Classes are Confusing...

[ChrisPharmD]

Okay, after doing a lot of research and seeing such conflicting opinions, I almost want to shut my mind off to thinking about this.

All I know is that I played this game without the jobs system as a kid, and I loved every second of it. I also don't remember much about it. The other thing I know is that I want Fran in my party, and apparently she has the lowest stats in the game. That sucks.

Vaan seems like a thief to me. He just has that appearance.
Penelo seems like a healer to me.
Ashe seems like a knight, but so does Basch...?
Fran seems like an archer obviously.
Balthier seems like a gun wielder.

I need somebody to think for me. If I keep trying, I'm just going to quit. Plz help. :(

[Hinnyuu]

Originally posted by ChrisPharmD:

Why does nobody go Ashe Black Mage? Actually, I rarely see Black Mage as a primary job for any of the suggestions. Everybody chooses Red Mage or Time BM over Black Mage... that doesn't make sense. I would think BLM is better than all.

Is Time Mage the only mage that can use haste?

Time Battlemage is the only job that gets Haste, and the only job that gets Hastega without using an Esper (Machinist can get it with an Esper).

Black Mage is a very strong job, and perhaps the single most self-sufficient job in the game. Black Mage/Time Battlemage is an excellent pairing, since you can just pick up the few useful things on a Time Battlemage (Haste/Hastega and Float) while still basically not changing what your Black Mage is great at one little bit.

Red Battlemage has some advantages and some disadvantages over Black Mage, the most important one being that it can only boost two elements (fire and dark) one of which (dark) is the most common elements enemies are immune to; while a Black Mage can boost all its elements and also gets non-elemental spells against enemies with high resistances but doesn't get dark damage. In return, Red Battlemage gets to use some heals and buffs, and dark damage is relevant against a handful of enemies.

As for the Fran thing... the same case as with Balthier applies. Yes she's technically slower with bow animations than everyone else, but it's such a minor difference it barely matters. And yes, Archer isn't a great job, but that doesn't mean it's TERRIBLE - it's worse than most alternatives, but you can say "$90 is less than $100" and it still won't mean it's pocket change. If you want to have Fran around as an Archer, there is absolutely nothing in the game that you couldn't do because of it. Who cares if you kill some boss in 12 minutes instead of 10, who's counting? You'll still kill it, you'll still kill everything.

Something being better doesn't tell you much; you need to know HOW MUCH better, and what that means in the context. And in the context of clearing the game and all its extra content, it will not make or break anything. Not even close.

Put together the party you LIKE, first and foremost. Heck, if you don't have all the meta knowledge about where to go and what to do and how to put things together, then party optimization will be even less relevant. Just lose the anxiety, and focus on enjoying the game. There's no prize for beating the game at 100% min/max efficiency. Pick anything you like for the reasons you like, and you'll get to see the same content, and kill the same bosses as the most obsessive optimizers out there.

[Sakhari]

The only note I'd add to the Black Mage detail is that it can be rough first choice on your early characters as it doesn't have much of value to do (outside of the occasional fight with early-game flans) before Aero and the -ra spells start showing up and you have the MP-saving augments unlocked. After that though, yes, very strong job.

And Ashe frequently ends up being the offensive caster in my group so unless people are avoiding her for arbitrary 'lore' reasons, I'm not sure why anyone would single her out as being a bad choice.

[HideoKoncima]

I guess I'll go for a lore friendly job choice, to end confusion. So Balthier as a Machinist, Fran as an Archer (maybe also Black Mage as 2nd job), Basch as a Knight, Ashe as a Somemage :D. The only "ambiguous" characters are Vann and Penelo.
For them, I can go with some suggested jobs, like Monk for Penelo, and Uhlan for Vaan. Even because I don't like Vaan, and I don't like Uhlan class, so it's a good combo.

I hope it'll be fine.

[ChrisPharmD]

Originally posted by SiegfriedM:

I guess I'll go for a lore friendly job choice, to end confusion. So Balthier as a Machinist, Fran as an Archer (maybe also Black Mage as 2nd job), Basch as a Knight, Ashe as a Somemage :D. The only "ambiguous" characters are Vann and Penelo.
For them, I can go with some suggested jobs, like Monk for Penelo, and Uhlan for Vaan. Even because I don't like Vaan, and I don't like Uhlan class, so it's a good combo.

I hope it'll be fine.

Hey, nice!

I selected my classes for Vaan and Penelo last night FINALLY.

Vaan - Bushi (because Katanas are cooler than lore lmao) and Uhlan
Penelo - White Mage and ?

Basch - Knight and ?
Balthier - Shikari and ?
Fran - Monk and ?
Ashe - Black mage and Time Mage

Critique and criticisms are welcome.

[HideoKoncima]

Originally posted by ChrisPharmD:

Originally posted by SiegfriedM:

I guess I'll go for a lore friendly job choice, to end confusion. So Balthier as a Machinist, Fran as an Archer (maybe also Black Mage as 2nd job), Basch as a Knight, Ashe as a Somemage :D. The only "ambiguous" characters are Vann and Penelo.
For them, I can go with some suggested jobs, like Monk for Penelo, and Uhlan for Vaan. Even because I don't like Vaan, and I don't like Uhlan class, so it's a good combo.

I hope it'll be fine.

Hey, nice!

I selected my classes for Vaan and Penelo last night FINALLY.

Vaan - Bushi (because Katanas are cooler than lore lmao) and Uhlan
Penelo - White Mage and ?

Basch - Knight and ?
Balthier - Shikari and ?
Fran - Monk and ?
Ashe - Black mage and Time Mage

I found a document where they suggested these jobs for a lore friendly run.
Vaan - Shikari and Foebreaker
Balthier - Machinist and Uhlan
Fran - Archer and Red Bmage
Basch - Knight and Bushi
Ashe - White Mage and Time Bmage
Penelo - Monk and Black Mage

[ChrisPharmD]

Doesn't Ashe appear to be a fighter type class? Doesn't Penelo seem more like a support character?

I'm honestly asking because I don't know the lore and I was a kid when I played the game the first time.

But I decided to choose against lore for some reason.

[Sakhari]

Originally posted by SiegfriedM:

I found a document where they suggested these jobs for a lore friendly run.
Vaan - Shikari and Foebreaker

Again, any guide suggesting this combo was probably written shortly before or after the game came out and isn't worth following. It's a bad combination that doesn't even make effective use of the one thing it's advertised as being good at (the Genji Glove/Ninja Blade combo).

Originally posted by ChrisPharmD:

Vaan - Bushi (because Katanas are cooler than lore lmao) and Uhlan
Penelo - White Mage and ?

Basch - Knight and ?
Balthier - Shikari and ?
Fran - Monk and ?
Ashe - Black mage and Time Mage

Critique and criticisms are welcome.

Opinions will differ but if it were up to me (and you're not limiting yourself to a 12-job run. I didn't see you mention that anywhere):

Penelo - White/Machinist. White Mage rods aren't much use and stats don't factor into gun damage so using a gun lets you focus on magic and still throw some decent damage when you're not healing. Damage output is absurd if you decide to farm the end-game guns early.

Basch - Knight/Black or Knight/Bushi. Having access to the White Robe mystic armor will give you an excellent damage-dealing option later in the game and both choices give you some decent magic boosts to improve the White magic that a Knight can get around the mid-game.

Balthier - Shikari/White or Shikari/Red. Again, mystic armor access lets you use the Black Robe to boost your weapon damage later in the game. I prefer /Red in this case because I like having some AoE damage options and the Death spell along with healing and other utilities. Red can also unlock some heavy armor options with an esper that doesn't have too much else going for it. Most people (as far as I've read, at least) tend to go /White. Either works.

Fran - Monk/ Knight/Bushi/Breaker. If you're using the Monk as a melee damage dealer with poles, you're basically looking for a class that eventually gives you Genji Gloves and Heavy Armor also doesn't hurt. Bushi doesn't get access to heavy armor until fairly late in the game but gives you some magic lores to boost the spells that a Monk can eventually get and all three Swiftness licenses without needing an esper. Breaker isn't offering much but it and Knight give you immediate access to heavy armor and the Genji Gloves.

[ChrisPharmD]

Oh I don't want to use all classes if that's what you mean by 12-job run. I'd rather double up on something good than to use all classes just for the sake of it... unless there's an achievement for it.

[ChrisPharmD]

Okay so given that advice...

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

How's that? Overlapping Knight, WHM, and Bushi... hmm?

Maybe I should make Vaan something else.... uhhh....

[Sakhari]

Oh, I thought you'd already locked Vaan, Ashe, and the first jobs for the others in. If none of these jobs have already been selected in-game, then I would have advised a little differently.

[ChrisPharmD]

Originally posted by Sakhari:

Oh, I thought you'd already locked Vaan, Ashe, and the first jobs for the others in. If none of these jobs have already been selected in-game, then I would have advised a little differently.

I'd start a new game. lol

[Sakhari]

Originally posted by ChrisPharmD:

I'd start a new game. lol

Eh, I wouldn't bother then. What you selected will look a little redundant on paper (and no Red Mage makes me sad though I guess it does free up an esper if you want to give your Uhlan the Wither skill later) but functionally, you'll have everything you need. I'm not a big fan of the Uhlan in general but if you're just using Vaan as a melee damage dealer, the heavy armor, damage augments, and a few more points of strength are all you're really after. No harm in also having the option of using a Zodiac Spear.

[ChrisPharmD]

Originally posted by Sakhari:

Originally posted by ChrisPharmD:

I'd start a new game. lol

Eh, I wouldn't bother then. What you selected will look a little redundant on paper (and no Red Mage makes me sad) but functionally, you'll have everything you need. I'm not a big fan of the Uhlan in general but if you're just using Vaan as a melee damage dealer, the heavy armor and damage augments are all you're really after. No harm in also having the option of using a Zodiac Spear.

Technically, all I've chosen has been Vaan Bushi and Penelo WHM.

I've been procrastinating so hard. I just got to the part where you obtain the sunstone.

The thing that sucks the most is that every second I play, I feel a deep feeling that I want to restart anyway.

I might need to see a therapist about this. lol

[Hinnyuu]

Originally posted by ChrisPharmD:

Vaan - Bushi/Uhlan

Uhlan is only good if it provides something of use (heavy armor/Genji) and because of Zodiac Spear. The former isn't super relevant for Bushi (can already use Genji) and the latter is only available super super late in the game.

Originally posted by ChrisPharmD:

Basch - Knight/Bushi

This is a very good combo and a staple attacker for most setups.

Originally posted by ChrisPharmD:

Penelo - White Mage/Machinist

I like this combo a lot, but that's with the caveat that I know how to get the super busted guns super early - if you don't plan on skipping ahead in weapon progression like that, Machinist isn't very impressive.

Originally posted by ChrisPharmD:

Balthier - Shikari/WHM

Probably the best tank in the game. One of the job combos I like the most.

Originally posted by ChrisPharmD:

Fran - Monk/Knight

Also a favorite of mine, and on exactly the right character. Some people prefer Monk/Bushi; I do not. Monk/Foebreaker is a possible alternative if you want more midgame power (Vrscika) at the expense of some endgame power (no Tournesol).

Originally posted by ChrisPharmD:

Ashe - Black Mage/Time Mage

Absolutely excellent.

You don't need two Bushi, especially not if you have a Monk. Monk and Bushi are almost identical in damage output at endgame, trading first and second place back and forth depending on what level you are at. A second Bushi won't be able to compete as well because you can only get one Kumbha, and that's not even accounting for the fact that there's basically no fight where you want 3 non-hybrid combo users at the same time.

I've long since stopped playing without mods, but the party I liked most for the unmodded game was:

Vaan: Knight/Black Mage
Balthier: Shikari/White Mage
Fran: Monk/Foebreaker
Basch: Knight/Bushi
Ashe: Machinist/White Mage
Penelo: Black Mage/Time Battlemage

[ChrisPharmD]

Okay so I think I might restart with Vaan as a Knight because I read elsewhere that he made a really good knight.

However, it would break my heart to take WHM from Penelo. :(

How about Ashe Machinist/BLM?