Netherseer

An assassin able to corrupt the laws of nature by speaking the words of forbidden Nether Mantra.

Description

The netherseer, also known as hell knight, is a special job from Final Fantasy Tactics. Marach Galthena's unique job, the netherseer is based on a lack of faith and uses disbelief in Gods to randomly strike enemies. In the original version, it costs 3,000 JP to master. In The War of the Lions, it requires 3050 JP.

Stats[]

Prerequisite	Weapons	Helmet	Armor	Equip Shields?
None	Rods, Poles	Hats	Clothes, Robes	No

HP	MP	Attack	Magic	Speed	Move	Jump	Front Evasion
100%	110%	105%	100%	110%	4	3	8%

Abilities[]

Nether Mantra[]

Netherseer job command. Attacks with a power that does not rely upon faith.

Description

Nether Mantra's damage depends on both the caster's and target's faith; the lower, the more effective (the inverse of regular magicks). Faith and Atheist still work normally in versions other than The Ivalice Chronicles (Faith raises damage while Atheist nullifies).

Marach casting Nether Mantra from FFT TIC — Marach using his netherseer skill.

On the original PlayStation version, each cast randomly strikes 1–6 times within the area of effect. A strike can hit an empty tile.

In War of the Lions and The Ivalice Chronicles versions, the spells are improved:

Damage was increased.
Each cast has 1–10 strikes.
The number of strikes is biased toward the average: 5% for 1, 2, 9, or 10 strikes; 10% for 3, 4, 7, or 8; 20% for 5 or 6.
Each strike has a >50% chance of striking the center tile.
In The Ivalice Chronicles, Atheist status no longer nullifies strikes and acts as if faith were at zero.

Name	Range	Effect	Speed	JP Needed
Hell's Wrath (Heaven Bitback)	4	2	34	0
Hell's Wrath (Heaven Bitback)	A mantra that attacks with words of enlightenment. Randomly strikes with lightning within the area of effect. Element: Lightning. Damage: (22 + Magic Attack) x ( 0.5 x Magic Attack ) x ((100-Faith)/100) x ((100-TargetFaith)/100) PS Quote: "Deadly rumbles, strike from the sky! Heaven Bitback!" TIC Quote: "Dark dragon king let loose your roar, a storm of evil destroying! Hell's Wrath!"
Nether Ashura (Asura Back)	4	2	25	200
Nether Ashura (Asura Back)	A mantra that attacks with words of enlightenment. Randomly strikes with fire within the area of effect. Element: Fire. Damage: (37 + Magic Attack) x ( 0.5 x Magic Attack ) x ((100-Faith)/100) x ((100-TargetFaith)/100) PS Quote: "Flames, gather and destroy! Asura Back!" TIC Quote: "Undying flame to purge sin stoked, scorch my bitter foes! Nether Ashura!"
Nether Blade (Dia Sword Back)	4	2	20	300
Nether Blade (Dia Sword Back)	A mantra that attacks with words of enlightenment. Randomly strikes with wind within the area of effect. Element: Wind. Damage: (40 + Magic Attack) x ( 0.5 x Magic Attack ) x ((100-Faith)/100) x ((100-TargetFaith)/100) PS Quote: "Clear with a mighty breeze! Dia Sword Back!"
Nether Maelstrom (Dragon Pit Back)	4	2	17	400
Nether Maelstrom (Dragon Pit Back)	A mantra that attacks with words of enlightenment. Randomly strikes with water within the area of effect. Element: Water. Damage: (46 + Magic Attack) x ( 0.5 x Magic Attack ) x ((100-Faith)/100) x ((100-TargetFaith)/100) PS Quote: "Cut open the water filled sky and pour! Dragon Pit Back!" TIC Quote: "Claws of heavenly water wrought, rend and consign to dust! Nether Maelstrom!"
Corporeal Void Space Str Back)	4	2	20	500
Corporeal Void Space Str Back)	A mantra that inflicts status effects with words of enlightenment. Randomly strikes with statuses within the area of effect. Effect: Blindness, Confuse, Silence, Toad, Poison, Slow, Sleep. Damage: (27 + Magic Attack) x ( 0.5 x Magic Attack ) x ((100-Faith)/100) x ((100-TargetFaith)/100) PS Quote: "All becomes illusion after the evening-bell! Space Str Back!" TIC Quote: "All-bestowing jewel, upon you I call. Purge this plane of sin! Corporeal Void!"
Impiety (Sky Demon Back)	4	2	15	600
Impiety (Sky Demon Back)	A mantra that attacks with words of enlightenment. Randomly strikes with earth within the area of effect. Element: Earth. Damage: (75 + Magic Attack) x ( 0.5 x Magic Attack ) x ((100-Faith)/100) x ((100-TargetFaith)/100) PS Quote: "Underground souls, rumble! Quake! Sky Demon Back!"

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.	250/200

Movement abilities[]

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

Overview[]

The netherseer is a magick-based special job focused on dealing elemental damage in an area at no MP cost. Unlike its counterpart, the skyseer, its damage depends upon both the caster's and target's faith: the lower, the more effective (the inverse of regular magicks).

It has balanced stats, not excelling at any attribute. Its Nether Mantra is unique as its magickal abilities are the only ones in the game, other than the skyseer's Sky Mantra and dragonkin's Holy Breath, capable of hitting multiple times, albeit at random. Due to the faith interaction, the netherseer can potentially outdamage the skyseer, while being resistant to magick. Marach is the only playable netherseer (should the player recruit him).

The netherseer is offset by its average stats, late game charge times (most special characters who also join in chapter 4 have instant attack abilities), and, most importantly, inconsistent damage output from Nether Mantra's abilities, as it strikes randomly within the reticle's tiles; to get the most of these abilities, enemies must be clustered to increase the chance of hitting them, in addition to having low faith but not the Atheist status, which will nullify damage.

The netherseer can be equipped with various equipment pieces and abilities to augment its magickal attack while keeping faith low to make sure every hit counts. The orator can lower faith with Enlighten, and the bard can use Magickal Refrain to help this class do more damage. A flame shield (Equip Shields or use a knight) and gaia gear can have the netherseer target himself with Nether Ashura or Impiety to heal himself with those elements. Japa Mala or black garb can be equipped to boost Nether Manta skills' damage.

The black mage's Magick Boost support ability is particularly effective as well as its elemental boosting rods, though the dark knight (if unlock time is not an issue) with a fell sword can take advantage of the low faith to do more physical damage while having more durability, shields, and an ability that is not hindered by low faith. The knight's Equip Swords will not include these nor knight swords (which have passive abilities and have block to utilize parry unlike fell swords), but the runeblade can increase magic attack by 2, and the knight can equip knight swords for passive buffs.