Ack wrote:Hey nullPointer, I've sunk more time into Final Fantasy Tactics than I even know(I've maxed out the clock multiple times on different playthroughs because I happen to be one of the folks Exhum mentioned who enjoys experimenting and creating game breaking units), and I'm happy to share my thoughts.
Dude thank you this is all good and encouraging information! I've definitely been trying out some combinations with results ranging anywhere from awesome to miserable failure. One of my favorites that I've hit on is the setup I'm using with Ramza who's currently my heavy hitter in melee. I have him combining the dual wielding support ability of the ninja in combination with the main class of samurai meaning he's dual wielding katanas Miyamoto Musashi style. He's reliably hitting for somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 HP per attack which is pretty great for where I'm at in the game. He's also sporting the monks Martial Arts ability as a secondary skill which as you mention combines all sorts of great additional abilities (which I primarily lean on for long range attacks, as well as limited healing and resurrection abilities). This combo has proven to be practically unstoppable, almost to the point where I'd like to steer some of my support units down the exact same path. If I'm serious about steering Ramza down the Dark Knight path I'm going to have to change him into a Black Mage at some point and master that skill tree which is something I'm not greatly looking forward to.
Ack wrote:I don't know too much about the Onion Knight or Dark Knight additions since I played the PS1 release, but considering jobs like Calculator, Bard, and Dancer already have some steeper requirements, the requirements for the new jobs really don't seem so bad in comparison.
I really need to explore this a bit more. Both of my primary mages have opened up the Calculator (AKA 'Arithmetician' in this version) skill tree, but I've not messed with it. Those abilities seem
super technical to the point where I'm not even sure how best to apply them. Still it does seem like it could be a killer class if I can grok the intricacies.
Ack wrote:Chocobos ... There is a particular battlefield you'll encounter with some rivers where you may repeatedly find a group of them: avoid this area.
Oh man there's one area in particular where they've just absolutely
dominated me on more than one occasion (just looked it up - it's
Balias Tor which sounds like something straight out of the JRR Tolkien playbook). The battlefield is set up in such a way that there's a tall & wide spine running down the center, with narrow valleys on either side. If my units are in one of the valleys the chocobos will systematically swarm that area until they need to heal at which point they retreat to the spine and heal up their units. By the time I've chased them up the spine they're completely refreshed. Then they attack me up there and retreat into the valleys, often in
opposite valleys. Wash, rinse, repeat. Now when I encounter chocobos they have to be the first to go. I usually try to surround them on all four sides and go to town (although dual wielding Ramza can also do a fair job on his own at this point)
Ack wrote:Have you been breaking enemy stats and gear with Knights or stealing gear with Thieves? Breaking a stat or a piece of gear can rapidly destroy the effectiveness of many enemies; an Archer is nothing without a bow. Annihilating MP is a good way to make an enemy caster nearly worthless. Also, some of the best gear can only be found in the game by stealing or can be acquired much earlier in the game than normally found. For example, if you grind heavily, you might start seeing Archers with Ultima Bows long before they pop up in shops. I particularly like to take special unique opponents and take everything they own. Hell, I build for it. It's entertaining seeing someone considered so tough get crushed.
I've been doing
some of this although I tend to attempt the theft approach moseso than breaking equipment. The trouble is, my thief isn't super effective at his job (I think his success rate on Steal Weapon is somewhere around 45%?). To be fair he's actually a dragoon using Steal as a support ability, and I never leveled him up fully as a thief. I've wondered if leveling him up more as a thief would improve things or alternately if he'd work better
as a thief with his dragoon abilities (Jump, Equip Polearm) in secondary slots. Experiments!
Ack wrote:I always try to wipe someone out on the first turn if possible; if I can't, I try to position myself to bait the enemies so that they waste a turn closing the gap and I can then unload on them.
This is probably one area I need to work on. The ability to quickly close the gap on enemies seems like a great advantage. Both my mages (and my machinist/archer) are using the teleport ability which is
hugely helpful in this capacity. My melee fighters are sort of the slow pokes.
Ack wrote:And yes, grinding can be a double-edged sword, but if you take the time to learn the intricacies, you can actually drop the final boss in one hit, so...don't knock it. Some combinations of jobs and skills are stupidly powerful.
Heh heh, I'm sure hoping I manage to stumble my way into some stupid powerful combinations at some point! Thanks again for all the info.