Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, the next-gen remaster of the 2007 Japan-only version of the original Final Fantasy XII, has given Western audiences their first experience with the Job system introduced by The International Zodiac Job System a decade ago. But, as if we’re not used to having jobs, we’re not sure what to do with it.
Fear not, after extensive playtime, we’ve found out some helpful tips to get you started and help you navigate the world of the Final Fantasy workforce. Here are 5 Tips for Choosing Jobs and using License Boards in Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age.
Make Sure to Use Every Job
You are able to have six characters in your party, and each character can choose two Jobs and two license boards (eventually). This means you can represent up to twelve different Jobs in your party, and luckily for you, there are only twelve jobs.
It can be really difficult to choose which job you want for each character, and the stress of this might prevent you from making the right choice. As long as you have access to every job, you should be fine, so take a deep breath and diversify.
You Don’t Get a Second License Board until Later
As I said, you will eventually be able to choose two jobs per character, but not until you reach the Tomb of Raithwall. You’ll find this in the course of the main quests west of Nam-Yensa.
Once you fight the “boss” of this area, if you will, you’ll finally unlock these second license boards, and this opens up the world. From here, you might want to make sure to choose opposite Jobs for each character, that way, they will be as multi-faceted as possible.
Your Choices Are Permanent
This is probably the reason why it’s so stressful. If you choose a job or set of jobs for one character, you can never change your mind on this save. This includes the trial mode as well. Once you make a choice, you’re stuck.
The workaround for this, though, is to wait to assign jobs. There’s no pressure or time-commitment. You can play through a significant portion of the game without really needing to assign jobs, so wait until you have a good feel for how you like to play, and then go for it.
Unlock Gambit Slots, But Not Too Early
The Zodiac Age uses Gambit slots to help regulate what your AI party members do or don’t do. These slots are unlockable spots on your license boards. These are good to have, but a bit of a waste in the early game.
Remember that you only have so many License Points to unlock slots, and, while your party is under-leveled, you don’t need the advanced gambits. Those points are better used elsewhere. Later in the game, too, these gambits can be used to easily farm smaller enemies for experience, License Points and loot, where as they might be too much of a hassle without Gambits.
License Slots Might Not Do Anything for You
Especially if you’re new to the game, you might want to just breeze through unlocking license slots. Just like in any RPG, you’ll get enough experience (in this case License Points), and then unlock whatever sounds logical. For instance, Light Armor 2 sounds enticing to me, as a noob, because right now I only have Light Armor 1.
That said, Licenses slots often don’t give you things, they just give you the ability to use things. So, Light Armor 2 will give me the ability to use better Armor. But if I don’t have better armor, then I’ve just thrown my License Points in the garbage. Instead you should focus on a string of upgrades that gives you base bonuses.
