Tips for Final Fantasy XII Players

Final Fantasy XII is the latest in the Final Fantasy RPG series by Square-Enix, and chances are, if you play RPGs, you are going to want to play FFXII, as it's commonly abbreviated. The game has received some very high praise from critics, although fans seem split because of the storyline and characterization (or, some will claim, the lack thereof). But no matter if you love it or hate it, you'll want to play it, and here are some tips for getting through the game with little frustration.

The License System
The new license system can be a little confusing at first, but there is a method to it that can help you out early on. Since you'll have few license points to distribute in the beginning, it's very important to spend them wisely. Be sure to check the weapons, armor, magic, accessory, and technique shops before buying licenses for any of them. If a character doesn't need a license for a weapon or piece of armor, don't buy it for them now. Instead, put those points towards one of the always-active augments.

These abilities (which are on the bottom left part of the top section of the board) include things like additional HP, shorter magic casting time, the ability to block attacks, and more. Because they are always active, you don't have to do anything other than purchase the license. At lower levels these extra HP and other passive abilities can be life-savers.

Also, remember that your reserve party members (the three characters not participating in battle) receive license points even though they aren't fighting (they do not, however, receive experience points). These party members can also receive double experience points if they have the golden armlet accessory equipped.

If you find yourself needing some easy license points, take the time to kill easy enemies as you travel instead of sprinting through zones while holding down the escape button. These easy enemies might not give you that much experience, but they, like almost all standard enemies in the game, will give you at least one license point. These can add up pretty quickly, especially when you are running around hunting down marks, rare monsters, or completing other side quests. It also doesn't take that much time, either, since your characters can probably defeat these easy enemies in one hit.

Swapping Equipment
Another hint when battling enemies (especially bosses and espers) is that you can change equipment at any time during battle. This means that if you see an enemy preparing to cast a thunder spell, for example, you can quickly go into the menu and equip armor that absorbs thunder magic. While this can be a little tedious if enemies keep casting different kinds of magic, it can help you overcome some of those difficult boss battles. You can also swap weapons at any time, so you can quickly equip your characters with ranged weapons when fighting a flying enemy, then swap them back to melee weapons for other monsters.

Gambits
Do you hate watching your characters get KO'ed or affected with status affects from stepping on traps? Libra can take care of that by revealing these invisible traps so you can avoid them. Most people forget to use it, but if you set up a "Self = libra" gambit on your lead character, he or she will automatically use libra on themselves and recast it when it wears off. As a technique, libra uses no MP, so you can use it as much as you like (and you should).

Another useful gambit to set up is one using the charge technique. This technique will either replenish some MP to a character or, if it misses, drop the character's MP to zero. If you set up a "MP < 10% = charge" gambit, your characters will automatically use charge when their MP runs low. If it hits, they gain back some MP pretty quickly and can continue casting spells. If it misses, they won't lose that much MP since they were already low, and they will automatically reuse charge. From my experience, charge hits more often than it misses (I'd say it's probably about 75/25), so more often than not, your characters will get a quick MP refill at no cost.

Remember to prioritize your gambits, too. If your character has an attack gambit above a cure gambit, they will always attack if an enemy is nearby no matter how little health an ally might have. Characters execute gambits starting at the top and going down, so the first gambit slots should always be for healing and status recovery gambits. You can easily rearrange your gambits at any time, and sometimes it takes a few rounds of battle to get them ordered in the most effective way.

Likewise, you can turn on and off either a single gambit or all of a character's gambits (which will make them stand around and do nothing in battle, which is sometimes what you want). If you need money or specific items to sell to the bazaar, you might want to set up a gambit for "foe HP > 70% = steal." This will make that character steal until the enemy's health falls below 70 percent. But if you're fighting challenging enemies or a boss, you'll want to turn this gambit off after you steal from them so the character won't continue trying to steal from the enemy (you can only steal once from each foe).

Be sure to check the gambit store periodically, especially after major story events. Unlike the other stores in FFXII, all gambit stores sell the same gambits, and they start selling new gambits as the game goes on. Setting up some gambits, like the ally = status effect (sleep, silence, poison, confuse, etc.), are almost necessary in later parts of the game where manually taking care of status effects becomes too time consuming.

Espers
Don't expect espers to save you when your characters get in a tough fight. While espers have their uses, they have to be used very carefully and strategically. If you find your characters outmatched, it's better to try and run than to summon an esper because, most likely, your esper will only be quickly defeated. To use espers effectively, you need to know your enemies. Summoning Belias to fight an enemy that constantly uses fire magic, for example, is a great move because Belias will actually be healed by the fire magic. Using Hashmal against flying foes won't work so well because several of his attacks are earth-based, and flying foes aren't affected by earth attacks.

Hunts and Guests
If you want to have an easier time dealing with hunts, wait until you have a guest in your party before taking them on. Larsa, for examples, often uses high potions on characters, and Reddas has some very powerful physical attacks that can help with some of the more difficult hunts. While you won't always have a guest on your team, when you do, take advantage of them for as long as you can.

Maps
Don't forget to buy maps of new areas or seek out map urns in dungeons. Having the full map of an area can be very helpful, especially in places where the mini-map is disabled or fuzzy. There are a few places (the Great Crystal and the final dungeon) where the map is not very useful, though.

Implement these tips and you'll find yourself having an easier time with Final Fantasy XII. Everyone's playing style is a little different, though, so don't hesitate to adapt these ideas to fit your style of play and the section of the game that you are in.