Monograph

Monographs are items in Final Fantasy XII that allow the player to obtain additional loot drops from species of the associated genera. All monographs appear in bazaars under the name "Forgotten Grimoire". Enemies classified as marks, bosses, Espers, humanoids, or imperial army do not have monograph drops, even if they may outwardly appear to be off an associated classification. Most enemies with monograph drops can respawn, allowing them to be farmed for their drops.

All monographs can be obtained as early as completing the Thextera hunt, with the main barrier to obtaining them being their steep gil cost. Monographs do not improve the chances for regular drops and are unaffected by battle chains. Not all eligible enemies have a monograph drop, and many of those that do drop the Pebble, a useless item; conversely, all non-trophy rare game yield the Arcana, an essential bazaar item. Monograph drops are often special items that sell for more gil than most regular loot, and are frequently needed to yield the best packs at the bazaar.

Monographs[]

While the descriptions for monographs state they affect enemies based on their classifications, monographs instead affect enemies based on their genera. While in most cases all members of a genus fall under the same classification, there are a handful of genera that are split between multiple classifications; despite this split, all members of the genus are affected by the same monograph, typically representing the greater portion of the genus. For example, the cockatrice genus has members classified as both avions and fiends, but the fiends require the Hunter's Monograph associated with avions rather than the Mage's Monograph normally associated with fiends. In addition, the Lv.99 Red Chocobo requires the Knight's Monograph, despite no chocobos falling under a classification associated with the Knight.

Monograph drops[]