A peerless warrior who commands an entire knightly order. It is said that none can match his swordplay.
Description
Sword Saint, also known as Holy Swordsman, is a special job from Final Fantasy Tactics. Orlandeau's default job, it focuses on swords and uses nearly all sword techniques excluding Spellblade and Blade of Ruin abilities. This job is a powerhouse, and needs little support. Sword Saint is arguably the best job due to the slaughter it can unleash, and its effectiveness is further boosted by Orlandeau joining equipped with the Excalibur. It costs 5,250 JP to master this job.
Stats[]
| Prerequisite | Weapons | Helmet | Armor | Equip Shields? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Ninja Blades, Swords, Knight Swords, Katana | Helmets, Hats | Armor, Clothes, Robes | Yes |
| Move Rate | Jump Rate | Speed | Physical Evasion Rate | Base Attack | Base Magic | Base HP | Base MP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 3 | 10 | 20% | High | High | High | High |
Abilities[]
Swordplay[]
Sword saint job command. Employs sword skills with master strokes, striking down enemies.
Description
Orlandeau must be equipped with a standard or knight sword to use these abilities.
| Name | Range | Effect | Speed | JP Needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Judgment Blade (Stasis Sword) |
2 | 2 | Now | 100 |
| Channel holy energy through sword to inflict damage. Element: Weapon's Element. Effect: Stop. Damage: Physical Attack x (2 + Weapon Strength) Quote: "Life is short... Bury! Steady Sword!" | ||||
| Cleansing Strike (Split Punch) |
3, Vert.0 | 1 | Now | 400 |
| Channel holy energy through sword to inflict damage. Element: Weapon's Element. Effect: Doom. Damage: Physical Attack x (3 + Weapon Strength) Quote: "The devil's spirit of restlessness... Split Punch!" | ||||
| Northswain's Strike (Crush Punch) |
3, Vert.1 | 1 | Now | 500 |
| Channel holy energy through sword to inflict damage. Element: Weapon's Element. Effect: KO. Damage: Physical Attack x (2 + Weapon Strength) Quote: "The doom of a planet... Crush Punch!" | ||||
| Hallowed Bolt (Lightning Stab) |
3 | 2, Vert.1 | Now | 700 |
| Channel holy energy through sword to inflict damage. Element: Weapon's Element. Effect: Silence. Damage: Physical Attack x (4 + Weapon Strength) Quote: "Absorb power in the sky and strike! Lightning Stab!" | ||||
| Divine Ruination (Holy Explosion) |
4-dir. | 5, Vert.2 | Now | 800 |
| Channel holy energy through sword to inflict damage. Element: Weapon's Element. Effect: Confuse. Damage: Physical Attack x (5 + Weapon Strength) Quote: "Heaven's wish to destroy all minds... Holy Explosion!" | ||||
| Crush Armor (Shellbust Stab) |
3 | 1 | Now | 200 |
| Destroy the item equipped on the target's body. Element: Weapon's Element. Effect: Destroy Armor Damage: Physical Attack x Weapon Strength Damage W/O Item: Physical Attack x (Weapon Strength + 5) Quote: "Armor won't help the heart stay sharp... Shellbust Stab!" | ||||
| Crush Helm (Blastar Punch) |
3 | 1 | Now | 400 |
| Destroy the item equipped on the target's head. Element: Weapon's Element. Effect: Destroy Headgear Damage: Physical Attack x Weapon Strength Damage W/O Item: Physical Attack x (Weapon Strength + 4) Quote: "Curses from all directions! Blastar Punch!" | ||||
| Crush Weapon (Hellcry Punch) |
3 | 1 | Now | 500 |
| Destroy the target's equipped weapon. Element: Weapon's Element. Effect: Destroy Weapon Damage: Physical Attack x Weapon Strength Damage W/O Item: Physical Attack x (Weapon Strength + 3) Quote: "Demolish weapons with fury! Hellcry Punch!" | ||||
| Crush Accessory (Icewolf Bite) |
3 | 1 | Now | 800 |
| Destroy the target's equipped accessory. Element: Weapon's Element. Effect: Destroy Accessory Damage: Physical Attack x Weapon Strength Damage W/O Item: Physical Attack x (Weapon Strength + 2) Quote: "Disaster cries out to smash all... Icewolf Bite!" | ||||
| Duskblade (Dark Sword) |
3 | 1 | Now | 500 |
| Employ the power of darkness to absorb the target's MP. Drain MP: Physical Attack x Weapon Strength Quote: "Dead or alive... slash magic power! Dark Sword!" | ||||
| Shadowblade (Night Sword) |
3 | 1 | Now | 100 |
| Employ the power of darkness to absorb the target's HP. Drain HP: Physical Attack x Weapon Strength Quote: "Master of all swords, cut energy! Night Sword!" | ||||
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 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Move +1 | Increase Move by 1. | 200 |
Overview[]
The Sword Saint is one of the "special Knight" jobs, capable of dealing physical damage from both short and long ranges, while boasting high stats across the board. Its Swordplay gives it access to a wide variety of abilities from other "special Knight" jobs, being Holy Knight's Holy Sword, Divine Knight's Unyielding Blade, and the Fell Knight's Fell Sword. These are some of the strongest abilities in the game, being instant and costing no MP, capable of dealing with any kind of enemy. These abilities become even more powerful with Knight Swords, which not only have high power, but also grant passive effects to the wielder. Orlandeau is the only playable Holy Knight (should the player recruit him).
Sword Saint has the second strongest stat gains in the game (surpassed only by the Dragonkin)—physically exceptional and magickally competent, as well with high HP. It has versatile equipment options, can equip helmets and heavy armor as well as hats, clothes, and robes. Though only swords and knight swords will allow Orlandeau access to the job's abilities, he can also equip daggers, ninja blades, and katana, indicating his mastery of swordplay.
The job's high magickal stats and MP make it effective with job commands that focus on spellcasting, specially supportive. Time Magick, in particular, is useful for haste, to further enable the Sword Saint's allies, while White Magick can aid the team with healing when needed. It can be equipped with robes to increase its MP pool.
To maximize the Sword Saint's damage output from Holy Sword, it is recommended to boost physical attack as much as possible. The Geomancer's Attack Boost support ability increases attack by 33%, while certain accessories, such the Bracers, can be equipped for their raw attack power increase.
Much like other jobs, the Sword Saint can become virtually unkillable with the Shirahadori reaction ability from Samurai. While this won't protect it from magickal attacks, its access to Shadowblade means it can regain all lost HP easily.
With its natural high speed and mobility, the Sword Saint can easily close the gap and reach his opponents easily, specially since Orlandeau joins the party equipped with the Excalibur, which grants Auto-Haste. The player can further enable the Sword Saint with movement abilities such as its own Move +1, Thief's Move +2, Bard's Move +3, or even Teleport.
Behind the scenes[]
Northswain's Strike's additional instant death effect is a reference to the Chinese deity of Northern Dipper. He is said to associate with death whose role is close to that of the Grim Reaper.
In the original Final Fantasy Tactics for the PlayStation, "Stasis Sword" is mistranslated as "Steady Sword" during the line uttered when using it.
Other appearances[]
Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade[]
- Ability Cards
- Legend Cards
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Etymology[]
In Japan where they valued swordsmanship (Kenjutsu), a person of truly exceptional skill in swordsmanship was often honored with the title of Sword Saint (Kensei). This implied not only a high degree of skill in swordsmanship, but also one of a high degree in moral perfection as well. Many were the founders of popular schools of swordsmanship. Notable Sword Saint were Itō Ittōsai, Chiba Shusaku Narimasa, Tsukahara Bokuden, and Higaonna Kanryō.
