The Bench List is here to give characters a second look at characters that got sidelined or even worse, never got to see the light of day, and find ways to make them work(keyword is work, not make them dominant) in the current meta. This time is Ramza Beoulve.
Part 1 is all about the character, we have a look at his strengths, weaknesses and what he brings to the table. It’s basically another character evaluation, but for the current meta.
Part 2 features the character in the bench list and putting him in a team that makes the character shine better and make better use of his kit.
Table of Contents
Ramza Beoulve
Admiral Information
- Game: Final Fantasy Tactics
- Roles: Offensive Support, BRV Shaver, BRV Battery
- Attack Type: Melee
- Weapon Type: Sword
- Crystal Color: Yellow
- Optimal Use: Pairing with Teammates without their own ATK buffs.
Who He Is
Ramza Beoulve was one of the most hyped characters during the release of Global. During the early weeks of Global, people kept pursuading others to save for Ramza for many different reasons, because he’s the first to get a 35CP weapon, he’s a strong character, and yet somehow, despite both those statements being true, how come he got benched really quickly?
The answer, it’s because that was in JP, and this is Global.
Global has done so many big and small changes to the game that it changes the dynamic of how the meta is shaped. Squall got buffed early which made him usable because his JP version really suckeeeeddddd~ and that is coming from a Squall main ladies and gentlemen. Tidus, Vincent, Prishe & Faris got their 35CP early, changing up the meta even further. Ace was buffed too, making it even less needed to have Ramza, when you’ve got two strong DPS that have provide themselves the same buff Ramza does, and a few others that hit hard enough not to need that extra boost, it’s no wonder he got benched pretty quickly.
Ramza Beoulve came in with hope in everyone’s eyes, given that we got all event characters prior to him buffed, surely Ramza was gonna get buffed to right? Nope.
Global has had the track record of buffing every event character, except the hyped ones. Ramza? Got super hyped. Ashe? Got hyped too. Cloud buffs with Garnet? oh look at that got hyped too, all three got hyped, and all three didn’t get buffed. At this point I’m 99% sure Kuja, if he wins the character poll, will come unbuffed (less ability uses).
That said, Ramza Beoulve is coming back in this next set of Lost Chapters, and I expect him to be buffed along with it, so at best, he’ll get buffed for the Lost Chapters, at worst, he’ll get buffed the same time he got buffed in JP. September 29, 2017.
With that in mind, everything from here forward will assume he is buffed this time around, and see how we can make him work in the current meta. Let’s goo~~~~
Stats
- HP: 2/5
- INT BRV: 4/5
- MAX BRV: 3/5
- ATK: 4/5
- DEF: 4/5
- SPD: 3/5
Abilities
| Ability | Description | Type | Uses | Base | Weapon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shout | Grants Medium Attack Up, Small Max BRV Up and Small Speed Up for 5 turns. Increases BRV based on Attack. | BRV Multiplier, Self-Buff | 4 | BRV +50% ATK. Grants to self: Shout stance for 5 Turns. Shout’s effect: ATK +40% & mBRV +20% & SPD | BRV +50% ATK. Grants to self: Shout stance for 8 Turns. Shout’s effect: ATK +50% & mBRV +30% & SPD (S). Lower Action Delay. |
| Galvanize | Grants Small Attack Up and BRV Regen to all party members and increases their BRV based on Ramza’s Attack. Low action delay. | BRV Battery, Party Buffs | 3 | Party BRV +50% ATK. Grants to party: ATK Up (+20%) & BRV Regen (30% of iBRV) for 6 Turns. | Party BRV +50% ATK. Grants to party: ATK Up (+30%) & BRV Regen (40% of iBRV) for 9 Turns. |
*Max uses with all Weapon and Charged Passives Equipped.
Crystal Level Passives
| Passive | Description | CP Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Bravery Shout | Slightly raises BRV upon using Shout | 10 |
| Spite | When BRV is above INT BRV & target’s BRV is twice that, BRV Attack becomes critical hit. | 5 |
| Charged Shout | Shout use + 1. | 15 |
| Enhanced Break | Gains slightly more of a Break Bonus when ally inflicts a BRV Break. | 10 |
| Mighty Critical Hit | Slightly increases BRV damage dealth with critical hits. | 5 |
| Quick Galvanize | Slightly raises turn rate for Galvanize. | 10 |
| BRV Initiative | Slightly raises SPD when BRV is at least 50% MAX BRV. | 10 |
| Back Attack | Marginally increases BRV damage dealt when attacking an enemy not targetting self. | 15 |
| Mightiest Squire | Slightly raises INT BRV, MAX BRV, ATK & DEF when HP is at MAX at start of last wave. | 20 |
Generally, I do not ever recommended removing passives in favor of artifact passives, but if there is a priority among these, I’d say conditional passives come off first, followed by SPD related passives. However, depending on who’s in your party, SPD might become high priority as you want Ramza to keep up with the other characters so re-applying buffs aren’t used too early.
Artifact Passives
ATK + 108
Mightiest Squire Boost **
MAX BRV + 330
Ramza Beoulve needs his ATK boost immediately, waiting until wave 5 of a fight to reap the benefits of Mightiest Squire is detrimental to him. You definitely want ATK + 108 over Mightiest Squire, but like I said earlier, it’s my personal opinion, but it’s better to have the crystal passives first, because it can cover up some weaknesses he may have otherwise.
Weapons
| Name | Ability | CP |
|---|---|---|
| Broadsword | Increases the potency of Shout’s buffs and extends their duration to 8 turns. Also lowers action delay. | 15 |
| Platinum Sword | Increases the potency of Galvanize’s Attack Up and BRV Regen and extends their duration. | 35 |
Strenghts
Long-Lasting Buffs.
High Damage Output.
Decent BRV Regen
Weaknesses
Lack of BRV + HP attack.
Low Ability Count.
Most top tier characters already have an attack up of their own.
BRV Battery is subpar to Eiko
Party ATK Buff is subpar to Sazh
Where He Currently Sits
The Bench.
Where He Currently Stands
Ramza Beoulve has the light shining on him for a change as his Lost Chapters is soon to arrive. With that in mind, people are already saying that Sazh is already better than Ramza in his own event, and they… could never been more right.
There is absolutely nothing, I can do or say that makes Ramza better than Sazh or Eiko. With that in mind, from this point, we’re here to find ways to make the best use out of him, so those who invested in him can at the very least make some of their money’s worth.
So if you’re looking to find ways to make Ramza top-tier, sorry bud, this is not for you, this is for people who want to make him usable again.
Ramza Beoulve much like how people joke about his looks, is the biggest trap in all of Global History. (Ok, I know people call Ramza a trap a lot, but have you seen him in NT?? He REALLY LOOKS LIKE A FREAKING GIRL) He was hyped up, and he let a lot of people down, but here’s the key, it’s a lot, not all. There are those who still play Ramza to this day, while he might not be as viable in Co-op due to score requirements, he performs well in Lost Chapters and other Hard Content (Heretics) given that he’s in the right party. I believe making a party that works together, can outperform three top tier characters that don’t. But before I get into that, let’s get to know the character a bit better, this time, with his buffs.
Buffs
Shout = Adds BRV to Ramza depending on his ATK.
Galvanize = Adds BRV to the entire party depending on Ramza’s ATK.
Let’s have a look at his Kit. Shout gives Ramza a unique buff that gives him a whooping +50% ATK, and 30% MBRV UP, and SPD, all three buffs squeezed into one framed buff! That’s pretty awesome, this is exactly why he hits so damn hard. To top it all off, he does a BRV Battery to himself based on his ATK, so not only is your ATK boosted, you gain BRV based on that attack, you can see why he wasn’t given that during release, it’s pretty damn good.
Now let’s look at his second Skill Galvanize (and thank you for changing the name). Galvanize grants the party 30% ATK UP & a BRV Regen of (40% of iBRV) and it last for 9 turns, now looking at the buff, it adds a BRV battery on top of all those effects, so it sounds pretty good right? It should at the very least help his party out when he’s unable to attack yet. LET’S LOOK AT THE NUMBERS! Fully Geared, Ramza has a base ATK of 1822, with 30% ATK UP that’s 2369, getting half of that you have a 1184 BRV battery, CRAP that sounds low, especially when its a low ability count, how do I make this look good. Ramza’s BRV Battery is good enough, that’s all you need to know.
Ok, jokes aside, and I’m sure some of you reading this are having deja vu because of my old Serah eval, making the same joke. Ramza’s first BRV Battery from Galvanize is nothing spectacular, but it is a small gain that helps the party while he’s still ramping up. Now, for the second time you use it, you’ll probably have Shout buff up this time, and ATK goes up to 80%, which means it goes up to around 1.6k BRV battery, which isn’t too bad, considering he still does the BRV Regen.
With that in mind, Ramza Beoulve has a great support set he does both an offensive buff to the party, and a BRV Battery, there’s a downside, he’s smack dab in the middle of the great offensive supports in the game. Sazh, does double the ATK buff gain, so he can work with others even when they already supply themselves with an attack buff (albeit a smaller gain), and he also gives a MBRV Boost, which a lot of characters really need. Then there’s Eiko, the strongest BRV Battery in the game, who’s Smite hits really hard that she’ll provide you the bravery you need, Finally there’s Ashe, who while most people benched for w/e reason, I cannot comprehend, is better in ways because her buffs stack with other character buffs already there.
All seems lost for Ramza Beoulve, and to be honest, it really does, when someone is better at you, you tend to feel crap about yourself, I think that applies to Ramza Beoulve wherein people perceive him as crap, because someone is better. But here’s the truth. Just because, someone is better than you, doesn’t make you bad, it just means they’re better than you, and it’s OK, because you’re still pretty good yourself. This applies to Ramza a lot.
How to get him off the Bench
Now the part you’ve been waiting for, how to make best use of him in the current state of the game. It’s pretty simple, put him in a party that could use him!
Please be reminded this does not apply to co-op because you are at the mercy of other people’s choices.
Being a support means you’re there to support the team, if that team doesn’t need your support, you look for one that does. Now to make it simple, I’ll list the top 20 characters in the Tier List and enumerate if they can benefit from Ramza or not.
Sazh = nope, Sazh is good on his own, and the only thing Ramza provides is a BRV Battery and Regen he doesn’t really need.
Lightning = nope, she has her own ATK Buff, the only time you’ll want Ramza with Lightning is if you don’t have her 15CP passive.
Eiko = nope.
Vaan = nope, he gives himself a 20% atk up, adding 10% and a brv battery is a waste of space.
Prishe = YES. Not only does Prishe get the full benefits from Ramza, but the BRV Regen really helps Prishe hit that sweet spot when using HP+ (downside is you’ll need to either buff earlier than usual, or let her go without buffs for a few turns, but it should be alright)
Tidus = it’s ok but there’s a downside, he gains 20% atk from Ramza, but there are better options, and Tidus is fast so he’ll force Ramza to buff earlier than he needs to.)
Papalymo = HELL YES. Not only does Papalymo gain the full benefits from the buff, but his Umbral Ice stacks with his BRV Regen.
Squall = hell no.
Kain = hell no.
Aerith = this one is tough, Aerith overwrites Ramza’s buffs but hers only last a few turns, so you’ll have to time it to go in-between, if you can do that, by all means, but I’m leaning on no.
Vincent = yes
Seymour = Yes.Seymour doesn’t have any ATK up, and with his high ATK stat, he gets a real big boost out of it, especially since he needs to save a few abilities.
Cloud = Yes High ATK stat, high gain.
Ashe = Yes. But the third character needs to help Ashe with her MBRV problem in some way and still benefit from Ramza.
Terra = nup. she needs a BRV Battery sure, but not Ramza, she needs a stronger BRV Battery, like Hope or Eiko.
Garnet = yes
Vanille = yes
Cecil = yes
Serah = maybe, she doesn’t need the ATK buff, but the small BRV gain, is what she needs for that perfect moonlight.
Faris = HELL YES strong and long debuff, paired with strong and long buff, count me in!
Notice how, there’s a lot of no at the top, and a lot of yes as we get lower? It’s exactly why Ramza Beoulve got benched. He’s not needed by a huge number of top tier characters, but as we go lower, the characters that could benefit from his buffs do show up and that’s where he’s best used. In a party where he’s needed. A lot of these characters in the top 11 to 20 are “benched” but with the right party, they shouldn’t be.
If you pair him with someone who doesn’t need him, he’ll feel like a useless waste of space, but with a party that can use his support, he’s invaluable.
Now, I’m not going to go into future changes, like awakening and whatnot, what’s important is now, and what we can do, now. We never truly know what the future holds so stop thinking too far into the future and enjoy the moment, SE has thrown curveball after curveball at us for so many times now, we should learn from it.
Summary
Ramza Beoulve is a good character, but is outclasses in every front. While that is the cold hard truth, he is far from useless, and any decent player can bring the best out of him. He may not shine, but he can still fight a good fight.
This is for you Ramza Beoulve fans out there who’s hearts fell heavy when their favorite Squire got benched by the meta, I hope this helps you enjoy him more. I’ve seen people too stuck up with the meta and even quit because their favorite “wasn’t good” anymore. That’s simply not true, you just have to dig deeper and find ways to best use them.
Should I pull?
I’m not gonna tell you whether to pull or not. My only advice is, if you do, make the best use out of it.
Score
50 out of 50 years war.
Special credit: Decrith
