Dancer (Tactics)

Dancer is a female-exclusive job in Final Fantasy Tactics, unlocked by training a female unit in physical jobs. The Dancer inflicts several status changes on all enemies on the field via her dances. Dancers ideally have high Brave, because it directly affects the Dancer's abilities. The Dancer's sprite is identical to the Assassin job. In the original version, it requires 3950 JP to master. In The War of the Lions, it requires 8000 JP.
==Stats==
Prerequisite 	Weapons 	Helmet	Armor 	Equip Shields?
: Lv. 5 Geomancer, Lv. 5 DragoonPlayStation: Lv. 4 Geomancer, Lv. 4 Lancer	Knives, Cloth	Hats 	Clothes	No
Move Rate	Jump Rate	Speed	Physical Evasion Rate	Base Attack	Base Magic	Base HP	Base MP
3 	3 	8 	5% 	Low 	Low 	Low 	Very Low
==Abilities==
===Dance===
The Dance ability consists of attacks that sap enemy stats, with one exception that inflicts status ailments on enemies.
Name	Range 	Effect 	Speed 	JP Needed
 	1 	All enemies 	17 	100
 	A dance whose esoteric moves reduce enemies' MP.Reduce MP: PA + [(PA * Br) / 100] 	A dance whose esoteric moves reduce enemies' MP.Reduce MP: PA + [(PA * Br) / 100] 	A dance whose esoteric moves reduce enemies' MP.Reduce MP: PA + [(PA * Br) / 100] 	A dance whose esoteric moves reduce enemies' MP.Reduce MP: PA + [(PA * Br) / 100]
() 	1 	All enemies 	17 	100
() 	A dance whose fervent steps damage enemies' HP.Reduce HP: PA + [(PA * Br) / 100] 	A dance whose fervent steps damage enemies' HP.Reduce HP: PA + [(PA * Br) / 100] 	A dance whose fervent steps damage enemies' HP.Reduce HP: PA + [(PA * Br) / 100] 	A dance whose fervent steps damage enemies' HP.Reduce HP: PA + [(PA * Br) / 100]
 	1 	All enemies 	13 	100
 	A dance whose sedate pace reduces enemies' Speed.Amount: -1 Speed Success Rate: 50% Accuracy Per Target 	A dance whose sedate pace reduces enemies' Speed.Amount: -1 Speed Success Rate: 50% Accuracy Per Target 	A dance whose sedate pace reduces enemies' Speed.Amount: -1 Speed Success Rate: 50% Accuracy Per Target 	A dance whose sedate pace reduces enemies' Speed.Amount: -1 Speed Success Rate: 50% Accuracy Per Target
() 	1 	All enemies 	13 	100
() 	A quick, vivacious dance that reduces enemies' physical attack power.Amount: -1 Physical Attack Success Rate: 50% Accuracy Per Target 	A quick, vivacious dance that reduces enemies' physical attack power.Amount: -1 Physical Attack Success Rate: 50% Accuracy Per Target 	A quick, vivacious dance that reduces enemies' physical attack power.Amount: -1 Physical Attack Success Rate: 50% Accuracy Per Target 	A quick, vivacious dance that reduces enemies' physical attack power.Amount: -1 Physical Attack Success Rate: 50% Accuracy Per Target
() 	1 	All enemies 	10 	100
() 	An exotic dance that clouds the mind, reducing enemies' magickal attack power.Amount: -1 Magic Attack Success Rate: 50% Accuracy Per Target 	An exotic dance that clouds the mind, reducing enemies' magickal attack power.Amount: -1 Magic Attack Success Rate: 50% Accuracy Per Target 	An exotic dance that clouds the mind, reducing enemies' magickal attack power.Amount: -1 Magic Attack Success Rate: 50% Accuracy Per Target 	An exotic dance that clouds the mind, reducing enemies' magickal attack power.Amount: -1 Magic Attack Success Rate: 50% Accuracy Per Target
() 	1 	All enemies 	10 	100
() 	A mesmerizing dance that inflicts status effects.Effect: Blind, Confuse, Silence, Toad, Poison, Slow, Stop, Sleep.Success Rate: 50% Accuracy Per Target	A mesmerizing dance that inflicts status effects.Effect: Blind, Confuse, Silence, Toad, Poison, Slow, Stop, Sleep.Success Rate: 50% Accuracy Per Target	A mesmerizing dance that inflicts status effects.Effect: Blind, Confuse, Silence, Toad, Poison, Slow, Stop, Sleep.Success Rate: 50% Accuracy Per Target	A mesmerizing dance that inflicts status effects.Effect: Blind, Confuse, Silence, Toad, Poison, Slow, Stop, Sleep.Success Rate: 50% Accuracy Per Target
() 	1 	All enemies 	5 	100
() 	The ultimate dance. Drops the CT of all enemies to zero.Success Rate: 34% Accuracy Per Target 	The ultimate dance. Drops the CT of all enemies to zero.Success Rate: 34% Accuracy Per Target 	The ultimate dance. Drops the CT of all enemies to zero.Success Rate: 34% Accuracy Per Target 	The ultimate dance. Drops the CT of all enemies to zero.Success Rate: 34% Accuracy Per Target
===Reaction abilities===
Name	Description 	Trigger 	JP Needed
() 	Increase physical attack power.	HP Loss 	550/600
() 	Increase Bravery. 	Physical Attack	500/700
===Movement abilities===
Name	Description 	JP Needed
 	Increase Jump by 3. 	1000
 	Fly over enemies as well as any other obstacles.	1200/5000
== Gameplay ==
The Dancer is a support-oriented job that can cripple the opposition with global abilities that affect all enemies regardless of range. Witch Hunt is particularly effective when the enemy team features many spellcasters since it can reduce their MP, while Mincing Minuet is useful for its damage to HP (with a Bard increasing physical attack by Battle Chant and Ramza using Steel to maximize Bravery for increasing damage). The Dancer is offset by her minimal stats all across the board except for her average speed. Her debuffs and ailments have poorer accuracy the more enemies are on screen.
While most dances are chance-based, both Witch Hunt and Mincing Minuet are affected by the Dancer's physical attack and Bravery attributes. However, given that the Dancer has a low attack growth, improving the Dancer's durability by using Defense Boost or evasion (bypassing performance) means she can activate her dance effects more often (speed only affects when the Dancer starts, not the speed of the dances themselves). The Samurai has Shirahadori to evade enemy attacks even while dancing. Also, if the Dancer is Invisible while dancing (reacting with Vanish from weak friendly fire could work) and does not change dances/actions, she will continue to be undetectable.
Alternatively, using Dance as a secondary job command on a job with a high physical attack (such as Monk) is more effective. A good equipment/ability build can have the dancer's first turn begin before the enemy has a turn, and it helps to have the rest of the party attack faster enemies first, for the Dancer to have time to repeat dances for the slower survivors. 
A Mime copying Slow Dance can indirectly allow more frequent dances, as the enemy's speed will be reduced (and it helps to defeat any enemies it misses for survivors to have slower turns). Unfortunately, recurring dances cannot directly be sped up by speed boosts (the Dancer will have to idle on her next turn or start with a new dance) nor the Swiftness support ability from the Time Mage.
The Dancer is a tough class to use in Chapter 4, especially with instant ranged attacks, equipment buffs from knight swords/accessories being prevalent, and the monsters' higher levels vastly scaling their stats (including speed) to undermine the -1 stat reductions and HP damage for Mincing Minuet. There are various female-exclusive accessories that can still help the Dancer, such as Chantage perfume for Reraise and Regen. However, a Ninja with Dance can still go first due to higher speed, and has high enough physical attack (with the improved equipment available) to close in (or Throw given not moving nor acting will start them with 40 Charge Time for a faster follow up turn) after a couple of dances have weakened enemies (or use a dance on the second turn, after destroying a nearby enemy about to start their first turn before a dance can activate), including decent damage for Mincing Minuet.
Considering the Dancer's low defensive stats, she is best kept in the backline. Considering that her abilities have global range, she rarely needs to approach enemies. Should the player want to build a more aggressive Dancer, using Equip Shields and/or Parry from the Knight will raise her evasion (if she is not dancing). The Dancer's cloth weapons grant 50% evasion, and have a range of two tiles, which will bypass any one tile First Strike or Counter when attacking outside their range, making direct approaches safer.
The Dancer is a useful job for gathering JP, because once a dance is selected, the ability will repeat, earning the same amount of EXP and JP. For example, if the player has selected Mincing Minuet and the CT is 10 turns, it will repeat 10 turns after the initial dance, provided the player has not selected another ability to be performed. This helps more in mid game given enemies' lower stats (Dancer takes a lot of effort to unlock before the end of Chapter 2, but will devastate the Chapter 1 enemies, with some under 50 HP, if done dramatically early).
Overall, while providing powerful effects to disable enemies, the Dancer lacks the fight presence, and because she is forced to focus on dancing, she cannot do anything else, meaning the player fights with one fewer party member. Her effectiveness mainly manifests in extended fights.
==Other appearances==
===Final Fantasy Trading Card Game===
Dancer appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as Wind-elemental backup cards.
Dancer TCG.png|Dancer [1-055C] Chapter series card.
Dancer 1-066C from FFTCG Opus.jpg|Dancer [1-066C] Opus series card.
==Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances==
===Knights of the Crystals===
Dancer appears as a card in the Ivalice Special Arena has a limited-time special arena with eighteen floors.
==Gallery==
Final Fantasy Tactics Character Card Book Volume 1-B - Card Front 009.jpg|Dancer Character Card.
FFT Wiznaibus.png|Mincing Minuet.
FFT Polka Polka.png|Polka.
FFT Slow Dance.png|Slow Dance.
FFT Disillusion.png|Heathen Frolick.
FFT Nameless Dance.png|Forbidden Dance.
FFT Last Dance.png|Last Waltz.
FFT Fly.png|Fly.
Category:Jobs in Final Fantasy Tactics