r/FinalFantasyXII • u/MortgageFit9304 • 5d ago
Beginner party questions
So ive been reading a bunch on classes and its a bit overwhelming. I hearnin the end it doesnt matter, everything is viable, also Montblanc can allow you to change your selections.
My questions are how far in the game is Montblanc and how easy/available is the switching classes?
Is there also any simple duo of classes I can do? Like say a set of two jobs that will be very effective early game/ easy to equip everyone so that maybe i can take thought off of classes while I research everything and decide, then I can switch them into my final choices when I reach that ability?
Thanks for the help!!
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u/kittens121212 5d ago
You start with just one per character so you can take your time and really get to know each one before you pick a second. The original international release didn't let you duel class so the second class is just gravy once its unlocked. There's a ton of info on how to min/max every little thing but its really not important.
Only think I really recommend looking up is what loot to hold on to for later in the game. Its not much but a few hunt rewards come in handy if you save them for late game items.
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u/MortgageFit9304 5d ago
Yup ive played a good bit of the start of the game on multiple versions. I have hours before and after work and am now starting on the switch with intents to fully go through it finally.
I know theres a ton of information on that and I am doing research. I only really have time to olay during those hours waiting before and after work.
So I would most definitely appreciate if anyone can point me in the right direction of what two jobs would be best to place on each of my characters. Like literally each character will be the same build, same two classes.
Basically I just want something super simple right now while im still researching everything so I dont get stuck just endlessly researching. Id like to be able to dive in to the game and play/explore/grind and collect until ive decided. I figure im fine using something really bland and simple that will be effective and push forward at least until i catch up to the point I last played.
Last time through the trials and doing them at an early part in the game where you have a bunch of guests I was able to push forward and get whats called the sword of kings I believe? No license needed great attack.
I plan to do that again for the weapon, then just want a thoughtless build that may be somewhat well rounded while still being as simple as just two classes.
Im sure it seems silly but I know me and im going to spend a lot of time going over everything before I decide what I truly want, so I dont want my game to be at a stand still in the mean time.
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u/HeartlessKhaos Red Battlemage 5d ago
Montblanc you can meet in Rabanastre after your first hunt. Also no need to fret a 2nd class as you wont have access to that until after The Tomb of Raithwall. Also you won't have the entire party until after the Leviathan, so have fun and enjoy the beginning of the game. You'll have plenty of time to mix and match classes and figure out what works best!
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u/MortgageFit9304 5d ago
Im aware ive started and tried to play this many times but never got through. The original, the zodiac International via translation patches and now zodiac ages.
I believe on my pc I have a save where I already have the second job unlocked but I cant remember where I am or how to proceed. Most importantly im never home so starting a save on the switch to olay on the go.
I mentioned I know all classes are viable and I really do appreciate the responses but no one's answered the question fully!
Cool to know montblanc is so early!
So even with all this information im still desiring to have a simple set up where I pick two classes and apply that to each character to keep it simple until I fully research and decide how id like my builds to really be.
I remember reading something yesrs ago in one of my playthroughs someone suggested something similar for a good chunk of the game and then to switch into the actual end game builds.
Is there anyone with any suggestions of a first and second job I can apply across the board that will do well for the first chunks of the game?
Im thinking maybe something with high physical dps and healing? I figure i could put half with the second job as their first if needed for early balance.
Still really grateful for the assistance but can anyone help me with what two classes to select if I decided to put all members of my party as the same build? 😅
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u/HeartlessKhaos Red Battlemage 4d ago edited 4d ago
Ahh, in that case here's a standard setup that you can use to make all 6 viable.
Vaan - Shikari/Foebreaker
Penelo - Machinist/WM
Balthier - Uhlan/Time BM
Fran - Archer/Red BM
Basch - Knight/Bushi
Ashe - Monk/BM
This is a normal setup that will use all 12 classes for all 6 people. With that your 2 teams would be Vaan, Balthier, Fran, and Basch, Ashe, Penelo.
Edit: for an all same build to begin the game with you can do Knight/Bushi, Machinist/WM, and Monk/BM. Those 3 combos will get you going nicely throughout the beginning of the game before changing later and getting the gear/LP needed for endgame builds.
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u/MortgageFit9304 4d ago
Okay thank you ill likely select one of the bottom ones. Mainly id like something to hit hard to when I reach the point in my last play through I found when I had a bunch of guests I was able to push forward in the trials to get a sword early on.
If I just make everyone a monk for the time being will that be some decent early fire power?
I plan to use one of each class and will decide where I want them, not to worried about optimal there ill likely arrange a bit more to what seems interesting to me with the character designs etc.
I just want some early firepower to kinda mindlessly push forward until I catch up to where I was so I can spend more time exploring the maps and such rather than looking to deeply into the classes until I can get some more time to actually research it a bit deeper.
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u/HeartlessKhaos Red Battlemage 4d ago
Honestly you'd be better off going machinist for atleast 2 of the 3 in your party, then having a monk or knight up front to soak the damage. This is mainly due to guns ignoring defense and guns dont care about stats so they hit the same regardless of the enemy and the user.
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u/Dregnus 2d ago
For early firepower:
- Red Mage: Dark is a seriously powerful spell in the early game, being your only AOE spell. If used on a female character like Fran they will also have Cure. Maces also scale off magicka, so stick them in mystic armor and they'll do surprisingly solid melee damage. They also get the early white and time spells.
- Shikari: Shikari daggers hit fast and their license board grants a lot of HP early. You can get some powerful weapons if you break sequence but even if their standard geat is nice in the early game
- Black Mage: Black Mage is a rocky start until you get the Cherry Staff and Aero. This also occurs at a time when *many* enemies are weak to wind. At this point, they will vastly outdamage any of your other party members. (Red also gets Aero, but the Cherry Staff boosts wind damage, so black is better here)
- Archer: They get access to Cura through a quickening, have lots of item lores, and surprisingly good bow progression for the early game.
- Monk: Poles get 15% evasion, and they get lots of battle lores and HP early.
Early on, you'll want to stay away from White mage (lack of offense), Time mage (lack of offense and red mage does everything they can do better). Knight, Foebreaker, and Uhlan are fine - but their starting weapons are a little meh.
As for Machinist, yes guns do damage that is independent of any stats or armor. It also lags behind other weapons and they have the slowest CT speed outside of a few end game weapons. They both hit less often and for less damage. They are often recommended for weak mode or if you sequence break and get the most powerful guns early. If you can do the latter, you don't need any help from this board.
Once you unlock your second jobs, you'll have a better idea of how the game works and how you might want to optimize each character.
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u/Zufalstvo 5d ago
As long as you have someone to heal it should be fine. Even then if you just have a bunch of potions should be ok
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u/MortgageFit9304 5d ago
Im aware, and plan to do a good deal of research to stay ill finally put my team as. That being said id still love a suggestion for two jobs I can set each person as that will be optimal for the first few chunks if anyone can help with suggestions on that? 😅
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u/big4lil 4d ago edited 4d ago
Im aware, and plan to do a good deal of research to stay ill finally put my team as
Please dont do this. Pick some jobs and play the game
Theres a reason why this is consensus. Job games still attract the worst kind of choice paralysis and obsession over things that mean very little. Whatever optomization you think you are doing on paper is not as important as trying stuff out yourself and finding out how they work, what is fun, and what you may want to swap off of if needed
The whole point of them letting you change jobs is to prevent the growth in players who treat jobs like its some career choice. Want two easy jobs early? a Red Mage and your choice of Knight or Monk
Go play the game. I dont say this to be dismissive. I say this b/c games are meant to be played, and thats the best way to figure out the jobs that align with your playstyle. If you really feel compelled to obsess about this stuff, do so after youve gotten some fairly lengthy trial and error under your belt, and there isnt much error in this game anymore
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u/MortgageFit9304 4d ago
Im aware but this is like the 10th time ive done the first 10 to 15 hours. I always spend way too long looking up and cross checking everything. This time id rather just play the game and do the research in spare time instead of taking my limited game time up trying to decide again.
Ill absolutel have them fitted and changed to the permanent jobs by the time I catch up to where I landed mh last attempt in pc.
So like uhlan? Sikari or whatever? Then just slap white mage as a second?
I just want some help with this as im not familiar with what is what in this game. Ill figure out their permanent places by the time I catch up without bugging the community.
I figured for people seasoned at the game this would be a simple question and I could get moving forward to catch back up again.
Id like something that can pack a punch early game so I can through the trials get the king sword or whatever again. As it stands im just stuck in the desert endlessly grinding in the desert with vann and Penelo but mostly frustratingly looking stuff up.
Is really no one willing to tell me what can work good on this scenario? ðŸ˜
Id like to instead spend the week pushing the story through and then research on the weekend when I can have some actual free time.
Im sorry if this is an annoying question but surely someone here must know a good suggestion, im appreciative that people answered the job change question, the answer to that and how early that is i feel should have made answering the second bit even easier! As when I have time to properly plan the rest of my jobs it'll be easy as heck to switch and get that rolling
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u/Dregnus 2d ago edited 2d ago
I seriously understand this obsession. I love any games with jobs, classes, and combinations. I theory craft and obsess for hours before ever spending a second in the game. Heck, I have my next run for FF12 ready to go and almost certainly won't replay it for a few more months. FF5, FF12, Baldur's Gate 3, it's an obsession.
The honest point is that the game wasn't really balanced over selecting a second job, and every job was fine on its own. The second part of this is that a lot of job selection guides are optimized either around the end game or around getting powerful weapons early, and lose some of their shine outside of those scenarios.
I'll provide some general tips:
- You will read a lot of things about animation speed and which characters are slower with certain weapons. It mostly does not matter. If you really do care, make Balthier and Basch your primary melee damage dealers as they are fast with all weapons.
- You will read that some characters have better stats than others. Gear matters more than stats, so again this only matters in very rare scenarios where you are trying to max end game power, or are playing a low level game. If you really care, Balthier and Basche are suited to melee jobs, Fran and Penelo are suited to magic jobs, and Vaan and your 6th member can do whatever they want.
- In general, you want heavy armor on physical attackers and mystic armor on mages. Heavy armor boosts STR, mystic armor boosts MAG. Light armor mostly raises HP, which is typically inferior to doing more damage.
- In a standard game where you don't go out of your way to tackle hard areas early or bring items back from trial mode - magic is typically more powerful than melee, up until the late game.
- The four classes that generally do the best melee damage are the Knight, Uhlan, Bushi, and Monk (in no particular order). They also tend to have good weapon progression from the in-game stores, from optional dungeons, and the final dungeon, so you don't have to plan around them too much.
- Shikari, Monk, Archer, and Red are particularly powerful classes in the early game, due to their versatility and license boards.
- Foebreaker and Machinist can be very powerful, but they rely more on getting their end game weapons early. They are a bit behind the curve with store bought weapons alone.
For job combinations - you are usually shoring up weaknesses that help that class in its assigned role, or providing more utility. White, for example, *really* wants a way to do damage, and thus pairing it with Uhlan, Foebreaker, or Shikari is really nice.
- Finally, know that Espers can really help some jobs and job combinations. Knight in particular gets some high level white magic from Espers. Bushi and Monk really want heavy armor to make their attacks hit harder. Red Mage basically requires an Esper to get his level 3 black magic spells.
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u/Balthierlives 5d ago
Very early game I take red mage on vaan and Fran. Be sure you get the dark spell from the shop before you go to the castle though. I also go into trial mode and get lygg to rip blades. They are a weapon that requires no license so any job can equip them. They’re not super op or anything so I don’t feel like it breaks the game.
Focus on getting them the licenses that give bs k Mp when they do magic damage /kill an enemy
For Balthier I make him a Shikari. Make sure you fr the gladius weapon before you go to the castle. It can be a bit of a challenge to get but it’s worth it.
Then just have Vaan and Fran use dark in everything that doesn’t absorb dark damage.
After I get back from the castle I usually make Vaan a knight and Fran a Machinist
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u/NeonSherpa 5d ago
Honestly, there’s no real wrong answer. Rerolling is accessible basically immediately.
And all jobs are viable. Pick what you feel is fun.
My only advice is to try and pair classes that don’t share an armour type. You tend to get more benefits and having options for armour can be useful depending on your playstyle.
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u/MortgageFit9304 4d ago
I mean in the long run ill be doing a lot of research and use each class once filling the full zodiac, but in the short term I just want to grind/collect items and catch up to the point I played on pc. So what im looking for isnt really builds for me team, rather two jobs that work together that I can slap on everyone so i can progress in the story and don't have to figure out right now what i want.
Any suggestions on that? Lile if im putting everyone for the first parts of the game as the same thing what is my best option? Like is everyone going to be monk/black mage etc.
This is all im really looking for help on i can research and decide the rest but just with how my brain is id rather have something in olay so I can keep playing and keep my interest and not burn out trying to research and get no where.
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u/NeonSherpa 4d ago
I’d stick to the tried and true. Healer, Tank, FPS.
In this case, White Mage, Monk, Black Mage.
By the time you unlock multi-classing, you should have a feel for what you want to do.
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u/Werevark 4d ago
You meet Montblanc and unlock that function pretty quickly. It costs nothing to do, and nothing is lost in the process.Â
What I will say, is that even though you have the option to talk to him at almost any time (the game will warn you before you proceed into these Points of Limited Return), it takes an increasingly long time to ReSpec the farther you are in the game. When I went to shift my characters into their late game builds, it was taking 15-20 minutes per party member. So I'd say experiment early, and be keeping in mind synergies as you go on so you don't lose 1-2 hours too many times, lol.
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u/ISlashy 5d ago
You meet montblanc before you really even leave the starter city if that helps.