FINAL FANTASY XII: THE ZODIAC AGE – Best Jobs/Job Combos.

If your playing Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age for the first time, even if you have already played the original Final Fantasy XII, you are probably new to this, “JOB SYSTEM.” In Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age each Character has to pick one of 12 different Jobs (or Licence Boards) in order to progress in prowess. Unlike the original Final Fantasy XII in which everyone had identical Licence Boards and anyone could eventually use any kind of WEAPON, ARMOR, MAGICKS, TECHNICKS, ETC, the Zodiac Age adds a level of depth to the game by using the JOB SYSTEM. This means you basically have to lock each of your Characters into using certain kinds of WEAPONS, ARMORS, ABILITIES. In the Zodiac Age each Character can eventually have two Jobs each, but at the beginning of the game you are stuck with only one. You may know most of these Jobs from other Final Fantasy games that use the JOB SYSTEM. The 12 Jobs you can choose from WHITE MAGE, SHIKARI (which is like a THIEF but can turn out more like a NINJA, but can actually TANK in this game,) BUSHI (which is like a SAMURAI,) BLACK MAGE, ARCHER, FOEBREAKER (uses Axes and Hammers,) TIME BATTLEMAGE, MONK, KNIGHT, RED BATTLEMAGE, MACHINIST (uses Guns,) and UHLAN (which is basically the DRAGOON of the game, but, no jumping.) You can go about picking your Jobs in anyway you want. You can make sure each Character has all different Jobs then each other and use every Job in the game, or you can double up on some Jobs. You can pick the Jobs closest to each Character’s starting Equipment and Abilities, or you can go off script and pick anything. The choice is yours, but you may be wondering, which Characters are best suited for which Jobs?? First I should say don’t stress over your decision, you can beat the game with any Job Combinations that you like. However, this choice is set in stone in the PS4 and PC Versions of the game, so once you pick a Job you are stuck with it. However in the XBOX One and Nintendo Switch Versions of the game you can Switch your Jobs at any time once you become a member of Clan Centurio just by talking to Montblanc (the Moogle,) so in those Versions you can actually play around with the JOB SYSTEM and figure out for yourselves what you like/works best for you. However, I have been playing this game for awhile now (beaten it several different times) and I am here to give you some free advice about what I believe are (SOME) of the best Job Combos and what Characters are best suited for each Job, based on Character Stats and how well these Combos actually work in game. Here is my take on Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age’s JOB SYSTEM and what I believe the best Job Combos for each Character are.

VAAN
HP: Very High
MP: Average
STRENGTH: Very High/Highest
MAGICK POWER: High
VITALITY: Very High
SPEED: Very High

JOBS: Bushi/Knight; Bushi/Uhlan; Bushi/(any Heavy Armor Job)
Vaan has the best overall Stats in the Game. With his Very High Strength (actually matches Basch in Strength at Level 99) and his High Magick Power he is thus the best candidate to use Katanas as his Weapon of choice because Katana’s Damage runs off both Strength and Magick Power. Strength is more important, so he does better as a Bushi than Ashe or Penelo (who have Higher Magick Power, but lower Strength,) but without also a High Magick Power as well, the Damage from Katana is less, so he does better as a Bushi than Basch (who actually has Higher Strength while still Leveling Up, but he has the Lowest Magick Power in the Game.) Pairing your Katana user with a Heavy Armor Job is best because that will give him Battle Lores (which boost Strength) and of course Heavy Armor (which also boosts Strength.) A Bushi/Knight is really good because it has access to Shields for Khumba (the strongest Katana that is acually a One Handed Sword,) and you can give him the Mateus and Hashmal Espers to Unlock some of the best White Magicks in the Game (like Curaja, Curaga, Regen, Cleanse, Esuna, Bravery and Faith.) If you don’t care about Magicks, then Uhlan could be better because it has a few more Battle Lores than Knight does and also gets access to Poach (turns HP Critical Enemies into an Item, which can be an easier way to get some of the more elusive Loot which you need to Craft some of the best Weapons/Armor in the Game.) With the Bushi/(Heavy Armor Job) Set Up using the Katana, just give him Heavy Armor (but at Level 99 all it takes is a Heavy Helm to Max Out Strength, so then use a Mystic Robe, to boost Magick Power,) and give him the Genji Gloves (to boost his Combo Rate,) Cast Haste, Bravery and even Berzerk on him and watch him deal Damage and Combo like crazy.

PENELO
HP: Lowest
MP: Highest
STRENGTH: Lowest
MAGICK POWER: Very High/Highest
VITALITY: High
SPEED: Average

JOBS: White Mage/Time Battlemage; White Mage/Machinist; White Mage/Red Battlemage
Penelo is the natural White Mage and everyone needs a White Mage. Very High Magick Power (actually matches Ashe in Magick Power at Level 99) and the Highest MP in the Game (while still Leveling Up.) You will need to extra MP to Cast all those healing Spells on everyone. Pairing her with Time Battlemage gives her access to Magicks like Haste/Hastega, Berzerk and Float and makes her the ultimate Support Character. If you want her to be dealing Physical Damage then pairing her with Machinist or Red Battlemage would be good, because Guns don’t go by any Stat for Damage (so her Lowest Strength in the Game won’t be a determent,) and Maces only go by Magick Power for Damage (so with her Very High Magick Power she will be able to deal some Damage.)

BALTHIER
HP: High
MP: Very Low
STRENGTH: High
MAGICK POWER: Very Low
VITALITY: Average
SPEED: Highest

JOBS: Shikari/Bushi; Shikari/(any other Mystic Armor Job); Shikari/Knight; Shikari/Foebreaker
Balthier has the Highest Speed Stat in the Game and his Strength is still really good (even though its not as High as Basch’s or Vaan’s.) As such, he is the best candidate to use Daggers and Ninja Swords (the fastest Weapons in the Game.) Even better, his Attack Animation Speed with Daggers and Ninja Swords is also faster than anyone else. So, simple math here: Highest Speed + Fastest Weapons + Fastest Attack Animation with those Weapons = Balthier can Attack much faster than anyone else in the Game. Pairing him with Bushi would be best because it give him access to the Black Robes Mystic Armor (boosts Dark Elemental Damage) for Yagu Darkblade (the strongest Ninja Sword in the Game which just so happens to be a Dark Elemental Weapon,) and the Genji Gloves (it is possible to get 2 in this Game.) With this Set Up Balthier becomes your ultimate Damage Dealer against Ultima and even Yiazmat (the most power Holy Elemental Enemies in the Game.) You could pair him with any of the other Mystic Armor Mage Jobs to give him access to Magicks and still get Black Robes, however you won’t be able to use the Genji Gloves. You could also pair him with either Knight or Foebreaker (both get Genji Gloves) to give him access to more Battle Lores than Shikari normally gets and also Strength boosting Heavy Armor. All fine choices.

FRAN
HP: Low
MP: Average
STRENGTH: Very Low
MAGICK POWER: Average
VITALITY: Highest
SPEED: Average

JOBS: Red Battlemage/Time Battlemage; Red Battlemage/Archer; Monk/Foebreaker
Fran has the worst overall Stats in the Game. She can do, “ok,” as any Job but she doesn’t particularly excel at anything really. Making her a Red Battlemage is good because it gives her access to Attack and Support Magicks, so she can then basically be your back up Caster. Pairing her with Time Battlemage gives her access to more Support Magicks which is really good, but pairing her with Archer gives her access to Burning Bow (boosts Fire Elemental Damage,) which will boost the Damage of the Red Battlemage’s strongest Spell, Ardor. Another good Combo would be Monk/Foebreaker because even though Fran doesn’t have much Strength, Monk gives the most Battle Lores of any of the Jobs. Foebreaker gives her access to Strength boosting Heavy Armor, also, Fran actually has the Highest Vitality in the Game and Vitality boosts Damage for Axes, Hammers and Hand-Bombs, all of which Foebreaker gives her access to. Also, Foebreaker is the only Job that gets access to all 4 of the overpowered Stats Lowering Techniks (Wither, Expose, Addle and Shear,) which are really good for the Hell Wyrm and Yiazmat fights.

BASCH
HP: Highest
MP: Lowest
STRENGTH: Highest
MAGICK POWER: Lowest
VITALITY: Lowest
SPEED: Lowest

JOBS: Knight/White Mage; Knight/(any other Mystic Armor Job)
Basch is the natural Tank. He has the Highest HP and Strength (while still Leveling Up) in the Game. So naturally he fits right in with the Knight Job. Pairing him with any of the Mystic Armor Jobs is great because it gives him access to the White Robes Mystic Armor (boosts Holy Elemental Damage,) for use with Excalibur (a very powerful Holy Elemental Greatsword.) With a Set Up of Excalibur, Heavy Helm, White Robes and Genji Gloves, makes him the best Damage Dealer against all of the Undead and Dark Elemental Enemies in the Game (there are a lot of them,) most notably, Zodiark. White Mage would be best because that gives you a back up White Mage and also you won’t have to waste the Mateus and Hashmal Espers on him to give him White Magicks, because he is already a White Mage (so you can give them to Vaan as a Bushi/Knight.)

ASHE
HP: Very Low
MP: Very High
STRENGTH: Average
MAGICK POWER: Highest
VITALITY: Very Low
SPEED: Average

JOBS: Black Mage/Time Battlemage; Black Mage/Red Battlemage
Ashe is the natural Black Mage because she has the Highest Magick Power in the Game (while still Leveling Up,) so she can do more Damage with Attack Magicks than anyone else. Pairing her with Time Battlemage gives her Access to some Support Magicks and also you can Unlock Raise and Cura if you give her the Adrammelech Esper. The Red Battlemage would be the second best choice because it will give her access to some White Magicks and also Dark/Darka/Darkga to exploit one more Elemental Weakness and the more powerful Fire Spell, Ardor. Also, Maces for the same reason as Penelo.

Ok, there you have it, my Guide for the best Job Combos and which Characters are best suited for which Jobs. I hope you found this Guide to be enlightening and helpful. Of course, don’t feel like you have to listen to me and my opinions (dare I say FACTS) but feel free to play however you feel like. Really, use ANY Jobs you want to with ANY Character you want. Like I said before, you CAN beat the game with ANY Job set up. This is just for players who want to MAXIMIZE their Characters based on Stats and such. Feel free to use this as a blueprint, or even just take some of my suggestions, or don’t use any of them and do your own thing. Just, have fun with it. Thats what the game is all about. Enjoy!!