Haste ( status ) Haste , also known as Fast , refers to the status effect that is beneficial to a character in that it allows a character to take a greater amount of action in a given amount of " game time " . For example , in games with an ATB Gauge , this means that the ATB gauge is sped up to allow more turns to be taken . In turn - based Final Fantasy games , such as the first three , Haste allows a character to strike more times with their weapons in a single turn . In some games , such as " Final Fantasy VII " , " Final Fantasy IX " and " Final Fantasy XII " , equipping a character with the Running Shoes gives them the Auto Haste ability . Appearances . " Final Fantasy " . Haste , also known as FAST in the NES release , increases the speed of one ally , allowing their Hit rate to approximately double . It is gained from a level 4 Black Magic spell of the same name . " Final Fantasy II " . The Haste status increases a character ' s hit rate . The higher the level , the higher the chance that the spell will work and the the higher the hit rate . " Final Fantasy III " . Haste increases the Attack power of the target based on the power of the spell and increases the target ' s Attack Multiplier based on the Multiplier and Accuracy of the spell . Changing items in a character ' s hand will negate the effect of Haste . Haste is acquired from the level 6 White Magic spell of the same name . Unei can also cast Haste when she joins the party as a guest , and this variant is cast over the entire party . The item Bacchus ' s Cider can also cast Haste . Bard ' s Minuet gives the effect to the party with a following formula : " Final Fantasy IV " . The status increases a character ' s ATB gauge ' s filling - up speed . In 2D versions , it decreases the speed modifier by 3 ( default being 16 for all targets ) , and can only be decreased to 12 , making the ATB gauge increase nearly 25 % normal speed . The Bardsong Hastemarch casts it on the party , but the user must be above level 40 to use it . " Final Fantasy IV - Interlude - " . The Haste status returns as a status effect in the sequel of " Final Fantasy IV " , and it functions the same way as its predecessor . Haste returns as a status and boosts the user ' s ATB fill rate . Edward can randomly bestow the ability via his Bardsong command when targeting allies . " Final Fantasy V " . Haste doubles the speed of a party member . The Hermes Sandals also provides Auto Haste , and the upgraded version of Haste , known as Hastega , casts Haste on the entire party in one go . " Final Fantasy VI " . The status increases the speed of the afflicted . Aside from the spell , it is also granted via Running Shoes , which grants Haste . If a target is immune to Slow , they are also immune to Haste . The Haste status decreases the attacker ' s hit rate on the affected by 25 % apart from the game versions affected by the Evade bug . Haste status does not increase the speed of which Cyan Garamond ' s Bushido gauge fills . Haste will affect the Doom status , accelerating the countdown timer on the afflicted . " Final Fantasy VII " . Haste is a status which increases the target ' s speed making their ATB gauge fill out twice as fast as normal . As a downside all timed effects like Barrier and Slow - numb run out double the pace . Interestingly enough , if a target is immune to Haste , the target will also be immune to Slow . As well as the spell , Red XIII ' s Limit Break , Lunatic High , also grants the Haste status . The Enemy Skill Big Guard also grants Haste to the party , with the added benefits of Barrier and MBarrier . The item Speed Drink casts Haste and the accessory Sprint Shoes also grants Auto Haste . The effect can be removed by DeSpell . " Final Fantasy VIII " . Haste is a status which increases the characters ' speed . It is gained through the spell of the same name , from the Mad Rush command ability , from the Auto Haste junction ability , or from Quistis ' s Limit Break Mighty Guard when the Crisis Level is anything above level 1 . It lasts for 32 seconds , but also makes other buffs wear off faster . " Final Fantasy IX " . Haste is a status increases the afflicted ' s speed . It is applied via the White Magic spell exclusive to Eiko , through the use of the auto - ability Auto Haste , and via Carbuncle along with Reflect by equipping Eiko with the Emerald . " Final Fantasy X " . Haste is a status which increases the frequency a player receives an attack round . It is a spell learned on Tidus ' s section of the Sphere Grid , along with the upgraded Hastega . It can also be granted through the use of the Auto Haste ability , as well as the SOS Haste ability when HP is low . The status can also be gained via Rikku ' s mixes Mighty G , Super Mighty G and Hyper Mighty G and via items Chocobo Feather and Chocobo Wing . If a character is Hasted at the end of battle their victory pose animation is sped up . " Final Fantasy X - 2 " . Haste is a status which increases the speed of players . It is also granted through the use of SOS Haste ( only after passing through all the gates on Highroad Winds Garment Grid ) and Auto Haste ( only after passing through all the gates on Mounted Assault Garment Grid ) . It is shown in battle as the ATB bar turning red for no - wait abilities . Haste allows the character to take two actions every turn . The player can inflict it by using the Wind Droplet medicine . " Final Fantasy XI " . Faced for the first time with real - time combat , Haste in " Final Fantasy XI " is useful and controversial to the playerbase , and appears in a number of different forms . Haste functions for unknown reasons on a hexadecimal scale of 1024 units , but is viewable to the players as a rough percentage value instead of a literal numeric value . For example , Haste + 5 % is actually equal to 50 in 1024 parts , or a real increase of only 4 . 88 % . All of these forms of Haste stack onto one another unless otherwise noted . Specific forms of Haste have defined caps , and an overall cap of roughly Haste + 80 % . The literal Haste status , better known as Magical Haste , only decreases the delay of a character ' s attack rounds and spell recasting time . They do not affect the pace at which a player may launch a ranged attack , nor does the reduction in weapon delay reduce the amount of TP gained per swing , nor does it reduce the casting time of spells . Haste in this form can be obtained through the Haste spell cast on a single target ( 150 / 1024 , theoretically + 15 % ) , or the Bard ' s two stackable March songs ( combined 200 / 1028 , or 9 % + 11 % under normal conditions ) to all members of a party within the Bard ' s area of effect . The cap on Magical Haste is an awkward 448 of 1024 parts , or about 43 . 75 % . Refueling and Animated Wail , Blue Magic spells , grant 10 % and 15 % bonuses to haste , respectively . Furthermore , the Garuda summon can cast the quickly fleeting Hastega spell , affecting all players within its area of effect for the same bonus as the Haste spell . Haste is also available to players as a literal stat on their weapons and armors . Coined Gear Haste , it functions in the same manner as Magical Haste ( it will only reduce a character ' s attack delay and spell recast ) , but has an independent cap of 256 parts per 1024 . For this reason , some players will choose to create gear sets with a cumulative Haste + 26 % to compensate for the final 6 / 1024 parts they would otherwise miss through equipping Haste + 25 % ( 250 / 1024 ) in gear normally . Catastrophe , a Weapon Skill specific to the Dark Knight Relic Weapon Scythe , Apocalypse , grants 10 / 1024 gear haste for a duration after its use depending on the player ' s TP , making the Dark Knight uniquely relevant in long damage - over - time situations such as Dynamis and Einherjar . Much like Gear Haste , Haste gained from job abilities , such as the Samurai ' s Hasso command , have a 256 / 1024 cap . Such haste is usually coined in - game as an increase in Attack Speed , and as such does not affect the recast timers for spells , but only weapon delay . Again , this does not include ranged weapons . Hasso increases attack speed by 10 % . Other abilities such as Desperate Blows and Haste Samba also count toward this kind of Haste . Though Spirit Surge , the Dragoon Two - hour , is technically an ability , it grants 25 % worth of Magical Haste . The term Fast - Cast appears as both a permanent Job Trait and visibly on gear much like the Haste stat . Fast - Cast differs from the Haste status in that it will not only decrease a player ' s recasting time for a given spell , but will also shorten the actual casting time of the spell itself . A permanent trait for Red Mages , Fast - Cast makes the job excellent for both tanking and stunning , enabling them to maintain Utsusemi shadows or quickly stun catastrophic enemy attacks . Fast - Cast does not affect attack speed in any manner . The Dual Wield ability is another job trait available to Ninjas and much more recently Dancers ; it can also be found on some armors . Dual Wield lowers the literal Delay stat on any combined pair of one - handed weapons that are being dual - wielded by the player , increasing the frequency of attack rounds at the expense of a dip in TP gain per swing . Though a character may have the Dual Wield trait active , they will not receive its benefits unless two weapons are equipped into the Main and Sub slots in their gear selection ( e . g . , equipping two katana , an axe and a sword , or a dagger and a club would activate the effect ; equipping a sword & shield or a staff & grip will not activate the effect ) . Snapshot is another trait originally only available to Rangers , but has more recently appeared like Fast - Cast on actual gear . Unlike normal melee combat which occurs automatically , players are required to fire ranged attacks manually . Each point of Snapshot reduces the delay of ranged weapons by 2 % without decreasing the value of TP gained per shot , allowing players to activate a ranged attack sooner than normal . Hand - to - hand weapons are calculated in a unique manner . A trait specific to Monks and Puppetmasters is called Martial Arts , and each upgrade to the trait reduces the innate delay of a character ' s hand - to - hand attacks in much the same manner that Dual Wield does , with TP penalty . Monks and Puppetmasters must use hand - to - hand weaponry to activate Martial Arts ; equipping staves or daggers , for example , will not activate the trait . At Level 75 , with Martial Arts VI , a Monk ' s hand - to - hand delay is reduced from the innate 400 to 300 . In regard to Desperate Blows , the ability grants an increase to Attack Speed when a Dark Knight is wielding a 2 - handed weapon such as a scythe , great sword , or great axe . With the addition of Desperate Blows to the Dark Knight ' s arsenal , it became possible to achieve Haste levels approaching a 100 % reduction in delay . As a Group 2 Merit , Desperate Blows originally was only capable of being raised by 3 points , to an Attack Speed increase of 15 % . This allowed wielders of the Rune Chopper ( a great axe ) and aforementioned Apocalypse to exploit what has become known as the " DRK Zerg " strategy with few complications ( still championed today by Kraken Club owners , a one - handed weapon that may randomly attack up to 8 times in one attack round ) . When Group 2 merits were raised to allow 5 points of upgrading , it enabled an increase of 25 % to Attack Speed . This would have created a data overflow , wherein the amount of weapon delay reduction the player obtained exceeded the 1024 cap ( i . e . , an interval of literally 0 seconds passing between attack rounds ) . Likely , this would have caused said players ' consoles to crash as servers would have been unable to compute the data and returned erroneous data packets . In lieu of addressing the issue accordingly , the development team introduced a harsh cap of 80 % on all cumulative haste for the entire game ( prior to the cap , Haste of about 95 % was possible ) . As the amount of damage produced with a reduction in delay is exponential , the effects were horrendous on the playerbase , effectively killing the DRK Zerg method . Players could no longer exceed about 824 / 1024 , rendering the Rune Chopper almost worthless and limiting the damage potential of the Apocalypse . The development team ' s handling of this particular exploit ( what was an existing feature of the game ) many players consider heinous , who see themselves as being wrongfully punished for a lack of foresight in regard to the issues Desperate Blows may have prompted . " Final Fantasy XII " . Haste boosts the speed of charge time by 50 % . Haste can be stacked with Berserk to further reduce charge time . Haste can be removed with Dispel , Dispelga , and Slow , and can be gained by casting Haste , Hastega , using a Hastega Mote , and equipping Hermes Sandals , as well as the Caliper weapon . Haste can be used when its License , Time Magick 5 , is learned for 40 LP and can be bought in Rabanastre , Nalbina , Eruyt Village or Mt Bur - Omisace for 3 , 400 gil . Hastega can also be learned in this game which casts the Haste effect on the whole party . It requires the License Time Magick 7 for 110 LP ; it can be bought at Dalmasca Estersand ( after the events at Pharos at Ridorana ) for 16 , 600 gil . Haste increases a unit ' s Speed and is gained from Ashe ' s Hastega spell , which she learns at level 35 . " Final Fantasy XIII " . Haste is granted by the Synergist ' s Haste spell or through the use of a Fortisol and the accessories Hermes Sandals and Sprint Shoes . It makes the ATB gauge charge x1 . 5 times the normal speed . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . Haste raises charge speed of the ATB gauge by 33 % . It can be granted by using a Phoenix Blood item to revive a character . The Hermes Sandals accessory also grants Haste when a character ' s HP is HP Critical . Additionally , Haste is granted at the start of battle if the player strikes the enemy first in a Random encounter . There are two dummied Paradigm Pack monster allies on the game ' s disc which start of with Auto - Haste at level 1 : Phosphoric Ooze and Glyptodon . Haste can be cast by equipping the accessory found in Dead Dunes while exploring the Temple Ruins . The effect only lasts the first minutes of the battle . There are a few items that can be used to grant Haste , they are the that heals a small amount and provides Haste ; item that revives and gives Haste ; or or that heal and give buffs . Another method is to steal the status from a Hasted opponent with the Brave Thief auto - ability obtained from , and accessories , or the weapon . " Final Fantasy Tactics " . Haste increases the Charge Time ( CT ) recovery rate of a unit . The Speed stat for calculating CT becomes 3 / 2 * Speed . Haste can be given to any unit through the abilities Haste , Hasteja , or by equipping the weapon Excalibur . Haste lasts for 32 ticks . Same as status Slow , Haste does not affect the CT of actions which does not commence instantly , including Jump . Weapon and ability whose power related to user ' s Speed such as Bow , dagger , Ninja Blade and Steal ing are also unaffected by it . " Final Fantasy Tactics Advance " . The haste status increases a unit ' s CT recovery rate . It can be given through the use of Haste , Hastega , Red Spring , and . Haste can be achieved through the use of the support ability Critical : Haste , the Time Mage spells Haste and Hastega , the Tinker ability Red Spring , or through the enemy abilities Go - Go Dance , Light Curtain , Scurry , and Sheol . " Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles " . Haste can be fused in both single and multiplayer mode . In single player mode , the player must have three open slots for Life and two Cure spells . Using the fuse function , the three spells will fuse as Haste . In multiplayer mode the same spells are used , each by one player . Haste increases the players speed by 1 . 5 and cuts attack and magic casting by half . " Chocobo ' s Dungeon 2 " . Haste is a status effect that makes it so that the player affected by it goes first the next turn . Haste is a status effect that can be used , several enemies have haste as a passive effect . In Popular Culture . " 8 - Bit Theater " . In the Castle of Ordeals , Red Mage made it appear that he had hasted the zombie dragon into red shift , making him fossil fuel in seconds , earning Black Mage respect , before losing it when he revealed it was just an illusion , and that stacked haste spells only boost the time the spell lasts , not the potency .