Innate abilities/spells on characters

[Nezkeys]

So i heard someone say fran starts with cure regardless of her class choices. Im curious if this is true and if so what innate abilities each character gets as this will help me decide which characters to give each combo to (outside of stupid things like animation speeds and the difference of like 1 or 2 in a starting stat that everybody gets to 99 easily lol). For example if i have to steal on someone i wamt beserked thats a bit of a nuisance so steal on the healer instead

[Hinnyuu]

They start with certain licenses active, regardless of job. If you have a job that uses that license, you can see it on the board (activated). If not, it won't be on the board but it WILL be active. Every character has the "Essentials" license, of course (using items/attack).

Here's what they start with:

Vaan - Daggers 1, Light Armor 1, Steal
Balthier - Guns 1, Light Armor 2, Steal, First Aid
Fran - Bows 1, Light Armor 2, White Magicks 1, Black Magicks 1, Steal
Basch - Swords 2, Shields 1, Heavy Armor 1, Libra
Asche - Swords 2, Shields 1, Heavy Armor 1, White Magicks 1
Penelo - Daggers 1, Mystic Armor 1, White Magicks 1, First Aid

[Nezkeys]

Do the whm/machinist or whm/shikari learn steal and poach on their licence boards btw? Or is it just that people have balthier as whm/machinist and he starts with steal? I wanna put steal on the whm/shikari and maybe the machinist/whm. Whos the best choice for whm/shikari that can steal and poach? Most guides say make penelo or ashe your whm cause of their mp pool but it looks like neither start with steal. Id want basch and balthier to be the two hard hitter melees right? So that leaves fran who apparently has the worst stats at anything? Guess this ok to make her or vaan the whm/shikari

[Nezkeys]

Actually just checked the boards...i dont think its possible to do the exact thing i said...steal/poach on whm/shikari or whm/machinist (its possible on white/time i think tho but only if i made vaan/balthier/fran the whm). Sucks i made penelo the whm/time on this run then i guess. Guess ill just have to bring in someone else to poach

If im correct these are the only sources:
Vaan: Steal
Balthier: Steal
Fran: Steal
Uhlan: Poach
Machinist: Steal and Poach (or could be just poach as balthier my machinist)
Archer: Steal and Poach (same deal fran my archer)
Time: Poach
Black Mage: Steal/Poach(espers)
Red Mage: Steal(esper)

Since i wont be using uhlan, archer, or time at all in the party that means i could give both steal and poach to my blm/rdm via zalera (which sucks anyway outside of 435 hp for the shikari so thats fine). I'll have plenty of other attacking options anyway (albeit mostly single target) and shikari/red can take over with firaga for those times where i lose the aoe of blm cause im poaching with it. I may only end up poaching from the couerls in tchita uplands anyway but its just qol to have steal/poach together i guess.

You may feel like this is an odd restriction but from what ive played of the game it just seems better to stick the steal on the one who isnt attacking so the other two can attack. For annoying rare game ill probably need all 3 stealing but thats fine too

[Nezkeys]

This is gonna be the second playthrough team i think. I wanted to mix characters up anyway this time the only combo that ive carried over is knight bushi. Also wanted to switch it up characters wise and not do the traditional girls mages and boys melee ive also got steal on both whms here as well. As for poach i guess ill have to just use it on the blm via zalera as appears i cant get it on whm shikari or whm machinist combos

Vaan: Bushi/Monk
Balthier: Whm/Shikari
Fran: Machinist/Whm
Basch: Monk/Knight
Ashe: Knight/Bushi
Penelo: Rdm/Blm

[Eltia]

From my experience, only thing that matters is it's desirable to use a melee job on a character with innate Steal (for obvious reason: you can't steal unless you are in melee range). End game wise it won't make a lot of difference because you won't be using low tier magic or equipment.

[Nezkeys]

Originally posted by Eltia:

From my experience, only thing that matters is it's desirable to use a melee job on a character with innate Steal (for obvious reason: you can't steal unless you are in melee range). End game wise it won't make a lot of difference because you won't be using low tier magic or equipment.

I mainly just steal for materials to sell for gil ot bazaar stuff. The bazaar is a weird one tho. By the time you get access to certain enemies gather the mats...dungeons or shops have already dropped better gear lol. Whm/shikari will be considered melee. I see what youre saying i just prefer to have it on someone who wont attack.

Btw are you saying a machinist cant steal then with guns equipped? If so ill make my whm machinist someone else so steal isnt wasted. White mage/shikari is going on one of those people with innate steal tho

[Hinnyuu]

Originally posted by Nezkeys:

The bazaar is a weird one tho. By the time you get access to certain enemies gather the mats...dungeons or shops have already dropped better gear lol.

This depends a lot on your knowledge of the game. The Bazaar is in fact a prime source for items WELL above the usual progression curve but only if you know how to get the right drops early.

The most egregious offenders are of course Arcturus (available just before Raithwall) and Mithuna (available just after). Then there's Ame-no-Murakumo (after Raithwall) and Karkata (after Eruyt Village) as well. Vrscika is available by Henne Mines, Dhanusha by Phon Coast. And a lot of other stuff in between.

Originally posted by Nezkeys:

Btw are you saying a machinist cant steal then with guns equipped?

Any character can steal no matter their equipment. People simply prefer to steal on melee because they're already close to enemies, but there's nothing stopping you from stealing with a Machinist or whoever else you like.

Personally I don't bother gaming around Steal because I know it'll always be available on half the party regardless of what I pick. If I know I need an item, I go and steal it. I don't randomly steal for loot, I'm not that pressed for gil. Too annoying to manage with gambits or manual stealing anyway.

[Nezkeys]

"The most egregious offenders are of course Arcturus (available just before Raithwall) and Mithuna (available just after). Then there's Ame-no-Murakumo (after Raithwall) and Karkata (after Eruyt Village) as well. Vrscika is available by Henne Mines, Dhanusha by Phon Coast. And a lot of other stuff in between."

Havent seen any of those yet or got the mats for them. Well actually arcturus i got from a chest in lhusu site 11 along with a crap load of other 100+ attack weapons on every class. I used that place to level up my others from 10 - 50 in about 3 hours. 99 of the drops sold for over 100k gil as well. Decent place

[Hinnyuu]

Originally posted by Nezkeys:

Havent seen any of those yet or got the mats for them. Well actually arcturus i got from a chest in lhusu site 11 along with a crap load of other 100+ attack weapons on every class. I used that place to level up my others from 10 - 50 in about 3 hours. 99 of the drops sold for over 100k gil as well. Decent place

The bazaar requires a LOT of meta knowledge. It's extremely unlikely for people to just discover the high-end recipes on their own.
But if you do have that knowledge, you can break the game wide open.