Thundara (Final Fantasy V)

Thundara, also known as Bolt2, is a Black Magic spell in Final Fantasy V. It is the medium-level lightning-elemental spell and can be acquired fairly early in the game. It can can be used to hit one target or an entire party. Thundara is usable by the Black Magic and Red Magic skillsets (and can be used twice with Dualcast), and can also be used as a Spellblade. Thundara is also one of the spells that can be cast for free from the Wonder Wand.
Thundara is also an enemy ability that can be cast by Carbuncle, Flaremancer, Ra Mage, Omniscient, Ramuh, and Reflect Mage.
==Obtained==
Thundara can be purchased for 600 gil at Karnak or Crescent. Karnak is the earliest place Thundara can be obtained. Once it is purchased, it can be used by any of the skillsets with the spell.
==Mechanics==
As a spell, Thundara's damage is calculated as follows:
:Attack = 50 + (0..(50/8))
:M = (Level*Magic Power)/256 + 4
:Defense = Magic Defense
:Damage = (Attack - Defense) * M
Damage caps at 9999.
If the target absorbs lightning, it is healed instead of damaged; if it is immune to lightning, the attack misses. If the target resists lightning, the Attack modifier in the formula is halved, but if it is weak to lightning, the modifier is doubled and the attack ignores the target's Magic Defense. Thundara is affected by reflect.
Several pieces of equipment increase the power of elemental attacks by 50%. The bonus is applied before subtracting the opponent's Magic Defense. The weapons that boost lightning are the Black Mage's Thunder Rod and Magus Rod, and the Ranger's Thunder Bow. The mix Elemental Power empowers all elements.
==Use==
Thundara is acquired some time after the basic spell, Thunder. Though it can be used by Black Mages and Red Mages as a basic spell, it has just over twice the MP cost of Thunder. While its MP cost is not too prohibitive to Black Mages, Red Mages may struggle. As the party members' levels improve, Thundara can quickly replace Thunder as a common offensive spell.
Mystic Knights can also use Thundara as a Spellblade, as Mystic Knight becomes available around the same time as Thundara. It should only be used against enemies weak to lightning, as against enemies with no affinity to the element, it is often not worth the MP or turn consumed. With Thundara available, because MP is only consumed once to imbue a weapon, there is no reason to use Thunder as a Spellblade unless equipping the Spellblade skillset level below 3.
With Ramuh available, the summon deals slightly more damage to all enemies, but cannot be reflected. As such, Ramuh should be used more often, but if only Black Magic is available, there is no harm using Thundara instead. Thundaga, on the other hand, deals much more damage, but also has a much higher MP cost. Since Thundaga is obtained much later on, when Black Mages will have a higher MP pool, Thundaga can be used more often by them; Red Mages do not have access to Thundaga. For Spellblade, Thundaga also entirely outclasses Thundara.
==Gallery==
Thundara-FFVA.png|Black Magic (GBA).
Thundara-FFV-iOS.png|Black Magic (2013).
Thunder Blade from FFV Advance.png|Spellblade (GBA).
FFV iOS Thunder Sword.PNG|Spellblade (2013).
Category:Black Magic in Final Fantasy V