Part 87: Knights of Ivalice: Moogle Knights, Defenders and Paladins

Job Roundup #10: Knights of Ivalice (Moogle Knight, Defender, Paladin)

Today's Job Roundup focuses on chivalry in Ivalice. Moogle Knights, Defenders and Paladins are exemplary melee physical jobs that all draw from the classic image of the knight. Really, all they're lacking is a horse and a lance.

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Moogle Knight



Races: Moogle
Locked By: 1 Animist
Unlocks: Nothing

Equipment:
- Weapons: Blades
- Armor: Heavy Armor, Shields

Growths: Top-tier W.ATK and W.DEF, great M.RES, below average Speed.

Moogle Knight is basically the Moogle version of Hume's Fighter. In fact, they learn many of the same abilities, just with different names. Moogle Lance is Air Render, Moogle Attack is Blowback, and Ultima Charge-- wait, Fighter doesn't learn that. Yes, once again, we have a physical job learning an Ultima ability. At least heavy armor means the Moogle Knight will be able to take some hits between Ultimas. Or just learn Ultima Charge so your Fusilier can rain death from across the battlefield.

Moogle Knight is a really solid and dependable job. Its abilities are a mix of offense, defense and buffs, and their great physical stats make them mean front-line fighters. Their low speed holds them back, and the lack of M.POW means you'll want to look elsewhere to use Ultima Charge, but don't overlook Moogle Knight and definitely don't underestimate them.

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Defender



Races: Bangaa
Locked by: 2 Gladiator
Unlocks: Nothing

Equipment:
- Weapons: Broadswords, Knightswords
- Armor: Heavy Armor, Shields

Growths: Top-tier W.DEF, fantastic HP, great W.ATK and M.RES, below-average
speed.

The closest thing Bangaa have to a Paladin, Defenders sound like they should be holding the line but really want to get stuck in and surrounded by enemies. They have a lot of melee AoE, able to hit surrounding enemies with 3 different abilities -- one of which leaves them fully vulnerable to enemy attacks, and the other sacrifices all of their current HP to deal damage. Fortunately, they can give themselves Reraise and Regen with the Aura skill. Rounding out their defensive skill set are Hibernate and Bulwark, which are basically the Pokemon attacks Rest and Protect. They have a really cool passive, Tank, which allows any job to equip Heavy Armor.

Defenders really exemplify the "find new and interesting ways to deal damage" aspect of Bangaa jobs. Melee-range AoE skills are rare, so it's interesting to see 3 of them on one job. Despite their name, Defenders seem to be a high-risk, high-reward job: you want to get stuck in and lay waste to everything around you.

I've rarely used a defender. My play style emphasises all-out offense, and jobs like Master Monk just do that better.

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Paladin



Races: Hume
Locked by: 3 Soldier
Unlocks: Nothing

Equipment:
- Weapons: Greatswords, Knightswords
- Armor: Heavy Armor, Robes, Shields

Growths: Best Hume weapon defense. Below average speed, but good weapon attack
and magic stats.

Paladin is a highly defense-focused melee job -- basically, they're tanks. Their heavy armor and phenomenal defensive growths mean they can take hit and after hit. Their abilities are appropriately defensive, with series-staple Cover (protect an ally from taking damage) standing out. Paladin has an appropriately holy bent, of course, with the anti-undead Sanctify ability for support and Holy Blade and Saint Cross for damage.

Fortunately, paladins are more than capable of bringing righteous fury to their enemies. Knightswords provide incredibly high damage for one-handed weapons -- higher than many two-handed weapons, for that matter. And you can dual-wield them. Holy Blade is a great ability since so many enemies are weak to holy damage. Cover is a bit niche but there are times you just need to protect someone. In those situations, call a Paladin.

One flaw in the Paladin job is a lack of variety in their damaging abilities. Besides their basic attack, their only damaging abilities are Holy Blade and Saint Cross, and both of those are melee-range Holy attacks. I recommend pairing them with Fighter abilities for range (Air Render and Aurablast!) or a Parivir for more elemental damage. Seer is an interesting choice, since Magick Frenzy takes advantage of Paladin's powerful basic attack.