Tag Teambuilding

As we are approaching the end of the Tactics PvP Job Series, we will focus on the viability of the Bard job as the main role in PvP.

PvP Performance Statcard

Looking at the above performance ratings, Bard isn’t the best option as the primary job in competitive PvP. We will go further into this, starting with their abilities.

For more information on this job, visit the job link: Bard

Abilities

Bards are a male-only job that uses their Bardsong skillset to apply HP and MP restoration and buffs to allies regardless of distance. Bardsong abilities act similarly to magicks in the sense that they have a cast time, but instead of taking a damage penalty while performing, your evasion rates are ignored instead. While the song is performing, the song will continue to cast when able, and taking any other action will cancel the current Bardsong. Each Bardsong other than Seraph Song and Life’s Anthem has a 50% chance to successfully apply whatever buff you are trying to cast on your units. Anyways, let’s take a look at some of their commonly used abilities in PvP:

Rousing Melody (action) – 50% chance to increase all allies’ Speed by 1. With this having a fairly short charge time, upping your allies’ Speed enables them more turns, as well as other benefits, such as more damage to Throw or faster Jump landing.

Battle Chant/Magickal Refrain (action) – 50% chance to increase all allies’ Physical Attack or Magick Attack by 1 respectively. These abilities become more effective when your team composition is mostly physical or magick-focused builds.

Finale (action) – 50% chance to set allies’ CT to 100, causing them to have immediate next turns. This sounds great on paper and works wonders when it goes off on at least half of your units, but its biggest drawback is is the amount of time (20+ in-game clock ticks) it takes to even cast.

Move +3 (movement) – Though this ability is prohibited in the Starter format, it is by far the most versatile form of movement in PvP.

Fly (movement) – This ability is a built-in Ignore Elevation, go over characters and obstacles when traversing, and ignores fall damage. While Fly has advantages, Teleport tends to be the better option for traversing height differences since there is no penalty for teleporting height differences.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 55% | MP: 50% | SP: 100% | PA: 30% | MA: 115%
C-EV: 5 | Move: 3 | Jump: 3

Can equip: Instruments, Hats, Clothing

Bards are quite limited in stats, with only really having 115% MA to work with as their best feature. They are also limited to only using instruments as weapons, which can only target at a range of only 3. Having Speed is important in order to get your turns quickly so you can start performing a Bardsong early. Ninja or Thief is likely your best option if looking to strictly use Bardsong due to their higher innate Speed.

Conclusion

Though Bardsong can buff allies across the map, it can take a considerable amount of time to cast and it is very RNG-focused when hoping for buffs to apply to certain allies. In slower formats or games, Bardsong’s effectiveness does get better as there are larger opportunities to take a chance on the buffs. But looking past that, Bards aren’t bringing much competitiveness to their limited equipment options and all-around low stats.

In today’s Tactics PvP Job Series, we discuss the competitive viability of the Arithmetician job in PvP as the main role.

PvP Performance Statcard

Though they are effective strictly because of their Arithmeticks ability which we will cover further, Arithmeticians don’t seem like they are a good option for PvP. We will explore why below.

For more information on this job, visit the job link: Arithmetician

Abilities

Arithmeticks are very efficient because they utilize various other skills from other jobs (White, Black, Time Magicks, and Mystic Arts) with zero cost, instant-cast, and no range requirement. Arithmeticks still factor MA and the Faith of the caster and target(s). They use “calculation” methods that either target the CT, Level, Exp, or Height of all units on the field and then factor these methods with a value of either prime numbers, multiples of 3, 4, or 5 to determine who is targeted by the magick being cast. Pro-tip, make sure to always pan the camera around the field to see who is targeted based on the calculated conditions. Now to further discuss the Arithmetician’s abilities:

Arithmeticks (action) – Since there are so many variables that can be applied here, instead I’ll go over some tips when using Arithmeticks:
● Absorb-element gear, such as Sage’s Ring, can heal from using certain types of magicks, such as Holy.
● Boost-element gear, such as Black Robe, can increase the damage of select elements.
● Magicks cast this way cannot be reflected, but can be evaded.

Cup of Life (reaction) – Being overhealed from another source other than yourself has a Bravery% chance to heal all other allies, rounded up, based on the excess value, regardless of distance. This can be used as a “battery” method to heal remotely from a distance.

Soulbind (reaction) – This Bravery% chance ability returns half the damage taken and heals HP from that same amount. This ability is very welcoming on high HP units, increasing their sustain further for longer fights.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 65% | MP: 80% | SP: 50% | PA: 50% | MA: 50%
C-EV: 5 | Move: 3 | Jump: 3

Can equip: Poles, Books, Hats, Clothing, Robes

Arithmeticians’ biggest downfall is their stats. With only 50% MA, 50% SP, and 65% HP, they are underperforming against all other casters. Their access to clothing and robes gives them some versatility, but their innate weapon choices and limited mobility leave very little to be desired.

Conclusion

Arithmeticians just cannot compete especially in formats where speed is important and require too much investment to try to catch up to others. They are too frail as well and don’t have any stat advantages that would give them consideration for picks. Though their skill set is one of the best due to its versatility, it is better as a secondary for any other caster job.

In this Tactics PvP Job Series, we take a closer look at how competitive the Mystic job is in PvP.

PvP Performance Statcard

Based on the ratings, Mystics isn’t the best choice for PvP. We will expand more on that below.

For more information about this job, visit the job link: Mystic

Abilities

Mystic’s Mystic Arts abilities are primarily focused on casting status effects. Their skills scale with MA and both the casters and the target’s Faith. Mystic Arts have a cast time and each cost MP, so you may want to consider Time Mage’s Swiftness for the fastest cast times in a competitive environment. We won’t cover each ability, but we will look at some of the ones that are important for PvP:

Belief/Disbelief (action) – These abiliites either cause Faith or Atheist status on the target, treating their Faith value as if it were 100 or 0 respectively. As mentioned earlier, having higher Faith makes targets more suspectible to magicks so Belief is one easier method to apply that. Disbelief’s use is in reducing the effectiveness of enemy casters.

Induration (action) – This ability inflicts stone status on the target, treating them as if they were KO’ed and preventing them from moving. Causing stone status can be a major disruption to usable units even in the early game.

Harmony (action) – Removes all positive status effects from the target. Removing protect and shell damage mitigation, slowing CT generation via haste, and getting rid of reraise status can be effective in the mid-game as most of these buffs are vital to staying ahead and protecting the opposition’s team.

Defense Boost (support) – Reduces physical damage taken by 33%. This passive stacks with protect status and is important when going up against top tier skillsets such as Darkness or Throw.

Manafont (movement) – Restores approximately 1/10th of your maximum MP after moving at least 1 tile. This ability when paired with the reaction, Mana Shield, is one way to sustain longer fights especially in the Starter format.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 75% | MP: 110% | SP: 100% | PA: 50% | MA: 120%
C-EV: 5 | Move: 3 | Jump: 3

Can equip: Staves, Rods, Poles, Books, Hats, Clothing, Robes

When compared to other casters, Mystics have the lowest Magick Attack except for White Mage which excels everywhere else comparatively. Beowulf’s Spellblade abilities, which is an enhanced version of Mystic Arts, are instant-cast, cost less MP, and have a higher base chance to inflict statuses with the downside of them being single-target. Mystics’ best features are their access to staves and rods, which Summoner has access to as well. Poles can be used for melee builds since they scale with MA and have a range of 2, but this is likely going to be niche. Sadly, Mystic Arts seem more prevalent as a secondary ability on other casters as they have better status chances with higher MA scaling.

Conclusion

Though Mystic Arts have a variety of skills in their kit, they are better suited as a secondary ability on other Faith-based jobs. Besides their appearance, Mystics doesn’t seem to edge ahead as a primary job choice for most PvP scenarios.

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

PvP Performance Statcard

Orator isn’t looking to be a viable option in most cases in PvP. We will dive more into that, starting with their abilities.

For more information on this job, visit the job link: Orator

Abilities

Orator’s Speechcraft abilities are instant-cast abilities that are chance-based (higher chances with higher MA) and are mostly focused on inflicting status effects and adjusting Bravery and Faith values. Because of this, they are suited to controlling or slowing down the pace of the game. Let’s take a look at some of their abilities:

Intimidate/Enlighten (action) – These abilities reduce the target’s Bravery and Faith by 20 respectively. Reducing Bravery affects most Reaction abilites chance to proc as well as barehanded, katanas, and knight’s swords basic attacks. Reducing Faith lowers the effectiveness of magicks in terms of damage, status chance, and healing.

Stall (action) – This ability reduces the target’s CT to 0. This is good at keeping dangerous units from getting a chance to act. Just to note, there aren’t any immunities against Stall.

Insult (action) – Causes your opponent to lose control of the target by inflicting berserk status. Berserk is best suited against units that have low basic attack damage (dependent on their weapon) since they would use basic attacks the entire time (they are still in favor of the opponent). A berserked unit is harder to cleanse compared to charm since it doesn’t get removed from taking damage.

Mimic Darlavon (action) – Inflicts sleep status in an area. This is Orator’s most disruptive ability, because it is instant cast and can affect stacked groups. Sleep disables a character’s reaction ability, causes them to stop gaining CT, and they cannot evade attacks. Taking any HP damage will wake them up.

Equip Guns (support) – This passive ability enables the use of guns on other jobs. This can be usable for support-themed builds or builds wanting to focus on using magic guns (scaling higher damage with the caster and the target’s Faith).

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 80% | MP: 70% | SP: 100% | PA: 75% | MA: 75%
C-EV: 5 | Move: 3 | Jump: 3

Can equip: Knives, Guns, Hats, Clothing, Robes

Orator does not have any redeeming qualities in any of their stats compared to other jobs. While they have access to guns, they are very limited in viability when it comes to other utilities. Speechcraft is literally better off on any magick-based job as they have higher MA to work with.

Conclusion

Orator is not a competitive option for PvP. Speechcraft is better suited for other jobs and their functionality is mostly tailored for story content with recruiting monsters or poaching them; which serve no purpose in PvP.

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

PvP Performance Statcard

Looking at their ratings, Samurai is a fairly decent primary job in PvP. Let’s expand more on that below.

For more information on this job, visit the job link: Samurai

Abilities

Samurai are known for their Iaido ability, drawing the spirit out of each katana in the game and utilizing them for a mixture of support and damaging abilities. Iaido is one of the best, if not arguably the best skillset in the game because of its variety of skills and instant casting. Iaido is even a great ability to add as a secondary to a variety of builds due to the buffs and versatility you can get from it. Each Iaido ability scales with MA and has zero MP cost. There is a downside in that you do need copies of the katana available in your inventory in order to cast the ability, and they have a chance of breaking based on the katana’s Weapon Power per use.

Let’s look at which of their abilities you will commonly see in PvP:

Kiyomori and Masamune (action) – These abilities grant instant protect and shell (kiyomori) and regen and haste (masamune) respectively to allies in a 2-range area. Because these status effects are so vital in PvP, this is the most efficient way to grant these abilities within 1-2 turns versus using White Magicks and Time Magicks which are inheritently slower due to cast time.

Kiku-ichimonji (action) – This 8-tile, line-based magic attack is used for its range and getting picks from a distance. This skill does not damage allies in the area.

Chirijiraden (action) – This 3×3 area magic attack does a ton of damage, but does require you to be up close.

Murasame (action) – This ability provides instant area healing to all allies in the area. Will deal damage to undead allies.

Shirahadori (reaction) – This ability reduces the hit rate of certain physical attacks and abilities, decreasing it further with higher Bravery. This ability can only proc against the first attack if the enemy is dual wielding. Shirahadori is technically not a form of evasion and stacks with other sources of evasion.

Stats

Stats as a primary job: HP: 75% | MP: 90% | SP: 100% | PA: 128% | MA: 90%
C-EV: 20 | Move: 3 | Jump: 3

Can equip: Katanas, Helmets, Armor, Robes

Based on their stats, Samurai has excellent PA, but their MA is lacking, especially when their skillset revolves around MA. Still, they can utilize Iaido just like other jobs, but if you are looking at optimizing damage, Black Mage and Time Mage are best with their high base MA stats. Ninja is a great option to utilize support Iaido abilities because of their base high Speed. Samurais do have access to both armor and robes, so they have versatility with adding to their bulk or stacking into damage with a variety of robes that increase MA further.

Conclusion

Samurai as the main job is a solid choice, especially as a physical-based damage dealer. They aren’t the best choice to utilize their own skillset sadly, but the nature of Iaido enables it to be usable on practically any job due to the diverse range of abilities it offers.

Looking at making your first Competitive Starter team? Already have one but looking for tips to improve it? This article covers the abilities that are battle-tested and should be considered when theory-crafting your next PvP squad. We will break each section by ability type and you can jump to each one using the table of contents below. Now, let’s get right to it.

YouTube video/audio version of this guide: https://youtu.be/l6QvfMG0KU4

Action Abilities

Iaido

● Kiyomori – For Protect and Shell; 33% damage reduction from physical and magical attacks.
● Masamune – For Regen and Haste; healing-over-time at the end of each of your turns and faster turns to act more frequently.
● Chirijiraden – Strong melee area magic damage.
● Kiku-ichimonji – Strong line-based magic damage up to 8 tiles away.

Darkness

● Sanguine Sword – HP sustainability and damage while in melee range.
● Unholy Sacrifice – Considered a “bomb,” deals a ton of damage in melee but the caster also takes a ton of damage in return; good against tight formations.

Summon

● Golem – Covers all allies with a damage shield equal to the caster’s max HP that absorbs damage from basic attacks, Throw, Jump, and Aim.
● Zodiark – Though it has a long cast time, it can be used as a “walking bomb” on an ally for later turns, dealing massive magic damage to all enemies in the area.

Martial Arts

● Shockwave – Line-based earth physical damage up to 8 tiles away.
● Aurablast – Ranged single-target physical damage.
● Revive – Instant resurrection of a fallen ally. Both the caster and the target need to be on the same height.
● Chakra – Instant area healing that also restores MP. Can also be used in conjunction with Mana Shield.

Throw

● Instant ranged damage that is based on the caster’s Speed and the Power of the weapon being thrown. Useful for high damage with tossing end-game weapons, like Chaos Blade or Excalibur.

Jump

● Deals delayed damage to a single target. Handy at pre-emptively avoiding incoming damage and effects since the character is “out of play.” Jump scales best when equipped with a polearm.

Reaction Abilities

● Mana Shield (Time Mage) – Bravery% chance to absorb incoming damage to your MP instead of HP. Very good at sustaining hard-hitting moves as long as you have at least 1 MP left.

● Shirahadori (Samurai) – Decreases the chance of being hit by incoming types of damage (like Throw, Jump, Attack, Guns, Bows) by reducing the hit rate of those types of attacks. Higher Bravery will further reduce the chance of being hit.

● Reflexes (Ninja) – Doubles the character’s physical and magical evasion rates at all times. Works best in tandem with shields like Escutcheon “II” to evade the front and sides or when equipped with cloaks as they provide the best evasive coverage regardless of side.

● Soulbind (Arithmetician) – Bravery% chance after taking HP damage to restore HP equal to half the damage taken and return that amount as damage to the attacking character. A good option for bulky and defensive characters and can be used to punish ranged abilities such as Kiku-ichimonji and Shockwave.

● Dragonheart (Dragoon) – Though there are sources to get the reraise status (White Magicks or Ovelia’s Aegis), being able to have an option to get it from taking physical damage is also a boon especially when most damage you will see is likely to be physical-type. Being able to revive in the mid-to-late game can be crucial to making a comeback. This ability is also Bravery% chance.

Support Abilities

● Arcane Defense/Defense Boost – Great magic or physical damage mitigation by 33% respectively that stacks with Protect and Shell. Also good options for when you predict your opponent is stacking heavy into things like Iaido (use Arcane Defense) or Darkness/Throw (use Defense Boost).

● Arcane Strength/Attack Boost/Vehemence – Arcane Strength (for magic) and Attack Boost (for physical) are great options, especially when stacking damage potential. Vehemence is risky as it causes you to take 50% more damage, but it also increases your damage dealt by 50%, sacrificing sustain for power.

● Dual Wield – Being able to have two one-handed weapons equipped for stat stacking or optimization can be pretty important when min-maxing builds. This is also a handy option with Arts of War since each ability has two chances to rent gear or reduce stats instead of one.

● Swiftness – This ability is very important when focused on using magicks or Summon, as this reduces the Spell Speed of those abilities in half, rounded up. Since Starter is primarily about speedy plays and magicks are naturally slower, Swiftness is crucial for magicks to compete against instant cast abilities.

Movement Abilities

● Manafont – Being able to restore MP from simply moving at least 1 tile can be potent when also combining this ability with Mana Shield.

● Move +2/Jump +2 – Traversing the map quickly is king, so having more options is always a plus. Move +2 in most cases should always be your go-to for movement.

● Teleport – A bit more of a niche ability, Teleport enables the unit to be able to traverse anywhere on the map, with the chance of it failing by 10% per tile past their normal Move stat. This can be handy in risky plays with things like Chirijiraden or Unholy Sacrifice or even immediately placing a Summon “bomb” into the enemy stack quickly before it goes off.