Balthier

Balthier is a charming sky pirate who, with his Viera partner Fran, is pulled into the party’s adventure after a heist gone wrong. He fancies himself the leading man of the story.

Balthier has the highest Speed in the party, which suits fast weapons and a Shikari build, while his HP and Strength sit in the upper-middle of the group and his magick stats trail. See the table below for the full breakdown.

Stats

The table below ranks all six party members in each stat at Level 99 in The Zodiac Age. A ranking of 1 is the highest in the party for that stat, and characters with the same value share a ranking.

The gaps between each character’s stats are very small, and most stats can be raised to the maximum values with equipment and the License Board. Check out the Best Party section for a more detailed analysis of character stats.

Attack Animation Speed

There is an odd quirk regarding Balthier that is worth mentioning because of how counterintuitive it is. Balthier’s animation speed, when using a ranged weapon, is the slowest in the game. He takes about 0.2 seconds longer per shot than any of the other party members when he uses guns, bows, and crossbows.

The counterintuitive part is that he joins your party with a ranged weapon already equipped (the Altair). This weapon is not only his worst weapon type, but it’s also the slowest weapon type in the game. If you plan to use him in your party, you would be far better off equipping him with a fast melee weapon. His high Speed stat makes him a natural fit for daggers or ninja swords. Check out the weapon attack speed breakdown for the full picture.

Recommended Jobs

Balthier’s top Speed makes him the ideal Shikari, whose damage scales with that stat.

• Shikari plus Time Battlemage for a fast dagger and ninja-sword attacker with Haste and buffs.
• Shikari plus Foebreaker for raw single-target damage with defense-breaking Technicks.

Check out the Jobs and License Board sections for the full breakdown of each class.