Stranger of Paradise: FF Origins - How to Unlock Black Mage Job
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin includes the Black Mage job, which has access to powerful magic spells that can be used in combat. The Black Mage class can blast groups of enemies with spells that have a large AoE, at the cost of using MP for attacks, and needing to wait for attacks to charge up before they can be unleashed.
The Black Mage job debuted in FF1, as one of the six original Final Fantasy jobs. The original Final Fantasy jobs were inspired by D&D, with the Black Mage being the equivalent of the Mage class. The spells in FF1 on the NES actually used the same Vancian magic system as D&D, with the character needing to prepare slots ahead of time. The later Final Fantasy games scrapped this system in favor of MP and spells have a cost, and the remakes of FF1 used this new magic system.
Stranger of Paradise was developed by the same team that created the Nioh games and has a similar gameplay loop. As such, the melee combat builds are useful for their high defensive and evasive abilities. Not all enemies can be dispatched with a blade, however, as Stranger of Paradise features the annoying Final Fantasy Flan monsters, which resist physical damage but are weak to magic.
In order to unlock the Black Mage job in Stranger of Paradise, the player master the left-hand path on the Mage's job tree. The Mage class is unlocked during the first mission of the game, so it shouldn't take too long for the player to access the Black Mage. The Mage also provides access to the White Mage, while mastering both the Swordfighter and the Mage will unlock the Red Mage. The Black Mage job is necessary for unlocking some of Stranger of Paradise's more complex jobs, like the Dark Knight and the Sage.
The Black Mage has access to stronger spells than the Mage, including Flare. It's also possible to unlock the Meteor spell at the end of the job tree. The Black Mage has access to the Seal of Blood Command ability, which increases the damage of the next ability used by Jack, and enemies who are broken or killed will be hit with a soul break. The Black Mage job is best used for long-range attacks, as it takes time to charge the stronger spells.
The issue with this tactic is that enemies in Stranger of Paradise can be extremely fast or possess attacks with a large range and AoE. There is also the issue of MP, as powerful spells will burn through the mana bar. As such, the player should have a strong melee build set as their second job to help build up MP, and use the resonance ability to make the party members aggro the enemy, so that black magic spells can be used without leaving Jack vulnerable to counters. Stranger of Paradise has the Blood Weapon ability, which makes it easy to top up health while also regaining MP during melee combat.
Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin will be released for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on March 18, 2022.