Banish all foes in range.
Description
Warp is a Time Magick spell both in the Zodiac versions of Final Fantasy XII as well as in the original PlayStation 2 version. It is a multi-target spell that attempts to banish all enemies in range, defeating them instantly but forgoing spoils. It is one of the few spells in the game to take up the entire Effect Capacity in the PlayStation 2 versions.
The player can also use the spell via the consumable item Warp Mote.
Obtained[]
Warp location in Nabreus in Zodiac.
Warp's license costs 90 License Points in the Zodiac versions, where the spell is found in Nabreus Deadlands' Lifeless Strand, via a path not marked on the map. The spell is found by going north from the gate crystal (on first inspection, the "gate crystal" is a foe) and looking for the hidden path north of the next area, Lifeless Strand. The earliest the player can pick it up is after they have the Dawn Shard, but at this point, the area would be very difficult due to the foes being much stronger than the player party. The player could simply come in to pick up certain treasures and then head back.
In the original version, Warp's license costs 30 LP. It is bought for 1700 gil from Rabanastre after the events that ensue from entering Ondore's Estate, from the traveling merchant Dyce outside the Tomb of Raithwall, and from Eruyt Village.
In the Zodiac versions, Warp is used by the Time Battlemage and the Machinist who has unlocked the Esper Famfrit on their License Board. The Esper Zalera also has it but no default gambit for its use.
Mechanics[]
Warp attempts to banish all foes in range, defeating them instantly. Characters will not receive EXP, LP, CP, or loot from enemies defeated with Warp. Warp will end any combat chain if the spell lands on an enemy that is not of the same chain. Warp does not work on foes who have the Safety passive ability. It works on the undead unlike with Death.
The base success rate of Warp is 55% in the original version, lowered slightly to 50% in the Zodiac versions.
The success rate is unaffected by the target's Magick Evade stat, as the spell instead checks against the target's Vitality.
The hit rate is improved by further 50% with the caster having Faith status, or doubled with Serenity license/Magick Gloves when on full health, or Spellbreaker license/Leather Gorget when in critical health. Target's Shell halves the accuracy of the spell. If the caster is wearing the Indigo Pendant, Warp will succeed unless the enemy is immune due to Safety.
The accuracy underflow bug is a glitch in some versions of Final Fantasy XII where a low level character with extremely low Magick Power stat attempts to use a status move on a target with very high Vitality, and the accuracy of the spell becomes less than zero. In this case the accuracy will underflow to 100%, allowing certain status spells to always succeed. Though Warp is not a status spell, it uses the same success chance formula as ailment spells do.
Warp costs 18 MP to cast without Channeling licenses. The spell ignores the target's Reflect.
In the PlayStation 2 versions, Warp takes up the entire Effect Capacity, meaning no other magick or Technick can be used concurrently, the actions instead queuing up. The Zodiac Age version has a much larger capacity and using Warp no longer holds everything else up.
Use[]
Warp is best used to clear the field of enemies when the player does not care for the rewards, when surrounded in a pinch, or when intentionally trying to not get EXP (though leveling can also be avoided with the Firefly accessory). Its differences to the Death spell are that Death is single-target, whereas Warp is multi-target; enemies defeated with Death still yield spoils; and that Warp works on the undead. Both fail on enemies who have the Safety augment, meaning all of the toughest foes including bosses, marks, and Rare Game. However, there are still some good uses for Warp.
Warp will always work with the Indigo Pendant equipped and the enemy lacks the Safety augment. This setup can be good against the Baknamies in the Necrohol of Nabudis that may otherwise overwhelm the party, or against enemy swarming enemies when the player only wants to keep moving forward.
Warp is great in the Trial Mode Stage 86 against Rikken, Elza, and six pirates to immediately get rid of the pirate underlings, and on Stage 91 to get rid of the Hecteyes.
As an alternative to using Warp, the player can summon Zalera and simply dispatch everything with its Kill command. Zalera also knows Warp as a spell in the Zodiac versions but is usually better off just using Kill.
Etymology and origin[]
Warp has appeared in the Final Fantasy series since the original Final Fantasy. Though in many games it is used as a teleportation-type spell to exit dungeons, in Final Fantasy XII the spell retains its original purpose of dispatching enemies. Warp is an element in video game design that allows a player character instant travel between two locations or levels.
The original name, デジョン (Dejon?), is possibly a contraction of the German pronunciation of the word "dimension" (ディメンジョン, dimenjon?) abbreviated to fit into the four-character-standard for spells. It could also be a combination of the Japanese verb deru (