If the unit receives damage and is in critical condition, fully restores the unit's HP.
The Ivalice Chronicles' description
Critical: Recover HP, also known as HP Restore, is a reaction ability in Final Fantasy Tactics, learned by the monk job. It allows the user to fully restore their HP when receiving damage in a critical state (meaning close to KO, with 20% or less HP left). Critical: Recover HP must be learned by expending JP earned for the monk job, at which point it and other jobs can use the reaction ability.
Obtained[]
Critical: Recover HP costs 500 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 Critical: Recover HP becomes a crystal, a human unit picking up the crystal may learn Critical: Recover HP without spending JP, as long as said unit has unlocked the monk job.
Mechanics[]
Critical: Recover HP will activate if the unit survives damage received in critical condition, or takes damage that results in them being in a critical condition. It fully restores the unit's HP. Like the vast majority of reaction abilities, Critical: Recover HP's activation is based off the unit's bravery; the higher the stat, the higher the activation chance.
Use[]
Critical: Recover HP is defensive reaction ability that can increase a unit's survival chance. Because it fully restores the HP of the user, it avoids needing to heal the user at all, and can effectively grant them a second life.
The biggest drawback to Critical: Recover HP is that it can be bypassed by enemies who deal enough damage to KO the unit before they are even in a critical state. Additionally, a unit in a critical state can be KO'd by many attacks, and thus not be benefit from the reaction ability. These provide big limitations to the reaction ability.
Compared to the monk's other two reaction abilities—Counter and First Strike—Critical: Recover HP is much more defensive and arguably can benefit more types of units, such as mages or ranged attackers. However, it costs more JP to learn than Counter while being relatively expensive overall, and can be less reliable than them in activation. Which the player prefers will depend on if they prefer to improve a unit's damage output or to improve their survivability. Other healing-based reaction abilities in the game are the dragoon's Dragonheart that bestows Reraise upon receiving damage, and the white mage's Regenerate that bestows Regen when damaged.
Critical: Recover HP can be useful for Ramza Beoulve during certain one-on-one story battles: Goffard Gaffgarion at Lionel Castle during chapter 2, and Wiegraf Folles at Riovanes Castle during chapter 3, to regain health without using up his turn for healing. It can also be coupled with Lifefont to gain health by moving.