Time Mage (Tactics)

Time Mage

(時魔道士, Tokimadōshi?, lit. Time Sorcerer)
Alternate names: Time Sorcerer^[1]^{[note 1]}

Portrait(s)

Sprite(s)

Availability

Required jobs

Black Mage level 3 (level 2 in original release)

Unlocked jobs

Summoner, Arithmetician

Abilities

Equipment

Helmet

Hats

Shields

No

Stats

Base HP

Low

Base MP

High

Base Magic Power

High

Speed

8

Physical Evasion Rate

5%

Move Rate

3

Jump Rate

3

More information

Recurring appearance

A mage capable of temporal and spatial manipulation. The time mage's job command Time Magicks enables the use of magicks that affect the movement and turn order of enemies and allies.

Description in The Ivalice Chronicles

The time mage is a job from Final Fantasy Tactics unlocked by the in black mage. A supportive magickal job that makes use of Time Magicks, if left alone, a time mage can quickly bestow a number of beneficial status effects on their allies and cripple their foes with ailments, turning the tide of battle.

The so called "dragqueen" character is a glitched time mage found in Midlight's Deep.

Gameplay[]

Overview[]

The time mage is a support-oriented magick job focused on bestowing various buffs to their allies while also having access to ailments to cripple their opponents (which will indirectly allow slower spells to be cast on a slowed down or immobilized enemy, including some bosses). Much like other mages, time mages have low HP and high MP and magick, although lower than the black mage and summoner. They are invaluable in any fight, as Haste can turn the tide of the battle to the player's favor.

The time mage's only offensive spells are Meteor and the Gravity spells (which hurt enemies by a quarter/half their max HP, including bosses). They also need good faith for even their Haste spell to work reliably.

Meteor is devastating, but takes a long time to charge even with Swiftspell. It is arguably the slowest or most expensive spell to cast/learn, and cannot be used with Arithmeticks. Casting strategies include: being Invisible (late/post-game equipment buffs help) to avoid prior attacks until casting Meteor afterwards for a safe retreat, or having ranged allies stall the targeted enemy by status ailments (geomancy or Rend Weapon can also count).

While time mage can be used as a main job, switching to the black mage and equipping Time Magicks can give the unit a wide array of offensive spells, while casting faster with Swiftspell and higher magick attack.

The time mage job can benefit Cloud Strife (who joins late game with time mage unlocked, despite starting at level 1 in most versions of Final Fantasy Tactics) so long as a materia blade can be equipped to give him a stronger magick attack for his Limit. Alternatively, a Swiftspell geomancer would work given increased mobility, swords to innately equip with decent magick attack, and Nature's Wrath can react to cause a status ailment, which can buy time for a faster charged magick/Limit.

The time mage can also benefit from the additional speed of a ninja (or improve the speed-based steal rates of thief by more opportunities with Haste) by not relying much on magick attack as it uses support magick.

Reflect can be used as an early game interrupt after certain magick starts being cast due to its 50 speed, or use positioning for magick cast on a group as a type of "Dualcast" if the caster is 1 or 2 spaces behind the targeted ally, who is the same distance in front of an enemy with this status. The magick will hit the enemy, bounce off the ally with reflect, and strike again, hopefully where the enemy was if the positioning is correct. Summoners (who can similarly bestow reflect with Carbuncle) and special categories will bypass this.

The Quick spell helps assist a powerful class like dark knight or sword saint into getting another instant turn without having to rely on positioning/skill limitations of the mime, though a mime can copy a time mage's Quick onto themselves; mimicking Quick gives 2 characters an extra turn (and 1 more mimicked action). Haste can similarly help target multiple allies that are on different heights, as well as increase the probability of a second casting hitting the target (Graviga, Haste, and Quick may have accuracy under 70%).

Time mages can also use the mystic's Manafont to remedy their high MP costs, which even refills Mana Shield to fully block another attack with low MP. It is recommended not to use expensive magick with this setup.

The time mage's most valuable support ability is Teleport, which is useful for most jobs, specially spellcasters, allowing them to reposition in battle and move to areas otherwise inaccessible to other units, with a chance to travel farther than their move stat (it works within move range but has a chance of failure the farther teleport travels past the move stat). Teleport movement cannot be undone, so care is needed to go above/below an overlapping tile.

Unlocking[]

The time mage is unlocked by achieving level 3 black mage, or level 2 in the original game version.

Leveling time mage to level 3 unlocks summoner in the War of the Lions, and leveling it to level 4 with separate level requirements from mystic, black mage, and white mage unlocks arithmetician. In the PlayStation version, the level requirements are a little lower.

Stats and equipment[]

Time mage has low stats with a standard Movement, Jump rate, Speed, and Physical Evasion. It has a low base attack and HP, but high Magick Attack and MP.

Time mage is also limited to basic mage equipment: staves, hats, clothes, and robes. This also contributes to time mage being used less as a main job on its own, and more to learn abilities and magicks to be used for other jobs.

Abilities[]

Time mage costs 8,320 JP to master in the original version and 8,920 JP in later versions. In The Ivalice Chronicles enhanced mode, time mage costs 10,670 JP to master.

Time Magicks[]

Main article: Time Magicks (Tactics)

Hasteja and Slowja have a 20% chance of randomly being learned in battle by a Time Mage who has yet to learn the spell and is inflicted with the status.

Name	MP Cost	Range	Effect	Speed	JP Needed	Success Rate	Description
Haste	8	3	2	50	100	180	Time magick that hastens the passage of time for its targets, effectively boosting their Speed.
Hasteja (Haste 2)	30	3	2	15	550/600	240	Time magick that hastens the passage of time for its targets, effectively boosting their Speed.
Slow	8	3	2	50	80	180	Time magick that inhibits the passage of time for its targets, effectively reducing their Speed.
Slowja (Slow 2)	30	3	2	15	520/600	240	Time magick that inhibits the passage of time for its targets, effectively reducing their Speed.
Stop	14	3	2	15	330/350	110	Time magick that halts the passage of time for its targets, preventing them from receiving turns.
Immobilize (Don't Move)	10	3	2	34	100	190	Time magick that creates an anomaly in space to prevent its targets from moving.
Float	8	4	2	50	200	140	Time magick that warps space, allowing its targets to float a height of 1h above the ground.
Reflect	12	4	1	50	300	180	Time magick that creates a magick-reflecting field.
Quick	24	4	1	25	800/900	140	Time magick that hastens the localized passage of time, causing the target's turn to come more quickly.
Gravity (Demi)	24	4	2	17	250	190	Time magick that conjures up a supermassive field, inflicting damage with powerful gravitational forces. Damage: 25% of target's Max HP
Graviga (Demi 2)	50	4	2	12	550	120	Time magick that conjures up a supermassive field, inflicting damage with powerful gravitational forces. Damage: 50% of target's Max HP
Meteor	70	4	4	8	1500	—	Time magick that warps space-time, causing an enormous meteor to fall on the battlefield. Damage: (40 x Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100)

Reaction abilities[]

Name	Description	Trigger	JP Needed
Critical: Quick	Receive an immediate turn when critically wounded.	Critical	700/800
Mana Shield (MP Switch)	Damage is dealt to MP rather than HP.	HP Loss	400

Support abilities[]

Name	Description	JP Needed
Swiftspell ({{A\|Swiftness})) (Short Charge)	Shorten charge time.	800/1000

Movement abilities[]

Name	Description	JP Needed
Teleport	Warp instantly to destination tiles. May fail when attempting to travel to distant locations.	600/650/3000
Levitate (Float)	Move while floating a height of 1h above the ground.	540