\____ \____ __________
| . | | | \ /
|-- _ _ | |-- _ _ -|- _ __ \ /
| | | \ | | | | | | | \ | | | \ \ / \ /
| | | | \.| | | \.| | | \ \.| _| \/ ____\/____
Spoiler-Free Job Planning Guide /
by rey meustrus (meustrus AT gmail DOT com)
Version 1.10 @ June 9, 2011
Guide Overview
===============================================================================
This guide is designed for people who enjoy planning their games ahead of time,
but inevitably end up frustrated because of the low general information
available about such things as classes at the beginning of the game. Final
Fantasy V is a great case of this - the job system has a great deal of depth,
but most of it is not clear to the player as the game starts, and by the time
you figure it out, you're halfway through the game and have all these ability
points in random jobs and nothing to do with them.
At the same time, a desire to effectively plan a game does not mean the desire
to be spoiled as to the special class and job abilities that appear later
through the game. And so, that brings us to this guide. All the essential
information about the classes that does not appear in the game or manuals can
be seen here, with the information organized in the order that the classes
actually appear. This should allow you to read over and consider how to plan
your game as you play it instead of over-thinking in-game acquisitions that you
shouldn't actually know about yet.
How to use this Guide
===============================================================================
There are several uses to this guide. Each section has its own use, and while
it's probably a good idea to read the sections in order you don't have to read
all of them.
The first section is an in-depth analysis of the job system without spoiling
any of the specifics later on. It's OK to skim or even skip this section,
especially if you've already played the game through a few times. You can
read through it all at once, you can read a particular section when you're
curious, or you can skip it altogether. I will be assuming throughout the rest
of the guide that you have read this section, so if it seems like I'm making a
big assumption you can look back here for my explanation.
The second section is the main spoiler-free feature of this guide. In it are
recommendations for which jobs to use and when, as well as my opinion of each
job. It's broken down by when you receive the jobs so you can read a bit at a
time, only referring back to the guide when you get new jobs.
The third section is a very technical discussion of techniques on how to build
a job plan all at once ahead of time. It assumes you have played the game
through at least once, but I've still tried to keep it free of any plot
spoilers.
The fourth section is all reference material in a compressed format. Check here
for the specific base attributes for each character. Check here for ALL the
abilities every job learns and what it could be good for. Check here for which
equipment can be used by which job. This is mainly here as a resource when
you're working through section 3 to build your own job plan.
Notice the bracketed section names? You can use Ctrl+F (Find) and that [CODE]
to jump to a particular section without scrolling and searching.
Changelog
===============================================================================
Version 1.10 @ June 9, 2011
* Some fact checking; thanks to Djibriel for pointing out my errors. This
update came about mostly from his fact checking and play strategies.
* Changed Ninja description to mention ways to manipulate !Throw damage.
* Added "About the Attributes" section [INTR5].
* Added "Equipment Types" section [INTR7].
* Expanded the "What to Think As You Go Along" section [INTR9].
* Expanded the "Building a Good Magic User" section to discuss the Oracle job
[PLAN4].
* Expanded somewhat the "The Mimic" section [PLAN5].
* Added hidden armor types to [REFR3].
* Ran spellcheck (I'm a good speller, but apparently I still make ~15 mistakes
in a document this large).
* Changed my email address.
Version 1.00 @ March 15, 2011
* First release
===============================================================================
Table of Contents
===============================================================================
1. Basic to Advanced Understanding of the Job System
a. The Basics [INTR1]
b. Mastering a Job [INTR2]
c. Types of Jobs [INTR3]
d. Types of Abilities [INTR4]
e. About the Attributes [INTR5]
f. Other Uses for Jobs [INTR6]
g. Equipment Types [INTR7]
h. Building Each Character [INTR8]
i. What to Think As You Go Along [INTR9]
2. Job Descriptions
a. Jobs of the Wind Crystal [JOBS1]
b. Jobs of the Water Crystal [JOBS2]
c. Jobs of the Fire Crystal [JOBS3]
d. Jobs of the Fire Crystal (Part 2) [JOBS4]
e. Jobs of the Earth Crystal [JOBS5]
f. Jobs of the Bonus Dungeon [JOBS6]
3. Building a Job Plan All at Once
a. Where to Start [PLAN1]
b. Building a Good Physical Fighter [PLAN2]
c. Building a Good Magic User [PLAN3]
d. Planning for a Blue Mage [PLAN4]
e. The Mimic [PLAN5]
f. Making the Plan: An Example [PLAN6]
4. Reference
a. Character base attributes [REFR1]
b. Equipment Allowed for Each Job [REFR2]
c. All Attributes for Each Job [REFR3]
d. All Abilities for Each Job [REFR4]
5. Closing [CLOSE]
===============================================================================
Basic to Advanced Understanding of the Job System
===============================================================================
The Basics [INTR1]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Battles in Final Fantasy 5 are fought using attributes and abilities. Both of
these elements are defined by jobs that you acquire throughout the game.
Once you give a character a job, that character starts earning ABility Points
(ABP) toward abilities. Some abilities are used innately by the jobs, such as
!White and the White Mage. You can use these abilities when you change to
another job. Other abilities aren't used automatically, like the Knight's
Two-Handed, and must be equipped to use.
There are several goals for using jobs. The first goal is access to abilities
that aren't available to the Freelancer job. Playing without jobs is a special
challenge for this reason. From here on, I will mark active attributes with a
'!'. Having abilities, however, like !White is not the only reason for using
jobs.
The job your character is using also influences his or her attributes. There
are four attributes: Strength (which affects damage from !Fight), Agility
(which affects how soon the character can act again), Stamina (which affects
HP), and Magic (which affects the damage or healing power of magic). While your
character is using a job, his or her attributes are modified by that job.
The third effect that jobs have is passive abilities, which I will mark with a
'*'. These abilities are always active as long as the character is using that
job. For example, Monks have the *Counter ability, which causes Monks to
sometimes counterattack when hit physically.
The final effect of a character's job is the equipment that that character may
use. Since the Freelancer can use all equipment, this effect should be thought
of more as a limitation than a bonus.
Mastering a Job [INTR2]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The part that makes jobs interesting is what happens when a character "Masters"
a job. Once a character has learned all the abilities that job teaches, he or
she no longer receives Ability Points while using that job. But, when using the
Freelancer job, that character automatically uses all of the passive abilities
of his or her mastered jobs, and receives the maximum bonus to each individual
attribute from those jobs.
Therefore, a higher goal for using jobs is for each character to have an
attractive collection of passive abilities and attribute bonuses by the end of
the game. This will make your characters so powerful as to handle optional
bosses with ease, such as the Omega Weapon and those in the Bonus Dungeon.
Don't get carried away, though. You need to plan carefully so that every
collection of jobs in your party works to defeat the bosses along the way.
Further, some abilities that would be useless otherwise, such as Equip Bow, can
be extremely useful when given to a job like White Mage.
Types of Jobs [INTR3]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are three main groups of jobs:
Fighters are good at Strength and Stamina.
Dodgers are good at Agility.
Magicians are good at Magic.
Generally, you will want every character to master at least one of the jobs in
the three major categories.
Types of Abilities [INTR4]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When building your characters, it is best if everyone is a bit of a Dodger but
mostly either Fighter or Magician. The abilities you can acquire can generally
be separated into Fighter, Magician, and Buffer groups. Here are the most
useful of these abilities:
Fighter abilities: Two-Handed, *Counter, !Spellblade, !Throw, *Dual-Wield,
!Rapidfire, !Jump, !Dance, !Finisher
Magician abilities: !White, !Black, !Blue, !Summon, !Dualcast, !Gaia,
!Dark Arts
Buffer abilities: !Time, !Sing, !Mix, !Drink
The useful distinction of the Buffer group is that even for !Time, which is
magic, neither strength nor magic power have any impact on the results (except
for the Comet and Meteo spells or the Requiem song, which in my humble opinion
aren't effective anyway)
About the Attributes [INTR5]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is just a generalization; for more information look at more technical FAQs
like Tseng's Algorithms FAQ.
Strength: All weapons except rods, bells, and harps use Strength for damage
calculation. Indispensable for a fighter character, but useless for a
mage.
Speed: Controls how soon a character can move again in battle, and also adds
to the damage for knives. This is the single most useful attribute,
and also the hardest to raise. There is no job with incredible value
for raising Speed - you get what you pay for with ABP.
Stamina: Directly affects HP, and nothing else as far as I remember. Everyone
could use some more HP, right?
Magic: Directly affects MP and the damage done by magical attacks. This
includes spells and some special moves such as !Gaia, !Throw, or
!Ianuki. Some physical attacks also use Magic as part of damage
calculation, such as the critical damage from the Rune Blade, as well
as normal attacks with rods, bells, and harps. If a character doesn't
cast spells or deal any damage in such way, Magic can be ignored.
Other Uses for Jobs [INTR6]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some jobs are useful for reasons other than the above. For example, I recommend
that you have at least one Thief as soon as possible and at all times possible.
Besides having the best bonus to Agility, the Thief can see hidden passages and
protects your party from back attacks. Other jobs have rather mediocre
attributes but excellent skills. I will make a note of these jobs as they are
introduced in the next major section.
A note about Equip (weapon) skills: These skills (and Barehanded) don't just
let you equip that kind of weapon. They also give your character the Strength
bonus of the job that you got the ability from. The Barehanded skill, for
example, gives a +26 bonus to Strength. All of the magic abilities like !Summon
or !Black also give a bonus to magic power equal to the bonus from the class
the ability comes from. Two of the Equip (weapon) skills boost other
attributes; the Equip Bows also boosts Agility, and the Equip Harps ability
boosts boosts Agility and Magic instead of Strength.
This replaces your existing bonus, rather than supplementing it. So, giving
Barehanded to a Knight will only improve Strength by 3 points, but giving it to
a Black Mage will boost it by a whopping 45 points. You do not need to actually
use the weapon the ability is for to get these bonuses.
Equipment Types [INTR7]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While equipment obviously affects the physical damage dealt and taken by your
characters, it can also influence magical damage. There are more categories of
equipment than the game shows you.
Knife: Equippable by many jobs, but there aren't many good ones. The best
is the Chicken Knife, but it has to be made stronger by running
away a lot. The Assassin Dagger is also good as a secondary weapon
for *Dual-Wield.
Staff: Not too good, but if it's available your other options are
probably limited. Weapons like the Flail do OK damage from the
back row for random battles, but the best thing to equip is the
Heal Staff. It really cuts down on healing MP costs.
Rod: Physically abysmal, but what this weapon hides is that certain
rods boost elemental damage. Give a Summoner a Thunder Rod and
Ramuh is 50% more powerful.
Sword: These are the most basic "whack the enemy with a stick" variety of
weapon, but they aren't the best.
Holy Sword: A special type of weapon only equippable by Knights. They are
usually the strongest weapons available, but can't be equipped by
more useful fighter jobs.
Axe: The Berserker's special weapon. The most notable one is the Gaia
Axe, which is the strongest weapon available when you get it.
Whip: The Beastmaster's special weapon. The most notable one is the
Blitz Whip, which besides being an excellent weapon when you find
it is also thunder-elemental at a time when you'll be fighting
lots of enemies weak to that element.
Short Sword: Ninja weapon. These are criminally underpowered until near the end
of the game.
Bell: The Geomancer's weapon. This deals damage based on magic power,
and despite dealing full damage from the back row, bells are
always underpowered.
Harp: The Bard's "weapon." This also deals damage based on magic power,
by its own special formula. Harps deal damage based on a fraction
of the target's max HP. Tragically, they don't work on most
bosses.
Bow: The Ranger's special weapon, which deals full damage from the back
row. This is the best weapon from the back row, and is one of the
weaker fighter-type weapons.
Katana: The Samurai's special weapon. These are among the most powerful
weapons available at any point after they become available at all.
Spear: The Dragoon's weapon, which is required to get the best benefit
from !Jump. Other than that, these tend to be rather weak for a
fighter-type weapon.
Armor: Equippable only by serious fighter jobs, with superior physical
defense and mediocre magic defense.
Shield: Equippable only by fighter jobs, providing evade and in some cases
special protection against magic.
Ninja Garb: Equippable mostly by dodger jobs, and also by the Monk. Provides
little defense and even less magic defense. Sometimes boost other
attributes like Strength.
Light Garb: Equippable by any job that can equip armor or ninja garb. Provides
limited physical and magic defense.
Robe: Equippable by magician jobs. Poor defense but superior magic
defense and magic evasion (the latter being a hidden attribute).
Clothes: Low defense, low magic defense clothing equippable by all jobs.
Ribbon: Equippable only by Dancer. These items are some of the best
equipment in the game and only become available very late. Aside
from the ribbon itself, other Dancer-specific equipment improves
the chance of getting Sword Dance from !Dance.
Besides Rods, certain equipment like the Air Knife and the Gaia Gear also boost
elemental damage.
Building Each Character [INTR8]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Each character has slightly different base attributes and is therefore slightly
better suited to a different task. Here's what I recommend for each character:
Bartz:
He's going to be with you forever, and is a great damage dealer. It's safe
to give him the task of "primary damage-dealer". Being the front member,
it's also more convenient to give him the Geomancer job later in the game
since that job's abilities only work if the Geomancer is in the front.
Lenna:
Lenna has the best Magic attribute, so she had better be a Summoner at some
point to take advantage of its high boost to Magic. Don't make her your
only White Mage, since late in the game you'll be spending some time
without her.
Galuf:
This is your most complicated character, for various reasons I won't go
into. Galuf needs to be your most versatile character, so that you can both
survive without him and without any others. For the sake of this
versatility, I suggest that Galuf start out as a strong physical fighter,
but transition to a faster magician about 2/3 through the game.
Faris:
Faris has great Agility. His attributes are average-looking, but if you
were to sum them up, they'd be better than anybody else's. He can be great
at anything, really. One way to take advantage of that is to have him fill
whatever role Galuf isn't filling so that you always have two fighters and
two casters.
What to Think As You Go Along [INTR9]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Every collection of jobs that forms your party has to be able to sustain
itself. Normally that means that you have at least one character with !White
and the rest with decent damage potential. Try not to focus too heavily on
magic at any one time because it isn't as effective for random battles.
As you add more jobs to a character, consider what attribute bonuses they
bestow. Every character should be at least one of each job type. It's not
especially beneficial for a character to master multiple jobs of the same type,
though, unless there's some special combination of non-inheritable skills
you're looking for.
Don't be afraid to switch jobs before you've mastered. This is especially true
of magic users, because getting !White lvl5 isn't very useful if you only have
lvl3 spells. It can be more useful to put those ABP towards another magic type
(so your caster can use two kinds of magic at once!) or a job like Beastmaster
or Ranger whose weapons are rather useful for a back row caster.
Finally, don't be afraid to experiment! Sure, the Chemist looks like it can't
do much harm, but items for !Drink are cheap, plentiful, and powerful.
===============================================================================
Job Descriptions
===============================================================================
To get the most out of the lack of spoilers in this section, try not to scroll
down past the heading of the next section.
Jobs of the Wind Crystal [JOBS1]
===============================================================================
Job Str Agi Sta Mag | ABP| Type | Ability Highlights
----------------------------------|----|-------|-------------------------------
Knight +23 + 1 +20 -14 | 690| Fight | *Cover, !Guard, Two-Handed
Monk +26 + 1 +26 -23 | 700| Fight | *Barehanded, *Counter
Thief + 1 +16 + 2 - 6 | 635| Dodge | *Passages, *Sprint, *Vigilance
White Mage - 7 + 1 ~ 0 +25 | 580| Magic | !White
Black Mage - 9 ~ 0 - 2 +31 | 730| Magic | !Black
Blue Mage - 8 + 1 + 3 +23 | 350| Magic | *Learning, !Blue
===============================================================================
Your goal when you start will be to get you basics started. At least one
character should have !White lvl 1, possibly up to lvl 3. I recommend starting
with a Thief for the very useful abilities that you can also learn and attach
to other jobs later. If you're planning on using a Blue Mage (I think you
should give it a go) you'll want to start out with one so that character can
learn *Learning. Everyone else (and that may just be one character) should be
a Monk.
Knight
------
You may think the Knight should be the best physical fighter, but it's not. The
real focus of the Knight is on defense, at which it is very good.
With the *Cover and !Guard skills, a Knight can effectively block all physical
attacks when the party is wounded. Because they are still vulnerable to magic,
however, letting your party get wounded to attract attacks with *Cover is not
usually a good idea.
Its most useful ability is Two-Handed. It is very effective at boosting damage,
but it isn't inherited by Freelancer. If you are worried about lack of weapons,
or you want more damage mid-game, Two-Handed will work.
On its own, this job will stay powerful throughout the whole game due to its
ability to equip Holy Swords. With Two-Handed, a Knight can always be a good
damage dealer.
Overall, the Knight is a strong fighter but doesn't have the best attributes.
You can have a very powerful party without ever touching this job.
Monk
----
The Monk's main attraction is that it has the best Strength and Stamina out of
all jobs. As such you will probably want to master this job with anyone who
will be dealing physical damage.
The Monk is the strongest damage dealer until a Knight can learn Two-Handed.
Even then, the Monk does about 2/3 as much damage and gets *Counter. This job
also takes much less Gil to maintain than a Knight or other equipped fighter.
By the end, though, the Monk will be a liability because the equipment starts
to get much more powerful. Therefore, anyone who is going to master Monk should
do so early. Not "before you get all the jobs" early, but certainly sooner than
the rest.
The Monk's most useful abilities are *Counter and *Barehanded. *Counter is
useful when it is inherited, and in some boss fights when the boss has a nasty
counter so you don't want to deal damage directly. *Barehanded is useful
because it boosts your Strength to +26, the best in the game. Give this ability
to a mage who wants some strength, or a job with good weapons that is otherwise
unable to deal good damage like Blue Mage.
Overall, the Monk has the best attributes of any Fighter jobs and has a
decent inherited ability as well. Any character dealing physical damage should
master Monk early on.
Thief
-----
The Thief has the best Agility out of all jobs. However, since there are many
other dodger jobs with useful abilities, you may find yourself not wanting to
spend 635 ABP just for a small boost.
Unless you plan on following a guide through the game, or checking every wall
in every room in every town, castle, or dungeon, you need at least one Thief in
the party from the very beginning. Once you learn *Find Passages, you can move
on to another job.
The !Steal ability can get you some really cool stuff. It remains useful
throughout the entire game, especially at the end where you can steal some
pretty rare stuff. However, since !Steal is much more effective with the Thief-
only Thief Glove, it is usually best to just switch to a Thief when you want to
use it.
The Thief's battle prowess is lackluster, as well as its staying power.
Consider using an ability like Barehanded to make it stronger.
Overall, you probably need at least one Thief in your party. Anybody that isn't
mastering another dodger job or just has enough time should consider mastering
Thief.
White Mage
----------
You need one, possibly two White Mages, unless you're playing a specific "no
White Mage" challenge. There's no easy way to replace them. Keeping in mind
that you have two ability slots per character at the end, there is enough space
for !White on two characters.
While the White Mage can be a viable fighter when combined with abilities from
later jobs, that simply isn't possible right now. In the beginning, it's best
to learn !White lvl 1 and move on to a job that can defend itself. Because the
White Mage is such a wimp, don't forget to put him or her in the back row.
Weapons like the Flail, which do full damage from the back row, can at least
upgrade the White Mage's damage from "pitiful" to "barely competent," but the
best you can expect to do is to use the Heal Staff once you find it for some
free healing.
Overall, you need one or two White Mages. All you have to do is figure out how
to keep the character alive while training the job.
Black Mage
----------
The best usage of !Black is against enemies with elemental vulnerabilities. As
there aren't that many of them, !Black's usefulness is suspect. Black Mages do
have the second highest Magic attribute, though I'd prefer Summoners any day.
The Black Mage is a worse physical fighter than the White Mage because it
cannot equip weapons like the Flail or the Heal Staff. Its ability to equip
knives doesn't help much either.
The best times to use black magic are immediately after you acquire new spells.
You'll pull insane damage for a little while, and then the rest of the party
will catch up. Repeat this about three times total for the whole game.
Overall, the Black Mage could be useful, but I wouldn't use it.
Blue Mage
---------
!Blue is extremely powerful. You should have a Blue Mage, and if you do, you
should have someone learn *Learning right away, or else acquiring the blue
magic will be harder than it needs to be.
Blue magic is very versatile. If you catch the right spells from the right
enemies (by following a guide), certain bosses will become pathetically easy.
The Blue Mage gets access to the first of these in the lead-up to getting the
jobs of the Fire Crystal, so be ready.
You need *Learning early on because blue magic isn't bought, it's learned. In
order to use a spell, a Blue Mage or a character with *Learning must be hit by
that spell. You should check another guide for a full listing of spells and
what enemies use them, but here's my short list of awesome spells to look out
for: Death Claw, Flamethrower, Lv* Flare/Doom/etc., White Wind, and Mighty
Guard.
The Blue Mage can equip shields and swords, but is not a very effective fighter
due to poor Strength. That can be fixed with an ability like *Barehanded.
Overall, the Blue Mage can be very strong, and I encourage you to include one
in your party.
Jobs of the Water Crystal [JOBS2]
===============================================================================
Job Str Agi Sta Mag | ABP| Type | Ability Highlights
----------------------------------|----|-------|-------------------------------
Mystic Knight +14 +14 +14 + 1 | 680| Dodge | !Spellblade
Time Mage - 5 + 2 - 3 +24 | 530| Magic | !Time
Summoner -10 - 1 - 1 +33 | 750| Magic | !Summon
Red Mage + 8 + 5 - 6 + 8 |1159| Other | !Dualcast
Berserker +21 - 9 +25 -23 | 500| Fight |
===============================================================================
Now is the time to specialize. You've already got your White Mage, your Thief,
and your Blue Mage. Now it's time for those characters to learn !Time, !Summon,
and possibly !Spellblade. Those first two abilities won't be all that useful
right now, but they will become enormously helpful later.
Mystic Knight
-------------
The Mystic Knight is a strange job. It's a casting job, but not only does its
magic bonus suck, it doesn't do damage by magic anyway. !Spellblade enchants
the character's sword and the sword is thereafter charged with magic. The other
thing that makes it a strange job, though, is its high Agility bonus. This
bonus squarely defines it as a Dodger job.
!Spellblade will work well in all the same places that !Black will, but the
MP cost is one-time instead of ongoing. It can make physical attacks much
stronger, 4x if exploiting an elemental weakness, and usually 2x with Flare.
Physical strength is average. You could increase it with *Barehanded. You could
also use !Spellblade very effectively with the Knight job, using its exclusive
Holy Swords.
Overall, !Spellblade is useful but expensive in ABP. This could be your dodger
job if not Ninja or Thief.
Time Mage
---------
The best !Time spell? Hastega, definitely. That one spell alone, in my opinion,
justifies one character with !Time.
The Time Mage can equip knives AND staffs, which makes it better than the Black
Mage, but it's still a physical weakling. I like to equip a Time Mage with the
Heal Staff and forego the use of a White Mage altogether for a little while
early on.
Overall, !Time is worth teaching to one character.
Summoner
--------
!Summon is powerful. Really powerful. Besides elemental attacks and Bahamut,
the Golem and Carbuncle summons are great defensively. Furthermore, the
Summoner has the best Magic except for the Oracle.
It suffers from the same physical problems as the Black Mage.
Overall, its +33 to Magic alone is enough to warrant mastering with any
character that will deal magic damage primarily.
Red Mage
--------
Here we have our first truly mediocre job. Unlike in Final Fantasy 3 (NES),
this Red Mage suffers from abysmal Strength and Magic bonuses compared to
dedicated jobs.
However, Red Mage may be worth all 1159 ABP to master for the !Dualcast
ability, which allows you to cast two spells in one turn. Now, since red magic
tops out at level three, you'll also want to master another caster job like
Black Mage or Summoner to take advantage of their magic with !Dualcast. This is
a major ABP sink for a single ability, though, so don't try it unless you've
absolutely minimized all of the character's other job mastering
responsibilities.
Physically, the character is a lot like the Blue Mage but without shields.
Overall, train this job if you want !Dualcast.
Berserker
---------
This is an interesting job. It's got good attributes for Strength and Stamina,
and it's cheaper than any of the other fighter jobs. But, it's completely
uncontrollable.
I think the best use for this job is to give to a character that is otherwise
a magic user so as to get a good Stamina bonus.
The Berserker is strong physically, and some of the late game weapons like the
Gaia Hammer are a force to be reckoned with.
Overall, train this job if you're not training Monk.
Jobs of the Fire Crystal [JOBS3]
===============================================================================
Job Str Agi Sta Mag | ABP| Type | Ability Highlights
----------------------------------|----|-------|-------------------------------
Beastmaster +13 + 1 + 8 - 3 | 460| Other | !Control, Equip Whips
Geomancer + 4 + 2 + 4 +24 | 175| Magic | !Gaia, *Find Pits, *Light Step
Ninja +15 +14 + 3 -10 | 690| Dodge | !Throw, *Dual-Wield
===============================================================================
Now that all the "normal" Final Fantasy jobs have been covered, it's time to
get eccentric! All three of these jobs can be useful right away; the
Beastmaster is a very important support to the Blue Mage, the Geomancer can
make your casters useful in random battles, and the Ninja job has an inherited
skill that will be very effective for the rest of the game.
Beastmaster
-----------
The Beastmaster looks a very mediocre job with little going for it, but don't
give up on it too soon. Whips are fully effective from the back row. A
Beastmaster with some kind of magic equipped like !White or !Blue is quite
versatile.
This job's most useful ability is !Control, which is invaluable for learning
!Blue spells.
Overall, use this job as a support for a Blue Mage, or not if you don't use a
Blue Mage.
Geomancer
---------
The Geomancer is the cheapest mage job, and its abilities can be very useful
in mid- to late-game. The !Gaia ability can be very useful for mages in the
back row; this is the first real possibility for them to be viable in random
battles.
Another use of the Geomancer is its cheap +24 to Magic. 175 ABP to master is
a pittance for your Fighter character(s).
Physically, the Geomancer sucks. That's not a problem, though, because you
should attack with !Gaia. Don't even try attacking with the really weak Bells.
Overall, at least one character should use this for the innate abilities
late-game, and it can be useful for your physical and magical characters alike.
Ninja
-----
This is a Dodger job that can be extremely effective for a Fighter character.
Unlike Knight's Two-Handed, *Dual-Wield is innate and is passed on to
Freelancer without taking up an ability slot. If you have enough weapons to
support it, it will double your damage.
The Ninja is physically strong, especially with *Dual-Wield. It will shine most
with the powerful late-game equipment. !Throw can also deal great damage in
situations where normal attacks won't work.
While normally the !Throw ability is only a small improvement on normal damage
output, the scrolls can be manipulated into dealing more damage than the medium
strength !Summon spells. Damage from scrolls is Magic-based, and balanced for
the Ninja's Magic attribute. Give a Ninja !Summon, however, and the 43 point
boost to Magic will make scrolls absolutely devastating. Give a Summoner
!Throw, and get all that plus the possibility to further multiply the damage
by equipping rods. However, keep in mind though how expensive scrolls are.
Overall, the Ninja is good for a physical fighter who wants to double his or
her damage output, and a convenient dodger job for that character. It can also
be used with interesting effectiveness in combination with magician jobs/
abilities.
Jobs of the Fire Crystal Part 2 [JOBS4]
===============================================================================
Job Str Agi Sta Mag | ABP| Type | Ability Highlights
----------------------------------|----|-------|-------------------------------
Bard - 8 + 8 - 9 +11 | 175| Dodge | !Sing
Ranger +16 +12 + 1 - 5 | 600| Dodge | Equip Bows, !Rapidfire
===============================================================================
For only two jobs, this collection is quite the mixed bag. There's the bard,
which might only be useful for the novelty, and there's the Ranger, who's got
toys for all kinds of characters. Using either job is not time sensitive, so
wait for the right time to switch jobs.
Bard
----
The !Sing ability can supplement or replace !Time, if you don't mind your
character being occupied for the entire battle. Besides that, Bard has the
cheapest Agility bonus, but in this case you get what you pay for.
Physically, harps are weird weapons. They deal damage based on the enemy's max
HP, but they aren't effective against bosses. Some harps are very effective
against the undead. Also good against the undead is the Requiem song.
Overall, you may find a place for the Bard in your plan if you need a cheap
Agility bonus or want a dedicated buffer character. Think carefully about
whether this job fits into your plan before giving it to someone.
Ranger
------
This is a great job. Bows are strong and fully effective from the back row,
which can be great for a mage or a fighter. The !Rapidfire ability is a great
way to boost your physical damage output, as well.
The Ranger works very well on a magician character because bows are powerful
from the back row. You can switch a caster to Ranger and give him or her the
casting ability, then switch back to a magician job once the character learns
Equip Bows.
Another way that Ranger works well with magician characters is that the
!Animals skill is based on magic power. Feel free to experiment with its
effectiveness compared to other means of getting a mage to deal damage in
random battles without using MP.
Physically, it's not the strongest job, but bows are pretty good weapons and
they are great from the back row. Then there's !Rapidfire, which effectively
doubles your damage output against bosses by turning one attack into four
half-power attacks on random targets. It doesn't have to be done with a bow;
combined with *Dual-Wield, you'll get 8 attacks from one turn. It's a very
powerful ability that you may want to give your main fighter.
Overall, you may end up with more than one character training Ranger for
different reasons, including the Agility bonus, Equip Bows, and !Rapidfire.
Jobs of the Earth Crystal [JOBS5]
===============================================================================
Job Str Agi Sta Mag | ABP| Type | Ability Highlights
----------------------------------|----|-------|-------------------------------
Samurai +19 + 2 +19 -12 | 820| Fight | *Shirahadori, !Ianuki
Dragoon +18 + 5 +15 -12 | 600| Fight | !Jump
Dancer + 5 + 5 +10 - 5 | 400| Other | !Dance, Equip Ribbons
Chemist + 2 + 3 + 6 - 4 | 630| Other | *Pharmacology, !Mix, !Drink
===============================================================================
Now for the last jobs you'll be seeing for a long time. These are the truly
eccentric jobs, those that can fill any niche in any strategy. Pick what you
like, but try not to step on the toes of your past self who already gave your
characters ABP in other jobs.
Samurai
-------
Samurai is the most expensive Fighter job, with very little to show for itself.
It's quite the accomplished job on its own, able to equip powerful Katanas, but
its only meaningful contribution to your character's overall job plan is
*Shirahadori, which adds a random chance to dodge any physical attack. Its
other abilities could be really useful, however, if you're prepared to plan
specific strategies around them.
!Zeninage is like !Throw against all enemies, using your Gil. It can be very
effective if you have the money to spare. !Ianuki tries to instant-kill all the
enemies on the screen, and while it is useful against random encounters it's
probably not worth the ability slot most of the time.
Physically, the Samurai is an excellent fighter, but its attributes will have
no lasting impact on a character unless that character isn't mastering any
other fighter jobs.
Overall, all character can benefit from masting the Samurai for *Shirahadori,
but the 820 ABP cost is prohibitive.
Dragoon
-------
This job's main ability is !Jump, which frankly sucks for a fighter unless the
rest of the party can absorb the enemy's attacks. Another ability is !Lance,
which might be useful for a mage if it didn't take up a whole ability slot.
Physically, this is the weakest fighter job, and good lances are rare.
Overall, the Dragoon in this game is a novelty that usually isn't worth it.
Dancer
------
Dancer may look like a fluffy nothing job, but can actually be a very powerful
addition to a Fighter character. A Freelancer equipped with at least of the
very late-game dancer-specific equipment will be getting the Sword Dance (x4 to
attack power) 50% of the time. There are only three such items, and some are
better than others for actual defensive purposes, but if you know where, you
can !Steal more if you really want to.
Physically, the Dancer is vulnerable but also has huge damage potential.
Overall, one fighter character could learn !Dance to increase his or her
effectiveness.
Chemist
-------
Chemist is such a weird, random job that it's easy to overlook. It's plenty
useful, though. The !Drink ability is quick to learn, and the plentiful items
it uses can buff your Fighter character to God Mode. Besides that,
The Chemist is a big novelty that can be surprisingly effective. Its attributes
aren't special in any way, so its abilities are what makes it useful.
!Drink is quick to learn, and the items necessary are cheap and plentiful, but
it only affects the character using it. !Mix can have some profound effects if
you look up how to use it in other guides, and your character doesn't need
great attributes to use it effectively. *Pharmacology is good as an inherited
ability, but not worth it otherwise.
Physically, the chemist sucks. It's in the same category as magic users.
Overall, you can use !Drink to supplement to a fighter, or !Mix to supplement a
magic user. It can be a fun job to experiment with.
Jobs of the Bonus Dungeon [JOBS6]
===============================================================================
Job Str Agi Sta Mag | ABP| Type | Ability Highlights
----------------------------------|----|-------|-------------------------------
Oracle - 9 - 1 - 4 +36 | 520| Magic | !Condemn, ABP Up
Cannoneer + 9 + 6 + 6 + 4 | 500| Other | EXP Up, !Combine
Gladiator +26 +14 + 3 -14 | 700| Dodge | !Finisher, !Blade Blitz
Necromancer + 4 + 1 +21 +29 | 750| Magic | !Dark Arts
===============================================================================
These jobs don't become available until almost the end of the game, and are
only available in the FF5 Advance version. If you're playing this version of
the game, eventually there will be a cutscene about an earthquake or an
underwater volcano erupting; that's the entrance to the bonus dungeon. It's
unlikely that you've left any space for these jobs in your plan, but feel free
to try them out and maybe plan for them in a future play-through.
Oracle
------
The Oracle job has the highest Magic bonus. In my opinion, though, it doesn't
make for a very effective job on its own. But, the Magic bonus combined with
the ABP Up ability can make this job very useful for a character training for
!Dualcast.
Physically, the Oracle is every bit as weak as a White Mage, but by now you
should be able to deal with that.
Overall, the Oracle is only useful for the Magic bonus that's higher than the
Summoner's.
Cannoneer
---------
Here you have the more offensively-minded version of the Chemist. You buy your
ammunition in the same place you got the job. The !Combine skill is really more
intuitive than !Mix, so if you don't want a guide next to you the whole time
you might like this job better.
Physically, the Cannoneer is decent like a Red Mage.
Overall, this one's just another interesting ability to try out if you feel
like it.
Gladiator
---------
The Gladiator job completely subverts normal job classification. It has amazing
Strength and Agility, but mediocre Stamina. You could combine Gladiator with
Berserker to get attribute bonuses practically as good as combining Monk with
Ninja (you'll have one less Stamina). The former takes 1200 ABP and nets you
!Finisher, while the latter takes 1390 ABP and nets *Dual-Wield and *Counter.
Physically, the Gladiator dominates with its vast use of weaponry and its
!Finisher and !Blade Blitz skills, but can't take a hit as well as other
Fighter jobs can.
Overall, the Gladiator has got some potentially powerful abilities and really
good bonuses, but you might not be able to fit it in because of the unusual
attribute distribution.
Necromancer
-----------
The Necromancer job is only here for completeness. No matter how awesome it is,
I cannot possibly justify using it because you get it at the END of the Bonus
Dungeon. But then, I've never actually gotten this job myself anyway.
Anyway, !Dark Arts works similarly to blue magic, except that instead of
learning by being hit with the spell, you learn by murdering the creature that
casts it and stealing its soul. Or something like that. The Necromancer has to
make the finishing blow.
Physically, the Necromancer is as weak as the Time Mage. But you're an almighty
dark lord by now so it doesn't matter anymore, right?
Overall, use this job if you like; once you get it you're really playing this
game to be a completist anyway.
===============================================================================
Building a Job Plan All at Once
===============================================================================
Where to Start [PLAN1]
===============================================================================
From here on out, this guide becomes a lot more technical. Building your job
plan all at once assumes that you have played through the game at least once
and you know the general effectiveness of some of the jobs. These guidelines
should help you maximize the effectiveness of your party without ever needing
to grind for levels or ABP.
The first step to building an effective job plan is to get a general feel for
the roles you want your characters to play. It may help to look at their base
attributes in the reference section.
Given the base attributes, it would make sense for Bartz to be your primary
fighter and for Lenna your primary magic damage dealer. Because both Lenna and
Galuf disappear momentarily from your party, Faris makes the best choice for
White Mage, although it it perfectly alright to have two.
There are several things you must keep in mind when designing your job plan.
The most important thing is that all of these first jobs are available from the
start. You can't start training Summoner or Ranger immediately, so you need
something to train in the interim. Even the Blue Mage, with only 350 ABP to
master, will last all the way through to the Earth Crystal jobs.
Also keep in mind how you want battles to go. In the end-game, the best way to
fight a boss is to start with a full suite of buffs. You need a Time Mage to
cast Hastega, a Blue Mage to cast Mighty Guard (armor, shell, and float on
everyone), and a Summoner to summon Golem (though not for all battles). After
that, some of the most effective ways to deal damage are with either !Summon
(though it's very MP-expensive), with !Time Meteor, or with a fighter using
!Rapidfire.
Finally, plan for everyone to have good bonuses to all attributes. The fastest
way to get a good attribute balance is with a Berserker, Bard, and Geomancer,
which altogether is worth 850 ABP altogether and gives bonuses of +21 Strength,
+8 Agility, +25 Stamina, and +24 Magic. These can be the jobs you resort to if
you don't have any reason to master a type of job except for the bonus. Also,
you can skip the Geomancer if the character has no use for Magic Power.
Building a Good Physical Fighter [PLAN2]
===============================================================================
There are two skills that will immediately improve your damage output:
Two-Handed, and *Dual-Wield. Knights learn Two-Handed, but since it isn't an
inherited skill, it might not fit into your plan. Ninjas learn *Dual-Wield,
but then you need two weapons for that character. Too many characters with
*Dual-Wield can quickly eat up your supply of effective weapons.
After that, there are three active abilities that can multiply damage output.
One is !Rapidfire, which hits four times (or eight times, with *Dual-Wield) at
half strength. Another is !Finisher, which is simply a power shot that has a
bit higher rate of missing. The third is !Dance, which can be most effective
with at least one piece of Dancer equipment to make the dance we want, Sword
Dance, happen 50% of the time instead of 25%. An effective Sword Dance,
however, will do twice as much damage as either of the other options, though
!Rapidfire is much better if you plan on power leveling or exploiting huge
weaknesses that push your damage over 9999 per shot.
Another ability that meshes well with fighters is !Spellblade. It can make your
attacks much more powerful in many situations, but takes away the first turn of
a battle. If the enemy changes weakness, that's another turn to compensate.
!Spellblade will be useful most situations where !Black would be useful, and it
can be effectively combined with any of the previous three active abilities.
One last way to improve attack power directly is with !Drink. The various
potions available can double your strength or HP, massively increasing your
damage output or staying power.
Besides that, there are skills which don't take your weapons into account for
damage: !Throw, !Zeninage, and !Combine.
Building a Good Magic User [PLAN3]
===============================================================================
There are five types of magic: White, Black, Blue, Summon, and Time. White
magic is absolutely necessary for any party, and Time magic can greatly improve
your effectiveness with buffs and debuffs. That leaves Black, Blue, and Summon
to deal damage. Of those three, Black tends to be the least effective. Blue is
very useful for a variety of situations, if you can find the spells. Summon is
very powerful, but at higher levels costs a lot of MP.
The main thing about your magic users to remember is that until you can get the
new jobs at the end of the game, Summoner has the best magic power. As such, if
you have a White Mage equip !Summon, your !White will be stronger. The same
applies to a Summoner equipping any other type of magic.
Interestingly, the Oracle job, which has higher magic power than the Summoner,
only costs 520 ABP to master. Because the last 500 ABP the Summoner earns
doesn't go toward !Summon, it only costs 20 ABP more to switch !Call for
mastering the Oracle job. Doing this improves magic power marginally, but it
can be an interesting change of pace to try out the Oracle job. Of course, this
works for all magician jobs, not just the Summoner, but the Summoner has the
most expensive skill not involving normal spellcasting. The Black Mage's costs
450 ABP, the White Mage's 300 ABP, and the Time Mage's 250 ABP.
You may want to consider building a mage with !Dualcast, the Red Mage ability
that allows you to cast two spells in one turn. However, not only does it take
1159 ABP to acquire, but if you don't include other magic abilities, you will
be limited to lvl 3 White/Black magic. Therefore, a mage with !Dualcast should
probably study two other magics and use them as a Mimic.
Planning for a Blue Mage [PLAN4]
===============================================================================
A Blue Mage becomes incredibly handy after Karnak, if you played it right and
ended up with the Death Claw ability. Many bosses are vulnerable to it, though
it can miss a couple times. Other spells are effective in specific situations,
like Aqua Breath against anything in the desert (including the Sand Worm),
or Lvl 5 Death, to which some bosses are vulnerable.
To train your Blue Mage, you will need someone to learn the !Control skill from
the Beastmaster job. The skills that must be learned this way start as soon as
you get the job after Karnak. Right after you get the Fire Powered Ship, you
can also get the extremely effective Blitz Whip for you Beastmaster as well.
So, while you might not need to master the Beastmaster job, you should consider
getting !Control, which takes 60 ABP, and possibly the Equip Whips ability for
another 100 ABP because they're good from the back row.
The Mimic [PLAN5]
===============================================================================
The Mimic is a special job that you can get in World 3 by going to the
underwater Walse Tower in the submarine. It receives bonuses from mastered jobs
the same way that the Freelancer job does. However, the Mimic has a very
restricted equipment set, and Equip <weapon> skills do not pass on. The Mimic
does not have the !Fight or !Item abilities. Instead, it has the !Mimic ability
and three empty slots.
I wouldn't recommend the Mimic job except for a caster with !Dualcast. Because
of the restricted equipment set, once you've used an ability slot to equip a
decent weapon you're back to the two slots that Freelancers get. A caster with
!Dualcast, however, could make ample use of three ability slots for different
magic types and ignore equipment altogether.
Of course, it's also possible to use the Mimic exclusively for !Mimicing other
characters pulling off specialized or expensive actions, like !Drinking or
!Dancing, or !Summoning Bahumut. !DualCast with !Time (for the Quick spell) and
!Summon Bahamut or some other powerful magic is quite powerful, and can be
duplicated with a party full of Mimics as long as you don't have to break to
heal.
Making the Plan: An Example [PLAN6]
===============================================================================
Let's start making a plan. I'll start by deciding what abilities I want each
character to have in the end. I've decided that I want Bartz to have a powerful
physical attack, and I want everyone else to be magicians. Faris will be a
buffer magician and deal damage physically, but the other two should deal
damage primarily by magic.
What will make Bartz a powerful fighter? Looking through the reference section,
and with a bit of prior knowledge of the game, I've decided upon *Dual-Wield,
!Spellblade, and !Rapidfire. This will give Bartz 8 magically charged hits per
turn.
Faris, being the only magician to stay with the party throughout the game, is
an obvious choice for White Mage. Faris should also be a Time Mage to cast
Hastega on the party. I would use a Bard, but a Bard would not make an
effective White Mage because it needs to !Sing constantly (every two turns) to
be effective.
What kind of magic damage should Lenna and Galuf deal? !Summon is the most
powerful, but it's expensive. !Blue can also be quite powerful, and its
versatility will help Galuf through his time away from the rest of the party.
As for Lenna's second ability, I'll choose !White and have two White Mages to
make the party that much harder to kill.
Now I need to decide how to get good attribute bonuses.
I'll start with Strength. Bartz has got to master Monk for the bonuses, and
*Counter isn't a bad thing to have either. Because Faris will also be dealing
physically, he should also master Monk. I'll have Galuf master Monk too because
he's going to be focused on physical damage for most of the game. Lenna,
though, should master Berserker because it's cheaper and she doesn't need the
better bonus.
Bartz is already mastering Ninja for *Dual-Wield, and I think Faris will too
for the same reason. That leaves Lenna and Galuf for Agility, and I think I'll
have Galuf be the Thief so that Krile, who has the best base for Agility, can
be the fastest character possible. That leaves Lenna. She can master Ranger;
that way she can use bows from the back row for a while.
Everyone's already got magic covered except Bartz. I'll give him Blue Mage,
both for the Magic bonus and because since Galuf the Blue Mage is also Galuf
the Thief, somebody else has to take care of *Learning in the very beginning.
Looking at how the ABP adds up so far, I'm going to give Faris the Beastmaster
job for a while to help Galuf learn blue magic with !Control, and Galuf the
Geomancer job, to help with later parts of the game where *Find Pits and *Light
Step are very useful.
Here's the whole job plan so far, organized in the order each character will
start using that job:
* Don't need to master
===============================================================================
Character/Job Str Agi Sta Mag | ABP | Ability Highlights
---------------------------------------|------|--------------------------------
Bartz 54 39 53 48 | 3020 |=!Spellblade + !Rapidfire
Blue Mage ~ ~ ~ +23 | 350 | *Learning, !Blue
Monk +26 ~ +26 ~ | 700 | *Barehanded, *Counter
Mystic Knight ~ +14 ~ ~ | 680 | !Spellblade
Ranger ~ ~ ~ ~ | 600 | !Rapidfire
Ninja ~ +14 ~ ~ | 690 | !Throw, *Dual-Wield
Lenna 46 38 50 61 | 2130 |=!White + !Summon
White Mage ~ ~ ~ ~ | 280*| !White
Summoner ~ ~ ~ +33 | 750 | !Summon
Ranger ~ +12 ~ ~ | 600 | Equip Bows
Berserker +21 ~ +25 ~ | 500 |
Galuf/Krile 53/51 40/44 54/50 57/60| 2360 |=!Summon + !Blue
Thief ~ +16 ~ ~ | 635 | *Passages, *Sprint, *Vigilance
Monk +26 ~ +26 ~ | 700 | *Barehanded, *Counter
Blue Mage ~ ~ ~ ~ | 100*| *Learning, !Blue
Geomancer ~ ~ ~ ~ | 175 | !Gaia, *Find Pits, *Light Step
Summoner ~ ~ ~ +33 | 750 | !Summon
Faris 53 41 52 51 | 2390 |=!White + !Time
Monk +26 ~ +26 ~ | 700 | *Barehanded, *Counter
White Mage ~ ~ ~ +25 | 580 | !White
Beastmaster ~ ~ ~ ~ | 160*| !Control, Equip Whips
Time Mage ~ ~ ~ ~ | 280*| !Time
Ninja ~ +14 ~ ~ | 690 | !Throw, *Dual-Wield
===============================================================================
Notice that some jobs are marked with a *, meaning that the character does not
need to master that particular job. This is because he or she doesn't need that
job's attributes or passive skills. The White Mage, after learning !White,
spends 300 ABP on "MP +10%" which is basically worthless. The Blue Mage and the
Time Mage have similarly useless final skills. The Beastmaster is only used
for !Control, and using 400 ABP for Equip Whips would only delay the point
where Faris can use Freelancer instead.
There are some ways I can improve upon this plan. First, Bartz must master a
whopping 3020 ABP. There are two thing I can do to fix this. First, I can use
a Geomancer instead of a Blue Mage, which frees up 175 ABP. Second, I am
basically tripling the dodger jobs to get the desired skills, so I should
consider a different set of abilities. Without altering the plan too radically,
I can replace !Spellblade with !Drink for a savings of 590 ABP.
Now that Bartz is covering Geomancer, Galuf doesn't have to anymore. Since
Bartz isn't a Blue Mage anymore, though, Galuf needs to pull Blue Mage sooner.
Since Galuf starts with Blue Mage instead of Thief, someone else needs to cover
Thief to start. The last change is to replace Faris's Ninja with Thief, which
improves his Agility but drops the *Dual-Wield skill.
Here is the resulting plan:
* Don't need to master
===============================================================================
Character/Job Str Agi Sta Mag | ABP | Ability Highlights
---------------------------------------|------|--------------------------------
Bartz 54 39 53 48 | 2255 |=!Rapidfire + !Drink
Monk +26 ~ +26 ~ | 700 | *Barehanded, *Counter
Ranger ~ ~ ~ ~ | 600 | Equip Bows, !Rapidfire
Ninja ~ +14 ~ ~ | 690 | !Throw, *Dual-Wield
Chemist ~ ~ ~ ~ | 90*| *Pharmacology, !Mix, !Drink
Geomancer ~ ~ ~ +24 | 175 | !Gaia, *Find Pits, *Light Step
Lenna 46 38 50 61 | 2130 |=!White + !Summon
White Mage ~ ~ ~ ~ | 280*| !White
Summoner ~ ~ ~ +33 | 750 | !Summon
Ranger ~ +12 ~ ~ | 600 | Equip Bows
Berserker +21 ~ +25 ~ | 500 |
Galuf/Krile 53/51 40/44 54/50 57/60| 2185 |=!Summon + !Blue
Blue Mage ~ ~ ~ ~ | 100*| *Learning, !Blue
Monk +26 ~ +26 ~ | 700 | *Barehanded, *Counter
Thief ~ +16 ~ ~ | 635 | *Passages, *Sprint, *Vigilance
Summoner ~ ~ ~ +33 | 750 | !Summon
Faris 53 41 52 51 | 2335 |=!White + !Time
Thief ~ +16 ~ ~ | 635 | *Passages, *Sprint, *Vigilance
Monk +26 ~ +26 ~ | 700 | *Barehanded, *Counter
White Mage ~ ~ ~ +25 | 580 | !White
Beastmaster ~ ~ ~ ~ | 160*| !Control, Equip Whips
Time Mage ~ ~ ~ ~ | 280*| !Time
===============================================================================
It should be noted that Bartz could master the Chemist job to gain
*Pharmacology innately, but that would cost 540 ABP and push his total up to
2795.
===============================================================================
Reference
===============================================================================
Character base attributes [REFR1]
===============================================================================
Character Str Agi Sta Mag | ABP | Highlights
---------------------------------------|------|--------------------------------
Bartz 28 25 27 25 | 2550 | Best Str
Lenna 25 26 25 28 | 2450 | Best Mag
Galuf 27 24 28 24 | 2500 | Best Sta
Faris 27 27 26 26 | 2550 | Good Agi, Average
Krile 25 28 24 27 | 2500 | Best Agi
===============================================================================
Also up there is the amount of ABP a character can be expected to gain in
normal gameplay, including the final dungeon where all enemies give 30+ ABP.
Equipment Allowed for Each Job [REFR2]
===============================================================================
Character/Job |Kn|St|Rd|Sw|Hs|Ax|Wp|Ss|Bl|Hp|Bw|Kt|Sp|Ar|Sh|La|Gi|Ro|Cl|Rb|
===============|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|===
Knight |<>| | |<>|<>| | | | | | | | |<>|<>|<>| | |<>| |
Monk | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |<>|<>| |<>| |
Thief |<>| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |<>|<>| |<>| |
White Mage | |<>| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |<>|<>| |
Black Mage |<>|<>|<>| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |<>|<>| |
Blue Mage |<>| |<>|<>| | | | | | | | | | |<>|<>|<>|<>|<>| |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Mystic Knight |<>| | |<>| | | | | | | | | |<>|<>|<>| | |<>| |
Time Mage |<>|<>|<>| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |<>|<>| |
Summoner |<>| |<>| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |<>|<>| |
Red Mage |<>|<>|<>|<>| | | | | | | | | | | |<>|<>|<>|<>| |
Berserker |<>| | | | |<>| | | | | | | |<>|<>|<>| | |<>| |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Beastmaster |<>| | | | | |<>| | | | | | | | |<>|<>| |<>| |
Ninja |<>| | | | | | |<>| | | | | | | |<>|<>| |<>| |
Geomancer |<>| | | | | | | |<>| | | | | | | | |<>|<>| |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Bard |<>| | | | | | | | |<>| | | | | | | |<>|<>| |
Ranger |<>| | | | | | | | | |<>| | | | |<>|<>| |<>| |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Samurai |<>| | | | | | | | | | |<>| |<>|<>|<>| | |<>| |
Dragoon |<>| | | | | | | | | | | |<>|<>|<>|<>| | |<>| |
Dancer |<>| | | | | | | | | | | | | | |<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|
Chemist |<>|<>| | | | | | | | | | | | | |<>|<>|<>|<>| |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Oracle | |<>| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |<>|<>| |
Cannoneer |<>| | |<>| | | | | | | | | | |<>|<>|<>|<>|<>| |
Gladiator |<>| | |<>|<>|<>| | | | |<>| |<>|<>|<>|<>| | |<>| |
Necromancer |<>|<>|<>| | | | | | | | | | | | |<>| |<>|<>| |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Mimic |<>|<>|<>| | | | | | | | | | |<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|<>| |
Freelancer |<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|<>|
===============|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|==|===
Character/Job |Kn|St|Rd|Sw|Hs|Ax|Wp|Ss|Bl|Hp|Bw|Kt|Sp|Ar|Sh|La|Gi|Ro|Cl|Rb|
===============================================================================
Kn: Knife Hs: Holy Sword Bl: Bell Sp: Spear Gi: Ninja Garb
St: Staff Ax: Axe Hp: Harp Ar: Armor Ro: Robes
Rd: Rod Wp: Whip Bw: Bow Sh: Shield Cl: Clothes
Sw: Sword Ss: Short Sword Kt: Katana La: Light Armor Rb: Ribbons
All Attributes For Each Job - lowest ABP in the category [REFR3]
===============================================================================
Character/Job Str Agi Sta Mag | ABP | Highlights
-------------------------------------|------|----------------------------------
Fighters | |
Monk +26 + 1 +26 -23 | 700 | *Barehanded, *Counter
Knight +23 + 1 +20 -14 | 690 | *Cover, !Guard, Two-Handed
Berserker +21 - 9 +25 -23 | 500-|
Samurai +19 + 2 +19 -12 | 820 | *Shirahadori, !Ianuki
Dragoon +18 + 5 +15 -12 | 600 | !Jump
Dodgers | |
Thief + 1 +16 + 2 - 6 | 635 | *Passages, *Sprint, *Vigilance
Mystic Knight +14 +14 +14 + 1 | 680 | !Spellblade
Ninja +15 +14 + 3 -10 | 690 | !Throw, *Dual-Wield
Gladiator +26 +14 + 3 -14 | 700 | !Finisher, !Blade Blitz
Ranger +16 +12 + 1 - 5 | 600 | Equip Bows, !Rapidfire
Bard - 8 + 8 - 9 +11 | 175-| !Sing
Magicians | |
Oracle - 9 - 1 - 4 +36 | 520 | !Condemn, ABP Up
Summoner -10 - 1 - 1 +33 | 750 | !Summon
Black Mage - 9 ~ 0 - 2 +31 | 730 | !Black
Necromancer + 4 + 1 +21 +29 | 750 | !Dark Arts
White Mage - 7 + 1 ~ 0 +25 | 580 | !White
Time Mage - 5 + 2 - 3 +24 | 530 | !Time
Geomancer + 4 + 2 + 4 +24 | 175-| !Gaia, *Find Pits, *Light Step
Blue Mage - 8 + 1 + 3 +23 | 350 | *Learning, !Blue
Other | |
Beastmaster +13 + 1 + 8 - 3 | 460 | !Control, Equip Whips
Dancer + 5 + 5 +10 - 5 | 400 | !Dance, Equip Ribbons
Cannoneer + 9 + 6 + 6 + 4 | 500 | EXP Up, !Combine
Red Mage + 8 + 5 - 6 + 8 | 1159 | !Dualcast
Chemist + 2 + 3 + 6 - 4 | 630 | *Pharmacology, !Mix, !Drink
===============================================================================
All Abilities for Each Job [REFR4]
===============================================================================
Character/Job Ability | ABP | Highlights
-------------------------------------|------|----------------------------------
Knight (!Guard) | 690 | *Cover, !Guard, Two-Handed
*Cover | 10 | Protect wounded allies
!Guard | 30 | Take 0 damage from physical atk
Two-Handed | 50 | 2x damage instead of shield
Equip Shields | 100 |
Equip Armor | 150 |
Equip Swords | 350 | +23 Strength
| |
Monk (!Kick) | 700 | *Barehanded, *Counter
!Focus | 15 | Wait a round for double damage
*Barehanded | 30 | +26 Strength, fight w/o weapon
!Chakra | 45 | Cure own HP and status ailments
*Counter | 60 | Sometimes counter enemy attacks
HP +10% | 100 |
HP +20% | 150 |
HP +30% | 300 |
| |
Thief (!Steal) | 635 | *Passages, *Sprint, *Vigilance
*Passages | 10 | See hidden passages
!Flee | 20 | Immediately escape combat
*Sprint | 30 | Run faster when holding B
!Steal | 50 | Steal treasure from an enemy
*Vigilance | 75 | Prevent back attacks
!Mug | 150 | !Fight and !Steal
Artful Dodger | 300 | +16 Agility
| |
White Mage (!White lvl 6) | 580 | !White
!White lvl 1 | 10 | +25 Magic
!White lvl 2 | 20 | +25 Magic
!White lvl 3 | 30 | +25 Magic
!White lvl 4 | 50 | +25 Magic
!White lvl 5 | 70 | +25 Magic
!White lvl 6 | 100 | +25 Magic
MP +10% | 300 |
| |
Black Mage (!Black lvl 6) | 730 | !Black
!Black lvl 1 | 10 | +31 Magic
!Black lvl 2 | 20 | +31 Magic
!Black lvl 3 | 30 | +31 Magic
!Black lvl 4 | 50 | +31 Magic
!Black lvl 5 | 70 | +31 Magic
!Black lvl 6 | 100 | +31 Magic
MP +30% | 450 |
| |
Blue Mage (!Blue) | 350 | *Learning, !Blue
!Check | 10 | Check enemy's HP
*Learning | 20 | Learn blue magic that hits you
!Blue | 70 | +23 Magic
!Scan | 250 | Same as white magic Scan
| |
| |
| |
Mystic Knight (!Spellblade) | 680 | !Spellblade
*Magic Shell | 10 | Casts shell when wounded
!Spellblade lvl 1 | 20 | +14 Str, +1 Magic
!Spellblade lvl 2 | 30 | +14 Str, +1 Magic
!Spellblade lvl 3 | 50 | +14 Str, +1 Magic
!Spellblade lvl 4 | 70 | +14 Str, +1 Magic
!Spellblade lvl 5 | 100 | +14 Str, +1 Magic
!Spellblade lvl 6 | 400 | +14 Str, +1 Magic
| |
Time Mage (!Time lvl 6) | 530 | !Time
!Time lvl 1 | 10 | +24 Magic
!Time lvl 2 | 20 | +24 Magic
!Time lvl 3 | 30 | +24 Magic
!Time lvl 4 | 50 | +24 Magic
!Time lvl 5 | 70 | +24 Magic
!Time lvl 6 | 100 | +24 Magic
Equip Rods | 250 |
| |
Summoner (!Summon lvl 5) | 750 | !Summon
!Summon lvl 1 | 15 | +33 Magic
!Summon lvl 2 | 30 | +33 Magic
!Summon lvl 3 | 45 | +33 Magic
!Summon lvl 4 | 60 | +33 Magic
!Summon lvl 5 | 100 | +33 Magic
!Call | 500 | Random summon for 0 MP
| |
Red Mage (!Red lvl 3) | 1159 | !Dualcast
!Red lvl 1 | 20 | +8 Magic
!Red lvl 2 | 40 | +8 Magic
!Red lvl 3 | 100 | +8 Magic
!Dualcast | 999 | Cast two spells at once
| |
Berserker | 500 |
Berserk | 100 | Always !Fight, makes stronger
Equip Axes | 400 | +21 Strength
| |
| |
| |
Beastmaster (!Catch/!Free) | 460 | !Control, Equip Whips
!Calm | 10 | Sometimes stuns enemies
!Control | 50 | Control enemy's attacks
Equip Whips | 100 | +13 Strength, +1 Agility
!Catch/!Free | 300 | Summon caught monster later
| |
Ninja (!Throw) | 690 | !Throw, *Dual-Wield
!Smoke | 10 | Immediately escape battle
!Image | 30 | Absorb next physical attack
*First Strike | 50 | More frequent preemptive strike
!Throw | 150 | Throw weapons for high damage
*Dual-Wield | 450 | Use two weapons
| |
Geomancer (!Gaia) | 175 | !Gaia, *Find Pits, *Light Step
!Gaia | 25 | Attack with nature
*Find Pits | 50 | Detect holes in the floor
*Light Step | 100 | Avoid step damage
| |
| |
| |
Bard (!Sing) | 175 | !Sing
!Hide | 25 | Avoid attacks for a turn
Equip Harps | 50 | +8 Agility, +11 Magic
!Sing | 100 | Use Songs
| |
Ranger (!Aim) | 600 | Equip Bows, !Rapidfire
!Animals | 15 | Summon woodland creatures
!Aim | 45 | !Fight with perfect accuracy
Equip Bows | 135 | +16 Strength, +12 Agility
!Rapidfire | 405 | 4 half-power atks random enemy
| |
| |
| |
Samurai (!Zeninage) | 820 | *Shirahadori, !Ianuki
!Mineuchi | 10 | !Fight + sometimes stun
!Zeninage | 30 | Throw gil for massive damage
*Shirahadori | 60 | Sometimes dodge attacks
Equip Katanas | 180 | +19 Strength
!Ianuki | 540 | Kill all enemies, 75% accuracy
| |
Dragoon (!Jump) | 600 | !Jump
!Jump | 50 | Leave battle shortly for atk
!Lance | 150 | Drain HP and MP from enemy
Equip Lances | 400 | +18 Strength
| |
Dancer (!Dance) | 400 | !Dance, Equip Ribbons
!Flirt | 25 | Stun weaker enemies
!Dance | 50 | Do one of four battle dances
Equip Ribbons | 325 |
| |
Chemist (!Drink) | 630 | *Pharmacology, !Mix, !Drink
*Pharmacology | 15 | Double the effect of items
!Mix | 30 | Mix items for effects in battle
!Drink | 45 | Drink special potions
!Recover | 135 | Same as white magic Esuna
!Revive | 405 | Same as white magic Raise
| |
Oracle (!Condemn) | 520 | !Condemn, ABP Up
!Condemn | 20 | Casts countdown spell on enemy
!Predict | 50 | Predicts cataclysm in battle
ABP Up | 150 | Earn 150% ABP
*Read Ahead | 300 | Reduces random encounters
| |
| |
| |
Mimic (!Mimic) | 999 | Three empty ability slots
!Mimic | 999 | Copies last character action
| |
| |
| |
Cannoneer (!Open Fire) | 500 | EXP Up, !Combine
!Open Fire | 50 | Fire cannon, may confuse
EXP Up | 150 | Earn 150% EXP
!Combine | 300 | Mix item with ammo for effects
| |
Gladiator (!Finisher) | 700 | !Finisher, !Blade Blitz
*Lure | 30 | Attracts enemy attacks
!Finisher | 70 | Extreme damage, misses often
*Long Reach | 150 | Full strength from back row
!Blade Blitz | 450 | Hit all enemies
| |
Necromancer (!Dark Arts lvl 5) | 750 | !Dark Arts
!Oath | 15 | Summon a demon
!Dark Arts lvl 1 | 30 | +29 Magic
!Dark Arts lvl 2 | 45 | +29 Magic
!Dark Arts lvl 3 | 60 | +29 Magic
!Dark Arts lvl 4 | 100 | +29 Magic
!Dark Arts lvl 5 | 200 | +29 Magic
Undead | 300 | Makes character undead
===============================================================================
Closing [CLOSE]
===============================================================================
I'd like to thank my brother, who encouraged me to reorganize this guide and
get it online, and who wrote the introduction.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative
Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
This license enables you to edit and redistribute this guide, but you are
required to attribute the original work to me (rey meustrus), you are
prohibited from using this guide for commercial purposes (including but not
limited to sale for profit or as premium content requiring a paid membership),
and you are required to publish the modified work under the same license.
Failure to abide by these terms is copyright infringement.
Feel free to contact me about this guide at meustrus AT gmail DOT com.
