Final Fantasy II/Black magic

Field spells
Field spells can be cast both during and outside a battle.

Very similar to the white "Teleport" spell, it teleports the characters one floor back in the dungeon. Otherwise, in battle it can also instantly defeat the enemies.
 * Warp

Support spells
Support spells are battle spells that target the allies. All these three spells increase the attack of the allies, and their effects stack up.


 * Berserk

"Berserk" directly increases the strength of an ally's attack. It stacks with itself, but subsequent casting become harder to perform.

Yoichi's Bow can be used as an item to case Berserk, at-will.


 * Aura

"Aura" adds additional damage the ally's weapon attack based on creature type. They are cumulative, but doesn't stack with repeated castings.

The spell works based on a series of successes, providing bonuses to Magic beasts, Aquatic creatures, Earth creatures, Giants, Spellcasters, Dragons, Werebeasts, and Undead. However, the NES version has a bug that prevents the bonus against undead.
 * Haste

"Haste" increases the accuracy and the number of hits. Repeated castings of the spell stacks, but become harder to apply with each repeated casting.

Masamune's sword can be used as an item to cast haste, at-will.

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

The enemy's accuracy is greatly reduced. The Dark Bow inflicts the Blind status on the enemies it attacks.
 * Blind

The enemy's attack and defense are greatly reduced. The Ancient sword inflicts the Curse status on the enemies it attacks.
 * Curse

Three similar spells, they all prevent the enemy from acting for a few turns. It seems logic to assume that the difference is in the element, but this is not confirmed. The Sleep sword inflicts the Sleep status on the enemies it attacks.
 * Stun (8000 Gil)
 * Stop (8000 Gil)
 * Sleep (8000 Gil)


 * Confuse

The enemies will attack each other. This is the most difficult spell to get, because it is only dropped occasionally after defeating some giants in a secret room in the last dungeon.


 * Osmose

It takes MP away from the enemies and give them to the caster, thus replenishing the caster's MP. The character who uses this spell will never run out of MP, and will be free to raise every spell to the maximum. The effect is reversed if used against undead enemies.

Attack spells
Attack spells are battle spells that deal damage to the enemies or instantly defeat them. They are generally the favorite spells of beginners, but they lack variety: they just defeat enemies, as normal physical attacks do.


 * Blizzard (element: ice)
 * Fire (element: fire, of course)
 * Thunder (element: lightning)

The three basic elemental spells, thay can all be purchased in the starting town, Altair. "Blizzard" is probably the one that is less often made available during the game. "Fire" can be found in the dungeon of the second mission, so you don't have to buy it in Altair, the first town. "Thunder" is the most common one, in fact not only Leila starts already equipped with it, but also two weapons can cast it unlimited times without using MP: the Mage's staff and the Thunder spear.


 * Scourge (element: poison)

This spell can occasionally inflict either the "poison" or the "venom" status, that deal extra damage at the beginning of every turn. This spell can be cast for free by the Wizard's staff, that is anyway found late in the game.


 * Death (10000 Gil; element: death)
 * Break (10000 Gil; element: ?)
 * Toad (10000 Gil; element: ?)

Three instant-defeat spells. "Death" instantly kills the enemies, "Break" turns them into stone and "Toad" transforms them into toads, forcing them to leave battle. The result is the same, anyway. Since their price is the same too, it seems logic to assume that the difference is in the element, but this is not confirmed. As a final note, if Toad is raised to level 16 a secret is unlocked.


 * Drain (element: death)

Not only it deals damage, it also replenishes the caster's HP. The effect is reversed if used against undead enemies, who absorb the Death element. The Blood sword drains health points from the enemies it attacks.


 * Flare

A non-elemental attack spell, it inflicts full damage to any enemy.

Summary table
Very few black spells can be bought in shops, but every one can be sold; selling price is half of purchasing price. Spells that can only be found have their value cell highlighted in gray, and the number reported is twice the selling price. Of course, the value of a spell is related to its importance and usefulness.

Locations:
 * Magic shops: few black spells can be bought in shops, and most of these can anyway be found for free in dungeon chests or dropped by defeated enemies;
 * Chests: black spells that can be obtained for free are highlighted in green;
 * Leila: she starts with one black spell already equipped;
 * Win from enemies: many enemies randomly drop spells upon defeat; there is one black spell that can only be obtained this way, and it is highlighted in red.

Some weapons cast a black spell if selected from the "Menu" item in battle, others (marked with a star*) cause a status ailment when attacking an enemy. The effectiveness of the cast spell depends on the user's Intelligence, while the frequency of the inflicted ailment depends on the user's weapon skill level.