Ok, so who actually uses gambits?

The first time I played the game I used them. Ever since I haven't used gambits.

everyone

I use none, just too used to the classic format of FF...and just sitting and watching my team do the playing just isnt alot of fun for me.

Um, yes, I use the gambits, being a major part of the gameplay. xD While some may argue that it feels too much like you just watch your characters do their actions, you still have to direct them around most of the time. Gambits just speed up the process. And honestly, it's too tedious to manually give out orders to everyone all the time.

I rather like being able to sit back and watch. It makes it less annoying than sitting back and watching in ffx because then I dont' have to bother moving my hand to the controller.

Of course, just as soon as I get used to that, I get to an area I'm too weak for :(

i just use the normal gambits. i can't stand to make complicated gambits >.<

I kept my primary character's Gambits off almost all of the time, but my other characters always had them on and pretty complicated.

Ally:Any )Raise
Ally:Hp<50% )Curaga
Ally:Any )Esuna

When I first started out, I thought I didn't need the gambit system, so I generally ignored it, but now I use it all the time. I enjoy the game more because setting up gambits is like creating a strategy and, for me, it's nice to see how that strategy unfolds and develops in battle (especially boss battles). It just makes the game less tedious, I guess.

And, another thing about gambits: how exactly is this so "complicated"? I remember hearing complaints that the gambit system was so hard to use, but it didn't seem difficult to use (to me, at least). Though, I do wish it had a few more gambits that were a bit more specific earlier in the game (I'm still missing half of my gambits which I truly do need for these optional Esper battles).

Gambits are great. I use them all the time to remove the tedium of:
1- removing various status effects
2- Auto-healing so I don't have to
3- recasating Libra as soon as it runs out
4- directing my party to attack the same thing I'm targeting

I went halfway through the game using only two gambits:

Ally:HP<40% , Curaga
Foe:Nearest , Attack

Once I got Ally:Status:KO, I fixed it up with a Phoenix Down. Then I set all of my gambits up for maximum multitasking possibilities. I like being able to do other things while playing a game and not have to worry about my characters.

(I probably got some of the gambit names wrong :P)

When you get deeper into the game you'll never want to go without gambits. Especially when foes throw every damn status effect on you multiple times. It takes the fun out of the game having to cure every status effect manually.

I have a lot of my gambits set up using items since it's faster than casting magic for sleep, disease, stop, silence, confuse, etc on my top priorities.

I have my Foe=Attack, Foe=Attack party's leader target set around the 6th or 7th gambit. So when I'm fighting, my guys automatically throw an item on themselves whenever needed while I can direct other important aspects of the game like throwing dispelga, hastega, bravery.

You lose a lot of time if you have to heal status effects manually while trying to give your team the advantage over powerful foes.

I don't use curaga on my gambits since my Raise magic gives more HP than Curaga and when characters are critical, they raise hell on the foes creating more damage. If I need to use curaja I just manually do it.

Condition: Always
Action: Attack target with lowest HP
If ally has less than 50% HP: Use Curaja

That's about it.

I had only 4 for the longest of times:

Self / Protect
Ally HP < 10% / Phoenix Down
Foe: party leader's target / Horology (or numerology)
Foe: targeting self / Attack

Then I added a combo for too many fiends:
Foe: targeting ally / Oil
Foe: status = Oil / Flame

Then I added "Drain" after I got the spell. And "Syphon". And "1,000 needles" for the undead. And....

Now I use all 12 for each player :D

i use gambits for all of my characters except Vaan, My party leader.

My final gambit setup I think was...

Ally:Any )Raise
Self:HP<40% )Curaja
Ally:HP<40% )Curaja
Self:HP<60% )Curaga
Ally:HP<60% )Curaga
Ally:Any )Esuna
Ally:Status:Slow )Haste
Foe:Status:Oil )Firaga
Foe:Lowest HP )Attack
Self )Libra

I use gambits, I like the idea of the ultimate gambit, the one that can handle any situation. Only problem is there's only (SPOILER)12 gambit slots. I think this my setup for now, and it works pretty well for most situations, although mine are specialized to specific jobs:

For my Healer-
Self )Faith
Ally:HP<30% )Curaja
Ally:Any )Esuna -- Cures most static effects
Ally:Any )Remedy -- If I can't use magic
Ally:Any )Pheonix Down
Foe:Party leader's target )Attack
Foe:Targeting ally )Attack

For my Buffer-
Ally:Any )Haste
Ally:Any )Bravery

For my Tank(Party leader)-
Self )Libra

My party usually consists of Vaan(Healer), Balthier(Tank), Fran(Buffer). For Boss battles, I set up my Buffer to cast Berserk on my Tank and Lure on themself, then I kite the smurfer. My Healer usually has a bow or gun, depending on the situation.

Not having to keep track of who has run out of haste/bravery/regen/whatever I want is very nice, keeping Libra on is great, having my melee guys use Telekinesis on flying guys automatically, automatically watching my HP levels is really nice, especially while money grubbing and/or leveling, when I don't want to have to think too hard about it. Of course anything short of that is still workable and possibly even effective, but Gambits just make everything easier. Autopilot for battling. Yeah, I use my Gambits, and I use them well.

i use gambits but i manually heal status ailments, because i'm too lazy to add gambits for them :)

It's like. All I use.

Which is why I find the game play to be very automated and kind of boring. The second time through, I probably won't rely on gambits so heavily. But right now, I just want to speed my way through the game to see how it all turns out.