Elric is going to blow his top...

[WarLocke]

In just about every way that matters, Final Fantasy: Tactics just smears the Shining Force games across the landscape.

Don't get me wrong, I love Shining Force; it's one of my all-time favorite console games - just a little above Shining Force II and Front Mission on the list, in fact. But FF:T is so much better in so many ways, it's not even funny.

Rotating, zooming polygonal battlefields, initiative manipulation, charge-time actions, knockback, counter-attacks... Sheesh. I can't believe I missed this game the first time around. :ph34r:

I'm roughly 33 hours into the game, at the beginning of Chapter 4, with an average character level of 32 or so - And quite a diverse lineup:

Ramza - mastered Squire/Monk/Geomancer, working on Bard (protagonist)
Induran - generic Knight/Lancer
Talira - generic Priest/Mediator
Jenique - generic Thief/Archer/Ninja
Tak - generic Wizard/Summoner
Mustadio - gun-toting Knight, mastered Engineer/Chemist
Agrias - mean sword-wielding Priest (mastered Holy Knight and Knight)
Rafa - new member, inexperienced Heaven Knight
Malak - inexperienced Hell Knight

The Job system really makes FFT a great game. With it you can create (just about) any character type you want. Given Agrias' personality and initial Job (Holy Knight) it seemed a no-brainer to have her eventually take up the Priest Job - but with the Equip Sword skill she can still use her Holy Sword abilities. A healing, buffing Priest who can call down the wrath of heaven is a scary sight. So is a gun-toting Mustadio with all the Knight break skills. 'Oh, you have a big axe? *BANG* No axe for you!'

The only pet peeves I have with the game are that you're severely limited in the number of characters you can use in a single battle (never more than 5, plus however many "guest" units) and the rather small battlefield sizes in comparison to SF maps. But geeze, everything else is pure gold. :D

[Elric of Grans]

Hail WarLocke,

I wouldn't, actually: the Final Fantasy series came in a close #2 for me all along, and seeing as Tactics was Final Fantasy crossing into the Shining Force area of RPS, if I were to ever play it there is a fair chance I may also agree with you. The idea seems wonderful, but my lack of a Playstation has always got in my way to trying it ;)

If I were to list all my RPGs though, you'd see that about half of them are by Square, so that shows what I think of the company :)

[[wcip]Angel]

I've never played FF tactics, and therefore I have some questions I hope someone might be able to answer me:

1. Why doesn't this game have a roman numeral like all the other FF-games? What makes this thing different?

2. How is the storyline compared to regular Final Fantasy-games.

3. Is Nubou Uematsu involved?

4. When was it released and for what format, Playstation, or PS2?

5. I love Final fantasy VII and VIII. They are easily two of the best games I've played, and Final Fantasy X was also a lot of fun. Will I like FF Tactics?

[DSTheHermit]

Angel,Aug 23 2003, 07:49 PM] I've never played FF tactics, and therefore I have some questions I hope someone might be able to answer me:

1. Why doesn't this game have a roman numeral like all the other FF-games? What makes this thing different?
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This is a strategy game, as opposed to a role-playing game. Different genre.
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2. How is the storyline compared to regular Final Fantasy-games.
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All FF games are characterised, if not defined, by having a plot to save the world from some horrible foe or another. This one however is rife with political conspiracies, backstabbing, and generally really deep plot and good writing.
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3. Is Nubou Uematsu involved?
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Possibly. I'd have to look through the credits again.
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4. When was it released and for what format, Playstation, or PS2?
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97-98, PSX/1
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5. I love Final fantasy VII and VIII. They are easily two of the best games I've played, and Final Fantasy X was also a lot of fun. Will I like FF Tactics?
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I'd rather ask if you've played Shining Force, Ogre Battle, or Tactics Ogre. Those are the comparable games in the genre. It has little in common with other FF games except for the following exceptions;

Included - Chocobos, moogles (as a summon), summons, Cid reference, Job Class system from FF 3/5.

Not included - Underclothed women, a child character, real time battles, limit breaks, deep character backgrounds (except for main character and NPCs - this is the downside of your expected party being a hero and 4 generic, randomly generated goons).
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Don't whiz on the electric fence.

[WarLocke]

I'll give it a shot. ;)

1. Why doesn't this game have a roman numeral like all the other FF-games? What makes this thing different?

Basically, because Tactics doesn't play like the other FFs at all. The vast majority of the game consists of tactical battles (thus the title) which take place in various battlefields. You have to use your characters/units to jockey for position, putting yourself in place to attack enemies from the flanks and prevent them from getting near your defenseless spellcasters, that sort of thing. A battle in progress looks alot like a chess game.

I'll see if I can get a reference pic uploaded soon.

2. How is the storyline compared to regular Final Fantasy-games.

It's not as well-developed as some of the later ones (I'm thinking VII and VIII), but it's there, and it works. It's more political intrigue and backstabbing than a FFVII-like 'save the world' plotline. There's also quite a bit of religious overtones, which AFAIK is a first for a FF game. The Church figures prominently in the aforementioned intrigue.

3. Is Nubou Uematsu involved?

Heh, I don't know who is responsible for what eras, but IMO the character sprites remind me more of the 1-6 games, in that they're kinda short and cute. The Priest and Wizard job class sprites are almost identical to the FF1 White Wizard and Black Wizard sprites. FFIV-type Dragoons make an appearance as Lancers, as well.

4. When was it released and for what format, Playstation, or PS2?

It was a while back (1994?) for the Playstation. One of the early titles for it, but not what you would call a "launch title".

5. I love Final fantasy VII and VIII. They are easily two of the best games I've played, and Final Fantasy X was also a lot of fun. Will I like FF Tactics?

I don't know. The gameplay is fundamentally different than all the other FFs. Most everything is recognizable (Chocobos, Protect/Shell/Wall spells, same status conditions, etc), but the combat is much more in-depth (don't necessarily want to say 'complicated') than the others. For example, you could move your Knight to an enemy's flank and thus expect to do bonus damage, but if he isn't supported by your other units he'll probably be surrounded by the other enemies and trounced, because they also get damage bonuses for attacking from the flank or rear, and he'll be trapped unable to move through them.

Similarly, if your Wizard is winding up a Bolt spell, you have to judge whether to aim it at the tile the target's in, or the target itself - if you aim it at the tile and the target moves before it finished casting, you've wasted MP; but aim it at the target and it moves next to one of your units and they'll suffer fringe damage. You also have to take into account that units have very little defence while casting, so if the enemy can attack him he'll take alot of damage.

Battles end up as shifting skirmishes; you're trying to put your units in place to damage the enemy without being damaged in turn (or to protect your wounded units) and they're trying to do the same. It's not at all like the contemporary FF battle system.

[WarLocke]

Found a few screenshots lying around:



This one's from a storyline sequence. I have a shot from the same point that looks a bit better with some dialogue, but some of the vocabulary probably shouldn't be featured here. <_< Anyway, this should give you an idea of the graphical style the game's drawn in; the lower-right character is the protagonist (Ramza by default), and the lower-left and upper-right characters are Algus and Delita, "Guest" characters (whom fight alongside you, but are controlled by the computer).



This is the best shot of a battle that I have at the moment. It's not especially good since it's after the battle ( <_< ) but you can get an idea of what a battlefield looks like (this shot shows a little more than half of one); you have a limited amount of control over the angle and zoom of your viewpoint, and can rotate it at will. You can also see my Priest and Lancer on the left and lower-right, respectively. The various dead bodies are the remains of some of my opponents in that particular battle.

[[wcip]Angel]

Thanks to the both of you for some detailed and illuminating responses.

I'm a bit unsure whether or not I'd fall in love with this game. My favourite strategy game is StarCraft, and the reason I love it is because of its storyline and characters. Sure the gameplay and music are top-notch, but it's the riveting plot and great writing that get to me.

If your characters in FF Tactics are less detailed, unimportant battle-drones, than I don't think this would be a game for me. I really couldn't care less how people fight each other in any given game; I'm more interested in why they're fighting.

(And I think there was some confusion. Nobuo Uematsu is the composer of the music; he's not involved in the design of the characters. (as far as I know.))

[DSTheHermit]

Heh. That's your party, eh? Lemme tell you, those generics won't last much longer if you really explore chapter 4. You'll get Thunder God Cid soon enough and he'll wholly replace Agrias as he can do everything she can do (and more) except wear a Chantage and Ribbon...although admittedly you may desire that. I try to use Cid and Reis (human form) as my only NPCs, and often I play variants (http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/psx/file/...llenge.txt) that restrict or eliminate use of them in combat, because they make the game too easy in general. Witness Reis as a 14 speed Dragoner with Math skills, or T.G. Cid that deals 999 to any and all enemies; (http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/psx/file/..._setup.txt)

The "Dream Team" of warriors you could probably arrange with unrestricted access is T.G. Cid as a Holy Swordsman after picking up Blade Grasp from Samurai and the Monk's Punch Art skills or Samurai's Draw Out, Reis as a Dragoner with Math skills after picking up all calcuable spells from Priest, Wizard, Oracle, and Time Mage, Beowulf as a Temple Knight with Draw Out, Elemental, or Punch Art to give him some AoE attack, and either Cloud with Short Charge equipped if you're willing to put the effort into getting and levelling him, or Agrias woth a backup of White Magic (females have naturally higher magic skill than males, making her a better choice than Cid for this), Mustadio as you have him now - Engineer with Break skills equipped, or a monster - probably a Dragon (Dragon/Blue Dragon/Red Dragon) or Hyudra (Hyudra/Hydra/Tiamat) to go with Reis's inherent dragon enhancing effects - she has inherent Train, Monster Skill, and Monster Talk just by BEING in her special Dragoner class; Train means anything she attack physically and reduces to critical (kneeling) HP is automatically Invited if it's a monster, Monster Skill makes any friendly monster within a panel of her have an extra attack type, and Monster Talk means she can use Word Skills (mediator class) or her special Dragon Tame on monsters without being a Mediator.

For the fourth non-Ramza character, I recommend Cloud if you're patient as Finishing Touch is utterly sexy with Short Charge. Climhazzard and Blade Beam are of great use, too. Out of the replacement choices, Agrias is slow, but otherwise very solid. Mustadio is very efficient as you have him now, although I find him regrettably low offence - guns just do far less damage than magic/high end weapons can churn out, and his best option against most monsters not weak against the elemental gun type he has equipped is Arm Aim/Leg Aim. Frankly, I'd recommend a Tiamat (you can get a Hydra from random Barius Hill battles in Chapter 4 using Reis's Dragon Tame; 100% success rate and breeding it until it produces a Tiamat) if you think you can keep it close to Reis - all three abilities are very solid, but the hidden Dark Whispers just wrecks things.

I notice your lack of Math skill usage - it's true, Calculators as a class suck hard core, but the Math skill itself when attached to a class with a double digit speed (after level 55 or so) is perhaps the single most overpowered thing in the game. If you're looking to 0wnx0rz the game, then you need at least one high MA (magic attack) person with Math skill to do so. The only reasonable explaination for skimping on Mathetmatics is if you're drooling for challenge. Math skill allows you the use of skills from FOUR other jobs, for NO MP, NO charge time, INFINITE range, and customised targetting. Oh, and they ignore reflect status to boot. The only downside is building up 85% of the skills in four other classes and the calculator itself before being able to ream things. This is really the perfect role for Reis if you wish to wait until you get her human form (check an FAQ on how, it's easy to miss) to experiment with math - she's got the highest speed, hp, and MA of your available characters, and has the added benefit of being female.

Benefit of being female, you ask? FFT is horribly biased towards the female gender. I would make any and all magic users female for one. Males get exactly ONE benefit over females - the bard class, which would be wholly unmentionable were it not for the coveted Move +3 movement ability, basically a must on any melee character to get them into the fight. Females, on the other hand can equip Ribbon/Barette/Cachcusa headgear for status effect prevention if not many HP - but low HP for females (Except Reis) doesn't hardly matter because of the other female benefit - the ability to wear perfumes as accessories, particularly the evil Chantage which gives PERMANENT re-raise and regeneration. That's right. IMMORTALITY. The wench cannot ever stay dead more than one turn. You can't even lose a battle like this unless the entire rest of your team is already dead. Really now, sheesh. The only real downside to femininity is that most enemy thieves are male and will be able to Steal Heart you, and you're stuck with Move +2 - and as a mage, you're probably better off with Teleport or Ignore Height at that point, to get to places others will have a hard time reaching to attack you at.

My last pass through I used Ramza as a Squire set up with Draw Out, Blade Grasp, Concentrate and Move +3 and equipped with a Chaos Blade to walk up to things and swing at them for 640-999 or Draw Out Muramasa/Kiku to damage a groupne of enemies for 250-380 a pop. T.G. Cid was just T.G. Cid doing 999 to whatever he pleased equipped with Chaos Blade (2nd acquired through the "catch trick" you can read about at gamefaqs.com) with Punch Art, Blade Grasp, AttackUP, and Move +3. Reis was a Dragoner with Math, MP Switch, MagicAtkUP and Teleport equipped and she used Math to level entire battlefields or dragon abilities when appropriate, using Bracelet attacks on anything that got too close. My last two characters were a generic Lancer with Punch Art, Blade Grasp, Concentrate and Move +3 equipped with the "Ultimate" Javelin (a rare, special javelin you can only acquire from a certain battle) and a generic and regrettably male Black Mage with Math skill, MP Switch, MagicAtkUP and Move MP up. He did fine on his own, but there was no reason for him to be male aside that I had originally had 2 males and 2 females and made one fighter and one mage in each gender, which was basically a bad mistake, gender equality be damned. This team was very high level and had no variant restrictions (other than my decision to not use Beowulf/Cloud flavoured cheese) and reamed the final boss, both forms, before either form had a chance to attack. You don't even want to know.

Lastly, I recommend you throw Malak into the nearest dumpster you can find and be done with him. Rafa should have her Brave lowered to 10-14 and be used for finding items in the Deep Dungeon as well as the "Ultimate" Javelin and "Gold" Estucheon (again, look into FAQs) and then similarly thrown into the nearest dumpster. The only use either of these character have is that their skills could POTENTIALLY break the 999 damage barrier, but are so random that managing to do so is almost impossible and very unlikely. Malak might make a nice anti-mage assassin with his low Faith, except that if you'd like to do that, then you should just get the robot Worker 8 who has permanent, unalterable 0 faith, making him absolutely immune to all magic. Yes, you need a chemist to heal him (Mustadio as a chemist equipped with his Aim attacks would be ideal) and his special abilities hurt himself, but at least they're reliable (and likely to do more damage than Untruth anyhow).

Anyhow, I've rambled enough. Just post again and pull my string if you want more info. On your last point, Tactics Ogre has 10 character battles and larger maps, FYI.

I love this game, if you didn't notice, so sayeth The Hermit.

"Nameless now, shameless now..." Tool - Bottom

[Coca]

Everytime I dust off the old Playstation (Actually, I bought it for $15 a couple months ago to waste time while house sitting) to play FF:T, I always have fun and then get to Orlandu. Now, I love this character too much to not use him, but he always bests my Ramza who I always work so hard to make killer. Orlandu is so strong.

I remember wasting hours in the caves. You know, the dark ones with all the goodies and the Zodiac stone at the bottom. It's all a big optional quest. I almost always got a phoenix down or something instead of a Choas Blade and had to restart. Sigh. I refused to use guides, so I had to map the damn thing out myself.

The secret characters are fun. I really like the Worker, even though he's not the strongest (Good at picking people off with that range), and Cloud is fun if you're dedicated. Beowulf and Reis are great too. Hell, the whole game is. It's a masterpiece. The one for GBA looks like it won't be as good - same good engine, but this whole referee and bubble-gum storyline is a downer.


On FF:T storyline - I think it's great. FF 7 was phenominal, focourse, and I think the best one for almost any video game. But FF:T is really great. We know why the characters are fighting, and at first it isn't just to save the world - really it isn't 'til half way through. You WILL fall in love with this game.

[DSTheHermit]

I remember wasting hours in the caves. You know, the dark ones with all the goodies and the Zodiac stone at the bottom. It's all a big optional quest. I almost always got a phoenix down or something instead of a Choas Blade and had to restart. Sigh. I refused to use guides, so I had to map the damn thing out myself.

Let me simply say here the your "item" squares on maps have a Common and Rare item; your percent chance of finding the Rare is inversely proportional to the item finder's Brave score (this is the one use of low Brave), but rolls over after 10%. I.E. Brave 1-9, 97 = 3% chance of rare item (and permanent Brave below 6 means character will leave after battle), and Brave 10-96 means % to find Rare item is 100 - (Brave 10-96) for 90 to 4% chance. Ideally, you want someone with 10 brave (I suggest Rafa since her base Brave begins at 31 and she's not good for anything else so you won't need to raise her Brave back up) to do your item hunting.

BTW, don't bother mapping exits unless you intend to map all five for each level - they move around a bit. Also, the squares with floor traps will always be the ones with items, so if you or an enemy steps on a trap, search there.

So far as permanently altering Brave/Faith levels, each four points of adjustment through skills/spells results in a permanent one point shift. The possibilities are as follows:

CheerUp (Ramza, Chapter 2 or later): Raises Brave 5 points, 100% success.
Scream (Ramza, Chapter 4): Raises Brave 10 points, and speed/pa/ma 1 point, 100% success, self only.
Praise (Mediator): Raises Brave 4 points, 35-65% success.
Preach (Mediator): Raises Faith 4 points, 35-65% success.
Threaten (Mediator) Lowers Brave 20 points, 70-100% success.
Solution (Mediator) Lowers Faith 20 points, 70-100% success.
Foxbird (Oracle) Lowers Brave 30 points, medium success rate.
Chicken (Beowulf): Lowers Brave 50 points. All your Brave are belong to us. High to perfect success rate.

Lowering PERMANENT Brave below 6 on any non-Ramza character will cause them to defect post-battle and live a peaceful life, forever afraid of battle. Any Brave below 16 will garner annoying warnings about this after each battle.

Raising PERMANENT Faith above 94 or 95 on any non-Ramza character will cause them to defect post-battle and live a life of religious devotion. Poor sods. Any Faith above 84 will cause annoying warnings after every battle.

With the exception of item finding, there is no reason not to have 97 permanent (maximum) Brave on all characters, especially as Brave governs the success rate of almost every Reaction ability.

Faith is in general one's susceptibility to magical effects - including friendly spells and healing. If you intend to use items/chemists as your main source of healing, and all your buff spells to be permanent effects from Chapter Four items, then going around with 3 Faith is ideal. In general, however, life is easier with magical healing and so I would set Ramza to 97 Faith (as he will not defect) and everyone else to 84. The only exception is if you should choose to drunkenly use Malak, whose Untruth abilities work best if his and his target's faith are low.


Chicken is probably the single most useful ability in the game for level building - have Beowulf single out an opponent and Chicken it into oblivion while the rest of the party wipes out the enemies, except for the chicken. Now, continue to have Beowulf Chicken the poor poultry while everyone else uses a no mana skill that heals or does no damage (suggestions: Squire - Accumulate, Knight - Mind Break [or speed/magic/power break the chicken - speed break especially], Monks - Chakra so long as someone is damaged, Chemist - Any item so long as it's needed, Thief - Gil Taking or Steal Heart the chicken, Samurai - Draw Out Bizen Boat, Murasame, or Masamune where needed, Bards/Dancers - Any singing, and non-damaging dance - Bards will have an easier time due to more targets for Perform's low success rates, Mediator - Praise, Preach, Solution, Threaten). There's a few other possible combos with specific equipment (some Elemental attacks have elemental properties which you can Absorb with the right gear, same with Ninja throwing balls) that allow you to "attack" your allies without harming them, or alternately, you can use weak attacks such as Throw Stone, mage attacks, or whatnot and have someone handle healing (Monks, Bards, or Calculators recommended for no MP cost, although a Priest will do if you have a way of healing MP [Chakra]).

Mmm, cheesecake, so sayeth The Hermit.

"Wide awake and keeping distance from my soul." Tool - Cold and Ugly

[WarLocke]

Heh. That's your party, eh? Lemme tell you, those generics won't last much longer if you really explore chapter 4.

I wouldn't be surprised. This is the first time I've touched Tactics, and I've just been winging it as I learned the various systems. FFT is much deeper than SF or FM.

and often I play variants

Some of those look downright tedious, but others are intriguing (Auto-Battle only? Ramza-solo? Ramza+Guests/Specials only?). I may have to try a few at some point.

The "Dream Team" of warriors you could probably arrange with unrestricted access is

... I'm guessing that since I don't have Orlandu yet, and have yet to meet Reis/Worker 8/Beowulf/Cloud, they don't join until sometime in chapter 4 (I haven't done any ch4 storyline fights yet). So this makes a good opportunity for this question: when you gain a character through a story event, is their starting level related to yours? I ask because I got Rafa and Malak at level 28/29ish, and both knew maybe 3 skills in their base classes. Would it be more 'efficient' to go through most of the game at a low level, thus getting characters at lower levels and having greater leeway to customize them to your liking? Or am I reading too much into this?

I notice your lack of Math skill usage

... Mostly because I had to check GameFAQs to find the prerequisites, since there's no in-game help for it and I don't have a manual. Plus I tend to get fixated on mastering classes before moving on (probably a bad habit). Is Math really that powerful?

Males get exactly ONE benefit over females - the bard class

Males get a higher base Physical Attack, or higher PA progression, or something along those lines too, correct?

Lastly, I recommend you throw Malak into the nearest dumpster you can find and be done with him.

But, he's a Special! I mean, he's a storyline character! I wouldn't feel right, just... leaving him. Or shanking him in the back. Or... feeding him to a Squidlarkin. Yeah... :ph34r:

Okay, and a question about that character setup FAQ you linked to: If you have a set of clearly-defined goals like those examples, what do you do once you've attained them? A big reason for my stodgy approach is that I know I'm always making progress, if in a slow manner. Once I've mastered one job, I can use these skills as secondaries while I work on mastering the next job. But if your strategy revolves around having support skills X, Y, and Z, and being Job A, what do you do once you have it all? It seems to me like you'd be wasting alot of JP by staying in a job you've mastered.

Oh, and also, any and all tips about Propositions are welcome. Can they be completed by a solo unit? I've never succeeded in one unless I sent along 3. Should I choose the maximum days offered, or the minimum? Should I do random battles while my generics are unavailable (and risk opening a level rift), or should I do no propositions until I have enough Specials to have a full party even if my generics are all out on propositions? Do the various rare treasures and secret lands found in some propositions have any effect on the game?

[DSTheHermit]

Some of those look downright tedious, but others are intriguing (Auto-Battle only? Ramza-solo? Ramza+Guests/Specials only?).&nbsp; I may have to try a few at some point.
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I'm currently trying the MR4M variant (Mediator Ramza, 4 Monsters). Boy, that's fun once you hit Chapter 2. Currently using Cocatoris, Blue Dragon (haven't bred a Red), Minitaurus (4 move opposed to Sacred/Bull Demon's 3), and Red Chocobo. I intend eventually on Dragon, Hydra, Behemoth, and Chocobo class monsters.
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... I'm guessing that since I don't have Orlandu yet, and have yet to meet Reis/Worker 8/Beowulf/Cloud, they don't join until sometime in chapter 4 (I haven't done any ch4 storyline fights yet).&nbsp; So this makes a good opportunity for this question:&nbsp; when you gain a character through a story event, is their starting level related to yours?&nbsp; I ask because I got Rafa and Malak at level 28/29ish, and both knew maybe 3 skills in their base classes.&nbsp; Would it be more 'efficient' to go through most of the game at a low level, thus getting characters at lower levels and having greater leeway to customize them to your liking?&nbsp; Or am I reading too much into this?
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Their levels are set, and yes, they're all in Chapter 4. There's a guide on levelling classes and which ones have better stats on level up. A common trick, although one I've never been bored enough to use, is to use the hidden Mindflare ability Level Blast to reduce someone to level 1 in a terrible class (Bard, generally) and then level them to 99 in a class with huge stats (Black Mage for MA, Ninja/Thief for speed, Mime for PA/HP, etc.). This is something you SORT of want to do with Reis's human form; keep her as a Dragoner until she has a good base 700+hp, and don't let her spend any time as a Calculator until she's level 99 so as not to ruin her HP or speed growth, which are her best attributes. You get to do this to Cloud automatically as he starts at level 1 when you get him.
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... Mostly because I had to check GameFAQs to find the prerequisites, since there's no in-game help for it and I don't have a manual.&nbsp; Plus I tend to get fixated on mastering classes before moving on (probably a bad habit).&nbsp; Is Math really that powerful?
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No manual would be a problem. Math is disgustingly powerful. If you learn all Mathable spells, all Math skills, and then switch to a Black Mage with Math skill, you have access to all Black Magic, and then all White Magic except Cure 4, Protect 2, and Shell 2, all Black Magic except level 4 magic, all Time magic except Haste 2, Slow 2, and Meteor, and all Yin-Yang Magic except the HP/MP absorb spells through spells, at NO MP COST, NO CAST TIME, and INFINITE RANGE. I mean, sheesh. Hell, if you make a Summoner with Math skill, you have access to every spell in the game except the above mentioned gaps in Math skill.
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Males get a higher base Physical Attack, or higher PA progression, or something along those lines too, correct?
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Yeah, they do. It just doesn't really matter once you've got a Chaos Blade and AttackUP since you're likely to be doing 999 anyhow.
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But, he's a Special!&nbsp; I mean, he's a storyline character!&nbsp; I wouldn't feel right, just... leaving him.&nbsp; Or shanking him in the back.&nbsp; Or... feeding him to a Squidlarkin.&nbsp; Yeah...&nbsp; :ph34r:
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Sort of. By the time he joins you, though, he's not a part of the storyline anymore. At least Agrias has something to say if you take her to the Golgorand Execution Site battle in Chapter 2.
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Okay, and a question about that character setup FAQ you linked to:&nbsp; If you have a set of clearly-defined goals like those examples, what do you do once you've attained them?&nbsp; A big reason for my stodgy approach is that I know I'm always making progress, if in a slow manner.&nbsp; Once I've mastered one job, I can use these skills as secondaries while I work on mastering the next job.&nbsp; But if your strategy revolves around having support skills X, Y, and Z, and being Job A, what do you do once you have it all?&nbsp; It seems to me like you'd be wasting alot of JP by staying in a job you've mastered.
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Yes, you waste JP staying in mastered jobs. On the other hand, what use are abilities you won't use? Generally, unless a variant restricts my access otherwise, I usually snag the following skills for my characters and use whatever I need at the time;

All: Move +1, Gained JP UP (Squire), Catch, Steal Heart, Move +2 (Thief), Potion, Phoenix Down, Auto-Potion (Chemist), Blade Grasp (Samurai).

Fighters: Equip Sword (Knight), Concentrate (Archer), Wave Fist, Earth Slash, Chakra, Revive (Monk), Secret Hunt (Thief), Attack UP (Geomancer), Move +3 (if male, Bard), Train, Preach (Mediator), all Draw Outs (Samurai), all throws, Abandon, Sunken State (Ninja), Damage Split (Calculator).

Mages: All calcuable spells (various), Ifrit, Shiva, Ramuh, Titan, Moogle, Fairy, Golem (Summoner), MP Switch, Short Charge, Teleport (Time Mage), Math Skills (Calculator), Move MP UP (Oracle)

For specific characters, I add other skills at times - particularly if I make focused Summoners. But these are the core skills which I find useful at some point or another on their appropriate classes.
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Oh, and also, any and all tips about Propositions are welcome.&nbsp; Can they be completed by a solo unit?&nbsp; I've never succeeded in one unless I sent along 3.&nbsp; Should I choose the maximum days offered, or the minimum?&nbsp; Should I do random battles while my generics are unavailable (and risk opening a level rift), or should I do no propositions until I have enough Specials to have a full party even if my generics are all out on propositions?&nbsp; Do the various rare treasures and secret lands found in some propositions have any effect on the game?
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Always send three people, and there's no real effect other than the role-playing and some easy JP. Generally I save doing jobs for when I've made people into Calculators or Lancers, as those two classes are notoriously weak without their class skills and have a hard time earning them, especially since the Calculator is sooooo terrrrrrrribly slooooooooow and is a miserable class to use in actual combat. I usually dump 3 people at a town with another town next to it (Goland Coal City/Lesalia Imperial Castle and Igros Castle/Fort Zeakden are favourites), always pick an even number of days, and just bounce between the blue dots. If you've exhausted the job possibilities in double blue dot locales, go ahead and do some fighting while you wait and use monsters to replace your adventuring teammates. I'm always breeding monsters for poaching (Secret Hunt) purposes whenever I'm playing a variant that allows it so I may as well get some battlefield mileage out of them, no?
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Please insert another quarter, so sayeth The Hermit.

"Buy, buy, buy, send more money." Tool - Hooker with a Penis

I must not Lear. King Lear is the mind-killer. I have nothing to Lear but Lear himself. Damnit, this isn't Shakespeare quoting!

[Elric of Grans]

Hail Angel,

Correct: the composer doesn't do the art. The artist who did the characters for most of the FF games is Yo#$%&aka Amano. I don't know for sure, but I have a funny feeling he was not involved in Tactics.

[Kharohz]

I am a fan of Final Fantasy, and a fan of Shining Force. But for the life of me, I cannot even force myself to play FF:T.

I cannot get past the second battle without the urge to fall asleep. There is no drive what-so-ever. Damn myself for my hardheaded lack of patience.

-.-

Prehaps I am not a good fan of games that copies other games (It copies FF5 and then SF, from what I've seen so far)

[swirly]

From a quick search on google I found this page: http://www.mobygames.com/game/credits/gameId,4522/. That site lists the game credits for Final Fantasy Tactics. A quick find on the page for Nubou Uematsu returns no results according to my browser. So apparently he had nothing to do with the game. If you are curious who did, then you can go look and see. : ) I don't keep up with game designers, artists, or any other things like that so I can't tell you much about the people involved.

[Catflap]

FF:T discussion? why? was it rereleased for PS2 or something?
I've been raving to my friends about the original for years.man i love that game.. it was truely way ahead of its time.Love the 'job' system and skills, love the battle system.the story is great too, this game 'r0xx0rz y0 b0xx0rz' (or whatever :lol:) And the fact Cloud Strife is a hidden playable character, is just icing on the cake :D

[WarLocke]

FF:T discussion? why? was it rereleased for PS2 or something?

No, it's just that I only recently found a copy after hearing how great it was for years. So naturally I scuttle to my favorite web niche and start a spam topic about it. ;)

And the fact Cloud Strife is a hidden playable character, is just icing on the cake

I haven't found Cloud yet, but I don't see why this is such a big deal. FF7 was great, true, but as protagonists go Cloud wasn't exactly a standout. Cecil or Rydia would have worked just as well, or for a totally off-the-wall option, why not the Nameless One? :D

And Dancers are schweet. Hitting every enemy on the battlefield with random status ailments = Exp++. :ph34r:


And let's go back and address some other concerns:

[wcip]Angel
If your characters in FF Tactics are less detailed, unimportant battle-drones, than I don't think this would be a game for me. I really couldn't care less how people fight each other in any given game; I'm more interested in why they're fighting.

That's not exactly the case. You have the protagonist, who you can obviously not get rid of as he's central to the plot, and you have other characters who are intertwined with the story, some of which join you as guests or full members (in the latter case, they're no longer crucial to the story and can be dismissed if you want, although if kept around they may comment on things).

The drone bit may need some clarification: In addition to the characters who are featured in the plot, you can hire "generic" characters at most cities/castles. These generics don't influence the plot at all and don't even appear in most story sequences, but you can hire as many as you want to bolster your forces. They're extremely useful early on (you can't use guests in random battles), but so far seem to be overshadowed by the later special characters, who usually have some unique ability and/or are just powerhouses or well-balanced.

[wcip]Angel
I'm a bit unsure whether or not I'd fall in love with this game. My favourite strategy game is StarCraft, and the reason I love it is because of its storyline and characters. Sure the gameplay and music are top-notch, but it's the riveting plot and great writing that get to me.

FFT has all of that. The actual gameplay is much different than an RTS, though. Personally, I prefer the turn-based paradigm, but I could never get into RTSes very much in the first place.

[bschultz]

final fantasy tactics is being rereleased for the game boy advance. well actually its not really a rerelease because the story is all new.

[Chief Fruity]

Actually, I think the entire game is completely differen't, other than the battle parts. With the different races having different classes they can be, I think the game is staying with the name, but mostly everything else has changed. Dunno though, I guess we'll find out on the 9th...

[Pren]

WL, had SF been released for playstation and FFT been a sega game, I'm sure the exact opposite would be true. :)

It's like saying that Andre Agassi 2004: Dead or alive Tennis edition is better than pong.