Competitive v5.4 Update

This update introduces new ways to team-build via Equipment Sets, a few generic job updates, various ways to enhance Arts of War, buffs to Cloud and Aerith’s Limits, a buff to Curse status, some ability buffs, new gear, and a few updates to existing ones and Tactics League format updates.

Beware that a save data update is required for this patch, and updating your save data will reset all existing teams! Any incremental updates to v5.4 will be amended to this post.

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

  • Roster Expansion: Fixed an issue with Unit Slots 25 – 28 failing to load text data while viewing abilities and equipment Help menus in Deployment, which could also result in a game crash. This fix should also apply to those garbled job names we have rarely encountered
  • Fixed Chantaged procs/casts sometimes not triggering when they should
  • Fixed an issue where Ghost-type monsters could mount chocobos lol
  • Fixed erroneous weapon sprites being used with Iaido and Sword Spirit instead of the selected katana’s sprite
  • Curse Status:
    • Fixed an issue where weapon attacks that had Absorb HP functionality were double-reduced by Curse status
    • Fixed an issue where HP absorption was not reduced by Curse status 

Quality of Life Updates

  • Practice Mode (Practice-One/Araguay Woods)
    • Spawns have been adjusted to replicate the Melee mode versions (instead of spawning in corners)
    • If entering from the West (from Dorter), you’ll spawn in the Host position (this includes rare encounters)
    • If entering from the East (from Zeirchele Falls), you’ll spawn in the Guest position
      Finding the means to update the map spawning was, for the longest time, just a dream, but I stumbled upon it, and even addressing multiplayer map spawns can become a reality.
  • Campaign
    • Poacher’s Den – You can now use this shop without needing the Poach ability slotted on a unit
    • Ramza
      • Updated the Ch. 2 & 3 Job title from Heretic to Squire as originally intended for story progression. Ramza’s Ch. 4 version is the only one labeled as Heretic. Monkey Grip remains on Ch. 2 and Ch. 3 versions
      • Additionally, the Tactics League save data properly uses the Ch. 4 version with the Ch. 2 & 3 spritesheet
      • NOTE: That with this corrected change, Ramza during event sequences will shift to his Ch. 4 sprite during those times
        This is to clean up the save data to properly use the Ch.4 model with the Ch. 2 & 3 spritesheet while also correcting the inconsistency that his Ch. 2 & 3 versions aren’t considered a “Heretic” yet, based on the story.
      • Delita
        • Reverted Sprite and Portrait from King to Holy Knight (this includes multiplayer)
          I did like Delita with the swagger, but ultimately, this is to ensure that cutscenes load and use the proper sprite so it doesn’t appear odd during those moments.
      • Argath (Campaign version)
        • Now uses the correct Fundaments skillset with Deathknight (All-Stars) version being fixed
        • Added Crossbows as available equipment
      • Elidibus (Midlight’s Deep and multiplayer)
        • Replaced Midgardsomr with Sylph (Summon)
  • Status Effects
    • Curse – Decreased the afflicted’s damage dealt and healing received from 33% to 50%
      This buff to Curse status is to ensure it simply can’t be beaten out by other 33% sources and to increase its overall potency and usage as a debilitating effect.
  • Battle Prompts
    • Added a Battle Prompt for Take Aim and Break Aim that warns of moving cancels the currently charged ability (huge shout-out to @Tzepish for this!)
  • AI Behavior
    • Fixed Garment Ring equipped AI from using abilities outside of their normal means
    • Fixed Darkness skillset usability 
    • Improved AI ability prioritization 
    • Fixed AI using sword skills while not having a sword equipped due to Steal/Rend/Crush
  • Ability Quotes
    • Removed quotes from Construct 8’s abilities
      These were added in mostly for fun, but they ultimately just repeat the ability name used, and that’s it, so I ultimately preferred to leave them out for this iteration.
  • UI Updates
    • The post-action message pop-up now displays in the correct order, as highlighted above a unit’s head, instead of displaying in reverse order when there is a change to Power, Magick, Bravery, Faith, or Speed
  • Text Updates
    • Help: Added rider stat context and rider status immunities to Adept Rider as a means to provide context in-game
    • Help: Replaced “ATK (Phys.)” and “ATK (Mag.)” with “Power” and “Magick” respectively
      This is to finalize a trend that was started a while back to label these stats as mentioned in various other Help menus and guides.
    • Help: Regen – Removed erroneous “Speed” (this ability is instant cast)
    • Removed “holy” from Chaos Blade’s flavor text (it is not a Holy-type weapon)
    • Updated various flavor text to conserve text memory (mostly campaign items, but a few save data-based ones as well)
    • Help: Added Calc to Counter Throw reaction
    • Help: Magick Counter, Shirahadori, Death Strike – Removed the “Affected Abilities” section as text memory is getting very low with the addition of Equipment Sets

Jobs

  • Thief
    • Added Innate Backstabber – Increases damage done with normal attacks by 25% if attacking from behind (back attack)
      This new passive is unique to Thief as a means to give them higher damage potential with normal attacks by rewarding good positioning.
  • Chemist
    • Labeled “Increases the potency of Potions and Ethers by 50” as Efficacy Boost (functionally no change)
    • Increased PAM from 80 to 100% (+3 Power to generics)
  • Archer
    • Labeled “Increased critical strike chance by 5%” as Hawkeye
  • Orator
    • Increased PAM from 85 to 95% (+1 Power to generics)
      These subtle increases in Chemist and Orator’s Power are to provide an easier time for these jobs to have better damage potential with Knives, albeit how much further this pushes that direction will be a total toss-up, as Guns are much more popular on these jobs due to build archetypes and safety.

      Note: neither job will receive a +Move increase to push towards melee, because their core functionality does not demand it, and to maintain skillset/positioning balance as well.

Action Abilities

  • Holy Sword (Delita and Agrias)
    • Judgment Blade – Increased Vert. from 0 to 1 (still 2 Range, 1 AoE)
    • Cleansing Strike – No longer Inflicts: Doom and instead has a 25% chance to Remove: Protect, Shell, Reraise, Haste from the target
      I know Holy Sword can feel kinda lackluster, but not terrible, so I am buffing Judgment Blade so it can work better around ledges, and Cleansing Strike is a more rewarding offensive skill than trying to maybe just get rid of Reraise.
  • Unyielding Strike (Meliadoul)
    • Abilities now scale with [Weapon]’s base calculation instead of [PA * WP], similarly to Holy Sword (“base” means, for example, using a Runeblade still scales with PA because swords are by default set to that)
      This is a nerf to scaling abilities functionally because of high WP, but otherwise Unyielding still packs a punch, including the consideration of Divine Knight’s innate Pierce and the means to utilize Vehemence easier with the Gladiator Set.

  • Aimed Shot (Mustadio)
    • Burial (formerly Seal Evil) – Renamed to differentiate from Aerith’s Seal Evil 
    • Overload – Decreased recoil damage from ½ to ⅓
      This recoil reduction is intended to reduce situations in which Mustadio finds himself near death from using his ability.
  • Limit (Cloud)
    • Meteorain:
      • Increased AoE from 2 to 3
      • Increased PWR from 18 to 20
    • Cherry Blossom:
      • Increased AoE from 2 to 3
      • Increased PWR from 20 to 22
        A trend you will notice between Cloud and Aerith is that several AoE skills have greater area coverage. This is for several reasons; one, because these skills have lower “activation use” typically in a game, and two, it should feel a bit more rewarding to use your Level 3 or 4 Limits. The PWR increase to the magick Limits is to give them more oomph, even if you opt out of non-magick specs, and a bit more power if you choose to build for it.
  • Limit (Aerith)
    • Healing Wind, Breath of the Earth, Fury Brand, Pulse of Life, and Great Gospel – Increased AoE from 2 to 3
      As a means to improve Limit’s performance and as a support-type, this AoE range buff gives Aerith greater coverage of her Limits, ultimately making them more impactful as they should be with their built-in limitations.
    • Seal Evil – Increased Range from 2 to 3
      I was skeptical about this ability being 3 range on original release, but as a support-type, Aerith shouldn’t need to get in the fray too up close to use her skills.
    • Pulse of Life – Decreased PWR from 70 to 60 due to the increased AoE
  • Break Arts (Ashley)
    • Vile Scar (swords) – This ability now Inflicts: Poison and Slow on success instead of separate 25% rolls for each
    • Ignis Wheel (flails) – Increased Oil chance from 33 to 50%
  • Huntcraft (Luso)
    • Added Venom Fang (cats), Breathe Fire (minotaurs), and Twister (Behemoth) abilities
    • Assigned JP Costs to each respective ability for story progression as: 200, 400, and 600
    • Reorganized the skillset
      These enhancements are to make Huntcraft feel more unique regarding past changes to monsters and Blue Magicks to ensure Luso has more flexibility in his kit.
  • Piracy (Balthier)
    • Fires of War – Added 19% Inflicts: Poison
    • Tides of Fate – Added 19% Inflicts: Silence
  • Blade of Ruin (Zalbaag, All-Stars)
    • Magicksap, Powersap, Speedsap, Mindsap – Increased Vert. from 0 to 1
      These abilities already come with a hefty MP cost and sword requirement. Increasing the Vert. makes it a bit easier for Zalbaag to neuter grouped up targets.
  • Arts of War
    • Saint Cross – Increased Vert. from 1 to 2
    • Rend Speed/Power/Magick – While unarmed and with Brawler, damage calculates as [PA * (PA / 2)] instead of zero WP, which previously resulted in no damage, but still damaged stat.
      This creates viability with Monk or unarmed builds wanting to use Arts of War Rend abilities.
    •  Rend MP:
      • This ability now deals MP damage based on [weapon] calculation and can additionally critically strike. NOTE: This change also affects Blade of Ruin’s Magicksap ability
      • The Brawler change above with Rend Speed/Power/Magick does not affect Rend MP and instead uses the traditional Power and Bravery calc for unarmed damage
        Though the percentage of max. MP could net more value in certain situations; this change ultimately makes Rend MP more weapon agnostic and should result in more damage than before, in addition to factoring in critical strikes.
  • White Magicks
    • Regen – Increased Vert. from 0 to 1
  • Black Magicks
    • Curse – Decreased PWR from 75 to 60 to account for the buff to Curse status
    • Doomsday:
      • Decreased PWR from 180 to 42 to accommodate the change from status magick to damaging magick (still retains its 19% Doom chance)
      • Increased MP cost from 52 to 64
        The intention for the original Doomsday was to essentially be a Dark Graviga with Doom chance added. Though it functionally wasn’t an issue, this change and buff to it are to strengthen it as an option in the Black Mage’s kit and ultimately consider it as one of their greatest sources of AoE damage.
  • Summon
    • Midgardsomr – Removed this ability from Summon and from Elidibus’s The Dark (campaign only)
      This ability filled the role of Wind magick, but with the change to Sylph going that route and needing ability space for the future, Midgardsomr was put on the chopping block.
    • Moogle:
      • Additionally Removes: Curse
      • Increased MP Cost from 20 to 32
        This change was to make sure there was an additional source to counter Curse status and to increase the cost on non-Summoners.
    • Leviathan – Added 19% Inflicts: Doom 
    • Salamander – Added 19% Removes: Protect, Shell, Regen
      These two summons have always been in an odd spot. Though they have a few unique differences, they tend not to find popularity. The “role play” is for Leviathan’s tidal wave to near-drown enemies, and Salamander’s fire being able to cleanse important buffs.
    • Sylph:
      • This ability now deals faith-based, Wind-elemental magic damage in addition to retaining Silence infliction
      • Hardcoded the status chance to 75% to ensure that its niche is functionally the same, but its hit rate is no longer affected by caster/target Faith values (thus it can never 100% Silence, but with a small fail window).
        NOTE: 80% was the average hit rate before Faith status
      • Decreased PWR from 180 to 30 to accommodate the change from status magick to damaging magick 
      • Increased MP cost from 26 to 42
      • Increased Tick from 3 to 4
      • This ability is now flagged to trigger Nature’s Wrath since it is Wind-elemental damage
      • This ability replaces previous instances of Midgardsomr
        Though it has a niche (and the intention was to preserve it), Sylph was notoriously viewed as the “Wind” summon, but wasn’t treated as such. This change shifts this designation away from Midgardsomr and allows me to make room for new abilities.
      • Lich – Added 19% Inflicts: Undead
        A thematic change and one that grants AoE Undead as an option once more (previously from Ama-no-Murakamo).
  • Ja-Magicks
    • NEW Curseja (replaces Blindja):
      • Faith-based “t-shaped” AoE Curse infliction instead of Blind
      • Decreased PWR from 200 to 120
        This change was done to provide an AoE, faith-based Curse (and more reliable than Ama-no-Murakamo), with Blindja practically unused.
  • Blue Magicks, Monsters, and Monster Abilities
    • Blue Magicks 
      • Goblin Rush (and Goblin family) – Increased the recoil from ¼ to ⅓
        Though the damage from this ability is supposed to be a lighter version of Mow Down, it also dealt next to no recoil damage with its past iteration.
    • 🦑Squid Family
      • Removed Ink ability from all monster skillsets
      • Squidkraken and Mindflayer – Added Swiftness innately 
      • Piscodaemon – Replaced Ink (Hidden Ability) with Dischord
      • Squidkraken and Mindflayer – Replaced Ink (2nd Ability) with Leviathan (Summon). NOTE: casting abilities as a monster ignores MP cost
        Ink is just one of those abilities that doesn’t bring enough value to even consider using one of the squid monsters. Piscodaemon, having Dischord, gives another option to utilize it with naturally higher Speed. Leviathan replaces Ink as these monsters are considered caster-style beasts, so giving them magick felt more appropriate here. 
      • 🐷Swine Family
        • Snort – Increased PWR from 10 to 20
          This is to ensure that Snort becomes the best option to charm with and even stronger against unmitigated targets.
      • 🥗Malboro Family
        • Malboro – Increased PAM from 105 to 125%
        • Ochu – Increased PAM from 110 to 120%
        • Greater Malboro – Increased PAM from 125 to 135%
          These increases to their Power are to ensure Tentacles hits fairly well mitigated considering their base bulk at 60 Bravery.
        • Purify (formerly Lick, Malboro and Ochu):
          • No longer Bestows: Protect, Shell, Reflect
          • Now Removes: Stone, Blind, Silence, Curse, Oil, Toad, Poison, Slow, Stop, Sleep, Immobilize, Disable, and Doom, and restores 50% target’s max.HP if a status was removed (the healing damages the undead)
          • Increased Range from 1 to 2
          • Decreased Vert. from 3 to 2
            This gives Purify usable utility, similar to Summon’s Moogle, covering more statuses plus a heal, but single target and not influenced by faith.
          • 🐮Minotaur Family
            • Breathe Fire:
              • This ability is now a 2-range cone attack instead of a 2-range line
              • Increased PWR from 12 to 14
                These changes are to set it apart from Dragon’s Fire Breath and Tri-Flame.
          • 🌴Dryad Family
            • Dryad, Treant, Elder Treant – Added Sleep immunity
          • 🐂Behemoth Family
            • Almagest (Dark Behemoth) – Reverted AoE size from 1 to 2

Reaction/Support/Movement Abilities

  • Poach (Support, REWORKED):
    • This ability additionally now grants a 50% chance to smartly randomly Steal Equipment (like Thief’s Knife) with normal attacks versus humans within 2 range. “Cast” from weapon attacks will not proc this way, but Status Inflictions can still happen.
    • This ability still “poaches” critical or KO’ed monsters to the Poacher’s Den
      • Note from earlier that you no longer need to slot Poach to use the Poacher’s Den
        This change is to give this ability some functional use in multiplayer. Being a classic-derived skill from Thief, this ability allows you to trade weapon casts for equipment removal. Note that this ability is not innate to any job, so there is a trade-off for using this skill.
  • Catch Projectiles (Reaction) – Additionally reduces the hit rate of incoming Book attacks or abilities that use its range
    Guitar and Wngman had brought this up a while back, and reasonably, Books should be counterable by this reaction.
  • Brawler (Support) – As mentioned in the Action Abilities section, this ability allows unarmed Rend Stat attacks to calculate with [PA * (PA / 2)] instead of normally treating unarmed as 0 WP

NEW Equipment Sets

Equipment sets are new and inspired by Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (or Reborn), taking mostly uncommonly sought-after or thematic gear and providing special bonuses if you have all 3 pieces equipped in their respective Head, Body, and Accessory slots. Sets never require weapons or shields to activate. These sets are powerful once they’re active, but with their own limitations on base stat gains and becoming subject to being broken or stolen to lose their effect (ahem, Safeguard ahem). There are 9 sets as of this update:

  • Iai Strike – +20% critical chance and HP-damaging Iaido can critically strike
    • Genji Helm, Genji Armor, and Genji Gloves
  • Tactician – Restores your Move command after a successful KO
    • Gaius Helm, Grand Armor, Gaius Calgae
  • Duelist – Increases the critical chance of Rend Stat abilities (from Arts of War and Blade of Ruin) by 50% if used in melee range (within 2 tiles), and a KO with one increases your CT by 50 and Power by 1.
    • Close Helm, Maximillian, Brigand’s Gloves
    • NOTE: For Zalbaag’s Blade of Ruin, abilities will trigger the “melee range” even if cast outside of the normal 2 range 
    • NOTE: The CT and Power bonuses apply to kills outside of 2 range
  • Gladiator – Reduces Vehemence damage taken by 30%, but your movement range is reduced by 1
    • Vanguard Helm, Carabineer Mail, Bravely Armlet
    • NOTE: This only affects the Move command and not other sources like Throw’s range
  • Healer – Cure abilities additionally restores 50% MP of the HP restored (excludes caster), and triggering a Cup of Life doubles the overflowed healing
    • Red Hood, White Robes, Red Shoes
    • NOTE: Vs. Undead, Cure still damages HP, but Cup of Life continues not to do so
  • Master Thief – Steal Equipment’s range increased to 2, and Steal Equipment bypasses Reaction ability 
    • Thief’s Cap, Black Garb, Thief’s Gloves
  • Arcane Spirit – Reduces the charge time of generic skillset Magicks (White, Black, Time, Mystic Arts, Summon, Ja-Magicks) by 2
    • Celebrant’s Miter, Sage’s Robe, Empyreal Armband
    • NOTE: This does not affect magicks placed in other unique skillsets. For example, Curaja in Alma’s Holy Magicks is unaffected by this; this only works within the original, generic skillset
    • NOTE: This Set does stack with Swiftness
  • Martial Spirit – Physical attacks and abilities are unevadable and damaging Martial Arts (or abilities that use its formula) absorb HP
    • Headband, Jujitsu Gi, Battle Boots 
  • Terramancer – Geomancy is single target, doubles effective Power (in calculation only and affects abilities that use its formula), and has a 50% status chance 
    • Lambent Hat, Gaia Gear, Japa Mala

Equipment – Weapons

  • Bows
    • NEW Seventh Heaven (limited):
      • 20 WP, 8 Block
      • Holy Element
      • Casts: White Magicks’ Holy with a 50% chance to Remove: Reraise, Regen, Haste (compared to the normal 19% chance)
      • Uses Magick instead of Power in the standard Bow calculation [(MA + SP) / 2 * WP]
        This is the introduction of a “magic” bow that plays very well with Magick-based jobs, and of course, as well with female Archers.
    • Perseus Bow:
      • Decreased WP from 20 to 14
      • Attacks with this weapon now ignore the target’s mitigation but are still subject to damage reduction sources, such as Curse or Resilience
  • Cloths
    • NEW Moonsilk (limited):
      • 20 WP, 20 Block
      • Dark Element
      • +1 Speed and Initial: Veil
      • Effect: Polka and Heathen Frolic lower Power or Magick by an additional 1
  • Crossbows
    • Gastrophetes – Increased WP from 16 to 18
    • Hunter’s Mark – This weapon’s normal attacks deal 10% more damage to monsters
      This is to give the crossbow a bit more utility and some more campaign viability, with monsters being overall bulkier and tougher to fight.
  • Harps
    • NEW Angel Lyre (limited):
      • 20 WP, 6 Block
      • Holy Element
      • +1 Magick and Move
      • Effect: Battle Chant and Magickal Refrain additionally increase Bravery by 3
        Both Moonsilk and Angel Lyre were designed as damaging-capable weapons in addition to enticing the less-used +/- Power and Magick Bardsong and Dance for added potency.
  • Guns
    • Ras Algethi – Added Initial: Invisible
      I felt Ras Algethi needed a little more stand-out, so this gives the gun an option to ignore evasion for select, instant ranged abilities.
    • Tiny Bee – Added Casts: Trigger Happy (50%, uses 1…10 * PA random scaling with Knockback if possible)
      These iconic guns didn’t feel as iconic to use, so now they have the potential for more firepower at the cost of RNG. 
  • Knight’s Swords
    • Defender – This weapon now passively causes Rend Stat abilities to deal [Weapon] damage. This additionally affects Blade of Ruin Rend Stat abilities
      • For example, with Defender, Rend Power deals [PA * 22] (Defender WP) instead of [(PA * WP) / 2] in addition to -3 Power
        Though the Defender has great overall stat passives (Defending and status immunities), this change is to empower it as a Knight’s weapon for Arts of War busting.
    • Caladbolg – Replaced Casts: Leviathan with Maelstrom (Sky Mantra, Removes: Float and Haste and deals 50% max. HP if removed)
      Taking inspiration from Apocalypse, this change gives Knight’s Swords access to a Sky Mantra skill with better payoff if targeting ability-sourced Haste or Float.
  • Knives
    • Mage Masher – Inflict: Silence now happens 100% of the time instead of 50%
      This buff is to fulfill this item’s niche, especially since it has its moments but is usually not sought after as a counter-type weapon.
    • Main Gauche – Added, “normal attacks bypass reaction if final strike”
      NOTE: While dual-wielding, the off-hand must be Main Gauche to be considered the final strike
      NOTE: This excludes Mana Shield due to the nature of how it triggers and always-on Reactions
      This gives this limited weapon a bit more usability with attacks and pairs nicely with Thief’s innate Backstabber.
  • Poles
    • Whale Whisker (semi-limited):
      • Increased WP from 19 to 24
      • Now adds +1 Move and Jump while equipped
        Whale Whiskers’ niche in vanilla was to be coupled with Doublehand, so I am envisioning that same purpose here: making it more appealing for raw attacks as well as easier to get into range for said attacks.
  • Rods
    • Stardust Rod – Added +1 Move and Magick
  • Shields
    • Adamant Shield – Renamed for shorter naming convention
  • Staves
    • Dreamwaker – Added Sleep immunity
  • Swords
    • Coral Sword
      • Now Casts: Water Anima [MA * 14] instead of a special version of Quicksand

Equipment – Gear

  • Accessories
    • Jade Armlet and Guardian Armlet – Added +1 Speed
      Similar to Nu Khai Armband, these armlets were decent before, but the Speed bonus definitely gives them better appeal, especially if seeking status coverage.
  • Clothing
    • Black Garb – Added Stone and Blind immunity
  • Hair Adornments
    • Headband (Changed from Hat, now limited) – This item has been re-classified from Hat to Hair Adornment, notably now equippable on Monks. This change also makes it easier to consider Martial Spirit Set on Monk, and this item is now usable across all jobs, specifically Heavy Armor jobs, though note that Vanguard Helm outshines it on those jobs due to increased HP
      Headband has decently been viewed as a hair adornment or an item that would fit Monks well, but they could never equip them since they cannot equip Hats. This does give Monks higher damage potential, but they are a damage-dealing job, and this item will be limited across all formats.
  • Hats
    • NEW Regal Plume (limited):
      • +80 HP, +64 MP, +1 Power and Magick
      • Adds Red Magicks as a quaternary command, which includes:
        • Cure, Cura, Esuna, Regen, Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, and Bio
          This is a means to be able to make Red Mage-based builds without stepping too much into White or Black magicks. Note that as a 4th command, it will override Garment Ring if both are slotted. 
    • Thief’s Cap – Increased +HP from 70 to 80
    • Acacia Hat – Increased +HP from 60 to 70
  • Helms
    • NEW Gaius Helm (limited):
      • +175 HP, +1 Power
      • Effect: Rend Stat abilities ignore the target’s evasion (applies to Arts of War and Blade of Ruin skillsets). 
      • NOTE: Rend Stat abilities still have a separate hit rate calculation that is based on their PWR, so the ability can still fail to hit, but is no longer affected by evasion.
  • Heavy Armor
    • NEW Adamant Armor (limited):
      • +255 HP, Initial: Slow, and Barette immunities (KO, Stone, Confuse, Vampire, Curse, Berserk, Stop, Charm, Sleep, Doom)
      • Effect: Reduces Movement range by 1 (does not affect abilities that scale with Move, such as Throw)
    • Cursed Armor – Added Absorbs: Dark
    • Platinum Armor (Peytral) – Renamed and reassigned to Peytral, as it was formerly the same item, but for Campaign/Practice Mode use
  • Robes
    • Cursed Robe:
      • Increased +MP from 150 to 200
      • Decreased +Magick from 3 to 2
      • Added: “Sets undead revive counter to 1”
        Cursed Robe could use a change to set it apart from the other variants; this one allows you to have an even faster revive chance, but still at a 60% window to do so.
    • Samite Coat (limited):
      • Increased +HP from 140 to 150
      • Added: “Caps incoming HP damage to 300” (after all other multipliers)
      • This item is flagged as Rare to avoid AI from selecting it as equipment
      • Moved from Ch.2 “Save Ovelia” to Ch.4 Start to treat it as endgame gear
      • Increased Gil Cost from 10,000 to 65,000 Gil
      • This item is now limited across all formats

4v4 All-Stars Format Updates (Slot 1)

  • Boco (chocobo)
    • Increased base Magick from 14 to 17
  • Zalbaag
    • Fixed missing Death Strike from base skillset
  • Celia and Lettie
    • Decreased base Magick from 17 to 16
  • Byblos
    • Increased base Magick from 20 to 24
    • Added Gigaflare [MA * 11] to skillset
    • Reordered the skillset list so that Gigaflare appears first and Chant appears last
  • Argath (Deathknight)
    • Now uses the Deathknight portrait in Formation and Deployment to help discern this as a different (and deader) version of Argath
    • Assigned Fell Sword skillset, making the skillset viewable within all menus instead of previously only in battle
    • Added Confuse and Curse immunities
    • Increased Move from 3 to 4
    • Added Crossbows to equipment
    • Added Rend MP, Rend Speed/Power/Magick to Fell Sword 

Limited and Semi-Limited Gear Restriction Update

  • NEW Limited: Gaius Helm, Regal Plume, Adamant Armor, Seventh Heaven, Angel Lyre, Moonsilk, Headband
  • NEW Semi-Limited: Whale Whisker, White Robe, Japa Mala
    To specifically address Cashmere: I am glad to finally see it getting some use, but out of safety to avoid trolling/griefing, I am scaling this item back to limited because of the nature of the “stun lock” it has.

Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles Released

A little late to the party :p (The Ivalice Chronicles released on 9/30/25), but the faithful remaster of Final Fantasy Tactics is now available on all modern-day platforms, including Steam.

This game does not include The War of the Lions content, nor does it feature any multiplayer functionality; it is a purely single-player experience.

The folks over at Final Fantasy Hacktics are working tirelessly to unravel the code and data behind the newest FFT title, with the ultimate goal of providing an avenue for mods to usher in new player experiences for the future.

To download the game digitally, please visit the following preferred storefronts:
Steam – https://store.steampowered.com/app/1004640/FINAL_FANTASY_TACTICS__The_Ivalice_Chronicles/
Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/store/final-fantasy-tactics-the-ivalice-chronicles/9MZ2MC7T85T5/0010
PlayStation – https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10008527
Switch – https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/final-fantasy-tactics-the-ivalice-chronicles-switch/



Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles Announced

During the June 4th PlayStation State of Play event, Square Enix officially announced a remaster of Final Fantasy Tactics, coming soon to all platforms (Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Steam) on September 30, 2025.

This modern version of the cult classic includes both an original version and an enhanced version of the game, which details new visuals, especially with the in-battle user interface and even full English and Japanese voiceovers! The game’s text dialogue is based on The War of the Lions (PSP, mobile).

For more information about the game, check out FINAL FANTASY TACTICS – The Ivalice Chronicles | Square Enix Blog, including a few additional details and how to pre-order the game, including the $200 Collector’s Edition (game not included with the CE).

Currently, there is no information about whether Melee or Rendezvous modes will be supported in The Ivalice Chronicles or any online or single-player ported offline functionality.
The JP Square Enix blog page (translation required) lists the game’s specs as Single Player, though we will need to wait for official confirmation.

PvP Patch v5 Focused: Monsters

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!

PvP Patch v5 Focused: Campaign

Today, we go over how the fifth and final version of the PvP Patch will finally support the Campaign so you can embark on a single-player adventure with one of the greatest stories in video game history and suit up afterward to take on some of Tactics League’s best players in competitive PvP. Let’s go over these changes below.

Party Roster Expansion

Though this was first mentioned in the v5 Focused series, the roster expansion is a very important detail for those looking to progress the story once more or for the first time. The expansion unlocks the four reserved Guest slots to be fully usable, expanding the party limit from 24 to 28. Leveraging this also allows for more unique characters to join your party permanently in the story and for Tactics League PvP, but there are a few important notes to share:

  • Guest characters are fully deployable (for the first time) in both story and random encounters. Note that because of this, you can have duplicate Guest characters in a mission, such as two Delitas in the Chapter 1 fight in Garland. If you want to keep things true to form, avoid deploying these Guests where they normally would already spawn.
  • Guest characters are also fully dismissable now so keep cautious of this and always remember to save in between battles.
  • NPC-controlled mission-based Guest characters do update their stats, gear, and abilities if they already exist in your party.

Progress Faster with Always-On EXP and JP Boost

Everyone loves being able to build their party and further explore the creative offerings of Final Fantasy Tactics, and version 5 is supporting that by ensuring that the EXP and JP Boost support abilities are always enabled – you won’t need to slot these abilities to quickly start watching your units grow in levels and unlock abilities faster.

Additionally, the Bard and Dancer jobs both now support spillover JP whereas they originally did not and Onion Knight Base and Master versions can now accrue EXP and JP as well; all a part of making sure you can progress in the way you choose to.

Warriors’ Guild Changes and Zodiac Signs

A few changes also went into the Warriors’ Guild unit recruitment. Such as:

  • New hires are always 60 Bravery and 60 Faith to conform to the Tactics League Standard format.
  • Female-generated Squires will start with an Oak Staff instead of a Dagger since their Magick scales better with this starting weapon.
  • New hires always have the Serpentarius Zodiac Sign.
  • The hiring cost is now a flat 1,500 gil instead of being 1,000 gil + equipment price.

There may be additional changes to follow with the Warriors’ Guild in a later update during beta.

Additionally, the Zodiac Compatibility system is fully disabled. This change is to follow suit with the Serpentarius-neutral sign that is already used in Tactics League game formats to set expectations early that this system no longer plays a role in this mod. Units with different signs that you come across in the Campaign did not have their signs changed.

Errands Unit Customization

Ever deployed a unit on an Errand and maybe forgotten to remove gear from them beforehand? Or do you want to deck them out in the latest fashions while they are away? Or even change their job or abilities while unavailable? Now you can with this quality of life change! The picture below is a screenshot of being able to use the Outfitters on “unavailable” units deployed on an Errand.

Encounter Updates and Monster Improvements

One of the main goals of the Campaign is to set some expectations heading into Melee. Additionally, one area that I felt needed improvement was monsters and monster abilities. The following changes have been made to story and random encounters in general:

  • All non-unique units are set to 60 Bravery and 60 Faith, including monsters.
  • Monsters in story-based encounters and Midlight’s Deep now use Party Level +2 level scaling unless they were already assigned a higher value by default; this is to improve their combativeness while not hopefully making them overbearing for most players.
  • Many monster abilities have been improved, notably in their PWR (which dictates its base damage/healing or chance); you should see more non-attack-like monster abilities happen due to this change and monsters are a bit more challenging, especially in mid-to-end game encounters!

One of the bigger goals was to avoid changing encounters from their original design; besides the NPCs now having access to stronger gear and abilities due to the PvP Patch, the majority of fights are familiar as intended. However, with access to new stuff, some battles may require a bit more strategy and careful planning as some can be quite surprising to handle if you are not prepared, such as Argath’s battle at Fort Ziekden.

With Aerith joining the Tactics League roster in Standard, a change was made to Cloud’s Sal Ghidos event that now has her staying instead of fleeing and fighting alongside Cloud and friends. Aerith will now also join your party roster alongside Cloud after a successful finish now scaled with your party level instead of the original Level 1 join-in!

Tactics League-Exclusive Abilities and Equipment Balancing

Efforts were made to all Tactics League-exclusive abilities to now have a JP cost associated with them to ensure they are a part of the campaign progression and some equipment balancing was made to reduce getting your hands on powerful gear early game, such as moving the updated Knives, such as Blind Knife or Tiptaptwo later into Chapter 1 instead of being a part of the starting Chapter 1 inventory. Keep in mind, that with some changes, the “balancing act” isn’t perfect, but suitable for those wanting to go from start to finish with the PvP Patch in Campaign.

Conclusion

Though the PvP Patch was originally multiplayer-focused only, community feedback and requests stoked a change in heart with version 5 to ensure that those who wanted to enjoy this mod in a single-player setting could now from start to finish, with bigger hopes that you can become better accustomed to changes and more ready to enter the true endgame: PvP.

PvP Patch v5 Focused: Limit Level System

Version 5 introduces a new and familiar mechanic that will affect Aerith (now playable in both campaign and Tactics PvP) and Cloud – the Limit Level System from the original Final Fantasy VII.

For anyone who has played Final Fantasy VII (if you haven’t by now what are you waiting for!) this system should feel and act quite at home while making some minor adjustments to fit for Final Fantasy Tactics and PvP balance and fairness. First, Let’s review how this system works and how it will impact both Aerith and Cloud in version 5.

Limit Level System Functionality

Cloud and Aerith both have “Limit” skillsets that correspond closely to their behavior in FFVII. This also means that Cloud (who we are already familiar with) had most of his abilities adjusted to mimic his FFVII counterparts in various ways where possible while ensuring there was still a physical and magick side of him that could be explored during teambuilding. We will go into more about that later when we go over the ability changes. For now, let’s go more into detail on how this system translates over to Tactics:

  • Cloud and Aerith’s “Limit” is initially unusable at battle start. Abilities unlock based on the percentage of HP damage taken from only enemy attacks. Steps were added to ensure that team damage cannot influence your Limit Level. This does mean that Cloud and Aerith are both more reliant on their secondary skillset and weapon attacks initially as well, but their “counter” options vastly grow stronger and stronger the higher their Limit Level reaches up to a maximum of 4.
  • Limit Levels are separated by: Level 1 = 20%, Level 2 = 30%, Level 3 = 40%, Level 4 = 60% HP damage taken
  • Limit is no longer blocked by Silence status.
  • Limit no longer costs MP (since there is an HP damage requirement).
  • Damaging Limits cannot target/hit allies.
  • Recoil damage and Poison status do not increase your Limit Level.
  • Mana Shield works with incrementing Limit Level as the HP to MP conversion is still considered HP damage.
  • Reaction abilities, such as Soulbind or Counter, can increase your Limit Level.
  • Once a Limit ability is used, your Limit Level will reset to zero as it did in FFVII; you will need to make choices on whether to “save up” or use lower levels (which are still of great benefit).
  • If a Limit ability has zero targets hit/affected, it will not reset your Limit Level.
  • If Cloud or Aerith is KO’ed, your Limit Level will be reduced by 1 (instead of being reset as it did in FFVII) so that you still have the option to utilize them as long as you were at least Limit Level 2.

Cloud – Limit Abilities

As mentioned earlier, Cloud’s Limit abilities are much closer to their FFVII counterparts instead of oddly being only MA-based abilities like they were in the original FFT. With the Soldier job having innate Doublehand, this plays a bigger role and Cloud can reach further damage potential when speccing him for physical damage. For those that enjoyed a magick-based Cloud, you will find some of his abilities a bit more limited than they were in v4, but more lethal due to the buffs pertaining to Limit Level. Let’s go over his reworked skillset:

  • Braver (Lv. 1)
    • An “attack-like” ability that deals 10% more physical damage with your [weapon] to one target, can now Cast or Inflict: [weapon], evadable, and can critically strike. This ability will strike twice if dual-wielding.
  • Cross Slash (Lv. 1)
    • Deals cross-shape AoE physical damage based on your [weapon] + 1 PWR, 25% chance to Inflict: Stop, can critically strike.
  • Blade Beam (Lv. 2)
    • Deals 3-range conal AoE physical damage based on your [weapon], uses Abyssal Blade row scaling (but does not recoil), and can critically strike.
  • Climhazzard (Lv. 2)
    • Deals 70% of the target’s max. HP in single target damage, ignoring mitigation. This ability no longer triggers Magick Counter.
  • Meteorain (Lv. 3)
    • Now 18 PWR instead of 14 and is still AoE magic damage (with the same range/vert.).
  • Finishing Touch (Lv. 3)
    • Inflicts all of: KO, Stone, and Stop (in that order) instead of randomly one of the three, and is still single target.
  • Omnislash (Lv. 4)
    • An “attack-like” ability that strikes with your [weapon] at 75% of its normal damage, but Omnislash now hits 5 times randomly within the AoE (and no longer hits allies). Can now Cast or Inflict: [weapon] and can critically strike. This ability will strike 10 times if dual-wielding.
  • Cherry Blossom (Lv. 4)
    • Now 20 PWR instead of 16 and has a 25% chance to Inflict: Poison, Immobilize, or Blind per target hit (still tri-elemental).

As you have probably noticed, most Limit abilities are now influenced by your equipped weapon this time around (as most Limit abilities were enhanced “Attack” in FFVII) and Doublehand, Attack Boost, and even Brawler, affect them too so there is a plethora of ways to build Cloud and ultimately, he is even more lethal than in v4, albeit he will now need to be “pushed to his limit.”

Aerith – Limit Abilities

As Aerith is a support-type unique character, most of her skillset is centered around supporting her allies to victory, but don’t sleep on her abilities as they can quickly turn the tides of battle!

  • Healing Wind (Lv. 1)
    • Restores HP to allies in an Iaido ranged-AoE. Heals undead instead of damaging them.
  • Seal Evil (Lv. 1)
    • 3 range, single target, 100% Inflicts: Silence and Stop.
  • Breath of the Earth (Lv. 2)
    • Iaido-ranged, removes all negative effects from allies.
  • Fury Brand (Lv. 2)
    • Iaido-ranged, increases allies’ Power and Magick by 2.
  • Planet Protector (Lv. 3)
    • Single ally, Bestows: Protect, Shell, and Veil.
  • Pulse of Life (Lv. 3)
    • Iaido-ranged, ally revive at % = PA + 70. Restores 50% HP on success per target.
  • Great Gospel (Lv. 4)
    • Iaido-ranged, fully restores HP and MP, and Bestows: Protect, Shell to allies.

Though the majority of Aerith’s skillset is support-based, her stats on her Ancient job allow her to dive into either physical or magick abilities or attacks, as well as having innate Halves: All Elements, so not only is she tanky-capable, but also offensive too!

With these changes, I am hoping not only for further creativity especially for Cloud, but also your opponent will need to be cautious about how they play against either Cloud or Aerith as pushing their Limit at the wrong time could be disastrous for them!