White Mage

The white mage isn't a born fighter, bless her. She knows this, and refuses to fight whenever possible. While Berserk, though, she will hit the enemy with her stick with appropriately ineffectual results.

Even in these post-Yevon days, the power of prayer is not to be underestimated. A quick and simple act of worship - with no charge time to get in the way - will restore a handfull of HP to the entire party. It's not much, but it costs no MP and repeated use is almost like having Regen on the party.

A more focused prayer which restores considerably more HP, again at no cost and with no wait time. The problem is that only works on the white mage herself, though this may provide her with a second wind in an emergency.

The staple of the white mage, Cure is a cheap little spell which nevertheless restores a healthy amount of HP to either single or multiple targets.

For higher level problems, Cura offers better value for money and restores a fair portion of HP to its target or targets.

For the seriously wounded party, Curaga offers major restoration for a comparatively small MP cost. The ability to restore the entire party at once, and the standard charge time, make this preferable to the likes of Full-Cure in most situations.

In the right situations, which is just about any drawn-out battle, this expensive magic effectively offers permanent health. Anyone under its effects (unfortunately, Regen may only target one at a time) will recover a small amount of HP each turn and the effects last until death.

It's quite cheap, and will save your life. A single Esuna cleans up any status ailments on the target, returning them to functioning order. When used to heal single statuses like Darkness or Poison, items offer a faster and more efficient alternative, but against status-heavy enemies or rare problems like Itchy or Stop, Esuna is a winner.

A sort of anti-Esuna which is designed for use on enemies rather than yourself. Dispel strips its target of positive statuses such as Haste, Regen, Shell, Protect, and Reflect, making it a rare flower which really blooms against heavily-protected fiends.

Resurrection without relying on Phoenix Downs, and restoring twice as much health as those feathered items into the bargain. The white mage was born to learn this magic.

Life plus, reviving the target with all of their HP. Well, up to 9999 unless the mage has Break Damage Limit. At 60MP per casting, it's more expensive than a standard Life with some healing on top, so is best reserved for those battles where every moment, and every hitpoint, count.

Cast on all party members as standard, Shell's ability to halve magical damage is vital against a number of opponents. Note, however, that it also halves white magic and thus makes curing that little bit harder.

A protective shield for the entire party, halving physical damage for the duration of the battle, or at least the survival of its targets. Essential in so many situations.

A reflective shield this time, causing all future magic - both black and white - to bounce harmlessly off and onto a member of the opposing team. Perfect protection against most magical enemies, at the cost of never seeing the end of the white mage's healing staff again.

The ultimate cure, fully restoring the HP of the target (up to 9999) and throwing in a status-busting Esuna as a bonus. Just beware of the cost.

White magic is of no use unless it hits its target as soon as possible. Upgrading to second level spellcasting cuts the charge time of all white magic by 70%.

Serious mages will take advantage of third level magic to halve (with respect to level 1) the time it takes to cast. Even Full-Life and Full-Cure become much more useful with this auto-ability.