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Caves of Narshe Forums > Final Fantasy Tactics > Mediators - how to make 'em work for you?


Posted by: Perigryn 3rd March 2012 21:33
This is one of the first playthroughs I put some effort into mastering a Mediator, but goshdangit, the level of fail is so very high.

How does one effect the success rate? Is it strictly based on sex and zodiac compatibility? I've tried experimenting with brave and faith, but it doesn't seem to have effect. It all seems more luck of the draw, really.

Posted by: Neal 4th March 2012 00:36
Success rate for mediator skills are based on the caster's magic power plus a constant based on which talkskill is being used.

Grabbing this from Aerostar's battle mechanics guide on gamefaqs:

Code

COMMAND         K    EFFECT
--------------  --   --------------------------------------------
Invitation      20   Add: Invite
Persuade        30   Target's CT set to zero
Praise          50   Target's Brave +4
Threaten        90   Target's Brave -20
Preach          50   Target's Faith +4
Solution        90   Target's Faith -20
Death Sentence  30   Add: Death Sentence
Negotiate       90   Steal ((Caster's Lv) * (Caster's Speed)) gil
Insult          40   Add: Berserk
Mimic Daravon   40   Add: Sleep


It's a direct addition of the magic power and that constant K, so for example, if your mediator has 15 MA, Praise will have a 65% chance of succeeding. There's no way to block it on top of that, so accessories with increased evasion won't stop them from hitting. Unfortunately, if you're using it against monsters, the character either has to be a mediator or have the support ability Monster Talk equipped. It's a pretty effective secondary on a lategame Wizard...probably not bothering with Monster Talk though.

Also funny, talkskill doesn't work on enemies that are asleep, and you can't use them if you're silenced.

Posted by: Iscariot 9th March 2012 22:54
My mediators were always a monkey wrench in the enemies plan. My best setup was a mediator with the knight skill, equiped with a gun, and using concentrate. I'd sit back and destroy armor and weapons from a distance, or just mix things up by inviting an enemy and changing the whole battlefield up. I know this doesn't help you get the most out of the talk skill, but it is a good way to utilize a mediator. Also throw on the dragon heart skill and your mediator can survive some vicious attacks.

Posted by: Suunok 10th March 2012 04:04
I believe Mediators also have a support or reaction skill titled "Train" in the original PSx version. It was incorrectly labelled (or maybe I just interpreted it that way) as adding the Invite status to monsters when bringing them to critical HP, when in fact it only works on human enemies.

Yeah. That's right. There's an ability in the game that allows you to passively invite enemies by beating the crap out of them.

Posted by: Kane 10th March 2012 05:00
Quote (Suunok @ 9th March 2012 20:04)
I believe Mediators also have a support or reaction skill titled "Train" in the original PSx version. It was incorrectly labelled (or maybe I just interpreted it that way) as adding the Invite status to monsters when bringing them to critical HP, when in fact it only works on human enemies..

Are you sure about that? It's been quite some time since I played (and don't have a copy of the game out here), but I feel like it worked on monsters as well. (Also, a guide jump to the BMG reveals no mention of a glitch in Train.)

Posted by: Perigryn 10th March 2012 06:03
Quote (Kane @ 10th March 2012 00:00)
Quote (Suunok @ 9th March 2012 20:04)
I believe Mediators also have a support or reaction skill titled "Train" in the original PSx version. It was incorrectly labelled (or maybe I just interpreted it that way) as adding the Invite status to monsters when bringing them to critical HP, when in fact it only works on human enemies..

Are you sure about that? It's been quite some time since I played (and don't have a copy of the game out here), but I feel like it worked on monsters as well. (Also, a guide jump to the BMG reveals no mention of a glitch in Train.)

It seems like when they're at critical HP, monster or human, you can use the Traitor speech skill, so long as you have that support ability.

Posted by: LilyheartsLightning 10th March 2012 20:47
The Mediator Job has a few useful abilities, but most of them have unreliable success rates. The most reliable useful abilities are Negotiate, Solution, and Equip Gun - Negotiate is a very effective way to grind money and experience, Solution can lower Faith to make your units permanently less susceptible to spells, and Equip Gun is useful for giving a long-range 100%-accuracy attack to classes who are best suited away from the frontlines. When it comes to the other abilities, especially Invitation, luck really is a large factor in the abilities' success.

According to the FF Wikia, Train works on both humans and monsters.

Posted by: Eternal248 11th March 2012 04:59
Free, AoE Sleep is also a huge advantage. Insult can be used to cancel an enemy mage's charged spell, too.

Posted by: Suunok 11th March 2012 09:06
Really? Huh, I've been underutilizing Train, then. From my recollection, I could never get it to work on monsters, while being convinced that's what the game was telling me it worked on. It appears the mistake is mine.

Posted by: Perigryn 12th March 2012 09:03
Quote (Suunok @ 11th March 2012 04:06)
Really? Huh, I've been underutilizing Train, then. From my recollection, I could never get it to work on monsters, while being convinced that's what the game was telling me it worked on. It appears the mistake is mine.

You just need the 'Tame' ability set to do so.

Also, thanks for the feedback, team! You'd think they'd have made them able to be a bit more predictable with a bit of work, instead of having it largely come down to the sex/zodiac mechanics.

Posted by: Neal 12th March 2012 17:06
My understanding is that Tame/Train adds invite status to monsters if the person equipped with the skill deals the attack that brings them to critical. It does not work with all attacks, just ones that are directly with your weapon. It does not change the workings of the Entice/Invite command.

Posted by: Rangers51 14th March 2012 02:23
For me, I make them work for me by learning Equip Gun and then going to a class I actually want to use. smile.gif

I'm partially kidding, of course - I really never have given them much of a chance. Historically, though, this is exactly what I do.

Posted by: Soth897 23rd May 2012 20:11
So I'm determined to build a working mediator, but I've got a some questions about their abilities.

1) Does Magic AttackUP affect their talk skills? (since MA is the determining stat for their success, according to the BMG)

2) Train. I know it was talked about earlier, but I was wondering if the success rate is 100% if the conditions are met (user reduces target to critical), or if it simply casts Invite on the target, as if you had used the skill itself? (in which case it would be subject to the normal formula for success of Invite). Furthermore, does the user actually have to be the character that initially brings the target to critical, or will it still activate if the user hits an already critical target, but still leaves them in a critical state? (doesn't kill them, just further weakens them). The last part is only really applicable late in the game, where you can be considered critical in terms of the % of HP you have left, but in reality still have a fair amount of HP.

I've had some fun in the past using a mediator, but his skills were always iffy in their success because I never actually looked into their mechanics.

Posted by: Kane 25th May 2012 05:15
Quote (Soth897 @ 23rd May 2012 12:11)
So I'm determined to build a working mediator, but I've got a some questions about their abilities.

1) Does Magic AttackUP affect their talk skills? (since MA is the determining stat for their success, according to the BMG)

2) Train. I know it was talked about earlier, but I was wondering if the success rate is 100% if the conditions are met (user reduces target to critical), or if it simply casts Invite on the target, as if you had used the skill itself? (in which case it would be subject to the normal formula for success of Invite). Furthermore, does the user actually have to be the character that initially brings the target to critical, or will it still activate if the user hits an already critical target, but still leaves them in a critical state? (doesn't kill them, just further weakens them). The last part is only really applicable late in the game, where you can be considered critical in terms of the % of HP you have left, but in reality still have a fair amount of HP.

I've had some fun in the past using a mediator, but his skills were always iffy in their success because I never actually looked into their mechanics.

As for 1), I don't believe it has any effect. It's what the BMG calls a "neutral" ability, so it's technically--as it sounds--neither physical nor magical.

As for 2), I don't need the BMG to tell you that if the target is susceptible to Invitation, it will work 100% (when you bring them into critical range using the ATTACK command).

Posted by: Soth897 28th May 2012 08:54
Thanks for the info. That makes sense that they would be neutral. Good to know that it's 100%, and not just a chance of working. It's still early in the game, but right now I've got 2 mediators who basically either praise everyone or tell boring stories. Gotta love Mimic Daravon!

Posted by: BuzbySlimsEsquire 17th September 2012 19:32
Using MA up helps a little. To get the mediator skills to work best, you need to assign the skill set to a female wizard. Female characters automatically have a higher MA, and wizards have the highest inherent MA. Wear items that raise MA, and you will have the best mediator you can. You'll want an effective mediator to raise your casting character's faith, and help raise everybody's brave.

Posted by: Perigryn 25th September 2012 01:37
Quote (BuzbySlimsEsquire @ 17th September 2012 14:32)
Using MA up helps a little. To get the mediator skills to work best, you need to assign the skill set to a female wizard. Female characters automatically have a higher MA, and wizards have the highest inherent MA. Wear items that raise MA, and you will have the best mediator you can. You'll want an effective mediator to raise your casting character's faith, and help raise everybody's brave.

Really? Interesting. My mediator's totally a dude, but oh well.

I'll start cross-training him over to Wizard to get that MA working for me, I suppose. Best I could do, because yeah, his success rate of raising folks' faith and brave and such, and negatively effecting enemies, is abysmal!

Posted by: Magitek_slayer 28th November 2012 16:27
i personally love threat and solution, because enemies are useless when turned into chickens, and can't attack, and it is the best training method.Turn 1 into a chicken while killing the rest, then spam monk build or charge or whatever its called for infinite jp.Personally, i don't much like steal heart.

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