What's the point of Bushi?

[Midas]

I notice some of the classes seem to have odd abilities, but Bushi in particular makes no sense to me. A 2-handed sword class that uses mage armor, and gets spell power passives, but has no spells? What is the point of that? Is bushi meant to be just a secondary class or something?

[hawklaser]

Granted this is for the original PS2 release, tons of useful info in it as it is a breakdown of all the varied mechanics in the game. Including the aforementioned berserk's bonuses, spell powers, rate for added effects, how much things like Adrenaline/Focus alter things, and much more.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ps2/459841-final-fantasy-xii/faqs/45900

[Honorable_D]

Yeah, Shades of Black is almost TOO good. Especially when you use it when multiple enemies are around.

[Inssengrimm]

I've never indulge myself in the shades of black, is it worth it tho?

[Space]

Doesn't matter, you'll wield Katanas with high Combo chance B)

Katanas are the best guns in the game, man!

[pozertron]

Also it turns out that the best Katana in the game "Kumbha" is actually 1 handed, so you might wanna think about pairing Bushi with a class that can equip shields.

[Honorable_D]

Originally posted by Alexander Dragonfang:

I've never indulge myself in the shades of black, is it worth it tho?

I'd imagine it'd become a lot less impressive around the late game when you've already gained the big BM spells for on demand casting, but during the mid game it is really nice. The number of Flares/Scourges/Scathes and all the "agas" that I've gotten from it is really awesome. Sure you'll get duds now and then but it seems the odds are in your favor...

EDIT: I should add that I use it with "Foe Flying --> Shades of Black" and "Greater/Equal 3 foes --> Shades of Black". So basically my Knight/Bushi uses it to attack flying enemies it couldn't normally attack and to AoE larger groups of enemies.

[Hinnyuu]

Shades of Black is fairly solid. Since all spells have an equal chance, missing completely is fairly rare. Heck it's almost 30% to get a max-tier spell, either a -ga level or one of the non-elementals. And even the duds are still things like Blind, which aren't entirely useless per se.

[duderino]

Originally posted by pozertron:

Also it turns out that the best Katana in the game "Kumbha" is actually 1 handed, so you might wanna think about pairing Bushi with a class that can equip shields.

Although it's stongly recommended to pair Bushi with either Knight or Monk, it will have access to the Genji shield either way. But you're right about the Kumbha. In fact it's because of THIS sword the Bushi (paired with Knight or Monk) is the best melee class in the game. Not only does the Kumbha more damge then the Masamune, it has an insane combo rate of 35% (higher than the best ninja sword) AND you can still use a shield.

Somebody here stated that Katanas haved the best combo potential. This is not true. Ninja swords overall have the highest combo rates and due to their speed, deal the most DPS. That's why Shikari with Foebreaker (for heavy armor and stat downs) is usually considered the best melee class combination. But you have to be very carefull when picking your mist abilities at the licence board or you will lock yourself completely out of the top tier ninja swords (Mesa&Darkblade) like I did. Also Ninja sword are all 2 hand weapons, so no shields. Yes you can get the Mina dagger (one handed weapon) for the Shikari but i'ts combo rate is way behind (15%) the ninja swords.

But now with the Kumbha the best melee combination goes to Bushi paired with Knight or Monk. Also because the Knight and Monk classes get some excellent t3 white magic spells late game and this will be made more efficient with the Bushi's magic lores and access to mystic armor. Talk about class synergy.

[Bluesy]

You can also skip katanas completely and pair Bushi with knight to get access to white robes and Excalibur.

Excalibur does holy damage, white robes boost holy damage 50%. Even against enemies not weak to holy the damage is eye watering.

I’ve not bothered using a Bushi that actually used katanas yet outside the token holy immune stuff. Excalibur damage with white robe is way higher.

[duderino]

Originally posted by bluesy:

You can also skip katanas completely and pair Bushi with knight to get access to white robes and Excalibur.

Excalibur does holy damage, white robes boost holy damage 50%. Even against enemies not weak to holy the damage is eye watering.

I’ve not bothered using a Bushi that actually used katanas yet outside the token holy immune stuff. Excalibur damage with white robe is way higher.

I have both items so I will try that out and see if it's better than the Kumba (damage wise). But you must not forget that Kumbha+Genji gloves= 65% combo chance. It's damage per second what counts not damage per hit (might as well equip the Wyrm Hero blade then).

But we will see. The excalibur combo rate is to low to waste a Genji glove on it, so I better equip a ribbon instead (or a sash for the +20 speed bonus). Maybe that compensates somewhat for not having a shield.

[Bluesy]

Meh, hunt+steal+trials nets you 3 pairs anyway if you need them.

I think it’s (edit: white robes+ Excalibur vs katana) better the same way germinas boots are best for ninja blades, increasing the base damage of a weapon overshadows the higher combo rate damage.

If nothing else use white robes and Excalibur to pop hell wyrm for 40k per swing.

Edit 2: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/191202-final-fantasy-xii-the-zodiac-age/75627340?page=0

To maybe save time...It’s specifically talking about masamune vs Excalibur but I don’t think kumbha is making up the difference.

Excalibur + white robes + Genji Gloves = 18004 dps

Masamune + Genji Gloves = 12190 dps

[Hinnyuu]

Excalibur + White Robes is absolutely absurd damage, the only reason it doesn't get even more attention than it already does is that it's useless vs. Yiazmat, who for some reason is a measuring stick to many people despite being a singular extreme outlier in many respects.

A similar combo is Yagyu Darkblade + Black Robes, which is also insanity against Yiazmat. However it does fall a bit short in the endgame dungeons where everything is undead. This combo is a big reason people tend to combine Shikari with a mage (Red or White are most popular).

The best damage is generally considered to be this (not counting the meme weapons, for obvious reasons):

Excalibur + White Robes + Genji Gloves
Yagyu Darkblade + Black Robes + Germinas Boots
Kumbha + Genji Gloves
Kanya + Genji Gloves

Using Berserk and Focus/Adrenaline, obviously. Excalibur has the advantage of not being heavily reliant on combos, which is great vs. bosses where staying at critical HP is difficult (e.g. Behemoth King), and for random farming. Zodiac Spear and Tournesol are closely behind.

[Inssengrimm]

I guess ill go with shades instead of telekinesis for a while, after all tele damage sucks.

[MLG Scribblenaut PRO]

Originally posted by Midas:

Is there somewhere I can read all these particulars? There's probably a lot about the classes I'm missing since the game doesn't seem to tell you any of this.

the game tells you all of this. you should really read the tips in the clan primer lol.

[Bluesy]

Oh and for anyone wondering why Bushi/knight for Excalibur + white robes and not a mage is that it’s the only way to get both robes and 3x swiftness.

That’s not to say knight/mage is bad or anything.