Part 98: Priest

I began to type Part 8, but as soon as I hit the R key an immense feeling of disgust rose from me, my thoughts turned to "My life will be forgotten in a hundred years"

So instead.

Job dissection: Priest


The Priest controls holy magic by borrowing soul power. Often uses recuperative and support magic, 'White Magic'.

Requires level 2 Chemist. Level 2 unlocks Oracle. Level 4 is one of the requirements for Calculator.

Pros:
+Powerful healing magic
+Strong revival in Raise and Raise2
+Great defensive spells in Protect, Shell, Wall, Regain, and Reraise
+Holy is the strongest single target spell, and is one of three viable high-end damage spells
+High speed
+Staves are MA based

Cons:
-Staves drop off in power after a little while, not as good as Rods for boosting magic damage
-Holy is only offensive option, and is really expensive in MP
-Raise can miss
-Very adversely affected by bad compatibilities and low faith
-Slow actions, possible the wounded could get killed before Cure hits
-High speed means moving before the enemy acts and runs out of CT, bad for a mage and a defensive unit

Unlike other FF games, where the white mage is the undisputed king of healing, Priests have to compete with Chemists. White Mages have some serious advantages, like area-of-effect, greater raw HP recovery, some defensive spells to apply when everyone is okay, and one of the best damage spells in the game in Holy. They don't have the instant effects of chemists, though, and their spells are to the whims of zodiac signs and the target's faith, which can make healing weak and unreliable. That's bad.

The speed is another thing. Ninjas, Monks, and Thieves like their high speed, as they get to hurt people more frequently. A mage doesn't like being above average like this. If a priest goes before the enemy, then that's before the enemy can attack, so the Priest has nothing to heal. If he/she tries to attack with Holy or cast Protect, then that's leaving the Priest open to the enemy while charging. If it were average then it wouldn't be an issue.

Priests do have good HP for a magic unit, though, so they can take a hit and Cure it back. Don't let the zodiac thing or the speed oddity get to you. Priests are still powerful healers if only because they can heal multiple guys. If nothing else, Holy is so good at killing bosses that it may be worth it just for that spell. Just play them smart. They won't be "Cast Cure3, be okay" like other FF games, but they can still turn the tide by reviving a key guy, undoing a damaging attack, or just blowing someone to hell with the wrath of the heavens.

The advice for every mage is "play smart and you'll get cool stuff"