FFR: New Magic Lists
Oct. 30th, 2023 11:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sirsystemerrorThis is a small resource I've written up on the new spells in Final Fantasy Renaissance and my general thoughts on them. I'm by no means authoritative on the issue of what's good and what's not: there's always ways to make things work. But I am a veteran of FF1 challenge runs, so I'd like to think I know what I'm talking about with many of these!
It should go without saying that there will be spoilers about the locations of spells, what they do, and new job functions here. So read at your own discretion should you wish to remain unspoiled.
One tip about INT: it boosts spell damage by (INT÷2)% and adds (INT×2.5) to the status accuracy formula.
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Red Wizard Magic
These two new spells are exclusive to a Red Wizard with L8 spells. The rest of their spell list remains unchanged.
L8
- REVERS: Self inverts healing and damage done for 2 turns.
- CURSE: AoE inflicts poison, dark, sleep, silence, confusion, or paralyze. Non-elemental.
Funny situational spells on an otherwise empty spell level. CURSE can hit anything, but it is a diceroll as to what it does. You'll probably have to use CONVERT to use these given they earn their first L8 charge at L32. Except on NG+, solos, or if you're grinding.
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Evoker Magic
The exclusive domain of the Evoker and its upgrade the Summoner.
L1
- GOBLIN: Base 40 ST Non-elemental capping at max HP.
Found: Coneria, upper right / Called: GOBLIN PUNCH
The bread and butter of the Evoker. Don't be deluded. This attack also does "semi-random" damage that can hit way out of its specified weight class. I was hitting for close to 300 damage by the end of the game. Very nice for a L1 spell.
- KIRIN: 12-24 AoE healing + Regen.
Found: Temple of Fiends, back center / Called: LIFE GUARD
This is like having HEAL from near the start of the game. Regen is a status that heals 10% of maxHP at the end of each turn. It's inconsequential in the early game and better later on. But the Heal Staff/Heal Helmet still exist.
L2
- CAIT SITH: Non-elemental AoE confusion.
Found: Matoya's Cave / Called: CAT RAIN
CONF is an underrated spell in FF1 and this is like a better version of it that can be used from the get-go. It can terrorize enemy groups throughout the entire game. Note that in FF1 status immunity only existed insofar as their resisting the elements attached to the spells. FFR changes this by giving some enemies flat-out immunity to some status.
- GOLEM: Stoneskin on all allies, absorbing 20+(Level×2) damage.
Found: Dwarves' Cave, near treasure room / Called: EARTHEN WALL
How much damage this absorbs is no longer opaque. It scales, but I otherwise wasn't very impressed by this one. It felt like it could get broken immediately sometimes. I should reiterate that this doesn't just absorb physical damage.
L3
- UNICORN: 12-24 base AoE healing + status heal.
Found: Elvish Castle near the royal chambers / Called: HEALING HORN
As a healing spell, this is inferior to KIRIN which heals the same at L1 (aside from not sharing a spell level with GOBLIN) or an itemcast. The real draw of this is the status heal. This can be used to remove petrification in-battle. Why can it do this while SOFT still can't? New class privileges, I guess!
- RAMUH: Charge, base 120 AoE Lit-elemental. Grants ENTHUNDER + AWATER for 2 turns.
Found: Northwest Castle, upper left / CALLED: JUDGMENT BOLT
I've made my opinion on the charge spells perfectly clear in my job comments. To sum up: it's bad. They are bad on action economy and means the enemies stick around longer. Even the additional effects are just small buffs. They start when the summoning starts and end on the turn after they finish; they're not reliable due to turn order on the former. RAMUH is especially bad. Zeus Gauntlets' LIT2 is base 60, so two casts of these are just as good later on. AWATER is only relevant against LEVIATHAN, ZoneEATER, and CHAOS.
L4
- CARBUNCLE: Reflect on all allies for 2 turns.
Found: Titan's Tunnel, upper left / Called: RUBY LIGHT
Reflect is generally more of a hassle than handy. It has some funny applications, but it also prevents your own geomancy, HEAL spells, etc. from hitting. This is not something to use when the enemy has big AoE spells, because you'll be cutting off your AoE healing. Worse, not only will summon bosses like SHIVA get healed by reflected spells of their element, but at least some enemies will break from their spell patterns if reflect is active! This completely defeats the purpose of casting the spell, and it's something I hope gets changed in future versions of Renaissance.
- TITAN: Charge, base AoE 160 Earth-elemental. Grants ENSTONE + ALIT for 2 turns.
Found: Earth Cave B5, upper left / Called: GAIA'S WRATH
Earth is a poor choice of element with odd uses like on MudGOLs. Half the enemies in the vanilla game (literally, 64 out of 128) resist it and some of the new FFR ones as well, and only RAMUH is weak to it. It has the same problems as all the other charge spells otherwise.
L5
- SHIVA: Charge, base 200 AoE Ice-elemental. Grants ENBLIZZARD + AWIND for 2 turns.
Found: Ice Cave B3, upper right / Called: DIAMOND DUST
AWIND is in a similar situation as AWATER: you'll only see the element when fighting FAIRY or CHAOS.
- IFRIT: Charge, base 200 AoE Fire-elemental. Grants ENFIRE + AICE for 2 turns.
Found: Gurgu B5, near KARY's chamber / Called: HELLFIRE
Another one in its own element. Relevant effects if you go to the Volcano before Ice Cave, and can actually beat him.
L6
- FAIRY: Charge, base 240 ST Wind-elemental. Splits damage done as healing amongst living allies. Grants ENAERO + ASTONE for 2 turns.
Found: Gaia, near inn / Called: WHISPERWIND
This is an interesting one. Wind is a new element in FFR. There isn't much rhyme or reason to what resists it, but there's quite a bit that doesn't. It adds to the utility of Evoker, but the healing aspect is more predictive due to the charge turn: do you think you'll need it? And that whoever won't die before the charge goes off? In previous version it counted dead allies as targets, so it has more uses now.
- FENRIR: Grants 2 blink stacks to all allies.
Found: Lefein, south of magic shops / Called: HOWLING MOON
Now here's a good one. Blink works on any physical: anything from hard-hitting ones from KRAKEN, etc. to SORCERER instant kill attacks. You need to know when and where to use this, but it's great. No charge turn helps a lot.
L7
- ODIN: Charge, AoE non-elemental death. Grants instant death immunity and critical hit chance+20-50% for 2 turns.
Found: Waterfall, straight ahead of the entrance. / Called: ZANTETSUKEN
More charging, but with the chance to wipe out enemies instantly. Probably useful when it's allowed to hit. Might be good in NG+? Might be?
- LEVIATHAN: Charge, base 280 AoE Water-elemental. Grants ENWATER, AFIR, and APOIS for 2 turns.
Found: Sea Shrine B5, outcropping of big room / Called: TSUNAMI
Same song and dance. Water is also a new element. A standout target is KARY, who resists ice but is weak to water. There's a bit of overlap with ice and it's much more clear on what is going to resist this.
L8
- BAHAMUT(x): Charge, base 600 AoE Non-elemental. Grants experience earned×2 for 2 turns.
Found: Cardia, speak to him after promotion and lighting all four ORBs / Called: MEGAFLARE
Uh. Yeah, this just breaks from the pattern and becomes an absolutely ridiculous attack. In how FF guides commonly put spell damage, this deals 300-1200 damage before INT is factored in. This one is absolutely worth the cast even with the charge, if niche for being L8 and only accessible after there's nothing left except for the final dungeon. It is also the only one exclusive to after class change: he will not react and trigger the quest otherwise. Note that you do not need to complete the TAIL quest on New Game+.
- PHOENIX: Charge, restores 50% of MaxHP and even revives. Grants Reraise for 2 turns.
Found: Floating Castle F2, upper right / Called: REBIRTH
Neat one, if sharing the L8 slot and being L8 in the first place. LIFE and LIF2 do get the privilege to revive in battle too in 2.0, just remember in any case that PHOENIX won't work outside of battle. The healing is solid too. As a bit of trivia, ALEXANDER could have filled this slot instead, but Ozmo pivoted since it would've just been another offensive spell.
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Blue Magic
They are learned when the Blue Mage is hit by a spell. The text says they must be alive at the end of the battle (but you just have to win it) and sometimes win a diceroll depending on their level. There are several friendly NPCs who have monsters as pets which can be fought; the monster will use the skill in an ambush at the start of a battle.
L1
- SCORCH: AoE fire-elemental damage, base 14
Enemies: CEREBUS / Fixed: Coneria
- SNORTING: ST status-elemental darkness, +24 acc
Enemies: NITEMARE / Fixed: Coneria Castle
- GAZE: ST status-elemental paralysis, +0 acc
Enemies: OddEYE, BigEYE, EYE / Fixed: N/A
Two of the first set of spells are surprisingly solid. Paralysis is somewhat underrated in FF1 and it can shut down an enemy if it lands. SCORCH is weak but decent for its time; it can most notably deal with the slime in the Marsh Cave. SNORTING is a dud unless a Dark Knight is in the party.
L2
- HEAT: AoE fire-elemenal damage, base 24
Enemies: AGAMA / Fixed: Dwarves' Cave
- FLASH: AoE status-elemental darkness, +24 acc
Enemies: BigEYE / Fixed: Pravoka
- STARE: ST non-elemental damage, base 34
Enemies: EYE / Fixed: Elves' Castle
Another AoE fire spell is here along with another darkness spell. It's probably the better one for supporting a Dark Knight. There are very few opportunities to make use of STARE. Elementals would be the best target because of their resistances, but Blue Mage can just sword those.
L3
- CREMATE: AoE fire-elemental damage, base 48
Enemies: R.HYDRA, CHIMERA, JIMERA / Fixed: Elfland
- FROST: AoE ice-elemetnal damage, base 48
Enemies: FrWOLF / Fixed: N/A
- STINGER: AoE poison-elemental poison, +0 acc
Enemies: MANTICOR / Fixed: Elves' Castle
Yet another fire-elemental spell. It's weaker than FIR2 (base 60) but it and FROST can both get the job done anyway thanks to INT being in-play in FFR. STINGER is better off ignored except for completion: poison in FF1 only does two damage per turn.
L4
- GLANCE: ST stone-elemental petrify, +5 acc
Enemies: SAURIA, EYE, MEDUSA, GrMEDUSA / Fixed: Melmond
- SQUINT: ST death-elemental KO, +0 acc
Enemies: PERILISK, EYE / Fixed: Melmond
- BLIZZARD: AoE ice-elemental damage, base 100
Enemies: Frost D, TIAMAT, TIAMAT2, BAHAMUT / Fixed: Northwest Castle
The first instant death spells show up here, and they're great if you know when and where to employ them. And if you got the guts to. BLIZZARD is functionally a stronger ICE2 (base 80) at the same level.
L5
- STONE: AoE stone-elemental petrify, +5 acc. This was called POISON on NES.
Enemies: JIMERA / Fixed: Titan's Tunnel
- BLAZE: AoE fire-elemental damage, base 128
Enemies: Red D, TIAMAT, TIAMAT2, BAHAMUT, PHOENIX / Fixed: Earth Cave B4
- SWIRL: AoE water-elemental damage, base 128
Enemies: N/A / Fixed: Crescent Lake
Fifth level has some good spells. STONE is a nasty spell that can wipe out swaths of enemies in a single shot. If that's too much or too gouda for you, there's always the other two. Since SWIRL used to be CHAOS-exclusive, a new fixed encounter has been added for it. BLAZE's fixed location is awkward; unless you need it for LICH, you might be better off getting it from the spike tile in Gurgu.
L6
- GLARE: ST time-elemental KO, +16 acc
Enemies: PHANTOM / Fixed: Crescent Lake
- DAZZLE: ST status-elemental paralysis, +32 acc
Enemies: VAMPIRE, WzVAMP / Fixed: N/A
- POISON: AoE poison-elemental damage, base 136
Enemies: Gas D, TIAMAT, TIAMAT2 / Fixed: Crescent Lake
Only CHAOS and a few Evoker-exclusive enemies resist the time-element, so GLARE can one-shot almost anything in the game subject to magic defense. POISON is for big AoE damage in an odd element. DAZZLE is the odd one out here. It's higher accuracy than GAZE, but it's sort of a completionist or bullying KARY thing.
L7:
- TRANCE: AoE non-elemental paralysis, +0 acc
Enemies: SORCERER / Fixed: N/A
- CRACK: AoE earth-elemental KO, +16 acc
Enemies: Sand W / Fixed: N/A
- THUNDER: AoE lit-elemental damage, base 152
Enemies: Blue D, TIAMAT, TIAMAT2, BAHAMUT / Fixed: Lefein
The infamous harbinger of doom itself is here; fun fact, it was originally nerfed by having the status element. Note it has less accuracy than DAZZLE on single targets that are not immune to status, and instant KO physicals are naturally not included. On the other hand, if you want to just kill the enemies, CRACK and THUNDER are here to do just that and both are good at it.
L8:
- INFERNO: AoE fire-elemental damage, base 192
Enemies: HADES, PHOENIX / Fixed: N/A
- NUCLEAR: AoE non-elemental damage, base 160
Enemies: WarMECH / Fixed: N/A
- TOXIC: AoE death-elemental KO, +0 acc
Enemies: IronGOL / Fixed: N/A
In most games, Blue Magic has some sort of ultimate spell from a rare or unique source. NUCLEAR would be the one for this game. Keep in mind the big bad robot is encounter 20 and 24 after a hard reset since it's in the 3/64 slot. There's still more to use it on when you get it, compared to a skill you can only learn from a 1/64 encounter in the second-to-last room of the game. Unlike the Masmune, TOXIC isn't some cool last minute thing. It just is. Just to drive the nail in the coffin further, STONE is slightly more accurate and effective on everything it is except Frost D, WIZARD, and both KARYs. INFERNO would've been even worse since it's CHAOS-exclusive, but there are two new sources: you can get it off HADES, a new and very rare encounter at the bottom of the Sea Shrine. It does not follow any vanilla encounter table logic as to when it can appear; it simply has a very rare chance (allegedly 1%) to appear in the place of any encounter after the large room leading up to the boss. It won't even disrupt the encounter table. Depending on your luck, it could show up right away or take even longer to find than IronGOL. Once it finally shows, it can take a while to use it, so just keep waiting. Alternatively if you have an Evoker in the party, the PHOENIX boss can use it after it revives. This is far more convenient.
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Time Magic
This is a subset of Black Magic purchased in the same stores as them. Like the monochrome mage, they get three spell slots from a possible four per level. Ones marked (x) can only be purchased by Time Wizards.
L1
- LOCK: As vanilla, ST -20 evade reduction
- DECAY: Foe loses 5HP cumulatively each turn
- BURST: ST base 20 time-elemental damage
- HASTE: ST increase turn order on one ally
BURST is their bread and butter offensive skill at this level. DECAY often doesn't do enough to be worth it. There's application in low offense parties, but the MARK skills are better for that.
L2
- SLOW: As vanilla, ST AoE status-elemental hits reduction
- DIM: ST time-elemental darkness
- MARK: Applies 15 marks to all foes. They then take damage equal to the current amount of marks applied. FIGHT attacks (except harps) and confusion hits will also trigger this damage.
- MUDDLE: ST time-elemental confusion
The unique element of DIM and MUDDLE are useful, allowing you to hit enemies you normally wouldn't be able to with blind or confusion. Besides the sometimes handy SLOW, MARK is a neat skill that's more useful in low offense parties.
L3
- LOK2: As vanilla, AoE -20 evade reduction
- DEMI: ST 50% of foe's current HP damage (25% for bosses)
- BURST2: AoE base 60 time-elemental damage
- FLOAT: Prevents encounters (even spiked ones) and trap tile damage for 36 steps. Can float over rivers, sequence breaking the game. Can float over Ice Cave holes. Instant game over occurs if it runs out over water without the CANOE, you get a warning a step before this happens.
BURST2 is the last of its kind, so enjoy it. DEMI is perfectly accurate and is great on big enemies; even against late game bosses this can do a lot quartered as an alpha strike. It has even more use on NG+. FLOAT is funny.
L4
- FAST: Unlike vanilla, doubles hit% or cancels SLOW
- MARK2: Applies 30 marks to one foe. It then takes damage equal to the current amount of marks applied. FIGHT attacks and confusion hits will also trigger this damage.
- OLD: Target loses 20% of current STR each turn
- GAIN: Next turn, target ally's spell effectivity is doubled
These skills are mostly self-explanatory. MARK2 is an enhanced version that's single-target, and GAIN is incredibly stupidly powerful. OLD is the odd one out here, but even it's simply niche rather than awful. It seems to be very if not perfectly accurate at least. FAST currently behaves abnormally compared to vanilla: it doubles the hit% rather than the hits. This can result in 3-hits becoming 7, for example.
L5
- WARP: As vanilla, transports to the previous floor
- SLO2: As vanilla, ST reduce hits to 1 or counter FAST
- BIND: Prevents all foes from escaping
- DEMI2: AoE 50% of foe's current HP damage (25% for bosses)
WARP can be used before class change, skipping part of the Ice Cave. BIND is a terrible spell; one practical use is with Blue Mage on NG+, and maybe a safety net with the Catch'em All achievement. The enemies will still waste turns trying to run. There's more but still few uses of the other two. DEMI2's best use is on NG+ where enemies have double HP, but there might be better things for the Time Wizard to do.
L6
- TELE(x): Warps the party to your choice of the last used inn, the ship, the airship, or the telepoint after unlocking it in Ordeals. It can even be used with 0 spell charges or if the Time Wizard is dead, but L6 charges are needed in the first place to use it.
- DOOM: ST time-elemental doom to one enemy, killing them after three turns.
- DECAY2: Foe loses 10HP cumulatively each turn
- ECHO(x): At the start of the next turn, deals 25% of the damage inflicted on the enemy during this turn.
TELE can break the game when not using it as an EXIT spell. DOOM would be nice, but it's subject to accuracy checks and why not just use a spell that kills this turn?
L7
- COMET: ST random non-elemental damage, but heavily affected by magic defense
- HASTE2: AoE increase turn order on all allies
- UNDO(x): Restores 1 spell charge in all levels that have one to one ally (cannot target self)
- FAST2(x): Triples hit% or cancels SLOW
HASTE2 is the odd one out. UNDO has interesting applications, especially with multiple Time Mages. FAST2 used to quadruple hit% and was self-cast only. COMET is better on randoms than bosses.
L8
- STOP(x): As vanilla, time-elemental paralysis on all enemies
- ZAP!(x): As vanilla, time-elemental KO on one enemy
- QUICK(x): Guarantees an ally will move first in the next round
- METEOR(x): Random 4xST random non-elemental damage, likely heavily affected by magic defense
Unfortunately, Time Wizard ends on something of a sour note. The two vanilla spells are as situational as ever. As for its two unique ones: the problem with QUICK is that you would hypothetically use it to get out a support spell instantly. However, it only resolves on the next round, so you can't use this reactively. METEOR is also very flawed: the damage is very unreliable and bigger targets have a high chance of shrugging it off entirely. It's also inefficient on randoms.
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Green Magic
This is a subset of White Magic purchased in the same stores as them. Like the monochrome mage, they get three spell slots from a possible four per level. Ones marked (x) can only be purchased by Green Wizards.
L1
- FOG: As vanilla, ST +8 absorb boost
- RUSE: As vanilla, self +80 evade boost
- SHELL: ST -25% magic damage to all allies
- REGEN: ST Regen to all allies (10% HP recovery each turn) for 4 turns
RUSE can be great and the Green Mage has the HP to handle magic and hits getting through. The others are fairly niche though do have definite use. Keep in mind REGEN takes best effect over longer battles. If you're crazy enough to do a solo or limited party, they'll be great. They can restore disgusting amounts at high levels (which you can reach in NG+)
L2
- LAMP: As vanilla, ST darkness heal
- ALIT: As vanilla, AoE lit resist to all allies.
- INVS: As vanilla, ST +40 evade boost
- APOIS: Like vanilla, AoE poison resist to all allies. Also prevents poison status.
APOIS is surprisingly effective. It's a cheap way to help save PUREs in the Marsh Cave and can weaken the POISON of TIAMAT and Gas Ds later. Especially helpful since you can't have everyone protected against poison without a Warrior, Spellblade, or Thief in the party (or if the Green Mage goes without a Ribbon; they have natural resistance).
L3
- AFIR: As vanilla, AoE fire resist to all allies.
- HARDEN: ST stoneskin to one ally, absorbing 39+(Caster level×3) damage
- ASTONE: AoE stone resist to all allies. Also prevents stone status.
- REGEN2: ST Regen2 to all allies (15% HP recovery each turn) for 4 turns
HARDEN can be a nice clutch spell. Stone seems to have been partially separated from poison in FFR, but ASTONE can similarly be useful against COCTRICEs and the like. Just watch that turn order. Note that the various REGENs cannot stack with each other. Cast a new one, and the old one gets overwritten.
L4
- PURE: As vanilla, heals poison and is very misplaced due to taking after D&D 1e where it was, and poison was also lethal.
- AICE: As vanilla, AoE ice resist to all allies.
- AMUT: Like vanilla, ST heal silence. However, also grants resistance to silence.
- REFLEC: Grants reflect to one ally for 2 turns, repelling most magic back to the enemy party.
REFLEC's best use is trying to make ASTOS kill himself with his own RUB. It's niche otherwise since many spells are multi target or unpredictable; and even in solos, some enemies in FFR can just choose to ignore their spell order if reflect is up. You can reflect healing spells onto undead to damage them (REGEN included) if you want to mess around, though. AMUT got a buff in FFR, but MUTE was never a big threat to begin with. It does work with EXUVIATION for what it's worth.
L5
- AWATER: AoE water resist to all allies.
- AWIND: AoE wind resist to all allies.
- BLINK: ST 2 mirror images to one ally
- REGEN3: ST Regen3 to all allies (20% HP recovery each turn) for 4 turns
The new water and wind elements have been applied to the vanilla SWIRL and TORNADO spells used exclusively by CHAOS, and they're otherwise only seen in class-specific battles. BLINK, like HARDEN, can come in clutch from time to time.
L6
- SOFT: As vanilla, heals petrify outside of combat only
- FOG2: As vanilla, AoE absorb+12 to all allies
- INV2: As vanilla. AoE evade+40 to all allies
- SHELL2: AoE magic damage-50% to all allies
Besides the vanilla stuff which aside from SOFT are helpful, SHELL2 is another brilliant spell which can make your party members even tankier. Note that this (and SHELL) only reduces magic damage, it doesn't raise magic defense. So it's no good for stopping physical status attacks. It also can't stack, so casting it more than once will be ineffective.
L7
- ARUB: As vanilla, AoE resist status/death/earth to all allies
- ALERT: Gives alertness to an ally for 2 turns, preventing fatigued status
- DECOY: At the start of the round, redirects all single target melee attacks to the targeted ally
- BUBBLE(x): ST increase ally's maxHP by 50% until the end of the battle
This is a strong spell level! DECOY is a cool spell when comboed with a tank, and ALERT works well with anything that can suffer from fatigue. ARUB is great when you need it. BUBBLE does heal current HP in 2.0, and is now the only way to exceed 999.
L8
- WALL: As vanilla, ST resist *most elements to one ally.
- REGEN4: ST Regen4 to all allies (25% HP recovery each turn) for 4 turns
- ERASE(x): ST status heal to one ally
- SAFETY(x): ST safety to one ally, keeping them at 1HP the next time they take lethal damage
They are the only pure mage class to get L8 spells before class change. ERASE feels a bit misplaced, but SAFETY is a nice safety net. Note that WALL will not protect against wind or water, but they're mostly inconsequential for the reasons mentioned above.
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Dark Knight Magic
Purchased in black magic shops. Dark Knights only get two spells per level, so there's no choice involved: just pick both. Or save your money if you need to because a lot of these are of questionable use. Ones marked (x) can only be purchased by Deathknights.
L1
- SLEP: As vanilla, AoE status-elemental sleep.
- BIO: ST base 10 poison-elemental damage and a chance to inflict bio (3-18 damage per turn)
SLEP is nice in the early game. BIO used to just be the latter effect but there are uses for it now that it deals actual damage.
L2
- DARK: As vanilla, AoE status-elemental blind.
- PAIN: Moves first and deals damage to the target equal to the damage incurred by the Dark Knight last turn.
Blind status is normally very pointless due to the formula not being very effective at inducing misses, but Dark Knight has an ability that gives a higher chance to hit against blinded targets. This is at least a 32% hit increase, good for one extra hit as long as you have positive hit%. PAIN has several flaws: enemies having higher HP and attacks being spread around, but it has its uses.
L3
- HOLD: As vanilla, ST status-elemental paralysis.
- BIO2: AoE base 60 poison-elemental damage and chance to inflict bio (3-18 damage per turn)
HOLD has some uses, particularly against ASTOS. BIO2 wins the award for biggest glowup in 2.0, however. It's now as good as FIR2 and friends. The element is whatever, but still good on a lot of stuff.
L4
- DRAIN: Deals 20% of an enemy's maxHP (10% against bosses) and restores HP by the same amount, doesn't work on undead/mech.
- BLEED: Deals 20% of an ally's max HP and restores HP by the same amount. Doesn't work if undead/mech?? This is probably because you can reflect it to hit the enemies.
Now we're getting into some interesting spells. Both of these spells always hit and can be useful under the right (niche?) circumstances, and DRAIN especially in NG+ where enemies have higher HP values. Niche and certainly need higher numbers, but that's better than the other new ones so far.
L5
- BANE(x): As vanilla, AoE poison-elemental KO.
- BIND: Prevents all foes from escaping.
BANE is what it always is, and notable for being the first spell Dark Knight cannot use: they must promote to Deathknight. As for BIND...how often have you ever gone "oh darn, that enemy escaped! i wish it hadn't!" in FF1? Maybe if Metal Slimes were in this game it'd be worth something. Again, it has very niche use with a Blue Wizard or achievement-hunting Beastmaster on NG+ since you gain tons of EXP to where some enemies might actually start running.
L6
- RUB(x): As vanilla, ST death-element KO.
- STUN: As vanilla, status-elemental paralysis on any enemy below 300HP, no save: they're either not hit because they're over 300HP or immune to status or they're hit.
Two vanilla spells. Notably, all fiends except LICH can be STUNned, though it's not nonelemental like in FFZZ. Those that resist status are undead, mech, elementals, and slimes, and a couple oddballs.
L7
- BLND: As vanilla, status-elemental darkness on any enemy below 300HP, no save: they're either not hit because they're over 300HP or immune to status or they're hit.
- ABSORB(x): Steals a buff from one enemy
BLND being single target and based on HP makes it janky. As for ABSORB, very few enemies use buffs in the first place. You can steal FAST from CHAOS if the fight lasts long enough. More interestingly, it works on resistances and immunities. It's more memetic than useful, however.
L8
- XXXX(x): As vanilla, ST death-element KO on any enemy below 300HP, no save: they're either not hit because they're over 300HP or immune to death or they're hit.
- EN-DARK(x): Self add death element to attacks and gives them a chance to inflict KO.
XXXX is neat. Nothing but CARBUNCLE is weak to the Death-element, so the rider effect is the real reason to cast this. It's a little unwieldly because Deathknight is strong enough to splatter enemies anyway. Might be funny on the fiend rematches since only LICH is immune. The odds of this triggering increase if you get the Chaos Greatsword with a Thief.
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Spellblade Magic
The initial version of these are purchased in magic stores. To learn the second version, they must promote and accumulate 50 points worth of kills when infused with a spell. Killing a weak enemy gives 5, killing a resistant enemy gives 3, and killing one that is neither is worth 2. They can be multi-targeted with 3 RUNIC charges. A weapon must be equipped to use and benefit from these.
L1
- EN-FIRE: ST add fire element to attacks.
- EN-FIRE2(x): As above, but adds +20% crit chance.
The first level spell is actually one of the more efficient to cast. You can always use more crit chance on any physical attacker! Fire as an element is great throughout the entire game as well.
L2
- EN-BIO: ST add poison element to attacks.
- EN-BIO2(x): As above, but adds a chance to inflict bio.
Bio, or severe poison, deals 3-18 damage per turn. That's still not a lot. Three enemies in the entire game are weak to poison: Red D, CARBUNCLE, and TIAMAT. Generally not worth it unless you need a filler element on someone.
L3
- EN-ICE: ST add ice element to attacks.
- EN-ICE2(x): As above, but adds a chance to inflict slow.
Slow can be nice on certain targets like KRAKEN, but you generally want that applied to them as soon as possible. The element itself is the better deal.
L4
- EN-BOLT: ST add lightning element to attacks.
- EN-BOLT2(x): As above, but adds a chance to inflict stun.
Stun is not the same as paralysis and only lasts for one round, so this is only okay instead of fantastic. Lightning is a solid element in general as well.
L5
- EN-STONE: ST add earth element to attacks.
- EN-STONE2(x): As above, but adds a chance to inflict petrify.
Yeah, the name's confusing since STONE is an actual element itself, but this is earth. Only RAMUH is weak to earth. This one is better once upgraded, effectively a chance to one-shot anything that doesn't resist it. And doesn't die outright from the attacks.
L6
- EN-WATER: ST add water element to attacks.
- EN-WATER2(x): As above, but adds a chance to inflict silence.
The same update that introduced this added silence awareness, which causes certains enemies not to cast as much when inflicted with the element, so it's probably of limited use against anything you would want to use it on. Still, water is a decent element and can mess up KARY in particular.
L7
- EN-AERO: ST add wind element to attacks.
- EN-AERO2(x): As above, but adds a chance to inflict confusion.
Confusion is nice, I guess. I really don't have much to say about these. There's limited use of the wind element otherwise besides LICH-2.
L8
- EN-LIGHT: ST add holy element to attacks.
- EN-LIGHT2(x): As above, but adds a chance to instantly KO undead.
Unfortunately, by the time you get access to this, undead aren't as common. And come in large groups. And are likely to get instantly KO'd by attacks infused with this anyway. It can be funny on rematch LICH if nothing else.
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Geomancer Magic
The first four are the available ones to directly cast in order. The two after are those that can triggered at low odds through use of TERRAIN. There are no given numbers attached to Geomancer spells, but they will scale in power based on level and some are inherently stronger than others. Any status effects tied to damaging spells only have a chance of triggering. Thanks to Randkin for finding some of these.
GRASS (Plains, some towns)
- WIND GUST (ST Wind)
- SHINING FLARE (AoE Fire)
- TANGLEVINE (AoE NE+Paralyze)
- SUNBATH (AoE Heal)
- TWISTER (ST HP to 1)
- THUNDERBOLT (ST Lit)
The overworld TERRAIN spells are mostly seen when grinding. GRASS stands out for being what's used on the Peninsula of Power, but I also feel it's a good one to take into dungeons with SAMPLE. Two AoE skills, a group heal, and a solid elemental attack.
FOREST (Forests, some towns)
- BINDWEED (ST NE+Slow)
- LEAF SWIRL (AoE NE)
- SNARE (ST Earth KO, supposedly only/always works if foe is under 300HP and does not resist Earth)
- FOREST HEALING (ST Heal+Esuna)
- BRANCH ARROW (ST NE)
- WIND SLASH (AoE Wind)
No Grass-type in this game, so these are non-elemental. SNARE can be nice on OGREs early on, just note it's bugged and doesn't always work (pointed it out to Ozmo but he hasn't been able to reproduce it, so it hasn't been fixed). LEAF SWIRL is decently strong, but the heal is single target only and BINDWEED's slow is niche - maybe good insurance for KRAKEN, maybe?
MARSH (Swamps)
- WILL O' WISP (ST Fire+Sleep)
- POISON MIST (AoE Poison+Psn)
- PHANTOM (AoE Morale -40)
- ANTIVENOM (AoE Heal+Pure, prevents poison)
- SINKHOLE (ST Water/Poison KO)
- BOTTOMLESS BOG (AoE Water/Poison KO)
I feel that any set with a group heal is at least solid. It's unlikely you'll find much use for PHANTOM by the time you can SAMPLE (aside from abusing it to make things run), and the poison element isn't that great. But fire is always welcome.
DESERT (Deserts)
- SANDSTORM (AoE Earth/Wind+Slow)
- QUICKSAND (ST Earth/Water+KO, only/always works if foe is under 300HP and does not resist Earth/Water)
- SUNBLEACH (AoE Earth/Water+Dark)
- MIRAGE (AoE Blink-1 stack)
- BURNING SANDS (AoE Earth/Fire)
- MAELSTROM (AoE HP to 1)
It's rare to fight in a desert in FF1, and the multiple elements make this hard to consider for a SAMPLE too. Earth is resisted by half of the vanilla enemies. The big draw of this set is MIRAGE, which is excellent on just about any physical enemy. Unlike other sources, you only get one stack.
RIVER (Rivers)
- SPLASH (ST Water)
- RAPIDS (ST Water+Confuse)
- DROWN (ST Water/Death KO, only/always works if foe is under 300HP and doesn't resist Water/Death)
- CLEANSE (AoE ally status heal)
- TORRENT (AoE Water)
- DELUGE (AoE Water+KO)
Every enemy you can encounter in rivers resists water. It's not great to take out of it either, because it's all single target. It used to be in the Waterfall where it was very effective on the MudGOLs within, but Ozmo put Artificial there instead.
OCEAN (Ship, Pravoka, Bridge)
- TIDAL WAVE (AoE Water)
- THUNDERBOLT (ST Lit+Stun)
- STORMY SEAS (AoE Water+Confuse)
- CALM WATERS (AoE Heal+Regen)
- THUNDERSTORM (AoE Lit+Stun)
- WHIRLPOOL (AoE Water KO)
Makes the PIRATEs even easier. This is what a water set should look like! Also much like rivers, everything you can see at sea except KYZOKU resists water, but you still have THUNDERBOLT to deal with aquatic enemies. Single target only unfortunately.
ARTIFICIAL (Temple of Fiends+Return, Castles, Marsh Cave, Waterfall, Mirage Tower)
- CARVE MODEL (ST NE)
- CLOSE-IN (AoE NE+Dark)
- MARBLE ARMOR (AoE Absorb+20%)
- FORGED IN IRON (AoE Damage/Critical+10%)
- CHASM (AoE Stone+KO)
- MIRROR (AoE ally reflect)
Oof, this common one. Not a fan at all. Unlike FFT, there is no petrify madness with CARVE MODEL. The attacks seem weaker than other spells, and rolling with TERRAIN might get you MIRROR which: see Carbuncle above, and remember Geomancy can be reflected (meaning the support spells). FORGED IN IRON is at least okay physical support in the final dungeon.
EARTH (Earth Cave, Titan's Tunnel, other caves)
- STALACTITE (ST Earth)
- EARTH EMBRACE (AoE Earth+Slow)
- EARTH BLESSING (AoE Heal+Absorb up 10%)
- MINERAL SHELL (AoE Earthspikes - reflects half damage from physicals)
- CAVE-IN (AoE Earth)
- TREMOR (AoE Earth+Confuse)
Pretty ridiculous. Not much else to say. Two strong spells that work well in the dungeon (oddly enough for being the Earth Cave), a funny support spell, and a heal.
VOLCANIC (Gurgu Volcano)
- HOTSPOT (ST Fire)
- MAGMA SURGE (AoE Fire+Burn)
- FIREWALL (AoE Heal+AFIRE)
- FORGED IN FIRE (AoE EnFire+20% Damage)
- LAVA BURST (ST Fire)
- CONVECTION (AoE Fire)
Burn status deals damage per turn; how much is opaque and if there's anything more, I'm not sure about it. Aside from FIREWALL, this isn't great in the Volcano itself, most obviously intended for use with SAMPLE.
FROZEN (Ice Cave)
- ICE PILLAR (ST Ice)
- WHITEOUT (AoE Ice+Mute)
- ICEWALL (AoE Heal+AICE)
- FORGED IN ICE (AoE EnIce+20% Damage)
- FREEZE (ST Ice+Petrify)
- ICE STORM (AoE Ice+Dark)
Similar to the above just with different elements. WHITEOUT's Mute is probably more useful than Burn. It's not a reliable proc, however, so don't count on it to help against MAGEs.
UNDERWATER (Sea Shrine)
- WATERSPOUT (ST Water)
- WATERFALL (AoE Water)
- PRESSURE (AoE foe ATK -20%)
- BUBBLE CURTAIN (AoE Ally -50% less damage from magic)
- WATER'S SOLACE (AoE Heal+Esuna)
- ABYSSAL DARK (AoE Poison+Dark)
There's some strong support skills here. Crushing enemies under the PRESSURE can cripple many physical threats, and reduces enemy attack by much more than 20%. And the curtain can stop magical threats. Otherwise, the offensive skills are vanilla.
CELESTIAL (Floating Castle)
- PLASMA (ST Lit)
- METEOR SHOWER (AoE NE)
- STARDUST (AoE Random status)
- COSMIC RAYS (AoE Magic Damage+30%)
- BLACK HOLE (AoE NE KO)
- SHADOWFLARE (ST NE, big damage)
PLASMA is nice for nuking enemies and not a lot in the castle is resistant. But the big standout is COSMIC RAYS, which is a massive insane boost to magic. It's one of the best support skills in the game. STARDUST is funny. I was disappointed by the damage on METEOR SHOWER, however.
ASTRAL (Astral Plane)
- ASTRAL BLAST (ST Time)
- NETHER BLAST (AoE Time)
- ASTRAL SHIFT (AoE Random status)
- DREAM SHROUD (AoE Magic Damage+30%)
- VOID (AoE Time+Dispel)
- CAVERNOUS MAW (AoE Time Confuse or KO)
These can only be accessed with an Evoker in the party. Time is a strange element that exists only to be resisted by CHAOS in vanilla, as well as ODIN and BAHAMUT here, with only the ZoneEATER from the Blue Mage quest being weak to it. Besides which, the last two are copies of the Floating Castle: very good and accessible sooner.
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Bard Songs
These are learned by talking to NPCs around the world with them as your lead character. This will give them part of inspiration towards learning a new song. Once all NPCs have been spoken to, the song can be used in battle. While there are different levels of song, they all share the same spell charges, which refresh after each battle or when HIDE is used. Bard has 1 and Troubadour has 2. Up to 4 can be active at once per bard, but they need their LIMIT to have multiple instances of the same song.
KNIGHT'S MINNE (Protection): Increases Absorb by 8+(LUCK÷10) points for allies
Inspirations: Coneria-Knight near well, woman near magic shop, man near entrance / Coneria Castle-Knight near entrance
Nice one. 8 absorb is a lot more than you might think, especially at the start of the game. Stays relevant later on, but it's less useful against high attack opponents.
VALOR MINUET (Courage): Increases damage by 8+(LUCK÷10) points for allies
Inspirations: Coneria Castle-Guard near stairs, not so invisible woman, man in square near TNT / Matoya's Cave-Stationary "Broom"
Also a great one that stays relevant forever. It effectively gives you 8-16 more damage per hit. Scales a little as of 2.0, much like the above.
ANGELSONG (Soothing): Grants allies Regen, restoring 5% of their MaxHP at the end of their turn
Inspirations: Pravoka-Man in central square, woman south of Bikke, young man on east side / Elfland-Elf near item shop
This one is mediocre at the start, but it becomes better later on. If you're up against the right enemy, you can use this skill to stall and heal without using potions or staffs or helmets. This can coexist with Green Mage's or Kirin's REGEN.
HERO'S RIME (Pride): Increases allies' MORALE and LUCK by 12 points
Inspirations: Elfland-Elf NW of White Magic shop / Elf Castle-Aide, elf NE of entrance / Dwarves' Cave-Dwarf S of stairs, dwarf NW of stairs, dwarf SW of entrance
This results in being able to run more effectively and maybe causing enemies to run. The Bard can also click RUN after this, just weigh the chances of running in the first place against using this and hoping the others make it. This is of questionable use if you have a Thief in the party. You may even want to skip this (aside from pinging the achievement) if you plan to make use of the Auto Harp, especially on NG+.
MANA'S PAEON (Enchantment): Boosts all allies' magic damage by 30%
Inspirations: Melmond-Man E of White Magic Shop, man N of destroyed clinic, young man near armor shop / Crescent Lake-Front 2 sages, woman N of clinic
Another excellent skill. It's dependent on your party having enough casters, but it shines when it does and should stack with similar buffs like the Geomancer's.
MAGIC CAROL (Mitigation): Increases allies magic defense by 100%
Inspirations: Melmond-Woman near black magic shop / Sarda's Cave-Sarda / Crescent Lake-Man behind weapon shop / Gaia-Woman near equipment shops / Onrac-Old man near Clinic, witch near magic shops
Magic defense can prevent spells and skills from doubling or hitting, or status on hits like the SORCERER's KO from triggering. Having more than 100 will basically guarantee a physical status attack will not land (the formula is 100-MDef per hit). Probably the most niche, but it's a huge boost when it's needed.
DEXTROUS ETUDE (Ruthlessness): Increases critical hit chance by 12%
Inspirations: Crescent Lake-Back right sage / Gaia-Pirate, man near equipment shop / Onrac-Man in graveyard, woman near inn / Cardia-Right dragon in Bahamut's room, dragon north of stairs in pit near Bahamut's / Waterfall-CUBE robot
With the critical hit bug being fixed and most weapons having a low chance of landing a critical, this becomes a very useful one for all your physical attackers. It's an excellent candidate to be stacked with their LIMIT.
VICTORY MARCH (Celebration): Doubles EXP yield of enemies defeated while the song is active. Stacks additively (or so).
Inspirations: Gaia-Woman N of entrance / Onrac-Man near submarine / Cardia-Dragon in westmost pit, dragon in forested pit / Sea Shrine-Nermaid in bottom left room, mermaid in second room in middle row / Lefein-Northmost citizen on left canal / Mirage Tower-Robot on 1F
While it comes very late, this song is good to cast in general. It can be auto-cast by the Gilbart Harp, but you need a Thief to obtain that behind the throne in Ordeals. Note that you can actually get the one in Lefein before getting the SLAB, but it doesn't mean much because you need the CHIME to finish the song anyway.
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Dancer Dances
These are learned by speaking with dancers in various towns, and occasionally, fulfilling other objectives. On every level that is a multiple of 5, the base chance of success increases on each by 5%. They get 25% extra at the start of a battle. The chance can be further increased when FIGHT or FLURRY is used by 25+([Hits-1]×10)%. Failing a dance with the DETERMINATION skill raises it by 25%.
The numbers listed here are their success rate at level 1. Success rate in excess of 100% increases potency and how much is expended, though the exact formula is unclear.
DRAIN SAMBA: 50% base, expends 25%. Deals an attack that drains HP equal to the damage inflicted. Draining caps at however much the enemy has remaining, but damage does not. The drain component is ineffective on mechs and undead.
Dancer: Arylon of Coneria
Nice. It's just an attack with the dancer's decent offenses plus a self heal. But that can be helpful throughout the game. A notable use of it early on is against the SCUMs in the Marsh Cave since it pierces their high defense.
QUICK STEP: 50% base, expends 25%. Lowers all enemies' evade and hit% by 20%
Dancer: Darlyon of Pravoka after beating the PIRATEs
Niche and not likely to do much.
HEALING WALTZ: 50% base, expends 25%. Heals 33-66HP on one ally and removes all statuses except Stone/KO
Dancer: Farlyon of Elves' Castle
An excellent dance. It can heal paralysis, save you PUREs, and acts like a CUR2 at the very least. I found myself using this a lot throughout the entire game.
PALTRY POLKA: 40% base, expends 25%. Lowers all enemies' attack and magic attack by 20%.
Dancer: Karylon of Melmond
Because this is percentage based, it can be an excellent thing to use against enemies with high attack values. Still, 20% isn't a lot on its own, so it can benefit from potency boosts if you can get them off in the first place.
SWORD DANCE: 40% base, expends 25%. Boosts all allies' damage by 10.
Dancer: Marlyon of Crescent Lake after the VAMPIRE
Whether or not this is good depends on your party. One filled with mages won't get much use out of it, but it can be a solid boost to a physical party. Besides Monks and other unarmed characters, anyway - they can't get the buff.
HASTE SAMBA: 30% base, expends 25%. Roughly doubles hit% on all allies.
Dancer: Sarylon of Onrac after showing the Ancient Knife from Sea Shrine B1
FAST on all allies. Enough said. This is also subject to potency boosts and can give more than double hits. Again, this can be either fantastic or mediocre depending on your team.
FORBIDDEN SPIN: 30% base, expends 25%. Minor AoE damage and potentially inflicts confusion/darkness/silence/poison
Dancer: Varylon of Gaia for 300000G
For such an absurd price tag, this sure isn't worth it except for getting the last song. The damage is only okay, the status ailments don't always land, darkness and poison are useless, and silence is only situational. It might be better when boosted, but when it comes to AoE and status, you generally want it applied as soon as possible. Even with a Dark Knight in the party, there are way better ways of applying darkness.
LAST WALTZ: 25% base, expends 25%. Massive damage proportional to the user's bravery.
Dancer: Zarylon of Lefein after all 7 others and defeating her in a battle
This can be a very impressive nuke if you have enough bravery. Just one FLURRY can often be enough to boost this to powerful levels. I've seen screenshots of this dealing enough to one-shot CHAOS in NG+ mode (with other buffs). The one problem? Fighting Zarlyon herself. Think KRAKEN if he only used his physical and then started using this in case you thought you could just boost evade: you have to win fast.
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Arrow Magic
The 'spells' of the Archer class. Each of these requires certain materials to craft, which can be obtained if the Archer kills an enemy with a melee attack.
FANG SHOT: Damage + 75% chance to lower enemy physical attack by 4-8
Drops: FANG×2 / Called: BEAST arrow
A basic spell. Lots of enemies drop FANGs, but just remember they go into every crafting formula and this one costs two. The added effect is negligible without multiple other sources.
LEG SHOT: Damage + 50% chance of paralysis. Double damage on giants.
Drops: FANG×1, HIDE×1 / Called: STUN arrow
Paralysis is one of the best ailments to inflict on an enemy. A very good one that's readily accessible.
WING SHOT: Damage + 50% chance to nullify added effects on physical. Double damage on wingeds.
Drops: FANG×1, WING×1 / Called: PEEL arrow
Now you might be looking at that effect and thinking it's awesome. The problem with it is that most of the enemies who have status on physicals come in massive groups. The most practical uses are against LICH if you fear his paralyzing physical, CHAOS for the same, and a handful of Evoker bosses.
TAIL SHOT: Damage + 50% chance to reduce enemy's hit%. Double damage to aquatic.
Drops: FANG×1, TAIL×1 / Called: DRAG arrow
Pretty nice to inflict on KRAKEN or anything else with a high hit modifier. It's only held back by how more crippling status shots exist.
SCALE SHOT: Damage + 50% chance to reduce enemy physical defense by 4-8. Double damage on dragons.
Drops: FANG×1, SCALE×2 / Called: WYRM arrow
Scales are the only items without a guaranteed source of dropping, and you need two of them to get one use of these. Luckily, this one is questionable. It's best with allies with high hit%. Monk will love it the most, Dark Knight and Archer itself won't notice.
THROAT SHOT: Damage + 50% chance of mute. Double damage on spellcaster.
Drops: FANG×1, TONGUE×1, BLOOD×1 / Called: MUTE arrow
A good one. Mute can shut certain enemies down, and if they use magic, they'll take double damage. Just note that certain enemies can choose to just ignore their AI scripts if you silence them.
HEAD SHOT: Damage + 50% chance of blind/confusion/stone. Double damage on humanoid.
Drops: FANG×1, EYE×1, BLOOD×1 / Called: TERROR arrow
You're gambling on the right status whenever you use this. Blind is near useless, if you want to shut an enemy down with status just use LEG SHOT, and the instant death of stone isn't reliable.
SPIRIT SHOT: Damage + 50% chance to reduce magic defense by half. Double damage on magic beast.
Drops: FANG×1, ASH×2, GEL×1 / Called: GHOST arrow
Magic defense governs whether magic deals double damage or status magic hits. It's good to say the least, but there can be a difficulty in acquiring the materials. It might not be too hard to amass ASH which drops from almost any undead, but GEL only drops from generally very physically resistant slime enemies.
Index
It should go without saying that there will be spoilers about the locations of spells, what they do, and new job functions here. So read at your own discretion should you wish to remain unspoiled.
One tip about INT: it boosts spell damage by (INT÷2)% and adds (INT×2.5) to the status accuracy formula.
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Red Wizard Magic
These two new spells are exclusive to a Red Wizard with L8 spells. The rest of their spell list remains unchanged.
L8
- REVERS: Self inverts healing and damage done for 2 turns.
- CURSE: AoE inflicts poison, dark, sleep, silence, confusion, or paralyze. Non-elemental.
Funny situational spells on an otherwise empty spell level. CURSE can hit anything, but it is a diceroll as to what it does. You'll probably have to use CONVERT to use these given they earn their first L8 charge at L32. Except on NG+, solos, or if you're grinding.
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Evoker Magic
The exclusive domain of the Evoker and its upgrade the Summoner.
L1
- GOBLIN: Base 40 ST Non-elemental capping at max HP.
Found: Coneria, upper right / Called: GOBLIN PUNCH
The bread and butter of the Evoker. Don't be deluded. This attack also does "semi-random" damage that can hit way out of its specified weight class. I was hitting for close to 300 damage by the end of the game. Very nice for a L1 spell.
- KIRIN: 12-24 AoE healing + Regen.
Found: Temple of Fiends, back center / Called: LIFE GUARD
This is like having HEAL from near the start of the game. Regen is a status that heals 10% of maxHP at the end of each turn. It's inconsequential in the early game and better later on. But the Heal Staff/Heal Helmet still exist.
L2
- CAIT SITH: Non-elemental AoE confusion.
Found: Matoya's Cave / Called: CAT RAIN
CONF is an underrated spell in FF1 and this is like a better version of it that can be used from the get-go. It can terrorize enemy groups throughout the entire game. Note that in FF1 status immunity only existed insofar as their resisting the elements attached to the spells. FFR changes this by giving some enemies flat-out immunity to some status.
- GOLEM: Stoneskin on all allies, absorbing 20+(Level×2) damage.
Found: Dwarves' Cave, near treasure room / Called: EARTHEN WALL
How much damage this absorbs is no longer opaque. It scales, but I otherwise wasn't very impressed by this one. It felt like it could get broken immediately sometimes. I should reiterate that this doesn't just absorb physical damage.
L3
- UNICORN: 12-24 base AoE healing + status heal.
Found: Elvish Castle near the royal chambers / Called: HEALING HORN
As a healing spell, this is inferior to KIRIN which heals the same at L1 (aside from not sharing a spell level with GOBLIN) or an itemcast. The real draw of this is the status heal. This can be used to remove petrification in-battle. Why can it do this while SOFT still can't? New class privileges, I guess!
- RAMUH: Charge, base 120 AoE Lit-elemental. Grants ENTHUNDER + AWATER for 2 turns.
Found: Northwest Castle, upper left / CALLED: JUDGMENT BOLT
I've made my opinion on the charge spells perfectly clear in my job comments. To sum up: it's bad. They are bad on action economy and means the enemies stick around longer. Even the additional effects are just small buffs. They start when the summoning starts and end on the turn after they finish; they're not reliable due to turn order on the former. RAMUH is especially bad. Zeus Gauntlets' LIT2 is base 60, so two casts of these are just as good later on. AWATER is only relevant against LEVIATHAN, ZoneEATER, and CHAOS.
L4
- CARBUNCLE: Reflect on all allies for 2 turns.
Found: Titan's Tunnel, upper left / Called: RUBY LIGHT
Reflect is generally more of a hassle than handy. It has some funny applications, but it also prevents your own geomancy, HEAL spells, etc. from hitting. This is not something to use when the enemy has big AoE spells, because you'll be cutting off your AoE healing. Worse, not only will summon bosses like SHIVA get healed by reflected spells of their element, but at least some enemies will break from their spell patterns if reflect is active! This completely defeats the purpose of casting the spell, and it's something I hope gets changed in future versions of Renaissance.
- TITAN: Charge, base AoE 160 Earth-elemental. Grants ENSTONE + ALIT for 2 turns.
Found: Earth Cave B5, upper left / Called: GAIA'S WRATH
Earth is a poor choice of element with odd uses like on MudGOLs. Half the enemies in the vanilla game (literally, 64 out of 128) resist it and some of the new FFR ones as well, and only RAMUH is weak to it. It has the same problems as all the other charge spells otherwise.
L5
- SHIVA: Charge, base 200 AoE Ice-elemental. Grants ENBLIZZARD + AWIND for 2 turns.
Found: Ice Cave B3, upper right / Called: DIAMOND DUST
AWIND is in a similar situation as AWATER: you'll only see the element when fighting FAIRY or CHAOS.
- IFRIT: Charge, base 200 AoE Fire-elemental. Grants ENFIRE + AICE for 2 turns.
Found: Gurgu B5, near KARY's chamber / Called: HELLFIRE
Another one in its own element. Relevant effects if you go to the Volcano before Ice Cave, and can actually beat him.
L6
- FAIRY: Charge, base 240 ST Wind-elemental. Splits damage done as healing amongst living allies. Grants ENAERO + ASTONE for 2 turns.
Found: Gaia, near inn / Called: WHISPERWIND
This is an interesting one. Wind is a new element in FFR. There isn't much rhyme or reason to what resists it, but there's quite a bit that doesn't. It adds to the utility of Evoker, but the healing aspect is more predictive due to the charge turn: do you think you'll need it? And that whoever won't die before the charge goes off? In previous version it counted dead allies as targets, so it has more uses now.
- FENRIR: Grants 2 blink stacks to all allies.
Found: Lefein, south of magic shops / Called: HOWLING MOON
Now here's a good one. Blink works on any physical: anything from hard-hitting ones from KRAKEN, etc. to SORCERER instant kill attacks. You need to know when and where to use this, but it's great. No charge turn helps a lot.
L7
- ODIN: Charge, AoE non-elemental death. Grants instant death immunity and critical hit chance+20-50% for 2 turns.
Found: Waterfall, straight ahead of the entrance. / Called: ZANTETSUKEN
More charging, but with the chance to wipe out enemies instantly. Probably useful when it's allowed to hit. Might be good in NG+? Might be?
- LEVIATHAN: Charge, base 280 AoE Water-elemental. Grants ENWATER, AFIR, and APOIS for 2 turns.
Found: Sea Shrine B5, outcropping of big room / Called: TSUNAMI
Same song and dance. Water is also a new element. A standout target is KARY, who resists ice but is weak to water. There's a bit of overlap with ice and it's much more clear on what is going to resist this.
L8
- BAHAMUT(x): Charge, base 600 AoE Non-elemental. Grants experience earned×2 for 2 turns.
Found: Cardia, speak to him after promotion and lighting all four ORBs / Called: MEGAFLARE
Uh. Yeah, this just breaks from the pattern and becomes an absolutely ridiculous attack. In how FF guides commonly put spell damage, this deals 300-1200 damage before INT is factored in. This one is absolutely worth the cast even with the charge, if niche for being L8 and only accessible after there's nothing left except for the final dungeon. It is also the only one exclusive to after class change: he will not react and trigger the quest otherwise. Note that you do not need to complete the TAIL quest on New Game+.
- PHOENIX: Charge, restores 50% of MaxHP and even revives. Grants Reraise for 2 turns.
Found: Floating Castle F2, upper right / Called: REBIRTH
Neat one, if sharing the L8 slot and being L8 in the first place. LIFE and LIF2 do get the privilege to revive in battle too in 2.0, just remember in any case that PHOENIX won't work outside of battle. The healing is solid too. As a bit of trivia, ALEXANDER could have filled this slot instead, but Ozmo pivoted since it would've just been another offensive spell.
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Blue Magic
They are learned when the Blue Mage is hit by a spell. The text says they must be alive at the end of the battle (but you just have to win it) and sometimes win a diceroll depending on their level. There are several friendly NPCs who have monsters as pets which can be fought; the monster will use the skill in an ambush at the start of a battle.
L1
- SCORCH: AoE fire-elemental damage, base 14
Enemies: CEREBUS / Fixed: Coneria
- SNORTING: ST status-elemental darkness, +24 acc
Enemies: NITEMARE / Fixed: Coneria Castle
- GAZE: ST status-elemental paralysis, +0 acc
Enemies: OddEYE, BigEYE, EYE / Fixed: N/A
Two of the first set of spells are surprisingly solid. Paralysis is somewhat underrated in FF1 and it can shut down an enemy if it lands. SCORCH is weak but decent for its time; it can most notably deal with the slime in the Marsh Cave. SNORTING is a dud unless a Dark Knight is in the party.
L2
- HEAT: AoE fire-elemenal damage, base 24
Enemies: AGAMA / Fixed: Dwarves' Cave
- FLASH: AoE status-elemental darkness, +24 acc
Enemies: BigEYE / Fixed: Pravoka
- STARE: ST non-elemental damage, base 34
Enemies: EYE / Fixed: Elves' Castle
Another AoE fire spell is here along with another darkness spell. It's probably the better one for supporting a Dark Knight. There are very few opportunities to make use of STARE. Elementals would be the best target because of their resistances, but Blue Mage can just sword those.
L3
- CREMATE: AoE fire-elemental damage, base 48
Enemies: R.HYDRA, CHIMERA, JIMERA / Fixed: Elfland
- FROST: AoE ice-elemetnal damage, base 48
Enemies: FrWOLF / Fixed: N/A
- STINGER: AoE poison-elemental poison, +0 acc
Enemies: MANTICOR / Fixed: Elves' Castle
Yet another fire-elemental spell. It's weaker than FIR2 (base 60) but it and FROST can both get the job done anyway thanks to INT being in-play in FFR. STINGER is better off ignored except for completion: poison in FF1 only does two damage per turn.
L4
- GLANCE: ST stone-elemental petrify, +5 acc
Enemies: SAURIA, EYE, MEDUSA, GrMEDUSA / Fixed: Melmond
- SQUINT: ST death-elemental KO, +0 acc
Enemies: PERILISK, EYE / Fixed: Melmond
- BLIZZARD: AoE ice-elemental damage, base 100
Enemies: Frost D, TIAMAT, TIAMAT2, BAHAMUT / Fixed: Northwest Castle
The first instant death spells show up here, and they're great if you know when and where to employ them. And if you got the guts to. BLIZZARD is functionally a stronger ICE2 (base 80) at the same level.
L5
- STONE: AoE stone-elemental petrify, +5 acc. This was called POISON on NES.
Enemies: JIMERA / Fixed: Titan's Tunnel
- BLAZE: AoE fire-elemental damage, base 128
Enemies: Red D, TIAMAT, TIAMAT2, BAHAMUT, PHOENIX / Fixed: Earth Cave B4
- SWIRL: AoE water-elemental damage, base 128
Enemies: N/A / Fixed: Crescent Lake
Fifth level has some good spells. STONE is a nasty spell that can wipe out swaths of enemies in a single shot. If that's too much or too gouda for you, there's always the other two. Since SWIRL used to be CHAOS-exclusive, a new fixed encounter has been added for it. BLAZE's fixed location is awkward; unless you need it for LICH, you might be better off getting it from the spike tile in Gurgu.
L6
- GLARE: ST time-elemental KO, +16 acc
Enemies: PHANTOM / Fixed: Crescent Lake
- DAZZLE: ST status-elemental paralysis, +32 acc
Enemies: VAMPIRE, WzVAMP / Fixed: N/A
- POISON: AoE poison-elemental damage, base 136
Enemies: Gas D, TIAMAT, TIAMAT2 / Fixed: Crescent Lake
Only CHAOS and a few Evoker-exclusive enemies resist the time-element, so GLARE can one-shot almost anything in the game subject to magic defense. POISON is for big AoE damage in an odd element. DAZZLE is the odd one out here. It's higher accuracy than GAZE, but it's sort of a completionist or bullying KARY thing.
L7:
- TRANCE: AoE non-elemental paralysis, +0 acc
Enemies: SORCERER / Fixed: N/A
- CRACK: AoE earth-elemental KO, +16 acc
Enemies: Sand W / Fixed: N/A
- THUNDER: AoE lit-elemental damage, base 152
Enemies: Blue D, TIAMAT, TIAMAT2, BAHAMUT / Fixed: Lefein
The infamous harbinger of doom itself is here; fun fact, it was originally nerfed by having the status element. Note it has less accuracy than DAZZLE on single targets that are not immune to status, and instant KO physicals are naturally not included. On the other hand, if you want to just kill the enemies, CRACK and THUNDER are here to do just that and both are good at it.
L8:
- INFERNO: AoE fire-elemental damage, base 192
Enemies: HADES, PHOENIX / Fixed: N/A
- NUCLEAR: AoE non-elemental damage, base 160
Enemies: WarMECH / Fixed: N/A
- TOXIC: AoE death-elemental KO, +0 acc
Enemies: IronGOL / Fixed: N/A
In most games, Blue Magic has some sort of ultimate spell from a rare or unique source. NUCLEAR would be the one for this game. Keep in mind the big bad robot is encounter 20 and 24 after a hard reset since it's in the 3/64 slot. There's still more to use it on when you get it, compared to a skill you can only learn from a 1/64 encounter in the second-to-last room of the game. Unlike the Masmune, TOXIC isn't some cool last minute thing. It just is. Just to drive the nail in the coffin further, STONE is slightly more accurate and effective on everything it is except Frost D, WIZARD, and both KARYs. INFERNO would've been even worse since it's CHAOS-exclusive, but there are two new sources: you can get it off HADES, a new and very rare encounter at the bottom of the Sea Shrine. It does not follow any vanilla encounter table logic as to when it can appear; it simply has a very rare chance (allegedly 1%) to appear in the place of any encounter after the large room leading up to the boss. It won't even disrupt the encounter table. Depending on your luck, it could show up right away or take even longer to find than IronGOL. Once it finally shows, it can take a while to use it, so just keep waiting. Alternatively if you have an Evoker in the party, the PHOENIX boss can use it after it revives. This is far more convenient.
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Time Magic
This is a subset of Black Magic purchased in the same stores as them. Like the monochrome mage, they get three spell slots from a possible four per level. Ones marked (x) can only be purchased by Time Wizards.
L1
- LOCK: As vanilla, ST -20 evade reduction
- DECAY: Foe loses 5HP cumulatively each turn
- BURST: ST base 20 time-elemental damage
- HASTE: ST increase turn order on one ally
BURST is their bread and butter offensive skill at this level. DECAY often doesn't do enough to be worth it. There's application in low offense parties, but the MARK skills are better for that.
L2
- SLOW: As vanilla, ST AoE status-elemental hits reduction
- DIM: ST time-elemental darkness
- MARK: Applies 15 marks to all foes. They then take damage equal to the current amount of marks applied. FIGHT attacks (except harps) and confusion hits will also trigger this damage.
- MUDDLE: ST time-elemental confusion
The unique element of DIM and MUDDLE are useful, allowing you to hit enemies you normally wouldn't be able to with blind or confusion. Besides the sometimes handy SLOW, MARK is a neat skill that's more useful in low offense parties.
L3
- LOK2: As vanilla, AoE -20 evade reduction
- DEMI: ST 50% of foe's current HP damage (25% for bosses)
- BURST2: AoE base 60 time-elemental damage
- FLOAT: Prevents encounters (even spiked ones) and trap tile damage for 36 steps. Can float over rivers, sequence breaking the game. Can float over Ice Cave holes. Instant game over occurs if it runs out over water without the CANOE, you get a warning a step before this happens.
BURST2 is the last of its kind, so enjoy it. DEMI is perfectly accurate and is great on big enemies; even against late game bosses this can do a lot quartered as an alpha strike. It has even more use on NG+. FLOAT is funny.
L4
- FAST: Unlike vanilla, doubles hit% or cancels SLOW
- MARK2: Applies 30 marks to one foe. It then takes damage equal to the current amount of marks applied. FIGHT attacks and confusion hits will also trigger this damage.
- OLD: Target loses 20% of current STR each turn
- GAIN: Next turn, target ally's spell effectivity is doubled
These skills are mostly self-explanatory. MARK2 is an enhanced version that's single-target, and GAIN is incredibly stupidly powerful. OLD is the odd one out here, but even it's simply niche rather than awful. It seems to be very if not perfectly accurate at least. FAST currently behaves abnormally compared to vanilla: it doubles the hit% rather than the hits. This can result in 3-hits becoming 7, for example.
L5
- WARP: As vanilla, transports to the previous floor
- SLO2: As vanilla, ST reduce hits to 1 or counter FAST
- BIND: Prevents all foes from escaping
- DEMI2: AoE 50% of foe's current HP damage (25% for bosses)
WARP can be used before class change, skipping part of the Ice Cave. BIND is a terrible spell; one practical use is with Blue Mage on NG+, and maybe a safety net with the Catch'em All achievement. The enemies will still waste turns trying to run. There's more but still few uses of the other two. DEMI2's best use is on NG+ where enemies have double HP, but there might be better things for the Time Wizard to do.
L6
- TELE(x): Warps the party to your choice of the last used inn, the ship, the airship, or the telepoint after unlocking it in Ordeals. It can even be used with 0 spell charges or if the Time Wizard is dead, but L6 charges are needed in the first place to use it.
- DOOM: ST time-elemental doom to one enemy, killing them after three turns.
- DECAY2: Foe loses 10HP cumulatively each turn
- ECHO(x): At the start of the next turn, deals 25% of the damage inflicted on the enemy during this turn.
TELE can break the game when not using it as an EXIT spell. DOOM would be nice, but it's subject to accuracy checks and why not just use a spell that kills this turn?
L7
- COMET: ST random non-elemental damage, but heavily affected by magic defense
- HASTE2: AoE increase turn order on all allies
- UNDO(x): Restores 1 spell charge in all levels that have one to one ally (cannot target self)
- FAST2(x): Triples hit% or cancels SLOW
HASTE2 is the odd one out. UNDO has interesting applications, especially with multiple Time Mages. FAST2 used to quadruple hit% and was self-cast only. COMET is better on randoms than bosses.
L8
- STOP(x): As vanilla, time-elemental paralysis on all enemies
- ZAP!(x): As vanilla, time-elemental KO on one enemy
- QUICK(x): Guarantees an ally will move first in the next round
- METEOR(x): Random 4xST random non-elemental damage, likely heavily affected by magic defense
Unfortunately, Time Wizard ends on something of a sour note. The two vanilla spells are as situational as ever. As for its two unique ones: the problem with QUICK is that you would hypothetically use it to get out a support spell instantly. However, it only resolves on the next round, so you can't use this reactively. METEOR is also very flawed: the damage is very unreliable and bigger targets have a high chance of shrugging it off entirely. It's also inefficient on randoms.
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Green Magic
This is a subset of White Magic purchased in the same stores as them. Like the monochrome mage, they get three spell slots from a possible four per level. Ones marked (x) can only be purchased by Green Wizards.
L1
- FOG: As vanilla, ST +8 absorb boost
- RUSE: As vanilla, self +80 evade boost
- SHELL: ST -25% magic damage to all allies
- REGEN: ST Regen to all allies (10% HP recovery each turn) for 4 turns
RUSE can be great and the Green Mage has the HP to handle magic and hits getting through. The others are fairly niche though do have definite use. Keep in mind REGEN takes best effect over longer battles. If you're crazy enough to do a solo or limited party, they'll be great. They can restore disgusting amounts at high levels (which you can reach in NG+)
L2
- LAMP: As vanilla, ST darkness heal
- ALIT: As vanilla, AoE lit resist to all allies.
- INVS: As vanilla, ST +40 evade boost
- APOIS: Like vanilla, AoE poison resist to all allies. Also prevents poison status.
APOIS is surprisingly effective. It's a cheap way to help save PUREs in the Marsh Cave and can weaken the POISON of TIAMAT and Gas Ds later. Especially helpful since you can't have everyone protected against poison without a Warrior, Spellblade, or Thief in the party (or if the Green Mage goes without a Ribbon; they have natural resistance).
L3
- AFIR: As vanilla, AoE fire resist to all allies.
- HARDEN: ST stoneskin to one ally, absorbing 39+(Caster level×3) damage
- ASTONE: AoE stone resist to all allies. Also prevents stone status.
- REGEN2: ST Regen2 to all allies (15% HP recovery each turn) for 4 turns
HARDEN can be a nice clutch spell. Stone seems to have been partially separated from poison in FFR, but ASTONE can similarly be useful against COCTRICEs and the like. Just watch that turn order. Note that the various REGENs cannot stack with each other. Cast a new one, and the old one gets overwritten.
L4
- PURE: As vanilla, heals poison and is very misplaced due to taking after D&D 1e where it was, and poison was also lethal.
- AICE: As vanilla, AoE ice resist to all allies.
- AMUT: Like vanilla, ST heal silence. However, also grants resistance to silence.
- REFLEC: Grants reflect to one ally for 2 turns, repelling most magic back to the enemy party.
REFLEC's best use is trying to make ASTOS kill himself with his own RUB. It's niche otherwise since many spells are multi target or unpredictable; and even in solos, some enemies in FFR can just choose to ignore their spell order if reflect is up. You can reflect healing spells onto undead to damage them (REGEN included) if you want to mess around, though. AMUT got a buff in FFR, but MUTE was never a big threat to begin with. It does work with EXUVIATION for what it's worth.
L5
- AWATER: AoE water resist to all allies.
- AWIND: AoE wind resist to all allies.
- BLINK: ST 2 mirror images to one ally
- REGEN3: ST Regen3 to all allies (20% HP recovery each turn) for 4 turns
The new water and wind elements have been applied to the vanilla SWIRL and TORNADO spells used exclusively by CHAOS, and they're otherwise only seen in class-specific battles. BLINK, like HARDEN, can come in clutch from time to time.
L6
- SOFT: As vanilla, heals petrify outside of combat only
- FOG2: As vanilla, AoE absorb+12 to all allies
- INV2: As vanilla. AoE evade+40 to all allies
- SHELL2: AoE magic damage-50% to all allies
Besides the vanilla stuff which aside from SOFT are helpful, SHELL2 is another brilliant spell which can make your party members even tankier. Note that this (and SHELL) only reduces magic damage, it doesn't raise magic defense. So it's no good for stopping physical status attacks. It also can't stack, so casting it more than once will be ineffective.
L7
- ARUB: As vanilla, AoE resist status/death/earth to all allies
- ALERT: Gives alertness to an ally for 2 turns, preventing fatigued status
- DECOY: At the start of the round, redirects all single target melee attacks to the targeted ally
- BUBBLE(x): ST increase ally's maxHP by 50% until the end of the battle
This is a strong spell level! DECOY is a cool spell when comboed with a tank, and ALERT works well with anything that can suffer from fatigue. ARUB is great when you need it. BUBBLE does heal current HP in 2.0, and is now the only way to exceed 999.
L8
- WALL: As vanilla, ST resist *most elements to one ally.
- REGEN4: ST Regen4 to all allies (25% HP recovery each turn) for 4 turns
- ERASE(x): ST status heal to one ally
- SAFETY(x): ST safety to one ally, keeping them at 1HP the next time they take lethal damage
They are the only pure mage class to get L8 spells before class change. ERASE feels a bit misplaced, but SAFETY is a nice safety net. Note that WALL will not protect against wind or water, but they're mostly inconsequential for the reasons mentioned above.
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Dark Knight Magic
Purchased in black magic shops. Dark Knights only get two spells per level, so there's no choice involved: just pick both. Or save your money if you need to because a lot of these are of questionable use. Ones marked (x) can only be purchased by Deathknights.
L1
- SLEP: As vanilla, AoE status-elemental sleep.
- BIO: ST base 10 poison-elemental damage and a chance to inflict bio (3-18 damage per turn)
SLEP is nice in the early game. BIO used to just be the latter effect but there are uses for it now that it deals actual damage.
L2
- DARK: As vanilla, AoE status-elemental blind.
- PAIN: Moves first and deals damage to the target equal to the damage incurred by the Dark Knight last turn.
Blind status is normally very pointless due to the formula not being very effective at inducing misses, but Dark Knight has an ability that gives a higher chance to hit against blinded targets. This is at least a 32% hit increase, good for one extra hit as long as you have positive hit%. PAIN has several flaws: enemies having higher HP and attacks being spread around, but it has its uses.
L3
- HOLD: As vanilla, ST status-elemental paralysis.
- BIO2: AoE base 60 poison-elemental damage and chance to inflict bio (3-18 damage per turn)
HOLD has some uses, particularly against ASTOS. BIO2 wins the award for biggest glowup in 2.0, however. It's now as good as FIR2 and friends. The element is whatever, but still good on a lot of stuff.
L4
- DRAIN: Deals 20% of an enemy's maxHP (10% against bosses) and restores HP by the same amount, doesn't work on undead/mech.
- BLEED: Deals 20% of an ally's max HP and restores HP by the same amount. Doesn't work if undead/mech?? This is probably because you can reflect it to hit the enemies.
Now we're getting into some interesting spells. Both of these spells always hit and can be useful under the right (niche?) circumstances, and DRAIN especially in NG+ where enemies have higher HP values. Niche and certainly need higher numbers, but that's better than the other new ones so far.
L5
- BANE(x): As vanilla, AoE poison-elemental KO.
- BIND: Prevents all foes from escaping.
BANE is what it always is, and notable for being the first spell Dark Knight cannot use: they must promote to Deathknight. As for BIND...how often have you ever gone "oh darn, that enemy escaped! i wish it hadn't!" in FF1? Maybe if Metal Slimes were in this game it'd be worth something. Again, it has very niche use with a Blue Wizard or achievement-hunting Beastmaster on NG+ since you gain tons of EXP to where some enemies might actually start running.
L6
- RUB(x): As vanilla, ST death-element KO.
- STUN: As vanilla, status-elemental paralysis on any enemy below 300HP, no save: they're either not hit because they're over 300HP or immune to status or they're hit.
Two vanilla spells. Notably, all fiends except LICH can be STUNned, though it's not nonelemental like in FFZZ. Those that resist status are undead, mech, elementals, and slimes, and a couple oddballs.
L7
- BLND: As vanilla, status-elemental darkness on any enemy below 300HP, no save: they're either not hit because they're over 300HP or immune to status or they're hit.
- ABSORB(x): Steals a buff from one enemy
BLND being single target and based on HP makes it janky. As for ABSORB, very few enemies use buffs in the first place. You can steal FAST from CHAOS if the fight lasts long enough. More interestingly, it works on resistances and immunities. It's more memetic than useful, however.
L8
- XXXX(x): As vanilla, ST death-element KO on any enemy below 300HP, no save: they're either not hit because they're over 300HP or immune to death or they're hit.
- EN-DARK(x): Self add death element to attacks and gives them a chance to inflict KO.
XXXX is neat. Nothing but CARBUNCLE is weak to the Death-element, so the rider effect is the real reason to cast this. It's a little unwieldly because Deathknight is strong enough to splatter enemies anyway. Might be funny on the fiend rematches since only LICH is immune. The odds of this triggering increase if you get the Chaos Greatsword with a Thief.
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Spellblade Magic
The initial version of these are purchased in magic stores. To learn the second version, they must promote and accumulate 50 points worth of kills when infused with a spell. Killing a weak enemy gives 5, killing a resistant enemy gives 3, and killing one that is neither is worth 2. They can be multi-targeted with 3 RUNIC charges. A weapon must be equipped to use and benefit from these.
L1
- EN-FIRE: ST add fire element to attacks.
- EN-FIRE2(x): As above, but adds +20% crit chance.
The first level spell is actually one of the more efficient to cast. You can always use more crit chance on any physical attacker! Fire as an element is great throughout the entire game as well.
L2
- EN-BIO: ST add poison element to attacks.
- EN-BIO2(x): As above, but adds a chance to inflict bio.
Bio, or severe poison, deals 3-18 damage per turn. That's still not a lot. Three enemies in the entire game are weak to poison: Red D, CARBUNCLE, and TIAMAT. Generally not worth it unless you need a filler element on someone.
L3
- EN-ICE: ST add ice element to attacks.
- EN-ICE2(x): As above, but adds a chance to inflict slow.
Slow can be nice on certain targets like KRAKEN, but you generally want that applied to them as soon as possible. The element itself is the better deal.
L4
- EN-BOLT: ST add lightning element to attacks.
- EN-BOLT2(x): As above, but adds a chance to inflict stun.
Stun is not the same as paralysis and only lasts for one round, so this is only okay instead of fantastic. Lightning is a solid element in general as well.
L5
- EN-STONE: ST add earth element to attacks.
- EN-STONE2(x): As above, but adds a chance to inflict petrify.
Yeah, the name's confusing since STONE is an actual element itself, but this is earth. Only RAMUH is weak to earth. This one is better once upgraded, effectively a chance to one-shot anything that doesn't resist it. And doesn't die outright from the attacks.
L6
- EN-WATER: ST add water element to attacks.
- EN-WATER2(x): As above, but adds a chance to inflict silence.
The same update that introduced this added silence awareness, which causes certains enemies not to cast as much when inflicted with the element, so it's probably of limited use against anything you would want to use it on. Still, water is a decent element and can mess up KARY in particular.
L7
- EN-AERO: ST add wind element to attacks.
- EN-AERO2(x): As above, but adds a chance to inflict confusion.
Confusion is nice, I guess. I really don't have much to say about these. There's limited use of the wind element otherwise besides LICH-2.
L8
- EN-LIGHT: ST add holy element to attacks.
- EN-LIGHT2(x): As above, but adds a chance to instantly KO undead.
Unfortunately, by the time you get access to this, undead aren't as common. And come in large groups. And are likely to get instantly KO'd by attacks infused with this anyway. It can be funny on rematch LICH if nothing else.
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Geomancer Magic
The first four are the available ones to directly cast in order. The two after are those that can triggered at low odds through use of TERRAIN. There are no given numbers attached to Geomancer spells, but they will scale in power based on level and some are inherently stronger than others. Any status effects tied to damaging spells only have a chance of triggering. Thanks to Randkin for finding some of these.
GRASS (Plains, some towns)
- WIND GUST (ST Wind)
- SHINING FLARE (AoE Fire)
- TANGLEVINE (AoE NE+Paralyze)
- SUNBATH (AoE Heal)
- TWISTER (ST HP to 1)
- THUNDERBOLT (ST Lit)
The overworld TERRAIN spells are mostly seen when grinding. GRASS stands out for being what's used on the Peninsula of Power, but I also feel it's a good one to take into dungeons with SAMPLE. Two AoE skills, a group heal, and a solid elemental attack.
FOREST (Forests, some towns)
- BINDWEED (ST NE+Slow)
- LEAF SWIRL (AoE NE)
- SNARE (ST Earth KO, supposedly only/always works if foe is under 300HP and does not resist Earth)
- FOREST HEALING (ST Heal+Esuna)
- BRANCH ARROW (ST NE)
- WIND SLASH (AoE Wind)
No Grass-type in this game, so these are non-elemental. SNARE can be nice on OGREs early on, just note it's bugged and doesn't always work (pointed it out to Ozmo but he hasn't been able to reproduce it, so it hasn't been fixed). LEAF SWIRL is decently strong, but the heal is single target only and BINDWEED's slow is niche - maybe good insurance for KRAKEN, maybe?
MARSH (Swamps)
- WILL O' WISP (ST Fire+Sleep)
- POISON MIST (AoE Poison+Psn)
- PHANTOM (AoE Morale -40)
- ANTIVENOM (AoE Heal+Pure, prevents poison)
- SINKHOLE (ST Water/Poison KO)
- BOTTOMLESS BOG (AoE Water/Poison KO)
I feel that any set with a group heal is at least solid. It's unlikely you'll find much use for PHANTOM by the time you can SAMPLE (aside from abusing it to make things run), and the poison element isn't that great. But fire is always welcome.
DESERT (Deserts)
- SANDSTORM (AoE Earth/Wind+Slow)
- QUICKSAND (ST Earth/Water+KO, only/always works if foe is under 300HP and does not resist Earth/Water)
- SUNBLEACH (AoE Earth/Water+Dark)
- MIRAGE (AoE Blink-1 stack)
- BURNING SANDS (AoE Earth/Fire)
- MAELSTROM (AoE HP to 1)
It's rare to fight in a desert in FF1, and the multiple elements make this hard to consider for a SAMPLE too. Earth is resisted by half of the vanilla enemies. The big draw of this set is MIRAGE, which is excellent on just about any physical enemy. Unlike other sources, you only get one stack.
RIVER (Rivers)
- SPLASH (ST Water)
- RAPIDS (ST Water+Confuse)
- DROWN (ST Water/Death KO, only/always works if foe is under 300HP and doesn't resist Water/Death)
- CLEANSE (AoE ally status heal)
- TORRENT (AoE Water)
- DELUGE (AoE Water+KO)
Every enemy you can encounter in rivers resists water. It's not great to take out of it either, because it's all single target. It used to be in the Waterfall where it was very effective on the MudGOLs within, but Ozmo put Artificial there instead.
OCEAN (Ship, Pravoka, Bridge)
- TIDAL WAVE (AoE Water)
- THUNDERBOLT (ST Lit+Stun)
- STORMY SEAS (AoE Water+Confuse)
- CALM WATERS (AoE Heal+Regen)
- THUNDERSTORM (AoE Lit+Stun)
- WHIRLPOOL (AoE Water KO)
Makes the PIRATEs even easier. This is what a water set should look like! Also much like rivers, everything you can see at sea except KYZOKU resists water, but you still have THUNDERBOLT to deal with aquatic enemies. Single target only unfortunately.
ARTIFICIAL (Temple of Fiends+Return, Castles, Marsh Cave, Waterfall, Mirage Tower)
- CARVE MODEL (ST NE)
- CLOSE-IN (AoE NE+Dark)
- MARBLE ARMOR (AoE Absorb+20%)
- FORGED IN IRON (AoE Damage/Critical+10%)
- CHASM (AoE Stone+KO)
- MIRROR (AoE ally reflect)
Oof, this common one. Not a fan at all. Unlike FFT, there is no petrify madness with CARVE MODEL. The attacks seem weaker than other spells, and rolling with TERRAIN might get you MIRROR which: see Carbuncle above, and remember Geomancy can be reflected (meaning the support spells). FORGED IN IRON is at least okay physical support in the final dungeon.
EARTH (Earth Cave, Titan's Tunnel, other caves)
- STALACTITE (ST Earth)
- EARTH EMBRACE (AoE Earth+Slow)
- EARTH BLESSING (AoE Heal+Absorb up 10%)
- MINERAL SHELL (AoE Earthspikes - reflects half damage from physicals)
- CAVE-IN (AoE Earth)
- TREMOR (AoE Earth+Confuse)
Pretty ridiculous. Not much else to say. Two strong spells that work well in the dungeon (oddly enough for being the Earth Cave), a funny support spell, and a heal.
VOLCANIC (Gurgu Volcano)
- HOTSPOT (ST Fire)
- MAGMA SURGE (AoE Fire+Burn)
- FIREWALL (AoE Heal+AFIRE)
- FORGED IN FIRE (AoE EnFire+20% Damage)
- LAVA BURST (ST Fire)
- CONVECTION (AoE Fire)
Burn status deals damage per turn; how much is opaque and if there's anything more, I'm not sure about it. Aside from FIREWALL, this isn't great in the Volcano itself, most obviously intended for use with SAMPLE.
FROZEN (Ice Cave)
- ICE PILLAR (ST Ice)
- WHITEOUT (AoE Ice+Mute)
- ICEWALL (AoE Heal+AICE)
- FORGED IN ICE (AoE EnIce+20% Damage)
- FREEZE (ST Ice+Petrify)
- ICE STORM (AoE Ice+Dark)
Similar to the above just with different elements. WHITEOUT's Mute is probably more useful than Burn. It's not a reliable proc, however, so don't count on it to help against MAGEs.
UNDERWATER (Sea Shrine)
- WATERSPOUT (ST Water)
- WATERFALL (AoE Water)
- PRESSURE (AoE foe ATK -20%)
- BUBBLE CURTAIN (AoE Ally -50% less damage from magic)
- WATER'S SOLACE (AoE Heal+Esuna)
- ABYSSAL DARK (AoE Poison+Dark)
There's some strong support skills here. Crushing enemies under the PRESSURE can cripple many physical threats, and reduces enemy attack by much more than 20%. And the curtain can stop magical threats. Otherwise, the offensive skills are vanilla.
CELESTIAL (Floating Castle)
- PLASMA (ST Lit)
- METEOR SHOWER (AoE NE)
- STARDUST (AoE Random status)
- COSMIC RAYS (AoE Magic Damage+30%)
- BLACK HOLE (AoE NE KO)
- SHADOWFLARE (ST NE, big damage)
PLASMA is nice for nuking enemies and not a lot in the castle is resistant. But the big standout is COSMIC RAYS, which is a massive insane boost to magic. It's one of the best support skills in the game. STARDUST is funny. I was disappointed by the damage on METEOR SHOWER, however.
ASTRAL (Astral Plane)
- ASTRAL BLAST (ST Time)
- NETHER BLAST (AoE Time)
- ASTRAL SHIFT (AoE Random status)
- DREAM SHROUD (AoE Magic Damage+30%)
- VOID (AoE Time+Dispel)
- CAVERNOUS MAW (AoE Time Confuse or KO)
These can only be accessed with an Evoker in the party. Time is a strange element that exists only to be resisted by CHAOS in vanilla, as well as ODIN and BAHAMUT here, with only the ZoneEATER from the Blue Mage quest being weak to it. Besides which, the last two are copies of the Floating Castle: very good and accessible sooner.
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Bard Songs
These are learned by talking to NPCs around the world with them as your lead character. This will give them part of inspiration towards learning a new song. Once all NPCs have been spoken to, the song can be used in battle. While there are different levels of song, they all share the same spell charges, which refresh after each battle or when HIDE is used. Bard has 1 and Troubadour has 2. Up to 4 can be active at once per bard, but they need their LIMIT to have multiple instances of the same song.
KNIGHT'S MINNE (Protection): Increases Absorb by 8+(LUCK÷10) points for allies
Inspirations: Coneria-Knight near well, woman near magic shop, man near entrance / Coneria Castle-Knight near entrance
Nice one. 8 absorb is a lot more than you might think, especially at the start of the game. Stays relevant later on, but it's less useful against high attack opponents.
VALOR MINUET (Courage): Increases damage by 8+(LUCK÷10) points for allies
Inspirations: Coneria Castle-Guard near stairs, not so invisible woman, man in square near TNT / Matoya's Cave-Stationary "Broom"
Also a great one that stays relevant forever. It effectively gives you 8-16 more damage per hit. Scales a little as of 2.0, much like the above.
ANGELSONG (Soothing): Grants allies Regen, restoring 5% of their MaxHP at the end of their turn
Inspirations: Pravoka-Man in central square, woman south of Bikke, young man on east side / Elfland-Elf near item shop
This one is mediocre at the start, but it becomes better later on. If you're up against the right enemy, you can use this skill to stall and heal without using potions or staffs or helmets. This can coexist with Green Mage's or Kirin's REGEN.
HERO'S RIME (Pride): Increases allies' MORALE and LUCK by 12 points
Inspirations: Elfland-Elf NW of White Magic shop / Elf Castle-Aide, elf NE of entrance / Dwarves' Cave-Dwarf S of stairs, dwarf NW of stairs, dwarf SW of entrance
This results in being able to run more effectively and maybe causing enemies to run. The Bard can also click RUN after this, just weigh the chances of running in the first place against using this and hoping the others make it. This is of questionable use if you have a Thief in the party. You may even want to skip this (aside from pinging the achievement) if you plan to make use of the Auto Harp, especially on NG+.
MANA'S PAEON (Enchantment): Boosts all allies' magic damage by 30%
Inspirations: Melmond-Man E of White Magic Shop, man N of destroyed clinic, young man near armor shop / Crescent Lake-Front 2 sages, woman N of clinic
Another excellent skill. It's dependent on your party having enough casters, but it shines when it does and should stack with similar buffs like the Geomancer's.
MAGIC CAROL (Mitigation): Increases allies magic defense by 100%
Inspirations: Melmond-Woman near black magic shop / Sarda's Cave-Sarda / Crescent Lake-Man behind weapon shop / Gaia-Woman near equipment shops / Onrac-Old man near Clinic, witch near magic shops
Magic defense can prevent spells and skills from doubling or hitting, or status on hits like the SORCERER's KO from triggering. Having more than 100 will basically guarantee a physical status attack will not land (the formula is 100-MDef per hit). Probably the most niche, but it's a huge boost when it's needed.
DEXTROUS ETUDE (Ruthlessness): Increases critical hit chance by 12%
Inspirations: Crescent Lake-Back right sage / Gaia-Pirate, man near equipment shop / Onrac-Man in graveyard, woman near inn / Cardia-Right dragon in Bahamut's room, dragon north of stairs in pit near Bahamut's / Waterfall-CUBE robot
With the critical hit bug being fixed and most weapons having a low chance of landing a critical, this becomes a very useful one for all your physical attackers. It's an excellent candidate to be stacked with their LIMIT.
VICTORY MARCH (Celebration): Doubles EXP yield of enemies defeated while the song is active. Stacks additively (or so).
Inspirations: Gaia-Woman N of entrance / Onrac-Man near submarine / Cardia-Dragon in westmost pit, dragon in forested pit / Sea Shrine-Nermaid in bottom left room, mermaid in second room in middle row / Lefein-Northmost citizen on left canal / Mirage Tower-Robot on 1F
While it comes very late, this song is good to cast in general. It can be auto-cast by the Gilbart Harp, but you need a Thief to obtain that behind the throne in Ordeals. Note that you can actually get the one in Lefein before getting the SLAB, but it doesn't mean much because you need the CHIME to finish the song anyway.
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Dancer Dances
These are learned by speaking with dancers in various towns, and occasionally, fulfilling other objectives. On every level that is a multiple of 5, the base chance of success increases on each by 5%. They get 25% extra at the start of a battle. The chance can be further increased when FIGHT or FLURRY is used by 25+([Hits-1]×10)%. Failing a dance with the DETERMINATION skill raises it by 25%.
The numbers listed here are their success rate at level 1. Success rate in excess of 100% increases potency and how much is expended, though the exact formula is unclear.
DRAIN SAMBA: 50% base, expends 25%. Deals an attack that drains HP equal to the damage inflicted. Draining caps at however much the enemy has remaining, but damage does not. The drain component is ineffective on mechs and undead.
Dancer: Arylon of Coneria
Nice. It's just an attack with the dancer's decent offenses plus a self heal. But that can be helpful throughout the game. A notable use of it early on is against the SCUMs in the Marsh Cave since it pierces their high defense.
QUICK STEP: 50% base, expends 25%. Lowers all enemies' evade and hit% by 20%
Dancer: Darlyon of Pravoka after beating the PIRATEs
Niche and not likely to do much.
HEALING WALTZ: 50% base, expends 25%. Heals 33-66HP on one ally and removes all statuses except Stone/KO
Dancer: Farlyon of Elves' Castle
An excellent dance. It can heal paralysis, save you PUREs, and acts like a CUR2 at the very least. I found myself using this a lot throughout the entire game.
PALTRY POLKA: 40% base, expends 25%. Lowers all enemies' attack and magic attack by 20%.
Dancer: Karylon of Melmond
Because this is percentage based, it can be an excellent thing to use against enemies with high attack values. Still, 20% isn't a lot on its own, so it can benefit from potency boosts if you can get them off in the first place.
SWORD DANCE: 40% base, expends 25%. Boosts all allies' damage by 10.
Dancer: Marlyon of Crescent Lake after the VAMPIRE
Whether or not this is good depends on your party. One filled with mages won't get much use out of it, but it can be a solid boost to a physical party. Besides Monks and other unarmed characters, anyway - they can't get the buff.
HASTE SAMBA: 30% base, expends 25%. Roughly doubles hit% on all allies.
Dancer: Sarylon of Onrac after showing the Ancient Knife from Sea Shrine B1
FAST on all allies. Enough said. This is also subject to potency boosts and can give more than double hits. Again, this can be either fantastic or mediocre depending on your team.
FORBIDDEN SPIN: 30% base, expends 25%. Minor AoE damage and potentially inflicts confusion/darkness/silence/poison
Dancer: Varylon of Gaia for 300000G
For such an absurd price tag, this sure isn't worth it except for getting the last song. The damage is only okay, the status ailments don't always land, darkness and poison are useless, and silence is only situational. It might be better when boosted, but when it comes to AoE and status, you generally want it applied as soon as possible. Even with a Dark Knight in the party, there are way better ways of applying darkness.
LAST WALTZ: 25% base, expends 25%. Massive damage proportional to the user's bravery.
Dancer: Zarylon of Lefein after all 7 others and defeating her in a battle
This can be a very impressive nuke if you have enough bravery. Just one FLURRY can often be enough to boost this to powerful levels. I've seen screenshots of this dealing enough to one-shot CHAOS in NG+ mode (with other buffs). The one problem? Fighting Zarlyon herself. Think KRAKEN if he only used his physical and then started using this in case you thought you could just boost evade: you have to win fast.
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Arrow Magic
The 'spells' of the Archer class. Each of these requires certain materials to craft, which can be obtained if the Archer kills an enemy with a melee attack.
FANG SHOT: Damage + 75% chance to lower enemy physical attack by 4-8
Drops: FANG×2 / Called: BEAST arrow
A basic spell. Lots of enemies drop FANGs, but just remember they go into every crafting formula and this one costs two. The added effect is negligible without multiple other sources.
LEG SHOT: Damage + 50% chance of paralysis. Double damage on giants.
Drops: FANG×1, HIDE×1 / Called: STUN arrow
Paralysis is one of the best ailments to inflict on an enemy. A very good one that's readily accessible.
WING SHOT: Damage + 50% chance to nullify added effects on physical. Double damage on wingeds.
Drops: FANG×1, WING×1 / Called: PEEL arrow
Now you might be looking at that effect and thinking it's awesome. The problem with it is that most of the enemies who have status on physicals come in massive groups. The most practical uses are against LICH if you fear his paralyzing physical, CHAOS for the same, and a handful of Evoker bosses.
TAIL SHOT: Damage + 50% chance to reduce enemy's hit%. Double damage to aquatic.
Drops: FANG×1, TAIL×1 / Called: DRAG arrow
Pretty nice to inflict on KRAKEN or anything else with a high hit modifier. It's only held back by how more crippling status shots exist.
SCALE SHOT: Damage + 50% chance to reduce enemy physical defense by 4-8. Double damage on dragons.
Drops: FANG×1, SCALE×2 / Called: WYRM arrow
Scales are the only items without a guaranteed source of dropping, and you need two of them to get one use of these. Luckily, this one is questionable. It's best with allies with high hit%. Monk will love it the most, Dark Knight and Archer itself won't notice.
THROAT SHOT: Damage + 50% chance of mute. Double damage on spellcaster.
Drops: FANG×1, TONGUE×1, BLOOD×1 / Called: MUTE arrow
A good one. Mute can shut certain enemies down, and if they use magic, they'll take double damage. Just note that certain enemies can choose to just ignore their AI scripts if you silence them.
HEAD SHOT: Damage + 50% chance of blind/confusion/stone. Double damage on humanoid.
Drops: FANG×1, EYE×1, BLOOD×1 / Called: TERROR arrow
You're gambling on the right status whenever you use this. Blind is near useless, if you want to shut an enemy down with status just use LEG SHOT, and the instant death of stone isn't reliable.
SPIRIT SHOT: Damage + 50% chance to reduce magic defense by half. Double damage on magic beast.
Drops: FANG×1, ASH×2, GEL×1 / Called: GHOST arrow
Magic defense governs whether magic deals double damage or status magic hits. It's good to say the least, but there can be a difficulty in acquiring the materials. It might not be too hard to amass ASH which drops from almost any undead, but GEL only drops from generally very physically resistant slime enemies.
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