The Time Mage is a spell-caster who manipulates the flow of time and space to attack foes and support its allies. It has high magical stats, making it a potent mage, but terrible physical stats and average everything else. Despite having stiff competition, it’s one of the better magic jobs.

Unfortunately, the sequel was not kind to the Time Mage, removing its best abilities: Hasten World and Slow World. As such, it’s no longer an essential job. However, there’s not much else that outdamages its terrifying Meteor spell, so it retains its niche as a magical powerhouse.

Specialty: Time Slip¶

If the entire party gets KO’d, the battle reverts to its beginning state. However any SP used will not be returned. This ability only works once per battle, even if multiple characters have this ability.

The ultimate safety net, saving you from a single Game Over during a tough battle. Hopefully after suffering the first Game Over, you’ll have learned the nuances of your foes and manage to salvage a victory on your second try.

Level 1: Time Magic Level 1¶

Enables the use of the following Time Magic: Haste and Quake. However you must own the corresponding magic scroll to use that magic.

Haste improves a character’s speed by 50% for four trns. Speed is critical for moving ahead of foes, so this is a fine spell to have.

Quake inflicts weak earth damage. It can be cast on a group, but doing so will weaken its power. Grossly underpowered at the time you acquire the Time Mage, so just add it to your depository and move on.

Level 2: Stop Immunity¶

The user is immune to stop during battles.

Stop is a fairly uncommon ailment, but it’s a pain to work around if you do encounter it. Even worse, there are no accessories that combat it, so this ability is almost essential when facing foes that spam it.

Level 3: Time Magic Level 2¶

Enables the use of the following Time Magic: Regen and Quick. However you must own the corresponding magic scroll to use that magic.

Regen restores a character’s HP by 3% at the end of each turn (or causes equivalent damage if used on undead). The HP recovery is miniscule, but the effect is permanent for the battle, unless your character gets KO’d or an enemy dispels it.

Quick increases a character’s hit count by 50% for four turns. When using normal attacks, that character will inflict 50% more hits, boosting their damage by 50%. Not bad if you’re mainly using normal attacks. Can also be used twice to reach 200% hit count.

Level 4: Slow Parry¶

When the user gets hit by a single-target physical attack, there’s a 60% chance of lowering the attacker’s speed by 60% (down to a minimum of 75%).

This ability functions like a counter Haste, occasionally slowing down foes who hit your Time Mage. Not super reliable, but decent as a stopgap passive ability.

Level 5: Time Magic Level 3¶

Enables the use of the following Time Magic: Quara and Gravity. However you must own the corresponding magic scroll to use that magic.

Quara is a stronger version of Quake. It seems even the game knows that enemies weak to earth are rare, because the cost of earth spells is significantly less than their fire, water, lightning and wind counterparts, despite dealing the same damage.

Gravity has a 50% chance of reducing a foe’s HP by 50% of its maximum value. Useless against bosses and similar foes. Unreliable, but a useful way to tackle enemies regardless of your level and stats.

Level 6: Time Slip¶

If the entire party gets KO’d, the battle reverts to its beginning state. However any SP used will not be returned. This ability only works once per battle, even if multiple characters have this ability.

The Time Mage’s Specialty. Not an essential ability, but it’s cheap and provides a reliable safety net if you’re unsure about a coming boss battle.

Level 7: Time Magic Level 4¶

Enables the use of the following Time Magic: Comet and Hastega. However you must own the corresponding magic scroll to use that magic.

Comet inflicts 4 non elemental hits on a foe; each hit has 50% accuracy. Cannot be reflected. A decent all-purpose spell, but very hit and miss (literally).

Hastega increases the speed of all party members by 50% for four turns. Cannot be reflected. An amazing way to catch up with or outspeed foes.

Level 8: Time Magic Level 5¶

Enables the use of the following Time Magic: Stop and Quaga. However you must own the corresponding magic scroll to use that magic.

Stop has a 75% chance of freezing an enemy in its tracks for a few turns. Can be combined with Spellcraft or Group-Cast All to potentially halt all enemies. Largely ineffective against bosses unless you can lower their resistance to Stop with Special Moves.

Quaga is the strongest version of Quake and a good spell to use for a while, despite its limited uses.

Level 9: Magic Attack 20% Up¶

Increases the user’s Magic Attack by 20%.

An easy and effective way of passively boosting your Time Mage’s firepower. However, when your Time Mage is a ghost, it’s outclassed by Full Charge in conjunction with MP Free in a Pinch. Plus you need space for Chainspell or Ventriloquism.

Level 10: Time Magic Level 6¶

Enables the use of the following Time Magic: Reraise and Meteor. However you must own the corresponding magic scroll to use that magic.

Reraise enables an ally to recover from KO once with a small amount of HP. A nice way to keep characters on their feet. Don’t forget you can cast it on your party with Mist/Blast Spellcraft or Group-Cast All.

Meteor inflicts 4 non-elemental hits on random foes. Cannot be reflected. This is a reliable version of Comet that hits random targets and costs a considerable amount of MP. Against a single foe, you can easily rack up 9999 damage.

In the past, Meteor was combined with the Swordmaster’s Free Lunch to mitigate the hefty MP cost, but now you can go one better by using MP Free in a Pinch as a ghost. Slap on Full Charge and combine it with Spellcraft Rain to really increase the pain!

Level 11: Time Magic Level 7¶

Enables the use of the following Time Magic: Quickga. However you must own the corresponding magic scroll to use that magic.

Increases the hit count of all party members by 100% for 5 turns (up to 200%). Cannot be reflected. Not terribly exciting, but a fantastic way of doubling the efficiency of your normal attacks.

For best results, give your characters the Ninja’s Frenetic Fighting (and, if necessary, equip Limit Breaker to reach 300% Hit Count with two casts of Quickga). Then go crazy with your normal attacks!