Rains meteors down upon enemies for massive damage.
Description
Meteor is an Attack spell in Final Fantasy VI. It is a powerful non-elemental spell that hits all enemies, piercing Magic Defense and ignoring reflect. It is learned naturally by Celes at level 98, and can be learned by other party members through magicite.
Meteor is also an enemy ability usable by Brachiosaur, Cherry, Great Behemoth, Kefka (final boss), Level 90 Magic, Lunatys, Tyrannosaur, and Ultima Buster.
An enemy ability also named Meteor exists with a Spell Power of 60 with a Hit Rate of 80, which costs 20 MP for the enemy to use. It ignores defense and split damage. This version of Meteor has a chance to miss and it uses a different graphic of a flaming meteorite shower. It was localized as "Meteo" in the SNES version. This version can only be used by the party through Rage by selecting the Tyrannosaur.
Meteor can be cast by Behemoth, Guardian, Intangir, Rest, Demon, Behemoth King in both forms, Dark Behemoth, Kaiser Dragon, Omega Weapon, and Ultima Weapon.
Obtained[]
Celes learns Meteor naturally upon reaching level 98. Other party members can learn it from the Odin magicite, which tells the spell at a x1 rate, and Crusader, which teaches it at a x10 rate. Because Odin is not available until the World of Ruin, and Celes is highly unlikely to reach 98 before then, the spell is most likely unavailable during the World of Balance.
Mechanics[]
As a spell with a power of 36, it deals damage with the following formula:
where "Level" refers to the user's level, and Magic refers to the user's Magic stat. Meteor ignores the target's Magic Defense and shell plays no role in mitigating damage, but the spell can still be blocked by Magic Evasion. Meteor ignores split damage.
Several relics augment Meteor and other spells. If the caster is equipped with an Earring or a Hero Ring, the damage is multiplied by 5/4 (or a 25% increase). If the caster is equipped with two Earrings, two Hero Rings, or one of each, the damage is multiplied by 3/2 (a 50% increase). If the caster equips Gold Hairpin or Celestriad, its MP cost is cut by half or reduced to 1, respectively.
Meteor's damage is unaffected by elemental affinity. Meteor ignores Runic.
Use[]
Meteor is a powerful multi-hit spell. Though its spell power makes its damage look low on paper, it ignoring split damage and not being resisted by enemies' Magic Defense means its damage will still be stronger than some of its contemporaries (Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga, Quake, and Flood), but other spells can outdo its damage for only a little more MP (Meltdown, and especially Ultima, which is also non-elemental). Against single targets, Flare is much more MP-efficient and deals much more damage.
Though Celes learns Meteor naturally, she learns it so late that it is better to teach her the spell earlier. For other party members, as an Attack spell, the player should prioritize teaching Meteor to party members with a high natural Magic stat and access to mage equipment. This includes Terra (who can double its damage with Trance), Relm, and Strago; Mog and Shadow have high Magic stats, while Gogo has access to mage equipment. Though Sabin will be built toward magic damage, his access to Phantom Rush means he can already strong magic damage for no MP cost. Meteor should be prioritized to spellcasters, and is a pure luxury on other party members, who should prioritize healing and utility spells.
With party members whose Magic stat has been raised to a high enough level, Meteor can be a more MP-efficient alternative to Ultima if the party member can reliably reach 9999 damage with Meteor. However, if the spellcaster is using Celestriad and MP is no object, it is better to simply use Meltdown or Ultima.
Gallery[]
Etymology and origin[]
A meteor or "shooting star" is the visible streak of light from a meteoroid or micrometeoroid, heated and glowing from entering the Earth's atmosphere, as it sheds glowing material in its wake. Meteors rarely explode in the Earth's atmosphere. The term has become associated with quickness with the adjective "meteoric". In the context of myth and superstition, meteors and comets sighted in Ancient and Medieval Europe were once held as ill omen, said to be the message of the heavens' displeasure of man's affairs to herald grave catastrophes.
Pieces that withstand atmospheric ablation are known as meteorites, but the name of the spell in the series refers to the overall phenomenon.
Meteor is a recurring spell in the Final Fantasy series, originating from Final Fantasy III, and notably playing a storyline role in Final Fantasy IV.