Why don't you get a job...

Was discussing this with a friend about all the cool job classes and our favorite incarnations of them throughout the series. I t was during this discussion I realized my fave class has never been as good as it was when it was first introduced.

So here's the questions of the topic:

What's your favorite true job class?
What's your favorite version of the class?
What version do you feel was the weak link in its history?

Also, to stay a bit on topic, I ask you please stick to the traditional sets. I don't count stuff like Tidus and Amarant who are literally combinations of very different classes. Lulu and Vivi do count though just no funny hybrids where they have multiple classes packed into one.

How do you define "true" job class? As in common/traditional?

Anyway, Black Mage/Wizard has always been my favorite. As for favorite versions, I guess FFT and FF1, which were representations of old school badass mages whose sole purpose was to blow crap up.

As a side note, the job/class system was also my favorite magic system.

Oh man, this is a trip, especially since some of them only make a single appearance. I really loved Magic Knight/Sorcerer from FFV, for example, one of my favorite classes to make Galuf, rocking his turban, wreaking magical havoc with his sword.

True job class, i just might have to go with Monk, as they seem to be one of the most underrated classic job classes (see FFI guide on this site). Not as easy to master as Warriors in FFI, but i feel that in that game, and nearly all its successors, once you really put effort into them they become powerhouses. I like how Tifa's limit break worked in FFVII, and how eventually you can just master the timing of the slots as if it were second nature.

I really like what they did with Zell. Making limit breaks more interactive in VIII was one of my favorite aspects of the game, I always loved using Zell's.

As far as the weak link, I might say in FFXII because there's just nothing enticing me to use it. I really wish they structured the license board better, but the international/european version was a little overboard. That's part of why the character development system in XII is my favorite and least favorite. It's just so great when you're actually buildilng your characters, but damn, when I get really into the License board, especially the top half and technicks specifically, I just can't help but thinking how poorly it was thought out.

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Originally Posted by Raistlin

How do you define "true" job class? As in common/traditional?

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Basically they follow a traditional set of rules to be called that class. As Bolivar mentioned, I would consider Sabin, Tifa, and Zell as being monks. Cause they are modeled after them despite not falling into the standard set in the earlier titles. You can also choose one shot classes like Mystic Knight (despite reappearing as warriors in X-2), Machinist, and some of the more original classes in X-2 and the Tactics franchise.

I'm just trying to avoid people like Terra, Celes, Amarant, Tidus, and Auron as they are made up of several different job classes. The only one I might give people is Edge cause he describes himself as a Ninja and holds all their abilites even though we could classify him as a thief as well.

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Originally Posted by Bolivar

As far as the weak link, I might say in FFXII because there's just nothing enticing me to use it. I really wish they structured the license board better, but the international/european version was a little overboard. That's part of why the character development system in XII is my favorite and least favorite. It's just so great when you're actually buildilng your characters, but damn, when I get really into the License board, especially the top half and technicks specifically, I just can't help but thinking how poorly it was thought out.

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I didn't mean to say what system screwed them up but I may just be misinterpreting your meaning as I do agree its difficult to make a good Monk in XII.

I do love my Monks though :D


For the final question I mean, what version of your favorite class seems like they totally screwed it up. For instance:

I love the Samurai class and my favorite version of it is in FFV where its a fun broken mess but every game afterwards has nerfed the poor class. Tactics and X-2 being the worse. In Tactics, Samurai lose almost all of their statistical advantages they had and instead get their Bushido abilites that are pretty decent but its high cost makes them seem vastly inferior to Knights, Dragoons, and Monks.

X-2 as well, smurfs up there stats and makes choosing them over a Dark Knight or Warrior seem ridiculous. There special skills were also not noteworthy if memory serves me correct.

They only recently got a break but only if you count them as Samurai in TA2 with the Parivir class which is easily one of the most overpowered classes in that game.

This is sorta what I'm getting at with my questions...

In all games I truly do love the monk. True power-houses who are there to destroy instead of hurt.
I guess in FFVI I would consider Sabin a monk, and while I like the character,he isn't a true monk in the sense I think of them as because he also has is auras.

I also really like red mages because they deal damage, but also have that extra crucial ability to be a back-up healer.

i would have liked to have seen the sorcerer from ffv in x-2
thats about as good an answer as i can come up with at this time

I've always liked the White Mages/Devouts. They keep you from dying and set up walls between you and them.

Rosa in IV is probably the strongest white mage. With the right augments in end game you can Reflect and Blink everyone in one turn.

Can't really think of a weak one. Except maybe in X-2. Without a special grid or accessory, they can't really do anything except heal.

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Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno

For the final question I mean, what version of your favorite class seems like they totally screwed it up.

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Black Mages are always done well because developers don't dare screw them up! I suppose a pure magic class wasn't very feasible in FFXII, but since the game didn't actually use classes that was ok.

Well I haven't played many of those strict job-based classes in FF history, but I'm knowledgeable on IX and IV which I'm guess goes strictly by it.
I always have an affection for magic users in the series. That's why I rank Vivi, Ganret, Lulu, and Yuna so high in their installments. Mystifying attacks are appealing to me and my favorites of them would be Garnet, Vivi and Lulu.

I also like Beatrix of IX who I think is a paladin. That's an incredible and greatly balanced class. Too bad Cecil messed it up by not having a life spell along with some other very useful white magic spells.

As non-magic classes go I think I would have to go for either the Dragoon or the Knight. Knights are powerful forces and Dragoons have the cool jump ability and specialize in killing dragons.

One little job that I've wondered is in the series is the archer. I'm guessing it might be in a game like III or V, but I haven't played any of those and I would love to see a strict archer character in the series as I don't think there are any yet. Rose, Cecil, and Rydia could use arrows in IV, but I don't think those weapons really qualify for those jobs.

I would like to see just a pure arrow user, but I wonder how they will differentiate that character from the rest of the class. I suppose giving the character elemental arrows could make them useful for exposing enemy weaknesses, maybe also having them as a bit of a mixture by adding in status ailing arrows. The character would probably also have Wakka's ability aim to increase their accuracy and maybe a move called Bulls-eye that would instantly fell an enemy with one shot with the cost of about 25 MP.

Okay well I like red mage and monk both the same. It wasn't until lately that I started liking ninjas. They get two attacks like monks did in FFT and FFV. Plus throwing stuff is always a plus :).

What's your favorite true job class? Ninja
What's your favorite version of the class? Tactics.
What version do you feel was the weak link in its history? FFIV Edge just dosen't do it for me.

The Knight has always been my favourite.



Except when they Paladin incarnations, those guys are pansies.

ive never understood why people like majic and majic job classes so much
they always have far too low HP and their attacks arent as powerful ad cant even do them indefinetly cause you run out of MP


physical attacks all the way!!!

Simple: magic is fun. And also not nearly as ineffective as you claim in most games, as magic allows you to attack large groups of enemies at once, as well as (usually) allowing for more powerful attacks.

If Relm counts, then Pictomancer. Making attacks with the power of art? Awesome! Unfortunately her Sketch skill wasn't very useful, but it sure was a nice idea. I always hoped they'd remake this job class for a later game.

Otherwise, White Mages/Devouts/Seers. They have kitty ears! I probably like FFTA2's version the best, since they give you Magick Frenzy, and hitting the entire field over the head with books/staves is tons of fun.

http://www.dinkybox.co.uk/acatalog/m...ff3_devout.jpg
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/fi...ume-Devout.jpg

i'm with Marky on this one, i never understood the use of magic besides healing spells in these games since physical attacks are infinately better due to not relying on something as limited as MP... sure you can very slightly scratch an entire enemy party with one spell but in the long run it really adds nothing besides pretty lights... the only Black Mage that did it right was Lulu form FFX she was the only Black Mage i ever got any real use from as her magic attacks actualy did some damage...
as for my favorite class i actualy don't have one but i love monks, dragoons, & warrior classes... mage classes are a waste of turns unless they're healing...

I blame FFVI for me cause in VI magic was ungodly... It does like 2 to 3x more damage than any other FF I can think of and the only game where Ultima can do max damage right out of the box. Its also one of the only titles where osmose works, and works probably too well. Did Edgar just Osmose 400+ MP from that boss? Good god...

Also, the spell effects are quite nice and in the older games, magic tended to cut through more defenses. Vivi himself is also pretty ungodly in IX. He doesn't really lose his pull until Steiner gets his full weapons and if you are anal enough to max Thievery and Freya's Dragon attack...

Blue Magic alone tends to always be worth the trouble as you either get elemental spells that are far better than noraml magic (VII), uncommon elements that most enemies have no defense against or are weak to (V and VI) or just uncommon spells that do unholy things... (VII, IX, and TA series) Blue Magic is one of my favorite mage classes and I'm still annoyed the class sucks in VIII and X.

Eiko is even better. I'm at before Ipsen's Castle and Holy does around 7700 damage at 18MP a pop. Way cheaper than Madeen at 36MP. Vivi is only doing around 5600 with Flare and that's more expensive than Holy too. But even still those two are outdamaging Zidane and Steiner who are only doing around 1800 with their physical attacks. Shock non-withstanding, that thing is just mean.

dark night or dragoon or summoner

Dragoon/Dragon Knight (I can't ever figure out the difference) is my favorite. To put it simply, they typically have a good balance of stats and skills that can make them strong, well-rounded characters to use. Jumping is fun, of course. I think the class was best executed in FFIX with Freya. She has a ton of useful abilities, and plus she's just a great character. The worst entries for the class were FFVII and FFX, in which Cid and Kimahri bland it up with basic spears and jumping abilities. Pointless.

I have to mention Blue Mage as my second favorite. I always have to learn every single ability. Even if a particular skill has a low degree of usefulness, I enjoy obtaining them all because I find them to be refreshingly creative. FFIX again shines with this class. Quina is so fun to use. I love eating in real life, and I love eating in a video game (like in Guardia Castle in Chrono Trigger). Even though Quina's Mighty Guard always seems to last about three seconds, the rest of her/his cool, useful skills make up for that. I agree with Wolf Kanno that the class sucks in FFVIII and FFX. I didn't mind using items on Quistis to learn abilities, but, not only was it a pain just to get her to have her limit break available (I don't waste Aura on her), but all her skills were very limited in effectiveness. And then there's Kimahri. Like Quistis, his skills. don't. do. anything. Plus, they all seemed to be the same.

Kimahri seems to ruin everything for me.

Oh man, Blue Mages might be my second pick. I just love Strago, he might be my favorite character in FFVI in battle. Not only can he learn all the great spells and use them with his fantastic MAG stat, but the Blue Magic is just pure win in that game. I also love how they tie it into the story, with you taking him to find that ultimate Blue Magic spell (Doom Train?).

On that note, I actually didn't like Quina all that much. While Strago becomes a powerhouse with his abilities, I feel like they dwarfed Quina's MP stock. She just doesn't have enough MP to make it worth my while to cast spells like Mighty Guard. IDK.

I could sort of agree about some of the struggles with Blue Mages. I think what they should do is combine Quina and Quistis. Have blue mage speells you use in battle that you learn from regular enemies and have blue mage spells that you learn from bosses which would be your limit break.

Whoever said paladins are pansies, just look at Beatrix.

This is a hard one. I love the job system in general, and, while I don't love every job, there are tons I enjoy. So I'll have to think about this a bit and get back to you guys on it.

Blue Mages are awesome just from the fact that they get fun and unique spells.

Thief is a class I actually despise in most FF games. When you get just one Thief in the game, I find myself practically forced to have the Thief in my party so that I can steal all the awesome stuff from bosses or the enemies with good equipment availible. Or, if the job system is used, I usually find myself running with Thief alternate abilities, again because it is way too useful to pass up. The game I appreciated it the most in was VII, because you had enough Materia slots to include Steal without really putting a dent in your availible moves.

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Dragoon/Dragon Knight (I can't ever figure out the difference) is my favorite. To put it simply, they typically have a good balance of stats and skills that can make them strong, well-rounded characters to use. Jumping is fun, of course. I think the class was best executed in FFIX with Freya. She has a ton of useful abilities, and plus she's just a great character. The worst entries for the class were FFVII and FFX, in which Cid and Kimahri bland it up with basic spears and jumping abilities. Pointless.

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FFT was way, way more cruel to the Dragon Knight than either VII or X.

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Originally Posted by Skyblade

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Dragoon/Dragon Knight (I can't ever figure out the difference) is my favorite. To put it simply, they typically have a good balance of stats and skills that can make them strong, well-rounded characters to use. Jumping is fun, of course. I think the class was best executed in FFIX with Freya. She has a ton of useful abilities, and plus she's just a great character. The worst entries for the class were FFVII and FFX, in which Cid and Kimahri bland it up with basic spears and jumping abilities. Pointless.

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FFT was way, way more cruel to the Dragon Knight than either VII or X.

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Oh man, it's been so many years since I last played Tactics that I completely forgot about how nauseatingly worthless Lancers were.

Lancers weren't that bad in FFT, at least early on, and especially if you know how to use their Jump ability. Samurai, as was mentioned earlier, were nerfed more.

I'm not sure you can even divide FF7 or other similar games into such classes. Each character had different weapons... but that's really the only way to divide them. There wasn't nearly as much differentiation as in other games.

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Originally Posted by Depression Moon

I could sort of agree about some of the struggles with Blue Mages. I think what they should do is combine Quina and Quistis. Have blue mage spells you use in battle that you learn from regular enemies and have blue mage spells that you learn from bosses which would be your limit break.

Whoever said paladins are pansies, just look at Beatrix.

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Since when has Beatrix been a Paladin? I'm confused... :confused:

I wouldn't want to relegate Blue Magic to Limit Breaks ever... By that theory of thought we could make Flare/Holy/Arise/Meteor/Ultima/Bahamut/Odin/Leviathan/"Overpowered summon that shouldn't be in the game" all relgated to Limit Breaks and I don't think that would go over very well.

I'm for Strago who has a normal limit break and just does awesome damage as a broken blue mage. :cool:

As for Lancers being crap in FFT. WHAAAAAA? :confused:

Maybe its because I always have Mustadio or someone with Time Mage skills (or both) but Lancers kick ass. They are pain to build up but once you get there highest skills they are ungodly with the right party set up. I love Lancers in that they have excellent defense, great attack power, and range... I don't even find the extra effort is that hard as both Mustadio and Balthier are excellent party members. Not to mention Beowulf later on if you want more muscle.

Lancers are slightly inconvenient but hardly a poor and useless class. I find the TA version to be worse since Jump raely connects and most of the skills are depending on MA stat which Bangaa don't get much of. Even then, TA's version still has ungodly good stats.

The most broken Dragoons are still FFIII (Duel Weilding... Blood lance that works), FFIV (Kain's got great stats, excellent weapon selection), Freya (has an ability to restore MP including her own? Can't figure out how that got past the testers :shifty: ). Hell I might even add VI in the loop. Even though Lances don't do double damgae with jump anymore, the Dragon Horn relic makes building a dragoon a very alluring choice, especially for the Battle arena.

Cid is also a decent dragoon (average stats though...) but Kimarhi definetly sucks. Especially since you literally have to choose between making him a good dragoon or a blue mage... Neither of which he's particularity good at.

Even though Quistis' Blue Magic spells are Limit Breaks, players can use them as much as they want - as long as her HP is critical (unlike Kimahri's). Kimahri might as well not even have Blue Magic spells.

The Blue Mages of FFV are my favorite Blue Mages!

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Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno

Since when has Beatrix been a Paladin? I'm confused... :confused:

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What? You didn't know?

My favorite job is the Dragon Knight. (Clearly!) They have the most stylish armor, and jumping incredible heights in order to smash enemies on landing is an incredibly fun, unique concept for a signature ability.

I think it was at its best in FFIX, which featured an amazing dragon knight who was also an Amazonian rat woman dressed in beautiful red armor. :freya:

It was probably at it worst in FFTA, where it was limited to a bunch of dumb-looking lizard men with orange skin wearing purple armor. Disgusting.

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Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno

Since when has Beatrix been a Paladin? I'm confused... :confused:

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Beatrix's special command in battle is Seiken, meaning "Holy Sword." That's definitely a Paladin's ability.

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Originally Posted by Marshall Banana

The Blue Mages of FFV are my favorite Blue Mages!

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Mine, too. They're certainly the best-dressed.


http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e2...emageidlel.gif http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e2...emageidlel.gif http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e2...emageidlel.gif http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e2...emageidlel.gif http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e2...emageidlel.gif

I'll never understand why capes, shoulderpads, domino masks, and feathered berets never became the job's signature look. They should be as inextricable from Blue Mages as pointy hats, empty faces, and glowing eyes are from Black Mages.

They're superheroes!

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Originally Posted by Zeromus_X

If Relm counts, then Pictomancer. Making attacks with the power of art? Awesome! Unfortunately her Sketch skill wasn't very useful, but it sure was a nice idea. I always hoped they'd remake this job class for a later game.

Otherwise, White Mages/Devouts/Seers. They have kitty ears! I probably like FFTA2's version the best, since they give you Magick Frenzy, and hitting the entire field over the head with books/staves is tons of fun.

http://www.dinkybox.co.uk/acatalog/m...ff3_devout.jpg
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/fi...ume-Devout.jpg

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I'd have to agree with this, pretty much.

I love white mages in general!

I agree that the Devout/Seer/Kururu as a white mage is the cutest costume for a job.

With the exception of Kimahri the blue mage is always one of my favorite party members. They are always just so much fun :quina:

But my favorite job of all is the Summoner. I always enjoy summoning magical deities to use an attack that should leave a smoldering crater that still somehow leave the world unharmed outside of a cutscene. :dagger::eiko:

Whenever I get bored if the geomacer is an available job it's also fun to mess around with. :p

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Originally Posted by Raistlin

I'm not sure you can even divide FF7 or other similar games into such classes. Each character had different weapons... but that's really the only way to divide them. There wasn't nearly as much differentiation as in other games.

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I think starting equipment, limit breaks, and statistics can help you on that, although their differences in the last are not as diverse.

Tifa and Yuffie are obviously a monk and ninja, respectively. I think of Barret as like the Warrior from FFIII, he has high Vitality (DEF) and Attack, and can used ranged and close-range weapons. Cloud I see as a magic knight/black mage & warrior combo since he has the highest magic other than Aeris, starts with Lightning and Ice, but also has high attack with a sword. I've always though of his spikey blonde hair replacing the pointy yellow hats, and the blue outfit.

Cait Sith represents his own "toysaurus" class, with manipulate, hypno crown, and status materia like transform and seal. Aeris is obviously the White Mage, Cid a Dragoon, and I just make Vincent and Red XIII red mages since they're well suited for it, statistically speaking, and look the part as well (Vincent in outfit, Red in color and in name).

Obviously you can get through FFVII ignoring all this but that's how I play it.

I liked the knight class when I saw it on FFT, but god it's skills are so crappy I don't even know where to spend the Job Points I got.

I lack the thought processing skills to really answer this question right now, so I'm just going to post what my favorite job in each job-based game was. I guess I could also say favorite character (in terms of fighting) in those games where the characters have distinct roles.

Of course, because I never go without them, my favorite class is most likely the White Mage.

I- mmm...Seriously, I quite enjoyed the Thief to Ninja situation. Knight was good, too.
III- I LOVED being a Geomancer.
IV- Methinks I enjoyed Cecil and Yang the most, so here it was Paladin and Monk that were my favorites.
V- The Monk was most definitely my favorite class. Gladiator was fun also.
X-2- Alchemist!! I also thought the Berserker class was fun.

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Originally Posted by Edgar

I liked the knight class when I saw it on FFT, but god it's skills are so crappy I don't even know where to spend the Job Points I got.

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FFT is an interesting case because each class is not meant to be used on its own, but in conjunction with other skills. Knights have the best physical stats and equipment, so it's understandable that their active skills would be subpar. However, Knights plus some skills from other classes (like two swords) = beast.

Speaking of FFT, the monks in that game were the only monks I actually liked. Otherwise, the "pure" monks are too boring (such as in FF1). I think the fantasy genre in RPGs is too much fun not to take advantage of some big explosions and flashy spells. I'll use classes like Knights as frontline tanks, but the backup for me usually has some sort of magic.

What are people's thoughts on the Mime class though? I was just finding it amusing since Bartz is a Mime in Dissidia yet he doesn't quite follow the rules of a mime since he can equip weapons Mimes normally can't. We've had several different Mimes in the series so which do you think worked best?

The topic reminds me of this GIF:

http://www.1337planet.net/forums/uploads/photo-1591.gif

What's your favorite true job class? Oracle
What's your favorite version of the class? Temple Knight (!)
What version do you feel was the weak link in its history? None!

I forget if there's an FFTA equivalent to Oracle, but I don't think so. Either way, focusing primarily on nasty side effects is awesome, only made better by the Temple Knight's instantaneous strikes. Oh, and its knightswords. I wish the class was more prevalent in the series but it's not really made for xtreme offence, so guess that wishing well's dried up... :P

The Oracle class has sorta reemerged though obviously altered, as the Green Mage class in FFXII and FFTA2.

I agree though, I love my Yin/Yang magic :love:

My favourite class is the Thief. Something about stealing and using daggers appeals to the inner criminal in me. Zidane and Locke are definitely my favourites. Zidane brought a cool new element with the thief swords which I liked, and having the agility of a monkey is always handy for a thief. Locke is just an all round useful character who always seem to make my squad. If they were ever let down, it was by the FFI thief who couldn't steal. That was a pain.

Blue Mages... I know they're awesome, but I can never bring myself to put in the effort to make them useful. I think I would find it much easier if I just had a list of skills and enemies to learn from before hand.

I've always liked thieves and ninjas. Ninja-thieves!

Usually thieves suck, but Zidane was really well balanced, and with skills like Thievery it makes him very useful.

I think my favorite thing about Zidane as a thief is that he actually has an ability that allows him to see what items an enemy is carrying. This to me was sorta one of those hindsight things where I'm like "Why the hell didn't we do this before?" I also liked that IX allowed you to go for all items instead of the traditional bull:bou::bou::bou::bou: that you get one shot at the item selection and if you get the common item that was it...

Locke is a great thief too but much like Zidane, he's far from a traditional thief and most of his unique equipment (Valiant Knife anyone?) really set him apart from the normal thief class.

Ninjas on the other hand I feel is a class that ebbs and flows in quality as the series goes along. Awesome in III, terrible in IV (except for the DS version), okay in V, pretty awesome again in VI (High evasion and a built in counterattack that usually does 3x more damage than his base attack? Sign me up), mediocre in VII until you get Conformer, and generally broken in the Tactics series...

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Originally Posted by Wolf Kanno

Locke is a great thief too but much like Zidane, he's far from a traditional thief and most of his unique equipment (Valiant Knife anyone?) really set him apart from the normal thief class.

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Locke is much more than a traditional thief... he's a TREASURE HUNTER!

Predictably, since my root Final Fantasy is X, I lurve me some black mages.
No, not the cleavage. The firepower. All my battles look like this by the time Rikku joins the party:

Tidus: *ping* 203HP
Kimahri *steal*
Wakka *thwock* 400HP [one monster is now ded]
Rikku: *steal*
Yuna: *pray*
Auron: [OVERKILL 1200HP]
Lulu: [THUNDARA 2200HP]

Neeeext....

Vivi delighted me as well.
FFXII was weird. I kept trying to have a dedicated black mage, since that's my default method of dealing with problems, but I wound up distributing all the magic somewhat mushily, and didn't use any of it very consistently.