The Zodiac system in Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is an excellent and somewhat hidden game mechanic in the beloved strategy game. With a game positively exploding with intricately complex systems, the Zodiac system doesn’t get much time in the spotlight.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles – How To Steal
Looking to empty your enemy’s pockets in Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles? We’ve got you covered, but don’t tell anybody.
In Tactics, each character has a star sign. From Generics to Ramza and unique characters, each one has a sign, and this means they do better in combat when they come up against characters with whom they have Best, Worst, or Neutral compatibility. In-game, this dictates hit rates, damage calculations, spell accuracy, and so much more!
UPDATE: 2025/10/23 21:30 EST BY SETH WARREN PARMER
Small Changes With A Massive Impact
Since Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles changes some things up regarding the Zodiac Compatibility system, we have decided to revisit this guide to not only bring it in line with our current guides but also provide more information on this unique aspect of the game, address the changes, and make things easier to locate!
Zodiac Compatibility Explained
If you’re new to Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, you might not give a second thought to this parameter, but it can be make-or-break in some early-game fights when the difficulty spike is that much more noticeable. While it is crucial to be mindful of your party members’ Zodiac signs, you also don’t have to obsess over them either.
If you’re playing the Classic Version of Final Fantasy Tactics, another factor between Zodiacs is that a character’s gender matters in this calculation with human units. Using Aries Ramza as an example, the best compatibility for Aries is a female Libra character.
Due to this, when you are looking to make a healer character for your party, you should pick a female unit with the Libra star sign. Doing so will mean that Ramza and your team healer have the best Zodiac compatibility, meaning buffs such as Protect, Haste, Shell, Raise, and healing magic will never miss.
Since gender no longer plays a role with human units in the Enhanced Version of the Ivalice Chronicles, the only thing you really should be focusing on prioritizing is the Zodiac compatibilities, as some mesh well with one another, and others mix about as well as oil and water. However, gender will still play a role when targeting monsters and other non-human units, so you can’t quite ignore it either; it just won’t be as prominent a concern.
Further to magic accuracy, normal attack accuracy, and damage are hindered or improved based on Zodiac compatibility. In addition to best and worst compatibility, each star sign has good and poor compatibility. Good and poor aren’t as extreme as best and worst, but you still don’t want to have characters on your team with poor compatibility.
Using a Libra healer as an example again, they have good compatibility with Gemini and Aquarius, which means you should consider having other party members with these Zodiacs to get the most out of your healer. Libras also have poor compatibility with Cancer and Capricorn!
General Zodiac Compatibility Tips
If you find that your characters aren’t doing as much damage as you might calculate or expect, chances are they have bad Zodiac compatibility. You should consider using a character with better compatibility to attack them instead.
The simple fact is that Zodiac compatibility has a dramatic effect on several parameters in combat. Hence, the more you know about it, the better equipped you are to plan and approach more challenging battles.
Planning ahead can make it so Ramza will have worse compatibility with some of the more demanding bosses in the game you face later on. This means that both Ramza and the bosses would do less damage to each other, which also goes the same way with offensive magic against enemies. Not only will it dictate how accurate your spells are, but also how much extra damage they will do!
Best and worst compatibility work as opposites across each Zodiac, so be mindful of this when selecting party members and Ramza’s, as it can be very crucial at specific points of your journey!
Again, in the Classic Version of the game, the best compatibility always comes from someone of the opposite gender. Depending on the opposite Zodiac, the worst compatibility always occurs when two characters are the same gender!
HUD Now Displays Zodiac Compatibility
With the new and stunning Enhanced Version of Final Fantasy Tactics via the Ivalice Chronicles, you can now see how compatible your units’ Zodiac signs are with other party members and enemy units with a quick glance at the HUD. While this is a crucial and excellent addition, they never explain it, and it’s likely to get overlooked by everyone.
When ordering your unit to perform an action on another unit, you will see quite a few things pop up on the HUD, relaying information about the most likely outcome. When this pops up, look directly above the Damage number to find two percentages. The one on the left shows how accurate the action will be, while the one on the right shows how compatible your Zodiac is with the targeted unit.
Again, the higher this percentage is, the more compatible you are with the other unit’s Zodiac sign, meaning you will be much more accurate, as well as deal more damage or provide greater healing. We strongly recommend taking advantage of this new HUD, especially if you find yourself consistently experiencing lower-than-expected accuracy or potency!
If you’re playing the Classic Version of the game, this will not be present for you, so you must observe the other units, note what Zodiac they are, and make the calculations yourself to see if your units are compatible with them or not!
Zodiac Compatibility Chart
There are a total of 13 Zodiacs in Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles. You will want to make sure you cover enough bases in your party and don’t double up on characters who have the same star sign. Having information on which Zodiacs gel well with one another and which ones don’t mix will set you up nicely for some crucial encounters!
Zodiac Compatibilities
|
Zodiac |
Best |
Good |
Poor |
Worst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Aries |
Libra (Opposite Gender) |
Leo |
Cancer |
Libra (Same Gender) |
|
Sagittarius |
Capricorn |
|||
|
Aquarius |
Leo (Opposite Gender) |
Gemini |
Scorpio |
Leo (Same Gender) |
|
Libra |
Taurus |
|||
|
Cancer |
Scorpio (Opposite Gender) |
Pisces |
Aries |
Scorpio (Same Gender) |
|
Scorpio |
Libra |
|||
|
Capricorn |
Cancer (Opposite Gender) |
Taurus |
Aries |
Cancer (Same Gender) |
|
Virgo |
Libra |
|||
|
Gemini |
Sagittarius (Opposite Gender) |
Aquarius |
Pisces |
Sagittarius (Same Gender) |
|
Libra |
Virgo |
|||
|
Leo |
Aquarius (Opposite Gender) |
Aries |
Scorpio |
Aquarius (Same Gender) |
|
Sagittarius |
Taurus |
|||
|
Libra |
Aries (Opposite Gender) |
Aquarius |
Cancer |
Aries (Same Gender) |
|
Gemini |
Capricorn |
|||
|
Pisces |
Virgo (Opposite Gender) |
Cancer |
Gemini |
Virgo (Same Gender) |
|
Scorpio |
Sagittarius |
|||
|
Sagittarius |
Gemini (Opposite Gender) |
Aries |
Pisces |
Gemini (Same Gender) |
|
Leo |
Virgo |
|||
|
Scorpio |
Taurus (Opposite Gender) |
Cancer |
Aquarius |
Taurus (Same Gender) |
|
Pisces |
Leo |
|||
|
Taurus |
Scorpio (Opposite Gender) |
Capricorn |
Aquarius |
Scorpio (Same Gender) |
|
Virgo |
Leo |
|||
|
Virgo |
Pisces (Opposite Gender) |
Capricorn |
Gemini |
Pisces (Same Gender) |
|
Taurus |
Sagittarius |
|||
|
Serpentarius |
Neutral affinity with all 12 other Zodiacs. The Serpentarius Zodiac Stone can be acquired via the Midlight Deep dungeon. |
|||
The Best and Worst category for all Zodiacs only applies when targeting Monster units in the Enhanced Version of Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles. If you’re playing the Classic Version, they will apply to human units as well. If you’re a human unit and are targeting another human unit, please refer to the Good/Poor sections in the Enhanced Version!
Best Zodiac For Ramza
Despite Ramza’s canonical Zodiac Stone being Capricorn, you may want to rethink that decision, as choosing his birthdate can have substantial effects in specific boss encounters. If you want a more high-damaging Ramza for crucial boss encounters, you must have a Best/Good compatibility with their Zodiac.
For a more defensive-focused Ramza, having a Worst/Poor compatibility to a boss’ Zodiac will make you far more tankier to their attacks. So, keep that in mind when choosing Ramza’s birthdate, as it can make a very crucial difference in specific boss encounters!
All Boss Zodiacs
|
Zodiac |
Bosses |
Best Offense Counters |
Best Defense Counters |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Cancer |
Scorpio (Opposite Gender) |
Scorpio (Same Gender) |
|
|
Pisces |
Aries |
||
|
Scorpio |
Libra |
||
|
Capricorn |
|
Cancer (Opposite Gender) |
Cancer (Same Gender) |
|
Taurus |
Aries |
||
|
Virgo |
Libra |
||
|
Gemini |
|
Sagittarius (Opposite Gender) |
Sagittarius (Same Gender) |
|
Aquarius |
Pisces |
||
|
Libra |
Virgo |
||
|
Leo |
Aquarius (Opposite Gender) |
Aquarius (Same Gender) |
|
|
Aries |
Scorpio |
||
|
Sagittarius |
Taurus |
||
|
Sagittarius |
Gemini (Opposite Gender) |
Gemini (Same Gender) |
|
|
Aries |
Pisces |
||
|
Leo |
Virgo |
||
|
Scorpio |
Taurus (Opposite Gender) |
Taurus (Same Gender) |
|
|
Cacer |
Aquarius |
||
|
Piscies |
Leo |
||
|
Virgo |
|
Piscies (Opposite Gender) |
Piscies (Same Gender) |
|
Capricorn |
Gemini |
||
|
Taurus |
Sagittarius |
||
|
Serpentarius |
N/A |
N/A |
Since most boss encounters will be against humans in Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, we suggest avoiding the Opposite/Same Gender choices, unless you are playing the Classic Version of the game. However, since the Lucavi aren’t considered human, you can choose them in preparation for the bosses that turn, but please note that it will make some encounters much harder!
So, with the table above, what is the best possible Zodiac for Ramza? Well, it depends. Since your encounter with Wiegraf will generally be the most challenging of the bunch, we strongly recommend rolling with Gemini or Sagittarius to make his attacks back far less of a punch.
Picking Capricorn or Taurus may have you deal more damage, but that also rings true for Wiegraf, so keep that in mind. A lot of the bosses will be Virgo, so this option wouldn’t be too terrible if you’re planning on making builds that center around high damage output!
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles – All Missables
There are a few things that are permanently lost if you don’t get them the first time they’re available in FFT: The Ivalice Chronicles!
