(NNNNNN (NNNNNN NNNNNNN N 0 () () N ___ __. ._N_. _ __. __. () () N (N""4N (N""NL`"N"` N (N""NL NF"N) (NNNNN (NNNNN N ___N N` " N N N` " NL_ () () N .NF""N N N N N ""NL () () N (L JN 4L JN N. N 4L JN(N. .N () 0 () 0 N 4NN`N "NNF `NN N "NNF `NNF` %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% %Learning Zodiac & The Charm Method% %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Version 1 April 2002 Written by: Master Daravon E-mail: Beefstew99@Earthlink.net AIM: Beefstew99 +++++++++ |Credits| +++++++++ Though I am the author of this FAQ, I can't claim that I did this FAQ all by myself. So before I begin, I'd like to give credit where it is due as accurately as I can. Having said that, I would like to thank: -Jesus Christ in whom I can do all things (Philippians 4:13) -The developers of the greatest Final Fantasy to date. Final Fantasy Tactics is important enough to me to dedicate the time and energy to do this FAQ -CJayC and Gamefaqs for allowing me to contribute this work for the benefit of others -The Final Fantasy Tactics message board, which is without question the best of all the Final Fantasy boards (you want some of this, FF7 board?!). Without this board, I wouldn't have had the inspiration to make this FAQ. This FAQ is attributed to the posters of the FFT board -TiamatDemonofChaos, the poster who I wanted to give this method to originally as a simple e-mail -Goryus for indiscriminate, but yet important input -Aerostar for helping me get ASCII Art Software -The posters of the FFT message board who tested out the details of this method, and have gotten back to me. I unfortunately can't remember the names of you all, so I don't want to list names and leave anyone out. You know who you are (a terrible cliche, I know) and thanks again -My computer, though a stubborn whore sometimes I'd also like to credit Aerostar's Battle Mechanics Guide (BMG), the guide that brought FFT knowledge to a level unmatched in any Final Fantasy game on gamefaqs. Any formula, tidbit, or whatever you wanted to know (I needed to refer to the BMG to help me write this FAQ), you can find it there. I'd also like to acknowledge Notti's Deep Dungeon's guide and Erg Gibbon's FAQ. These FAQs were especially helpful to me in various ways, so this acknowledgement is a way of me saying thanks Finally, I'd like to thank Halbarad for his great help with this lovely Disclaimer, which states: The contents of this FAQ are (c)Stewart Bertram (a branch of "Beefstew Enterprises"). All rights reserved. All characters are (c)Squaresoft, Inc. This FAQ may not be reproduced in any form without the express written consent of the author. The following sites have permission to display this FAQ: GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ======================================================================= NNNNNL N. .NN N) `N) N) N4N N) .N) .NNNNL (N_NNN(NNNNNN (N NNNNNF .NF` N) (NF`(N N) (N NF"" (N N) (N N) (N N) (N. .NL (N N) (N N) 4NNNNN)(N N) NNNN) ======================================================================= $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ This FAQ is long overdue. Though I probably am not the first to come up with this method, I did however find a map and developed the strategy found in this FAQ 2 years ago. Considering the superiority of this method, compared to the tedious/erratic "Crystal Method" I apologize that this wasn't created earlier. Anyhow, the main purpose of this guide is to provide a facilitated means of teaching Zodiac from one human unit to another. This would of course happen after the Elidibs battle. The only method discussed here is learning Zodiac through a charmed Summoner ally. Though there are other means of learning Zodiac, this is by far the fastest way and invaluable if you have many human units to teach (which is oft the case). This guide exists not only to say that Zodiac can be learnt through a charmed ally (who of course knows Zodiac), it also gives step by step instructions on how to accomplish this feat. This also includes which map to go to and the preferred character set-ups. I tried to make this guide rather practical; avoiding anything that could be characterized as "excessive". All of my characters are of high faith (which are at least 70 faith), and those of you who also have high faith units, you need not worry that you'll be told to vastly decrease your faith. It's a pain raising faith so I avoided manually decreasing the faith value when possible (I personally didn't have to decrease my faith, despite it being high). If any relevant question arises which this FAQ does not fully explain, feel free to e-mail me. +++++++++++++++++++ |The Elidibs Fight| +++++++++++++++++++ If you already have learned Zodiac from Elidibs, move on to the next section, which actually talks about teaching Zodiac through the Charm Method. This section covers learning Zodiac from Elidibs only. I have read many ways on how to learn Zodiac from Elidibs, some of which are quite excessive. There's no reason why learning Zodiac from Elidibs needs to be difficult, tedious, or time-consuming. As you know if you want to learn Zodiac from Elidibs, your unit(s) have to be a Summoner. I recommend that you let all your units be summoners, so you will have less to teach Zodiac via Charm Method later. I also recommend that your units be at a high level, such that your units will have at least 350 HP when equipping standard summoner equipment (you will see why). Here is a checklist of what you will need for the Elidibs fight: 1. All units having their jobs as Summoners and equipping Wizard Rods and "108 Gems" 2. All units equipping the Support Ability "Magic Defend Up" (this umbrellas those with high faith) 3. At least one unit with Math Skill as a secondary command (ideally for the mage of your party) 4. At least one unit that's a mastered Samurai, or one that knows Kiyomouri, Murasame, and Masamune (if you stole it from Elmdor) 5. A unit with Talk Skill (optional) 6. Units equipping the HP Restore Reaction ability (preferred, but not necessary) 7. Just in case you didn't know, BEING "INNOCNET" WILL NOT TEACH YOU ZODIAC Here's an explanation for the above: Elidibs has the ability "Poison Frog", and I would wager that you know what status ailments that ability inflicts. The 108 Gems accessory protects against the status ailments "Poison" and "Frog". The Apandas are weak against fire, so just in case the Math Skill mage needs assistance, you can provide that with powerful Ifrit attacks (though the Math Skiller can cast Holy, since it still would slightly edge out Fire 3 in damage). Wizard Rods are recommended since the game doesn't allow multiple "strengthens." This means that equipping a Fire Rod will not boost Ifrit's damage further since 108 Gems strengthens Fire Elemental magic already (as well as all other elements of course). The Math Skill mage should cast Holy on the Apandas (try not to target Elidibs). Do not equip a Faith Rod since Elidibs' casting of Zodiac will do too much damage. If you intend to keep Byblos as a party member, petrify him. Byblos is a unique guest in that if he loses his entire HP, he still has a counter despite being a guest. By Petrifying Byblos, it won't interfere with the Elidibs fight (usually by casting "Difference"), but you can still acquire it by the end of the battle. Zodiac is the strongest spell in the game, and to learn it you'll need adequate protection. Equipping Magic Defend Up is not only a good idea, it's necessary for high faith units. It's an inexpensive Priest support ability and it's more efficient than decreasing your faith only to increase it again (if you prefer the previous faith value). A question that would probably come up is: "What about MP-Switch and Move MP Up?" Well, Magic Defend Up with Shell is safer since the damage dealt by Elidibs is actually accounted for. More importantly, with MP- Switch, you'll lose the necessary MP to cast Zodiac back on Elidibs, a quick way to dispose of him. I wouldn't complain if you haven't learned Magic Defend Up and/or Kiyomouri. The Job Points required to learn these inexpensive abilities should take but one quick random battle. I know MP-Switch/Move MP Up is popular on the message board, but Magic Defend Up and Shell is superior (and often times only one of the two is necessary). "But what about Mind Breaking?" As said before, this FAQ is not trying to be excessive, tedious, or time- consuming. A summoner doing Mind Break is all three. Moreover, I wouldn't miss the opportunity to learn Zodiac for the sake of Mind Breaking through a Knight or any non-summoner unit. Casting Masamune at the start of the battle (if you have it in stock) is a good idea so you can dispose of the Apandas quickly. When the Apandas are disposed, learning Zodiac from Elidibs should be quick and simple. When Masamune wears off, do not cast it again, especially if you're at level 99. Elidibs is slow enough as it is (in fact you might want to cast Haste on him to speed things up). While he charges to cast Zodiac, it is during this time when you use the Samurai's "Kiyomouri" so that your allied units have Shell. Shell along with Magic Defend Up will make all your characters survive Zodiac. I had a mage with 84 faith with Magic Defend Up and Shell. Elidibs' Zodiac did only around 338 damage. Without the combination of the two, she would have been killed. Since it doesn't take a varied army to defeat Elidibs, you can have a unit equip Talk Skill as a safeguard, in case of a miscalculation regarding Faith (in other words you took a risk and didn't listen =P). If for some reason multiple units do not have Magic Defend Up but have high faith, have a unit equip Talk Skill and the support ability Monster Talk, so you can cast "Solution" on Elidibs himself. Be forewarned, only cast Solution as many times so that all units can survive Zodiac (which is usually just once)! If you cast it multiple times, Elidibs will cast Midgar Swarm since it will then be more powerful than Zodiac (Midgar Swarm isn't Faith dependant). With usually just a single casting of Solution, Shell by itself should be adequate to survive and therefore learn Zodiac. The reason why I mention this here and not prior is because Shell and Magic Defend Up is a safer bet. Casting Solution only once still might trigger Elidibs to cast Midgar Swarm, which is something you really don't want. It's usually better to keep an enemy the way he is if you want something from him. Tampering with Elidibs' faith might make him go psycho. There were a couple of instances when Elidibs cast Zodiac twice, and then cast Midgar Swarm for the rest of the battle, though I didn't decrease Elidibs' faith and my characters' faith were rather high. If you have a scenario similar to this one, have a person that has "Item" as a secondary command, and "Throw Item" (makes things more convenient) as a support ability. The unit with low faith (if you have one) should be assigned this task since you won't have Magic Defend Up; but if you don't have a unit with low faith, it is not necessary. The purpose of this unit is to throw Hi-Ethers at Elidibs, after he casts Zodiac. I can try to give a rationale why this worked, but this isn't a Theory FAQ. You can take my word for it since I had this situation a couple of times (the first time I learned Zodiac, in fact), or you can simply not believe me. At least I'm providing a solution to a problem that I've heard others have had. Once you've learned Zodiac from Elidibs, you can teach him the old saying "what goes around comes around." Cast this dreadful summon back on him to defeat him quickly. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ======================================================================= ____ .__ NNNNN) (N .NNNNN) N) (N __. ._ __ ._JN__ (F N) NL_JNF JNNNNN (NN"N)`NNNNN .NN NNNN` (N) N) (N N) (N .NN` N) (N N) (N (N .N) N) `NNNNNN (N (N (NNNNN. "` ""` " `" `" `"""""` ======================================================================= $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Learning Zodiac via Charm Method is more about planning, technical skill, and increasing probability than anything else. The better you plan, the easier transferring Zodiac to the rest of your human units will be. Lucky for you the planning has been already done, all you have to do is execute. To facilitate things, the key thing is to have a male unit to learn Zodiac through Elidibs with no other Summon learnt. If you don't have a male unit who hasn't learned a summon besides Zodiac, still continue reading this method since it still works. At the end of this FAQ, I highlighted a section for your convenience that addresses in detail how to teach Zodiac to your allied students, despite the fact that you do have male units that has learned summons (it's not a big deal). It has been brought to my attention that the Bard's Fairy Harp adds "Charm." So instead of an enemy thief charming the Designated Teacher (I'll explain shortly), you can use the Fairy Harp to induce the Charm status. A good idea, but unfortunately it doesn't work out as planned. Let's take a look at Charm. What does Charm do? A quick answer could be, "Charm makes you fight for the enemy." That's actually not true. Charm makes you fight on the side of the unit that inflicts it. In this case, an ally inflicts Charm, so therefore the charmed ally would in turn fight for you. You can say that the charmed ally is the equivalent of a Guest, in that the AI is controlling the unit. Though this was promising, you're still stuck with this method...and me ;P. So where can we find enemy units to inflict the Charm status? The map that this will be accomplished is BRIDGE in the Deep Dungeon. The person I designated to teach Zodiac to my ignorant allied human units was Beowulf. Of course, it isn't necessary that Beowulf becomes your designated teacher, but you should have a male since the charming Thieves are female. I personally had eight people who had to learn Zodiac. Therefore, I had to do this battle twice in two groups of four. With the convenient topography of Bridge and the extensive planning, both battles combined took a little over an hour (including resetting the PSX to get that particular battle). Part 3 may sound complicated, but it's just an elaborate explanation of something simple (and that's only because I can't show you the actual game). +++++++++++ |Section 1| +++++++++++ Below are the recommended set-ups for the five units in battle with a brief explanation for each: "Beowulf" a.k.a. Designated Teacher (DT) Summoner Nothing Blade Grasp Short Charge/Half MP Teleport/Ignore Height/Fly Nothing Nothing Best Hat Available/No Thief Hat Best Robe available besides Robe of Lords No Accessory that increase MA nor protects from "Don't Move" As I said before, "Beowulf" is my Designated Teacher (DT), since Zodiac was the only summon he had learned. Since you can't control a charmed unit, you should decrease the possible choices the AI will have available when the Charm status takes effect. This is why learning only Zodiac is so crucial because the charmed unit has no other summon to cast. One may be cautious about Beowulf being a summoner because of the high MA, but changing Beowulf to a low-MA job class may make him inclined to physically attack having most likely a higher PA. Besides, a simple casting of Shell, let alone Magic Defend Up should make the students survive. It isn't necessary to lower Beowulf's faith to a really low number. "Don't Move" will be cast on him, so you need a decent Faith for the casting to be successful anyway. I didn't equip anything in the hands for obvious reasons (having a weapon probably would increase the chances for Beowulf to not cast Zodiac). Do not equip a Thief Hat so that Beowulf isn't guarded against "Don't Move". Blade Grasp is the best reaction ability to use (pending the Brave is 97). If you are impatient or you rather save some MP items, you can equip Short Charge or Half MP, respectively. Either Teleport/Ignore Height/Fly will be fine, since for the majority of the battle there will be little movement. However, at least one unit should have Teleport equipped so that you can see all the panels on the map. Robe of Lords does increase the MA value by one, but it also provides Protect/Shell as well as boku MP. The Light Robe is the next best robe, so for the "MA conscious" that's an alternative (though I doubt the +1 increase outweighs the Robe of Lords' benefits). Student Unit 1 Summoner Math Skill HP Restore Magic Defend Up/Magic Attack Up Teleport/Ignore Height/Fly This set-up is ideal for the mage of the group. Of course, your mage should be well-versed in calculable magic. An important ability to learn is the Time Mage's "Don't Move." Depending on how much Faith both your mage and your DT has, you may want to take the more cautious approach and equip Magic Defend Up. If not, then Magic Attack Up would prove useful. The purpose of this unit is to clear away the hordes of enemies besides the enemy female thieves as well as general assistance during the learning of Zodiac through the DT. If this unit is a female, equip a Chantage if you have one in stock for the Reraise aspect. Student Unit 2 Summoner Item HP Restore Magic Defend Up Teleport/Ignore Height/Fly A critical auxiliary unit, since through this one the DT can cast Zodiac as much as the stock of the appropriate items will yield. Ideally, this set-up would be good for the unit that may have relatively low faith. This unit can be male or female despite being in close proximity of the charming enemy thief (I'll explain later). Of course, make sure you have Hi-ethers in stock and give it liberally to the DT (you should be rich in Gil at this point anyway). Student Unit 3 Summoner Draw Out HP Restore Magic Defend Up Teleport/Ignore Height/Fly This is a useful unit because it facilitates casting Shell on your Zodiac Students through "Kiyomouri". In addition, if you stole the Masamune weapon from Elmdor and duplicated it, you can use "Masamamune" (Haste and Regen) to give the speed advantage to your Math Skill unit(s). Finally, through "Murasame" you can restore HP. Considering the auxiliary support this unit can give, I doubt there is another unit that will prove better. Student Unit 4 Summoner Math Skill/Draw Out/Talk Skill HP Restore Magic Defend Up Teleport/Ignore Height/Fly The preferred secondary command is Math Skill, since it provides offensive support and general spell-casting help. Talk Skill is mentioned only if a student's or the DT's Faith value is very high such that a casting of Solution would be necessary. This would be the unit to implement Talk Skill if such a miscalculation took place since all the other units play a unique role. If you feel there wouldn't be a miscalculation, then I recommend Math Skill since the primary mage now has help in killing the unneeded enemies. Not only that, with a second Math Skill you have another opportunity for status ailment spells (remember to learn "Don't Move") and general healing. If you do not have another unit fluent in magic, then Draw Out (this unit should be near mastered or close to it, learning Kikuichimoji especially) would be helpful. **** Since you'll most likely have more than four students to learn Zodiac, it doesn't make sense to have all your mastered units in one group and the next group is filled with scrubs. So, please choose wisely. +++++++++++ |Section 2| +++++++++++ To recap: None of your units should be at a Faith above 77 (except your primary Math Skill mage), and the DT's Faith shouldn't be unnaturally low (not lower than 60). If your mage has a very high faith (80s-90s), Magic Defend Up is necessary along with Shell so your mage can survive Zodiac. Remember to have at least one person know Teleport so you can view all the panels of the map when the unit has the opportunity to Move (this will be necessary since I will describe certain parts of the map). For those who may not know, when you have the cursor on a unit and press "X" (cancel button), you can see how many panels the particular can move to potentially, which are highlight blue. With Teleport you can potentially move to all panels of the map (essentially), so all the panels would therefore be highlighted blue, which helps in making sense of where you are on the map. BRIDGE has an interesting topography. It has a big plateau and a small plateau where both go straight down the middle of the map with a small gap between the two plateaus. You can say therefore, that the two plateaus essentially cut the map in half. Your units always start to the "left" of the Big Plateau(1). The Small Plateau(2) in respect to your units is located on the opposite end of the map. The battle that you are looking for will have 1 or 2 enemy female thieves on the "right" side of Plateau1, and it shouldn't take too many resets to find. The accompanying enemy units are usually high HP monsters (Sacreds and Minotaurs) and a couple of human units. In most cases, there are two female thieves. If only one female thief appears, rest assured that she does know the Charm ability (I've checked it out). $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ======================================================================= ____ .__ NNNNN) (N NNNNN. N) (N __. ._ __ ._JN__ " N) NL_JNF JNNNNN (NN"N)`NNNNN NNNN` NNNN` (N) N) (N N) (N `4N. N) (N N) (N (N (L N) N) `NNNNNN (N (N `NNNNN` "` ""` " `" `" ""` ======================================================================= $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Once you have found the battle where the Thief or Thieves are, start annihilating the enemy units through Math Skill except the 2 female thieves of course. The allied unit with draw out should cast Masamune if you have the Katana in stock to get the speed advantage. All your units should stay put until most of the enemy units are killed. Your Math Skill unit(s) should have an easy time vanquishing the enemy units. When all the appropriate units are dead, move your units on top of Plateau1. Be forewarned: there are 3 nasty traps on Plateau1 (two death-sentence traps and a sleeping gas trap). Plateau1 is apart of the edge of one side of the map (this would be a good time to play the game and correspond what I'm saying to the actual game). Trap 1 is a death-sentence trap on the middle panel (of three panels), on the "back end" of Plateau1. Just in case you're confused, the height of the panel is "10h." Trap 2 is another Death Sentence trap two panels isometrically ahead of Trap 1. That panel is at a height of "12h." To the "right" of Trap 2, the height should show "9h." Trap 3 is a Sleep trap that's two panels ahead isometrically to Trap 2, (4 panels isometrically ahead of Trap 1). The height of that panel is "13h." To the "left" of Trap 3's panel is an unmountable panel at a height of "12h" (unmountable such that the panel will appear red when the cursor is placed on it). "In front" of Trap 3's panel is a panel with a height of "4h." So essentially here's Plateau1 with the traps marked: X = Free/Safe Panel of Plateau1 # = Unmountable Panel on Plateau1 1 = Refers to Trap 1 2 = Refers to Trap 2 3 = Refers to Trap 3 $ = Key panel (I'll explain later) $ # 3 X # X X X X X 2 X X X X X X 1 X [Edge of Map] When the enemy female thieves are the only units left, move your 4 auxiliary units to the back end of Plateau1 (towards the edge of the map) avoiding the traps. If you'll take note, the panel on Plateau1 that is closest to Plateau2 is an angled panel at a height of "12h." This is the key panel (symbol represented as "$"). What makes this the key panel is that this panel is the access panel to Plateau1. Without Ignore Height/Teleport/Fly, that panel is the only way to access Plateau 1. This is where the DT will be placed. He being there is a great strategic advantage. Until he's charmed, the female thieves have no way to physically attack any of your allied units, since they have no access to Plateau1. When you move the DT to the key panel, cast "Don't Move" on him (preferably before he's charmed). In my experience, only 1 of the 2 female thieves knows Charm. So, when you've determined which thief has Charm, kill the other thief. The charmed thief might equip a Flash Hat instead of a Thief Hat. If so, you can cast Don't Move on the thief at the appropriate time. The female thief, having no way to access the plateau where your units are, can only use charm as an offense. The thieves should be on or near Plateau2, hoping to access Plateau1. Once she successfully charms the DT, you can patiently wait for the DT's turn to come. In the meantime, place Student Unit 2 (the one with Item) directly "behind" the DT, which is also the panel to the "right" of Trap 3 so that you'll be able replenish the much-needed MP for multiple castings of Zodiac. This is also necessary since the female thief can walk past the charmed DT since it is now an ally for the enemy. By placing student unit with Item behind the DT, the female thief still can't access Plateau1 because of the situated topography. In my experience, once the thief charmed the DT, she didn't attempt to charm anyone else and stayed in the general vicinity. On one occasion, the student I had with Item was a male, and the enemy thief not once tried to charm him though he was in charming range. If for some reason the thief manages to get on Plateau1, abandon the plateau, which includes uncharming the DT. If the thief is stubborn and meanders on Plateau1, then move everyone towards Plateau2, which is at the opposite end of the map. The thief will then leave Plateau1 and you can go back to it and start over. Once the thief is Don't Move'd and everything else is in place, when the DT's turn comes, he will cast Zodiac. When he's charging to cast Zodiac, have the Draw Out unit cast Kiyomouri for Shell. If a unit is not in range, have the Math Skill unit(s) back the spell up with a casting of Shell. When I first tried this method out I cast Kiyomouri way too early, and wouldn't you know exactly before my DT cast Zodiac, the shell wore out...talk about a chorus of death cries! Thankfully, Reis with her superior HP survived (with like 8 HP left) and was the primary Math Skiller able to revive the others. Therefore, I recommend to cast Kiyomouri after the DT charges for Zodiac. The casting of Zodiac may take a while, so remember to continuously cast Don't Move on the DT (and the female thief if applicable), so that things won't get messy. Make sure that everyone is in the effect area so you can assess right after the first casting whether anyone needs his or her Faith lowered (for those that don't listen). After the casting of Zodiac, one of your students will be asked if you want to learn Zodiac. Say "Yes" of course (one time I said "No" just to be bold). Use Hi-Ethers to replenish the DT's MP. As long as the DT stays on that key panel (with Don't Move) along with the unit with Item behind him, then the process will repeat itself rather quickly. Repeat this entire routine if you have another set of Human Units to learn Zodiac. This battle should not even take an hour and you have 4 students who have learned Zodiac! This is definitely faster than all other methods to date. Moreover, this isn't difficult to execute either. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ What if you only have male summoners who have already learned some summons? The DT should still cast Zodiac. I did a test where I taught my students through Ramza, who was a mastered summoner. The first time he was charmed, he cast Bahamut. Funny enough, the question came to one of my students, "Would you like to learn Bahamut?" There was another time he cast Cyclops. I think I know the reason he chose those summons. The AI won't be excessive with its spell casting. Not all of my characters were Shelled when Ramza chose to cast Bahamut and Cyclops. The damage that Bahamut/Cyclops was scheduled to take was enough to kill one of my units, since I didn't cast Shell (remember that Ramza has the MA of a female and my particular Ramza has 87 Faith). So essentially the AI won't cast Zodiac if it doesn't have to. When all my characters had shell (with Magic Defend Up of course), the charmed Ramza cast Zodiac, since Zodiac was closest to killing my units damage-wise being more potent than Bahamut/Cyclops. If a low-level summon is cast (Shiva, Ifrit, Ramuh, or Titan), then you'll need to spread out your units more. The diagram below gives possible places for student placement. $ = Designated Teacher (DT) ~ = Possible panels units should be placed % = Allied unit that has "Item" 1 = Refers to Trap 1 2 = Refers to Trap 2 3 = Refers to Trap 3 $ # 3 % # ~ X X X X 2 X ~ ~ X ~ ~ 1 X [Edge of Map] Unfortunately, the AI isn't as efficient in its placement of spells as it is in choosing them. You will most likely have to rotate the students (save the student with Item for last if needs be), since the AI will not cast Zodiac at a spot where it will hit everyone. All in all this shouldn't be a problem, since Zodiac is such a teasing spell because of its power and range. So essentially, there is no reason why anyone cannot use this method. I hope this FAQ proved useful and the explanation of this method was clear and readable. (c)Stewart Bertram