Part 93: Swords, Magick and Dragons: Geomancer, Ravager, Raptor
Swords, Magick and Dragons: Geomancer, Ravager, Raptor (Job Roundup #16)Today's job roundup focuses on the three unique gria jobs. Like the seeq, gria are basically half a race with only four possible jobs. They share one job, Hunter, with the humes. While gria Hunters lose out on the useful Archer secondary skill set, they make up for it with Ravager and Raptor, which both have abilities that work great with Hunter's greatbows. It's not a bad choice, but their other jobs are more interesting.
Dragon wings, huge swords, druidic magick... Gria are the most metal race in Ivalice.
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Geomancer
Races: Gria
Locked by: 1 Hunter + "Geomancer's Way" quest(s)
Unlocks: Nothing
Equipment:
- Weapons: Poles
- Armor: Light Armor, Robes
Growths: Best defense growths in the game, average everything else.
Geomancers are the only magickal gria job, and they bring a unique set of spells not seen in any other job. As their name suggests, Geomancers get their powers from the sky and earth around them -- literally. Four of their spells can only be used in certain weather conditions, e.g. Venom Squall must be cast in rainy weather. Nature's Embrace, Artifice's Embrace, Life's Embrace and Earth's Embrace can only be used while standing on "normal" tiles, living tiles (plants, etc.), artificial tiles (buildings, etc.) and barren tiles. Their abilities can inflict some great conditions, like Sleep, Slow and Disable.
When I started this LP, I thought Geomancers were an interesting gimmick that might be useful in certain battles. Since then, it's become one of my favorite magickal jobs. Geomancers have a lot of advantages: solid damage, cheap spells, useful status effects, and excellent range -- every spell has 6 range! Their equipment is relatively easy to find, too.
Like Fighters, Alchemists, Moogle Knights and a dozen other jobs, Geomancers are solid but not game-breakingly stellar. I highly recommend using one!
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Ravager
Races: Gria
Locked by: 1 Hunter + "Ravager" quest
Unlocks: Nothing
Equipment:
- Weapons: Greatswords
- Armor: Light Armor, Heavy Armor
Growths: Top-tier W.ATK, excellent W.DEF, poor magick, speed's a bit low.
Ravager is the "all-out assault" Gria job. They focus on hitting hard and using their natural mobility to get them in and out of battle. Their star ability is Sneak Attack, which rewards good positioning by dealing increased damage to enemies facing away from you. They also get Overpower, which bypasses R-abilities, and Full Assault, which deals heavy damage but puts the user to sleep. They also get like 3 passive and 2 reaction abilities, because I guess Squenix wanted Gria to have options but only have them four jobs? Whatever, they get Unscarred, that's all you need.
Ravager is usually considered to be the best Gria job, along with Raptor. The innate flying ability of Gria is one of their biggest strengths, and Ravager makes great use of it.
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Raptor
Races: Gria
Locked by: 1 Hunter + "Instrument of Inspiration" quest
Unlocks: Nothing
Equipment:
- Weapons: Broadswords
- Armor: Light Armor, Heavy Armor, Shields
Growths: Great W.ATK and M.POW, poor defenses, great speed.
Raptor is somewhat similar to hume Soldier or bangaa Warrior, since the main bulk of their skill set is the same Powr/Mind/Speed Crush abilities those other jobs have. Raptors also get Cyclone (wind-damage Aurablast) and Whirlwind (wind-damage Air Render, inflicts Confuse), essentially mixing a bit of Fighter/White Monk in with a twist. Bulwark and Soul Crush carry a hint of Defender, too. These little bits and bobs of other jobs makes Raptor fairly good additions to the Gria roster.
Between Ravager and Raptor, you have a solid front line fighter that can deal great damage or weaken enemies with debuffs. Hunter also pairs well, since their bows should be able to take advantage of the Crush skills. For some reason, they have the best M.POW growth of all the Gria, though I'd rather those points when to their defenses. Or perhaps you can put those growths to good use with Geomancer.