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Black magic is simply great to have, even if you have strong attackers capable of killing most things in one hit. You will often be facing large groups of enemies, and a physical attack (no matter how strong) can only kill on enemy at a time. 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. Black magic can also be used to augment your attackers, letting them deal hundreds of points in damage to even the strongest bosses.

While in the original version each character could cast each level of magic a certain number of times, in Dawn of Souls (DoS), spells cost a varying amount of points taken from a single pool of magic points.

Users

See also: spell recommendations

Spells

Many mid and high levels spells are not unique, but are improved versions of low levels spells. Each "family" of spells usually contains three versions, though some have two or four.

  • Elemental families: Casts Ice, Fire, or Lightning spells, 2nd and 3rd levels can hit all enemies.
  • Death family: Kills enemies instantly. Low chance of success, some target all enemies.
  • Sleep family: Put enemies to sleep until they are hit or wake up
  • Slow family: Reduces the number of hits per attack

There are several other spells that do not belong in a specific family, but tend to be focused on causing status ailments, such as darkness, stone, or stop. Black magic also includes the spell Temper, which raises the targets strength and Haste, which increases the number of hits per attack.

Black Magic

Spells are listed under the Origins name. Original Name refers to the NES name. DoS Name and DoS MP are the Dawn of Souls name and MP cost, respectively. Spells in DoS and Origins Easy Mode cost are listed in parenthesis next to the original cost.

Level 1

Fire1

Original Name: Fire
DoS Name: Fire
Cost: 100 (50)
Effect:: Causes a small amount of fire elemental damage to one enemy.
Range:: One enemy
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Ninja
Location: Cornelia

Bolt1

Original Name: Lit (Lightning)
DoS Name: Thunder
Cost: 100 (50)
Effect:: Causes a small amount of bolt elemental damage to one enemy.
Range:: One enemy
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Ninja
Location: Cornelia

Focus1

Original Name: Lock
DoS Name: Focus
Cost: 100 (50)
Effect:: Increases one character's hit rate.
Range:: One character
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Ninja
Location: Cornelia

Sleep1

Original Name: Sleep
DoS Name: Sleep
Cost: 100 (50)
Effect:: Puts one enemy to sleep, disabling their commands.
Range:: One enemy
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Ninja
Location: Cornelia

Level 2

Ice1

Original Name: Ice
DoS Name: Blizzard
Cost: 400 (250)
Effect:: Causes ice elemental damage to one enemy.
Range:: One enemy
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Ninja
Location: Pravoca

Slow

Original Name: Slow
DoS Name: Slow
Cost: 400 (250)
Effect:: Decreases one enemy's hit rate.
Range:: One enemy
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Ninja
Location: Pravoca

Fog

Original Name: Dark
DoS Name: Dark
Cost: 400 (250)
Effect:: Causes blind status to enemies.
Range:: All enemies
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Ninja
Location: Pravoca

Steel

Original Name: Tmpr (Temper)
DoS Name: Temper
Cost: 400 (250)
Effect:: Increases one character's attack power.
Range:: One character
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Ninja
Location: Pravoca

Level 3

Fire2

Original Name: Fir2 (Fire 2)
DoS Name: Fira
Cost: 1500 (1000)
Effect:: Causes a medium amount of fire elemental damage to all enemies.
Range:: All enemies
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Ninja
Location: Elfheim

Bolt2

Original Name: Lit2 (Lightning 2)
DoS Name: Thundara
Cost: 1500 (1000)
Effect:: Causes a medium amount of bolt elemental damage to all enemies.
Range:: All enemies
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Ninja
Location: Elfheim

Bind

Original Name: Hold
DoS Name: Hold
Cost: 1500 (1000)
Effect:: Stuns one enemy, disabling all commands.
Range:: One enemy
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Ninja
Location: Elfheim

Focus2

Original Name: Lok2 (Lock 2)
DoS Name: Focara
Cost: 1500 (1000)
Effect:: Decreases all enemies' evade.
Range:: All enemies
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Ninja
Location: Elfheim

Level 4

Ice2

Original Name: Ice 2
DoS Name: Blizzara
Cost: 4000 (2500)
Effect:: Causes a medium amount of ice elemental damage.
Range:: All enemies
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Ninja
Location: Elfheim

Haste

Original Name: Fast
DoS Name: Haste
Cost: 4000 (2500)
Effect:: Increases one character's hits.
Range:: One character
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Ninja
Location: Elfheim

Sleep2

Original Name: Slp2 (Sleep 2)
DoS Name: Sleepara
Cost: 4000 (2500)
Effect:: Puts one enemy into a deep sleep, disabling their commands.
Range:: All enemies
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Ninja
Location: Elfheim

Muddle

Original Name: Conf (Confuse)
DoS Name: Confuse
Cost: 4000 (2500)
Effect:: Causes enemies to attack other enemies.
Range:: All enemies
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Ninja
Location: Elfheim

Level 5

Fire3

Original Name: Fir3 (Fire 3)
DoS Name: Firaga
Cost: 8000 (5000)
Effect:: Causes a large amount of fire elemental damage to all enemies.
Range:: All enemies
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Location: Melmond

Warp1

Original Name: Warp
DoS Name: Teleport
Cost: 8000 (5000)
Effect:: Teleports party back one floor in dungeons.
Range:: Entire party
Users: Black Wizard
Red Wizard
Location: Melmond

Poison

Original Name: Bane
DoS Name: Scourge
Cost: 8000 (5000)
Effect:: Kills all enemies.
Range:: All enemies
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Wizard
Location: Melmond

Slow2

Original Name: Slo2 (Slow 2)
DoS Name: Slowara
Cost: 8000 (5000)
Effect:: Decreases one enemies' hit rate
Range:: One enemy
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Mage
Red Wizard
Location: Melmond

Level 6

Bolt3

Original Name: Lit3 (Lightning 3)
DoS Name: Thundaga
Cost: 20000 (13000)
Effect:: Causes a large amount of bolt elemental damage to all enemies.
Range:: All enemies
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Wizard
Location: Crescent Lake

Reaper

Original Name: Rub
DoS Name: Death
Cost: 20000 (13000)
Effect:: Kills one enemy.
Range:: One enemy
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Location: Crescent Lake

Quake

Original Name: Qake (Quake)
DoS Name: Quake
Cost: 20000 (13000)
Effect:: Kills all enemies.
Range:: All enemies
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Location: Crescent Lake

Stun

Original Name: Stun
DoS Name: Stun
Cost: 20000 (13000)
Effect:: Stuns one enemy, disabling all commands.
Range:: One enemy
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Location: Crescent Lake

Level 7

Ice3

Original Name: Ice3
DoS Name: Blizzaga
Cost: 45000 (30000)
Effect:: Causes a large amount of ice elemental damage to all enemies.
Range:: All enemies
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Red Wizard
Location: Gaia

Break

Original Name: Brak (Break)
DoS Name: Break
Cost: 45000 (30000)
Effect:: Turns one enemy into stone.
Range:: One enemy
Users: Black Wizard
Location: Gaia

Saber

Original Name: Sabr (Saber)
DoS Name: Saber
Cost: 45000 (30000)
Effect:: Increases caster's attack power.
Range:: Caster
Users: Black Wizard
Location: Onlak

Blind

Original Name: Blnd (Blind)
DoS Name: Blind
Cost: 45000 (30000)
Effect:: Causes blind status to one enemy.
Range:: One enemy
Users: Black Mage
Black Wizard
Location: Onlak

Level 8

Flare

Original Name: Nuke
DoS Name: Flare
Cost: 60000 (40000)
Effect:: Causes a very large amount of damage to all enemies.
Range:: All enemies
Users: Black Wizard
Location: Lufenia

Doom

Original Name: XXXX
DoS Name: Kill
Cost: 60000 (40000)
Effect:: Kills one enemy.
Range:: One enemy
Users: Black Wizard
Location: Gaia

Stop

Original Name: Stop
DoS Name: Stop
Cost: 60000 (40000)
Effect:: Stuns all enemies, disabling their commands.
Range:: All enemies
Users: Black Wizard
Location: Gaia

Warp

Original Name: Zap!
DoS Name: Warp
Cost: 60000 (40000)
Effect:: Kills all enemies.
Range:: All enemies
Users: Black Wizard
Location: Gaia

Recommendations

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. However, these are not particularly useful since they only work a small percentage of the time. The elemental spells, Haste, Temper, and Flare are very useful throughout the game.

* denotes the bare minimum spells to get
Fire and bolt are very powerful in the beginning of the game, though they only work against one enemy at a time. Neither Focus1 nor Sleep1 are very useful, however Focus tends to work more often than Sleep.
Ice1 will do more damage against non-elemental enemies than Fire1 or Bolt1, and ever little bit helps. Steel 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. Neither Slow nor Fog work very well or very often, but Slow tends to be a little less worthless.
Fire2 and Bolt2 are fantastic spells since they hit every enemy on the screen at once. These spells (and Ice2) are useful throughout the game since you will often be large groups of enemies at once. Bind rarely works, but Focus2 decreases the number of hits your enemy can get in per attack, when it works.
Ice2 works well against almost anything, and is especially helpful in the Volcano, which is a relatively hard dungeon. Haste doubles the number of hits your character can do per attack, so it is a spell that is useful for every boss fight. Muddle works a surprising amount of the time, but there is an item that can cast the spell for free, so get Sleep2 instead.
For obvious reasons you want Fire3 before going into the Ice Cavern, and you should also have it going into the Terra Cave, where you will fight wave after wave of the undead. Warp1 is very useful as it can pull you out of a dungeon instantly. Like all instant-death spells, Poison rarely works and shouldn't be bothered with.
You'll have noticed by now that the elemental spells are the most useful offensive black magic there is, so get Bolt3. Reaper and Stun only target one enemy at a time and barely work, though Reaper works more often than Poison. Quake is an instant-death spell that works surprisingly often, though flying enemies are immune.
As with every other elemental spell, get Ice3. Break works often, and technically isn't an instant-death spell, so more enemies are vulnerable to it. Blind works against almost nothing by the time you get it. Saber would be very useful, except you can only use it on the caster. Once you get the Cat Claws, the Black Wizard can do a reasonable amount of damage, so Saber can be useful every once in a while.
Flare is the strongest spell in the game, and especially useful against foes like Chaos and WarMech. Stop works often enough, just not against bosses. Doom and Warp are both instant-death spells, Warp just works against all enemies, while Doom only works on one at a time.

Red Mages/Wizards

Since a Red Mage can only equip three spells of each level you have to pick three of eight (well, of six or seven in many cases) spells. This is why it is not recommended that you replace both a Black and White Wizard with a single Red Wizard. There are a lot of white spells that are very useful that the Red Wizard cannot cast (Dias, Heals, Cure4, Life2 specifically). However the black magic spells that the Red Wizard can't cast are not especially useful (mostly instant death spells, which rarely work). Fortunately there aren't too many instances where there are more than three "must have" spells that the Red Wizard can learn.

Generally the white (and black) magic that the Red Wizard should learn is the same as the other Wizards, however a lot of it depends on if there is another Black, Red, or White Wizard in the party, or if the Red Wizard is the only magic user.

Please see the Red Magicians' magic page for recommendations based on party configuration.

Ninjas

The Ninja can learn any level 1 - 4 spell, however by the time you get the class change, the vast majority of them will be useless. They will be too weak to bother with, or it would be better to use your Ninja, which can do reasonable damage, as a physical fighter rather than casting spells. The exceptions are the Level 2 spell, Steel, which can be used to raise a character's attack and the level 4 spell, Haste, which doubles the number of hits per attack a character gets.

None of them are really worth getting as the Ninja will almost always do more damage than the elemental spells, and enemies aren't very vulnerable to Focus or Sleep later in the game.
Get Steel, especially if nobody else knows it. If it is cast on a reasonably powerful Knight, you can double or triple their attack with a few rounds of Steel. Combined with Haste you can take out a boss in two hits.
Fire2 and Bolt2 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 Gauntlets, which can cast Bolt2 for free.
As mentioned above, Haste is a must have. Haste and Steel will soon be the two black magic spells you use the most. Ice2 is also good to have for minor enemies, since the Ninja is usually faster than the Black and Red Wizards.

Miscellaneous spell information

Dark

Dark attempts to blind a caster's enemies, lowering the chances that they will be able to make accurate attacks upon the caster or his allies. It is an extremely unreliable spell and often fizzles. However, when it is successful it is very helpful in reducing the combat abilities of foes and keeping adventurers alive.

Temper

The Black Magic spell Temper magically hardens the weapon of one of the caster's allies, increasing the amount of damage that the ally can do. The strengthening effect is not as powerful as that of the spell Saber, but the benefit of Temper is that Temper can be cast upon any ally rather than only upon the caster.

Slow

Slow is a Black Magic spell that attempts to manipulate time itself, slowing down the enemies of the caster. When successful, Slow reduces the number of attacks each enemy is able to make each turn, allowing the caster and his allies to pound upon the foe in relative safety. There is a stronger variant, Slow2. Slow can be countered by its opposite, Haste.

Sleep

Sleep is a low power black enchantment that attempts to force enemies' consciousnesses to shut down, causing the status effect Sleep. Though it has a very useful effect, there are a number of drawbacks to the use of Sleep. It is exceedingly difficult to control, and though any or all foes might be affected, more often the spell is unable to shut down any minds (the advanced version, Sleep2, is an attempt to remedy this). The sleep is not a deep one; attacks or a good shaking after a battle often wake up afflicted foes. Finally, Sleep does not directly damage foes.

Sleep2

Sleep2 is a Black Magic enchantment that attempts to force a single enemy's consciousnesses to shut down, causing the status effect sleep. Though it has a very useful effect, there are a number of drawbacks to the use of Sleep2. Unlike the lower-powered version, Sleep, Sleep2 is targeted at a single foe rather than the entire group. It is more likely to succeed than the weaker spell, however, the induced sleep is still not a deep one; attacks or a good shaking after a battle often wake up afflicted foes. Sleep2 does not directly damage foes.

Fast

Fast is an extremely useful Black Magic spell that causes an ally of the caster to defy the normal course of time. The affected warrior is able to make twice as many attacks each round as he would normally be able to make. This effect only assists each hero once in each battle, and the extra speed does not last after the fight is over.

Fast is one of the most powerful spells in the game, especially during the later battles.

Fire2

Fire2 is a destructive spell that is often regarded as the epitome of black magic. Its casting summons a small meteorite that hits enemies for moderate damage. Weak and mid-level creatures are often consumed entirely by the flames, while stronger enemies take some damage. Fire2 belongs to the elemental sphere of Black Magic, along with its equivalents Lightning2 and Ice2 spells. It is a stronger version of the Fire spell, but is still weaker than Fire3. The Fire2 spell can be protected against through the use of AntiFire.

Confuse

The Black Magic spell Confuse attempts to alter the mental status of the caster's foes. When the spell works, the enemies become unable to tell their own kind apart from the caster and his allies, and often turn on each other. Unfortunately, Confuse is a spell that is likely to fail and have no effect.

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