Magical is a damage type in Final Fantasy XIII, all abilities the player can perform in battle being classified as either magical or physical (enemies have select few abilities that are both physical and magical at the same time). On top of this binary classification, abilities may also have one of the six other elements or a status effect attached. In general, damage done with spells is considered magical damage. Of the player's party, Vanille and Hope are highly suitable to be geared toward dealing magical damage, whereas Lightning and Sazh are good all-rounders, and Snow and Fang are more geared toward physical damage.
The power of magical damage is calculated from the attacker's Magic stat, and is thus modified by Faith/Defaith on the attacker and Shell/Deshell on the target. Magical and physical attacks are equally strong on a level playing field, and the AI-controlled allies and Auto-battle will favor magical abilities when the character's Magic stat surpasses their Strength. With equal stats, the AI will alternate magical and physical abilities, but this can be ineffective use of animation time, and so the player may want to outfit their party to favor either stat for efficiency. Being in the Commando role raises the damage the player can do (both physical and magical) with its role bonus modifier, and so for other roles, the player can select the ability and then shift to a paradigm with many Commandos before the damage numbers appear on-screen to do slightly more damage with it. AI-controlled Ravagers may favor wind attacks against staggered enemies even if they are not weak to wind/magical (there are no physical wind abilities).
Medic and Synergist also use spells whose effectiveness scales from the caster's Magic stat, but they do not deal damage and are not covered on this article. However, the passive abilities that immunize to physical/magical damage also prevent the Medic's healing from working.
Abilities[]
Magical attacks are bolstered by the attacker's high Magic stat and Faith/Faithra status. Stifled Magic and Fettered Magic handicap effects in certain weapons greatly lower the magical damage the wielder can do (but will not affect healing).
Fog status prevents the use of magical role abilities.
Alexander's Divine Judgment does increased damage to targets weak to magical damage, though the attack itself is considered physical.
Enemy abilities[]
| Ability | Description | Enemies |
|---|---|---|
| Aero | Same effect as a Ravager's Aero. | Chonchon, Dahaka, Leyak, Vespid Soldier |
| Aerora | Same effect as a Ravager's Aerora. | Dahaka, Lodestar Behemoth, Rangda, Sacrifice |
| Aeroga | Same effect as a Ravager's Aeroga. | Dahaka, Humbaba, Penanggalan, Rangda, Vampire, Vespid Soldier |
| Anathema | Inflicts Poison, Slow, Imperil, Deshell, and Defaith onto one target. | Sacrifice |
| Apoptosis | Deals damage to all targets equal to 10% of current HP, and dispels all status enhancements from the party and all status ailments from the user. | Barthandelus (Second Encounter) |
| Baptism in Ruin | Attacks with a barrage of three Ruin spells. | Barthandelus (First Encounter) |
| Blizzard | Same effect as a Ravager's Blizzard. | Dahaka, Left Ailette, Leyak |
| Blizzara | Same effect as a Ravager's Blizzara. | Adroa, Dahaka, Left Ailette, Nix |
| Blizzaga | Same effect as a Ravager's Blizzaga. | Dahaka, Flowering Cactuar, Left Ailette, Verdelet |
| Bone-Chilling Breaker | Deals major ice and water damage to all opponents, with chance of inflicting Imperil. Modifies elemental resistances to absorb ice and water attacks. | Dahaka |
| Breath of the Beast | Deals three attacks to party members in range. | Jabberwocky |
| Chains of Torment | Inflicts Poison and any status ailments from one party member to all party members. | Orphan (First Encounter) |
| Cure | Same effect as a Medic's Cure. | Cid Raines |
| Curasa | Recovers a significant amount of HP. | Cid Raines |
| Curaga | Fully recovers Snow's HP. | Stiria |
| Cursega | Same effect as a Saboteur's Cursega. | Barthandelus (Second Encounter) |
| Dazega | Same effect as a Saboteur's Dazega. | Barthandelus (Second Encounter), Cid Raines |
| Death | Deals damage and has a 1% chance of inflicting sudden death. | Sacrifice |
| Deep-Seated Grudge | Deals major damage to all party members and may inflict Curse and Fog. Restores the user's HP to full, removes all status ailments, increases stats, and raises status resistances. | Tonberry |
| Deprotect | Same effect as a Saboteur's Deprotect. | Vampire |
| Deprotega | Same effect as a Saboteur's Deprotega. | Cid Raines, Penanggalan |
| Deshellga | Same effect as a Saboteur's Deshellga. | Cid Raines |
| Destrudo | Deals major damage to all party members after charging for 30 seconds, consisting of twenty attacks. Can be reduced to twelve attacks if 12,000 damage is incurred, and further reduced to seven attacks if another 20,000 damage is incurred within 15 seconds. | Barthandelus (First Encounter) |
| Dies Irae | Deals moderate physical & magical damage to all targets. Can inflict Deprotect and Deshell. | Orphan (First Encounter) |
| Diluvial Plague | Deals minor damage, dispels up to eight status enhancements, and inflicts Debrave, Defaith, Deprotect, Poison, Slow, Curse, and Deshell on all targets. Removes up to eight status ailments from the user and modifies resistances to take half damage from all elements and become immune to Deprotect, Slow, and Imperil. | Dahaka |
| Dispel | Same effect as a Saboteur's Dispel. | Kaiser Behemoth |
| Doom | Inflicts Doom on the party leader, starting a countdown timer that causes instant Game Over when it reaches 0. | Alexander, Attacus, Barthandelus, Bahamut, Brynhildr, Cid Raines, Dahaka, Geiseric, Hecatoncheir, Long Gui, Odin, Orphan (First Encounter), Orphan (Second Encounter), Shaolong Gui, Stiria, Vercingetorix |
| Electrocute | Deals major lightning damage to one target. | Immortal |
| Fire | Same effect as a Ravager's Fire. | Dahaka, Ghast, Gremlin, Imp, Leyak, Right Pauldron |
| Fira | Same effect as a Ravager's Fira. | Adroa, Ahriman, Dahaka, Garchimacera, Right Pauldron |
| Firaga | Same effect as a Ravager's Firaga. | Dahaka, Flowering Cactuar, Right Pauldron, Verdelet |
| Flurry of Fire | Three fire attacks to one target. | Vespid |
| Fogga | Same effect as a Saboteur's Fogga. | Kaiser Behemoth |
| Foul Utterance | Deals damage to one target and dispels the three most recent status enhancements. | Dahaka |
| Fulminous Firestorm | Deals major fire and lightning damage to all opponents with chance of inflicting Imperil. Modifies elemental resistances to absorb fire and lightning attacks. | Dahaka |
| Fusillade | Deals major non-elemental damage to a single target. | Megrim Thresher |
| Ice Grenades | Deals ice damage with five attacks to one target. May inflict Slow. | Tiamat Eliminator |
| Icy Breath | Deals three attacks of ice damage in a small radius. | Navidon |
| Ignis | Drops an expanding cloud of blue flame onto a character, dealing damage in an area. Chains from Umbral Vise. | Bahamut |
| Imminent Grudge | Prepares to use Deep-seated Grudge (first use), Serious Grudge (second use), Vehement Grudge (third use), Unfathomable Grudge (fourth use), or Ultimate Grudge (fifth use and beyond). | Tonberry |
| Imperilga | Same effect as a Saboteur's Imperilga. | Gelatitan |
| Inferno | Breathes crimson flames on party members affected by Whirlwind. | Bahamut |
| Kaleidoscopic Ray | Deals major physical & magical damage to one target. | Orphan (Second Encounter) |
| Lamenting Cry | Deals minor damage around the user, and inflicts Deprotect, Deshell, Debrave, Defaith, and Curse. | Syphax |
| Levinbolt | Deals major lightning damage to all targets. | Bituitus, Mithridates |
| Magic Blast | Deals moderate damage to a small area around target. | Seeker |
| Manadrive Blizzaga | Deals major ice damage on large area around the target. | Corps Regular, Corps Watchman |
| Manadrive Cura | Casts Cura on target. | PSICOM Infiltrator |
| Manadrive Curse | Inflicts Curse on target. | PSICOM Predator |
| Manadrive Deprotect | Inflicts Deprotect on target. | PSICOM Reaver |
| Manadrive Deshell | Inflicts Deshell on target. | PSICOM Reaver |
| Manadrive Dispel | Removes target's most recent status enhancement by inflicting Dispel. | PSICOM Reaver, Sanctum Templar |
| Manadrive Fire | Deals minor fire damage on target. | Corps Regular, Corps Watchman |
| Manadrive Fog | Inflicts Fog on target. | PSICOM Raider |
| Manadrive Pain | Inflicts Pain on target. | PSICOM Raider |
| Manadrive Ruinga | Deals major damage to large area around target. May launch affected targets into the air. | Proto-behemoth |
| Manadrive Watera | Deals moderate water damage to a single target and nearby party members. | Corps Pacifex |
| Mounting Contempt | Inflicts Deprotect and Deshell, then deals a powerful attack to one target of both physical & magical damage. Gets stronger with repeated use, and getting staggered resets its power to default. May dispel status enhancements. | Wladislaus |
| Multicast | Casts a barrage of random magic spells all at once. | Raktavija, Vetala |
| Necrosis | Inflicts Pain and Fog to one target. | Orphan (Second Encounter) |
| Nerve Gas | Deals damage to the party and inflicts Poison. | Midlight Reaper |
| Nutrient Absorption | Drains HP from one target and gives it to the user. | Alraune, Noctilucale, Rafflesia |
| Pacifying Shock | Deals moderate lightning damage to a small area around the user. | Flanborg |
| Pain | Same effect as a Saboteur's Pain. | Chonchon |
| Painga | Same effect as a Saboteur's Painga. | Gelatitan |
| Photon Burst | Deals major physical & magical damage and launches one target into the air. Long charging time. | Lucidon, Thermadon |
| Poison | Inflicts Poison on target and deals damage. | Chonchon |
| Poisonga | Same effect as a Saboteur's Poisonga. | Barthandelus (Second Encounter), Cid Raines, Penanggalan |
| Progenitorial Wrath | Damages one party member with a 50% chance to inflict sudden death. | Orphan (First Encounter) |
| Pulsefire | Deals moderate fire damage to one target. | Tyrant |
| Quake | Deals earth damage to all currently grounded targets. | Adamanchelid, Adamantoise, Adamantortoise, Corrosive Custard, Flowering Cactuar, Hecatoncheir, Long Gui, Shaolong Gui |
| Raging Tempest | Deals major lightning damage around the user. | Enlil |
| Raging Torrent | Deals major water damage around the user. | Enki |
| Rebirth | Deals minor physical & magical damage to all targets and bestows the user with Bravery, Faith, Haste, and Veil. Used after recovering from stagger. | Orphan (Second Encounter) |
| Resonant Magic | Deals damage to party members in range. Used after Anima uses Magical Projection. | Left Manipulator, Right Manipulator |
| Revenge for the Fallen | Deals damage to one target and orders Numidias to tether to party members and sacrifice themselves, dealing constant damage. | Syphax |
| Ruin | Deals minor damage to a single target. | Cid Raines, Strigoi |
| Ruinga | Same effect as a Commando's Ruinga. | Barthandelus (First Encounter), Cid Raines |
| Seraphic Ray | Deals major damage to the party and dispels all status enhancements, and removes all status ailments from the user. Used after Metamorphose. | Cid Raines |
| Serious Grudge | Deals major damage to all party members and may inflict Curse and Fog. Restores the user's HP to full, removes all status ailments, increases stats, and raises status resistances. | Tonberry |
| Shocking Breath | Deals three attacks that deal major lightning damage in a small radius. | Scalebeast, Gurangatch |
| Slowga | Same effect as a Saboteur's Slowga. | Gelatitan |
| Sparkstorm | Deals moderate lightning damage on target. | Orion |
| Storm Conduction | Deals lightning damage to characters in range. May heal user and remove status ailments. | Amam, Mánagarmr |
| Swamp Water | Deals water damage to a single target. May inflict Deprotect. | Ceratoraptor, Hedge Frog |
| Thanatosian Laughter | Deals sixteen attacks in a straight line. In Second Encounter it is unaffected by physical or magical damage reduction and hits characters up to 16 times for 95–99 base damage per hit. Damage is percentage-based in the Third Encounter, removing 12% of current HP with each attack. | Barthandelus (Second/Third Encounter) |
| Thermal Discharge | Deals moderate fire damage to a single target. | Viking |
| Thunder | Same effect as a Ravager's Thunder. | Dahaka, Leyak, Right Ailette |
| Thundara | Same effect as a Ravager's Thundara. | Adroa, Behemoth King, Dahaka, Monstrous Flan, Odin, Right Ailette, Zwerg Metrodroid |
| Thundaga | Same effect as a Ravager's Thundaga. | Behemoth King, Dahaka, Right Ailette, Verdelet |
| Thunderburst | Deals lightning damage to target and inflicts Deprotect. | Enlil |
| Ultima | Deals major damage to all characters, consisting of a weak opener and strong finisher with high damage variance. | Barthandelus (Third Encounter), Long Gui, Shaolong Gui |
| Ultimate Grudge | Deals major damage to all party members and may inflict Curse and Fog. Restores the user's HP to full and removes all status ailments. | Tonberry |
| Unfathomable Grudge | Deals major damage to all party members and may inflict Curse and Fog. Restores the user's HP to full, removes all status ailments, increases stats, and raises status resistances. User glows purple. | Tonberry |
| Vehement Grudge | Deals major damage to all party members and may inflict Curse and Fog. Restores the user's HP to full, removes all status ailments, increases stats, and raises status resistances. | Tonberry |
| Vile Exploitation | Deals minor damage to all opponents and restores the user's HP by the sum amount. | Orphan (First Encounter) |
| Wail | Inflicts a very short Daze. | Taxim, Strigoi, Vampire |
| Water | Attacks one target with water orb. May cause Slow or Daze. Also used by Dahaka and Left Pauldron, but with the same effect as a Ravager's Water. | Dagonite, Dahaka, Left Pauldron, Leyak, Orobon, Sahagin |
| Watera | Same effect as a Ravager's Watera. | Adroa, Dahaka, Left Pauldron |
| Waterga | Same effect as a Ravager's Waterga. | Dahaka, Flowering Cactuar, Gelatitan, Hybrid Flora, Left Pauldron, Verdelet |
| Waterburst | Deals water damage to target and inflicts Deprotect. | Enki |
| Wind Shear | Deals major non-elemental damage to all targets through nine, fifteen, twenty-one, or twenty-seven attacks. | Vercingetorix |
| Wind Slash | Deals moderate wind damage to all targets. | Edimmu, Nelapsi, Pijavica, Varcolaci |
Protection[]
The Sentinel's role bonus is to mitigate damage, both physical and magical equally, and their abilities also have these traits. Their strongest damage-mitigation ability is Steelguard.
Shell or Shellra status mitigates magical damage received when active, and the effect stacks with damage-mitigation effects from equipment: Rune Bracelet, Witch's Bracelet, and Magus's Bracelet resist magical damage to the wearer, while the Royal Armlet and the Imperial Armlet mitigate both physical and magical damage received. When increasing resistances by equipping multiple accessories that all raise the same resistance, the percentages are subtracted from 100% and multiplied together.
Hope's Airwing weapon (and its upgrades) have "Critical: Shield" effect, which boosts physical and magic resistance when Hope's HP is low.
The player can activate the Magic Wall or Damage Wall synthesis effects to reduce incoming magical damage by a variable amount depending on the strength of the effect, by equipping multiple equipment pieces with the Magic Defense or Damage Reduction trait at the same time.
Finally, the Ultimate Magic synthesis effect immunizes the ally to magical damage, but only able to be healed by items or Eidolons. It is activated by equipping multiples of Magistral Crests with the Magic Dampner trait.
Some enemies have abilities that make them temporarily immune to magical damage (see below).
Enemies[]
Enemies' vulnerabilities are recorded in their Enemy Intel, viewable during battle and in the Datalog. The player can weaken enemies to magical damage with Deshell, however, this will not do anything if the enemy is outright immune to magical damage. Unlike with Imperil, which will no nothing to an enemy that is already weak to an element, Deshell will make enemies that are weak to magical damage take still more damage from magical attacks.