When compared the battle system of Final Fantasy XII to the triggered battle system of previous console based Final Fantasy games, it seems as if Final Fantasy XII's battles concentrate more so on the survival. In other words, "Active Dimension Battle" (ADB), which is a single-player adapted version of "Real Time Battle" (RTB) which was introduced in Final Fantasy XI. In this system, the player is in an area which they can travel in and in it are enemies which the player can see within view, or on the map. The essence of "survival" is how the player maneuvers around the map. For instance, comparing to the past battle system, "escaping" consists of running across an entire field while a number of fiends are chasing you compared to the entire screen resetting of the traditional Final Fantasy battle system. The idea of "survival" tends to play a predominant factor in later optional areas of the game such as the inner parts of Hennes mines and the lower levels of Ridorana Cataract which gives indication to the player to whether they fully understand the battle mechanics of the game. As I've personally experienced, without proper equipment, adequate leveling, and decent maintenance of the license board, your party can be easily decimated. Fortunately, there are teleport stones where one can retrace back to previous areas.

Basch's strengths lies in his attack strength and his high HP. In other words he is built to be your main attacker. As for his weaknesses, it would be for magic casting and magic defence, but it doesn't make him severely inferior in magic compared to the other characters in the main party. If you look at all the playable character's stats and compare them, all the character's final level 99 stats are pretty similar. There is no character that stands out as "best" from the rest defence wise, but there are slight physical attack and magic attack differences.

Unforunately an Esper is limited to only one character of the main party. Once that character has bought the license to the Esper, there is no return. Although equipping Esper to who is primarily based on personal choice, in my opinion Basch seems to be most ideal for higher leveled Espers, for instance Cuchulainn, Hashmal, Famfrit, and Ultima because Basch himself is a strong character and it would be a hassle to continuously support a weaker Esper as they will also defeat a smaller number of fiends. However, having a stronger Esper licensed to a weaker character has it's upsides to it as that character can level up faster. Overall, Espers are optional, with exception to the use of Belias in one instance, so it should be the least of one's worries. On a personal note, I had Basch use Ultima because my biasness for Basch and Ultima looking pretty seemed like a nice combination at the time...

Here is my personal opinion on how I configure Basch in the game. When Basch appears as a playable character in your party he is two levels higher than Vaan. Although this may seem extreme, if you keep him in the battle party as a permanent member whenever you are able to receive experience points, by the time you reach the three quarter mark of the game, around Sohen Caves, he should be at least eight to ten levels higher than everyone else in your party if you maintain them to be around the same level. Since Basch is at a significantly higher level than everyone else at this point, his lower stats such as MP levels and vitality should be greater or on par with the others.

Although all characters can use any weapon as long as you get licenses for them I find that Basch is most effective as a main attacker. One or two handed swords, spears, hammers, axes, and so forth work very well with him. I don't particularly use him for magic unless the situation forces me to. As for support, I would only use Basch to cure people during emergencies.

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