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Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

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Archer

By
Ben Chard
,
Jarrod Garripoli
, &
Nathan Garvin

The Archer is very much a mixed bag, and that’s being generous. As a stand-alone job they have little to recommend them aside from a wide variety of technicks, all the item lores, access to Bow weapons, and three ranks of Swiftness. Their HP are moderate, which is fine since they have access to all the Light Armor (which will boost HP), and their ranged weapons should keep them out of trouble. They can also get the White Magick 4 license (Cura and Raise) if you invest in the 50 LP Quickening. A fine support character, but nothing to really go crazy over. Their poor selection of Battle Lore (x2) and Magick Lore (x1) licenses ensures they’ll never be outstanding from a DPS perspective.

In The Zodiac Age, however, this makes them a fine secondary job. Just pick a job with good access to other weapons and magicks and don’t pick another job that has plenty of item lores and technicks (Machinist and Shikari) and they’ll mix fine. Of all the possible combinations, however, the Red Battlemage/Archer has the best synergy, as not only will this add a great deal of much needed Magick Lore (and a bit of Battle Lore), but it’ll give the Red Battlemage some much needed Swiftness. Better yet, you can purchase the LP 125 Quickening on the Red Battlemage License Board and use that to island hop back to the Archer Board and bypass the Famfrit Esper Gate, scoring the HP 10 license as well, adding a cool 825 HP to the mix. In fact, this combo entirely voids the need for an otherwise attractive-seeming Famfrit allocation (HP 10 - 11, Battle Lore x2), which is better used elsewhere.

While it might seems like a somewhat clumsy synergy that under-utilizes the Archer’s melee prowess… well, you’re right, to a degree. But most jobs with more Physical Lores will excel without adding the Archer, and there’s a good reason to sacrifice the Archer’s melee contribution: it’s simply a more powerful build to focus on Magick Power. There’s another hidden bit of synergy between these two classes in this regard, as well, as the Burning Bow - the 6th most powerful Bow in the game, with a passable 79 Attack Power - augments Fire damage. Since the Red Battlemage is the only job that gets access to the Ardor magick, the most powerful Fire spell in the game, this is a match made in gaming heaven, as you can be a competent, if not stellar Archer with pretty damn good HP, who can also utilize most technicks and low-to-mid-tier Black Magicks, White Magicks and all Green Magicks and Arcane Magicks. It’s the ultimate support character whose utility never really wears off due to Ardor’s potent punch.

Archer Core Licenses

Category Licenses
Swiftness Swiftness 30 LP, Swiftness 50 LP, Swiftness 80 LP
HP HP 1 - 8 (1,360 HP)
Battle Lore x2
Magick Lore x1
Weapons Bows 1 - 7, Sagittarius, Dhanusha
Armor Light Armor 1 - 13
Technicks Achilles, Addle, Charm, First Aid, Gil Toss, Libra, Poach, Revive, Shades of Black, Shear, Steal, Traveler
Magicks White Magick 4
Item Lore Potion Lore 1 - 3, Phoenix Lore 30 LP, Phoenix Lore 50 LP, Phoenix Lore 90 LP, Remedy Lore 1 - 3
Passives Focus, Headsman, Inquisitor, Last Stand, Martyr, Spellbound

Archer Esper Licenses

Esper Licenses
Adrammelech
Belias
Chaos Magick Lore x5
Cuchulainn
Exodus
Famfrit HP 10 - 11 (835 HP)
Hashmal
Mateus
Shemhazai Heavy Armor 10 - 12
Ultima 1000 Needles, Infuse
Zalera
Zeromus
Zodiark 1000 Needles, Infuse
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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Square Enix
  • Platforms,
    PC, PS4, Steam, Switch, XB One
  • Genre
    RPG
  • Guide Release
    30 August 2017
  • Last Updated
    17 December 2022
    Version History
  • Guide Author
    Nathan Garvin, Jarrod Garripoli

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Enter an era of war within the world of Ivalice. The small kingdom of Dalmasca, conquered by the Archadian Empire, is left in ruin and uncertainty. Princess Ashe, the one and only heir to the throne, devotes herself to the resistance to liberate her country. Vaan, a young man who lost his family in the war, dreams of flying freely in the skies. In a fight for freedom and fallen royalty, join these unlikely allies and their companions as they embark on a heroic adventure to free their homeland.

This guide contains the following:

  • A walkthrough that’ll guide you through the story, help you obtain all the best weapons and armor, and defeat every monster.
  • An interactive map of the Giruvegan Great Crystal; featuring all weapons, armors, save crystals, gate stones, way stones, bosses and rare enemies.
  • Tips for getting the best equipment from the Bazaar and from enemies.
  • A detailed Job Guide featuring all twelve job classes in the game, and the best ways to combine them and characters to form the ultimate party.
  • How to find and defeat all Hunt Marks and Rare Game.
  • Citations of the differences between this version of the game and the original.
  • A thorough explanation of all of the game’s mechanics.
  • All sidequests, including Trial Mode.
  • A trophy guide that will get you that shiny Platinum Trophy.

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