized with Turn Order to do “combos” or deal enough damage in a way to gain a KO against your opponent.

Mana Shield (reaction) – This Bravery-percent chance ability converts HP damage to MP instead and works as long as you have at least 1 MP if it procs. Very powerful, especially in the Starter format.

Swiftness (support) – This passive reduces the “Spell Speed” of all action abilities except for Aim, Sing, Dance, and Jump by half, rounded up. Very handy when Speed is king and you are trying to use magicks.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 75% | MP: 120% | SP: 100% | PA: 50% | MA: 130% | C-EV: 5 |
Move: 3 | Jump: 3

Can equip: Staves, Hats, Clothing, Robes

Next up, let’s focus on Time Mage’s stats. When compared to Black Mage’s 100% SP and 150% MA, you will see that Time Mage is a statistically weaker version of Black Mage. Because of this, Time Magicks seems best as a secondary than using it as a primary, unless the game rules/format has job restrictions. One thing to mention is that Time Mage does have access to staves versus Black Mages with rods, so some gear choices may differ depending on the playstyle. Also, if you need Haste in a speedy format, Samurai’s Iaido has access to that in an instant ability which is likely better in the long run.

Conclusion

Time Mage is a decent job, but it is overshadowed by Black Mage as a main job. Their abilities are control-focused, but they are likely best used as a secondary. Mana Shield and Swiftness are strong and versatile abilities that will likely find their way in most builds.