Deals damage by combustion.
Description
Flare is the ultimate Black Magic spell in Final Fantasy V. It deals immense non-elemental damage to a single target. Though being non-elemental means it cannot exploit an elemental weakness or be empowered by equipment, it also cannot be resisted. Flare can be used as a Spellblade, simply adding to the damage of a normal attack.
Flare is also one of the Wonder Wand's damage-replacing added spells.
Flare is also an enemy ability that can be used by Barrier, Enuo, Exdeath in the final battle, Famed Mimic Gogo, Necrophobe, Neo Exdeath, Omniscient, and Archeodemon.
Flare can also be used by catching and releasing a Goblin, Flaremancer, Fury, or Claret Dragon.
Obtained[]
Flare cannot be purchased at a shop. It is instead acquired in the magical part of the Fork Tower by defeating Omniscient. The physical part contains Holy and the Minotaur boss. If the party takes too long getting one after the other, the tower will explode and result in a Game Over.
The player can use Flare much earlier than it is available as a Black Magic spell via the Beastmaster's Release, as the first enemy in the game, Goblin, has it.
Mechanics[]
Flare shares the same damage formula with all defense-piercing spells. Filling in the appropriate Power value, the formula becomes:
where // denotes an integer division (i.e., the remainder is discarded).
When Flare is used against a character, the D parameter of the damage formula is always 0 or 1. That is because the best MDef-oriented setup a character can have is as follows:
- +5 from Ice Shield or Flame Shield.
- +7 from Lamia's Tiara.
- In the Advance version, Royal Crown can be used for a +13 bonus.
- +14 from Black Robe or White Robe.
- In the Advance version, Robe of Lords can be used for a +22 bonus.
- +10 from Angel Ring or Protect Ring.
- In the Advance version, Crystal Orb can be used for a +20 bonus.
In other words, magic defense is guaranteed to be in the [0, 36] interval in most versions of the game, and in the [0, 60] interval in the Advance version. Values in the [0, 31] interval always become 0 when divided by 32, and values [32, 63] always become 1 when divided by 32. Therefore, especially in non-Advance versions of the game, it is very likely for Flare to effectively ignore magic defense.
In any case, due to how integer division works, it is incorrect to say that Flare ignores 31/32 of the target's magic defense.
Flare is affected by reflect.
Use[]
Flare is acquired late in the game. Though its MP cost is somewhat high, it is not too much higher than the similar higher-level spells Firaga, Blizzaga, or Thundaga, and could be halved by wearing the Gold Hairpin. Unlike the previous three, Flare disregards most of the target's Magic Defense in damage claculation, meaning it has potential to be strong even against tough enemies. The main thing preventing Flare from being used commonly is that it can only hit a single target. Though this may be useful against bosses, Flare will not see frequent use in normal fights.
The only magic abilities with damage comparable to Flare are the White Magic spell Holy, the Time Magic spell Meteor, and the summons Odin (when used against heavy targets) and Bahamut. Holy is close to Flare for a lower MP cost, but its damage is lower and is holy-elemental, meaning some enemies can absorb or resist it, but it can be empowered. Meteor has only slightly higher MP cost and can hit all targets, but its damage is unreliable; it can be as powerful as Flare, or weaker. Bahamut deals damage almost as high as Flare to all targets and cannot be reflected, but has a much greater MP cost. Odin, similarly, deals the same damage as Flare to one target when used against heavy targets, but for a higher cost.
Flare can be used by Mystic Knights as a Spellblade once acquired, and will greatly increase damage dealt. In particular, it increases the user's Attack by 100, and ignores 75% of an enemy's Defense. The problem is that, though strong, this is not always an efficient use of MP in comparison to other Spellblade uses, and there are other ways to increase one's physical damage output. When an enemy is weak to an element, using Firaga, Blizzaga, or Thundaga as a Spellblade instead is superior.
The Level 3 Flare deals identical damage to the normal Flare and hits all enemies in a battle with levels divisible by 3. It is preferable to Flare when this condition is met, as it has lower MP cost and can hit multiple targets.
Gallery[]
Etymology[]
A flare is a pyrotechnical phenomenon that produces intense amounts of heat and energy that does not result in an explosion (an immediate release of energy).