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Swordmasters who devote themselves body and soul to their lords.

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age description

Bushi is a License Board in the Zodiac versions of Final Fantasy XII, represented by the zodiac sign of Aquarius. Bushi wields katanas and is somewhat comparable to the Samurai job from the Final Fantasy series.

The Bushi has access to 133 licenses, which require 8,256 LP to unlock, as well as up to 13 additional licenses through summon licenses costing 1,005 LP, and 5 additional licenses costing 445 LP through Quickening licenses.

Profile[]

Bushi is primarily a light physical attacker, using katana as its main weapon whose damage benefits more from Strength than Magick, but unless Bushi is coupled with a heavy armor job to enhance its Strength, it gets only Heavy Armor 9, 10 and 11 and Genji Armor. Instead, it gets the third most Magick Lores (with Zeromus), behind Black Mage and White Mage, and can use mystic armor to augment its magick. Because Strength is a higher priority for melee damage than Magick, and because it is such a powerful asset to magick use, a Zodiac Age Bushi's Magick Lores should be considered as much of an asset to spell use by a second-job Red Battlemage or Knight or Monk as it is an asset to the Bushi's own katana damage.

Until it gets access to heavy armor, Bushi is better suited for quick attacking than performing as the party's tank. It has access to many augments for raising HP, attack, and magickal power. Bushi does not learn spells, and has a limited number of augments for improving basic attacks and consumables.

In The Zodiac Age the player can choose two license boards for each party member.

One good combination is to couple Bushi with Knight. Bushi's katana do damage based on both Strength and Magick Power. Bushi has high Magick Power and equips Magick-boosting mystic armor, but has mediocre Strength. Knight has good Strength and Strength-boosting heavy armor, allowing one to boost damage done with katana. Knight unlocks some good White Magicks, but has poor Magick Power, which can be counteracted by Bushi's magick-oriented nature. Bushi-Knight allows the character to equip White Robes (Holy-elemental damage boosted by 50%) and Excalibur (Holy-elemental weapon) at the same time, and to unlock three Swiftness licenses, making the character excellent against the undead.

Bushi-Monk similarly couples Bushi's magick power with Monk's physical strength (highest in the game). Monk can also use White Magick, which benefits from Bushi's magick powers. Both jobs' weapon types also benefit greatly from Genji Gloves, and poles can hit flying enemies whereas katana cannot. Combining Bushi with Uhlan benefits katana damage from Uhlan's high Strength and heavy armor and allows the character to equip both Holy Lance (Holy-elemental spear) with White Robes. Combining Bushi with Foebreaker again boosts katana damage and gives access to all the break abilities and hand bombs for hitting flying enemies, which is often better than the Bushi's own Shades of Black. Combining Bushi with Time Battlemage allows them to wear heavy armor and use Time Magicks and a ranged weapon.

Vaan, Basch, and Balthier are the fastest with the high-combo weapons, and are thus good candidates for using Genji Gloves and the high-combo poles and katanas.

Coupling Bushi with Shikari allows the character to equip Yagyu Darkblade (Dark-elemental weapon) as well as Black Robes (Dark damage boosted by 50%) at the same time, which is the ideal set-up for fighting Yiazmat. However, this is not the only Shikari combination to allow this. Shikari-Bushi lacks the utility of the other Shikari combos with White Mage, Black Mage, or Red Battlemage that also allow Yagyu Darkblade and Black Robes to be equipped simultaneously. And the Bushi's Genji Gloves do nothing to make up for this lack of utility in comparison, as Germinas Boots and their massive +50 bonus to Speed provide a greater damage benefit for ninja blades than Genji Gloves do, despite ninja blades also being a high-combo weapon.

License Board[]

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQR
1 Wp.1 Wp.1 Wp.1
2 Tch. Wp.1 Smn Aug. Aug. Aug.
3 Smn Aug. Wp.1 Qck. Aug.
4 Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug. Aug.
5 2nd Aug. Aug. Wp.1 Aug. Wp.1 Aug. Wp.1 Gmb. Gmb.
6 Tch. Smn Aug. Aug. Smn Smn Gmb. Tch.
7 Aug. Wp.1 Gmb. Tch.
8 Aug. Aug. Esn. Acc. Acc. Aug. Gmb. Gmb. Gmb. Gmb. Gmb. Tch.
9 Smn Aug. Arm. Acc. Gmb. Tch. Tch. Aug. Tch. Aug.
10 Aug. Aug. Arm. Arm. Arm. Arm. Arm. Acc. Aug. Qck.
11 Aug. Arm. Arm. Arm. Arm. Arm. Aug. Qck. Acc. Acc. Aug.
12 Aug. Smn Aug. Arm. Acc. Acc. Aug.
13 Aug. Arm. Smn Tch. Smn Smn Acc. Acc.
14 Aug. Arm. Acc. Acc. Acc. Acc. Acc. Acc. Acc.
15 Smn Aug. Acc. Acc. Acc. Acc. Acc. Acc.
16 Aug. Aug. Aug. Qck. Aug. Aug.
17 Aug. Aug. Smn Aug.
18 Arm. Arm. Smn Aug. Aug.
19 Arm.
Legend
Aug. Augment
Qck. Quickening
Smn Summon
Acc. Accessory
Arm. Armor
Wp.1 Weapons 1
Wp.2 Weapons 2
Wp.3 Weapons 3
Tch. Technick
Gmb. Gambit
Mgk Magick
Esn. Essentials
2nd Second Board

License list[]

Equipment[]

Name Description LP cost
Katana (1) Allows character to equip Kotetsu and Osafune. 35
Katana (2) Allows character to equip Kogarasumaru and Magoroku. 50
Katana (3) Allows character to equip Murasame and Kiku-ichimonji. 70
Katana (4) Allows character to equip Yakei and Ame-no-Murakumo. 90
Katana (5) Allows character to equip Muramasa. 100
Masamune Allows character to equip Masamune. 130
Kumbha Allows character to equip Kumbha. 80
Blood Sword Allows character to equip Blood Sword. 50
Karkata Allows character equip Karkata. 80
Mystic Armor (1) Allows character to equip Cotton Cap, Magick Curch, Cotton Shirt, and Light Woven Shirt. 10
Mystic Armor (2) Allows character to equip Pointy Hat, Topkapi Hat, Silken Shirt, and Kilimweave Shirt. 15
Mystic Armor (3) Allows character to equip Calot Hat, Wizard's Hat, Shepherd's Bolero, and Wizard's Robes. 20
Mystic Armor (4) Allows character to equip Lambent Hat, Feathered Cap, Chanter's Djellaba, and Traveler's Vestment. 25
Mystic Armor (5) Allows character to equip Mage's Hat, Mage's Habit, Lamia's Tiara, and Enchanter's Habit. 30
Mystic Armor (6) Allows character to equip Sorcerer's Hat, Black Cowl, Sorcerer's Habit, and Black Garb. 40
Mystic Armor (7) Allows character to equip Astrakhan Hat, Gaia Hat, Carmagnole, and Maduin Gear. 50
Mystic Armor (8) Allows character to equip Hypnocrown, Gold Hairpin, Jade Gown, and Gaia Gear. 60
Mystic Armor (9) Allows character to equip Celebrant's Miter and Cleric's Robes. 70
Mystic Armor (10) Allows character to equip Black Mask and Black Robes. 75
Mystic Armor (11) Allows character to equip White Mask and White Robes. 80
Mystic Armor (12) Allows character to equip Golden Skullcap and Glimmering Robes. 90
Mystic Armor (13) Allows character to equip Circlet and Lordly Robes. 110
Heavy Armor (9) Allows character to equip Giant's Helmet and Carabineer Mail. 70
Heavy Armor (10) Allows character to equip Dragon Helm and Dragon Mail. 80
Heavy Armor (11) Allows character to equip Magepower Shishak and Maximillian. 90
Genji Armor Allows character to equip Genji Shield, Genji Helm, Genji Armor, and Genji Gloves. 190
Accessories (1) Allows character to equip Orrachea Armlet. 5
Accessories (2) Allows character to equip Bangle and Firefly. 20
Accessories (3) Allows character to equip Diamond Armlet and Argyle Armlet. 25
Accessories (4) Allows character to equip Battle Harness and Steel Gorget. 35
Accessories (5) Allows character to equip Tourmaline Ring and Embroidered Tippet. 35
Accessories (6) Allows character to equip Golden Amulet and Leather Gorget. 35
Accessories (7) Allows character to equip Rose Corsage and Turtleshell Choker. 40
Accessories (8) Allows character to equip Thief's Cuffs and Gauntlets. 45
Accessories (9) Allows character to equip Amber Armlet and Black Belt. 30
Accessories (10) Allows character to equip Jade Collar and Nishijin Belt. 40
Accessories (11) Allows character to equip Pheasant Netsuke and Blazer Gloves. 45
Accessories (12) Allows character to equip Gillie Boots and Steel Poleyns. 60
Accessories (13) Allows character to equip Berserker Bracers and Magick Gloves. 60
Accessories (14) Allows character to equip Sage Ring and Agate Ring. 70
Accessories (15) Allows character to equip Ruby Ring and Bowline Sash. 70
Accessories (16) Allows character to equip Cameo Belt and Cat-ear Hood. 70
Accessories (17) Allows character to equip Bubble Belt and Fuzzy Miter. 80
Accessories (18) Allows character to equip Sash and Power Armlet. 80
Accessories (19) Allows character to equip Indigo Pendant and Winged Boots. 100
Accessories (20) Allows character to equip Opal Ring and Hermes Sandals. 115
Accessories (21) Allows character to equip Quasimodo Boots and Nihopalaoa. 130
Accessories (22) Allows character to equip Germinas Boots and Ring of Renewal. 160
Ribbon Allows character to equip Ribbon. 215

Technicks[]

Name Description LP cost
1000 Needles Deal 1,000 damage to one foe. 40
Bonecrusher Consume HP to reduce the HP of one foe to 0. 30
Souleater Consume HP to deal damage to one foe. 35
Gil Toss Throw gil, damaging all foes in range. 30
Libra Reveal more detailed target information. 25
Infuse Fully consume user's MP, changing one ally's HP to 10 times that amount. 30
Sight Unseeing Unleash an attack only available when blind. 40
Shades of Black Cast a random black magick on one foe. 70
Stamp Inflict one foe with any harmful status effects on the user. 40

Augments[]

Name Description Amount LP cost
Magick Lore Increases magick potency. 14 30/30/30/30/50/50/50/50/70/70/70/70/100/100
+70/110/150/190/230/270/310/350/390/435/500 HP Increase max HP by 70/110/150/190/230/270/310/350/390/435/500. 11 30/40/50/60/70/80/90/100/115/130/220
Inquisitor Gain MP after dealing physical damage.[note 1] 1 30
Headsman Gain MP after defeating a foe.[note 2] 1 30
Swiftness Reduces action time by 10%. 3 30/50/80
Shield Block Increases chance to block using shield by 5%. 1 25
Martyr Gain MP after taking damage.[note 1] 1 30
Battle Lore Increases physical attack damage. 8 30/30/30/30/50/50/50/50
Serenity Increases magick power when HP is full. 1 70
Spellbreaker Increases magick power when HP critical. 1 65
Last Stand Increases defense when HP critical. 1 70
Remedy Lore 1 Remedies remove Sleep, Sap, Immobilize, and Disable. 1 20
Remedy Lore 2 Remedies remove Petrify, Confuse, and Oil. 1 30
Spellbound Increases duration of status effects. 1 30
Brawler Increases attack power when fighting empty-handed.[note 3] 1 90

Espers and Quickenings[]

Name Licenses unlocked LP cost
Quickening None 50
Quickening +350 HP and Battle Lore 75
Quickening +390 HP and Battle Lore 100
Quickening +435 HP 125
Belias Libra 20
Mateus None 30
Zalera Bloodsword and Karkata 30
Adrammelech Souleater 35
Shemhazai Shield Block 50
Hashmal None 50
Cúchulainn Stamp 50
Zeromus Magick Lore and Magick Lore 65
Exodus +500 HP 65
Famfrit None 100
Chaos Brawler 100
Ultima Stamp 115
Zodiark Heavy Armor (9), Heavy Armor (10), and Heavy Armor (11) 200

Etymology[]

Bushi is a term for samurai. Samurai were the military nobility of medieval and early-modern Japan. They were not just great swordsmen, but also powerful horse archers and martial artists of other fields. Though their status was that above commoners, samurai were bound to forms of etiquette and a way of life known as Bushido, stressing honor to one's devoted and preparing oneself in the face of death. In Japan, samurai has connotations of being extensions of the law and the government due to its history of entitled castes, while bushi has more humanistic connotations, from self improvement to guardians of the people.

The name in Japanese is "Mononofu", an ancient term related to the samurai, meaning bushi, a warrior. Samurai is a recurring job in the Final Fantasy series, but Hiroyuki Itō, the director of Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System, decided on mononofu to give players something to "discover" if they were to look the word up in a dictionary.[1]

Notes[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Damage 1–499=1 MP
    Damage 500–1499=2 MP
    Damage 1500–2599=3 MP
    Damage 3000–4999=4 MP
    Damage 5000–5999=5 MP
    Damage 6000–6999=7 MP
    Damage 7000-7999=10 MP
    Damage 8000–8999=15 MP
    Damage 9000–9998=20 MP
    Damage 9999+ =30 MP
  2. MP recovery = Enemy's level / 4
  3. Without Brawler, a character's barehanded attack power is as follows:
    With the Brawler augment purchased, power increases to:

References[]

  1. Hiroyuki Ito interview from the Final Fantasy XII International Ultimania (Translation)
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