My non-canonical but better party (a giant post, again...)
Hello everyone!
Good morning, good afternoon or good evening. . .
For those who don't remember, I'm that guy who tried to make a perfectly "lore accurate" party and failed miserably.
This post is not to talk about that old party, but about my current one.
But first, I want to share some thoughts about the old one.
First, I won't go into too much detail about the narrative construction and line of reasoning used for the old party because it's simply not worth it.
If you want to see it, click Here and you'll be directed to the post about the old party where I explain the reasons for each decision.
What I want to point out about the old party here is actually a rant or a cry or both, depending on your point of view.
I confess that I feel frustrated for not being able to make a "100% canonical" party, but that's more because the game itself doesn't allow that.
Initially, I wanted to write a script for a series to post on YouTube, so I became obsessed with keeping the party canonical, to reconcile the characters in their cinematics and gameplay, this included not only using the same weapon that that character uses in most of their individual or group scenes, but also the skills that each one would have available in their licenses, combining equally with their Quickenings and distributing the Espers in a way that makes sense. All of this using all 12 licenses, so as not to cut any content from the game.
I also wanted to design a party that could be created in the 3 versions (XII, IZJS, TZA).
That's why one of the reasons my Black Mage was Penelo at the first time, was that it would be possible to make the same party in IZJS. Well, that changed...
The problem with wanting to have a 100% canon job is that each source of information about Final Fantasy XII reveals different information, each media in which XII appears reveals unique traits of the characters.
I'll give an example, Basch.
In his first cutscene he uses a bow and arrow as a weapon, in Nalbina he acts like a Knight, when you are in Yensa there is a dialogue with Vossler where he states that he follows the path of the knight, but during literally the entire game he cares about protecting Ashe and nothing else. This is literally the description of the Samurai.
Every line of dialogue he has with Ashe and Balthier clearly shows that he is only in the group to find the leader of the resistance, Amalia, and when he finally finds her, even though she disowns him, slapping him in the face and wishing he were dead, every subsequent line of dialogue he has is solely and exclusively "I need to protect your majesty".
When you go to Jahara, he questions Balthier why he helps Ashe so much and what he gains from it, this is basically him preparing himself for a possible betrayal by the pirate.
I only talked about one character here, but all of them, even Vaan, who is an extremely simplistic character, have several ambiguities that need to be put into perspective.
Fran can be an Archer, a Monk, a Black Mage, or a Red Mage. She fits perfectly into these four classes narratively.
Do you notice that I talked about Fran in a very simple way, unlike Basch, but it makes perfect sense to justify any of the four classes mentioned for her?
That's what frustrated me, I just wanted the narratively perfect classes for each character, but that's not possible because the jobs are simply not canonical and are just game mechanics.
The real canonical is the original game, where all characters can use all types of equipment and magic.
"But in Revenant Wings, Ashe is a Time Mage..."
Yes, and that's just game mechanics.
So I decided to continue with my YouTube video series but I left the canon aside, or almost... I chose to keep some patterns from my old canon party but I made some changes.
Excuse me for the long text, without further ado, my new almost canon party...
Vaan
Shikari / Foebreaker
Equipment:
Mesa
-
Grand Helm
Grand Armor
Bubble Belt
Espers: Cúchulainn
Main skills:
Protectga
Shellga
Telekinesis
Shades of Black
Vaan will always be the "rogue" of the team for me, he always gives off that vibe, I decided to keep him using Ninja Sword because in every art he appears he is always holding a one-handed sword, so that's how it will be. His main characteristic is being the fastest on the team while maintaining a constant DPS. His esper refers to his origin, Vaan hunted in the sewers to train, Cúchulainn is also quite independent like his master, probably the only esper who doesn't need constant healing. The Bubble Belt serves as an evolution of his Orrachea Armlet and seems great to me since Bubble is too good a stat to neglect and Vaan can't apply the buff on his own.
Balthier
Machinist / Time Mage
Equipment:
Mithuna
Stone Shot
Dueling Mask
Brave Suit
Ribbon
Espers: Exodus, Famfrit
Main skills:
Bubble
Hastega
Reflectga
Slowga
Balance
Graviga
Balthier was originally going to be Machinist and Uhlan, but I've done this combination before and I know that a lot of Uhlan's stuff is wasted. He's the only one to use a light set and his espers refer to his heritage and upbringing as a judge. His main characteristic is his high HP and high damage per hit. His Ribbon allows him to heal allies from practically anything since it has many remedy lores.
Fran
Archer / Black Mage
Equipment:
Dhanusha
Assassin's Arrow
Circlet
Lordly Robes
Opal Ring
Espers: Shemhazai, Chaos
Main skills:
Cura
Raise
Bubble
Blizzaga
Thundaga
Firaga
Aeroga
Scourge
Scathe
Shades of Black
Phenomenal magical power, this is the definition of the mysterious Fran in my party, originally it would be Archer / Monk and although this is a powerful combination, I didn't like it very much because apart from Curaja and Bravery, Fran wasn't capable of doing much and seemed more like a copy of Balthier just shooting from afar.
The new Fran does more than just shoot, she attacks with every element available using Scourge and Scathe for Water and Earth respectively, even when facing non-elemental enemies she still causes a lot of damage because Dhanusha is a hell of a weapon, that's when she simply doesn't execute instantly with Assassin's Arrow, heals a lot, has techniques to decrease enemies' magic and physical resistance from a distance and much more. Her espers are the combination of savage with elemental magic power. She is the only one to use the entire mystical set.
Basch
Samurai / Red Mage
Equipment:
Kumbha
Genji Shield
Genji Helm
Genji Armor
Genji Gloves
Espers: Zalera, Zeromus, Zodiark
Main skills:
Curaga
Bubble
Ardor
Darkga
Balance
Shades of Black
Basch was made to be the negative pole, the guy of the Dark element, the counterpoint to Ashe. All of his Espes represent the dark element and, curiously, they all start with the letter Z and are the strongest in their respective categories 1, 2 and 3. He has a ridiculous combo rate thanks to the Genji set and rivals Vaan for the highest DPS podium. There's not much to say, he's the dark swordsman.
Ashe
Knight / White Mage
Equipment:
Tournesol
-
Grand Helm
Grand Armor
Opal Ring
Espers: Belias, Mateus, Adrammelech, Ultima
Main skills:
Raise
Arise
Curaja
Renew
Protectga
Shellga
Bravery
Faith
Esunaga
Bubble
Holy
Telekinesis
Ashe is the opposite of Bash, explosive, nervous, vengeful and wanting at all costs what was taken from her by the empire. Luckily, our dear and beloved princess comes to her senses and understands that the past cannot be changed, not even with revenge.
Ashe became a Knight in my opinion when she joined the resistance, she is clearly not a helpless princess waiting to be saved by a mustachioed Italian, no, she will grab the biggest sword she has available and stick it in the chest of her enemies, she literally received this mission from the gods. Making Ashe a White Mage was merely a whim of mine so she could be the counterpoint to Basch, Penelo fits more into that honestly, but screw it, I don't follow the canon anymore. Her espers are inheritances from Raithwall + Adrammelech to complete the fire, ice and lightning trio, Ultima is just to match her Quickenings and be the counterpart to Basch.
Penelo
Uhlan / Monk
Equipment:
Zodiac Spear
-
Grand Helm
Grand Armor
Bubble Belt
Espers: Hashmal
Main skills:
Raise
Cura
Curaja
Bravery
Shades of Black
Finally my beloved Penelo, originally she was going to be Black Mage / Mong and then Black Mage / Time Mage. Honestly neither of the two combinations pleased me because I would have to give Balthier and Fran better combinations, at the same time I still wanted to make Penelo feel unique, since in my old party she was the only one who only used magic to attack.
So I decided that Penelo would be unique in a different way, she would be the only one with melee weapons that attack flying targets, thus forming a trio capable of attacking flying enemies (Balthier, Fran and Penelo), her esper would be the only source of Earth elemental damage and she would have the best fucking weapon in the game.
Penelo is a little slower than Vaan and Basch but faster than Balthier and Ashe. She is a middle ground, an exponent of absurd physical damage. Haste + Bravery + Berserk make her a killing machine. Poor anyone who gets in front of this girl. And the Bubble Belt? It's only because she can't apply the buff on her own.
So it's like this: Vaan and Penelo are equally pure physical attackers, with some defensive and healing spells. Vaan focuses on speed and Penelo on brute force.
Balthier, Fran, Basch and Ashe are mixed attackers of physical and magical damage.
Balthier is the guy with the exact skills, his weapon ignores defenses, he never misses, his spells have fractional damage or damage that balances his HP with the enemy's, none of them are based on magical power, his damage is balanced but guaranteed.
Fran is the opposite of Balthier, using several elemental attacks and occasionally some non-elemental ones, no matter what she uses, it will definitely be a massively strong attack, it may be slow, but it will be strong.
Basch is the second speed attacker exploiting fire and dark elemental weaknesses.
Ashe is the support of the team, occasionally attacking and exploiting Holy's elemental and Undead weakness.
The funny thing about her is that she is the most balanced between physical and magical power, having 99 strength and 98 magic power, everyone else always goes to one of the extremes.
Honestly, what I liked about this new party is how well distributed the spells and techniques are and the magical and physical damage of the characters.
In the old party, I had more than two characters who were completely incapable of doing anything other than attack, while at the same time I had 3 characters who did everything.
In this new party, all characters are able to cast spells, for example, either using actual magic or with Shades of Black. All characters can attack physically and with high damage.
I put a Foe Gambit: +5 Foes Present = Some Magic or Shades of Black, this gave me scenes where the 3 characters used magic when encountering many enemies and simply killed them all almost at the same time, very useful for the Trial by the way, at the same time that the characters still have high physical damage for situations in which they cannot use magic.
They work very well independently, they can fight alongside their espers without any problem, and when they are together they work even better.
That's it, thank you if you read this far.