Chemist (Tactics)

An expert in the use of items to recover HP or remove vexing status ailments.

Description

Chemist is a job from Final Fantasy Tactics. It is the basic job where all mage classes start, as opposed to Squire that is the basic job of warrior classes. Chemist is the only job that can initially use items, and can even throw them over great distances. Chemist has two important passive abilities to learn: one for safeguarding equipment from being destroyed or stolen, and another for finding hidden treasure.

Once the player's party has arrived at Goug Machine City in Chapter 2, they can buy guns for Chemists to enhance their offensive capability. The job costs 5,140 JP to master. The Chemist is the only job class with an ability that costs 0 JP to learn, besides special jobs that have abilities already learned.

Leveling Chemist to level 2 unlocks White Mage and Black Mage, leveling it to level 6 with Squire unlocks Onion Knight (War of the Lions), and leveling this job to level 8 along with separate level requirements for Orator, Summoner, Geomancer, Squire, and Dragoon unlocks Mime.

Aerith is listed as being a Chemist in the game's data, despite never participating in battle. She even wears a similar headdress of the female Chemist. Both the male and female Chemist sprite models also appear as cameos in the backdrops of several cutscenes in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

Stats[]

Prerequisite	Weapons	Helmet	Armor	Equip Shields?
None	Knives, Guns	Hats	Clothes	No

Move Rate	Jump Rate	Speed	Physical Evasion Rate	Base Attack	Base Magic	Base HP	Base MP
3	3	8	5%	Low	Average	Low	Average

Abilities[]

Innate abilities[]

Throw Items

Items[]

Chemist job command. Enables the use of items to assist allies in need.

Description

All HP/MP recovering is based on the item's Power. All Items have a 100% hit rate.

Name	Range	Effect	Speed	JP Needed
Potion	4	1	Now	30
Potion	Use a potion to restore HP or inflict damage on the undead. Restores: 30 HP.
Hi-Potion	4	1	Now	200
Hi-Potion	Use a Hi-Potion to restore HP. A more potent draught than a Potion. Restores: 70 HP.
X-Potion	4	1	Now	300
X-Potion	Use an X-Potion to restore HP. A more potent draught than a Hi-Potion. Restores: 150 HP.
Ether	4	1	Now	300
Ether	Use an ether to restore MP. Restores: 20 MP.
Hi-Ether	4	1	Now	400
Hi-Ether	Use a Hi-Ether to restore MP. A more potent draught than an Ether. Restores: 50 MP.
Elixir	4	1	Now	900
Elixir	Use an elixir to fully restore HP and MP.
Antidote	4	1	Now	70
Antidote	Use an antidote to nullify poison. Removes: Poison.
Eye Drops (Eye Drop)	4	1	Now	80
Eye Drops (Eye Drop)	Use eye drops when vision has been magickally compromised. Removes: Blind.
Echo Herbs (Echo Grass)	4	1	Now	120
Echo Herbs (Echo Grass)	Use echo herbs to restore a unit's power of speech, permitting them to cast magicks once again. Removes: Silence.
Maiden's Kiss	4	1	Now	200
Maiden's Kiss	Use a maiden's kiss to change a unit that has been transformed into a toad back to its original form. Removes: Toad.
Gold Needle (Soft)	4	1	Now	250
Gold Needle (Soft)	Use a gold needle to change a petrified unit back to normal. Breaks after one use. Removes: Stone.
Holy Water	4	1	Now	400
Holy Water	Use holy water to lift the curse of undeath from a unit. Removes: Undead, Vampire.
Remedy	4	1	Now	700
Remedy	Use a remedy to cure various status effects. Removes: Poison, Blind, Silence, Toad, Stone, Confuse, Oil, Sleep.
Phoenix Down	4	1	Now	90
Phoenix Down	Use phoenix down to restore life to a fallen unit. Vanishes after one use. Removes: KO.

Reaction abilities[]

Name	Description	Trigger	JP Needed
Auto Potion	Use a Potion to restore HP.	HP Loss	400

Support abilities[]

Name	Description	JP Needed
Throw Items (Throw Item)	Throw items within an increased radius, even if not a Chemist.	350
Safeguard (Maintenance)	Prevent equipment from being destroyed or stolen.	250
Reequip (Equip Change)	Change equipment mid-battle. Adds the Reequip command.	0

Movement abilities[]

Name	Description	JP Needed
Treasure Hunter (Move-Find Item)	Discover items hidden on tiles upon moving to them.	100

Gameplay[]

The Chemist and the Squire are the foundation for the rest of the job system, Chemist being the magick-wielding counterpart. It is a support-oriented job focused on using items, and can be considered the early-game healer thanks to their ability to innately throw items on their allies; it can be learned and equipped by other jobs. The Chemist is the first job available capable of wielding guns, although those cannot be acquired until the player meets Mustadio in Chapter 2.

The Chemist's Items job command is the only way other classes can use items, and each individual item must be learned with JP. Their Auto-Potion ability is invaluable in the early- and mid-game, providing emergency healing as long the player has potions in their inventory. Safeguard is essential when fighting Knights and later Divine Knights whose abilities can permanently destroy equipment. Reequip provides a niche for adjusting equipment, which can be useful in some battles (or stealing/finding new equipment mid-battle), and it is the only ability that requires no JP to purchase.

One of the most important abilities the Chemist can learn is Treasure Hunter. All maps have at least one hidden treasure on one of its tiles, and some story battles can reward unique or rare equipment. Treasure Hunter is key when venturing through the Midlight's Deep secret dungeon in Chapter 4, as all its maps contain hidden unique and legendary equipment that cannot be found elsewhere. The chance of finding rare items is directly related to the unit's Bravery; the lower it is, the higher are the chances.

In terms of combat viability as a main job, the Chemist's low stats and poor mobility mean it will be at risk when engaging directly. Its low magick stat also means the Chemist is not an effective spellcaster, as even buffers—such as the Time Mage—depend on the magick stat for successfully buffing their allies with abilities such as Haste or Reflect. Chemists can, however, become a force to be reckoned with if the player acquires the rare elemental guns, as guns' power does not depend on the wielder's stats other than Faith. Since the job is limited to using knives until halfway through Chapter 2 when guns become available, the Chemist should avoid combat unless they are throwing a Phoenix Down to instantly neutralize undead enemies.

At only 90 JP, Phoenix Down also helps late game special characters quickly learn the ability to revive someone, and throw items would even give them range when going back to their original job. This also helps when wasting turns moving with Treasure Hunter on difficult battles like Nelveska Temple. Rapha Galthena would be an ideal Chemist given her low Bravery for a greater chance of discovering rare items with Treasure Hunter, and Skyseer abilities not taking a massive decrease in damage as they need to hit multiple times (with guns for instant attacks) to be effective.

Other appearances[]

Final Fantasy Record Keeper[]

This section about an enemy in Final Fantasy Record Keeper is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game[]

Chemist appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as multiple Ice-elemental backup cards.

Final Fantasy Portal App[]

A male Chemist appears as a Triple Triad card.

Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances[]

Knights of the Crystals[]

Chemist appears as a card in the Ivalice Special Arena has a limited-time special arena with eighteen floors.

Gallery[]

Etymology[]

[view · edit · purge]A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. The Japanese term kusuri-shi is literally "drug practitioner/technician", close to the common British English use of "chemist" to mean a compounding pharmacist.