So I'm gonna play Final Fantasy Tactics

[Excellen Browning]

I've tried playing (read: emulating) FFT in the past and to keep it short all the previous attempts have ended up in disaster. However this time, I got a working emulator, I understand the control scheme and best of all; I can actually save!

So I start up FFT and I get WTFPWNd on the third battle and don't understand what I'm supposed to do in general, any tips from you guys? I'm stuck with basic questions such as "what kind of party should I go for" and "what kinda equips should I give my characters". You know, the usual stuff.

I'm totally gonna depend on you guys holding my hand as I play through this.

Edited July 1, 2011 by Excelkitty

[Paperblade]

iirc, Cancer is best.

And not just because I'm a Cancer.

[Excellen Browning]

What is cancer and it affects the game how!?

[grandjackal]

What is cancer and it affects the game how!?

Cancer is a zodiac sign you can choose based on the birthdate you enter at the start. You can see signs ont he little info card characters have that tell their names, class, brave and faith. That symbol tells which sign you are (If you're not familiar with zodiac glyphs, that's the annoying aprt). If you enter in a Cancer date (I believe late July early Sept or something like that), it makes Ramza a Cancer.

Zodiac signs give a sort of effective multiplier towards damage and spell success. If you target something with best compatibility, you will have a damage multiplier of x1.5. If you're at worst compatibility, it would be x.5, thus cutting your damage in half. It's astounding how powerful the zodiac stuff can be, especially considerng enemy signs are random (aside from a few specific enemy units and all bosses). Ramza's best as a Cancer basically allows him to do the best damage against the most numerous of bosses, as it's the only thing to be assured of. This makes the Wiegraf fights significantly easier since Ramza can Yell to the point where he can outspeed Wiegraf as to give him multiple turns on hm, thus whittle him down quicker than just trying to go face to face (That is a fight you can't win, since 1 Stasis pretty much seals your fate if it Stops you). As for spell success, some positive buff spells have a percent chance on you, and while it is also boosted by Faith, it can also be boosted by compatibility. This allows you to build your supporters around that fact, as you can just hire female Cancers from the soldier office and have them go magic for more successful Hastes and such.

Don't go Capricorn, the game will go forever.

Some things to note just to start you off.

1. Males are more physically inclined and females are more magically inclined, but don't let that discourage you from letting females get physical jobs. While they won't do as much damage blow for blow, the fact they can still use magic with a bit more oomph on them puts them ahead. Males can't really say the same, since going magic with some physical abilities won't mean much since magic classes have awful physical combat anyways, not to mention magic will more often than not be the thing that does the most damage for you over the course of the game. You will get female knights in chapter 2, and while you can just switch them over to magical classes, don't be afraid to just have them be tanky while packing magic as a side arm.

2. RAMZA! LEARN YELL! IMPERITIVE!

3. JP UP and Move+1 are great abilities to learn. If you have units going physical, there's absolutely 0 reason you shouldn't get these abilities. Get JP Up first, since you'll just get the JP for Move+1 quick enough after it that it won't be much of a loss. JP UP will be great to you as time goes on.

4. Battle Boots.

5. Being smart with magic charges and targetting is quite imperitive, as it can be what leads to great damage at random times, can act as area denial (AI doesn't like to just charge right into where magic is being used), can let you use Haste while moving forward, can target through walls, etc. Even when the enemy is casting magic on a unit directly, let that be a sign to charge them so that they blow themselves up with their own magic. Magic in general is amazing in this game, take advantage of it as you can.

6. Brave is basically what helps you do more damage with Knightswords/Katanas/Fists, and equals the percent of which your Reaction abilities work (Counter, Hamdeo, etc). Faith...Is trickier. The higher it is, the more damage you'll do with magic and the higher success you will have with buffs, but it also means enemy magic will do more damage to you and their spells will succeed more on you. High brave is a no brainer. Faith is a lot more fickle.

7. Most importantly feel, don't become attached to your characters. Chances are you will get better characters later on, and you don't exactly have a lot of room to fit people on your team.

Also, your 3rd battle. That's the one where you're trying to save Algus, right? Positioning on that map is pretty important, as there's a lot of ways to set up magic damage, as the enemy is quite tightly clustered. Don't rush too hard on that map. Algus isn't dumb, and he can take care of himself as long as you help him run away with a distraction to let the enemy off him.

[Parrhesia]

Algus isn't dumb

Well, in gameplay sure, but...

Oh, and speaking of, I'm fairly sure there is no reason to say "WE MUST SAVE HIM" or whatever, and every reason (Bravery, ease, personal satisfaction) to just scream "GON' KILL ALL YOU FUCKAS" loudly.

Later on, get Mediators (Call one Cicero. It won't do anything, but you'll probably feel smarter and it'll at least seem like stuff hits more) to get your Brave and Faith levels to be perfect. For every...four, I think, or five points of temporary gain/damage, you get one permanently. If you're going to grind anyway (and you WILL spend time training in this game) might as well get nigh-immunity to magic on your fighters.

Edited July 1, 2011 by Furetchen

[Original Alear]

DORTER TRADE CITY IS DIFFICULT

If you don't grind a bit ;)

2. RAMZA! LEARN YELL! IMPERITIVE!

QFT I don't know of any better skill that Ramza gets exclusively.

Well, in gameplay sure, but...

I would write a post defending his intelligence. But in terms of story, he is at the very least, a total fucking douchebag who deserves to be destroyed.

But if I met him in real life, I, a pacifist at this point, might let him kill me first.

Later on, get Mediators (Call one Cicero. It won't do anything, but you'll probably feel smarter and it'll at least seem like stuff hits more)

Cicero was arguably not the best of rhetors, though clearly very very good. Obviously he was suited for his time, but I think Demosthenes was far better, based on the structure of their translated into english language.

(LOL)

But what is the point of a mediator? Brave and faith? Is that really so critical?

Edited July 1, 2011 by Loki Laufeyjarson

[Aquilae]

Capricorn (January 1) is a good sign. Ramza will do extra damage against bosses, which helps on quite a few missions. He will take extra damage too, but it isn't such a problem surviving.

A few tips:

0. Read the Tutorial. All of it. Keep multiple savefiles, there are points where you can't access a town or go into random battles to grind.

1. Males have better Physical attack and Females have better Magic Attack. You should have male fighters / female mages and stuff.

2. Units have something called Brave and Faith, which you probably noticed by now. Higher Brave is good, because your reaction abilities will activate more often. Higher Faith is good for spellcasters, they will do more damage with spells. You can raise Brave permanently by simply raising Brave in-battle, Ramza can learn a skill, Cheer Up, later on which is great for this.

3. If in doubt, get more skills, or unlock more classes. Wizards are great Chapter 1-2 if you can get the charging spells thing done. Gained JP Up, a Squire ability, helps with this.

One of the fun parts about FFT is customising your squad, so try to pick up a few skills here and there and see how they work. It's worth it when you stumble upon some of the broken skills =P

Mediators are... pretty slow at raising Brave and Faith. Just try to grab units with good Fa for Mages (you can use the Soldier Office for new units), and use Ramza to raise Brave. 60-70 Faith is a good target to aim for.

Also, I would totally throw Algus off a bridge, feed him to the Behemoths, and take a steaming dump on his corpse 'w'

Edited July 1, 2011 by Aquilae

[Original Alear]

Man everyone here loves cancer, I often go my real sign though. (ares)

0. Read the Tutorial. All of it. Keep multiple savefiles, there are points where you can't access a town or go into random battles to grind.

True words (sorry for bold, it infested my post). A lot of these are indoor structures, mostly castles and churches, I'm not sure there are any outdoor areas with multiple battles.

1. Males have better Physical attack and Females have better Magic Attack. You should have male fighters / female mages and stuff.

If you are just playing to win, it might be best to just have your two chemists, one of each gender I believe, each go on a magic path and then choose the best physical fighters regardless of gender (though I guess both male would work best according to the pros). This way you don't have to grind early to turn a female squire into a magic user type.

Also, I would totally throw Algus off a bridge, feed him to the Behemoths, and take a steaming dump on his corpse 'w'

@w@

Also, no one has addressed custom units yet.

There are some characters like Delita who become guests in your party. They may or may not join permanently later, if they do they come under your control, can die permanently (crystalize) and a number of other things. The point is, though, that they now have one class (replacing squire) which is unique, has useful abilities etc. I recommend taking a good hard look at these characters and deciding what you think - is it worth it to train them in their unique class so you can use it as a secondary when they move onto other classes? Is the unique class so good that it's worth sacrificing a character you've raised so much?

Also, here are my recommendations:

The favorite unique characters would probably be Agrias, Mustadio and TG Cid?? Mustadio and Agrias join early and have useful unique skills but can be used in generic roles as well without harming too much progress, TG Cid is godlike and never needs to class change and breaks a game that is already not too difficult most of the time. Rafa and Malak are probably the worst, but that is just me, and for all I know they have good bases in some way that make them excellent in other roles.

Also, if you are a fan of the story, unique characters sometimes get quotes in battles after joining you.

EDIT: Nice job emulating, I never really figured out PSX emulation. I would LIKE to figure it out for Super Robot Wars Alpha Gaiden alone.

Edited July 1, 2011 by Loki Laufeyjarson

[Excellen Browning]

So I did another attempt at playing this game, and I decide to do some random battles so all my units can get JP up and move +1. I get WTFPWNd on the SECOND battle.

SO

What am I supposed to do? Turn my Chemist into a Priest/Wizard for fuckawesome damage and healing? Do I get 2 chemists? And what about my squires? Immediately swap them to knight/archer/w/e?

[Radiant Dragon]

If your units have Gained JP Up and Move +1, there's no more reason to stay in Squire class, so feel free to change them to Knights for the HP and Strength boost. Make sure to go to Igros to buy them some Armor, though.

You should definitely have a Chemist early on, and Item is a good option for a secondary skill for the Knights. Although having 2 Chemists earning JP for Throw Item (the skill that lets you use Items from 4 squares away) is also a good idea.

Wizards can deal lots of damage, so one of those is definitely recommended, although I've never been to fond of Priests because I don't like my healing spells missing.

Edited July 2, 2011 by Radiant Kitty

[Espinosa]

Priests are more situational compared to Chemists but do have their advantages as you can heal several units at once, can learn the higher end spells while Chemists rely on items' availability in shops and are limited to the storyline, plus Priests can reach places Chemists can't throw their items to.

Having Throw Item on a non-Chemist is good (if you previously mastered all the skills you need), but that means you're missing out on other passive abilities, including efficient ones like Gained JP Up. I usually make my Chemist my party's Time Mage, changing between these two as my primary and secondary skillsets. Chemists can shoot from afar, taking out distant enemies, while Time Mages can equip Robes to halve elemental damage, making them more durable in some battles and support the party with Haste. As you invest JP into it, you can learn debuffs like Stop to cast at the enemy's party and even great offensive tools like Demi 2, which destroy bosses easier than any of your offensive units will ever be able to. Chemist/Time Mage (or vice versa) is a really great supportive build IMO.

I've always found Summoners to be superior to Wizards, myself. Their spells cover vaster area, never deal damage to allies who happen to be in range of the spell and are 100% accurate... which is something you'll learn to appreciate when you bump into one of those bosses that give you a miserable 25% chance to connect your attack.

[Excellen Browning]

Okay, Ramza has become a knight now. The breaks were useless in FFTA, are thye also in this game? And how about weapon guard and all the equip skills they have?

One of my generics has become a thief, which skills other than +2 move do you think are worth it?

The second generic is an Archer now, and has a sucky bowgun. Good idea?

Third generic; Gonna be a Priest + Wizard combo, but is squire for now for the JP up. Again, good idea?

Fourth and final generic I dunno yet. It's a female and has some priest and wizard skills by now. Idea what to do with it?

Edited July 2, 2011 by Excelkitty

[Espinosa]

It's not only stats you can break but weapons too. Having Weapon Break can be very useful in disabling some nasty bosses almost completely, sometimes it's even the case of who breaks whose weapons first (the bosses that break equipment will go for armour and helmets, though). That's about it, though.

There's some equipment you can steal in the game that's pretty rare, mostly weapons but some accessories as well. If you fight a human boss, look up what they're wearing and decide for yourself if it's worth stealing - some of the stuff can be kinda nice.

Archers aren't ever any good at attacking and are outclassed by almost every other physical unit. Guns get better range and are very accurate (you get one soon enough), plus you can eventually get Ninjas with impressive Throwing range (equal to your movement so master those Thief movement skills), double blades, high evade and speed... You should still train your physical units as Archers until job lv. 3 or so, so that you can unlock the Ninja job and whatnot.

Wizard/Priest is good, but you might want to make support units function as pure support while the offensive ones who can deal damage very well focus on attacking the enemy. For a mage, the best unit you could choose would be a female (they get more MP and magic attack than males) with a Faith stat of over 70, the higher the better. For physical hitters (Ramza and perhaps a generic), you want high a Brave stat, 70+ works. Brave is useful for everybody because it decides the chance of your reaction skills activating, while Faith is a double-edged sword.

3 generics are pretty much enough. Your team will most likely consist of Ramza, 3 generic units (or less) and at least one non-generic special character with great individual skillsets unavailable to generics. Be prepared to kick some of those generics out.

[grandjackal]

Okay, Ramza has become a knight now. The breaks were useless in FFTA, are thye also in this game? And how about weapon guard and all the equip skills they have?

Weapon Guard is pretty much the only reason to ever be a knight outside of getting requirements for later jobs such as Samurai.

One of my generics has become a thief, which skills other than +2 move do you think are worth it?

Some stealing equipment abilities can be nice. They're basically like the Break abilities, except you take them instead of destroy them. Otherwise, just another requirements job for Lancer, though I don't think Thieves are all that bad simply due to their speed and mobility.

The second generic is an Archer now, and has a sucky bowgun. Good idea?

You'll get a longbow in shops later, which doesn't suck for sure. Can help greatly in the Wiegraf fight. Also, to note you something: Archer range increases the higher up they are. For now though, it's not a bad idea.

Third generic; Gonna be a Priest + Wizard combo, but is squire for now for the JP up. Again, good idea?

JP UP is always a good idea.

Fourth and final generic I dunno yet. It's a female and has some priest and wizard skills by now. Idea what to do with it?

Well with generics, I don't like getting too attached to them since you get better things later on. Perhaps leave this one as the "Just to fill a void till the better things come in" unit. Have her be a supporter, or something your squad lacks but really wants. Like, ignore JP for her and just get Move+1 then go straight to ass-kicking classes, since she won't be long term.

[Radiant Dragon]

Archers are good with regular bows, but Crossbows aren't very good. Bows are also more powerful than Guns, and can have their range increased if they're targeting someone on lower terrain.

[Excellen Browning]

FFT thread, revive! I'm stuck on the 4th battle right now, in Dorter Trade city. I lost two times in a row... Any tips for it?

Edited July 24, 2011 by Excelkitty

[Radiant Dragon]

What's been doing you in? Getting rid of the Archer on the high ground first is usually a good idea. Going up that way also buys you some protection from the other Archer (one doesn't have a weapon, and is basically not a threat) and the Knight.

[Excellen Browning]

The mages mang, the mages. One of them fires a spell and my healer dies. Next up that bloody knight charges Ramza and the second mage kills him with magic. After that my team just falls apart.

[Radiant Dragon]

Try to hit them while they're charging, since it reduces their avoid to zero and deals more damage. Also, if you can, try to have someone targeted with one of their spells stand next to an enemy, so it hits them as well.

[eclipse]

If you haven't already, reclass Delita and Algus to Chemist, and make them draw fire. Reclass two people to Knight (Ramza can be one of them), and one to Wizard. I like keeping Ramza in his default class, since I like Yelling at things. The last one can go Chemist, because you want to throw items this time. Make sure you have as many people with Phoenix Down as possible.

Now, for the rest. . .

Ignore that lone archer way up high. He'll have his hands full with your guests.

Have your two Knights go out, but stagger them so that both cannot be hit by the enemy Wizard. Have your own Wizard follow behind, and blow up the near Wizard ASAP. If the other enemy knight gets hit with collateral damage, that's even better. Once you're in range, walk up and smack the first enemy Wizard. He should die quickly. Next, walk towards the second enemy Wizard, and repeat. You'll probably mow over the enemy knight in the process. After that, head for the jerk with the crossbow, then the unarmed guy, then the guy on the roof, if he's still alive.

[Espinosa]

When I tried to use Delita and Algus as Chemists, it would always turn out really badly. Healing is the most important part of your tactics before your party consists of monsters capable of slaughtering the enemy party in a couple minutes, and leaving it to the AI with its folly can cost you a victory, especially in maps like Dorter in CH 1. Sometimes you need them to heal, and instead they make an unnecessary attack. Or they revive the character right before the nearby enemy's turn. Having them both with Phoenix Down is nice, but making them Chemists gives them the range to easily waste ridiculous numbers of Phoenix Downs every map, running you out of your money.

[eclipse]

Having both guests as Chemists was how I won that map. The Archer on the roof will target them (and almost exclusively them), and they'll heal themselves, so they'll make it up there in one piece. The fist-Archer usually goes after them, so that's one less thing to worry about. Meanwhile, your guys will be doing more important things, like smacking the enemy Wizards over the head while they're casting and whatnot. Your own Wizard is a hell of an equalizer here.

[Excellen Browning]

I finally beat that chapter. The trick, in the end, was to let Delita and Algus as Squires and leave them alone to draw the archers. My thief became a knight. I drew in the knight and first mages, then killed them. Then I moved on to the other mage and then I mopped up the archers.

I played a few more maps after that and realize I like having 2 knights. With their move+1 and battle boots they have a very decent movement range and they're strong.

Also I want Algus to die. Does he? Is it painful? Like he deserves?!

My team now:

Algus - lvl 3 Knight

Delita - lvl 3 Knight

Ramza - lvl 6 Knight

Generic 1 - lvl 5 Wizard(also priest)

Generic 2 - lvl 4 Archer

Generic 3 - lvl 4 Knight(used to be thief)

Generic 4 - lvl 1 Squire, serves as backup

I'm thinking of grinding my physical generics as Monks for a while, because I like them having that ranged attack, the healing and the Counter ability. I'm not too happy about my Wizard also having my healing magic, but maybe the Chakra from the Monk job will make that a moot point. Now that I'm talking about a wizard, what kinda skills do you people recommend putting on her?

[Radiant Dragon]

I finally beat that chapter. The trick, in the end, was to let Delita and Algus as Squires and leave them alone to draw the archers. My thief became a knight. I drew in the knight and first mages, then killed them. Then I moved on to the other mage and then I mopped up the archers.

That works too. I've always found getting the high ground was more reliable, though.

I played a few more maps after that and realize I like having 2 knights. With their move+1 and battle boots they have a very decent movement range and they're strong.

Knights are pretty good early on, despite the lack of range.

Also I want Algus to die. Does he? Is it painful? Like he deserves?!

Practically everyone dies eventually in this game. The only ones to escape it, depending on interpretation, are Delita, Ramza and Alma.

I'm thinking of grinding my physical generics as Monks for a while, because I like them having that ranged attack, the healing and the Counter ability. I'm not too happy about my Wizard also having my healing magic, but maybe the Chakra from the Monk job will make that a moot point. Now that I'm talking about a wizard, what kinda skills do you people recommend putting on her?

Monk is a very good class, with access to healing, revival and ranged damaging moves, as well as excellent reaction abilities. As for your Wizard, White Magic for Cure, Raise and Protect, Time Magic for Haste and Slow, and Yin-Yang Magic for Paralyze, Life Drain and MP Drain (I forget exactly what it's called) are all good choices, as is Item for more reliable and instant healing.

[eclipse]

Wizard - Get Thundara first, then Blizzara second. You want Thundara as soon as possible (bonus in rainy weather), and Blizzara before you end the chapter (you'll see why).

Practically everyone dies eventually in this game. The only ones to escape it, depending on interpretation, are Delita, Ramza and Alma.

Daravos, and. . .

the assassin chick that Delita picked up in Chapter 4

Edited July 29, 2011 by Clipseykitty