Reks (Final Fantasy XII party member)

Reks
(レックス, Rekkusu?)
Portraits
Gameplay details
Type	Guest character
Weapon	Mythril Sword
Armor	Buckler, Leather Cap, Leather Armor

Reks is a temporary playable character in the prologue to Final Fantasy XII who acts as tutorial for the player. As such, he is not easily killed and the player cannot change his equipment. He has Cure, Thunder and some healing potions, and is equipped with Mythril Sword, Buckler, Leather Cap and Leather Armor.

Reks starts at level 3. His levels and inventory are not transferred to Vaan, who starts at level 1, unlike later in the game where Vaan's level determines the levels of the allies that join the party later. Considering his stat development, Reks is the second fastest playable character after Reddas. However, it will be nigh impossible to level him up even once, as only the starter area Imperial Swordsmen give any EXP, and only if Reks deals the finishing blow over the knight NPCs that accompany him.

He cannot access the License Board and has no Quickening.

Final Fantasy XII original

Initial data

Name	Initial Stats
Level	3
LP	N/A
Magicks/Technicks	Cure, Thunder
Items	Potion x8, Hi-Potion x5
Gil	—
Gambits	—

Initial licenses

Name	Permits use of
White Magick 1	Cure, Blindna
Black Magick 1	Fire, Thunder, Blizzard
Smallswords	Mythril Sword, Mythril Blade
Shields 2	Buckler, Bronze Shield, Round Shield
Light Armor 1	Leather Cap, Leather Clothing

Initial equipment

Category	Name	Effect
Weapon	Mythril Sword	Sword, Attack Power +13, Evade +5, CT 35, Multiple Hits 5
Off-Hand	Buckler	Evade +10
Helm	Leather Cap	Magick Resist +4, Max HP +10
Armor	Leather Clothing	Defense +4, Max HP +10
Accessory	—	—

Stats

Level	HP	MP	Strength	Magick Power	Vitality	Speed
3	112–118	32–35	24	22	23	35
4	129–139	34–39	25	22	24	35
5	148–160	35–42	25	23	24	35
6	168–183	37–45	26	23	24	35
99	4,401–5,188	233–378	74	67	55	46

Zodiac versions

Initial data

Name	Initial Stats
Level	3
LP	N/A
Magicks/Technicks	Cure, Thunder
Items	Potion x8, Hi-Potion x5
Gil	0
Gambits	—

Initial licenses

Name	Permits use of
Command	Attack, Items
White Magick 1	Cure, Blindna
Black Magick 1	Fire, Thunder, Blizzard
Shields 1	Leather Shield, Buckler
Light Armor 1	Leather Cap, Leather Clothing

Initial equipment

Category	Name	Effect
Weapon	Mythril Sword	Sword, Attack Power +14, Evade +5, CT 30, Multiple Hits 5
Off-Hand	Buckler	Evade +9
Helm	Leather Cap	Magick Resist +4, Max HP +10
Armor	Leather Clothing	Defense +4, Max HP +10
Accessory	—	—

Stats

Level	HP	MP	Strength	Magick Power	Vitality	Speed
3	111–117	38–46	24	23	24	35
4	128–138	42–53	25	23	25	35
5	147–159	46–60	25	24	25	35
6	167–182	50–67	26	24	25	35
7	188–207	54–73	26	25	26	35
10	261–292	67–93	26	26	27	35
30	1,011–1,176	175–284	338	35	33	38
50	2,048–2,405	300–506	49	45	40	40
70	2,930–3,447	393–667	60	54	46	43
90	3,801–4,476	460–774	70	63	53	45
99	4,368–5,149	473–786	75	67	56	46

Quests

Reks at the entrance to Nalbina Fortress.

Reks is only playable in the treaty-signing scenario at the Nalbina Fortress in the prologue to Final Fantasy XII. None of his equipment or items or progress carries on, and so the objective is just to head onwards following Basch and Vossler's guidance. The tutorial boss in the area is Air Cutter Remora, where Basch will always use Fulminating Darkness.

Behind the scenes

In the Steam version, it is possible to play as Reks after the prologue by renaming the autosave file. Loading this save file messes with the scripts that switch out Reks for Vaan, meaning the player keeps Reks in the party, though Vaan's model is used in towns. There are virtually no benefits to this, however, and the drawbacks grow as the game progresses, such as Reks's lack of a License Board, inability to change equipment, or even have combat animations for other weapons, and disabled menu commands.