Final Fantasy V Job Classes

Ranger

Vital Statistics

"Nature-loving archers who can call on local wildlife for aid."

Job Description

The Ranger has good Strength for a Clothes Job, but low Stamina. This is countered by the fact that the Ranger can remain in the Back Row. He's quite poor against magic attacks for this reason, as he has neither the HP nor the magical robes to withstand them. The only thing that makes the Ranger stand out as a Job is its ability to wield Bows and strike with unerring accuracy. Bows are not very good, lack impressive special abilities and their damage is really hard to boost since it requires two hands. Without !Aim, you will see that their accuracy is also pretty bad, this being only 70% for most Bows. The most powerful Bows available are the Hayate Bow (when stolen in Drakenvale) and the Artemis Bow (when wielded versus Magic Beasts). In these cases, though admittedly few others, Bows can be quite potent.

Job Ability Summary

We can be quick about Equip Bows, 'cause it sucks. The ability to use Bows without !Aim, well, misses out on a lot. There is no specially reason to want them. If you want your White and Time mages to have the potential to damage, you are better off equipping an offensive magic skillset. Other Jobs are better served by better physical options such as Barehanded or Dual-Wield. There's a few niche scenarios (the Artemis Bow really does pack a great punch against Magic Beasts, and it has a pretty decent Hit Rate, making it good on Thieves) where you can use those two anyway, though !Aim on other Jobs is often a triviality as well, since Bows are about the only weapons that miss often enough to warrant it anyway. This is true with the exception of Axes and Hammers, but, since you can't !Aim with a Berserker, the Gladiator is the only Job (capable of wielding both Axes and Bows) that could really make good use of this ability. The Blood Sword is another notable oddity where !Aim could prove useful.

!Animals is very sweet, actually. Those few that can deal real damage will run off of Magic Power, so !Animals is best utilized on a Job with high Magic Power. With only 15 ABP needed to learn the command, it's a great secondary action ability for Black Mages and Summoners since they already can deal great amounts of damage.

!Rapid Fire is where physical attacks get broken. The attack becomes effectively twice as powerful, unblockable and Defense-proof, in addition to carrying no random effects. With Dual-Wield, that's eight attacks. !Rapid Fire works together with !Spellblade. !Rapid Fire is the best physical-related ability in the game and you can't pass it up. For this reason, the Ranger is not a forgotten Job but a very popular one.

Transfer to Freelancer

Nothing, really. No inherent qualities and no stat boots worth mentioning when you compare them to other options. Freelancers are best employed as physical attackers though (since Mimes are better casters), and you'll want !Rapid Fire for them to pursue this end.