A warrior who may Summon the most powerful of spirits, the beings known as espers.
Description
The summoner is a job in Final Fantasy Tactics unlocked by achieving level 3 in time mage. A strong, magickal job, the summoner can call forth espers to deal massive damage to all enemies, or aid allies. In the original version, it requires 9,710 JP to master. In The War of the Lions, it requires 9,800 JP. However, the summoner can also learn its summon abilities by being hit by an enemy's summon: to truly master the job, the unit must have been attacked by a Darkening Cloud.
In the War of the Lions, leveling summoner to level 5, along with separate level requirements from squire, chemist, orator, geomancer, and dragoon, will unlock mime. Leveling the job to level 5 as well as orator will unlock the bard job for males. The job unlock level requirements are a little lower in the PlayStation version.
Stats[]
| Prerequisite | Weapons | Helmet | Armor | Equip Shields? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lv. 3 Time Mage | Rods, Staves | Hats | Robes | No |
| Move Rate | Jump Rate | Speed | Physical Evasion Rate | Base Attack | Base Magic | Base HP | Base MP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3 | 8 | 5% | Low | High | Low | High |
Abilities[]
Summon[]
Summoner job command. Calls forth espers from the highest realms of the spirit world.
Description
Leviathan has a 40% chance of randomly being learned in battle by a summoner who has not yet learned it and is not KO'd by it, or absorbs at least 1 HP worth of damage. Nullifying the damage does not count. Salamander has a 30% chance of being learned, while Odin, Bahamut, and Lich have a 20% chance of being learned. Cyclops has a 10% chance of being learned, and Zodiark has a 90% chance of being learned. Only one person can learn the esper per casting.
| Name | MP Cost | Range | Effect | Speed | JP Needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moogle (Mogri) |
8 | 4 | 3 | 34 | 110 |
| Moogle Charm. An esper that soothes injuries with a purifying breeze, restoring HP. Healing: (12 x Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Kupo! Round and round you go! Moogle!" | |||||
| Shiva | 24 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 200 |
| Glacial Shards. An esper with punishingly frigid breath. Element: Ice. Damage: (24 x Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Wind, fade to silence and light, give us power! Shiva!" | |||||
| Ramuh | 24 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 200 |
| Judgment Bolt. An esper that relentlessly rains down lightning. Element: Lightning. Damage: (24 x Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Master of creation, impart thy help! Ramuh!" | |||||
| Ifrit | 24 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 200 |
| Infernal Blaze. An esper whose breath of flame scorches the battlefield. Element: Fire. Damage: (24 x Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "King of flames, burn into cinders! Ifrit!" | |||||
| Titan | 30 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 220 |
| Gaia's Wrath. An esper that levels the earth with a mighty blow. Element: Earth. Damage: (28 x Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Bear down with land energy! Titan!" | |||||
| Golem | 40 | — | All allies | 34 | 500 |
| Earthen Wall. An esper that absorbs damage from physical attacks on behalf of allies until its limit is reached. Success Rate: (200 + Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Earth-minded soul, protect us! Golem!" | |||||
| Carbuncle (Carbunkle) |
30 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 350 |
| Ruby Light. An esper whose ruby light reflects magicks cast on allies. Effect: Reflect. Success Rate: (150 + Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Impart light to fight our holy war! Carbunkle!" | |||||
| Bahamut | 60 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 1600 |
| Megaflare. An esper that attacks with its fearsome breath. Damage: (46 x Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Scorch with dragon flame! Bahamut!" | |||||
| Odin | 50 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 900 |
| Obliteration. An esper that charges through the battlefield astride a fearsome mount, doing great damage. Damage: (40 x Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Slash away with the Land's fury! Odin!" | |||||
| Leviathan | 48 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 850/860 |
| Tidal Wave. An esper that engulfs the battlefield in a massive tidal wave. Element: Water. Damage: (38 x Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Sea fang, attack with water's power! Leviathan!" | |||||
| Salamander | 48 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 820/860 |
| Wyrmfire. An esper that scorches the battlefield with its savage flames. Element: Fire. Damage: (38 x Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Evil flames, entrust your power to us! Salamander!" | |||||
| Sylph (Silf) |
26 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 400 |
| Whispering Wind. An esper that employs the lingering life force of windswept leaves to silence enemies. Effect: Silence. Success rate: (150 + Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x(TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Show us to put our lives back on track! Silf!" | |||||
| Faerie (Fairy) |
28 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 460/400 |
| Fey Light. An esper that restores HP. Healing: (24 x Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Shiny crystal light, energize! Fairy!" | |||||
| Lich (Rich) |
40 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 600 |
| Descending Darkness. An esper born in, of, and to darkness. Deals out devastating dark damage. Element: Dark. Damage: 50% of Target's Max HP Success Rate: (160 + Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Death song, death door, death river awaiting! Rich!" | |||||
| Cyclops | 62 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 1000 |
| Climactic Fear. An esper whose forceful blows tear the battlefield asunder. Damage: (50 x Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Scatter frozen blades of air! Clops!" | |||||
| Zodiark (Zodiac) |
99 | 4 | 4 | 10 | — |
| Darkening Cloud. An esper that bathes the earth in radiant beams of focused starlight. Damage: (96 x Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Attack by the Master of commandments! Zodiac!" Note: Must be cast on the summoner to learn it (or learned by casting it on an enemy summoner and learning it from their crystal). Elidibus at the bottom of the Midlight's Deep summons Zodiark against the player. | |||||
Reaction abilities[]
| Name | Description | Trigger | JP Needed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Critical: Recover MP (MP Restore) |
Recover MP when critically wounded. | Critical | 400 |
Support abilities[]
| Name | Description | JP Needed |
|---|---|---|
| Halve MP (Half of MP) |
Reduce MP consumption by half when using magicks. | 900/1000 |
Gameplay[]
The summoner is a hybrid offensive and defensive magick job focused on calling forth various creatures to help their allies and strike their foes. Summons have selective targeting, meaning offensive summons will only damage enemies, while support summons (Golem only blocks human physical attacks, and not magic/monsters) will only affect allies. These spells also have a wider effect radius than Black Magick while generally costing fewer JP to learn, but more MP.
The summoner boasts the second highest magick and MP attributes after the Black Mage, but has low defensive stats and slower speed. The summoner is one of three jobs capable of dealing water damage, through Leviathan, the others being the geomancer with Torrent and the ninja with Snowmelt Bomb (both attacks formerly called Water Ball).
Halve MP.
While summoner can be used as a main job, switching to black mage and equipping "Summon" further boosts the unit's magicks in addition to Magick Boost. Elemental rods also help, with the flame rod strengthening both Ifrit and Salamander in addition to inexpensive fire-elemental black magicks spells.
To learn new espers from enemy summoners, the affected unit needs to be a summoner at the time the attack hits them; due to summons' selective targeting, only offensive summons can be learned by being hit with their attack.
Like all spellcasters, the summoner greatly benefits from the time mage's Swiftspell support ability to shorten their cast times, and can also use the mystic's Manafont to remedy their abilities' high MP costs without overpaying for Halve MP. Seraph Song from bard or Chakra (on level ground) from a monk can quickly replenish MP for a party of summoners, who can survive by Mana Shield, and have enough left over for their summons.
Other appearances[]
Final Fantasy Artniks[]
Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade[]
Some of the summon commands appear.
- Ability Cards
- Legend Cards
This section in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.Final Fantasy Record Keeper[]
This section about an enemy in Final Fantasy Record Keeper is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.Final Fantasy Trading Card Game[]
Summoner appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as Ice- and Lightning-elemental Backup cards.
![Summoner [1-036C]/[5-037C] Chapter series card.](/wiki/File:SummonerFemale_TCG.png "SummonerFemale TCG.png (129 KB)")
![Summoner [1-113C]/[5-107C] Chapter series card.](/wiki/File:SummonerMale2_TCG.png "SummonerMale2 TCG.png (124 KB)")
![Summoner [1-040C] Opus series card.](/wiki/File:Summoner_1-040C_from_FFTCG_Opus.jpg "Summoner 1-040C from FFTCG Opus.jpg (84 KB)")
![Summoner [1-138C] Opus series card.](/wiki/File:Summoner_1-138C_from_FFTCG_Opus.jpg "Summoner 1-138C from FFTCG Opus.jpg (79 KB)")
![Summoner [6-096C] Opus series card (reprint).](/wiki/File:Summoner_6-096C_from_FFTCG_Opus.jpg "Summoner 6-096C from FFTCG Opus.jpg (75 KB)")
Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances[]
Knights of the Crystals[]
Summoner appears as a card in the Ivalice Special Arena has a limited-time special arena with eighteen floors.
Gallery[]
- Abilities (The Ivalice Chronicles)
- Abilities (PlayStation and War of the Lions versions)
Etymology and origin[]
Evocation is the act of calling upon or summoning a spirit, demon, god or other supernatural agent, in the western mystery tradition. Comparable practices exist in many religions and magical traditions and may employ the use of mind-altering substances with and without uttered word formulas.
The summons in the original version were simply called summon monsters, but were renamed espers in The War of the Lions.
In fiction, an esper (stylized as ESPer) is an individual capable of telepathy and other similar paranormal abilities. The term was apparently coined in this sense by Alfred Bester in his 1950 short story "Oddy and Id" and is derived from the abbreviation ESP for extrasensory perception.