Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age Jobs - Best Jobs for Each Character, Best Secondary Jobs

With the ability to switch between Zodiac Jobs between characters in Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age, it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of options at your fingertips, but certain characters in Final Fantasy XII are predisposed to Jobs with innate abilities, making it a clear choice as to where and how you level them up.

Final Fantasy 12 Best Jobs for Each Character

First of all, there are three factors that make a certain character more suited to a particular job than any other, these are Licenses, Gear Bonuses, and Innate Abilities, once you factor these things in together, it becomes clear that certain characters are more suited to a job than others. You're also able to combine jobs in this iteration of Final Fantasy XII, meaning that there are even more combinations out there to be discovered. There is a lot of min/maxing and personal preference involved in these choices, so they might differ, depending on how you want to spec your specific party.

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Final Fantasy XII Black Mage Job

One of the most traditional classes in Final Fantasy history, the Black Mage casts powerful offensive spells and is able to target airborne enemies that other members of your part might not be able to hit. They are able to equip Staves, which provide an additional elemental boost, depending on the gear that you equip.

Best Characters in Final Fantasy 12 for Black Mage Job

The best characters to use as a Black Mage are Fran, Penelo and Vaan. Both Ashe and Penelo have an innate Cure ability, with Vaan being more of an all-round character that you can rely on in a pinch when assembling a party. We'd recommend Ashe above all else early on in the game, as curative spells can be hard to come by, with the added boost of being able to use hard-hitting elemental magic.

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Final Fantasy 12 Archer Job Guide

The Archer uses swift bows, light armor and is able to take advantage of Item Lores, which enable you to use items mid-battle, which is a truly invaluable skill. Archers utilise long-range abilities and can also bolster elemental damage with special ammo and also provide Magic Breaks in battle.

Best Characters in Final Fantasy 12 for Archer Job

The best characters to use as Archers are Basch, Vaan and Ashe. Basch in particular has an innate Libra skill, which makes him useful in identifying weaknesses and exploiting them using specialised ammo on with the Bow. Vaan once again is a strong all-rounder with Ashe having stats that lend themselves well to the Archer.

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Final Fantasy 12 Shikari Job Guide

The Shikari is able to equip Daggers, Swords, Shields and Light Armor, while also being able to deal high amounts of damage with the added bonus of being easy to combo with. Ideal for parties looking for a character dedicated to building combos and damage.

Best Characters in Final Fantasy 12 for Shikari Job

The best characters to use as the Hunter are Vaan, Balthier and Basch. Vaan and Basch are ideal for this job, with their base stats providing high STR and HP, both of which are needed for this hard hitting job that draws from STR and SPD for the ideal amounts of damage.

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Final Fantasy 12 Foebreaker Job Guide

The Foebreaker's role is exactly what it says on the tin, they are able to provide all four types of break in the game. They're able to equip heavy weapons such as Hammers and Axes, in addition to being able to equip Heavy Armor and Shields, making them an ideal tanking job.

However, the class can be hamstrung by their inability to use item lores, meaning that to use items, you might have to rely on another character. The Foebreaker is particularly useful for support in battle, and with pure focus on high damage, we'd recommend a breaker in any balanced party.

Best Characters in Final Fantasy 12 for Foebreaker Job

The best characters to use as a Foebreaker are Vaan and Balthier, with the highest STR and HP stats out of all of the party members, however another good tactic would be for Fran to also take up the role, with her innate cure skill being pretty useful for a Foebreaker.

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Final Fantasy 12 Knight Job Guide

One of the most traditional roles in the game is also a good party all rounder, utilising Heavy Armor, with the ability to use Swords and Shields, the Knight might seem limited at first, but with added curative spells coming in the late game, you'll be able to easily bolster your party with this class, which can provide support in almost every area.

Best Characters in Final Fantasy 12 for Knight Job

With this class also drawing from STR, Vaan once again makes an appearance as our recommendation as the Knight, but other characters that would also be suited to the role are Ashe and Fran, both of whom have an innate Cure skill, which would provide pretty useful in creating a self-sufficient damage dealer in the party, with Fran also being able to provide the additional Steal skill.

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Final Fantasy 12 Monk Job Guide

With quick evasion skills and high health, the Monk is also able to use Light Armour and Pole Weapons, which can provide Physical Breaks. Monks can later have access to Curative White Magic, but those abilities draw from your MAG skills on that particular character.

Best Characters in Final Fantasy 12 for Monk Job

The best choices for the Monk role are Ashe, Fran and Vaan- Ashe's innate cure skill, with additional MAG skills make her a shoo-in for the monk, especially if you're looking for this job to fulfill the role of healer in you party.

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Final Fantasy 12 Machinist Job Guide

Utilising Guns and Light armor, this swift job has decent amounts of evasions and is also able fire at enemies from a distance, with the added bonus of not drawing from any stats, the Machinist class is incredibly gear-based, so make sure you're fully equipped before switching to this particular job, we'd only really recommend it for players that are pretty good at building their own parties, as this class also has the slowest attack charges. Time Magic can be unlocked with this Job, but don't expect it to turn up until late in the game.

Best Characters in Final Fantasy 12 for Machinist Job

We'd recommend Fran in this role, with her innate steal ability with consistent damage from the Guns. Ashe and Basch also work well in this role, but are much better suited to other Jobs.

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Final Fantasy 12 Red Battlemage Job Guide

The Red Mage makes a return in Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age, with the ability to use Mystic Armor, Maces and Shields, in addition to dealing decent amounts of physical damage in addition to White and Black Magic, with the later progression giving you access to Arcane Magic. Red Mages are valuable to any party, and help round out any weaknesses that the party might have, with its heavily reliance on Magic.

Best Characters in Final Fantasy 12 for Red Battlemage Job

Characters best suited to the Red Mage role are Ashe, with her having the highest Magic Stat of all characters in the game, with Penelo and Fran also coming in useful with their innate Cure, and Fran also having the innate Steal ability.

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Final Fantasy 12 Bushido Job Guide

The Bushido can use Katanas, Mystic Armors and Genji Gear, with good combo capabilities when using their main weapon, while drawing from STR and MAG for their skills. The Bushido is a class that would be useful to combo into another job when you are able to unlock the ability, due to the good combo ability of the Katana skills.

Best Characters in Final Fantasy 12 for Bushido Job

Characters that we would recommend to use for the Bushido are Ashe, with her high Magic ability in addition to decent stats, with Vaan and Penelo also coming in useful with their various skills.

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Final Fantasy 12 Time Battlemage Job Guide

Time Battlemage? This slightly different class is able to use Bowguns and Heavy Armour with high speed, who can also provide useful Status Effects on enemies through ammo. This Job can also provide Magical Breaks through the usage of Espers. This class, despite being a mage draws from STR.

Best Characters in Final Fantasy 12 for Time Battlemage Job

We would actually recommend Fran for this role, with her innate Steal ability, but Vaan and Ashe once again are both good options for rounding out your party with a Time Mage.

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Final Fantasy 12 Uhlan Jon Guide

The Uhlan has access to Spear and Heavy Armor with good physical damage-dealing abilities, which we'd recommend having in almost any party. Through the use of Espers, you can also gain access to Physical Breaks-but be warned, you'll have very limited access to Black Magic, with low damage to boot. The Uhlan also draws from STR, so be sure to take this into account when selecting a character.

Best Characters in Final Fantasy 12 for Uhlan Job

We would recommend Penelo for this role, as she also has an innate cure that will come in very handing when wanting to keep up your health on the front-lines of a tough battle.

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Final Fantasy 12 White Mage Job Guide

Finally, the White Mage is exactly what it says on the tin, providing curative magic and equipped with Rods and Mystic Armor, you'll be able to deal huge damage against Undead Enemies, with excellent spell-casting skills. The White Mage is a must-have for almost any party, whether you want a support character or are going up against Undead enemies.

Best Characters in Final Fantasy 12 for White Mage Job

Your best bet as a White Mage would be Balthier, who also has an additional innate steal as well as having stats that are predisposed towards to fulfilling that role.

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How to Unlock a Second Job for Each Character

A secondary job for your characters will become available in Final Fantasy 12 after you defeat Belias and obtain an Esper. After you've done this you can assign a secondary job to each of your characters - but which job should this be?

It's generally a good idea to select jobs for your characters to offset their weaknesses. For example, you may want to add a Healing job to your Knight class, as since this is traditionally a tank class with very little in the way of healing, the ability to regenerate their health gives them a huge bonus. If you didn't select the first job for a character to offset their weakness, then you should definitely do this with their secondary job.

Bear in mind that, as with the first job, you can't change the secondary job of a character once selected and applied, meaning you'll have to be 100% certain in your decision before committing to anything.

We have a variety of other guides here at USgamer on Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age, including our guide on Quickening, as well as guide on undertaking Hunts.

Job Guide: Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age

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