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The day that many of us here at Tactics League have dreamed of is finally happening: a live PvP tournament! With the official v3.0 update now released, the next step in our Tactics journey is to host a live competition and start our first competitive season.

Our first event is scheduled for Sunday, October 8, 2023, with check-in starting at 12PM EST and kick-off starting at 12:30 PM EST. This tournament will be live-streamed both via the Tactics League Discord and the Tactics League Twitch channel.

Interested in trying your stakes at Tactics PvP and winning $100 USD in cash prizes including Competitor Points for future seeding? Join the Tactics League Discord for more information on how to get started, sign up, and prepare your roster for high-level competitive play!

For more information, please check out our recently added Events page and the 2023 Opener Competitions page.

As the fall season approaches, the work, playtesting, and iterating of the 3.0 Beta builds are complete and today we are releasing the official update that we have been testing over the course of the past few months.

As stated in the v3.0 beta update article, this update includes Tactics League’s first-ever software modifications for Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP), focusing on improving both Melee and Rendezvous modes for a complete multiplayer experience.

Since much time has passed from v3.0 to v3.6 Beta, we won’t go over all that has been changed here but instead provide the changelog for what this official update brings. If you are curious about the work done, please head to the PvP Patch – Changelog.

To download the all-in-one package that includes the PPF file and save data, please visit Downloads. To learn more about how to apply the PPF patch, visit Tutorials.

Table of Contents

• PvP Patch v3.0 Official Changelog
  • Quality of Life Updates
  • Jobs
  • Abilities
  • Equipment – Gear
• Competitive Starter 4.0
• Rendezvous 2.0
• Generics Premade 4.0
• PvP Patch – Changelog (opens in new tab)

PvP Patch v3.0 Official Changelog

Our beta testing period is over, and with it comes a very jam-packed update. Not much has changed at the closure, but there is still a few tidying up to be done, and one quality change to make your battles even more intense!

Quality of Life Updates

• Soundtrack
  • The random battles background music has been refreshed and will now randomly play one of the following nostalgic battle themes, fitting the theme of PvP much better than ever before. Note that this change also affects random encounters in the world:
    • Trisection
    • Back Fire
    • Decisive Battle
    • Antipyretic

Jobs

• Holy Knight (Agrias)
  • Reverted the temporary HP multiplier from 160 to 140% now that her base HP has been increased to better transition it between jobs
  • Reverted the temporary PA multiplier from 120 to 100% now that her base PA has been increased to better transition it between jobs
    
• Samurai
  • Increased Move from 3 to 4
  • Increased HP multiplier from 85 to 100%
    A buff to Samurai to help it perform better; especially since they require to be up-close for both weapon attacks and Iaido. Samurai is now decently bulky with a higher base HP can be increased further with their access to heavy armor.

Abilities

• Tasks (Construct 8)
  • Dispose and Pulverize – Increased the recoil damage from ¼ to ⅓
    Recoil damage increased to increase the penalty Construct 8 receives from using its primary damaging abilities.
    
• Vengeance and Blade Beam (Beowulf/Cloud)
  • Increased the damage cap from 70 to 80% of your missing HP
    This should give these abilities more room but still restrict abuse where a player lowers their HP through team damage.
    
• Time Magicks
  • Gravity – This ability is now single target and instant cast
    This gives Time Mages an instant damaging spell if necessary, still subject to evasion/reflect, but potentially devastating against high HP targets.
    
• Bardsong
  • Nameless Song – Removed Bestows: Protect or Shell chance from this ability, improving the odds of Haste, Reraise, and Regen
    Since this ability doesn’t bestow both Protect and Shell together and this ability isn’t usually cast for these buffs that can be obtained via gear or Barrier/Kiyomori/Ward, this ability will no longer provide Protect or Shell improving its viability for the other buffs.

Equipment – Gear

• Cursed Robe – Increased MP from 100 to 150
  Since Wizard’s Robe had an increase in overall bulk due to the recent MP buff, Cursed Robe also needs a bit more, but its bearers should consider Mana Shield since they gain 0 HP from this item.

Competitive Starter v4.0 (Slot 3)

• All Characters
  • Learned Unholy Darkness (Mystic Arts)
    
• Agrias
  • Increased HP from 401 to 481 (+20% HP)
  • Increased PA from 13 to 15
    These changes are to adjust her stats as it was previously stated in v3.5.1B. The end result is that Agrias has a net gain of HP and 2 more PA that will transition to other jobs rather than being forced on Holy Knight if desired.

Rendezvous 2.0 (Slot 2)

• Luso – Set PA/MA to 15/15 to match Starter
  
• All Competitive Starter changes, including Unholy Darkness, have been applied to this slot
  
• Gear Restriction Update
  • NEW Banned – Invisibility Cloak
    Because the AI retains its vanilla functionality of not targeting invisible units, this item permanently removes such targeting allowing players to bypass aggression. Items that provide temporary/Initial: Invisible will remain as is since they wear off after action.

Generics Premade (Slot 1)

• Inventory
  • Removed Faerie Harp as an equipment choice for Armiger since squires can no longer equip instruments
    
• Replaced Movement abilities for most builds since Move/Jump +1 is no longer accessible. This will mostly improve mobility for most builds. This affects the following:
  • Ramza – Move +1 > Manafont
  • Delita – Move +1 > Lifefont
  • Balthier – Jump +1 > Fly
  • Beowulf – Move +1 > Lifefont
  • Shadow – Move +1 > Move +2
  • Hunter – Move +1 > Move +2
  • Parivir – Move +1 > Manafont
  • Armiger – Move +1 > Fly
  • Bouncer – Move +1 > Move +2
  • Sentinel – Move +1 > Move +2
  • Guardian – Move +1 > Move +2
  • Cleric – Move +1 > Manafont
  • Apothecary – Move +1 > Levitate
    
• Ramza
  • Replaced Resilient (Parry) with Soulbind
    
• Shadow (Damage)
  • Replaced Assassin’s Dagger with Chaos Mace since knives can no longer be dual-wield
  • Replaced Headgear with Green Beret
  • Reduced SP from 15 to 14
    
• Lancer (Damage)
  • Reduced SP from 15 to 14
    
• Sentinel (Tank)
  • Reduced MA from 20 to 12
    
• Specter (Tank)
  • Replaced Sage’s Robe with Cursed Robe to give back his original undead theme
  • Reduced MA from 25 to 19
  • Added Delirium and Unholy Darkness
  • Added Venetian Shield since Mystics can now equip shields innately
    
• Distractor (Support)
  • Replaced Parry with Reflexes
  • Reduced PA from 20 to 15

Today, we release a PvP Patch update that includes making changes to FFT WotL’s Rendezvous mode (co-op) to be up-to-date with the changes and additions we have for Melee mode and setting up Rendezvous for a more challenging experience than ever before.

To read about all of the Rendezvous changes: check out our Rendezvous Guide.

✅Setting Expectations and Endgame Rendezvous

The goal with these changes to Rendezvous missions is to set them to “endgame-level” rather than how they were originally designed based on them being unlocked through story progression. Similarly to how Tactics League’s PvP is considered endgame, this mode is also getting the treatment; making a fun and more challenging experience when coupled with the balancing of the PvP Patch. This is what to expect when playing with our modified version of Rendezvous:

• Missions are considered “endgame” instead of being originally based on the main story progression and party level.
• Includes all of the changes from the PvP Patch, including balancing, Weapon Power standardization, item limitations, jobs and abilities unlocked, gear gender equality, and some skillset changes, such as the reworked Aim.
• NPCs are all set to Level 99, with all generic units set to 60 Bravery and Faith.
• Bosses and unique characters will have their own uniquely set Bravery and Faith.
• Most NPCs have Protect/Shell gear to further their resilience.
• NPCs are all assigned abilities and gear instead of it being randomized.
• NPCs will have a random zodiac sign, but because the Tactics League-defined party roster is all Serpentarius, there is always neutral compatibility.

⚙️User Interface Changes

In addition to updating the missions with the PvP Patch changes, some of the UI elements were also updated. The flavor text has been removed for updated missions and will now display the mission’s objective and 5-star conditions. Missions that are currently updated will also have a BETA tag associated with the mission name to communicate which ones have been changed, starting with the first five as of the version 3.4 Beta update. Once we have made adjustments based on feedback and we are out of this current beta phase in its entirety, the BETA tags will be removed during the official update.

🏆Challenges Ahead

As previously discussed in a past article, the long-term goal is to create a competitive scoring and leaderboard system for Rendezvous. Harnessing the changes sought by the community via the PvP Patch, we can make a better, balanced, and impactful Rendezvous for all that will require strategy and careful planning to get those ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐and bragging rights once we have a leaderboard system in place.

If you have not joined the Tactics League Discord, this is definitely the time to hop in, playtest with other members with these new beta missions as they continue to be updated, provide feedback, and really put your strategic skills to the test in what is easily the hardest PvE battles you will ever come across in Final Fantasy Tactics.

In this incremental PvP Patch update, we address issues with Fervor (originally Furor) not affecting hasted targets, removed dual wielding from Knives, Haste and Slow are now single target and instant casts, and made a few other adjustments.

Note: If you already have the previous v2.5 save data, you can simply replace your PvP Patch file, update your text patch with the new one, and be up to date. The included save data is still the 2.5 version.

To download the official version 2.5.1 save data including the latest PvP and Text Patch please visit Downloads.

PvP Patch – Version 2.5.1 Changelog

Sky Mantra (Rapha)

• Increased the HP damage of all abilities from 33 to 50%.
  Note: Sky Mantra abilities will have a 0% chance to hit if the target is KO-immune.
  Comment: Since Rapha’s abilities require non-equipment sourced status effects in order to hit, there should be a higher payout, especially factoring from a unique skillset.

Fundaments

• Fervor (previously Furor) – Fixed an issue where the ability sought to remove Faith or Atheist instead of Haste. Note: Fervor will have a 0% chance to hit if the target is KO-immune. This ability was also renamed to Fervor as that was what it was commonly named in the Discord :p

Time Magicks

• Haste and Slow – Both abilities are now single target, instant cast, and increased their MP costs from 8 to 16 MP.
  Comment: This change was because Item’s Adrenaline was the go-to for applying targetable Haste whereas these abilities have had little usage since the updates to Chemist’s repertoire. Adrenaline still has a place where it is 100% Haste but limited to 5, where Haste (Time Magicks) is now instant, not limited, but is based on Faith.
  
  
• Meteor – Decreased tick from 10 to 6.
  Comment: Closely compared to Bahamut (Summon) in terms of AoE and PWR, this ability could use a cast-time reduction to be more performant and highlight as the Time Mage’s main “nuke” in their arsenal.

Equipment

• Knives – All Knives can no longer be dual-wielded to reduce status effect stacking due to their guaranteed status effects on hit.
  
  
• Gokuu Pole – Now 100% Atheist on hit, but no longer deals damage with weapon attacks (still 16 WP for calculating against certain abilities).

Miscellaneous

• Updated the Delita sprite in the Party Roster menu to use the Chapter 1 version. Note: this does not affect the sprite used in the Battle Formation menu.
  
• Updated the color palettes and icons for the following items: Glacial Gun, Blaster, Blaze Gun, Ebon Blade, Vitanova, Chaosbringer, Deathbringer, and Arondight.

In this update, we officially updated the PvP Patch to official version 2.0, removed Uniques and Monsters Premade saves due to low popularity, updated Generics Premade to be up to date with the PvP Patch, returned Balthier to Competitive Starter, and added a fully-unlocked Rendezvous save for those to explore and challenge themselves to some of the game’s most formidable PvE offerings. To note, each save has Ramza listed differently to mark which one is which: G-Ramza = Generics, R-Ramza = Rendezvous, and S-Ramza = Starter. This is done to make it easier to mark which saves are in case you make multiple saves in the future.

To download the official version 2.5 save data including the latest PvP Patch, please visit Downloads

Optionally, the Text Patch has been updated to the latest PvP Patch changes and is highly recommended to be patched with your ISO to be up to date with text and ability changes. Please visit either Downloads or Text Patch Tutorial Guide for more info. If you are only playing with the Rendezvous save data (SLOT 2) please disregard patching or use an original ISO as that is meant to be played without the PvP Patch.

PvP Patch Changelog (opens in new tab)
Competitive Starter 3.1 Changelog
Generics Premade 3.1 Changelog
Rendezvous – Addition and Challenges

Competitive Starter 3.1

Balthier (RETURNING)

• After community feedback, Balthier has returned to competitive play with adjustments caused by the PvP Patch, swapping his position back from Zalbaag. To learn more about changes that affected Balthier, please view the PvP Patch Changelog – Jobs

Mustadio

• Reverted back to original Job ID, 16 Machinist now that the job has innate Safeguard added in by the PvP Patch

Delita, Marach, Rapha

• Reduced their base job’s Speed from 13 to 12 to reduce the bonus Speed these characters gain when switching to Ninja/Thief

Luso

• Set PA/MA from 16/13 to 15/15 to make better use of his hybridized skillset

Inventory

• Sorted the entire inventory selection by type, making it easier to find specific items while browsing
• Added 1x Materia Blade directly into inventory as the item was removed from Cloud since it is no longer required for Limit
• Added all gear that has been adjusted by the PvP Patch

Limited and Semi-Limited Gear Restriction Update

• NEW Limited – Toadsong, Vesper, Barette, Cachusha, Onion Gloves
• NEW Semi-Limited – Zeus Mace
• NEW Consumables Quantities – Potion x 20 (only accessible via Auto-Potion), X-Potion x 10, Adrenaline x 5

Comment: With Barette, Cachusha, and Onion Gloves granting similar broad immunities like Ribbon against most status effects, each has been limited to reduce the total availability of stacking in a party of five. Potion/X-Potion reductions are due to the buffs to the healing done with these items, and Adrenaline has been reduced as it is great for granting a powerful benefit, but it shouldn’t be the necessary go-to for hasting allies or upkeeping the effect.

Generics Premade 3.1

Adjustments made in general to get the premade roster up to date with the v2.0 Official PvP Patch. Basic changes, such as only stats, may not be listed here.

Apothecary/Distractor/Beowulf

• Swapped Ether with Hi-Ether for all 3 characters
• Apothecary – Added Remedy with 10x in inventory

Ramza

• Swapped Defender and Lightning Shield for Ragnarok

Delita

• Swapped Defender for Vitanova
• Swapped Parry for Adrenaline Rush
• Increased PA from 11 to 13

Cloud

• Reduced MA from 25 to 19 now that Limit is instant cast
• Reduced PA from 15 to 10 to adjust for innate Doublehand
• Removed Diamond Shield
• Removed Martial Arts; Cloud’s main focus is either his Limits or hard-hitting weapon attacks
• Removed Finishing Touch from Limit
• Swapped Swiftness for Doublehand (no passive change)

Balthier

• Swapped Holy Lance for Ras Algethi since this build concept no longer works without Barrage (disabled by the PvP Patch 😭)
• Increased PA from 3 to 16
• Added Quickenings to Piracy
• Swapped Jump for Aim, adding Take Aim and Beso Toxico abilities
• Swapped Waterwalking for Jump +1

Hunter

• Decreased PA from 19 to 14
• Added Aim abilities: Take Aim, Sonic Boom, Beso Toxico

Warden

• Swapped Ebon Blade (formerly Icebrand) for Papyrus Codex

Berserker

• Decreased PA from 14 to 12
• Swapped Golden Axe for Francisca (guaranteed Poison and Blind)

Zen

• Added Black Magicks as a secondary skillset: Fira, Thundara, Blizzara, Aeroja

Armiger

• Swapped Lunar Harp for Faerie Harp in the inventory for Reequip
• Swapped Counter with Counter Throw

Paladin

• Added Saint Cross to Arts of War
• Swapped Magepower Glove for Japa Mala

Sentinel

• Decreased PA from 13 to 6
• Swapped Horizontal/Vertical Jump 3 for Jump 4

Guardian

• Decrease MA from 20 to 12 due to Speechcraft PWR buffs
• Swapped previous Rend abilities for Bulwark, Mow Down, War Cry abilities

Specter

• Added Umbra to Mystic Arts

Cleric

• Added Barrier to White Magicks
• Removed Faerie from Summon as it provided too many resurrection capabilities

Inventory
The following adjustments have been made to the Generics Premade inventory:

• Set Potion to 10 for Auto-Potion (Apothecary)
• Set Remedy to 10
• Set Hi-Potion to 10
• Set X-Potion to 2
• Set Hi-Ether to 10
• Removed Fuma Shuriken and Yagyu Darkrood from Throw Consumables (Shadow)
• Set all Katanas for Iaido to 2 each
• Replaced Lunar Harp (formerly Lamia’s Harp) with Faerie Harp (Armiger)

Rendezvous – Additions and Challenges

At Tactics League, providing a place and community for multiplayer WotL is our mission. However, one area that hasn’t been supported previously was the Rendezvous mode (Co-Op PvE) and we are looking to change that with the addition and support of a Tactics League-catered Rendezvous save in Slot 2! We have a whole article dedicated to this that you should read more about here!

As part of our community mission to provide a home for multiplayer Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, we wanted to include a save that hones in on some of the game’s toughest PvE battles that you can take on with a buddy online wherever you have an internet connection and ZeroTier/PPSSPP. This supported save is included with our latest v2.5 save data update which you can read more about here.

✅Features

• All 15 Rendezvous missions unlocked (game cleared)
• This save is built similarly to how Starter is; the inventory is limited in quantity and characters have all jobs and abilities unlocked
• Ramza is listed as R-Ramza so you can track multiple Rendezvous saves within the Tactics League save data if needed

📃Important Details

• The PvP Patch must be disabled as this mode was designed with “vanilla” or original gameplay in mind
• It is highly recommended to have an original version of your FFT WotL backup ready so you can play with original text/descriptions
• Characters on the roster should not be modified, except via gear and abilities, and should retain their original Br/Fa values and stats
• Any stat changes, including EXP/JP, while in Rendezvous are reset after the mission ends
• Arithmeticks are disabled automatically in Rendezvous
• Characters that “crystalize” are not permanently removed from the party roster
• Multi-part missions, such as Brave Story, do not reset HP/MP, KO’d characters or status effects, inventory changes (such as katana breaks)

🏆Challenge and Scoring

You can always take on these missions with a friend casually, but why not add a little extra difficulty for added fun and strategy? The game’s Treasure Wheel dictates not only how many chests you get from completion but also your “Star Rating.” This Star Rating or the number of chests increases the fewer units you and your partner take on a mission together in addition to completion.

To go for a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐score:

• Ideally, both players bring no more than 1 unit each. However, this may vary from mission to mission
• Have zero party members KO’d by the time the mission ends (reviving does not penalize scoring)
• KO as many enemy characters as possible

At a later date, we are working on featuring a competitive-style Rendezvous challenge for everyone in the Tactics League Discord to participate in, so make sure to start learning these missions and prep to show your PvE prowess. If you have not already joined our Discord hop in and find a partner!