Final Fantasy Tactics is renowned for its clever, quirky, and deeply customizable job system. It might be the best job system in any game ever. It’s certainly the best in Square Enix’s long-running RPG franchise (Final Fantasy XIV fans can fight me in the Dorter Slums after work). But how do you decide which one to choose? Here’s my list of the best ones, based on a combination of their sheer power and how fun they are to play with.
A word of warning: you won’t find jobs like Time Mage, Mimic, or Arithmetician in the ranking below. That’s because while each of those contains some of the most powerful abilities in the game, they are each highly situational and/or better when paired with other jobs as the primary one. So while you should make sure everyone learns some of the Time Mage’s skills, you should never be fielding one just for fun. And while Mimic and Arithmetician are responsible for some of the deadliest combos in the game, they also both come with huge drawbacks that ultimately disqualify them for our purposes here.
The jobs below are the ones that will get you the most bang for your buck and are the ones you’ll want to revert back to once your characters have mastered the rest of their skills.
10. Orator (Requires Mystic Lv.3)
Final Fantasy loves experimenting with offbeat character classes and in Final Fantasy Tactics that’s the Mediator. This job talks and carries a gun. That’s it. While not the most powerful or effective, it’s pretty versatile and lots of fun. Intimidate lowers a unit’s Bravery and can turn them into a chicken. Mimic Darlavon can put even some bosses to sleep. All of these abilities cost zero MP and have no cast time. Also the hat rules.
9. Geomancer (Requires Monk Lv.4)
What if a knight also had magic? This is Final Fantasy Tactics‘ version of the Blue Mage. Geomancers can carry swords and shields but also hit enemies from far away with environmental magic based on what type of terrain they’re standing on. Each attack comes with its own chance to proc a debuff like slow or petrify. The attacks don’t do much damage but they are free, happen immediately, and can chip away at foes while you’re closing the distance.
8. Dragoon (Requires Thief Lv.4)
Dragoons have the tankiest stat growth and also the coolest-looking armor. They can hit from two squares away with javelins, keeping them out of harm’s way for enemy melee counters. Plus they can ignore elevation when moving, and Jump allows them to hit faraway enemies for extra damage while staying out of danger for most of their turn. They aren’t very flashy or fun but they can take a beating and still dish it out, one-shotting pesky enemy mages from far away.
7. Black Mage (Requires Chemist Lv.2)
Black Mages have the highest base magic attack power in the game and make things, including on occasion their friends or even themselves, go boom. All you really need to know.
6. White Mage (Requires Chemist Lv.2)
This is the most versatile magic class because it can revive fallen party members and attack with Holy. Like its Black Mage counter-part, Flare, Holy also only targets one square, letting you nuke enemies without fear of friendly fire. In addition to full-heal revives with Arise, Reraise lets you revive allies ahead of time before sending them to draw enemy fire. The only downside is that all of this costs a boatload of MP.
5. Summoner (Requires Time Mage Lv.3)
Summoners have the most powerful attack spells in the game. Unlike Black Mages, their summons can’t hurt allies and also have wider areas of impact. Cyclops and Bahamut do incredible damage and their casting times in The Ivalice Chronicles remaster have all been buffed. Plus Lich is absolutely necessary for late-game boss fights where enemies have over 1,000 HP. That’s because it does damage on a percentage of total HP basis, letting it hit for 999 damage. Also Golem is a great support summon for soaking up Archer fire in-between turns.
4. Ninja (Requires Archer Lv.4, Thief Lv.5, Geomancer Lv.2)
Two words: Dual-Wield. The only thing cooler than one sword is two swords, and the Ninja job gives you that. Or two flails if you’re an RNG sicko. Ninjas have great movement and speed, and can be outfitted with enough evasion to make their squishy HP less susceptible to being quickly depleted. The throwing attack isn’t the best but it’s another decent ranged option for picking enemies off from afar.
3. Samurai (Requires Knight Lv.4, Monk Lv.5, Dragoon Lv.2)
Okay, maybe I lied. The only thing cooler than two swords is one big sword that you lift up over your head to cast magic with. The Samurai is another interesting riff of the “what if Knight but also Mage?” question. The Iaido abilities scale with magic attack and let you heal, buff, debuff, and damage a big area around your character without having to worry about friendly fire. It can be expensive early on when your swords randomly break in-between uses, but more tanky-ness than the Ninja and Geomancer also adds to the appeal. Some other people would put Ninja ahead of Samurai, and that’s because they get a perverse satisfaction out of constantly having to revive them.
2. Chemist (Unlocked from the start)
Unlocked right from the start, Chemists are the true workhorses of the Final Fantasy Tactics combat economy. They’re far from flashy but they provide incredible value, instantly healing without needing to wait for spells to cast or hoping they have enough MP left in the tank. They also get guns and they automatically discover items hidden beneath them during battle sometimes. There is almost no battle in Final Fantasy Tactics you can’t eventually win simply by throwing dozens and dozens of potions and phoenix downs at it. Plus they have lots of fun pouches.
1. Monk (Requires Knight Lv.3)
The Monk. Where do I begin? They don’t need weapons or hats so you don’t need to spend a ton of money on upkeep. They have the best physical attack growth in the game and the Martial Arts ability is by far the most useful. They have ranged options and can revive allies or get rid of status effects for free. Plus they are the only Job that can restore MP to multiple characters at once, keeping your big Mage guns fueled up. The only drawback is these abilities are severely hampered by differences in elevation so you have to play smart. But when all else fails, just punch everyone in the face really, really hard. Works every time.
