Causes Freeze to the enemy.
Description
Frost, also known as Freeze in the European English version of Final Fantasy IX, is a Blu Mag spell for Quina that attempts to freeze a target at a cost of 8 MP, but usually misses. Frost cannot be reflected but works with Return Magic. Agares, Black Waltz 3, Drakan, Hades, Kraken, Kraken (Crystal), and Vepal (Green) use it against the party, the ability being called "Freeze" when used by enemies.
Obtain[]
Quina learns Frost by eating a Wraith (Blue Flame), Chimera, or Kraken (Crystal). The earliest and the best way to learn it is from the blue-flamed Wraith in Mount Gulug. An easy way to eat it is to use a Phoenix Down on it first, reducing it to 1 HP. If trying to get all Blue Magic spells, the player should take Quina to Mount Gulug, as there is also another enemy there with a rare Blu Mag spell (Red Dragon's Twister) with limited chances to eat one.
Mount Gulug becomes inaccessible later. If the player is still missing Frost at this point, they will need to learn it from the final dungeons, by which time there is not any good chance to use it anymore.
Mechanics[]
Frost attempts to freeze a target, making them unable to act or evade, and prone to being KO'd by the next physical attack against them. Fire magic against a frozen target thaws them.
The chance of the Frost spell working is calculated as follows:
![{\displaystyle Chance=30+Level+[Magic/4]-Target'sLevel}](https://services.fandom.com/mathoid-facade/v1/media/math/render/svg/6e98a9ccfa94d736f394101364cb05aaaab752aa)
Two randomly generated values determine if the spell will hit:
- A random number 0...99 >= Chance, the spell misses its mark
- A random number 0...99 < Target's Magic Evade, the enemy evades
Use[]
Frost neutralizes an enemy and lets the next character destroy it on their turn with a simple physical attack; even a weak mage character's attack will shatter it. This makes Frost akin to an instant-defeat spell, among many in Quina's arsenal alongside LV5 Death, Mustard Bomb, and Doom. All of Quina's instant-defeat abilities have poor accuracy, bar LV5 Death against a target with a compatible level, so the player may find they are only wasting their turn using them. Frost will also never work on bosses.
The other ways to inflict Freeze are with Add Status with Ice Brand or Ice Lance. They have a minor chance to work, but Steiner or Freya will at least not waste a turn if they deal some damage with their attack.
Quina's Night spell is better at simply disabling enemies, whereas Mustard Bomb has equal accuracy with Frost but is better at defeating the enemy as they do not need to be hit with an attack after. Frost is also among the later spells Quina can learn, whereas Mustard Bomb and Night can be learned soon after Quina can first be recruited.