Equipped with a bow and arrow, this warrior provides valuable long-range attacks. May Aim for higher damage.
Description
Archer is a job in Final Fantasy Tactics. It is the first long-ranged physical job, capable of shooting their enemies from afar with bows and crossbows. The Archer can increase its damage by using Aim to charge a more powerful shot, at the cost of a cast time.
To unlock Archer, the character must have Squire at level 2. Leveling it to level 3 unlocks the Thief in the War of the Lions, while leveling it to level 4 with Thief and Geomancer unlocks Ninja. The level requirements for job unlocks are a little lower in the PlayStation version. The job costs 5,200 JP to master in the original version, and 5,600 JP in the War of the Lions version.
Stats[]
Prerequisite | Weapons | Helmet | Armor | Equip Shields? |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lv. 2 Squire | Bows, Crossbows | Hats | Clothes | Yes |
Move Rate | Jump Rate | Speed | Physical Evasion Rate | Base Attack | Base Magic | Base HP | Base MP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3 | 3 | 8 | 10% | Average | Low | Average | Low |
Abilities[]
Aim[]
Archer job command. Allows attacks to be carefully aimed in order to deal greater damage.
Description
Damage inflicted is dependent on the weapon type used. It deals damage like Attack, increased by the weapon's attack times the level of the ability. For example, with a weapon with 10 attack, Aim +1 would deal 10 more damage, 20 with Aim +2. Swiftness does not make Aim activate quicker.
Name | Range | Effect | JP Needed |
---|---|---|---|
Aim +1 (Charge +1) |
Depends on equipped weapon | 1 | 100 |
Carefully aim to strike for increased damage. Attack power increases with longer charge time. | |||
Aim +2 (Charge +2) |
Depends on equipped weapon | 1 | 150 |
Carefully aim to strike for increased damage. Attack power increases with longer charge time. | |||
Aim +3 (Charge +3) |
Depends on equipped weapon | 1 | 200 |
Carefully aim to strike for increased damage. Attack power increases with longer charge time. | |||
Aim +4 (Charge +4) |
Depends on equipped weapon | 1 | 250 |
Carefully aim to strike for increased damage. Attack power increases with longer charge time. | |||
Aim +5 (Charge +5) |
Depends on equipped weapon | 1 | 300 |
Carefully aim to strike for increased damage. Attack power increases with longer charge time. | |||
Aim +7 (Charge +7) |
Depends on equipped weapon | 1 | 400 |
Carefully aim to strike for increased damage. Attack power increases with longer charge time. | |||
Aim +10 (Charge +10) |
Depends on equipped weapon | 1 | 700 |
Carefully aim to strike for increased damage. Attack power increases with longer charge time. | |||
Aim +20 (Charge +20) |
Depends on equipped weapon | 1 | 1200 |
Carefully aim to strike for increased damage. Attack power increases with longer charge time. |
Reaction abilities[]
Name | Description | Trigger | JP Needed |
---|---|---|---|
Adrenaline Rush (Speed Save) |
Increase Speed. | HP Loss | 900 |
Archer's Bane (Arrow Guard) |
Dodge arrow and bolt attacks. | Bow/Crossbow Attack | 450 |
Support abilities[]
Name | Description | JP Needed |
---|---|---|
Equip Crossbows | Equip crossbows, regardless of job. | 350 |
Concentration | Make attacks unblockable. If an enemy is in the targeted tile, it will always be a hit. | 400 |
Movement abilities[]
Name | Description | JP Needed |
---|---|---|
Jump +1 | Increase Jump by 1. | 200 |
Overview[]
The Archer is the first ranged physical attacker the player can unlock. Its superior range can be invaluable in certain maps with high ground, allowing the Archer to safely snipe enemies from afar. Depending on their weapon, they can have more horizontal or vertical range. Crossbows shoot direct at the target, while bows make arcs that allow them to shoot above obstacles. Bows are always wielded with two hands, meaning the Archer cannot equip shields. Because of its weapon types, the Archer is one of the few jobs that greatly benefits from the Chemist's Reequip support ability, as it allows the Archer to swap weapons to best fit the situation.
The Archer's Aim action ability strengthens their normal attack by waiting longer to act. To use it effectively requires the player to check the Active Turn list more frequently, as once the target has moved, the attack will miss because, unlike magick, physical abilities cannot lock on the target while charging. This makes the last few Aim abilities effectively useless unless the target is afflicted with the Sleep, Stop, or Immobilize status effects. Despite its name, aiming does not improve the hit rate over the regular Attack. Aiming can be disturbed halfway by various status ailments and by knockback (such as ramming with Rush), which can push the attacker or target away from their original position.
Archers fall behind other ranged jobs in mid-game, due to their lower damage output and unreliable Aim action ability; magick jobs often outclass Archers as their spells lock on the target, as well being able to hit multiple opponents. Nevertheless, Archers can still fill their niche and are excellent executioners, landing the last hit on enemies fleeing with low HP.
Their Concentration support ability can be equipped by other classes when fighting evasive enemy Ninja, and is also one of the few abilities that can boost the Thief's steal rate. Similarly, Adrenaline Rush is a reaction ability that increases speed to improve steal rates or set up a quicker turn (even with an ally Squire throwing stones for low damage to trigger speed reactions) to heal or drain life.
The Time Mage can allow the Archer to reach high ground for more bow range through Teleport (cheaper than Ignore Elevation, and possibility of more movement range if it does not fail for going too far), and damage by increasing speed with Haste (Aim can indirectly be more successful when going first, though Swiftness and Haste will not shorten Aim's charge time). The Knight also gains range with Equip Crossbows for rend abilities, of which Rend Speed can even work on bosses.
At postgame Midlight's Deep, Archers have access to stronger bows; Ramza or Luso can use Shout to strengthen their damage formulas by increasing both speed and physical attack (attack boosting equipment, like Power Garb, and Geomancer's Attack Boost also help). Bows' attack range can also map out the levels at Midlight's Deep, as the tiles are not visible without crystallized enemies.
Other appearances[]
Final Fantasy Record Keeper[]
Final Fantasy Brave Exvius[]
Final Fantasy Trading Card Game[]
Archer appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as Wind-elemental cards.
Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances[]
Knights of the Crystals[]
Archer appears as a card in the Ivalice Special Arena as a limited-time special arena with eighteen floors.