Part 123: Characters - Harley

Name: Harley (aka Hal in Japan)
Job: Secretary

Description:

Harley is the extremely competent secretary for the king of Damcyan. She studied at Troia from a young age to this day, rendering her one of the more intelligent people in the game (big accomplishment there, right?). Through her dedication, she landed a job as the royal secretary, carrying out everyday tasks on behalf of King Edward. Though tedious, she finds the work rewarding and enjoys it thoroughly.

When a meteor strikes near Mount Hobs, Harley decides to investigate. So she investigates, and Edward has to come over and remind her it's dangerous. Then she forces Edward to take her to Kaipo, where she immediately gets desert fever and passes out. She actually contributes more by not being in the party, robbing EXP from poor Edward.

Abilities:

Piercing Sight - Dispels enemy buffs and inflicts them with a random weakness, though the game doesn't tell you which weakness. Has a chance to fail.

Gil Toss - Throws a set amount of Gil based on level to the enemy party.

Equipment: Whips, Knives, Rods
Best Stats: Intelligence, Strength

Tactics:

Don't use Harley.

Everyone else has a good use. Some, like Palom or Yang, have only one role but really excel at it. Others, like Ceodore or Leonora, can fill two or three roles in a party. There are odd characters like Brina or Edward who seem useless but can serve as great support roles. The point is, all these characters have a role they can serve in the party and contribute well to it.

Not Harley. She gets mage weapons, but only one alternate attack that can be expensive to use. Her special abilities are underwhelming, as one is too random to really be useful other than a free Dispel spell, and the other is a mediocre attack that costs Gil instead of MP. She either burns your Gil, or does a weak attack. Her best stat is useless to her, and it's already pretty mediocre.

I mean, what the hell can you expect to do with Harley? Slap a Gil Band v2 on her and make her earn the money she's throwing away to be even semi-useful. Seriously, Gil Toss is the only thing she has going for her, and even that pales compared to Black Magic or summons or even freaking Ninjutsu.

Even the weaker characters, like Calca and the Eblan Four, have ways to make them even semi-useful. I see absolutely no reason to ever use Harley. I don't see what she adds that five other characters can't do better.