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| Caves of Narshe Forums > Final Fantasy Tactics > FFT Geomancer build ideas |
| Posted by: Glenn Magus Harvey 20th October 2020 20:06 |
| So i've been watching a friend's FFT stream where she's building the characters based on input from the audience (which is basically the several of us who watch her stream). My character is a female Geomancer. And I've been thinking of various sorts of builds. Original idea was a Geomancer + Oracle, because I think that role wasn't being very well-covered. But, soon after that, when it turned out that the party was kinda lacking healing, I decided to spec into Priest to get some white magic staples, like Cure and Raise. Then, when we needed to deal with a particularly nasty story battle in late chapter 2, I decided to go for Oracle again. In that battle, however, I lucked into a crystal that let me inherit a wild number of abilities in several classes. One battle later, I lucked into another crystal that gave me some basic Thief abilities. So now I have something like the following: (I can't check the game myself when she's not playing, so this is from memory) * Priest - basic healing/revival spells, plus a few more spells. Probably the most developed of my second options. Geomancer lets me also deal damage when no one needs healing, and even when I'm out of MP, and it also gives me some decent bulk despite also dabbling in magic, making me more survivable as a mage. * Oracle - status effects are definitely an underserved domain in our current roster. I do already have Paralyze and Defense Up, though, and I'm not sure how much more I can get out of it. However, it does give me a strangely powerful physical attack, when I have all the equipment for boosting my magic stat. * Wizard - I have all three basic elemental spells, plus points for some more. Again, Geomancer means that I also remain relevant even when I run out of MP, and also gives me decent physical stats. But we do have relatively decent coverage in the attack spells department, between some other squad members covering Wizard and Summoner classes. * Time Mage - I have a few basic spells here, as well as some points too. Again, Geomancer is relevant even when out of MP, and has decent physical stats. But we do have pretty decent coverage of the time mage ability set by other squad members. That said, I could get the Teleport movement ability from this class, which seems like it'd go well with Thief skills (see below). * Summoner - Similar comments as to Wizard. I already have Moogle and I also have enough points to pick up two of the standard three elemental summons. * Thief - This is a class we don't have good coverage of yet. Knowing that some enemies (such as a certain dark knight) have really spectacular equipment, I want to work up to Steal Weapon and other stuff. (Right now, Mustadio is our only thief.) I think I currently have Gil Taking and Steal Helmet. I still wanna do a Geomancer as my primary class, though obviously I'm willing to grind various secondaries. Possibly more than one. For reference, right now I have all the Geomancer action abilities, plus Counter Flood. (I also have regular Counter.) Any thoughts? Which one's your favorite(s)? You can even say switching between classes could be good. |
| Posted by: Galsic 20th October 2020 22:24 |
| From my personal experience, I always thought the chemist was an overall more dependable healer. Though all items are only single-target, they have no charge, and as long as there's nothing between the chemist and the target, the items are always 100% effective. But if you're goin' with geomancer as the primary class, guess that would require the throw item support ability to really make that work. Beyond that, I always saw statuses (at least offensive ones) more as "cool as a side effect" than as something that could be focused on as viable strategy. To my memory, the effect rate of statuses were always relatively low. |
| Posted by: Glenn Magus Harvey 25th October 2020 05:00 |
| Looking at the rest of the team, someone's already got most of these roles covered, aside from Oracle. We've got one dedicated Priest, and a few backup healers. And we've already got multiple Wizards/Summoners and even a few Time Mages, albeit mainly in backup form. I've suggested the Thief + Time Mage = Teleporting Thief build for the character who's already working on Thief. And someone else already has specialization in Item use. Meanwhile, I could probably use my magic stat for something, alongside Geomancer skills. From my understanding, Oracle's ability to cause status effects is a chance based on the magic stat, so it won't go to waste. The stream host suggested I next go for Foxbird, which deals -30 Brave (CoN's FFT guide currently saying 10 is apparently a mistake), which can be devastating and also lead to incapacitating opponents into the form of chickens. Beyond this, abilities that would let me manipulate Faith levels and remove enemy buffs seem quite useful. And most importantly for the team, this gives battlefield control and debuff possibilities that we don't really have good coverage of right now. Debuffing the enemy with status effects were rather critical to that one battle. Furthermore, I've been told that certain status debuffs can greatly enhance steal chances. Once we have Steal Weapon, I could help the team get our hands on all sorts of wildly powerful weapons. So for now I think I'm gonna just go for Oracle. In case we need any other caster type, I can play Oracle as my primary and then the corresponding magic type for my secondary, while reaping the benefits of being able to equip sticks. |
| Posted by: Glenn Magus Harvey 29th October 2020 14:09 |
| Anyone know if Geomancy is reflectable? |
| Posted by: DragonKnight Zero 30th October 2020 01:13 |
| It is not. Throwing out some thoughts as I don't have any specific recommendation other than avoid duplication on roles already covered. Some Oracle skills to consider if you've got JP to spend. Sleep Song: Sleep lasts a long time. The range also lets you nail multiple enemies. Life Drain: Zodiac killer. Also ignores magic evade. Silence Song: Only useful on humans but when it works, it works very well. Pray Faith: I tend to ignore this normally but if you're willing to spare the 400 JP (or are lucky to snag it from a crystal) this has lots of utility. It will significantly boost the accuracy of Yin-Yang magic as well as help out your mage allies. Move-Mp up will be more potent later on but can work well to cover MP needs so it may have some utility. Dispel i find meh. Only enemy buff that shows up with regularity is Haste and a Slow can counter that. Don't let me stop you if that's something you want though. If you want lasting faith manipulation, someone's going to need to spend time in Mediator. Oracle skills only tweak it temporarily. Thief notes: If you're already past the execution site, there won't be any more unbuyable weapons to steal until Chapter 4 (or if someone levels high enough for Ultimus Bows to show up). Theft will let you have access to nice stuff before it's available in stores so it depends on how much you value what you can swipe. Geos are one of the better classes to carry a Steal secondary. Only average speed multipler but 4 move and hats and shields are nice for survivability. Once Diamond shields or better start showing up, Abandon can really turn her into an evasive beast though not worth the reaction slot before then. Only a few statuses give bonuses to Steal success rate. Others help by nullifying the target's evade. |
| Posted by: Glenn Magus Harvey 9th November 2020 21:13 |
| We do have at least one other party member doing Mediator, so we've got that covered. Meanwhile, I've gotten everything the Geomancer can get, except for Attack Up. I've told the host to train me up on Oracle stuff but switch back to Geomancer for leveling up. Meanwhile, during training, I get to do surprisingly good damage with a stick. (I carry a sword as a Geomancer, though.) At this point I have Spell Absorb, Life Drain, Silence Song, Foxbird, Paralyze, and [S] Defense Up. Also I'm usually walking around with [M] Any Ground (I think?), [S] Defense Up, and [R] Counter Flood. I'm also very willing to go touch crystals. I could end up becoming the skill monkey that way lol. Also, I've switched my avatar to Geomancer! |
| Posted by: Glenn Magus Harvey 17th November 2020 16:25 |
| Update on this: I've now mastered Geomancer, and if I recall correctly, I have the following Oracle abilities: * Spell Absorb * Life Drain * Pray Faith (not yet, coming soon) * Silence Song * Foxbird * Paralyze * Sleep * Petrify * [S] Defense Up I could go for a more interesting support ability. Perhaps I should consider Magic Defense Up from the Priest class, since I'm mostly attacking at range. Meanwhile, crowdsourced Agrias build is now speccing into Samurai, and her first ability there is Heaven's Cloud. Also, Mustadio's being built into a master thief. He has all the Steal skills now except Gil Taking and Steal Exp, and maybe Steal Heart. |
| Posted by: Kane 19th December 2020 23:35 |
| Sounds very cool. This is probably irrelevant by now, but in case it's not, I'd suggest either Magic Defense Up or Magica Attack Up/Attack Up [if I recall correctly, Geomancy factors in both PA and MA, so either one will boost your Geomancy abilities; it's just a matter of whether or not you want to boost your Life Drain or your ATTACK command when someone manages to close to melee--you know, assuming this is even remotely relevant anymore]. |
| Posted by: Glenn Magus Harvey 20th December 2020 05:56 |
| I think I went with Magic Defense Up as my default, since I figured I'd mostly be fighting at range. I do have a sword though. Also I decided to make myself a "skill monkey", picking up especially reaction/support/movement abilities from wherever, so I could more versatilely swap between them as the battles might require. Perhaps more relevantly, the friend who was streaming doesn't seem likely to continue the stream, for reasons unrelated to it. But this does give me Geomancer build ideas for me if/when I get around to playing FFT myself! |
| Posted by: Eagle Caller 4th August 2021 05:16 |
| If Geomancer's could wield Knight Swords without assistance I'd always be down to use one. Why I can't get away from Knights. Possible spoilers? Since this about Geomancer's I don't ever have Equip Sword or Break as abilities. Since Math Skill is off the table then I never go wrong adding 'Punch Art' to any or all of my characters. The wizard who doesn't run out of MP, the fast thief harder to kill thanks to that HP boost, and especially the armor sturdy Geomancer couldn't benefit from an addition attack that goes 8 squares. I might need to amend the top five skill topic if I didn't mention it. I'm saying Punch Art is too good not to use. The other skills besides Math and Mime have conditions that can make them worse/ineffective in my experience. If I had a crap ton of money to blow and had to fight multiple battles on the world map then 'draw out' would replace Punch Art. |
| Posted by: Eagle Caller 21st June 2022 01:39 |
| My Geomancer. Rune Blade Ice Shield Theif Hat Rubber Costume Chantage when female. 108 Gems when male. Elemental Math Skill Speed Save Magic Attack Up Teleport when female. Move+3 when male. I like they are immune to ice and lightning in this build. The half fire is not bad either. Punch Art and Martial Arts is a safer build yet not as powerful as Math Skill. |