Part 52: The Job System
Music: Tranquil Days So the dark secret has finally been revealed. Every job can be used by every character.
To recap, you gather the jobs from job shrines in the Chapter 2 regions. There are no prerequisites to getting them, other than surviving the trip of course. You go into the menu, choose a job, and that character now has access to the abilities of that job in addition to their base job, as well as that job's weapons and some minor stat boosts associated with that job. Any passives you unlock from that job are always available. A character cannot equip their own job, and each job can only be equipped by one character at a time, though you can have the original job character and another using that job.
I've already done a write-up for each job, but I was intentionally vague and left out a lot of the possibilities in combining these jobs. So here they are again, rewritten and reorganized. If you have no interest in gameplay mechanics, feel free to look at the pretty sprites and skip the rest of the update, there'll be nothing new here other than the poll results that decide our first character story for Chapter 2.
I'll show the job, character sprites, available weapons, and stat boosts. For abilities, I'll have the in-game description with SP cost as well as what weapon or element it uses (or if it heals, buffs, or debuffs), as well as the damage/healing formula if necessary and a brief write-up on usefulness and possible synergies with other jobs.
Note for formulas, I'll be focusing on the main parts of the formula, leaving out a lot of secondary factors like Crit, Level, Buffs, and so on. PhysAtk (PA in the formulas) uses the value of the corresponding weapon, ElemAtk (EA) uses the highest value from all equipped weapons. TPD and TED will focus on the Target's PhysDef/ElemDef. BP is number of Boost Points spent, max of 3. For reference, these are the full formulas for damage and healing:
We'll go in OCTOPATH order. Click the pictures for music (opted for town themes for this one). Let's begin!
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Weapons: Staves
Stats: +18% Max SP ; +5% ElemAtk / ElemDef
This job focuses on group healing, light-elemental damage, and buffs to defend against magic. It's one of the few jobs that can really work with anyone, but it works best with characters with high ElemAtk (Cyrus, Primrose) for Light magic, high ElemDef (Cyrus, Alfyn, Tressa) to boost healing, or high Speed (Primrose, Therion) to be ready in case of emergencies, though characters with high Max HP like Alfyn and Olberic work well as tankish characters.
Job Skills
Heal Wounds (8SP) [Heal] - Restore HP to all allies.
Formula: ED * 2.12 * (1 + 0.3*BP)
Great for the entire game. Cheap healing spell, and the output scales well throughout the game.
Holy Light (6SP) [Light] - Inflict light-based damage on a single foe.
Formula: (EA - (0.8*TED)) * 1.64 * (1 + BP)
Ophilia's main offense in the beginning, and a very reliable one in general for ElemAtk-focused characters. Should see use throughout the game.
Sheltering Veil (6SP) [Buff] - Augment one ally's elemental defense for two turns.
Formula: (2 + 2*BP) Turns Duration, maximum of nine.
Reduces net damage from ElemAtk-based attacks by 1/3. Decent, but generally overshadowed by Reflective Veil. Still has uses for large groups of enemies or foes who use a lot of magic attacks.
Luminescence (9SP) [Light] - Deal light-based damage to all foes.
Formula: (EA - TED) * 1.33 * (1 + 0.9*BP)
Standard multi-target elemental spell. Great for Light weaknesses and a decent target-all attack for high ElemAtk characters.
Heal More (25SP) [Heal] - Restore a large amount of HP to all allies.
Formula: ED * 3.2 * (1 + 0.33*BP)
The rare direct skill upgrade, it's mainly useful for panic situations when you're about to wipe. Not really needed early game, may be life-saving later on. It's too expensive and usually too overkill to use regularly, though it can be nice paired with the Saving Grace support skill.
Reflective Veil (22SP) [Buff] - Grant a single ally the ability to reflect one elemental attack.
Formula: (1 + 1*BP) stacks, maximum of nine.
The reflected attack does no damage to the initial target, and the attack keeps the same element when reflected, which means it may hit a weakness. This is to magical foes as Sidestep is to physical ones, except Reflective Veil can target any character. This means this will work both with Alephan's Enlightenment (for double stacks) and the Dancer's Sealticge's Seduction (to cast on all allies in one turn). This is obviously great for magic-focused bosses, and you can really cheese a particularly difficult boss with this ability.
Revive (50SP) [Heal] - Revive all incapacitated allies.
Formula: If 0BP, set to 1HP ; Otherwise, ED * 3.25 * (1 + 0.33*BP)
Unboosted, it only revives characters to 1HP. It's crazy expensive and way too situational to really be useful when Olives and the Apothecary's Vivify exist. The only thing it has going for it is target-all, and Alfyn can even cover that himself. Meh.
Aelfric's Auspices (30SP) [Buff] - [Divine Skill] For three turns, skills performed by a single chosen ally will trigger twice. (This will not affect other divine skills.)
A good contender for best Divine Skill in the game. Imagine two Cross Slashes, two Fire Storms, two Heal Woundses, or eight stacks of Reflective Veil... There's a lot of potential here, and there's rare situations that it won't be of at least some use.
Support Skills
Persistence - All status enhancements you receive will last for one additional turn.
Might be useful for some specific strats where buffs are important, but otherwise filler.
Inner Strength - Increases the maximum SP of the equipped character by 50.
50SP is nothing to sneeze at, as even at post-game levels you'll only be cracking 150SP with a couple of characters if lucky. That said, there are other ways to mitigate SP loss, so while it's invaluable early on, it won't be as vital in the long run. Still a great passive to use.
Evil Ward - Increases the party's success rate when attempting to flee. (Equipping this skill with multiple characters will have no added effect.)
Handy if you're dungeon-diving into areas far above your level. If you want some overpowered loot early, here you go.
Saving Grace - Grants the equipping character the ability to be healed above their maximum HP.
This is a bit weird. It only works in battle, but if a character is not already above their maximum HP, they can be overhealed, up to a maximum of 9999HP. If a character is above their maximum HP, they can't be overhealed further until they dip back down below. Even with that wonkiness, this is one of the most invaluable passives for the post-game, at it gives you a much larger margin-of-error for those final foes. Also very handy if you're fighting certain bosses early. One of my favorites, and a good one to have on everyone post-game since Alfyn's Concoct can boost everyone to 9999HP.
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Weapons: Staves
Stats: +13% Max SP ; +10% ElemAtk ; +5% ElemDef
This job is solely focused on dealing lots and lots of ElemAtk damage, so it's really only viable for characters with high ElemAtk, namely Primrose, Ophilia, and Tressa. That said, Therion's speed and SP Steal ability could make him useful, and Alfyn and H'aanit could be adequate as well, leaving Olberic as the only one I'd really avoid as Scholar.
Job Skills
Fireball (8SP) [Fire] - Deal fire damage to all foes.
Icewind (8SP) [Ice] - Deal ice damage to all foes.
Lightning Bolt (8SP) [Lightning] - Deal lightning damage to all foes.
Formula: (EA - TED) * 1.33 * (1 + 0.9*BP)
The bread and butter of the Scholar. Chances are that you have a job with a single-target elemental attack (the only combinations that'd lack it are Warrior Cyrus and Scholar Olberic), so you'd use that on a broken single-target and use these for groups or to hit a weakness you lack. Very solid abilities.
Analyze (1SP) [Misc] - Reveal the HP and one weakness of a single foe.
Formula: (1 + 1*BP) Weakness Revealed
The weaknesses revealed are random. Helpful for bosses, capturing monsters, or when fighting foes in a new area!
Fire Storm (22SP) [Fire] - Deal fire damage to all foes twice.
Blizzard (22SP) [Ice] - Deal ice damage to all foes twice.
Lightning Blast (22SP) [Lightning] - Deal lightning damage to all foes twice.
Formula: (EA - TED) * 1.2 * (1 + 0.95*BP) ; Hits twice.
The individual attacks are slightly weaker than the one-hit skills, but they hit twice so result in much more damage. This also means ripping apart elemental shields more easily. They're expensive SP-wise, but if you can mitigate that then these will tear apart most foes.
Alephan's Enlightenment (30SP) [Buff] - [Divine Skill] For two turns, spells cast by a single chosen ally that usually target all foes will instead be focused on a single foe at increased intensity.
It doubles the damage of such spells. Great when cast on a character with such a spell (Cleric, Dancer, and Merchant have their own versions), and of course if you have Cyrus and another Scholar you can really make this shine. Takes a good bit of set up, but theoretically can be worth it, though I haven't messed with it much myself.
Support Skills
Evasive Maneuvers - Reduces the rate of random encounters. (Equipping this skill with multiple characters will have no added effect.)
It's a good deal of a difference, and as you may have imagined this skill is one of the best in the game simply for the quality-of-life benefits.
Elemental Augmentation - Augments the equipping character's elemental attack strength by 50.
Makes the Scholar do what they do best even better. Fades as the game goes on, but great for early and mid-game.
Percipience - Prevents the party from being surprised by foes. (Equipping this skill with multiple characters will have no added effect.)
Nice quality-of-life, but hardly vital later in the game.
Vim and Vigor - The equipping character will regenerate HP each turn.
The exact amount is 10% of max HP. Decent, but there are so much better passives out there, especially for as late as this one pops up.
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Weapons: Polearms, Bows
Stats: +8% Max HP / Max SP ; +3% PhysAtk / PhysDef / ElemAtk / ElemDef
There's so much versatility that it's great for pretty much anyone. Primrose, Ophilia, and Cyrus like the Wind spells, Olberic likes Sidestep and Rest, and anyone can make use of Hired Help and Donate BP. There's something for everyone with this job!
Job Skills
Collect (2SP) [Misc] - Collect money from a single foe.
Formula: (105 - (100 * TCurrentHP/TMaxHP))% chance of success ; 1/2/3BP spent boosts that chance by 10/30/90% respectively.
Generally not that great against random foes, but surprisingly lucrative if you use it on bosses. Pairs well with the Thief's Snatch support skill.
Tradewinds (7SP) [Wind] - Deal heavy wind damage to a single foe.
Formula: (EA - (0.8*TED)) * 1.64 * (1 + BP)
Average under base Tressa, though works great with ElemAtk-focused characters, including Scholar or Cleric Tressa. Or simply nice for an extra weakness.
Rest (0SP) [Heal] - Restore one's own HP and SP, and cure status ailments.
Formula: For HP, ED * 1.25 * (1 + 0.3*BP) ; For SP, 25*(1+BP)
Not too great compared to items or other skills, but it's free, so if you've got the opportunity, might as well!
Trade Tempest (10SP) [Wind] - Deal wind damage to all foes.
Formula: (EA - TED) * 1.33 * (1 + 0.9*BP)
Good magic offense for those who need it, nice for large groups, you know the drill by now.
Donate BP (3SP) [Misc] - Grant 1 BP to an ally.
Formula: (1 + (1*BP)) BP to target ally.
BP is an incredibly important resource later in the game, and this one of the best BP resources in the game, depending of course on how much you use Alfyn. Perfect if this character isn't going to make huge use of boost.
Sidestep (10SP) [Buff] - Dodge a single physical attack with a 100% success rate.
Formula: (1 + 1*BP) stacks, maximum of nine.
Sidestep is not good, not great, but amazing. You can cheese a couple of key bosses using this marvelous ability, and it pairs amazingly well with the Warrior's Incite ability, making Warrior Tressa or Merchant Olberic a wonderful way to cheese physical foes.
Hired Help (0SP) [Varies] - Pay money to summon hired help to the battlefield.
Formula: ????? (Each BP spent adds an additional hit, to a max of four hits)
This is a bit weird. You have five different options, each costing a set amount of money to use. Here's the in-game descriptions:
Mercenary (150L) - Unleash a sword attack on all foes, and grant increased physical defense to all allies.
Bandit (800L) - Unleash an axe attack on all foes.
Dancer (2500L) - Unleash a dagger attack on all foes that has a chance of inflicting status ailments.
Cleric (10000L) - Deal light-based damage to all foes.
Veteran Soldier (30000L) - Unleash a powerful sword attack on all foes.
I have not really experimented with these, and it seems there's no real formulas for the damage of these, though of course more money is more damage. The Mercenary is great because a party-wide PhysDef buff is great. Otherwise, great for shredding shields. A solid ability for sure, just one that's a bit weird to get a good handle on.
Bifelgan's Bounty (30SP) [NonElem] - [Divine Skill] Unleash a non-elemental attack on a single foe and receive leaves equivalent to the damage dealt.
Formula: (EA - (0.8*TED)) * 9.8
This does not give money for any damage that exceeds the foe's remaining HP. I haven't really used it, but from what I hear it's kind of mediocre in both damage and money given. Money's already not much of an issue with Tressa's Talent, and there are better ways to deal damage. Underwhelming for a Divine Skill.
Support Skills
Endless Items - When a character with this skill uses an item, there is a 25% chance the item will not be consumed.
Not really that great considering how reliable it is, though I think it works with Alfyn's Concoct? Though those ingredients aren't really that valuable either. Not really worth a slot over so many better support skills.
Grows on Trees - Gain additional leaves after battles. (Equipping this skill with multiple characters will have no added effect.)
It's a net 10% gain on money from winning battles. It's decent filler, but again, nothing that's going to be in your mid-game set-ups.
Hang Tough - When the user is not near death, all attacks that would reduce the user's HP below zero will instead leave the user with 1 HP.
"Near Death" is at 30% of Max HP. This is nice for more challenging foes that will beat your face in quickly, though if you're getting hit that hard regularly you probably have bigger problems to worry about. Not one I used much, but it has some solid applications and can save your butt a few times.
SP Saver - Halves SP consumption for the equipping character.
SP management can be a pain once you're not leveling up every other battle, and this is a solid way to deal with SP. Great for randoms and some bosses, especially in combination with other SP skills.
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Weapons: Swords, Polearms
Stats: +18% MaxHP ; +5% PhysAtk / PhysDef
Great option for the more physically-geared characters of course, especially H'aanit, but beefier characters can use it to tank thanks to Incite and Stout Wall. But it's mainly useful for its PhysAtk options, and it works great there.
Job Skills
Level Slash (9SP) [Sword] - Attack all foes with a sword.
Formula: (PA - TPD) * 1.25 * (1 + 0.9*BP)
While it's slightly stronger than a base attack for single-target foes, its main use is of course for large groups of foes, and it does well at that.
Abide (4SP) [Buff] - Increase the user's physical attack strength for 3 turns.
Formula: (3 + 2*BP) Turns Duration, maximum of nine.
The buff is a 50% increase to damage. Solid even though it's a self-buff since any Warrior character will have good use of more PhysAtk.
Spearhead (6SP) [Polearm] - Attack a single foe with a polearm, and act earlier on your next turn.
Formula: (PA - (0.8*TPD)) * 1.5 * (1 + BP)
For the next turn, the user goes first before anybody besides enemies recovering from break. Decent damage, and a great way to manipulate turn order besides "wasting" an action on Defend.
Incite (4SP) [Buff] - Become more readily targeted by foes for 3 turns.
Formula: (3 + 2*BP) Turns Duration, maximum of nine.
From my experience, single-target attacks always target the target when it's on. It definitely has its uses, especially with Sidestep or Reflective Veil (though regular PhysDef/ElemDef buffs and having huge MaxHP like Alfyn works too), though it's pointless for party-wide attacks. Solid cheese potential regardless.
Cross Strike (12SP) [Sword] - Unleash a sword attack on a single foe.
Formula: (PA - (0.67*TPD)) * 1.9 * (1 + BP)
One of the best single-target physical skills in the game. This will be your primary offense for many powerful foes, including most bosses.
Stout Wall (4SP) [Buff] - Increase the user's physical defense for 3 turns.
Formula: (3 + 2*BP) Turns Duration, maximum of nine.
Reduces physical damage taken by 1/3. Handy when paired with Incite.
Thousand Spears (20SP) [Polearm] - Attack random foes with a polearm 5 to 10 times.
Formula: (PA - (1.25*PD)) * 0.8 * (1 + 0.4*BP) ; Hits multiple times.
Uses its own accuracy formula. Targets are completely random between all present enemies, with a guaranteed minimum of three hits. Horrible for damage, but excels at shredding polearm weaknesses, especially for single-target foes, though its high cost makes it difficult to justify in a lot of cases.
Brand's Thunder (30SP) [Sword] - [Divine Skill] Unleash a tremendously powerful sword attack on a single foe.
Formula: (PA - (0.6*PD)) * 12.75
Very, very powerful single-target attack. You want something to hurt, you have your powerful Warrior use this to smash them. Great and simple skill.
Support Skills
Cover: The equipping character will absorb single-targeted damage for allies who are near death.
Near Death is <30% Max HP. If you decide to have a tank for whatever reason, this is a nifty ability for them, but it's generally better not to have characters hit Near Death in the first place. It's alright, but there's better options.
Summon Strength: Increases the physical attack strength of the equipping character by 50.
Like the other stat-boosting passives, a solid filler ability until something better comes along. A nice damage boost for the mid-game though.
Endure: When the equipping character is afflicted with poison, sleep, confusion, blindness, silence, terror, or unconsciousness, their physical and elemental defenses are enhanced.
Flat out adds the PhysDef and ElemDef buffs when the user has a status effect. Status effects are particularly nasty to have, with a couple stunning the character even, and even if you kept them they generally expire after a few rounds at most, so I really don't see this passive being worth it.
Surpassing Power: Increases the maximum damage that can be dealt by the equipping character to 99,999.
The damage cap is 9,999 without this ability. Frankly, it's stupid this is even a passive in the first place, but what can you do. Essentially required for your damage dealers in the end game, as you may expect.
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Weapons: Daggers
Stats: +8% ElemAtk ; +10% Speed / Evasion
The focus is on buffs and Dark magic damage. While ElemAtk users like an extra attack element, it's mainly nice for one-trick ponies like Cyrus who could use some variety beyond pumping out damage. Since the job mainly has buffs as skills, everyone pretty much can use the job equally effectively.
Job Skills
Lion Dance (4SP) [Buff] - One ally's physical attacks become more powerful for 2 turns.
Formula: (2 + 2*BP) Turns Duration, maximum of nine.
Adds 50% more damage to PhysAtk attacks. Great for those that use them!
Moonlight Waltz (7SP) [Dark] - Deal heavy dark damage to a single foe.
Formula: (EA - (0.8*TED)) * 1.64 * (1 + BP)
Good base option for Primrose, good variety for everyone else.
Peacock Strut (4SP) [Buff] - Augment a single ally's elemental attacks for 2 turns.
Formula: (2 + 2*BP) Turns Duration, maximum of nine.
Adds 50% more damage to ElemAtk attacks. Great for those that use them!
Mole Dance (4SP) [Buff] - Augment a single ally's physical defense for 2 turns.
Formula: (2 + 2*BP) Turns Duration, maximum of nine.
Reduce net damage of physical attacks by 1/3. Overshadowed by Hired Help's Mercenary option, but this will do nonetheless.
Night Ode (10SP) [Dark] - Deal dark damage to all foes.
Formula: (EA - TED) * 1.33 * (1 + 0.9*BP)
Not much new to say on this one. Solid situational spell just like all the other similar ones.
Panther Dance (4SP) [Buff] - Increase a single ally's speed for 2 turns.
Formula: (2 + 2*BP) Turns Duration, maximum of nine.
Boosts speed by 1.5. Has a small bonus where the target moves one spot ahead in turn order for the next turn. Nice for healers and shield-breakers.
Bewildering Grace (25SP) [Misc] - Cause a curious effect to occur one time.
Formula: ummmmmmmmm
Oh boy, this freaking skill. There's a lot of different effects available, from simple attack spells to healing to even the possibility of multiplying your post-battle EXP and JP. Each boost point triggers another effect, and the more you boost, the more effects can happen. Of course, the holy grail is netting EXP x100 or JP x100, though each only happens at max boost with a 0.1% chance of triggering. You can even kill yourself with this if you're particularly unlucky, so uh, good luck.
Sealticge's Seduction (30SP) [Buff] - [Divine Skill] For 3 turns, skills performed by a single ally that usually target one foe will affect all foes instead. (This will not affect divine skills)
One of the better Divine Skills. The text is misleading, as this effect also applies to allies with single-target buffs, like all of the Dancer's buffs, and thus this skill ends up vital against a couple of bosses. Note that it does not apply to self-buffs like Tressa's Sidestep and Rest.
Support Skills
The Show Goes On - Status augmentations you grant to allies will persist for one additional turn.
Pretty solid one for your Dancer. Those extra turns add up, and is one more turn you can dedicate to damage or breaking instead of rebuffing.
Eye for an Eye - Gain a 50% chance of counterattacking after being targeted by a physical attack.
Another great passive ability. It can be a hindrance if you're timing a break just right and this accidentally triggers, but otherwise free hits and shield breaks, which can be invaluable for stall-battles where you're waiting out an opponent.
Second Wind - Recover a certain amount of SP each turn.
Have I mentioned Dancer has some of the best passive abilities in the game? The number is 5% of Max SP, which sounds low but adds up a lot and makes skill spam much more viable an option, plus it's just marvelous for random encounters. Invaluable for most of the game.
Encore - Once per battle, upon being incapacitated, you will recover with 25% of your maximum HP.
Probably the weakest of the Dancer's passives, and even then it's not that it's bad, just easily overshadowed by others. Still a nice back-up option in case things look downhill.
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Weapons: Axes
Stats: +20% Max HP ; +2% PhysAtk / PhysDef / ElemAtk / Crit
A weird hodgepodge of various abilities. Mainly nice as it has healing, PhysAtk, and even an ElemAtk option. Because of all this, this is decent with pretty much everyone, though it's a bit redundant in Ophilia's case. This is also surprisingly nice for Olberic's duels thanks to Poison and cheap healing.
Job Skills
First Aid (4SP) [Heal] - Restore HP to a single ally.
Formula: ED * 4.67 * (1 + 0.4*BP)
Decent single-target healing. Items can do the same thing really, but it's cheap enough to not be a big deal.
Icicle (7SP) [Ice] - Deal ice damage to a single foe.
Formula: (EA - (0.8*TED)) * 1.64 * (1 + BP)
More of a bonus to have than anything you'd choose Apothecary for. As usual, nice for ice shields and an attack for ElemAtk lovers.
Rehabilitate (10SP) [Buff] - Cure a single ally of all status ailments, and render them immune to further ailments for two turns.
Formula: (2 + 2*BP) Turns Duration, maximum of nine.
The status-curing is pointless since a herb can do the same thing, but the status immunity buff is really useful for some nasty bosses. And like other buffs, each boost point spent adds two turns. A solid ability for certain foes, though it does not block debuffs.
Amputation (8SP) [Axe] - Unleash an axe attack on a single foe.
Formula: (PA - (0.67*TPD)) * 1.9 * (1 + BP)
The same damage formula as Cross Strike, except it's a guaranteed crit (so 25% extra damage on top of the base formula above) in exchange for lower accuracy. Still very powerful if you boost up Alfyn's PhysAtk and Acc, or give it in the hands of someone like Olberic.
Empoison (6SP) [Debuff] - Poison a single foe for two turns.
Formula: (2 + 2*BP) Turns Duration, maximum of nine.
Poison deals 1/6 Max HP for non-boss enemies, and 1/100 Max HP for bosses. It's mainly useful for fighting bosses well above your punching weight, as that extra damage does add up a lot, but it's not really that useful for chapter bosses. It's great for side-dungeon "bosses" since those aren't technically bosses despite their high HP, and thus Poison just tears through them quickly. Great for Olberic's Challenges since NPCs get the 1/6 Max HP effect. Another situational skill that shines in the right moment.
Vivify (16SP) [Heal] - Revive a single incapacitated ally.
Formula: ED * 2.5 * (1 + BP)
It's not really that much better than an Olive of Life, but those can also get expensive. Then again, so is this. Go with your heart.
Last Stand (16SP) [Axe] - Attack all foes with an axe, dealing damage inversely proportional to your current HP.
Formula: (PA - (0.925*TPD)) * 1.4 * (1 + BP) ; If Current HP < 1/2 Max HP, multiply net damage by (1 + 1.5*(MaxHP-2*CurrentHP)/MaxHP)
At 1HP, you're looking at essentially 2.5x more damage. I don't like the risk myself, or the stupid-high cost, but I do like target-all attacks, and this does that, so it's still fine in my book.
Dohter's Charity (30SP) [Buff] - [Divine Skill] For three turns, items used by a single chosen ally will affect all.
Another fantastic Divine Skill. One Healing Grape heals 500HP, but now to the entire party. Now imagine a Pomegranate giving the entire party 1BP. Or throwing an Olive to revive the rest of your party. Now imagine using those with high-end consumables, and you'll see how valuable this gets. Then realize this works on Concoct, where the effects become even more insanely powerful (I'm talking restoring 9999HP to the entire party powerful), and then realize that this also works the same way on enemies... Yeah, this skill is good.
Support Skills
Inspiration - With each successful standard attack, gain SP equal to 1% of the damage you deal.
Decent early game, especially since it rounds up, but loses its luster once you stop attacking as much in favor of spamming skills.
Hale and Hearty - Increases maximum HP by 500.
You know the deal by now. Great filler until something better comes along. It makes that character particularly tanky mid-game, which is nice.
Resist Ailments - Improves resistance to poison, sleep, confusion, blindness, silence, terror, and unconsciousness.
Not sure how much it improves resistance. Not great in general, but can be nice for problematic fights involving nasty status effects.
Heightened Healing - Gain an additional 30% HP or SP when being healed or restored.
In Battle only. Kind of weak for an ultimate passive skill, it's not bad but it's not really great either.
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Weapons: Swords, Daggers
Stats: +2% PhysAtk ; +5% Crit / Accuracy ; +8% Speed / Evasion
Thief excels in single-target damage and debuffs, though it lacks multi-target moves. It also has nice utility and one of the best single-target PhysAtk skills in the game. Great for PhysAtk users of course, but also for SP vacuums like Cyrus. Flexible enough to really benefit everyone.
Job Skills
Steal (2SP) [Misc] - Steal an item from a single foe.
Formula: (105 - (100 * TCurrentHP/TMaxHP))% chance of success ; 1/2/3BP spent boosts that chance by 10/30/90% respectively.
There's maybe one or two enemies in the entire game that have equipment, generally you'll be getting consumables and Concoct ingredients. That said, bosses will generally have more useful consumables, and Steal is a great way to get those more annoying Concoct ingredients, so it's still pretty useful. It's better when paired with the Snatch support skill, of course.
Wildfire (7SP) [Fire] - Deal heavy fire damage to a single foe.
Formula: (EA - (0.8*TED)) * 1.64 * (1 + BP)
Much like Icicle, it's a nice bonus for some characters but not the reason you choose this job.
HP Thief (6SP) [Dagger] - Attack a single foe twice with a dagger, and steal HP equivalent to half of the damage dealt.
Formula: (PA - (0.925*TPD)) * 1.4 * (1 + 0.8*BP) ; Hits twice.
It only steals HP up to whatever current HP the foe has left, but the two dagger hits is still solid. The only issue is it being outclassed in most situations by Steal SP, and it's not that reliable a way to regain HP.
Shackle Foe (4SP) [Debuff] - Reduce a single foe's physical attack strength for two turns.
Formula: (2 + 2*BP) Turns Duration, maximum of nine.
Reduces target's net PhysAtk damage by 1/3. Really handy for certain bosses, as it's a lot easier most of the time to put this single debuff on a foe than to buff your entire party (even though Merchant makes PhysDef buffs trivial) or rely on Sidestep, plus it stacks with PhysDef buffs anyway. Very handy skill.
Armor Corrosive (4SP) [Debuff] - Reduce a single foe's defense for two turns.
Formula: (2 + 2*BP) Turns Duration, maximum of nine.
Physical attacks deal 50% more damage. Good when paired with someone like Olberic or H'aanit, but Therion alone can make use of that.
Steal SP (6SP) [Dagger] - Attack a single foe twice with a dagger, and steal SP equivalent to 5% of the damage dealt.
Formula: (PA - (0.925*TPD)) * 1.4 * (1 + 0.8*BP) ; Hits twice.
Probably Thief's best skill. Same formula as HP Thief, except it drains 5% of a foe's SP instead (again, not surpassing that foe's current HP). The nice thing is that from Chapter 2 on, the skill will pay for itself, becoming essentially a free two-hit dagger attack at minimum. It's rare that you'd pick anyone's physicals over this skill beyond shield breaking.
Share SP (0SP) [Buff] - Bestow SP equivalent to 50% of one's current SP to a single ally.
Formula: (0.5 + 0.5*BP) SP to target ; Reduces Therion to 50% SP if unboosted, 0% if boosted.
This can give a target a max of 200% of the Thief's SP, but this can "overheal" SP for that battle, giving the target SP above their maximum. This does take the Thief down to 0SP however, so they'd still need to recover their SP somehow, but this allows characters like Cyrus who rely on SP-costly abilities to take less breaks recovering SP while laying on the hurt. It's an odd ability but still has its uses over simply throwing a plum at someone.
Aeber's Reckoning (30SP) [Dagger] - [Divine Skill] Attack all foes with a dagger, dealing damage proportional to your speed.
Formula: (PA - (0.67*TPD)) * 7.7 ; Net damage multiplied by (1 + Speed/400).
The speed multiplier results in a max of roughly 3.5 times more damage (at least I assume, the natural stat maximum of non-HP is 999 and I don't think these formulas factor stats boosted beyond that). Great for speedy characters like Therion and Primrose when combined with speed-boosting gear, though it may be a bit too much set-up to really be worth using.
Support Skills
Incidental Attack - When using a non-damaging skill on a foe, there is a 50% chance you will attack as well.
Works well with some abilities to chip away at a foe's shields, though again, it could also trigger a break when you least want it. Something you'll have to remember you're using.
Fleetfoot - Increases the equipping character's speed by 50.
Solid filler if nothing else. Makes someone a nice item bot for panic situations, and is handy for healers.
Snatch - The equipping character will receive double the loot when using steal or collect skills.
Nice for grinding for Concoct components or getting a big payday from bosses, but otherwise it's more of a novelty than anything. But it's still a fun one to play with.
Insult to Injury - Status ailments and attribute penalties inflicted by the equipping character will last for one additional turn.
Another situational one. Not something you'd generally be relying on, but could be key for certain strategies.
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Weapons: Axes, Bows
Stats: +8% PhysAtk ; +6% Crit / Accuracy ; +5% Speed ; +3% Evasion
A bit of an oddball. It's mostly useful for PhysAtk-oriented characters like Olberic, Alfyn, Therion, and Tressa, though the job's true strengths lie in shredding bow weaknesses and using Leghold Trap. Still, your casters probably won't get much use out of this one.
Job Skills
Rain of Arrows (8SP) [Bow] - Attack random foes five to eight times with a bow.
Formula: (PA - (1.45*TPD)) * 0.7 * (1 + 0.4*BP) ; Hits multiple times.
Similar to Thousand Spears, the individual attacks are weak and it uses its own accuracy formula. Hits a minimum of three times, mainly used to shred bow weaknesses. Nice for single-targets, but Arrowstorm is better for groups.
True Strike (10SP) - Deal critical damage with a bow to a single foe.
Formula: (PA - (0.75*TPD)) * 1.6 * (1 + BP)
It always crits, which adds 25% more damage on top of next damage. Decent single-target damage move.
Thunderbird (7SP) [Lightning] - Deal heavy lightning damage to a single foe.
Formula: (EA - (0.8*TED)) * 1.64 * (1 + BP)
Not really much use since ElemAtk users likely won't use Hunter. Might be decent for someone like Tressa who's average-ish in both attack stats.
Leghold Trap (6SP) [Debuff] - Cause a single foe to act at the end of the turn for two turns.
Formula: (2 + 2*BP) Turns Duration, maximum of nine.
Easily the shining gem in an otherwise lackluster skillset. Leghold Trap works on everything, and the only time an enemy will ignore it is taking post-break initiative. This makes a lot of dangerous enemies predictable and becomes invaluable for single foes since you'll always have four turns before theirs. Note it doesn't take affect until the following turn, though that means it'll last a turn after it wears off. It's arguably worth having Hunter solely for this skill, that's how useful it is.
Mercy Strike (4SP) [Bow] - Attack a single foe with a bow. Otherwise lethal attacks will instead leave the target with 1 HP.
Formula: (PA - TPD) * 1.25 * (1 + BP)
It does do 25% more damage than a regular attack for relatively cheap. Otherwise, it exists solely to make Capturing monsters easier (and technically make Steal/Collect easier, but those are trivial to max out with boosting). I never bothered with this one, to be honest.
Arrowstorm (24SP) [Bow] - Attack all foes 5 to 8 times with a bow.
Formula: (PA - (1.45*TPD)) * 0.65 * (1 + 0.4*BP) ; Hits multiple times.
It's Rain of Arrows but for all enemies. The damage is bad, but if you have a large group of enemies all weak to bow attacks (which happens more often than you'd think!) then this utterly destroys them all. So situational, but holy crap is it a game changer in the right situation.
Take Aim (8SP) [Buff] - Increase all allies' critical rate and accuracy for two turns.
Formula: (2 + 2*BP) Turns Duration, maximum of nine.
Boosting adds two more turns as normal. The buff adds 50% more to each stat. Mainly useful for physical fighters, since elemental attacks don't crit or miss, and even then it's not really that great. I guess if you have nothing better to do, then it won't necessarily hurt.
Draefendi's Rage (30SP) [Bow] - [Divine Skill] Unleash a highly powerful bow attack on all foes.
Formula: (PA - (0.67*TPD)) * 9.4
One of the most powerful target-all attacks in the game, it's really nice for wiping out groups of foes and should still do great against a single foe. Solid skill.
Support Skills
Heighten Senses - Gain an increased chance of attacking first in battle. (Equipping this skill with multiple characters will have no added effect.)
Mostly useless for bosses, but great for regular exploration, as a free turn can let you break enemies quickly and avoid a lot of damage. Not bad for a convenience skill.
Eagle Eye - Increases the equipping character's critical rate by 50.
I'm not a big fan of Crit myself, but it's an option.
Second Serving - Gives the equipping character a 50% chance of attacking twice when performing a standard attack.
It's always a 50% chance of one additional hit, whether after one attack or a full-boost four attacks. Generally your attacks start being outclassed by skills by the time you get this ability, so it's only nice for fishing for shield breaks. That said, it does have a specific situation where it shines late-game, but we'll be saving that for much later.
Patience - The equipping character will gain a 25% chance of acting again at the end of a turn.
This is huge. Basically, after everyone's regular turns, there's a special turn for the character with Patience if it triggers. You get all the benefits of a regular turn too, like per-turn HP/SP healing (but no BP). An extra turn for every four still turns out to be utterly invaluable, and one I highly recommend for as many characters as possible.
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WHEW did that take awhile! Anyway, let's close things off by seeing who we will be following first...
Cyrus it is! Next time, we'll make our way to Quarrycrest and finally start hunting for that book we're searching for.