Blue Dragon: All Skills RANKED!
Blue Dragon is one of my favorite RPGs, even though I know it is flawed and such. Blue Dragon is heavily praised for its Shadow Class system and its variety of interesting skill combos that can be created within the game. I’m going to get into the nitty-gritty and rank all of the skills in this fantastic game via both tiers and individual ranks. Now it is time for… Blue Dragon All Skills RANKED!
The “Call It A Jack-o-Lantern At The Least” Tier
59. Regenerate HP
In my opinion, Regenerate HP is the only skill in the entire game that is pretty much obsolete, proving just how great all of the skills are in this game. The problem with this skill is with six steps of Regenerate HP you gain six HP, but with Regenerate MP, you can take six steps and cast a Heal spell, which heals upwards of 100 health for the same six steps. Also, using Extracta or Extractus can allow you to cast White Magic constantly, making Regenerate HP pretty unnecessary. If this skill restored five or ten HP, it would be a bit higher on this list, but this skill is inherently worse than its MP counterpart. Overall, Regenerate HP is pretty obsolete due to White Magic and the ease of refilling MP in Blue Dragon, but it isn’t that bad and could have its uses.
58. Less Is More
Unlike Regenerate HP, which is made obsolete due to other skills, Less Is More is inherently flawed and honestly the only “bad” skill in the game. In theory, this is a very unique and possibly good ability, however, the problem is that it takes 28 ranks in the Monk class to unlock, and for it to even be worth it, you would need at least Accessories +2. The problem is, by the time you could even end up with such ranks, there will be accessories much more worth equipping than gaining a minor stat bonus from Less Is More (unless you didn’t search for Nothings… I can’t help you there). Overall, Less Is More is only useful if the player completely abandons trying to find Special Accessories and/or is playing a no accessories run, or if the player grinds so much during Disc One for no reason at all (if you are like me, you may have done this... I mean, who am I to judge, I decided maxing out Aerith’s levels in FF7 was a good idea).
The “Did It For A Friend” Tier
57. Surprise
The Surprise skill allows you to get First Attacks more often. A solid skill, but once that battle is entered, you have lost one skill slot that could be used on a better ability. And since Blue Dragon is an easy game, usually the party will have significantly more agility than the enemies, making it easy to go before the enemies in the first place. Another way to achieve going fast at the beginning of battle is using Shoes of Hermes or a Belt of Hermes, and later in the game, you can equip three accessories, allowing you to gain more overall benefits than Surprise will give you. Overall, this skill is solid and worth using, but the competition leaves it in the dust.
56. Vigilance
This skill is also a solid skill since enemies getting a surprise attack is one of the couple ways enemies can get the advantage over you by changing your formation. However, since surprise attacks can be avoided via Stealth or Stun Bomb (or even better, it can be avoided by maneuvering carefully...) it isn’t a big deal, making this skill pretty weak unless the player is particularly uncareful. In addition to that, later in the game when all of the characters become rather beefy, just putting all the characters in a singular row will negate the effects of a surprise attack. Overall, like Surprise, it is a solid skill that can help, but the problem addressed by Vigilance can be fixed without really needing the skill.
55. Caution
This skill is much like Surprise and Vigilance, this time preventing preemptive attacks from the enemies. This is higher than Vigilance since surprise attacks can be prevented by putting all of your party members in the same row, and with preemptive attacks (which I believe are a bit more fatal than surprise attacks) they can not be prevented this way. Even though preemptive attacks do not happen very often, I felt like I should put this one just ahead of Vigilance. Overall, just like Vigilance and Surprise, a solid skill, but not a necessary one.
54. Magic Fence
Magic defense is not the most useful stat in Blue Dragon, as so many attacks are either physical or neither physical nor magical. However, the main problem is not the fact that magical defense isn’t useful (because it is), but due to the fact I didn’t find myself needing extra magic defense than what earrings gave, and I also didn’t find that the Barrier Magic class had significantly more magic defense than the other classes. Overall, Magic Fence allows you to increase your magic defense, but due to some of the aforementioned problems with this ability, it is just an okay ability.
53. Field Barrier 1
Field Barrier 3 (and kind of 2) are fantastic skills, but Field Barrier 1 is very situational. Unlike Field Barrier 3, which only takes one, singular MP to kill an enemy, Field Barrier 1 takes 30 MP, which is an obscene amount of MP for most of disc 1 (more than the battle would likely take). This is great in a couple dungeons with hard enemies that are hard to beat (like the Broadsword Fish or the Magic Jellyfish in the Undersea Caverns), but other than that, Field Barrier 1 is not good for grinding. Overall, Field Barrier 1 is great for insta-killing difficult enemies, but definitely not for grinding.
52. Repel Aura
If this wouldn’t be for the fact that it only repelled weak enemies, it’d probably be the third best Field Skill. However, with enemies like Centipede, Turtle, or Mammoth enemies, you simply can’t repel them, and they are usually the tough ones to get past. So overall, Repel Aura is a good skill, but it’d be much better if it repelled all enemies.
51. Loot
This skill in theory should be better than Steal. However, when stealing worthwhile items from enemies, you don’t want to kill them. Since enemies have very low health in this game, for stealing great items like the Magic Life-Crusher Bracelet or the Diamond Necklace, you don’t want to kill the enemy before stealing. Another problem is that Steal has a much higher success rate (at least I believe so… if not, I’m just really unlucky with Loot). Overall, if you are just going along and you are physically attacking anyway, Loot is a nice bonus, but Steal is usually just better overall.
50. Negotiate
Just like many JRPGs, the only reason this skill suffers is due to the overall lack of needing Gold at the point you get it. This isn’t a bad skill by any means, but (if you are like me, who doesn’t like the Assassin) you may not have trained up an Assassin at the beginning of the game, and there is not way too much to buy after you get Zola that can not be covered by the amount of Gold you have at the point you arrive at a town. Overall, this skill is useful if you train up an Assassin early, but suffers from the typical JRPG fact that you will have a pile of unnecessary Gold as you progress through the game.
49. Stun Bomb
Even though this ability is not the best in the game, it is definitely fun! This ability allows you to get either back attacks or preemptive attacks against the enemy by paralyzing them on the field. It is one of the better field skills in the game, and allows you to really get an advantage on the enemy. But just like the Surprise and Vigilance skills, this isn’t as good as other skills, but this is a great skill still.
48. Sentinel Shield
The second skill that increases defenses based on the class, and is pretty much the same deal except that defense is more commonly useful than magic defense is. Overall, extra defense is nice, but there are better ways to increase the defenses with Guardian skills and Barrier Magic.
47. Security
This skill is one of the few skills that are fantastic early on but taper off later in the game (looking at you, Negotiate). This skill prevents items from being stolen, which is very useful for a front-row fighter in dungeons like Gul Mountains where there are multiple enemy types that rob you. However, there are not way too many enemies that steal and with Shoes of Hermes and the Belt of Hermes, it isn’t that tough to kill the robbers before they can steal from you. Overall, this skill is great to conserve your items, but is rather situational (and also the worst of the default class abilities, looking at you Assassin class).
46. Mow Down 1
This is a good ability, but suffers from the fact it only does half damage to the front row, making this only particularly useful against enemy rows with at least 3 enemies. However, this still can pile on quite a bit of damage or finish off a row that was weakened with a Water spell. Overall, this is a pretty decent ability, but not close to as powerful as some of the others on this list.
The “It Smells Like Kluke” Tier
45. Meditation
This skill is the only healing skill in the game that simply heals health that isn’t White Magic (not counting Regenerate HP, which is bad, and Absorb HP, which is dependent on the amount of damage you do). It is a great single-target healing spell—that also cures a lot of status ailments as well—but due to White Magic, how it can only target the user, and how easy it is to gain MP, it isn’t the most useful skill in the game. Overall, Meditation is very effective at healing and curing status ailments, but has a lot of flaws White Magic doesn’t have.
44. Attract Aura
This is a great skill for grinding and it is self-explanatory how great it is, but there is one problem that brings this Field Skill down and that is one word. Stink. The Stink ailment is just a better version of this skill, as it lasts as long as you would like for it to. Just buy a Garlic item from the nearby item shop, and voila! A better version of Attract Aura! Overall, this skill is great, especially if you just want to attract a single enemy for a little bit, but Stink usually works better.
43. Control
If Less Is More is the most unique ability in the game, this is the most interesting. Control allows you to use enemy attacks against their allies and it can be great! However, and this might be obvious, but the enemy party will not be as strong as the player party. Overall, Control is very fun to use, but it
42. Absorb HP
This ability is pretty good, but since Extract and Extractus both give health back and Black Magic also includes so many more spells than those two, Absorb HP just falls behind. Although Absorb HP can become super fun when you absorb huge amounts of HP once you do a lot of damage later in the game. Overall, Absorb HP is great, but it is not as good as many of the other abilities on the list.
41. Stealth
The third highest ranked Field Skill, Stealth allows the user to sneak past or sneak up on enemies. This is more useful than Repel Aura, since you can simply sneak past enemies, and better than Field Barrier (when used as a shield, don’t get me wrong here) since that only works for one hit and some enemies break through it (really, Shuffle Dungeon?). One thing that brings Stealth down is just how many Invisibility Elixirs are available in the game if you use Loot or Steal often. Overall, Stealth is a fantastic Field Skill, but not as good as the rest of the skills in the game.
40. Guard
This skill is pretty nice for boss fights, but to fully utilize it, you would have to set it up like Total Guard (a significantly better skill) by getting your allies low on health and have them be guarded and counterattacked by the user. However, the problem is that multi-target attacks would still likely kill the Guardian’s allies. Overall, Guard is great for protecting the weak during bosses, but simply doesn’t have too much utility with combos like Total Guard does.
39. Enhance Item Effect
Enhance Item Effect is pretty great! If you stockpile on Grand Light or Shadow Crystals, along with Grand or Flawless Gem type items, you can use Enhance Item Effect to use more powerful damaging items or heal up to 400 damage from your allies using Enhance Item Effect, along with two Grand Light Crystals using Double Item. However, this awesome strategy suffers upon getting Zephyrus or even upon getting Quick Magic Charge and Heal Up, where a full-charge or buffed healing spell could pass up the items. Overall, this is a great ability for beefing up the effects of items, but is not the most helpful spell in the game.
38. Spell Duration +50%
This ability heavily changes its usefulness depending on just how much Support Magic the player uses. This ability also is significantly better in Hard Mode, where Support Magic becomes so much more useful. This ability would move up like five places or something if the player uses a lot of Support Magic, or down near the bottom if Support Magic is never used (I used this ability a lot throughout the first disc when I spammed Sleep and Poison on huge groups of enemies). Overall, this ability is fantastic in tandem with Support Magic, but since Support Magic is not used by very many players, this skill falls behind quite a bit.
The “Tears Can Ease Your Sorrow” Tier
37. Regenerate MP
This skill is probably in the top five skills within the starting hours of the game, but it heavily falls behind once Extracta, Extractus, and Absorb MP come into play. This skill allows you to almost infinitely cast magic at the beginning of the game, but since it only heals a singular MP per step, it is pretty weak later on. However, due to the fact that Field Barrier 3 exists, Regenerate MP still finds its place near the middle of this list due to the fact it makes Field Barrier 3 free. Overall, this skill is fantastic near the beginning, but gets worse and worse as you go on in the game until Field Barrier 3 is unlocked.
36. Attack Amp
I honestly don’t know how I feel about this skill. After reading the game guide and seeing what this skill could do, the implications of an army of Mecha Robos with a Waterus Sword got me very excited to unlock this skill… but for naught. In theory, this would be a top ten skill because Magic Sword would be so good to hit the entire enemy party with, however, this ability is quite flawed. Due to how charging works, Attack Amp barely works against large enemies and has a hard time hitting the entire enemy party. However, it can still be fantastic if you know how to use it! Overall, this ability requires skill and an understanding of the charging system to reap the full amazing benefits of the skill, however it is still quite clunky and annoying to use at times.
35. Mow Down 2
This skill is essentially a Water spell but in the form of a physical attack. This skill is great at sweeping enemies with a strong attack, and equipping Long-Range Attack as well will let you hit the vulnerable back row. However, since a Water spell casted by a mage with at least a half-decent magic attack stat will outdo this skill, this really good skill falls quite a bit lower in the list.
34. Battle Essence
This skill allows your mages to still hit with beefy physical attacks, and that is really saying something. It also helps with fighters training in the Assassin and Sword Master classes too, as those have a bit less attack. Overall, this just really gives a great attack bonus to anybody who equips it and it is definitely worth it to equip.
The “We Couldn’t Let Nene Get Away” Tier
33. Long-Range Attack
I didn’t use this ability very much, but this is not a skill that should be taken lightly. This skill allows the user to hit for full damage to back-row enemies, all while being in the back-row themselves. And this also includes Mow Down abilities, as well as Magic Sword. This allows you to do huge damage to back row enemies, and the only reason this fantastic skill suffers is due to the fact that basic Black Magic can already cover back row enemies without an extra skill like Long-Range Attack being necessary. Overall, Long-Range Attack is a very useful skill, but due to Black Magic, I just couldn’t rank it any higher.
32. Counterattack Boost
This skill is great when combined with front-line fighters (especially those who have the Total Guard and/or Double Strike abilities) since your fighters can pile on extra damage while not even requiring an extra turn. Overall, there isn’t much to this skill, but it is great when used correctly to sweep enemies, however it is easily beaten by its better version, Absolute Counterattack.
31. Magic Essence
This is a fantastic skill for creating a Red Mage-esque character, and since it is more beneficial to be a physical class with extra magic than a magical class with extra attack, this skill ranks higher than the Battle Essence skill. This skill is really great, because the Support Magic (at least in the higher ranks) can have upwards of 100-200 extra magic attack points in comparison to a class like the Barrier Magic class. Overall, Magic Essence is fantastic for creating hybrid characters with both physical and magic capabilities.
30. Max MP Up +25%/+50%
This skill is really good for the majority of the game up until you max out your MP, as increasing MP not only is great for using spells and Field Barrier more often, but also allows your dedicated Guardian (who likely suffers from a lack of MP) to gain enough MP to fully utilize the Endure skill. Overall, this is just a very solid ability that allows mages to keep pumping out spells and your Barrier Magic specialist to get you plowing through enemies with Field Barrier.
29. Field Barrier 2
This is an amazing Field Skill. It is Field Barrier 1, but 10 MP instead of thirty. Is it the best? Nah, still pretty costly in MP and totally over-Shadowed by Field Barrier 3 (that was a terrible Blue Dragon pun, don’t mind me). Overall, a very great skill but still overshadowed by its superior, Field Barrier 3.
28. Steal
This skill allows you to build up not only your generic item stock, but also get your hands on insane accessories like the Black Belt, Lei, Life-Crusher Bracelet, and the Diamond Necklaces much earlier or in larger quantities than you would be able to otherwise. However, since there are not as many notable uses for this amazing ability as there are for abilities such as, say, Total Guard, this ability just had to fall down the ranks. Overall, this skill allows you to get amazing loot, but only occasionally enough to put it down the rankings.
27. Treasure Hunt
This skill is compatible with both the Steal and Loot commands, and it increases the rare steal chance by about five times. Is it necessary? No. But it is extremely frustrating when you are trying to steal five Diamond Necklaces from the penguin creatures at The Treasure Storehouse, five Magic Life-Crusher Bracelets from the snake creatures at the Underground River, or five Black Belts from the Corrosive Poo. It is also super annoying to keep resetting the game to get Nene’s Earring from the Phantom Dragon or Nene’s Ring from Ultimate Szabo. Overall, Treasure Hunt is definitely not the best skill since it is more of a quality-of-life skill, but it is a darn good one.
The “I Won’t Give Up” Tier
26. Ninja Swiftness
Agility becomes pretty much the most important stat later in the game, as with tons of agility, you can go many times before the enemy gets a turn. With great power, you need great agility (definitely from Spider-Man). Using agility, you can in theory have more than one turn, allowing you to possibly double the effectiveness of the party member. Overall, giving extra agility with Ninja Swiftness is fantastic, and this skill along with a Belt of Hermes or an Eyepatch can elevate your characters to a whole new level.
25. Boost Max HP +25%/+50%
In tandem with Total Guard and the other defense related Guardian abilities, you can build an extremely powerful defensive character that can take a plethora of hits. In fact, by the time I started Disc 2, using Boost Max HP +50%, along with the Spring Breeze Kerchief and a Champion’s Belt, I was able to exceed 999 HP before I was even able to hit the mid 300’s with my mages. Overall, this skill is helpful for all party members throughout the entire game, only losing its usefulness once powerful accessories and high skill ranks grant HP boosts that make this skill obsolete.
24. Absorb MP
This skill is fantastic for the Sword Master class or any character you have made into a hybrid Red Mage-esque character. This skill allows you to absorb huge amounts of MP with physical attacks or with Magic Sword attacks, which is pretty great. Overall, Absorb MP is a great skill, however, the problem is that the Extract spells are under a singular skill along with the rest of the Black Magic skills, so just like Absorb HP, Absorb MP is left behind lower in the list.
23. Berserker
This ability is amazing for anybody who is going to hit with Magic Sword or Double Strike attacks, especially those who have the Endure ability. This ability can guarantee over double the damage with every hit on super low health, and it is super easy to stay on low health in combination with Endure, Distress Barrier, and various Barrier Magic. Overall, with Berserker, you can heavily increase damage by staying on low health.
22. Distress Barrier
If Critical Hit Lift was unassuming, then Distress Barrier was completely off my radar at first. I equipped it because it sounded so dumb I just wanted to meme about how it is just another dumb ability like Crisis Defense Boost from Lost Odyssey, Magic Shell from Final Fantasy V, or SoS Shell/Protect from Final Fantasy X (to be fair, that first skill is actually not that bad). But I was proven completely wrong by this ability, as it is an absolutely fantastic skill for the Guardian class in any fight and for every party member in boss fights. Once your Guardian is on critical health (which is great to do in combination with Endure and Berserker), this ability triggers to give you Wallus, Shellus, Shieldus, and (if I remember correctly, don’t trust me on this one) possibly Trapfloor as well. It doesn’t seem amazing at first, but I was able to trigger this ability about eight times within a single boss fight (hitting critical health is very easy within boss fights where over a thousand damage is common), and eight free Wallus spells is an absolute godsend. This skill is even more useful in Hard Mode, where lots of common enemies deal enough damage for Wall spells to be necessary very often. Overall, Distress Barrier may just be one of the most overlooked skills, but it is absolutely amazing in boss fights and is a hugely beneficial ability for the team’s Guardian.
21. Critical Hit Lift
I know, you are probably surprised about this ranking. Like, when have critical hits ever been one of the most overpowered things in a JRPG? Since 2006, when Blue Dragon came out. By itself, Critical Hit Lift seems unassuming, but since the critical chance is very low in this game, it is such an amazing skill to have equipped (like seriously, I get criticals like 33% of the time with this skill). This skill is absolutely fantastic with Double Strike and even normal attacks, but the stand-out use of this ability is in tandem with two possible combos: either full-charge, critical-damage-boosted Magic Sword attacks, or for exploiting the lesser-known Kelolon method that I will cover in a different article. Overall, Critical Hit Lift is a very unassuming ability that (if used right) can aid in skyrocketing damage to do more than not only Corporeals, but upwards of 10-15,000 damage in one Magic Sword attack.
20. Boost Critical Damage
This skill seems to make critical hits go from about double to triple damage to upwards of five to six times the damage… as you can tell from that, this skill is absolutely amazing. Everything that went for Critical Hit Lift is pretty much rehashed here, but this is ranked slightly higher due to Kelolon Elixirs making the Kelolon strategy still very useful without Critical Hit Lift and since critical hits still happen without Critical Hit Lift. Overall, this skill, along with either Critical Hit Lift + Magic Sword and/or Critical Hit Lift + the Kelolon strategy. Overall, this skill is amazing if you use it correctly.
19. Magic Defense Up
This skill is very basic, but it is very, very effective for the Guardian class. This ability is great because it makes Defend better, as it negates tons of magic damage. Overall, this is an amazing defensive skill for boss fights and a must-have for the ultimate Guardian combo.
18. Charged Defense
This skill is another skill for the ultimate Guardian combo, and this one is even better than you would ever think. With a good charge, you can defend up to about 90-98% of incoming damage, making thousand-damage mega-attacks from dragons doing less than 100 damage. Overall, this skill is a must have for the ultimate Guardian combo and it is absolutely amazing.
17. Double Item
This skill saved me so many times in Hard Mode, and it is so good! The big draw for Double Item is being able to fire off multiple reviving items in one turn in tough fights, or even throw a couple of Grand Light Crystals with Enhance Item Effect to heal up the team. Overall, this ability is just fantastic in boss fights where you need to revive, support, heal, or damage enemies with multiple items at a time.
16. Double Strike
Although not as good as Magic Sword, Double Strike is a very great ability that is able to be utilized along with MP Absorb, HP Absorb, Berserker, Loot, and best of all, Counterattack. This doubles your damage with the Guardian combo and anybody else who has a counter-type ability, so this is just a great ability across the board. Overall, Double Strike is great for utilizing certain skills as well as hitting really hard.
The “Ultimate Battle Machine” Tier
15. Absolute Counterattack
Yet another of the ultimate Guardian combo abilities, the Absolute Counterattack ability is amazing, especially with Berserker, Critical Hit Lift/Boost Critical Damage Boost, and Double Strike as well as the rest of the Guardian combo. Overall, it is pretty much a huge upgrade to Counterattack Boost and is an amazing ability.
14. Charged Attack
Charged Attack is pretty much the best damage increasing skill for physical and Magic Sword attacks, as a full-charge can completely change the damage outcome. If you know the charge system for spells, you can most likely assume just how powerful this is. Overall, the Charged Attack ability is the best, most controllable, and most reliable damage-boosting skill in the entire game.
13. Resurrection
This ability is not only game-changing within tough boss fights, but possibly the best way to restore MP in the game. If you purposely kill yourself in battle, or if your Guardian dies from the pressure of battle, they can regenerate their MP to get them back on their feet with Endure. Overall, Resurrection is amazing in boss fights to keep your party members alive and breathing and is also one of the best ways to restore MP to party members.
12. Endure
This is the best skill for everybody in the party to unlock for the super boss fights, and it is absolutely essential in Hard Mode and for challenging bosses in the Shuffle Dungeon. This ability is just so great, and allows the party to soak up so much damage it is not even funny. Overall, Endure is the best defensive spell that every party member should learn to persist through tough boss fights.
11. Barrier Magic
Barrier Magic, even though it is the most situational school of magic, is perhaps the most useful way to stay alive during tough boss fights. The Wall series spells (especially Wallus) are some of the best spells in the game, and the Shield and Shell series spells also are fantastic for providing essential defenses for the party. The highly underrated Heal Up spell is absolutely awesome, and the Resist series are great (though the most situational spells in the game by a long run). Overall, although Barrier Magic is not really necessary in enemy encounters (especially in Normal Mode), Hard Mode requires careful use of Barrier Magic at certain points in the game to survive some of the tougher enemy fights, and of course, Barrier Magic is crucial during boss fights no matter what mode you are playing, which solidifies its spot just out of the top ten.
10. Accessories +3
Although there is not an abundance of overpowered Special Accessories in Blue Dragon, the ones that are available make this skill one of the best in the game. From the XP-boosting Lei, to the SP-boosting Black Belt and Eyepatch, to the agility-boosting Belt of Hermes, Shoes of Hermes, and Spring Breeze Kerchief, you can get huge bonuses from equipping this type of accessory. Overall, Accessories +3 allows you to equip a grab badge of exclusive accessories with great bonuses, and because of that, it is one of the best skills in the game.
9. Quick Magic Charge
This skill is very underrated within the Blue Dragon discussion boards and such, but this ability cuts charge time in half. This allows your party to have a huge amount of chances in which spells will be allowed to be fully charged without an enemy even being on the charge meter, allowing you to use fully charged magic spells to slay the enemy party. This skill is just so fantastic, and is not only amazing for damage, but is also essential in keeping the party alive with Barrier Magic. Overall, this skill is an underrated skill that brings magic to a whole new level and allows for huge new opportunities.
8. Support Magic
This school of magic is probably twice or three times as amazing in Hard Mode as in Normal Mode, but it is still good around the board in Normal Mode; spells like Quickus, Attack Up, Mag Atk Up, Kelolon, and Sleep are all fantastic! The first three are absolutely amazing for beefing up the party in amazing ways, Kelolon allows for the very fun and useful Kelolon strategy, and the Sleep spell can carry the party through the entire first two discs in killing non-robot enemies while they don’t get a single action against the party. Overall, this school of magic is fantastic, but it totally depends on how much you like buffing and debuffing, as well as what mode you are playing; if you don’t like buffing or debuffing (especially if you don’t like buffing or debuffing AND you are playing Normal Mode), this really isn’t the skill for you.
7. Double-Cast
This skill is so good. I’m sure I don’t have to explain why casting two spells at a time is amazing, and by using the Double-Cast method (which like the Kelolon strategy, I will explain in another article), you can manipulate the system to cast party-wide Barrier and Support Magic before a high-agility foe to change the tide of battle. Overall, Double-Cast allows you to cast two spells at a time, and that can only be topped by a few more skills.
6. Field Barrier 3
This is the best way to get overpowered, as it is so easy to get SP in certain places in the game, from the Laser Field to the Underground River to the outside of the Mecha Base to the courtyard of the Primitive Cube, Field Barrier 3 not only allows you to clear enemies out of your path, but gain huge benefits in doing so… all for one MP per enemy. Using this ability, you can become so strong with your stats that you can defeat even the hardest of the superbosses. Overall, Field Barrier 3 allows you to decimate enemies on the field and quickly bring the party to the peak of their ability.
5. Magic Sword
Magic Sword is the best way to do single target damage, and it absolutely allows you to decimate enemies. Black Magic may be the better way to deal damage when it comes to hitting all enemies, but not even Double-Cast can get close to dealing as much damage as what Magic Sword can with the right set-up (for example, when I used the right set-up against the Goldragon, the hardest dragon in the game, I was able to take around 16,000 damage with one Windus Sword, whereas Double-Cast only allowed me to do about 4,500 damage with two Windus or Flarus spells). Not only does it do enormous damage, but it allows elements that don’t have the best damage with their corresponding Black Magic spell (especially Wind, which doesn’t deal extra damage when charged) to shine much more than their Black Magic counterpart. In addition, Magic Sword can inflict status ailments such as Slow and Targeting Down, even on enemies that would normally be immune to it (this saved me more times than you would think in Hard Mode). Overall, Magic Sword is the strongest way to deal damage in the game, allowing you to do more damage than even a Corporeal, but is not as good as Black Magic due to its lack of versatility.
4. Black Magic
Black Magic is the most versatile way to deal damage in the game, as well as the strongest way to deal single-target damage in the game. From Flare, which is most reliable for single-target damage, Shadow, which is the most powerful for single-target damage, Water, which is the most reliable and possibly the strongest multi-target attack (since so many enemies are weak to the water element), to Ground, the strongest multi-target attack, to Wind, the weakest multi-target attack but strongest against flying enemies, to Extract, which is great for restoring HP and MP. Overall, Black Magic is so versatile and powerful, making it one of the best skills in the entire game.
3. Total Guard
Here it is. The catalyst for the overpowered Guardian combination that I have probably mentioned in this article more times than I could possibly count. With this Guardian combination, you can almost negate all possible single-target damage and completely change the tide of battle. You can drop enemies left and right by triggering Counterattack Boost or Absolute Counterattack, protect allies from virtually 90% of the abilities in the game, and just make a fantastic tank setup on one of your characters. Overall, this skill is so good that I can hardly put it into words, and I hate not putting it in first… but the next two skills are just so essential to beating Blue Dragon.
2. White Magic
This is the way to heal in Blue Dragon. Sure, Meditation is great and using items isn’t that bad. But unless you want to grind through the Shuffle Dungeon to get Giant Light Crystals, items will fall behind very fast for healing (even with Enhance Item Effect and Double Item, you can only heal a total of 400 health with Grand Light Crystals). With White Magic, you can heal health, cure ailments, dish out light damage, and revive allies; all of which are essential to making it through the game. Overall, the amazingness of White Magic is pretty self-explanatory and basic, but without it, Blue Dragon would simply be so much harder.
The “North, perhaps?” Tier
1. Skill +8
Here it is. The only skill that allows you to make insanely powerful, fun, and unique combinations like the Total Guard, Magic Sword, and so many other amazing combos. Without this skill, this game would just not be as fun. Overall, there isn’t too much to say about this skill, but since you can actually utilize the rest of the skills in the game with this ability, it is just so amazing.
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