Final Fantasy XII Combat

[Death Kiss96]

I didn't see a subforum or sticky for FFXII so i just posted here. Anyway, does anyone know good weapon/armor combinations for my characters? I've spent hundreds of License Points and nearly 100,000 gil buying and trying weapons. So if anyone has some ideas, it would be much appreciated biggrin
(oh, in case it matters, vaan and fran are level 37, and everybody else are level 26 - 2 cool  

[Ravenwolf]

Heh, I don't know any special combinations; I just use the strongest stuff I can get my hands on. It depends on what you're facing, too; use guns for things with strong defense, maybe a Flame Shield for fire enemies, and such...  

[Maluc_Fieri]

I've noticed that katanas, ninja swords, and greatswords tend to have a lot of multiple hit attacks. so far my record is 9 hits... it was Fran with a masamune. On top of that, katanas and greatswords have really high attack power. I also prefered to have someone with a pole or a spear of some type... I don't know why......... but other than that just mix this with what Ravenwolf said and you've got yourself a pretty good guide.

and at that level... have you tried leveling in the deeper sections of the Feywood?  

[AncientWhisper]

After doing hunts, steal the Genji Glove from the second battle with

*SPOILERS ON A LEVEL VII HUNT!!!*
adfadfdfadfasfdafgilgameshadfafdsafdsadfsaf
*/spoilers*

Equip it as the accessory, and equip the same person with the Masamune. The Masamune can deal multiple of hits like crazy [just kidding... like most of the time 2 or 3], and it's strong. This weapon can be easily obtained by finishing the hunt stated above. Anyway, this enable you to have MANY chances to deal multiple hits--- therefor, you basically own. xD  

[Lord Kilcullen]

I find that axes are pretty good, though for some reason their damage can jump by hundreds razz  

[ArikaiHart]

It depends on what kinda fighter you are. For a melee character, greatswords and spears are definately good.

If you're more majick based, katanas and staffs would suit you.

For a ranged weapon, I prefer guns, as they never miss and the enemy can't parry or counter. Plus, they don't take defense into account. Bows tend to be way less accurate when it's windy or rainy.

But if you like it even, a sword has decent attack and lets you equip a shield, which can be a major bonus.

biggrin  

[Ravenwolf]

Lord Kilcullen

I find that axes are pretty good, though for some reason their damage can jump by hundreds razz

Yup, that's how they work.

ArikaiHart

Bows tend to be way less accurate when it's windy or rainy.

Wow, I never noticed that, though.
It's awesome how much detail they put into the weapons, so that it actually matters what type you use.  

[ArikaiHart]

It's really neat when you look at the strategy guide. All the weapons take differnt things into account, like defense, magic resistance, etc.  

[Maluc_Fieri]

The one weapon I really don't understand is the measure... why would you ever use a weapon that has a medium attack power as well as it giving your enemy positive status effects. It deals too much damage and inflicts the status too rarely for you to want to attack your allies for the status effects, and it doesn't deal enough damage to make you really want to use one of those rather than a sword or an axe, hell even rods hurt more than those.

Seriously I don't get them... So far I've noticed that the best thing about them is that they usually sell very well.  

[ArikaiHart]

I think the basic idea with a measure is to use it on your allies... as long as you haven't leveled up all your characters and have one that will deal low damage when they hit you with it.  

[YoSoyGuapo]

OKOK TRUST ME HERE!!! I have studied EVERY aspect of Final Fantasy 12, as it is my favorite.

Vaan: It more or less depends on whether or not he's a magic user or a physical attacker. If he uses magic, most likely a katana, as it is a magic based weapon that has a high potential for physical damage.

Penelo: She has the strongest magic ability and therefore you have the choice between magic oriented weapons. Staffs and rods my friend. If that option doesn't suit you I suggest magic weps with nice physical damage like katanas or maces.

Basch: He has the highest strength, and thus the highest physical damage potential. For him axes are a positive path, because of the highest damage potential. Even though the damage for axes isn't consistent and is sometimes low, he makes up for it with his already high strength.

Ashe: All i can say for her are rods and swords. She has the second highest magic power and is also good physically. Your choice.

Fran: She has the weakest physical damage and the third highest magis damage, so she's not all to useful. For her she will basically take Balthier's weapon, guns. Guns ignore defenses, and will let her do more damage.

Balthier: He is the hardest to decide, and im honestly stumped when it comes to him. Use whatever, he's not particularly special in any combat situations.  

[ArikaiHart]

When you max everything out and get the augments, Balthier is one of the highest HP and MP characters (although his magic ability is low...). His speed and vitality is the highest (granted, not by a significant amount), which can pair him well with a gun, as his natural speed will (help) make up for the guns slowness (it's the slowest weapon in the game gonk )

If you can stomach his stupid poses for mostly all the weapons other than guns, he can be a fairly good melee character (better than Vaan, I found)

As for Basch, axes aren't especially great. While they occastionally do insane damage, they tend to average out. A greatsword or the zodiac spear (if you manage to get it) are better, I find.

blaugh

One other thing? I don't know if this is just me, or if it's just Balthier, but, I've used guns for him for the majority of the game, and he tends to get a lot of critical hits on the enemy. He also blocks quite frequently, but I'm not sure if it's a. guns in general, b. his stats, or c. just me. sweatdrop  

[YoSoyGuapo]

Ya he gets critical hits because like I said under Fran's weapon, it ignores defense, making it good for a low power physical attacker.

Ok I just did a little more research on Balthier, and found that yes, you are correct about his speed, but guns are an insult to his physical ability. He has a pretty high physical potential, but it is not the best. So a very consistent weapon for him, like a spear, could optimize his preformance. for him i recommend poles or spears. (zodiac spear ftw).

I'm gonna have to disagree with you about Basch and axes. You said basically exactly what I said, but only focused on the negative. Basch has the highest stength, and the zodiac spear would make him a hog, he'd be the ultimate, and no one else would do anything. His strength usually adds to the high potential of axe damage, so it'll be crazy strong, but when you he doesn't hit as hard with it, it still has a very positive damage number.  

[ArikaiHart]

I'm assuming your ftw stands for wtf... so...

the Zodiac Spear is the ULTIMATE spear in the game. It's also the ultimate weapon in terms of attack rating (somewhere around 150; the next closest in about 135, I seem to remember). But there are a bunch of restrictions to getting it, as in four locations where you can't open the chests.

As for me giving Balthier guns, there are several reasons for that...
a. I need a ranged weapon (because I find elemental magic too use-less), and it's the only one that satifies me (as arrows miss to frequently, as well as crossbows, and hand bombs you don't get for a while.)
b. I liked him and wanted him in my party, but didn't need another swordsman
and
c. He just looks good with a gun xd

I think my problem with axes is the negative side I focused on. I'd prefer a constant attack to a fluxuating one for it's dependablitiy
blaugh  

[YoSoyGuapo]

actually ftw means "for the win", meaning zodiac spear for the win. i hate when people think im dumb. What part of "I have studied every aspect of XII" di you not understand??? IM RIGHT!!