Final Fantasy III/Magic

Many spells and skills exist in Final Fantasy III. The spells are divided into 3 categories: Black Magic, White Magic, and Summon Magic. This section also describes the effects of the Geomancer's Terrain skill and the Bard's Sing skill.

Black Magic
These spells are used to deal damage and to cause status effects.

Level 1

 * Fire- Deals light fire damage.
 * Blizzard- Deals light ice damage.
 * Sleep- Lulls an enemy to sleep.

Level 2

 * Thunder- Deals light lightning damage.
 * Poison- Deals damage and poisons an enemy. If the enemy can't be poisoned, does nothing except waste some Level 2 MP and a bit of your time.
 * Blind- Blinds an enemy. Does not always work.

Level 3

 * Fira- Deals medium fire damage.
 * Blizzara- Deals medium ice damage.
 * Thundara- Deals medium lightning damage.

Level 4

 * Break- Petrifies an enemy gradually, eventually KOing it. Not all enemies can be petrified and Break will not always work.
 * Blizzaga- Deals heavy ice damage.
 * Shade- Paralyzes an enemy. Does not always work.

Level 5

 * Thundaga- Deals heavy lightning damage.
 * Raze- Causes instant KO to enemies with a lower level than the caster.
 * Erase- Removes beneficial magic effects (Haste, Protect, Reflect, etc.) from an enemy.

Level 6

 * Firaga- Deals heavy fire damage.
 * Bio- Deals non-elemental damage.
 * Warp- Creates a portal to another dimension.

Level 7

 * Quake- Deals earth damage.
 * Breakga- Petrifies an enemy instantly. Does not always work.
 * Drain- Absorbs HP.

Level 8

 * Flare- Deals very heavy non-elemental damage.
 * Death- KOs an enemy instantly.
 * Meteor- Rains meteors down on an enemy.

White Magic
These spells are mostly used to heal and protect your allies, though there are some attack spells among them.

Level 1

 * Cure- Restores a little HP.
 * Poisona- Cures poison.
 * Sight- Displays the world map, showing all locations.

Level 2

 * Aero- Deals light wind damage.
 * Toad- Causes or cures the toad status.
 * Mini- Causes or cures the mini status.

Level 3

 * Cura- Restores HP.
 * Teleport- Teleports the party out of a dungeon and onto the World Map.
 * Blindna- Cures blindness.

Level 4

 * Libra- Reveals HP and weaknesses of an enemy (does not show HP for boss monsters).
 * Confuse- Causes an enemy to be confused. Does not always work.
 * Silence- Causes an enemy to be silenced. Does not always work.

Level 5

 * Curaga- Restores a lot of HP.
 * Raise- Revives an ally like a Phoenix Down does.
 * Protect- Raises the defense of an ally.

Level 6

 * Aeroga- Deals heavy wind damage.
 * Stona- Cures petrification.
 * Haste- Increases the attack speed of an ally.

Level 7

 * Curaja- Restores a huge amount of HP.
 * Esuna- Cures all status aliments.
 * Reflect- Creates a barrier that reflects magic on a single target.

Level 8

 * Tornado- Deals wind damage, reducing an enemy's HP to anywhere between 1 and 9. Does not always work
 * Arise- Revives an ally and restores their HP to maximum.
 * Holy- Deals heavy light damage.

Summon Magic
There are two types of Summon Magic: a type with two effects that occur randomly, and a type with one fixed effect. The former is used by Evokers (and Sages), and the latter is used exclusively by Summoners. To make things short, we'll use Evoker-type summons and Summoner-type summons to refer to them.

Level 1: Escape
Summons a Chocobo.

Evoker-type:

 * Chocobo Dash- The party runs from battle.
 * Chocobo Kick?- Attacks one enemy, but usually has no effect

Summoner-type

 * Chocobo Kick- Causes damage, calculated by difference in the levels of the caster and the enemy attacked

Level 2: Icen
Summons Shiva.

Evoker-type:

 * Mesmerize- Stuns enemy if it works.
 * Icy Stare- Deals ice damage to one enemy. Slightly more powerful than Blizzaga.

Summoner-type:

 * Diamond Dust- Deals ice damage. More powerful than Icy Stare.

Level 3: Spark
Summons Ramuh.

Evoker-type:

 * Mind Blast- Stuns all enemies if it works.
 * Thunderstorm- Deals lightning damage to one enemy. Slightly more powerful than Thundaga.

Summoner-type:

 * Judgment Bolt- Deals lightning damage to all enemies. More powerful than Thunderstorm.

Level 4: Heatra
Summons Ifrit.

Evoker-type:

 * Healing Light- Restores lots of HP to the party. Slightly weaker than Curaja.
 * Hellfire- Deals fire damage to one enemy. Slightly more powerful than Firaga.

Summoner-type:

 * Inferno- Deals fire damage to all enemies. More powerful than Hellfire.

Level 5: Hyper
Summons Titan.

Evoker-type:

 * Clobber- Deals earth damage to one enemy. (All of Titan's spells are more powerful than Quake.)
 * Stomp- Deals earth damage to one enemy.

Summoner-type:

 * Earthen Fury- Deals earth damage to all enemies.

Level 6: Catastro
Summons Odin.

Evoker-type:

 * Slash- Deals heavy physical damage to all enemies.
 * Protective Light- Casts Reflect on the entire party.

Summoner-type:

 * Zantetsuken- Attempts to instantly KO all enemies.

Level 7: Leviath
Summons Leviathan.

Evoker-type:

 * Demon Eye- Attempts to instantly KO all enemies.
 * Cyclone- Deals wind damage to all enemies.

Summoner-type:

 * Tidal Wave- Deals water damage to all enemies.

Level 8: Bahamur
Summons Bahamut.

Evoker-type:

 * Aura- Casts Aura on the party.
 * Rend- Attempts to instantly KO an enemy.

Summoner-type:

 * Mega Flare- Deals non-elemental damage to all enemies.

Terrain
The Terrain skill is useable only by Geomancers. It harnesses the power of the earth to cause different elemental damage. The determining factor of what effect is caused is the environment the skill is used in. This skill does not consume MP.

A + by the skill name indicates a high chance of being cast. A - indicates a low chance of being cast.

Desert

 * Cave-in +
 * Earthquake

Forest

 * Wind Slash +
 * Ice Storm +
 * Shadowflare -

Lava Cave

 * Magma +

Cave

 * Whirlpool
 * Ice Pillar
 * Shadowflare -

Airship

 * Wind Slash +
 * Ice Storm +
 * Shadowflare -

Underwater

 * Whirlpool
 * Ice Pillar

Dungeons

 * Black Hole
 * Flame Burst

Note that Wind Slash, Ice Storm, or Ice Pillar occur frequently in all environments.

Effects

 * Wind Slash- Deal wind damage to one enemy.
 * Ice Pillar- Deal ice damage to one enemy.
 * Ice Storm- Deal ice damage to all enemies.
 * Flame Burst- Deal fire damage to one enemy.
 * Magma- Deal fire damage to all enemies.
 * Whirlpool- Attempt to instantly KO all enemies.
 * Black Hole- Attempt to instantly KO one enemy.
 * Earthquake- Deal earth damage to all enemies.
 * Cave-in- Deal earth damage to one enemy.
 * Shadowflare- Deal a massive amount of damage to one enemy.

Sing
The Sing skill is useable only by Bards. Using different harps can have different effects on the songs sung. Note that the strength of the effect increases with job level.

Madhura Harp

 * Minne- Increase physical defense power of the party.

Loki Harp

 * Minuet- Increase physical attack power of the party.

Lamia Harp

 * Requiem- Damage opponents for about a tenth of their remaining HP (the fraction's size increases with job level.

Dream Harp

 * Paeon- Heals the party a little.

Apollo Harp

 * Elegy- Decrease the amount of damage the party takes from any attacks.

Note that the effects of Minne, Minuet, and Elegy only last for 2 rounds of battle.