Just Starting Out--Looking for Advice

[MedctnStn]

who did you use in your main party?

[Wolf Kanno]

I used everyone actually. Vaan was my thief/ninja, Balthier was my gunner/warrior, Basch was a Paladin later turned Samurai, Penelo was my white/green mage, Fran was my archer/Arcane mage, and Lady Ashe was my Black/Time mage. I split the summons evening among the characters.

[Crossblades]

I used everyone actually. Vaan was my thief/ninja, Balthier was my gunner/warrior, Basch was a Paladin later turned Samurai, Penelo was my white/green mage, Fran was my archer/Arcane mage, and Lady Ashe was my Black/Time mage. I split the summons evening among the characters.

You didnt give all your Summons to one character? That's what I did. Penelo was my Summoner/White Mage.

[MedctnStn]

I think i have my weapon selection down, except for one. I am trying to choose between ninja swords and katanas. which would you prefer? To me, they are both two handers with a greater chance to land combos than the other weapons.

[Clawsze]

I think i have my weapon selection down, except for one. I am trying to choose between ninja swords and katanas. which would you prefer? To me, they are both two handers with a greater chance to land combos than the other weapons.

Ninja Swords have better evade, Charge Time, combo bonus and are easier to get on the lisence board.
Katanas are stronger, don't have the Dark element to hinder it, come earlier in the game and have slightly better range.

I prefer Ninja Swords, but by the time you get them, most enemies are immune, if not absorb darkness, so Katanas are the best option...plus you can get them very early(After you defeat Belias i think)

[Roogle]

who did you use in your main party?

I suggest using all six characters at various points in the game, simultaneously.

I do not want you to think too hard about what your characters can specialize in. I liked to pretend that Final Fantasy XII had a job system similar to Final Fantasy IV, so I restricted my characters to using specific types of weaponry and armor. I allowed Vaan, Ashe, and Basch to use heavy armor; I allowed Balthier and Fran to use light armor; I allowed Penelo to use mystic armor. I gave all of the Espers in the game to Ashe.

Maybe I was exaggerating slightly in that I made it seem that I simply moved through the game and all the equipment I needed fell into my possession. What I did quite often was if I noticed one particular enemy was dropping a particular armour/weapon that seemed useful, I'd take some time to chain them and try and get some more.


I'd recommend giving Zodiac Spear to Vaan or Basch as it's damage relies solely on your strength stat.

I think that equipment found from monsters was, typically, better than what was bought in stores, so you were likely not always needing to purchase new equipment from the store.

[Sword]

Here's a bit of advice when considering what weapons to use: Don't let the attack power of guns put you off them. I recently started again (I'm at the Mosphoran Highwaste) and yesterday my Balthier was equipped with a gun that had like 14 attack power, before swapping it for a bowgun that had like 41/42 or something. With that bowgun he was doing 400-500 damage. But today I bought a gun that had significantly less attack power (around 24 I think), however it was doing damage between 900 and 1100, depending on the monster. Y'see guns ignore an enemy's defence stat. Just as poles do damage based on an enemy's magic defence rather than physical defence.

Another thing is party structures. I recommend having a tank - someone who has high HP/defence, the lure status (inflicted by "Decoy" magic), to make sure all attcks are directed towards them, and then the protect status for extra defence. This would usually be best as the party leader. Then a second character to be a damage dealer - the only gambits this character should have are attacks and get others to cast haste and berserk on them. Finally you should have a spellcaster to handle healing. It's ideal for this character to have a long range weapon or one that increases magic power. Usually I have my tank cast support magic and some back-up healing too.

One last thing I'll add is that you should concentrate a lot on the augments section on the lisence board (directly under the magic section), because it has HP, strength and MP cost upgrades among other useful upgrades, and is neatly right beside the white magic too. To speed this process up you should purchase 6 Gold Amulets from one of the merchants as soon as you reach Mt. Bur-Omisace and keep them equipped all the time (they double your lisence points earned after battle).

That should be the basic everything lol.

[Elias_the_Belias]

do not sell unique or difficult to obtain items(like great serpent's skin, serpentarious, empyreal soul gemsteel and high arcana) you will need the last four to obtain at the bazaar the tournesol.