What is Foul?

[waifugenerator]

Has Foul been explained in EE2 or elsewhere?

[Myvar]

From my own observation, Foul might be this game's version of the Unholy spell that has appeared in several other Final Fantasy games.

[manamoppet]

From my own observation, Foul might be this game's version of the Unholy spell that has appeared in several other Final Fantasy games.

Maybe, maybe not. Scylla in the Crystal Tower uses Unholy, but I don't remember if there are other bosses who use it.

[Ilyrian]

I think of 'Fair is foul and foul is fair' - the witches in Macbeth.

Probably absolutely nothing to do with the FF reference, as it's really just a fancy literary paradox, but it does have Black Magic and spell casting associations.

[Kalise]

Foul looks sort of like Level ? Shadowflare from FF Tactics.

Outside of that, I can't help but think that it might be the "Ancient Magick" of the Dark school of spells.

I.e.

Aero > Aerora > Aeroga > Aeroja > Tornado

Blizzard > Blizzara > Blizzaga > Blizzaja > Freeze

Dark > Darkra > Darkga > (Darkja >) Foul

Fire > Fira > Firaga > Firaja > Flare

Stone > Stonera > Stonega > Stoneja > Earthquake (Sometimes it appears as Quake > Quakra > Quaga)

Thunder > Thundara > Thundaga > Thundaja > Burst

Water > Watera > Waterga > Waterja > Flood

I don't recall we've seen anything beyond Darkga in any FF game, so it might be that FFXIV is establishing Foul as the ancient magic for the line. Maybe we'll also see a Darkja spell at some point (Well... It'd be Dark IV in the English localization for the game )

[Frizze]

I don't recall we've seen anything beyond Darkga in any FF game, so it might be that FFXIV is establishing Foul as the ancient magic for the line. Maybe we'll also see a Darkja spell at some point (Well... It'd be Dark IV in the English localization for the game )

Im fairly sure that Zodiarc uses a Darkja spell when you fight him in FF 12. Dont think the players had access to the equivalent(outside of summoning said Zodiarc).

[ReiMakoto]

Foul looks sort of like Level ? Shadowflare from FF Tactics.

Outside of that, I can't help but think that it might be the "Ancient Magick" of the Dark school of spells.

I.e.

Aero > Aerora > Aeroga > Aeroja > Tornado

Blizzard > Blizzara > Blizzaga > Blizzaja > Freeze

Dark > Darkra > Darkga > (Darkja >) Foul

Fire > Fira > Firaga > Firaja > Flare

Stone > Stonera > Stonega > Stoneja > Earthquake (Sometimes it appears as Quake > Quakra > Quaga)

Thunder > Thundara > Thundaga > Thundaja > Burst

Water > Watera > Waterga > Waterja > Flood

I don't recall we've seen anything beyond Darkga in any FF game, so it might be that FFXIV is establishing Foul as the ancient magic for the line. Maybe we'll also see a Darkja spell at some point (Well... It'd be Dark IV in the English localization for the game )

Dark IV already exists in game (Can't remember what casts it but its on Garland Tools so its in game) so it could be the next step, but dark isn't a BLM spell in xiv, so I'm not sure it would be that. I think its makes most sense as an holy antithesis (both being exploding orbs of light/ dark respectively) and is a XIV exclusive concept.

[MorbolvampireQueen6]

Foul looks sort of like Level ? Shadowflare from FF Tactics.

Outside of that, I can't help but think that it might be the "Ancient Magick" of the Dark school of spells.

I.e.

Aero > Aerora > Aeroga > Aeroja > Tornado

Blizzard > Blizzara > Blizzaga > Blizzaja > Freeze

Dark > Darkra > Darkga > (Darkja >) Foul

Fire > Fira > Firaga > Firaja > Flare

Stone > Stonera > Stonega > Stoneja > Earthquake (Sometimes it appears as Quake > Quakra > Quaga)

Thunder > Thundara > Thundaga > Thundaja > Burst

Water > Watera > Waterga > Waterja > Flood

I don't recall we've seen anything beyond Darkga in any FF game, so it might be that FFXIV is establishing Foul as the ancient magic for the line. Maybe we'll also see a Darkja spell at some point (Well... It'd be Dark IV in the English localization for the game )

i don't think we would get a dark upgrade without having lower level dark spells

[Floortank]

i don't think we would get a dark upgrade without having lower level dark spells

Sure we could. Holy isn't an upgrade of any particular unaspected damaging spell. Holy is very similar to Foul.

[Jonnycbad]

Sure we could. Holy isn't an upgrade of any particular unaspected damaging spell. Holy is very similar to Foul.

To be fair, White Mages technically can cast "Banish" and "Dia" but the player cannot. These were spells that used to be in 1.0, but were removed around 1.2. There are several White Mage-type mobs (Light Sprites/Holy Sprites/Amdapori statues etc) that still cast these spells, and it's likely that Holy is to Banish what Flare is to Fire. It's possible the original Amdapori White Mages specialized in pure White Magic. The player White Mage is technically is a hybrid of Conjurer/White Mage, since White Magic is a lost art, the core of our skills is based on Conjury (elemental magic), hence why we have Stone/Aero/Water instead of pure light magic like Amdapor white mages did with Banish spells.