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Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

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Black Mage

By
Ben Chard
,
Jarrod Garripoli
, &
Nathan Garvin

The Black Mage has two roles in combat, at which it excels - blasting foes with magick (usually elemental magick) and inflicting detrimental status effects on them. Despite what seems an obvious knack for blasting foes with powerful magicks, their ultimate magick - Scathe - is not too bad, but not entirely amazing. It’s non-elemental, so you don’t have to worry about any foes negating or absorbing the damage, plus it hits multiple enemies. However, its animation can be a little slow and the area-of-effect can sometimes be a little wonky, as some enemies that should be hit with it might not get blasted. Despite that the Black Mage will likely be your most potent damage-dealer through the mid-to-late game areas, with few exceptions, so you don’t have to rely on something like Scathe to get the job done.

Being a magick-user, they abstain from physical combat and instead focus on Staves, which can be used to deal Strength-based melee damage, but their attack power is quite poor compared to most other weapons. You’re far better off using them for the boosts they give to Magick Power and, in some cases, to elemental damage. Ignoring the relatively negligible Magick Power boost (ranging from +2 to +8, depending on the weapon), elementally-attuned staves will increase the damage of said element by 50%, so don’t sell all of any staves you get. You never know when you’ll need to exploit an elemental weakness.

As for licenses, there’s nothing terribly surprising about the Black Mage. Being a magick-user they have a relatively poor selection of HP licenses and two Swiftness licenses (LP 30 and LP 50). When you take into consideration their license islands… well, they’re not a secondary class. You pick a Black Mage for their massive single-class upsides - their Black Magick - and pick a support class that covers for their weaknesses.

To this end, it’s hard to beat the Monk, as it’ll add a great deal of HP licenses, and you’ll be able to purchase the Black Mage’s 50 LP Swiftness license and island hop to the Monk License Board and buy the 80 LP Swiftness license. Invest some Espers into the Monk and they’ll also be able to access a treasure trove of White Magick - including the Holy spell - which will prove a potent addition to the Monk’s arsenal thanks to the Black Mage’s high Magick Power. Frankly, it’s one of the most absurdly over-powered class combinations in the game, and a team with a Monk/Black Mage in it is probably more powerful than one without.

Black Mage Core Licenses

Category Licenses
Swiftness Swiftness 30 LP, Swiftness 50 LP
HP HP 2, 4, 7, 10 (880 HP)
Battle Lore x0
Magick Lore x16
Weapons Staves 1 - 5, Staff of the Magi
Armor Mystic Armor 1 - 13
Technicks Charge, Charm
Magicks Black Magick 1 - 13, Green Magick 1 - 3
Item Lore Ether Lore 1 - 3, Remedy Lore 1 - 2
Passives Headsman, Inquisitor, Martyr, Serenity, Spellbreaker, Warmage

Black Mage Esper Licenses

Esper Licenses
Adrammelech Hand Bombs 2
Belias
Chaos
Cuchulainn
Exodus Heavy Armor 8
Famfrit HP 5, 6, 8 (830 HP)
Hashmal Hand Bombs 4
Mateus Hand Bombs 3
Shemhazai Heavy Armor 7
Ultima Telekinesis
Zalera Poach, Steal
Zeromus Heavy Armor 9
Zodiark
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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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