It really doesn't matter too much since near endgame they will all be doing the same shit, albeit with different weapons.

If you really care about stats, keep Vaan in your Party. He has higher stats than everyone because he is supposedly the main character.

hey i just literally popped in the game for the first time. opening movie was awesome. why does everyone hate on this game?

>>24918506
No he doesn't.

It doesn't matter....AT ALL. They're all the same character. Use any variation of Fran, Balthier, Ashe/Basch. DO NOT LOOK AT THE OTHERS.

If you do use Balthier/Fran, their "best" weapons aren't the ones they start with. Balthier is better with a bow, and Fran is better with a gun. But, you can easily play and enjoy it however you want. Just choose who and what you like.

Vaan, Fran and Basch. Forget the rest.

>>24918544
Because of the battle system, mainly. A common complaint is that THE GAME IS PLAYED FOR YOU, which is a huge exaggeration. Rather, you assign party members different tasks before hand, which I find better, since all you were doing beforehand was selecting attack nonstop through every random battle anyway. Random encounters are gone by the way.

>>24918544
HOLY CHRIST BASCH JUST KILLED REKS WTF

Why is the FF series getting progressively more "real"? where's all the cute and funny characters? Where's the interesting ones?

There is minor differences in the stats and speeds, but they're pretty small. Look up a guide for the specifics, or don't, it isn't an issue.

i gave balthier a 2h sword, fran a katana, and whoever my third that spear with the high ass attack

>>24918667
>Basch
lol keep playing

I was at endgame, completed the license list, and took off everyone's equipment. I was honestly appalled at how similar everyone's stats were. Once you have Haste, Bubble, and Bravery, they don't really matter anyways, but sheesh they could've mixed things up a bit.

>>24918681
The "fantasy" aspect is still there, they're just turning in a more modern direction, an understandable concern. Also, cute and funny are subjective, but Balthier is a rather funny individual.

>>24918723
>Balthier 2h sword
Yuck. I always Let Bash hands greatswords. Balthier was a gun man and occasionally a staff.

>>24918681

I was wondering this the other day too. FFIX was the only real cartoony one, but I honestly liked the art. KH would've been better if they stuck with that instead of BELTAN ZIPPER.

>>24918730
the king is dead. motherfuck! basch again!

>>24918601
Totally wrong on everything. Baltheir is the best gunner in the group, has the highest natural speed stat. Give him a gun, stick him in the back, let him kill.
Penelo is the best bow user, by stats, oddly enough, and one of the best to use bombs and magics.
Fran is garbage all around, sadly enough. she has the worst stats in EVERYTHING.
Vaan is stupidly good it's disgusting.
Ashe is supreme magic.
Basch is supreme strength/hp.

I loved FFXII until around the middle of the game. Then it just became boring. It's a shame, really. I want to like you, FFXII... ;_;

>>24918639
It still has random encounters, they're just visible and use a basic aggro system. Considering what most people envisage when you say "random battle", you're right, though.

>>24918429
> so far it's pretty cool
A common early sentiment. Initiate countdown to "why the fuck am I spending hours playing weeaboo Morrowind when I don't even remember where I'm going or why?".

Fran's pretty terrible. Her bow speed is bad (dohoho) and there's nothing she can do that someone else isn't better at. If this hasn't been a problem for you so far, why start worrying about it now? The game doesn't suddenly get hard, or anything (some optional stuff, depending on when you do it, aside). The distinction between characters is incredibly minor, really just a cursory bone tossed out to give obsessive min-maxers something to think about. For practical purposes, all units are interchangeable. So if you want to spend the whole game staring at seven-foot bunny girl ass, go for it.

i used Basch for brute force, Penelo for suppor/healing and Ashe for stealing/support/everything else

I gave everyone swords and magic. FUCK YEAH SWORDS AND MAGIC!
...I gave up pretty fast...

>>24918885
I thought Penelo had the best magic. Fran isn't garbage...just way too balanced.
Also depending on what you give them it renders stat differences pretty useless once you get to mid game.

I loved FFXII, don't understand the hate it gets here at all. And before anyone says "LOL BUT IT PLAYS ITSELF XD!!!," you can turn the fucking gambits off, dumbass.

>>24918785
>>24918723
My setups usually go like this
Vaan - Knife, Ninja Swords, or Sword + Shield
Balthier - Gun, 1H Sword, or Bow
Fran - Bow, and I'll just switch her up when needed
Ashe - Spears and 1H Swords
Basch - 2H Swords, Axes, and Spears
Penelo - Katanas, Hand Bombs, Ninja Swords

>>24918885
Balthier is the worst gunner, guns don't use stats and his attack animation is slightly slower than all other characters using guns. He's the best bow user, which uses the speed stat and doesn't have a slower animation.

>>24918906
>weeaboo Morrowind
>I don't even remember where I'm going or why

Wow... this is like "I can't find the secret tunnel warp in Mario 1" level of game suckitude. Why are you even here?

Basch - decoy tank
Ashe - healing/magic etc
Vaan - dps

Ashe - Tank
Penelo - DPS/Magic
Fran - Bow/Buffs

I just felt like doing an all-girl setup my second time through.

Berserk+Haste+Bubble+Decoy

>>24919000
Penelo has the best mp, 2nd highest magic stat.
Ashe hsa the highest magic stat, 2nd highest mp.
>>24919084
Guns use speed as their stat dude. Bows use strength and speed.

>>24919084
Also, bows are generally better than guns anyway, except high defense monsters. Vaan/Penelo/Ashe all the way. Vaan for raping, Penelo for bombing, and Ashe for magic/measures.

>>24919084
Guns are inherently slow weapons, it doesn't matter who's using them. Their advantage is that they negate defenses. Weapons dependent on the speed stat are bows, knives, and ninja swords.

It's the areas inbetween towns that suck,just a bunch of mountains/hills with generic grass/desert/ice motif.Populated with no unique treasures(hurrr 50gil/potion for 500th time!)

>>24919237
Real men cast negatives stats on their characters and force them to duke it out with eachother.
Surprisingly Basch is usually the one left standing in my party.

>>24919354
Guns don't use speed, they negate defenses.

>>24919375
They're slow, however Balthier's is slightly, slightly slower for whatever reason.

Vaan - Ninja swords/ Destiny spear if you're a tourneyfag and actually got that
Basch - Decoy tank
Penelo - Buffs, measures, and if all that's taken care of, Bombs.

Vaan lokks like a fag

>>24919498
It's probably his attack animation; Balthier makes a slight gesture before shooting, and he shoots one handed.

Characters are mostly the same to the point where anyone can fill any job adequately.

In general, I'd recommend:

One tank (a character using sword/shield who will primarily take the damage)

One caster (a character using magic and heals)

One pure damage (a character using melee or ranged damage)

Similar to an MMORPG.

dont believe ondore's lies

the biggest decision is not which characters to use, but how many to bother leveling up. i go with 4 or 5, depending on how confident i am in my main party.

>>24919613

It's actually because characters themselves affect the charge time of the weapons they use, too. At least, that's what I saw in one of the GameFAQs. For some reason, Balthier and Fran are pretty slow with their guns and bows...

>>24919613
Yeah, it's a difference of about two tenths of a second because of it. Fran has the same issue with bow.

>>24919115
Well, ok, for "don't remember", read "long ago stopped caring". But if you can't see how a procession of sterile environments full of respawning suicidal fauna calls Bethesda's hellish sandboxes to mind, I don't really know what to tell you.