Ｆｉｎａｌ　Ｆａｎｔａｓｙ　Ｖ

All jobs except Mimic have this command at all times, and Mimic can equip it to a free slot if desired.

This is your basic attack command. The formulae used to calculate A, D, and M vary by weapon. More often than not, A is attack power plus a small random variation, D is target defense, and M has a base value of 2 plus a bonus based on level, strength, and sometimes agility.

All jobs except Mimic have this command at all times, and Mimic can equip it to a free slot if desired. Select to use items or change weapons or shields.

Off the left side of the battle menu. Use to change rows. Always available to all jobs.

If the attacker is in the back row, M is halved. If the target is in the back row, M is halved. Both monsters and party can have front and back rows, and these modifiers stack when applicable. However, magic, some weapons (such as whips and bows), and many abilities ignore row.

Off the right side of the battle menu. Defend until next command input. Always available to all jobs.

M for physical attacks is halved against a defending target.

In addition to basic commands, each job has at least one empty slot. Any one learned ability, active or passive, can be equipped to an empty slot. Mimic has three empty slots, Normal has two, and all other jobs have one.

If any character is in 'near death' status (current HP under 1/8 of maximum), and at least one different character has the Cover ability, then a character with the Cover ability will intercept any physical attack meant for the weakened character. Damage is determined as though the Covering character had been the target of the attack to begin with.

A character cannot Cover when under 'petrified', 'zombie', 'incapacitated', 'sleep', 'paralysis', 'confusion', 'berserk', or 'stop' status, or when hiding, jumping, or erased from combat. Cover will also not work against attacks made by allies.

Useful on a tank to help keep weaker allies alive. They're still vulnerable to magic, though.

This is an innate passive ability for the Knight.

An enchanced version of Defend. The user takes 0 damage from physical attacks until the next turn.

!Guard and Cover can make a potent combination, and you can add the Monk's Counter to hit back. Just remember that none of these work against magic attacks. Additionally, making a counterattack seems to cancel the !Guard effect until you reuse it.

This is the Knight's built-in command.

Doubles M when attacking, as long as the character is using a compatible weapon and has the other hand free (no shield or second weapon). Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +13 if it would otherwise be lower, though it seems unlikely that you would use this ability with a class with less strength than that.

This ability, like the Ninja's Dual-Wield, effectively doubles a character's offense. This one has two significant advantages, though. First, it's available much sooner, requiring 90 ABP on an early job as compared to the Ninja's 690 on a later job. Second, it lets you double the effect of a weapon without needing two of that weapon, which comes in handy with rare or unique weapons. Of course, Dual-Wield has advantages of its own...

Allows any job to equip a shield.

Equip xxx abilities are generally not worth using an ability slot for. However, Equip Shield can come in handy to help normally shieldless jobs avoid being hit as often, if they don't need the slot for anything more useful.

Allows any job to equip heavy armor (normally exclusive to Knight, Wyrmknight, Samurai, Berserker, Sword Mage, Mimic, and of course Normal).

Not so good. Heavy armor tends to have poor MDef, and, well, it's heavy, slowing the wearer down (if not by much). This ability would be somewhat better if it included medium armor, but it doesn't. It also won't do a thing for headgear. The armor available naturally to other classes tends to be just fine.

Allows any job to wield swords and greatswords. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +23 (same as Knight's) if it would otherwise be lower.

The strength bonus makes this a decent way to let physically weak classes do some damage without spending MP, but it doesn't do a thing for their durablility.

Attacks all enemies. Damage to each is roughly the same as a single Monk punch, including the bonus for equipping Kaiser Knuckles if applicable. Note that row matters, so enemies in the back take half damage. The base hit rate is 100%, just like a punch.

A = (level * 2) + Random(0, level/4), D = defense, M = 2 + (level * strength)/256. Add another 50 to A if wearing Kaiser Knuckles. It's not a bad ablility, but the relatively low damage and the penalty against back row enemies keep it from being a very good ablility either.

This is the Monk's built-in command, and the only command ability that is unlearnable.

The user waits a turn or so, then attacks with doubled M (not A, despite the description). Using !Charge prevents weapons from casting spells or skills.

!Charge is useful for giving the enemy fewer opportunities to counterattack. Certain opponents (mostly bosses) also change behavior when their HP drops below a certain amount, so a few characters with well-timed !Charges may be able to finish them off before they get a chance to use their new attack pattern.

Gives a bonus of (level * 2) to A and (level * strength / 256) to M when not equipped with a weapon. Applies to both hands if both are empty. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +26 (same as Monk's) if it would otherwise be lower.

Characters who have both hands empty attack twice, once with each fist (whether or not they have the Martial Arts ability), which doesn't hurt damage output. Fists also have a respectable 8% critical hit rate, so attacking with both fists results in a higher than 15% chance of seeing at least one critical.

This is essentially an Equip xxx ability with a different name. The strength bonus, low ABP cost, and early availability make it a good choice for mages to deal some damage without spending MP, at least until free magic-based abilities like !Terrain become available. It doesn't make them any more durable, though.

This is an innate passive ability for the Monk.

Heals the user slightly and cures 'poison' and 'darkness' status. Damages the Undead. Always hits.

Heal amount is determined using A = Random(30, 33), D = MDef, M = (level * magic)/256 + 4. The Monk's low magic doesn't help, but even Lenna (highest base magic) as a Summoner (best magic bonus) at level 99 (maximum) still only heals 810 to 891 with no MDef. Still assuming no MDef, Galuf as a level 1 Monk (1 magic) heals 120 to 132. Note that, unlike most forms of healing, !Chakra does NOT ignore MDef, so characters with higher MDef receive less healing.

Counter rate is 50%. As far as I can tell, the only difference between an attack from !Battle and one from Counter is that counterattacks will not trigger reaction scripts (enemy counterattacks and some other special behavior).

A useful skill for increasing damage output. This combines well with the Knight's !Guard against purely physical opponents, though making a counterattack seems to cancel the !Guard effect until you reuse it. Counter's ability to avoid enemy reactions is also quite valuable against certain opponents.

This is an innate passive ability for the Monk.

Increases maximum HP by 10%.

Frankly not worth using an ability slot on. Only worth getting because it's on the way to mastering the job.

Increases maximum HP by 20%.

Also not worth using an ability slot on. It does a good job of pumping up the ABP cost to master Monk, though.

Increases maximum HP by 30%.

Multiple HP Up abilities (including several of the same one) stack, if you're that desperate for extra max HP, but there are better ways of using ability slots.

If anyone in the party has Secret Passages, secret passages become visible in the field.

Many areas, towns included, have secret passages that lead to additional treasure or just provide a shortcut. Use this ability when exploring.

This is an innate passive ability for the Thief.

Flee combat. Always(?) succeeds if fleeing is possible.

Useful against overpowering enemies (like Skull Eaters) and timers (escaping Karnak Castle), especially if you'd prefer the Chicken Knife to the Brave Blade.

If anyone in the party has Dash, the party can move twice as quickly in the field by holding the cancel button (default B).

As I recall, the PSX version lets you run with the O button to begin with, then doubles speed again with this skill, making the run unmanageably fast... not their best idea. Regardless, in the SFC/SNES version, this is required to reach at least one treasure, and helps cut back on the tedium of walking around.

This is an innate passive ability for the Thief.

Attempts to steal from an opponent. Chance to succeed is 40%, doubled if wearing a Thief's Bracer.

You may be wondering why the chance sometimes seems much lower than the expected 40% or 80%. That's where things get complicated. In addition to determining success or failure, the game also randomly decides whether to steal a rare item (10/256 chance) or a common item (246/256 chance). If the target doesn't have an item of the type chosen, then stealing fails, even if it "succeeded". This means that if an enemy has only a rare item to steal, the best possible actual success rate is 1/32 (3.125%), and similarly a maximum of 123/160 (76.875%) for an enemy with only a common item, and there's nothing you can do about it. This is why it's so hard to steal from enemies with no common item, though actually it's easier to steal a rare item when there is no common item, because this way you can just keep trying after "stealing" the common item—all the fail messages just make it look worse.

Lots of equipment can be stolen before you're "supposed" to have it (Mithril Swords and Mithril Knives in Worus for some early examples). Abuse as desired.

This is the Thief's built-in command.

If anyone in the party has Alertness, the chance of being attacked from behind is zero instead of 1/16.

May be worth using an ability slot on depending on the area and what you're doing, but usually it's simpler just to have a Thief in the party.

This is an innate passive ability for the Thief.

Using !Mug prevents weapons from casting spells or skills. Otherwise, it's identical to using !Steal and !Battle in the same action.

The steal attempt occurs before the damage is applied, despite the attack animation appearing first, so you can steal even if the damage kills the target. Handy for doing damage and possibly getting items at the same time. Particularly convenient when you're in a hurry (Karnak Castle). If !Mug fails to steal but kills the enemy, you don't get another chance to steal from it, so !Steal is more useful for getting items reliably.

Raises the character's agility bonus to +16 (same as Thief's) if it would otherwise be lower.

Only somewhat useful. Would be better if the bonus damage from agility for certain weapons wasn't bugged (affects all knives except the Maneater and the Chicken Knife, all bows except the Magicseal Bow, all whips, the Full Moon, and the Rising Sun).

The character leaps into the air, becoming untargetable with most attacks, then lands on the target after a delay. !Jump always hits (unless the target has 'decoy' status), ignores row, and additionally doubles M for spears (and the Maneater).

!Jump cannot be a critical hit even if the weapon allows it, and prevents weapons from casting spells. Rods ignore !Jump's perfect hit rate, but then, you should be using spears with !Jump anyway.

!Jump is as much a defensive move as it is an offensive one. Sure, it gets doubled damage from spears, but it also gets full power from the back row and takes the character out of the line of fire for a while. It's possible to deliberately dodge big nasty attacks like this, but the timing is tricky since you don't control how long characters stay in the air. The Minstrel's !Hide is more reliable for avoiding such attacks.

This is the Wyrmknight's built-in command.

Drains HP and MP from the target. Ignores row and always hits. Works backwards on the Undead.

The HP drain uses A = Random(45, 50), D = MDef, and M = (level * magic)/256 + 4. The MP drain uses A = 4, D = MDef/32, and M = (level * magic)/256 + 4. That gives the HP drain the same power as a Drain spell and the MP drain half the power of Aspir, though with perfect hit rate.

Mages may find !Wyrmblade useful as a way to replenish MP.

Allows any job to equip spears. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +18 (same as Wyrmknight's) if it would otherwise be lower.

Refer to the Knight's Equip Sword ability. It's like that with less strength. Spears are best used with !Jump anyway, and most jobs can't use both !Jump and Equip Spear at the same, while Normal doesn't need an ability to equip spears in the first place.

Flee combat. Always(?) succeeds if fleeing is possible.

Refer to Thief's !Scram. The description even reuses the same text block.

Gives the user 'decoy (2)' status (the next two physical attacks that would otherwise hit the character miss).

分身 (bunshin) is the standard term for ninja "cloning" skills.

Same as the White Magic spell Blink, except that it takes up an ability slot and only works on the user, but costs no MP. It's also available earlier.

If anyone in the party has Preemptive Attack, the preemptive attack rate rises to 1/4 instead of 1/8.

This is an innate passive ability for the Ninja.

Not really worth using an ability slot for, but it makes a nice innate passive.

Throws a weapon at an enemy. !Throw always hits (unless the target has 'decoy' status) and ignores row.

For thrown weapons, A = 2 * Random(throw attack, throw attack * 9/8), D = defense, M = (level * strength)/128 + (level * agility)/128 + 2. Throw attack equals attack power for most weapons, but there are a few exceptions, most notably the Excalipur, which has a pitiful 1 attack power, but a respectable 100 throw attack. Several non-equipable items can be thrown as well. Soot has 25 throw attack, Shuriken have 50, and Fuuma Shuriken have 117.

Scrolls work differently, and instead act as casting a spell with 120 power against all enemies, with the element determined by the scroll.

For thrown scrolls, A = Random(120, 135), D = MDef, and M = (level * magic)/256 + 4

This is the Ninja's built-in command.

The character can use one weapon in each hand at the expense of a shield (assuming a job that can use shields to begin with). As far as offense goes, this is essentially equivalent to having two of the character, with one wielding the right-hand weapon normally and the other wielding the left-hand weapon normally.

This ability, like the Knight's Two-Handed Grip, effectively doubles a character's offense. This one has two significant advantages, though. For one thing, it works with nearly every weapon, not just the limited set that the Knight skill does. More importantly, as an innate passive skill, it automatically passes on to the Mimic and Normal classes after mastering Ninja, without needing to use up a skill slot. Of course, Two-Handed Grip has advantages of its own...

This is an innate passive ability for the Ninja.

みねうち (mineuchi) is a strike with the flat or (blunt) back end of a blade.

You'd think this would cause 'paralysis'. You'd be wrong. Apparently, it's just a normal attack, except that it won't remove 'confused', 'sleep', or 'controlled' status.

Marginally better than !Battle since it won't remove bad status. It's anyone's guess whether the ability is bugged or the description is bad.

Uses up gil to damage all enemies. Multiple enemies increase cost but don't split damage. Always hits (unless target has 'decoy' status), ignores row.

A = level + 10, D = defense, M = 150. Gil cost per use is 50 * level * number of targets. Can be powerful, but can also be expensive.

This is the Samurai's built-in command.

The character has a 1/4 chance to avoid blockable physical attacks, applied before standard evasion. Does not work when the character has 'sleep', 'paralysis', 'confusion', or 'stop' status, or is both the attacker and the target.

This is an innate passive ability for the Samurai.

Very nice as an innate passive, but less useful if you need to spend an ability slot on it. It's sort of like having an extra shield.

Allows any job to equip katanas. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +19 (same as Samurai's) if it would otherwise be lower.

Refer to the Knight's Equip Sword ability. Equip Katana gives a smaller strength bonus, but katanas have a good critical rate.

居合い (iai) is the skill, sometimes depicted in fiction in run-by slashings, of drawing the sword, cutting down an opponent, and optionally resheathing the sword, all in one fluid motion.

Attempts to kill all enemies. Ignores 'incapacitated' (instant death) immunity, but fails on Heavy types (which includes many bosses). Long delay before activation.

Success rate per target is (85 + user's level - target's level)%, and each target has an additional MEvd% chance to avoid it even if a success is determined. This is similar to the Odin Summon's Zantetsuken ability at no MP cost, except that it takes up an ability slot and can miss.

Puts the character in constant 'berserk' status, even if immune to it. Having 'berserk' status provides a 50% bonus to A and causes the character to automatically attack a randomly selected enemy each turn.

This is not quite the same as the Berserker's innate 'berserk' status, nor is it quite the same as the usual 'berserk' status from other causes.

As far as I can tell, being a Berserker works like having 'berserk' status (as set by the White Magic spell Berserk or Blue Magic skill Moon Flute, for example), except that the character has a moderately long delay before taking a first action, and Library will not report the character as being in 'berserk' status. The sidebar that appears when using items and so forth on the party will also never indicate 'berserk' status. However, the 50% A bonus still applies. Berserkers never look 'berserk' (no red skin), and are unaffected by any attempts to set 'berserk' status, even the Chemist !Mix result that ignores immunity. Agility and equipment weight seem to have little or no effect on the initial delay, but do quite clearly affect speed after the first attack (try disarming several Berserkers, to keep them from killing everything too quickly, and giving a slower one the Thief's Fidget ability). Berserkers are also immune to 'confusion' status.

Setting the Berserk ability on a non-Berserker class also acts a bit oddly. The character does not begin combat in 'berserk' status, and does not take any action until their command window would normally appear. At that point, they turn red and start attacking uncontrollably with a 50% A bonus, just like any 'berserk' character. This means that, if a different character's command prompt appears before this happens, you can wait at that prompt forever and the character with the Berserk ability will never do anything, while a true Berserker will begin acting after the previously mentioned delay and continue to attack until combat ends. As with a Berserker, Library will not report the character as being in 'berserk' status, but the party targeting sidebar will indicate 'berserk' status, though only after the character turns red. Characters with the Berserk ability equipped are unaffected by anything that causes 'berserk' status. Non-Berserker characters with the Berserk ability equipped are not subject to the Berserker's delay before a first action. Like the Berserker class, the Berserk ability also confers immunity to 'confusion' status.

Incidentally, since this isn't exactly an innate ability, mastering Berserker won't give Mimics and Normals automatic 'berserk' status, so feel free.

Allows any job to equip axes. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +21 (same as Berserker's) if it would otherwise be lower.

Refer to the Knight's Equip Sword ability. Not only does Equip Axe give a smaller strength bonus, but axes also have fairly poor accuracy and wildly variable damage. On the plus side, they partially pierce defense (D = defense/4).

Animals appear and do something. The effect chosen is random, with more available as character level increases. Detailed animals list.

Healing effects are fairly common and not bad especially considering the lack of MP cost. The other abilities are more of a mixed bag. Mages may want this so they have something to do that doesn't consume MP, especially considering the low ABP cost to learn it.

Attacks with a slight delay, but ensuring a hit (unless the target has 'decoy' status). Perfect hit doesn't work with rods.

Nice against evasive enemies, and useful as an innate, but I wouldn't normally spend an ability slot on it.

This is the Hunter's built-in command.

Allows any job to equip bows. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +16 (same as Hunter's) if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly raises the agility bonus to +12 (same as Hunter's) if it would otherwise be lower.

One of the best Equip xxx abilities. Bows are fairly powerful and work well from the back row, and the speed boost doesn't hurt either. The only downside is that most have fairly low accuracy without !Aim, with the usual hit rate for bows being 70%.

Attack four times at reduced power, targeting a random opponent with each attack. Each strike always hits (unless target has 'decoy' status).

Prevents weapons from casting spells. Halves M and sets D to 0. Yes, that means it ignores target defense... your fighters will love this ability. J. L. Tseng notes in his FAQ that the third and fourth hits seem to behave oddly in that they don't trigger counterattacks or other special scripted actions, nor do they remove 'sleep', 'confused', or 'controlled' status.

The character automatically gains 'shell' status when in 'near death' status (HP under 1/8 of maximum). Note that recovering health will not then remove 'shell'.

This is an innate passive ability for the Sword Mage.

Not bad as an innate passive, but not worth spending an ability slot on.

Allows the character to cast Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder Sword Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells and the character is wielding a suitable weapon (most daggers and swords). Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +4 if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly reduces the magic penalty to -9 if it would otherwise be worse.

Allows the character to cast Poison, Silence, Sleep, and all lower-level Sword Magic spells, as long as the party party has the corresponding spells and the character is wielding a suitable weapon. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +6 if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly reduces the magic penalty to -7 if it would otherwise be worse.

Allows the character to cast Fira, Blizzara, Thundara, and all lower-level Sword Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells and the character is wielding a suitable weapon. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +8 if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly reduces the magic penalty to -5 if it would otherwise be worse.

Allows the character to cast Drain, Break, Bio, and all lower-level Sword Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells and the character is wielding a suitable weapon. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +10 if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly reduces the magic penalty to -3 if it would otherwise be worse.

Allows the character to cast Figa, Blizzaga, Thundaga, and all lower-level Sword Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells and the character is wielding a suitable weapon. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +12 if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly reduces the magic penalty to -1 if it would otherwise be worse.

Allows the character to cast Holy, Flare, Aspir, and all lower-level Sword Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells and the character is wielding a suitable weapon. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +14 (same as Sword Mage's) if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly raises the magic bonus to +1 (same as Sword Mage's) if it would otherwise be lower.

!Magic Sword is an inexpensive way to inflict elemental damage and status effects. It works particularly well with the Knight and Normal jobs. Detailed spell list.

This is the Sword Mage's built-in command.

Allows the character to cast the Cure, Library, and Poisona spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +15 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Silence, Protect, Minimum, and all lower-level White Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +17 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Cura, Raise, Confuse, and all lower-level White Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +19 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Blink, Shell, Esuna, and all lower-level White Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +21 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Curega, Reflect, Berserk, and all lower-level White Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +23 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Araise, Holy, Dispel, and all lower-level White Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +25 (same as White Mage's) if it would otherwise be lower.

!White Magic is always a good ability to have. Keep the level up for more spells, as well as better magic boosts on non-caster jobs. Detailed spell list.

This is the White Mage's built-in command.

Increases maximum MP by 10%.

I hereby dub thee, "waste of ABP". If you need MP that badly, at least use the Black Mage's MP Up 30%.

Allows the character to cast the Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +16 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Poison, Sleepel, Toad, and all lower-level Black Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +19 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Fira, Blizzara, Thundara, and all lower-level Black Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +22 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Drain, Break, Bio, and all lower-level Black Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +25 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Figa, Blizzaga, Thundaga, and all lower-level Black Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +28 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Flare, Death, Aspir, and all lower-level Black Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +31 (same as Black Mage's) if it would otherwise be lower.

!Black Magic is always good for a magical way to Hurt Things. Keep the level up for more spells, plus better magic boosts on non-caster jobs. Detailed spell list.

This is the Black Mage's built-in command.

Increases maximum MP by 30%.

Marginally better than the White Mage's MP Up 10%, but surely you have better ways to use your ability slots?

Allows the character to cast the Speed, Slow, and Regenerate spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +14 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Mute, Haste, Levitate, and all lower-level Timespace spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +16 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Gravity, Stop, Teleport, and all lower-level Timespace spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +18 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Comet, Slowga, Return, and all lower-level Timespace spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +20 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Graviga, Hastega, Old, and all lower-level Timespace spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +22 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Meteor, Quick, Dejon, and all lower-level Timespace spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +24 (same as Time Mage's) if it would otherwise be lower.

!Timespace has some good buffs and debuffs and other handy effects. Keep the level up for more spells and to give non-caster jobs better magic boosts. Detailed spell list.

This is the Time Mage's built-in command.

Allows any job to equip rods. No attribute bonuses, unlike most Equip abilities.

Rods are more useful as magic boosters than anything else, and the jobs that benefit the most from them can already equip them.

Allows the character to summon Chocobo, Sylph, and Remora, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +17 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to summon Shiva, Ramuh, Ifrit, and all lower-level Summoned beasts, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +21 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to summon Titan, Golem, Catoblepas, and all lower-level Summoned beasts, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +25 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to summon Carbuncle, Syldra, Odin, and all lower-level Summoned beasts, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +29 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to summon Phoenix, Leviathan, Bahamut, and all lower-level Summoned beasts, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +33 (same as Summoner's) if it would otherwise be lower.

!Summon gives plenty of good ways to inflict damage, and has a surprising variety of utility spells too. Keep the level up for more spells, as well as better magic boosts on non-caster jobs. Detailed spell list.

This is the Summoner's built-in command.

Summons at random without using any MP. Any Summon spell learned, and only those that have been learned, may be chosen.

Note that this command does NOT provide a magic bonus, so won't work all that well on jobs with poor magic. On the other hand, caster classes should be able to have some fun with it. The randomness is a downside, but hey, no MP cost and lots of multitarget attacks.

Shows target's current and max HP, or "?????/?????" if the target's HP cannot be scanned. Does not show weaknesses (the scan routine is bugged).

Don't bother. Just equip !White Magic for Library instead, which gives more information anyway, and get Cure and Poisona (at least) as a bonus.

If a character with Learning is hit (not just targeted) by a learnable enemy skill, that skill is added to the party's learned Blue Magic list upon winning the battle.

This ability is a must-have if you want to build up the usefulness of the !Blue Magic command.

This is an innate passive ability for the Blue Mage.

Allows the character to use any Blue Magic skill that the party has learned. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +23 (same as Blue Mage's) if it would otherwise be lower. Detailed spell list.

The sheer variety of Blue Magic available makes this one of the most versatile abilities in the game... at least, once you've learned the skills.

This is the Blue Mage's built-in command.

Shows target's level, current and max HP (or "?????/?????" if the target's HP cannot be scanned), elemental weaknesses (if any), and current status effects (if any). Always fails in boss battles.

Same as the Library spell at no MP cost, except that it takes up an ability slot, can't target allies, and, worst of all, fails on bosses. Stick with !White Magic.

Allows the character to cast Cure, Library, Poisona, Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +6 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Silence, Protect, Minimum, Poison, Sleepel, Toad, and all lower-level White Magic and Black Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +7 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Cura, Raise, Confuse, Fira, Blizzara, Thundara, and all lower-level White Magic and Black Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +8 (same as Red Mage's) if it would otherwise be lower.

Useful for magically inclined jobs until stronger spells are available. Not as good on fighters thanks to the low magic boost, but still of some value.

This is the Red Mage's built-in command.

Allows the character to cast two spells in one turn. The command always contains all learned White Magic and Black Magic spells up to spell level three, and will also contain all learned spells in !Magic Sword, !White Magic, !Black Magic, !Timespace, or !Summon if the character has the corresponding command set. Blue Magic is not included. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +8 (same as Red Mage's) if it would otherwise be lower.

Let's give a few concrete examples, shall we? A Time Mage with !Chain Magic will be able to chain cast all learned Timespace spells (from innate !Timespace) in addition to the usual learned White Mage and Black Magic spells up to level three. A Mimic equipped with !White, !Summon, and !Chain Magic can chain cast learned Black Magic up to level three, all learned White Magic, and all learned Summon magic. In all cases, the caster can mix and match as desired, and casting the same spell twice is also perfectly valid. Each spell works as an independent action. Keep an eye on your MP usage and enjoy!

Inflicts 'stop' status on the target. Always works on Beast type monsters (unless immune), always fails otherwise.

Good against some opponents, useless against others. Probably not worth using an ability slot on, but may be occasionally.

Takes control of a monster. Success rate is 40%, raised to 75% if wearing a Hypno Crown. A monster in 'berserk' or 'confused' status cannot be controlled, and some monsters are immune entirely.

This can be an extremely useful ability. It's good for learning Blue Magic, and a number of monsters are quite capable of slaughtering themselves.

Allows any job to equip whips. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +13 (same as Beast Tamer's) if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly raises the agility bonus to +1 (same as Beast Tamer's) if it would otherwise be lower.

One of the best Equip xxx abilities. Whips are fairly powerful, fairly accurate, and work well from the back row. They also all have either a good chance to inflict 'paralysis' or a chance to cast a damaging spell on attack. Some classes benefit from the speed boost as well, slight as it is.

Releases the monster in the character's "monster storage". The monster will perform an action on behalf of the party and then leave, and !Release reverts to !Capture at this point. The action used depends on the monster, and uses the monster's attributes to determine effectiveness.

Released monsters can have some very powerful effects, but first you have to know what to capture, and actually capture it. The fact that you can only use !Release once per character before having to restock is another downside.

These two together are the Beast Tamer's built-in commands.

Doubles the effect of any Potion, High Potion, or Ether the character uses in combat. Also works on any Potion, High Potion, Ether, or Ether Dry formed with !Mix.

This is an innate passive ability for the Chemist.

Like many innate passives, it's nice to have as one, but not often worth using an ability slot for.

Mix two ingredients to get something new and different. Maybe. Some results are downright boring, while others are entirely unique.

If you know what you're doing and have enough ingredients, !Mix may be the single most powerful ability in the game. The problems are, of course, collecting enough ingredients and knowing what you're doing... There are 59 possible outcomes.

Allows the character to drink a Giant Drink, Strength Drink, Speed Drink, Protect Drink, or Hero Drink to power up.

Not a bad set of buffs. Probably more useful on a fighter.

This is the Chemist's built-in command.

Removes 'darkness', 'poison', 'minimum', 'toad', 'petrified', 'silence', 'confusion', 'paralysis', 'sleep', and 'aging' status from all allies.

Useful against enemies that use lots of status effects. For best results, protect the character with !Recover from any that would interfere with using the command.

All 'incapacitated' allies recover with 1/16 of their maximum HP.

Essentially the same as a Raise spell cast on all allies at no MP cost, but it takes up an ability slot. Personally, I'd rather have !White Magic.

Uses a terrain-based attack against the enemy, chosen randomly based on the batteground with more effects available at higher levels. Detailed effects list.

This is one of those abilties that's good for letting mages do something useful without spending MP.

This is the Geomancer's built-in command.

If anyone in the party has Pitfall Evasion, the party will jump back when the floor drops away instead of falling through.

You can still fall in normally after revealing the hole. Don't run around too carelessly. On the other hand, sometimes you may want to jump in...

Not an ability for general use, as only a few areas have hidden pitfalls. Equip only as needed, or just make someone a Geomancer.

This is an innate passive ability for the Geomancer.

If anyone in the party has Damage Floor, the party will take no damage from walking over harmful terrain (such as lava).

Equip when the floor hurts you, otherwise don't. Or just make someone a Geomancer for those areas.

This is an innate passive ability for the Geomancer.

Cancels hiding. The character returns to being a valid target and can take action normally again.

Allows any job to equip harps. Additionally raises the character's agility bonus to +8 (same as Minstrel's) if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly raises the magic bonus to +11 (same as Minstrel's) if it would otherwise be lower.

In short, why bother? Except for Apollon's Harp, harps inflict small percent-based damage and are completely useless against Heavy types.

Allows the character to use any song that the party has learned. Detailed song list.

The buffs aren't bad, and the status attacks can be nice, but it's probably not worth an ability slot except when spamming Requiem or in low-level games.

This is the Minstrel's built-in command.

Cancels the target's next action. Base success rate is 50%. Always fails on Heavy types.

Actual success rate is (50 + user's level - target's level)%, doubled if the user has a Lamia's Tiara, Rainbow Dress, or Red Shoes equipped (using more than one has no further effect). The target has an additional MEvd% chance to avoid it even if a success is determined. !Heated Glance has no effect on the behavior of targets in 'berserk', 'sleep', 'confused', or 'controlled' status.

When successful, the message "…………うっふん" (a flirtatious giggling noise) appears, and the target's next action is replaced with the message "ドキドキしてる" (heart racing).

Is it worth using an ability slot for? Probably not. Maybe if it lasted longer, always worked, or affected multiple enemies.

Randomly uses Mystery Waltz, Jitterbug Duet, Tempting Tango, or Sword Dance.

Normally, you'll get each of the four dances with equal probability. However, if the user has a Lamia's Tiara, Rainbow Dress, or Red Shoes equipped, Sword Dance instead occurs half the time, and Mystery Waltz and Jitterbug Duet each occur one time in four (Tempting Tango will not occur at all). Equipping more than one of these has no additional effect. Detailed dance list.

The randomness is the problem. Fighters love Sword Dance, and mages could find Mystery Waltz valuable, but it's just too unreliable for regular usage.

This is the Dancer's built-in command.

Allows any job to equip all Dancer-exclusive equipment (not just the Ribbon, but also the Maneater, the Rainbow Dress, and the Red Shoes).

Possibly the most interesting Equip xxx ability. The Rainbow Dress and Red Shoes are fairly strong and confer 'confusion' immunity, the Maneater is a powerful dagger that thinks it's a spear and deals extra damage to humanoids, and the Ribbon is one of the strongest headgears, adds 5 to all attributes, and prevents 'incapacitated', 'petrified', 'toad', 'poison', 'darkness', 'aging', 'berserk', and 'silence'. It's still probably not worth using up an ability slot, but at least it's unusual.

Does whatever the last character to act did. Any action counts, including defending, and probably also counterattacks {confirm this}.

Mimicked actions cost the mimicker no MP, but still consume items and gil (when applicable). Mimicking a command that picks an outcome at random, such as !Terrain, will pick a random outcome from that command, not necessarily the same result that the previous character got. As should come as no surprise, mimicked actions use the mimicker's attributes and equipment where appropriate, not those of the character they mimic.

None. However, Normal can use all equipment from the outset. Additionally, Normal inherits all innate passive abilities from each job that the character has mastered (innate abilities are the ones you get just by being that job), and each attribute also uses the best bonus out of all bonuses for that attribute from jobs the character has mastered (for example, master Thief and Black Mage for a Thief's agility and a Black Mage's magic power). Negative modifiers are ignored, so mastering Berserker and nothing else, for example, won't cripple your agility and magic.

With no jobs mastered, character attributes are as follows:

These are also the base values that the attribute modifiers for all jobs are added to or subtracted from.

Interesting that Faris has both the most well-rounded and the highest overall attributes. Lenna makes the best mage, with Karulu quicker and nearly as magically inclined, while Butz and Galuf make better fighters. Also interesting that Karulu's attributes are almost completely opposite Galuf's. In the end, though, even the largest differences between characters are fairly small and easily overwhelmed by the effects of job changes.

And here's a frequently asked question: Which jobs are worth mastering? Well, that all depends on what you conder worthwhile.

For the best attribute bonuses, you'll want Monk (for +26 strength and +26 stamina), Thief (for +16 agility), and Summoner (for +33 magic power). With Monk, Thief, and Summoner mastered, character attributes in the Normal and Mimic jobs are:

For innate abilities, Normal and Mimic can inherit from following: Knight (Cover), Monk (Martial Arts, Counter), Thief (Secret Passages, Dash, Alertness), Ninja (Preemptive Attack, Dual-Wield), Samurai (Blade Grab), Sword Mage (Magic Barrier), Blue Mage (Learning), Chemist (Medicine Lore), and Geomancer (Pitfall Evasion, Damage Floor). If you want any of these abilities, master the associated jobs to save on ability slots.

Jobs that aren't worth mastering unless you're a completionist include Wyrmknight (Equip Spear is useless to Normal), Berserker (Berserk is iffy and Equip Axe useless), White Mage and Black Mage (all you get are so-so MP boosts), Time Mage (Equip Rod is useless to Normal), Dancer (Equip Ribbon is useless to Normal), and Mimic (if you really want !Mimic, just change job to Mimic). It's also safe to skip all the Knight's Equip abilities if you don't mind doing without Cover. Any jobs not listed here or in the above two paragraphs have final-level commands that may be worth using at least occasionally.

And, of course, if you want any commands or any passive abilities that aren't innate, you'll have to gain enough levels in the appropriate jobs.

One last note. When playing around in a late-game save to gather information for the status effects page, I found that I couldn't get 'petrified' (at least) to stick on a character in Normal job with all jobs mastered. This was against a target with nothing equipped, so it can't be an immunity from equipment, and when using !Magic Sword Break, which is supposed to always inflict status unless the target is immune. Switching the target to Knight class allowed it to work normally, so it's also not a case of something that doesn't work when one player character attacks another. Could Normal get an undocumented bonus status immunity for mastering all classes? I don't know, but it's possible. This calls for further investigation.

Found at the very beginning of the list, before !Items, !Change, !Defend, and !Battle. No apparent purpose, does nothing if hacked in and used.

Found between !Terrain and !Hide. Perhaps another Geomancer command was under consideration. Does nothing if hacked in and used.

Found between !Appear and !Sing. Perhaps another Minstrel command was under consideration. If hacked in and used, it appears to cast Magic Sword Fire on the user, but actually does nothing.

A blank. Yay. If hacked in and used, acts like a buggy !Battle or something similar.

Whee, another blank... If hacked in and used, acts like a buggy !Jump.

No idea what this is. Can't be used even if hacked in.

This might be the enemy response to a successful !Heated Glance... or not. Can't be used even if hacked in.

No idea what this is. Can't be used even if hacked in.

Apparently the designers left room to expand, just in case more commands were needed. Can't be used even if hacked in.