Shellra is a Synergist spell exclusively appearing in Final Fantasy XIII. It bestows the status of the same name, increasing resistance to magic damage.
Despite sharing the same name with the recurring White Magic spell in the English, the Shellra of Final Fantasy XIII is known as Shellda in Japanese.
Obtained[]
Like other Synergist -ra tier spells, Shellra can be learned by Vanille and Fang. Fang learns the spell at Crystarium stage 7, while Vanille learns the spell at stage 9. Due to the spell being locked behind the final stages of the Crystarium, Shellra is learned rather late in the game.
Mechanics[]
Shellra increases a target's resistance to magical damage by 50% for a base period of 30 seconds, which is lengthened depending on the current chain bonus and the caster's Magic. Shellra is unaffected by Boon. Shellra has an ATB cost of 2.
Once Haste is in place, AI-controlled Synergists bestow status effects depending the enemy intel for the enemies they are fighting. Of the pair, only Fang knows Haste. The enemy notes that make AI-controlled Synergist Fang and Vanille use Shellra are "Executes powerful magic attacks." and "Capable of inflicting Deshell." Once all status effects are added in accordance to the enemies' notes, the AI Synergist observes the enemy's weaknesses and bestows the party with Bravera or Faithra if the enemy is weak to physical or magic damage. After this, the AI Synergists will begin using Protectra and Shellra onto the party. Any steps are skipped if the characters are already under these status effects.
Use[]
Vanille and Fang are useful Synergists to bring to any of the toughest battles for their improved buffing spells, including any oretoise battles and the toughest Missions. Shellra lasts longer if the caster has a good Magic stat and the chain bonus is high, so Vanille's cast tends to have a better duration, but she also learns it further along the Crystarium tree than Fang. When the enemy is going to attack, the player can quickly Paradigm Shift to SEN/SEN/SEN while under Shellra for the best damage mitigation. Another damage-mitigating method is with the Magic Wall synthesis ability.