Holy shit, Monks are TOO GOOD!
OK current plan:
Learn 2 more abilities for my 2 Chemists
Get Monks to Lvl. 5 and learn as many abilities as possible
Get one Squire to learn Focus
Focus is a Squire's best ability, don't tell me you guys never thought to use it? It's effective if the unit isn't going to do anything after moving them.
Squires are one of the best early class in the game because so many of their skills are useful when training in other jobs. Focus, Move+1, and JP boost are all must haves. Throw stone and counter-tackle are somewhat useful early on.
My path with Ramza (in WOTL version) is as follows:
1) Train squire to Level to level 5-6 (learning the skills I mentioned). Make sure you equip JP Boost and Move + 1.
2) Switch the squire abilities to a secondary skill and train Knight to Level 3. Make sure to learn equip sword.
3) Train Chemist until he knows auto-potion and perhaps a few basic items (potions, pheonix down). If you actively have a chemist in your party during steps 1-2, you should get most of the way there due to party JP making this step quick. Make sure you always have a bunch of potions in stock. I think in the original FFT, you could only auto-potion if you knew the appropriate potion skill (potion, hi potion or X-potion), but that is not required in WotL.
3) Equip auto-potion and Train Monk until Level 4. Buy some chakra skills to make him effective in this time, but skills aren't important.
4) Train Geomancer to Level 2 (one of my least favourite steps)
5) Train Archer to Level 3 (skills not important)
6) Train Thief to Level 5 (my other least favourite step). Purchase Move + 2 to replace the old Move + 1.
7) Train ninja until you can learn dual wield. During this time, you have 2 options. A) keep JP boost equipped to speed up the time required to learn dual wield. B) swap JP boost for equip sword. I usually choose B, as Ninjas hit ridiculously hard with two full swords. You will be able to kill all lightly armored enemies in 1 turn and most others in 2 with this build.
8) Train Dragoon until you can learn ignore elevation. As a dragoon you can either re-equip JP boost to learn your target skill quicker, or equip dual wield to be more effective in battle.
9) Set up you final Ramza build. Ramza's late game Squire abilities are extremely useful, so these are (IMO) the most ideal final builds for him if you go the physical route:
A) Ramza as a Squire
Pros: Higher HP and Defense, making him more effective at tanking if needed. Has more equipment options (besides swords) and can act as an off-healer when needed.
Cons: Attack stats are sort of low by end game. Loses the benefit of early (and frequent) turns.
Set Up
Secondary Skill: Use Item or White Magic (if you have a cleric in your party, you can probably learn the white magic basics without training in the class)
Reaction Skill - Auto-Potion
Passive Skill - Dual Wield
Movement Skill - Ignore Elevation
B) Ramza as a Ninja
Pros: Greater speed (and therefore more frequent turns), higher attack stats, and better evasion. Throw skills are useful in a pinch.
Cons: Glass Cannon. Limited ability to act as off-healer (you have a squire skill that will sacrifice your own HP to heal a comrade)
Set Up
Secondary Skill: Ramza's Squire Skills
Reaction Skill - Auto-Potion
Passive Skill - Equip Sword
Movement Skill - Ignore Elevation
- Both of these builds can scale walls and buildings in a single leap and self heal after being attacked (doesn't proc 100% of the time, but will usually keep you alive until you can actively heal Ramza).
- Dual wielding swords remains incredibly powerful throughout the game and will give Ramza the upper hand in the couple of maps where he is forced to fight away from the rest of the party. If you find that you aren't hitting as hard as you would like (even with dual wield), cast Focus once or twice to beef up your attack.
- A movement range of 4 isn't really great, so I would pair either build with a shoe accessory that increases his movement range to at least 5. In flat maps, you can consider swapping out ignore height for move+2, but I am usually too lazy to do that.
- Keep in mind that ninja Ramza is a bit of a glass cannon, and should not be your tanking unit. By mid game, you will start getting holy knights and other unique units that are better suited for that job.