Abilities in Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift can be acquired through equipment, e.g. weapons, armor, and accessories, depending on the race and job of each character.
Humes
Action abilities
- Items
- Arts of War (Soldier)
- White Magick (White Mage)
- Thievery (Thief)
- Black Magick (Black Mage)
- Precision (Archer)
- Chivalry (Paladin)
- Pugilism (Fighter)
- Trapping (Hunter)
- Flair (Parivir)
- Blue Magick (Blue Mage)
- Illusion (Illusionist)
- High Magick (Seer)
- Ninjutsu (Ninja)
- Piracy (Sky Pirate, Vaan only)
- Instinct (Heritor, Adelle only)
- Reconnaissance (Agent, Al-Cid only)
Reaction abilities
- Critical: Haste (Ninja) - Bestows Haste when in critical HP.
- Reflex (Paladin) - Avoid all standard attacks.
- Archer's Bane (Archer) - Completely avoid all physical attacks from units wielding a Bow or Greatbow.
- Strike Back (Parivir) - Avoids any standard attacks then counters.
- Counter (Thief) - Follow up an enemy attack with an attack of the players' own. Units with ranged weapons can only counter up close and won't use their weapon to attack.
- Bonecrusher (Fighter) - Counters with one-and-a-half times normal damage if hit.
- Magick Counter (Black Mage) - Counter offensive magic skills by casting the same spell back at the attacker. Requires enough MP to cast the spell to work.
- MP Shield (Blue Mage) - Converts HP damage to MP damage. Will not work if there is no MP to spare. Overflow is taken from HP.
- Regenerate (Hunter) - Bestows Regen status when attacked.
- Absorb MP (Illusionist) - Absorb the MP used in attacks against the player. The attack has to use MP in order for the reaction to work.
- Replenish MP (Seer) - Regain 20% of damage taken as MP.
- Sticky Fingers (Sky Pirate, Vaan only) - Catches and acquires weapons thrown with Throw and Weapon Toss.
Passive (support) abilities
- Attack↑ (Hunter) - Increases Attack.
- Defense↑ (Paladin) - Increases Defense.
- Turbo MP (White Mage) - Double MP use to increase damage and accuracy of skills requiring it.
- Geomancy (Black Mage) - Reduces all target's elemental resistances by one level. [Absorb > Null > Half > Norm > Weak]
- Pierce (Seer) - Spells ignore Reflect.
- Monkey Grip (Soldier) - Hold a two-handed weapon with one hand.
- Doublehand (Fighter) - Hold a one-handed weapon with both hands, increasing damage dealt.
- Dual Wield (Ninja) - Allows the ability to equip a (one-handed) weapon in each hand. Does not work with poles or books.
- Safeguard (Thief) - Prevents stealing and breaking.
- Halve MP (Illusionist) - Halves MP costs.
- Immunity (Blue Mage) - Debuffs cannot be added or removed from unit.
- Learn (Blue Mage) - Learn Blue Magic when struck with them in combat.
- Concentration (Archer) - Slightly increases accuracy of attacks.
- Shieldbearer (Soldier) - Allows shield-wielding, regardless of job.
- Death Strike (Parivir) - Increases critical hit percentage.
- Ribbon-bearer (Seer) - Wear Ribbons regardless of current job.
- Vigilance (Sky Pirate, Vaan only) - Does not take extra damage from attacks from the side or back.
Moogles
Action abilities
- Items
- Calling (Animist)
- Thievery (Thief)
- Black Magick (Black Mage)
- Onslaught (Moogle Knight)
- Gunmanship (Fusilier)
- Acrobatics (Juggler)
- Clockwork (Tinker)
- Time Magick (Time Mage)
- Chococraft (Chocobo Knight)
- Ballistics (Flintlock)
- Song (Bard, Hurdy only)
Reaction abilities
- Critical: Quicken (Time Mage) - Bestows Quick when at critical HP.
- Critical: Haste (Moogle Knight) - Bestows Haste when in critical HP.
- Sticky Fingers (Juggler) - Catch Thrown/Tossed weapons and add them to inventory.
- Archer's Bane (Animist) - Ignore attacks from Bow or Greatbow.
- Counter (Thief) - Follow up an enemy attack with an attack of the players' own. Units with ranged weapons can only counter up close and won't use their weapon to attack.
- Return Fire (Juggler) - Counters arrow attacks by catching and returning the arrow back. Only works for a standard Fight attack.
- Magick Counter (Black Mage) - Counter offensive magic skills by casting the same spell back at the attacker. Requires enough MP to cast the spell to work.
- MP Shield (Tinker) - Converts HP damage to MP damage. Will not work if there is no MP to spare. Overflow is taken from HP.
- Regenerate (Tinker) - Bestows Regen when attacked.
- Blur (Flintlock) - Evade gun/cannon attacks.
- Evade Magick (Time Mage) - Evade damaging magic spells completely.
- Critical: Vanish (Bard, Hurdy only) - Enters Invisible status when at critical health.
Passive (support) abilities
- Geomancy (Black Mage) - Reduces all target's elemental resistances by one level. [Absorb > Null > Half > Norm > Weak]
- Safeguard (Thief) - Prevents stealing and breaking.
- Concentration (Fusilier) - Increase accuracy.
- Shieldbearer (Moogle Knight) - Allows shield-wielding, regardless of job.
- Charged Attacks (Flintlock) - Regular attacks consume MP to increase damage.
- Ribbon-bearer (Tinker) - Allows equipping of Ribbons regardless of job.
Viera
Action abilities
- Items
- Dance (Dancer, Penelo only)
- Precision (Archer)
- White Magick (White Mage)
- Red Magick (Red Mage)
- Fencing (Fencer)
- Summoning Magick (Summoner)
- Assassination (Assassin)
- Green Magick (Green Mage)
- Elemental Magick (Elementalist)
- Sharpshooting (Sniper)
- Blade Arts (Spellblade)
Reaction abilities
- Sticky Fingers (Red Mage) - Catch Thrown/Hurled items and add them to inventory.
- Reflex (Fencer) - Avoid all standard Fight attacks.
- Archer's Bane (Archer) - Completely avoid all physical attacks from units wielding a Bow or Greatbow.
- Return Fire (Assassin) - Counter arrow attacks by catching and returning the arrows. Only works on standard attacks.
- Regenerate (Sniper) - Bestows Regen when attacked.
- Absorb MP (Green Mage) - Gains MP equal to the MP cost of attacks used on the unit.
- Evade Magick (Green Mage) - Allows user to avoid damage spells.
- Critical: Evasion↑ (Spellblade) - Evade Up when HP-critical.
- Critical: Quicken (Dancer, Penelo only) - Bestows Quick when at critical HP.
Passive (support) abilities
- Magick↑ (Red Mage) - Increases Magick.
- Turbo MP (White Mage) - Double MP use to increase damage and accuracy of skills requiring it.
- Halve MP (Summoner) - Halves MP Usage of all skills requiring it.
- Concentration (Archer) - Slightly increases accuracy of attacks.
- Shieldbearer (Fencer) - Allows shield-wielding, regardless of job.
- Spellbound (Green Mage) - Buffs and debuffs last longer on the user.
- Blood Price (Spellblade) - Use double HP instead of MP for casting.
Bangaa
Action abilities
- Items
- Intercession (Bishop)
- Cannonry (Cannoneer)
- Warding (Defender)
- Dragon Soul (Dragoon)
- Sparring (Gladiator)
- Arts of War (Warrior)
- Discipline (White Monk)
- Martial Arts (Master Monk)
- Sacred Blade (Templar)
- Sleight of Hand (Trickster)
Reaction abilities
- Critical: Berserk (Defender) - Self-Inflicts Berserk when in critical HP.
- Reflex (White Monk) - Avoid all basic attacks.
- Strike Back (Gladiator) - Avoids a standard attack and counters.
- Counter (White Monk) - Follow up an enemy attack with an attack of the players' own.
- Bonecrusher (Templar) - Counters with 1.5x damage if hit.
- Magick Counter (Bishop) - Counter offensive magic skills by casting the same spell back at the attacker. Requires enough MP to cast the spell to work.
- Dragonheart (Dragoon) - Gains Reraise status when melee damaged.
- Blur (Cannoneer) - Evade hand-cannon and gun-based basic attacks.
- Absorb Damage (Trickster) - Gain HP equal to 10% of the damage taken.
- Blink Counter (Master Monk) - Counters and knocks back.
Passive (support) abilities
- Attack↑ (Templar) - Increase Attack.
- Defense↑ (Defender) - Increases Defense.
- Monkey Grip (Warrior) - Hold a two-handed weapon with one hand.
- Doublehand (Gladiator) - Hold a single-handed weapon with both hands. Increases weapon damage.
- Halve MP (Bishop) - Halves MP Usage of all spells and skills requiring it.
- Shieldbearer (Warrior) - Allows Unit to equip shields regardless of job.
- Unscarred (Master Monk) - Boosts Attack, Defense, Magick, and Resistance by 50% if the unit has full HP.
- Ribbon-bearer (Trickster) - Allows using Ribbon regardless of current job.
- Tank (Defender) - Wear heavy armor regardless of job.
Nu mou
Action abilities
- Items
- White Magick (White Mage)
- Black Magick (Black Mage)
- Time Magick (Time Mage)
- Arcane Magick (Arcanist)
- Beast Lore (Beastmaster)
- Alchemy (Alchemist)
- Lore (Scholar)
- Sagacity (Sage)
- Illusion (Illusionist)
Reaction abilities
- Critical: Quicken (Time Mage) - Bestows Quick when at critical HP.
- Critical: Haste (Beastmaster) - Bestows Haste when at critical HP.
- Reflex (Sage) - Avoid all basic attacks.
- Magick Counter (Black Mage) - Counter offensive magic skills by casting the same spell back at the attacker. Requires enough MP to cast the spell to work.
- MP Shield (Arcanist) - Converts HP damage to MP damage. Will not work if there is no MP to spare. Overflow is taken from HP.
- Absorb MP (Illusionist) - Absorb the MP used in attacks against the player. The attack has to use MP in order for the reaction to work.
- Evade Magick (Time Mage) - Evade damaging magic spells completely.
Passive (support) abilities
- Defense↑ (Sage) - Increases Defense.
- Magick↑ (Alchemist) - Increases Magick.
- Turbo MP (White Mage) - Double MP use to increase damage and accuracy of skills requiring it.
- Geomancy (Black Mage) - Reduces all target's elemental resistances by one level.
- Pierce (Arcanist) - Spells ignore Reflect.
- Safeguard (Alchemist) - Prevents stealing and breaking.
- Halve MP (Illusionist) - Halves MP costs.
- Immunity (Beastmaster) - Neither buffs nor debuffs can be removed from the user.
- Shieldbearer (Sage) - Allows shield-wielding, regardless of job.
- Item Lore (Alchemist) - Improves effect of recovery items.
- Spellbound (Scholar) - Buffs and debuffs last longer on the unit.
Seeq
Action abilities
Reaction abilities
- Critical: Berserk (Berserker) - Self-inflicts Berserk when in critical HP.
- Counter (Berserker) - Counterattacks when damaged.
- Dragonheart (Lanista) - Automatically grants Reraise status upon taking melee damage.
- Absorb Damage (Viking) - Recover 10% of damage taken into HP, rounded down to the first place.
- Blink Counter (Lanista) - Counterattack and knock back the attacker after being the target of an offensive action.
- Gil Snapper (Viking) - Obtain gil after receiving a critical hit.
- Critical: Vanish (Ranger) - Invisible status when HP-critical.
Passive (support) abilities
- Attack↑ (Berserker) - Increases Attack.
- Monkey Grip (Lanista) - Wield two-handed weapons in one hand.
- Doublehand (Viking) - Can hold a one-handed weapon in both hands for higher attack. Does not work with gloves.
- Safeguard (Viking) - Equipment cannot be broken or stolen.
- Shieldbearer (Viking) - Can equip shields regardless of job.
- Death Strike (Berserker) - Increases critical hit rate.
- Item Lore (Ranger) - Increases effectiveness of items (including those used with mirror item).
- Avoid Traps (Ranger) - Protection from traps.
- Tank (Lanista) - Wear heavy armor regardless of job.
Gria
Action abilities
Reaction abilities
- Reflex (Raptor)- Avoids basic attacks.
- Strike Back (Ravager) - Blocks a basic attack and counters it.
- Counter (Raptor) - Counters with weapon when attacked. Counters barehanded if user has a ranged weapon.
- Bonecrusher (Ravager) - Counters dealing 1.5x damage.
- Magick Counter (Geomancer) - Counter offensive magic skills by casting the same spell back at the attacker. Requires enough MP to cast the spell to work.
- Regenerate (Hunter) - Bestows Regen status when attacked.
- Critical: Evasion↑ (Geomancer) - Grants the Evasion↑ status when Critical.
Passive (support) abilities
- Attack↑ (Hunter) - Increases Attack.
- Defense↑ (Ravager) - Increases Defense.
- Resistance↑ (Geomancer) - Increases Resistance.
- Monkey Grip (Raptor) - Wield two-handed swords with one hand.
- Safeguard (Raptor) - Current equipment cannot be broken or stolen.
- Shieldbearer (Raptor) - Equips shields regardless of job.
- Unscarred (Ravager) - Boosts Attack, Defense, Magick, and Resistance by 50% if unit has full HP.
- Avoid Traps (Geomancer) - Protection from traps.
- Tank (Ravager) - Wear heavy armor regardless of job.
List of illegal ability users
Most of the NPCs use Reaction or Passive abilities that is outside of their tribe.
- Ghi Yelgi uses the Passive Tank.
- Tweigel uses the Passive Blood Price.
- Fras uses the Passive Death Strike.
- Green King Verre uses the Reaction Blink Counter.
- The Geomancer of the Nortyrants from the the Jylland Cup tournament uses Elusion.
- Bansat from the Champion's Cup uses the Passive Pugilist.
- Alys the Ensorceled uses the Reaction Magick Counter.
- Duke Snakeheart uses the Reaction Replenish MP.
- Hana the Red Mage from To be a Spellblade uses the Reaction Counter.