I've got an Idea.

[The Amazing Spiderman]

Hey everyone.

Well, as the thread's name says, I've got an idea, to keep this forum a little bit fresh, and it's not about trivias, games or something like that...

...My idea is to make reviews of the FFT jobs (all of them, including non-generic ones and monsters.) per week.
I would like that the reviews would something like this:

- Review of the job in general, and it's position if you have in your party (healer, heavy hitter, support.). The Description of the job as it is in the game, requirements for getting it - Both PSP and PS1-, a personal opinion of the male and female sprites that made the job (If it is a NPC, a review of the character.), and what equipment can this job use. You know the drill.

- The armony that the job has with the other jobs. You know, which jobs work well together. Like, for example, An Oracle with the Status changing spells, like Sleep, helps a lot when you're using a thief to steal equipment from the opponent.

- Review of the job's abilities. Which ones are useful, and WHY.

- Here's the golden one. A character setup for that job, including equipment, skills, that makes the interesting, fun, or useful to play with. I would like to put at least three or four of them.

Note: Only original setups. For example, everyone knows how GODLY is math skill, and you add it just to every Mage, and while it's really useful, I want to explore new setups, or more challenging ones.

- A general rating of the job, from a 1 to 10 scale.
________________________________________________

Well, that's the Idea. But I don't want to do it alone. I want help from people that posts in this forum.

But first, I want to know if you guys would like to do something like this.

Then, we'll see how will we choose the reviewers. :)

The purpose of these reviews is to help new players and old ones too, to get a full full description of the job's pro's and con's, and with the setups, to inspire them to be creative with their units, and how to exploit on many ways the job's abilities.

I hope you like the Idea. If you have any doubts, feel free to ask me. Sometimes I forget to write parts of a sentence, so be patient with me. :)

[.:kerrod:.]

it's a big job, but i think it's a pretty good idea, and gives people an idea of what they're working towards. I'd offer to help, but i really dont have enough time, and i've never done a walkthrough or anything in my life, i wouldnt know where to start or what to suggest, but good luck with it! :D

[Ouch!]

I imagine you'd find willing participants by advertising this here (http://forums.eyesonff.com/site-volunteers/). Anyway, I think it's a pretty nifty idea, but I don't consider myself skilled enough to be able to help with something like that.

[VorpalCyberWolf]

Good Idea. Even I might be able to get behind this one.

[The Amazing Spiderman]

Good Idea. Even I might be able to get behind this one.

I hope you can help me.

Well, I don't know about you guys, but I think it's an easy job.

What's more, we can even ask the readers to send their "Ideal setup" for a job (Equipment, skills, etc.) that we are going to review, and we can select the most original ones!

[Rhadam]

as a person who just now beat this game for the first time, i like this idea! :)

[BG-57]

Something like this?

Mediator

Prerequistes: Level 2 Oracle

Role: Support

Sprites: Both wear a long sleeved red jacket over purplish pants; they also feature a grey hat with tassels and carry a walking cane. They look decent.

Default Weapons: Guns, Knives

Default Helmet: Hat

Default Armor: Clothes, Robes

Compatible: Works with almost any job, usually as a secondary skill. The Gun options gives a Mediator a good range, but they rarely work well as front line fighters because of their weak armor and attack power.

Talk Skill

Key: Must have! Useful. Pass.

Invitation: Turns a foe into a Guest. At the end of the battle can be recruited into the party. Recruiting monsters is the only way to get some rare items. Plus breeding monsters is cool.

Persuade: Enemy CT to 0. Good for use on an immobile foe for JP gaining.

Praise: +4 to Brave. Brave allies hit for more damage. +1 to Brave permenantly for every use.

Threaten: -20 to Brave Not only good for turning foes into chickens, but can make finding rare treasure easier with Move-Find.

Preach: +4 to Faith. Magic does more damage.

Solution: -20 to Faith. Enemies can be hit with Zodiac and survive, making learning it from a life crystal very easy.

Death Sentence: Adds Death Sentence. Not an efficient way to kill a foe.

Negotiate: Nab some Gil. Gil is good. You can buy stuff with it.

Insult: Adds Beserk. Not bad against spellcasters, but usually a waste of time.

Mimic Darovan: Adds Sleep. Putting foes to sleep, to kill or rob is always helpful. The funniest name for a spell in the game. What an insult to poor Professor Darovan!

Finger Guard: Blocks Talk Skill. Not many fights against Mediators.

Equip Gun: Lets you sling a gun in any job. Guns have great range.

Train: Force critical foes to join the party. More likely to work than Invitation. Not recommended for weapons with elemental damage.)

Monster Talk: Non-Mediators can talk to monsters. Never used this one or missed it.)

Setups:

Rafa, the super Treasure Hunter. Rafa has a naturally high Faith and low Brave, so she's a shoe-in to equip with Move-Find, since the chance of getting the rare item increases as Brave decreases. It's natural to make her into a Mediator, since she works well as a support character. Give her a Spell Gun, a curative secondary skill and let her wander over the landscape getting treasure and recruiting monsters. Very handy to have in Nelveska Temple (to recruit Hyrudras) and Deep Dungeon.

Lancer/Warrior smack down. Set any physical fighter with Train and send them off into battle. They tend to deal heavy damage and have a good chance to get a critcal blow. You can then either recruit the monster or if you prefer land a coup de grace.

Zodiac Professor. If someone got Zodiac from Elidibs, then he can teach it to the rest of the party by casting it on a foe (only foes get hit by damaging Summons). But to survive it, their Faith has to be very low. So enter a battle with Summoners, immobilize them, kill other foes except for one, then have the Mediators pummel the summoners with Solution (also Preach can help to fine-tune the foe's Faith to around 10.) Hit 'em with Zodiac, kill them and wait for the crystal drop.

Overall Rating: 8. Absolutely essential to recruiting most monsters, getting rare breeds and poaching items. The skills that affect Brave and Faith are great for Move-Find, teaching Zodiac, and making your party into physical and magical powerhouses.

EDIT: Added a cruddy picture of Mediators from the strategy guide. Also simplified the color coding system.

[The Amazing Spiderman]

Yeah, something like that!

But also, I want to add to the possible setups, equipment. For instance, if I suggest something like a :

Fightin' Wizard!

Rune Blade /Holy Lance
Golden Hairpin
Robe of the Lords
Genji Gaunlet

Black Magic
Math Skill / Jump / Item / Whatever
Blade Grasp
Equip Sword / Spear
Move Mp- UP / Move + 3

That's just an example, where you can say many things about the equipment and the abilities, and why do you set up the class with them.

Thanks for the post!


I seriously am in your debt, BG. That example's just great. Really.
Say, what's your opinion on this? Are you in?

[BG-57]

Sure, I can help.

A good default Mediator setup:

Talk Skill
Math Skills
MP Switch
Secret Hunt
Move +2/+3

Blast Gun
Thief Hat
Rubber Suit
Setiemson/Red Shoes

A good Monster Trainer setup:

Jump
Math Skills
MP Switch
Train
Move +2/+3

Javelin (II)
Escutcheon (II)
Grand Helmet
Maximillian
Setiemson/Genji Armlet

[The Amazing Spiderman]

Alright!

Well, the volunteers right now are:

- The Amazing Spiderman - Duh. =P

- BG-57


We could use your help. Just post it if you want to help here.

By the end of the week, I PM all the volunteers with the info we must now about the reviews, so that if everything's cool by monday, we can start the next Friday!


Also, when we post the review, we can add a Poll, where people can select which job they want us to review. How about it?

[VeloZer0]

Sounds like a cool enough idea. Not exactly clear how you're organizing who's doing what but if you tell me what to write I'll try to share my sage advice :)

[The Amazing Spiderman]

So, I count you in, too?


Well, anyway, just to make oficial this, I'll need all the volunteers to PM me BEFORE Wednesday!!!!
It's better that way.


I hope to start this by friday or next Monday.

[BG-57]

Lancer

Prerequistes: Level 2 Thief

Role: Front Line

Sprites: Dragon shaped helmets with heavy armor. Females have a cloth skirt while males have hip boots and a cape. These guys look neat.

Default Weapons: Spear, Shield

Default Helmet: Helmet

Default Armor: Armor, Robe

Compatible: Works best with a support skill like Item or Math Skill.

Jump

Level Jump 2: Expands the range of jump to two panels out. Easy to get but gets replaced by higher Jump skills.

Level Jump 3: Expands the range of jump to three panels out. Gets replaced by higher Jump skills.

Level Jump 4: Expands the range of jump to four panels out. Gets replaced by higher Jump skills.

Level Jump 5: Expands the range of jump to five panels out. Gets replaced by higher Jump skills.

Level Jump 8: Expands the range of jump to eight panels out. Absolutely necessary to maximize the Lancer's range. Supercedes all other Level Jump skills.

Vertical Jump 2: Expands the height of jump by two. Easy to get but gets replaced by higher Jump skills.

Vertical Jump 3: Expands the height of jump by three. Gets replaced by higher Jump skills.

Vertical Jump 4: Expands the height of jump by four. Gets replaced by higher Jump skills.

Vertical Jump 5: Expands the height of jump by five. Gets replaced by higher Jump skills.

Vertical Jump 6: Expands the height of jump by six. Gets replaced by higher Jump skills.

Vertical Jump 7: Expands the height of jump by seven. Gets replaced by higher Jump skills.

Vertical Jump 8: Expands the height of jump by eight. Absolutely necessary to maximize the Lancer's vertical reach. Supercedes all other Vertical Jump skills.

Dragon Spirit: Adds Reraise upon critcal status. While nice to have, it doesn't block damage or heal.

Equip Spear: Very nice. Allows any job to equip a spear, which has excellent attack power and better range than a sword. Also Jump does more damage with a spear.

Ignore Height: Great to have, especially fights that involve great vertical distances like NOGIAS.

Setups:

Poacher Deluxe: Poaching is a great way to get rare items to use or sell. Lancers are the best profession to nab these monster hides. Not only do they pack a huge punch, but they can safely attack without triggering a counterattack. Just avoid using the Holy Lance, which randomly adds Holy damage that can kill a monster without poaching. When poaching, it's best to do predictable damage.

Jump
Math Skills
MP Switch
Secret Hunt
Move +2/+3

Javelin (II)
Escutcheon (II)
Grand Helmet
Maximillian
Setiemson/Genji Armlet

Overall Rating: 8. A gret profession to have and do major damage on the battlefield. These guys can also use Jump to avoid taking collateral damage while their turn comes around. Although Jump cannot be seen in the order of battle screen, it'll usually connect if the Lancer Jumps on a foe with a CT of 50 or below. While Spears lack the raw power of the best Knight Swords their two-panel attack range allows for safer meelee.

[Maddness66]

Squire (Ramza)

Prerequistes: None

Role: Multi-role attacker

Sprites: It's Ramza, the main character.

Default Weapons: Knife, Sword, Hammer, Knight Sword

Default Helmet: Helmet, Hat

Default Armor: Armor, Clothes, Robe

Compatible: Best with either frontline melee, long range offensive support, or solo play.

Guts/Mettle

Accumulate/Focus: Increase your PA +1. Good early game for JP and early melee damage buff. Loses effectivness late game once replaced by Scream.

Dash/Rush: Attack by ramming into an enemy's body, has a 100% chance to hit. Effective in very early game to get killing blows and to attack enemies head on with high evasion. Beyond the initial stages of the game, this skill start losing effectivness.

Throw Stone/Stone: Throw a stone at a distant foe. Effective very early game as the only means of ranged attack. This skill loses effectiveness almost immediatly once Archers and Wizards become available, but can be a big help until then. It is also the best skill the game to remove sleep and confusion.

Heal/Salve: Remove blind, poison, and silence. A great support ability. Often overlooked or underestimated, this skill has no charge time and no mana cost, making it one of the best anti-blinds/poisons/silencers. For you, the main strength of it is to remove silence, the others are just bonus.

Wish/Chant: Sacrifice HP and restore twice as much to an ally. A decent heal spell, though not as good as some others. At higher levels this spell becomes pretty effective, but the price you pay also increases. Used mostly as a last chance heal.

Yell/Tailwind: Boost an ally's speed +1. Great skill the entire game, there is no reason you shouldn't get it.

Cheer Up/Steel: Boost an ally's brave +5. Once again, this skill starts off strong and finishes up strong. It is effective the whole game.

Scream/Shout: Increase your brave +10, speed +1, PA +1, MA +1. This skill is the reason this build works. It's the ultimate buff (that you can learn). The only downside to this skill is that it's a self buff only.

Ultima: Moderately powerful magic attack with a range of 4 and effect of 2. For some this skill is great, but for you, it's useless. The magic is weak compared to what you'll be using. The only reason you'd want to is to become a master.

Black Magic/Black Magicks

Fire, Fire 2, Fire 3/Fire, Fira, Firaga: Inflict fire damage on an enemy. A staple spell in your arsenel.

Bolt, Bolt 2, Bolt 3/Thunder, Thundara, Thundaga: Inflict lightning damage on an enemy. A staple spell in your arsenel.

Ice, Ice 2, Ice 3/Blizzard, Blizzara, Blizzaga: Inflict ice damage on an enemy. A staple spell in your arsenel.

Fire 4, Bolt 4, Ice 4/Firaja, Thundaja, Blizzaja: Inflict massive fire, lightning, or ice damage in a large area. Very powerful level 4 spells, but they suffer from long charge times, high mana cost, and target ally/enemy alike. Effective use of these spells can render fascinating results, but you are likely to pass on them for a shorter CT level 3 spell or a more powerful Flare cast.

Poison: Poison enemy reducing HP each turn. Sounds good on paper, and it might be slightly effective in long drawn out battles, but the total damage caused by this spell is easily overcome during it's duration.

Frog/Toad: Turns your target into a toad. Toads are weak, deal little damage, can only use basic attack, cast Frog/Toad, and lasts the entire battle unless dispelled. The primary use of this spell is obvious, but it's necessary for a different reason, mass EXP/JP accumulation. Turn everyone on the battlefield into a toad (enemies and allies), set your team to auto-attack, and walk away. Come back a couple hours later 5-10 levels higher and thousands of JP better.

Death: Instantly kill an enemy. Sounds good, but the low hit chance of this spell makes it useless. Most enemies will be dead by regular means before you manage to get this spell to land.

Flare: Very powerful dark magic spell. This is your ultimate spell. Only the greatest and most powerful will hope to survive it. The target area is only one panel, so they can't walk up to you and spead the love.

Magic Atk Up/Arcane Strength: Increases damage caused by magical attacks. This is the other reason this build exists.


Setup

Guts/Mettle
Black Magic/Black Magicks
Blade Grasp/Shirahadori
Magic Atk Up/Arcane Strength
Move +3

Rune Sword
Aegis Shield
Grand Helmet
Robe of Lords
Bracer/Genji Gauntlet

Battlemage: One of the most versatile offensive strategies. The Battlemage has the powerful melee damage that Ramza can deal or an arsenel of powerful magic at his disposel. While you may scoff at the Rune Sword instead of using a Chaos Blade, the Rune Sword adds +2 MA and it packs a punch in melee too. The nature of this build renders you fairly well defended against a wide range of attacks and gives you a wide range of offensive and support skills to use. Your role is primarily an offensive nuker, rather than a front line fighter, but front line is possible as a Battlemage thanks to your Reaction Skill.

Overall Rating: 8. A very well balenced machine. The Battlemage has a wide range of skills at his disposal to beat down the enemy with. Fully capable of utilizing might or magic entirely or a combo of both in battle. He makes for a great compliment to your team, as he can fill several roles at a moments notice. The time you will spend as a Wizard/Black Mage will ensure that you have plenty of mana late game to supplement your Robe of Lords. His drawbacks are: magic requires CT, lacks offensive physical skills, lacks HP of a warrior and MP of a mage, and only viable with Ramza (and Luso for PSP version).

[Siegfried]

Something like this?

Mediator

Prerequistes: Level 2 Oracle

Role: Support

Sprites: Both wear a long sleeved red jacket over purplish pants; they also feature a grey hat with tassels and carry a walking cane. They look decent.

Default Weapons: Guns, Knives

Default Helmet: Hat

Default Armor: Clothes, Robes

Compatible: Works with almost any job, usually as a secondary skill. The Gun options gives a Mediator a good range, but they rarely work well as front line fighters because of their weak armor and attack power.

Talk Skill

Key: Must have! Useful. Pass.

Invitation: Turns a foe into a Guest. At the end of the battle can be recruited into the party. Recruiting monsters is the only way to get some rare items. Plus breeding monsters is cool.

Persuade: Enemy CT to 0. Good for use on an immobile foe for JP gaining.

Praise: +4 to Brave. Brave allies hit for more damage. +1 to Brave permenantly for every use.

Threaten: -20 to Brave Not only good for turning foes into chickens, but can make finding rare treasure easier with Move-Find.

Preach: +4 to Faith. Magic does more damage.

Solution: -20 to Faith. Enemies can be hit with Zodiac and survive, making learning it from a life crystal very easy.

Death Sentence: Adds Death Sentence. Not an efficient way to kill a foe.

Negotiate: Nab some Gil. Gil is good. You can buy stuff with it.

Insult: Adds Beserk. Not bad against spellcasters, but usually a waste of time.

Mimic Darovan: Adds Sleep. Putting foes to sleep, to kill or rob is always helpful. The funniest name for a spell in the game. What an insult to poor Professor Darovan!

Finger Guard: Blocks Talk Skill. Not many fights against Mediators.

Equip Gun: Lets you sling a gun in any job. Guns have great range.

Train: Force critical foes to join the party. More likely to work than Invitation. Not recommended for weapons with elemental damage.)

Monster Talk: Non-Mediators can talk to monsters. Never used this one or missed it.)

Setups:

Rafa, the super Treasure Hunter. Rafa has a naturally high Faith and low Brave, so she's a shoe-in to equip with Move-Find, since the chance of getting the rare item increases as Brave decreases. It's natural to make her into a Mediator, since she works well as a support character. Give her a Spell Gun, a curative secondary skill and let her wander over the landscape getting treasure and recruiting monsters. Very handy to have in Nelveska Temple (to recruit Hyrudras) and Deep Dungeon.

Lancer/Warrior smack down. Set any physical fighter with Train and send them off into battle. They tend to deal heavy damage and have a good chance to get a critcal blow. You can then either recruit the monster or if you prefer land a coup de grace.

Zodiac Professor. If someone got Zodiac from Elidibs, then he can teach it to the rest of the party by casting it on a foe (only foes get hit by damaging Summons). But to survive it, their Faith has to be very low. So enter a battle with Summoners, immobilize them, kill other foes except for one, then have the Mediators pummel the summoners with Solution (also Preach can help to fine-tune the foe's Faith to around 10.) Hit 'em with Zodiac, kill them and wait for the crystal drop.

Overall Rating: 8. Absolutely essential to recruiting most monsters, getting rare breeds and poaching items. The skills that affect Brave and Faith are great for Move-Find, teaching Zodiac, and making your party into physical and magical powerhouses.

EDIT: Added a cruddy picture of Mediators from the strategy guide. Also simplified the color coding system.

May I add to this?
Diplomat
Set up:
Talk Skill
Bardsong
Mana Shield
Tame, Equip shields or Whatever Else
Move +3

With this, you have an ultimate machine to your arsenal you can both buff, recruit and obtain all wanted gear off other chars. Equipping the Germinas boots as well boosts move to 7, adding the fact a gun can be used makes him almost untouchable, moving across the field and firing at the same time. The extra bard song abilities can come in handy to buff the party, especially Seraph's Song and Rousing Melody, for they are quick enough to be done before the next turn rolls around. In addition, because MP is never used by a Mediator, some hits you will take can be taken without any worry. The Seraph's song, adding MP, will also assure a permenant shield on him.
Overall: 9.5

[BG-57]

Sure thing. :)

The game's greatest virtue is the flexibility of the job system. You can customize the party to suit your gameplay style.