Beastmaster
April 4, 2017
15:31
  The good news: Lots of really neat options, occasionally has access to some broken abilities
  The bad news: A lot of work to use, can only save up one monster so can be left with little to do in longer
battles
Strength
+13
Agility
+1
Vitality
+8
Magic
-3
Hands
Knives
Whips
Armor
Medium Headgear
Medium Armor
Light Accessories
Command
!Catch / !Release
Abilities
Level
AP
Ability
Innate
Equip Stats
Description
1
10
!Calm
No
This unusual command causes Stop on any monsters with the Magic Beast designation.  I don't believe it works on Heavy targets and am not sure if it works on Stop-immune enemies but who knows, you might find times this works.
GBA: This works on ANY Monster type vulnerable to Stop, except for Magic Beasts.
iOS: This only works on monsters with the 'Magic Creature' designation.
2
50
!Control
No
A powerful command, Control has a flat 40% chance to take 'control' of a single monster.  A monster that's Controlled will turn around, like it is Charmed.  However, unlike a Charmed monster, it will not act - instead, during the Beastmaster's turn, the Beastmaster has access to a list of its commands that it can then perform freely.  Like a Charmed enemy, Controlled enemies revert when struck with physical attacks.   If you have a Blue Mage in the party, Control will let you access several Blue Magic spells.  Otherwise its usefulness is situational - but some enemies can be lead to destroy themselves or allies with ease.  Remember
that several enemies are immune to Control, and that enemies struck physically will snap out of it. 
  Note that with the Hypno Crown headgear equipped, !Control's success rate increases to 75%
3
100
Equip Whips
No
Strength +13
Agility +1
Allows any job to equip the Beastmaster-specific whips.  Whips don't have the best hit rate or raw attack power (...usually), but come with some nasty side effects and can also deal full damage from the back row.  They also have some surprisingly reasonable attack power, and a class with better natural Strength can probably make some good use of them.
4
300
!Catch / !Release
No
Enables this command for any job.  It's worth noting, every character 'stores' a character tied to themselves, so you can store four monsters at once - and release them all in one fight!
Success Strategy
Get good whips and use them from the safety of the back row.  Figure out which monsters you want to Catch, then hold onto them for boss fights wherever possible.  This class is really awkward to use, and I'm sorry for it; the good news is that some of the Catch & Releases in the early game are hilariously powerful.  The bad news is that the power of these Releases will peter off as the game goes on, but there are generally new ones that will take their place.
Bonus Round: The Shield Dragons in the Sealed Castle can be Controlled, then use Blaze on themselves over and over.  They're worth EXP only matched by Iron Giants (Excluding Advance bonus dungeon), and available as early as Act 2.  Enjoy your levels.
Special Equipment
The beastmaster has an entire unique class of weapons, Whips.  Whips have the following properties:
Whips share the Dagger damage formula
All whips deal full damage from the back row
Accuracy: 80%
Double Grip?: No
Magic Sword?: No
Can Throw?: No
In addition, the Beastmaster also has a unique Accessory which enhances the Beastmaster's abilities.  As this accessory is utterly irrelevant to every other class, it is only listed here.
Gear
Attack Power/Defense
Where to find
Notes
Whip
26
Dropped: Act 1, North Mountain, Magissa
Bought: Act 1, Karnak
On attack, 50% chance of Paralysis in addition to attack
Blitz Whip
42
Found: Act 1, Cave of Jacole
Steal: Act 3, Fork Tower, Flare
On attack, 33% chance of casting Thunder in addition to attack
Despite name, isn't thunder elemental
Chain Whip
52
Bought: Act 2, Regole/Bal/Quelb
On attack, 50% chance of Paralysis in addition to attack
Kornago Gourd
--
Found: Act 2, Quelb (!Catch a Toad nearby and bring it to a wizard in town)
Steal: Act 3, Fork Tower, Omniscient
Accessory
Changes the !Catch success threshold from 1/8th Monster HP to 1/2 Monster HP
Hypno Crown
5 Defense
4 Magic Defense
5 Magic Evade
Found: Act 2, Drakenvale
Headgear
Magic +1 while equipped
Enhances the success rate of the Beastmaster's !Control to 75%
Beast Killer
72
Found: Act 3, Solitary Island Temple
On attack, 50% chance of Paralysis in addition to attack
Deals double damage to Magic Beast enemies
Fire Lash
82
Found: Act 3, Legendary Weapon
Strength +2, Speed +2 while equipped
On attack, 33% chance of casting Firaga in addition to attack
Dragon's Whisker
92
Dropped: Act 3, Northern part of sea SW of Carwen, Stingray
Steal: Interdimensional Rift, Void, Shinryu(!?)
On attack, 50% chance of Paralysis in addition to attack
Deals double damage and ignores defense on Dragon enemies
You can steal it from Shinryu and then flee
GBA Version: Quick-save near the Stingray location.  Load, then you should find a Stingray on battle #2. This will greatly help in finding this (1/16 chance of Stingray fight otherwise... and 1/16 drop rate!)
Catch And Release
This is one of the most complex skills in Final Fantasy V, so pay attention.
First, you have to Catch a monster.  Most monsters (but not all, such as bosses) can be Caught.  In order to catch a Monster, you must use !Catch on it when its HP is below 1/8th of its maximum (With Kornago Gourd equipped, it only needs to be below 1/2).
When you've Caught a monster, the !Catch command transforms into !Release, and saves what monster you caught.
Each of your four party members 'remembers' their own caught monster - allowing you to potentially have up to four monsters stored at a time.  When you use !Release, the monster you've captured appears and performs a special attack, then leaves, resetting the command back to !Catch.
Essentially, you're 'catching' a critical-HP monster in order to store a single-use spell.
There's a HUGE number of abilities that can be used when !Release is activated.  Many are... underwhelming, unfortunately.  Hopefully, the following list will shine light on some very useful opportunities to catch things.
Do note that !Release uses the MONSTER'S statistics in calculating damage, not the user's!  This basically means that the results are entirely predictable and even deal similar damage across characters.
Useful Releases List
Note that this is just a list of REALLY POWERFUL ones.  There's plenty of other options to use for Catch and Release beyond what you'll see here.
Act 1
Overworld initial areas
Goblin
Flare (~1000 damage!?)
Act 1
Ship Graveyard
Skeleton
Thundara
Act 1
Ship Graveyard
Calcruthl
Embrace (Causes Petrification)
Act 1
North Mountain
Blocks
Flash (Blind all enemies)
Act 1
Near Walse
Bandersnatch
Blaster (Instant kill)
Act 1
Near Ancient Library
Zu
Breath Wing (1/4th of max HP in damage, Wind Element, works on Heavy)
Act 1
Ancient Library
Page 256
Comet
Act 1
Desert near Ancient Library (overworld)
D. Chimera
Aqua Breath (Water damage, 8x to Desert)
Act 1
Quicksand Desert
Sand Bear
Attack (For about 2000 damage!)
Act 1
Near Istory
Mini Dragon
Holy
Act 1
Near Istory
Stone Golem
Quake (Earth damage to all)
Act 2
Swamp near Bal/Quelb
Aquathorn
Doom
Act 2
Underground Cave
Lesser Lopros
Breath Wing (1/4th of max HP in damage, Wind Element, works on Heavy)
Act 2
Northern Lake Forest
Ironback
Strong Fight (For about 6000 damage!)
Act 2
Sealed Castle
Shield Dragon
Almagest (High holy damage to all enemies)
Act 2
Exdeath's Castle (Return)
Yellow Dragon
Thunder (See Breath Wing, but for Bolt element)
Act 3
????
Crystelle
Mighty Guard (as Blue magic spell)
Act 3
Castle
Avis Dragon
Breath Wing
Act 3
Caves
Great Dragon
Strong Fight (~9999 damage)
Catches Useful for Bosses
Boss
Recommended Catch
Where To Acquire
Why?
Expected Damage
Notes
Karlabos
Goblin
Grassland near Torna
Casts Flare
1016 damage (one shot)
Siren
Calcruthl
Inside the Ship Graveyard
Casts Embrace
Petrify (instant death)
Magissa/Forza
Headstone
North Mountain (inside)
Casts Flash
Blind Forza (he drops a whip)
Galura
Bandersnatch
Near Walse
Casts Blaster
50/50 odds of instant death
Liquid Flame
Bandersnatch
Near Walse
Casts Blaster
50/50 odds of instant death
Ifrit
Zu
Grassland near Karnak
Casts Breath Wing
750 damage
Byblos
Page 32
Library of the Ancients
Casts Banish
Instant Death (avg. 35% hit)
Sandworm
Dhorme Chimera
Desert near Library
Casts Aqua Breath
2300-ish damage
Cray Claw
Sand Bear
Desert of Shifting Sands
Casts BEARAGA
2200-ish damage (one shot)
Adamantoise
Bandersnatch
Near Walse
Casts Blaster
50/50 odds of instant death
Soul Cannon
Sand Bear
Desert of Shifting Sands
Casts BEARAGA
2200-ish damage
Use AFTER launchers die
Archeoaevis
Sand Bear
Desert of Shifting Sands
Casts BEARAGA
2200-ish damage
Bring 2, use on forms 1/5
Purobolos
Stone Golem
Near Istory
Casts Quake
620 damage
Titan
Sand Bear
Desert of Shifting Sands
Casts BEARAGA
2200-ish damage
Chimera
Bandersnatch
Near Walse
Casts Blaster
50/50 odds of instant death
Gilgamesh on Big Bridge
Sand Bear
Desert of Shifting Sands
Casts BEARAGA
2200-ish damage
Release at 2600 HP
Dragon Pod
Aquathorn
Swamp near Bal/Quelb
Casts Death
Instant Death
Kill flowers first
Gilgamesh/Enkidu
Aquathorn
Swamp near Bal/Quelb
Casts Death
Instant Death
Atomos
Lesser Lopros
Moogle Forest River
Casts Breath Wing
5000 damage
4 = death
Seal Guardians
Ironback
Northern Lake Forest
Casts Strong Fight
6000 damage
Exdeath (World 2)
Yellow Dragon
Meatfort
Casts Lightning
8192 damage
4 = death
Antlion
Goblin
Tule's Training House chest
Casts Flare
1016 damage
DO NOT OPEN THIS EARLIER
Melusine
???
???
???
???
just chicken knife her
Calofisteri
???
???
???
???
just chicken knife her
Apanda
Great Dragon
Void: Caves
Casts Strong Fight
9999 damage
Azulmagia
Great Dragon
Void: Caves
Casts Strong Fight
9999 damage
Catastrophe
Great Dragon
Void: Caves
Casts Strong Fight
9999 damage
but just float/reflect it
Halicarnassus
Great Dragon
Void: Caves
Casts Strong Fight
9999 damage
Twintania
Executor
Island Shrine
Casts Level 5 Death
Instant Death
use in charging phase
Necrophobe
Great Dragon
Void: Caves
Casts Strong Fight
9999 damage
hope they hit barriers
Neo Exdeath
Dragon Aevis
Void: Sky
Casts Breath Wing
9999 per piece
Consider a Crystelle too
Omega
Yellow Dragon
Void: Castle (rare encounter)
Casts Lightning
9999 damage
I mean why not
Shinryu
Mammon + Galajelly
Void: Castle (roof) (rare)
Berserk, Rainbow Wind
Berserks/Blinds Shinryu
ONE PERSON MUST BE REFLECTED