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Magic divided in levels[edit]

White Magic[edit]

There are 18 White spells divided into 6 tiers of 3 each. Each White ability earned lets you cast spells from an additional tier with the White ability equipped, so you can cast White spells at any level with the White 6 ability. A White Mage can cast any White spell. Red Mages can cast White spells in the first three tiers but no further. Again, each !Red ability earned lets you cast spells from an additional tier with the Red ability equipped up to the third level. Unless otherwise noted, all White spells are reflected by targets with Reflect status.

Tier Spell MP Type Effect
1 Cure 4 1Heal Power: 15
This is the basic healing spell. Restores a small amount of HP, lightly damages Undead enemies.
1 Poisona
(Antidote)
2 3Heal Cures "poison" status from the target.
1 Libra
(Scan)
1 5Disable Reveals the target's level, current HP, maximum HP, elemental weaknesses, and some status effects. Some enemies are immune or partially immune. A reflected Libra does not show level.
2 Protect
(Protes)
3 4Support Causes "protect" status; target's physical defence is increased.
2 Mini
(Size)
5 4Support / Disable Inflicts or cures "mini" status.
2 Silence
(Mute)
2 5Disable Inflicts "silence" status; target is unable to use magic.
3 Cura
(Cure2)
9 1Heal Power: 45
Upgraded healing spell. Deals moderate damage to undead enemies.
3 Raise 29 2Heal Cures "knocked out" status and restores a small amount (1/16) of HP. Instantly fatal to Undead enemies unless immune.
3 Confuse
(Muddle)
4 5Disable Inflict "confused" status; target will attack other enemies, party members, or even itself.
4 Esuna
(Heal)
6 3Heal Cures all negative statuses, except for "knocked out" and "doom".
4 Blink
(Image)
6 4Support Causes "blink" status; target will dodge next two physical attacks.
4 Shell 6 4Support Target's magical defence is increased.
5 Curaga
(Cure3)
27 1Heal
Restores one character to full HP, or heals a massive amount of HP to all party members. Reduces undead to critical HP unless immune.
5 Reflect
(Wall)
15 4Support Causes "reflect" status, reflects certain spells and abilities back to the enemies.
5 Berserk 8 4Support Causes "berserk" status; target will automatically execute physical attacks, their attack power is massively increased, but they cannot be controlled.
6 Arise 50 2Heal Cures "knocked out" status and restores the KO'd target to full health. Instantly kills undead.
6 Dispel 12 5Disable Removes a variety of (mostly) positive status effects (Float, Image, Berserk, Regen, Slow, Haste, Stop, Shell, Protect, Reflect). Dispel is unblockable.
6 Holy 20 6Attack
Holy-element magical attack. Can only target one enemy and ignores defense. Is reflectable.

Black Magic[edit]

Like White Magic, Black Magic is divided into 6 tiers of 3 each, and each Black ability earned adds another tier to the spells you can cast with the Black ability equipped. Red mages can also cast Black spells, but again, only up to third tier. Unless otherwise noted, all Black spells are reflected by targets with Reflect status. Since Black spells are usually hostile, the damage done is reduced according to the Magic Defense of the target. Some spells ignore this property.

Tier Spell MP Type Effect
1 Fire 4 3Attack (elemental) Deals minor fire damage
1 Blizzard (Ice) 4 3Attack (elemental) Deals minor ice damage
1 Thunder (Bolt) 4 3Attack (elemental) Deals minor lightning damage
2 Poison 2 3Attack (elemental) Inflicts the Poison status, causing the target to lose HP.
2 Sleep 3 2Disable Inflict Sleep status; target skips its turns until awakened by hitting it with a physical attack.
2 Toad 8 1Support / Disable Cures or inflicts "toad" status; same as "mini" and "silence" statuses together. The only spell that can be cast in this state is Toad.
3 Fira (Fire2) 10 3Attack (elemental) Deals moderate fire damage.
3 Blizzara (Ice2) 10 3Attack (elemental) Deals moderate ice damage
3 Thundara (Bolt2) 10 3Attack (elemental) Deals moderate lightning damage.
4 Drain 13 6Attack (non-elemental) Damages target and restore the same amount of HP to the caster. If the target is undead, the caster will give HP to the target.
4 Break 15 5Attack (instant defeat) Inflicts "gradual petrification" status. Instantly fatal to enemies when fully petrified unless they are immune.
4 Bio 16 3Attack (elemental) Damages target and inflicts "poison" status. Poison-elemental.
5 Firaga (Fire3) 25 3Attack (elemental) Inflicts major fire damage
5 Blizzaga (Ice3) 25 3Attack (elemental) Inflicts major ice damage
5 Thundaga (Bolt3) 25 3Attack (elemental) Inflicts major lightning damage.
6 Flare 39 6Attack (non-elemental) Inflicts massive, non-elemental damage to one target. Is unblockable and ignores defense, but can be reflected.
6 Death 29 5Attack (instant defeat) Instantly kills the target unless it misses or the target is immune. Fully heals the undead.
6 Osmose 1 2Disable Reduces target's MP and restore the same MP to the caster. If undead, the opposite applies.

Spellblade Magic[edit]

With two exceptions, all spellblade spells are the same as Black spells, the difference being that the spell is cast on a sword and then the sword casts the spell on the target whenever it is used to attack. The exceptions are that the Black spell Toad is replaced by the White spell Silence, and the Black spell Death is replaced by the White spell Holy. The effects of Sword spells are similar to that of the corresponding Black (or White) spell, with a major advantage being that Sword spells do not have to be recast. It also deals more damage if the enemy is weak to the particular elements, or in the case of third tiered spells, inflicts instant death.

Time Magic[edit]

Time Magic, as well, is divided into 6 tiers of 3 each, and each Time ability earned adds another tier to the spells you can cast with the Time ability equipped. Unless otherwise noted, all Time spells are reflected by targets with Reflect status.

Tier Spell MP Type Effect
1 Speed 1 3Support Increases the battle speed, cannot be reflected.
1 Slow 3 4Disable Inflicts "slow" status; target will take its turns slower.
1 Regen 3 1Heal Causes "regenerate" status; target's HP gradually restores.
2 Mute 3 4Disable Silences all enemies and allies on the battlefield. In the GBA, SNES, and PSX versions, the spell is bugged and only silences the player party.
2 Haste 5 3Support Causes "haste" status; target will take turns twice as often.
2 Float 10 2Field / Support Prevents damage from floor traps;
in battle, prevents certain attacks, namely Earth Shaker.
3 Gravity (Demi) 9 5Attack Reduces target's HP to half of their current HP. Fails on enemies immune to death as well as bosses.
3 Stop 8 4Disable Inflicts "stop" status; target skips its turn until status fades away or cured.
3 Teleport 15 2Field / Support Teleport back to the world map;
in battle, escape from battle.
4 Comet 7 5Attack Inflicts a random amount of damage to one enemy. Is unblockable and ignores reflect.
4 Slowga (Slow2) 9 4Disable Inflicts "slow" status to all enemies.
4 Return 1 3Support Resets the battle to when it started.
5 Graviga (Demi2) 18 5Attack Reduces the target's HP to a quarter of their current HP. Fails on enemies immune to death as well as bosses.
5 Hastega (Haste2) 15 3Support Causes "haste" status to all allies.
5 Old 4 4Disable Inflicts "old" status; target's attributes decrease progressively.
6 Meteor 42 5Attack Inflicts four massive damaging non-elemental attacks on all enemies. The attacks are unblockable and ignore defense.
6 Quick 77 3Support Caster can choose and perform two actions in the same turn.
6 Banish 20 5Attack Instantly defeats all enemies. Fails on enemies immune to death.

Summon Magic[edit]

Summon Magic, as well, is divided into tiers of 3 each, and each Summon ability earned adds another tier to the spells you can cast with the Time ability equipped. In this case there are only 5 tiers.

Tier Spell MP Type Effect
0 Eggman 0 (Null) This is the spell the Magic Lamp item casts when it has been used 32 times or more. It has no effect.
1 Remora: Constrict 2 3Attack & Disable Inflicts "paralysis" status on an enemy.
1 Chocobo: Chocobo Kick/Fat Chocobo 5 6Attack (non-elemental) Chocobo Kick damages a single enemy. Occasionally Fat Chocobo is performed instead; this does more damage to all enemies.
1 Sylph: Whisperwind 8 1Attack & Heal Damages an enemy and restores the same HP, distributed evenly, to allies.
2 Shiva: Diamond Dust 10 4Attack (elemental) Deals ice damage to all enemies.
2 Ifrit: Hellfire 11 4Attack (elemental) Deals fire damage to all enemies.
2 Ramuh: Judgement Bolt 12 4Attack (elemental) Deals lightning damage to all enemies.
3 Titan: Gaia's Wrath 25 4Attack (elemental) Deals earth damage to all enemies. Misses flying targets.
3 Golem: Earthen Wall 18 2Support Prevents all physical damage to allies, until the barrier's HP is depleted. The barrier's HP is equal to the Max HP of the caster's.
3 Catoblepas: Demon Eye 33 5Attack (instant defeat) Inflicts "petrified" status on all enemies; targets are instantly defeated. Fails on enemies immune to petrification.
4 Carbuncle: Ruby Light 45 2Support Causes "reflect" status to all allies.
4 Syldra: Thunderstorm 32 4Attack (elemental) Deals wind damage to all enemies.
4 Odin: Zantetsuken/Gungnir 48 5Attack (instant defeat) Instantly defeats all enemies; if all enemies are immune to Death, then Odin performs Gungnir, which attacks a single enemy.
5 Phoenix: Flames of Rebirth 99 1Attack & Heal Fire-elemental attack on all enemies, and at the same time restores knocked out allies to full health.
5 Leviathan: Tsunami 39 4Attack (elemental) Massive water-elemental damage to all enemies. Is unblockable.
5 Bahamut: Mega Flare 66 6Attack (non-elemental) Deals extreme non-elemental damage to all enemies. Is unblockable and ignores defense.

Other magic[edit]

Blue[edit]

There are 30 Blue spells which can be cast by Blue Mages and characters with the !Blue ability equipped. These spells must be learned from enemies. This happens when an enemy casts the spell on a Blue Mage or a character with the Learning ability equipped. For beneficial spells, the enemy will only cast it on other enemies and you can only learn the spell by controlling the enemy or having it be confused and it attacks the party. In some cases, the enemy will not cast the spell spontaneously at all and you must use the Cntrl ability. Unless otherwise noted, Blue Magic spells are not reflected.

Spell MP Effect Location
Red Feast 2 Healing/Attack: restores half the HP lost by the caster by draining the same amount from the target (for example, if the caster has 120/300 HP, the amount of HP lost is 180. 90 HP would be drained from the target and 90 HP would be restored to the caster).
Transfusion 13 Healing: sacrifices the caster's life to restore full health to all allies
White Wind 28 Healing: heal all allies. Zu (must be controlled)
MoonFlut 3 Support: grants Berserk status on all allies. Page 256 (Library of the Ancients)
Mighty Guard 72 Support: grants Protect and Shell to all allies. Stingray (Merged World)
Magic Hammer 3 Disable: reduces the target's current MP to half. Drippy (Valley of Dragons
Pond's Chorus 5 Disable: inflicts Toad status (same as the Black spell Toad). Elf Toad (Walse Tower), Kornago (Quelb Area), Archeotoad
Lilliputian Lyric 5 Disable: inflicts Mini status (same as the White spell Size).
Flash 7 Disable: inflicts Blind status on all enemies.
Time Slip 9 Disable: inflicts Old and Sleep status on single enemy.
Level 2 Old 11 Disable: inflicts Old status on target if its level is a multiple of 2.
Off-Guard 19 Disable: reduce target's Def. and MDef. to half.
Dark Spark 27 Disable: reduces the level of the target by half for the duration of the battle (in effect, this reduces the damage done by physical attacks and most attack spells, and reduces the effect of Healing spells). Black Flame
Mind Blast 6 Disable/Attack: inflicts Paralyze and Sap and deals damage. Mindflayer (Interdimensional Rift)
Death Claw 21 Disable/Attack: inflicts Paralyze and reduces HP of target to critical. Iron Claw (Karnak Castle)
Treant (Forest near Castle Exdeath, World II),
Headstone (Forest near Exdeath's castle, World II),
Flying Killer (Big Bridge),
Sea Scorpion (Ocean, World III).
Flame Thrower 5 Attack (Fire): deals Fire damage Flame Thrower,
Aero 4 Attack (Wind): deals Wind damage Moldywind (Wind Temple, Sunken tower),
Defeater (Fire-Powered Ship),
Magissa (Boss).
Aera 10 Attack (Wind): deals Wind damage Enchanted Fan (Ronkan Ruins), Page 32 (Library of the Ancients)
Aeroga 24 Attack (Wind): deals Wind damage Ziggurat Gigas
Roulette 1 Attack (instant defeat): randomly selects an ally or enemy and kills them instantly. Fails on targets immune to death. Death Dealer, The Damned
Doom 10 Attack (instant defeat): after 30 seconds, it instantly kills the target. Fails on targets immune to death. The Damned
Lv.5 Death 22 Attack (instant defeat): instantly kills target if its level is a multiple of 5. Ignores death immunity. Page 64
Goblin punch 0 Attack (non-elemental): physical attack, has 8 times the power if the target and the caster have the same level. Goblin, Black Goblin
Exploder 1 Attack (non-elemental): Sacrifices the caster's life to do damage to an enemy equal to the caster's current HP. Bomb, Grenade,
 ???? 3 Attack (non-elemental): deals damage to the target equal to the HP lost by the caster (if the caster has 120/300 HP, then 180 HP damage will be done to the target). Cur Nakk
Missile 7 Attack (non-elemental): reduces the target's current HP to 31/32 and inflicts Old and Sleep on them. Gilgamesh, Rocket Launcher
Lv.4 Graviga 9 Attack (non-elemental): reduces all target's HP to 1/4 of max if the target's levels are a multiple of 4. Deem Master, Chrono Controller
Lv.3 Flare 18 Attack (non-elemental): deals massive non-elemental damage on all targets if the targets' levels are a multiple of 3.
1000 Needles 25 Attack (non-elemental): deals exactly 1000 damage to the target. Lamia
Aqua Rake 38 Attack (non-elemental): Non-elemental attack on all enemies. Dhorme Chimera

Dance[edit]

There are four possible Dance spells which are invoked using the Dance ability or attacking with Dancing Dirk. Three are similar to other spells but do not require MP. You have no control over which spell is cast but you do select the target.

Three equipment parts modify the Dance command.

Dance Effect Notes
Tempting Tango Inflicts "confuse" on the enemy. Has circumstantial use, as it fails on enemies immune to confuse."
Mystery Waltz Reduces the enemy's MP and replenishes the Dancer's MP. Useful when fighting against magic users.
Jitterbug Duet Damages the enemy and restores the Dancer's health. Useful when the Dancer is low on HP.
Sword Dance Attacks the enemy for massive damage. Probably the most useful, as it deals massive damage to enemies while ignoring defense."

Song[edit]

There are eight songs which can be used by Bards. Four of these must be sung continuously and take effect gradually. This induces the Singing status, which continue until the singer is interrupted by a physical attack. If the singer is interrupted, the effect does not disappear but stops growing. The effect will continue to grow if the song is sung again.

Song Duration Effect Location
Strength Song Short Heal: grants Regen status to all allies. Crescent Village (in minstrel's house)
Power Song[1] Continuous Support: character's attack power increases gradually; thus, damage caused by physical attacks gradually increases. Crescent (merged world)
Speed Song Continuous Support: character's Speed increases gradually; thus, character's action gradually become faster. Castle Surgate, king Xezat's chamber
Magic Power Song Continuous Support: character's Magic attribute increases gradually; thus, effects caused by magic spell gradually increase. Library of the Ancients, top floor (merged world)
Level Song Continuous Support: character's Level increases gradually; thus, effects of spells and attacks gradually increase.
The effect is in addition to the effects due granted by Mana's Paean and Sinewy Etude. This effect does not apply when the character is the target of an attack or spell. In particular, character still show his/her unmodified level when scanned.
Crescent, in Minstrel's house, after playing every piano
Love Song Short Disable: inflicts "stop" status. Istory
Temptation Song Short Disable: inflicts "confusion" status. Lix
Requiem Short Attack: damages undead enemies. Quelb
  1. "étude" is French for "study".

Animal[edit]

These "spells" are invoked by the Critt ability (Lv 1 Hunter). There is no control over which animal is summoned, though most of them affect an entire party. While the randomness is a drawback, the 0 MP cost can make it worthwhile. Which animals are available depends on the caster's level, with new and more helpful spells being added to the mix as the character levels up. The effects of Black Shock and Lvl song are taken into account here, so you can get any animal if you let Lvl song persist before casting.

Animal Min. Lv. Effect
Rabbit 1 No effect.
Squirrel 1 Attack: single enemy.
Bee Swarm 5 Attack: all enemies.
Nightingale 10 Heal: cures blind, poison and some HP to all allies.
Tree Squirrel 20 Disable: enemies are paralyzed for a short time.
Falcon 30 Attack: single enemy; it reduces current HP by 25%.
Skunk 40 Disable: inflicts Poison and Dark on all enemies.
Wild Boar 50 Attack: single enemy.
Unicorn 60 Heal: restores full HP and MP to all allies.

Gaia[edit]

These are spells invoked by the Earth ability. As with animal magic, there is no control over which spell is cast or the target, but no MP is used and this sometimes makes up for this drawback. Also as with animal magic, which spells are available depends on the level of the caster. At any given location there are four possible spells, with the first spell always available and new and more powerful being added to the mix as the character levels up. The second spell starts to appear at level 10, the third at level 20, and the fourth and final spell at level 50. In this case, the possible spells depend on the terrain as well. So, for example, you will get different spells if you use Earth in a forest than if you use it in a desert. The terrain types for the world map are forest, plain, beach, swamp, desert and ship, but the actual terrain depends on the specific location. Each dungeon has one or more terrains as well, so there are dozens of different terrains in the game. Though there is some overlap in the spells between terrains, there are still dozens of different terrain spells in the game. The following is only a partial list.

  • Will O' Wisp
Fire based attack on single enemy. Has a chance of inflicting Muddle status.
  • Gust
Wind based attack on single enemy.
  • Stalactite
Attack on single enemy.

Mixing[edit]

These are spells invoked by the Mix ability. The idea is that two items are mixed and produce a new effect which combines the effects of the both items, or creates a completely new effect. There are twelve items which can be mixed; nine of them are ordinary items can can be found in shops, but the rest can only be used for mixing and can only be found as treasure or obtained from enemies as drops or using Steal. The twelve mixable items are

  • Phoenix Down
  • Tonic
  • Ether
  • Elixir
  • Antidote
  • Potion
  • Eye Drop
  • Maiden's Kiss
  • Holy Water
  • Turtle Shell
  • Dark Matter
  • Dragon Fang

The order in which the items are mixed makes no difference, which means there are 78 possible recipes. There is some overlap though so there are actually around 55 different mixing spells.

Dark Arts[edit]

Exclusive to the GBA version's Necromancer class, the dark arts are forbidden magic spells that do massive damage. They are obtained by killing certain enemies as a Necromancer.

Spell Effect MP cost Level Obtained from
Drain Touch Absorbs HP from an enemy upon hitting them. Is unblockable 15 1 Mindflayer, The Damned
Dark Haze Deals non-elemental damage to all enemies and inflicts Old and Confuse on them. 18 1 Lemure, Exoray
Deep Freeze Deals ice elemental damage to one enemy and inflicts Stop on them. 38 2 Assassin, Dark Elemental
Evil Mist Deals Poison elemental damage to all enemies and poisons them. 38 2 Heart unknown, Zombie Dragon
Meltdown Deals fire elemental damage to all enemies and inflicts sap on them 38 3 Liquid Flame, Claret Dragon
Hellwind Deals wind-elemental damage to all enemies and inflicts petrify on them 38 3 Objet D'art, Stingray
Chaos Drive Deals lightning-elemental damage to all enemies and paralyzes them. 38 4 Mini Satana
Curse Causes various status ailments on one enemy. 42 4 Ironclad
Dark Flare Deals massive, defense-ignoring, non-elemental damage to all enemies. 52 5 Tonberry, Exdeath's Soul
Doomsday Deals extreme, non-elemental, defense ignoring damage to all enemies 66 5 Hades

Elements[edit]

There are eight elements in Final Fantasy V; they are Water, Wind, Earth, Holy, Poison, Thunder, Ice and Fire. Many spells and some weapons are based on an element, and this changes their potency on some enemies. In addition, if a Sword spell is cast on a weapon, the weapon acquires that element. For each enemy, there are five possible ways that the element of an attack can affect that enemy:

Weak
Defense against the attack is nullified and the damage done is doubled.
Normal
There is no change.
Resist
Damage reduced to half.
Nullify
No damage is done.
Absorb
Damage is changed to healing.