Final Fantasy II/White magic

Healing and field spells
Field spells can be cast both during and outside a battle. They are probably the most important spells.

The first white spell found in the video game, and probably the most useful. Don't buy armor, but instead keep using this spell and raise its level. In battle it can also be used to damage undead enemies (i.e. enemies that absorb Death element). The Healing staff cures the enemies it hits instead of damaging them; it should only be used to attack the allies or undead enemies.
 * Cure

Another important spell, it revives allies that are knocked out. In battle, it can also be used to instantly defeat undead enemies.
 * Life

This spell can heal status ailments that don't wear off after battle. It is much more effective if used after battle; indeed, if your character gets debuffed and you cast Esuna in battle, the enemy can debuff him/her again and you just wasted one turn. The status ailments that can be cured by Esuna are six: blindness, toad, stone, curse, poison and amnesia.
 * Esuna

Teleport has two functions. First of all, it can teleport the full party back to the entrance of any dungeon, although the caster's HP is greatly reduced; similarly, it can also make the party escape from battle. The second function is considered by some players as a cheat: it instantly defeats all the enemies, but this makes fights way too easy; the drawback is that after a quick fight the attribute upgrades are very limited.
 * Teleport

Support spells
Support spells are battle spells that target the allies.


 * Basuna

Basuna heals status ailments that wear off at the end of a battle. When enemies cast debuff spells on your party like "confuse" or "sleep", it would be useful to cast this spell every turn by a slow character. Success rate depends strongly on the level: low level Basuna can only heal few specific status ailments, while at a high level it can heal them all. The status ailments that can be cured by Basuna are: sleep, paralysis, confusion, venom, mini, silence and slow.


 * Blink (300 G): increases evasion
 * Protect (300 G): increases physical defense
 * Shell (300 G): increases magic evade
 * Barrier (5000 G): grants elemental defenses
 * Wall (5000 G): blocks black magic

These spells all increase different types of defense: five different ones, just to make things complicated. Evasion and magic evasion affect the probability that the enemy misses. Physical, magic and elemental defenses reduce the damage from the specified source. Of course, the price is related to the usefulness.

Debuff spells
Debuff spells are battle spells that target the enemies, but deal no damage.


 * Fear

Cast successfully this spell on an enemy, and it will flee battle. It is not a real victory: the enemy will drop neither gold nor items, and if all the enemies flee, the party will receive no upgrades. Use it only against annoying little enemies.


 * Silence (600 Gil)
 * Sap (1000 Gil)
 * Fog (2000 Gil)

Three spells with similar effect: they all limit the spellcasting abilities of the enemy. "Silence" temporarily stops the enemy from casting spells, "Sap" cuts down its Magic Points, "Fog" permanently prevents the opponent from using magic. Of course, the price is related to the usefulness of the spell. The Rune axe can cast Fog unlimited times with no MP consumption.


 * Dispel

This spell animation is the opposite of Barrier (see above), and it lowers or removes various types of defenses of the enemies. The effectiveness of the spell is strongly related to its level.


 * Swap

Swap can be a dangerous spell: use it on a low-rank enemy, and the caster not only will lose all of his/her MP, but also most of his/her HP. Said this, make sure it is cast on a spellcasting enemy and, in general, on an enemy with high HP and MP. Swap can be used to replenish the caster's MP who, being a white magic user, will be anyway able to restore any HP loss by casting "Cure" the next turn. Swap can also be used to heal the caster in critical health condition, i.e. very low HP. In order to level it up, you can cast it on the allies, because it will always miss.


 * Slow

This spell reduces the number of hits of the enemies. It is the converse of "Blink" (see above). It is one of the four spells unknown to Minwu the White Mage.

Attack spells
Attack spells are battle spells that deal damage to the enemies or instantly defeat them. These three spells are not included in the sixteen known by Minwu the White Mage.

Mini reduces the enemy to a microscopic size, forcing it to leave the battle. The result is its instant defeat, without the drawbacks of the "Fear" spell.
 * Mini

Holy damages enemies. It is especially effective against undead (i.e. enemies that absorb the Death element). The Holy spear can cast Holy unlimited times with no MP consumption.
 * Holy

Ultima deals non-elemental damage. Its power is related to the power of every other white spell assigned to the caster.
 * Ultima

Summary table
In the table below, when two different spell names are reported, the first is the one used in the GBA "Dawn of Souls" and PSP "Anniversary" editions, the second one is the one used in the PSX "Origins" edition.

Locations:
 * Towns: most White spells can be bought in shops;
 * Minwu: he knows several White spells since the beginning;
 * Dungeons: spells that can be found and obtained for free are highlighted in green'''.
 * Win from enemies: the Ogre Mage enemy sometimes drops a Blink tome when defeated; he can be first encountered in Kashuan Keep; all the locations of this enemy are in the enemies page.

Select the Rune axe or the Holy spear from the Item menu to cast a spell; a character equipped with the Healing staff will cure the target, so make him attack the allies or the undead. The effectiveness of the spell cast depends on the user's Wisdom.