Final Fantasy/Black magic: Difference between revisions

Black magic is simply great to have, because even if you have strong attackers a physical attack (no matter how strong) can only kill one enemy at a time. Black Magic can ''debuff'' enemies, e.g. stun, confuse and weaken them. This buys time for the party, that can attack without suffering too much damage.  

Finally, Black Magic is the main weapon for Black Mages. A mid or high level spells can hit every thing at once, and once you start finding items capable of casting spells, you don't even need physical attacks for many fights.  

There are several other spells that do not belong in a specific family, but cause [[Final Fantasy/Gameplay#Status ailments|status ailments]], such as darkness, stone, or stop. Black magic also includes the spells [[#Temper|Temper]] and [[#Saber|Saber]], which raises the targets strength and the spell [[#Haste|Haste]], which increases the number of hits per attack.

* '''[[Final Fantasy/Classes#Black Mage/Black Wizard|Black mages]]:''' Uses any level 1 - 6 spell (except Teleport) also Level 7 Blizzaga(Ice3) and Blind

* '''[[Final Fantasy/Classes#Black Mage/Black Wizard|Black wizards]]:''' Uses any spell

* '''[[Final Fantasy/Classes#Red Mage/Red Wizard|Red mages]]:''' Uses level 1 - 4 spells, Firaga and Slowara

* '''[[Final Fantasy/Classes#Red Mage/Red Wizard|Red wizards]]:''' Uses most level 1 - 5 spells, Thundaga and Blizzaga

* '''[[Final Fantasy/Classes#Thief/Ninja|Ninjas]]:''' Uses level 1 - 4 spells

Spells are listed under the ''Dawn of Souls'' and ''Anniversary'' names. These may differ from the original names given to the spells in the NES version, and from the updated names in ''Origins''. Spell MP cost refers to the amount of MP required to cast a spell in the ''Dawn of Souls'' and ''Anniversary'' editions. All versions prior to that simply require one allocation of spell casting for their respective levels.

All Level 1 spells are sold in [[Final Fantasy/Locations#Cornelia|Cornelia]] and cost 100 Gil to purchase (or 50 Gil in the Easy Mode and GBA versions).

! Spell || Fire || Thunder || Focus || Sleep

All Level 2 spells are sold in [[Final Fantasy/Locations#Pravoka|Pravoka]] and cost 400 Gil to purchase (or 250 Gil in the Easy Mode and GBA versions).

! Spell || Blizzard || Slow || Dark || Temper

All Level 3 spells are sold in [[Final Fantasy/Locations#Elfheim|Elfheim]] and cost 1500 Gil to purchase (or 1000 Gil in the Easy Mode and GBA versions).

! Spell || Fira || Thundara || Hold || Focara

All Level 4 spells are sold in [[Final Fantasy/Locations#Elfheim|Elfheim]] and cost 4000 Gil to purchase (or 2500 Gil in the Easy Mode and GBA versions).

! Spell || Blizzara || Haste || Sleepara || Confuse  

All Level 5 spells are sold in [[Final Fantasy/Locations#Melmond|Melmond]] and cost 8000 Gil to purchase (or 4000 Gil in the Easy Mode and GBA versions).

! Spell || Firaga || Teleport || Scourge || Slowara

All Level 6 spells are sold in [[Final Fantasy/Locations#Crescent Lake|Crescent Lake]] and cost 20,000 Gil to purchase (or 13,000 Gil in the Easy Mode and GBA versions).

! Spell || Thundaga || Death || Quake || Stun

Blizzaga and Break are sold in [[Final Fantasy/Locations#Gaia|Gaia]]. Saber and Blind are sold in [[Final Fantasy/Locations#Onrac|Onrac]]. These spells cost 45,000 Gil to purchase (or 30,000 Gil in the Easy Mode and GBA versions).

Saber can be cast for free by using the '''Giant's gloves''' as an item; it can be equipped by the Ninja, the Warrior, the Knight and the Red Wizard.

! Spell || Blizzaga || Break || Saber || Blind  

All Level 8 spells are sold in [[Final Fantasy/Locations#Gaia|Gaia]], except for Flare, which is sold in [[Final Fantasy/Locations#Lufenia|Lufenia]]. These spells cost 60,000 Gil to purchase (or 40,000 Gil in the Easy Mode and GBA versions).

! Spell || Flare || Kill || Stop || Banish

| 1 || Fire/Fire1/Fire   || 5 || Attacks one || Element: fire           ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{yes|N}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 1 || Lit/Bolt1/Thunder || 5 || Attacks one || Element: lightning     ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{yes|N}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 1 || Lock/Focus1/Focus || 3 || Debuffs one || Lowers evasion         ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{yes|N}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 1 || Slep/Sleep1/Sleep || 3 || Debuffs all || Inflicts "sleep" status ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{yes|N}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 2 || Ice/Ice1/Blizzard || 8 || Attacks one || Element: ice           ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{yes|N}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 2 || Slow/Slow/Slow   || 5 || Debuffs all || Lowers hit rate         ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{yes|N}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 2 || Dark/Dark/Dark   || 5 || Debuffs all || Inflicts "blind" status ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{yes|N}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 2 || Tmpr/Steel/Temper || 10 || Supports one || Increases strength     ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{yes|N}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 3 || Fir2/Fire2/Fira     || 15 || Attacks all || Element: fire         ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{yes|N}} || Mage staff

| 3 || Lit2/Bolt2/Thundara || 15 || Attacks all || Element: lightning     ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{yes|N}} || Thor hammer, Gauntlets

| 3 || Hold/Bind/Hold     || 10 || Debuffs one || Inflicts "paralysis" status ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{yes|N}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 3 || Lok2/Focus2/Focara || 10 || Debuffs all || Lowers evasion         ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{yes|N}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 4 || Ice2/Ice2/Blizzara || 18 || Attacks all || Element: ice             ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{yes|N}} || Black robe

| 4 || Conf/Muddle/Confuse || 15 || Debuffs all || Enemies attack each other||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{yes|N}} || Wizard staff

| 4 || Slp2/Sleep2/Sleepara|| 15 || Debuffs one || Inflicts "sleep" status ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{yes|N}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 4 || Fast/Haste/Haste   || 15 || Supports one || Increases hit rate       ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{yes|N}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 5 || Fir3/Fire3/Firaga   || 30 || Attacks all || Element: fire                     ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{no|-}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 5 || Slo2/Slow2/Slowara || 18 || Debuffs one || Lowers hit rate                   ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|rR}}||{{no|-}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 5 || Bane/Poison/Scourge || 28 || Attacks all || Instant-kill attack               ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|R}} ||{{no|-}} || Venom sword

| 5 || Warp/Warp1/Teleport || 5 || Field       || Teleports one floor up in dungeons||{{yes|B}} ||{{yes|R}} ||{{no|-}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 6 || Lit3/Bolt3/Thundaga || 35 || Attacks all || Element: lightning         ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|R}}||{{no|-}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 6 || Rub/Reaper/Death   || 30 || Attacks one || Instant-kill attack         ||{{yes|bB}}||{{no|-}} ||{{no|-}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 6 || Qake/Quake/Quake   || 32 || Attacks all || Instant-kill attack (petrify) ||{{yes|bB}}||{{no|-}} ||{{no|-}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 6 || Stun/Stun/Stun     || 20 || Debuffs one || Inflicts "paralysis" status ||{{yes|bB}}||{{no|-}} ||{{no|-}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 7 || Ice3/Ice3/Blizzaga || 40 || Attacks all || Element: ice               ||{{yes|bB}}||{{yes|R}}||{{no|-}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 7 || Blnd/Blind/Blind   || 25 || Debuffs one || Inflicts "blind" status     ||{{yes|bB}}||{{no|-}} ||{{no|-}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 7 || Sabr/Saber/Saber   || 25 || Supports self|| Increases strength         ||{{yes|B}} ||{{no|-}} ||{{no|-}} || Giant's gloves

| 7 || Brak/Break/Break   || 30 || Attacks one || Instant-kill attack (petrify) ||{{yes|B}} ||{{no|-}} ||{{no|-}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 8 || XXXX/Doom/Kill     || 40 || Attacks one || Instant-kill attack         ||{{yes|B}}||{{no|-}}||{{no|-}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 8 || Nuke/Flare/Flare   || 50 || Attacks all || Non-elemental attack       ||{{yes|B}}||{{no|-}}||{{no|-}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 8 || Zap!/Banish/Banish     || 38 || Attacks all || Instant-kill attack         ||{{yes|B}}||{{no|-}}||{{no|-}} || {{n/a|-}}

| 8 || Stop/Stop/Stop     || 30 || Debuffs all || Inflicts "paralysis" status ||{{yes|B}}||{{no|-}}||{{no|-}} || {{n/a|-}}

The following table shows spell prices and magic shop locations for each level of Black Magic:

=== [[Final Fantasy/Classes#Black Mage/Black Wizard|Black Mages/Wizards]] ===

Black Wizards can be incredibly powerful, especially later in the game. They can cast spells that do elemental damage (great against the Fiends), cause status aliments, and enhance your characters' physical power. They can also learn a number of instant-death spells (these are not particularly useful since they only work a small percentage of the time). The debuff spells (status ailment) and support spells (allies' enhancement) are very useful throughout the game.  

: '''Temper''' raises the attack power of a character in your party, which makes it a spell that you should use against every boss you encounter. It is also stackable, so the character's attack can go higher and higher. Note: ''TMPR'' is bugged in the NES version, and does nothing. '''Bizzard''' is quite a bit more powerful than the Fire and Thunder spells, Blizzard will be very useful before you get Bizzara. '''Dark''' inflicts the "Blind" status and reduces the likelihood of an enemy attack, however it has little effect when it works. '''Blizzard''' deals more damage than Fire or Thunder, but if you cast instead ''Temper'' on two allies the party will deal definitely more damage.

* '''[[#Level 8|Level 8]]:''' Stop*, Flare, Kill/Warp (''either one'')

: '''Stop''' is a must, being the only non-attack spell on this level; it's a version of Lv.6 ''Stun'' that affects all enemies at once. '''Flare''' is the strongest attack spell in the game, and especially useful against Chaos and WarMech. '''Kill''' and '''Warp''' are both instant-death spells; ''Warp'' works against all enemies, while ''Kill'' only works on one at a time but has a higher success rate.

=== [[Final Fantasy/Classes#White Mage/Red Wizard|Red Mages/Wizards]] ===

:''main article: [[Final Fantasy/Red magic|Red magic]]''

Please see the Red Magicians' [[Final Fantasy/Red magic|magic page]] for recommendations based on party configuration.

=== [[Final Fantasy/Classes#Thief/Ninja|Ninjas]] ===

* '''[[#Level 3|Level 3]]:''' Focus2*, Hold*

: '''Hold''' prevents an enemy from attacking you. '''Focus2''' makes one enemy more vulnerable, thus upgrading ''Temper''. ''Fira'' might be useful since you can clear out multiple weak enemies at once. However, by the time you get a Ninja you will have the [[Final Fantasy/Armor#Gauntlets|Gauntlets]], which can cast ''Thundara'' for free.

: '''Sleepara''' is similar to ''Hold''. '''Confuse''' turns an enemy into an ally. '''Haste''' is a must have: it doubles the number of hits per attack a character gets. If "hit & heal" is your game, ''Haste'' and ''Temper'' will soon be the two black magic spells you use the most. ''Blizzara'' can be good to have for minor enemies, since the Ninja is usually faster than the Black and Red Wizards. The aforementioned [[Final Fantasy/Armor#Gauntlets|Gauntlets]] would do the job, anyway.

| 8 || - || -        || Flare <br> Kill/Warp || Stop

*'''Status aliment''' inducing spells are generally considered useless by beginners. In fact, debuff spells should be used to reduce damage from small enemies, because although small, the damage they inflict stacks up. Therefore, black debuff spells give great relief to the White Mage's healing duties.

*'''Haste''' and '''Temper''' are probably the two most useful Black Magic spells. They increase the number of hits and the strength of each blow on a character. They can also be stacked in some versions of the game, which means that in a few rounds you can make a Knight ridiculously powerful, and able to kill bosses in one or two hits. Always open a boss fight by casting these two spells on your physical attackers. '''Saber''' fits into the same category but only affects the caster so it is better used from the spellcasting Power/Giant's gloves.