Dark, swirling orb that absorbs ice damage. Equip on a yeti and see what happens.
Description
Blizzard Orb is a relic in Final Fantasy VI. It grants Umaro the Snowstorm ability, a magic-based attack dealing ice-elemental damage. The relic also grants Umaro a passive +5 Magic, nullifies fire-elemental damage, and absorbs ice-elemental damage.
Obtained[]
Blizzard Orb is found at the Ancient Castle and won from the Dragon's Neck Coliseum by betting the Berserker Ring and winning.
Mechanics[]
Snowstorm has a spell power of 100, and hits all enemies. As such, its damage is dealt in the following formula:
Because Snowstorm deals ice-elemental damage, the enemy's elemental affinity affects its damage output. If ice is nullified, or the target is immune to ice, it will deal 0 damage. If the target absorbs the element, it will heal HP instead of dealing damage. If the target resists the element, it will deal half damage; conversely, if the target is weak to the element, its damage will be doubled.
The odds of Umaro using the attack with Blizzard Orb equipped are:
| Relic | Attack | Body Blow | Throw Ally | Snowstorm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blizzard Orb | 37% (95/255) | 25% (64/255) | — | 38% (96/255) |
| Berserker Ring Blizzard Orb |
25% (63/255) | 25% (64/255) | 25% (64/255) | 25% (64/255) |
Use[]
Blizzard Orb provides strong passive advantages to Umaro. The Magic stat boost improves the damage of Snowstorm, but this is the only benefit to Umaro as he cannot cast spells. The ability to avoid damage from two elements is important however, given his limited armor selection.
Umaro using the Snowstorm ability.
Snowstorm is a strong ability for Umaro that allows him to passively deal ice-elemental damage. This is detrimental against enemies who absorb ice damage, but otherwise, it is very efficient considering other magic attacks typically come in the form of high MP-costing spells. Though its damage will be greatly below Meltdown or Ultima, it is still very efficient. The main drawback, other than the randomness of the ability's use, is that Umaro's lack of ability to equip magicite or much equipment in general means he cannot boost Snowstorm's damage further.
Players may prefer to use Berserker Ring to lean into Umaro's physical damage, his core strength. Though players can equip both at once, this is not advisable. Equipping both grants Umaro access to both Snowstorm and Throw Ally, but reduces the chance of using either compared to simply equipping one or the other. The only reason to do this would be to grant Blizzard Orb's ice-elemental absorption.
If Umaro does use Blizzard Orb, he can use Earring or Hero's Ring to boost his magic damage further. When Bone Wrist is available, this is by far the strongest relic for Umaro, and if Blizzard Orb is used, this is the relic to pair it with.