Back row attacks like front row.
Description
Long Reach is a support ability in Final Fantasy IX for Zidane, Steiner, Amarant, and Freya, allowing them to use Attack to the same effectiveness from the back row. It costs 16 Magic Stones to equip, the third-most of any support ability.
Obtained[]
Long Reach is learned from Thief Hat and Protect Ring for variable amounts of AP; Zidane learns it the fastest at 170 AP, where Amarant and Freya require the most at 210 AP.
The earliest convenient source for learning Long Reach for everyone is from the Protect Ring, found from using a Dead Pepper at mountain crack on eastern part of Lost Continent while riding Choco 
as soon as the player has the Blue Narciss and has advanced in the Chocobo Hot and Cold game far enough to have Dead Peppers available. The other ways to get the Protect Ring are in the endgame, or from excess playing of Chocobo Hot and Cold and then buying it from Mene.
Thief Hat teaches Long Reach to Zidane, bought from the Black Mage Village in the endgame. He is the only one who can "double up" on items that teach Long Reach, and learn it at double the normal pace.
Mechanics[]
Without Long Reach, using Attack from the back row deals half damage. With Long Reach equipped, the attacker does full damage from the back row. The benefit of being in the back row is that enemies, likewise, inflict half damage onto those in the back row with their physical attacks.
Long Reach does not enable a character to use Attack on Ozma without completing the friendly enemies quest.
Use[]
Long Reach takes a lot of AP to master and whopping 16 Magic Stones to equip, making it very expensive, and not generally worth the effort. Distract is a much cheaper way to "halve" damage from enemy physical hits than Long Reach + back row, though how often the character evades still depends on some luck. The player could even become immune to physical attacks via Vanish rather than use Long Reach. Being in the back row also does not protect against magic attacks. When the party learns Auto-Regen, they regain health faster than enemies can attack, remaining safe most of the time unless the enemy can kill a high-health party member in one hit. If a party member suddenly needs a defensive boost mid-battle, using Defend for one turn may suffice over retreating to the back row.
Being in the back row would be beneficial when protecting others with Cover or Protect Girls. By the endgame, the party will have numerous special abilities that can be used regardless of row position, such as Zidane's Thievery, Steiner's Swd Arts and Swd Mag, Freya's Dragon's Crest, and Amarant's No Mercy, meaning they could be in the back row without equipping Long Reach. Freya's Jump and Amarant's Throw are also always "long range".
Etymology[]
The ability is called "Ninja Teachings" in Japanese. A ninja was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan who specialized in unorthodox warfare. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, and open combat in certain situations.