Knowledge

The Battle Mechanics Guide (BMG) is the “bible” of information regarding gameplay mechanics and in-depth stats/effects. This guide was made by Aerostar: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps/197339-final-fantasy-tactics/faqs/3876

Note: some terminologies are not the same as in WotL since this guide is based on the PSX version.

Qu_Marsh’s WotL guide is also handy for going over changes from the PSX version to PSP and contains the new terminology changes that happened in WotL: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/psp/937312-final-fantasy-tactics-the-war-of-the-lions/faqs/50422

Rajinili’s BMG Errata that makes corrections to some of the data from the BMG and the WotL guide:
https://ffhacktics.com/wiki/BMG_errata

As a precaution: the FFT wikia can be edited and revised without full proof of changes. The BMG and the WotL guides have been thoroughly tested and are the best options for understanding mechanics.

Weapons that can cast a spell, like Icebrand or Holy Lance, have a 19% chance to cast its corresponding spell on hit. This chance does not apply if the initial attack is blocked or missed.

For Tactics League PvP, the % chance for procs is 50%.

Yes, holy-absorption gear will still heal the undead unit. Undead units only take damage from curative spells (like cure or raise) and restorative items (like X-Potion or Phoenix Down). Undead units do not receive bonus Holy-elemental damage from them having this status effect. To circumvent this, attempt to steal or use Arts of War to remove the gear in question.

The chance to get a critical hit is approximately 5%. This only works with the Attack command, Monk abilities, “sword” abilities from select unique characters and Darkness, and certain monster abilities, and does not apply to magic guns. The damage done is between normal damage and less than double the normal damage and a critical hit has a [Br / (Br + tarBr)] chance to cause knockback if applicable.

For Tactics League PvP, the critical hit chance is 10% and critical damage is strictly 150% of the normal damage.

Yes, since Invisibility ignores the target’s evasion as a one-time use. However, Shirahadori will still reduce the hit rate of Throw and Sticky Fingers can still catch it (by reducing the hit rate, also this does not add the item to inventory in PvP).

Invisibility can be obtained via Ninja Gear (clothing), Septimé (accessory/perfume), Invisibility Cloak (accessory/cloak), and Vanish (Br% reaction).

The following weapons are either multiplayer-only obtainable or are not a category that can be learned via Throw:
Orochi
Moonsilk Blade
Francisca
Vesper
Nirvana
Gae Bolg
All Fell Swords (not learnable)
Onion Sword

No, as the shield is absorbing the incoming damage instead of damage to HP which is required to wake up a sleeping friendly or foe. To emphasize, Golem only mitigates against basic attacks, Jump, Aim, and Throw.

No, as these Br%-based abilities will only proc if you are hit by direct attacks/abilities. They cannot proc if taking damage caused by a Reaction ability. Cup of Life will only proc from being healed from an external source (for example, a chemist throwing a potion at a Cup of Life character can cause it to proc).

No, as these status effects are not calculated when used with Fell Swords. To increase or decrease the basic attack damage of Fell Swords (as well as Abyssal Blade and Unholy Sacrifice if on Dark Knight), you will need to use abilities such as Speechcraft’s Preach (+4 Fa) or Enlighten (-20 Fa) on the target.

As a side note, Atheist/Faith does apply to Marach’s Nether Mantra skillset, causing either 0 (Atheist) or 100% damage (Faith).

For Tactics League PvP, the Nether Mantra inverse is fixed where Faith is 0 and Atheist is 100% damage.

Balthier will always use the main hand (top-most weapon) for each consecutive attack with Barrage and does not alternate in any way with his off-hand.

No, if a unit is in KO’ed status, abilities such as Dischord or Harmony will not affect it. Removing statuses must be done while the unit is alive.

Yes, dealing 0 HP damage does remove Charm/Confuse/Sleep. However, if that damage is dealt to MP via Mana Shield or Golem, it will not be considered direct HP damage taken and the unit will still remain in Charm/Confuse/Sleep status they are currently.

Regarding your own team:
If a unit is Speed-tied with another ally, the unit that was placed first in the battle formation/pre-game screen when placing units will break the tie and will act first.

Regarding your opponent:
The “guest” player (the non-host) player will break Speed-ties first if Speeds match against an opposing unit.

This hasn’t been 100% confirmed, but from testing gameplay and observation, there is confidence in this answer:

Host player (player who selected “Host Melee Battle”)
Reduced tick rates for charge-time abilities, such as magicks or Bardsong/Dance. Jump is not considered for this benefit.

Guest player (player who selected “Join Melee Battle”)
Characters will gain turn priority when there are ties in Speed with opposing characters.
For example, if Unit A is 14 SP and Unit B is 14 SP and Unit B is the guest player’s character, Unit B will act first if both characters are at 100 CT at the same time.

Charge-Time Abilities (excluding Jump)
For short and optimal cast times (including Swiftness where applicable), make sure to avoid applying Haste status on your casters/performers, including units prepping to start a Bardsong/Dance. The positive, Haste status will increase the CT fill rate causing more frequent turns. The negative, it seems to increase the amount of time it takes to charge cast-time abilities, making certain strategic plays harder when relying on longer-tick abilities.

Regarding Bardsong/Dance, applying Haste after they are already in mid-performance seems to not negatively impact the current tick rate as the game looks at the number of turns needed when initially cast not afterward. However, changing performances after Haste should greatly increase the charge-time for performances to proc.

Previously it was mentioned that knockback occurrences (critical strike, Rush/Stone) were just a 50% chance to happen. However, it actually uses a formula based on Bravery: Br / (Br + tarBr) to determine if a knockback occurs or not.