Time Magic (Final Fantasy V)

Perform time magic.

Description

Time Magic, also known as Time, is the primary ability of the Time Mage job from Final Fantasy V. This skillset involves manipulating time and space, either to cast positive status effects on allies or to cripple and destroy enemies. It is disabled if the user is silenced. Time Magic spells are purchased from shops in various towns and are divided into 6 levels.

Obtained[]

Time magic is innate to the Time Mage job. After leveling up the Time Mage job, a character can have the !Time Magic command equipped on any other job and use any time magic spell whose associated level has been attained by the Time Mage. Therefore, to be able to use all time magic spells as a non-Time Mage, a character must level their Time Mage job up to level 6. Time magic is the primary ability for Time Mages, who can use all time magic spells without the need to attain a spell's associated level first.

The Time Magic ability requires 10 AP for level 1, 20 for level 2, 30 for level 3, 50 for level 4, 70 for level 5, and 100 for level 6.

Mechanics[]

The Time Magic skillset is locked if the user is under the effects of silence, or in the right side of Fork Tower where magic-use is forbidden.

All spells that inflict status ailments are subject to hit determination. On the contrary, spells that bestow positive statuses cannot miss.

Time Magic features four damaging spells whose damage does not depend on any of the caster's stats: Comet and Meteor inflict purely random damage and cannot miss, while Gravity and Graviga deal fractional damage based on the target's current HP, and are subject to hit determination.

Magic stat adjustment[]

When a character equips the !Time Magic ability from the Time Mage job while using a different job, the game may adjust the character's Magic stat. This adjustment simulates a portion of the Time Mage's Magic stat being transferred to the new job, depending on the character's Time Mage job level.

The game calculates a theoretical Magic value based on the character's Time Mage job level:

$Magic_{candidate}=48-2\times (6-TimeMageJobLevel)$

Then, the final Magic stat used is:

$Magic_{new}=\max(Magic_{candidate},Magic_{default})$

In particular:

$Magic_{default}$ is the Magic stat of the current job without !Time Magic.
$Magic_{candidate}$ is the boosted Magic stat, based on the Time Mage job level.
If the character has mastered Time Mage (Job Level 6), the maximum transferable Magic value is 48.
If the Time Mage job level is only 1 for the character, the transferable value drops to 38.
This boost only applies if the Time Mage-derived Magic is strictly higher than the base Magic of the current job.
This mechanic allows characters using low-Magic jobs to effectively cast Time Magic if they have sufficiently progressed in the Time Mage job.

List of spells[]

Name	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy ^{[note 1]} ^{[note 2]}	Reflectable	Location
Speed	300	1	1	—	Always	No	Buy: Phantom Village Find: Castle Walse basement (in a pot)
	Effect
	Alters the ATB mechanics for the remainder of the battle to function as if the battle speed were set to 5 in the Config menu. Nothing changes if the battle speed was already set to 5 in the Config menu.
	In-game description
	Hastens the pace of battle.
Slow
	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy	Reflectable	Location
	80	1	3	—	95	Yes	Buy: Walse, Karnak, Istory
	Effect
	Attempts to inflict the slow status on a single target, so that their ATB starting point after each action is set further away from a full bar. Since the slow status is incompatible with the haste status, the latter is also removed, if present.
	In-game description
	Slows the passing of time for one enemy.
Regen
	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy	Reflectable	Location
	100	1	3	—	Always	Yes	Buy: Walse, Karnak, Istory
	Effect
	Bestows the regen status on a single target.
	In-game description
	Gradually restores HP.
Mute
	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy	Reflectable	Location
	320	2	3	—	Always	No	Buy: Walse, Karnak, Istory
	Effect
	Inflicts an unremovable silence status on all units for the duration of the battle. Bypasses silence immunity. Cannot be used in many boss battles, especially towards the end of the game.
	In-game description
	Silences all allies and enemies.
Haste
	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy	Reflectable	Location
	320	2	5	—	Always	Yes	Buy: Walse, Karnak, Istory
	Effect
	Bestows the haste status on a single target, so that their ATB starting point after each action is set closer to a full bar. Since the haste status is incompatible with the slow status, the latter is also removed, if present.
	In-game description
	Hastens the passing of time for one ally.
Float
	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy	Reflectable	Location
	300	2	10	—	Always	Yes	Buy: Phantom Village Find: Surgate Castle (in a treasure chest)
	Effect
	If single-targeted: Bestows the float status on a single target. If multi-targeted: Bestows the float status on either all targetable party members, or all targetable enemies, depending on player choice. In both cases: Can be used both in battle and from the main menu. Certain earth-elemental spells miss floating targets. Floating targets are unaffected by damaging floor such as lava.
	In-game description
	Levitates target.
Gravity (Demi)
	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy	Reflectable	Location
	620	3	9	—	99	Yes	Buy: Karnak, Istory
	Effect
	Deals fractional damage to a non-heavy target equal to: `min(9999, TargetHP // 2)`.
	In-game description
	Halves target's HP.
Stop
	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy	Reflectable	Location
	580	3	8	—	90	Yes	Buy: Karnak, Istory
	Effect
	Attempts to inflict the stop status on a single target. The `action duration` parameter is `180` for status duration determination. Like all negative temporary statuses, heavy and high-level targets recover much earlier.^{[note 3]}
	In-game description
	Causes time to stop, halting target's actions.
Teleport (Exit) (Telepo)
	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy	Reflectable	Location
	600	3	15	—	Always	No	Buy: Phantom Village Find: Castle of Bal (in a treasure chest)
	Effect
	When used in battle: Makes the party escape if the battle is escapable. Wastes a turn (and 15 MP) if the battle is not escapable. When used from the main menu in dungeons: Teleports the party out of them to the last spot of the world map that was occupied before entering the dungeon.^{[note 4]} Cannot be used in certain dungeon areas.
	In-game description
	Warps party out of dungeon or out of battle.
Comet
	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy	Reflectable	Location
	3000	4	7	8	Always	No	Buy: Regole, Castle of Bal, Quelb, Surgate Castle
	Effect
	Casts a purely random spell on a single target.
	In-game description
	Calls forth meteors that damage one enemy.
Slowga (Slow2)
	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy	Reflectable	Location
	3000	4	9	—	80	Yes	Buy: Regole, Castle of Bal, Quelb, Surgate Castle
	Effect
	Multi-targeted version of Slow. Can be aimed at all enemy targets or the party. Hit determination is performed independently for each target.
	In-game description
	Slows the passing of time for all enemies.
Return (Reset)
	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy	Reflectable	Location
	3000	4	1	—	Always	No	Buy: Regole, Castle of Bal, Quelb, Surgate Castle
	Effect
	Resets the battle to the beginning. A new configuration of the same battle formation may be triggered. Everything that happened in the original battle (e.g. used items, stolen goods, battle flags^{[note 5]}, etc.) is reversed.
	In-game description
	Turn back time to the beginning of the battle.
Graviga (Demi2)
	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy	Reflectable	Location
	6000	5	18	—	99	Yes	Buy: Moore
	Effect
	Deals fractional damage to a non-heavy target equal to: `min(9999, (TargetHP × 7) // 8)`.
	In-game description
	Reduces target's HP to 1/8th of total HP.
Hastega (Haste2)
	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy	Reflectable	Location
	6000	5	15	—	Always	Yes	Buy: Moore
	Effect
	Multi-targeted version of Haste. Can be aimed at all enemy targets or the party.
	In-game description
	Hastens the passing of time for all allies.
Old
	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy	Reflectable	Location
	6000	5	4	—	90	Yes	Buy: Moore
	Effect
	Attempts to inflict the old status on a single target.^{[note 6]}
	In-game description
	Causes old status.
Meteor
	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy	Reflectable	Location
	0	6	42 ^{[note 7]}	14	Always	No	Find: Great Sea Trench (after collecting the stone tablet)
	Effect
	Casts a 4-hit purely random spell. Each hit is aimed at a random target. The damage is re-calculated for each hit.
	In-game description
	Calls forth meteors that damage all enemies.
Quick
	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy	Reflectable	Location
	10000	6	77	—	Always	No	Buy: Phantom Village
	Effect
	Allows the caster to perform two undisturbed actions following the cast of this spell. All other units' ATB bars do not increase until both actions have been performed (or until the caster has incapacitated themselves with the first action). In some cases, the battle may end before either action has been performed (e.g. when the first action kills the last enemy, or a Game Over is triggered).
	In-game description
	Stops the passing of time for all but the caster.
Banish (X-zone)
	Cost	Spell Level	MP cost	Power	Base accuracy	Reflectable	Location
	10000	6	20	—	50	Yes	Buy: Phantom Village
	Effect
	Attempts to eject a non-heavy target from battle, effectively killing it. Ignores death immunity.
	In-game description
	Erases one enemy from the battlefield.

↑ This is just base accuracy, not the final probability that the spell hits its targets.
↑
"Always" means that no probability is involved in hit determination: the spell always hits. The expression "Always" is used instead of the numerical value of 100 because a base accuracy of 100 does not guarantee that the spell hits due to:
- The attacker - target level delta.
- The catcher effect of the Aegis Shield.
- Magic evasion.
↑ This explains the extremely short duration of the stop status on Omega.
↑ This can cause a notorious glitch in the SNES and PS versions.
↑ For example, the boolean flags related to successful steal attempts.
↑ The old status acts differently on party members vs. enemies.
↑ In the Japanese and North American Advance versions of Final Fantasy V, if a party member casts Meteor, and then a Mime or another job equipped with the Mimic ability copies that spell, the latter will spend the 42 MP it costs to cast that spell, and if they have less than 42 MP (or 21 if equipped with a Gold Hairpin), they will fail to cast it. This was fixed in the European version.