Best Abilities for Squire in FINAL FANTASY TACTICS – The Ivalice Chronicles

These are the top Squire abilities in Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles, ranked based on usefulness, synergy, JP efficiency, and power.

The Squire 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. In this guide, we explain the 10 best Abilities, which you should prioritize, and why. Let’s get started with our 10 best Squire abilities ranked!

Related FFT Guides:

Strongest Squire Abilities Rank

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 we list the top 10 strongest Squire Abilities and explain why:

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.
Shout: boost all stats, heals, and removes status effects, however limited to Ramza only.
Cheer Up: boost bravery stat, which helps with reactions and certain weapon attacks.
Salve: cleanse helpful in early game.
Intimidate: debuff intimidate, which can be helpful against Knights.

10. Intimidate

Type: Action
JP Cost: 250 JP
Why it’s good: Lowers enemy Bravery, which reduces the chance of reaction abilities triggering. Can help shut down counter builds.
Best used with: Control-focused builds or setups looking to weaken dangerous enemy frontliners.

The ability Intimidate is useful for lowering bravery, which isn’t a focus of the Squire’s job or role. Typically, the debuff role is used for a Mystic or Time Mage with large scale AOE debuffs like Slow. However, Bravery determines not only reactions, but weapon damage on certain weapon types like Swords and Fist (Monk). Therefore, it can be useful to debuff a melee aggressor. But, your action is almost always better spent doing damage, healing, or buffing and that’s why we rank Intimdate as number 10 on our best abilities for the Squire list.

9. Salve

Type: Action
JP Cost: 250 JP
Why it’s good: Cures Poison, Blind, Silence, and Oil from allies. Early-game healer alternative before you unlock White Magic.
Best used with: Low-magic parties or physical-focused comps where you’re skipping a White Mage.

Until you unlock the White Mage or Chemist items, you will need some way to cleanse or remove negative status effects. That’s where Salve comes in for the Squire, as a very early cleanse. Salve cures poison, blind, silence, etc from you or allies and is a early game alternative until you get a full dedicated healer. Therefore, if you’re going to stick with you Squire and use it as your secondary ability/Job pickup Salve so you always have a cure status effects handy.

8. Cheer Up

Type: Action
JP Cost: 250 JP
Why it’s good: Grants Bravery to allies, which boosts reaction ability activation and physical skill effectiveness.
Best used with: Builds that rely on reactions like Counter or Blade Grasp. Can also prep units for Knight Sword critical builds.

The Cheer Up ability acts as a decent buff to allies, boosting bravery. With boosted bravery, allies are more likely to activate reactions and some physical attacks like Knights. However, there are better self and or group buffs available from other Jobs like Haste, Shell, or Protect. Moreover, these abilities from Time Mage and White Mage will have increased range and likely to target multiple allies. However, if you have a Squire that’s playing the semi support role with a Chemist as a secondary Job, this can be a useful buff early on.

7. Shout

Type: Action
JP Cost: 500 JP
Why it’s good: Buffs the user with +1 PA, MA, and Speed. Self-buffing triple stat boost is amazing value, especially if used early in a fight.
Best used with: Solo carry units or tanky builds like Monk, Knight, or Ninja that want to become unstoppable forces.

While limited to main character Ramza only, Shout is a powerful buff. It buffs three stats in one, and instead of casting Focus, Tailwind and other buff in three turns, this gives Ramza incredible utility in one Squire ability. The major downside is the buffs mainly influence melee builds like Ninja, Monk, and Knight. Moreover, this ability wont’ be available for any other character, otherwise we’d rank it higher on our list of the best abilities.

6. Move +1

Type: Movement
JP Cost: 200 JP
Why it’s good: Extra mobility is always useful—close gaps, reach high ground, or retreat more easily.
Best used with: Every job—especially ranged units or healers that need positioning flexibility like Archers, White Mages, or Summoners.

What holds back melee builds early on in Final Fantasy Tactics is movement. The Move +1 ability should be one of your priorities because you’ll reach targets more often instead of lagging behind or using Stone. Moreover, this ability is helpful for every Job, even spellcasters like Black Mage and White Mage can see a boost in their damage and survivability because of this. However, in late game, players will look for Move +2 with the Thief or Teleport from the Time Mage to fully buff their movement potential.

5. Counter Tackle

Type: Reaction
JP Cost: 200 JP
Why it’s good: Cheap and reliable counterattack that works with physical builds. Not flashy, but useful before better counters become available.
Best used with: Melee jobs like Monk or Thief until you unlock stronger reaction abilities like Counter or First Strike.

When you first start FF Tactics Remaster, you will have to weigh attacking opponents in melee range if they have “Counter” skill equipped. This will be shown before you perform an action. Often times, the damage that can be inflicted back to you is more costly than your attack. The counter attacking concept is exactly what makes Counter Tackle such an effective ability for the Squire Job. Only costing 200 JP, you can get this and assign to reaction skill right at the start of the game. The extra damage you return back on the opponent is noticeable and filling out movement, reaction, and a secondary ability is a early game priority.

4. Tailwind

Type: Action
JP Cost: 300 JP
Why it’s good: Grants +1 Speed to allies, which affects turn order, charge time, and action frequency. One of the best buffs in the early game.
Best used with: Support or caster builds—Time Mage, Summoner, or to speed up your primary DPS early in a fight.

Another useful Squire ability that buffs the user is Tailwind. Speed effects turn order, charge time, and your action frequency. That’s incredibly useful for spellcasters who lag behind and die before they can get off a powerful spell (Summoner specifically). Moreover, this ability doesn’t require a target and can be used in round one of combat when neither side can reach each other. While it doesn’t buff your damage outright, consider Tailwind one of the strongest abilities for the Squire in FFT because it applies to so many jobs if you take Fundamentals as your secondary ability.

3. Stone

Type: Action
JP Cost: 50 JP
Why it’s good: Dirt cheap and always available—it gives a ranged option to jobs that typically don’t have one. Useful early game and in niche control situations.
Best used with: Jobs that don’t have ranged attacks like Knight or Monk. Can help break charging/casting.

The first ability you should unlock on your Squire is Stone, because it’s cheap and gives you some range. Early in the game, you have almost zero movement, range, buffs, etc. Oftentimes, your turns end without performing an action, thus you aren’t earning JP and or EXP and advancing. This helps you do a little bit of damage, gain a ranged attack, and possibly knock enemies back with a throw. Later on, the Monk gets a ranged attack and will replace Stone as your go-to for a melee build, but that’s a few levels and Jobs away. Therefore, consider Stone a must have ability for the Squire especially early on.

2. Focus

Type: Action
JP Cost: 300 JP
Why it’s good: Increases your character’s Physical Attack with no risk, and can be stacked multiple times. Perfect for downtime or farming.
Best used with: Physical jobs like Monk, Knight, Dragoon—anywhere you want to ramp up damage over time.

One of the best farming skills comes from the Squire called Focus. The skill buffs your Physical Attack and it can be stacked over and over. This is extraordinarily helpful during solo boss fights where Ramza will have to take out an enemy by himself. You can pre-buff in the previous round and stack your Attack Power super high. You can also encircle a enemy and spam Focus or Tailwind every turn to farm JP and blaze through abilities and levels in Jobs. However, Focus isn’t the best overall because it’s mainly focused on physical jobs like Monk, Knight, Ninja etc. But there is one ability that every Job, Build, and Class in the game will want to have, and that’s number one on our list.

1. JP Boost

Type: Support
JP Cost: 250 JP
Why it’s good: Doubles the JP earned in battle, speeding up job progression dramatically. It’s the first thing you should buy on every new character.
Best used with: Every single job in the game—this is your JP farming foundation.

The best overall Squire ability is JP Boost because it’s useful for every single Job throughout the entire game of FF Tactics. JP Boost doubles your earned in battle JP, essentailly allowing you to progress at twice the rate. If you’re using a job just to get a support, reaction, or movement ability you can “farm JP.”

Equip JP Boost and a ability like Focus. Encircle a low threat enemy like a Chocobo, and spam Focus or Tailwind every turn and heal when it attacks. Also unequip any counter attack from each of your party members. Take turns doing this over and over and you’ll have hundreds of JP in minutes. This can be helpful when using say the Thief on a Spellcaster who primarily uses White Mage. You can get the Move +2 ability and move on from the Job and not wasting time or stats.

How to Prioritize JP Spending on Squire

Unlock Stone first so you have a ranged attack, move onto Counter Tackle, Move +1, and JP Boost
Last skill is a buff like Tailwind or Focus so you can farm JP
You can move onto the Knight then Monk to start your melee build, with ultimate goal of reaching Ninja
Pair the Squire with Chemist if you need healing
For a powerful melee build, go to Knight grab Equip Swords, max out Monk, then Ninja and learn Dual Wield
Now you can go back to Monk and use Squire for buffs especially Shout if using Ramza

Squire Abilities Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best abilities for the Squire in FFT Remaster?

Some of the top abilities for the Squire include JP Boost, Focus, and Stone. These are prioritized for their synergy, JP efficiency, and overall impact in battle.

Which Squire abilities should I unlock first?

You should prioritize Stone for a range attack and JP Boost early on so you can farm JP as fast as possible on any job.

Are Squire abilities still good in the late game?

Yes, some Squire abilities like JP Boost, Shout, Tailwind, and Focus remain useful throughout the game, especially when used with a job that lacks buffs or speed.

Should I spend JP on every ability for Squire?

No. Focus on the top-ranked skills in this guide. Some abilities are niche or underpowered and can safely be skipped unless you’re building a very specific setup. Only unlock all abilities if you want to get the “Master” icon or a completionist.