Final Fantasy XII TIPS

Most notable, of course, is the

overhaul of the Licenses system.
Characters now have a choice of
permanant class, known as
the Zodiac Jobs system, and within
those Jobs a License Board is
available which holds various
upgrades, including
new Gambits for your character.
As well as all that, we'll also be
taking you through the best Jobs
for each character - although it's a
lot less important than you think.

Zodiac Jobs and the

License Board explained - which class should you pick?
Once the Zodiac Jobs and Licence system is unlocked in-game, every time a new person
joins your party you'll be able to assign them a Job. The game gives you the opportunity
to take a look at what's on each board before deciding, but note that once you've
assigned one you're stuck with it permanently, so in the early stages of the game you
may want to hold off until you've settled on a playstyle.

The twelve Jobs, corresponding to the twelve Zodiac signs.

When a new member joins your party they'll come with armour and weapons that
suggest their intended "default" role - Basch has a sword, Fran has a bow, etc. - but
you're free to ignore that and give them something else to do. that being said, it's
advisable to not stray too far from their intended job - while you can make Basch a
White Mage, he has more base HP, so is better suited to a melee character.

That said, when it comes time to add a second license (after defeating Belias to get your
first Esper), an argument can be made for assigning people to the "wrong" class as a
way of evening out the party and stopping you from relying too heavily one one
character: melee-based jobs have more HP bonuses available on their boards which you
can use to toughen up your Mages, and adding some magic skills to a melee fighter
means they'll still be of some use in situations where physical combat isn't an option.
More on that just below/

Theoretically, there are over five trillion combinations available to you when building
your party of characters and their various Zodiac Jobs, so we're obviously not going to
list them all, but here's a brief overview of each type:

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 Attack Suggested
Job Armour Weapons Best Uses
Type Characters

Archer Ranged Light Bows Tackling airborne enemies. Fran

Enemies with elemental Ashe

Black Mage Magic Mystic Staffs
weaknesses. Penelo

Close-quarters, fast attacks Vaan

Bushi Melee Mystic Katanas against slow enemies or weak Basch
physical defences. Penelo

Daggers
Close-quarters, alternative to a
Shikari Melee Medium Ninja Vaan
tank with high evasion.
Swords

Healing and defensive magic,

White Ashe
Magic Mystic Rods at least one is essential for you
Mage Penelo
party.

Vaan
Uhlan Melee Heavy Spears Tanking and heavy damage. Basch
Penelo

Flexibility, with a choice of

Guns for melee or ranged. Note that
Ranged Ranged weapon damage doesn't scale
Machinist Light Fran
Melee Measures for with stats, but Measures do flat
Melee damage regardless of enemy
defence stats.

Can only cast low level spells,

Red Melee Ashe
Mystic Maces but useful as a spare support
Battlemage Magic Penelo
for your White Mage.

Good as a tank or DPS, and

Swords
Knight Melee Heavy good choice for beginners due Vaan
Greatswords
to survivability.

High health and evasion means Vaan

Monk Melee Light Poles it can serve as a tank. Can fight Basch
unarmed. Penelo

Both support and damage-

Time dealing spells useful for Ashe
Ranged Heavy Crossbows
Battlemage inflicting status effects and Penelo
damage over time.

Excellent tanking and works as

Hammers
Foebreaker Melee Heavy DPS against high-defence Vaan
Axes
enemies.

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Archer
The archer’s license board gives that job access to bows and light armor in gear terms and excel at being mid-range
attackers with a range of support abilities that can weaken enemies. It’s ultimately best as an offensive support
character.

Black Mage
A classic Final Fantasy class, the black mage has access to the highest forms of offensive magic in FF12 and can attack
from range. They use staves and robes, and their license board supports that. Any team should have an offensive magic
component.

Bushi
Bushi, which is basically short for Bushido, is exactly what you’d expect given the name – a samurai class. It can unlock
katanas and mystic armor on its license board and can also use genji gear. It’s a high damage job whose damage output
is determined by both magic and strength stats combined.

Foebreaker
The Foebreaker’s purpose is clear in its name – it breaks foes by reducing their abilities using special ‘break’ attacks that
lower enemy stats. They can unlock heavy armor and shields and thus can tank, but they’re also vulnerable and are
generally more suited to a support role.

Knight
The Knight fits the pretty standard sword-wielding, heavy-armor wearing role that you’d expect, though with some help
from an Esper they can alsog ain access to some white magic. They start out as offensive-oriented, but can transition
into a support role in the late game.

Machinist
The master of all machines, the machinist gets access to guns as well as light armor on its license board. The Machinist is
better off supporting from a distance, and in the late game gets access to some Time Magic to bolster this.

Monk
Another all-time classic Final Fantasy job previously repped by the likes of Yang and Tifa, the Monk uses light armor and
is a generally physical attacker who also has access to some magic skills as they progress and grow.

Red Battlemage
The Red Mage is another classic FF job dating back to the very first game, and here again it’s a physical/magic hybrid. Its
license board can unlock maces, shields and mystic armor as well as a smattering of various magic skills.

Shikari
Shikari job users can unlock swords, shields and light armor and can end the game as one of the best offensive classes,
especially when combined with some other roles.

Time Battlemage
The Time Battlemage is FF12’s version of the classic Time Mage class. It can unlock bowguns and heavy armor and has a
high natural speed. The Time Battlemage is all about buffs and debuffs, and is a great support job for either your first or
second choice for a character.

Uhlan
The Uhlan is similar to the Knight in many ways, but instead of swords gets spears to go along with its heavy armor. The
Uhlan is more comfortable at a greater range than knights, but can get access to some breaks later in the game too.

White Mage
The White Mage barely needs any introduction and is your dedicated healer. Like the Black Mage this is a dedicated job
that is great to begin with but can really come into its own once it combines with another job. They get access to rods
and mystic armor, plus a complete range of healing and holy magic attacks.

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The best Zodiac Jobs for each character in Final Fantasy 12
It's a common question, but there are very few aspects which really affect a character's
performance when it comes to picking Jobs for each of them, so it's not something to
worry about with too much.
Instead, it's more just a case of bearing one or two minor factors in mind, and then
building them however you please. The community over on GameFAQs has made a
decent job (pun half-intended) of suggesting the best options, but again there really are
no hard and fast rules. Bearing all that in mind, here's what to consider when picking
jobs for your character:

Characters and Jobs:

 Vaan - A general all-rounder, but highish HP takes him towards tankier Jobs.
 Ashe - High Magic Power (MP), making her suited to the mage Jobs.
 Penelo - like Ashe, high MP means a leaning towards mage suitability.
 Basch - High combo speed points towards melee-based Jobs.
 Balthier - As with Basch, combo speed suggests a melee Job.
 Fran - Slightly weaker stats suggests ranged Jobs like Archer or Machinist.

How to build the best party in Final Fantasy 12 The Zodiac

Age
During the early stages of the game, you'll only have three characters to choose from,
but later on you'll get a larger roster of 6 from which you can then assemble a team of
three to explore with, and it's important to spread out the different classes so that you
can cover all bases. There's no "right" way to do it, and choosing an optimal party is as
much an art ten a science, but here are a few tips:

 A White Mage is essential - other classes such as Archer and Red Battlemage can
cast a few low-level white magick spells which will get you through the early parts
of the game, but as you progress you won't last long without some higher level
healing spells, which White Mages are built for.
 Think about assigning the "wrong" class as a secondary one - for classes that
can only wear Light or Mystic armour, for example, you may want to consider
giving them a second class that can wear heavy armour once it's available, and
conversely for those that can only wear heavy or light armour you may want to
give them a secondary class that allows for mystic armour. This allows you to
prioritise protection against pretty much any type of damage depending on the
situation, particularly in boss fights: some of them will pound on you with physical
damage so heavy armour is a bonus, and some will focus on magical attacks for
which mystic armour is a boon.
 Ranged damage is only for specific circumstances - ranged attacks are of course
useful against flying enemies, but they do far less damage than melee or magic
against most earthbound enemies, so don't rely on it as your primary source of
DPS.
 Wait before adding a Black Mage - in the early stages a Black Mage may not be
of much use, but as soon as secondary classes are available later on, you should
add one to your party.

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  Don't put all your eggs in one basket - at various points in the game you won't be
able to use magic, or physical attacks will be out of the question, so it's important
to have a little of everything available.

Also note that while you'll probably end up with three "favourites" in your party it's
important to give everyone an airing; characters earn LP to unlock new abilities even if
you're not using them, but EXP is only gained by active party members so anyone that
doesn't get used will end up being a little deficient in the HP stakes and likely to be
obliterated immediately if you find you need to call on them later in the game.

The best Licenses to choose from the License Board

There are a lot of things to choose from on each board and it can be a little
overwhelming knowing where's best to invest your points, but rather than pinpoint
specifics, we'd suggest a general rule of thumb, which is putting a little in everything
and keeping the board balanced.

The other major point to note reagarding your choice of Licenses is that, bcause higher
level weapons, armour, spells, tactics, and accessories only unlock as you progress
through the story, there's no advantage in, say, obtaining the Swords 5 license when
shops are still only selling tier 3 weapons.

In that situation, you should instead put those points in something more immediately
useful and avoid focusing too heavily on a single type of upgrade.

Gambits and Gambit Licenses explained

Gambits are a list of instructions you can assign to your party members that they'll
follow in battle; the list is prioritised from top to bottom, so every time it's their "turn"
they'll start at the top until they find a matching condition, and then perform whatever
action is specified. In the early stages of the game you'll have limited slots and options
available to you, but more conditions can be purchased form merchants around the
world and additional slots can be unlocked on the License boards.

For the most part you're free to assign whatever you want, but for some battles you may
need to add or remove certain things for safety - for example if you have a Black Mage
set to deal fire damage to the nearest visible enemy, and you're fighting a fire-based
enemy, you'll want to disable it - otherwise he'll be a hindrance rather than a help.

We'd recommend always having someone in your party who has "Self : Libra" as their
first gambit entry to give you an edge in battles and highlight traps as you wander
around, and at least one party member needs to have "Ally : Cure/Cura" as their top
priority. Where you set the healing threshold for that Gambit depends on how many HP
and MP are at stake; casting it too prematurely may waste MP, but leaving it too late
may mean that by the time it's been cast the intended recipient is already dead.
That's it for Zodiac Jobs, Licenses, and Gambits, but take a look at our Final Fantasy 12
The Zodiac Age guide and walkthrough for much more!

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Level up all six of your characters instead of just three

Final Fantasy XII lets you swap party members in and out of combat at any time,

although they’ll only get experience when they’re fighting. My advice is that you try to

keep your party balanced. Rather than maxing out three super-powerful characters, try

to keep all six of your heroes around the same level so you can sub in refreshments during

tight spots (like, say, when an enemy bomb blows you all up). I recommend keeping at

least two party configurations (like Vaan/Ashe/Fran and Basch/Penelo/Balthier) and

rotating between them.

Do all of the hunts

Head to bars and check the hunt board as often as possible. Monster hunting is not only

a fun way to play around with Final Fantasy XII’s unique combat system, it’ll get you

lots of cash and good loot.

Visit the Clan Centurio Hall

It’s easy to miss, but early in the game you should stop at the Clan Hall in the northwest
corner of Rabanastre. Talk to Montblanc regularly and he’ll hook you up with rewards
and elite monster hunts.

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Buy gambits early and often

You can get them all at the gambit store (the orange diamond on your map). Focus

especially on the ones for ally HP going below certain percents, enemy weaknesses, and

allies getting hit by nasty status effects.

Sell your loot, but not all of it

Most monsters won’t drop gil, just items that you can take to a store and sell for cash.

You’re safe selling pretty much everything, but hang on to Teleport Stones and Gysahl

Greens. One thing worth noting: Every time you sell loot, it’ll get registered by the Bazaar.

Certain combinations of loot will cause certain objects to show up on the Bazaar, ranging

from mundane (two potions!) to the rarest weapons in the game. You can read this

Bazaar guide if you want to learn all about the combos, but don’t stress too much—the

game will automatically keep track of everything you sell.

Buy all of the Grimoires

Every time a Grimoire shows up at the Bazaar, buy it. It’ll turn into an item that makes

enemies drop better loot.

Set up a Steal gambit early

Here’s a pro tip: put a “Foe: HP = 100 % -> Steal” gambit on at least one character. For

tough fights you’ll want to turn this off, but while you’re grinding or exploring, it’ll help

you make enough money to keep your characters properly equipped.

Set up Libra gambits, too

Libra is a technique that allows your party to spot traps and see enemy stats. Put a “Self

-> Libra” on at least one active member of the party so you’ll always be able to see traps

and determine enemy weaknesses. Stick this one way on the bottom of the gambit list,

though—you don’t want Libra going off during combat.

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Pay attention to buffs and debuffs

More than any other Final Fantasy game, FFXII asks you to pay attention to your status

effects. Take advantage of buffs like Haste and Protect and make sure you have gambits

in place just in case your characters get hit by debuffs like Poison and Stone.

Use Dispel on tough enemies

A mark with Haste or Protect can make your day way worse—cast Dispel (or use a Dispel

Mote) whenever you see those buffs on a tough boss or monster.

Hoard your license points

It’s tempting to unlock new skills and abilities as often as possible, but it’s worth

conserving LP while you’re out in the wild, just in case you pick up an awesome rare

weapon or get to a new shop full of more powerful equipment. There’s nothing more

annoying than reaching a new city full of weapon upgrades only to realize that you don’t

have enough LP to unlock the licenses you’d need to use those weapons. That said...

Buy weapons and armor even if you don’t have the licenses yet

You can always unlock the license while you’re out in the wild.

If a license you want is far on one board, check your other board

One cool thing about the dual-job system (new to The Zodiac Age) is that you can flip

between two license boards for each character. So if you want to hook up Balthier with,

say, Accessories 10 but it’s far away on one board, you can always check the other board

and see if he’s closer to unlocking it.

Use fast-forward liberally

Life is short and you can press the left bumper to fast forward the game at any time,

either at 2X speed or 4X, which you can swap in the menu. (I prefer 2X.) Don’t be

ashamed to take advantage of this feature while traveling, fighting, and going after hunts.

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Talk to everyone

There are a surprising number of sidequests in Final Fantasy XII, and you’ll miss them

unless you talk to everyone, from random Seeqs on snowy mountains to bartenders on

your airship rides. Plus, the NPCs always have interesting things to say.

Explore everywhere

Final Fantasy XII is an enormous game, and there are quite a few zones that you won’t

see unless you take the time to explore outside of the main story. Don’t worry about

stumbling upon enemies that are twice your level—The Zodiac Age has an autosave

feature that will prevent you from losing progress, even if you get stomped.

Don’t worry about the Zodiac Spear

Final Fantasy XII aficionados no doubt remember the Zodiac Spear, an ultra-powerful

weapon that you can only get if you inexplicably decide not to open certain treasure

chests. In The Zodiac Age, you don’t have to worry about the chests. You can get the spear

regardless.

Set your Gambits up to end battles quickly while keeping your team healed, set Battle Speed to the max, and set Speed Mode to x4 – you just

created the ultimate grinding strategy. With Gambits set up for your entire team, all your need to do is walk out into the wilderness and walk

straight into groups of enemies – with Gambit properly set, your whole team will spring to life and shut down any enemies, rewarding you with

Experience and Loot without any hassle.

Trial Mode, in fact, will reward players with items,

experience, and even license points to take over to

their main game – if you’re ever struggling a bit with

a story mission, it might be a good idea to head out
into Trial Mode, see what progress you can make,

and then jump back into it with some new

experience and items.

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