Using small arms like ninja swords and daggers, Shikaris are capable of producing big combos that deal large damage. They’re quick, can use the party-wide buffs Protectga and Shellga, and have lots of augmentations that make any items they use even more powerful. A well thought-out Shikari is capable of sweeping through the battlefield to clear out the smaller enemies, and cripple the larger ones, all while playing support to the rest of the group. Shikari also have an unusually high amount of hit points for the kind of job it is, making it even better on the frontline. As good as that all sounds, The Zodiac Age allows you to make it even better by adding another license board into the mix. So let’s dive in and see which secondary jobs would make the best additions to the Shikari job. Please, walk with me.
3. Shikari + Red Battlemage
If there’s anything that can make a Job better, it’s the addition of magic. By adding the Red Battlemage to your Shikari character, you provide them with a very good sampler platter of spells. It’s not the most potent bunch. But it’s more than enough to exploit a weakness or recover some HP. You even get some additional magic power panels. The more attractive perk of a Shikari Red Battlemage is the new selection of weapons and armor. Heavy and Mystical armor bolsters your defenses quite well, and greatswords and maces add more choices to how you deal damage. Since the Shikari has a high number of HP panels on the license board, the Red Battlemage’s Souleater ability is a very good option for laying out damage. Give up a bit of your health in exchange for a bigger hit! This works out especially well since the Red Shikari can just heal themselves. Souleater is also the perfect complement to the Shikari’s Bonecrusher, since both rely on taking from your HP pool to do damage.
2. Shikari + Knight
The Shikari alone can already get access to a fair number of the available shields. But not all of them. Adding the Knight as a secondary job gives you permission to use the rest of the protective roster. And the real juicy part of all this is how much more defense this can get. Put on a good shield (all of which give bonuses to evasion) and the main gauche daggers, which have a stupidly high evasion bonus, and you’ll be blocking or dodging most attacks that come your way. Playing this defensively can also be a tremendous help when paired with the Decoy spell. This makes your Shikari the enemy’s target, and can buy your party a few moments to recover or retaliate. The Knight makes your Shikari’s already high HP even higher, too. Which is perfect when you’re looking to become the party’s tank (or damage sponge). When defense isn’t needed, the Shikari Knight is a powerhouse. I mean, you get plenty of strength tiles on the board, in addition to being able to use a large variety of armor and weapons that help increase combo length (including the fabled Genji Gear). A Shikari/Knight combo is truly fearsome.
1. Shikari + Bushi
When you start up a Shikari build, one of the first things you’ll notice is how good they are at getting multiple hits. Both of the job’s preferred weapons excel in combo attacks. The Bushi can further this through licenses for not only katanas (another weapon great for chaining hits), but also the fabled Genji equipment. The Genji Gloves specifically boost the chances of hitting multiple times – by a lot. And with the added speed you get from the Shikari job, everything can come together to create a multi-hit monster. The Shikari-Bushi mix (besides being very fun to say) can also produce one of the best damage dealers in FF12. Equipping the Yagyu Darkblade with the Black Robes boosts the blades’ darkness power by fifty percent. Slip on the Genji Gloves with it, and anything that doesn’t absorb dark elemental damage will crumble in seconds. This build is one of the best ways to tackle a certain endgame super boss, too.