The holidays are just around the corner, and the time to gather with family and friends is drawing near. Before all of the festivities come, download and check out the last update of 2025, with Mime transitioning to Blue Mage, many Quality of Life updates, a few balance passes, and even more updates to monsters to give them the last boost they need to enter the competitive arena.

The notes for the minor update v5.3.2 on January 20th can be found here.

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.

Make sure to always patch using an unmodified, USA-region backup of your FFT WotL ISO, and do not override an already patched copy!

Bug Fixes

• Fixed Aerith’s Great Gospel failing to restore HP/MP and apply Protect/Shell to others if she had Protect/Shell immunity via Nagnarok. Aerith specifically will restore HP/MP, but will not gain Protect/Shell due to the granted status immunities

Quality of Life Updates

• Campaign
  • Random Encounters
    • Improvements to “random units now have smarter selection of equipment choices (special thanks to @Tzepish for this from WotL Tweak)
      
• Soundtrack
  • Vastly expanded the number of available soundtracks that can be heard in Melee mode! The new track list can be randomly one of:
    • Unavoidable Battle, Run Past Through the Plain, Backfire, Bloody Excrement
    • Decisive Battle, Night Attack, Under the Stars, Remnants
    • Antipyretic, Trisection, Antidote, Tension
    • Enemy Attack, Apoplexy, Battle on the Bridge
      
  • For Single Player, this track list includes the above revised list and restores the 4 original random encounter soundtracks: Desert Land, Apoplexy, A Chapel, Random Waltz
    Mods do it best! Thank you to @Tzepish for discovering the means to expand on the soundtrack list!
    
  • The Treasure Wheel screen now plays the “Treasure” soundtrack instead of “In Pursuit”
    Being rewarded should sound more uplifting, not like you are being chased or chasing after something lol.
    
• Midlight’s Deep
  • Completion of Terminus for the first time now grants you a one-item Treasure Wheel roll
  • Subsequent completion of Midlight’s Deep stages after a full completion allows for a one-item Treasure Wheel roll at the end of the battle
  • Multiplayer Items (or some Tactics League exclusive items that were using MP item space) can now be acquired in single player, such as Fell Swords. The full list of acquirable items is:
    
    • [Weapons] Thief’s Knife, Sasuke’s Blade, Iga Blade, Spellbinder, Moonsilk Blade, Orochi, Ultima Weapon, Moonblade, Onion Sword, Flametongue, Excalipoor, Defender, Excalibur, Ragnarok, Save the Queen, Durandal, Caladbolg, Chaos Blade, Masamune, Chirijiraden, Rod of Faith, Zeus Mace, Stardust Rod, Nirvana, Dreamwaker, Crown Scepter, Staff of the Magi, Perseus Bow, Sagittarius Bow, Javelin II, Gae Bolg, Gungnir, Deathbringer, Chaosbringer, Arondight, Valhalla, Balmung, Apocalypse, Earthbreaker, Golden Axe, Francisca, Ras Algehti, Fomalhaut, Tiny Bee, Vesper
      
    • [Shields] Escutcheon II, Kaiser Shield, Genji Shield, Venetian Shield, Reverie Shield, Adamantoise Shield, Onion Shield
      
    • [Headgear] Genji Helm, Grand Helm, Brass Coronet, Extension, Circlet, Onion Helm, Acacia Hat, Vanguard Helm
      
    • [Armor] Genji Armor, Maximillian, Peytral, Grand Armor, Onion Armor, Lordly Robe, Sage’s Robe, Mirage Vest, Minerva Bustier, Ever Coat, Brave Suit
      
    • [Accessories] Brigand’s Gloves, Gaius Caligae, Bravely Armlet, Garment Ring, Invisibility Cloak, Onion Gloves, Sage’s Ring, Pearl Rouge, Empyreal Armband
      A new way to earn MP items from the true end-game content in single player. A big shout-out to @Tzepish for deciphering the treasure wheel code after I came across it! Yay, teamwork 🤝
      
• Melee Mode
  • Melee Mode no longer has a gil fee cost
  • Removed the Treasure Wheel feature post-game
    Removing these now means that you can load back into the Tavern faster and without the need to reload your save (though you can still always do so).
    
• Rendezvous Mode
  • Chicken Race – Replaced Revenants with Ghouls
    Revenants now have Master Teleportation as of this update, and this RDV mission can already be tough with limited mobility, so these monsters are being replaced to reduce guaranteed movement with regular Teleport.
    
• UI Updates
  • The Arithmeticks menu (for Orran in All-Stars and Campaign) now displays the Reflect icon in the Ability list
  • Monster’s hidden ability is now viewable (and thus Help can be used) while in the Party Roster and Warriors Guild menus
    
• AI Behaviors
  • Units with Throw Items support will now correctly throw at 4 Range instead of their Move, as intended by this ability (credit @Tzepish)
  • AI is now aware of Garment Ring functionality and can utilize it based on gender (see Accessory changes below)
  • Bardsong and Dance AoE fix for AI usability 
  • AI improvements to unlock and use hidden abilities when an allied Beastmaster is present
  • Reduced AI prioritization of Golem HP while you have an active Golem (less likely usable to “cheese” the AI now)
  • Reis’s Dragon X abilities are now flagged for AI usability
    
• Text Updates
  • Corrected Life’s Anthem’s PWR in the Help menu (70 PWR, not 90) 
  • Help: Remove the job list from all accessories, as all accessories are equippable by every generic job
  • Help: Added Clothing job list to Minerva Bustier
  • Help: Added additional flavor text to Bracer
  • Help: Removed Traitor status from all items mentioned, as the status effect does not exist in the mod
  • Help: Updated Beastmaster description
  • Help: Added “Blue” to equipment job lists
  • Help: Added doom immunity context to Undead status 
  • Additional text improvements and spacing

Jobs

• NEW Blue Mage (fully reworked Mime):
  • Blue Mage is a fully equippable (within its limits) and ability-selectable generic job
  • Mimicry and Copy Weapon are no longer accessible with this job change
  • Starting generic stats (Male/Female): 359/343 HP, 50/60 MP, 14/13 PA, 13/14 MA, 11 Speed, 4 Move, 3 Jump, 12% C-EV
  • Can Equip: Knives, Swords, Rods, Shields, Hats, Clothing, Robes (and all normal accessories)
  • Innate: Beastmaster, Concentration, Status Boost
  • Prerequisites: Squire Lv. 5, White and Black Mage Lv. 3
  • Blue Magicks skillset is now selectable as a secondary skillset without the need for slotting Beastmaster and is treated in the same manner as Mastery Arts (if you have previous saves with Beastmaster + Blue Magicks equipped, you can safely unequip Beastmaster)
  • New sprites using “Animist_Male” and “Animist_Female” by Elric (from Jot5 mod)
    Controversial to a select few that have enjoyed the original Mime throughout the years, one of the biggest reasons this change happened was to remove the “free-actions” mimicry imposed in a PvP environment, fully flesh out the “Blue Mage” archetype that Mime was in earlier iterations, and make for a (hopefully) healthier competitive experience and improve engagements all around.
    
• Stat Growth Changes
  • Changed the following Growth values of select jobs to improve certain stats when at Lv. 99, notably for Practice Mode. Decreasing Growth increases +Stat per level:
    • Serpentarius (Elidibus, campaign variant) – PA Growth from 70 to 20
    • Riskbreaker (Ashley) – HP Growth from 15 to 12
    • Bard – HP Growth from 20 to 12
    • Dancer – HP Growth from 20 to 12
      
• Archer – Increased MAM from 100 to 110% (+1 MA both genders)
  Small MA buff to help aid Archers using magic-based longbows/crossbows. 
  
• Bard – Increased PAM from 100 to 107% (+1 PA, starting 14 PA/16 MA generic)
  Power increased to even out initial stats for hybridization usage.
  
• Dancer:
  • Increased MAM from 105 to 109% (+1 MA, starting 15 PA/15 MA generic) 
  • Increased Move from 3 to 4
  • Added Poles as available equipment
    Magic increased to solidify Dancer’s base stat potential and for better hybridization. Movement increased as Dancer’s weapons rely on melee range, and to get Dancer up to par with other popular Garment Ring bearers’ base Move. Poles..well I am sure you get the reasoning lol.

Action Abilities

• Dragon (Reis)
  • Dragon’s Gift:
    • This ability’s healing has been reverted to its vanilla version, which functions like Chant, healing the target for ⅖ of your max. HP and recoiling ⅕ damage to Reis
    • This ability can now restore HP even if the target was not under an applicable status effect
    • The healing from this ability doubles to ⅘ of your max. HP instead if the target is a Dragon or Hydra-type monster
    • No longer damages undead
      
  • Dragon’s Might:
    • This ability now doubles the Bravery and Power/Magick/Speed granted if the target is a Dragon or Hydra-type monster (to +10 Bravery, +2 Power/Magick/Speed)
      These changes are to improve Reis’s Dragonkin (or Dragoner) side of herself, allowing her to strengthen her capabilities among Dragons and Hydras while still keeping these abilities usable with non-Dragon/Hydra units.
      
• Piracy (Balthier)
  • Steal Heart (renamed from Plunder Heart) – Renamed as it sounds better lol
    
• Black Magicks
  • Curse:
    • This ability is now faithless and calculates using [MA + 75]
    • Increased MP cost from 24 to 32
    • This ability is still magic evadable
      Similar to Bio, this change is to give Black Magicks options versus Atheist or low-faith targets. Keep in mind that with this change, this ability can no longer reach a base 100% hit rate unless certain thresholds are met.
      
• Arts of War
  • War Cry – Flagged for Vertical Tolerance and increased Vert. from 1 to 2
    This ability went under the radar of being able to remove Protect/Shell from a far vertical distance, and now has limitations imposed.
    
• Aim
  • Charge Weapon – This magic ability can now critically strike
    The first generically accessible spell crit ability is now available on the job that has enhanced crit chance.
    
• Martial Arts
  • Aurablast – Increased PWR from 2 to 4
  • Shockwave – Increased Range from 5 to 6
    Though Shockwave’s Range was reduced to compensate for Monk’s increased Move, based on more recent trends, Shockwave’s Range will be restored to its prior state (and not the vanilla 8 range).
    
• Steal
  • NEW Thievery (replaces Steal Limelight):
    • A new ability that rewards you for successive Stealing/Renting equipment
    • 2 Range, 2 Vert.
    • Deals unevadable, mitigation-ignored [200 * number of empty equipment slots] damage
    • Can trigger counter-reactions, Nature’s Wrath, and Shirahadori
    • Does not work against monsters or fully equipped (all 5 equipment slots occupied) units
    •  700 JP Cost
    • NOTE: Forced two-handing weapons still treats the opposite off/main hand as “empty”
      This skill is inspired by FFIX. Though Steal Limelight by design wasn’t problematic, I felt that Thief needed access to a damage skill, but more so unique in a way that fits their theme. Thievery has the highest damage potential suitable for mid/late game finishes and caters towards teams that build more for Stealing and Renting equipment.
      
• Summon
  • Titan – Added a 19% Inflicts: Confuse
    
• Bardsong
  • Rousing Melody – Uses Seraph Song effect to display “Haste” bestowal per target
    This change is to improve messaging for which units gained Haste instead of needing to check the status screen or faster marching.
    
• Dance
  • Mincing Minuet – This ability can additionally trigger Nature’s Wrath since it is considered physical damage
    
• Darkness
  • Unholy Sacrifice:
    • This ability now calculates using [MA + (0.5 * maxHP)] instead of [(MA * MA) + (0.13 * maxHP)]
    • Reduced the Recoil from 60 to 40%
      This nerf to this skill is to push its use case more towards bulkier units and less MA-stacking. This directly benefits female DK, which the original changes were meant to target.

R/S/M Abilities

• NEW Status Boost (formerly Halve MP, assigned to Summon skillset and innate to Blue Mage):
  • Increases the 19% status chance of applicable abilities by 8% (increases the 19 to 27%)
  • This includes abilities like Nether Mantra, Animas, “Lv. 1” Summons and Odin, Geomancy, Iaido, or even the proc from abilities like poison status from Black Magicks’s Fire or Dragon Tech’s Fire Breath; abilities that have an auxiliary status proc chance to hit
  • This excludes abilities that are focused on status chance, such as Spellblade, Mystic Arts, Doom Fist, Beso Toxico, etc.
  • 300 JP Cost
    A new support ability to those who enjoy Geomancy, Iaido, or just want to gamble with chance to get more status capabilities off and turn the tides of battle.
    
• Halve MP – Now hardcoded to Summoner job and replaced by Status Boost above
  Though hardcoding Halve MP gets rid of future accessible slotting, the decision to do away with Halve MP comes with the simple question of “how often would you ever slot this in Support if not already a Summoner?”
  
• Dragonheart, Fury, Magick Boost, and Adrenaline Rush – These reactions can no longer trigger from allied damage (this also includes from original allies, even if under charm/confuse)
  This update addresses some commonly used Reactions that can no longer benefit from team-damage to ensure triggering only on opposition interaction and reduce some “gray areas” where these were used before.
  
• First Strike:
  • No longer cancels the applicable attack or ability entirely and resumes it second after your “first strike” occurs. Your counterattacks this way are unevadable
  • Added Throw context to Help since this command is weapon-ranged
    This change could be considered a nerf to functionality, but it is ultimately to get this reaction to its verbose intention; you strike first, and the attacker goes second instead of never even having a chance to do so, while now enabling unevadable counterattacks by you, giving space to finish them off before they follow up.
    
• Shirahadori – Updated the hit rate and forecast context to “set to 40%” instead of “set to 60%” to improve the accuracy of the math behind determining how this ability functions (it does 100 – 60 = 40%).
  Thank you for the suggestion @guitarmanager. 
  
• Nature’s Wrath – This ability no longer targets allies within the AoE
  A small quality of life change to this reaction to avoid potentially statusing/damaging them if they were near the offender. Don’t sleep on it!
  
• Concentration – Additionally increases the magical hit rate of abilities by 50% of the target’s total magic evasion additively
  Concentration works for all hit rate types now, both offensive and status magicks, and evadable physical attacks and abilities too.
  
• Safeguard – Additionally, fully prevents CT loss from abilities like Stall or Last Waltz
  
• Catch Projectiles – Successful evasion of arrows, guns, or harps will now display as “Caught” and not “Missed” (and to note this does not add those items to the inventory magically)

Blue Magicks, Monsters, and Monster Abilities

• Monster Class-Evasion (C-EV) Updates
  • All Monsters’ C-EV now also affects evadable magic hit rates
    This buff to monsters is to treat their C-EV as a means to allow the ability to passively dodge incoming evadable magicks from all sides (physical still only from the front unless they have Dexterity) due to their shortcomings of non-equipment.
    
  • Treant Family:
    • Added 10% C-EV to all members
      
  • Malboro Family:
    • Added 8% C-EV to Malboro and Greater Malboro
    • Added 12% C-EV to Ochu
      
  • Hydra Family:
    • Added 8% C-EV to Hydra
    • Added 6% C-EV to Greater Hydra
    • Added 5% C-EV to Tiamat 
      
• 👺Goblin Family:
  • Black Goblin – Increased HPM from 94 to 114%
  • Gobbledygook – Increased HPM from 98 to 118%
  • Added Blind, Stop, and Sleep immunities
    This family had no prior elemental mitigation or immunities, unlike others, so this is overdue. 
    
• 😼Cat Family:
  • Coeurl
    • Increased Move from 4 to 5
    • Increased HPM from 91% to 102%
  • Vampire Cat:
    • Increased Move from 3 to 5
    • Increased HPM from 99% to 108%
      
  • REWORKED Ambush (formerly Claw – Cat family):
    • This ability now prevents the target’s reactions when used
    • Uses [PA * 16] and physically evadable
    • This excludes Reflexes as the evasion increase is “an applied stat at battle start.”
      A little change to make our felines more fierce.
      
  • Venom Fang (Red Panther and Coeurl):
    • This ability now deals 30% of the target’s max. HP in damage in addition to Slow and Poison infliction
    • This ability is now magically evadable instead of physically evadable
    • This ability will still not trigger counter-reactions, even with this change
      
  • Cat Scratch (Cat family):
    • Change calc from [1…15 * PWR] to martial arts [(PA + PWR) / 2 * PA]
    • Decreased PWR from 15 to 3
    • Added a 19% Chance to Inflict: Berserk, Doom 
    • This ability can now 10% critically strike due to the change to martial arts calc
      Having a pseudo Throw Dagger ultimately did not measure up to this ability’s potential, so I changed it to lean more towards what a cat scratch could cause: either you getting rabies or a serious open wound that will lead to your demise.
      
• 🦅Bird Family:
  • Jura Aevis:
    • Increased HPM from 114 to 120%
    • Increased PAM from 115 to 129% (approx. +4 PA)
  • Steelhawk:
    • Increased HPM from 98 to 108%
    • Increased PAM from 122 to 130%
    • Replaced Attack Boost with Brawler (Talon Dive damage increase)
  • Cockatrice – Increased HPM from 101 to 114%
  • Glitterlust – Now fully reduces CT to zero instead of 30, and increased the Range from 1 to 2
    
• 👻Ghost Family:
  • Ghast – Increased HPM from 96 to 102% (approx. +40 HP)
  • Ghoul – Added Drain Touch as a 3rd ability
  • Revenant:
    • Added Sleep Touch as a 3rd ability
    • Replaced Teleport with Master Teleportation (only one in family capable)
      
• Ahriman Family:
  • Bewitching Gaze (Ahriman and Plague Horror):
    • Increased PWR from 45 to 70 to ensure this ability has a 100% base chance based on the monster’s average MA. This ability is still physically evadable
    • Removed Blind infliction to increase the eligibility of a better negative effect rolled
    • Corrected the Help menu for this ability so that it is 1 out of 5 debuffs at random
      
• 🐷Swine Family:
  • Wild Boar – Increased HPM from 132 to 164% (approx. +110 HP)
    
• 🐂Minotaur Family:
  • Wisenkin and Minotaur – Replaced Counter with Shirahadori
  • Sekhret:
    • Added innate Instant Cast
    • Replaced hidden ability Breathe Fire with Titan (Summon)
    • Replaced Counter with Nature’s Wrath
      
• 🌳Treant Family:
  • Added Immobilize immunity to all members
  • Treant:
    • Decreased MAM from 64 to 50% (approx. -5 MA)
    • Added innate Status Boost (now Cup of Life, Status Boost, Lifefont)
    • Replaced 3rd ability, Magick Nymph with Earthsplitter
  • Elder Treant – Added innate Defense Boost (now Cup of Life, Arcane Defense, Defense Boost)
  • Leaf Rain – Added 19% Inflict: Sleep per target
  • Guardian Nymph – Increased PWR from 10 to 20
    
• 🥗Malboro Family:
  • Added Bio (Black Magicks) to all as a 3rd ability. Note that monsters are excluded from MP costs when cast from self. This ability still has a cast time.
  • Malboro – Replaced Bonecrusher with Replenish
  • Greater Malboro:
    • Decreased MP Growth from 30 to 8 (requires rehiring)
    • Increased MPM from 10 to 145% (approx. starting 145 MP)
    • Replaced Replenish with Magick Counter
      
• 🐲Hydra Family:
  • Tiamat – Decreased MAM from 120 to 110% (approx. -2 average MA)
    This is to reduce some of the damage potential its skillset has, also factoring that it has the best MA growth out of the family, which in turn means it was always going to be the strongest magically.
    
• Blue Magicks
  • Replaced Cat Scratch with Goblin Rush. The ability will automatically appear as automatically learned for campaign progression if you had it formerly acquired.
  • Earthsplitter – Added 19% Inflict: Immobilize and increased Vert. from 1 to 2
  • Vampire – Increased Vert. from 1 to 2
  • Spark – This ability can now critically strike and added Help text that specifies it damages the caster
    

Equipment – Weapons

• Crossbows
  • Glacial Bow – Now Casts: Ice Anima instead of Blizzara
  • Boltsnipe – Now Casts: Thunder Anima instead of Thundara
    
• Poles
  • Eight-Fluted Pole – Additionally Removes: Undead, Vampire, Confuse, Charm, and Sleep
    Attacks with this weapon now remove any negative effect except KO and Chicken, making it a prime choice for spot removal if the opportunity arises.
    
• Rods
  • Dragon Rod:
    • Changed Element from Dark to Holy
    • Replaced Casts: Dark Whisper with Casts: Holy Breath (Reis) at [(MA + PWR) / 2 * MA], note this ability does not multi-hit
    • Updated the palette 
      
• Staves
  • White Staff:
    • Now restores 30% of the target’s max. HP if an applicable status was found and removed (similar to the old version of Dragon’s Gift)
    • Additionally Removes: Confuse, Vampire, Curse, Blind, and Silence (note that this weapon does not cleanse as many statuses as Eight-Fluted Pole)
    • This attack will zero out if no applicable statuses are found
    • The healing from this attack deals damage to the undead
      
  • Nirvana – Additionally Bestows: Haste on hit
    This weapon grants a unique way to get guaranteed, instant Haste on to others without fail, in addition to Protect and Shell. With Haste’s effective Speed being lowered to 25%, this weapon can now provide the means to do so.

Equipment – Gear

• [Rare] Item Flagging – Cursed Shield, Cursed Armor, Cursed Garb, and Cursed Robe are flagged as Rare, removing the ability for these gear options to appear on randomly generated units
  
• Heavy Armor
  • Platinum Armor (campaign only) – Increased +HP from 150 to 160 and added Initial: Protect, Shell
    This change is so that there is both an option of heavy armor protect/shell for solo play (after saving Rapha in Ch. 3), and so that I can generate AI units with it since Peytral is considered an MP item.
    
• Accessories
  • Garment Ring:
    • No longer grants Perform command, which contained all of Bardsong and Dance
    • Now adds Bardsong if female gender, Dance if male gender, or Perform (both Bardsong and Dance) if Onion Knight job as a quaternary command (note that to avoid learned skillset issues, Mincing Minuet and Life’s Anthem are in the first ability slot and not the second)
    • Increases the chance of primary (skillset) Bardsong or Dance by 5% if Bard or Dancer job
      This major rework of this accessory is based on feedback regarding Bard and Dancer jobs since the original version was released. The ring intended to enable cross-gender performances, after a very thorough (and lengthy lol) discussion with @acook10 @wngman @guitarmanager, they helped address Garment Ring’s pain points regarding Bard and Dancer jobs, notably full access to both skillsets and creating redundancy for Bard or Dancer to utilize.
      
      This now grants the opposite gender’s Bardsong or Dance, so the original intention is still in effect, but now requires you to either be a Bard or Dancer to get the full ability list – or – slot Bardsong or Dance as a secondary to do so. This change also gives Bards and Dancers a buff and a reason to use the ring, as they have even further hit rates, factoring in their innate Performing Arts.
      
  • Jade Armlet – Replaced Undead immunity with Curse immunity
    
  • Cherche – Decreased the MP restored from 20 to 18%
    This slight nerf is to bring Cherche a bit closer to Manafont and increase demand a bit more towards max. MP to make up for it.
    
  • Tynar Rouge – Decreased +Power and Magick from 2 to 1
    This is to claw back some of the damage potential this accessory provides while still being a staple item due to the volume of buffs it provides. Notably, this does hit certain “even numbers” checkpoints, which may require some re-assessing or Genji Gloves, for example, to make up for it.

Practice Mode

• This update introduces The Yuguewood as an additional Practice Mode location, purposeful for testing your teams against pre-configured AI comps, but on more neutral terrain
• Araguay Woods is now called “Practice – One” and The Yuguewood “Practice – Two” on the World Map
• Practice Mode teams specifically now have previously inaccessible multiplayer gear equipped, allowing for more diverse teams. Some gear updates to Practice One teams also happened with this new addition, such as Agrias now having Tynar Rouge instead of Bracer
  
• Practice-Two – West Team (from Riovannes Castle)
  • Delita – Dancer or Ninja, Orator, White Mage, Geomancer, or Mystic
  • Beowulf – Dragoon, Thief, Time Mage or Archer, Bard or Samurai
  • Balthier – Bard or Thief, Squire, Chemist, Blue Mage, or Knight
  • Rapha – Dark Knight or Monk, Archer, Black Mage, Sage, or Knight
    
• Practice-Two – East Team (From Yardrow)
  • Marach – White Mage, Geomancer, Dark Knight or Knight, Chemist or Bard
  • Reis – Bard, Dancer, Onion Knight or Ninja, Monk or Summoner
  • Luso – Behemoth, Blue Mage, Thief  + 1 randomly of: Red Chocobo, Black Chocobo, Sekhret, Mindflayer, Tiamat, Red Panther, Gobbledygook, Grenade, Pig, Floating Eye, Dryad, or Dragon 
  • Alma – Dark Knight, Onion Knight, Thief or Archer, Dragoon or Dancer
    
• Practice-Two – Special Encounter Team (only from Yardrow)
  • Agrias, Aerith, Mustadio, Construct 8 or Elidibus, Cloud or Ashley
    • Cloud’s weapon is randomized, and Ashley’s weapon and shield are randomized as well
      
• Practice-One Updates
  • Gear adjustments to various units take advantage of multiplayer items
  • Cloud Team (East) – Replaced Squire (M) with Blue Mage (M)
  • Aerith Team (East) – Replaced Monk (F) with Blue Mage (F)
  • Meliadoul Team (East) – Fixed Meliadoul not being able to use Jump

Incremental Update v5.3.1

And we’re back! This incremental update resolves known issues with v5.3, adds some Mustadio and Balthier buffs, and updates/improves select Help menu text.

Bug Fixes

• Resolved the Melee Mode War Funds gil lost post-melee issue. You may safely continue a Melee without loss of Gil as intended, allowing for quicker in-between games (and as a reminder, inventory losses or changes are restored post-melee)
  
• Pierce support ability no longer increases the damage done by Gravija or any ability that uses its formula
  
• Added break chance bypass for Iaido with Magick Counter to fix a bug that could cause a “__shattered!” because the game was unable to fetch the proper Item ID this way

Quality of Life Updates

• UI Updates
  • Monsters’ hidden abilities are now also viewable while in the Deployment screen
    
• Text Updates
  • Renamed all of Meliadoul’s Unyielding Strike abilities to their PSX equivalents (and renamed Crush Shield to Omen Fang, ty for the suggestion @tzepish) 
  • Help: Added critical chance labels to Rend Power/Magick/Speed, Beam, Skill Drain, and Disassemble since the damage they could deal also had a chance to strike critically
  • Help: Corrected Cat Scratch Help PWR from 3 to 4
  • Help: Corrected Cloths showing that Blue Mage can equip (they cannot innately)
  • Help: Added “Radius: 1” to abilities that use Weapon Range
  • Help: Added missing “Curse” text to White Staff’s list of cleanses
  • Help: Determined and updated the accurate Dark Whisper status chance as 5% each instead of 25%. This ability adheres to the normal 19% proc rate, which then determines the infliction rate at 25% of the base 19% value, rounding up to 5 (from 4.75).

Action Abilities

• Aimed Shot (Mustadio)
  • Leg Shot and Arm Shot – Increased PWR from 50 to 60
    Mitigation lowers their hit%, so this is to compensate for that, plus a marginal buff to mustard’s staple skills.
    
  • Seal Evil:
    • Decreased PWR from 70 to 65
    • Additionally can stone Vampire and Curse-affected units
      
  • Recharge – Is now Weapon Ranged instead of 3 Range (this also means it can strike twice with dual wield)
    These buffs to Aimed Shot are to bring them a bit more up to snuff and to improve Mustadio’s viability with his abilities, as well as providing better use-cases for his abilities that see rarer play.
    
• Piracy (Balthier)
  • Elem. of Treachery:
    • Elem. of Treachery can no longer target allies
    • Increased PWR from 20 to 22
      
  • Fires of War:
    • Fires of War can no longer target allies
    • Changed calculations from Martial Arts [(PA + PWR) / 2 * PA] to Geomancy [(PA + PWR) / 2 * MA]
    • Increased PWR from 12 to 14
    • This ability is no longer weapon ranged and is instead Iaido-like at 2 Range, 2 Vert.
    • Since it is now classified as magic damage, it can no longer trigger counter-reactions but can now trigger Magick Counter (including Nature’s Wrath)
    • This ability can no longer critically strike
      
  • Tides of Fate:
    • Can no longer target allies
    • Increased PWR from 15 to 17 to better justify the higher MP cost
      
• Fundaments
  • Taunt – Changed the effect to White Talk Skill for better smack-talking accuracy

Monsters

• Behemoth – Fixed Move from 3 to 4; this was supposed to have been 4, so it might have been a patch save issue prior
  
• Sekhret – Decreased PAM from 173 to 143% (approx. -5 Power)
  This was helping to enable a high amount of Nature’s Wrath potential – still factoring that it has access to Beef Up without Beastmaster.

Incremental Update v5.3.2

This second incremental update to v5.3 addresses a few more minor, but important fixes and changes, adds a requested feature of the Jump ability showing the number of turns until you land from the menu, and some buffs to our favorite robot, Construct 8. This is the last update to v5.3 as focus shifts towards For Glory! and other community endeavors.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed the visual text bug with status Iaido stating “Osafune Shattered!” if its corresponding katana broke upon cast
  
• Fixed a softlock from the original game that revolved around having Fly movement ability + Float status while mounting a chocobo (credit to @Tzepish for this fix) 

Quality of Life Updates

• UI Updates
  • Jump (from slotting Dragon Tech) is now treated as a skillset instead of strictly a command, providing the number of turns before the Jump lands and allowing for the use of the Left/Right D-Pad Turn List window as well (credit to @Nyzer for the PSX version and @Tzepish for assisting me in this hack)
    Another QoL request from the original game, being able to view the number of turns before a Jump lands instead of mathing out the Jump Time and Speeds between the jumper and target.
    
• Text Updates
  • Additional improvements in Help menus and spacing
  • Corrected Nether Mantra’s PWR in calcs, it is 4 PWR, not 3

Jobs

• Automaton (Construct 8)
  • Increased Move from 3 to 4
    C8’s limited 3 Move made it harder to generally engage with its melee capabilities. Keeping in mind its former range reduction of Dispose in consideration, this increased Move is to help it get around easier and allow it to get better positioning for attacks or Pulverize in later game situations.

Action Abilities

• Unyielding Strike (Meliadoul)
  • Reordered the ability list so that it matches the normal Equipment List, making it (hopefully) easier to determine which ability destroys which slot, while retaining the community-voted change of the PSX naming. This may take some time to adjust to if you are used to the original order:
    • Hellcry Punch (weapon)
    • Omen Fang (shield)
    • Blastar Punch (head)
    • Shellbust Stab (armor)
    • Icewolf Bite (accessory)
      
• Tasks (Construct 8)
  • Salvo – Construct 8 can no longer target itself for this ability to fix an issue with recoil sometimes not being applied
    
  • Pulverize – Increased Range from 1 to 2, Vert. from 1 to 2, flagged Linear Range (remains t-shaped) and Direct
    Pulverize deals less damage versus unmitigated normal attacks at the cost of recoil, but undodgeable, so this gives more options for C8 to use when in melee range of a threat.

Equipment – Weapons

• Shields
  • Genji Shield:
    • Changed the palette to match it closer to Genji Armor & Gloves
    • Additionally, updated the flavor text as it is no longer “pitch-black” but now “vermillion”
      A set of Genji gear can now be fully fashionably attired.

Incremental Update v5.3.3

The third incremental update to v5.3 addresses an issue with inventories restoring to their original state after a multiplayer game has ended. This fix is part of efforts to no longer need to restart the emulator/save data after every game and should be the last “bug” associated with this QoL.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed the inventory failing to restore its prior backup after Melee mode. Consumables, item breaks/steals, katana breaks, etc., all restore to their prior state and quantity as originally intended

With the upcoming Competitive v5.3 Update soon to be released on December 22nd, this article goes over an important change to the Mime job and why the course has been set to transition it as a Blue Mage, another well-known job in the Final Fantasy universe. Let’s take a deeper dive into what this means for the job change, the reasoning behind this change, and the future of Blue Mage and competitive Tactics PvP.

Why the Job Change?

First, I want to preface that for the few that enjoyed Mime and utilizing their powerful mimicry (which allowed them to copy generic abilities and attacks right after an ally performed them), I understand this change comes as rough news and changes up some of the deeper-driven strategies you utilize in your party by having Mime(s). If the means existed to just add a job instead of overwriting one, that would have been the route easily taken, but please take a moment to understand the reasoning for this job shift:

• Mimicry imposes a “grey area” that enables a player to effectively gain extra actions that do not count towards the 40-action limit. In a competitive environment where every action counts towards a limited amount shared between both players, this can and has led to, on numerous accounts, a lopsided advantage towards the player who has Mimes versus a player that does not. This does not always mean “Having Mimes = Win.” At the sake of fairness, mimicry fits well in single-player, but for PvP, it can create balancing issues.
  
• At the start of version 5, Mime gained access to a usable skillset in Blue Magicks. This was the first part of “Mimes to Blue Mages,” but still retained their mimicry capabilities back then and additionally gained limited equipment as well. This change is to complete the initial work that was done to Mime and to fully flesh out those changes while aiming to ensure Blue Mage remains competitive and fun to use, even without mimicry.
  
• With numerous efforts being made to support monsters as fully viable and capable allies for PvP, comparatively to the original game and even the earlier versions of the mod, Blue Mage thematically fits the theme and synergizes with bringing monster support through innate Beastmaster (this was a carryover from Mime), as well as being able to become customizable with abilities. Even if you don’t use monsters in your party, Blue Mages can hold their own without fear of misplays that could be caused by mimicry, allowing for a broader audience to explore and understand them.

A Deeper Look at Blue Mage

Blue Mage has big shoes to fill, and even though it won’t fully replace Mime in essence and their ability to mimic previous actions, they are a force to be reckoned with; not necessarily the best at damage, but moreso the status and control game. They have gone through the full rework treatment – new abilities, gear choices, and even new sprites too! A big credit to Elric (originally from the Journey of the Five mod – Final Fantasy Hacktics community) for the amazing “Animist” sprites used for Blue Mage.

First, let’s look at their innate abilities. They have Beastmaster, which enables the unlocking of all ally monsters’ hidden abilities regardless of location. They also have Concentration, which not only increases your hit rate by 50% physically of the target’s evasion, but also affects magics as well with this update. And lastly, they have a new support ability, Status Boost, which increases the 19% chance of statuses to 27% instead, great for Ice Anima’s Slow, Earthsplitter’s new Immobilize chance, and even Heave’s KO. This additionally works with other abilities like Geomancy, Iaido, and even Black Magicks, but does not enhance the hit rate of Spellblade or Speechcraft, for example.

Next up, their equipment options. Blue Mages have a variety of equipment choices with Knives, Rods, Swords, Shields, Hats, Clothing, Robes, and, of course, all regular accessories (where Mime was limited in accessories previously). The amount of customization and build choice is certainly not limited with this job.

Unveiling the Preview Team and Their Favorite Blue

Starting with the v5.3 update and onward, a group of hand-selected members in the Tactics League Discord were invited to privately test this update, provide feedback on changes, and help shape the future for both Blue Mage and other changes coming alongside this update. The v5.3 Preview Team was composed of @TheCountess, @Guitarmanager, @WngMan, @acook10, and @DUBZONLY. Preview members are only invited to test and help iterate the upcoming changes on a “per update basis.” Being actively involved with the community and helping others can net you an invitation in the future, too!

As the Preview Phase was wrapping up, some of them shared their favorite Blue Mage build and why they enjoyed playing it to help give some ideas once this patch is released for you all to explore as well!

Countess

“Status Quo”
Blue Mage has become a personal favorite job of mine for a slew of reasons, and I’d like to explain why with a favorite build of mine! With Blue Mage coming equipped with “Status Boost” as an innate ability, I’m personally someone who enjoys the disruption and initiating route when it comes to battles! Blue Magicks offers a nice set of different ways to status your opponent out, from Slow, to KO, to Vampire, Immobilize, and more!

With status boost increasing our 19% chance abilities to now have a 27% chance, this mage also comes equipped with the “Iaido” skillset as well. While your damage isn’t anything grand, don’t let that stop you from Iaido being a nice way to deal with units surrounding you, or ones who happened to stay a bit too grouped up together. And having “Safeguard” further helps this out, by not only keeping her gear safe for the most part, it also offers her Iaido abilities a lower chance of breaking! For a reaction ability, I find Nature’s Wrath to be a solid option, because Geomancy abilities also fall into the “19% status” category!

And lastly, she comes equipped with a lovely Ebon Blade and Nu Khai Armband to boost not only the initial hit, but the following Unholy Darkness, which has a possible chance to inflict a poor soul with the Curse status! And thanks to Blue Mage’s having innate “Concentration,” this makes using proc-based weapons a good option when thinking about your weapon of choice. All around, this Blue Mage’s goal isn’t to do an absurd amount of damage but instead to try and remain a constant nuisance to the enemy team by attempting to inflict them with different and multiple status effects depending on the situation! The innate “Beastmaster” is also a nice little cherry on top if you choose to run a monster or two on your team! Just remember, give her a nice protect/shell before sending her into battle!

---

Guitarmanager

“Lady Death”
Lady Death takes advantage of the Status boost from Blue Mage for increased status chances in Iaido (Ashura 😈).

Running up against a character with Ribbon, then give Ama-no-Murakumo a shot for a chance at cursing them. Construct 8, no problem, just go for a Muramasa for that sweet confusion proc. She also has some nice support abilities that shouldn’t be slept on for healing, buffing, and status removal.

Mind blast is a great ability for shutting down a lot of units, but it works particularly well for dealing with mages and support characters. If the blue mage gets low, Goblin Punch deals a ton of single-target damage, especially when rocking a high HP blue mage with Angel ring/Dragonheart.

---

DUBZ

“Quale”
Quale was named after the character, Quinna, from FFIX (which was also a Blue Mage-type of character). This build is centered around the idea of using Cashmere attacks for guaranteed Disable & Immobilize with Chantage or Mystic Arts; generally just being a pest with the numerous status skills both Blue Magicks and Mystic Arts have. Innate Concentration also helps with landing both regular attacks and even Mystic Arts casting. I didn’t get a ton of testing in with this build but it is a really fun way to interrupt the opposition.

The second incremental update to competitive version 5 comes thematic for Halloween, bringing about a big pass on monsters and monster abilities, improving Ashley Riot’s survivability, some equipment enhancements, addressing some rarer bugs, and implementing the Ability Quotes from Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles (thank you to @Tzepish for these)!

The notes for the minor update v5.2.1 on November 4th can be found here.

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.

Make sure to always patch using an unmodified, USA-region backup of your FFT WotL ISO, and do not override an already patched copy!

Bug Fixes

• Reequip:
  • Fixed certain stat resets after performing a Reequip
  • Fixed Reequip not respecting Dual Wield
    
• Fixed an issue that resulted in berserked monsters not attacking. They will now deal 1.5x uncontrollable damage as originally intended
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause you to regain Move with Tactical Shift if you died from Poison status
  You are supposed to be dead, not able to move, somehow!

Quality of Life Updates

• Systems
  • The camera is now freely rotatable while viewing the Turn List target areas
    
• Ability Quotes
  • Implemented all official ability quotes from Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles. Note that some abilities did not receive an updated official quote, in particular, the WotL-exclusive abilities and Tactics League-exclusive ones
    • The -ara Black Magicks use the Lv.3 and -aga uses Lv.4 quotes due to past ability condensing
    • Retained the Iaido ability name in quotes instead of the “weapon” that was stated in TIC, as that sounds better, and because it replaces the normal ability name pop-up if triggered
  • Added a delay before the ability name for improved readability
    
• Text Updates
  • Updated the crystal learning text to state that you acquire all of the abilities to clarify how that mechanic works
  • Added “all” to Pierce support ability’s Help menu to improve context
  • Items and help menus that state Absorb/Halves/Boosts of all elements now state “All Elements” instead of each element
  • Fixed Sinkhole and Tanglevine’s ability descriptions
  • Tutorial – Updated instances of text to be accurate based on PvP Patch changes
  • Additional text improvements or enhancements
    
• Campaign
  • Reduced Throw Dagger’s Chance to Learn (affecting AI JP buying) from 90 to 50%
    Throwing knives can be fun, but it can also be cumbersome, especially in the early game, which reduces AI engagement behavior and makes it more tedious for players to reach their targets. The goal here is to reduce the buy chance so that it becomes roughly 3/5ths of the opposing team with it learned. 

Jobs

• Riskbreaker/Ashley
  • Increased job HPM from 100 to 105% (from 368 to 386 base HP)
    This job HP increase is solely to entice Ashley’s main job as a pick over other jobs, as the gap is a bit tighter in certain cases, while having the most weapon flexibility.
    
• Mime – Restored Beastmaster innate ability
  Beastmaster was removed at the time when Mime had Fly implemented, but looking at the ability now and its niche, it can have this innate restored as a means to provide support for monster allies. 
  

Action Abilities

• Nether Mantra (Marach)
  • Increased PWR of all abilities from 2 to 4
    Even with the prior 2 PWR change from back in v4, Marach still didn’t feel quite right in base-damage potential on his main job, factoring in the possible up to 5 hits in a single target, too. After re-assessing where his damage lies against 60 Faith, I buffed all of his abilities to compensate for this, while obviously strengthening his potential against low faith/atheist targets.
    
• Magicks (Valmafra)
  • Replaced Empowerment (Mystic Arts) with Gigaflare (ability from Behemoths)
  • Gigaflare:
    • Instant non-elemental, 4 range, 2 radius [MA * 11] attack
    • Gigaflare’s former AoE was reduced from 3 to 2, but its Vert was increased from 0 to 2 (this affects all monsters that have access to this ability)
    • Gigaflare can now be Magick Countered but is unevadable
      This ability replacement is to remove the lesser-used Empowerment for a weaker, but non-elemental skill in Val’s skill as an instant option against elemental mitigation.
      
• Break Arts (Ashley)
  • Reduced the recoil of select abilities from 40 to 30%:
    • Shadoweave, Vile Scar, Accursed Umbra, Sanctus Flare, Gravis Aether, Ignis Wheel, Retribution, Sunder
      A pain point I’ve noticed with Ashley is survivability with most of his kit, so to address it, I have reduced the recoil of most of his skills so that with Regen/well-timed Life’s Anthem or Cure, you aren’t losing much at all, greatly improving his survivability without neutering the power of these abilities.
  • Sanctus Flare – Increased status chance from 19 to 50%
  • Ignis Wheel – Increased status chance from 30 to 33%
    
• Aim
  • Sonic Boom:
    • Removed 20 MP Cost
    • This ability now deals double damage to targets affected by Float status
      Reassessing Sonic Boom, the MP cost is no longer warranted, and the float damage buff is to give this ability a bit more uniqueness that can’t be found elsewhere.
      
• Mystic Arts
  • Empowerment – Increased MP absorption from 33 to 50%
    Draining ⅓ of a target’s MP tends not to yield any positive counterplay, so this value is going up ½ instead, giving this ability more use-cases where it can serve.

R/S/M Abilities

• REWORKED Catch Projectiles (formerly Sticky Fingers):
  • Combines both Sticky Fingers and Ranger’s Bane functionality in full
  • Increased Catch Projectile’s JP Cost from 200 to 300
  • Additionally lowers the hit rate of Harp attacks (as a core change to Ranger’s Bane)
    These abilities are both great against their requirements but fall short otherwise, so combining the two makes the most sense and gives a better feel of usability. Thank you to @Tzepish for letting me steal his idea lol.
    
• NEW Auto-Reflect:
  • Grants Equip: Reflect at all times
  • Added to Mystic’s skillset for 300 JP
    
• Equip Lunging (formerly Equip Poles) – Renamed to include Cloths, which is considered a lunging-type weapon
  
• Equip Bows – Added Harps (formerly known as Instruments) as available options

Monsters and Monster Abilities or Blue Magicks

• Removed all prior elemental Weaknesses from generic monsters. This change is similar to that of Flame/Ice/Lightning Shield and even Byblos – to improve their viability without concern of taking double damage right away, while putting the only main emphasis on their need for ability-sourced Protect/Shell and reinforces Oil status as the premier “weakness” source. This excludes all campaign-only bosses or monsters (such as Reavers).
  
  To log which monsters this affects:
  • Goblin, Black Goblin, Gobbleydgook – Removed Weak: Ice
  • Bomb, Grenade, Exploder – Removed Weak: Water
  • Red Panther, Coeurl, Vampire Cat – Removed Weak: Earth
  • Piscodaemon, Squidkraken, Mindflayer – Removed Weak: Lightning
  • Skeleton, Bonesnatch, Skeletal Fiend – Removed Weak: Fire, Holy
  • Ghoul, Ghast, Revenant – Removed Weak: Fire, Holy
  • Floating Eye, Ahriman, Plague Horror – Removed Weak: Ice
  • Jura Aevis, Steelhawk, Cockatrice – Removed Weak: Earth
  • Dryad, Treant, Elder Treant – Removed Weak: Fire
  • Wisekin, Minotaur, Sekhret – Removed Weak: Water
  • Malboro, Ochu, Greater Malboro – Removed Weak: Ice
  • Blue Dragon – Removed Weak: Fire, Red Dragon – Removed Weak: Ice
  • Hydra, Greater Hydra, Tiamat – Removed Weak: Ice, Wind
    In order to provide an avenue for monsters to exist in the metagame, this is a big shift from their original version. The emphasis that monsters in the campaign mostly don’t have Protect/Shell already means that they are usually easy to defeat without much hassle (but are more dangerous than ever!), and this change is purely for the competitive environment that this mod prioritizes.
    
• The following monster abilities are considered “status attacks” and can no longer trigger counter-reactions as they are already physically or magically evadable:
  • Venom Fang
  • Death Touch, Sleep Touch, Drain Touch, Oily Touch
  • Beak
  • Glitterlust (this ability is not evadable, but has a flat 60% hit)
    
• 🐤Chocobo Family:
  • Yellow Chocobo – Reduced HP Growth from 8 to 6, resulting in higher base HP at Lv. 99 and reducing the gap between it and other chocobo-types
  • Black Chocobo – Reduced HP Growth from 7 to 4, resulting in the highest base HP comparatively
  • Red Chocobo – Increased HP Growth from 4 to 5, resulting in the lowest base HP comparatively
  • NOTE: You’ll need to “hire” new chocobos for this to take effect
    The result of these HP growth changes is that Black is the bulkiest and strongest physically, Red is the most acute for magic, and Yellow is caught up HP-wise to the rest while still being the fastest.
    
  • Choco Beak – Now uses [(PA + 10) / 2 * PA] instead of unarmed
    
• 👺Goblin Family:
  • Black Goblin – Increased Move from 4 to 5
  • NEW Goblin Rush (replaces Goblin and Gobbledygook’s Eye Gouge):
    • 2 Range, 2 Vert.
    • Deals mitigation-ignored [PA * 16] damage with ¼ of the damage being self-inflicted (similar to Mow Down)
    • Unevadable, Direct, and triggers Counter-Reactions and Nature’s Wrath
      Eye Gouge replaced with something a bit more meaningful for our goblin brethren.
      
• 💣Bomb Family:
  • Bite – Now uses [PA * 16] instead of unarmed
  • Flame Attack – Increased PWR from 7 to 20 and added 19% Inflicts: Oil (hidden ability and single target)
    
• 🐱‍👤Cat Family:
  • Red Panther, Coeurl, Vampire Cat – Replaced Ignore Elevation with Dexterity and Counter with Catch Projectiles
  • Red Panther – Replaced Death Strike with Brawler for better damage consistency
  • Claw – Now uses [PA * 18] instead of unarmed
    
• 🦑Squid Family:
  • Piscodaemon, Squidkraken, and Mindflayer – Replaced Bonecrusher with Magick Counter and replaced Tentacles with Water Anima
  • All have added Blind and Oil immunities
  • Piscodaemon:
    • Removed innate Brawler as it no longer has abilities that take advantage of it
    • Increased MPM from 120 to 180% for Magick Counter MP costs
  • Squidkraken – Increased MP from 115 to 155% for Magick Counter MP costs
    
• 💀Skeleton Family:
  • Skeleton, Bonesnatch, and Skeletal Fiend – Replaced Counter with Counter Throw
  • Skeleton – Added Brawler
  • Bonesnatch – Increased Move from 3 to 4
  • NEW Dark Slash (replaces Chop):
    • Dark elemental physical damage using [(PA + 16) / 2 * PA]
    • 19% Inflicts: Doom
    • Physically evadable, triggers counter-reactions and Nature’s Wrath
      
• 👻Ghost Family:
  • Ghoul and Revenant:
    • Replaced Shirahadori with Mana Shield
    • Decreased MP Growth from 30 to 5, resulting in higher +MP at Lv. 99 (requires rehiring)
  • Ghast:
    • Decreased HP Growth from 7 to 5, resulting in higher +HP at Lv. 99 (requires rehiring)
    • Replaced Shirahadori with Soulbind
    • Switched Drain Touch to 3rd ability and added Death Touch as hidden
  • Revenant:
    • Increased HPM from 93 to 102%
    • Increased MPM from 64 to 84%
  • Ghoul:
    • Increased HPM from 89 to 96%
  • NEW Death Touch (replaces Zombie Touch):
    • Functions as Death (black magicks) with 110 PWR (including the reviving and healing of undead)
    • Still calculates using the target and caster’s Faith
    • Magically evadable
    • NOTE: This ability is not reflectable  and can be cast while silenced, unlike Death
  • Ectoplasm – Now uses [MA * 7] instead of unarmed
    
• 👁Ahriman Family:
  • Removed Persuasive from all and replaced it with innate Halves: All Elements and added Doom and Curse immunities
  • Wing Buffet (Ahriman family) – Now uses [PA * 14], increased Range from 1 to 2, and flagged Direct 
  • Floating Eye – Increased HPM from 90 to 98%
  • Ahriman – Increased HPM from 95 to 105%
    
• 🦅Bird Family:
  • Jura Aevis, Steelhawk, and Cockatrice – All have Adrenaline Rush instead of Counter or First Strike, and added Blind immunity
  • Cockatrice – Added Concentration 
  • Steelhawk – Increased HPM from 94 to 98%
  • Talon Dive – Now has a 50% Remove: Protect, Shell, Reflect using unarmed calc
  • Featherbomb – Increased PWR from 9 to 12 and added 19% Inflicts: Berserk
    
• 🐷Swine Family:
  • All have added Confuse and Sleep immunities
  • Pig – Replaced CT Boost with Ward and Persuasive with Defense Boost
  • RETURNING Bequeath Bacon:
    • Targets Self
    • Self-KOs caster to 100% Create: Crystal. This crystal behaves like any other crystal after death and can be used to restore HP/MP fully to friend or foe
    • Bequeath Bacon is added as a 3rd ability to all swine monsters
  • Swine – Replaced Counter with Bonecrusher
  • Snort – Now is a [MA + 10] chance to Inflict: Charm instead of -30 CT. This ability is unevadable and flagged Direct. Note that this ability is the highest chance to Charm someone especially without mitigation!
    
• 🌳Treant Family:
  • All have Cup of Life reaction instead of previously assigned reactions (Mana Shield/Cup of Life/Resilience)and added Stone immunity
  • Treant:
    • Increased HPM from 130 to 165%
    • Increased SPM from 114 to 124% (12 starting Speed)
    • Added Magick Nymph as a 3rd ability
  • Dryad – Added Life Nymph as a 3rd ability
  • Elder Treant – Increased HPM from 175 to 180%
  • Leaf Rain – Unflagged for Nature’s Wrath, but flagged for Magick Counter (this ability is magical in nature)
  • Guardian Nymph (Dryad and Elder Treant) – No longer Bestows: Defending, Regen. Now has a [MA + 5] chance to Bestow: Reraise, Regen to a single target within 1 Range
    
• 🐂Minotaur Family:
  • All have added Slow immunity
  • Wisenkin and Sekhret – Increased Move from 3 to 4 to match Minotaur
  • Wisenkin – Added Pierce and increased Jump from 3 to 4
  • Pickaxe – Now uses [PA * 20] instead of unarmed
  • Breathe Fire – Increased PWR from 10 to 12 and added 19% Inflicts: Poison
    
• 🥗Malboro Family:
  • Tentacles – Now Absorbs HP using unarmed calc
  • [Blue] Goo – Added Oil and Poison status inflictions
    
• 🐕‍🦺Behemoth Family:
  • All have added KO, Doom, Stone, Stop immunities
  • Behemoth – Increased SPM from 117 to 125% (+1 Speed, fastest)
  • Behemoth King – Added Concentration
  • Dark Behemoth – Replaced Counter with Nature’s Wrath
  • Gore – Now uses [PA * 20] instead of unarmed
    
• 🐉Dragon Family:
  • Dragon, Red Dragon, and Blue Dragon – Replaced Counter with Dragonheart
  • Dragon:
    • Replaced Lancet with Luna now that Berserk is working on monsters (and uniquely the only monster that can cast it)
    • Increased PAM from 136 to 147% (average +1 – 3 PA)
    • Increased SPM from 118 to 132% (+2 Speed, 14 starting Speed)
    • Added Absorb: Lightning and Blind immunity
  • Red Dragon:
    • Added Poison immunity
    • Decreased SPM from 132 to 124% (-1 Speed to match Blue Dragon at 12 Speed)
  • Blue Dragon – Added Immobilize immunity
  • Tri-Thunder – Increased PWR from 12 to 24 to match Tri-Flame
    
• 🐍Hydra Family:
  • Hydra:
    • Replaced Counter with Fury and added Brawler
    • Added Tail Sweep as a second ability
  • Greater Hydra – Replaced Counter with Dragonheart
  • Tiamat – Replaced Counter with First Strike
  • Tri-Attack – Now uses [PA * 17] instead of unarmed
    
• Charge (Goblins, Pigs, Dragons):
  • Now uses [PA * 17] instead of unarmed
  • Changed the effect from Charge to Tackle to have it appear more so as a basic attack
    This “Halloween-timed” update focuses on further improving monsters in a way that addresses several issues they face entering the competitive environment, and gives them a bit more flourish in their limited kit to make them more considerable. Many “attack” based abilities were improved, and several were moved away from the unarmed calc as those leaned too heavily on Bravery to be effective. 

Equipment – Weapons

• Cloths
  • Damask Cloth – Increased WP from 15 to 20
  • NOTE: Cloths are universally accessible via Equip Lunging support ability
    
• Harps (formerly Instruments)
  • Renamed because the only type of instrument are harps (lol)
  • Muse’s Harp – Increased WP from 15 to 20 
  • NOTE: Harps are universally accessible via Equip Bows support ability

Equipment – Gear

• Hair Adornments – Increased the +HP of the following items:
  • Ribbon – from 10 to 30
  • Cachusha and Barette – from 20 to 50
    These items have loss some favor due to a slightly higher need for reaching certain HP thresholds and would only befit mostly bulky uniques. These slight HP updates are to still keep in mind they provide a ton of immunities, but also opens up the window for lesser bulk jobs to accommodate for them better and synergizes very well with HP Boost.
    
• Accessories
  • Nu Khai Armband – Added +1 Speed

Practice Mode (Araguay Woods)

• Special Encounter Team
  • Balthier – Replaced Wizard’s Robe with Lordly Robe to ensure he has Protect/Shell

Incremental Update v5.2.1

This minor update addresses bugs found from the v5.2 update, introduces the first magic ability that can critically strike – at the disposal of Balthier, and a few more monster buffs. 

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where stealing/breaking a weapon or shield would result in it failing/zeroing out
• Fixed Shirahdori not reducing the hit rate of Jump and Throw as originally intended
• Fixed Barrage and Take Aim not respecting Catch Projectiles if used with an applicable weapon type (lingering barrage code would bypass this reaction check)

AI Behaviors

• Bombs will no longer switch to “Coward” mode while critical, improving the chance for them to Self-Destruct you instead (thank you @tzepish for the code from WotL Tweak)

Action Abilities

• Piracy (Balthier)
  • Tides of Fate:
    • This ability can now critically strike with a base 10% chance, the only magic ability that can uniquely do so
    • This ability scales its critical chance with Death Strike and any other sources that normally provide “increased critical strike chance”
      I’ve always wanted to do something unique with this skill. Still, I couldn’t find a landing – until I came up with the idea that if this ability is about “fates,” then let’s set the foundation to make it have a chance to crit, an idea that several have brought up in passing in general in the past.

Monsters and Monster Abilities

• 💣Bomb Family:
  • All now have innate Critical: Quick instead of the previously set Fury/Adrenaline Rush/Magick Boost
  • All have added Poison immunity in addition to Oil
  • Bite – Reverted to unarmed calc but now has a 50% chance to Inflict: Oil
    Though the stat gains of the former reactions are nice, Crit: Quick puts more emphasis on their volatility through Self-Destruct, and your opponent (or yourself) will have to be careful on how they approach bombs. 
    
• Bewitching Gaze (Ahriman and Plague Horror) – Added Curse infliction to the list of statuses that can be randomly rolled
  
• Cursed Touch (formerly Oily Touch – Ghoul (hidden) and Ghast):
  • Now Inflicts: Curse status instead of Oil at [MA + 55]
  • Magically evadable
  • Changed the effect from Oily Touch to Nightmare
    Though I love oil shenanigans, this provides another accessible source of Curse status via monsters this time around. 
    
• Death Touch (Ghast and Revenant, hidden ability):
  • This ability now only calculates using [MA + 25] instead of the prior v5.2 faith-based calculation (caster/target Faith no longer applied)
  • This ability is still magically evadable
    As suggested by @therumer, I can agree that this ability doesn’t need Faith holding it back since it is sourced only from monsters and gives Ghast/Revenant a unique position on undead teams.
    
• Guardian Nymph (Dryad and Elder Treant, hidden ability) – Increased PWR from 5 to 10
  PWR increase to offset the average MA of Dryad and to make Elder Treant typically the best odds of casting it, albeit at slower Speed.

The first incremental update to competitive version 5 adds quality of life enhancements that will help with team building and better AoE targeting details, improved longbow targeting, Auto-Battling for multiplayer modes, AI behavior updates, some love to Flails and Axes to enhance the uniqueness in their selection, and a new ability dedicated to chocobo riding. Many thanks to @tzepish for these. Many of these will also be part of WotL Tweak in a future release!

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.

Make sure to always patch using an unmodified, USA-region backup of your FFT WotL ISO, and do not override an already patched copy!

Bug Fixes

• Resolved the “map glitching” issue related to toaded units
  First reported by @guitarmanager, this was a weird issue to trace and fix, but it was related to the status effects rewrite that was a part of the v5.0 update.

Quality of Life Updates

• Ability Target Cycling
  • You can now press the Square button while in the Forecast screen (before committing to an action) while targeting unit(s) within an AoE to preview their forecasted damage/healing for each unit instead of only relying on the targeted unit
    
  • The forecast now always displays one of the target’s info within the area, even if they were not originally selected via the cursor (ideal for abilities like Shockwave or -aja spells), instead of showing up as “00%” if a unit was not selected
    This makes getting the proper damage/healing/hit rate more accurate than just relying on self-targeting (which Iaido/Saint Cross/Unholy Sacrifice/Self-Destruct does) as well as just being able to generally see all targets within an AoE’s effectiveness, allowing for speedier decision making!
    
• Party Roster Reordering!
  • You can now use the L/R buttons to reposition units within the Party Roster and change their “order number”
  • Only works if the Sort Units mode is set to “Number,” which it is by default
  • Note that Ramza cannot be reordered due to campaign reasons
    Another big PSX QoL hack is now available. You can reorder your party as you see fit, making it easier to line up “teams” and reserved units near the top instead of by their default order listed.
    

• Smarter Longbow Arc Targeting
  • The original version would prioritize avoiding allies when picking arcs, which caused weirdness like firing directly into obstacles, or always picking a high arc when targeting allies
    
  • This new version now prioritizes hitting your original target instead of checking for allies in its path
    This is a major QoL to how longbows function with targeting, especially at short ranges.
    
• Help (Select) Now Usable While Selecting a “Move” Destination
  • Previously, you would need to be fully out of menus for the Help window to function notably for Geomancy information, but now this works as well during tile selection when performing a Move command
    
    
    
• Melee Mode
  • Auto-Battle (New Option, replaces the former “Arithmeticks” setting):
    • Allows or disallows the use of the [AI] menu command for both the Host and Client; this allows players to now host something similar to the FFTBG Twitch channel or to do “Ghost” battles
      
    • Replaces the former Arithmeticks game option for the Host, allowing for Orran’s Arithmeticks to be usable at all times since it is uniquely restricted to him
      
    • Note: Live competitions require this setting to be set to [Disallowed]
      This reworked setting gives the Host the ability to enable the AI to do battle for both players if set (though this requires each unit to individually have it enabled), especially for fun or casual settings.
      

• Rendezvous Mode
  • The [AI] menu command is now usable at all times instead of being disabled in this mode
    
  • Orran’s Arithmeticks is now allowed in this mode and removed the mentioning of Arithmeticks in the opening dialog for Rendezvous
    
  • Note: It is now “legal” to use the AI command even for the Rendezvous Leaderboards due to this change
    In the vanilla game, Arithmeticks was disabled in Rendezvous mode for good reason, but with it now only being tied to Orran in the PvP Patch, there is no reason for it to continue to be.
    
• Text Updates
  • Fixed erroneous ability cast text on Glacial Bow, Boltsnipe, and Fire Bow
  • Additional text adjustments and updates
  • The original “Potion” is named “Auto-Potion” across all mentioned text, and updated the Auto-Potion reaction to state it heals for 150 HP to dissuade that it only provides this value by default
  • Fixed Arise’s Spell Quote
  • Updated Protect status Help menu
  • Removed Magma Surge listings on terrain Help menus since it is no longer accessible
    
• AI Behavior
  • AI units in critical will now prioritize moving towards a “healer” instead of just fleeing by default (will continue to flee if no healer found)
    
  • AI units will no longer consider Jump on sleeping allies (lol)
    
  • AI will now only ignore Doom status if you have 1 tick remaining instead of just ignoring the unit until they die (or if KO immune)
    This sets better expectations for the AI to appropriately determine if a doomed unit is worth going after in consideration, instead of just removing them from the targets list.
    
  • AI handling of Cloud, Aerith, and Ashley are now “aware” of the player limitations of Limit Breaks or Break Arts and will only use them in the same manner players are normally restricted by (must have taken damage to unlock Lv. 2+ Limits with Lv. 1s being initially unlocked and Break Arts are strictly only tied to his equipped weapon instead)
    This change sets the expectation that the AI can no longer freely use their skillsets while the player has imposed restrictions, and creates fairer situations.
    
  • AI Beowulf can now use Spellblade regardless of the target’s Faith/Atheist
    
• Practice Mode (Araguay Woods)
  • Some select units now have their weapons randomized instead of being set, allowing for more variance in practice fights
    
  • Implemented 2 additional units into each team to replicate the “reserves” found in competitions. These units will randomly take an already pre-determined one’s slot if it rolls to do so. The following changes were made to each team:
    
    • Elidibus Team (West)
      • Squire (M) may spawn instead of Mime (F)
      • Dancer may spawn instead of Ninja (M)
        
    • Ashley Team (West)
      • Ashley’s main and off-hand weapons are now <random> instead of Excalibur to simulate Reequip, and with the above change to AI now following the limitations in Break Arts
      • Thief (M) may spawn instead of Squire (F)
      • Sage (M) may spawn instead of Samurai (F)
        
    • Mustadio Team (West)
      • Samurai (M) may spawn instead of Samurai (F)
      • Mystic (F) may spawn instead of Knight (M)
        
    • Agrias Team (West)
      • Bard may spawn instead of Black Mage (F)
      • Chemist (F) may spawn instead of Summoner (F)
        
    • Construct 8 Team (East)
      • Archer (M) may spawn instead of Dragoon (M)
      • Knight (F) may spawn instead of Monk (M)
        
    • Cloud Team (East)
      • Onion Knight (M) may spawn instead of Archer (M)
      • Time Mage (M) may spawn instead of Squire (M)
        
    • Aerith Team (East)
      • Geomancer (F) may spawn instead of Orator (F)
      • Monk (F) may spawn instead of Thief (M)
        
    • Meliadoul Team (East)
      • Thief (F) may spawn instead of Bard
      • Summoner (M) may spawn instead of Ninja (M)
        
    • Special Encounter Team (5x Uniques)
      • Set all Levels to Party Level instead of Lv. 99 as intended for campaign reasons
      • Delita may spawn instead of Balthier
      • Rapha may spawn instead of Beowulf
      • Marach may spawn instead of Luso

Jobs

• Divine Knight (Meliadoul)
  • Decreased PAM from 120 to 110% (-1 PA, from 16 to 15)
    This reduction in PA is due to a change to her innate Pierce to keep her job damage potential relatively the same with Unyielding Strike/any other PA-based skillsets.

Action Abilities

• Limit (Cloud)
  • Finishing Touch – This ability is flagged for vertical tolerance
    This was supposed to be set for vert tolerance in the last update, but I have seemingly missed it lol.
    
  • Omnislash:
    • Decreased PWR per hit from 75 to 50%
    • This ability no longer randomly hits within the area and hits all enemies five times each per target
    • This ability can now be physically evaded based on the weapon type
    • This ability is no longer affected by Shirahadori (since it is now checked by evasion)
      The changes to Omnislash are primarily to remove the “feels bad” from multiple random whiffing of what is considered one of the strongest abilities in the game. Because it requires unlocking and can be countermeasured by not “hard stacking” or evasiveness, this ability shouldn’t have additional consequences to demote unleashing its potential if unlocked in battle, and can be avoided by killing Cloud (which reduces Limit Level back to 3 if it was at Lv. 4).
      
  • Cherry Blossom – Fixed an issue where this ability had a very low status chance to inflict. This ability now uses a base 100% status chance (previously 19%) that then rolls at a 25% chance each for Blind, Poison, or Immobilize per target hit to ensure it has the intended status hit rate
    Cherry’s status chance in v5.0 was basically 25% of 19% per status rolled – you would rarely see it land one. With this correction, it will flourish better as an ultimate limit skill. 

Monster Abilities

• Tentacles (Malboro and Squid family) – Increased Range and Vert. from 1 to 2
  
• Malboro Spores (Greater Malboro) – Increased Range from 1 to 2 and Vert. from 0 to 1

R/S/M Abilities

• NEW Adept Rider (Movement, assigned to Fundaments or the unique’s skillset for 300 JP) – A new movement ability that expands on chocobo riding ONLY while mounted:
  • Mounting no longer consumes your Move, allowing you to Move after mounting 
  • Reduces your damage taken by 10% while mounting (similar to Resilience’s all-time reduction)
  • Access to your Chocobo’s skillset based on the Chocobo type via the Chococraft command, including its hidden Beastmaster ability
    • Chococraft abilities use the rider’s stats, not the mount 
    • NOTE: If you are using Dragon Tech as a secondary or are using Elmdore or Isilud on their main job, their tertiary skillset (Jump or Vampire) will override Chococraft!
      
      
      
• Ward (Reaction) – Slotting this ability additionally grants Initial: Protect, Shell
  This buff to Ward is to entice it as an option for those who prefer Initial mitigation via ability, while allowing it to be more impactful in that it can consistently refresh uptime from taking HP damage.  
  
• Pierce (Support) – Additionally increases your damage done by 5% at all times
  Pierce has a niche in being a great option versus Reflect and Golem, but there are times when neither is present, so this ability falls short very quickly against other damage done modifiers. This extra 5% helps offset some of that while buffing all damage types instead of specific ones like Attack Boost or Arcane Strength. Notably, this also makes it a stronger option for those focused on Jump (as the only support ability capable of technically buffing it).

Equipment – Weapons

• Removal of <Rare> Flagging on Select Equipment – The following equipment had the flag removed from them, which previously disallowed randomly generated units from being able to roll them as equipment options:
  • Knight’s Swords – All except the Tactics League-exclusive ones 
  • Shields – Genji Shield, Kaiser Shield, and Venetian Shield
  • Note: This does mean that randomly encountered units, such as Knights, can now roll this equipment; however, the item’s “enemy level” still dictates if they can be legally equipped or not
    This change is mostly to improve Practice Mode’s Ashley, but also provides a potential outlet to finding these weapons/shields in encounters, albeit still scarce by design due to item level limitations.
    
• Axes
  • Golden Axe:
    • Decreased WP from 18 to 16
    • Now Holy-elemental
      
  • Francisca:
    • Increased Range from 1 to 2 and is now flagged <lunging> instead of <striking> like Poles and Polearms; notably, back-targeting can cause a “miss” with attacks, so make sure you select a valid target
    • Decreased WP from 18 to 12
    • Now 50% Casts: Crush Helm instead of Rend Helm, allowing it to deal additional damage if the item breaks. Note that this portion of damage also ignores mitigation due to being sourced from an axe
    • Updated the Help menu
      This change to Francisca is to treat it more like a “Throwing Axe,” dealing less damage upfront for an additional range. The basic attack + Crush Helm cast is nothing to scoff at. Hold on to ya heads! Thank you to @thecountess for the suggestion!
      
• Flails
  • Increased the Range of all Flails from 1 to 2
  • All Flails are now flagged as <lunging> instead of <striking>
    
  • Morning Star:
    • Added +1 Magick
    • Increased Block from 5 to 10
    • Added 50% Inflicts: Blind
      
  • Vesper:
    • Decreased +Power from 2 to 1
    • Added HP Absorption on damage dealt and 50% Inflicts: Slow
      Flails were overall lacking before, so I revisited the archetype in previous FF titles to try to improve them as well as provide a bit more uniqueness to the weapon type.
      
• Shields
  • Ice Shield, Flame Shield, and Lightning Shield:
    • Removed their respective elemental Weakness
    • Decreased P-Ev. of each shield from 40 to 30%
      These shields have always been niche, and will probably continue to be in the future, but their biggest drawback is the Weakness associated with them. The removal of their weakness is to (hopefully) allow for more build diversity to utilize their Boost/Absorb element without needing to “cover” the weakness aspect and place that more on Oil/Breakage.
      
• Staves
  • Staff of the Magi:
    • Decreased WP from 15 to 14
    • Added +1 Magick
      
• Swords
  • Coral Sword – Added +1 Magick

The third major beta update of version 5 is now released, sporting a few new system-related enhancements and other combat changes.

If you are already on version 5, you DO NOT need to update your save data.
Make sure to always patch using an unmodified, USA-region backup of your FFT WotL ISO, and do not override an already patched copy!

To download this update, please visit Download.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where Steal Limelight/Glitterlust/Snort would sometimes display -20 CT instead of -30 CT in the forecast (visual bug fix)

Quality of Life Updates

• Melee Mode
  • Midlight’s Deep multiplayer map variants now have their lighting fully restored, while ensuring campaign variants still require crystals for brightness
    
  • Increased the Timer from 12 to 13 minutes (this affects all Tactics League competitive rulesets)
    Based on feedback, I want to compromise in the middle by adding an extra minute, but am still wanting to have a slightly shortened timer due to improved time-per-game. I will be monitoring both replay and spoken feedback in the future.
    
• Systems/Limit Level System (Cloud & Aerith)
  • Cloud and Aerith now start battles with Limit Level 1 unlocked. Some changes occurred to Level 1 abilities now that they are no longer initially locked:
    • Braver – Decreased damage bonus from 10 to 5%, still evadable
    • Seal Evil – Decreased Range from 3 to 2
      This is a change to the LLS I want to explore. Going into v5, I suspected that players would try to “not go after” either of these characters to avoid triggering their limit (and rightfully so), which ends up making their unique effectiveness a bit less than I would like. Weary of this and currently seeing these results happening, the goal is to test both of these uniques with their Level 1 abilities unlocked at battle start, still giving you merit to preserve Limit Level if so (and reaching lv. 4 faster too as a result), but also they can use their initial skills right a way as well.
      
• Systems/Traps
  • Improved the traps found on tiles for both campaign and melee formats. Thank you to Tzepish for this hack and improvement. Here are the following changes:
    • Degenerator – No change, still -1 Lv.
    • Death – Inflicts: KO instead of Doom
    • Hypnogas – No change, Inflicts: Sleep
    • Sten Needle – Inflicts: Immobilize & 25% max. HP damage instead of only 20% max. HP damage
    • Mine – Inflicts: Oil & 50% max. HP damage instead of random minor damage & Oil
    • Mossfungus – Inflicts: Poison and 25% max. HP damage instead of only Poison (will not deal damage if poison immune)
    • Cursed Stone – Inflicts: Curse instead of Undead
    • Updated the Help menus for each trap during the Trap Placement screen (melee) with these changes
      These improvements to traps should make them a bit more impactful and dangerous during encounters, especially for melee when played for fun.
      
• Systems/Mechanics
  • Bow Arrow Animations
    • Improved the animation queuing with abilities that have an effect assigned. Abilities with an effect will no longer display the “arrow” and will only play the effect on target one time (to continue to remove double damage display/effects). Abilities with no effect, such as Attack, Take Aim, or Barrage, will still display its arrow visually en route to the target
      
  • Added missing status text for Veil and Curse in the Reequip – View List screen

Jobs

• Bard
  • Increased HPM from 100 to 105% (generic 285 to 299 HP)
  • Increased MPM from 50 to 100% (generic 50 to 101 MP)
    These stat adjustments to Bard are to ensure that the job can better compete against the recent Garment Knight builds to provide better “stat” options on job choices. The intention is that though Bard is less bulky than Knight, they have Performing Arts innately, so they can build more into HP Boost or any other support option than Garment Knight can. This also puts Bard in a better position for spellcasting. 

Action Abilities

• Break Arts
  • Sunder:
    • Increased PWR from 4 to 6
    • Increased Range from 2 to 3
    • Updated the spell quote
      During Alpha, Sunder was originally 6 PWR, but it was scaled down due to the +HP armor difference change that is no longer active in crush abilities, so I am reverting the PWR to its original state to enforce this as the hardest “hitting” single-target Break Art. The range buff is to get it up to standard with other bladed weapons’ range, especially with recoil.
      
• Piracy
  • Tides of Fate – Changed animation to use Waterja’s effect
    This was changed due to not getting proper hit reactions when it hit multiple targets in the cone.
    
• White Magicks
  • Regen – Increased PWR from 170 to 180 (approx. 3% increased hit rate)
    
• Black Magicks
  • Bio – Decreased MP cost from 60 to 48
    
• Time Magicks
  • Hasteja and Slowja – Increased MP cost from 30 to 48
    Ability cost increases to justify their wide-area impact, excellent hit rate even without Faith, and ally/enemy only targeting capabilities. This also puts pressure on non-caster jobs to build a bit more for MP.

R/S/M Abilities

• Reflexes – Additionally increases your Class Evasion (C-EV) by 8% while slotted
  With Reflexes being half the value than vanilla, this buff is to fit the theme of improving your endurance by strengthening your class evasion automatically which in turn is also factored into the increased evasion rates. This is the only method that can enhance class evasion.
  
• Bravery and Faith Boost – Both abilities additionally now increase your Bravery or Faith by 10 while slotted
  This is to improve these abilities and provide an option to augment your Bravery or Faith stat pre-battle as the only means of doing so.
  
• Celerity – This ability now grants Initial: Invisible
  This was added to give it a “passive” effect like Ward and Earplug, albeit this isn’t an immunity.

Equipment – Weapons

• Magick Guns – Decreased WP standardization from 20 to 19
  Mag guns are overperforming slightly, so I am going to dial down the WP a tad and re-assess from there, keeping in mind they are still stronger due to Black Magicks.
  
• Staves
  • Nirvana – Added +1 Power and Magick

Practice Mode

• Ashley Team (West)
  • Improved Ashley’s decision making to use more of his abilities and not focus mostly on Items

Version 5 introduces a way to circumvent the recruitment process for acquiring monsters (with Traitor status being removed, and it being the original only way to recruit them), and monsters are on track to become usable in the future in competitive PvP.

Hire Monsters at the Warriors’ Guild

In the Campaign article, there was a mention of there being future updates to the Warriors’ Guild. This update comes right before the version 5 public beta (huge thanks to @Tzepish <3) and it changes the system to allow for hiring both female and male Squire in one option and now introducing the new option: Hire Monster.

Hire Monster randomly generates any of the regular monsters (no special monsters sorry!) at your highest party level member so they don’t have to be grinded before they can catch up with the rest. This highest level scaling also applies to the Hire Squire option but they will still start with their preset gear and 0 JP across jobs. One neat aspect about this new feature is that generated monsters have slight deviations in their stats too, so one Chocobo is not the same as the other when it comes to stuff like HP, MP, Power, or Magick.

Since this new method fixes the ability to experience Campaign with monsters who received hefty ability updates and some stat balancing, you’ll be able to bring them alongside your journey into the Zodiac Brave Story by simply dismissing units ahead of time if space is limited, heading to the Warriors’ Guild, selecting Hire Monster, and hiring new units for a 3,000 Gil fee.

An Update to Beastmaster Ability

To improve this ability’s viability with monsters and to resolve an issue that causes the recently announced 3 range to bug out in situations, this ability will now unlock your monsters’ hidden abilities at any location on the map. Yes, that means you can get your Squeal or Gigaflare on from the other side as long as the Beastmaster unit is not KO’ed or mid-jump (from Jump) or under Sleep, Disable, Stone, Vampire, Chicken, Toad, Confuse, Berserk, Stop, or Veil.

In the picture below, here is an example of a Dark Behemoth using its hidden ability, Almagest, several tiles away from Ramza, who has Beastmaster.

A Future in Competitive

With the ability to hire monsters and they generate at your party level, there’s finally a future for them regarding competitive play in Standard. Monsters have received numerous updates in job stats and abilities to balance them better while aiming to improve them overall for Campaign and Standard.

Now to set expectations, monsters have their limitations, most do not have access to Protect or Shell, Defense Boost, or Arcane Defense (but a select few do) and will rely on their human allies in most cases to provide these buffs, but there is a potential in the future metagame. Giving up a generic human job for a monster, may or may not be worth the trade-off, but experiment now that it is a possibility. Stay tuned for potential ruleset updates regarding monsters being allowed in future competitions!