Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age - What Jobs I Chose And Why

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Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age HD Remaster Full Gameplay Walkthrough (PS4,PS4 Pro,Steam,PC, Xbox 1, Switch) Showcasing all Boss Fights,optional Boss fights, Sidequests, Cutscenes, Endings, Secrets, Grinding Spots,how to get Ultimate Gear and trophy Guides along with all news and updates – No Commentary

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[falafelbil]

Remember starting the game and being very overwhelmed with which class to give each character and then having to do like an hour of research just to be extra sure 😂

[ObeyCamp]

Man, this is EXACTLY the video I've been looking for. This is extremely helpful to a new player like me and having this kind of structure and guidance gives me a confidence I wouldn't be able to develop for a long time, and would probably make a lot of stupid and wasteful mistakes before that point. I'll experiment on my second playthrough after I have a better understanding and enough experience to know what experimenting will be worth it, but for my first playthrough I really want to have a good and powerful experience without countless noob mistakes.
Thank you!

[zekkavo]

I used all 12 because I wanted to, but I optimized for weapon animation speed. Classes that use heavy and mystic armor will hit 99 in STR and MAG respectively. Mind you the frame differences are minimal but I considered how the character's natural stats work out so this seems like a good way to min/max with all classes. I'll post the link to the spreadsheet I found with all of the data when I get to my desktop.

Vaan - Knight/Machinist
Balthier - Shikari/Breaker
Basch - Bushi/Uhlan
Fran - Monk/Black Mage
Ashe - White Mage/Time Mage
Penelo - Red Mage/Archer

And regarding the weapon speeds based off of the spread sheet, they seem accurate (I tested/tried them out on the PS2 version of the game where you can use any weapon type).

I picked them relatively in order below.

Personal reasoning:

Vaan - He is the Jack of all stats. He is extremely fast with both 1h and 2h swords and considering that Knight has access to some white magic as well, Knight just seemed like a perfect fit. Machinist was a bit of a throwaway class. Guns are great early on but fall off in the endgame so I just picked Vaan because it was left over. That being said, Machinist is a good utility class for technicks and potion/remedy lores.

Balthier - Using Ninja Swords on Balthier because his weapon speed and natural speed stat are best suited for the weapon. Picked Breaker for heavy armor. Might use Balthier as a Main Gauche tank for certain bosses as well of course.

Basch - Basch is extremely fast with most weapon types; he is a former soldier after all. Like the others before, I went for Bushi because Basch's katana animation speed and natural STR stat. Uhlan is mainly for the heavy armor but I can have Basch switch to spears if needed.

Fran - She is interesting because she's the Master of None. I wasn't sure what to do with her at first, her natural STR isn't as good as the boys but her natural MAG isn't as good as the other girls. I figured
to give her Monk because her poles speed was the best and I could make her a high health tank earlier on (and to great effect) and I could use her for side heals with cura and curaja being available. I put her on Black Mage because Monk tends to not use MP and once her health is high enough I can switch her to Mystic Robes. I also set up gambits for her to use aoe spells when there's multiple enemies so she's a multi enemy sweeper in that regard.

Penelo - Most of her weapon speeds are pretty bad compared to everyone else. Ninja swords are one of her good weapon types but Balthier's already taken it. As for ranged weapons, bows are the only ranged weapons that she uses at a decent animation speed and unfortunately Penny's natural speed isn't great. Either way, that meant Archer. Honestly for me, Red mage and White Mage felt interchangeable, it would just change which team I'd have them on (I use all 6 characters equally). I went for Red Mage and Mystic robes for Penny. Bows do decent damage so I can keep her at range as she heals plus Archer has some nice utility as well. I might switch her back to maces after I get Bubble/Bubble belts but keeping her ata range keeps her safe. She's her team's main healer and it's gone well so far. She's on the same team as Fran who can learn Cura and Curaja and Balthier who has Remedy Lores so most of my bases are covered.

Ashe - Like I said in Penny's section I could've inverted Red and White mage but considering I already made that decision I put Ashe on WM and TM. Ashe's natural STR is pretty good so TM's crossbows would work out well and her animation speed with it is fine as well. Obviously, her natural magic is [I believe] the best, so WM is a perfect fit. Ashe will be mainly wearing Mystic armor but I might switch her to a frontline Greatsword/Sword brawler if get the specific espers. Currently on a team w/ Vaan and Basch.

Might switch teams for endgame/post game but just to repeat the teams:

Team 1: Vaan Basch Ashe
Team A: Balthier Fran Penelo

And like I said I try to keep teams even level-wise.

[blue-phoenix]

Vaan: White/Shikari (Great tank/support with high MP & HP)
Balthier: Time/Shikari (Best ninja sword attacker + Haste & Float for party #1)
Fran: Monk/Time (Best pole attacker + another Haste + Float for party #2)
Basch: Knight/Bushi (Best kitana attacker + Good healer + Access to Faith and Bravery)
Ashe: BM/Monk (Highest Magic stat + Great Healer + Late game juggernaut with Scathe)
Penelo: RBM/Archer (Highest Damage output: Burning Bow + Ardor = One shot mobs)


*All the abilities are spread out, makes game play more smooth and efficient*

-Everyone but Basch can cast Green Magic, meaning everyone else can cast Bubble and Reverse
-Everyone has MAX swiftness.
-Everyone can equip 2 types of gear
-Everyone has high HP
-Everyone can cast spells and buffs so you don't rely on one person, thus saves a lot of time.

[hanhan]

enough thinking im going with this guy setup

[kennethmckeel]

Two teams: (1) Vaan Bushi-Shikari
Balthier Machinist-Red Mage
Penelo Monk-Black Mage

(2) Basch Knight-Foebreaker
Fran Archer-Time Mage
Ashe White Mage-Uhlan

In my opinion this is the most balanced overpowered job setup using all 12 jobs that can be created. A very strong tank for each group, a Hastega caster for each group, and a powerful healer for each group that can also hold their own with physical attacks as well. This is very balanced as group one has a combo oriented tank with potent offensive magic users as well. While group two has the ultimate strength oriented tank as well as a White Mage capable of 15, 000-20, 000hp attacks depending on equipment. Feel free to try this setup out.

[Doctor_Logic]

Vaan: Bushi + White Mage
Balthier: Machinist + Foebreaker
Fran: Archer + Red Battlemage
Basch: Knight + Uhlan
Ashe: Time Battlemage + Monk
Penelo: Shikari + Black Mage

My team goes by an opposites attract strategy. For starters each job represents a Zodiac Sign, each Zodiac Sign represents an Esper, each Esper represents an Element, and each Element has a weakness i.e. Opposites Attract.

I give Balthier, Fran, Basch, and Penelo the jobs that uses the weapons they're introduced with. Ashe's character profile gave me the idea of Time Battlemage. Which left Bushi for Vaan.

I give the Espers of the game to the characters whose job corresponds with the Zodiac Sign they represent.

Vaan's jobs Bushi and White Mage represent Aquarius and Aries which represent Famfrit and Belias so you've got the opposites Water and Fire. This also works with Basch's jobs Knight and Uhlan that represent Leo and Taurus which represent Hashmal and Chaos which give you the opposites Earth and Wind or better yet Order and Chaos. Then you've got Penelo's jobs Shikari and Black Mage that represent Pisces and Capricorn which represent Mateus and Adrammelech which give you the opposites Ice and Lightning.

Balthier's jobs Machinist and Foebreaker represent Gemini and Scorpio which represent Zalera and Cúchulainn. This doesn't create elemental opposites it's more of a combo like Death of the Impure, or Impure Death.

Fran's jobs Archer and Red Battlemage represent Sagittarius and Cancer which represent Shemhazai and Zeromus. Again this is more of a combo like Whispers of the Condemner, or Condemned of the Whisperer.

Ashe's jobs Time Battlemage and Monk represent Libra and Monk which represent Exodus and Ultima. At first there is nothing with these two but eventually you create both opposites and a combo. I also give Zodiark to Ashe so with Ultima you've got the opposites Light and Darkness, and since Libra is known as the scales with Exodus you've also got a combo I like to call The balance of Light and Darkness.

The license boards work well with each other, and the Esper license's unlock some good stuff as well.

[mrmosty]

I actually chose the first jobs based on what I think the character would most likely use but also how I played in the past. The second job was basically choosing what was left and complimentary so all 12 are used. So:
Vaan: Shikari/Monk
Penelo: White Mage/Bushi
Balthier: Machinist/Foebreaker
Fran: Archer/Black Mage
Basche: Ulahn/Time Battlemage
Ashe: Knight/Red Battlemage

Basically I use what I call the “Hunter Party”. That’s Ashe in the lead with Sword/Shield, Fran as ThiefArcher/Ranger/Black Mage and Basche as two-handed powerhouse/tank. With the mixed jobs, all will use backup support technicks/spells as needed.

[FaeriichanII]

If I had to use all 12 jobs, I'd go with this as a setup:

- Knight/Bushi - too good to not have. I'd give this to one of the guys.

- Red Battlemage/Shikari -flexible. Can tank, heal, or dps as needed. With Germinas Boots and Yagyu, will be a decent Yiazmat killer (though not as efficient as Bushi/Shikari, as least this combo is fairly useful for the majority of the game, unlike BUS/SHI which will be berserked most of the time you use it...). Anyone could do this job well, but as a personal preference, I'd use either Vaan, Balthier, or Penelo.

- Monk/Time Battlemage - with one Esper, this character has access to all breaks. With more Esper support, this character becomes an excellent supporter for any team. Monk loves TBM's heavy armor. Only downsides are the number of Espers needed to reach full potential and lack of mystic armor. I'd give this either to Vaan or any of the girls (for their higher magic stats), though it should be noted that Fran is the quickest when using poles.

- Uhlan/Archer - an early beast, good at targeting enemy weaknesses, gets all item lores. Uhlan is lacking in Technicks, but Archer has lots of those. I'd use anyone for this except Ashe or Penelo because I think it's a waste of their huge MP pools.

- White Mage/Foebreaker - A healer who can wear heavy armor and use shields if needed with access to all breaks. Fran has the best vitality, which makes her the best Foebreaker, but any of the girls would work great.

- Black Mage/Machinist - WM is too busy healing to shoot, so BM will make better use of the guns. Any of the girls would work fine for this.

[Mellathor]

Getting it on switch, do you have a tip for the espers too? I read that they have a influence on the licence boards

[scoubidoubiboy]

When I 1st chose my jobs, I was mord concerned to do so in relation to be able to unlock every espère, which can be an issue if not selected well. But basically we don t need them per say, buffers ans debuffers + versatility in amors/weapons/spells is way more valuable

[doomsday]

Vaan - Shikari / Uhlan
Balthier - Machinist / Time Battlemage
Fran - Archer / Red Battlemage
Basch - Bushi / Foebreaker
Ashe - Knight / Black Mage
Penelo - Monk / White Mage

[StarzAlpha]

I played FF12 and beat it twice for PS2 so this is rather new to me but what fits my play style is what I have in order
VAAN- shikari/Archer
Penelo- RedMage/Machinist
Balthier- Machinist/ Time Battlemage
Fran- Monk/Bushi
Basch- Bushi/ Foebreaker
Ashe- White Mage/ Knight

Side note- I will have you guys know that all these jobs mean nothing in a sense that it doesn't break the game. It's not the main focus. So what ever combinations you pick will be good in unique.. The creators of this game made it like this.

[stevehabura]

great video, just a tip. if you follow this guide plan out your quickenings, especially for Vaan and Basch as you can lock yourself from getting access to the weapons.

[majorpayne]

Played this again on the Switch. My setup:
Vaan: Uhlan + Time Battle Mage
Balthier: Shikari + Foe Breaker
Fran: Red Mage + Black Mage
Basch: Knight + Archer
Ashe: Monk + Bushi
Panelo: White Mage + Machinist

[scrapinator]

I had a hard enough time picking single jobs for my party 🙄

[ArsenicSteel]

Good info. I've decided on:
Ashe - Monk/Black Mage
Fran - Archer/Red Mage
Penolo - Machinist/White Mage
Balthier - ulhan/Time Mage
Vaan - Hunter/Breaker
basch - Knight/Samurai

[FeralPhilosopher]

Wow we agree on three character-job combos. I'm using the same Ashe, Penelo, and Fran. I like your choices, fellow gamer!

[geert]

Vaan: Black Mage/Monk
Penelo: White Mage/ Machinist
Fran: Uhlan/Time Mage
Balthier: Foebreaker/Shikari
Basch: Knight/Bushi
Ashe: Red Battlemage/Archer
Really balanced, good hp for everyone with super hp for the tanks and super mp for the 2 girls, lots of shared abilities, everyone can steal/poach, everyone has Swiftness times 3

[xcv]

You can go to the moogle in the clan hall and he will change your classes for you