JP Boost * 250 Raises JP received by the unit by

50%

--Movement Abilities--

JP EFFECT

------------------------------------------------------------

Move +1 * 200 Movement range + 1

JP to master: 1670

--MY THOUGHTS--

Squires are what you’d expect from a starting job -- functional, but nothing

all that special. Their abilities are useful early on, but there aren’t too

many that you’d use later on. Move +1 is a great all-purpose movement ability

though, and definitely worth learning before you move on from Squire. (Most

other jobs have a movement range of only 3, making it tough for them to keep

up with the battle.) JP Boost is also great for helping you learn other

abilities quickly, especially when you switch to a new job and need to gain

levels quickly. It’s a great investment to learn JP Boost early on.

If you’re into grinding levels, Focus and Stone are good abilities to use

repeatedly to build up experience or JP.

---CHEMIST---------------------------------------------------------------------

Required jobs : none

Needed for jobs : White Mage (lv. 2), Black Mage (lv. 2), Onion Knight (lv. 6),

Mime (lv. 8)

Equippable weapons: Knives, guns Movement range : 3

Equippable armor: Hats, clothes Jump height : 3

Innate ability: Throw Items Physical evade : 5%

Stats When Active Job:

HP: *** MP: *** Phys. Atk.: ** Mag. Atk.: ** Speed: ***

Stat Growth Rates:

HP: ** MP: ** Phys. Atk.: * Mag. Atk.: * Speed: *

--ABILITIES--

--Action Abilities: Items--

Damage based on user’s: nothing

RNG RAD

MP TIC H/V H/V TAR LF JP EFFECT

---------------------------------------------------------------

Potion * 0 1/* 1/- Any Y 30 Can use Potions (restore 30 HP)

Hi-Potion * 0 1/* 1/- Any Y 200 Can use Hi-Potions (restore 70

HP)

X-Potion * 0 1/* 1/- Any Y 300 Can use X-Potions (restore 150

HP)

Ether 0 1/* 1/- Any Y 300 Can use Ethers (restore 20 MP)

Hi-Ether * 0 1/* 1/- Any Y 400 Can use Hi-Ethers (restore 50 MP)

Elixir 0 1/* 1/- Any Y 900 Can use Elixirs (restore all HP &

MP)

Antidote 0 1/* 1/- Any Y 70 Can use Antidotes (cures Poison)

Eye Drops 0 1/* 1/- Any Y 80 Can use Eye Drops (cures Blind)

Echo Herbs 0 1/* 1/- Any Y 120 Can use Echo Herbs (cures

Silence)

Maiden’s Kiss 0 1/* 1/- Any Y 200 Can use Maiden’s Kisses (cures

Toad)

Gold Needle 0 1/* 1/- Any Y 250 Can use Gold Needles (cures

Stone)

Holy Water 0 1/* 1/- Any Y 400 Can use Holy Water (cures Undead

and Vampire)

Remedy * 0 1/* 1/- Any Y 700 Can use Remedies (cures Stone,

Blind, Confuse, Silence, Oil,

Toad, Poison, and Sleep)

Phoenix Down * 0 1/* 1/- Any Y 90 Can use Phoenix Down (revives

KOed character with minimal HP)

Note 1: All Items abilities require you to have the corresponding item in your

inventory. One item is consumed with each use. Aside from Elixirs, all the

items can be bought at the Outfitter, although some do not become available

until later in the game.

Note 2: The Throw Items ability (equippable, and also innate in the Chemist

job) extends the range of all Items abilities from 1 to 4.

--Reaction Abilities--

TRIGGER BRV JP EFFECT

------------------------------------------------------------

Auto-Potion * Any HP loss Yes 400 Use weakest potion available on self

--Support Abilities--

JP EFFECT

------------------------------------------------------------

Throw Items +* 350 Increases horizontal range of Items

command from 1 to 4.

Safeguard * 250 Equipment can’t be broken or stolen

Reequip 0 Allows use of Reequip action to

change unit’s equipment (but

consumes turn)

--Movement Abilities--

JP EFFECT

------------------------------------------------------------

Treasure Hunter 100 Allows you to discover any hidden

items on the destination tile,

which are then added to your

inventory. Your chance of getting

a more valuable item increases

with LOW Bravery.

JP to master: 5140

--MY THOUGHTS--

Despite being a "basic" job, Chemists are great! Items are great for healing

because they don’t take any time to charge and never miss. Ethers and

Hi-Ethers are also a convenient way to restore MP. And, since the effect of

items is fixed, you can assign the Items ability even to a character with low

magic ability. The only real downside is that items can only heal one

character at a time.

Early in the game, Chemists make great healers. Plus, once you’re able to buy

guns (late in Chapter II), they have a good range attack, giving them something

else to do when the team doesn’t need healing.

Be sure to learn Throw Items before you switch your Chemist to another job.

Otherwise, your items will only have a range of 1 and won’t be much good at

all. (Chemists themselves don’t need to learn Throw Items, as they have it as

an intrinsic ability.)

It’s pretty safe to skip the items that cure negative status (Eye Drops, etc.);

you don’t have to face these status conditions all that often. Save your JP

and just learn Remedy; once Remedies become available (midway through Chapter

II) they duplicate the effects of ALL the other items. The exception is Holy

Water, but there’s pretty much only point where you have to worry about being

hit with the Undead or Vampire conditions.

Safeguard is an important support ability, especially later in the game when

you have rare equipment that you can’t buy in stores. You don’t want that

being broken or stolen! Although you don’t need to equip Safeguard all the

time, it’s good to have on hand for particular battles where the enemies are

apt to break your equipment.

The Treasure Hunter movement ability, on the other hand, isn’t all that useful

during the main game since most of the items you find from it are nothing

special. However, in the game’s sidequests, Treasure Hunter will net you some

rare items you can’t find anywhere else, so at that point you’ll definitely

want to have at least one character learn Treasure Hunter. (Preferably someone

with low Bravery, as this increases your chance of getting good items with it.)

---KNIGHT----------------------------------------------------------------------

Required jobs : Squire lv. 2

Needed for jobs : Monk (lv. 3), Samurai (lv. 4), Dark Knight (Mastered!)

Equippable weapons: Swords, knight’s swords Movement range : 4

Equippable armor: Shields, helms, armor, robes Jump height : 3

Physical evade : 10%

Stats When Active Job:

HP: **** MP: *** Phys. Atk.: **** Mag. Atk.: ** Speed: ***

Stat Growth Rates:

HP: **** MP: ** Phys. Atk.: **** Mag. Atk.: * Speed: *

--ABILITIES--

--Action Abilities: Arts of War--

Success based on user’s: Physical Attack & Weapon Strength

RNG RAD

MP TIC H/V H/V TAR LF JP EFFECT

---------------------------------------------------------------

Rend Helm 0 Weapon Any Y 300 Destroys target’s headgear

Rend Armor 0 Weapon Any Y 400 Destroys target’s armor

Rend Shield 0 Weapon Any Y 300 Destroys target’s shield

Rend Weapon * 0 Weapon Any Y 400 Destroys target’s weapon

Rend MP * 0 Weapon Any Y 250 Lowers target’s MP (by 1/2 of

target’s maximum MP)

Rend Speed * 0 Weapon Any Y 250 Lowers target’s speed by 2

Rend Power * 0 Weapon Any Y 250 Lowers target’s phys. attack by 3

Rend Magick 0 Weapon Any Y 250 Lowers target’s mag. attack by 3

When combined with the Dual Wield support ability and Dual Wielded weapons,

Arts of War fires twice per use.

If Rend Helm, Armor, Shield, or Weapon is used against a target not equipped

with that type of item, it functions as a physical attack instead. (This is

useful when you Dual Wield and succeed in rending the item on the first

strike.)

--Reaction Abilities--

TRIGGER BRV JP EFFECT

------------------------------------------------------------

Parry No 200 Block physical attacks with weapon;

rate of success is equal to

current weapon’s Block Rate (see

weapon list). Not effective

against rear attacks.

--Support Abilities--

JP EFFECT

------------------------------------------------------------

Equip Heavy Armor +* 500 Can equip heavy armor + helmets

regardless of job

Equip Shields + 250 Can equip shields regardless of job

Equip Swords +* 400 Can equip swords regardless of job

(does not apply to knight’s

swords or fell swords)

--Movement Abilities--

none

JP to master: 3750

--MY THOUGHTS--

The Knight’s greatest asset is not the Arts of War, but its fairly good

fighting stats and inherent ability to equip swords, heavy armor, and shields,

a power that can be transfered to other jobs with its support abilities. Equip

Heavy Armor helps make vulnerable jobs tougher, and Equip Sword is quite useful

for many of the story characters, who need to have a sword equipped in order to

use their special abilities.

Knights are also a good job late in the game, when you’ve learned all the

abilities you want and now just want to maximize your characters’ power. They

have good HP and attack power, and are one of the few jobs that can equip

knight’s swords, the single-player game’s most powerful weapons. (The only

other standard job that can use them is Dark Knight, which has quite a few

prerequisites to unlock).

The Arts of War abilities are only moderately useful as Knight. They have

fairly low accuracy and if you’re close enough to use them, you’ll often want

to just start attacking and KO the enemy rather than mess with his/her stats.

However, pairing Arts of War with a gun (e.g. by using the Orator’s Equip Gun

ability) or the Archer’s bows lets you use these attacks at a distance, which

makes them quite useful. You can break your enemies’ weapons before they can

get close enough to use them!

---ARCHER----------------------------------------------------------------------

Required jobs : Squire lv. 2

Needed for jobs : Thief (lv. 3), Ninja (lv. 4)

Equippable weapons: Bows, crossbows Movement range : 3

Equippable armor: Shields, hats, clothes Jump height : 3

Physical evade : 10%

Stats When Active Job:

HP: *** MP: ** Phys. Atk.: **** Mag. Atk.: ** Speed: ***

Stat Growth Rates:

HP: *** MP: ** Phys. Atk.: **** Mag. Atk.: * Speed: *

--ABILITIES--

--Action Abilities: Aim--

Damage based on user’s: Physical Attack & Weapon Strength

RNG RAD

MP TIC H/V H/V TAR LF JP EFFECT

---------------------------------------------------------------

Aim +1 * 4 Weapon Any Y 100 Charge up attack for more damage

Aim +2 * 5 Weapon Any Y 150 Charge up attack for more damage

Aim +3 * 6 Weapon Any Y 200 Charge up attack for more damage

Aim +4 8 Weapon Any Y 250 Charge up attack for more damage

Aim +5 10 Weapon Any Y 300 Charge up attack for more damage

Aim +7 14 Weapon Any Y 400 Charge up attack for more damage

Aim +10 20 Weapon Any Y 700 Charge up attack for more damage

Aim +20 35 Weapon Any Y 1200 Charge up attack for more damage

Each of these Aim abilities does more damage than the previous one, but also

takes longer to charge. (e.g., Aim +4 does more damage than Aim +3). Note

that if the enemy you’re targeting moves while you’re charging, your attack

will miss.

Aim does NOT prevent enemies from evading or blocking your attacks, despite its

name (and the effect of Aim in other Final Fantasy games).

--Reaction Abilities--

TRIGGER BRV JP EFFECT

------------------------------------------------------------

Adrenaline Rush * Any HP loss Yes 900 Raise Speed by 1

Archer’s Bane * Arrow attack Yes 450 Evade bow / crossbow attacks

--Support Abilities--

JP EFFECT

------------------------------------------------------------

Equip Crossbows + 350 Can equip crossbows regardless of

job (does not apply to regular

bows)

Concentration * 400 Prevents enemies from evading your

physical attacks

--Movement Abilities--

JP EFFECT

------------------------------------------------------------

Jump +1 200 Jump height + 1

JP to master: 5600

--MY THOUGHTS--

Archers make a very valuable addition to your team early in the game, when you

have few other range attacks. Later in the game, as you acquire guns, sword

techniques, and other ranged attacks, Archers become somewhat less useful. For

one thing, their Aim command is of limited value. The high Aims (Aim +10,

etc.) take too long to charge and there’s rarely any enemy you can target with

them. The short Aims will increase your damage a little and are worth using

when you have the chance, but don’t increase your offense enough to make them

worth choosing over another command.

Archer’s Bane, though, is a great reaction ability against enemy Archers --

with a high Bravery, you’re almost impervious to arrows! Since you’ll fight

Archers in quite a few battles throughout the game, this is a good ability to

learn early on. Later on, it becomes completely superceded with Shirahadori,

which (despite what the game says) blocks BOTH close-ranged and bow attacks.

Always equip your Archers with the 2-handed longbows rather than crossbows--

longbows do more damage, have a longer range, and don’t need a direct line of

fire. Crossbows do let you equip a shield at the same time, but since your

Archers should be on the back line anyway, they don’t need shields that much.

Note that Archers are in fact the ONLY standard job that can equip longbows.

The Equip Crossbows ability only let other jobs use crossbows (not longbows),

which makes the ability of dubious value since crossbows are not so good.

---MONK------------------------------------------------------------------------

Required jobs : Knight lv. 3

Needed for jobs : Geomancer (lv. 4), Samurai (lv. 5)

Equippable weapons: none Movement range : 3

Equippable armor: Clothes Jump height : 4

Innate ability: Brawler Physical evade : 20%

Stats When Active Job:

HP: ***** MP: *** Phys. Atk.: ***** Mag. Atk.: ** Speed: ****

Stat Growth Rates:

HP: **** MP: *** Phys. Atk.: *** Mag. Atk.: * Speed: *

--ABILITIES--

--Action Abilities: Martial Arts--

Damage based on user’s: Physical Attack

RNG RAD

MP TIC H/V H/V TAR LF JP EFFECT

---------------------------------------------------------------

Cyclone 0 Self 2/0 Any - 150 Non-elemental attack

Pummel 0 1/1 1/- Any - 300 Non-elemental attack, does

variable damage (may be more or

less than estimate)

Aurablast 0 3/3 1/- Any N 300 Non-elemental attack

Shockwave * 0 4Dir 8/2 Any N 600 Earth attack

Doom Fist 0 1/0 1/- Any - 300 Causes Doom status (enemy is KOed

after 3 turns)

Purification * 0 Self 2/0 Any - 200 Removes Stone, Blind, Confuse,

Silence, Berserk, Toad, Poison,

Sleep, Immobilize, Disable

Chakra * 0 Self 2/0 Any - 350 Restores some HP and MP

Revive * 0 1/0 1/- Any - 500 Revives KOed character with

minimal HP

--Reaction Abilities--

TRIGGER BRV JP EFFECT

------------------------------------------------------------

Critical:RecoverHP Critical HP Yes 500 Restores HP completely

Counter * Phys. Attack Yes 300 Counter-attack with physical attack

First Strike * Attack command Yes 1300 Cancels enemy’s Attack command and

you attack enemy instead. Only

works if enemy is within your

range. Does NOT work against

generic monsters.

--Support Abilities--

JP EFFECT

------------------------------------------------------------

Brawler +* 200 Raises unarmed attack strength and

increases effectiveness of Martial

Arts abilities and success rate of

Steal

--Movement Abilities--

JP EFFECT

------------------------------------------------------------

Lifefont * 300 Restores HP whenever you Move

JP to master: 5300

--MY THOUGHTS--

Monks rock! In my opinion, they have the best selection of abilities in the

game. Shockwave and to a lesser extent Aurablast are decent offensive

abilities. And, they have three healing abilities that don’t require any

charge time: Chakra can restore HP *AND* MP to a group, Revive revives KOed

character and usually has an 80+% hit rate, and Purification cures a number of

status changes to a group. Martial Arts is a great command to have as it gives

you both offensive and defensive abilities packed into one ability slot. The

one caveat is that the healing abilities work only over a small vertical range

-- you can’t Revive someone at a different height than you, for instance -- so

be mindful of that during battle.

Monks also have great reaction abilities. Counter is a great reaction ability

to have in almost all situations. Getting counterattacks in response to enemy

attacks lets you do a LOT more damage. Against humans, First Strike is even

better since it cancels the enemy’s attack outright, but it’s not effective

against generic monster attacks -- so don’t use it when you’re traveling the

map and will just be facing random battles. (First Strike *is* effective

against monster-like bosses and other "special" monsters.) Critical: Recover

HP can be moderately useful too since it can restore your HP to full and save

a critically wounded character, but many attacks can KO you outright and never

even put you in critical HP. (So, Counter is usually better.)

Another advantage of Monks is that they have good stats: they have a strong

attack and are pretty speedy. Consider pairing their attack with the Ninja’s

Dual Wield to get two punches and double your damage! Their only weakness is

that they can’t equip much in the way of armor, but Equip Heavy Armor can be a

good remedy for that.

---WHITE MAGE------------------------------------------------------------------

Required jobs : Chemist lv. 2

Needed for jobs : Mystic (lv. 3), Arithmetician (lv. 5)

Equippable weapons: Staves Movement range : 3

Equippable armor: Hats, clothes, robes Jump height : 3

Physical evade : 5%

Stats When Active Job:

HP: ** MP: ***** Phys. Atk.: *** Mag. Atk.: *** Speed: ****

Stat Growth Rates:

HP: **** MP: **** Phys. Atk.: *** Mag. Atk.: * Speed: *

--ABILITIES--

--Action Abilities: White Magicks--

Damage based on user’s: Magick Attack & Faith, plus target’s Faith

RNG RAD

MP TIC H/V H/V TAR LF JP EFFECT

---------------------------------------------------------------

Cure * 6 RA 4 4/* 2/1 Any N 50 Restores HP

Cura * 10RA 5 4/* 2/1 Any N 180 Restores HP (more)

Curaga 16RA 7 4/* 2/2 Any N 450 Restores HP (even more)

Curaja 20RA 10 4/* 2/3 Any N 800& Restores HP (best)

Raise * 10RA 4 4/* 1/- Any N 200 Revives KOed character with

half of maximum HP

Arise * 20RA 10 4/* 1/- Any N 600 Revives KOed character with full

HP

Reraise * 16RA 7 3/* 1/- Any N 1000 Gives Reraise status

(automatically return once

from KO)

Regen * 8 RA 4 3/* 2/0 Any N 350 Gives Regen status (restores HP

each turn)

Protect 6 RA 4 3/* 2/0 Any N 70 Gives Protect status (decreases

physical damage received)

Protectja 24 7 3/* 2/3 Any N 600 Gives Protect status

Shell 6 RA 4 3/* 2/0 Any N 70 Gives Shell status (decreases

magick damage received)

Shellja 20 7 3/* 2/3 Any N 600 Gives Shell status

Wall 24RA 4 3/* 1/- Any N 400 Gives both Protect and Shell

status

Esuna 18RA 3 3/* 2/2 Any N 300 Cures Stone, Blind, Confuse,

Silence, Berserk, Toad,

Poison, Sleep, Immobilize,

and/or Disable

Holy 56RA 6 5/* 1/- Any N 600 Holy attack

--Reaction Abilities--

TRIGGER BRV JP EFFECT

------------------------------------------------------------

Regenerate * Any HP loss Yes 400 Gain Regen status (restores HP each

turn)

--Support Abilities--

JP EFFECT

------------------------------------------------------------

Arcane Defense * 400 Lowers damage received from magick

--Movement Abilities--

none

JP to master: 7070

--MY THOUGHTS--

White Mages are, of course, a healing oriented job; Holy is their only real

offensive spell. However, they tend not to be as effective on defense as

Chemists, since their spells consume MP and need time to charge up. The charge

time is particularly problematic if an ally has just been hit for a lot of

damage and you need to patch him/her up right away -- you might not have time

to wait!

What’s GOOD about White Mages? Well, they can heal more than one character at

a time (since most of their spells affect more than one tile). They can cast a

few other "buffing" spells like Protect and Shell, though note these buffs can

miss if you have low faith or magick power! Their Arise spell is also capable

of restoring a character at full HP, which Phoenix Down or a Monk’s Revive

cannot do. They’re also the fastest of the mage jobs.

Overall, though, the charge times and MP costs associated with White Magick

make Chemists a better choice. If you’re likely to get any use out of White

Mages, it’s probably in the early stages of the game, when you’ll frequently

face barrages of weak attacks spread out against your team. Then, the ability

to heal multiple characters at once is important.

White Magick can also be used an offensive weapon against undead enemies,

though there aren’t too many undead enemies and most are pretty easy anyway.

Besides, you can use Chemists’ Items to hurt undead enemies too!

---BLACK MAGE------------------------------------------------------------------

Required jobs : Chemist lv. 2

Needed for jobs : Time Mage (lv. 3), Arithmetician (lv. 5),

Dark Knight (Mastered!)

Equippable weapons: Rods Movement range : 3

Equippable armor: Hats, clothes, robes Jump height : 3

Physical evade : 5%

Stats When Active Job:

HP: ** MP: ***** Phys. Atk.: ** Mag. Atk.: ***** Speed: ***

Stat Growth Rates:

HP: ** MP: ***** Phys. Atk.: ** Mag. Atk.: * Speed: *

--ABILITIES--

--Action Abilities: Black Magicks--

Damage based on user’s: Magick Attack & Faith, plus target’s Faith

RNG RAD

MP TIC H/V H/V TAR LF JP EFFECT

---------------------------------------------------------------

Fire * 6 RA 4 4/* 2/1 All N 50 Fire attack

Fira * 12RA 5 4/* 2/2 All N 200 Fire attack (stronger)

Firaga * 24RA 7 4/* 2/3 All N 500 Fire attack (even stronger)

Firaja 48 10 4/* 3/3 All N 900& Fire attack (strongest)

Thunder * 6 RA 4 4/* 2/1 All N 50 Lightning attack

Thundara 10RA 5 4/* 2/2 All N 200 Lightning attack (stronger)

Thundaga * 24RA 7 4/* 2/3 All N 500 Lightning attack (even stronger)

Thundaja 48 10 4/* 3/3 All N 900& Lightning attack (strongest)

Blizzard * 6 RA 4 4/* 2/1 All N 50 Ice attack

Blizzara * 12RA 5 4/* 2/2 All N 200 Ice attack (stronger)

Blizzaga * 24RA 7 4/* 2/3 All N 500 Ice attack (even stronger)

Blizzaja 48 10 4/* 3/3 All N 900& Ice attack (strongest)

Poison 6 RA 3 4/* 2/2 All N 150 Causes Poison status

Toad 12RA 5 3/* 1 All N 500 Causes Toad status, or cures Toad

status if target already a Toad

Death 24RA 10 4/* 1 All N 600 Instant KO

Flare * 60RA 7 5/1 1 All N 1000 Non-elemental attack

--Reaction Abilities--

TRIGGER BRV JP EFFECT

------------------------------------------------------------

Magick Counter Magick attack Yes 800 Counterattack w/ same spell

--Support Abilities--

JP EFFECT

------------------------------------------------------------

Arcane Strength * 400 Increases damage inflicted by your

magicks. Also works for other

abilities that depend on your

Magick Attack stat, like Iaido,

Geomancy, and Limit

--Movement Abilities--

none

JP to master: 8400

--MY THOUGHTS--