Time Mage (Tactics)

The Time Mage controls time and space. This sorcerer toys with the laws of the universe.

Description

Time Mage is a job from Final Fantasy Tactics unlocked by achieving level 2 in Black Mage. A supportive magickal job, 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. Time Mage costs 8,320 JP to master in the original version and 8,920 JP The War of the Lions.

The so called "Dragqueen" character is a glitched Time Mage found in Midlight's Deep.

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[]

Prerequisite	Weapons	Helmet	Armor	Equip Shields?
WotL(War of the Lions): Lv. 3 Black Mage PlayStation: Lv. 2 Wizard	Staves	Hats	Clothes, Robes	No

Move Rate	Jump Rate	Speed	Physical Evasion Rate	Base Attack	Base Magic	Base HP	Base MP
3	3	8	5%	Low	High	Low	High

Abilities[]

Time Magick[]

Time mage job command. Enables the use of magicks that manipulate time and space.

Description

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
Haste	8	3	2	50	100
Haste	Time magick that hastens the passage of time for its targets, effectively boosting their Speed. Can be Reflected. Arithmeticks. Effect: Haste. Success Rate: (180 + Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Layer upon layer make your mark now... Haste!"
Hasteja (Haste 2)	30	3	2	15	550/600
Hasteja (Haste 2)	Time magick that hastens the passage of time for its targets, effectively boosting their Speed. Effect: Haste. Success Rate: (240 + Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Times current, place me in your whirlpool! Haste2!"
Slow	8	3	2	50	80
Slow	Time magick that inhibits the passage of time for its targets, effectively reducing their Speed. Can be Reflected. Arithmeticks. Effect: Slow. Success Rate: (180 + Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Time, rest and give your kindness to the worthy! Slow!"
Slowja (Slow 2)	30	3	2	15	520/600
Slowja (Slow 2)	Time magick that inhibits the passage of time for its targets, effectively reducing their Speed. Effect: Slow. Success Rate: (240 + Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Obey the sky's will, slow time down! Slow2!"
Stop	14	3	2	15	330/350
Stop	Time magick that halts the passage of time for its targets, preventing them from receiving turns. Can be Reflected. Arithmeticks. Effect: Stop. Success Rate: (110 + Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Spirits of time, Hide us from the judging hand of God! Stop!"
Immobilize (Don't Move)	10	3	2	34	100
Immobilize (Don't Move)	Time magick that creates an anomaly in space to prevent its targets from moving. Can be Reflected. Arithmeticks. Effect: Immobilize. Success Rate: (190 + Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Land of all lives, suppress all rebels! Don't Move!"
Float	8	4	2	50	200
Float	Time magick that warps space, allowing its targets to float a height of 1h above the ground. Can be Reflected. Arithmeticks. Effect: Float. Success Rate: (140 + Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Land of mercy, loosen tight fists! Float!"
Reflect	12	4	1	50	300
Reflect	Time magick that creates a magick-reflecting field. Can be Reflected. Arithmeticks. Effect: Reflect. Success Rate: (180 + Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Spell break, turn into a avenging light! Reflect!"
Quick	24	4	1	25	800/900
Quick	Time magick that hastens the localized passage of time, causing the target's turn to come more quickly. Can be Reflected. Success Rate: (140 + Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Restore lost time in the spiral line... Quick!"
Gravity (Demi)	24	4	2	17	250
Gravity (Demi)	Time magick that conjures up a supermassive field, inflicting damage with powerful gravitational forces. Can be Reflected. Arithmeticks. Damage: 25% of target's Max HP Success Rate: (190 + Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Revenge with dark-evil spell! Demi!"
Graviga (Demi 2)	50	4	2	12	550
Graviga (Demi 2)	Time magick that conjures up a supermassive field, inflicting damage with powerful gravitational forces. Can be Reflected. Arithmeticks. Damage: 50% of target's Max HP Success Rate: (120 + Magic Attack) x (Faith/100) x (TargetFaith/100) Quote: "Black sheep of evil times, cover our light! Demi2!"
Meteor	70	4	4	8	1500
Meteor	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) Quote: "Time has come... crash down on the wicked! Meteor!"

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
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
Levitate (Float)	Move while floating a height of 1h above the ground.	540

Gameplay[]

The Time Mage is a support-oriented magick job focused on bestowing various buffs to their allies while also having access to status ailments to cripple their opponents (which will indirectly allow slower spells to be cast on a Slow or Immobilized enemy, including some bosses). Much like other mages, they 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 greatly 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 Swiftness. 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 Mages can be used as main jobs, switching to the Black Mage and equipping Time Magick can give them a wide array of offensive spells, while casting faster with Swiftness and higher magick attack.

The Time Mage job can also benefit Cloud Strife (who joins late game with Time Mage unlocked despite starting at level 1) so long as a Materia Blade can be equipped to give him stronger, magick attack for his Limit. Alternatively, a Swiftness 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.

This job 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.

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.