Do you define roles?

I had Penelo as my white mage for the party
that was really the only defined role I had
I taught Ashe some black magic....
but I relied on mostly physical attacks and healing throughout the game
 
In a sense yes, you see, whereas a lot of people probably had Penelo as the mage because of her lower phys. def., I strengthened her as a tank. She can easily hold her own with Fran and Ashe backing her up. Fran is the primary overall Mage in this case, casting Green, White, and Black spells as I see fit. Aeroga, Curaga, Poisona, Stona, etc. those are all for Fran lest she loses too much MP than I switch it over to Ashe and give Fran the duty of supportive melee fighter.

Penelo typically is equipped with any strong two-handed sword and a shield, so like a Ragnarok Blade and a Diamond Shield works well for her. I'll accessorize her with an Embroidered Tippet unless she's going up against a boss, in which case I'll have her steal every other turn with the Thief's Cuffs equipped. Ashe and Fran have Maces and Shields usually.

For the guys: it's aaaaaall about making Vaan the leading man, having Basch as the side tank, and *le gasp* Balthier as the supportive Mage. Balthier's job is to toss Hi-Potions, X-Potions and occasional Curas at his team mates while I have Vaan diving into the fray with his lovely Platinum Sword and Diamond Shield. Basch will just bash (haha, get it!) the skulls in of their assailants if Vaan doesn't fell them quick enough and he occasionally heals if Balthier's MP lowers too much for my comfort. If I make the parties very gender mixed than the roles don't change at all for them. So Ashe would still be supportive even as a leader, Basch would still be the side tank, and Fran would still be the Mage for example. Same goes for Balthier, Vaan, and Penelo.
 
i defined roles based on my gambits setup. each character had some level of recovery, some level of magic, and some level of physical attacks, but among these generic roles were more specific commands. i divided the six characters into two teams that could switch members that shared similar jobs. vaan/basch were the vanguard and as long as no other member was in dire straits was attacking the enemy. fran/balthier were the ranged attackers and focused more on healing when party members' hp were getting low. ashe/penelo were the mages and would fire off spells either at the beginning of a fight or when conditions were met and would attack while their mp recovered.

there may not have been a 'clearly defined' white/black mage or a 'clearly defined' warrior or a 'clearly defined' ranger or what-have-you, but the roles were different and were definitely more complex as far as execution of these roles went, thanks to the gambits. as for the debate on whether that's good or bad vs the old systems that don't allow you to customize the characters, that's all preference, and no one should be saying 'it's bad' or 'it's great' without adding 'in my opinion'.
 
System de Strife said:
Well, I always had Balthier as my main, since he's ridiculously sexy. but he was a fighter who I gave guns and swords to sometimes. besides that, being the RPG-role-biased person I am, I had all the guys on the offense and every female doing healing work. Except Penelo, she was always fighting next to Vaan,who, for some reason, did more healing than she did XD
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There is no uniqueness in this game as far as characters go except the fact some hit harder with magic, some hit harder with ranged, some hit harder with melee.

So I tried to establish roles, so usually I would have Penelo and Ashe as magic attack users. I would use Fran and Balthier as my ranged. Finally I would have Vaan and Basche as my melee. It usually was fine. I used them all pretty much every battle, unless of course I had quickenings ready.
 
I always start off giving them roles. And they're usually pretty odd. Basch would be a Black Mage, Vaan White Mage, Penelo physical tank etc.

It doesn't last long. :hmph:

I started off by saying that it wouldn't do any harm to give Vaan this HP augment ability. Ooooh, I'll give Penelo this Green Magic. Protect will help her. :jess:

By the time I get to Ozmone, everyone's an all rounder. -__- I'm yet to do a full playthrough in which everyone's a distinct class by the end. The temptation of making all rounders is just too attractive. It's a temptation I always give into. :gonk:
 
I tend to try, but it doesn't go very well.
I rarely use magic in this game unless it's of the green or white variety, apart from that offensive spellcasting is something I never do.

It's been a very long time since i've played XII, I generally had everyone with a HP < 50% = Curaga and 30% = Curaja gambit for everyone, needless to say it was a little excessive.

On my next run I think i'll take this into account more, it's probably better off to have everyone doing a specific thing. It makes sense really.

Everyone doing the same thing is rather silly and a bit overkill.
 
i only used 3 of the chars, those were:
Basch:physical dmg and some healing if neccesary
Fran: black mage and ofc some healing
Ashe: white mage/melee( i prefer having shields on my main healer since they survive longer then)

thats about it enjoy :P
 
Yes.

I hate having every character the exact same. It's no fun that way. there is no point in using all the characters if they are all the same.

Roles for recent playthrough:

Vaan: Arcane Magick, Mace, Shield, Magic hat, Heavy Armour.

Balthier: A bit of White Magick (Level 3 & 4 White), a Bow, Heavy helm and Armour.

Fran: Time Magick, Pole, Heavy Helm and Armour.

Basch: A small of amount of spells(mainly for decoy and regen), Sword, Shield, Light Hat, Heavy Armour.

Ashe: Black and Green Magick, Staff, Magic Hat and Armour.

Penelo: White and Green Magick, Rod, Magic Hat and Armour.
sneakerpimp441 said:
In a sense yes, you see, whereas a lot of people probably had Penelo as the mage because of her lower phys. def., I strengthened her as a tank. She can easily hold her own with Fran and Ashe backing her up. Fran is the primary overall Mage in this case, casting Green, White, and Black spells as I see fit. Aeroga, Curaga, Poisona, Stona, etc. those are all for Fran lest she loses too much MP than I switch it over to Ashe and give Fran the duty of supportive melee fighter.
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sneakerpimp441 said:
Penelo typically is equipped with any strong two-handed sword and a shield, so like a Ragnarok Blade and a Diamond Shield works well for her. I'll accessorize her with an Embroidered Tippet unless she's going up against a boss, in which case I'll have her steal every other turn with the Thief's Cuffs equipped. Ashe and Fran have Maces and Shields usually.

For the guys: it's aaaaaall about making Vaan the leading man, having Basch as the side tank, and *le gasp* Balthier as the supportive Mage. Balthier's job is to toss Hi-Potions, X-Potions and occasional Curas at his team mates while I have Vaan diving into the fray with his lovely Platinum Sword and Diamond Shield. Basch will just bash (haha, get it!) the skulls in of their assailants if Vaan doesn't fell them quick enough and he occasionally heals if Balthier's MP lowers too much for my comfort. If I make the parties very gender mixed than the roles don't change at all for them. So Ashe would still be supportive even as a leader, Basch would still be the side tank, and Fran would still be the Mage for example. Same goes for Balthier, Vaan, and Penelo.
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I am super confused by your logic and planning. It's your choice what to make them but still... It's like you took the characters and tried to completely defy their natural build(excluding Ashe and a bit of Basch). I'll give you points for being so unique, but holy crap. xD

First off, physical defense depends on your armour. Penelo is BAD as a tank because she has low HP and she is the weakest physical attacker in the game.

Secondly Fran is a terrible mage. The third worst in the game. To make her the mage > Ashe is a bit... different.

Thirdly you can't equip a two-handed sword And a shield. It's one or the other.

Lastly, for the girls, A mace + Shield < a rod. If they are being super mages they will need the MP. You can easily switch their weapons during battle anyway.

For the guys... I don't even know what to say. Balthier is the worst, or second worst (depends on how you tier Magic and MP) in the game... D:

Again you can make them however you want... even if it will make it harder on you. xP
 
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I do, loosely however:

Vaan: Light Armor, Sword/Dagger, Attack Magic

Basch: Heavy Armor, Big/Blunt Weapons, Support Magic

Ashe: Guns/Rods, Mystic Armor, Healing Magic

When the going gets tough, they go from defined roles to war machines. That's why I stick with only three. The upkeep for all of them is too much time and money I think.
 
Sum1sgruj said:
I do, loosely however:

Vaan: Light Armor, Sword/Dagger, Attack Magic

Basch: Heavy Armor, Big/Blunt Weapons, Support Magic

Ashe: Guns/Rods, Mystic Armor, Healing Magic

When the going gets tough, they go from defined roles to war machines. That's why I stick with only three. The upkeep for all of them is too much time and money I think.
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When I went through the game the first time I only used Fran, Ashe and Penelo. It was a SHOCK when I started using everyone... Armour is so damn expensive. I still can't believe the cost.

But I still do it.

Use everyone.

For the LP. <3


;>.>
​
 
Actually no.Except if you can call having Ashe as the leader giving her a role.
Other than that I had the main party I used,that tried to teach them as much skills and magic as I could.Would equip them with any weapon(the strongest ones usually),but I avoid having them all attack with the same weapon.
That's it.
 
I define my characters roles as for me it makes the game more of a challenge to have different characters so specific things.

Bathier: Warrior - He uses swords and all the techniks
Basch: Dragoon - He uses Spears and Arcane magic
Fran: Theif/Ninja - She uses daggers, ninja swords and katanas and also time magic
Vaan: Gun-mage - Uses guns and mainly green magic, but some black and white
Ashe: Black Mage - Uses staves and mainly black magic, but some white and green
Penelo: White Mage - uses rods and mainly white magic, but some green and Black.
 
On my first run through I had all the characters with different weapons, but all had all magic. I got up to Giruvegan before I realised that if I just slapped a Greatsword onto everyone I'd carve through the game with minimal effort.

I've restarted the game recently (currently 10 hours in, about to hit the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea, which is much harder than I remember it being...), but this time I'm setting up the characters as classes that suit their personality/art style.

Vaan - Thief/Warrior - Sword, Shield and Technicks

Penelo - Ninja/Green Mage - Daggers/Ninja Blade/Katana with the offensive Green Magic (I really wish that there was a 'Throw' technick...)

Ashe - Holy Knight/Lancer/Green Mage - Sword and Shield (although soon to be replaced with a Lance, so I can work on getting her the Zodiac Spear because I consider her to be the main character, so she can have the most bad-ass weapon), White Magic, protective Green Magic. Although, I can't decide whether to use magick armour or heavy armour...

Balthier - Gunner/Time Mage

Fran - Archer/Sage - All Black and White Magic besides Holy, which I'll only have Ashe get

Basche - Dark Knight/Berserker/Arcane Mage - He's gonna be my hard hitter with a Greatsword and Arcane Magic. Dark/ra/ga is powerful and Berserk will work wonders on enemies with low defence. It's ashame that the Souleater Technick is just terrible for damage =[ (is there any way to improve it?)

Hopefully the game will be more of a challenge with this set up. So far it's proving more of a challenge than having 6 healers/mages/tanks.
 
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