Shell and Protect

[ReloadPsi]

Is it just me or do those two spells make very little difference in this game?

[TheSpoonyBard]

Protect reduces physical damage by 25%. Shell reduces magickal damage by 25% and decreases the chance of a status effect to hit by 50%. The latter is the most important for battles such as Zodiark and Yiazmat as it means their instant KO attacks are less threatening. The downside to Shell is it also reduces the success rate of Berserk and Decoy as they are considered negative statuses.

[Roto13]

It appears to be weaker than it was in the other games. Maybe to compensate for the fact that one casting keeps you protected for a bunch of battles.

[Yar]

Plus, with gambits, they can be automatically cast and (practically) permanent. They did make a visible difference for me, but they weren't stellar either.

[Vivisteiner]

They make a huge difference IMO, because I cast them constantly. In other FFs, I rarely casted them unless if I was facing a strong, unbalanced opponent (eg. Heavy hitting boss or super magical boss)

In FFXII Shell and Protect can be cast really quickly, often before a battle. They barely take up any mp as well.

[strawberryman]

I used Gambits to auto-cast both of them. Sure, they aren't phenomenal, but their MP cost is so negligible and it's fairly easy to keep a cycle that it doesn't really hurt. Not to mention you can take a few steps to recover the MP spent. >_>;
Regen is nice to keep in a buff cycle, too.

[Bolivar]

^ Yeah, I found protect and shell extremely useful, along with pretty much all the other buffs and status magic in the game. I always at least make sure it's on a tank.

[ReloadPsi]

It appears to be weaker than it was in the other games. Maybe to compensate for the fact that one casting keeps you protected for a bunch of battles.

That makes a lot of sense actually. So the benefit is there, it just works in a completely different way; Protect and Shell used to keep the respective damage numbers down to about half but back then they lasted for part of one battle.

I restarted the game because I'd left my last save so long that I was out of the loop with the plot. Since I haven't got Protectga and can't be bothered casting single target buffs over and over, I'm noticing I cast Cure and Cura a lot more...

Doesn't help that I'm trying to not teach everyone the same spells either :p

[Big D]

Those two spells are an essential part of my superboss confrontation strategies, and also nearly indispensable for the increasingly tough bosses toward the game's end.

[Coma]

Yeah, I can't imagine living without them. I cheaped out on armor to by grimoires and magicks that I don't cast. So, all the enemies in the Mosophoran waste hit for like 450 through protect.

[Quindiana Jones]

Cheap buff. I Gambited them as soon as I got them, and kept the Gambit uprgraded.

[Roto13]

I don't bother to set it to a gambit because I already have Haste and Bravery set and I don't want to be spending that much time recasting so many spells. xP

[Karellen]

I had each character cast one of Protectga, Shellga and Hastega followed by all three buffing themselves with Bravery (and bubble, if I didn't have bubble belts equipped). It worked quite well end game.

[arcanedude34]

I never found either particularly useful in any FF game, but I use it more in XII since it doesn't have to waste a turn, depending on how your gambits are set up (ie, always attack/heal/revive before casting protect)

[Heath]

They make a huge difference IMO, because I cast them constantly. In other FFs, I rarely casted them unless if I was facing a strong, unbalanced opponent (eg. Heavy hitting boss or super magical boss)

In FFXII Shell and Protect can be cast really quickly, often before a battle. They barely take up any mp as well.

Same thing for me. Only bother with Shell and Protect for bosses in other games but I have gambits set for them to be cast automatically along with Libra in FFXII.

[Coma]

Libra <3

[Roogle]

It seems like later Final Fantasy games are more prone to reducing the effectiveness of positive statuses like Protect, Shell, and Haste due to their continuously rising usage in each Final Fantasy game.

[FFIX Choco Boy]

I have protect, shell, haste, bubble, regen and bravery on constantly. Sure it takes a long time to rebuff, takes alot of MP, and needs recasted alot, but it works really well. Plus, since all of my characters have maxed thier license grids, they have the augments for practically unlimited MP so I get my MP back really fast. I have an Archer(Fran/Penelo) and 2 Axemen(Either Vaan/Ashe or Basch/Balthier) and it does really help with the speed and efficiency of battles, especially haste.

[Seamus>Yiazmat]

I never use Shell because it reduces how much I heal for, but I have a Protectga gambit on. It helped me a lot for most of the Yiazmat fight and for the Behemoth King fight, and for every other fight. Shell never helped me a whole lot. I always have max Remedies and other status-healing items so status resistance is never a problem for me. I keep Protectga and Hastega on gambits and I have since I got them, haven't changed them since and I doubt I will.

[Goldenboko]

I love shell, especially Shell Shield, because it reduces the chance of a status effect along with magic damage, making some marks much, much easier early on.

[Seamus>Yiazmat]

Shell Shield? What is that? Anyways, I just never found Shell incredibly effective. It never really helped me with status effects either. But to each his own...

[PuPu]

Shell Shield? What is that?
Equipping Shell Shield gives a character with constant Shell status. I think you can get one as a reward for doing a Mark hunt.


I just never found Shell incredibly effective. It never really helped me with status effects either.
It really does reduce the chance of getting a status effect. Shell also reduces Yiazmat's attack, Death Strike, from a 100% chance of inflicting KO status to 50% chance.

[Big D]

I just never found Shell incredibly effective. It never really helped me with status effects either.
It really does reduce the chance of getting a status effect. Shell also reduces Yiazmat's attack, Death Strike, from a 100% chance of inflicting KO status to 50% chance.I wish I'd found that out before selling my Shell Shields for some extra cash... that'll teach me for not reading the Status Effect FAQs sooner :p

[Seamus>Yiazmat]

Oh OK. I never really used shields so I probably sold them lol. But I didn't know that Shell affected Death Strike. That's gonna be helpful info for next time I fight him. Maybe I'll start trying to use Shell more often.

[Markus. D]

They kind of seem like they're not doing much, but it all helps in the end.

[Cleric]

Shell, protect, haste, bravery/faith, bubble. It's hard to go wrong with that, and like choco boy was saying with the augments on the license board you are gaining mp back very quickly