Quest 64/Magic

Brian cannot learn all the spells in a single game, therefore the player should choose two (or three) elements and focus on those. Choosing Wind and Fire alone would be a challenge, because they have no healing/protection spells.

The first spell of each element has a casting cost of 1 MP. Every other spell has a casting cost of either 2 or 3 MP.

	Total number of spells
Spell Type	Water	Wind	Earth	Fire	Use
Field	3	0	0	0	Spells that can be used outside battle
Support	3	3	4	3	Battle spells that target Brian
Debuff	3	5	3	1	Battle spells that target the enemy, but deal no damage
Attack	6	7	8	11	Battle spells that damage the enemy

Water spells

Field spells

• Healing Lv1-2 (7-25 spirits; 2-3 MP): restores Brian's health points; they can be used both during and outside battle; probably the most useful spells in the video game.
• Exit & Return (19-24 spirits; 2-3 MP): the first one teleports Brian back to the entrance of current dungeon, the second one teleports him back to the last visited town; therefore, Return is useful only if Brian runs out of magic wings.

Support spells

• Escape (23 spirits; 3 MP): allows Brian to escape battle.
• Invalidity (46 spirits; 3 MP): cures Brian's status ailments.

Debuff spells

• Soul searcher Lv1-2 (10-33 spirits; 2-3 MP): shows the attributes of the enemies; Lv.2 has a higher success rate; extremely useful for beginners.
• Drain magic (40 spirits; 3 MP): lowers enemy Magic Points and restores Brian's MP.

Attack spells

• Water pillar Lv1-2-3 (1-4-13 spirits; 1-2-3 MP): short ranged but very powerful.
• Ice wall (15 spirits; 3 MP): short ranged; it hits all enemies surrounding Brian and inflicts "freeze".
• Ice knife (17 spirits; 3 MP): homing; it hits one enemy and inflicts "freeze".
• Walking water (40 spirits; 3 MP): long ranged; less useful than the two ice spells.

Summary table

Spell	Spirit	Type	Target	Effect
Water Pillar L1	1	Attack	One enemy	Direct attack (365 Power)
Water Pillar L2	4	Attack	One enemy	Direct attack (374 Power)
Healing L1	7	Peace+Support	Brian	Restores health points (((Water x 25 + MHP)/50) x 1~1.25)
Soul Searcher L1	10	Debuff	One enemy	Shows enemy attributes for 1~5 turns
Water Pillar L3	13	Attack	Some enemies	Direct attack (382 Power)
Ice Wall	15	Attack+Debuff	Some enemies	Direct attack (280 Power), stuns enemy (5/16 chance)
Ice Knife	17	Attack+Debuff	One enemy	Direct attack (200 Power), stuns enemy (5/16 chance)
Exit	19	Peace	Brian	Moves back to the dungeon entrance
Escape	23	Support	Brian	Escape from battle (11/20 chance)
Return	24	Peace	Brian	Moves back to the last visited town
Healing L2	25	Peace+Support	Brian	Restores health points (((Water x 25 + MHP x 4)/50) x 1~1.25)
Soul Searcher L2	33	Debuff	All enemies	Shows enemies attributes
Walking Water	35	Attack	Some enemies	Direct attack (250 Power)
Drain Magic	40	Debuff	One enemy	Drains magic points
Invalidity	46	Support	Brian	Restores status (19/20 chance)

Wind spells

Support spells

• Evade Lv1-2 (8-24 spirits; 2-3 MP): increases Brian's agility, i.e. the probability that enemy attacks miss.
• Wind walk (37 spirits; 3 MP): increases Brian's movement area; useful to keep distance from fast enemies or to escape from a fight.

Debuff spells

• Restriction Lv1-2 (6-16 spirits; 2-3 MP): enemies skip a few turns, but often misses.
• Silence Lv1-2 (10-42 spirits; 2-3 MP): enemies can move but not attack; it misses very often.
• Slow enemy (32 spirits; 3 MP): enemies will move less; nice to combine with Wind Walk.

Attack spells

• Wind cutter Lv1-2-3 (1-4-12 spirits; 1-2-3 MP): homing but weak.
• Large cutter (13 spirits; 3 MP): long ranged and quite strong.
• Wind bomb (20 spirits; 3 MP): hits all enemies surrounding Brian and often decreases their agility; nice to combine with Evade.
• Cyclone (28 spirits; 3 MP): similar to Large Cutter, but more effective on slopes.
• Ultimate wind (47 spirits; 3 MP): weak, but always hits all enemies.

Summary table

Spell	Spirit	Type	Target	Effect
Wind Cutter L1	1	Attack	One enemy	Direct attack (120 Power)
Wind Cutter L2	4	Attack	Some enemies	Direct attack (100 Power, 3 shots)
Restriction L1	6	Debuff	One enemy	Enemy is stunned for 1~5 turns (4/5 chance)
Evade L1	8	Support	Brian	Doubles agility for 2~6 turns (9/10 chance)
Silence L1	10	Debuff	One enemy	Enemy cannot use magic (4/5 chance)
Wind Cutter L3	12	Attack	Some enemies	Direct attack (80 Power, 6 shots)
Large Cutter	13	Attack	Some enemies	Direct attack (420 Power, Piercing)
Restriction L2	16	Debuff	All enemies	Enemies are stunned for 1~5 turns (4/5 chance)
Wind Bomb	20	Attack+Debuff	Some enemies	Direct attack (180 Power), lowers Agility (5/8 chance)
Evade L2	24	Support	Brian	Quadruples Agility (9/10 chance)
Cyclone	28	Attack	Some enemies	Direct attack (250 Power, Piercing)
Slow Enemy	32	Debuff	One enemy	Reduces movement for 1~5 turns (9/10 chance)
Wind Walk	37	Support	Brian	Doubles movement for 2~6 turns (9/10 chance)
Silence L2	42	Debuff	All enemies	Enemies cannot use magic for 1~5 turns (8/10 chance)
Ultimate Wind	47	Attack	All enemies	Direct attack (100 Power)

Earth spells

Support spells

• Spirit armor Lv1-2 (7-21 spirits; 2-3 MP): increases Brians' defense, i.e. lowers damage suffered.
• Confusion (27 spirits; 3 MP): restores Brian's Magic Points whenever he's attacked; extremely useful, especially if paired with Water's Healing spells.
• Magic barrier (36 spirits; 3 MP): Brian becomes invulnerable for a few turns; not to be combined with Confusion.

Debuff spells

• Weakness Lv1-2 (13-31 spirits; 2-3 MP): lowers defense of one enemy.
• Weaken all (43 spirits; 3 MP): lowers defense of all enemies; great if combined with Fire's Power Staff.

Attack spells

• Rock Lv1-2-3 (1-4-16 spirits; 1-2-3 MP): mid-ranged but strong
• Rolling rock Lv1-2 (10-39 spirits; 2-3 MP): attacks several enemies at a fixed range; requires some practice to aim effectively; the second level rock is bigger, therefore easier to aim.
• Magnet rock (19 spirits; 3 MP): homing, but sometimes misses; becomes more effective at higher levels.
• Avalanche (24 spirits; 3 MP): attacks several enemies in a shower of boulders; it tends to miss enemies that are too close or too far from Brian, but it can hit the same target multiple times with a high-damage attack. Extremely powerful.
• Rock shower (34 spirits; 3 MP): weak, but always hits all enemies.

Summary table

Spell	Spirit	Type	Target	Effect
Rock L1	1	Attack	One enemy	Direct attack
Rock L2	4	Attack	Some enemies	Direct attack
Spirit Armor L1	7	Support	Brian	Raises defense
Rolling Rock L1	10	Attack	One enemy	Direct attack
Weakness L1	13	Debuff	One enemy	Reduces defense
Rock L3	16	Attack	Some enemies	Direct attack
Magnet Rock	19	Attack	One enemy	Direct attack
Spirit Armor L2	21	Support	Brian	Raises defense
Avalanche	24	Attack	Some enemies	Direct attack
Confusion	27	Support	Brian	Enemy attacks restore your MP
Weakness L2	31	Debuff	One enemy	Reduces defense
Rock Shower	34	Attack	All enemies	Direct attack
Magic Barrier	36	Support	Brian	Invincibility
Rolling Rock L2	39	Attack	One enemy	Direct attack
Weaken All	43	Debuff	All enemies	Reduces defense

Fire spells

Support spells

• Power staff Lv1-2 (7-22 spirits; 2-3 MP): increases Brian's staff attack strength.
• Vampire's touch (32 spirits; 3 MP): restores Brian's Health Points whenever he attacks using his staff; good to be combined with Power Staff.

Debuff spells

• Compression (19 spirits; 3 MP): reduces attack power of one enemy; result is similar to Earth's Spirit Armor; useful in fights against one enemy.

Attack spells

• Fire ball Lv1-2-3 (1-4-16 spirits; 1-2-3 MP): casts one, two or three ranged fire balls.
• Homing arrow Lv1-2 (10-28 spirits; 2-3 MP): homing but weak; similar to Air's Wind Cutters.
• Hot steam Lv1-2 (13-44 spirits; 2-3 MP): short-ranged but strong; similar to Water's Water Pillars.
• Fire pillar (24 spirits; 3 MP): short-ranged but strong; similar to Water's Water Pillars.
• Fire bomb (30 spirits; 3 MP): hits several enemies at a mid-range; similar to Earth's Rocks.
• Magma ball (36 spirits; 3 MP): shoots three magma balls in three directions; useful either at short range or against two-three enemies;
• Extinction (40 spirits; 3 MP): either instantly defeats one enemy, or misses.

Summary table

Spell	Spirit	Type	Target	Effect
Fire Ball L1	1	Attack	One enemy	Direct attack
Fire Ball L2	4	Attack	Some enemies	Direct attack
Power Staff L1	7	Support	Brian	Increases strength
Homing Arrow L1	10	Attack	Some enemies	Direct attack
Hot Steam L1	13	Attack	Some enemies	Direct attack
Fire Ball L3	16	Attack	Some enemies	Direct attack
Compression	19	Debuff	One enemy	Reduces strength
Power Staff L2	22	Support	Brian	Increases strength
Fire Pillar	24	Attack	One enemy	Direct attack
Homing Arrow L2	28	Attack	Some enemies	Direct attack
Fire Bomb	30	Attack	Some enemies	Direct attack
Vampire's Touch	32	Support	Brian	Staff drains health points
Magma Ball	36	Attack	Some enemies	Direct attack, nulls target's stat effects
Extinction	40	Attack	One enemy	Direct attack, instant kill
Hot Steam L2	44	Attack	All enemies	Direct attack

Spells analysis

Each element has one three-level spell and three two-level spells. A comparison of these gives good orientation for the choice of elements.

Element	Three-level spells	Range	Damage
Water	Water Pillar Lv.1-2-3	short	very strong
Earth	Rock Lv.1-2-3	medium	strong
Fire	Fireball Lv.1-2-3	long	medium
Wind	Wind Cutter Lv.1-2-3	homing	weak

The table shows that the main attacks of the four elements have a balance between range and strength. Remember that every enemy receives less damage if attacked with its same element (e.g. a fire attack will deal half as much damage than usual to fire enemies.), and extra damage if attacked by the opposing element (e.g. Water versus fire, or Wind versus Earth for +25% extra damage).

Element	Two-level spells	Description
Water	Healing Lv.1-2 Soul Searcher Lv.1-2 Exit/Return	two support and one debuff spells
Wind	Restriction Lv.1-2 Evade Lv.1-2 Silence Lv.1-2	one support and two debuff spells
Earth	Spirit Armor Lv.1-2 Rolling Rock Lv.1-2 Weakness Lv.1-2	one support, one debuff and one attack spells
Fire	Power Staff Lv.1-2 Homing Arrow Lv.1-2 Hot Steam Lv.1-2	one support and two attack spells

From this second table it can be seen that Water is a mostly defensive element, while fire is mostly offensive. Wind and earth are in between.

Suggested strategies

Water magic features two extremely useful spells: Healing and Soul Searcher. Earth magic features another useful one: Spirit Shield. The player may want to obtain the first level of all these spells first (L10 in Water and L7 in Earth), then abandon one or both of these two elements in favor of Wind or Fire.

Beginners should choose Water as one of their elements, because the two Soul Searcher spells allow Brian to analyze the enemies.

In order to see every available spell in the video game, the player might decide to play it twice, focusing each time on two different elements.

• Water & Fire; Earth & Wind: two balanced games, where all the different spell types would be equally distributed.
• Water & Wind; Earth & Fire: Water & Wind would display the widest array of different effects; combining Earth & Fire debuff and support spells Brian would get the ultimate attack and defense;
• Water & Earth; Wind & Fire: the first game would be very easy, the second one very challenging, because all the defensive spells would be concentrated in the first one.