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Forums - Sony Discussion - Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age - Job Combinations?

The Fury on 04 August 2017
Zkuq said:
I remember the game getting some critique for its original system and now that we have the job system, it actually seems even worse. Kind of ridiculous, I'd say.

Depends what you mean by worse. The original game was fine, You could easily make a certain character specialise in weapons but when it came to magics and such alike they could all just followed the same path which people didn't like (I didn't care, I mean it's handy to have anyone heal anyone).... Jack of all trades masters of none. etc. Mist and Summons were tied to MP.

In this new version, you assign characters a role but can only have 3 in your party so you need one of you main party to be a white mage as least. The game is generally easier though, I've rarely struggled against bosses. Mist not tied to MP means you can spam it too, I've used summons more in this than I did in the original for example.

What they could have done to help people is not just update the International Version with jobs but include both types of licence boards to cater for new and old players. You choose at the start and go from there. 

Other than the trials and the graphics, it feels little was done to 'add' to the game to me. 



Hmm, pie.

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Jpcc86 on 04 August 2017
Zkuq said:
I remember the game getting some critique for its original system and now that we have the job system, it actually seems even worse. Kind of ridiculous, I'd say.

I dunno about the critique for its original system, but personally I love the new system. Adds depth and challenge. 



Zkuq on 04 August 2017
The Fury said:
Zkuq said:
I remember the game getting some critique for its original system and now that we have the job system, it actually seems even worse. Kind of ridiculous, I'd say.

Depends what you mean by worse. The original game was fine, You could easily make a certain character specialise in weapons but when it came to magics and such alike they could all just followed the same path which people didn't like (I didn't care, I mean it's handy to have anyone heal anyone).... Jack of all trades masters of none. etc. Mist and Summons were tied to MP.

In this new version, you assign characters a role but can only have 3 in your party so you need one of you main party to be a white mage as least. The game is generally easier though, I've rarely struggled against bosses. Mist not tied to MP means you can spam it too, I've used summons more in this than I did in the original for example.

What they could have done to help people is not just update the International Version with jobs but include both types of licence boards to cater for new and old players. You choose at the start and go from there. 

Other than the trials and the graphics, it feels little was done to 'add' to the game to me. 

I think you were very much in the dark and acting blindly in the first game unless you used some sort of a guide, which seems like bad design to me. And as for the new system, there's definitely a design problem if you need to do serious research outside the game to make sure you don't really screw up basic roles. I know it's better in some regards, but at the same time, it also sounds incredibly flawed. I don't remember too much about mist anymore, but I think I really hated how it worked in the original for some reason (probably the MP thing you mentioned). I agree that including both systems would've been the best.

Jpcc86 said:
Zkuq said:
I remember the game getting some critique for its original system and now that we have the job system, it actually seems even worse. Kind of ridiculous, I'd say.

I dunno about the critique for its original system, but personally I love the new system. Adds depth and challenge. 

Nice to know. I'm not really thinking it's bad, just that it sounds worse (at least in some regards).



Aura7541 on 04 August 2017
Bristow9091 said:

Would Balthier be able to switch out one of those classes for Machinist and still be viable? The reason I ask is because I'd REALLY want to use him with guns, considering he's a sky pirate and is always shown with guns, lol. Although I did some reading and it seems both Time Battlemage and White Mage have the haste/slow abilities, so I wouldn't want to switch it with Ashe and give her two jobs that have a lot of overlap. 

... Could Ashe maybe be White Mage/Monk, Penelo be Black Mage/Fobreaker, and then let Balthier be Machinist/Time Battlemage?

I know you say there's no right or wrong, but I'd like the jobs I give my characters to make sense... y'know, a guy shown holding guns all the time, should probably have a job which includes guns, lol.

Ashe makes a pretty good Bushi because katanas take strength and magic into account. A white mage/bushi combination is good for Ashe because the magick lore licenses from the Bushi class allows her for high healing/magick damage output as well as high katana damage.

Penelo makes a good black mage/monk because you can access some white magic spells on the monk license board.

Balthier, I agree with the machinist/time battlemage combination since the machinist class is more of a supporting role.



brendude13 on 05 August 2017

I spent ages looking into this. Apparently there are optimum setups so that each character has access to 3 swiftness unlocks. Then there is taking into account what can be considered canon classes for each character.

I eventually went for:

Vaan - Shikari / Foebreaker
Ashe - Time Battlemage / White mage
Penelo - Monk / Black mage
Fran - Red battlemage / Archer
Basch - Bushi / Knight
Balthier - Machinist / Uhlan



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Nanaki on 05 August 2017
Aura7541 said:

Ashe makes a pretty good Bushi because katanas take strength and magic into account. A white mage/bushi combination is good for Ashe because the magick lore licenses from the Bushi class allows her for high healing/magick damage output as well as high katana damage.

 

I don't think Bushi/WH is that good. You get just 3 Magick lore licences a and healing. Healing is good, but not for damage dealers. I would give bushi job with Heavy Armor, more strenght is better. Knight is good combo. Heavy Armor, shields (for Khumba). And knight gets mystic armor. Excalibur plus White Robe is one of strongets combinations. Hits for 40k are always fun.



deskpro2k3 on 05 August 2017
Bristow9091 said:
deskpro2k3 said:

Vaan: Bushi/Shikari = HP, tank, damage dealer, mystic armor. (Black Robe: dark elemental damage +50% + Yagyu Darkblade = Yiazmat killer)

Balthier: Time Battlemage/Foebreaker = Breaker, Buffer/Debuff. (Crossbow ranged damage, or close range with hammer or axe)

Fran: Red Battlemage/Archer = Support, Range damage, Access to Ardor (Oil + Burning bow + Fiery Arrows + Ardor = Massive fire damage.. strongest hitting damage in the game)

Penelo: Monk/Blackmage = lots of HP, swiftness, access to Holy magick, access to Staff of the Magi: +50% Holy Damage (Blackmage with Holy? Holyshit!)

Basch: Knight/Bushi = Tank, lots of HP. access to white magick, mystic armor (White Robe: holy elemental damage +50% + Excalibur = God combo Undead killing machine)

Ashe: Whitemage/Machinist  = Machinist guns adds a fixed amount of damage, access to time magick and lots of HP for survival.


there is no right or wrong, I choose this strictly for making trial mode alittle bit easier.

Would Balthier be able to switch out one of those classes for Machinist and still be viable? The reason I ask is because I'd REALLY want to use him with guns, considering he's a sky pirate and is always shown with guns, lol. Although I did some reading and it seems both Time Battlemage and White Mage have the haste/slow abilities, so I wouldn't want to switch it with Ashe and give her two jobs that have a lot of overlap. 

... Could Ashe maybe be White Mage/Monk, Penelo be Black Mage/Fobreaker, and then let Balthier be Machinist/Time Battlemage?

I know you say there's no right or wrong, but I'd like the jobs I give my characters to make sense... y'know, a guy shown holding guns all the time, should probably have a job which includes guns, lol.

 

Hmm keep in mind Machinist/Time Battlemage combo is doubling up on your two sources of time magic. Guns being stat independent so you don't need high strength to use them, and Crossbows requiring high strength. What the Time Mage needs is a job that either provides more strength, or more magic. The Machinist provides neither because the Machinist needs neither.

Also you see, guns giving a fixed amount of damage and can shoot from a safe distance, so that's why I pair it with Ashe as Whitemage. Monk has Holy, and Blackmage has the highest MAG, so I went Penelo Monk/Blackmage just to maximize the damage of Holy.



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Nanaki on 05 August 2017

Machinist has TM 8 (Warp, Vanishga), 9 (Slowga, Reflectga) and 9 (Hastega, Graviga). All of them are enabled by Famfrit.



brendude13 on 06 August 2017
Bristow9091 said:
brendude13 said:
I spent ages looking into this. Apparently there are optimum setups so that each character has access to 3 swiftness unlocks. Then there is taking into account what can be considered canon classes for each character.

I eventually went for:

Vaan - Shikari / Foebreaker
Ashe - Time Battlemage / White mage
Penelo - Monk / Black mage
Fran - Red battlemage / Archer
Basch - Bushi / Knight
Balthier - Machinist / Uhlan

Ooh I think I like the look of that party, it uses all the jobs, and gives people the jobs I think they should have based on what I know about them, which is basically looking at a picture of them and saying "Hmm... this person looks like [insert job]"

Having Balthier with Uhlan would mean he can use guns AND swords, right? That definitely fits more in line with the sky pirate thing, lol. Although I'd probably swap the order of which some people get jobs, for example, Ashe would be White Mage first, Penelo Black Mage, Fran Archer, and Basch Knight, simply because they're more traditional roles and I'd feel more comfortable having them from the start, but the job pairings there do look like they'd make sense, except for one thing;

Would Vaan be better off as Shikari/Bushi, and Basch be Knight/Foebreaker? 

Forgot to mention I wanted to use all jobs too. I also based the mage choices on this artwork:

I feel like Basch is also an Archer and Ashe a Knight, but I didn't want to use the same job twice. Knight / Foebreaker isn't one I've seen listed before as an optimum combination. It could be, it's just not in the guide I used.

Apparently it's good to put the Knight and White Mage as well as Time Battlemage and Machinist in different parties as their buffs and healing abilities overlap.



Nanaki on 07 August 2017

Forums on GameFaqs are quite dumb, too much crazy fanboys, but their sticky topics and FAQs itself are usualy quite good.

Try this topics:
https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/191202-final-fantasy-xii-the-zodiac-age/75557762 About Licences boards
https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/191202-final-fantasy-xii-the-zodiac-age/75477310 Jobs combinations