Gambits

Learning how to utilize the Gambit system in Final Fantasy XII is absolutely critical to a successful (and painless) playthrough of the game. More Gambits become available to use throughout a playthrough of the game – a full list is included below – which allow you to customize and configure the actions of your party members.

Some of the most important Gambits include the following:

Libra Gambit

You should set up a Libra Gambit as soon as you have access to the Libra Technick. A Gambit can be used to ensure that Libra is always active on at least one party member. The Technick itself is useful for two reasons:

1. It provides a notification on the screen indicating key information about an enemy.
2. It identifies invisible traps in certain areas of the game.

Enemy Target Gambits

You will gain access to a number of Gambits for targeting Foes. These include:

• Foe: party leader’s target
• Foe: nearest visible
• Foe: any
• Etc.

Most players can get through a playthrough of the game using one or two of the most common Foe Gambits (Foe: Any or Foe: Nearest Visible), but it is important to switch between these when the situation calls for. Generally speaking, the best Gambit to use, when it becomes available is Foe: lowest HP and Foe: party leader’s target before that. This ensures that all of your party members are focused on bringing down one target at a time and as quickly as possible.

Flying Targets

Flying enemies can be particularly troublesome if you don’t have a character regularly equipped with a ranged weapon or have a character focused on using Magick attacks. Setup each of your characters with the Foe: flying and an ability that will effectively take down flying enemies. Specifically, you can use the Telekinesis Technick later on in the game to have melee characters use regular attacks on flying enemies.

Status Adding/Removing Gambits

Use the Ally: status = ______ to target party members with a specific status and use the proper item to remove that status (Alarm Clock to remove Sleep, Chronos Tear to remove stop and slow, etc.)

You can switch this Gambit to Esuna later on in the game, but be cautious about doing this. It can be extremely costly in using up MP and may be troublesome if it requires multiple casts to constantly remove status effects.

They can also be used to keep a negative status effect on an enemy, such as Blind, or a positive status effect on a party member, such as Protect.

Gambit List

Every Gambit pairs a target/condition with an action (an attack, Magick, Technick, or item). The character checks each Gambit from the top down and performs the action of the first condition that is met. The lists below are grouped by target type. Where a series of thresholds is available, such as HP percentages, the available values are noted in a single entry instead of being repeated.

Ally Gambits

Ally Gambits target your own party members and are used for healing, reviving, buffing, and curing status effects.

Target / Condition	What it does
Ally: any	Targets any living party member. A good catch-all for buffs and group healing.
Ally: party leader	Targets the character you are currently controlling.
Ally: (character)	Targets one specific party member by name (Vaan, Ashe, Fran, Balthier, Penelo, or Basch).
Ally: lowest HP	Targets the party member with the fewest current HP. The standard choice for healing Gambits.
Ally: strongest weapon	Targets the ally equipped with the highest-power weapon.
Ally: lowest defense	Targets the ally with the lowest Defense stat.
Ally: lowest magick resist	Targets the ally with the lowest Magick Resist stat.
Ally: HP < (percent)	Triggers when an ally drops below the chosen HP threshold, available from 10% to 100% in 10% steps. Pair with a Cure spell. HP < 70% is a common healing trigger.
Ally: MP < (percent)	Triggers when an ally drops below the chosen MP threshold (10% to 100%). Pair with Ether or the Charge Technick to restore MP.
Ally: status = (status)	Targets an ally who currently has the named status. The negative statuses let you cure ailments (KO, Stone, Petrify, Stop, Sleep, Confuse, Doom, Blind, Poison, Silence, Sap, Oil, Reverse, Disable, Immobilize, Slow, Disease, Lure), while the positive statuses let you react to buffs (Protect, Shell, Haste, Bravery, Faith, Reflect, Invisible, Regen, Float, Berserk, Bubble). HP Critical is also covered.
Ally: (number)+ foes present	Triggers when at least the chosen number of enemies are on the field (2+ through 5+). Useful for deciding when to cast area-effect Magick.
Ally: item AMT ≧ 10	Triggers when you are carrying 10 or more of a chosen item.

Foe Gambits

Foe Gambits target enemies and are used for attacking, debuffing, and focusing fire.

Target / Condition	What it does
Foe: party leader’s target	Targets whatever enemy the party leader is attacking, so the whole party focuses fire on a single enemy.
Foe: nearest visible / any / nearest / furthest	Targets an enemy by position. “Nearest visible” and “any” are the most common general-purpose attack Gambits.
Foe: targeted by ally / not targeted by ally	Targets an enemy another party member is (or is not) already attacking, so you can concentrate or spread out your damage.
Foe: targeting leader / self / ally / (character)	Targets the enemy currently attacking the named character. Handy for protecting fragile party members.
Foe: highest / lowest (stat)	Targets the enemy at the top or bottom of a chosen stat: HP, max HP, MP, max MP, level, strength, magick power, speed, defense, or magick resist. “Foe: lowest HP” is the go-to for finishing enemies quickly.
Foe: HP < (value)	Triggers when an enemy’s HP falls below a set number, from 500 up to 100,000. Useful for finishing-blow Gambits.
Foe: HP = 100% / HP ≧ (percent)	Triggers based on an enemy’s remaining HP percentage (100% down to 10%). Useful for opening attacks or saving stronger spells for healthy enemies.
Foe: status = (status)	Targets an enemy that has a specific status. Use it to keep a debuff applied, or to avoid wasting actions on an enemy that already has it.
Foe: (element)-weak / (element)-vulnerable	Targets an enemy weak or vulnerable to a chosen element (fire, lightning, ice, earth, water, wind, holy, or dark). Pair with the matching elemental Magick for extra damage.
Foe: undead	Targets undead enemies, which take damage from curative Magick and items such as Phoenix Down.
Foe: flying	Targets airborne enemies. Pair with ranged weapons, Magick, or the Telekinesis Technick so melee characters can reach them.
Foe: character (HP / MP / status) condition	Conditional triggers that check a character’s own HP, MP, or status before acting on a foe, letting you tie an attack to your own state.
Foe: (number)+ foes present	Triggers when at least the chosen number of enemies (2+ through 5+) are on the field. Useful for area-effect attacks.
Foe: (number)+ allies present	Triggers when at least the chosen number of allies (2+ or 3+) are present.
Foe: item AMT ≧ 10	Triggers when you are carrying 10 or more of a chosen item.

Self Gambits

Self Gambits let a character act based on their own condition, without targeting anyone else.

Target / Condition	What it does
Self	Targets the character running the Gambit, for self-buffs and self-healing.
Self: HP < (percent)	Triggers when the character’s own HP drops below the chosen threshold (10% to 100%). Pair with a self-heal.
Self: MP < (percent)	Triggers when the character’s own MP drops below the chosen threshold (10% to 100%).
Self: status = (status)	Triggers when the character has a specific status. Covers ailments (Petrify, Doom, Blind, Poison, Silence, Sap, Oil, Reverse, Immobilize, Slow, Disease, Lure) and buffs (Protect, Shell, Haste, Bravery, Faith, Reflect, Invisible, Regen, Float, Bubble), plus HP Critical.
Self: (number)+ foes present	Triggers when at least the chosen number of enemies (2+ through 5+) are present.
Self: targeted by foe / targeted by ally	Triggers when an enemy or an ally is currently targeting this character.
Self: item AMT ≧ 10	Triggers when you are carrying 10 or more of a chosen item.