Upon receiving a physical attack, strikes back with the standard Attack command.
Activates even when no damage is dealt, such as when parried or evaded.The Ivalice Chronicles' description
Counter is a reaction ability in Final Fantasy Tactics, learned by the monk job. It provides a chance to counter a physical attack against the unit with an immediate physical attack of their own, without consuming a turn. The reaction ability must be learned by expending JP earned for the monk job, at which point it and other jobs can use the reaction ability.
A number of enemy units are also able to use Counter, most notably all monster-type enemies, meaning players must be careful when encountering these units.
Notable enemies with Counter include Milleuda Folles (during the battle at Lenalian Plateau), Goffard Gaffgarion, Wiegraf Folles, Zalbaag Beoulve.
Obtained[]
Counter costs 300 JP to be spent on the monk job. Once the unit has learned it, they must equip it in their reaction ability slot.
If a unit that knows Counter becomes a crystal, a human unit picking up the crystal may learn Counter without spending JP, as long as said unit has unlocked the monk job.
Mechanics[]
Counter has a chance to activate when the user is attacked physically, assuming they are in range. As such, Counter will activate when a melee unit is attacked a melee range, or when a ranged unit (such as an archer) is attacked by someone they are in range of countering with their own fire.
Counter will activate even when no damage is dealt by the attack, such as when it is parried or evaded. It responds with a normal attack identical to the Attack ability, taking into account the unit's physical stats and weapons (including both weapons if Dual Wield is used).
Counter will not trigger if the unit uses a physical attack with a weapon that has a range of 2, namely polearms and poles. However, if the victim is also equipped with one of these weapons, they will retaliate the attacker.
The attack from Counter can miss if the other unit has high physical evasion, including bonuses from equipment such as shields or abilities like Shirahadori.
Countering an opponent will not award the unit any EXP nor JP, even if the enemy is KO'd.
Use[]
Like the vast majority of reaction abilities, Counter's activation is based off the unit's bravery; the higher the stat, the higher the chances.
Because Counter does not consume a turn when activated, it is an effective way to improve a unit's damage output, and scales with them. This makes monk unit with high bravery very strong against melee enemies, particularly if they are also defensively strong and/or have Protect cast on them. It is important therefore to deploy units with Counter against melee units while ranged units take a distance.
The monk job also learns a stronger version of the reaction ability named First Strike. This also activates when physically attacked, but causes the unit to attack first, before the attack against them lands. As this gives a chance to KO the attacking unit before receiving damage, this is therefore an upgrade on the ability; however, it comes with a significantly higher JP cost, meaning Counter should be unlocked first.
Counter can be used effectively not just by the monk job but by others. For example, ninjas—or units who have learned Dual Wield from ninjas—can use Counter to respond with two attacks at once, meaning Counter can potentially deal more damage to the attacking unit than the attacking unit did. Similarly, early on, knights protected by heavy armor and wielding swords can greatly benefit from Counter.
Counter is a very powerful reaction ability to learn early on for melee attackers for increasing damage output, and likely moreso than the similar Counter Tackle learned from squire. However, other reaction abilities, such as Parry, Auto-Potion, Dragonheart or even the monk's Recover HP, will be more defensive and make units more likely to survive an onslaught. Ranged units and magick-based units will not benefit minimally from Counter and should use other reaction abilities.