Blue Mage
April 4, 2017
15:30
The good news: You have one of the best classes in the game.  The Blue Mage has a great selection of equipment options AND an amazing set of spells covering a huge array of uses.
The bad news: You're going to have to work a bit and keep an eye on the blue magic spell list as you progress to ensure you don't miss anything.  If you don't get an ally with Charm/Control, learning some spells will be delayed.
Strength
-8
Agility
+1
Vitality
+3
Magic
+23
Hands
Daggers
Swords
Rods
Shields
Armor
Medium Headgear
Light Headgear
Medium Armor
Light Armor
Light Accessories
Command
!Blue Magic
Abilities
Level
AP
Ability
Innate
Equip Stats
Description
1
10
!Check
No
Reveals the enemy's HP and Weaknesses.  It's nice to have a quick way to check elemental weaknesses if nothing else.
2
20
Learning
Yes
The Blue Mage never buys spells - they have to learn it by being hit with the spell.  There's many difficulties to this, but if you're trying to learn a specific spell and aren't in a Natural Challenge, equipping this ability on your entire team can make it far easier, rather than waiting for the game to finally send it at the right target.
3
70
!Blue Magic
No
Magic +23
Enables the use of Blue Magic in any class.  This is very powerful, given the relatively low AP cost to learn, and unlike other magic-using classes doesn't need to be levelled up in order to gain access to the full set.  It grants access to every spell you've learned.
4
250
!Scan
No
Reveals the enemy's HP, weaknesses, level, and current status.  It's basically an update to Check, and it's not like there's anything competing for the slot if you're in a Natural challenge, but otherwise...
Success Strategy
You have a billion options when playing the Blue Mage.  Make sure you don't miss any, and take advantage of what you DO have, adapting according to what you're fighting.  Blue Mage is literally one of the easiest classes in the game to SOLO with, never mind as a member of a party!
Learn the spells a Blue Mage has.  Some of them are way more amazing than they might initially appear - READ THE SPELL LIST for the effects, because some might surprise you (Goblin Punch, for instance, is actually AMAZING even without matching level)
You can amplify a Blue Mage's elemental damage spells by equipping matching rods (or the Aero series of spells via the Air Lancet dagger) - these enhance the damage of these spells by 50%.  They also have good equipment variety in general you should take advantage of.
Blue Magic
Blue Magic, for those unaware, is unique in that it is learned from monsters.  Specifically, to learn a spell, you must be struck by a Blue Magic spell used by an enemy.  This spell must strike - and take effect! - on any Blue Mage or any ally with Learning.  Once this happens, finish the battle successfully (no running!), and you will learn the spell when the battle is over.
That sounds easy, but it can get complicated.  Some spells will require specific triggers to appear, or will only be able to effect allies under certain circumstances (such as L5 Death).  Some spells are also not normally used by certain enemies, and will only appear when the enemy is Charmed or Controlled.  Some specifically must be Controlled, or Charmed and then with Reflect cast on them, due to the way those spells work!
If you don't have an ally with easy access to Control, you'll have to wait until you have access to the Dancing Dagger during Act 2.  Equipped with it, a character has a 1/8th chance on attack to do Tempting Tango instead, which will charm their target.
Please remember that spells with a "chance" are affected by Magic Accuracy things - including boss Magic Evade which can make some of these spells a lot worse.  However, you never have to worry about the accuracy of spells without a listed rate.  See the Magic Accuracy mechanics section for information on how it works.
Finally, since Blue Magic spells are very sporadic as to whether they can be reflected or not, I will note them where appropriate.
Spell List
Spell
Power
MP
Found
Notes
Vampire
--
2
Act 1, Pirate Cave, Steel Bats
99% chance of success. Drains HP from target
SNES: Damage is equal to HALF of the user's missing HP
GBA: Damage is equal to ALL of the user's missing HP, fully healing them (!)
iOS: Damage is equal to HALF of the user's missing HP, also it automatically fails on Heavy targets
Remember that Drain damage is reversed against undead!
You can use this to recover HP while wearing Bone Mail!
Ignores Reflect
Goblin Punch
--
0
Act 1, Wind Shrine, Black Goblin
Launches a normal attack with the following special properties:
Cannot miss
Ignores rows (Full damage even from the back row!)
Uses the DISPLAYED weapon attack exactly (No random variance reducing damage from Rods)
Note that this means a Blue Mage with the fake Excalipoor actually treats it like 100 Attack Power!!
Ignores the element of the weapon used, and any on-hit effects (e.g. Mage Masher's chance of Mute)
If you have access to Chemist's !Drink, Power Drinks enhance Goblin Punch's damage
If the target is a matching level: Does 8x damage and ignores their defense(!?!?!)
Ignores Reflect
The Chicken Knife always functions at 1 Attack Power with Goblin Punch
The Brave Blade always functions at 150(!) Attack Power with Goblin Punch (you're unlikely to use this but if you're on Random and get Blue and Knight, GO NUTS)
Aero
20
4
Act 1, Wind Shrine, Moldwynd
Wind damage to one enemy
Aero spells can be enhanced with the Air Lancet dagger
CAN be Reflected
Flash
--
7
Act 1, North Mountain, Headstone (Must use an Ether on them)
Act 1, Steamship, Crew Dust (Must be last enemy alive)
75% chance of Blind all enemies
Ignores Reflect
Pond's Chorus
--
5
Act 1, Walse Tower, Elf Toad (Must be last enemy alive)
66% chance of Toad to one enemy
Ignores Reflect
Moon Flute
--
3
Act 1, Walse Basement, Jackanapes (When damaged)
Act 1, Ancient Library, Page 256 (If you'd rather not the above)
66% chance of Berserk on all enemies
Berserk disables enemy actions except Attack and also disables their Reaction attacks
Ignores Reflect
???
--
3
Act 1, overworld near Karnak, Wild Nakk
99% chance of damage
Damage is exactly equal to the caster's missing HP and can't be modified in any way
Use this instead of Vampire when you don't need the healing - it can be used repeatedly without losing power each use
Ignores Reflect
Transfusion
--
13
Act 1, Ship Graveyard, Calcruthl (Must be Charmed/Controlled)
Interdimensional Rift, Castle, Mythril Dragon (If you couldn't Charm in Act 1)
Fully heals one ally, but the user is instantly killed
Death immunity does not prevent this
However, the target IS restored to full MP instantly(!) in addition to full HP
Ignores Reflect
Self-Destruct
--
1
Act 1, Steamship, Motor Trap (Must be hit with Electric damage)
Deals damage equal to the caster's HP, but the user is instantly killed
Death immunity does not prevent this
Ignores Reflect
Generally not that spectacular, but there is one very, very special instance...
Aera
50
10
Act 1, Karnak Castle chests (during escape), Gigas
Act 1, Ancient Library, Page 32 (If you missed it)
250% of the MP cost for 333% of the damage
CAN be Reflected
Death Claw
--
21
Act 1, Karnak Castle escape, Iron Claw
Act 2, forests near Exdeath's Castle, Treant (if you missed it)
66% chance of Paralysis
Also reduces targets to critical HP on success
Heavy enemies negate both effects instantly
Ignores Reflect
Missile
--
7
Act 1, Steamship Motor Trap (Controlled)
Act 1, two islands south of Crescent, Prototype
Act 1, Ronka Ruins, Rocket Launcher
75% chance of dealing 3/4 of the target's remaining HP as damage
The damage is capped at 9999
Deals no damage to Heavy enemies
Ignores Reflect
Aqua Rake
75
38
Act 1, Desert south of Karnak, Dhorme Chimera
Non-elemental to all enemies (Surprise, it's not Water!)
Deals massively multiplied damage (8x!!) to "Desert" type enemies
Level 5 Death
--
22
Act 1, Ancient Library, Page 64
You can learn this if you're immune to Death and are hit, but you DO need to be hit with it
If your entire party is killed by this spell it's game over
So deliberately split up your levels when you try to learn it
Only effects enemy targets with a level that's a multiplier of 5 (5/10/15/20/etc.)
Instant kills the target.  Apparently ignores immunity to instant death
CAN be Reflected
Off-Guard
--
19
Act 1, Ancient Library, Page 256 (Must be Controlled/Charmed)
Act 2, Forests on SE islands, Shadow (Must be Charmed and given Ether)
80% chance of halving the Defense/Magic Defense of target
Can be cast multiple times on one target to reduce it further each time
CAN be Reflected
Magic Hammer
--
3
Act 1, Ancient Library, Byblos
75% chance of halving target's MP
Nothing's immune to suffering MP damage; some enemies can be shut down this way
Ignores Reflect
Dark Spark
--
27
Act 1, Crescent Island, Black Flame
66% chance of halving target level
Level is used in YOUR damage calculations, so having your level reduced reduces damage greatly
Level is NOT used in enemy physical damage calculations
Level DOES factor into enemy magic damage calculations, however, so this ~halves enemy magic damage
Lower enemy level does increase the success rate of your status spells though
Enemies with altered levels may become vulnerable to certain Level-based Blue Magic!
CAN be Reflected
Flamethrower
50
5
Act 1, two islands south of Crescent, Prototype
Act 1, Ronka Ruins, Flame Thrower (If you'd rather)
Does Fire damage to one target.  Equip a Fire Rod to power it up.
Essentially a cheaper Fira.
Ignores Reflect
1000 Needles
--
25
Act 1, Ronka Ruins, Lamia (Controlled)
Deals exactly 1000 damage, with no possible variance/defenses
Ignores Reflect
White Wind
--
28
Act 1, Ronka Ruins, Enchanted Fan (Controlled)
Heals the entire party
The HP recovered is equal to the caster's current HP when cast
Because it adds a determined HP Amount, White Wind can heal a Bone Mail wearer!
Ignores Reflect
Level 4 Graviga
--
9
Act 1, Ronka Ruins Bottom Floor, Ghidra (Cast on death)
Only effects enemy targets with a level that's a multiplier of 4 (4/8/12/16/20/etc.)
Deals damage equal to 75% of the target's current HP
The maximum damage it can do is 9999
No effect on Heavy enemies, unlike other Level x spells which ignore immunities
CAN be Reflected
Time Slip
--
9
Act 2, Barrier Tower, Traveler
90% chance of Sleep + Aging simultaneously
Ignores Reflect
Aeroga
140
24
Act 2, Guido's Cave, Metamorpha (Enchanted Fan form)
(The Metamorpha that becomes a Enchanted Fan also becomes Ifrit/Wyvern)
240% MP Cost for 280% damage
Excluding L3 Flare it's the most powerful spell a Blue Mage has (210 Magic Power w/Air Lancet)
CAN be Reflected
Lilliputian Lyric
--
5
Act 2, Great Forest of Moore, Mini Magician
66% chance of Mini to one enemy
Ignores Reflect
Level 2 Old
--
11
Act 2, Exdeath's Castle, Magic Dragon
Only effects enemy targets with a level that's a multiplier of 2 (2/4/6/8/10/etc.)
Guaranteed to cause Aging, ignoring immunity(!) AND Heavy(!!!!)
CAN Be Reflected
Level 3 Flare
254
18
Act 2, Exdeath's Castle, Exdeath
Only effects enemy targets with a level that's a multiplier of 3 (3/6/9/12/15/etc.)
This spell ignores the enemy's magic defense
It does NOT ignore Shell
CAN be Reflected(!)
Doom
--
10
Act 2, Exdeath's Castle, Exdeath
Puts a 30-second countdown on the target that eventually instant kills the target
This spell actually is guaranteed to hit AND ignores immunity to instant death!?
Unfortunately it does not work on Heavy targets
Ignores Reflect
Mighty Guard
--
72
Act 3, northern part of sea southwest of Carwen, Stingray (Controlled/Charmed)
The third most expensive spell in the game
Effectively casts Float, Shell, and Protect at once.  On the whole party.  Holy crap.
CAN be Reflected(!)
Roulette
--
1
Act 3, Phoenix Tower, Parthenope
99% chance to instant kill one random enemy or ally
That's right.  Enemy OR ally!  Completely at random, too.
Fully heals Undead if it hits them (Bone Mail!)
Ignores Reflect
Mind Blast
80
6
Act 3, Island Shrine, Wendigo
Interdimensional Rift, Void, Mindflayer (if Missed)
Deals non-elemental magic damage
Guaranteed Paralysis on any enemy that isn't Immune
Also causes HP leak (Steady HP drain), which nothing is immune to
CAN be Reflected