List of Jobs
This page contains information about the jobs in Final Fantasy XII - The Zodiac Age. The Esper Locked Licenses and Quickening Locked Licenses give you an idea of which Espers should be assigned to which character/classes and which Quickenings you should activate to gain access to additional Licenses—some of which are critical.
Archer
The Archer uses bows and arrows to deal damage to enemies from afar. They get access to
Addle Technick and
Shear Technick, as well as some limited White Magick spells, but they tend not to be the strongest job from an overall perspective. They do get access to the three Swiftness Licenses, though, which can be extremely helpful.
| Esper License Unlocks | Quickening Unlocks |
|---|---|
| Chaos: Magick Lores (x5) Famfrit: 390 HP, 435 HP Shemhazai: Heavy Armor 10, Heavy Armor 11, Heavy Armor 12 Ultima: Zodiark: |
Quickening (50 LP): White Magick 4 |
Black Mage
The Black Mage can be an incredible source of damage in the Zodiac Age version of the game. They gain access to incredibly powerful spells, and MP conservation tends to be less of a problem in this version of the game. They get access to a few Green Magick (such as
Decoy,
Bubble, and
Syphon) and a ton of Magick Lore augments that increase the overall damage done by spells. This job is definitely helpful to have in any party.
| Esper License Unlocks | Quickening Unlocks |
|---|---|
| Adrammelech: Hand-bombs 2 Exodus: Heavy Armor 8 Famfrit: 190 HP, 230 HP, 310 HP Hashmal: Mateus: Hand Bombs 3 Shemhazai: Heavy Armor 7 Ultima: Zalera: Zeromus: Heavy Armor 9 |
Quickening (50 LP): 70 HP Quickening (125 LP): 390 HP |
Bushi
The Bushi, a.k.a. the Samurai, uses a Katana as their primary source of damage. A Katana’s attack power is based on both the strength stat and the Magick power stat. They do not get access to many spells or Technicks, so they are best when paired with other jobs such as a Shikari, a Knight, or a Monk.
| Esper License Unlocks | Quickening Unlocks |
|---|---|
| Adrammelech: Belias: Chaos: Brawler Cúchulainn: Exodus: 500 HP Shemhazai: Shield Block Ultima: Zalera: Zeromus: Magick Lore (x2) Zodiark: Heavy Armor 9, Heavy Armor 10, Heavy Armor 11 |
Quickening (75 LP): 350 HP, Battle Lore Quickening (100 LP): 390 HP, Battle Lore Quickening (125 LP): 435 HP |
Foebreaker
One of the strongest classes in the game due to its ability to access all four “break” Technicks:
Addle,
Shear,
Wither, and
Expose. Its primary weapons are Axes and Hammers, so again, it is best to pair this job with another, such as the Bushi or Shikari, to increase damage.
| Esper License Unlocks | Quickening Unlocks |
|---|---|
| Adrammelech: Battle Lore Belias: Cúchulainn: Exodus: Magick Lores (x4) Famfrit: Magick Lore Hashmal: Swiftness Ultima: Swiftness Zalera: Zeromus: Magick Lore (x4) |
Quickening (100 LP): 390 HP Quickening (125 LP): Battle Lore |
Knight
The Knight can utilize swords and greatswords as weapons and equip shields. It makes them great for tanking, and it gives the characters access to some White Magick spells. The Knight does get access to the
Telekinesis ability to attack flying enemies. Other than that singular option, you’d have to pair a Knight with different jobs, such as the Bushi or the Battlemages.
| Esper License Unlocks | Quickening Unlocks |
|---|---|
| Belias: Potion Lore 1 Chaos: 390 HP, Cúchulainn: Battle Lore Exodus: 350 HP Hashmal: White Magick 8, White Magick 9 Mateus: White Magick 6, White Magick 7 Shemhazai: Potion Lore 2 Ultima: Zodiark: 390 HP, |
Quickening (125 LP): 390 HP, |
Machinist
The Machinist relies on guns, measures, and hand-bombs to deal damage. Guns tend to be a weaker source of damage and are not as powerful overall because they do not rely on stats, such as strength or magick, and deal a set amount of damage no matter what. The Machinist job can be somewhat helpful for some of the mage classes, such as the Time Battlemage, Red Battlemage, or White Mage, to allow them to do some additional damage when they are not casting spells, buffs, or debuffs. They also get some access to Green Magick spells.
| Esper License Unlocks | Quickening Unlocks |
|---|---|
| Chaos: 350 HP Cúchulainn: Magick Lore Exodus: Green Magick 1 Famfrit: Time Magick 8, Time Magick 9, Time Magick 10 Shemhazai: Hand Bombs 3 Ultima: Magick Lore (x3) Zeromus: Zodiark: 390 HP |
Quickening (125 LP): Magick Lore (x3) |
Monk
Monks deal damage using poles, and they have access to a few White Magick spells. They can use Poles to hit flying-type enemies. Monks also do fairly heavy damage and get access to a full complement of HP-increasing Licenses. The Monk gets access to all three Swiftness Licenses and to the
Wither, and
Expose Technicks. All of this makes it a great job to pair with a Black Mage, a Bushi, or a Time Battlemage, as the increases in MP and Magick Power will allow the Monk to cast more healing spells.
| Esper License Unlocks | Quickening Unlocks |
|---|---|
| Chaos: White Magick 11, White Magick 12 Exodus: Famfrit: White Magick 10 Hashmal: White Magick 4 Shemhazai: Potion Lore 3 Ultima: Swiftness (x2) Zalera: Zeromus: Zodiark: White Magick 13 |
Quickening (75 LP): White Magick 9 Quickening (125 LP): Phoenix Lore |
Red Battlemage
The Red Battlemage has a vast arsenal of Magick spells to choose from – Black Magick, Arcane Magick, White Magick, Time Magick, and Green Magick. They operate well as a backup healer and have a ton of abilities that are helpful in specific situations or boss fights. It matches well with the Archer job as the Red Battlemage only gets access to one Swiftness License, but the Archer job, will give the character access to the other two Licenses. It can also pair well with the Shikari job.
| Esper License Unlocks | Quickening Unlocks |
|---|---|
| Chaos: Greatswords 3 Cúchulainn: Black Magick 9, Black Magick 10 Exodus: Heavy Armor 8, Heavy Armor 9, Heavy Armor 10 Famfrit: Battle Lores (x2) Hashmal: Shemhazai: White Magick 7 Ultima: Greatsword 1, Greatsword 2 Zeromus: Channeling Zodiark: Greatswords 4 |
Quickening (50 LP): White Magick 2 Quickening (75 LP): 230 HP Quickening (125 LP): 435 HP |
Shikari
The Shikari, a.k.a. the Hunter, uses daggers and has access to the ninja swords to attack enemies. They get access to a few shields as well and can use the
Telekinesis Technick to attack flying enemies. You should pair this job with the Foebreaker or the Bushi, as it gets access to the
Genji Gloves and all three Swiftness Licenses.
| Esper License Unlocks | Quickening Unlocks |
|---|---|
| Adrammelech: Cúchulainn: White Magick 12 Exodus: Hashmal: Mateus: Shemhazai: Guns 5, Guns 6 Ultima: Phoenix Lore (x2) Zalera: 435 HP |
Quickening (50 LP): Ninja Swords 1 Quickening (75 LP): Ninja Swords 2 Quickening (100 LP): Ninja Swords 3 Quickening (125 LP): Yagyu Darkblade & Mesa |
Time Battlemage
The Time Battlemage gains access to all levels of Time Magick, including
Hastega and
Reflectga. They rely on Crossbows to deal regular damage unless you pair this job with another of the available jobs. It gets access to
Decoy (and some other Green Magicks) as well. It is pretty often best paired with the Knight, the Monk, or the White Mage (to create the ultimate support character).
| Esper License Unlocks | Quickening Unlocks |
|---|---|
| Adrammelech: White Magick 4 Chaos: 270 HP Exodus: Battle Lore Famfrit: Battle Lore Hashmal: Channeling Mateus: 230 HP Ultima: Swords 7, Swords 8 Zalera: Ether Lore 3 Zeromus: Zodiark: Swords 9 |
Quickening (50 LP): Ninja Swords 1 Quickening (75 LP): Ninja Swords 2 Quickening (100 LP): Ninja Swords 3 Quickening (125 LP): Yagyu Darkblade & Mesa |
Uhlan
The Uhlan, a.k.a. the Spearman or the Dragoon, is helpful as a physical attacker or as a tank. The unfortunate downfall of the Uhlan, though, is that it relies on spears to do damage. Unlike in the original PlayStation 2 version of the game, where the
Zodiac Spear reigned supreme, spears tend to be a terrible choice as a weapon in the Zodiac Age due to their slow speed and attack animations. It can be combined with the Bushi or the Archer to help it out, as those classes gain access to additional Licenses that can address some of the Uhlan’s weaknesses.
| Esper License Unlocks | Quickening Unlocks |
|---|---|
| Adrammelech: Battle Lore Chaos: Black Magick 7, Black Magick 8 Cúchulainn: Famfrit: Potion Lore 3 Hashmal: Mateus: Magick Lore (x2) Ultima: |
Quickening (100 LP): Black Magick 5, Black Magick 6 |
White Mage
The White Mage is the primary healing class in Final Fantasy XII. It has access to Rods, Greatswords, and Daggers as weapons, and to all White Magicks and Green Magicks. You can pair it with many other jobs to increase their usefulness, such as the Shikari, the Foebreaker, the Machinist, or any of the other mages.
| Esper License Unlocks | Quickening Unlocks |
|---|---|
| Adrammelech: Chaos: 310 HP, Greatswords 2 Cúchulainn: Exodus: Battle Lore Famfrit: Shemhazai: 230 HP Zeromus: 270 HP Zodiark: Greatswords 1 |
Quickening (50 LP): 150 HP Quickening (75 LP): 190 HP Quickening (100 LP): Battle Lore |