Party Building

Learn about party building in final fantasy xii, focusing on Swiftness licenses and powerful job combinations like Black Mage/Monk and Red Battlemage/Archer.

Swiftness is a crucial license in final fantasy xii, offering three ranks that reduce action time by 10% each, for a total potential reduction of 30%. This allows characters to act faster, improving healing, buffing, debuffing, and damage output. Every character should aim to acquire all three ranks of Swiftness through their job combinations.

The Archer, Bushi, Machinist, Shikari, and Time Battlemage jobs naturally come with all three Swiftness licenses. These jobs are excellent choices for characters in jobs that have limited access to Swiftness, such as the Black Mage (two ranks), Knight (one rank), Red Battlemage (one rank), Uhlan (two ranks), and White Mage (two ranks).

The Foebreaker and Monk jobs also grant access to all three Swiftness ranks, but two of these licenses (50 LP and 80 LP) are located on separate license islands. To claim these, you must assign the Ultima Esper to the Monk, or the Hashmal and Ultima Espers to the Foebreaker. A more efficient method for the Monk is to pair it with another job that has access to either the 50 LP or 80 LP Swiftness license, allowing you to acquire the missing license through island hopping.

Swiftness Licenses by Job:

• Archer: 30 LP, 50 LP, 80 LP
• Black Mage: 30 LP, 50 LP
• Bushi: 30 LP, 50 LP, 80 LP
• Foebreaker: 30 LP, Esper (50 LP), Esper (80 LP)
• Knight: 30 LP
• Machinist: 30 LP, 50 LP, 80 LP
• Monk: 30 LP, Esper (50 LP), Esper (80 LP)
• Red Battlemage: 30 LP
• Shikari: 30 LP, 50 LP, 80 LP
• Time Battlemage: 30 LP, 50 LP, 80 LP
• Uhlan: 30 LP, 50 LP
• White Mage: 30 LP, 50 LP

While the Swiftness rule is a strong guideline, there are exceptions. However, the “Easy Picks” rule should never be broken. These are job combinations with such powerful synergy that they are almost always better kept together. The two prime examples of “Easy Picks” are the Black Mage/Monk and the Red Battlemage/Archer.

The Black Mage/Monk combination is particularly potent, allowing for six characters to possess all three Swiftness ranks without needing Espers. This combo, along with Black Mage/Foebreaker, White Mage/Monk, and White Mage/Foebreaker, are the only combinations that achieve this without Esper assistance. The Red Battlemage/Archer combination offers numerous synergistic benefits, including optimal use of the Shemhazai Esper and the ability to equip the Burning Bow, which amplifies Fire-based magicks like Ardor.

The Knight is another strong job, but its optimal pairings make it a less straightforward “Easy Pick”. To unlock its full potential, the Knight benefits greatly from Espers like Hashmal and Mateus to gain access to White Magicks. The two best pairings for the Knight are the Bushi and the Time Battlemage. The Bushi provides Mystic Armor, enabling the powerful Excalibur + White Robes combination, while the Time Battlemage complements the Knight's White Magicks with Time Magicks. Both pairings grant the Knight all three Swiftness ranks.

The White Mage/Machinist is also a very strong combination, often considered an “Easy Pick” due to the lack of equally compelling alternatives for the White Mage. While White Mage/Shikari offers a very tanky White Mage, and Uhlan/White Mage provides a balanced “white warrior” option, the White Mage/Machinist excels at keeping the White Mage out of direct combat while casting healing and support magicks. Decisions regarding the Knight's pairing can influence the best choice for the White Mage.

A significant decision is whether to aim for a twelve-job party. There is no inherent power-game advantage to using all twelve jobs, and a slightly stronger party may be achievable with fewer jobs.