FINAL FANTASY TACTICS Best Abilities for Each Job RANKED – The Ivalice Chronicles

In this post, we review the best abilities for each job in Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles and rank them from best to worst!

Best Squire Abilities

The Squire in Final Fantasy Tactics might seem like a bad job because it’s a starting one, but don’t let that fool you. Some of the starting abilities are the most important in all of FFT Remaster and are critical for surviving early on.

JP Boost, Focus, and Stone are the best Squire Abilities in Final Fantasy Tactics. JP Boost is useful the entire playthrough in the game allowing you to power level other Job abilities. Focus helps you power up your attack or farm JP when you aren’t able to reach a target. Lastly, Stone is critical for the early game as a Squire and gives you a range damage attack.

Below are the best Squire Abilities and ranked from best to worst:

JP Boost: best ability grinding skill in the game, useful the entire playthrough.
Focus: boost attack and useful for farming JP as you advance.
Stone: early ranged attack helpful for beginners.
Tailwind: boost speed, doesn’t require a target, and helpful for all Jobs.
Counter Tackle: early game counter attack that can be used on many Jobs.
Move +1: early game helpful movement skill until Thief +2.

Best Chemist Abilities

The Chemist is the foundation of every strong party in Final Fantasy Tactics (FFT), serving as the go-to support unit early on thanks to its unrivaled ability to heal and restore status effects from range. While often underestimated due to its low offensive power, the Chemist’s Item command can single-handedly carry your team through the first few chapters.

Phoenix Down, Auto Potion, and X-Potion are the best abilities for the Chemist Job in Final Fantasy Tactics. Phoenix Down is critical to revive allies who’ve died in combat and is available at the start of the game. Meanwhile, Auto Potion is a reaction ability that triggers the use of a potion once you receive incoming damage. Lastly, X-Potion, the highest potion is a go-to healing device that can be combined with Auto Potion for incredible survivability.

Below are the best Chemist Abilities and why:

Phoenix Down – Easily the strongest Chemist ability. Reviving fallen allies from range with no casting time makes Phoenix Down a must-have ability for every party.
Auto Potion – When HP drops to 25% or less, automatically uses a Potion (or the strongest potion in inventory) on self. This is an incredible self-preservation ability for any unit, allowing them to survive hits they otherwise wouldn’t. Very useful on your Chemists or any front-line unit.
X-Potion – A huge jump in healing power compared to Potion and Hi-Potion, restoring a large chunk of HP instantly.
Throw Item – Extends the range of your Item command. This allows your Chemist to heal or revive allies from a safer distance, or target enemies with items like Grenades without putting themselves in harm’s way. Absolutely essential for maximizing their utility.
Remedy – A single item that cures nearly every status ailment, freeing up space in your Item command set and saving you from multiple debuffs.
Ether – Restoring MP is critical for mages, and Ether is one of the most consistent ways to do it, especially early to mid-game.

Best Archer Abilities

The Archer is a crucial early-game ranged physical damage dealer and a foundational job for unlocking powerful support abilities for other physical units. While their direct damage output may eventually be surpassed, the utility they offer, particularly through their signature Concentrate ability, makes them an indispensable part of your party’s progression.

Concentration, Aim, and Equip Crossbows are the best Archer abilities in Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles. Concentration ensure physical attacks always land, making sure you do as much damage as possible each turn. Therefore, concentration ability is applicable to every physical damage Job, making it the best overall and a must-have. Aim or Charge is your fundamental attack, spending time to deal more damage. It’s a great burst tool to take out targets at far range. Lastly, Equip Crossbows should be considered for jobs lacking any sort of range attack and wanting a reliable way to deal damage from afar.

Here are the best Archer abilities ranked:

Concentration: always hit your target as a physical damage dealer
Aim / Charge: burst damage at range
Equip Crossbows: gain access to a range attack with support ability
Adrenaline Rush: increase your speed, taking a turn sooner after being hit
Jump +1: decent mobility ability for spellcasters and ranged units

Best Knight Abilities

The Knight in Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles is a durable frontline job focused on controlling enemies through gear-breaking abilities and strong defense. While their raw damage falls behind some advanced jobs, Knights excel in weakening opponents by lowering their stats, crippling their weapons, and reducing mobility. Their Arts of War skillset, combined with high HP and access to heavy armor and shields, makes them a valuable mid-game tank and debuff specialist. This guide will rank the Knight’s strongest abilities, suggest which ones to prioritize, and provide tips on where to spend your Job Points (JP).

Rend Weapon, Rend Armor, and Rend Power are the best Knight abilities in Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles. The Rend Weapon destroys an enemy’s weapon and makes most of them completely useless. However, if a monster doesn’t use a weapon for damage, Rend Power is a helpful alternative. Rend Armor is great for stripping armor and increasing your damage against a specific target. When in doubt, use either Rand Armor or Rend Power on most Knight actions.

Below are the best Knight Abilities Ranked in Final Fantasy Tactics Remaster from best to worst:

Rend Weapon: destroys enemies weapon, making some character completely useless.
Rend Armor: destroys enemies armor, lowering resistance immediately.
Rend Power: good for lowering incoming damage when enemies don’t use weapons.
Rend Speed: great option when enemies take frequent turns.
Parry: useful reaction ability for Knight’s and melee classes.

Best White Mage Abilities

The White Mage is the quintessential healer and support caster in Final Fantasy Tactics, essential for keeping your party alive and removing debilitating status effects. Their magic is based on their Faith stat and Magic Attack (MA). Investing in a good White Mage build and abilities is crucial for success throughout the game.

Curaga, Raise, and Ensuna are the best abilities for the White Mage in Final Fantasy Tactics. Curage is the best overall heal for the MP cost and has a lower cast time. Raise is essential because it has better range than Phoenix Down and it revives downed allies. Ensuna is essential for dealing with any negative status effect and is helpful for any team or party in FF Tactics.

Here are the best White Mage abilities, considering Action, Reaction, Support, and Movement abilities, ranked by overall utility and impact:

Curaga: the overall best heal for the White Mage with moderate MP cost, cast time, and good healing
Raise: revives KO’d units and has better range than Phoenix Down
Esuna: removes many status effects and is needed for support builds
Holy: offensive spell with high damage but high MP cost
Reraise: Automatically revives unit when downed

Best Black Mage Abilities

Black Mages are the classic glass cannon of Final Fantasy Tactics, dealing massive elemental damage and offering powerful AOE. While their spells often come with long charge times, proper team composition and positioning make them some of the most lethal units in the game.

Flare, Firaja/Blizzaja/Thundaja, and Toad are the best abilities for the Black Mage in Final Fantasy Tactics. Flare is the best single-target Black Magic spell in the game, and it’s non-elemental so it works on everything. Firaja/Blizzaja/Thundaja deal big damage in a large area of effect. And Toad can completely neutralize a dangerous enemy, making it great against powerful enemies like backline casters.

Here are the best Black Mage abilities, considering Action, Reaction, Support, and Movement abilities, ranked by overall utility and impact:

Firaga / Blizzaga / Thundaga: good overall MP to damage elemental attack
Flare: best single target and non-elemental damage
Firaja / Blizzaja / Thundaja: must have elemental damage good MP cost to damage ratio
Toad: neutralizes a target
Death: high risk but high reward instant kill

Best Thief Abilities

The Thief may not be the strongest melee damage dealer, but it brings incredible utility to your team. The Thief is capable of stealing rare items and generating gear you can’t get anywhere else. With the right support, Thieves can be the source of game-breaking loot, battlefield control, and powerful movement upgrades.

The Best abilities for the Thief Job include Steal Weapon, which lets you require some truly unique equipment which can only be obtained by stealing, Move + 2 which is a great movement skill that can be used on a build, and Steal Heart which can charm enemies and force them to fight each other.

Here are the best Thief abilities, considering Action, Reaction, Support, and Movement abilities, ranked by overall utility and impact:

Steal Weapon: best overall because it’s needed to get the end-game weapons only thru stealing.
Move +2: great movement ability that can be used on every character.
Steal Heart: range ability that charms enemies and forces them to fight each other.
Jump +2: helpful movement ability on specific jobs like Archer or Dragoon.
Steal Accessory: must have ability to get Ribbon at end game.

Best Monk Abilities

The Monk is a powerhouse physical job that combines raw melee damage with utility, healing, and revival—all without requiring MP or equipment. Monk is often considered the best overall melee DPS unit because of it’s ability and stat growth. You can heal, revive allies, do AOE damage, and even have a ranged attack. However, it maybe confusing on which abilities to take, prioritize, and save up for.

Shockwave, Aurablast, and Chakra are the best Monk abilities in Final Fantasy Tactics. Shockwave produces a line of damage that can hit multiple targets even through elevation. Aurablast is a powerful single target attack that has range so you never miss a chance to hit an enemy during your turn. Lastly, Chakra is a powerful heal that not only restores HP but MP and it can be used to heal yourself or others.

Here are best Monk abilities, considering Action, Reaction, Support, and Movement abilities, ranked by overall utility and impact:

Shockwave: best damage ability that travels in a straight line hitting mulitple targets
Aurablast: ranged damage single target but hits very hard
Chakra: healing and restoring MP to you or others
Revive: revives a KO’d allied
First Strike: reaction ability that can outright kill someone attacking you first

Best Time Mage Abilities

The Time Mage offers some of the most game-changing buffs and battlefield control tools in FFT. With spells that manipulate turn order, movement, and even reality itself, the Time Mage is a vital support class – especially when paired with offensive casters.

The best Time Mage abilities include Swiftness, which speeds up the casting time of all spells, Haste, which increases a unit’s speed, and Slow, which decreases enemy speed.

Here are the best Time Mage abilities, considering Action, Reaction, Support, and Movement abilities, ranked by overall utility and impact:

Swiftness: This ability shortens the casting time of all spells, allowing your Time Mage to get spells off before enemies can move or attack. This is crucial for a class with long casting times, as it makes your character more reliable and reactive on the battlefield.
Haste: Haste increases a unit’s speed, allowing them to take their turns much more frequently. By casting this on your fastest characters, you can get them to act multiple times for every one of the enemy’s turns.
Slow: This spell decreases an enemy’s speed, effectively delaying their turns and making them much less of a threat. It is a fantastic tool for crowd control, as you can slow down multiple enemies to give your team more time to act.
Stop: Stop freezes an enemy in place, making them unable to act for a short duration. This is one of the most powerful control spells in the game, as it completely neutralizes a dangerous enemy.
Quick: This incredible ability instantly gives an ally their next turn, allowing them to act immediately. You can use it to let your most powerful character get a second attack in a row, or to give a healer a life-saving turn.

Best Geomancer Abilities

The Geomancer is a hybrid physical damage dealing class that is unlocked after reaching level 3 with the Monk. Geomancer use terrain to power their attacks with elemental damage. Therefore, you must be on specific elemental tiles in order to use the Geomancer’s abilities, making their skills situational yet powerful if used correctly.

Unlike other casters, the Geomancer’s spells don’t consume MP, and they can equip swords. Therefore, they are a true hybrid job and the abilities you pick for them are critical to using Geomancer job effectively.

Tanglevine, Attack Boost, And Nature’s Wrath are the best Geomancer abilites in FFT Remaster. Tanglevine can cast the “Stop” status effect on enemies, rendering them useless. Attack Boost is a powerful support ability that increases physical attack power by 33%! While Nature’s Wrath is a reaction ability that counters incoming attackers with elemental damage regardless if you’re on the correct terrain or not.

Here are the best Geomancer abilities, considering Action, Reaction, Support, and Movement abilities, ranked by overall utility and impact:

Tanglevine: inflict stop on enemies, game changer if cast on correct terrain
Attack Boost: increase physical attack and it can be used with any job
Nature’s Wrath: reaction ability that deals elemental damage regardless of terrain
Whirlwind: cause confuse on enemies, having them attack each other
Ignore Terrain: niche movement ability that is situationally helpful

Best Summoner Abilities

The Summoner is your massive area (AOE) damage dealer in Final Fantasy Tactics. Unique to the Summoner is it’s offensive abilities don’t hit friendly targets. This makes their raw damage more powerful than a Black Mage and is often used through the mid to end-game in Final Fantasy Tactics. Moreover, Summoner’s have buffs, healing, and defensive skills as well. Making them the most well-rounded spellcaster in the game.

Here are the best Summoner abilities, considering Action, Reaction, Support, and Movement abilities, ranked by overall utility and impact:

Bahamut: the most powerful AOE summon and a classic in Final Fantasy.
Leviathan: the biggest AOE though elemental damage.
Cyclops: an alternative to Bahamut just with less range.
Golem: a protective barrier and critical for boss fights.
Faerie: area-based heal.

Best Ninja Abilities

The Ninja job is unlocked after reaching level 4 with the Thief, level 3 with Archer, and level 2 with Geomancer. However, it’s one of the most powerful physical damage-dealing jobs because of its innate dual-wielding and speed. The Ninja also has range damage built in with Throw, allowing players to throw objects like swords, bombs, daggers, and more.

However, it can be difficult to understand which thrown items are the best and why. It’s important to note that throwing an item causes it be destroyed. Therefore, it can get expensive and pricey, unless you know the best abilities to unlock. In this guide, we explain the 5 best Abilities, which you should prioritize, and why. Let’s get started with our 5best Ninja abilities ranked!

Dual Wield, Throw Shuriken, and Throw Bombs are the best Ninja abilities in FF Tactics Remaster. Dual Wield is a support ability that allows any job to equip two weapons. This doubles your attack power with classes like the Knight, Monk, Thief, etc. Throw Shuriken is a powerful and cheap way to use the Throw mechanic and hit targets at range. Similarly, Throw Bombs is also a great way to deal damage at range with the added effect of elemental damage.

Here are the best Ninja abilities, considering Action, Reaction, Support, and Movement abilities, ranked by overall utility and impact:

Dual Wield: allowing any job to equip two weapons at once, doubling their attacks per action.
Throw Shuriken: cheap, reliable, and decent ranged damage.
Throw Bombs: elemental damage and status effects via bombs.
Throw Knight Sword: high damage though expensive.
Reflexes: high evasion reaction great for avoiding damage.

Best Dragoon Abilities

The Dragoon (also called Lancer in some versions) is basically a tanky polearm bruiser who wins fights by playing keep-away. You’ve got heavy armor, strong physical damage, spears with natural 2-tile reach, and the signature Jump toolkit that lets you disappear for a moment (dodging a lot of danger) and then come crashing down for big damage from long range. The tradeoff is timing: if the target moves before you land, you can whiff, so the best Dragoon abilities are the ones that make Jump more reliable and make you harder to kill while you’re setting it up.

The best Dragoon abilities for Final Fantasy Tactics are Dragonheart, which grants reraise, Horizontal Jump and Vertical Jump.

Here are the best Dragoon abilities, considering Action, Reaction, Support, and Movement abilities, ranked by overall utility and impact:

Dragonheart: When Dragonheart triggers, it grants Reraise, which is insane value on a frontliner who’s going to take hits while you’re lining up Jumps.
Ignore Elevation / Ignore Height: One of the best movement skills in the whole game, not just for Dragoon. It lets you treat cliffs, rooftops, and weird map geometry like they don’t exist, which means you get perfect positioning for Jump setups and safer angles in general.
Horizontal Jump: Maxing your horizontal Jump range makes it easier to pick off backliners and punish enemies that think they’re safe.
Vertical Jump: Some maps are basically designed to bully you with elevation. Max vertical Jump means you can still land Jumps on rooftop campers and high-ground units without wasting turns running the scenic route.
Equip Polearms / Equip Spear: Spears are strong because of their range (and often solid stats), so being able to run a polearm on other physical jobs lets you keep that 2-tile threat while grabbing a different main kit.

Best Samurai Abilities

The Samurai in FFT is a heavily armored melee job that’s secretly one of the best “support casters” in the game. Its signature kit is Iaido (aka Draw Out), where you unleash an instant AoE effect tied to a katana in your inventory. The reason Samurai is so powerful is simple: these skills hit big areas, fire instantly, scale off Magic Attack (so they stay relevant), and bring some of the strongest buffs and healing you can hand to a party in one button press, with the only real drawback being the chance your katana breaks.

Here are the best Samurai abilities, considering Action, Reaction, Support, and Movement abilities, ranked by overall utility and impact:

Shirahadori (Blade Grasp): Flat-out one of the best reaction abilities in FFT: it can negate most physical attacks if your Brave is high, which turns any unit into a “nice try” dodge tank.
Masamune (Iaido): An instant, AoE Haste + Regen is absurd tempo. Your whole team acts more often and passively heals, which snowballs fights in your favor fast.
Kiyomori (Iaido): AoE Protect + Shell is the “make my party not explode” button. It’s one of the biggest defensive swings you can get without spending MP or a full turn charging magic.
Murasame (Iaido): Reliable, instant AoE healing that scales with MA, so it stays useful even late-game and on mage builds running Iaido as a secondary.
Muramasa (Iaido): Your go-to “end the debate” damage Draw Out for most of the game: strong AoE damage with the same instant, no-MP convenience that makes Iaido so oppressive, assuming you can keep the katana stocked.

Best Mystic Abilities

The Mystic is FFT’s “combat disabler” mage. Instead of racing enemies with raw damage, you shut down their ability to act, strip key buffs, and win fights because the other team literally cannot play the game. In The Ivalice Chronicles, the Mystic’s command is Mystic Arts, which focuses on manipulating an enemy’s mind and body to impede them in battle, and it pairs well with the job’s high MA/MP.

Here are the best Mystic abilities, considering Action, Reaction, Support, and Movement abilities, ranked by overall utility and impact:

Induration (Petrify): Petrify takes a unit out of the fight in the most permanent way possible, and it stays valuable all game because it doesn’t care how tanky the target is.
Repose (Sleep): Sleep is one of the best forms of crowd control because it completely removes a unit’s turn until they’re hit. It’s perfect for pausing a dangerous enemy while you clean up the board, reposition, or focus fire something else.
Hesitation (Paralyze / Don’t Act): Don’t Act is brutal because it stops physical actions and many enemy plans without needing to kill them. It’s especially good against high-damage melee units and annoying utility enemies you want “alive, but useless” for a few turns.
Quiescence (Silence): Silence is the anti-mage button. It can completely collapse enemy casters, especially in story fights where one wizard is basically the whole problem.
Harmony (Dispel Magic): This is your answer to “the enemy just buffed up and now I hate my life.” Dispel Magic removes positive statuses, so it punishes Protect, Shell, Haste, and other defensive setups and keeps fights from snowballing against you.

Best Orator Abilities

Instead of winning with raw damage, the Orator wins combat by controlling turns, shutting enemies down, and even flipping units to your side. In The Ivalice Chronicles, that power lives in the Orator’s Speechcraft kit, which is all about influencing allies and enemies through words.

Here are the best Orator abilities, considering Action, Reaction, Support, and Movement abilities, ranked by overall utility and impact:

Entice: Turning an enemy human into an ally mid-fight is ridiculous value, and if you pull it off, they’ll officially join your party after the battle.
Mimic Darlavon: Reliable crowd control ability: it inflicts Sleep in an area, which can basically pause a chunk of the enemy team while you clean up the rest.
Stall: Tempo is everything in FFT, and Stall is a brutal tempo swing: it resets a target’s CT to zero, meaning you can effectively “delete” their next turn.
Preach: Increases a unit’s Faith, which is a big deal if you’re running strong casters and want their spells to hit harder and land more consistently.
Praise: Increases a unit’s Bravery, which is a big quality-of-life boost for physical-focused characters and anyone relying on reaction abilities to trigger.

Best Arithmetician Abilities

The Arithmetician uses Arithmeticks lets you cast spells instantly (no charge time) by targeting units that match a condition like CT, Level, or Elevation, plus a rule like “multiple of 5” or “prime.” Once you understand the patterns, you can hit huge chunks of the battlefield for free, from anywhere.

Target CT: This is the engine of the most reliable Arithmeticks setups because CT is constantly changing and easy to “catch” large groups with, especially when paired with the multiple rules. It’s the foundation for classic plays like CT-based mass Holy, Haste, or status spells.
Target Multiple of 5: This is the single most practical multiplier because it pairs perfectly with Target CT for the infamous “CT5” style casts that can swing a fight immediately. Big coverage, easy to use, and it enables the most consistent “press button, whole map feels it” moments.
Target Prime: Prime is excellent when you want wide coverage without thinking too hard about exact values. It hits a lot of common numbers across CT/Level/Elevation choices, which means it often catches multiple enemies at once.
Target Level: Level targeting is steady and predictable, especially in story battles where enemy levels cluster. If you know the enemy’s levels, you can aim Arithmeticks more deliberately than with CT, and avoid some accidental friendly fire.
Target Elevation: This one is more map-dependent, but when it’s good, it’s really good. On maps with lots of rooftops, cliffs, or tiered terrain, Elevation targeting can “select” enemies by where they’re standing, which lets you punish high-ground squads or avoid your own front line.