Magic tier system

In the Final Fantasy series, magic spells have an hierarchy of power, which is denoted throught the installments by adding suffixes and/or numbers to the spell's name. The most common tiering of spells is the three-tier line of power, seen in almost every game with the Fire, Blizzard and Thunder spells, but there are many exceptions, most of them present in supportive spells from the Time and Green magic schools. The Raise spell family is also very peculiar, as it usually has three levels, but does not follow the common naming starting with Final Fantasy VIII.

This page describes the tiering of spells in the series by game, using several examples.

Final Fantasy
The first Final Fantasy presented the standard hierarchy seen in the series. In terms of power levels, spells may have two, three or four tiers, when it applies. In the NES and PS versions, these tiers were difined by numbers suffixed to the spells' names, while in the GBA and PSP versions, the -ra, -ga and -ja suffixes are added to the spells' names in order to denote their power level (second, third and fourth tier, respectively).

Final Fantasy II
In Final Fantasy II, all spells have 16 levels of power, which are marked by the corresponding number (roman numbers are used in the GBA and PSP versions). A spell's MP cost is equal to its level. Spell gain levels with usage, and are maxed out with 10000 uses. Some spells' animations also change with their levels, although most only suffer the common increase in effectiveness.

Final Fantasy III
Along with the job system, Final Fantasy III returns the original tiering system. However, only five spell families have power levels: Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Aero, Cure and Raise.

Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy IV's spell tiering system is similar to Final Fantasy III ' s: Power levels continue exclusive to the Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Cure and Raise families.

Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy V's new Time Magic school brought new spells into the tier system: Haste, Slow and Demi. Despite their numbering being straightforward in early versions, the recent GBA version replaced their second tier numbering by the suffix -ga, which was before used to mark third-tier spells exclusively. It is common to see supportive spells skipping preffixes in the series.

Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VI does not add many changes to the tiering system of the series, other than adding a third level to the Life spell, later known as Reraise. Other than this, the same as Final Fantasy V applies here.

Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII's Magic Materias either feature two or three-tiered spell families, or a multitude of different spells similar in nature. This game also adds the Quake, Bio and Comet families to the power level system, though the former is exclusive to the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.

Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-
Before Crisis has a short magic list which is basically composed of a hand-full of three-tiered spell families.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
Crisis Core's tiering is present in the Cure, Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Drain and Osmose families alone.

Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VIII revolutionized the series' magic spells by introducing the suffix tiering system. However, only the Cure, Fire, Blizzard and Thunder spells featured more than a power level. The spell Gravija is first seen here as well.

Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy IX added the -ja level to the Cure line for the first time.

Final Fantasy X
In Final Fantasy X, Haste and Slow's multi-target versions are called Hastega and Slowga, skipping the -ra tier.

Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy XI features a different hierarchy for its spells' power levels. A spell is added a roman numeral ranking its strength (from I to IV, much like the suffixes' power levels). However, the -ga suffix is added to denote if it has an area-of-effect added to it.

Final Fantasy XII
In Final Fantasy XII, suffixes are again reused. The Cure line gives them an important meaning, as Cura is a multi-target version of Cure, while Curaga is a stronger version of Cure, targeting only one character. Curaja, in the other hand, acts as a stronger version of Cura.

For the basic Black Magick spells, the properties above do not apply: -ra and -ga spells are both multi-target. However, Aeroga is a stronger and multi-target version of Aero.

Supportive spells such as Esuna, Dispel and Gravity have a second power level which acts as a multi-target version of the spell, and is denoted by the -ga suffix.

Final Fantasy XIII
In Final Fantasy XIII spell tiering can be divided by Roles:
 * Ravager spells use the standard tiering system of -ra and -ga. Both power levels include area of effect, but distinct effectiveness. Thier effects on staggered enemies is distinct as well: -ra spells deal more base damage on staggered enemies, and -ga spells have a small launch effect. Aerora also has a small launch effect to staggered enemies.
 * The Medic's Cure line is quite distinct from the one seen in previous games. Cura has exactly the same function as its Final Fantasy XII appearance, while Curaga is exclusive to Eidolons, being a massively powerful healing spell. It is replaced by Curasa, which heals a percentage of the difference between the max and the current HP. Curaja works as an area-of-effect Curasa.
 * Synergist's spells use a two-tier power system, which applies to Faith, Bravery, Protect and Shell. Their second-level versions are marked by the -ra suffix and consist of a status increase of 50%, instead of 33%, but have a shorter duration.
 * Saboteur's spells again use a two-tier power system, which applies to all the spells but Death. Their second-level versions are marked by the -ga suffix and add an area of effect.