Band ( The After Years ) Band is a gameplay term in " " . They are special combination attacks between two or more characters , activated at the cost of some MP , and can either grant beneficial effects to the party or strike enemies with a powerful attack or spell . Overview . Some Bands are learned in accordance with a story event , while others are learned by the player manually inputting commands in battle to discover them . Within the story , Band abilities can only be performed between characters with a deep bond , such as friendship or relatives . The powers of the Bands usually reflect the characters using them and the bond that allows them to Band . To discover a Band that does not require a story event to be accessed , the player selects the Band command , then " Search for Bands . " The player then inputs the proper commands from party members to combine powers ( for example , Cecil ' s Attack and Rosa ' s White Magic ) , and executes the Band . If the correct abilities have been combined , the appropriate Band will activate . The character whose turn it is does not need to input a command . The first time a Band has been discovered this way it costs no MP to use . After a Band has been discovered by searching for it or through a story event , it will appear in the Band menu and can be selected to execute without having to input commands . When a Band attack is issued , if one of the characters involved in the Band has not filled their ATB gauge yet , the Band will not begin to charge and execute until the gauge is filled . Bands have various ways to calculate damage — they can be either physical or magical , can hit multiple targets or just one , and some deal elemental damage . Band abilities take into account the Moon Phase and its effects on the commands the Band ' s power relies on . For example , during the Waning Moon , Bands that incorporate a character ' s Attack strength into their damage will be stronger , and Bands that use special commands will be weaker . Bands are generally extremely powerful , and several can exceed the damage limit to do 10 , 000 damage or greater . Offensive Bands override the element ( s ) of a participant ' s equipped weapon ( ie . if using a non - elemental Band that involves weapon contact , such as Vibra Plus , while wielding elemental weapons against an enemy that would normally resist or absorb said element , it would deal regular damage instead of reduced damage ) . In the Android and iOS version , Bands are already listed for every character . While there are Bands that are learned in accordance with story events , all other Bands are learned by fighting a certain number of battles . Known Bands level up in the same manner . Bands will only level up or be learned if the characters involved in the Band are in the active party . List of Band Abilities . Porom ' s Tale . " Thunderstorm does not carry over into the Final Tale and must be relearned . " Unused Bands . " These Bands were left unused in the final version of the game ; they will not activate even if the correct commands were entered , unless one hacks into the game to enable them . " Other appearances . " Dissidia Final Fantasy " . Cecil is able to use Saint Dive , translated as Saint ' s Fall , as an HP attack . " Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy " . Kain has Spiral Blow as a Bravery attack , and Sky Grinder , translated as Sky Rave , as an HP attack . " Final Fantasy Trading Card Game " . Two characters can use Band abilities . Luca ' s card , depicting her character artwork , can use Lightning Brain Buster . It requires the player to Dull Luca and a Rydia they control , discard a Luca card , and pay 1 Earth and 1 Fire CP . Lightning Brain Buster deals 10 , 000 damage to a Forward of the player ' s choice . Ursula ' s card , depicting her tale artwork , can use Twin Wing Frenzy . For two Earth CP and the discard of an Ursula card , Twin Wing Frenzy deals 9 , 000 damage to a Forward of the player ' s choice . The player must also control a Yang card to use Twin Wing Frenzy .