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Bravely Default II Specialties | all specialty unlocks for every class

by RPG Site Staff on 06 March, 2021

Continuing with series tradition, Bravely Default II is an especially strategy-rich game with lots of things to worry about. One such major factor, especially in the late game, are the job Specialties. Each job has a pair of these specialty skills - one that you unlock earlier on, and one that you'll be able to work to as you level up the job and master it on your way to unlocking and reaching job level 15. 

On this page, we're more focused on listing out every Specialty in Bravely Default II and their effects. If you've been playing the game at lenth, you'll instantly be able to identify why some of these are powerful, and perhaps have some good ideas on how they might fit into your play style.

The job specialty system does become vitally important as you get into the harder content of BD2. In fact, the available specialties will have as much an impact on your choice of class and party composition as actual character skills and abilities. This page isn't strictly about which are the best, however - we talk a little about various specialties as part of our list of the best jobs & job combos in Bravely Default II. 

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Bravely Default 2 Specialties List - every job specialty & what each does

The job specialties vary dramatically across Bravely Default II's various character classes. They always break down into two sections, though: your base specialty, and your 'mastered' specialty.

Generally speaking, the base specialty, which you'll have access to earlier, is something basic that supports the class. For instance, the Vanguard has a first specialty that negates the negative stat penalties associated with equipping a shield. The Black Mage gets a skill that means when you Default/Defend, you can restore MP, a great way to ensure you don't get caught short for casting resources. In both these instances, these specialties work to enhance the natural abilities of the class in question.

The secondary, mastered specialty will take time and perseverence to unlock, but doing so provides a major reward for sticking with that class. For Vanguard, for instance, they can raise attack power by making themselves a target for enemies, doubling down on making that class a true tank. Black Mages get an incredible ability that stops spells from being nullified, which ramps up their utility. Some later classes get truly insane abilities, like the Red Mage's stunning ability to cast all spells twice for no extra cost.

Below, we list all of the speciality skills in BD2 for every class in the game. If you want to see all the abilities to go with this, our Bravely Default 2 jobs list has every ability listed too.

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Freelancer Specialties

  1. Stand Ground: around a 50% chance of surviving with 1 HP when taking enough damage to be knocked out. Not triggered if the user only has one HP.
  2. Late Bloomer: boosts all stats based on the number of jobs the user has mastered.

Black Mage Specialties

  1. Regenerative Default: defeaulting restores a little MP. The amount restored depends on the user's level.
  2. High-Velocity Spells: prevents all attack spells from being nullified or absorbed, but doesn't stop damage debuff or reflect.

White Mage Specialties

  1. Angelic Ward: roughly 30% chance of any damage the user recieves being halved.
  2. Holistic Medicine: all healing spells benefit all party members.

Vanguard Specialties

  1. Shield-Bearer: equipping a shield no longer negatively effects aim, evasion, or speed.
  2. Attention Seeker: physical attack power and crit chance are raised based on how likely the user is to be targeted.

Monk Specialties

  1. Concentration: critical chance increases every time Invigorate, Inner Alchemy, or Mindfulness is used. The effect lasts for the rest of the current battle.
  2. Single-Minded: stops the Confusion, Berserk, and Charm status effects hitting the user. Using Martial Arts abilities will make the next turn arrive more quickly.

Bard Specialties

  1. Extended Outro: the effets of Singing abilities (buffs etc) last one turn longer.
  2. Encore: when a Singing ability is performed, there's a 25% chance that an additional Singing ability will also be triggered.

Beastmaster Specialties

  1. Animal Rescue: when an attack on the user reduces their HP to 20% or less, a random captured monster will be unleashed on the enemy.
  2. Creature Comforts: all stats are raised by an amount based on the number of creatures you've captured.

Thief Specialties

  1. Sleight of Hand: gives the Steal Breath / Spirit / Courage abilities the additional bonus of being able to take a single strength buff from the enemy and apply it to the user.
  2. Up to No Good: the act of defaulting no longer causes BP to increase, but all abilities that usually cost BP can instead be performed using MP, and the cost of Steal abilities is halved.

Gambler Specialties

  1. All or Nothing: EXP, JP, or PG earned after battle will drop to zero, but one of these three amounts has a chance to be multiplied by 15x. 
  2. Born Lucky: raises the number of winning slots there'll be in roulette-based abilities. Abilities that have a chance of triggering an additional effect are more likely to do so.

Berserker Specialties

  1. Pierce Default: atacking a target in Default status will no longer result in reduced damage
  2. Rage and Reason: actions can be chosen freely half the time while in Berserk status

Red Mage Specialties

  1. Nuisance: all attack spells have a chance to inflict status ailments. The ailment inflicted will depend on the element of the spell.
  2. Chainspell: all spell casts are performed twice, at no extra MP cost.

Ranger Specialties

  1. Barrage: the more successive actions a user performs in a turn, the more damage they'll inflict.
  2. Apex Predator: '[Enemy] Slayer' abilities are more powerful, and will earn one BP for every critical hit or enemy killed.

Shieldmaster Specialties

  1. Protect Ally: the user will step in to take damage in place of allies who are close to death, automatically adopting Default status. Certain status ailments can render this ability ineffective.
  2. Chivalrous Spirit: performing the Bodyguard or Defender of the People skills restores some MP and grants 1 BP.

Pictomancer Specialties

  1. Self-Expression: using Artistry abilities on the caster will cost nothing, and can cause positive instead of negative effects.
  2. Extra Coat: all status effects instigated by the user last one turn longer.

Dragoon Specialties

  1. Momentum: The power of jump gains a weight multiplier. The attack will also be quicker, depending on your current weight.
  2. Highwind: TBC

Spiritmaster Specialties

  1. Spirited Defense: TBC
  2. There in Spirit: the effects of Spirited Defense apply even when spirits aren't present. The effects of all spirit summoning abilities learned so far are automatically applied when the user has 1 or fewer BP.

Swordmaster Specialties

  1. Redoubled Effort: when you get attacked, the damage dealt by your counter attacks increases by 10% for every 1 BP you have.
  2. Double Duty: equipping the same type of weapon in both hands will activate your subjob' s specialties. 

Oracle Specialties

  1. In One's Element: increases damage by 40% when hitting vulnerabilities. Elemental spell costs are also reduced by 40%. 
  2. Moonlighting: subjob stat adjustments and weapon aptitudes are applied to the user's main job.

Salve-Maker Specialties

  1. Master Medic: when combining, there is a 25% chance that the item is not consumed. You'll also get recovery items at the end of every battle.
  2. Unencumbered: all item effects are increased when the user is empty-handed. Any effects from compounding will also be intensified, and the BP cost of all of the user's abilities is reduced by one.

Arcanist Specialties

  1. All-In: applying attack spells to multiple foes no longer reduces damage, but it does cause them to also target the user.
  2. Wild Wizardry: attack spells are 20% more powerful,. and also reduce their targets' MP. However, they will occasionally target all in battle - allies and enemies alike.

Bastion Specialties

  1. Default Guard: if attacked while defaulting, reduce damage taken by 60%, but at the cost of 15 MP. 
  2. Fortitude: when Defaulting, one BP will be earned when attacked, but at the cost of 15 MP.

Phantom Specialties:

  1. Achilles Heel: any physical or magical attack that exploits a weakness has a 50% chance of being a crit.
  2. Results Guaranteed: expends 40 MP to guarantee that any ability effect with a percentage chance of occuring will be triggered.

Hellblade Specialties:

  1. Deal with the Devil: restore 8% of HP and MP every turn, but if you die, BP falls to -3. 
  2. Strength in Adversity: taking damage equal to more than 25% of max HP will cause attack and defense to be increased by 10% for three turns.

Bravebearer Specialties

  1. Adrenaline: every defeated enemy grants 1 BP.
  2. True Grit: gain 1 BP at the start of every turn.