FFT weekly class review #1: Lancer / Dragoon.

[The Amazing Spiderman]

Hey everyone!

This is it. The first review of the week!
Every week, we'll try to review a different playable class, might be a generic unit, a special class like holy knight, or a monster (the three types of them.)

For starting the first review, we are going to review the Lancer/ Dragoon.


http://forums.eyesonff.com/attachments/final-fantasy-tactics/27007d1193882668-fft-weekly-class-review-1-lancer-dragoon-fft12.png
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We'll start with basics:


Lancer / Dragoon:

Imitating flying dragons, these knights created a unique way of fighting. Skilled with spears, jump attacks and defense.

General info:

How to obtain the class?
You must be a lv. 3 Thief to become a lancer.

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: Helmets.

Default Armor: Armor, Robe.

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Starting with BG-57's review:


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.

[The Amazing Spiderman]

Now, velozer0's review on the job:



0 Extremely Poor Choice
* Poor Choice
** Somewhat Useful
*** Good Choice
**** Highly Recommended


Lancer


Equipment:
Weapon: Spears, Shields
Helmet: Armored
Body: Armor, Robe

Recommendations:
There is extremely little variety in Lancer equipment, so just equip the Spear with the highest WP and armor with the highest HP. Also note that having a spear equipped increases the damage of Jump by 50%, otherwise it just deals normal attack damage.

For accessory a Bracer can increase Jump damage significantly, and since mobility is not essential to the Lancer there is little tradeoff in not equipping a movement-increasing accessory. Sprint Shoes can also help by increasing the speed at which Jump is preformed. The downside to this is that often cases Lancers with unmodified speed will have their AT occur just after the bulk of the enemies, allowing several targets to chose from for Jump. Having the Lancer attain AT just before the majority of enemies can be devastating to the classes effectiveness.


Class Abilities:
Level Jump #
****
Increases the maximum range of Jump. Since the maximum range is 8 the Lancer has the ability to Jump most targets on the map. Purchasing a range will extend the range of jump to the range purchased, so it s advisable to just save JP and only purchase Level Jump 8.

Vertical Jump #
****
Increases the maximum height differential between the target of Jump and the Lancer. When used in conjunction with increasing Level Jump the Lancer will be able to target most foes on the map. As with Level Jump it is advisable to skip all the lower ranks and only purchase Vertical Jump 8.

Reaction Abilities:
Dragon Spirit
****
Dragon Spirit has a % chance per point of Brave to add the Reraise status to the character. This is extremely useful as a backup skill on any class which finds themselves on the receiving end of physical attacks, as you will not have to worry about reviving them should they fall.

Support Abilities:
Equip Spear
*
Allowing another class to equip spears is limited in its usefulness, as most classes don’t benefit enormously from the weapon type.

Move Abilities:
Ignore Height
***
Equipping this skill effectively sets the character’s Jump to Infinite, which allows for moves that would otherwise be impossible. Equipping this can grant a greatly increased range of moves on maps with large height differences. The only drawbacks of this ability are that equipping Move increasing abilities will general increase move range more effectively on normal maps, and the fact that Teleport and Fly do everything this ability does and more.







Secondary Abilities:
Basic Skill
***
Basic skill is an asset to any class due to Accumulate giving you the opportunity to get JP and EXP on every turn no mater what. Since the Lancers damage is also directly proportional to PA, turns where you are unable to act otherwise will lead to increased damage.

Item
***
Since the Lancer is one of the most resilient classes, putting them in a position to heal and resurrect others is advantageous. Additionally items heal equal well when used by all characters the Lancer’s poor MA does not hamper the use of Item. Usefulness of the ability is seriously diminished without the Throw Item support ability equipped.

Battle Skill
*
Although breaking weapons can turn the tide of battle, with Battle Skill’s limited success rate Jump or Attack is usual a superior option. Additionally to use Battle Skill you must be in melee range.


White Magic
***
The Lancers has extremely low MA, making all heals cure for an extremely low amount. However, success of status altering (Shell, Shield, Wall) and resurrection spells is primarily dependant on Faith, meaning the Lancer can perform resurrections almost as effectively as a Priest with similar Faith. This is advantageous as Lancers are extremely rarely killed, putting them in an excellent position to be the party’s emergency resurrector.

Charge
*
The lancer should rarely be in range to melee an enemy, and if there is sufficient time to charge the higher ranks Jump provides a higher damage output.

Black Magic
*
Lancers have extremely low MA, meaning all damaging magic spells will have extremely little effect

Steal
*
Rarely useful in regular battle, and additionally Steal is more successful when used by faster classes.

Time Magic
***
Because Time Magic is based primarily on binary effects a Lancer with high Faith can use it somewhat reliably. Don’t Move and Slow can ensure a target is viable for Jump attacks. Haste, however, does not affect the speed of Jump, so it is primarily useful for support of other classes if the Lancer has no opportunity to successfully Jump on its turn.

Punch Art
***
The ability Revive can be useful on a Lancer, as the Lancer is very unlikely to be killed prematurely. Additionally Earth Slash can be used to hit faraway targets that would have moved before being jumped on. Equipping Martial Arts to strengthen this skillset is also a viable option.

Yin Yang Magic
*
Because Yin Yang Magic is primarily binary a Lancer with high Faith can cast it with reasonable certainty, however the affects of Yin Yang magic are largely inferior to the damage Jump would inflict.

Elemental
**
Elemental damage is derived from PA and MA, however the MA favors more prominently into the equation, meaning the high PA of the Lancer will do less to boost its damage than other classed. Additionally Elemental’s primary selling point of non-mana ranged damage is not as valuable since the lancer already possesses ranged attacks, and often the Lancer will be out of range of elemental (5) while keeping in range of Jump. This ability, however, can be moderately useful if AT timing prevents Jumping and there is still a desire to keep the Lancer at range.

Talk Skill
0
Talk skill is a poor choice as it rarely produces an effect more beneficial than Jump or Attack, and other classes can perform the recruitment and stat manipulation abilities with more success.

Jump

Summon Magic
0
Since the Lancer has such low MA Summons will do extremely little damage, and additionally drain the Lancers miniscule MP inexordinately quickly.

Sing
*
Sing performs identically regardless of the class on which it is equipped. However, Sing also offers far less than any of the Lancer’s normal actions.

Dance
*
Dance performs identically regardless of the class on which it is equipped. However, Dance also offers far less than any of the Lancer’s normal actions.

Draw Out
*
Draw Out damage is based on MA, and as such the Lancer will never produce sufficient damage with this ability.

Throw
**
Primary use of throw is for a ranged attack to substitute in the event that Jump is unusable. Throw’s range is based on MOVE and its damage is based on SPD, both of which the Lancer does not specialize in.

Reaction Abilities:

Counter Tackle
*
A chance to do token damage when attacked, and inferior to Counter in every way. Slightly better than nothing.

Weapon Guard
**
Lances don’t have miraculously high W-E, so the effectiveness of this skill is somewhat limited. Other skills can increase your evasion chance by a far greater margin

Speed Save
***
Speed Save can be a double edged sword for the Lancer. On the plus side it may enable you to execute Jump quicker. However, the downside is if your Lancer is in a good place in the AT rotation it may make future turns less opportune.

Arrow Guard
**
Excellent at reducing damage from arrows. However the Lancer’s high HP makes arrows less of a threat than to caster classes, and blade grasp will provide greater protection.

HP Restore
***
The Lancer has a large pool of health, meaning there is a far greater chance that critical hp will be reached before death, allowing the ability to activate.

Counter
**
Though inferior to Hamedo in every way, Counter is significantly cheaper meaning it can usually be purchased without spending any time in the Monk class.

Hamedo
***
Ultimate in enemy damaging reaction abilities. Only downfall of this skill is that Lancers are a ranged class, and as such avoiding ranged damage is more relevant than melee counters.

Caution
0
I won’t even start with this.

Gilgame Heart
0
Doesn’t help protect you and the amount of GP gained is trivial.

Catch
0
Damage from thrown weapons is extremely sparse, and can be avoided just as well with Blade Grasp. It’s only use is when it is systematically used to acquire items from enemies.

Counter Flood
*
The damage Counter Flood deals is minimal; its only saving grace is that it has a range to its affect, allowing counters against bow wielding foes. Keep in mind it is still and area affect like the ability Elemental, so if your positioning is unlucky your allies my get damaged as well.

A Save
**
PA does help improve the Lancers damage, but if damaging enemies is the goal other counter abilities can inflict far more immediate danger. Its usefulness increases the more protracted the battle is.

Brave Up
**
Brave is an excellent stat to have, however Ramza’s Cheer Up ability raises Brave extremely faster and easier.

Auto Potion
***
Auto Potion automatically uses the smallest potion in your possession, so if you keep a full stock of potions you will only ever heal yourself for 30 damage when it hits. If you only keep X-Potions in stock, you will heal yourself for 150, not no shabby indeed.

Regenarator
**
The net effect of Regen is ~25-38% of a characters HP healed. This is typicaly one average enemy attack, so at best it could be equivelent to avoiding the attack entirely

Counter Magic
0
Lancers extremely low MA makes the countered magic extremely weak

Absorb Used MP
0
Why do Lancers need MP again?

Critical Quick
**
Though getting a quick turn can be nice, it is usually far more beneficial to be healed to full, seeing as if your Lancer is critical that should usually be your priority.

MP Switch
***
Damage taken is first deducted from MP, which is good since Lancers don’t have to rely on MP. Even if the damage taken exceeds your current MP, HP damage will not occur unless your current MP is 0. This means so long as you have 1 MP you can absorb the next attack that is made against you. Used normally it would absorb the first hit made against you, but combined with ability such as Move-MP UP it can be quite formidable indeed.

Finger Guard
0
I can count the number of times I’ve been attacked with Talk Skill on one hand.

MP Restore
0
Why would you want to restore your MP?

MA Save
0
Lancer MA is useless, do not try to fight fate.

Face Up
*
Somewhat useful if you want to try and passively raise your faith as you play, thought I would recommend to power level it if you want it raised. Also keep in mind that if your Faith gets to high your character will leave, and it would really suck to have that happen because this ability activated.

Meatbone Slash
*
Far more useful to restore your health while critical.

Blade Grasp
****
One of, if not the, best reaction abilities in the game. This sets your chance to evade physical attacks by whatever your brave is. With 97 brave you only have a 03% chance of being hit by enemies. Even better is this ability is broken and works to evade guns and jump attacks.

Sunken State
*
Sunken State is a skill, which is only advantageous against any attacks following the first after the characters AT. Since a Lancer is rarely played in a manner where large numbers of foes are in melee range, it makes the skill not particularly useful.

Abandon
****
Abandon doubles the evade percentages of the equipped character. On a character that only possesses C-Ev, such as the ninja, it is of limited usefulness. However, in the hands of a shield bearing class it becomes quite formidable. The Crystal Shield goes from 45% physical evade to 90%, the Aegis Shield goes from 50% magic evade to 100%, and the Escutcheon II goes to 100% magic and physical, enemies don’t even try to attack you anymore. (Keep in mind you are always still vulnerable to physical attacks from behind.)

Distribute
*
How often are you over healing yourself?

Damage Split
***
Damage Split reduces the damage taken by and non leathal attack by half and inflicts the corresponding half to the attacker. Because of this it is neither the best damage reduction or damage dealing reaction, but it is a balance that is quite adept at both.

[The Amazing Spiderman]

And Finally, my review on the class.


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Lancer / Dragoon:

The lancer is a pretty good job, which is main role on your team may be as a heavy hitter with a good range for attacking.

It's main requisite to get it it's to be a Lv. 3 Thief first. Not that hard to get, plus, if you are on geeting the lancer job by leveling the thief class, I suggest you use the Thief's Job points earned to get Move + 2.

Well, getting on the class again, the lancer's equipment makes it thought to beat, and the weapon, the spear, has a two panel range for attacking, good enought for attacking one square away without fearing of a reaction ability like counter.
The weapon formula for the spear is PA * WP, while being simple, it assures you a chunk of damage, and the "Brave" of the unit doesn't matter, like in the Knight's Sword formula, which depends highly on brave.

And say, how about the jump ability? It's great, and useful most of the time. But remember, try to use the Jump ability on an opponent with a CT below 51 for better results.
So, we all know the lancer's a good tank and attacker. With which classes are the lancers compatible?

Seeing this class purpose is to inflict damage in close quarter combat or long distances, you can use the following classes to help the lancer to inflict more damage with the jump ability:

Oracle: This one's logic. Inflicting status ailments like, or Sleep, will help the lancer's chances on landing on the enemy when you do a jumping attack.

Time Mage: Inflict Stop, Slow or don't move on the enemy, assist the lancer's jump command.

Knight: Speed Break. Reduce the speed of the unit to increase the chances of landing.

Engineer: Althought this class is Mustadio-Only (PLAYABLE.), the leg aim can help a lot to negate the enemy's movement, and again, for the lancer to land on time.

Now, let's review it's abilities.

I'll review with stars:
*
**
***
****
*****

Being one the lowest, and five the highest.

Main ability:

Jump

Level Jump 2:
Expands the range of jump by two panels.


Level Jump 3:
Expands the range of jump by three panels.

Level Jump 4:
Expands the range of jump by four panels.

Level Jump 5:
Expands the range of jump by five panels.

Level Jump 8:
*****
Expands the range of jump to eight panels out.


Well, in the lancer's case, you learn these abilities to increase it's horizontal range. So, the best one is obviously Level Jump 8.

Tip: You can learn the first two levels, then skip to the level jump 8. You will automatically maximize the horizontal range, and you can spend Job points on the lower ones after you get it. Sure, 900 JP it's a lot, but it'll well worth it to get it first.

Vertical Jump 2:
Expands the height of jump by two.

Vertical Jump 3:
Expands the height of jump by three.

Vertical Jump 4:
Expands the height of jump by four.

Vertical Jump 5:
Expands the height of jump by five.

Vertical Jump 6:
Expands the height of jump by six.

Vertical Jump 7:
Expands the height of jump by seven.

Vertical Jump 8:
*****
Expands the height of jump by eight.

Well, the same case applies to the vertical Jump. The best one is the last one, as it surpasses the lower ones.

Tip: You can learn the first two levels, then skip to the level jump 8. You will automatically maximize the vertical, and you can spend Job points on the lower ones after you get it. Sure, 900 JP it's a lot, but it'll well worth it to get it AFTER level jump 8!


Reaction Ability:

Dragon Spirit:
***
Adds Reraise status when hit.

I like this ability. BUT, unfortunately, once you got hit, you get the status, and it doesn't stack if you get damaged again, so, it is surpassed by other ones and either negate damage or deal damage.

Support Ability:

Equip Spear:
****
Allows any job to equip a spear.

Cool to have. The spear is one of the best type of weapons on the game, and it's range it's just awesome. If you aren't mastering classes and using Gain JP UP, you can use it on those units that you want them to be brawlers, yet be safe of reaction abilities.


Movement ability:
Ignore Height:
****
Ignores Height (as it says), and you can jump freely on the map, even from 0H to 12 H with no sweat.

This ability is great, really. Pretty useful to have when fighting in places like Deep Dungeon, Germinas Peak, etc.

Which secondary ability is the best to use with Lancer?

Well, because of the low MA and Mp of the lancer, it obviously shouldn't use magic commands.
But, some physical jobs and somewhat useless compare to the jump skill in this case, like charge, throw, etc....
So, you can add a secondary ability that might support the party in some way, like Item. It assures you healing, reviving, and solutions to the status ailments if neccesary.
Maybe, if you want an aggresive, yet useful-type warrior, you can add Battle Skill, which is an excellent ability to keep control of the flow of the battle, and a way to earn JP while not Killing the enemy unit, and help other allies on the course of battle with the break abilities.

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Recommended setups:

Tanker:

Javelin II
Escutcheon II
Grand Helmet
Maximilian / Reflect Armor
Bracer

Jump
Item
Counter / Blade Grasp
Attack UP / Secret Hunt
Move + 3 / Move + 2

The purpose of this setup is simple. Smash, hit, jump, kill. The item ability is there for support or in case of healing, which will be pretty rare if you use Blade Grasp, anyway.
Also, the unit's a tank. Very High Hp, and an unmatched physical and Magic evasion makes it a very hard to hit target. If you use Reflect armor, you'll only have to worry about summon magic hitting you, as it is very rare that a Wizard casts Fire/Ice/Bolt 4 on you party, or to face special jobs like Divine Knight and Holy knight.


Holy Lancer:

Holy Lance
Aegis Shield
Grand Helmet
Robe of the Lords
Genji Gauntlet

Jump
Draw Out
Blade Grasp
Magic Attack UP / Attack UP
Move + 3 / Move + 2

This one's for fun. Abuse the power of the Holy Lance! Robe of the Lords, Genji Gaunlet and Aegis Shield is there to improve the lancer's MA so it can inflict more damage if s/he casts holy with the attack! Yay! And if we're improving MA, why not add Draw Out you for fun?
And Attack UP or Magic Attack UP to improve the damage.

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Overall Ranking:

8.5

The lancer's a great class. It's purpose it's just to attack.
BUT, While attacking is great, sometimes you might wish the lancer had some support abilities, rather than just attack enemies, you know, for gaining more JP.

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Well, that's it, folks!

Thanks for your time!
Please leave comments.


Please vote so we can know what job are we going to review for you to read.

Also, I give credit to BG-57 and Velozer0 for reviewing! Couldn't do this alone. Thanks!

Also, are YOU interested in reviewing? You can PM me, to see the details.


Until next time!

[BG-57]

I should have a key:

Must Have

Useful

Pass

[Maddness66]

BG-57...fyi on Jump. The way it works is the CT on Jump is twice as fast as the Lancers Speed. Meaning...if the Lancer has 7 speed, Jump works at 14 speed. This means that Jump will land on the tile in roughly half the time 'till the Dragoon's next turn. (i.e. Dragoon is number 10 on the list, his Jump will land around 5ish). Although the 50 CT could work, I don't find it to be as reliable as doubling his speed to find the landing.

[BG-57]

Yeah, but you wouldn't know that without hacking the game or consulting a game mechanics guide.

[Maddness66]

Well, I don't know anything about that...but curious, I found it on the internet long ago, and tested it out to see if it worked, and it seemed to be the most accurate to me...though sometimes Jump still lands after twice as fast, but those are isolated and uncommon occurences

[BG-57]

Gamefaqs.com has an excellent battle mechanics guide. Here's what it has to say about Lancers:


Damage from a JUMP is calculated as follows:

If caster is equipped with any weapon, then

damage = [PA * K] * WP

If caster is barehanded, then

damage = [(PA * Br) / 100] * PA

where K = 3/2 if the caster is equipped with a spear
K = 1 otherwise

The JUMP directive will leave the caster in the air for a number
of clockticks, ctr:

ctr = [50 / (Jumper's Speed)]

This ctr value is unaffected by the 'Short Charge' and 'Non-Charge'
abilities. Haste status is ignored in this equation -- a Hasted
jumper will land in the same number of clockticks as an un-Hasted
jumper with the same Speed.

While JUMP is charging, the jumper cannot be a target. A jumper's
CT will still increase while he is in the air, although the counters
on time-dependent status effects will pause. Normal jumpers will land
with ~50 CT; Hasted jumpers will land with ~75 CT.

[VeloZer0]

I was constantly flipping back and forth to the BMG when I was writing mine.

[The Amazing Spiderman]

Well, time's almost up for the poll to be closed.
Have you voted yet?
_______________________________________

We have another reviewer on the team. His review will be on the following review!

Seems the Monk is winning.

[The Summoner of Leviathan]

You can preview how long your jump will take before selecting a target, you know that right? The trick is the same as the one to see the attack order if you select a certain spell. I can't remember the button option though. -__-;;;;

[The Amazing Spiderman]

That seeing the AT, with the right directional button.

It works for spells and other abilities, but it won't for "jump" at your turn, since it's the only ability of the lancer, with an inmediate action with no charge requirement, compared to other classes, where you chose the a "skill" when you act, and then the abilities of that skill are shown, with the turns it has to charge, or to use it inmediately (now), and you hit the right directional button to see the AT to help you see if your spell will hit/heal, etc the selected target before he takes a turn.
So, if you jump, you must see the AT later to see if the lancer it's going to land on time before it's target moves.

I don't know on the PSP, thought.

[VeloZer0]

If (Enemy CT) + [100 * (Enemy Speed)]/[2 * Lancer Speed)] is less than 100 the jump will succeed.

Doesn't everyone play video games with a calculator on the table beside them? :)

[BG-57]

I prefer the Calculators on the battlefield. :D

Of course you can't use them to spell out Hello by typing in 0.7734 upside down.