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| F I N A L F A N T A S Y T A C T I C S | Straight Character Challenge
[presented in THX surround sound]
##===##=====#== written by MunkiBleedsGreen
||== ||== || <==Bad Ascii ([email protected] ) ©2001
|| || || At It's Worst {best viewed at full screen}
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Foreword: This FAQ has been compiled by me through an on running post of
mine on the FFT message board at GameFAQs.com. While I did my fair share
of the research, much of this document came from a large group of people
whom I will thank later on. I do not claim to be the originator of much
of this information, but I have received all of their consent as to post
this on this topic. Without further ado, I present to you the
Straight Character's Challenge.
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-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
|Table of Contents\______________
|1. FAQ Information \ * Denotes Updated Section
| 1.1 Updates/Version* / ! Denotes New Section
| 1.2 Needs \
| 1.3 Upcoming/News* /
|2. The Challenge Basics \
| 2.1 Introduction /
| 2.2 Rules and Regulations* \
| 2.3 Comments on Classes* /
|3. The Strategies \
| 3.1 Generic Strategies* /
| 3.2 Job Class Specific* \
|4. Miscellaneous /
| 4.1 FAQ* \
| 4.2 The Thanks* /
| 4.3 Random Stuff* \
|_________________________________/
-_-_-_-_-_-_ ________________
|Section 1 \_____/ FAQ Information\___________________________________
-1.1- Updates/Version
V0.4-May 9th, 2001- Well, added some new strategy. Most notably, I
totally re-evaluated Mediators and added new
accompanying strategy, buffed up Oracles, and a
whole load of new strategy has been added to
Samurai and Lancer, courtesy of Saint Ajora and
TallgeeseVI. I even added a Calculator section!
All together, about 12k of information.
-1.2- Needs
-I'm always in need of Class Specific strategies. Credit will be
given to the senders in all cases. Please, e-mail me at
[email protected] , or post under one of the relevant topics
at the FFT message board. I also need a lot more time to work on
this... Oh, if you believe that you have better Basic Descriptions
of the Classes, send them along my way. Anything you want to add
at all is plenty welcome.
-1.3- Upcoming/News
-Must... put... up... more... STRATEGY! The big thing upcoming
is a job Class Stat Chart. Speed is the first thing, and if
the demand is there, I'll put one up for PA and MA. Other than
that, I'm a bit low on ideas to be honest.
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-_-_-_-_-_-_ _________________
|Section 2 \____________________/ Challenge Basics\____________________
-2.1- Introduction
Well now, surely many of you are familiar with the Squaresoft game,
Final Fantasy Tactics. If you're not, are you really that bored and dull
of a person to go checking out FAQs for games that you don't know about?
Shame, shame on you! Well, for the rest of you, it has always been a
common complaint that this game is, with the exception of a few battles,
too easy. However, the job system of Tactics keeps us all addicted to its'
gameplay and in love with the game itself.
Another complaint is the uselessness of certain job classes, and the
abuse of more powerful ones. As a supporter of the less popular classes,
and someone who adamantly believes this game should be harder, I went out
and did something. I devised a bit of a challenge for us all. Perhaps I
didn't devise it, but I definitely popularized it.
The basic idea of this challenge: play with only one job class. This,
ultimately, creates new challenges abound. Old battles, once thought easy,
suddenly smack you in the face. Old skills you once ignored suddenly find
reborn usage. Most importantly, you find a new appreciation for job classes
you may have not regarded so highly.
Does this interest you? If it does, read on, young warrior, and enter
the Straight Job Class world.
-2.2- Rules and Regulations
>>1. Party must consist of 5 Characters, all set to the same job class.
Characters must attain Job before Dorter Trade City, and remain in
that class.
>>2. Characters can not use any other abilities of any other class at all.
Any Support, Movement, and Reaction skills must come from their own
Job Class.
>>3. Special Characters are not allowed, as their enhanced growth can
dilute the challenge.
>>4. High leveling up is not allowed either. The following Level Caps have
been set as maximums for all job classes:
-Chapter 1: 20
-Chapter 2: 35
-Chapter 3: 50
-Chapter 4: 70 - Before Murond Death City
However, remember to use your judgement. These levels shouldn't be
approached with most classes. The stronger your class, the lower your
levels should accordingly be.
>>5. Again, you may not use Gained JP Up, Secret Hunt, Move-Find Item, etc.
unless your character naturally has it in their class. This is the
same as rule #2, but I need to state it twice because this is the most
common mistake.
>>6. Guest Characters can become whatever you wish. A strong Algus and
Delita are pretty much required to beat early battles for many classes.
Guest Characters may be stripped of their equipment.
>>7. Important to Mediators: Monsters can NOT be recruited. If a Human is
recruited through Invite, he must be stripped and then kicked out. Any
Special Character can also be stripped and then removed.
>>8. If you have a problem in the game, namely Wiegraf, use your better
judgement. Depending on how into your game you are, judge whether or not
to give yourself some leniency for this battle. Several classes may find
it totally impossible to beat Wiegraf, such as Archers, Thieves, and
Bards, and thus give yourself some leg room in this fight if you need it.
>>9. Later in the game, at Chapter 4, you may use a full party of Special
Characters in a few random battles, just for the sake of your sanity.
This applies mostly to people with very tedious jobs like Summoners,
Mediators, and Bard/Dancers. Special Characters may NEVER be used in
Story Battles or in the Deep Dungeon. [Mucho Gracias Dr Goofy]
>>10. You may not Dupe Weapons or use the Level Up/Down cheat. Neither of
these is technically possible if you stick to the challenge, but it
should be said anyway. [Thanks to Cyrus Viruz for pointing this out]
>>11. The eleventh rule of the Straight Character challenge is... don't tell
anyone about the Straight Character challenge... unless you really
want to, then I guess it's okay ^_^
-2.3- Comments On Classes
General comments on each class are listed here. This is intended to
interest you into playing different classes and trying as many
challenges as possible.
Though seemingly difficult, Ramza will be a key figure with
his power and equips. Cheer Up is very helpful. However, Throw Stone
isn't much against a Zodiac Monster, eh?
Perhaps the "safest" of all classes. Their healing and reviving
is quite nice and comes in handy in ALL situations. However, their
battle power is horrible throughout most of the game, and their mediocre
stats can hold you back.
The slow, powerful warrior. High battle power will make early
fights easier than most. However, a complete lack of long range attacks
causes them to rely on melee fighting, and evasion. Handy ability set,
but vulnerable.
The first class I ever tried this challenge with. Their attacks
are crap early on. However, their long range superiority makes most
random battles a breeze. There are some story battles which give them
advantages, but there are many more which totally handicap them.
A real conundrum of possibilities here. Waiting for enemies to
come to you and then unloading with powerful spells seems pretty
effective, but when enemies with low Faith or better Speed come around,
you could find yourself in a lot of trouble.
The second job class I know to have been started in this
Straight Challenge campaign (Maligant did it, go Mal...). They have
healing, revival, auto-revival, protection, and even one of the
strongest attack spells in the game, as well as balanced stats and good
Speed. Don't forget though, for the better part of the game, enemies
will be killed with their sticks, and their healing and revival is quite
unreliable.
A powerful class, in both stats and skillsets. The obvious
advantages come in HP healing, status curing, revival, and long range
attacks. High Brave characters will dominate the game early on, and moves
like Wave Fist and Earth Slash will become powerful staples to strategy.
Remember though, they do have pretty poor HP. Still a fun class.
Obvious advantages come in the Steal set. You can get nice EXP
early on, some equipment you couldn't get otherwise from Secret Hunt
and the Steals, and even the glorious Move and Jump +2s. They have
great Speed too! Of course, they have horrible PA and must depend on
the very very "iffy" Steal Heart to do their damage for them. Also,
they have low HP, and no actual long range attacking. Don't even get
me started on how they can beat Wiegraf or Velius...
Another fun magic class. They have a good ability set which
can be made great use of very early on, much moreso than other mages.
They have one of the best arguable movement skills, and one of the
potentially strongest Support Skills too. However, aside from the
undependable Meteor and Demis, they have no real attack power.
They must be drawn into melee combat, where they are quite weak.
A lot can be said for wide range attacks that can be pulled
off from many many Squares away. Target Unit, and run. Sounds pretty
effective, no? They have healing, attack, and protection, too! Then
you remember: They have low HP and below par Speed. Also, until you
get their precious Support, your Summons better get the job done
the first time, or you'll be left with guys in funny hats and no MP.
A very versatile class which I have always touted as a
wonderful job. They have a good assortment of equipment to make use
of, and have great melee combat, and good long range attacks too.
Attack Up comes in handy. On the down side, they only have average
HP, which isn't good for a close range fighter, and their abilities
do little damage.
With their Jumping prowess, good movement ability, great
reaction ability, and high PA, you may mistake Lancers as a
generally very easy class. But remember: Chapter 1 will be spent
without any weapons. And your Jump skills will require a few thousand
JP to be useful. Long road ahead.
Another fun class. Their status abilities can make battles
terrifically fun, or downright frustrating. It all depends on Faith
values, and your luck. Early power spells like Paralyze and Drain
Life only grow stronger as time goes by, and they have a two space
range weapon which packs a punch. Just remember, they are by no means
tanks, and fall prey easily to melee combat. It's really a matter
of luck...
An interesting challenge to say the least. You must now
make use of all those skills which most of us have ignored in the
past. Psst, Mimic Daravon can be quite useful. However, Threaten
may just become your favourite ability of all time. It's that good.
Remember to check the Rules and Regulations on these guys
too. Their downsides? Low HP, weak attacks throughout the game,
and a limited pool of good abilities.
A favourite among Tactics players, the Ninja remain a
strong choice for this challenge. Despite some possible difficulty
in getting the class, once there you will find certain battles to
be heaven, and others to be hell. Great PA, and simply excellent
melee and long range attacks, accompanied by a high move rate and
Speed make Ninja one of the most powerful classes in this Challenge.
Still, they have their weaknesses. Their HP probably won't ever
break the 200s.
I'll be blunt with this. Their skillset is the most varied
set in the game, and has a LOT of power. Early on, they'll be
extremely weak, but once the Samurai Swords appear, prepare for a
much more entertaining game. The big drawback of this otherwise
excellent class? Gil. You'll need it by the ton to keep up with
their expensive hobby of smashing swords.
Hah. Well I won't say this isn't possible. Their battles
mostly consist of playing the waiting game, hoping to gain enough
Speed and PA in order to wreck the opposing side. They have terrible
PA and HP, and their skills take forever to pull off. Still, it's
definitely possible.
This of course isn't possible to do with a full team. Ramza
plays the part of the Bard, and this makes this scenario a tiny bit
easier, and it certainly needs it. Again, the game reverts to you
running and hiding from foes while their performances slowly chip
away at them.
Yes, this is actually slightly possible. It hasn't proven to
be impossible, that is. PhoenixWing took this upon himself, and I'm
not sure where he is right now. Their PA is adequate to turn them
into melee forces, but without any skills, winning seems like a long
shot. As Phoenix says, a Mime is a Monk with no abilities.
Impossible. With the regulations of this challenge,
they are limited to Math Skills with no abilities to draw from.
Then they all die from a few Chocobos. The End. Game Over.
_______________________________________________________________________
-_-_-_-_-_-_ _________________
|Section 3 \__________________________________/ Class Strategies\_____
-3.1- Generic Strategies
\Proper Team\
When starting the game, you'll probably find that the characters the
game has generated for you are't very good for your chosen class.
In this case, dump every single one of them that doesn't fit in
after Gariland. With this money, you will then be able to find better
characters who fit your class. Make sure to get good Brave/Faith Levels
and the proper gender, and under the right circumstances, properly
aligned Zodiacs.
\Getting There\
If you aren't playing Squire or Chemist, you will have to get your guys
the right specifications for their job. This is usually easy. Go back
and forth across Mandalia and Sweegy. Save very often, because it only
takes a few Chocobos to take you out sometimes. If you really must, use
Gained JP Up until you can get into your job. Upgrade your characters
as it comes, and the challenge of the random fights should diminish.
\High Level Jobs\
You've chosen a job in the third Tier (Summoner, Mediator, Lancer, Geomancer)
or a complex job like Samurai, Ninja, Bard, Dancer, or Mime, and now that
you've gotten them enough Job Levels, you notice that your Level is kind of
high for where you are. If you are a true purist, now is the time to make
use of the Degenerator Trap in the ditch of Zeklaus Desert. Level down a bit,
if only to keep the challenge consistent.
\Speed\
A key statistic in many battles is Speed. I've heard many times of one point
of Speed being enough to push the player to victory. Thus, remember that
if you're stuck at Golgorand, Lionel, or any other location, all non
Thief/Ninja classes get Speed bonuses at around Level 18, then at Level 35,
then at around 52, and finally at around 69. After that, the level cap is
broken, so it's irrelevant to this challenge. I'll have Ninja/Thief Speed
stats up soon.
\Anti Magic\
Plain and simple. If your job class does not use Faith to calculate any
of it's abilities, make sure you keep it as LOW as possible. Use Reflect
Rings in Mage heavy fights, or Reflect Armor if it's available. The
following classes require Faith: Chemist, Wizard, Priest, Oracle, Time Mage,
and Summoner. Chemists only require it if you plan on using the Faith
based Elemental Guns.
\Zirekile Falls\
I was pretty sure that this was basic knowledge, but I've noticed a few
people having a bit of trouble here. Before the fight, change Gaf into a
Priest, Time Mage, or Wizard, depending on what skills he has for each.
Remove his other abilities and all of his equipment. Now prepare to hand
him his own head on a platter.
\Riovanes Castle\
For many jobs, this could be the breaking point. Some Jobs, like Mediator,
Archer, Thief, and Bard/Dancer, may find it impossible to defeat Wiegraf.
Others simply can't damage Velius enough. Worst yet is the Rooftop Brawl.
Speed is key here, so what if you're a slow class? Well then, take another
way out. Get creative and get around your difficulties.
-Archer, for example, can become a Knight with Equip Crossbow, to retain
the Archer's original intent. Now, with Chameleon Robe and Feather Boots,
it becomes possible to defeat Wiegraf.
-Velius just takes a heavy assault and a lot of luck, as well as playing
around with equipment. Take your time.
-Finally, the Rooftop Battle also involves luck, but there's another way
around it. Unequip one of your characters, and move them torwards the
Assassins and Elmdor. They will now target THIS character, drawing
attention from Rafa. Much thanks to TallgeeseVI and DragoonMRM for this
great tip.
\Murond Death City - Altima\
Another nice little tip for any classes which have the ability to revive
or heal. Keep Alma alive! Computer AI will generally target the weaker
leveled characters and Guests. Alma covers both of these needs. Altima
will generally spend its time killing Ramza's sister or trying to destroy
her positive effects. Thus, by keeping Alma alive, you'll distract
Altima indefinitely.
-3.2- Job Class Specific Strategies
I. Squire - More Strat Coming
II. Chemist - More Strat Coming
III. Knight - More Strat Coming
IV. Archer - More Strat Coming
V. Wizard - No Strat
VI. Priest - More Strat Coming
VII. Monk - More Strat Coming
VIII. Thief - More Strat Coming
IX. Time Mage - More Strat Coming
X. Summoner - No Strat
XI. Geomancer - More Strat Coming
XII. Lancer - More Strat Coming
XIII. Mediator - More Strat Coming
XIV. Oracle - More Strat Coming
XV. Ninja - More Strat Coming
XVI. Samurai - More Strat Coming
XVII. Bard - No Strat
XVIII. Dancer - No Strat
XIX. Mime - More Strat Coming
XX. Calculator - Complete
-I- Squire
Recommended Party: 5 Males. High Brave, Low Faith.
Advantages: Fast Growth, Throw Stone, Dash, Ramza's Special Squire
Class Advantages.
Disadvantages: Average Stats All Around, No Powerful Skills,
Lacking Attacks, Lack of Useful Reaction or Support Ability
Basics: Far be it for me to criticize a class, but when you think
mediocrity, you think Squire. Most people would never logically
bring a non-Ramza Squire into a battle after Chapter 1. Imagine
going through the whole game as one. The big saving grace to
this class is that Ramza actually is a good Squire and gets
numerous advantages as one, including equipping Knight Swords.
Namely, Excalibur. This is one of three classes that gets to
boost their Brave, via Cheer Up, and the classic Ramza
Yell/Accumulate or Scream strategy can be made use of. Early on,
they can perform pretty well. With a cheap long range attack, Throw
Stone can lead to getting them all of their abilities quickly,
and even weaken enemies after a few throws. Dash is an indispensable
Squire ability. The 100% hit is nice, but the best thing is the
fact that it doesn't trigger Reaction Abilities. This should be used
to your advantage. Most of this game's difficulty lie in the fact
that only one of your units is truly useful. Still, the challenge
is worth a shot. Hey, they even get Gained JP and Move+1!
Set Up: Basic Skills / Counter Tackle / Defend / Move+1
Battle Strategies
>>Accumulate: This move is your best friend. You MUST make use of
it or you will die. Two to four times should be enough to
get you through a battle, and then they become Knights with
less HP.
>>Ramza: He is also your best friend. Beginning in Chapter 2,
think of him as Knight Version 2.0. He can equip all armor and
helmets, as well as hats and clothes and robes, and even shields.
This will give him more than adequate HP. Don't forget to abuse
Cheer Up!.
>>Fort Zeakden: This battle can be tricky if played conventionally.
The big trick to this, any many other all Squire battles, is to
run and hide. Move all your units behind the Fort and Accumulate.
Delita should be dead by the end of the enemy's turns, and then
come back up again if Algus gets damaged before his next AT. This
should give you more than sufficient stall time to build up your
guys. Wait for Algus to come to you, then beat the hell out of him.
-II- Chemist
Recommended Party: 5 Males. High Brave, Mid-Faith.
Advantages: Reliable Healing, Revival, Long Range Healing, Guns,
Auto Potion, Move-Find Item, Status Negation.
Disadvantages: Low HP, No Early Long Range Attacks, Never a Physical
Powerhouse.
Basics: A very defensive unit. Access to this class is immediate.
Early on, Knives will prove to be pretty useless against most
enemies. However, their healing should keep them alive. The
"Lure then Surrond" strategy will have to be used until you
have access to Guns. In Chapter 1, you'll find yourself
probably depending on Delita and Algus for the majority of
the kills. Once you get Guns, though, your Snipers will be
able to kill many enemies from great distance in a few attacks.
They can benefit from Deep Dungeon, and are actually the only
ones besides Thieves or Summoners who can do so. It will take
a great amount of trouble, but they can rack up a lot of rare
and beneficial equipment.
Set Up: Item, Auto Potion / Equip Change / Move-Find Item
Battle Strategies
>>Build Up: Be sure to learn Potion and Phoenix Down first. After that,
move onto Hi-Potion, then X-Potion, then Holy Water, then Remedy.
You really shouldn't need anything other than that.
>>Pack' Em Tight: Keep your Chemists within six or so spaces of each
other. This way, Mages don't get to take advantage of groups, you
still get to use your guns from a safe distance, and you have enough
space between so that you can still Heal or Revive other Chemists.
>>Deep Dungeon: Abuse it!!! You can get a fair amount of nice equipment
for your phriendly Pharmacists here. Check another FAQ for all the
locations, and see what you need and what you don't. If you work up
to Tiger, you can get all 3 elemental guns.
>>Murond- Hashmalum: Your best chance at this is to vary your
equipment a bit. If you have the Vanish Mantle, put it on Ramza, while
the others should get Germinas Boots or Sprint Shoes. Keep any Chemist
not equipped with an Elemental Gun, if you have any, as a Healer, and
attack whenever you have the chance to. Avoid Meteor at all costs!
-III- Knight
Recommended Party: 5 Males. High Brave, Low Faith.
Advantages: High HP, High PA, Equipment Breaks, Weapon Guard,
Knight Swords Late in Game.
Disadvantages: Poor Movement, Battle Skills Sometimes Irrelevant,
No Movement or Support Skills of Use, No Long Range Attacks.
Basics: The walking tanks. These guys can have either very easy, or
very hard fights. They are about unmatched in melee combat.
Easily accesible, they will prove to dominate most of the early
on fights. With Weapon Guard, Shields, and Mantles, they can
become HIGHLY evasive. Stat Breaks are good for Random Battles
and are a nice way to level up faster, and the Equipment Breaks
can make short work of many story characters. However, they
are handicapped in the area of manueverability. With a lower
speed rating and a Move and Jump of 3, it may take a while for
them to get going. Lack of any long range attack don't help either.
Most often, the enemies will get the first attack. Later on in
the game, Knight Swords (from Orlandu and Meliadoul) can enhance
your party to no bounds. Just remember, a group of mages can
really hack away at you, even with Low Faith.
Set Up: Battle Skills / Weapon Guard
Battle Strategies
>>Slow and Steady: Try to slow every battle down as much as possible
to aid the Knights. Stay far away from the enemy and when one gets
close to you, break him down.
>>Evasion Abuse: Keep up to date with the best Shields and Mantles.
Also, use Weapon Guard!!!
>>Weapon Break: Probably the most important ability in Story Battles.
Use it to nullify Gafgarion at Golgorand and Lionel.
-IV- Archer
Recommended Party: 5 Males. High Brave, Low Faith.
Advantages: Long Range Attacks, Concentrate, Speed Save, Can Attack From
Nearly Anywhere, Low # Charge Skills.
Disadvantages: Mediocre PA, Mediocre HP, Lack of Useful Abilities,
Very Weak Weapons Late in Game, Occasional Awkward Attack Positions.
Basics: Sure, we've all used them before a bit. And probably mocked them.
They don't really deserve all the smack they get though. A well
placed line of Archers can kill off an enemy faster than a well
placed line of Chemists any day. Though their attacks are very
innacurate, Concentrate more than makes up for that. Only Arrow
Guard and Blade Grasp can stop their assault then. The biggest
drawback to these guys come when facing enemies head to head.
Usually, they can't draw back fast enough before they get way
too damaged. Some battles can really drag on, as well. A dropped
Archer often results in a crystal appearing pretty soon. Also,
it is 99% likely that Archer Ramza CAN NOT defeat Wiegraf one on
one. This isn't a unique situation, though...
Set Up: Charge, Speed Save, Concentrate, Jump+1
Battle Strategies
>>Swarm: Archers can OWN random battles with ease. Your best
strategy in any battle would be to take to the highest ground
possible while waiting for your enemies to enter your range.
Once they do, launch your arrows. Kill any yellow Chocobo
first, with extreme prejudice. If you can not finish all the
enemies with ease, just set them into critical and then move
in later to finish the strays off.
>>Fort Zeakden: With Jump+1 on, the Archers can climb up the box
on the side to the roof. From there, they have superiority. You
should be able to kill Algus easily, but for fun, kill off the
rest of his party before hand.
>>Golgorand: Use Arrow Guard to quell the opposing Archer threat.
Use Charge+5s to take out Gafgarion early, then concentrate on the
Knights. Keep moving about, and you shouldn't take too much damage.
-V- Wizard
Recommended Party: Ramza + 4 Females. High Brave, High Faith.
Advantages: Long Range Magic, Powerful Spells, Counter Magic,
Magic Attack Up, Strength Only Limited To Growth, Flare
Disadvantages: Horrible PA and HP, Can Run Out of MP, Expensive Abilities
Needs High Faith (Heavier Damage From Magic), No Movement Ability
Basics: These guys can be miniature war machines. They must stick
with the "Wait and See" strategy of battle. The cross panel spells
will prove to be endlessly useful. However, you must be very
careful with your usage of Magic, especially earlier on. Without
a method of regaining MP, they can be left helpless. In Chapter 1,
for story battles, it's best to let Delita and Algus do the
load of the work and only toss a few spells around. They work
wonders in Assassination scenarios, and it is actually a nice
strategy to kamikaze them into your target, knowing full well
that at least one will get a spell off. However, you can't always
charge them head on. That would be a very BAD idea. Counter Magic
pays off nicely against enemy mages. It takes forever to get
some of their best abilities, so you may want to have each learn
only one element. And by "Strength Limited Only to Growth", I mean
that they don't depend on their Equipment and what the stores
can sell them for their power. They can simply learn a new spell
and take a huge step up.
Set Up: Black Magic / Counter Magic / Magic Attack Up
Battle Strategies: Under Construction
-VI- Priest
Recommended Party: Ramza + 4 Females. High Brave, High Faith.
Advantages: Healing, Revival, Status Curing, Above Average Speed,
Holy, Regenerator
Disadvantages: Pre-Holy Difficulty, Holy's MP Cost, Dependence on
Holy, Limited Non-Holy Offense, Notice a Pattern?
Basics: So they have one of the strongest magical attacks in the
game. That certainly isn't going to help early on though.
Priests will be forced to stick with the "Bait, Lure, Swarm"
strategy early on. Their Curing, Protection, and Revival are
unmatched in power, but not very effective in their advanced
forms, due to long charge times. Still, the regular spells can
provide aid enough, and the sronger ones are still useful.
Regenerator is bound to become a favourite Reaction ability, and
really pays off for the less than stellar HP Priests. Once you
have reliable access to Holy, where you can cast it at least once
and still have enough MP to finish the fight, battles will become
a bit easier. Especially assassination missions. A fun job, with
more than enough power to it to survive.
Set Up: White Magic / Regenerator / Magic Defense Up
Battle Strategies
>>Protect and Shell: Keep these walls up all the time. For best results,
use Wall! This, with Regenerator, should limit Priest damage to a
minimum.
>>Holy $*%#: Once you have the MP for it, I'd recommend learning the
best all around attack spell, IMO, in the game. Like Flare, it is
powerful, with a single, accurate effect range. However, it is
a bit FASTER than Flare. Obviously wise in assassination battles,
Holy will become your main strategy in all fights eventually enough.
>>Inside Riovanes: Pump up your Magic Power! Use Wizard Staff and Magic
Gauntlet, accompanied by Chameleon Robe to fake out Lightning Stab
and a Golden Hairpin for MP. This will most likely cause Wiegraf to
die miserably after his first attack. For Velius, your best shot is
the Holy strategy. Spread your Priests out though, to avoid death.
-VII- Monk
Recommended Party: 5 Males. High Brave, Low Faith.
Advantages: High PA, Long Range Attacks, Healing, Revival, Status
Curing, Variety of Skills, Counter, Restore HP, Hamedo
Disadvantages: Lower HP, No Armor, No Hats/Helmets, Some Skills'
Use Questionable, Not Very Manueverable
Basics: The real heavy hitters. You wouldn't imagine just how strong
a team of High Brave Monks can really be until you use them.
I'm sure you have an idea though. Multiply that one thousand
fold. Early in the game, they are more than safe. With powerful,
non-weapon based attacks, and more healing than is even
necessary, they are one of the few jobs that can breeze through
Chapter 1 relatively easy. When in a dangerous battle, be careful
to keep endangered characters from being trapped around non-level
ground, or Revive will be useless. Keep your team together and
designate a healer. Utilize their various abilities too. Secret
Fist definitely can be made use of. Your only weakness would be
Mage types on high ground, or fast moving characters, like Ninja
or hasted enemies. Otherwise, they always stand a good chance.
Set Up: Punch Art / [Reaction Ability Can Fit Situation] / Move-HP Up
Battle Strategies
>>Ranged Attacks: Keep your distance with these fierce fighters.
Though their fists can be very powerful, it's often the best choice
to stay as far away as possible from the enemy, using Wave Fist and
Earth Slash to deal your damage. As a plus, with Earth Clothes, you
can endlessly Earth Slash your team for damage on the enemy, and
HP for your characters.
>>Hamedo: It works against all humans, and Zodiac monsters, as you
probably know. This pays off in Physical attacker heavy battles.
This move can be quite advantageous in Riovanes, as if Wiegraf
or Velius are too close to a character, he will try to attack them
physically.
-VIII- Thief
Recommended Party: 2 Males, 3 Females. High Brave, Low Faith.
Advantages: Steal Heart, Steal EXP, Move/Jump+2, Speed, Equipment
Stealing, Secret Hunt
Disadvantages: Low HP, Low PA, Main Offense is Risky, No Good Reaction
Ability, Problems With Misproportionate Enemy Genders
Basics: A tricky little group to go through with. Their most obvious,
and most necessary attack is, of course, Steal Heart. Using an
enemy against the rest is most often their only way out. However,
this isn't a good thing. More Male characters are found throughout
the game, so this would probably push you to get 4 Females.
However, they have Lower HP and PA than the rest, putting them
at risk. Another drawback to the strategy is that it has a poor
chance of success in neutral Zodiac cases (50+MA%). On an even
lower note, the most obvious candidates for these attacks, Story
enemies like Gafgarion for example, can NOT be charmed. Big
problem. However, their high move rate, accompanied by their
movement skills, can take them around the board several times
before the enemy approaches, keeping them free of trouble
usually. Their Secret Hunt skills can supply them with the
occasional nice piece of equipment later in the game, and can rid
you of Undead. Most importantly, the Steal set can basically
rape those uncharmable Story characters. Then again, Wiegraf has
maintenance...
Set Up: Steal / Caution / Secret Hunt / Move+2
Battle Strategies
>>Steal Heart: This attack cancels the enemy's charging. Very useful for
saving a Thief from a massive spell. If no spells are coming your way,
focus on Charming the enemy who will get its' turn first.
>>Steal EXP: Utterly invaluable to gain quick levels and JP early on.
Charm the enemy, then steal from them until they have absolutely no EXP
left. Then kill the enemy and move on.
Other Stuff
>>Charmed Enemies won't do physical damage to other Charmed enemies, but
if they have an attack that only inflicts a status, they will use it
on any charmed enemy.
>>Boco is indeed a Special Character. You can not charm him in the Fovoham
Battle.
-IX- Time Mage
Recommended Party: Ramza + 4 Females. High Brave, High Faith.
Advantages: Haste, Don't Move, Critical Quick, Short Charge, Demi,
Teleport, Stop+Meteor Combo, Speed, Pointy Hats
Disadvantages: Limited Offense All Around, Dependence On Halting Enemy,
Skills Fade Quickly Early On
Basics: It's kind of hard to find disadvantages to this Group. Then again,
it's pretty hard to find a lot of ADVANTAGES too. Surely, their
Time altering skills come in very handy. When wouldn't you want to
speed your guys up and slow down, or even stop the enemy? The big
irony here is that these abilities last for little more than a full
AT or two until you bring your characters to higher levels, and
thus, higher Speeds. It'd imperative to Haste your group early on,
and to abuse Don't Move. Rather than totally Lure in enemies, it
pays off to bring them close, then stop them in their tracks and
single them out. Time Mage skills cost relatively little MP, so
they can keep this up for a while. Much like Oracles, winning a
battle depends much on your luck and the enemies' Faith levels.
Can't win if you can't hit them after all. Demi works wonders on
Zodiac demons, and once you have it all, Short Charge, Stop, and
Meteor becomes an ultimately powerful combo attack.
Set Up: Time Magic / Critical Quick / Short Charge / Teleport
Battle Strategies
>>The Sky Is Falling: A risky tactic, but worth it... Wait for the
enemies to draw near to you, then target them with Meteor (Short
Charge is a necessity here) and Teleport as far away as you can.
Keep moving back and you should Squash just about anyone with a
few Meteors. Make sure your characters are well out of range
though!
>>Don't Move: Obviously enough, use this on any Physical character. A
Knight three Squares away is as good as a Wooden Chocobo. It performs
it's function nicely VS Mage classes if you can run from them, too.
>>Reflect: Remember this? I bet most of you don't. Reflect, as always, has
its' fair share of ups and downs. Indeed, you can knock away most
of the Wizard's skills, but don't forget, Haste can be Reflected! Use
this ability wisely, preferably AFTER you've Hasted. Also, it's tough
to target, and is quite random, but in a desperate situation, try using
Reflect to bounce a status off your character, across the board.
>>Demi and Demi2: So, you don't have enough MP to throw around for Meteor,
or you just don't have Short Charge. In that case, when it comes to
fighting, assassination fights especially, a few doses of Demi or Demi2
will off anything.
>>Quick
-X- Summoner
Recommended Party: Ramza + 4 Females. High Brave, High Faith.
Advantages: Wide Summon Range, Powerful Spells, Healing, Protection,
Odin, Bahamut.
Disadvantages: Huge MP Cost Before Half MP, Slow, Low HP, Poor Movement,
No Good Reactoin Abilities
Basics: Another assassination oriented job class. It certainly is fun
to tag an enemy with Odin and then run, knowing that their doom
is impending. With a group of five, you may become a little board
of hitting everything wiht summons and waiting so much, but it's
for the better. In Story Battles, someone should always cast Golem,
and your Summoners should be as far away as possible, casting some
of the lower level Summons at their leisure. You won't need much
more than the basic elementals, Fairy, Odin, and Bahamut. The
others, aside from maybe Clops, don't come in too handy. Half of MP
is definitely a blessing, but before you earn it, you may have to
put up with the "staff 'em to death" strategy. They have a very
easy time with any of the assassination battles, and Summoner Ramza
can defeat Wiegraf with only a little bit of luck necessary. A
strong, but tedious job.
Set Up: Summon / Restore MP / Half of MP
Battle Strategies: Under Construction.
-XI- Geomancer
Recommended Party: 2 Males, 3 Females. High Brave, Low Faith.
Advantages: Long Range Attacks, Elemental Status Effects, Attack
Up, Shields, Good Melee Attacks, Balanced Growth
Disadvantages: Elementals Are Weak, No Good Movement Ability,
Outclassed By Many Enemies
Basics: A favourite class of mine, I'll try not to be too bias. Think of
Geomancers as weaker, long ranged Knights. They can use Swords,
and can equip the ever powerful shields. Best yet, they also get
access to the stat benefits of Clothes, Robes, and Hats. They have
decent HP, and their PA and MA, which Elemental is based on, is
usually about even for Females. The statuses inflicted by most
elementals occur very often when they are used 5 times in a row.
Best yet, they have Attack Up, which can turn them into powerful
melee fighting machines. Now of course, the bad parts. To get a
good Geo, you should probably use Females. This results in lower
HP. And of course, the long range elementals don't deal that much
damage at all. They only have an OK reaction ability, and their
movement abilites are arguably the worst in the game. Their skill
set isn't much more advanced than Knights, and isn't nearly as
effective in story battles. Most strategy revolves around a lot
of Elemental using, finishing the enemy off with a physical attack
or two. Another good class, well balanced, and definitely with
challenge.
Set Up: Elemental / Counter Flood / Attack Up / Any Ground
Battle Strategies
>>Fieldmarshall: Know your terrain! You have a whole game to spend with
these wacky hippies, so you should take the time out to note what ground
gives what Attacks. Know where to step for what status effect!
>>Axes Bad!: Axes are bad weapons.
-XII- Lancer
Recommended Party: 5 Males. High Brave, Low Faith.
Advantages: High Power, Two Range Attack, Jump Skills, Dragon
Spirit, Ignore Height
Disadvantages: No Weapons Early On, Costly Jumps, Slow
Basics: Another very powerful Job which makes later battles a lot
easier. The all Lancer party's main weakness is it's reliance
on fists for the early sections of the game. It may require a
bit more leveling up, and a lot of weak jumping, but they can
make it through Chapter 1 eventually. Conserve JP for as long
as possible and only invest in the Level 8 Jumps, as usual.
Now, go for Ignore Height with your guys, and keep them out of
harms way and Jump what you need to to death. Dragon Spirit will
come in handy, and their high HPs will usually cause them to
be revived with enough HP to get hit again, and thus, reactive it.
Once they get past their early difficulties, most battles will be
easy. Their lack of Speed and Movement will be a hinderance, but
keep going at it and eventually you'll triumph.
Set Up: Jump / Dragon Spirit / Ignore Height
Battle Strategies
>>Accessorize: The terribly slow Lancers should generaly focus on
increasing theyir maneuverability with their accesories. Battle
Boots, Germinas Boots, and Sprint Shoes should be chosen over
Bracers and such.
>>Just For Starters: Early on in the game, pre-Lances, you
will need to make use of all your wits to stay alive. Jump as much
as necessary and avoid hand to hand combat. Keep back as much as
possible and let your Guests do the greater portion of the work.
>>Kriss Kross Make Ya Wanna: When faced with a mage, despite your
low Faith, it's always best to Jump on their heads and make them
die, avoiding the spell, and offing an enemy.
>>Yardow Fort City: Keep your guys at long range and let the Ninja
feed themselves to you. By now, your Jump range should be maximized,
so simply let them come to you. Malak should be offed as soon as
possible and the Summoners shouldn't be too much of a bother as long
as you Jump away from their infernal creatures.1
>>Murond City - Balk: Equip Flame Shields to nullify the annoying
Elemental Guns. Stay back and wait if necessary, but once Balk is at
around 30 CT or less, launch Jumps at him. They'll hit, and with
high enough power, he'll be dead after a few Jumps.
-XIII- Mediator
Recommended Party: 2 Males, 3 Females. High Brave, Low Faith.
Advantages: Invitation, Alter Brave and Faith, Threaten, Guns, Mimic
Daravon
Disadvantages: Poor PA, Low Invitation Rate, No Good Reaction Abilities,
Mediocre Movement, Weak Physical Attacks At Beginning and End
Basics: I once had a very incorrect judgement of these guys. After
playing around with them a little bit, I realize how terribly
wrong I was. Mediators are a grand big ball of fun to use.
First off, their Threaten ability can turn the entire battlefield
into a chicken coop. Solution can turn your party into
an anti mage war unit. Mimic Daravon makes for some nice back up
when all else fails. Don't forget about Invitation too, and
their anti-mage skill, Insult. All of this stuff has NOW timing,
too. They still lack terribly in HP and PA, but they can surely
make up for this if all they are fighting is poultry. Mediators
definitely present a challenge, but they are now among my
favourite job classes for this challenge.
Set Up: Talk Skill / Finger Guard [After B/F Enhancement] / Train
Battle Strategies:
>>Finger Guard: Lay off it for a while. This poorly guided Reaction
will attempt to counter your Solutions and Praising. There is very
little market for a skill this useless...
>>Threaten: Where do I begin? This attack has about a 70% chance of
hitting against worst Zodiac, 90% normally. Keep that in mind. 3 of
these will poultryize most enemies, 4 will do the job on anything.
The bonuses of doing this? Well until it's Brave returns to 10, you
have now disabled an enemy and given yourself a 150% damage attack
against it. Oh, and when it does return, if it's a monster, any
physical attack it does will be pathetic, as they are partially
based on Brave, and any enemy is easy to return to his foul form.
Turn any battlefield into a Chicken Coop, and have your way with
them :) Thanks to Saint Ajora for letting me see the light.
>>Eat Your Level Eggs!: Okay, so now use the Chicken Coop strategy,
and now, with your group of clucking enemies, chase them into a
corner. Here comes the fun part. Try to save as many enemies as
you have characters and have each Mediator use Threaten on them
on their turn. This will set the enemies into eternal chicken
state. For a twist or two, use Solution if your Mediators' Faiths
aren't at 3 yet, or build up your Brave via Praise while your
better off dead chickens cluck in fear.
-XIV- Oracle
Recommended Party: Ramza + 4 Females. High Brave, High Faith.
Advantages: Status Effects, Two Range Attack, Move-MP Up, Defense Up,
Petrify, Innocent
Disadvantages: Effectiveness Based Much On Luck, Little Offense For Most
of the Game, Random Battles Can Cause Problems if Swarmed
Basics: Another challenge. Their entire strategy hinges around disabling
enemies and taking them out when they can't fight back. Paralyze
and Sleep will become staple parts of your strategy. Petrify can
take out a single non-special unit in one fell swoop, but is
very risky. They have several ways to deal with opposing mages,
and even have a pair of recouperative abilities. Though
they don't have high PA, their Sticks are MA based, making
them a PHYSICAL threat. The entire problem with Oracles is that
they NEED a lot of luck to win battles. You'll find a lot of
difficulty in random battles until you have a good skill set,
and even then, a swarm can easily swamp the Magical Pimps.
Prepare to be hitting soft reset for a while...
Set Up: Ying Yang Magic / Absorb Used MP / Defense Up / Move MP Up
Battle Strategies
>>Paralyze: One of the earliest available and most useful ability in
the skill set. It has its' obvious uses, like inflicting Don't Act
at a rather decent rate. But, it also eliminates the victim's evade.
This becomes useful against Knights and such. Don't forget, Reaction
skills are ignored too.
>>Silence Song: The most basic, and effective way to eliminate any
type of magic class. It actually can outspeed most Black Magic
spells/ However, some may have protection against it. In that case,
use...
>>Doubt Faith: This nullifies the power of any mage. However, now your
characters don't stand a chance at hitting it with their spells.
Instead, try...
>>Blind Rage: This causes Mages to use physical attacks, while keeping
them open targets to Ying Yang Magic.
>>Sleep+Paralyze: This is the best strategy early on to stop an
opponenent dead in its' tracks. Put it to sleep, then Paralyze the
other enemies that are near to back them away for long enough.
Paralyze the sleeping victim, then attack without any worry of
evasion or counter, and with bonus damage.
>>Pray Faith: It's very easy to miss the usefulness of this ability.
It's best used in conjunction with Sleep or Petrify, seeing as they
both have the same Speed. Oracle 1 casts Pray Faith, and if it's a
pretty high hit percentage, Oracle 2 targets the same enemy with
Petrify or Sleep. This gets the job done well. Faith stays on for
a while too.
>>Equipment Upgrade: Before entering Goug for the first time, and after
dropping off Agrias and Ovelia at Lionel, return to Zaland. Now
you'll have access to Battle Bamboo, Green Berets, and Wizard Robes.
With this boost, you'll have an easy time in the next few fights.
>>Foxbird: Two uses of this will reduce most enemies into Chickens for
a few turns. Three uses will turn ANY enemy into a Chicken. Use this
to your advantage.
>>Life Drain/Spell Absorb: 4 Life Drains will kill ANYTHING except the
Undead. 3 Spell Absorbs will drain ANYTHING of all of its' MP.
>>Leveling Up Easy: This strategy requires that your Oracles all have
Spell Absorb, Move- MP Up, and preferably Absorb Used MP. Now then,
finish off all the enemies, save one. Put this sucker to sleep,
then get your Oracles gathered together. Find a few good pairs of
characters to Spell Absorb each other, and keep your Oracles walking
around. With fairly decent Hit% and compatibility, accompanied by
the occasional Re-Sleep, your Oracles will build up some nice
JP and EXP, giving them the boost they may need in Chapter 1 and 2.
>>Lionel Castle: Trouble? Well, on the Gafgarion side, either cast
Sleep on him, OR cast Zombie on yourself :) This will reverse the
effects of Night Sword. On the other side of the wall, Silence the
Summoner and put as many of the Knights to sleep as possible. The
Archers' Lightning Bows MAY cause a character to drop. If that's the
case, just rush. Have patience, above all.
-XV- Ninja
Recommended Party: 5 Males. High Brave, Low Faith.
Advantages: High PA, Two Swords, Speed, Movement, Abandon, Throw,
Ninja Swords
Disadvantages: Low HP, Weak Early Weapons, Easy To Kill if Swarmed,
Throwing Can Be Very Costly
Basics: Having Two Swords certainly can be fun. Unless those swords
are actually Knives. There is only so much strategy to be found
in Ninja. Aggressive players will move in and hack away at their
foes. Passive players can play it safe and throw axes and such to
do damage from a safe distance. Despite their low HP, they do have
25% class evasion, not to mention the always reacting Abandon, thus,
as long as you don't let the enemy get behind you, you'll have a
good shot at evading the attack. Once you have Spell Edges, exploit
Don't Act as much as possible. If you can't kill something, keep
throwing Ninja at it until it's hit with Don't Act. Early in the
game, they have a great deal of trouble. Of course, they are a hard
class to get to, yet once you have them, they are only a glorifed
Squire for a while. Capable of dealing Knight damage, they must
depend on evasion and knowing when to run. Play them cautiously,
and be fierce when you need to be.
Set Up: Throw / Abandon / Move In Water
Battle Strategies
>>Evasion: Make great use of the Ninja's natural 25% class evade. When
ever it is possible, use a Mantle instead of Boots or Gloves, and
equip Abandon. In a few attacks, the Ninja should be very hard to
touch.
>>Throwing: Though a costly habit, try to carry around Axes to throw,
as they supply some of the best damage.
-XVI- Samurai
Recommended Party: 2 Males, 3 Females. High Brave, Low Faith.
Advantages: High PA, Draw Out Variety, Blade Grasp, Healing, Protection
Disadvantages: Not Very Manueverable, Draw Out Can Be Costly, First Few
Draw Outs Are Poor, No Good Movement Ability
Basics: One of the most popular jobs in all of Tactics, Samurai has
every advantage a Physical class needs. However, they too suffer
in Chapter 1 as Weaponless wonders. This does give you time to
build, and build, and build up your skills for the swords yet
to come. So, while struggling through Chapter 1, make use of
Blade Grasp, which will keep your hapless Samurai safe from the
evil Chocobo. Once you have the Swords, grow a routine. Keep
your Samurai tightly knit. Open battles with Kiyomori, and use
Murasame whenever your HP is even slightly low. Bizen Boat can
make quick work of Mage classes, and before you get the real
power swords, Asura and such will provide decent damage to a
wide area of enemies. Be prepared to be constantly short on gil,
though, as you have to make sure that you carry a constant stock
of swords. As a final note, remember, you don't get access
to Masamune or Chirijaden.
Set Up: Draw Out / Blade Grasp / Two Hands / Walk On Water
Battle Strategies
>>When All Else Fails: Use Meatbone Slash! It causes huge damage when
it's activated, and can end most battles pretty easily. Great
early on, and even better late in the game when you can heal.
>>Draw Out: Keep about 7 stocked Katanas in your inventory, as you might
run through them like water with 5 sword smashers on your team. Never
over do it; if Asura will get the job done, don't use Heaven's Cloud.
Get to know how much damage you'll do, and follow enemies accordingly.
>>Golgorand: Rush Gafgarion with your Samurais and get him out of the
fight. Draw your Samurai away from the Time Mages and focus your
attack on the Knights. Blade Grasp should give adequate protection
against the Archers. Finish the Time Mages last.
>>Lionel Castle: Don't attack Gaf until the gate is open. Split your
party up to take out the characters on both sides. After the others
are dead, take out Gafgarion.
>>Inside Riovanes: Equipment should be as follows:
Kiyomori, Best Helmet Available, White Robe, Magic Gauntlet
You'll need at least 10 MA. The rest of your party should have the
same set up, substituting Magic Gauntlet for N-Kai Armlet. Now, after
getting hit once, use Kiyomori for the protection and wait. Now you'll
get a second turn. Heal yourself and wait once more. He'll attack,
and then heal, or use Kiyomori if your protection has worn off and
retreat. He'll come at you. When he's in range, use Heaven's Cloud.
Now run back and forth between the flames, facing them. If set up
correctly, Wiegraf will resort to Earth Slash. Keep healing and
protecting. Once he's in range, Heaven's Cloud again to win. Velius
is considerably easier, as long as you pull back, heal, and keep
your protection up. Use your normal sword attack to damage him, too.
>>Outside Limberry: Keep all of your Samurai back and try to withdraw
Ramza if possible. N-Kai Armlets are a must here. Wait for the
Assassins to come to you, and in the mean time, heal and protect
your characters. Blade Grasp is useless in the fight, so equip
Meatbone Slash, just in case. Now, wait for an Assassin to try
something on your character, and when she's in range, fry her.
>>Limberry Basement: Protect against Stop, and then pray. Zalera's
Speed and range of status effect spells can really put an end
to you. Hope for the best when he casts Nightmare. The best, oddly
enough, would be Death Sentence. Get him in range and hack away. A lot
of luck is necessary here.
>>Murond City - Altima: Protection is of utter importance. Once you
have a protected party, start to move in to do some damage to Altima.
Keep a Samurai to attend Alma, keeping her HP high to draw attention
away from your characters. Use your strongest Attacks and keep Shell
and Protect up, if for no other reason than to force Despair 2 instead
of a damaging attack.
-XVII- Bard
Recommended Party: 5 Males.
Advantages: Long Distance Aid, Move+3, Last Song, Cheer Song, Battle Song
Disadvantages: Very Low HP, No Damaging Skills, Must Wait An Eternity
To Damage Enemies, Low Song Hit Rate
Basics: Eh... what can you say? You need both Third Tier Magic classes
up to Level four to use them, and then you get punished by having
to stretch every battle in the game out. Obviously, you must run
as much as possible and stay far out of the reaches of even Goblins.
You'll need to use Battle Song almost constantly, and it isn't a
bad idea to have one Bard use Life Song to keep your guys up.
With Move+3, you'll have a much easier time fleeing from your foes.
Once you've built up an insane amount of PA, run in and smash
those troublesome enemies into the ground. This is pretty basic of
a strategy, but a necessity. The _REAL_ challenge lies in trying to
defeat Gafgarion and Wiegraf like this...
Set Up: Sing / MA Save / Move+3
Battle Strategies: Under Construction
-XVIII- Dancer
Recommended Party: Ramza (As Bard), 4 Females.
Advantages: Very Long Range Damage, Fly, Last Dance, Nameless Dance
Disadvantages: Tedious Battles, Low HP, Low Dance Hit Rate
Basics: Better than Bards? That's not saying much, but there really is
little to be said of Straight Dancers. After going through
all the job levelling up trouble, you must now wait for
"With Knives" to take out the enemies. This usually takes about
([3^5]*6)+2 days early on in the game. They have some very nice
abilities, but most of the time it is way too risky to waste time
with them while you could be doing damage to your foes. Use the
Status inflicting and stat breaking Dances wisely for best results.
The big plus here is having Ramza as a Bard. Abuse Nameless Song
and keep your girls alive. Good luck fighting Gaf and Wiegraf
though, it's just as tough in this game as it is in the Bard game.
Set Up: Dance / A Save / Fly
Battle Strategies: Under Construction
-XIX- Mime
Recommended Party: 5 Males. High Brave, Low Faith.
Advantages: Good HP, Good PA, Speed
Disadvantages: No Special Abilities, No Equipment, No Miming,
No Long Range Attacks, Poor Movement, No Support Skills,
No Reaction Abilities, No Movement Abilities
Basics: Ridiculous. Ludicrous. Impossible? All these words describe
the all Mime game very nicely. After a few centuries to get
the adequate Job levels, the player is then further tortured
by dealing with Equipmentless, Skill-less, Schmucks. Ignore,
for a moment, that these characters aren't really Mimes anymore,
but instead silly people wearing silly clothes, and look at
what they DO have. Excellent HP, and powerful physical Attacks.
Now, look back at the guys who got dressed in the dark inside
some sort of Salvation Army center. Their only hope to win, ever,
is to spread enemies out, then swarm and kill them one by one.
Some would say this challenge is totally impossible. It hasn't
been proven so... Wiegraf VS Ramza? Change Ramza for that battle
to something good. Hard, very hard. Perhaps impossible, perhaps
not.
Set Up: None
Battle Strategies
>>Attack: Use it to hit enemies. Don't hit your own characters
>>Run: Do this a lot.
>>Phoenix Wing Demanded It: Mimes do not mime other Mimes. (Mimes
don't let Mimes mime Mimes)
-XX- Calculator
Recommended Party: 5 Males. High Brave, Low Faith.
Advantages: Damage Split, They Can Move, Speed So Low That They
Don't Crystallize For A Long Time, Have Mohawks
Disadvantages: Horrible Speed, Low HP, No Abilities, Reliance on
Reaction Skill, Horrible PA, Disgusting Manuerverability
Basics: This is the most unlikely event known to all of mankind. Now,
despite the impossibility of winning with this formation,
Rainrir has taken it upon himself to try. Well, considering
they have absolutely no way of doing any real damage outside
of Damage Split, they can only really kill their enemy by
getting hit. Nice eh? Well, good luck, crazy Rainrir.
Set Up: Math Skill, Damage Split, Blah, Move EXP- Up
Battle Strategies
>>Damage Split: You have to use it. No if's and's or but's about it.
Damaging the enemy is ENTIRELY based on them damaging you. If
you can spread the damage out well enough, perhaps you can kill
an enemy!
_____________________________________________________________________
-_-_-_-_-_-_ ______________
|Section 4 \__________________________________________/ Miscellaneous\
-4.1- Not So Frequently Asked Questions
>>1. Why is this called the Straight Class Challenge?
<>2. What's with the cookies?
<>3. Isn't the Mime Challenge impossible?
<>4. I have some sort of strange complex, how can I make the game even
_HARDER_ than this?
<>5. I broke past the Level Cap!!! What should I do?
<>6. What should I do if one of my characters crystallize?
<>7. In the Dancer challenge, wouldn't using Ramza as a Mime be better, as
then he uses Dancer skills? Why use him as a Bard?
<>More on the way.
-4.2- Thanks
-Here's the most important part of this whole FAQ. Now, I'll list all
the people who I have to thank for creating this FAQ with me. I am
only the writer and co-creator, these people are the real brains
behind the operation. If you'd like your e-mail address accompanying
your name, or if my stupid brain forgot you, just mail me and say so.
>>For Their Strategical Input... This Needs Some Heavy Updating...:
Maligant(The 2nd Straight Man... Ever) - Priest
Cyrus Viruz(The 3rd Straight Man) - Chemist
RyuKaiser(No Funny Nickname) - Ninja
Owvin(I Always Think Of Cyan's Dead Son) - Various
PhoenixWing(The Squire of Irreverence) - Mime, Monk
TallgeeseVI(He Has a Gundam Name and I Don't Hate Him, Very Rare) - Lancer, Ninja
Dragoon MRM(The Elmdor Tip Rocks) - Lancer
Saint Ajora(The Best Demon Villain From Ancient Times Ever!) - Samurai
Bahamut(My Hero) - Various
Dr Goofy(Name About Sums It Up) - Geomancer
thefool(Lovable Old Fool...) - Summoner
Bloo Roo(Can't Help But Picture a Blue Kangaroo Typing...) - Oracle
AdamanBangle(Bangle... Funny Word!!!) - Chemist
CommanderJP(Super Monk!) - Monk
monkramza(Crazy Man...) - Dancer
Kantolin(The GobliThief Master Itself) - Thief
Goblez(Zelbog Backwards!) - Knight
Ark5th(My Brother In Archer Plight) - Archer
Pokey Tax (Heheh Pokey is Gumby's Horse)- Time Mage
>>The Rest of the [Straight Crew]
Mousse, GrandCross, Storm Shadow, Neotericus, MagnusTheZero, Valdek,
trc1986num2, TimeMage113, RPGHarvester2000, MarvelousBob, ChronoTRobo32,
GameGuru86, FFTPro, MysticGohan42, Gamer4Life, RamzaHevenlyKnight,
IAmTheWheelman, Levianthan, Rainrir (The Insane)
>>Last But Definitely Not Least
The3rdOracle- For Being My Spellchecker :)
AeroStar- For Being Some Sort of Stat Producing Robot
Master Daravon- For Early Encouragement and Being a Genuine Genius
shoyru knight - Now he can't damn me!
Burgundy - Just because...
colddrum - For almost proving the impossible *Cheers*
NeoWeird - For letting me live underneath his bed.
-4.3- Random Stuff
________________________
~*^H A L L O F F A M E^*~
________________________
TallgeeseVI- Completed Lancer and Ninja
Dr Goofy- Completed Geomancer and Monk
MarvelousBob- Completed Wizard
DragoonMRM- Completed Lancer
HeavenlyKnight - Completed Squire
AdamanBangle - Completed Chemist
trc1986number2 - Completed Chemist
Cyrus Viruz - Completed Chemist
MunkiBleedsGreen - Completed Ninja! Go me!
Saint Ajora - Completed Samurai
PokeyTax - Completed Time Mage
If I'm missing you, or you've completed the challenge [honestly],
e-mail me to get added.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
This FAQ was generated from the topics "I Still Want A Cookie",
"Challenge: Straight Characters", "Who Got The Cookie? I Got The
Cookie.", "The Cookie In It's Natural Habitat", "Straight Character
Challenge Lives On", and "Too Legit Too Quit; Straight Character
Challenge". All of that weirdness occured on the Final Fantasy
Tactics Gameplay Message Board, starting on April 7, 2001. The better half
of the entire topic was deleted by mods, or only exists on my hard drive
anymore. If you really really really want to see this stuff, e-mail me
and maybe I'll send some of the original posts, just for the heck of it,
because I'm a wild and crazy guy.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
______________
Version History
______________
V0.3-May 5th, 2001- Finished all of the Basic Class Specific information.
I'm putting up some strategy little by little now, as
it's pretty tough to drudge through the 1,500+ posts
on the Straight Character challenge I have saved.
Still, though, things are coming along nicely. I even
added some nice little strategies to a few of the
jobs!
V0.2- May 3rd, 2001- Lost this update... Created Generic Strategy and
put up a lot of Basic Job Specific Stuff
V0.1-May 1st, 2001- This is the first offline version of the Straight
Character FAQ. No body will read this until it
hopefully is accepted, but what the hey. I posted
all the basic stuff, and soon I will begin on
strategy construction.
______________
This document is ©Shaun Pilling (AKA [email protected] or
MunkiBleedsGreen)
This document can be found at GameFAQs.com and psxcodez.com.
If you find any other location, please e-mail me.
::rides his ostrich off onto the horizon, throwing cookies to all those
who gave their time to read this FAQ, or take the challenge::
I salute you all! A winner is you!
_________________________________________________________________________
