Category PvP

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

As we approach near summer, our first-ever software modification for Final Fantasy Tactics: the War of the Lions is ready for beta testing, shaping the future of Tactics PvP.

This update is a VERY feature-packed one, as there have been many adjustments towards improving Reaction, Support, and Movement abilities for the first time, and making evasion and attacking more viable than ever before. In addition, we are also supporting the PPF format for making it easier to apply patch updates directly to your game, which in turn will make it easier to stay up to date and less hassle than our previous patching methods.

Because this update is large in scale, we are asking for all hands on deck to come to test this update out thoroughly and provide feedback in the Tactics League discord. The save data’s focus is testing all new content in Starter (save slot 3) and we will update accordingly as we exit the beta phase.

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 Beta Changelog
  • Quality of Life Updates
  • System/Mechanics Updates
  • Text Updates
  • Jobs
  • Abilities
  • Equipment – Weapons
  • Equipment – Gear
• Competitive Starter v4.0 Beta
• PvP Patch – Changelog (opens in new tab)

PvP Patch v3.0 Beta Changelog

This next, big iteration of the PvP Patch includes ASM modifications that allow for further changing of the game’s systems and mechanics, opening up the possibilities for much more refined, competitive play. As this update is very large in scale, each section will be separated accordingly.

Quality of Life Updates

• Slowdown fix is applied automatically during patching
• Males can now equip previously female-only gear
• Br/Fa values reset after each non-multiplayer instance allowing for testing without having to worry about your save
• Smart Encounters – You are guaranteed a random battle when moving to an area that supports random encounters
• Innate abilities are now greyed-out in the Ability menus
• Bardsong/Dance abilities now forecast their damage, healing, %chance, etc. before executing

System/Mechanics Updates

• Critical Strike Chance increased from 4 to 10%
• Critical Strike Damage increased from random to 150%
• The proc chance of abilities to cast from weapon attacks increased from 19 to 50%
• Knockbacks will now only occur at the end of a multi-hit attack
• Weapon block rates are always on and factor into your physical evasion
• Magick Guns and Books cast rates changed so that Lv. 1 = 25%, Lv. 2 = 50%, and Lv. 3 = 25%
• Poison and Regen now damage/heal for MaxHP / 4 instead of MaxHP / 8
• Blind nullifies your evasion in addition to increasing the defender’s evasion rates if attacked
• You can evade while Performing (Bardsong/Dance)
• Undead always revive on zero during the KO counter instead of a 50% chance

Text Updates

• Added proc chance for cast abilities or statuses, including PWR and damage scaling in the Help menu
• Added damage formula for all weapons in the Help menu
• Added 10% critical chance text in Help menus to abilities that have a chance to crit: Holy Sword, Darkness (except Unholy Sacrifice), Unyielding Blade, select Martial Arts, Saint Cross (Arts of War), Fires of War (Piracy), and Spin Punch (Huntcraft)
• All “glove” accessories are now plural (lol)
• Added “magic damage” to Unholy Sacrifice to clarify its damage type
• Added text to Heretic/Ramza stating he is Knockback immune (even non-Heretic)

Jobs

• Game Hunter (Luso)
  • Removed innate Poach
    This removal was made due to changes with Persuasive (formerly Tame).
    
• Squire
  • Removed Instruments/Cloths from their equipment as these items are now Bard/Dancer exclusive
    
• Archer
  • Increased MA multiplier from 80 to 100%
    The increase is to have better scaling when using MA/Faith-cast-based weapons.
    
• White Mage
  • Removed Instruments from their equipment as these items are now Bard/Dancer exclusive
    
• Knight
  • Added Axes to their equipment
    Knights have come full circle gaining accessibility to their former Rend abilities with the change to Axes for a more fair experience.
    
• Thief
  • Increased MA multiplier from 60 to 90%
  • Removed Poach from the skillset
    The increase is to have better scaling when using MA/Faith-cast-based weapons.
    
• Dragoon
  • Increased MA multiplier from 50 to 80%
    The increase is to have better scaling when using MA/Faith-cast-based weapons; matching Knight/Dark Knight
    
• Ninja
  • Increased HP multiplier from 70 to 80%
    With changes to Mana Shield, Ninja needs a bit more HP to survive. However, this increase is very subtle as their niche is fast and strong physical damage with less regard to their defense.
    
• Bard/Dancer
  • Increased Bard/Dancer’s HP multiplier from 85/90 to 100%
  • Bard – Increased PA multiplier from 50 to 95% and MA from 115 to 145%
  • Dancer – increased PA multiplier from 110 to 140%
  • Replaced innate Arcane Strength/Attack Boost with Performing Arts (NEW support). This support ability doubles the effective MA/PA of Bardsong and Dance abilities that scale with these stats
    This innate change is to actually provide value to these jobs that oddly did not benefit from their previous innate abilities (Bard only benefited from Arcane Strength with Rousing Melody). Though the PA and MA multiplier values appear high, these increases are to set these jobs on par with other jobs that fit the highest base PA/MA in their gender (Male = Black Mage, Female = Dark Knight)
    
• Sage
  • Removed Instruments and Cloths from their equipment as these items are now Bard/Dancer exclusive and added Rods and Staves instead
  • Removed innate Halve MP
    This change is to target a nerf to Sage’s performance without impacting the intended goal of the job; an effective caster but only able to get so many turns in due to their low Speed. Now you will need to consider slotting Halve MP to keep up with high costs or sustain in Ja-Magicks or their potential secondary.

Abilities

• Aimed Shot (Mustadio)
  • Added Overload – Instant, Weapon Ranged, ignores mitigation attack using PA x 14 and deals PA x 14 / 3 damage to himself afterward
  • Added Recharge – 2 range, Restores MP to the target using MA x 4
  • Seal Evil – Increased PWR from 70 to 90
  • Added Disassemble – MA + 60 chance to -2 PA and MA the target at Weapon Range
  • Added abilities also extend the available skills in Onion Knight/Mastery Arts (go Mustard Onion go!)
    Though Mustadio’s kit is mostly focused around status, I added some more abilities to Aimed Shot so he felt more unique and to also finally solve the problem where he was the only unique character that couldn’t fully utilize Mastery Arts
    
• Nether Mantra (Marach)
  • Fixed the inverse bug of Atheist/Faith; if the target has Atheist, Nether Mantra will deal maximum damage. If the target has Faith, it will deal 0 damage
  • Adjusted the hit table that affects the probability of random hits. Abilities will now only hit up to 5 times
    
• Sky Mantra (Rapha)
  • Removed the KO immunity check with abilities. Abilities will now properly work even if the target is KO immune innately or via gear (but is still Fa-scaled).
    
• Vengeance/Blade Beam (Beowulf/Cloud)
  • These abilities now deal 70% of the caster’s missing HP rather than the entire missing HP
    A cap has been imposed on how much damage these abilities can deal especially when factoring high HP builds.
    
• Huntcraft (Luso)
  • Bad Breath – Replaced Toad with Immobilize
    With Bad Breath being AoE and instant cast, the plan is scaling back one of the stronger debuffs it is capable of inflicting
    
• Dragon (Reis)
  • Dragon’s Gift – Increased PWR from 100 to 255 to ensure it doesn’t fail as long as the target is statused
  • Dragon’s Speed – Now a flat 50% chance to grant 50 CT with 30 MP cost. This ability is unaffected by modifiers
    The difference between Dragon’s Speed and Time’s Quick is that this is an instant cast with added MP cost to add counter-play (the prior counter was to Atheist Reis). This ability’s chance does not scale up with MA as originally planned.
    
• Fundaments (Squire)
  • Focus – Fixed the original formula to +1 PA/MA/SP instead of only +1 PA
  • Stone – Can 100% knockback when physically able
  • Throw Dagger – Increased random PWR from 1…10 to 1…15 and can 100% knockback when physically able
  • Fervor – Removed the KO immunity check with this ability. Haste will be removed even if the target is KO immune innately or via gear (but is still Fa-scaled).
    This is the closest I could get to 100% Knockback as the checks for this system are also tied to critical hits (which are still Br-based). Stone will also cause knockback instead of switching formulas because it can be used to proc certain reactions early so it is added counterplay in causing potential miss-position.
    
• Items (Chemist)
  • Ether – Increased MP restore from 20 to 50
  • Hi-Ether – Increased MP restore from 50 to 100
  • Adrenaline – No longer provides Haste, and removes Slow/Stop status instead. Changed the animation to Float to better serve its new effect.
    Adrenaline did enable a bit more power to Items since its inception and has been toned down to aid in what it is useful for, instead of cleansing slow/stop and gaining Haste too.
    
• Aim (Archer)
  • Sonic Boom – Is now unevadable
    With WP being generally lower across the board, Sonic Boom can fit a better role in dealing unevadable damage, especially with its MP cost.
    
• Arts of War (Knight)
  • Saint Cross – Reduced PWR from 16 to 14
    A slight damage nerf due to this ability’s damage and AoE potential when stacking high PA.
    
• Martial Arts (Monk)
  • Cyclone – Increased PWR from 0 to 5
  • Pummel – Increased PWR from 0 to 15. This ability still has a random roll in determining its damage modifier
    Adding some love to Martial Arts abilities that definitely could use some buffing as these always felt little to be desired.
    
• White Magicks (White Mage)
  • Raise – Reduced PWR from 180 to 160 (avg. 72 to 65% OR 100% w/ Faith)
  • Arise – Reduced PWR from 160 to 130 (avg. 64 to 54% OR 89% w/ Faith)
  • Regen – Increased MP cost from 8 to 12
  • Holy – Reduced PWR from 50 to 40, reduced tick from 5 to 4, and reduced MP from 56 to 42
    The nerfs to the PWR/chance on Raise/Arise are because these abilities are contributing heavily towards the battle of fighting for KO counts before the game’s end recently. I am willing to revert them if there is collective underperformance, but the goal is to create more room for error, especially with Faith. The changes to Holy are twofold; one to address the damage output on Vitanova/Holy Lance and two to empower White Magicks damaging spell to be more cast-friendly but with less damage.
    
• Black Magicks (Black Mage)
  • Death – Switched formula to 0A. This will result in the ability to try to cast KO status instead of [Damage = TargetMaxHP] (resulting in KO through damage) and allows the fixing of KO immunity checks with Sky Mantra and Fervor.
    An off-note about Toad; Toad (the ability) will not have any changes initially as it is single target with slightly higher PWR than Toadja. I will be monitoring its performance and will adjust if needed.
    
• Time Magicks (Time Mage)
  • Float – Is now instant cast
  • Quick – Now adds 50 CT to the target instead of 255
  • Meteor – Reduced MP cost from 70 to 65 and PWR from 40 to 38
    Since Meteor is non-elemental, the PWR on this ability is being scaled back slightly to rank it below Lv. 4 magicks but with a wider area.
    
• Mystic Arts (Mystic)
  • Umbra – This ability is now single target
    
• Summon (Summoner)
  • Bahamut – Reduced PWR from 42 to 40
  • Faerie – Reduced PWR from 150 to 120 (avg. 60 to 50% OR 83% w/ Faith)
  • Zodiark – Reduced Tick from 15 to 12 and PWR from 90 to 70
    
• Steal (Thief)
  • Steal HP – The ability is now properly flagged as physical damage for the purpose of proccing counter-reactions
    
• Speechcraft (Orator)
  • Hush (reworked Beg) – MA + 60 chance to inflict Silence on a target
    
• Bardsong (Bard)
  • Seraph Song – Increased PWR from 20 to 30
  • Life’s Anthem – Increased PWR from 50 to 100
  • Rousing Melody – The ability chance no longer scales up with MA as the 50% Haste is now hardcoded into this ability. Reduced the tick from 5 to 4.
  • Finale – Increases CT by 50 instead of 255
    
• Dance (Dancer)
  • -MP/HP abilities now use PA + PWR instead of Unarmed calc
  • Witch Hunt – Increased PWR from 20 to 30
  • Mincing Minuet – Set PWR to 120
  • Last Waltz – Decreases CT by 50 instead of setting it to 0
    Mincing Minuet’s damage will ignore mitigation sources
    
• Ja-Magicks (Sage)
  • Toadja – Increased MP cost from 70 to 99 and Reduced PWR from 160 to 100. (avg. 64% to 43% OR 71% w/ Faith)
    As a part of addressing the debilitating effects of Toad, Toadja’s PWR is reduced to create room for error when factoring Faith since this ability has sticky/AoE potential.
    
• Miscellaneous/Weapon-cast only
  • Rend Helm/Rend Shield/Rend Armor – Set PWR to 255 so they are guaranteed to rent as long as the weapon attack successfully procs
  • Unholy Darkness – Reduced PWR from 50 to 40
  • Tornado – Reduced PWR from 37 to 35
    
• Equip X Updates
  • Equip Swords – Swords + Katanas
  • Equip Knives (formerly Equip Katana) – Knives + Ninja Blades
  • Equip All Armor (formerly Equip Heavy Armor) – Access to all armor weights/types
  • Equip Two-Handed (formerly Equip Axes) – Axes + Knight’s Swords + Fell Swords
  • Equip Bows (formerly Equip Crossbows) – Bows + Crossbows
  • Equip Poles – Polearms + Poles
    
• Resilient (NEW Reaction)
  • Reduces physical damage taken by 50% while charging
    
• Death Strike (NEW Support)
  • Increases your critical strike chance from 10 to 40% while slotted
    
• Performing Arts (NEW Support)
  • Doubles the effective PA/MA of Bardsong and Dance abilities that scale with these stats (added innately to Bard and Dancer)
    
• Persuasive (Reworked Tame)
  • Guarantees Charm status when using weapon attacks against the enemy while they are Critical or would enter Critical
    Outside of immunities, Charm is guaranteed to inflict as long as you use weapon attacks. The game will forecast Charm status if you do enough damage to put them/keep them in Critical.
    
• Concentration
  • Now increases your physical hit rate by 50% against the target’s total physical evasion rates instead of just ignoring physical evasion
    This change is to bring evasion/blocking a bit more proactive instead of being something that was least considerable. This change also affects Steal abilities as you will have reduced hit rates from the front or sides (as previously you could steal from any facing and there was no penalty). Ultimately, ignoring evasion is left to either the attacker being Invisible or the target being Blinded.
    
• Reflexes
  • Now increases your total physical and magic evasion by 25% instead of 50%
    In tandem with Concentration changes, Reflexes now provides less total value as it previously did, but also still adds more towards evasiveness the more you stack into it. Note: Weapon block rates now contribute towards total physical evasion (which is still done additively).
    
• Doublehand
  • Reduced damage bonus from 200 to 160%
    This passive was slightly overperforming when factoring high WP + PA builds.
    
• Vehemence
  • Reduced the damage taken and damage dealt bonuses from 50 to 40%
    This passive enables a ton of damage though with risk. As a part of nerfing general damage output, this ability got a 10% reduction.
    
• Mana Shield
  • Damage will now overflow into your HP if it is greater than your current MP
    This change is to effectively nerf Mana Shield’s “can stop all damage for only 1 MP.” With this change, max MP is more important to create a larger pool of damage to protect against, and overall bulk is equally important since damage can now bleed through.
    
• Ranger’s Bane (Reworked Archer’s Bane)
  • Now includes Guns/Magick Guns in addition to Bows and Crossbows in reducing hit rates based on your Bravery
    
• Earplugs
  • Completely nullifies all incoming Speechcraft abilities while slotted
    
• Bonecrusher
  • No longer checks Br% and instead is guaranteed to proc as long as conditions are met (in critical within weapon range of attacker)
    Lessening the conditions for this Reaction to proc by removing the Br% chance from it. One interesting note with Bonecrusher is that it procs off any HP damage taken while these conditions are met. Maybe it’s finally time to crush bone?
    
• Lifefont/Manafont
  • Increased the +HP/MP from 1/10 to 1/6
    Lifefont in particular is much more considerable than ever before! Keep in mind that these do not stack (Black Mage innate in particular).
    
• Bravery Boost/Faith Boost/Magick Boost/Fury
  • Abilities are no longer job-locked; they are acquired via Bard and Dancer
  • Fury and Magick Boost – +2 PA/MA instead of +1
  • Bravery Boost and Faith Boost – +9 Br/Fa instead of +3
    Bravery Boost can proc from weapon attacks including attacks that use Hit=100%
    

Equipment – Weapons

• Weapon Block Rate Standardization
  Standardized weapon block rate guidelines due to innate Parry with specific weapon exceptions. High Block is 20, mid is 6 – 10, and low is 5 or less:
  • Axes – 8
  • Bags – 0
  • Books – 3
  • Bows – 8
  • Cloths – 20
  • Crossbows – 5
  • Knight’s Swords/Fell Swords – 20
  • Flails – 5
  • Guns – 5
  • Instruments – 6 (w/ the exception of Muse’s Harp at 20)
  • Katanas – 10
  • Knives – 5 (w/ the exception of Main Gauche at 20)
  • Ninja Blades – 5
  • Polearms – 10
  • Poles – 10 (w/ the exception of Eight-Fluted Pole at 20)
  • Rods – 4
  • Staves – 8
  • Swords – 10 (w/ the exception of Nagnarok at 20 and Onion Sword at 15)
    
• Axes
  • Reduced WP standardization from 28 to 20. Each Axe now has a 50% chance to “rend” equipment instead of guaranteed status inflictions, except Giant’s Axe which retains its 100% remove Protect/Shell
  • Golden Axe – Rend Weapon
  • Francisca – Rend Helm
  • Slasher – Rend Shield
  • Giant’s Axe – Removes Protect/Shell (100%)
  • Battle Axe (NEW) – Rend Armor
    
• Bags
  • Reduced WP standardization from 12 to 10
    
• Books
  • Reduced WP standardization from 26 to 20
  • Bestiary – reduced +MA from 2 to 1 since it can be dual wield
    
• Cloths
  • Reduced WP standardization from 20 to 15
  • Weapons are now Dancer-exclusive
  • Removed the standardized +1 Move & Speed from Cloths, except Wyrmweave Silk, and added the following bonuses:
  • Damask Cloth – Immobilize, Disable, Sleep immunity
  • Cashmere – +2 PA
  • Wyrmweave Silk – Retains +1 Move & SP
    
• Crossbows
  • Reduced WP standardization from 16 to 14
  • Gastrophetes – from 18 to 16 WP
  • Knightslayer – will remain 22 WP due to its close-quarter role
    
• Instruments
  • Reduced WP standardization from 24 to 15
  • Weapons are now Bard-exclusive
  • Added bonuses to existing Instruments in addition to their prior effects:
  • Faerie Harp – +2 MA
  • Muse’s Harp – added Remove: Toad and 20 Block
  • Lunar Harp – +1 Move and +1 SP
    
• Knives
  • Reduced WP standardization from 15 to 13 to better fit their power between Bags and Swords
  • Blind Knife (Returning) – 100% inflict Blind status
  • Air Knife – Now +1 SP instead of +1 Move/Jump
    
• Magick Guns
  • Reduced WP standardization from 24 to 20
    
• Polearms
  • Reduced WP standardization from 25 to 20
  • Javelin II from 26 to 22 WP
  • Gae Bolg from 24 to 19 WP
    
• Poles
  • Musk Pole – Reduced WP from 16 to 14 and is now 50% Confuse instead of 100% Silence
    
• Rods
  • Now calcs using MA x WP and reduced WP standardization from 12 to 8
  • Toadsong – reverted to MA x WP instead of 100% hit; has a 50% chance to Toad and retains Initial: Slow and is subject to evasion
  • Dragon Rod – reduced WP from 15 to 12
  • Fire/Ice/Thunder Rod – reverted cast from Lv.4 to Lv.3
  • Stardust Rod – reverted cast from Graviga to Gravity
    
• Shields
  Reduced the P-EV of select shields to reduce stacking high evasion with Reflexes and/or innate block rates:
  • Escutcheon II – from 75 to 50
  • Onion Shield – from 80 to 60
  • Kaiser Shield – from 46 to 30
  • Venetian Shield – from 50 to 30
    
• Swords
  • Ultima Weapon (reworked Materia Blade) – Renamed to dissuade Materia Blade’s requirement for Limit. Reduced WP from 20 to 16 and now has a 50% chance to cast Ultima at 18 PWR (opposed to Ramza/Luso’s 25)
  • Diamond Sword – Now provides +1 PA instead of being focused on higher Block

Equipment – Gear

Just to note, undead units with reraise immunity means they cannot be resurrected with Phoenix Down or Revive and can only return after the KO counter reaches zero.

• Escort Guard (NEW clothing) – +200 HP and Halves: Lightning/Water/Earth
• Cursed Helm (NEW helm) – +100 HP, +1 SP, Equip: Regen, Undead, Immune: Haste, Stop
• Cursed Armor (NEW heavy armor) – +250 HP, Equip: Protect, Shell, Undead, Immune: Haste, Regen
• Cursed Robes (NEW robes) – +0 HP, +200 MP, +3 MA, Equip: Undead, Immune: Haste, Reraise
• Cursed Shield (NEW shield) – 60 P-EV, Equip: Atheist, Undead, Immune: Haste, Reraise, Sleep
• Rubber Suit – Added Oil and Poison immunity
• Thief’s Gloves (NEW accessory) – Increases Steal chance by 20% multiplicatively. Adds 15 P-EV

Competitive Starter 4.0 Beta

As this format is in beta, additional changes may occur based on feedback post-beta testing.

Cloud

• Reduced MA from 17 to 16

Inventory

• Added all new additional gear: such as Battle Axe, Damask Cloth, and Cashmere into the inventory since they changed by the PvP Patch

Limited and Semi-Limited Gear Restriction Update

• NEW No longer restricted: Golden Axe
• NEW Limited: Minvera Bustier, Escort Guard, Invisibility Cloak, Cursed Robe, Cursed Armor, Cursed Shield, Cursed Helm
• NEW Consumable Quantities – Adrenaline, Ethereal Tonic, Hermes Tonic, Stimulant, Carbuncle’s Tear are at 5 each

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!

In this update, we officially release the PvP Patch as a part of the Tactics League formats and update all Premades and Starter save data in unison with the newly released patch. As the community has reached a pivotal finale in beta testing, we are confident in releasing the latest competitive save with new offerings. This will be a hefty changelog, so make sure to read over each change in each format listed below. The PvP Patch must be enabled when playing with our formats as they have been balanced and adjusted around it (guides are available in Tutorials).

A massive shout-out to the following Discord members for helping shape the PvP Patch and thoroughly testing to ensure this patch is battle-ready!
Mikey_TacticsLive, jokerfisch, Dark Claw, Wngman, Salcy, and others that have contributed ideas and suggestions

Note: From this point forward, competitive saves will include the PvP Patch as an all-in-one download.

To download the official version 2.4 save data, go here: Download Version 2.4
Optionally, a text patch is available to download using the FFTactext application (part of the FFTPatcher suite). Visit the Text Patch Tutorial Guide for more info.

PvP Patch Changelog (opens in new tab)
Competitive Starter 3.0 Changelog
Generics Premade 3.0 Changelog
Uniques Premade 2.0 Changelog
Monsters Premade 2.0 Changelog

Competitive Starter 3.0

Zalbaag (NEW)

• Replaced Balthier with Zalbaag. With the metagame shifting more towards Speed and less accessibility to Haste, Balthier was overperforming in certain aspects in addition to some exploitations that could put him in a class of his own. Balthier is very similar to Orlandeau in terms of being overpowered, so the approach is to retire him for this update. We are always welcome to return Balthier to the roster in a future update depending on community feedback and potential adjustments.
  
  For more information on Zalbaag’s stats, job, and skillset, visit Zalbaag.

Construct 8

• Decreased Speed from 13 to 12.
  Comment: Speed reduction due to the lower accessibility of Haste and Speed modifiers to bring Construct 8 more in line with the rest of the roster. A chunky robot shouldn’t be able to outspeed most generic jobs by default! Originally, the plan was to reduce it to 11, however, after evaluating the increase of Haste sourcing, it still needs some extra to remain competitive in usage.

Luso

• Decreased PA from 18 to 16 and increased MA from 11 to 13.
  Comment: With Huntcraft now having a mixture of PA and MA abilities, a little bump in his MA would help increase the potency of Choco Cure, Earthsplitter, and Ultima. Spin Punch was negatively affected by the PA reduction but also received a boost in PWR to compensate.

Inventory

• Removed any item in the inventory not considered endgame or was not adjusted by the PvP Patch. This has significantly reduced clutter and the amount of time it takes searching for gear to equip characters.
• Removed Ether from the inventory. Ether was removed to reduce the amount of MP restoration items a player has in tandem with Mana Shield. There is still 10x Hi-Ether and 1x Elixir available for use with Items.

Limited and Semi-Limited Gear Restriction Update

• Most equipment has had adjustments via the PvP Patch and the restriction list has been updated to accommodate for such adjustments as well as re-evaluating where some gear is in the current limited/semi-limited/banned list. In general, many banned equipment has now returned as options due to the adjustments caused. Below are the new additions to the restrictions list:
  
  • NEW Limited – Materia Blade (equipped to Cloud but can be removed), all Fell Swords (Arondight, Chaosbringer, Deathbringer, Balmung, Valhalla), all Knight’s Swords (Defender, Ragnarok, Excalibur, Save the Queen, Durandal, Chaos Blade), all Guns (Fomalhaut, Stoneshooter, Blaze Gun, Glacial Gun, Blaster), Sage’s Robe, Luminous Robe, Onion Armor, Ribbon, and Sage’s Ring
    
  • NEW Semi-Limited – Minerva Bustier, Septième, Brigand’s Gloves, Featherweave Cloak, Invisibility Cloak
    
  • NEW No longer restricted (up to 3) – Gae Bolg, Staff of the Magi, Grand Armor, Brave Suit, Crystal Shield

Comment: The metagame has changed significantly from Starter 2.1 once the PvP Patch was created; opening new opportunities to standardize, balance, and adjust many equipment options to get into the hands of the player. Ribbon and Sage’s Ring in particular has been limited since they offer a ton of value compared to other equipment that has been overlooked (Barette, Cachusha, and Vampire’s Cape for example), ideally putting more thought into decision-making instead of going with the usual go-to’s. All Guns are limited due to the recent removal of Shirahadori since they are unavoidable. We will be monitoring their performance and adjusting if needed in a future update.

Generics Premade 3.0

Armiger (NEW)

• Armiger [Damage] joins the roster in this update! This Squire-in-training will be replacing Ranger [Damage] to bring a new addition and playstyle to Generics. Using his innate Reequip, Armiger can swap out his Platinum Sword and Mythril Shield into one of the various weapons available in the inventory: Poison Bow (crossbow), Assassin’s Dagger/Blind Knife/Mage Masher (knives), Lamia’s Harp (instrument), Flame Mace (flail), Slasher (axe), Gokuu Pole (pole), or Nagnarok (sword). Coupled with an excellent 8 Move, Armiger is formidable in mobility so he can quickly get in range to attack and strive to become a Master-at-Arms!
  
  Note: Using Reequip in multiplayer will reset the gear back to his initial build afterward. Always continue to reset the game after completing a battle for integrity purposes.

Characters

• Many equipment and stat adjustments were made in this update due to the changes caused by the PvP Patch. Not all character changes will be listed, but major changes will be listed separately.
• Reduced the MP of characters utilizing magicks due to the cast-time adjustments from the PvP Patch. In general, most characters affected are around 160 MP or less.
• Re-adjusted the Speed of some characters to compensate for the removal of Haste-equipped gear. For the most part, the Speed of characters is the same as they were in v2.2, with Shadow/Lancer/Stalwart/Timewalker being the fastest on the roster.

Inventory

• Added 2x Ama-no-Murakamo for Sentinel [Tank], and 1x each of Poison Bow, Assassin’s Dagger, Blind Knife, Mage Masher, Gokuu Pole, Slasher, Nagnarok, Flame Mace, and Lamia’s Harp for Armiger [Damage].

Shadow [Damage]

• Decreased PA from 20 to 11.
• Swapped: Attack Boost for Dual Wield, reducing his damage potential by factoring the Assassin’s Dagger WP increase.
• Removed Knives from Throw due to their WP increase.

Hunter [Damage]

• Swapped: Ignore Elevation for Move +1 since Ignore Elevation is now innate.

Parivir [Damage]

• Decreased PA from 18 to 12 due to innate Doublehand and katana WP increase.
• Reduced MA from 24 to 19 to offset the +4 MA from Kiku-ichimonji.
• Reduced MP by 49.
• Swapped: Lv. 1 Black Magicks with Lv.2 variants.
• Swapped: Doublehand with Arcane Strength.
• Swapped: Shirahadori with Reflexes.

Zen [Damage]

• Increased HP by 70, and decreased MA from 34 to 15 due to innate Faith in her job.
• Swapped: Luminous Robe for Hempen Robe due to already having Faith.
• Swapped: Ivory Pole for Whale Whisker.
• Arithmeticks is now replaced with Ja-Magicks due to the PvP Patch. Removed Gravija from her Ja-Magicks skillset.

Lancer [Damage]

• Added: Borrowed Time (formerly Steal Gil) to her abilities. This ability is a self, instant-cast Haste.

Paladin [Tank]

• Decreased PA from 15 to 6, decreased MA from 18 to 10, increased HP by 22, and decreased MP by 40.
• Swapped: Longsword for Durandal, gaining Faith and improving his White Magicks.
• Swapped: Celebrant’s Miter for Wizard’s Hat.
• Added: Protectja and Shellja (White Magicks) abilities.

Sentinel [Tank]

• Increased MA from 11 to 13, decreased HP by 50.
• Swapped: Ashura for Ama-no-Murakamo (Iaido) ability.
• Swapped: Lifefont for Move +1 since Lifefont is gained innately.

Guardian [Tank]

• Swapped: Longsword for Ancient Sword (immobilize chance).
• Decreased PA from 15 to 10.

Cleric [Support]

• Decreased MA from 17 to 15, decreased MP from 229 to 58 (will be increased by gear adjustments).
• Swapped: White Staff for Healing Staff (restore HP on attacks).
• Swapped: Celebrant’s Miter for Wizard’s Hat.

Timewalker [Support]

• Decreased PA from 21 to 5 due to innate Doublehand, decreased MP by 137.
• Swapped: Luminous Robe for Silken Robe.

Ramza [Damage]

• Added Reprisal, Parley, and Manaburn abilities to Mettle.
• Switched to the Ch. 4 version in order to preserve Shout and Ultima skillsets due to the added abilities.

Uniques Premade 2.0

Characters

• Many equipment and stat adjustments were made in this update due to the changes caused by the PvP Patch. Not all character changes will be listed, but major changes will be listed separately.

Argath [Damage]

• Swapped: Time Magicks for Aim (with Aim +1 – 3 abilities) due to the Equip: Atheist change in Fell Swords.
• Swapped: Swiftness for Defense Boost since he no longer has magicks.

Luso [Damage]

• Added all Huntcraft abilities, but removed Ultima to reinforce his other MA abilities and Iaido.
• Swapped: Chirijiraden with Kotetsu due to the reworking of his skillset.

Zalbaag [Tank]

• Swapped: Swiftness with Arcane Defense due to the PvP Patch’s reduced cast-time changes.

Reis [Tank]

• Added: Dragon’s Gift and Dragon’s Might (Dragon) abilities since they now affect anyone.

Monsters Premade 2.0

Inventory

• Removed items that were in the inventory that are not accessible for any reason in this format.

Yuna [Tamer]

• Swapped: Orator job for Summoner job, adding Moogle, Ifrit, Shiva, Ramuh, and Titan abilities. This change was made to do a better service to her character inspiration from Final Fantasy X.
• Reduced MA from 13 to 11 to reduce the damage/healing of Summons.
• Reduced PA from 6 to 5 to compensate for the Dragon Rod WP increase.
• Swapped: Ras Algethi for Dragon Rod and Celebrant’s Miter for Wizard’s Hat.

Leis [Tamer]

• Swapped: Minerva Bustier for Sage’s Robe.
  Comment: Minvera Bustier was negating damage from Fire/Wind/Lightning effectively being a hard counter to monsters that dealt those types of damage. Sage’s Robe fits the theme of reduced elemental damage taken without outright blocking certain types.

Fynn [Tamer]

• Reduced MA from 18 to 16 due to the PvP Patch.
• Swapped: Nature’s Wrath for Critical: Quick.
• Swapped: White Staff for Serpent Staff so he can deal damage with attacks.
  Comment: Nature’s Wrath can do a ton of unmitigated damage for this format when procced including status effects which should be relegated to monsters, not a reaction ability. Because of reduced cast times, Critical: Quick can come in handy for a fast Esuna or Cura mid-to-late game.

Squall [Support – Chocobo]

• Reduced MA from 23 to 7 due to the Choco Cure PWR increase.

Rancor [Damage – Sekhret]

• Reduced MA from 24 to 7 due to the Earthsplitter and Breath Fire PWR increase.

Elemental affinities play a role in Final Fantasy Tactics’s story and an even more significant role in PvP. This article covers the intricacies of how these affinities work and what each type of bonus does in combat.

Table of Contents
● Different Types of Elements
● Elemental Modifiers (Boost, Halve, Absorb, Negate, Weak)
● Status Effects and Weather
● Equipment with Elemental Support

Different Types of Elements

In Final Fantasy Tactics, there are eight elements: fire, lightning, ice, water, wind, earth, holy, and dark. By themselves, they don’t mean much other than the type of damage they are considered, but once you factor gear or if you are going up against a monster things can change quickly.

Most monsters in the game are weak to a particular element and may be resistant to others. This is where elemental affinities can become an advantage in the story. In the Monsters Premade format for PvP, one of the main focuses on the roster is using elemental advantages to deal double damage so you can bring down your opponent twice as fast.

We will explore how you can take elements one step further by going more into modifiers.

Elemental Modifiers

There are five types of modifiers that can either increase or reduce or eliminate elemental damage: boost, halve, absorb, negate, and weak. It is important to know how they function especially in PvP as this can deter or enhance the damage you deal to your opponent’s team! We will cover what each one does below:
● Boost – Increases the damage done with the element by 25%.
● Halve – Decreases the damage taken from the element by 50%.
● Absorb – Restores HP instead of taking damage from the element. Whatever the damage total would be is healed instead.
● Negate – Nullifies all damage taken from the element.
● Weak – Increases the damage taken from the element by 50%.

These modifiers do not stack with themselves. For example, having 2 Boost: Fire does not mean 50% damage but still only increases your fire damage by 25%. The same applies to halve, absorb, negate, and weak.

Status Effects and Weather

Some status effects and even weather conditions can play a role in elemental affinities. Though we won’t go into too much regarding weather since we published an in-depth weather guide already, we will instead highlight weather interactions as well as how some status effects here below:
● Float status – Immune to earth attacks while also being treated 1 height higher.
● Oil status – Take double the damage from fire attacks. This status is removed once fire damage is taken.
● Thunderstorm – Fire damage dealt decreased by 25% and lightning damage dealt increased by 25%.
● Snowstorm – Ice damage dealt increased by 25%.

Equipment with Elemental Support

Now that we have gone over the types of elements and modifiers that can affect them, let’s go over the gear in the game that either deals its damage as a particular element or has a modifier built-in: