ShieldmasterHP: 6842 (130%) MP: 424 Weight: 76/88 PAtk: 250 MAtk: 202
PDef: 233 (PDur 148%) MDef: 178 (MDur 138%) Speed: 114 (61%) Aim: 75% Eva: 76 Crit: 35%
Parashu, Parashu, Headband, none, Adamant Bangle, Dwarven Gloves
Specialties:
Protect Ally: The user will step in to take damage in place of allies who are below 20% HP, automatically adopting the Default stance in the process. Works on MT attacks, surprisingly (Shieldmaster will protect all allies at low HP).
Chivalrous Spirit: Performing Protect Ally, Bodyguard or Defender of the People restores 10% MP and 1 BP to the user.
Passives:
Dual Shields: The user can equip a shield in each hand. While doing so, the attack command cannot be used.
The Courage to Resist: Defaulting does not increase BP, but does nullify all status ailments except slow, stop and doom. The status resistance effect only applies to the default command, not the auto-default of various Shieldmaster abilities. [this sucks tbh]
Fast Hands: Any speed reductions caused by equipment in either hand become speed bonuses instead.
No Guts, No Glory: Def and MDef are multiplied by (1 + current BP / 10). This is about ~5% less damage taken per extra BP with the default setup (better with shields).
Attack: 222 physical
Bodyguard: The user will step in to take damage in place of a selected ally (including MT attacks), automatically adopting the Default stance in the process.
Blinding Flash (14 MP): Attempt to blind all targets.
Crushed Ice (44 MP): 164 physical, 75% hit. 6x damage vs frozen targets.
Reprisal (40 MP): For five turns, 50% of any damage received by the user will also be inflicted on the attacker.
Defender of the People: Take up to three attacks in place of allies before the user's next turn, automatically adopting the Default stance in the process. Does not apply to attacks that target all allies.
Heavy Hitter (1 BP): 1299 physical, 75% hit
Bumblewhacker (44 MP): 164 physical, 75% hit. 6x damage vs confused targets.
The Gift of Wisdom: Donates 33% of the user's max MP to a target. If MP is below 33% of max, all available MP will be donated.
Note: as a point of trivia, Heavy Hitter is like Body Slam in that its damage depends on the user's weight. Unfortunately, where Body Slam's damage boost is additive, Heavy Hitter's is multiplicative, so Shieldmaster still needs a good base attack stat to make it work (which flies in the face of Dual Shields).
Optimum 3-turn damage: Heavy Hitter x3: 2922
Comments: Shieldmaster is a cool job which just... does not function in a duel. Their only hope of dealing damage is to up their accuracy and weight by dual-wielding so Heavy Hitter does something, and hoping that plus Reprisal's backlash adds up. They really wish that their weight-based move had an additive bonus damage (like Body Slam) instead of multiplicative. The rest of their skillset is all built around defending allies, which aren't useful here. Puny.
PictomancerHP: 4414 (84%) MP: 637 Weight: 28/52 PAtk: 215 MAtk: 249
PDef: 120 (PDur 78%) MDef: 112 (MDur 76%) Speed: 128 (137%) Aim: -6% Eva: 117 Crit: 14%
Nirvana, none, Mystic Hood, Manarobe, Adamant Bangle, Wind Talisman
Halves fire/water/ice
Specialties:
Self-Expression: Using Artistry debuffs on oneself costs nothing, and will cause a corresponding buff effect instead of a debuff.
Extra Coat: All buffs, debuffs, and status effects instigated by the user last a turn longer.
Passives:
Sub-Job BP Saver: The BP cost of using sub-job abilities is reduced by one. (Incredibly useful in-game, but does nothing here!)
Convert MP: Taking damage will cause the user's MP to be restored by a 3.8% of damage taken. (So e.g. losing 50% HP translates to ~84 MP.)
Attack: 0% hit rate. If it hits (somehow), 72-113 damage depending on hit count.
Disarming Scarlet (23 MP): Lowers target's PAtk by 10% for four turns (~12% damage reduction), or buff own PAtk.
Splatter (45 MP): Attempt to daub a target. Daub causes targets to have -1 resistance to all elements both phyical and magical (i.e. if they were neutral before, they now take 130% damage; no effect if target was already weak to the element).
Disenchanting Mauve (23 MP): Lowers target's MAtk by 10% for four turns (~12.5% damage reduction), or buff own MAtk. (~39% more damage dealt)
Purify (28 MP): Remove all buffs and debuffs from a target.
Incurable Coral Lowers target's restorative power by 10% for four turns, or buff own restorative power.
Freehand (30 MP): 1 to 5 hits of 300 fixed damage against random targets, average 900
Indefensible Teal (30 MP): Lowers target's PDef by 10% for four turns, or buff own PDef. (~2% damage reduction)
Zappable Chartreuse (34 MP): Lowers target's MDef by 10% for four turns (~29% more damage dealt), or buff own MDef. (~2.5% damage reduction)
Chairo (60 MP): 861 light pseudomagic
Scuro (60 MP): 861 dark pseudomagic
Optimum 3-turn damage: Disenchanting Mauve (self) x2, Chiaro/Scuro x4: 6123
Comments: They're fast and can rack up some nice damage multipliers, but their base damage is too low, and the HP doesn't help matters either. Their ability to feast on low magic durability (along with having Freehand for foes with good MDef but bad HP) keeps them in Light rather than Puny, probably.
DragoonHP: 5161 (98%) MP: 424 Weight: 53/65 PAtk: 420 MAtk: 329
PDef: 146 (PDur 95%) MDef: 166 (MDur 101%) Speed: 140 (92%) Aim: 101% Eva: 126 Crit: 28%
Ryunohige, Wyvern Spear, Headband, none, Adamant Bangle, Wind Talisman
Specialties:
Momentum: Jump abilities will be performed more quickly, and will be more powerful the more weight the user is carrying. (+0.5% more damage per point of weight)
Highwind: Any additional effects applied to regular attacks also apply to Jump. Also, there will be no stat reduction for wielding two weapons as long as a sword or spear is equipped in the left hand.
Passives:
Comeback Kid: All status ailments will be automatically removed two turns after being inflicted, at which point HP and MP will be fully restored, and BP will be reduced by one.
Sky High: Performs Jump on a random enemy at zero cost as soon as battle begins.
Full Force: Multitarget abilities deal 1.5x damage. Only works if the ability is actually striking 2 or more targets.
Brave Front: Multitarget abilities deal 10% more damage per extra BP the user has. Unlike Full Force this works even if the multitarget ability only strikes one target. However, the damage boost is based on your BP when you attack, so using brave will reduce the entire chain.
Attack: 891 physical
Jump (1 BP): User leaves the battlefield. Next turn, user returns and deals 2632 physical. 3 clockticks for Jump to resolve (110% speed), 2 for the next turn after that (137% speed).
Sonic Thrust (27 MP): 1664 physical MT
Thunder Thrust (40 MP): 1782 lightning physical
Spirit Surge (44 MP): 1189 physical. Heals user's HP and MP in proportion to damage dealt (594 HP and 59 MP).
Angon (52 MP): 2378 physical. Ignores target's default state.
SUffer in Silence (30 MP): 594 physical. 4x damage vs silenced targets.
Soul Jump (3 BP): User and all allies leave the battlefield. On their next turns, they return and deal physical damage (3760 in Dragoon's case). 3 clockticks for Jump to resolve and again for Dragoon's turn after that.
Spirit-Crusher (2 BP): 594 physical, chance of lowering the target's BP by 1. A critical hit is needed to lower BP below -1.
Note: Due to Sky High, Dragoon effectively gets their turns at times equal the following opponent speeds: 110% turn 1 Jump, 122% turn 2, 110%, 105%, 102%, 100.2%, 99% ...
Optimum 3-turn damage: Jump (Sky High) + Angon x5: 14522
Comments: Though their speed is below average on paper, Sky High makes Dragoon pretty speed in practice as long as the fight ends in 2 or 3 turns, which is typical for them. They kill average with a brave-chain on turn 2. They're in trouble in longer fights, probably, although Spirit Surge could be useful as a pressure tool, to give them back a little HP while still adding some damage.
SpiritmasterHP: 3735 (71%) MP: 561 Weight: 25/46 PAtk: 219 MAtk: 290
PDef: 98 (PDur 63%) MDef: 147 (MDur 70%) Speed: 93 (110%) Aim: 31% Eva: 76 Crit: 25% Res Power: 172
Nirvana, none, none, none, Sands of Time, Sands of Time
Specialties:
Spirited Defense: Instant-death effects and status ailments that render their target inactive (sleep, paralysis, dread, berserk, confusion, charm, stop and freezing) are prevented, and as long as HP is at 20% or higher, the user can survive any attack with one HP. Works on multi-hit attacks. [Without There in Spirit, this only works if summoned spirits are presents.]
There in Spirit: The effects of all spirit-summoning abilities learned so far are applied automatically when the user has 1 or fewer BP.
Passives:
Sub-Job Specialty 1: The first specialty of the user's sub-job is activated.
Note (SJS1): Since sub-jobs can be set without any JP investment in the job, some might allow this. (I'm on the fence, myself.) The best options are probably Barrage, which raises damage done by brave-chains, and Nuisance, which adds a chance of blind/charm to holy spells for stall-breaking. Not considered in averages.
Note (absout spirits): Spiritmaster has the ability to summon spirits. At the moment of summoning, nothing will happen, but then the spirit's ability will resolve three times at certain intervals (typically, faster than a normal turn), after which time the effect ends. Summoning one spirit will dismiss any previous spirits. HOWEVER. With There in Spirit, EVERY spirit summoning is automatically active, forever, as long as Spiritmaster's BP remains at 1 or below. These auto-summoned spirits do not count towards the one spirit maximum, so, one copy of an existing spirit can be summoned as well, doubling up on the effects. The check for whether the spirits from There in Spirit appear or disappear is made at the end of any turn Spiritmaster gets.
Attack: 94 physical
Healthbringer (22 MP): Summons a spirit which provides 1780 MT healing. Effect resolves every 2 clockticks.
Banish (10 MP): 478 light magic, ST/MT
Devotion (1 BP): Restore a target's MP by an amount equal to 20% of the user's max MP (112). Can self-target.
Regeneration (30 MP): Restore 10% of a target's HP at the end of their turn. Permanent until dispelled.
Banishra (38 MP): 977 light magic, ST/MT
Reraise (80 MP): Target will be automatically revived with 200 HP if knocked out. This still counts as a knockout and removes most status effects, etc. Effect will remain until target has been revived or dispelled.
Spiritbringer (55 MP): Summons a spirit which provides 10% MP healing (56). Effect resolves every 3 clockticks.
Basunabringer (33 MP): Summons a spirit which removes poison, blindness, silence, sleep, paralysis, contagion, freezing and daubing. Effect resolves every 3 clockticks.
Banishga (66 MP): 1521 light magic, ST/MT
Purebringer (77 MP): Summons a spirit which removes all buffs and debuffs (including Regeneration and Reraise). Effect resolves every 4 clockticks.
Holy (80 MP): 2173 light magic
Optimum 3-turn damage: Holy x6: 13038
Comments: Hahaha okay. To review: Spirited Defence means Spiritmaster can't die if they have more than 20% HP, nor be statused out. There in Spirit means Healthbringer is permanently active. Healthbringer restores more than 20% of Spiritmaster's HP every two clockticks. So you have to doubleturn that, or lose. They also can't run out of MP. There's not too much more to say, except that they really, really hate holy defence... but thanks to their immortality game, may beat a lot of holy-immunes anyway! Godlike.
SwordmasterHP: 5535 (105%) MP: 377 Weight: 39/65 PAtk: 367 MAtk: 252
PDef: 129 (PDur 99%) MDef: 94 (MDur 91%) Speed: 124 (110%) Aim: 84% Eva: 98 Crit: 29%
Excalibur, none, Headband, none, Adamant Bangle, Dwarven Gloves
Specialties:
Redoubled Effort: For each BP above zero, damage done by normal attacks and counterattacking abilities is multiplied by 1.1.
Double Duty: Equipping the same type of weapon in both hands will activate sub-job specialities. [See Spiritmaster's SJS1 and Bravebearer's SJS2. Note that Swordmaster's default setup does not have two weapons.]
Passives:
Counter: 50% chance to respond to ST physical attacks with 782 physical
Out with a Bang: When knocked out, counter with 2302 MT physical
2 Hands Are Better Than 1: If the first hand holds a sword, lance, or axe, and the second hand is empty, the weapon's PAtk, MAtk, and Res Power are mutiplied by 1.4 (factored in)
Multitask: 33% chance to follow up a normal attack with an additional 506 physical
Attack: 644 physical. 33% chance of an additional 506
Solid Stance: Adopt a stance from which the attack command is performed twice every time it is selected.
Fluid Stance: Adopt a stance from which any ST attack is countered with 782 physical
Solid Right Style (22 MP): Only usable in Solid Stance. 782 physical. Delays target's turn by about 0.35 clockticks. (~7% of an average turn.)
Fluid Left Style (20 MP): Only usable in Fluid Stance. Until next turn, when attacked by a ST phyiscal, counter with 690 physical, which also lowers the target's BP by 1 on a hit.
Divide Attention (17 MP): For four turns, raises user's chance to be targeted to equal that of their most frequently targeted ally.
Fourfold Flurry (48 MP): 2371 physical dealt in 4 hits
Solid Slash (27 MP): Only usable in Solid Stance. 828 physical, 2 clockticks (137% speed).
Fluid Flow (36 MP): Only usable in Fluid Stance. Until next turn, when attacked by a ST phyiscal, counter with 920 physical, which also raises the user's BP by 1 on a hit.
Optimum 3-turn damage: Fourfold Flurry x6: 11949
Comments: Respectable offence, especially with Out with a Bang in the mix (granted, that's useless if the opponent has any healing, since Swordmaster will be hoping for it to deal the finishing damage after a braveblitz). Fluid Stance into Fluid Flow provides an interesting opportunity to store BP and power further counters up but realistically the average durability and lack of healing limits any countering potential. Solid Stance allows a decent amount of spammable damage if Swordmaster is MP-nuked or something, but realistically despite all the gimmicks it's Fourflold Flurry all day every day in most fights.
OracleHP: 5042 (95%) MP: 637 Weight: 32/88 PAtk: 253 MAtk: 293
PDef: 163 (PDur 95%) MDef: 172 (MDur 100%) Speed: 153 (137%) Aim: 54% Eva: 147 Crit: 24%
Nirvana, none, Mystic Hood, Manarobe, Sands of Time, Sands of Time
Halves fire/water/ice
Alternate: Icefire Shield. Oracle gains fire/ice absorption and durability becomes 107%/116%, but speed drops to 92%.
Specialties:
In One's Element: Attacks targeting elemental weaknesses deal 40% more damage, and elemental magic costs 40% less to perform. (factored in)
Moonlighting: Sub-job stat adjustments and weapon aptitudes are applied to the user's main job.
Note: Since Moonlighting does not require any JP investment in the sub-job, I am considering it here. The best overall job to pick from is likely Bravebearer, which has mediocre weapon aptitudes but excellent stats otherwise.
Passives:
Noble Sacrifice: When the user is knocked unconscious, any unconscious allies will be revived with full HP. One use per battle.
Attack: 206 physical (309 under Quick)
Quick (21 MP): Enable target to deliver 50% more hits with the 'Attack' command for two turns.
Slow (26 MP): Decreases target's speed by approximately 17%
Haste (42 MP): Increases target's speed by approximately 39% for 3 turns
Elemental Impairment (55 MP): Attempt to lower the target's resistance to a selected element by one level for two turns. Counts as a status ailment. If successful against a neutral elemental resistance, Oracle deals an additional 82% damage due to In One's Element.
Triple (12 MP): 1-3 hits (probability ratio of 4:3:9) of 558 magic to random targets. Each hit is randomly either fire, ice, or lightning. Average damage is 1292.
Elemental Supplement (46 MP): Imbue a target's regular attacks and physical abilities with a selected element for two turns. Not a status ailment, so this works on everything. Can target enemies. >
Reflect (36 MP): Target will reflect most magic attacks (not pseudomagic, or magic attacks which strike both sides of the field) for two turns
Stop (44 MP): Attempts to stop the target (stop lasts about as long as it would take the target to get 2 turns)
Elemental Ward (32 MP): Increase a target's resistance to a selected element for three turns.
Triplara (33 MP): 1-3 hits (probability ratio of 4:3:9) of 1117 magic to random targets. Each hit is randomly either fire, ice, or lightning. Average damage is 2584.
Hastega (70 MP): Increases target's speed by approximately 79% for 3 turns
Optimum 3-turn damage: Triplara x6: 15504
Comments: They're very fast and their damage, while random, is borderline ORKO to average. Cool right? But that's not the real story here. They can also use that speed to cast either Reflect on oneself or Elemental Supplement on the enemy, shutting down either physical or magical damage. Note that Oracle already halves fire/ice with their default setup, and can upgrade that to absorption if they're willing to fall to below average speed. They're pretty bad against full elemental resistance themselves, though, and while Hastega can help tilt the action economy their way in longer fights, they do need to watch their MP supply.
Salve MakerHP: 4788 (91%) MP: 377 Weight: 37/65 PAtk: 211 MAtk: 250
PDef: 151 (PDur 104%) MDef: 154 (MDur 107%) Speed: 109 (110%) Aim: 55% Eva: 129 Crit: 37%
Highroad Star, none, Headband, none, Adamant Bangle, Dwarven Gloves
Alternate
Dual-wielding Highroad Stars: Aim becomes 77% (40% more offence), durability becomes 126%/130%, but speed becomes 62%
Specialties:
Master Medic: One healing herb and one magic herb are received after every battle. Also, items will occasionally not be expended when used.
Unencumbered: If Salve Maker equips nothing in their hands, healing item effects are raised by 50% (additive with Healing Item Amp), and compounding effects are boosted in various ways. [Unfortunately, Salve Maker with no weapon has 22% aim.]
Passives:
Status-Conscious: Increase status ailment chance by an unknown amount.
Thrust and Parry: -15% damage received for each weapon equipped. (The effect is factored into Salve Maker's durability figures listed above.)
Healing Item Amp: The effects of all healing items are increased by 50%. Does not affect Compounding.
Attack: 82 physical
Compounding: Combine two items. Many different effects. See list below.
Survey (32 MP): Reveal target's HP, weaknesses, and family; MT
Widen Area (55 MP): Use an item on all targets. This may make items legal for Salve Maker; see list below
Philtre (22 MP): Attempt to charm target
Revive (25% HP): Revive a knocked-out target and restore 50% HP.
Heartbreak (1 BP): 163 physical. 3.2x damage against charmed targets.
BP Tonic (7500 pg): Raises target's BP by 1.
BP Depleter (9000 pg): Lowers target's BP by 1.
Analysis (30 MP): 72 physical, 55% hit. On a hit, reveals target info similar to Examine/Survey. Also gives the user a buff which allows them to hit weakness on all members of the target's monster family (including the target). Weakness is +30% damage. Note that every enemy in the game has a family, so this works on everything.
Item list (for Widen Area; this is the base potency before Healing Item Amp):
Potion (40 pg): 250 healing
Hi-Potion (200 pg): 1000 healing
X-Potion (630 pg): 2500 healing
Phoenix Down (150 pg): Revive and restores 300 HP
Mini Ether (90 pg): 60 MP healing
Ether (220 pg): 180 MP healing
Status-healers (15-85 pg): Heal various status ailments
Remedy (300 pg): Heal poison, blindness, silence, sleep, paralysis, dread, berserk, charm, confusion and contagion
Elixir (10000 pg): Full HP/MP healing
Compounding list (lowest pg cost is listed for each):
Mega-Potion (730 pg): 5000 healing
Giga-Potion (2630 pg): 7500 healing
Turbo Ether (890 pg): 250 MP healing
Mega-Ether (1020 pg): 300 MP healing
Giga-Ether (15220 pg): 400 MP healing
Quarter Elixir (190 pg): 2500 healing, 100 MP healing
Half Elixir (320 pg): 5000 healing, 200 MP healing
Cure [status] (114-400 pg): 1000 healing, also heals one of poison, blind, silence, sleep, paralysis, dread, or confuse
[status] Bomb: 1000 fixed damage MT, 55% hit. Attempts to inflict blind (340 pg), poison (340 pg), paralysis (490 pg), sleep (1040 pg), charm (1740 pg), or contagion (2240 pg)
Big [status] Bomb: 2000 fixed damage MT, 55% hit. Attempts to inflict blind (2300 pg), poison (2300 pg), paralysis (2450 pg), sleep (3000 pg), charm (3700 pg), or contagion (4200 pg)
Resurrect (250 pg): Revive and restores all HP
Reincarnate (950 pg): revive and restores 300 HP and all MP
Note: Unencumbered, if active, will raise the effects of Compounding as follows: +100 to all ethers, +500 to all potions and elixirs (both the HP/MP effects in the case of the latter), and +1000 to all bombs. The hit rate penalty makes this not worth it for bombs, sadly.
Optimum 3-turn damage: Analysis x2 + Big [status] Bomb x4: 5799
Comments: Whew! Okay. Well their resources depend a bit on how much money you give them, but the basic idea is they can heal cheaply with Quarter/Half Elixirs, and fish for status with bombs. Bombs being tied to their aim stat is awful for them, sadly, so they'll need multiple tries to land anything. Fortunately, if one thing they land is poison that can do some killing for them. If they want to do a damage-blitz themselves, Analysis can help set one up, but this is not something they're ever good at.
ArcanistHP: 4414 (84%) MP: 637 Weight: 41/52 PAtk: 230 MAtk: 320
PDef: 151 (PDur 82%) MDef: 179 (MDur 89%) Speed: 70 (55%) Aim: 38% Eva: 93 Crit: 18%
Nirvana, Icefire Shield, none, Manarobe, Adamant Bangle, Wind Talisman
Absorbs fire/water/ice
Alternate setups:
-Minerva Bustier instead of Icefire Shield/Manarobe; speed rises to 68% and magic durability to 98%, and has dark resistance instead of fire/ice absorption (Doomsday backlash "only" does ~2390 to self)
-no elemental defence at all: durability becomes 76/79, speed becomes 108%, but any of Arcanist's big damage moves risk OHKOing them. Just useful for Death spam.
Specialties:
All In: Applying attack spells to multiple targets does not reduce the damage inflicted, but does cause them to target the user.
Wild Wizardry: Attack spells are 20% more powerful (factored in to damage figures below), and also reduce their targets' MP (equal to 1.5% of HP damage dealt; MP damage is not dealt to self). However, they will also occasionally target all allies and enemies.
Note: I haven't tested Wild Wizardry's backfire rate. I would be a little leery about recommending Arcanist spam an element they aren't immune to, though.
Passives:
MP Regen: MP is restored by 5% (31) at the end of each turn.
Attack: 130 physical
Dark (15 MP): 737 dark magic, ST/MT
Ardour (36 MP): 1341 fire/water magic, hits everyone on the field
Drain (30 MP): 838 magic, heals user equal to damage dealt
Darkra (38 MP): 1509 dark magic, ST/MT
Electon (50 MP): 2179 lightning/light magic, hits everyone on the field
Aspir (20% HP): 73 MP damage, heals user's MP equal to damage dealt
Darkga (66 MP): 2357 dark magic, ST/MT
Meltdown (70 MP): 4141 fire/wind magic, hits everyone on the field
Death (25 MP): Attempt to instantly kill target
Comet (45 MP): Two to four hits of magic on one target, average damage is 1374
Doomsday (80 MP): 3353 dark magic, ST
Self-damage mechanics: Damage dealt to self is ~157% what is dealt to enemies (ouch!). Elemental absorption (Icefire Shield + Manarobe does this to fire/ice) means Arcanist will heal about ~78% of damage dealt instead, much nicer.
Optimum 3-turn damage: Meltdown x6: 24846
Comments: Otherwise, Arcanist is very slow and kinda fragile. If they get a turn, though, they will probably kill you with Meltdown spam, which as a bonus heals them and even does a bit of MP damage. Death spam is also an option and as a bonus they can actually have speed while doing it. If the opponent blocks all of those they'll be in some trouble because while they can fall back on the Doomsday, a Wild Wizardry backfire from that will take just over half their HP (even halved).
BastionHP: 5042 (95%) MP: 472 Weight: 38/88 PAtk: 314 MAtk: 254
PDef: 138 (PDur 92%) MDef: 148 (MDur 95%) Speed: 81 (90%) Aim: 70% Eva: 92 Crit: 21%
Ryunohige, none, Headband, none, Power Bracers, Power Bracers
Specialties:
Default Guard: While Defaulting, will automatically spend 15 MP to reduce damage taken to 40% (instead of 60%).
Fortitude: While Defaulting, will automatically spend 15 MP to earn 1 BP each time when attacked.
Passives:
Auto Guard: The user's turn will come around more slowly, but they reduce damage received by 40% when not defaulting. (I haven't yet tested how much more slowly; not sure if this is worth it.)
Critical Flow: Performing a critical attack may cause BP to increase by one. (Not tested.)
BP Limit Up: Max BP becomes 4 instead of 3.
Attack: 424 physical
Bulwark: (12 MP): 326 physical, 70% hit. Raises user's PDef by 15% for three turns. (~4% less damage received)
Phalanx: (12 MP): 326 physical, 70% hit. Raises user's MDef by 15% for three turns. (~5% less damage received)
Rampart (30% HP): Erect a barrier that will protect multiple targets from a single hit of physical damage (but any added status or other effects from that attack still land). Cannot be combined with Vallation.
Vallation (30% HP): Erect a barrier that will protect multiple targets from a single hit of magical damage (but any added status or other effects from that attack still land). Cannot be combined with Rampart.
Light of Justice (47 MP): 1240 light physical, 70% hit
Wall (38 MP): Raises user's PDef and MDef by 25% for three turns (~6%/9% less damage received)
Blindsider (44 MP): 326 physical, 70% hit. 6x damage against blinded targets.
Double Default (35% HP): For three turns, Defaulting will increase BP by two instead of one.
Sanctuary (1 BP): Everyone's HP, MP and BP cannot be changed until the user's next turn. (However, usage costs for any abilities used in the meantime will still be deducted.)
Optimum 3-turn damage: Light of Justice x6: 5208
Comments: Terrible. Their entire skillset either doesn't translate or is useless in-game anyway (BD2 defensive buffs...), and their damage move has a multiplier comparable to the basic Cross Cut. Even if Auto-Guard's turn penalty ends up negligible (which would give them decent durability) they're a bad Light at best.
PhantomHP: 3735 (71%) MP: 377 Weight: 43/59 PAtk: 429 MAtk: 350
PDef: 85 (PDur 62%) MDef: 105 (MDur 63%) Speed: 153 (110%) Aim: 109% Eva: 163 Crit: 51%
Highroad Star, Highroad Star, Headband, none, Wind Talisman, Wind Talisman
Alternates:
-Highroad Star, Wind Talisman, Dwarven Gloves gives 104% accuracy, 137% speed Flit; damage down ~60% before buffs
-Status weapons options... Assassin Dagger: 101% death; Angel's Bow: 92% charm; Blind Blade: 80% blind; Chaos Blade: 81% confuse; Sandman's Axe: 64% (110% speed) or 44% (137% speed) sleep; Chronos Glaive: 56% stop; Rune Staff: 52% silence. All have 137% speed except the 64% sleep. Most of them reduce physical damage dealt a LOT, although with dual-wielding they may be able to keep up damage if they're willing to accept bad speed. I'm not listing all the possibilities.
Specialties:
Achilles' Heel: Any attack that successfully exploits an enemy's weakness has a 50% chance of inflicting critical damage.
Results Guaranteed: When the user attempts to inflict a status ailment or activate an ability with a % chance of occurring, automatically spends 40 MP to make the chance 100%.
Passives:
Critical Amp: Critical hit damage is increased by 30% (to 1.8x).
Turn Tables: Evading an attack will cause BP to increase by one.
Rewarding Results: Inflicting a status ailment on a target will be rewarded with an extra action.
Dual Wield: Equipping multiple weapons will not reduce their effectiveness.
Attack: 925 physical
Recurring Nightmare (36 MP): 863 physical. If this attack kills the target, user gets a new turn immediately.
Become the Lightning (20% HP): Increase the user's PAtk and MAtk by 25% for three turns (~44% more damage dealt)
Dream Within a Dream (36 MP): 2469 physical over 3 hits
Shroud (46 MP): 2282 dark physical
Milk Poison (46 MP): 617 phyiscal. 6x damage against poisoned targets.
Flit (15% HP): Automatically evade one physical attack (do note Turn Tables...)
Sick Twist (46 MP): 617 phyiscal. 6x damage against contagioned targets.
Never-Ending Nightmare (106 MP): 3395 physical. If this attack kills the target, user gets a new turn immediately.
Optimum 3-turn damage: Dream Within a Dream x4 + Never-Ending Nightmare x2: 16666
Comments: Results Guaranteed may well be the most broken thing in BD2, and honestly pure Phantom only begins to scratch the surface of the silly things it can do. It's enough, though. With Phantom's high Aim and Speed, they can easily land any BD2 status via normally low-rate status weapons. If that doesn't work they also ORKO average with damage. If both of those are out they can try to spam Flit to farm extra turns against physical opponents (they can use it up to six times before running out of HP). They don't like durable mage bosses but otherwise, watch out.
HellbladeHP: 6244 (118%) MP: 424 Weight: 39/78 PAtk: 306 MAtk: 273
PDef: 151 (PDur 116%) MDef: 136 (MDur 113%) Speed: 82 (79%) Aim: 73% Eva: 87 Crit: 28%
Excalibur, none, Headband, none, Adamant Bangle, Dwarven Gloves
Specialties:
Deal with the Devil: 8% of HP and MP are restored at the end of each turn, but being knocked out will reduce BP to -3.
Strength in Adversity: Taking damage equal to more than 25% of max HP will cause PAtk and PDef to be increased by 10% for three turns. This buff cannot be dispelled. Does not trigger from self-inflicted damage. (~25% more damage dealt ~3% less damage received)
Passives:
Surpassing Power: The damage cap for user's attacks increases from 9999 to 99999. (Laughably DL-irrelevant.)
Attack: 413 physical
Ruby/Sapphire/Diamond/Carnelian/Emerald/Quartz/Onyx Blades (25% HP): 612 physical of any one BD2 element, 73% hit. This damage is dealt two additional times at intervals of 4 clockticks (92% speed). Each damage makes a separate hit/crit check, and uses the buffs/debuffs active at the time it lands for its damage calculation. Only three recurring-blade-effects can be active on a target at once.
Dread Blade (44 MP): Attempt to inflict dread on target
Minus Strike (1 BP): Inflict damage on a target equal to the user's max HP minus their current HP, 73% hit.
Terrorise (44 MP): 306 physical. 6x damage to targets under the effects of dread.
Death Throes (10 MP): The user is doomed (dies five turns from now). PAtk and PDef are raised by 50% as long as doom lasts. This move has a cooldown of 4 clockticks (92% speed). (~126% more damage dealt and ~13% less damage received)
Optimum 3-turn damage: Death Throes + Default + Blades x3 + Minus Strike: 6453
*This is their optimum damage against an opponent that does not lower their HP. Should their opponent do that, they will need to switch to Minus Strike sooner.
Comments: Someone hit BD Dark Knight with a huge nerf bat. Minus Strike gets a BP cost, and the multipliers on their self-damage blade moves are just dreadful... even before considering that the damage-over-time is incredibly hard to use in a duel considering it drops their HP. That said, Hellblade is still pretty good against opponents with poor damage and evasion, since if they can get to low HP they can get off two damaging Minus Strikes. Their 8% regen will slow the opponent's route to killing them, which makes their limit a little harder to chip around.
BravebearerHP: 6842 (130%) MP: 637 Weight: 28/88 PAtk: 306 MAtk: 273
PDef: 184 (PDur 134%) MDef: 154 (MDur 130%) Speed: 145 (137%) Aim: 102% Eva: 155 Crit: 21%
Excalibur, none, Headband, none, Wind Talisman, Adamant Bangle
Specialties:
Adrenaline: Defeating a target increases BP by one.
True Grit: BP increases by one at the start of each turn.
Passives:
Sword Lore: Sword aptitude is increased to S. (All of Bravebearer's default weapon ranks are B.)
Obliterate: Any enemy twenty or more levels below the user is instantly killed at the beginning of battle.
Sub-Job Specialty 2: The second speciality listed for the user's sub-job is activated. Not legal to me (due to requiring active investment into other classes), have fun with this if you feel differently!
Attack: 459 physical
Supergravity (36 MP): Deal fixed damage to all targets equal to 25% of the user's current HP.
Wall of Woe (84 MP): Full field. Causes all targets to lose one BP three times at intervals roughly equal to the time it takes Bravebearer to get a turn.
Practice Makes Perfect (2 BP): Deal fixed damage to a target based on the number of minutes the game has been played. ~3000 is probably reasonable? Easy 9999 if you leave the game on several nights in a row or something. I'm ignoring this.
Dawn of Odyssey (58 MP): Full field. Causes all targets to gain one BP three times at intervals roughly equal to the time it takes Bravebearer to get a turn.
Hypergravity (80 MP): Deal fixed damage to all targets equal to 50% of the user's current HP.
Equaliser (32 MP): Full field. Reduce BP by one for targets whose BP is at +1 or more, and increase it by one for anyone whose BP is at -1 or below.
Victory Smite (25% HP): Deal fixed damage to a target based on the number of battles you've won * 2. (Somewhere a bit under 2000? No clue. I'm ignoring this.)
Gigagravity (125 MP): Deal damage to all targets equal to 75% of the user's current HP.
Victory Double (3 BP): Deal fixed damage to a target based on the number of battles you've won * 3, twice (so x6 in total).
Note that all of Bravebearer's fixed damage moves are considered physical, meaning they are subject to physical evasion and affected by buffs/debuffs which directly modify physical damage. However, they ignore the MT damage penalty and all stats except the ones they are explicitly listed as keying off of.
Optimum 3-turn damage: Because their damage is basically impossible to predict, Bravebearer has been excluded from the damage average. Their offence is excellent if they are at full HP, but becomes quite bad as their HP drops (unless you respect Practice Makes Perfect more than I do).
Comments: Clarissa Plus, pretty much. Their strategy is simple: outspeed the opponent and use Gigagravity 4 times for roughly 2PCHP damage. Evasion and counters (which have to work against MT) slow this down but not much else does. They do fear foes who outspeed them, though their durability and good statusblocker access will help out in such fights.
Averages at the bottomHP 5282, MP 527, PDef 154, MDef 144, Speed 110, Aim 57%, Crit 26%
Three turn damage: 12323
Kill point: 10269
Things that still could be doneI may do some of these if people ask nicely.
1. Tests for status in general, Wild Wizardry backfire rate, Critical Flow rate.
2. Listing more specials.
3. Factoring crit into the damage and damage average.
Appendix: Jobs that are theoretically (slightly) better with two Adamant Bangles:
Black Mage, Monk, Ranger, Pictomancer, Dragoon, Swordmaster
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