Special job ability

A special job ability, also known by the fan-coined term One-hour (formerly Two-hour) or the developer abbreviation SP ability, refers to a set of two job abilities for each job that each have recast times of one hour in Final Fantasy XI. The first ability (sometimes referred to as an SP1 ability to distinguish it from the other) is obtained at job level one. The second ability (sometimes referred to as an SP2 ability) is obtained at job level 96. Both abilities are generally among the most powerful available to the character regardless of level. Because of the high recast time, players tend to reserve them for moments of desperation or for special battles where a little extra damage or protection is needed quick.
A special job ability is not usable if the job in question is being used as a Support Job (ex: a White Mage with a subjob of Black Mage cannot use Manafont). The Hyper-Notorious Monster, Absolute Virtue is capable of using all of the SP1 abilities of the 15 jobs present at the time of the Chains of Promathia expansion release, often in frequent succession, with additional effects beyond those of players, rendering it nigh unbeatable until the introduction of the the one-hour summon Alexander and his Perfect Defense ability.
Mastering a job lowers the recast timer to 45 minutes. The Evolith system also allows equipment to be created that can lower the recast timer by up to 3 minutes.
==Ability by job==
*Bard:
**SP1 ability Soul Voice - For a duration of 180 seconds, all Bard Songs are doubled in effectiveness and have a high probability of not being resisted by foes.
**SP2 ability Clarion Call - For a duration of 180 seconds, the number of Bard Songs that the player may stack on party members increases from two to three.
*Beastmaster:
**SP1 ability Familiar - Increases all attributes of a Beastmaster's pet and makes charm perpetual within the current zone.
**SP2 ability Unleash - For a duration of 60 seconds, greatly increase the accuracy of Charm, increase pet TP to 3000, reduces the recast times on Sic and Ready, and Sic and Ready do not consume TP.
*Black Mage:
**SP1 ability Manafont - For a duration of 30 seconds, all spells cast by a Black Mage cost 0 MP, and no MP is necessary to begin casting.
**SP2 ability Subtle Sorcery - For a duration of 30 seconds, magic accuracy is increased and Enmity produced by spells is reduced.
*Blue Mage:
**SP1 ability Azure Lore - For a duration of 30 seconds, the user experiences increases in both the power and the potency of Blue Magic spells.
**SP2 ability Unbridled Wisdom - For a duration of 60 seconds, the player may freely cast spells that require Unbridled Knowledge.
*Corsair:
**SP1 ability Wild Card - Randomly rolls a number between 1 and 6. All outcomes reset recast timers on all abilities and spells for all party members within area-of-effect, with only returns of 5 or 6 resetting special abilities.
**SP2 ability Cutting Cards - Randomly rolls a number between 1 and 6. The recast times on party members' SP abilities are reduced by a percentage that depends on the number.
*Dancer:
**SP1 ability Trance - Reduces the cost of dances and steps to 0.
**SP2 ability Grand Pas - For a duration of 30 seconds or three finishing moves, allow fluorishes to be performed without finishing moves and eliminate the recast times and TP cost of finishing moves.
*Dark Knight:
**SP1 ability Blood Weapon - For a duration of 30 seconds, all of a user's successful physical attacks on foes will be matched in HP drained and subsequently added to the user's current HP. Undead foes are immune to Blood Weapon.
**SP2 ability Soul Enslavement - For a duration of 30 seconds, all of a user's successful physical attacks on foes will drain TP from the target and add it to the user.
*Dragoon:
**SP1 ability Spirit Surge - The user's Wyvern is automatically dismissed, and in exchange the Dragoon receives the following benefits for a duration of 60 seconds: Jump weakens a foe's defense; High Jump reduces a foe's TP proportionate to damage inflicted; Super Jump causes other party members in close proximity to have their enmity halved; the recast timers to all three Jumps are immediately reset; an HP boost of roughly 15%; HP and TP of Wyvern transferred to the Dragoon; boosts to Strength and Accuracy; and most noticeably Haste +25% (counted as job ability Haste).
***Although Dragoon's Call Wyvern is not a special job ability, it once was Dragoon's special job ability before the addition of Spirit Surge. It remains to this day usable only by main-job Dragoons.
**SP2 ability Fly High - For a duration of 30 seconds, the recast time of all Jumps are lowered to 10 seconds.
*Geomancer:
**SP1 ability Bolster - For a duration of 3 minutes, the user's Geomancy spells double in power.
**SP2 ability Widened Compass - For a duration of 60 seconds, the area of effect of Geomancy is increased.
*Monk:
**SP1 ability Hundred Fists - For a duration of 30 seconds, the user's weapon delay is cut by 75%, though primarily with hand-to-hand weapons, the technique works with any weapon type usable by Monks.
**SP2 ability Inner Strength - For a duration of 30 seconds, the user's max HP is doubled and their Counter rate is increased to 100%.
*Ninja:
**SP1 ability Mijin Gakure - The user effectively sacrifices all their HP, causing heavy non-elemental damage to foes proportionate to their HP. No experience points are lost upon being knocked out, and when raised, the player will be brought back to life with 50% of their HP intact and no weakened status normally affiliated with K.O.
**SP2 ability Mikage - For a duration of 45 seconds, the user gains a bonus to number of attacks based on their number of Utsusemi shadows as well as a bonus to Subtle Blow.
*Paladin:
**SP1 ability Invincible - For a duration of 30 seconds, all of the physical damage incurred by the user is reduced to 0 (but not magical damage). This ability also produces a sizable amount of enmity for the Paladin.
**SP2 ability Intervene - For a duration of 30 seconds, the target's melee accuracy and attack are greatly reduced.
*Puppetmaster:
**SP1 ability Overdrive - Significantly increases all status parameters of the user's automaton and prevents Overload status.
**SP2 ability Heady Artifice - The player's automaton uses an SP1 ability that depends on its equipped head.
*Ranger:
**SP1 ability Eagle Eye Shot - The user launches an instantaneous ranged attack that deals 5 times the user's normal damage capacity to a foe.
**SP2 ability Overkill - For a duration of 60 seconds, ranged attack speed is greatly increased and Double Shot or Triple Shot is guaranteed.
*Red Mage:
**SP1 ability Chainspell - For a duration of 30 seconds, all of the user's spells have both their casting times and recast timers reduced to 0 seconds, save for casting animations which naturally cause a 2-3 second delay between casts, therefore still disallowing casting while the user is in motion.
**SP2 ability Stymie - The user's next Enfeebling Magic spell has its magic accuracy greatly enhanced.
*Rune Fencer:
**SP1 ability Elemental Sforzo - For a duration of 30 seconds, the user becomes immune to magical attacks.
**SP2 ability Odyllic Subterfuge - For a duration of 30 seconds, target suffers a great reduction of magic accuracy.
*Samurai:
**SP1 ability Meikyo Shisui - The user's TP will instantly be set to 3000, and for a duration of 30 seconds, weapon skills will only cost 1000 TP to execute (normally a Weapon Skill uses all of the user's TP).
**SP2 ability Yaegasumi - For a duration of 45 seconds, the player can evade special attacks and receives TP and a weapon skill damage bonus for each special attack evaded.
*Scholar:
**SP1 ability Tabula Rasa - Gives the user the benefits of the Light Arts and Dark Arts abilities, optimizing Black and White Magics; also the ability allows the use of stratagems without using charges.
**SP2 ability Caper Emissarius - Redirect all Enmity from the party to target party member.
*Summoner:
**SP1 ability Astral Flow - Allows the user to unfold a massive area-of-effect attack specific to the Avatar summoned when the ability was used, consuming all of the user's MP. These include Searing Light (Carbuncle), Aerial Blast (Garuda), Inferno (Ifrit), Diamond Dust (Shiva), Tidal Wave (Leviathan), Earthen Fury (Titan), Judgment Bolt (Ramuh), Howling Moon (Fenrir), and Ruinous Omen (Diabolos). Also allows the user to briefly summon Alexander or Odin, who will perform a single ability before disappearing. Alexander casts Perfect Defense, greatly increasing defensive stats, while Odin casts Zantetsuken, instantly killing normal target and/or heavily damaging Notorious Monsters.
**SP2 ability Astral Conduit - All MP is restored and for a duration of 30 seconds, Blood Pact recast times are reduced to zero.
*Thief:
**SP1 ability Perfect Dodge - For a duration of 30 seconds, as opposed to getting a mere astronomical boost to the Evasion stat, the user cannot be hit by physical attacks, even meriting a unique syntax in the game's dialogue box. Instead of "<Enemy> misses <User>", it will read "<User> dodges the attack".
**SP2 ability Larceny - The player steals one positive status effect from the target, with SP1 effects prioritized. Astral Flow, Meikyo Shisui, and all SP2 effects cannot be stolen.
*Warrior:
**SP1 ability Mighty Strikes - For a duration of 30 seconds, all subsequent attacks, ranged attacks, physical job abilities, or weapon skills the user successfully lands on a foe will deal critical damage.
**SP2 ability Brazen Rush - For a duration of 30 seconds, the player receives a bonus to Double Attack rate.
*White Mage:
**SP1 ability Benediction - All party members within area-of-effect are instantly healed to full HP and relieved of all negative status ailments at no MP cost to the user. Like Invincible, this ability produces a large amount of Enmity.
**SP2 ability Asylum - For a duration of 30 seconds, the player's party gains a large immunity to negative status and Dispel effects.
==Other appearances==
===Dissidia Final Fantasy===
Shantotto's EX Mode is called "Two-hour Ability" and grants her the Black Mage special job ability Manafont, letting her use HP attacks without losing Bravery afterward.
====Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy====
Two-hour Ability is Shantotto's EX Mode, which grants Manafont which causes her Bravery to instantly regenerate to its base value after an HP Attack. Prishe's EX Mode is also called "Two-Hour Ability", granting her the Monk special job ability Hundred Fists, which allows her to chain three Bravery Attacks together in a row.
==Trivia==
*Originally, special job ability could only be used once every two hours, but in a patch in December 2012, the time it takes these abilities to recharge was changed from two hours to one hour. Furthermore, players that attain Mastery from Job Points have their recharge reduced to 45 minutes.
*The SP2 abilities underwent substantial revision between the time that they were announced and the time that they were implemented, with many being completely replaced. Details can be found in the entries for the individual abilities.
Category:Final Fantasy XI