Mercenary Ramza

A young man who appears in the tales of holy stones known as auracite in the distant world of Ivalice. Ramza joined Gaffgarion band of mercenaries and subsequently found himself involved in their plans to kidnap Princess Ovelia. In time he comes to learn that his brother Dycedarg has been using the war at hand as a means to gain more political influence, and decides to oppose him in the name of justice. Although Ramza is set on preventing the war from escalating even further, the appearance of the mystical auracite only serves to lead Ramza into the thick of the battle.

Role: Rat Extinguisher, TMR Fodder, Tank, Physical DPS, Breaker, Support

TMR: Japa Mala

Accessory, DEF 3, HP 20%, MP 20%, ATK 20%, MAG 20%

Absolutely fantastic TMR, no longer will we see Demon Rain’s TMR on BiS builds.

Stats

Equipments

Limit Burst

Magic Spells

Active Abilities

Passive Abilities

Chaining Frames

Blade of Justice

42-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8

Chains well with a couple of future chainers such as Nyx, Lorraine and enhanced Aileen. Currently only chains well with Vaan….

Strengths

• Versatility

M. Ramza is able to equip all relevant weapons, as well as all types of armors. His wide range of passives also allows him to be good at several different roles when needed. When building him with DEF, he can reach 303 base which is incredible.

• A shit ton of passives

20% HP/MP/ATK/MAG/DEF/SPR along with 50% MAG when equipped w/ Robe (useless), 50% DEF when equipped w/ helm, 50% ATK when equipped with Hat and 15% DEF/SPR when equipped with a Light Shield. He’s resistant to all status ailments on top of that – this pairs especially well with his Esunaga.

• Good magic affinity

Being able to reach Lvl 8 in White Magic means that we can play around with Curaja builds that turns him into Cecil a support tank.

• Blade of Justice chains well with future powerhouses including Nyx, Lorraine and Aileen

• 5 Turn separate 40% ATK/MAG breaks

Weaknesses

• Jack of All Trades, Master of None

This is his M. Ramza’s main problem. He’s capable of doing a lot of things, but doesn’t do anything extremely well. He falls under the same curse as Noctis in a sense (except worse).

• Low modifiers on Sword of Justice

Self-explanatory, 333% modifier is just too low to be relevant in today’s meta. Not to mention he’d have to give up 65% worth of DEF passives and 15% SPR passives for a full ATK build.

• Lack of supporting skills

Lack of Curaja and Buffing abilities really hurts him in a team setting. Esunaga is good, but could easily be replaced by other unit/TMRs.

Comparisons

Cecil

M. Ramza is basically a more offensive version of Cecil with access to some decent breaks. He’s more tanky due to higher stats from innate passives, but lacks the support skillset that makes Cecil special. Both are interchangeable depending on the situation IMO if you overlook the fact that one is a 3 star base unit that was released a year ago, and the other is a 5 star base unit released today.

WoL

WoL is the superior breaker, and the superior tank. The only thing M. Ramza has on WoL is a little extra DPS.

Wilhelm

Wilhelm is the superior tank by a wide margin due to 100% provoke and damage mitigation. Wilhelm also has an array of buffs that makes him a far more useful unit than M. Ramza. One thing M. Ramza has on Wilhelm is his DPS & Breaking ability - which could be useful if you're lacking a breaker.

Snow

M. Ramza is better than Snow (finally!) in the same sense that Cecil was preferred over Snow. M. Ramza actually works really well alongside Snow as a secondary tank if that's all you've got.

Builds

Full ATK build is not recommended on M. Ramza after the MK event due to the low modifiers on his DPS skill, and his cover tendencies. Well, I guess you could go for it if he’s your only source of DPS which is really sad. You could replace Black Cowl with Grand Helm/Dark Helm for some extra DEF if needed.

Mercenary Ramza 6 Star
FFBEDB Unit Calculator
Right Hand: Excalibur 120ATK Light Element
Left Hand: Genji Blade 107ATK
Head: Black Cowl 28ATK 25DEF 25SPR 100%Sleep
Body: Brave Suit 51DEF 15%ATK 15%MAG
Accessory 1: Genji Glove 10%ATK/MAG & Dual Wield
Accessory 2: Bracer 30ATK 15%HP
Ability 1: Large Sword Mastery 50% ATK w/ Great Sword
Ability 2: Blade Mastery 50% ATK w/ Katana
Ability 3: Wisdom 30%ATK 20%HP
Ability 4: Wisdom 30%ATK 20%HP
Pot Stats: HP: 450 MP: 75 ATK: 30 DEF: 30 MAG: 30 SPR: 30
Esper: Odin HP:5000 MP:3900 ATK:6000 DEF:4200 MAG:2000 SPR:2200
Total Stats: HP: 7179 MP: 318 ATK: 973 DEF: 314 MAG: 237 SPR: 223

Alternatively, you could go with a fun little mage tank build. This build gives M. Ramza some chaining abilities via Toxic Rain, and a finishing skill from RoL while preserving his survivability. I don’t know when this build will ever be useful, but it could be fun to use here and there. Food for thought.

Mercenary Ramza 6 Star
FFBEDB Unit Calculator
Right Hand: Enhancer 82ATK 23MAG
Left Hand: Dragon Shield 38DEF 30%Fire/Ice/Lightning
Head: Grand Helm 45DEF 100%Sleep/Silence/Confuse 20�F with Heavy Armor
Body: Rainbow Robe 45DEF/MAG/SPR 30%All element except Dark
Accessory 1: Ring of the Lucii 3MAG 3SPR 25%Evasion/Counter
Accessory 2: Magistral Crest 30%MAG 30%SPR
Ability 2: Letters and Arms 50%MAG Sword
Ability 3: Letters and Arms 50%MAG Sword
Ability 4: HP 30% 30%HP
Pot Stats: HP: 450 MP: 75 ATK: 30 DEF: 30 MAG: 30 SPR: 30
Esper: Ramuh HP:2800 MP:6200 ATK:1600 DEF:1100 MAG:5900 SPR:4500
Total Stats: HP: 6139 MP: 341 ATK: 310 DEF: 442 MAG: 580 SPR: 335

Similar to Cecil, I don’t think M. Ramza is good enough to be your main tank going forward. I think he shines the best in a role where he’s the secondary tank behind a provoke tank, and be used as a support unit while relying on Noble Lineage to mitigate damage for your main tank. The build below would provide Ramza with enough survivability to actively tank, while providing him with some support skills from Curaja, Carbuncle, Rikku’s Pouch, and 9S’s TMR. He can also contribute as an off healer with Curaja and Dual Cast equipped.

Mercenary Ramza 6 Star
FFBEDB Unit Calculator
Right Hand: Gigantaxe 76ATK 15%HP
Left Hand: Dragon Shield 38DEF 30%Fire/Ice/Lightning
Head: Grand Helm 45DEF 100%Sleep/Silence/Confuse 20�F with Heavy Armor
Body: Dragon Mail 45DEF 15SPR 30%Fire/Ice/Lightning
Accessory 1: Rikku's Pouch 3DEF ChaosGrenade Panacea Eccentrick
Accessory 2: 9S TMR Ability 1: Curaja Ability 2: Dualcast Allows magic to be casted twice
Ability 3: HP 30% 30%HP
Ability 4: HP 30% 30%HP
Pot Stats: HP: 450 MP: 75 ATK: 30 DEF: 30 MAG: 30 SPR: 30
Esper: Golem HP:5500 MP:4300 ATK:3200 DEF:4500 MAG:1600 SPR:1600
Total Stats: HP: 7999 MP: 322 ATK: 320 DEF: 512 MAG: 241 SPR: 273

”But anyone could become a good support with Carbuncle, Rikku’s Pouch, 9S’s TMR, Curaja and Dual Cast.”

Yeah well……. okay you got me there. But still, this is the build I’d highly recommend if you’re looking to incorporate M. Ramza into your team.

Overview

I love the concept of the unit, and would’ve pulled hard for him 10 months ago. However, given the right TMRs and the right build, he can still be an asset to the team depending on the situation. The fact that he's in the same tier as a 3* base tank is kind of upsetting, but he's technically the 4th best tank in the game behind Wilhelm/WKN/WoL. That's not so bad, right?