Ultima (ability)

Cecil and Rosa casting Ultima in the DS version of Final Fantasy IV.

Know pain...but not for long.

Lulu, Final Fantasy X

Ultima (アルテマ, Arutema) is a recurring spell in the Final Fantasy series. It is almost always the most powerful spell in the game, hitting all enemies for non-elemental damage, often ignoring defense, Reflect and any other protection. Ultima usually manifests as an explosive sphere of blue or green energy consuming opponents. In the games where Ultima is not available to the player, it is instead cast by some of the game's most powerful bosses, such as Trance Kuja in Final Fantasy IX and Barthandelus in Final Fantasy XIII. Ultima is a plot device in Final Fantasy II as the ultimate spell which was sealed away.

Appearances

Final Fantasy II

Main article: Ultima (Final Fantasy II)

Found at the Mysidian Tower, this is the first game where Ultima appears and the only game where it is an important plot point. Ultima's offensive power is dependent on its current level, as well as the current level of all the other spells the caster knows. Ultima is considered White Magic in this game, a contrast to other games where it is Black Magic. Although it should be noted that Ultima draws its power from the Intelligence Stat and an algorithm based on how high your spell levels are.

Final Fantasy IV

Ultima is one of the spells that can be accessed using the Twincast command through the Augment Ability system in the Nintendo DS version. Ultima can only be used through Twincast when used by Cecil and Rosa. With a base attack of 999, its power is superior to that of Meteor, but it costs 99 MP and takes twice as long to cast.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years

File:FFIV TAY Ultima Spark.jpg

Ultima Spark.

Cecil and Golbez can use a Band ability called Ultima Spark. It costs 50 MP to cast and does non-elemental damage to all enemies, possibly breaking the damage limit.

Final Fantasy VI

Ultima can be learned at a x1 Learning Rate from the Ragnarok Esper or the Paladin Shield. Terra Branford learns the spell naturally at level 99. Ultima costs 80 MP to cast and does non-elemental damage to all enemies, ignoring Magic Defense and any status buffs. However, it is vulnerable to Runic. It is possible to overflow Ultima's damage with a high-level character.

Ultima is cast by some of the most powerful enemies in the game, including Brachiosaur, Kefka in the final battle, Magic Master, Ultima Buster, Dark Behemoth, Kaiser Dragon, Red Dragon in the Dragons' Den, and Glutturn (Elixir).

Final Fantasy VII

Extreme Magic Attack

Description of Materia

The Ultima Materia can be obtained in North Corel. If the player successfully stops the coal train during the Huge Materia mission on Disk 2, one of the villagers gives it to the party as thanks. If the player fails to stop the train, they must buy the Materia for 50,000 gil. The spell can only be cast once the player has leveled up the Materia once. It costs 130 MP to cast and has a spell power equal to 6.5625x the base magic damage.

The bosses Jenova∙SYNTHESIS and Ruby Weapon and the enemy Dark Dragon use the spell against the party. Dark Dragon freely counters once per battle with the spell when attacked by magic, while Ruby Weapon always counterattacks with the spell when hit by Knights of the Round, but can also use the spell freely. Jenova∙SYNTHESIS can only use the spell after reaching 0 on its countdown.

Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-

Ultima is the strongest non-elemental Magic Materia. It does heavy non-elemental damage and costs 200 MP to cast.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-

Ultima is the strongest spell in the game. It lights up the screen in an explosion of green and blue light, dealing heavy damage to all enemies. Ultima cannot be doublecast and requires Zack to charge for several seconds before unleashing the spell. It costs 99 MP to cast. The Materia can be stolen as a rare steal from Tycoon and obtained through missions 3-5-4, 2-5-2, 6-6-3, 6-6-5, 9-6-2 and 9-6-5. Ultima can also be made with Materia Fusion by fusing a mastered Energy Materia with a Libra Materia, or fusing any DMW Materia with an Ultimate Materia (Tri-Fire, Tri-Thundaga, Electrocute, Flare, Energy).

Final Fantasy VIII

Ultima is the most powerful offensive spell in the game, second only to Apocalypse. It is almost universally the best spell for junctioning to stats, with only Triple being more effective when junctioned to Hit Rate or Speed. The spell can be drawn from Draw points around the world, but the one most easily accessible is in Shumi Village. Ultima can also be refined from Ultima Stones, 100 of which are dropped by Ultima Weapon. Ultima can also be drawn from a handful of high-level monsters, including Ultima Weapon and Omega Weapon. Three Ultima Stones can be refined from one Energy Crystal with Siren's Tool-RF ability.

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Final Fantasy IX

thumb|300px|right|Kuja destroys Terra with the Ultima spell. Ultima is not a spell available to the player, unless by using cheat devices and hacking. Kuja uses Ultima on the party when defeated in battle both as himself and as Trance Kuja, both times signifying the end of the battle with the party's defeat for story purposes by instantly killing them without displaying any damage taken. Kuja also utilizes Ultima to destroy Terra in a cutscene.

Final Fantasy X

Ultima is one of the most powerful Black Magic spells. It is located in Kimahri's section of the Sphere Grid, at the very center of the grid surrounded by four Level 4 locks, though only three need to be unlocked to learn the ability. On the Expert Sphere Grid it can be found in the top right corner beside Doublecast. Ultima can be Doublecast skill, as well as used with Lulu's Fury Overdrive. It costs 90 MP to cast.

Ultima can be cast by Bomb King, Catoblepas, Greater Sphere, Jumbo Flan, Mindy, Nega Elemental, Omega Weapon, Seymour Omnis, Sleep Sprout, Ultima Buster, Vidatu, and Yu Yevon.

Final Fantasy X-2

The Ultima spell can only used by equipping the Megiddo Garment Grid and spherechanging through each colored gate. The spell will then appear in the Black Magic skillset. Alternatively, it can be used by a character wearing the Lady Luck dressphere by achieving three 7s in a row with Magic Reels. Ultima can also be used through Yuna's Festival-Goer ability Ultima Geta. Also, the Black Elemental uses it at the near beginning of the battle. Trema also can use Ultima once per battle.

Final Fantasy XII

Although Final Fantasy XII does not have a spell version of Ultima, the Esper Ultima's ultimate attack, Eschaton, was called Complete Ultima (完全アルテマ, Kanzen Arutema) in the Japanese version of the game. This is the same Japanese used for Ultima's Divine Ultima attack in Final Fantasy Tactics (see below).

Final Fantasy XIII

Ultima is a spell used by Barthandelus during the third battle with him inside Orphan's Cradle. It is also used by Long Gui and Shaolong Gui.

Final Fantasy Tactics

There are three separate versions of Ultima. The first Ultima is that used by Celia, Lettie, and the Ultima Demons. Both Ramza Beoulve and his sister Alma (and Luso in The War of the Lions) can learn this version in Blue Mage style in only a handful of battles, so it can easily be missed. Since Alma's weapon, Healing Staff, can only heal its target when using the "Attack" command, the Ultima spell she can learn from her allies or Ultima Demons is her only means of offensive during the final battle. The final boss Ultima possess two more Ultima spells, one per each form. In her first form, the spell is still called Ultima but its animation is grander than the one used by others. The second version of the spell is Divine Ultima (All-ultima in the original version), which is stronger than the normal spell.

All three Ultima spells deliver non-elemental damage on all targets within its effect area. The Ultima usable by most units has the radius of two grids, which is that of a normal magick spell. The Ultima and Divine Ultima used by the final boss has radius of three and four respectively. Although the Ultima spells used by the final boss are reasonably powerful, the spells' charging speed is low, usually buying player time to engulf the boss in her own magick.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

While Ultima does not appear directly as a spell, each race has a key Job were they can learn a weapon skill that channels Ultima's magic in to the caster's weapon for an extremely deadly attack, doing three times the damage of the caster's normal physical attack. They are Ultima Shot for Humans (the Hunters), Ultima Sword for Bangaa (the Gladiators), Ultima Charge for Moogles (the Mog Knights), Ultima Masher for Viera (the Assassins), and Ultima Blow for Nu Mou (the Sages). The five races' Ultimas all cost 999 AP to learn, and all are learned from rare but weak weapons, making mastering of the Ultima abilities difficult. The game also includes what are dubbed Ultima's family spells, its big brother Omega, and their father spell and most powerful spell and offensive skill in the game Alpha, though they are not usable by the player and appear only as skills exclusive to the enemy.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift

As was the case in the original, the Ultima abilities are the highest-powered ability available to most races. All of them require 990 AP to learn, but the weapons that teach the skills are stronger. No new Ultima abilities were added, but Gria can acquire Ultima Shot. Seeq, notably, do not have an equivalent of Ultima. All Ultima abilities cost 32 MP, and thus the user must wait four turns before using any of them, however by using the Clan Privileges MP Channeling or MP Efficiency that number can be taken down to being used every second turn, if also combining that with the Halve MP ability, Ultima abilities could be used every turn.

Race	Job	Ability
Hume	Hunter	Ultima Shot
Bangaa	Gladiator	Ultima Sword
Viera	Assassin	Ultima Masher
Nu Mou	Sage	Ultima Blow
Gria	Hunter	Ultima Shot
Moogle	Moogle Knight	Ultima Charge

The actual spell Ultima is cast from the summoning of the Scion, Ultima. It fully heals all party members and deals moderate holy-elemental damage to all foes.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates

Ultima is cast by piling Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Cure, and Clear. In this game Ultima has an upgraded form, Ultiga.

Dissidia Final Fantasy

Kefka has Ultima as a Bravery attack. He fires a small magical orb that explodes in a flash of blue energy a moment later. Kefka can cast the spell while on the ground or in the air and learns both versions at Level 28. It costs 30 CP to equip and 180 AP to master.

Ultima is an HP attack for Terra and Kuja. Terra's version chains from Holy Combo, and creates a violet sphere of energy around the opponent that explodes. It costs 40 CP to equip and 300 AP to master. Kuja's version of Ultima summons many magical orbs to fall on the opponent, stunning them if they are hit. Kuja learns to cast Ultima on the ground at Level 38 and in the air at Level 44. It costs 40 CP to equip and 300 AP to master.

Etymology

"Ultima" is Latin, portuguese and Italian for "The Last", in its feminine sense. However in the Spanish versions of many Final Fantasy games the spell name is "Artema", a more close translation of the original Japanese katakana.

Gallery

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