Machinist (Tactics)

An engineer working to revive lost technologies, capable of firing guns highly accurately with the Aimed Shot ability.

Description

The machinist, also known as engineer, is a special job from Final Fantasy Tactics. Machinists use guns to disable foes from afar and can easily defeat undead enemies. It costs 3,080 JP to master.

This is Mustadio's default job, as well as the enemy character Barich's.

Stats[]

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

Move Rate	Jump Rate	Speed	Physical Evasion Rate	Base Attack	Base Magic	Base HP	Base MP
3	4	10	18%	Low	Low	High	Low

Abilities[]

Innate abilities[]

Safeguard (Mustadio as a Guest ally only)
Defense Boost (Barich only)
Arcane Defense (Barich only)
Beast Tongue (Barich only)

Aimed Shot (Snipe)[]

Machinist job command. Strike specific areas of the target's body to cause status effects.

Description

Aimed Shot, also known as Snipe, is the Machinist's skillset and job command. If the target of Aimed Shot has First Strike, it may activate and hit Mustadio before he can execute his Aimed Shot.

Name	Range	Effect	Speed	JP Needed
Leg Shot (Leg Aim)	Depends on equipped weapon	0	Now	200
Leg Shot (Leg Aim)	Inflict damage to the legs, preventing movement. Effect: Immobilize. Success Rate: 50 + Speed
Arm Shot (Arm Aim)	Depends on equipped weapon	0	Now	300
Arm Shot (Arm Aim)	Inflict damage to the arms, preventing weapon use and spell casting. Effect: Disable. Success Rate: 50 + Speed
Seal Evil	Depends on equipped weapon	0	Now	200
Seal Evil	Petrify the cursed beings known as the undead. Effect: Stone. Success Rate: 70 + Speed

Reaction abilities[]

Name	Description	Trigger	JP Needed
Counter Tackle	Counterattack with a tackle.	Physical Attack	180

Support abilities[]

Name	Description	JP Needed
Equip Axes	Equip axes, regardless of job.	170
Beastmaster (Monster Skill)	Adds an ability to all monsters in neighboring tiles with an elevation difference of 3h or less.	200
Evasive Stance (Defend)	Defend oneself against an attack. Adds the Defend command.	50
JP Boost (Gained JP Up)	Increase the amount of JP earned in battle.	250

Movement abilities[]

Name	Description	JP Needed
Movement +1 (Move +1)	Increase Move by 1.	200

Gameplay[]

The machinist is a ranged support special job, focused on dealing physical damage with guns, and capable to crippling foes' movement and actions. Its superior range can be invaluable in many maps, allowing the machinist to safely snipe enemies from afar. Mustadio is the only playable machinist (should the player recruit him).

Leg Shot and Arm Shot can easily change the tide of a battle if they instantly hit vulnerable enemies when above 50% accuracy. Leg Shot can be used to stop melee attackers from a distance, especially monsters, or safeguard equipment from knights or charming thieves; then, allies' charged (if needed) attacks can finish off the immobilized enemies. Arm Shot can completely invalidate an enemy unit as they will be unable to act; this ability is particularly useful against enemies charging an ability or magicks, since they lose evasion, meaning Arm Shot is guaranteed to hit.

While situational, as there are not many undead enemies in the game, Seal Evil can inflict them with Stone. This attack is not guaranteed and it can miss, unlike using a tuft of phoenix down to instantly dispatch of the undead.

It is important to target enemies that are in Critical to finish them off with guaranteed fixed gun damage. Later in the game the player can acquire the powerful elemental guns, which can be boosted by equipping a black robe and by raising Mustadio's faith. This can also be versatile with Poach for rare equipment.

The machinist's ranged abilities with guns also transfer well to chemist, who can throw healing items from afar while having Auto-Potion for longevity. This gives a needed versatility in boss battles, who may be immune to Arm Shot.

To get the most of the machinist, improving speed is key, since its abilities' success rates depend on the user's speed stat. The archer's Speed Surge is great in long fights, allowing the machinist to gain +1 to speed whenever taking damage; it might be a bit counter-intuitive, however, since the machinist will often be far away from other opponents and take minimal damage. Certain equipment and Tailwind (from Ramza's squire/gallant knight or Luso's game hunter) can also raise speed.

To offset its long range and powerful abilities, the machinist suffers from low stats, except for its HP and physical evasion. While its physical attack is low, it can be augmented by various equipment pieces and abilities, such as the geomancer's Attack Boost support ability. The machinist can make great use of the archer's Aim; by crippling the movement of its target with Leg Shot and following with Aim, the machinist can deal respectable damage. The machinist also benefits from the dragoon's Ignore Elevation, allowing it to reposition in battle and find the most optimal spot to snipe its foes from safe distances.