The Worst Version(Job Classes)

[Wolf Kanno]

For being so great, FF Tactics sure had some terrible versions of the job classes. Their Time Mage was the best though.

They're not bad for what they are really designed for. The issue is that other variations don't have the same hang ups or have different specializations, The exception being the TA variations where the skill pool is stretched a wee too thin for my taste.

I'm trying to think of one job that FFXI did the worst... nope, they were all pretty good.

What if you count the pre-patched versions?

It's tough to rank the MMO ones due the fact that what issues they may have gets fixed one way or the other eventually. Not to mention there are some mechanical issues that make it hard to rank them when you look at the class without some of those mechanics.

Thief: FFI - The only point of the class is to drag it around long enough to acquire its Ninja upgrade

Wrong. It has a second point: To run away

I agree with you about Tifa, she's definitely the poorest Monk. OG FFVII in general is kind of homogenous when it comes to job classes anyway, but even if you spec her with some Monk specific materia like Counter and maybe D.Blow, it's still not great. The Monk options are severely lacking. She's a lot better in the Remake and I like where they took the character variety in that version.

Yeah, she's certainly more interesting in the remake version. She's still a bit frail for usual for the class but the skill set and mechanics of her class make her a real powerhouse without relying on situational elements. Mechanically, I'd say she's the most improved character in the remake.

I also think Snow is more of a Knight in role than a Monk, putting aside his love of hand to hand combat, as he performs more the role of a tank and I think he's very good at that.

He's really a knight/monk hybrid when it comes down to it since he also gains all of the counter moves associated with the Monk class. Like Amarant, he's a hybrid class whose classes don't really fit the traditional molds terribly well, which is why I couldn't in good conscience throw him under the bus. I certainly hate XIII's class system the most, but under the rules of it's own mechanics, they all function well except when dealing with the poor A.I. of the Sentinel and Synergist classes.

Surely the worst bard is OG Edward?

Edward is surprisingly useful for the portion of the game he is available. His Sing ability is more effective than people give it credit and the confusion effect of his Harp actually makes battles way more manageable. Salve depends on the game as it's crummy in the OG but is actually very useful in the DS versions and some later installments it shows up in. Hide is annoying unless you exploit the bug associated with it.

I also notice you didn't have Geomancer on your list and I wanted to congratulate you. Geomancers are of course perfect and flawless in every way.

That one just slipped my mind. I'll rectify this in a bit.