Ancient Magic is the term that describes a series of spells in Final Fantasy XI. These are generally considered to be the 6 Elemental Magic Spells available to Black Mages only between the levels of 50 and 60. All of them take about 18 seconds to cast and do relatively similar amounts of damage. Tier 1 Ancient Magic is generally regarded as useless by the player base due to its hideous mp-to-damage ratio as well as its obscenely long casting time, but if used with proper timing and skill it can be very deadly. Ancient Magic is also usable by black mage enemies (usually beastmen, most undead, and wild elementals, but certain notorious beasts are well-known for using it), and is usually difficult to interrupt in such cases.
The second tier of Ancient Magic is attainable through the merit system (and even more monsters to use it as well), and though it has a shorter casting time than the first tier it is considered very powerful.
List of spells[]
| Name | MP | Duration | Cast time (sec.) | Recast time (sec.) | Element | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freeze | 315 | Instant | 12 | 60 | Ice | BLM 50 |
| Deals ice damage to an enemy and lowers its resistance against fire. | ||||||
| Tornado | 315 | Instant | 12 | 60 | Wind | BLM 52 |
| Deals wind damage to an enemy and lowers its resistance against ice. | ||||||
| Quake | 315 | Instant | 12 | 60 | Earth | BLM 54 |
| Deals earth damage to an enemy and lowers its resistance against wind. | ||||||
| Burst | 315 | Instant | 12 | 60 | Lightning | BLM 56 |
| Deals lightning damage to an enemy and lowers its resistance against earth. | ||||||
| Flood | 315 | Instant | 12 | 60 | Water | BLM 58 |
| Deals water damage to an enemy and lowers its resistance against lightning. | ||||||
| Flare | 315 | Instant | 12 | 60 | Fire | BLM 60 |
| Deals fire damage to an enemy and lowers its resistance against water. | ||||||
Additional effects[]
In addition to the high damage, Ancient Magic weakens the enemy it is cast on to the weakness of that spell. Such as, casting Flare (Fire element) will weaken the enemy to Flood (water element). Unfortunately this effect is all but useless as the Black Mage will either pull hate or be very close to doing so, in addition to having just spent a very large amount of their MP, and thus will be unable to take advantage of this effect.
Ancient Magic II[]
A second level of Ancient Magic is available to Black Mages after they reach level 75. Each one of these costs 3 merit points in order to attain, and 4 then 5 points to upgrade to their maximum potential of 5 upgrades per spell. As with all other Group 2 traits and abilities, only 10 total upgrades may be purchased within the category, thus preventing a Black Mage from fully upgrading all Ancient Magic II spells. The increase in damage is considerable, and the fact that all of the Ancient Magic II spells actually cost less MP than their Ancient Magic I counterparts and can be cast in 10 seconds rather than closer to 20 makes these spells much more attractive than their tier 1 versions, especially if fully upgraded.
List of Ancient Magic II spells[]
| Name | MP | Duration | Cast time (sec.) | Recast time (sec.) | Element | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freeze II | 280 | Instant | 10 | 60 | Ice | BLM 75 |
| Deals ice damage to an enemy and lowers its resistance against fire. | ||||||
| Tornado II | 280 | Instant | 10 | 60 | Wind | BLM 75 |
| Deals wind damage to an enemy and lowers its resistance against ice. | ||||||
| Quake II | 280 | Instant | 10 | 60 | Earth | BLM 75 |
| Deals earth damage to an enemy and lowers its resistance against wind. | ||||||
| Burst II | 280 | Instant | 10 | 60 | Lightning | BLM 75 |
| Deals lightning damage to an enemy and lowers its resistance against earth. | ||||||
| Flood II | 280 | Instant | 10 | 60 | Water | BLM 75 |
| Deals water damage to an enemy and lowers its resistance against lightning. | ||||||
| Flare II | 280 | Instant | 10 | 60 | Fire | BLM 75 |
| Deals fire damage to an enemy and lowers its resistance against water. | ||||||
Other appearances[]
Dissidia Final Fantasy / Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy[]
Shantotto's "Spirit Magic" HP attacks cast the Ancient Magic of their element when she has enough Bravery, 6,000 in Dissidia and 4,000 in Dissidia 012. Shantotto also casts the six Ancient Magic spells when using her EX Burst. The order in which Shantotto can chain her HP attacks, and the correct order when inputting her spells during her EX Burst, reflect the order in which one would cast them in Final Fantasy XI to benefit from Ancient Magic's effect of giving the target elemental weaknesses—Flare, Flood, Burst, Quake, Tornado, Freeze.
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy[]
Ancient Magic is Shantotto's exclusive skill, learned at Level 40 and costing 18 CP to equip. During BMS, whenever a boss-type enemy enters Ancient Magic activates automatically to inflict damage based on Shantotto's Magic and Level.
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call[]
Ancient Magic is an exclusive reactive ability 18 CP to equip. It is activated in Battle Music Sequences (BMS) when a boss-class enemy appears. It deals damage in direct proportion to Magic and level. It is learned by Shantotto (level 40).
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy All-Star Carnival[]
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