Final Fantasy Tactics Rant

EDIT

Okay this game is good, but it only takes a few flaws for it to take a divebomb into the ground.

1. I thought the "charge" idea for spells is incredibly stupid. Making abilities like "jump" completely pointless. By the time uve actually intiated the attack, your opponent has moved.

2. Spells like Fire, ice, etc. do WAY to much damage for having no charge. I had a level 10 guy and some level 6 mage killed him in 1 hit with Bolt 1. its bull[img]/xxx.gif[/img][img]/xxx.gif[/img][img]/xxx.gif[/img][img]/xxx.gif[/img]. Why should i get Melee units when mages attacks do more dmg in mult squares

3. Your Guest AI is as dumb as dirt, while your opponents are smart. You cant even argue with that. Deltia runs out in the way begining, dealing no dmg to anyone, he then gets absolutely [U]RAPED[U] by your opponents, then he runs away in the corner. I mean, at least be my smurfing matyr and do SOME damage. Don't hide like the giant vagina you are and help my team in no way

4. Sometimes the game is not just hard, its just plain cheap. when its 3v2, all my opponents just "happen" to all have a critical attack or when i attack someone, they just happen to guard it and then counter with a critical. Lame.

For the first 6 levels i was excited about training up so I can win the next battle, but now because im forced to do it so much and lvl 6 guys have higher health and attack than my level 10 guys (same classes even), it lost all appeal making the game boring.

People tell me all these "strategies" on how to be the best at the game. When I used them (even with higher level characters) I was easily man raped by some basic Knights and 2 black mages

This is the reason why FFT will never beat Tactics Ogre

If they fixed these flaws i would give this game a 10/10, but i am forced to give it an 8.5/10

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Originally Posted by PontiusPilate

1. I thought the "charge" idea for spells is incredibly stupid. Making abilities like "jump" completely pointless. By the time uve actually intiated the attack, your opponent has moved.

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You do know that anytime during the battle, you can check the order that attacks are going to take place? It's called the Active Turn (AT) list. So you can pick an attack, hit left or right on the D pad, and check AT, and see if the target gets a turn before or after it hits.

Granted that this doesn't work for Jump, making it unpredictable.

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Originally Posted by PontiusPilate

2. Spells like Fire, ice, etc. do WAY to much damage for having no charge

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Actually, I'm sure that elemental spells have a charge time, but it's short for low level spells and increases in length for higher level spells. So, say Ice4 takes longer to cast than Ice. You can work around Charge two ways:

1) Equip Short Charge, which halves charge time.

2) Use Calculator which use many Wizard, White Mage, Time Mage and Oracle spells, but can be cast instantly with no MP cost.

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Originally Posted by PontiusPilate

3. Your Guest AI is as dumb as dirt, while your opponents are smart.

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Guests are ultimately uncontrollable, but they act in predictable ways, so you can strategize around them. It can be frustrating though. I think of it as paying dues so some of them can join the party later.

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Originally Posted by PontiusPilate

4. Sometimes the game is not just hard, its just plain cheap. when its 3v2, all my opponents just "happen" to all have a critical attack. Lame.

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A lot of factors can influence damage, some of which you can control. Especially Zodiac alignments and Brave.

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Originally Posted by PontiusPilate

This is the reason why FFT will never beat Tactics Ogre

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Tactics Ogre seemed like a nice enough game, but I prefer Tactics myself.

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Originally Posted by PontiusPilate

Okay this game is good, but it only takes a few flaws for it to take a divebomb into the ground.

1. I thought the "charge" idea for spells is incredibly stupid. Making abilities like "jump" completely pointless. By the time uve actually intiated the attack, your opponent has moved.

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BG is right. You can check the turn order on the spell select menu by pushing either left or right on the d-pad. You should only cast a spell if your target is not going to have a turn before the spell is cast. Later on in the game, you'll learn how to use this system more proficiently, but for now, just do not cast a spell on a guy if they will have a turn before the spell or ability (like charge or whatever) is used.

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2. Spells like Fire, ice, etc. do WAY to much damage for having no charge. I had a level 10 guy and some level 6 mage killed him in 1 hit with Bolt 1. its bull[img]/xxx.gif[/img][img]/xxx.gif[/img][img]/xxx.gif[/img][img]/xxx.gif[/img].

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They do have charge time, and a lot of things influence the amount of damage a guy does. Trying bringing a knight into battle with you and try using mind break on the mages right off the bat, and then see how much damage their spells will do.

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3. Your Guest AI is as dumb as dirt, while your opponents are smart. You cant even argue with that. Deltia runs out in the way begining, dealing no dmg to anyone, he then gets absolutely [U]RAPED[U] by your opponents, then he runs away in the corner. I mean, at least be my smurfing matyr and do SOME damage. Don't hide like the giant vagina you are and help my team in no way

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Well, different things influence this. For example, in the fight on Mandalia Plains where you have to save Algus, if you choose "Destroy the Death Corps", Delita will be worthless. He will save Algus, then hide in the corner with him for the remainder of the fight. If you choose "Saving him is our priority", Delita will get in there and fight a little more rather than hiding away. Furthermore, guests aren't there to win fights for you, except in the first fight at Orbonne. Other than that, do NOT rely on your guests. I only rely on units that I control. Guests will help every now and then by knocking a few HP off of an enemy, but generally, I don't care what they do because I strategize such that if I could win the fight with them, I could just as easily do it without them.

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4. Sometimes the game is not just hard, its just plain cheap. when its 3v2, all my opponents just "happen" to all have a critical attack or when i attack someone, they just happen to guard it and then counter with a critical. Lame.

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Sometimes, sure. That's true of any game with random things like Critical hit. It's like this: If you flip a coin 100 times and get "Heads" every time, the chances of getting heads again is still 50-50.

The critical hit system can get annoying in any game, not just FFT. But you've got to accept that as a challenge, and plan accordingly. Let's say you know there's a guy who will do 28 damage to Ramza with a plain attack, because you've seen him do it in this fight. So you always make sure that Ramza has more than 30 HP so that the guy can't kill him in one hit. But then, uh-oh, the guy gets a critical, and Ramza dies. Well, that's why you have a back-up for your back-up, if you know what I mean. I always have a few people with the ability to bring others back to life, whether is the Chemist's "Phoenix Down" ability, the Priest's "Raise" ability or the Monk's "Revive" ability. I have a designated healer (usually a chemist because I don't like Priests) and I have a few people that can heal him or bring him back to life, if need be.

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For the first 6 levels i was excited about training up so I can win the next battle, but now because im forced to do it so much and lvl 6 guys have higher health and attack than my level 10 guys (same classes even), it lost all appeal making the game boring.

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Well, I've gone up against level 90 guys with level 68 guys and still won because I used the right skill and stuff. Like Monks. Around Chapter 2, monks become ridiculously powerful and they stay that way for the rest of the game. Seriously, train a monk and focus on raising their attack power. Give them "Basic Skill" as a second ability, and make sure they know "Accumulate". At the beginning of each fight, have you monk accumulate once or twice while you're waiting to attack the bad guys, and then when you see your monk attack, you'll see your enemies die. Also, the monk has the skill "Chakra" which heals HP and MP for the caster (the monk) and anyone standing next to him. It gets stronger the higher your attack power is, so if you accumulate, it makes him able to heal better too.

But I digress... Are you sure that you're using the right equipment? I can guarantee that a level 10 knight will have more HP than a level 6 knight, if they both have the same equipment. Remember that your max HP is mostly determined by your helmet and armor. Always buy the newest stuff, and if you need a few bucks at the beginning of the game, I'd recommend selling any Holy Water that you have because you won't need them till much later, and you get 1000 gil for them.

Also, do you know how to learn skills and equip them on a character? You do know that you can have a wizard who has "Item" as a secondary ability, thus making him able to heal himself and others, right? The way that I play the game, the right combinations of skills are what decide whether or not I will win.


At any rate, you're certainly entitled to your opinion, and TO is an excellent game, so there is nothing wrong with liking it. I personally like FFT more than any game ever, but meh, that's just me I guess.


PS - BG, if he's working with level 10 guys, and fighting level 6 guys, I doubt he's discovered calculators. But they suck anyway. I mean, their innate speed is just way too low.

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Originally Posted by feioncastor

PS - BG, if he's working with level 10 guys, and fighting level 6 guys, I doubt he's discovered calculators. But they suck anyway. I mean, their innate speed is just way too low.

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True, but PontiusPilate didn't say that in the original unedited post. Anyways Calculators are only worth playing long enough to get Math Skills. It's the ultimate secondary ability.

Feoin, I don't think i have the exact equipment, but that would onlt be because its not available to me. Im at the fight with algus and i dont have as good of equipment as they do. Do stores update their items or do i have to wait for another store to appear?

Whats a good lineup of units for chapter 1

Generally every new city you open up has progressively better equipment for sale, although some cities specialize in specific types of equipment. In addition opening new cities make the older cities update their stock as well.

By the battle with Algus do you mean Fort Zeakden?

For example, if you're looking for heavy equipment like heavy armor, helmets, swords, shields, etc... head for a castle (Like Igros), but when it comes to light armor and other assorted weapons, Trade Cities are excellent (Like Dorter).

Yes, the shops upgrade their available stuff. You have to check back every now and then. And if you're in a trade city and you notice they have new equipment, try heading up to the castle and seeing what they have. Usually when one place gets new stuff, the others do too.

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Originally Posted by BG-57

Generally every new city you open up has progressively better equipment for sale, although some cities specialize in specific types of equipment. In addition opening new cities make the older cities update their stock as well.

By the battle with Algus do you mean Fort Zeakden?

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Yeah, that battle. Nvm though i went back and saw that all the armor and weapons had been upgraded since last time i checked

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Originally Posted by PontiusPilate

For the first 6 levels i was excited about training up so I can win the next battle, but now because im forced to do it so much and lvl 6 guys have higher health and attack than my level 10 guys (same classes even), it lost all appeal making the game boring.

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If you spend a good amount of time leveling up in random battles (Like I do), you will find that the equipment available in the stores will become obsolete as your and your opponents' levels increase. If this becomes the case, your best strategy is to steal your opponents' better equipment. Switch a couple of your characters over to thief. When "Yell" becomes available to Ramza, use it to boost their speed levels. Silencing any enemy mages is a must, and use Speed Break (Knight), Frog (Wizard), or Sleep (Oracle) to make enemies easier to steal from. Just in case you didn't know, you can see what enemy equipment you might like to steal by placing the cursor over an enemy on the board and pressing 'circle'.

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Originally Posted by PontiusPilate

1. I thought the "charge" idea for spells is incredibly stupid. Making abilities like "jump" completely pointless. By the time uve actually intiated the attack, your opponent has moved.

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When timing my Lancers' Jumps, I've always found that they are guaranteed to hit an opponent whose CT is under 50 when you jump. Jumps are not that unpredictable at all, I.M.H.O., if you always check your potential targets' CT bars.

I'm guessing the OP hasn't gotten very far in the game, if hes complaining about black magic spells 1 shotting people (especially the rank 1 spells). Further in the game it becomes more about knowing which class to send vs which opponent, which one to keep back to support your team, effective ways to keep the enemies from your "quickest to die" units. In the beginning, you don't have many of those options. You just charge in, and when the dust settles, you make sure you dont have any serious casualties and you move on :)

Tactics Ogre is great, dont get me wrong. It does rank as one of my favorite games of all time, also my #2 favorite strategy game, right behind Tactics. But the problem with TO is its lack of customization of units. You can make a dragoon, yes. He fights dragons well and has some weak support magic (if I remember correct). But, can you make a Dragoon with the ability to steal, as well as jump an infinite height and use a healing potion every time he gets hit? or maybe give him the ability to block all incoming melee attacks, or even cast Reraise on himself when he takes dmg? Not in TO :mad:

Edit: On the other hand, I do wish FFT had used TOs style of game progression, in that you pick a side of a conflict, and the game changes its course depending on what you choose, ending with several different paths through the game...


Anyways, back on topic. Ending Chapter 1, I always like to have a summoner, huge help in the battle against Algus. If you are still having trouble getting past him, equip Ramza and Delita with Auto Potion and your problems should be solved. Personally, if you have a team of Ramza (as squire, monk or knight even), a Monk, Summoner, and a Mage of any type, as long as they have some White Magic primary or seconday skill so they can heal, you should be ok. Put the monk and healer-mage away from Ramza, to take out the knight+black mage that are close to them at start. The two of them should have no trouble taking care of themselves.

On the other side of the battle, keep your summoner back until the knights+algus+mages bunch up in some way, by using an auto-potion'd Ramza as bait. Once they are grouped up on him, bring in Summoner with a spell of Titan or better. Should take out the mages and severely weaken the knights at least.

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Originally Posted by Gilthanes

I'm guessing the OP hasn't gotten very far in the game, if hes complaining about black magic spells 1 shotting people (especially the rank 1 spells). Further in the game it becomes more about knowing which class to send vs which opponent, which one to keep back to support your team, effective ways to keep the enemies from your "quickest to die" units. In the beginning, you don't have many of those options. You just charge in, and when the dust settles, you make sure you dont have any serious casualties and you move on :)

Tactics Ogre is great, dont get me wrong. It does rank as one of my favorite games of all time, also my #2 favorite strategy game, right behind Tactics. But the problem with TO is its lack of customization of units. You can make a dragoon, yes. He fights dragons well and has some weak support magic (if I remember correct). But, can you make a Dragoon with the ability to steal, as well as jump an infinite height and use a healing potion every time he gets hit? or maybe give him the ability to block all incoming melee attacks, or even cast Reraise on himself when he takes dmg? Not in TO :mad:

Edit: On the other hand, I do wish FFT had used TOs style of game progression, in that you pick a side of a conflict, and the game changes its course depending on what you choose, ending with several different paths through the game...


Anyways, back on topic. Ending Chapter 1, I always like to have a summoner, huge help in the battle against Algus. If you are still having trouble getting past him, equip Ramza and Delita with Auto Potion and your problems should be solved. Personally, if you have a team of Ramza (as squire, monk or knight even), a Monk, Summoner, and a Mage of any type, as long as they have some White Magic primary or seconday skill so they can heal, you should be ok. Put the monk and healer-mage away from Ramza, to take out the knight+black mage that are close to them at start. The two of them should have no trouble taking care of themselves.

On the other side of the battle, keep your summoner back until the knights+algus+mages bunch up in some way, by using an auto-potion'd Ramza as bait. Once they are grouped up on him, bring in Summoner with a spell of Titan or better. Should take out the mages and severely weaken the knights at least.

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Thanks, the next time i fought him i kille dhim in 2 hits on my second turn.

Question. I keep getting these guest heroes (DK WK). do i ever get to keep any of them to train. And please answer this question, while still not ruining the plot for me or telling any spoilers. Just a yes or a no and names.

These individuals fight on your side at least once:

Algus: no

Delita: no

Agrias: yes

Gafgarion: no

Boco: yes

Mustadio: yes

Ovelia: no

Alma: no

Olan: no

Rafa: yes

Malak: yes

Meliadoul: yes

Beowulf: yes

Reis: yes

Cloud: yes

Byblos: yes

Worker 8: yes

Orlandu: yes

BG - 57's info is correct, however don't even bother training them or leveling them up while they are guests, because all the job points you get for them will disappear. Only when they actually join your party (when they're NOT guests), should you begin training them.

Wow, thanks both of you. Are any of them a dark knight?

Orlandu Can use some dark knight abilities

And Gaff, too, obviously. When guests are in your party, be sure to remove their good equipment (Healing Staff, Blood Sword, and Barette, for example) and replace it with common stuff before they bail out on you.;)

The rule of thumb for jump is: if the person you're going for's AT bar is under 50, and he doesn't have haste. You will connect with him with the jump ability

Could someone list the top five special units to have in their party? (is Mustadio any good?)

You'll have to define "good". For example, I use Agrias through a lot of the game, but by chapter 4, she's not that good anymore, for me. But I do know people who use Mustadio and Agrias all the way to the end. It just depends on who you're fighting. For a tactical game, I use only Ramza and generics. I dont' use Agrias, Mustadio or anyone else anymore, just because I dont'.

Perhaps i'll play through fft again and this time, I won't worry about mastery. I'll just focus on having a good game. I bet if I do that, I'll use all the special chars.

Mustadio's skills become outdated quickly because they don't work often enough to be useful. Plus, his attack power is low since his special class uses guns. Leg Aim and Arm Aim have their place, sometimes, but generally, a turn used on one of those skill would be better used by a different class, actually killing the guy as opposed to just messing with him. Seal Evil is a handy tool for any and all battles that you will be dealing with undead, but other than that, I don't like mustadio.

Listing the "top 5" is dang near impossible because I'm sure that somewhere out there, there is a guy playing FFT, and shouting over how awesome Rafa and Malak are... But I just don't see it that way.

My suggestion to you: Play through the game and make your own top 5 list and let us know once you do, and we'll discuss reasons why and why not.

However, my personal top 5 for a quick, easy battle, only because you asked:

1. Orlandu (any argument? I think not!)
2. Beowulf (mostly for chicken, I love that skill)
3. Agrias (Holy Sword is good until you get Orlandu)
4. Mustadio (See what I wrote about him above)
5. Worker 8 (More useful than Rafa or Malak)

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Originally Posted by PontiusPilate

Could someone list the top five special units to have in their party? (is Mustadio any good?)

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Mustadio is pretty good for the reasons feioncastor listed above. Make sure you get him in your party anyway because he is the key to getting a few other special characters.;)

As for my top 5, they're pretty much the same as feioncastor's, except that I'd put Beowulf ahead of Orlandu. And, I think Reis should be in there somewhere because of her high HP and MP (she makes a great wizard!).

My personal favorites:

1) Orlandu
2) Beowulf
3) Agrias
4) Worker 8
5) Meliadoul

Although any generic can rule with Math Skills as a secondary ability. In fact, generics are easier to train than unique characters, since they can Accumulate and gain JP without ever needing to hit other units.

Cloud can be in the top 5 if used correctly. climhazzard and finishing touch are great abilities and their ct's arent too horrendous, just stick on short charge support ability. the only downside is that cloud starts as level 1 but even then it wont take too long to get him up to par. plus hes the only male in the game who can wear ribbons (can anyone explain the reason for this? rofl)

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Originally Posted by szetok

Cloud can be in the top 5 if used correctly. climhazzard and finishing touch are great abilities and their ct's arent too horrendous, just stick on short charge support ability. the only downside is that cloud starts as level 1 but even then it wont take too long to get him up to par. plus hes the only male in the game who can wear ribbons (can anyone explain the reason for this? rofl)

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Because of all the Yaoi out there with him and Sephi, :P

Climhazzard and Finishing touch are fine, but if thats all you're using him for, most other units outclass him. Orlandu, Beowulf and Agrias aside, as they're too easy to prove better than Cloud, Mustadio not only can snipe arms legs and 1 hit kill undead opponents, he makes a great Mediator and chemist too. Nothing like taking out a skeleton one turn and then mimicing Daravon on 2 enemies the next. Cloud is mediocre in comparison with his special abilites. He's on par with Reis in terms of overall usage.

I favor Orlandu, Agrias, Beowulf, Worker 8 and Mustadio as the best 5. In no way will Rafa, Malak or any monster (Byblos/Boko) make the squad.

Ypu're judging this entire game as worse than Tactics Ogre and you just left the first chapter? Way to be pre-emptive. You can't judge a book until you've read it. TO is great, I'll give it that but its stories never have compared to the greatness of FFTs and the customization of FFTs units in comparison to TO is astronomically better in favor of FFT.

But if you like TO better its your personal opinion and I respect it, no matter how wrong it is, LOL j/k.

Alright so im on chapter two, and since then ive totally changed my mind. The reason FFT beats TO is its amazing battle system (liked the jp system) and great story line. FFT 9.3/10

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Originally Posted by PontiusPilate

Alright so im on chapter two, and since then ive totally changed my mind. The reason FFT beats TO is its amazing battle system (liked the jp system) and great story line. FFT 9.3/10

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glad you crossed over :D wait til chapter 4. thats when the game just jumps and outright beats TO

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Originally Posted by szetok

Cloud can be in the top 5 if used correctly. climhazzard and finishing touch are great abilities and their ct's arent too horrendous, just stick on short charge support ability. the only downside is that cloud starts as level 1 but even then it wont take too long to get him up to par. plus hes the only male in the game who can wear ribbons (can anyone explain the reason for this? rofl)

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I'm pretty sure it's a reference to the Wall Market subquest in FFVII where Cloud has to dress like woman to get into Don Corneo's mansion.

Ahhh yea i forgot about that. haha i remember going through all the extras just to get picked by corneo lol.

This is a great thread! I only recently picked up FFT (do you have any idea how hard it is to track down a copy? Eventually I had to go get one of Amazon. It was annoying, but it was worth it. :)), so having all this information in one place is great. It's an awesome game (although there are some features that I think FFTA improved upon).

Anyway, I have a few specific questions I thought I'd ask.

First: The very first time I went into the mission where Gafgarion betrays you (it was right after I'd picked up Boko), when I got to the part where you pick your troops for the battle, I noticed that in addition to Boko, I had a level 18 (which was the same level as Ramza, though I'm not sure if that's important or not) Chocobo on my team. I replayed the battle because I decided to collect Gaf's neato equipment, but I saved it after I took his stuff, and I never saw the Chocobo again (even when I gave Gaf his stuff back). Has anyone encountered something like this before? If so, what triggers it?

Second: How exactly does stat growth work in this game? What is the stat growth of the various jobs? I can't find a good FAQ on the subject. >.<

Third: About the charge times. While your advice about the AT list was nice (although I actually bothered to play through the tutorial, so I already knew about it), I have noticed that when I get to the higher level charge times, they never execute before the opponent moves. What is the point of having, say, the Archer's Charge +20 if the opponent will always move before it executes?

Also, how come Mages get the option to focus a spell on a unit, so that it will cast on that unit even if the unit moves, while physical classes with Charge abilities wind up wasting them if the opponent moves? That is my least favorite thing about the Charge system.

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Originally Posted by Skyblade

Anyway, I have a few specific questions I thought I'd ask.

First: The very first time I went into the mission where Gafgarion betrays you (it was right after I'd picked up Boko), when I got to the part where you pick your troops for the battle, I noticed that in addition to Boko, I had a level 18 (which was the same level as Ramza, though I'm not sure if that's important or not) Chocobo on my team. I replayed the battle because I decided to collect Gaf's neato equipment, but I saved it after I took his stuff, and I never saw the Chocobo again (even when I gave Gaf his stuff back). Has anyone encountered something like this before? If so, what triggers it?

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Sounds to me like Boco had a baby while you were wandering between battles. Monsters will breed when there are empty slots available in your roster. Walk for a few days and you'll probably see a new egg appear. It will hatch into another chocobo.

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Originally Posted by skyblade

Second: How exactly does stat growth work in this game? What is the stat growth of the various jobs? I can't find a good FAQ on the subject. >.<

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I think somewhere on gamefaqs you can find some info about it. It is true that different classes get different stat growth as you level up. Monks get great HP and Physical Attack growth. Summoners get a lot of MP. Wizards get the best Magic Attack. Ninjas get Speed. Mimes get good all around growth, and Calculators get almost none. That's about all the help I can give at the moment.

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Originally Posted by skyblade

Third: About the charge times. While your advice about the AT list was nice (although I actually bothered to play through the tutorial, so I already knew about it), I have noticed that when I get to the higher level charge times, they never execute before the opponent moves. What is the point of having, say, the Archer's Charge +20 if the opponent will always move before it executes?

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Don't Move, Stop, and Sleep (risky, because he could be woken up by one of his friends) are the only ways to insure that the target will not move before he's hit. Oh, and I suppose you could Speed Break him down to 1. That'll slow him down for sure.

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Originally Posted by skyblade

Also, how come Mages get the option to focus a spell on a unit, so that it will cast on that unit even if the unit moves, while physical classes with Charge abilities wind up wasting them if the opponent moves? That is my least favorite thing about the Charge system.

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Sucks don't it!:p Follow my advice above if you want to use Charge +20. Personally, I never use it.

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Originally Posted by Despotus

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Originally Posted by Skyblade

Anyway, I have a few specific questions I thought I'd ask.

First: The very first time I went into the mission where Gafgarion betrays you (it was right after I'd picked up Boko), when I got to the part where you pick your troops for the battle, I noticed that in addition to Boko, I had a level 18 (which was the same level as Ramza, though I'm not sure if that's important or not) Chocobo on my team. I replayed the battle because I decided to collect Gaf's neato equipment, but I saved it after I took his stuff, and I never saw the Chocobo again (even when I gave Gaf his stuff back). Has anyone encountered something like this before? If so, what triggers it?

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Sounds to me like Boco had a baby while you were wandering between battles. Monsters will breed when there are empty slots available in your roster. Walk for a few days and you'll probably see a new egg appear. It will hatch into another chocobo.

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Not unless he could have a baby in the time it took me to go from the mission where I got Boko to the very next area. I moved only a single space, there was no time, and the new one was level 18, while Boko was only 10. Doesn't sound like a baby to me.

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Originally Posted by skyblade

Second: How exactly does stat growth work in this game? What is the stat growth of the various jobs? I can't find a good FAQ on the subject. >.<

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I think somewhere on gamefaqs you can find some info about it. It is true that different classes get different stat growth as you level up. Monks get great HP and Physical Attack growth. Summoners get a lot of MP. Wizards get the best Magic Attack. Ninjas get Speed. Mimes get good all around growth, and Calculators get almost none. That's about all the help I can give at the moment.

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I found one for HP and MP, but that's it. I was hoping for one for all the stats.

Also, my Priest was doing greater damage with her magical attacks than my Wizard was, so I'm questioning that assessment, but I still appreciate it.

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Originally Posted by skyblade

Third: About the charge times. While your advice about the AT list was nice (although I actually bothered to play through the tutorial, so I already knew about it), I have noticed that when I get to the higher level charge times, they never execute before the opponent moves. What is the point of having, say, the Archer's Charge +20 if the opponent will always move before it executes?

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Don't Move, Stop, and Sleep (risky, because he could be woken up by one of his friends) are the only ways to insure that the target will not move before he's hit. Oh, and I suppose you could Speed Break him down to 1. That'll slow him down for sure.

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Originally Posted by skyblade

Also, how come Mages get the option to focus a spell on a unit, so that it will cast on that unit even if the unit moves, while physical classes with Charge abilities wind up wasting them if the opponent moves? That is my least favorite thing about the Charge system.

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Sucks don't it!:p Follow my advice above if you want to use Charge +20. Personally, I never use it.

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Figures.

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Originally Posted by Skyblade

Not unless he could have a baby in the time it took me to go from the mission where I got Boko to the very next area. I moved only a single space, there was no time, and the new one was level 18, while Boko was only 10. Doesn't sound like a baby to me.

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Wierd... don't know what happened if you're sure you didn't go back to Dorter Trade City or fight a random battle or two between Araguay Woods and Zirekile Falls. F.Y.I. the level of a bred monster is often higher than the level of the 'parent'. Their level is determined by an average of party members' levels, I believe. Monsters will not only breed higher level offspring but also more powerful species of the same monster type. For example, Boco could spawn Black Chocobos too.:choc2:

I honestly dont like Orlandu anymore. My first few times, he was fun to have and amazing to just gawk at his ability to kill anyone and anything by himself and stay at full life while he does it.

But all these other times I've played, I just dont use him. Takes any challenge out of a battle away. I use Agrias the whole game now. Because shes powerful and unique, but not "Kill everything in 1 shot while draining 400 hp back to you" powerful. Personally, I think a nice balanced "Non overpowered" team to play with is Ramza, Mustadio, Agrias, a summoner with maybe white magic and short charge, and a ninja who can either use Elemental or Steal depending on the battle you need. Ramza with Draw out feels like a powerful special character due to his stats and ability to do great area dmg with Muramasa and such. However, Mustadio becomes very weak once you get Beowulf, who can do everything Mustadio can do, and 10x More... Plus the ability to run up and whack a monster for 300+ dmg.

Note: Though once you get Magic Guns for Mustadio, his dmg increases dramatically (from 48-64 a shot, to 80-160 a shot.. and consider the range thats good. Mustadio also makes an amazing chemist with Item command and Throw Item support skill.

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Originally Posted by Skyblade

Second: How exactly does stat growth work in this game? What is the stat growth of the various jobs? I can't find a good FAQ on the subject. >.<

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There are five stats in the game that are modified by things like class, level, gender, Brave, and Faith: HP, MP, Speed, PA (physical attack), and MA (magic attack).

The best bet is aerostar's autoritative (and very technical) Battle Mechanics Guide on gamefaqs.com. The section entitled Class Compendium lists all the class modifiers and level up bonus of every (and I mean every) class.

Ultimately, in order to maximize all stats you have to level up normally, then use a method to reduce your levels, using Degenerator traps and Mindflare's Level Blast (with Monster Skill). The key is to be in a occupation that has lousy stat level up bonus so you lose less when losing levels. Then go into a job that has stat bonuses you want and level up again.

TBH, I've never actually done this. It sounds like a tedious waste of time to me, since my party is devastatingly powerful as it is by the game's end.

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Originally Posted by Gilthanes

I honestly dont like Orlandu anymore. My first few times, he was fun to have and amazing to just gawk at his ability to kill anyone and anything by himself and stay at full life while he does it.

But all these other times I've played, I just dont use him. Takes any challenge out of a battle away.

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I use Orlandu solely as a Dark Knight (i.e. just completely ignoring all of his All Sword skills except for Night Sword and Dark Sword). This way, I have all of my special Knights, without Orlandu having absolute advantage over Meliadoul and Agrias.

Granted, he's still exceptionally strong and still practically unstoppable (Night Sword doing the least amount of damage, yet pretty much completely refills his health), it's a start, right?

He's an example of the KOtR rule, which is something that makes the game pathetically easy to beat once you get it. Personally, I can't resist using him. :greenie:

Fortunately, there's no shortage of nongeneric characters to work with and build a party that suits any taste. Ultimately one of the best things about Tactics is the flexibility it gives you.

KOtR rule?

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Originally Posted by Octorok

KOtR rule?

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Knights of the Round, FFVII's one-hit-kills-all summon. FFVII was one of the first really well known RPGs to have something which made the game so pathetically easy that overusing it ruined the fun. Hence, the phenomenon became known as the KotR rule.

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Originally Posted by Skyblade

Third: About the charge times. While your advice about the AT list was nice (although I actually bothered to play through the tutorial, so I already knew about it), I have noticed that when I get to the higher level charge times, they never execute before the opponent moves. What is the point of having, say, the Archer's Charge +20 if the opponent will always move before it executes?

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While Despotus gave some good advice on this issue, I'd also like to add that if you play a Time Mage long enough, you can get enough ability points to learn Quick Charge, which will alleviate your charging problems...

EDIT: I found a better explaination in Notti's Deep Dungeon guide on gamefaq.com

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Originally Posted by Notti

Want high stats? Want REALLY high stats? Well keep on reading.... There is a
method of doing this but it takes awhile, this is only for the type of people
who in FF7 got all their characters up to really high stats with Sources. The
basic theory is to level DOWN as a BAD job and then level UP as a GOOD job.
Think of it as two steps forwards, and one step back. Keep on doing that and
you're getting somewhere. De-Leveling down can be done in 2 ways. Degenerator
traps(if you try to Teleport while on a trap and Teleport fails you will
REACTIVATE the trap, use it. A Degenerator can be found in the DD... look at
my DD maps above for the exact location) or the Monster Skill of a Mind Flare
monster called Level Blast. Leveling up can be done in anyway you see fit
however I have a tip or two :) Give your character Gained Exp UP and the
Thief's Steal Exp Ability(and lots of Speed upping items and bonuses if
possible). With this you can now steal EXP from your teammates/enemies and
you SHOULD be going up 1 level every turn till you are at a moderate level.
Another okay level up trick is to use Bard or Dancer skills plus Gained EXP
Up(but this will take 2 castings, depending on how low your speed is this CAN
come out more often, but for me it's usually less often BUT you don't have to
worry about your teammates having enough EXP to steal). Another tip is once
you have decimated the enemy, turn the last one into a Frog, Chicken, and put
him to Sleep and then Petrify all members of the team that are not needed(so
you don't have to "Wait" them). Another little trick to getting the last bit
of EXP in one AT is to use Move-Gain EXP. And a final tip, who says you need
to go all the way up to level 99 then back down to level 1? That's unwise...
use my Steal EXP + Gained EXP Up trick and you should be able to get up to
around level 65 by doing 65 Steal EXPs, re-enter the battle then use the
degenerator/Level Blast, leave, then use Steal EXP again, repeat till you've
got a god =D

Well thanks to Aerostar's diligent work on his "Final Fantasy Tactics Battle
Mechanics Handbooks" (available at any respectable game file download
station) I finally have the information needed to make the following list
accurate. To use this list you look for the LOWEST numbers to level UP as,
and HIGHEST to level DOWN as. You don't need to understand why that is (seems
backwards, eh?), but if you want to know more check out Aerostar's guide for
the exact technical reasons. So, now, what you do with these numbers is to
try and raise levels as the ++! and lower as the -?.

Alterable | Non-Alterable
HP MP SP PA MA | MV JU CEV
SQ 11 15 100 60 50 | SQ 4 3 5%
CH 12 16 100 -75? 50 | CH 3 3 5%
KN 10 15 100 ++40! 50 | KN 3 3 10%
AR 11 16 100 45 50 | AR 3 3 10%
MO +++9! 13 100 48 50 | MO 3 4 20%
PR 10 10 100 50 50 | PR 3 3 5%
WI 12 +++9! 100 60 50 | WI 3 3 5%
TI 12 10 100 65 50 | TI 3 3 5%
SU 13 +++8! 100 70 50 | SU 3 3 5%
TH 11 16 ++90! 50 50 | TH 4 4 25%
ME 11 18 100 55 50 | ME 3 3 5%
OR 12 10 100 60 50 | OR 3 3 5%
GE 10 11 100 45 50 | GE 4 3 10%
LA 10 15 100 ++40! 50 | LA 3 4 15%
SA 12 14 100 45 50 | SA 3 3 20%
NI 12 13 ++80! 43 50 | NI 4 4 30%
CA -14? 10 100 70 50 | CA 3 3 5%
BA -20? -20? 100 -80? 50 | BA 3 3 5%
DA -20? -20? 100 50 50 | DA 3 3 5%
MI +++6! -30? 100 ++35!++40! | MI 4 4 5%

According to those numbers the most amazing job class to level UP as seems to
be Mime, except it stinks in MP and is plain ol' average in Speed. And the
BEST to go DOWN as is Bard or Dancer/Chemist, except those do have better
than Mime MP growth and equal Speed growth. So basically if you DEGENERATE as
a Dancer/Bard/Chemist and then level back up as a Mime you will get a very
good increase in all stats EXCEPT MP, which will plummet, and Speed will stay
the same (though technically, when growth numbers are equal, when level
up/downing, at the end of the day you will have lost a teeny tiny bit of
stat. Very small bits in the decimals. Level up/down enough and it will
become noticable). Other great jobs to increase as would be the swift of foot
Ninja. His Speed and PA is truly great. Speed being one of the harder & rarer
and mor important stats to raise (5p33D rUL3zzz D00Dzz!!!!). Another
important class is the Summoner. The reason for that is simply that neither
Ninja nor Mime are good MP growers, not only is Mime not good, it is actively
bad, being the absolute worst MP growth you can possibly get. If you don't
want your godly character to have nil psychic stamina you'll need some
buffing in the MP area with la Summoniers.

Summed Up (doesn't include special characters):
To Raise HP: UP Mime UP Monk DOWN Bard/Dancer DOWN Calculator
To Raise MP: UP Summoner UP Wizard DOWN Mime DOWN Bard/Dancer
To Raise SP: UP Ninja UP Thief DOWN NOT Ninja DOWN NOT Thief
To Raise PA: UP Mime UP Knight/Lancer DOWN Bard DOWN Chemist
To Raise MA: UP Mime DOWN NOT Mime

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