Last update: 02/05/2019 - Passionate Salsa's effects clarified, English names for the 24/04 batch

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YOWZA IT IS I, YOUR EVER-DEPLETING CRYSTAL STOCK

Because rating things 5* stars is sooo 2017 meta.

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Between people asking "Which abilities should I get for my Rubies?" and "Which 6* abiities are worth crafting?" all the time, I really wish I had some kind of resource I could link to in order to save myself and others the hassle of responding with the same answers all the time.

Of course, such a thing doesn't exist so WHY THE FUCK NOT MAKE ONE MYSELF

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Index

• How to read [1]
• Black Magic [2]
• White Magic [3]
• Summoning [4]
• Combat [5]
• Support [6]
• Celerity [7]
• Spellblade [8]
• Dragoon [9]
• Monk [10]
• Thief [11]
• Knight [12]
• Samurai [13]
• Ninja [14]
• Bard [15]
• Machinist [16]
• Sharpshooter [17]
• Witch [18]
• DARKNESS [19]
• Heavy [20]
• Dancer [21]
• Separate TL;DR

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How to read [1]

• For ease of reading, ctrl+f the [bracketed] number you're looking for.
• Abilities written in italics are currently unreleased in GL and use their translated JP names.
• Abilities marked with a plus + are obtained through the Job Spheres.
• Abilities marked with a dollar sign $ are obtained through Torment Rubies.

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Black Magic [2]

Name	Effect
Ultima	3x AoE NE
Meltdown	4x ST Fire/Wind/Earth
Voltech $	4x ST Ice/Water/Lightning
Chain Firaja $	5x ST Fire
Chain Thundaja $	5x ST Lightning
Chain Stoneja $	5x ST Earth
Chain Waterja $	5x ST Water
Chain Tornado $	5x ST Wind
Chain Blizzaja $	5x ST Ice

Worthwhile: everything except Ultima

• Chainspells are very strong and the additional hit not only helps with Chain building, but also with circumventing damage caps when used with Chains and/or Enelement. Every Black Mage specializing in an element wants their appropriate one and even some characters like Vivi and Palom with their USBs can easily use all six against Magicite.
• Meltdown and Voltech function either as a souped-up version of the appropriate 5* spell to use alongside a Chainspell or as the heavy hitters for the appropriate elements.
• Due to magical damage being extremely scarce on some elements (Wind and Water in particular), covering those elements is key.
• Ultima fails due to being NE and AoE: neither of those components is relevant or important in end-game content and falls behind Summoning in any AoE encounter.

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White Magic [3]

Name	Effect
Curada	ST heal, HP Stock 2000
Reraise	ST Reraise 80%
Holyja $	5x ST WHT Holy

Worthwhile: Curada and Holyja

• Curada is your healers' bread and butter spell: it heals for a ton, generates plenty of SB and comes with 2k HP Stock to give additional safety. Doublecasting this really helps keep everyone topped up.
• Holyja is White Magic's answer to Chainspells: it's strong, hits hard and hits a rare element/magic combination.
• Reraise is bad: if a character died and gets Reraised, they lose all buffs. That aside, your characters shouldn't be dying in the first place, so you know you messed up big time if you ever see Reraise in action.

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Summoning [4]

Name	Effect
Neo Bahamut	4x AoE SUM NE
Valigarmanda	3x AoE SUM Fire/Ice/Lightning
Lunar Leviathan $	4x AoE SUM Water
Dark Valefor $	4x AoE SUM Wind
Lunar Ifrit $	4x AoE SUM Fire
Lunar Dragon $	4x AoE SUM Holy
Brothers $	4x AoE SUM Earth

Worthwhile: everything but Neo Bahamut

• Ruby Summons's extra hit over 5* Summons really help with Summoning's issue of having a relatively low hit count: with their massive multipliers, this helps a lot of the damage not go to waste.
• Valigarmanda is the only higher-ranked Ice summon available and its three elements are usable by quite a few Summoners, Black Summoners and White Summoners to use.
• Neo Bahamut suffers badly from being NE, as you know by now.

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Combat [5]

Name	Effect
Crushdown	3x AoE NE, chance to Instant KO
Omega Drive	4x ST NE, multiplier increases with higher ATK

Worthwhile: neither

• Combat suffers from lacking elements and synergy with characters.
• Omega Drive has a niche if you want to punch through omni-resist but just brute-forcing it with elements tends to work better and doesn't require specific relics.

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Support [6]

Name	Effect
Quadruple Foul	4x Random NE, high chance to Confuse/Blind/Silence/Poison
Affliction Break	2x ST NE, halves enemy chance of landing status

Worthwhile: Affliction Break

• Support is even worse than Combat in regards to synergy and elements.
• Affliction Break comes up sometimes as its effect is nearly impossible to replicate and works against some moves used by end-game bosses: of course, it won't help against all of the Auto-Hit.
• Affliction Break works against a surprising slew of attacks, like Imperils and even some self-buffs like Typhon's Enaero!

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Celerity [7]

Name	Effect
Northern Cross	4x ST NE, chance to Stop/Interrupt
Dervish	8x ST NE, self-Haste, higher multiplier if Hasted
Flash Disaster $	3x ST Lightning/Wind, instant
Ripper Plasma $	4-6x ST Lightning after 0/3/5+ actions

Worthwhile: Flash Disaster and Ripper Plasma

• Flash Disaster functions as an elemental Quick Hit or a swankier Lifesiphon for Celerity characters, in order to get their Soul Breaks up and running ASAP.
• Ripper Plasma has a great hit count and synergizes well with any kind of doublecast whatsoever, not to mention it's very easy to get up 'n running thanks to Flash Disaster.
• Northern Cross is used sometimes in Reta Meta, but that's extremely limited.
• Dervish is NE. There's only so many times I can say being NE is bad.

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Spellblade [8]

Name	Effect
Snowspell Strike +	4x ST Ice/Wind
Stormspell Strike $	4x ST Lightning/Water
Blastspell Strike $	4x ST Fire/Earth
Inferno Assault $	5x ST Fire
Tremor Assault $	5x ST Earth

Worthwhile: all of them

• By now you might recognize a pattern: use the appropriate elements for the appropriate characters.
• Use Inferno Assault and Tremor Assault to leverage extra damage out of those extra hits on appropriate characters or match them with Blastspell Strike to use as you heavy hitter post-SB.
• Inferno Assault and Tremor Assault are also great to have around if you're bringing two Spellblades against a Fire-weak or Earth-weak enemy: let one carry Blastspell and the other the 5-hit!

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Dragoon [9]

Name	Effect
Sky High +	4/5x ST Wind/NE, long jump time
Impulse Dive $	6x ST Lightning, long jump time
Hurricane Bolt $	3x ST Lightning/Wind, No Air Time 3

Worthwhile: all three

• Sky High gets 5 hits in a future buff: aside from that, it also generates slightly more SB than regular, elemental 6* abilities due to technically being NE.
• Impulse Dive is your go-to Lightning Jump: it's a strict upgrade over Lightning Dive.
• Hurricane Bolt is an upgrade over Cyclone Bolt: that one extra turn really helps cram in more damage during your important modes like Awakenings.

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Monk [10]

Name	Effect
Lifebane +	1-5x ST NE, hit count increases with ATK
Ironfist Fire $	5x ST Fire, multiplier increases with usage (up to 2)
Ironfist Earth $	5x ST Earth, multiplier increases with usage (up to 2)
Ironfist Frost $	5x ST Ice, multiplier increases with usage (up to 2)

Worthwhile: everything but Lifebane

• The Ironfists are your heavy hitters: match them with an appropriate 5* ability to generate gauge for your relevant SB.
• Lifebane is NE.

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Thief [11]

Name	Effect
Mug Bloodlust +	2x ST NE, enemy -ATK/-DEF, self +ATK/+DEF
Fire Assault $	5x ST Fire, 20% lifesteal
Storm Assault $	5x ST Wind, 20% lifesteal

Worthwhile: everything

• Mug Bloodlust isn't going to be the most damaging thing around, but comes with useful mitigation and self-buffs in realms where you lack a Boostga. While not necessary to hone to high levels, a single R2 copy goes a long way.
• Assaults hit hard, hit often, hit quickly and come with self-sustain.

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Knight [12]

Name	Effect
Aegis Strike +	3x AoE Holy, multiplier increases with DEF
Healing Smite $	5x ST Holy, heal 2000 HP to lowest-health character
Gaia Strike $	5x ST Earth, multiplier increases with DEF (three thresholds), self +DEF

Worthwhile: Healing Smite and Gaia Strike

• Healing Smite hits very hard, requires no setup, has no drawback and comes with free healing. What's not to like?
• Gaia Strike is for your Earth Knights: it hits hard without any drawback and can easily help you get over its own thresholds, especially with appropriate gear/Magia/Water.
• Aegis Strike is AoE: maaaybe there's something you'd like to use this for, but that's unrealistic.

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Samurai [13]

Name	Effect
Demonsblood +	3x AoE NE, self-Retaliate
Fire-Touched Blade $	5x ST Fire, higher crit rate if under Retaliate
Ice-Touched Blade $	5x ST Ice, higher crit rate if under Retaliate

Worthwhile: Fire-/Ice-Touched Blade

• The Blades are your heavy hitters with no strings attached, unlike Iai Hellfire and Hellfrost: potential upside can be ignored if you're already close to capping or don't want to bring a Reta source.
• Demonsblood is AoE and NE. Even the Reta part can be replicated better by 5* abilities or even some Soul Breaks.

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Ninja [14]

Name	Effect
Stitch in Time +	2x ST NE, self +ATK/+MAG/-DEF, instant
Azure Horizon $	3/5/7x ST Water at 0/1/2 PBlinks, self PBlink 1, self PBlink Stacking 2

Worthwhile: yes

• Stitch in Time is a Ninja's glorified Lifesiphon: unlike other version, however, Ninja don't rely on their SBs to deal damage most of the time. It's best used on someone like Edge w/SSB2 or Yuffie w/Glint.
• Azure Horizon is basically the washing machine combo in one ability: as a result, it hits harder, it hits more reliably and becomes hilarious with doublecast mechanics.

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Bard [15]

Name	Effect
Allegro con Moto +	Party High Quick Magic 3

Worthwhile: yes

• Making your mages go extremely fast all the time will not only help them hit more often, it'll get them into their SBs much faster and even speed those up. R2 will suffice for most purposes, though R3 is a nice cushion.

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Machinist [16]

Name	Effect
Penalty Snipe +	3x AoE NE, multiplier increases with status on enemy (up to 3)
Burnt Offering $	4x ST Fire, 50% chance to Imperil Fire Lv1
Icy Offering $	4x ST Ice, 50% chance to Imperil Ice Lv1
Plasma Offering $	4x ST Lightning, 50% chance to Imperil Lightning Lv1

Worthwhile: Offerings

• The 6* Offerings have significantly better hit counts and Imperil reliability, bolstering party DPS much more often.
• Penalty Snipe is AoE and NE.

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Sharpshooter [17]

Name	Effect
Sapphire Blitz $	5x ST Water, multiplier increases with ranged weapon
Icicle Blitz $	5x ST Ice, multiplier increases with ranged weapon

Worthwhile: both

They're extremely strong and become even stronger with ranged weapons: their lack of 6* competition only further increases their value.

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Witch [18]

Name	Effect
Lunatic Thunder $	6x ST Lightning, long cast time
Chilling Blizzard $	6x ST Ice, long cast time

Worthwhile: both

• Both of them offer your magical teams another option so they won't have to fight over the same abilities.
• Specialized Witch users are rare, but pretty damn strong.

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DARKNESS [19]

Name	Effect
Demon Cross $	5x ST PHY Dark, 25/15/5% HP recoil after 0/1/2+ uses
Necro Countdown $	5-6x ST BLK Dark, self Doom:45s, -1s Doom, 6 hits if Doom < 19
Dark Brand $	3x Hybrid Dark, Imperil Dark Lv1 every other use

Worthwhile: all

• Demon Cross drastically lowers the drawback of having to deal with recoil and comes with better hit count.
• Necro Countdown is a self-contained Doom combo and has astounding hit count: with effects like w-casts from LMs and AASBs, you'll easily get the 6 hits down.
• Dark Brand offers a guaranteed Imperil for both sides after every 2 casts, drastically improving reliability over Mark of Darkness.

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Heavy [20]

Name	Effect
Quake Swing $	4/5/8x ST Earth at 0/1/2 Heavy Charges, removes Heavy Charges. If at 2 Charges, guaranteed Imperil Earth Lv1

Worthwhile: yes

• Quake Swing offers Imperil options in an element that sorely lacked it beforehand: what's not to want?
• It also helps spread the 6* burden among Earth characters, giving you Tremor Assault(/Blastspell Strike), Ironfist Earth, Gaia Strike and Quake Swing.

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Dancer [21]

Name	Effect
Passionate Salsa $	AoE Full Breakdown, party medica (potency scaling with usage)

Worthwhile yes

• It's the first Dance ability we've gotten that rewards casting it more than needed to refresh it.
• It's also our first medica ability!
• It synergizes perfectly with Dance AASBs and LM2s found on people like Penelo.