Traps enemies in a violent, damaging stream of water.
Description
Flood is an Attack spell in Final Fantasy VI. It is a strong 
Water-elemental spell that deals damage to all enemies. Flood ignores reflect, and can be learned by party members through magicite.
Flood is notably the only water-elemental spell, besides Strago's two Lores, Leviathan's Tsunami, and Bismarck's summon spell, Breach Blast.
Obtained[]
Flood is learned by the Leviathan magicite at a x2 rate. Because this magicite exists only in some versions of the game (Finest Fantasy for Advance and the 2014 version), the spell is not available in most versions, including the latest Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster.
Mechanics[]
As a spell with a power of 100, it deals damage with the following formula:
where "Level" refers to the user's level, and Magic refers to the user's Magic stat. The target's Magic Defense and shell play a role in mitigating damage. The spell cannot be blocked.
Several relics augment Flood and other spells. If the caster is equipped with an Earring or a Hero Ring, the damage is multiplied by 5/4 (or a 25% increase). If the caster is equipped with two Earrings, two Hero Rings, or one of each, the damage is multiplied by 3/2 (a 50% increase). If the caster equips Gold Hairpin or Celestriad, its MP cost is cut by half or reduced to 1, respectively.
Because the spell deals water-elemental damage, the enemy's elemental affinity affects its damage output. If water is nullified, or the target is immune to water, the spell 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.
Flood ignores Runic and reflect.
Use[]
Flood deals strong damage, comparable to that of other high-tier elemental spells (Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga, Quake, and Holy) as well as high-tier non-elemental spells (Flare and Meteor). Though its damage is below that of Ultima and Meltdown, Flood is much more MP-efficient and can be an effective way to target a weakness to the water element.
The player should prioritize teaching Flood to party members with a high natural Magic stat and access to mage equipment. This includes Terra (who can double its damage with Trance), Celes, Relm, and Strago; Mog and Shadow have high Magic stats, while Gogo has access to mage equipment. Though Sabin will be built toward magic damage, his access to Phantom Rush means he can already strong magic damage for no MP cost. Flood should be prioritized to spellcasters, and is a luxury for all other party members.
Flood is a very MP-efficient means of damaging and potentially healing the enemy at once. If the caster has a sufficient Magic stat to reliably achieve 9999 damage per-hit, it may be better to use Flood than Meltdown or Ultima. If Celestriad is equipped and MP is no object, it may be better to use Ultima or Meltdown instead.
Flood is exceptionally useful when the player fights the Gold Dragon in the Dragons' Den as it bypasses its inherent Runic.
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