FFXII - Whats the best weapon and armor to set-up to form with a party with Basch, Ashe and Penelo?

Question

Basch is my Tank, Ashe is damage dealer, and Penelo healer (for her MP advantages), but what would be the best weapons and armor should be used for each of them... some help would really be appreciated

Answer 1

Tank: It depends.  If you want to go high defense, go with heavy armor and a shield.  Equipping the Main Gauche (dagger) will boost your evade.  Or, if you want higher max HP, go with Light Armor, shield, Main Gauche.  If you have the Demon Shield, that has great evade!  (Demon Shield + Main Gauche will take care of almost all physical attacks).  Then, decided if you want to keep relfect on that person and heal them with items.  Another strategy is to Reverse and Decoy your tank, but that is tricky since they don't last very long and eat up your MP.  Or, you could keep Protect and Shell on that person (protect is not as necessary since you've already got great physical defense).  Accessory slot is pretty much variable.  

Damage Dealer: It depends what kind of damage your person specialized in.  If Ashe is a physical attacker, Heavy Armor boosts strength.  I tend to go with a 1-handed weapon and a shield for a little added defense.  Or, a spear or 2-handed sword will give you a great attack boost.  If you have Bravery, this is great!  If using a Bow and Arrow, you'll want to increase your speed.  Cat-ear Hood, Haste, Beserk, Light Armor.  For a magic damage dealer, that is harder.  Mysic Armor boosts magic power, but isn't very sturdy.

Good damage trick: Have your other 2 characters cast Beserk, Bravery, and Haste on your damage dealer.  You won't be able to control this person, but they'll rip everyone apart.

Penelo: Mystic Armor will boost Magic Power.  It's not sturdy, so keep a ranged weapon on her.  Sage's Ring helps, or Pheasant N. if you're going to use items (Pheonix Down with Pheasant N. equipped will fully revive a dead party member with full HP).  Or Cat-ear hood.  I find that magic sometimes isn't quite fast enough in certain situations, and cat-ear hood balances this out.  Use Faith on yourself.

Have all the MP gaining augments for your damage dealer.  When Penelo runs low on MP, just use syphon on your damage dealer.  This is loads better than Charge.