Bartz Klauser

Specialist

Bartz knows the right job for almost any occasion. Moreover, mastering a job can enhance either his or the job’s attributes, so pay due diligence when choosing what to hone.

Original Appearance: FINAL FANTASY V

Year: 1992

Role: As a promise to his dying father’s wish, Bartz Klauser made a decision to leave home to explore the world, traveling alongside his faithful chocobo companion, Boko. During his journey, he witnesses a meteor crash near Castle Tycoon. His investigation of the impact site leads him to the beginning of his path to becoming a Warrior of Light.

Other Noteworthy Appearances: DISSIDIA FINAL FANTASY (2009), DISSIDIA 012 FINAL FANTASY (2011), Theatrhythm FINAL FANTASY (2012), FINAL FANTASY All the Bravest (2013), Pictlogica FINAL FANTASY (2013), Theatrhythm FINAL FANTASY Curtain Call (2014), DISSIDIA FINAL FANTASY (2015), Theatrhythm FINAL FANTASY All-Star Carnival (2016), World of FINAL FANTASY (2016)

Arsenal

Bravery Attacks

HP Attacks

EX Skill

Bravery Attack Breakdown

Monk

Bartz lunges at his target with a quick two-hit right-to-left punch combination, followed by a fierce thrust punch, sending the enemy far away. When mastered, Bartz’s Monk attack becomes a completely different combo; instead of using his fists, he launches into his foe with a flying kick and roundhouse combo.

Normal Monk attack is a two-hit sequence with limited range. It’s standard fare for a neutral  attack, with relatively fast start-up. Its range limitation makes it difficult to connect without a proper setup (from a wall pin, for instance), but if you can score two full combos with it, you gain an incredible mid-range flying-kick combo with the mastered version, as mastering Monk doubles your effective range with neutral  while keeping its speed advantage. As with all mastered attacks, you gain a damage boost as well.

Dragoon

In the Dragoon job, Bartz disappears into the sky before descending directly upon the enemy with a downward thrust of the lance, blasting them away just past mid-range.

Like Kain’s Jump attacks, Bartz’s jump is a special direct-on-target melee attack. As such, consider it a hybrid attack that can be used both offensively and defensively, as you essentially teleport from your initial position directly on top of your target.

Although it affords excellent vertical mobility (you can target and leap on enemies at differing elevations), you’re left vulnerable to a punish if you’re too predictable with it, since it will miss mobile enemies. Save your jump to take opponents by surprise, such as in cases where they’re preoccupied in a skirmish with one of your teammates.

When mastered, Dragoon reduces your unique EX Skill recast time by an extra second on hit.

Black Mage

Bartz casts an explosive Fire spell directly on the enemy, blasting them away a short distance.

Before it’s leveled to mastered status, the Black Mage attack is a simple one-hit direct explosion. Its effective range extends slightly farther than the Dragoon jump but deals significantly less damage. Its primary strength is in its safety as a non-committal attack, especially considering its unique mobility property that allows for freedom of movement while casting.

Black Mage levels up upon connecting with two Fire attacks. Its evolution is a three-part sequence of Firaga, Blizzaga, then Thundaga. Blizzaga and Thundaga are executed by inputting  two additional times; plus you get the “force combo” property, so you can cast all three elemental spells even if they miss.

Mystic Knight

Over the course of three successive strikes, Bartz enchants his knight’s sword with fire, ice, and thunder, inflicting a different type of elemental pain with each blow.

Like his grounded neutral  attack, the initial version of Bartz’s airborne  isn’t particularly special. With its range and damage limitations, it lacks effectiveness in head-to-head combat scenarios. To gain experience with it, follow up your team’s openings for guaranteed hits, or set it up with your own wall pin from a well-placed dashing  attack.

Once Mystic Knight is mastered, Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder Blade become Firaga, Blizzaga, and Thundaga Blade, respectively, with all of their attributes upgraded significantly. It becomes a viable attack on its own, nearly doubling in range.

Like the Monk attack, most of the experience gain rewarded is from the third strike in the sequence.

Blue Mage

Bartz taps into the Blue Mage job and rushes forward with a Goblin Punch, drilling into the opponent before knocking them away to mid-range. When mastered, Bartz adds two additional Blue Mage attacks to the combo. After the Goblin Punch, he slashes the foe with Death Claw, then finishes the sequence by launching a missile at his stunned victim, blasting them away.

Bartz’s airborne neutral  attack is one of two rush attacks. Its range is comparable to most charging attacks of its kind. Additionally, its persistent hit effect makes it preferable to his neutral  attacks for close-range skirmishes.

Ranger

Bartz draws his bow and fires an arrow at the enemy from long range. As a master Ranger, he can hold his bow drawn to charge its power in order to unleash a barrage of arrows that pierce his foes.

The Ranger job is naturally your primary marksman-like attack. Even before mastery, its range and travel speed measure up to the attacks of the dedicated marksmen, so you can fill the ranged-attacker position if your team is missing one.

Unsurprisingly, Ranger is the easiest job to level up, not only because it’s an excellent ranged attack, but because it only requires two shots to gain the necessary experience points.

When mastered, its range and damage are slightly increased—not as dramatic a change compared to his melee attacks. However, mastering Ranger activates a bonus firing mode, performed by holding . After a few seconds, you can release the draw to shoot six low-damage arrows, followed by a high-damage one.

Ninja

Using his dual ninja short blades, Bartz charges at his target with a spinning attack, shredding into them and knocking them back a short distance.

Like most dashing  melee attacks in the game, this is your main tool for catching fleeing foes if you’re filling in as the assassin on your team.

Ninja is Bartz’s only dashing attack (whether he’s grounded or airborne), but it’s his best close-range engage move when none of your other melee attacks have been mastered. Until you reach master level with Monk and/or Blue Mage, Ninja is generally the attack of choice, since it transitions naturally from a dashing state.

Although the upgraded version of Ninja appears largely identical to its normal variant (aside from the trailing shadow effect), it gains an invincibility property, making Bartz immune to damage and interruption effects during the attack. Mastering Ninja allows for a more aggressive style, as your foes can’t contest your dashing attacks in one-on-one melee standoffs.

HP Attack Breakdown

Samurai

Bartz uses Samurai to surprise his enemies with a brilliant handful of coins. As they’re blinded by the brilliance, Bartz lunges in with a sweeping katana attack.

Samurai is a linear projectile attack that can be charged up to two additional power levels (about two seconds for a full charge).

The second and third power levels of this attack not only have increased range and deal more Bravery damage, but they’re also thrown out in a wider spread in a cone in front of you.

Fully charged Samurai deals the most damage out of Bartz’s Bravery Attacks, but it can be difficult to connect with since charging a full two seconds while in close to mid-range can be a big ask in the middle of a hectic skirmish.

When mastered, charge time is drastically reduced, so it’s recommended that you level your Samurai job by scoring two hits with the uncharged version in order to maximize its potential.

Geomancer (Earthquake)

Bartz taps into his skills as a Geomancer and casts Earthquake, creating a devastating eruption beneath his opponent.

There are two Geomancer attacks: one grounded and one airborne. The grounded version is an eruption of earth cast directly on your target. It’s an excellent mid- to long-range attack that strictly deals HP damage. This style of attack encourages a more marksman-like playstyle, allowing you to deal unguardable HP damage from the safety of cover.

It takes three successful Geomancer casts (between Earthquake and Wind Slash) to level up your Geomancer job. When mastered, Earthquake becomes a persistent attack with multiple eruptions over a couple of seconds (although subsequent eruptions don’t follow enemy movement).

Its direct targeting property makes it effective for high-verticality maps, but its drawback is that you can’t cast it airborne like other attacks of its kind (since you perform a totally different attack, Wind Slash, in the air).

Geomancer (Wind Slash)

From the air, Bartz calls forth a wind-based sphere that relentlessly pursues his target.

Wind Slash is a projectile with an extremely slow travel speed. It persists and tracks enemies for several seconds (or until it’s cast again).

If used properly, its slow move speed is a benefit more than a hindrance and should be used as a zone-covering tool. For instance, you can preempt a melee engagement by sending out a Wind Slash to chase your foe, then use its threatening presence as cover for your other attacks.

When Geomancer is mastered, Wind Slash covers much more range, and its on-screen duration is increased dramatically.

Between the two separate attacks rolled into one job, Geomancer makes for an extremely versatile job choice. Earthquake gives you a marksman-like spell attack to surprise unsuspecting enemies from afar, while Wind Slash gives you a pursuit projectile that you can use for a trap-based playstyle or to complement an assassin-style strategy.

Knight

Bartz predicts his foe’s attacks and projects a shield before him, blocking and countering his aggressors with a lethal attack of his own.

Knight is a highly skill-intensive parry ability that only deals damage if you successfully block an attack (extra damage if the opponent’s attack would kill you). Bartz lunges forward with an attack of his own, directed at the enemy whose attack he blocked.

Since you can only have one HP Attack, Knight can be an incredibly situational job to pick, as you won’t have any other way to deal HP damage other than by successfully countering an attack. However, if you’re confident in your parry timing, you can nullify and shut down aggressors while dealing a heavy amount of Bravery damage.

Additionally, it only requires one successful counter to level to mastery (or simply used several times throughout the match), and mastered Knight provides an extremely rare property: the ability to block HP Attacks. With practice and skill, you can fill a niche role in the team as a shield-wielding specialist who’s potentially invulnerable to all types of attacks, as long as you can time your parries well. Thankfully, you can evasion cancel your projected shield to keep yourself a bit safer when you go for a parry attempt.

Dancer

Bartz flies at his enemy with a swipe of his Dancer dagger. If he makes contact, he proceeds into one of two follow-up attacks: a simple knockback strike (Tempting Tango), or a much more embellished spinning-attack combo (Sword Dance).

Dancer is an incredibly powerful HP Attack. The initial lunge covers a significant horizontal range and provides utility with its vertical tracking, making it a prime assassin-like ability used to chase and open up enemy defenses.

The Dancer HP Attack follow-up is chosen randomly, with Sword Dance dealing more Bravery damage than Tempting Tango. The only advantage gained from a Tempting Tango outcome is that its animation is much shorter.

Since it’s such a strong unguardable mid-range attack, the level-up requirement is steep, with mastery demanding three total successful Dancer attacks. Mastering Dancer not only reduces its recovery time on whiff so that you’re less likely to be punished, but on hit, you’ll always execute Sword Dance, the more powerful combo.

EX Skill Breakdown

Good-Luck Charm

Bartz boosts the morale of the entire party, strengthening their resolve and raising all of their attributes, scaling with the number of jobs he has mastered.

Good-Luck Charm is a party-wide buff that increases everyone’s attack, defense, and movement speed for 15 seconds. As you master more jobs, this boost increases. With Good-Luck Charm Level 1, attack potency is increased by roughly 6%. This percentage increases incrementally up to 90% with Good-Luck Charm ★.

Note that if you haven’t mastered a job yet, Good-Luck Charm has no effect when activated, and your recast is wasted, so be mindful of this (although you’re most likely to have mastered at least one by the time Good-Luck Charm is available).

Although the entirety of Bartz’s toolkit can be complicated because of his multi-job leveling system, use of Good-Luck Charm is relatively straightforward. It affects your entire party regardless of range, so you don’t need to be near your allies to augment their powers.

Battle Plan

As a specialist, you can fill a variety of roles on your team, and Bartz has a complete tool set that delivers. Additionally, his multi-job leveling mechanic allows for customization on a match-to-match basis, as mastering certain attacks boosts their effectiveness. As a disruptor, you can use grounded +  (Dragoon) and airborne +  (Blue Mage) to intercept enemies attacking your vulnerable allies. For an assassin-like playstyle, dashing  (Ninja) is an incredibly unique dashing attack that, when mastered, gives you invincibility frames, making you much more deadly. As a ranged damage dealer, grounded +  (Black Mage) and airborne +  (Ranger) provide enough power for you to cover as your team’s marksman.

Bartz is a difficult character to become proficient with, but he becomes more powerful the longer the match goes. Although his versatility is broad, he starts the match relatively weak in comparison to other characters. Your strategy should focus on covering your team’s weakness first and foremost. Because his arsenal emphasizes an assassin and marksman hybrid playstyle, you’ll generally be filling in for those roles.

If your team needs a marksman, you can stay at range and pepper the enemy with airborne +  (Ranger) as your team jockeys for position. Stay near your allies and use your ranged attacks accordingly. Grounded +  (Black Mage) is a decent projectile that affords some mobility while casting. However, it doesn’t reach as far as your Ranger arrows and requires you to stay grounded (which may prove difficult if you’re being constantly pursued). With the Geomancer job HP Attack, you can play a trap-based zoning style by using Wind Slash to cover the area before you with a tracking projectile that deters aggressive opponents from approaching. As a pseudo marksman, your ranged attacks will naturally upgrade to mastery level without your having to actively level them. Once mastered, you can deal even more Bravery damage with charged +  barrages.

If your team has a dedicated marksman, focus on isolating and hunting vulnerable targets with mobility attacks like Ninja and Blue Mage. Complement this style further by equipping the Dancer HP Attack. With its great melee range and vertical-tracking properties, you can play aggressively while your allied vanguard and marksman cover you. When the opportunity arises, prioritize leveling your grounded and airborne neutral  (Monk and Mystic Knight). While these attacks are lackluster in their normal variants, their mastered versions are absurdly strong, thanks to their damage and significant increase in range. Go for Monk and Mystic Knight attack follow-ups on wall pins and off of team attack combos when you can.

In a way, mastering jobs is like giving Bartz his own Story Bonus Level. It is a good idea to master Monk, Mystic Knight, Black Mage, and Ranger as quickly as possible since these four job classes provide immediately noticeable, raw stat boosts for the entire duration of the match.

The Knight HP Attack is a highly specialized one that gives you nigh invulnerability and an impressive damage output if you’re skilled enough with parry timing. Depending on your team’s configuration, you can use Knight effectively as either an assassin or marksman. For instance, if your Ranger and Black Mage attacks are mastered, you become a serious ranged threat, provoking enemy assassins. Punish your aggressors with a well-timed parry to destroy them with its devastating Bravery damage. When mastered, you can even block HP Attacks, giving opponents pause and potentially affording you breathing room to continue your ranged offense.

Bartz’s unique EX Skill is a universal buff to allies, improving all of their attributes. Its use is simplistic in nature, as it applies to your whole team regardless of your position. However, deciding when best to use it takes some trial and error. Since it’s on a 60-second recast timer with a 15-second duration, it can have an incredible impact on the match depending on the number of job masteries acquired. Essentially, its influence highly depends on whether you use the buff to gain more mastery levels, or aim to increase its effectiveness by mastering more attacks before casting it.

Bartz is a complex and high-skill-cap specialist. His adaptable playstyle lends a great deal of flexibility to most team compositions. Though he starts the match as a “jack-of-all-trades, master of none,” that changes over time as you gain experience from dealing damage to foes.

Gallery

Appearance

Weapons