Arithmetician (Tactics)

The Arithmetician, also known as Calculator, is a job from Final Fantasy Tactics. A high-level magick class, the Arithmetician uses Arithmeticks ("Math Skill" in the PlayStation version), which can cast most magick for free and without a Charge Time, assuming they already know the spell and can do the right calculations for it. It costs 4,200 JP to master this job.
There is a rare late game random encounter against five enemy Arithmeticians on the Lenalian Plateau.
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==Stats==
Prerequisite 	Weapons 	Helmet	Armor 	Equip Shields?
: Lv. 5 White Mage, Lv. 5 Black Mage, Lv. 4 Mystic, Lv. 4 Time MagePlayStation: Lv. 4 Priest, Lv. 4 Wizard, Lv. 3 Oracle, Lv. 3 Time Mage	Poles, Books	Hats 	Clothes, Robes	No
Move Rate	Jump Rate	Speed	Physical Evasion Rate	Base Attack	Base Magic	Base HP	Base MP
3 	3 	3 	5 	Low 	Low 	Low 	Average
==Abilities==
===Arithmeticks===
The damage/healing formula for Arithmeticks is as follows:
:Magick Attack \times PWR \times (Faith/100) \times (Target Faith/100)
The success rate of inflicting statuses is as follows:
:(Magick Attack + PWR) \times (Faith/100) \times (Target Faith/100)
Name	Range 	Effect 	Speed 	JP Needed
 	— 	— 	— 	250
 	Base arithmetick algorithm on the target's CT. 	Base arithmetick algorithm on the target's CT. 	Base arithmetick algorithm on the target's CT. 	Base arithmetick algorithm on the target's CT.
 	— 	— 	— 	350
 	Base arithmetick algorithm on the target's level. 	Base arithmetick algorithm on the target's level. 	Base arithmetick algorithm on the target's level. 	Base arithmetick algorithm on the target's level.
 	— 	— 	— 	200
 	Base arithmetick algorithm on the target's EXP. 	Base arithmetick algorithm on the target's EXP. 	Base arithmetick algorithm on the target's EXP. 	Base arithmetick algorithm on the target's EXP.
 	— 	— 	— 	250
 	Base arithmetick algorithm on the height of the target's current tile. 	Base arithmetick algorithm on the height of the target's current tile. 	Base arithmetick algorithm on the height of the target's current tile. 	Base arithmetick algorithm on the height of the target's current tile.
 	— 	— 	— 	300
 	An algorithm for targeting units whose specified attribute is a prime number. A prime number is a number only divisible by 1 and itself. A list of the prime numbers under 100 follows. 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89, 97.	An algorithm for targeting units whose specified attribute is a prime number. A prime number is a number only divisible by 1 and itself. A list of the prime numbers under 100 follows. 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89, 97.	An algorithm for targeting units whose specified attribute is a prime number. A prime number is a number only divisible by 1 and itself. A list of the prime numbers under 100 follows. 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89, 97.	An algorithm for targeting units whose specified attribute is a prime number. A prime number is a number only divisible by 1 and itself. A list of the prime numbers under 100 follows. 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19, 23, 29, 31, 37, 41, 43, 47, 53, 59, 61, 67, 71, 73, 79, 83, 89, 97.
() 	— 	— 	— 	200
() 	An algorithm for targeting units whose specified attribute is a multiple of 5. 	An algorithm for targeting units whose specified attribute is a multiple of 5. 	An algorithm for targeting units whose specified attribute is a multiple of 5. 	An algorithm for targeting units whose specified attribute is a multiple of 5.
() 	— 	— 	— 	400
() 	An algorithm for targeting units whose specified attribute is a multiple of 4. 	An algorithm for targeting units whose specified attribute is a multiple of 4. 	An algorithm for targeting units whose specified attribute is a multiple of 4. 	An algorithm for targeting units whose specified attribute is a multiple of 4.
() 	— 	— 	— 	600
() 	An algorithm for targeting units whose specified attribute is a multiple of 3. 	An algorithm for targeting units whose specified attribute is a multiple of 3. 	An algorithm for targeting units whose specified attribute is a multiple of 3. 	An algorithm for targeting units whose specified attribute is a multiple of 3.
===Reaction abilities===
Name	Description 	Trigger 	JP Needed
() 	When HP is restored, distribute any excess among one's allies.	HP Restored	200
() 	Split any damage taken with the opponent who inflicted it. 	HP Loss 	300
===Support abilities===
Name	Description 	JP Needed
() 	Earn more EXP for the same actions.	350
===Movement abilities===
Name	Description 	JP Needed
() 	Obtain EXP upon moving.	400
() 	Obtain JP upon moving. 	400
== Gameplay ==
Arithmetician is potentially the most powerful magick unit in the game, since its Arithmeticks are used without MP cost or charge time. Calculations are done by choosing a condition, like level, then choosing a number, like 5. With those conditions, the Arithmetician will cast a selected spell targeting all units (allies and foes) whose level is a multiple of 5.
To make the most of the Arithmetician, the player must learn spells from other mage jobs that are eligible for Arithmeticks and properly use Arithmeticks algorithms, which can target all enemies and allies who qualify. For example, both CT Multiples of 5 & Multiples of 4 algorithms generally target the user (100 CT is divisible by both 4 and 5), which helps with support magicks as it is their turn. Casting Haste will vastly benefit the Arithmetician even if the enemy is also targeted.
Similarly, using Arithmeticks with element-absorbing equipment, such as Holy with a Chameleon Robe or Firaga with a Flame Shield, will allow the Arithmetician or allies to heal while enemies are being damaged, eliminating the risk of friendly fire. Height Prime also helps target fallen allies with resurrection spells to revive them if their height is on a prime number (2, 3, and 5 are very common tile heights).
To offset their powerful abilities, Arithmeticians suffer poor attributes all across the board. They have the lowest magick attack power among the mage jobs and the lowest speed rating in the game. One way to counter this is to send the unit on errands.
Other units may take many turns before the Arithmetician's turn even comes up, especially if they do not both move and act as their CT count resets to 20 if only doing one or the other. Another viable tactic to raise JP for an Arithmetician is to have its secondary action ability set to Dance for females and Bardsong for males; this will increase the turns they gain JP on since they will perform their Bardsong or Dance action more often than their turn will come up. Tailwind and Haste also help for faster turns in addition to not moving to end their turn with 20 CT.
The Arithmeticians have plenty of powerful abilities to be used by other jobs. Cup of Life is great for White Mages to maximize their healing output (as a reaction ability, it will not work with self-casting healing magick nor support like Regen/Lifefont), while Soulbind can be useful against high damage enemies. They can further increase EXP gains with EXP Boost and Accrue EXP (which stack), while also increasing JP gains with Accrue JP (which stacks with Squire's JP Boost).
To make the Arithmetician's skillset more useful, it is a good idea to switch to a class with better base magick power (and, naturally, far higher speed) after obtaining enough JP for the abilities the player wants. The Black Mage class has the highest base magick attack, meaning that using the Arithmeticks skillset with one is a force to be reckoned with. Alternately, the White Mage has the highest speed stat of all magick jobs, allowing for Arithmeticks to be used with far greater frequency while still having respectable power behind it. Having a Mime copy spells like Graviga can quickly kill bosses, as it is instantly cast with the Arithmeticks and based on half the maximum HP (999 damage cap), not current HP.
=== Targeting quirks ===
The scope of Arithmeticks' targeting algorithms is imperfect; nearly 1/5th of the numbers between 0 and 100 do not satisfy any of their conditions. This is likely due to the use of 4 instead of 2 for targeting, as multiples of 2 would be far too inclusive and difficult to target enemies without friendly fire and vice versa. With the exception of 0, 1, 49, 77, and 91, all of these numbers are products of 2 and another prime(s), which means another algorithm (like Multiple of 7, for instance) would not have covered a worthwhile enough percentage of them to warrant inclusion. 
The algorithms that are used were likely chosen to cover the largest number of values, while also ensuring each one has worthwhile utility based on the number of unique values they can target (Multiple of 3's targets shrink to be more-or-less equal to the others if one excludes overlap with Multiple of 5 and Multiple of 4, meaning if there is too much friendly fire with 3, 4 or 5 may prove more effective in spite of their smaller scope). 
Several key values are targeted by more than one algorithm. 60 is targeted by all algorithms other than Prime (due to the nature of prime numbers, they can only be hit by the Prime algorithm, with the exception of 3 and 5). 
Prime	Multiple of 5	Multiple of 4	Multiple of 3	(untargetable)	double-targeted	triple-targeted
2 	5 	4 	3 	0 	3 	60
3 	10 	8 	6 	1 	5 	
5 	15 	12 	9 	14 	12 	
7 	20 	16 	12 	22 	15 	
11 	25 	20 	15 	26 	20 	
13 	30 	24 	18 	34 	24 	
17 	35 	28 	21 	38 	30 	
19 	40 	32 	24 	46 	36 	
23 	45 	36 	27 	49 	40 	
29 	50 	40 	30 	58 	45 	
31 	55 	44 	33 	62 	48 	
37 	60 	48 	36 	74 	72 	
41 	65 	52 	39 	77 	75 	
43 	70 	56 	42 	82 	80 	
47 	75 	60 	45 	86 	84 	
53 	80 	64 	48 	91 	90 	
59 	85 	68 	51 	94 	96 	
61 	90 	72 	54 	98 	100 	
67 	95 	76 	57 	 	 	
71 	100 	80 	60 	 	 	
73 	 	84 	63 	 	 	
79 	 	88 	66 	 	 	
83 	 	92 	69 	 	 	
89 	 	96 	72 	 	 	
97 	 	100 	75 	 	 	
 	 	 	78 	 	 	
 	 	 	81 	 	 	
 	 	 	84 	 	 	
 	 	 	87 	 	 	
 	 	 	90 	 	 	
 	 	 	93 	 	 	
 	 	 	96 	 	 	
 	 	 	99 	 	 	
==Other appearances==
===Pictlogica Final Fantasy===
Arithmetician appears as a job.
PFF Arithmetician M.png|Male Arithmetician.
PFF Arithmetician F.png|Female Arithmetician.
===Final Fantasy Artniks===
FFT Arithmetician I Artniks.PNG|Final Fantasy Artniks.
===Final Fantasy Trading Card Game===
Arithmetician appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as Ice-elemental Backup and Forward cards.
2-021c Aritmetician (Male) TCG.png|Arithmetician [2-021C] Chapter series card.
ArithmeticianFemale TCG.png|Arithmetician [5-035C] Chapter series card.
Arithmetician 4-032C from FFTCG Opus.jpg|Arithmetician [4-032C] Opus series card.
Arithmetician 5-038C from FFTCG Opus.jpg|Arithmetician [5-038C] Opus series card.
==Gallery==
ArithmeticianMale.png|Male Arithmetician.
ArithmeticianFemale.png|Female Arithmetician.
Final Fantasy Tactics Character Card Book Volume 2-A - Card Front 017.jpg|Male Arithmetician Character Card.
Final Fantasy Tactics Character Card Book Volume 1-B - Card Front 007.jpg|Female Arithmetician Character Card.
==Etymology==
==Notes==
==Citations==
cast a selected spell targeting all units (allies and foes) whose level is a multiple of 5
Category:Jobs in Final Fantasy Tactics