Meteor (ability)



Meteor, also known as Meteo, Desolator, Shake, and Black Sky, is a recurring spell in the Final Fantasy series. Usually one of the strongest spells, it summons a barrage of meteorites to bombard enemies. It either does high non-elemental damage, or hits for mediocre damage multiple times. Meteor's downgraded form is Comet, which sometimes acts as a replacement for Meteor when Meteor is not a usable spell.

Meteor is an important plot device in Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy XIV. Some chocobos can use a version of the spell called Choco Meteor, while other enemies can use a version known as Meteorite. The spell is generally used by strong enemies, namely by the Behemoth class.

Final Fantasy III
Meteor is a level eight Black Magic spell which can be bought for 60,000 gil from the magic shop in Eureka. It deals random non-elemental damage to all enemies and has a base power of 180.

It is only usable by the Magus, Sage, and Onion Knight (DS only) classes. The enemies Echidna, Xande, Xande's Clone, and Ahriman can use the spell against the party, as well as the superboss Iron Giant in the DS release.

Final Fantasy IV
The legendary ultimate spell, Meteor is both the strongest Black Magic spell and a major plot device. It was a legendary spell sealed away and Tellah suspects it is hidden on Mount Ordeals because of tremendous power emanating from the area. He learns it to defeat Golbez and avenge his daughter, Anna. In the end, Tellah uses all of his life force to cast it on Golbez.

Meteor has a casting time of 10 and costs 99 MP to cast and will take several turns to charge, but deals tremendous damage to all enemies. In the 2D versions the damage is Holy-elemental, but in the 3D remakes it deals non-elemental damage. It has a spell power of 800 in the SNES, PS, GBA and PSP versions, and 250 in DS and mobile versions. Against most enemies, this translates to 9,999 damage or close. If the user has the Break Damage Limit ability, it may do more. Only Zeromus has access to the spell against the party. Rydia can use it when she gets to level 60 in SNES, PS, GBA and PSP versions, and level 80 in the DS and mobile remakes. Palom learns it at level 55 in SNES, PS, GBA and PSP versions.

There also exists an even stronger version known as Twin Meteor, initially called Double Meteor or W.Meteo, which originally was only seen during the cutscene prior to the final battle against Zeromus when Twincast by Fusoya and Golbez, which dealt 9999 damage, or in the case of the DS version, 99999 damage. In the Advance and Complete Collection remakes, it can be cast via the Twincast command of Palom and Porom when they are equipped with the Twin Stars accessory, hitting all enemies. The spell costs 20 MP to cast, but has a long cast time. Twin Meteor is classified as a black magic spell in the DS and mobile remakes.

Final Fantasy IV -Interlude-
Meteor returns as a Black Magic spell in the sequel of Final Fantasy IV. The imposter Rydia learns it at level 60 while Palom learns it at level 50, but Rydia doesn't have the spell when she participates in the final battle. It deals extreme Holy-elemental damage to all enemy at the cost of 99 MP.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
Meteor is once again the ultimate spell, but this time it is non-elemental. Golbez and Fusoya can use Double Black Magic as a Band when fighting Zeromus's Malice, and one of the possible spells it can cast is Double Meteor.

Final Fantasy V

 * For the transportation method between worlds see: Meteorite (Final Fantasy V).

Meteor is a Level 6 Time Magic spell. It attacks four random targets for random damage, and costs 42 MP to cast. It is acquired after obtaining the third Tablet in the Great Sea Trench.

The formula for each hit of Meteor is as follows:
 * $$Damage = ((50..200) - Magic Defense) * M, M = 14$$

Meteor can be cast by Chrono Controller, Enuo, Exdeath in both fights with him, Famed Mimic Gogo, King Behemoth, Neo Exdeath, Neo Shinryu, and Behemoth.

Final Fantasy VI
Meteor is an Attack spell that can be learned from Odin at a x1 rate and Crusader at a x10 rate, while Celes can learn it naturally at level 98. It costs 62 MP to cast and deals non-elemental damage to all enemies. It has a power of 36. Meteor is a multi-targeting spell, but when used as an Added Ability from the Stardust Rod, it will only hit the attacked target, making it a single-targeting Meteor. In other games flaming meteors rain down on the battlefield, but in Final Fantasy VI the spell is shown as meteors flying through space.

Meteor can be cast by Brachiosaur, Cherry, Great Behemoth, Kefka (Final Boss), Level 90 Magic, Lunatys, Tyrannosaur, and Ultima Buster.

An enemy ability also named Meteor exists, and is a flaming meteor shower like in previous games. The enemy spell Meteor has a Spell Power of 60 with a Hit Rate of 80, and it cost 20 MP for the enemy to use. It ignores defense and split damage. This version of Meteor has a chance to miss and it uses a different graphic. It was localized as Meteo in the game's SNES version.

It can be cast by Behemoth, Guardian, Intangir, Rest, Demon, Behemoth King in both forms, Dark Behemoth, Kaiser Dragon, Omega Weapon, and Ultima Weapon.

Final Fantasy VII


Meteor in Final Fantasy VII is not a usable spell but an important plot point. Comet and Comet2 serve as substitutes for purposes of gameplay.

Dirge of Cerberus -Final Fantasy VII-
Omega Weiss can use Meteor. The spell is only labeled in the game's guide, created by a third-party company, and has been dubbed Omega Meteor by fans to fit the naming pattern of the ultimate attacks of the other Weapon enemies in the Compilation.

Final Fantasy VIII
Meteor deals small damage at ten separate intervals, which are divided between targets at random. The result can be anywhere from negligible to devastating. It can be drawn from a number of high level monsters, and refined from items using Bahamut's Forbidden Magic Refine ability. Casting Meteor in battle increases compatibility with Eden by 0.4 and with Brothers, Diablos, Leviathan and Bahamut by 0.2. Casting Meteor doesn't lower compatibility with any GF.

Certain enemies, such as Behemoth, Torama and Omega Weapon, use the spell against the party.

A known damage-dealing trick is to have Rinoa use her Angel Wing Limit Break with Meteor as the only offensive spell in her inventory resulting in Rinoa casting Meteor spells in rapid succession. Because spells deal 5x the normal damage when used through the Angel Wing Limit Break, Rinoa will devastate most opponents this way.

Boko can use ChocoMeteor if the player has trained him in the Chocobo World.

Final Fantasy IX
Meteor is a Black Magic spell cast by Vivi for 42 MP, and is learned from the High Mage Staff for 95 AP. It deals random damage with chance of doing extreme damage, or nothing at all. Meteor ignores Magic Defense and can miss the target.

Deathguise and Gimme Cat can cast Meteor, and Behemoth will use a version called Meteor Counter when attacked, and cost 40 MP for the enemy to use. The superboss Ozma also uses Meteor, but its Meteor spell is different from the other Meteor spells; it never misses and takes 40 MP to cast as opposed to the regular 42. Both Meteor and Counter Meteor can't be reflected and both works with Return Magic.

Zidane also has a SFX version of the ability called Medeo during the sword fight at the beginning of the game.

Damage formula:
 * $$Base = 88$$
 * $$Bonus = 1 ... (Lv + Mag) - 1$$
 * $$Damage = Base * Bonus$$

Meteor's accuracy is dependent on the following formula:
 * $$Accuracy = [(Level / 2) + Spirit]$$

Final Fantasy X
The Behemoth King will cast Meteor on the party when it dies. It is not available to the party.

Final Fantasy X-2
The bosses Humbaba and Trema use the spell Meteor, as well as a variety of other enemies. Meteor is a physical attack that hits random targets and takes 12.5% off the target's HP per hit, but the damage can be halved with Protect and reduced to 1 HP damage with Warrior's Sentinel.

The chocobo has a variant called Choco Meteo. Dark Knights can learn the ability Black Sky, which deals ten random hits to all enemies. Black Sky requires Death to be mastered, 100 AP to master the spell, and costs 80 MP to cast. It uses similar animation to the Meteor spell. It can also be used via Lady Luck's Magic Reels by rolling three BARs.

In the International and the HD Remaster versions, Lulu and Seymour Guado are able to cast Meteor during their boss battles. Once Lulu and Seymour join the party through the Creature Creator system, they are able to learn Meteor.

Final Fantasy XI
Meteor is a spell available to level 99 Black Mages. The spell deals damage to enemies within an area of effect. Multiple Black Mages in possession of the spell can join in another player's casting, dramatically increasing the meteor's damage and changing its visual effects, similar to the game's opening movie depicting a group of Tarutaru Black Mages channeling a meteor.

The spell was originally only available to a select few Hyper Notorious Monsters including most of the Behemoth-class monsters, Promathia, Absolute Virtue, and even Shantotto. The enemy variant of the spell deals devastating area Dark-based elemental damage to all targets within a massive range. It was the primary reason Absolute Virtue remained unbeatable while the level cap was anchored at 75 prior to 2010.

Final Fantasy XII
Meteor is the name of the ultimate attack used by Exodus. It deals random damage to all enemies in range, with a possibility of doing 30,000 damage. Exodus must be immobilized in order to activate this attack. In the International Zodiac Job System version, the attack can be executed at will as the player is now able to directly control the Espers.

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
Meteor is used by the Esper Exodus, and it damages enemies over a small area.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
Meteor is used by PuPu in the downloadable content Coliseum Challenge, Take Me to Your Leader.

Meteor is used by Caius during the opening sequence.

Final Fantasy XIV
Meteor was a major plot point revolving around the Seventh Umbral Era. Cid believed the Garlean Empire was planning to use the spell to purge Eorzea of the Primals, and the change of color of Dalamud was the first step towards that goal. Nael Van Darnus of the Empire was working on a classified project called "Project Meteor" for at least the last ten years to uncover the secrets of the spell once known by the Allagans, an ancient civilization wiped out in the Fourth Umbral Era.

As Final Fantasy XIV advanced forward in preparation for A Realm Reborn, Meteor advanced towards Eorzea. Each patch up until the conclusion of the original game in November 2012 depicted Meteor ever so closer to impact, until it dominated the sky and affected the weather in 1.23.

Meteor also appears in A Realm Reborn now as a gameplay element, in three variants as the level 1, 2 and 3 Limit Break for Caster classes in the form of Skyshard, Starstorm and Meteor which deals damage with a potency of 1400, 3000 and 5400 to the target area respectively. The King Behemoth is capable of using a variant called Ecliptic Meteor; players must take cover behind rocks to avoid certain death.

Final Fantasy Tactics
Time Mages and Hashmal can cast Meteor. It cannot be calculated and has a long Charge Time. It costs 70 MP, has a speed of 8, and needs 1,500 JP to learn.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Alchemists can cast Meteor. They learn the spell from the Scorpion Tail Mace. It deals heavy non-elemental damage in a standard X-shaped area. It costs 40 MP to cast, has a Magic Power of 50, is stealable through the ability Steal: Ability, and is also susceptible to Return Magic and Absorb MP. It cannot be reflected.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
Alchemists can cast Protometeor, a spell identical to the Meteor spell. The actual Meteor spell is used by the Scion Exodus. It deals 999 damage to one enemy.

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Meteor is a Wizard Magic spell that only Benjamin can use. Despite its animation, it deals Earth-elemental damage to all enemies. It is found inside the Giant Tree.

Final Fantasy Legend III
Meteor is called Shake in the game, it's a Lost Magic spell that deals Quake-elemental damage to all enemies. It cost 40 MP to cast, and it can be made by combining one Fire elemental stone and one Earth elemental stone from Shar aboard the Talon.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
There are multiple variations of the Meteor spell used by many of the monsters. The Meteor Parasite can use a variation of the spell in its third stage of combat. Other monsters with variations of this ability include all of the Bombs and the Lich. Selkie characters can perform a variation of the spell called Meteor Blast as a Focus attack using the Dreamcatcher Racket.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates
Meteor is cast by piling Blizzard, Thunder, Clear, and Raise.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers
Meteor is a spell cast by the King Behemoth. The attack summons meteorites which can deal heavy damage if they hit. Any meteorite that falls in the ground can be picked up and thrown at other monsters.

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light
Desolator is the most powerful Black Magic spell. When the spell is used it launches five large meteors at random enemies and it costs 5 AP to cast. Desolator can be obtained in Horne Castle at the final stages of the game and can be given to any character by having the Desolator Tome in the character's inventory.

Bravely Default
Meteor is a level 6 Time Magic spell. It unleashes four non-elemental attacks on random targets. It is not affected by reflect. It costs 99 MP.

Final Fantasy Dimensions
Meteor, also known as Meteo during in-game dialogue, is called "The Ultimate Dark Spell" and is learned after the death of the Mask at the Ruins of Lufenia. It is the most powerful single target attack and strikes four times. If used on a group of foes, it will still target random enemies. Meteor can miss if the caster has low accuracy.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Terra and Kefka have Meteor as a Bravery attack. Terra's Meteor calls several fireballs to strike the opponent from above, while Kefka's Meteor calls five fireballs to strike around the opponent and bounce off the ground towards them. Terra learns Meteor at Level 29, and her version costs 30 CP to equip and 180 AP to master. Kefka learns the aerial and ground versions of his Meteor both at Level 31, and both versions cost 30 CP to use and 180 AP for mastery.

The Emperor has Starfall as an HP attack. It summons a barrage of fireballs to strike opponents followed by a meteor descending on top of them, but has a long charge time. The Emperor learns the ground version at Level 20, and can cast it in the air at Level 38. It costs 40 CP to equip and 300 AP to master.

Sephiroth has Black Materia as an HP attack, where he summons a meteor as seen in Final Fantasy VII to attack. Sephiroth learns the attack at Level 33. Black Materia costs 40 CP to equip and 300 AP to master. Onion Knight uses Meteor in his EX Burst Spellbook, where he summons a large meteor to strike opponents as the final blow of the burst. Golbez's EX Burst is Twin Meteor, which summons a swarm of meteors to swarm the opponent as two larger meteors strike them in succession.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
One of Sephiroth's HP attacks, Black Materia, summons Meteor to attack the opponent.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Vivi uses the Meteor Legend ability to assist the player.

Final Fantasy All the Bravest
Meteor is the ability that is used by the Sage during battle. It is also an enemy ability that is used by Golbez, Ultima Weapon, and Intangir during battle.

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon
Meteor is a Lv. 8 spell that costs 5 SP to cast and attacks all enemies in a 7x7 grid around Chocobo's Black Mage Form.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
One of Palom's cards has Meteor as its ability. For the discarding of another Palom card and three Fire CP, Meteor allows the player to choose up to three Forwards and do 6000 damage to one, 4000 damage to another, and 2000 damage to the third.

Xande's Amano art card can use Meteor for the cost of a Fire CP and discarding a Xande card. The effect is identical to Palom's card.

Mario Slam Basketball
Black Mage's special ability is the Meteor Shot. It is a direct shot if done inside the 20-point line, and is worth 40 points plus every coin owned. Outside the 20-point line, an ally may try and catch it to score a slam dunk.

Etymology
Therefore, the use of the term meteor is incorrect in most Final Fantasy games, as pieces that withstand ablation from atmospheric entry and impact with the ground are called a meteorites rather than meteors.