Deals fire damage.
Description
Fira, also known as Fire2, is a Black Magic spell in Final Fantasy V. It is the medium-level fire-elemental spell and can be acquired fairly early in the game, and can be used to hit one target or an entire party. Fira is usable by the Black Magic and Red Magic skillsets (and can be used twice with Dualcast), and can also be used as a Spellblade. Fira is also one of the spells that can be cast for free from the Wonder Wand.
Fire is also an enemy ability that can be cast by Executor, Carbuncle, Flaremancer, Ifrit, Ra Mage, Liquid Flame, Omniscient, and Reflect Mage.
Obtained[]
Fire can be purchased for 600 gil at Karnak or Crescent. Karnak is the earliest place Fira can be obtained. Once it is purchased, it can be used by any of the skillsets with the spell.
Mechanics[]
As a spell, Fira's damage is calculated as follows:
Damage is capped at 9999.
If the target absorbs fire, it is healed instead of damaged; if it is immune to fire, the attack misses. If the target resists fire, the Attack modifier in the formula is halved, but if it is weak to fire, the modifier is doubled and the attack ignores the target's Magic Defense. Fira is affected by reflect.
Several pieces of equipment increase the power of elemental attacks by 50%. The bonus is applied before subtracting the opponent's Magic Defense. The weapons that boost fire are the Black Mage's Flame Rod and Magus Rod, and the Geomancer's Rune Chime. The Mix Elemental Power strengthens all elements.
Use[]
Fira is acquired some time after the basic spell, Fire, is acquired. It can be used by Black Mages and Red Mages as a basic spell. Though it is just over twice the MP cost of Fire, its MP cost is not too prohibitive to Black Mages (though Red Mages may struggle). As the party members' levels improve, Fira can quickly replace Fire as a common offensive spell.
Mystic Knights can also use Fira as a Spellblade, as Mystic Knight becomes available around the same time as Fira. It should only be used against enemies weak to fire, but against enemies with no affinity to the element, it is often not worth the MP or turn consumed. With Fira available, because MP is only consumed once to imbue a weapon with Fira, there is no reason to use Fire as a Spellblade unless equipping the Spellblade skillset level below 3.
With Ifrit available, the summon deals slightly less damage to all enemies, but cannot be reflected. The Blue Magic spell Flame Thrower also deals the same damage as Fira for half the MP cost and ignoring reflect, but can only hit one target. As such, Fira is the more versatile skill, but these alternatives exist to avoid reflect.
Firaga, on the other hand, outclasses Fira, but has a much higher MP cost. Since Firaga is obtained much later on, when Black Mages will have a higher MP pool, Firaga can be used more often, while Red Mages do not have access to Firaga. For Spellblade, Firaga also entirely outclasses Fira.
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