Ｆｉｎａｌ　Ｆａｎｔａｓｙ　Ｖ

All jobs except Mimic have this command at all times, and Mimic can equip it to a free slot if desired.

This is your basic attack command. The formulae used to calculate A, D, and M vary by weapon.

All jobs except Mimic have this command at all times, and Mimic can equip it to a free slot if desired. Select to use items or change weapons.

Off the left side of the battle menu. Use to change rows. Always available to all jobs.

If the attacker is in the back row, M is halved. If the target is in the back row, M is halved. Both monsters and party can have front and back rows, and these modifiers stack when applicable. Magic, some weapons (such as whips) and many abilities ignore row.

Off the right side of the battle menu. Defend until next command input. Always available to all jobs.

M for physical attacks is halved against a defending target.

In addition to basic commands, each job has at least one empty slot. Any one learned ability, active or passive, can be equipped to an empty slot. Mimic has thee empty slots, Normal has two, and all other jobs have one.

If a character's current HP is below 1/8 of that characters's maximum HP, and at least one ally has the Cover ability, then a character with the Cover ability will intercept physical attacks meant for the weak character. Damage is determined as though the Covering character had been the target of the attack to begin with.

A character cannot Cover when under Stone, Zombie, Dead, Sleep, Paralyze, Charm, Berserk, or Stop status, or when Hiding, Jumping, or erased from combat. Cover will also not work on attacks made by allies.

Useful on a tank to help keep weaker allies alive. They're still vulnerable to magic, though.

This is an innate passive ability for the Knight.

An enchanced version of Defend. The user takes 0 damage from physical attacks until the next turn.

!Guard and Cover can make a potent combination, and throw in the Monk's Counter to hit back. Just remember none of these does a thing against magic attacks...

This is the Knight's built in command.

Doubles M when attacking, as long as the character is using a compatible weapon and has the other hand free (no shield or second weapon). Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +13 if it would otherwise be lower, though it seems unlikely that you would use this ability with a class with less strength than that.

This ability, like the Ninja's Dual-Wield, effectively doubles a character's offense. This one has two significant advantages, though. First, it's available much sooner, requiring 90 ABP on an early job as compared to the Ninja's 690 on a later job. Second, it lets you double the effect of a weapon without needing two of that weapon, which comes in handy with weapons that are rare or unique. Of course, Dual-Wield has advantages of its own...

Allows any job to equip a shield.

Equip xxx abilities are generally not worth using an ability slot for. However, Equip Shield can come in handy to help normally shieldless jobs avoid being hit as much, if they don't need the slot for anything more useful.

Allows any job to equip heavy armor (normally exclusive to Knight, Wyrmknight, Samurai, Berserker, Sword Mage, Mimic, and of course Normal).

Not so good. Heavy armor tends to have poor MDef, and, well, it's HEAVY, slowing the wearer down (if not by much). This ability would be somewhat better if it included medium armor, but it doesn't. It also won't do a thing for headgear. The armor available naturally to other classes tends to be just fine.

Allows any job to wield swords and greatswords. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +23 (same as Knight's) if it would otherwise be lower.

The strength bonus makes this a decent way to let physically weak classes do some damage without spending MP, but it doesn't do a thing for their durablility.

Attacks all enemies. Damage to each is roughly the same as a single Monk punch, including the bonus for equipping Kaiser Knuckles if applicable. Note that row matters, so enemies in the back take half damage. Hit rate is the same as a punch.

It's not a bad ablility, but the relatively low damage and penalty against back row enemies keep it from being a very good ablility either.

This is the Monk's built in command.

The user waits a turn or so, then attacks with doubled M. Using !Gather prevents weapons from casting spells or skills.

!Gather is useful for giving opponents fewer opporunities to counterattack. Certain opponents (mostly bosses) also change behavior when their HP drops below a certain amount, but a few characters with well-timed !Gathers may be able to finish them off before they get a chance to use their new attack pattern.

Gives a bonus of (level * 2) to A and (level * strength / 256) to M when not equipped with a weapon. Applies to both hands if both are empty. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +26 (same as Monk's) if it would otherwise be lower.

Characters who have both hands empty attack twice, once with each fist (whether or not they have the Martial Arts ability), which doesn't hurt damage output. Fists also have a respectable 8% critical hit rate, so attacking with both fists results in a higher than 15% chance of seeing at least one critical.

This is essentially an Equip xxx ability with a different name. The strength bonus, low ABP cost, and early availability make it a good choice for mages to deal some damage without spending MP, at least until free magic-based abilities like !Terrain become available. It doesn't make them any more durable, though.

This is an innate passive ability for the Monk.

Heals the user slightly and cures poison and darkness status. Damages the undead. Always hits.

Heal amount is determined using A = Random(30, 33.75), D = MDef, M = (level * magic)/256 + 4. The Monk's low magic doesn't help, but even Lenna (highest base magic) as a Summoner (best magic bonus) at level 99 (maximum) still only heals 828 to 931 with no MDef, and that's assuming no truncation at any point during the calculation (a false assumption, so the true values are lower). Still using the no truncation assumption and no MDef, Galuf as a level 1 Monk (1 magic) heals 120 to 135. Note the !Chakra does NOT ignore MDef, so characters with higher MDef are healed less.

Counter rate is 50%. As far as I can tell, a counterattack is identical to using !Battle except that counterattacks do not provoke counterattacks.

A useful skill for increasing damage output. This combines well with the Knight's !Guard against purely physical opponents. Counter's ability to avoid enemy reactions to being attacked is also quite useful against certain opponents.

This is an innate passive ability for the Monk.

Increases maximum HP by 10%.

Frankly not worth using an ability slot on. Only worth getting because it's on the way to mastering the job.

Increases maximum HP by 20%.

Also not worth using an ability slot on. It does a good job of pumping up the ABP cost to master Monk, though.

Increases maximum HP by 30%.

Multiple HP Up abilities (including several of the same one) stack, if you're that desperate for extra max HP, but there are better ways of using ability slots.

If anyone in the party has Secret Passages, secret passages become visible in the field.

Many areas, towns included, have secret passages leading to additional treasure, or just providing a shortcut. Have this when exploring.

This is an innate passive ability for the Thief.

Flee combat. Always(?) succeeds if fleeing is possible.

Useful against overpowering enemies (like Skull Eaters) and timers (escaping Karnak Castle), especially if you'd prefer the Chicken Knife to the Brave Blade.

If anyone in the party has Dash, the party can move twice as quickly in the field by holding the cancel button (default B).

As I recall, the PSX version lets you run with the O button to begin with, then doubles speed again with this skill, making the run unmanageably fast... not their best idea. Regardless, in the SFC/SNES version, this is required to reach at least one treasure, and helps cut back on the tedium of walking around.

This is an innate passive ability for the Thief.

Attempts to steal from an opponent. Chance to succeed is 40%, doubled if wearing a Thief's Bracer.

You may be wondering why the chance sometimes seems much lower than the expected 40% or 80%. That's where things get complicated. In addition to determining success or failure, the game also randomly decides whether to steal a rare item (10/256 chance) or a common item (246/256 chance). If the target doesn't have an item of the type chosen, then stealing fails, even if it "succeeded". This means that if an enemy has only a rare item to steal, the best possible actual success rate is 1/32 (3.125%), and similarly a maximum of 123/160 (76.875%) for an enemy with only a common item, and there's nothing you can do about it. This is why it's so hard to steal from enemies with no common item, though actually it's easier to steal a rare item when there is no common item, because this way you can just keep trying after "stealing" the common item—all the fail messages just make it look worse.

Lots of equipment can be stolen before you're "supposed" to have it (Mithril Swords and Mithril Knives in Worus for some early examples). Abuse as desired.

This is the Thief's built in command.

If anyone in the party has Alertness, the chance of being attacked from behind is zero instead of 1/16.

May be worth using an ability slot on depending on the area and what you're doing, but usually it's simpler just to have a Thief in the party.

This is an innate passive ability for the Thief.

Using !Mug prevents weapons from casting spells or skills. Otherwise, it's identical to using !Steal and !Battle in the same action.

The steal attempt occurs before the damage is applied, even though the attack animation is shown first, so you can steal even if the damage kills the target. Handy for doing damage and possibly getting items at the same time. Particularly convenient when you're in a hurry (Karnak Castle). If !Mug fails to steal but kills the enemy, you don't get another chance to steal from it, so !Steal is more useful for getting items reliably.

Raises the character's agility bonus to +16 (same as Thief's) if it would otherwise be lower.

Only somewhat useful. Would be better if the bonus damage from agility for certain weapons wasn't bugged (affects all knives except the Maneater and the Chicken Knife, all bows except the Magicseal Bow, all whips, the Full Moon, and the Rising Sun).

The character leaps into the air, becoming untargetable with most attacks, and after a delay, lands on the target. !Jump always hits (unless the target has Image status), ignores row, and additionally doubles M for spears.

!Jump cannot be a critical hit even if the weapon allows it, and prevents weapons from casting spells. Rods ignore !Jump's perfect hit rate, but then, you should be using spears with !Jump anyway.

!Jump is as much a defensive move as it is an offensive one. Sure, you get doubled damage from spears, but it also gets full power from the back row and takes the character out of the line of fire for a while. It's possible to deliberately dodge big nasty attacks like this, but the timing is tricky since you don't control how long characters stay in the air. The Minstrel's !Hide is more reliable for avoiding such attacks.

This is the Wyrmknight's built in command.

Drains HP and MP from the target. Ignores row and always hits. Works backwards on the undead.

The HP drain uses A = Random(45, 50.625), D = MDef, and M = (level * magic)/256 + 4. The MP drain uses A = Random(4, 4.125), D = MDef/32, and M = (level * magic)/256 + 4. In brief, that means the HP drain is quite a bit stronger than the MP drain, but the MP drain is only barely affected by the target's MDef.

Mages may find !Wyrmblade useful as a way to replenish MP.

Allows any job to equip spears. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +18 (same as Wyrmknight's) if it would otherwise be lower.

Refer to the Knight's Equip Sword ability. It's like that with less strength. Spears are best used with !Jump anyway.

Flee combat. Always(?) succeeds if fleeing is possible.

Refer to Thief's !Flee. The description is even the same line of text.

Gives the user Image status (the next two physical attacks that would otherwise hit the character miss).

分身 (bunshin) is the standard term for ninja "cloning" skills.

Same as the White Magic Blink, but it costs no MP, takes up an ability slot, and only works on the user. It's also available earlier.

If anyone in the party has Preemptive Attack, the preemptive attack rate is 1/4 instead of 1/8.

Not really worth using an ability slot for, but it makes a nice innate passive.

This is an innate passive ability for the Ninja.

Throws a weapon at an enemy. !Throw always hits (unless target has Image status) and ignores row.

For thrown weapons, A = 2 * Random(throw attack, throw attack * 9/8), D = defense, M = (level * strength)/128 + (level * agility)/128 + 2. Throw attack equals attack power for most weapons, but there are a few exceptions, most notably the Excalipur, which has a pitiful 1 attack power, but a respectable 100 throw attack. Several unequipable items can be thrown as well. Soot has 25 throw attack, Shuriken have 50, and Fuuma Shuriken have 117.

Scrolls work differently and instead act as casting a 120 power spell against all enemies with the element determined by the scroll.

For thrown scrolls, A = Random(120, 135), D = MDef, and M = (level * magic)/256 + 4

This is the Ninja's built in command.

The character can use one weapon in each hand at the expense of a shield (assuming a job that can use shields to begin with). As far as offense goes, this is essentially equivalent to having two of the character, with one wielding the right-hand weapon normally and the other wielding the left-hand weapon normally.

This ability, like the Knight's Two-Handed Grip, effectively doubles a character's offense. This one has two significant advantages, though. First, it works with nearly every weapon, not just the limited set that the Knight skill does. Second and perhaps more importantly, it's an innate passive skill, which means that mastering Ninja gives the Mimic and Normal Dual-Wield automatically without having to use up a slot to get it. Of course, Two-Handed Grip has advantages of its own...

This is an innate passive ability for the Ninja.

みねうち is a strike with the flat or (blunt) back end of a blade.

You'd think this would paralyze an enemy. You'd be wrong. Apparently, it's just a normal attack, except that it won't remove Charm, Sleep, or Controlled status from the target.

Marginally better than !Battle since it won't remove bad status. It's anyone's guess whether the ability is bugged or the description is bad.

Uses up gil to damage all enemies. More enemies increases cost but doesn't split damage. Always hits (unless target has Image status), ignores row.

A = level + 10, D = defense, M = 150. Gil cost per use is 50 * level * number of targets. Can be powerful, can also be expensive.

This is the Samurai's built in command.

The character has a 1/4 chance to avoid blockable physical attacks, applied before standard evasion. Does not work when the character has Sleep, Paralyze, Charm, or Stop status, or is both the attacker and the target.

Very useful as an innate passive, less useful if you need to use an ability slot for it. It's sort of like having an extra shield.

This is an innate passive ability for the Samurai.

Allows any job to equip katanas. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +19 (same as Samurai's) if it would otherwise be lower.

Refer to the Knight's Equip Sword ability. Equip Katana gives a smaller strength bonus, but katanas have a good critical rate.

居合い (iai) is the skill, sometimes depicted in anime and video games in run-by slashings, of drawing the sword, cutting down an opponent, and optionally resheathing the sword, all in one fluid motion.

Attempts to kill all enemies. Ignores instant death immunity, but fails on Heavy types (includes many bosses).

Success rate is (85 + user's level - target's level)%, and each target has an additional MEvd% chance to avoid it even if a success is determined. This is basically the Summon Odin's True Edge ability for no MP, but takes up an ability slot and can miss.

Puts the character in constant Berserk status, even if immune to it. Berserk characters attack automatically and gain a 50% bonus to A.

This is not quite the same as the Berserker's innate Berserk, nor is it quite the same as the usual Berserk status.

As far as I can tell, being a Berserker works like having Berserk status (as set by White Magic Berserk, Blue Magic Moon Flute, etc.), except that the character has a moderately long delay before taking a first action, and Library will not report the character as being in Berserk status. The sidebar that appears when using items, etc. on the party will also never indicate Berserk status. The 50% A bonus still applies, though. Berserkers never look Berserk (no red skin), and are unaffected by any attempts to set Berserk status, even the Chemist Mix that ignores immunity. Agility and equipment weight seem to have little or no effect on the initial delay, but do quite clearly affect speed after the first attack (try disarming several Berserkers, to keep them for killing everything too quickly, and giving a slower one the Thief's Fidget ability). Berserkers are also immune to Charm.

Having the Berserk ability set on a non-Berserker class is also a bit odd. The character is not initially Berserk when combat begins, and does not take any action until the character's command window would normally appear. At this point, the character turns red and starts attacking uncontrollably with a 50% A bonus, just like any Berserk character. This means that, if a different character's command prompt appears before this happens, you can wait forever and the character with the Berserk ability will never do anything, while a true Berserker will begin acting after the abovementioned delay and continue to attack until combat ends. As with a Berserker, Library will not report the character as being in Berserk status, but the party targeting sidebar will indicate Berserk status, though only after the character turns red. Characters with the Berserk ability equipped are unaffected by anything that causes Berserk status. Non-Berserker characters with the Berserk ability equipped are not subject to the Berserker's delay before a first action. The Berserk ability also confers immunity to Charm.

Incidentally, since this isn't exactly an innate ability, mastering Berserker won't make Mimics and Normals always Berserk, so feel free.

Allows any job to equip axes. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +21 (same as Berserker's) if it would otherwise be lower.

Refer to the Knight's Equip Sword ability. Equip Axe gives a smaller strength bonus, and axes are fairly inaccurate and have wildly variable damage too. On the plus side, Axes partially pierce defense (D = defense/4).

Animals appear and do something. The effect chosen is random, with more available as character level increases. Detailed animals list.

Healing effects are fairly common and not bad especially considering the lack of MP cost. The other abilities are more of a mixed bag. Mages may want this so they have something to do that doesn't consume MP, especially considering the low ABP cost to learn it.

Attack with a slight delay, but can't miss (unless the target has Image status). Perfect hit doesn't work with rods.

Nice against evasive enemies, and useful as an innate, but I wouldn't normally use an ability slot for it.

This is the Hunter's built in command.

Allows any job to equip bows. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +16 (same as Hunter's) if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly raises the agility bonus to +12 (same as Hunter's) if it would otherwise be lower.

One of the best Equip xxx abilities. Bows are fairly powerful and work well from the back row, and the speed boost doesn't hurt either. The only downside is they're somewhat inaccurate without !Aim.

Attack four times at reduced power, targeting a random opponent with each attack. Always hits (unless target has Image status).

Prevents weapons from casting spells. Halves M and sets D to 0. Yes, that means target defense is ignored... your fighters will love this ability. J. L. Tseng notes in his FAQ that that third and fourth hits seem to behave oddly in that they don't trigger counterattacks or remove Sleep, Charm, or Controlled status.

The character automatically gains Shell status when HP goes below 1/8 of its maximum. Note that recovering health will not then remove Shell.

This is an innate passive ability for the Sword Mage.

Okay for an innate passive, but not worth using an ability slot for.

Allows the character to cast Fire, Ice, and Blizzard Sword Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells and the character is wielding a suitable weapon (most daggers and swords). Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +4 if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly reduces the magic penalty to -9 if it would otherwise be worse.

Allows the character to cast Poison, Silence, Sleep, and all lower level Sword Magic spells, as long as the party party has the corresponding spells and the character is wielding a suitable weapon. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +6 if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly reduces the magic penalty to -7 if it would otherwise be worse.

Allows the character to cast Fira, Blizzara, Thundara, and all lower level Sword Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells and the character is wielding a suitable weapon. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +8 if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly reduces the magic penalty to -5 if it would otherwise be worse.

Allows the character to cast Drain, Break, Bio, and all lower level Sword Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells and the character is wielding a suitable weapon. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +10 if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly reduces the magic penalty to -3 if it would otherwise be worse.

Allows the character to cast Figa, Blizzaga, Thundaga, and all lower level Sword Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells and the character is wielding a suitable weapon. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +12 if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly reduces the magic penalty to -1 if it would otherwise be worse.

Allows the character to cast Holy, Flare, Aspir, and all lower level Sword Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells and the character is wielding a suitable weapon. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +14 (same as Sword Mage's) if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly raises the magic bonus to +1 (same as Sword Mage's) if it would otherwise be lower.

!Magic Sword is an inexpensive way to inflict elemental damage and status effects. Works quite well with Knights and Normal. Detailed spell list.

This is the Sword Mage's built in command.

Allows the character to cast the Cure, Library, and Poisona spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +15 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Silence, Protect, Minimum, and all lower level White Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +17 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Cura, Raise, Confuse, and all lower level White Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +19 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Blink, Shell, Esuna, and all lower level White Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +21 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Curega, Reflect, Berserk, and all lower level White Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +23 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Araise, Holy, Dispel, and all lower level White Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +25 (same as White Mage's) if it would otherwise be lower.

!White Magic is always a good ability to have. Keep the level up for more spells, and better magic boosts on non-caster jobs. Detailed spell list.

This is the White Mage's built in command.

Increases maximum MP by 10%.

I hereby dub thee, "waste of ABP". If you need MP that badly, at least use the Black Mage's MP Up 30%.

Allows the character to cast the Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +16 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Poison, Sleepel, Toad, and all lower level Black Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +19 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Fira, Blizzara, Thundara, and all lower level Black Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +22 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Drain, Break, Bio, and all lower level Black Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +25 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Figa, Blizzaga, Thundaga, and all lower level Black Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +28 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Flare, Death, Aspir, and all lower level Black Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +31 (same as Black Mage's) if it would otherwise be lower.

!Black Magic is always good for a magical way to Hurt Things. Keep the level up for more spells, and better magic boosts on non-caster jobs. Detailed spell list.

This is the Black Mage's built in command.

Increases maximum MP by 30%.

Marginally better than the White Mage's MP Up 10%, but surely you have better ways to use your ability slots?

Allows the character to cast the Speed, Slow, and Regenerate spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +14 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Mute, Haste, Levitate, and all lower level Timespace spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +16 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Gravity, Stop, Teleport, and all lower level Timespace spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +18 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Comet, Slowga, Return, and all lower level Timespace spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +20 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Graviga, Hastega, Old, and all lower level Timespace spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +22 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Meteor, Quick, Dejon, and all lower level Timespace spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +24 (same as Time Mage's) if it would otherwise be lower.

!Timespace has some good buffs and debuffs and other handy effects. Keep the level up for more spells, and better magic boosts on non-caster jobs. Detailed spell list.

This is the Time Mage's built in command.

Allows any job to equip rods. No attribute bonuses, unlike most Equip abilities.

Rods are more useful as magic boosters than anything else, and the jobs that benefit the most from them can already equip them.

Allows the character to summon Chocobo, Sylph, and Remora, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +17 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to summon Shiva, Ramuh, Ifrit, and all lower level Summoned beasts, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +21 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to summon Titan, Golem, Catoblepas, and all lower level Summoned beasts, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +25 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to summon Carbuncle, Syldra, Odin, and all lower level Summoned beasts, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +29 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to summon Phoenix, Leviathan, Bahamut, and all lower level Summoned beasts, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +33 (same as Summoner's) if it would otherwise be lower.

!Summon gives plenty of good ways to inflict damage, and has a surprising variety of utility spells too. Keep the level up for more spells, and better magic boosts on non-caster jobs. Detailed spell list.

This is the Summoner's built in command.

Summons at random without using any MP. Any Summon spell learned, and ONLY those that have been learned, may be chosen.

Note that this command does NOT provide a magic bonus, so is not very effective on jobs with poor magic. On the other hand, caster classes should be able to have some fun with it. The randomness is a downside, but hey, no MP and lots of multitarget attacks.

Shows target's current and max HP, or "?????/?????" if the target's HP cannot be scanned. Does not show weaknesses (scan routine is bugged).

Don't bother.

If a character with Learning is hit (not just targeted) by learnable enemy skill, that spell is added to the party's learned Blue Magic list at the end of the battle.

This ability is a must-have if you want to build up the usefulness of the !Blue Magic command.

This is an innate passive ability for the Blue Mage.

Allows the character to use any Blue Magic spell that the party has learned. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +23 (same as Blue Mage's) if it would otherwise be lower. Detailed spell list.

The sheer variety of Blue Magic available makes this one of the most versatile abilities in the game... at least, once you've learned the spells.

This is the Blue Mage's built in command.

Shows target's level, current and max HP (or "?????/?????" if the target's HP cannot be scanned), elemental weaknesses (if any), and current status effects (if any). Always fails in boss battles.

Same as the White Magic spell Library for no MP, but it takes up an ability slot, fails on bosses, and can't target allies. Just use !White Magic instead.

Allows the character to cast Cure, Library, Poisona, Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +6 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Silence, Protect, Minimum, Poison, Sleepel, Toad, and all lower level White Magic and Black Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +7 if it would otherwise be lower.

Allows the character to cast Cura, Raise, Confuse, Fira, Blizzara, Thundara, and all lower level White Magic and Black Magic spells, as long as the party has the corresponding spells. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +8 (same as Red Mage's) if it would otherwise be lower.

Useful for magically inclined jobs until stronger spells are available. Not as good on fighters thanks to the low magic boost, but still of some value.

This is the Red Mage's built in command.

Allows the character to cast two spells in one turn. The command always contains all available White Magic and Black Magic spells up to spell level three, and will also contain all available spells in Magic Sword, White Magic, Black Magic, Timespace, or Summon if the character has the corresponding command. Blue Magic is not included. Additionally raises the character's magic bonus to +8 (same as Red Mage's) if it would otherwise be lower.

Let's give a few concrete examples, shall we? A Time Mage with !Chain Magic will be able to chain cast all learned Timespace spells (from the !Timespace command) in addition to the usual learned White Mage and Black Magic spells up to level three. A Mimic equipped with !White, !Summon, and !Chain Magic can chain cast learned Black Magic up to level three, all learned White Magic, and all learned Summon magic. In all cases, the caster can mix and match as desired, and casting the same spell twice is also perfectly valid. Each spell works as an independent action. Keep an eye on your MP usage and enjoy!

Inflicts Stop status on the target. Always works on beast type monsters, always fails otherwise.

Good against some opponents, useless against others. Probably not worth using an ability slot on, but may be occasionally.

Takes control of a monster. Success rate is 40%, raised to 75% if wearing a Hypno Crown. A monster in Berserk or Charm status cannot be controlled, and some monsters are immune entirely.

This can be an extremely useful ability. It's good for learning Blue Magic, and a number of monsters are quite capable of slaughtering themselves.

Allows any job to equip whips. Additionally raises the character's strength bonus to +13 (same as Beast Tamer's) if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly raises the agility bonus to +1 (same as Beast Tamer's) if it would otherwise be lower.

One of the best Equip xxx abilities. Whips are fairly powerful and work well from the back row, most have a good chance to paralyze enemies, and some classes benefit from the speed boost, slight as it is.

Releases the monster in the character's "monster storage". The monster will perform an action on behalf of the party and then leave, and !Release reverts to !Capture at this point. The action used depends on the monster, and uses the monster's attributes to determine effectiveness.

Released monsters can have some very powerful effects, but first you have to know what to capture, and actually capture it. The fact that you can only use !Release once per character before having to restock is another downside.

These two together are the Beast Tamer's built in commands.

Doubles the effects of Potions, High Potions, and Ethers used by the character in combat. Also works on Potions, High Potions, Ethers, and Ether Drys formed using the !Mix command.

This is an innate passive ability for the Chemist.

Like many innate passives, it's nice to have as one, but not really worth using an ability slot for.

Mix two ingredients to get something new and different. Maybe. Some results are downright boring, while others are entirely unique.

If you know what you're doing and have enough ingredients, !Mix can be possibly the single most powerful ability in the game. The problems are, of course, collecting enough ingredients and knowing what you're doing... There are 59 possible outcomes. Detailed results list.

Allows the character to drink Giant Drink, Strength Drink, Speed Drink, Protect Drink, and Hero Drink to power up.

Not a bad set of buffs. Probably more useful on a fighter.

This is the Chemist's built in command.

Removes Darkness, Poison, Mini, Toad, Stone, Mute, Charm, Paralyze, Sleep, and Aging status from all allies.

Useful against enemies that use lots of status effects. For best results, protect the character with !Recover from any that would interfere with using the command.

All incapacitated allies recover with 1/16 of their maximum HP.

Essentially White Magic Raise on everyone for no MP, but it takes up an ability slot. Personally, I'd rather have !White Magic.

Uses a terrain-based attack against the enemy, chosen randomly based on the battefield, with more effects available at higher levels. Detailed effects list.

This is one of those abilties that's good for letting mages do something useful without spending MP.

This is the Geomancer's built in command.

If anyone in the party has Pitfall Evasion, the party will jump back when the floor drops away instead of falling through.

You can still fall in normally after the hole is revealed. Don't run around carelessly.

Not an ability for general use, as only a few areas have hidden pitfalls. Equip only as needed, or just make someone a Geomancer.

This is an innate passive ability for the Geomancer.

If anyone in the party has Damage Floor, the party will take no damage from walking over harmful terrain (such as lava).

Equip when the floor hurts you, don't otherwise. Or just make someone a Geomancer for those areas.

This is an innate passive ability for the Geomancer.

Cancels hiding. The character returns to being a valid target and can take action normally again.

Allows any job to equip harps. Additionally raises the character's agility bonus to +8 (same as Minstrel's) if it would otherwise be lower, and similarly raises the magic bonus to +11 (same as Minstrel's) if it would otherwise be lower.

In short, why bother? Except for Apollon's Harp, harp damage is a small fraction of the target's current HP, and they're completely useless against Heavy types.

Allows the character to use any song that the party has learned. Detailed song list.

The buffs aren't bad, and the status attacks can be nice, but it's probably not worth an ability slot except in low-level games and when spamming Requiem.

This is the Minstrel's built in command.

Cancels the target's next action. Base success rate is 50%. Always fails on Heavy types (includes many bosses).

Actual success rate is (50 + user's level - target's level)%, doubled if the user has a Lamia's Tiara, Rainbow Dress, or Red Shoes equipped (effect does not stack when equipping more than one). The target has an additional MEvd% chance to avoid it even if a success is determined. !Heated Glance has no effect on the behavior of targets in Berserk, Sleep, Charm, or Controlled status.

When successful, the message "…………うっふん" (a flirtatious giggling noise) appears, and the target's next action is replaced with the message "ドキドキしてる" (heart racing).

Is it worth using an ability slot for? Probably not. Maybe if it lasted longer, always worked, or affected multiple enemies.

Randomly uses Mystery Waltz, Jitterbug Duet, Tempting Tango, or Sword Dance.

Normally, each of the four dances has an equal chance of being chosen. However, if the user has a Lamia's Tiara, Rainbow Dress, or Red Shoes equipped, Sword Dance instead occurs half the time, and Mystery Waltz and Jitterbug Duet each occur one time in four (Tempting Tango will not occur at all). Equipping more than one of these has no additional effect. Detailed dance list.

The randomness is the problem. Fighters love Sword Dance, and mages could find Mystery Waltz valuable, but it's just too unreliable for regular usage.

This is the Dancer's built in command.

Allows any job to equip all Dancer-exclusive equipment (not just the Ribbon, but also the Maneater, the Rainbow Dress, and the Red Shoes).

Possibly the most interesting Equip xxx ability. The Rainbow Dress and Red Shoes are fairly strong and confer Charm immunity, the Maneater is a powerful dagger that thinks it's a spear and does extra damage to humanoids, and the Ribbon is one of the strongest headgears, adds 5 to all attributes, and prevents Dead, Stone, Toad, Poison, Darkness, Aging, Berserk, and Mute. Still probably not worth using up an ability slot, but at least it's unusual.

Does whatever the last character to act did. Any action counts, including defending, and probably counterattacks too {confirm this}.

Mimicked actions cost the mimicker no MP, but items and gil are still consumed (if applicable). Mimicking a command that has a random outcome, such as !Terrain, will result in a randomly chosen outcome, not necessarily the one that the previous character got. As should come as no surprise, mimicked actions use the mimicker's attributes and equipment where appropriate, not those of the character who is being mimicked.

None. However, Normal can use all equipment from the outset. Additionally, Normal inherits all innate passive abilities from each job that the character has mastered (innate abilities are the ones you get just by being that job), and each attribute also uses the best bonus out of all bonuses for that attribute from jobs the character has mastered (for example, master Thief and Black Mage for a Thief's agility and a Black Mage's magic power). Negative modifiers are ignored, so mastering Berserker and nothing else, for example, won't cripple your agility and magic.

With no jobs mastered, character attributes are as follows:

These are also the base values that the attribute modifiers for all jobs are added to or subtracted from.

Interesting that Faris has both the most well-rounded and the highest overall attributes. Lenna makes the best mage, with Karulu quicker and nearly as magically inclined, while Butz and Galuf make better fighters. Also interesting that Karulu's attributes are almost completely opposite Galuf's. In the end, though, even the largest differences between characters are fairly small and easily overwhelmed by the effects of job changes.

And here's a frequently asked question: Which jobs are worth mastering? Well, that all depends on what you conder worthwhile.

For the best attribute bonuses, you'll want Monk (for strength and stamina), Thief (for agility), and Summoner (for magic power).

For innate abilities, Normal and Mimic can inherit from following: Knight (Cover), Monk (Martial Arts, Counter), Thief (Secret Passages, Dash, Alertness), Ninja (Preemptive Attack, Dual-Wield), Samurai (Blade Grab), Sword Mage (Magic Barrier), Blue Mage (Learning), Chemist (Medicine Lore), and Geomancer (Pitfall Evasion, Damage Floor). If you want any of these abilities, master the associated jobs to save on ability slots.

Jobs that probably aren't worth mastering include Wyrmknight (Equip Spear is useless to Normal), Berserker (Berserk is iffy and Equip Axe useless), White Mage and Black Mage (all you get are so-so MP boosts), Time Mage (Equip Rod is useless to Normal), Dancer (Equip Ribbon is useless to Normal), and Mimic (if you really want !Mimic, just change job to Mimic). It's also safe to skip all the Knight's Equip abilities if you don't mind doing without Cover. Any jobs not listed here or in the above two paragraphs have final-level commands that may be worth using at least occasionally.

And, of course, if you want any commands or any passive abilities that aren't innate, you'll have to gain enough levels in the appropriate jobs.

Found at the very beginning of the list, before !Items, !Change, !Defend, and !Battle. No apparent purpose, does nothing if hacked in and used.

Found between !Terrain and !Hide. Perhaps another Geomancer command was under consideration. Does nothing if hacked in and used.

Found between !Unhide and !Sing. Perhaps another Minstrel command was under consideration. If hacked in and used, it appears to cast Magic Sword Fire on the user, but actually does nothing.

A blank. Yay. If hacked in and used, acts like a buggy !Battle or something similar.

Whee, another blank... If hacked in and used, acts like a buggy !Jump.

No idea what this is. Can't be used even if hacked in.

This might be the enemy response to a successful !Heated Glance... or not. Can't be used even if hacked in.

No idea what this is. Can't be used even if hacked in.

Apparently the designers left room to expand, just in case more commands were needed. Can't be used even if hacked in.