Tag Teambuilding

PvP Job Series: Thief

Continuing onward, we look at the viability of the Thief job as the main role in PvP for competitive use.

PvP Performance Statcard

Effectiveness

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Stats

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Overall

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Based on the above ratings, Thief is not looking to be a good fit for most PvP compositions as a primary job. Most of their shortcomings will be due to their stats and limited gear variety. Let’s expand more on that below.

For more information on Thief, visit the job link: Thief.

Abilities

Thief’s Steal enables them to take chance at removing the selected gear from the target, which can cause disruptions against the opponent. To get the best results out of Steal, you are going to want to invest in Speed as their success rates scale further up with it. You must be within 1 range for most abilities and you should always aim to Steal from behind. We will take a further look at the abilities that will see the most PvP use:

Steal Heart (action) – Has a chance to charm the opposing gender or monster. This is very disruptive and one of their better abilities. You don’t gain control of them (acts like a guest), but the charmed unit will perform actions that further disrupt/damage your opponent until they take damage.

Steal Weapon (action) – Removing an opponent’s weapon most cases reduces their combat effectiveness, espcially jobs like Dark Knight or the “sword” jobs that require a sword at minimum to be equipped. Since stealing a weapon adds it to the inventory it also makes it an option to be thrown in PvP.

Steal Accessory (action) – Removing an opponent’s accessory can in most cases, lower their evasiveness, make them susceptible to status, or lower their stats depending on what they have. Always check in advance to see if it is worth stealing.

Move/Jump +2 (action) – These abilities are quintessential with traversing any map, especially Move +2, which is needed to get up close to the enemy to use Steal.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 90% | MP: 50% | Speed: 110% | PA: 100% | MA: 60%
C-EV: 25 | Move: 4 | Jump: 4

Can equip: Knives, Hats, Clothing

Thief’s best stats are their Speed, Evasion, Move, and Jump, each important to utilizing their skillset. They are a good candidate for the “Equip” support abilities since they have limited gear options. Gender will play a role to use Steal Heart effectively based on the metagame. Ninja’s Throw, Dragoon’s Jump, or Monk’s Martial Arts are all good secondary abilities since Throw and Jump synergize with Thief’s Speed and Martial Arts can utilize their PA.

Conclusion

Thief is in a rough spot for PvP use. Knight’s Arts of War tends to do a better job at removing gear which is primarily what thieving is all about with the exception of Steal Accessory. Ninjas tend to be a better Thief while utilizing Steal in most cases. Overall, you can see why Thief as a primary job isn’t the best for PvP.

by Tactics League PvP

PvP Job Series: Monk

As we continue the Tactics PvP Job Series, we will have a look at the viability and the performance of the Monk job as the main role in PvP for competitive use.

PvP Performance Statcard

Effectiveness

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Stats

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Overall

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Judging the statcard, Monks are an excellent primary job pick for any team. Let’s focus more on why that is the case below starting with their skillset.

For more information on this job, visit the job link: Monk.

Abilities

Monk’s Martial Arts pack quite a wallop with its mixture of support and damage abilities. While Monks can only be barehanded, they do have innate Brawler (50% more damage from physical attacks while barehanded and some bonuses on other abilities), so it frees up their support slot for anything you may need on them, such as Attack Boost for more damage. While we won’t focus on every ability they have, we will highlight the ones that are quite popular in PvP:

Aurablast (action) – Deals ranged physical damage. This is likely to be your spammable while not within a 1 tile range of your target. I will mention Pummel here strictly because its high-end damage varies off of randomness whereas Aurablast is more consistent.

Shockwave (action) – A 8-ranged line physical attack that gives Monks further ranged coverage. This ability is also a spammable when there are multiple targets in the targeted line.

Chakra (action) – Restores HP and MP to nearby units. Chakra scales up with Physical Attack which you would be typically stacking into, so this ability is a nice instant area burst heal. I will also note that this is one of the few ways to heal undead units.

First Strike (reaction) – Bravery% chance to cancel an incoming attack, Throw, Arts of War, or Aim based on your weapon’s range and counter-attack instead. This reaction does deserve a mention especially when equipped with ranged weapons as this enables the possibility of countering from afar, but this will vary on the skillsets your opponent is using.

Brawler (support, innate to Monk) – This ability not only increases your physical attacks while barehanded by 50% (excludes Jump and Throw), it also increases the effectiveness of your Martial Arts abilities and most Steal abilities, though it is not as significant for most chance-based abilities.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 135% | MP: 80% | Speed: 110% | PA: 129% | MA: 80% | C-EV: 20 | Move: 3 | Jump: 4

Can equip: Clothing

Monks have naturally good bulk because of their HP. This, coupled with their PA makes them great offensive characters while being fairly tanky, especially with males getting a PA bonus. Their barehanded basic attacks scale up with PA and Bravery. Monks do have some drawbacks in not being able to equip weapons and headgear. They can equip clothing, but you may be more reliant on their accessories for damage or status coverage. Martial Arts is very flexible and is a great choice as a secondary for physically-focused builds.

Conclusion

Overall, Monks are a solid choice as a main job in PvP. They have a great skillset with ranged utility, strong melee damage, and some support abilities as well. Their stats enable them to be great frontline offenders while sustaining damage. They do have some limitations with their job restriction on gear options, but they contend well even with that in mind.

by Tactics League PvP

PvP Job Series: Time Mage

As we continue the Tactics PvP Job Series, we will have a look at the viability and the performance of the Time Mage job as the main role in PvP for competitive use.

PvP Performance Statcard

Effectiveness

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Stats

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Overall

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Based on the above ratings, Time Mage seems like a decent job role especially if looking for something in the mage department. Let’s focus more on the reasoning below.

For more information on this job, visit the job link: Time Mage.

Abilities

Time Mage’s Time Magicks ability tree primarily focuses on slowing down or speeding people up with a few damaging magicks in their arsenal. Like any other mage in Tactics, their magicks require time to cast, so it is always important to utilize Turn Order to get the best spells off. The status effect ones are also best served when the caster and target have fairly high Faith, increasing the odds of it landing. Let’s take a look at Time Mage’s notable magicks below:

Haste (action) – This ability applies a status effect that increase allies’ CT gauge by 50% causing them to get more turns often. Very vital in order to dominate the field quickly.

Slow (action) – This ability removes the Haste status (if any) and halves the target’s Speed stat, effectively reducing how often a character gets a turn.

Quick (action) – Has a chance to give the target an immediate turn once casted. This can be utilized with Turn Order to do “combos” or deal enough damage in a way to gain a KO against your opponent.

Mana Shield (reaction) – This Bravery-percent chance ability converts HP damage to MP instead and works as long as you have at least 1 MP if it procs. Very powerful, especially in the Starter format.

Swiftness (support) – This passive reduces the “Spell Speed” of all action abilities except for Aim, Sing, Dance, and Jump by half, rounded up. Very handy when Speed is king and you are trying to use magicks.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 75% | MP: 120% | SP: 100% | PA: 50% | MA: 130% | C-EV: 5 |
Move: 3 | Jump: 3

Can equip: Staves, Hats, Clothing, Robes

Next up, let’s focus on Time Mage’s stats. When compared to Black Mage’s 100% SP and 150% MA, you will see that Time Mage is a statistically weaker version of Black Mage. Because of this, Time Magicks seems best as a secondary than using it as a primary, unless the game rules/format has job restrictions. One thing to mention is that Time Mage does have access to staves versus Black Mages with rods, so some gear choices may differ depending on the playstyle. Also, if you need Haste in a speedy format, Samurai’s Iaido has access to that in an instant ability which is likely better in the long run.

Conclusion

Time Mage is a decent job, but it is overshadowed by Black Mage as a main job. Their abilities are control-focused, but they are likely best used as a secondary. Mana Shield and Swiftness are strong and versatile abilities that will likely find their way in most builds.

by Tactics League PvP

PvP Job Series: Black Mage

As we continue the Tactics PvP Job Series, we will have a look at the viability and the performance of the Black Mage job as the main role in PvP for competitive use.

PvP Performance Statcard

Effectiveness

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Stats

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Overall

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Based on the performance rating, Black Mage is definitely going to be a pick in most teams, especially for formats like Starter, so let’s deep dive into more of that below.

For more information on this job, visit the job link: Black Mage.

Abilities

Black Mage’s Black Magicks kit is focused on damaging magicks with a few dangerous status effects in Toad and Death. Like its restorative counter-part, White Mage, the effectiveness of their magicks are based on the casters and target’s Faith; the more they have, the greater the damage. While we won’t be going over each spell in their arsenal, we will highlight the ones you will likely come across in PvP:

Fire/Blizzard/Thunder and their -ara/-aga variants (actions) – These elemental damaging magicks are good for ranged damage though they do require higher charge time depending on the version used. Depending on the format, some enemies may be weak to certain element-types while either absorbing, halving, or negating others so it is mindful to check the target’s gear beforehand.

Magic Counter (reaction) – Though this requires some prediction picks regarding your opponent, Magic Counter is handy at being a possible check against certain incoming spells, causing the same magic casted at you to be returned back to them (normal conditions still apply, such as having enough MP and doesn’t work while silenced). This reaction can also proc off of magic guns, but does not work against Iaido or Arithmeticks.

Arcane Strength (support) – This passive increases all of your damaging attacks that are considered magical by 33%. This includes things like Iaido and Geomancy. This passive also slightly increases the chance of status effects from magicks such as Toad.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 75% | MP: 120% | Speed: 100% | PA: 60% | MA: 150% | C-EV: 5 | Move: 3 | Jump: 3

Can equip: Rods, Hats, Clothing, Robes

So why does Black Mage have an overall rating of 4? First, let’s take a look at their primary stats listed above. What gives them such a high rating is their 150% MA. This makes them a very suitable role as a magic damage dealer and having a high base MA makes things like Iaido more potent which they are exceptionally well at with its mixture of damage and support skills. Also, having a 120% MP pool is nothing to scoff at either for sustaining magick casts.

Conclusion

Black Mage is a very versatile magic user with solid options for damage in their own kit and flexibility with other job abilities that center around Magick Attack. Similar to their White Mage counterpart, they are fairly squishy even in clothes, so they best serve from the back-row attacking from ranged.

by Tactics League PvP

PvP Job Series: White Mage

As we continue the Tactics PvP Job Series, we will have a look at the viability and the performance of the White Mage job as the main role in PvP for competitive use.

PvP Performance Statcard

Effectiveness

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Stats

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Overall

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Based on the above ratings, White Mage is a good option for PvP. But why is that? Let’s look more into the job’s abilities and stats below.

For more information on this job visit the job link: White Mage

Abilities

White Mage’s ability tree, White Magicks, focuses on using curative spells to restore lost HP, remove status effects, improve damage mitigation, and they have a strong damaging ability in Holy. Keep in mind like any other magick, their effectiveness is based on the casters and target’s Faith; the more, the better. We won’t focus on each ability, but we will highlight the ones that will likely be used in PvP a lot:

Cure/Cura/Curaga (action) – The main HP restorative heal White Mages use to keep their allies alive. The higher the Cure, the stronger the heal, but also the longer it takes to charge the magick.

Esuna (action) – Status effects are fairly prominient in PvP, and Esuna does a great job with cleansing most effects that can cripple your units from acting effectively.

Holy (action) – Holy is a damaging spell that is single-target and very strong at what it does. Be careful though as their are gear or accessories that can absorb Holy-elemental damage, causing them to heal from it instead.

Arcane Defense (support) – This passive abilitiy reduces incoming magic-type damage by 33% really handy against Iaido and other forms of damaging magicks.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 80% | MP: 120% | Speed: 110% | PA: 90% | MA: 110% | C-EV: 10 | Move: 3 | Jump: 3

Can equip: Staves, Shields, Hats, Clothing, Robes

Their stats aren’t anything particularly special, but the most noticeable thing is their Speed and PA. Because of them having 90% PA, White Mages can wield weapons like Zeus Mace and utilize things like Martial Arts or Arts of War (both of which rely on PA). Be cautious doing this, as this will have an effect on the upper-end of your healing with your White Magicks (which focus on MA), and attacking with Zeus Mace uses MA not PA for damage calculations. Overall this is probably not the best idea as they would be squishy in melee range since they can only equip clothing and robes by default. They will probably still function best in the back row, supporting their team.

Conclusion

White Mages are adept at what they do; providing healing and cleanses, and physical and magical mitigation (via Protect and Shell). They serve as a generally good main job when put into the support role and are best suited for back-row play.

by Tactics League PvP

PvP Job Series: Knight

As we continue the Tactics PvP Job Series, we will have a look at the viability of the Knight job as the main role in PvP for competitive use.

PvP Performance Statcard

Effectiveness

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Stats

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Overall

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Based on the above performance, Knights are a solid job role, making them one of the better choices for PvP. Let us focus more on that below.

For more information on this job visit the link: Knight.

Abilities

A Knight’s biggest focus is their Arts of War ability tree, which focuses on rending or breaking various equipment or lowering the stats of their target. To make the most use of Arts of War you will need to be behind the target and have a notable amount of Physical Attack (PA) as their abilities use that in part in calculating the success rate of their kit. In addition to that, the better their weapon’s Power, the better the odds of successfully breaking the targeted gear. We won’t focus on each action ability as they function similarly to each other but we will highlight the more commonly used ones:

Rend Weapon (action) – This is the bread and butter ability to break an opponent’s weapon. Most jobs rely on their weapon to deal greater damage and some, especially the uniques like Cloud or Beowulf, lose a lot of their functionality to their skillsets when their weapons are broken. As always, your best results is striking from their rear.

Rend Shield/Rend Helm/Rend Armor (action) – Breaking a target’s shield will reduce their evasiveness, making it easier to get attacks and other abilities to hit. Breaking a target’s helm or armor is ideal if the have gear that is nullifying status effects or are providing them buffs like Protect, Shell, or Haste.

Parry (reaction) – This reaction ability is very good when coupled with weapons that have high parry rate such as Defender or one of the cloths as this unlocks their ability to act as a form of evasion from the front or sides. This ability is always on and does not require a trigger for it to proc.

Equip Swords (support) – Notably, this ability allows for other jobs to use swords (no Knight’s Swords or Fell Swords). This tends to find its way on builds that want to access the variety of different swords and it was worth mentioning because of that.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 120% | MP: 80% | Speed: 100% | PA: 120% | MA: 80% | C-EV: 10 | Move: 4 | Jump: 3

Can equip: Swords, Knight’s Swords, Shields, Helm, Armor, Robes

Besides being able to break weapons and lower the stats of others, Knights also have a good mixture of stats and with a C-EV of 10 coupled with a shield, they can also become agile against incoming damage. Their base Move of 4 helps with quickly getting into position for rending. Notably, their PA is a good starting ground for raising their physical power more to become more successful with their Arts of War.

Conclusion

Knights are a solid option for primary jobs looking to make tankier setups and wanting to add some control elements through their action abilities. Their abilities’ range is also based on their weapon so you can even use Arts of War from afar and you can also get another chance to break by dual-wielding.

by Tactics League PvP