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Final Fantasy Tactics Time Mage Guide & Review

Time Mage is one of the classes in Final Fantasy Tactics (FFT). There are a ton of classes in FFT and it can be overwhelming trying to figure out which is the right one. Which skills and abilities are good? Which classes are good? This guide will tell you everything you need to know about the Final Fantasy Tactics Time Mage Class.

Time Mage
Final Fantasy Tactics (FFT)

final fantasy tactics time mage

Final Fantasy Tactics Time Mage Quick FAQ

How do you unlock the Time Mage class in Final Fantasy Tactics?

The Time Mage class requires Black Mage level 3 to unlock.

How much total JP does it take to master the Time Mage class in Final Fantasy Tactics?

It takes 8,920 total JP to master every single skill in the Time Mage class.

What skills does the Time Mage class unlock in Final Fantasy Tactics?

Time Mage unlocks the ability to speed up party members, slow and stop enemies, and inflict damage via its impressive Meteor spell.

What kind of stat growths does the Time Mage class offer in Final Fantasy Tactics?

Time Mage has average stats in most categories and below average attack growth.

Stat Growths

(Lower is better)
HP: 12 MP: 10 SPD: 100 PA: 65 MA: 50

In Final Fantasy Tactics Time Mage gives up even more PA growth compared to the Black Mage. Time Mage, like most of the magical classes, is not a very good idea to level up in, especially because none of the magic classes actually have any bonus to MA growth whatsoever.

Moveset: Time Magick

Ability NameJP Cost
Haste100
Hasteja600
Slow80
Slowja600
Stop350
Immobilize100
Float200
Reflect300
Quick900
Gravity250
Graviga550
Meteor1500

In Final Fantasy Tactics Time Mage’s moveset is more annoying to fight against than it is useful to you. Stop is a devastating status effect and Haste is probably the best beneficial buff in the game.

In Final Fantasy Tactics Time Mage’s spells also tend to cast very very quickly compared to other schools of magic. Stop and Haste are the real winners of this moveset.

Reaction Abilities

Ability NameJP Cost
Critical: Quick800
Mana Shield400

Not… too bad. Critical: Quick gives a character their turn instantly if they get into critical condition, which can be useful from time to time. I wouldn’t personally waste a Reaction Ability slot on it. Mana Shield is interesting because if you have even 1 mana, you’re invincible to physical damage.

A lot of people like to combine this with the Manafont Movement Ability, which grants a small amount of MP every time you move, in order to absorb at least one hit per round.

Personally, I think while the synergy is clever, taking up 2 Ability Slots to absorb 1 hit at the cost of all of your MP is kind of a waste when you could have Shirahadori/Reflexes and any move skill you want and absorb every hit every round, sacrificing 0 MP and then have a much bigger movement range on top of it.

Support Abilities

Ability NameJP Cost
Swiftness1000

If you’re using a magic-based class, Swiftness, Arcane Strength or (if you’re a Black Mage) Dual Wield with 2 Wizard Rods are your best possible options for support abilities. If both of your skillsets are charge-based, Swiftness is probably the best overall, because those charge times are devastating, especially for later Black Magick spells and Summons.

Movement Abilities

Ability NameJP Cost
Teleport650
Levitate540

Well, let’s get this out of the way: Levitate is useless, don’t bother. Now that we’ve settled that: Teleport is probably the best movement skill in the game, all things considered. Its only real competition is Move +3, which is incredibly time-consuming to obtain.

Teleport, aside from its intended effects, allows your character to completely ignore elevation, because height isn’t taken into account by the formula for teleportation failure rate.

The way the game calculates teleportation failure is for every square beyond your character’s stated movement range you attempt to teleport, it adds 10% failure rate. So you can pretty reliably move at least 1-2 squares outside your movement range with little chance of failure, making this ability, at the very least, Move +2 and Ignore Elevation combined.

Final Fantasy Tactics Time Mage Overall Assessment

Time Magick is alright, especially early game, and especially as a secondary skillset, based on the strength of Haste and Stop. In Final Fantasy Tactics Time Mage is not a great class to level in, and there’s no compelling reason to use it as a main class.

It does possess some very good Support and Movement Abilities in the form of Swiftness and Teleport, so if you end up making a character a Time Mage for whatever reason, you’re going to want to pick those up.

That about covers it for the Final Fantasy Tactics Time Mage Class. Be sure to check out the Games Section for more content like this and click here for more game guides related to FFT.

Final Fantasy Tactics Class Guides:
Squire â€“ Chemist â€“ Knight â€“ Archer â€“ Thief â€“ Monk â€“ Geomancer â€“ Dragoon â€“ Ninja â€“ Samurai â€“ Dark Knight â€“ White Mage â€“ Black Mage – Time Mage – Mystic – Summoner – OratorBard – Dancer â€“ Arithmetician – Mime – Onion Knight

Author

  • Ryan Night

    Ryan Night is an ex-game industry producer with over a decade of experience writing guides for RPGs. Previously an early contributor at gamefaqs.com, Ryan has been serving the RPG community with video game guides since 2001. As the owner of Bright Rock Media, Ryan has written over 600 guides for RPGs of all kinds, from Final Fantasy Tactics to Tales of Arise.

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