Laws

This page lists all of the laws in FFTA2 and explains how not to break them.

List of Laws

Law NameExplanationHow to Avoid Breaking the Law
>20 Damage If you do more than 20 HP damage, you break this law. This includes any damage done by reaction abilities (Counter, Bonecrusher) and any Critical damage that you inflict. You can try removing weapons from your units and use abilities like Blitz that cause less damage but have greater accuracy
>50 Damage If you do more than 50 HP damage, you break this law. This includes any damage done by reaction abilities (Counter, Bonecrusher) and any Critical damage that you inflict. You can try removing weapons from your units and use abilities like Blitz that cause less damage but have greater accuracy
>100 Damage If you do more than 100 HP damage, you break this law. This includes any damage done by reaction abilities (Counter, Bonecrusher) and any Critical damage that you inflict. You can try removing weapons from your units and use abilities like Blitz that cause less damage but have greater accuracy
If you inflict damage, but it's less than 20 damage, you break the law. This only applies to actions that lower a unit's hit points, so you can still heal and do other non-damaging actions without breaking the law. Bring your strongest melee fighters and mages.
If you inflict damage, but it's less than 50 damage, you break the law. This only applies to actions that lower a unit's hit points, so you can still heal and do other non-damaging actions without breaking the law. Bring your strongest melee fighters and mages.
If you inflict damage, but it's less than 100 damage, you break the law. This only applies to actions that lower a unit's hit points, so you can still heal and do other non-damaging actions without breaking the law. Bring your strongest melee fighters and mages.
Actions by Bangaa If Bangaa on your side do anything other than Attack, Move, and Wait, you break the law. To be safe, don't put any Bangaa into the battle.
Actions by Gria If Gria on your side do anything other than Attack, Move, and Wait, you break the law. To be safe, don't put any Gria into the battle.
Actions by Humes If Humes on your side do anything other than Attack, Move, and Wait, you break the law. To be safe, don't put any Humes into the battle.
Actions by Moogles If Moogles on your side do anything other than Attack, Move, and Wait, you break the law. To be safe, don't put any Moogles into the battle.
Actions by Nu Mou If Nu Mou on your side do anything other than Attack, Move, and Wait, you break the law. To be safe, don't put any Nu Mou into the battle.
Actions by Seeq If Seeq on your side do anything other than Attack, Move, and Wait, you break the law. To be safe, don't put any Seeq into the battle.
Actions by Viera If Viera on your side do anything other than Attack, Move, and Wait, you break the law. To be safe, don't put any Viera into the battle.
Attack If you use the Attack command, you break the law. You can use action abilities (such as Arts of War, Pugilism, Discipline, etc.), but not the Attack command.
Back Attack If you do any harmful action to a unit that you are behind, you break the law. You can attack from the squares that are to the left and right of the unit, but not from any square behind that. However, you can do non-harmful actions from behind the unit without breaking the law.
Being Robbed If a unit successfully steals from you, you break the law. Avoid Thieves, Soldiers, and Tricksters. Try inflicting things like Stop or Disable on them.
Bladed Weapons If any of your units does an attack with an axe, blade, broadsword, greatsword, katana, knightsword, knife, saber, or sword, you break the law. Unequip these weapons from your units to be safe. Your units can have these types of weapons equipped without breaking the law, as long as they don't use them to attack. But if there is a risk that they could be Charmed or Confused during the battle, just don't use those units.
Bludgeoning Weapons If any of your units does an attack with a Rod, Staff, Pole, Knuckle, Hammer, or Mace, you break the law. Unequip these weapons from your units to be safe. Certain jobs can only equip bludgeoning weapons, so don't put them into battle when this law is in effect. Your units can have these types of weapons equipped without breaking the law, as long as they don't use them to attack. But if there is a risk that they could be Charmed or Confused during the battle, just don't use those units.
Buffs If any of your units gets any beneficial status condition (such as Haste, Protect, Reflect, etc.) you break the law. Some types of jobs, such as Time Mages, will be useless when this law is in effect (unless you're willing to break the law). Reaction abilites don't count, so Regen and other reaction ability status conditions are OK.
Copycat If you do the exact same action as the previous unit (friend or foe) you break the law. In order to not break the law, pay close attention to the battle so you remember what the previous unit did. This law only applies to actions that have the same name. Don't do Attack if the last unit did Attack, don't cast Thundara if the previous unit cast Thundara, etc. Thunder is not the same as Thundara, so you won't break the law if you cast Thunder after Thundara, for example. Move is always legal and Wait is always legal under this law. It would be risky to put multiple units with the same job into a battle where this law is in effect, because they might all know the same action abilities, making it more likely that you might forget and use the same ability twice in a row.
Debuffs If any of your units causes a negative status condition (except HP Critical), you break the law. You can't inflict debuffs, but you won't be penalized if one of your units receives a negative status condition.
Elemental Effects If you use an elemental spell or weapon, you break the law. The elements are Fire, Ice, Lightning, Water, Air, Earth, Dark, Holy, and Gravity. Be sure to check all of your units' weapons to make sure that they are not elemental (although if they don't attack with those weapons, they won't break the law). Most spells cause elemental damage, so be sure to read the help text (press Y when the cursor is on an ability) to find out if it is an elemental spell.
Fire If you use a Fire spell or weapon, you break the law. Be sure to check all of your units' weapons to make sure that they are not Fire elemental (although if they don't attack with those weapons, they won't break the law). Most spells cause elemental damage, so be sure to read the help text (press Y when the cursor is on an ability) to find out if it is a Fire elemental spell.
Fire, Ice, Lightning If you use a Fire, Ice, or Lightning spell or weapon, you break the law. Be sure to check all of your units' weapons to make sure that they are not Fire, Ice, or Lightning elemental (although if they don't attack with those weapons, they won't break the law). Most spells cause elemental damage, so be sure to read the help text (press Y when the cursor is on an ability) to find out if it is a Fire, Ice, or Lightning elemental spell.
Grouping If a unit is next to another unit (not counting diagonally) at the end of its turn, you break the law. Ranged attacks (such as guns, bows, magick, etc.) are best when this law is in effect. If an enemy unit is next to one of your units, that unit can perform a melee attack and then move to a different square if the enemy unit is still next to it.
Harming Bangaa If you perform any harmful action against a Bangaa or Cid, you break the law. Reaction abilities don't count, so there is no need to remove your Counter, Bonecrusher, etc. abilities for this battle. Cid counts as a Bangaa, even though he is described as a Hume at the start of the game, so don't let any of your units hit him if he is in the battle.
Harming Females If you perform any harmful action against a Viera, Gria, Adelle, Frimelda, Penelo, or Illua you break the law. Reaction abilities don't count, so there is no need to remove your Counter, Bonecrusher, etc. abilities for this battle. Adelle, Frimelda, Penelo, and Illua are also female, so don't let any of your units hit them if they are in the battle. You can hit the Night Dancer without breaking this law.
Harming Humes If you perform any harmful action against Humes, you break the law. Reaction abilities don't count, so there is no need to remove your Counter, Bonecrusher, etc. abilities for this battle. Cid is not considered a Hume for this law, but Luso is (obviously), so don't let any of your units hit him if he is in the battle.
Harming Males If you perform any harmful action against Bangaa, Nu Mou, Moogle, Seeq, or male Humes, you break the law. Reaction abilities don't count, so there is no need to remove your Counter, Bonecrusher, etc. abilities for this battle. Adelle, Frimelda, and all Viera and Gria are female, so this law does not apply to them. However, the Night Dancer is male.
Harming Moogles If you perform any harmful action against Moogles, you break the law. Reaction abilities don't count, so there is no need to remove your Counter, Bonecrusher, etc. abilities for this battle.
Harming Seeq If you perform any harmful action against Seeq, you break the law. Reaction abilities don't count, so there is no need to remove your Counter, Bonecrusher, etc. abilities for this battle.
Harming the Opposite Sex If one of your units performs any harmful action against a unit of the opposite sex, you break the law. See "Harming Males" and "Harming Females" in this list for more information.
Harming Viera If you perform any harmful action against Viera, you break the law. Reaction abilities don't count, so there is no need to remove your Counter, Bonecrusher, etc. abilities for this battle. Penelo counts as a Viera, even though she is clearly a Hume, so don't let any of your units hit her if she is in the battle.
Harming the Weak If a unit performs any harmful action against a unit whose level is lower, you break the law. For example, if a level 20 unit harms a level 19 unit, you break the law. Be sure to check the levels of the enemy units before putting your units into battle. Try to send units into the battle that are at the same or a lower level than the enemy units. Reaction abilities don't count, so there is no need to remove your Counter, Bonecrusher, etc. abilities for this battle.
Height ≥ 10 If a unit ends its turn at a height of 10h or more, you break the law. The current height of a unit is shown in the top-left corner of the screen. Keep an eye on it before you end a unit's turn to make sure that the unit is not at too high of a height.
HP ≤ 20 If any of your units' health becomes 20 or lower, you break the law.
HP ≤ 50 If any of your units' health becomes 50 or lower, you break the law. Make healing a priority during the battle.
HP ≤ 100 If any of your units' health becomes 100 or lower, you break the law. Put units into battle that have high HP. Make healing a priority during the battle. If you have a way to cast Regen, do it.
Ice If you use a Ice spell or weapon, you break the law. Be sure to check all of your units' weapons to make sure that they are not Ice elemental (although if they don't attack with those weapons, they won't break the law). Most spells cause elemental damage, so be sure to read the help text (press Y when the cursor is on an ability) to find out if it is a Ice elemental spell.
Items If you use an item, you break the law. You can remove the Items ability from the units that you send into battle. Don't let Alchemists participate, since you can't remove their Items ability.
Knockback If you do an action that knocks back a unit, you break the law. Magick is safest when this law is in effect. You should avoid using regular Attacks, because Attack has a chance of causing a Critical hit, which knocks the target back. However, if the unit is up against a wall, then even if you cause a Critical Hit, the unit will not be knocked back and you will not break the law.
Lightning If you use a Lightning spell or weapon, you break the law. Be sure to check all of your units' weapons to make sure that they are not Lightning elemental (although if they don't attack with those weapons, they won't break the law). Most spells cause elemental damage, so be sure to read the help text (press Y when the cursor is on an ability) to find out if it is a Lightning elemental spell.
Missing If you attempt an action, but you miss, you break the law. With most actions, there is a risk that you will miss. You can reduce the chance of missing by increasing your units' agility. There are also actions that specifically have a higher chance to hit (often at the expense of attack power).
Non-Elemental Effects If you perform an action that does not use an elemental spell or weapon, you break the law. The elements are Fire, Ice, Lightning, Water, Air, Earth, Dark, Holy, and Gravity. You can have a non-elemental weapon equipped, but you can't use it without breaking the law. Use units that can equip elemental weapons and can cast elemental spells.
Not Moving If your unit ends a turn on the same tile that he or she started the turn on, you break the law. Always make your units move during their turns.
Not Moving 1 Tile If your unit does not end its turn one tile away from where he or she started the turn, you break the law. Always make your units move EXACTLY one tile on each turn.
Not Moving 3 Tiles If your unit does not end its turn three tiles away from where he or she started the turn, you break the law. Always make your units move EXACTLY three tiles on each turn.
Not Using MP If your unit performs an action that does not cost MP, you break the law. Moving and Waiting do not break this law.
Opportunity Commands If you use a command that appears above "Attack", you break the law. Commands such as "Battle Shout", "Tough as Nails", "Flurry", etc. are illegal under this law. "Take Treasure" is also illegal, so don't do it when this law is in effect.
Piercing Weapons If any of your units does an attack with a Rapier or Spear, you break the law. Unequip these weapons from your units to be safe. Certain jobs can only equip Rapiers and Spears, so don't put them into battle when this law is in effect. Your units can have these types of weapons equipped without breaking the law, as long as they don't use them to attack.
Ranged Weapons If any of your units does an attack with a Bow, Cannon, Card, or Gun, you break the law. Unequip these weapons from your units to be safe. Certain jobs can only equip ranged weapons, so don't put them into battle when this law is in effect. Your units can have these types of weapons equipped without breaking the law, as long as they don't use them to attack.
Reaction Abilities If any of your units performs a reaction ability, you break the law. You can press Y before the battle to configure your units. Go into their Abilities menu, put the cursor on the reaction ability, and press X to remove it. You can put it back afterward.
Receiving Buffs or Debuffs If one of your units receives a buff or debuff or other status effect, you break the law. Receiving a buff or debuff is illegal, but you can cause buffs and debuffs on enemy units without breaking this law.
Restoring HP If you perform an action that restores any of your units' HP, you break the law. Don't use White Mages, and avoid weapons and abilities that can heal you. Don't equip elemental armor, since it can absorb HP.
Restoring MP If you perform an action that restores any of your units' MP, you break the law. Your units automatically gain 10 MP per turn, but this does not count as breaking the law. You can still send Magick-users into this battle as long as you don't give them Ethers.
Scholarly Weapons If any of your units does an attack with a Instrument or Book, you break the law. Unequip these weapons from your units to be safe. Certain jobs can only equip Instruments and Books, so don't put them into battle when this law is in effect. Your units can have these types of weapons equipped without breaking the law, as long as they don't use them to attack.
Smash Gauge ≥ 60% If a unit's Smash Gauge becomes 60% or more full, you break the law. The Smash Gauge is the colorful bar to the right of a unit's HP and MP display. It increases each time you do a successful action. To avoid breaking this law, finish the battle quickly. You can use things like Poison and Doom to speed things up. Also, target as many enemy units as possible each turn to finish the battle sooner.
Solitude If one of your units is not next to another unit at the end of its turn (not counting diagonal), you break the law. If using physical attacks, you might not want to move until after you have performed an action, because there is a chance that you will knock back the target unit.
Swimming If one of your units is on a water tile at the end of its turn, you break the law. You can travel through water tiles as long as you are on dry land at the end of your turn. You're not even allowed to float on top of a water tile with Winged Shoes at the end of a turn. Note that Moogles and Nu Mou cannot enter water tiles at all.
Summoning Scions If one of your units summons a Scion, you break the law. You can still use your Viera Summoners, because they summon Espers, not Scions.
Targeting Adjacent Units If one of your units performs an action on a target in an adjacent square (not diagonal), you break the law. You can perform actions on yourself without breaking this law. Most Attacks will break this law.
Targeting All Units If one of your units performs an action that affects all units, you break the law. Unfortunately, all Illusionist spells break this law, even though they only affect enemy units. Summoning Scions breaks this law (but Viera Summoners can summon Espers without breaking this law), and all Scholar abilities break this law.
Targeting an Area If one of your units performs an action that targets multiple squares, you break the law. You will still break the law even if your area affect spell (such as Cure) only targets one person.
Targeting Distant Units If one of your units performs an action that affects a non-adjacent unit, you break the law. Most melee Attacks do not break this law (such as hitting with knuckles, swords, etc.) However, using a spear to hit a distant unit will break the law, and using ranged weapons to hit a distant unit will break the law.
Targeting Self If one of your units performs an action on itself, you break the law. Don't heal yourself or use items on yourself or cast buffs on yourself.
Using ≥ 20 MP If one of your units performs an action that uses 20 or more MP, you break the law The Halve MP ability can allow you to use actions that would otherwise be illegal with this law.
Using MP If one of your units performs an action that uses MP, you break the law.