Much has been made about the magic and spells of the Forspoken. One of the biggest selling points of developer Luminous Productions and publisher Square Enix is the sheer number of spells in the game and the potential combinations between them all, and it’s not wrong that there are many spells and they can be combined in many different ways. paths all ultimately fall under a few umbrellas that are relatively easy to understand.
Forgotten types of spells
It’s worth noting that there are certain magic colors – Purple, Red, Blue, and Green – that all function similarly but have certain basic connotations. Beyond that, there are actually four different types of magic. Attack, support, surge and benefit spell. While offense and utility—especially the enchanted parkour—are the most necessary types of magic in the game, all four are required to play Forspoken.
Attack Spell
Attack spells are basically normal, direct damage spells. Every color/type of magic has several of these and can be upgraded to multiple levels for different effects. On the PlayStation 5 controller, these are used by pressing the R2 button, while R1 allows players to rank different attack spell options based on the current color/type they are using.
In the magic menu these are represented by a single circle pattern.
Support Spell
The support spell is exactly what it looks like on the tin: supportive. It’s not as direct and damaging as offensive magic, but it often manipulates the environment in ways that are beneficial to Frey, and can do things like heal status ailments or bind enemies. The support spell is used with the L2 button on the PlayStation 5 controller, with L1 bringing up the menu.
Unlike offensive spells, multiple support spells can be cast in a row. Each spell has a certain cooldown, but nothing will stop you from going through each available support spell at will. There’s even an accessibility option to do this automatically.
In the magic menu these are indicated by the double circle pattern.
Ripple Spell
The ripple spell is limited to a single spell per color/type, and these increase over time based on how you use your other spells. When fully charged, you can let the ripple magic selected with L2+R2 on the PS5 controller be broken. These are upgradeable and often cause a large amount of damage within a given range, making positioning incredibly important.
In the magic menu these are represented by a double circle pattern with four bends in the diagonals.
Auxiliary Magic
Because there is no better all-encompassing term, utility magic encompasses everything but the above. This includes, but is not limited to, switching between magic, crafting, and enchantment sets for parkour. Each color/enchantment type contains a handful of the above. Parkour spells are often necessary and sometimes unavoidable, while everything else is… well, neither.
In the magic menu these are shown with a diamond pattern for the parkour and a shield-like pattern for the craft.
How to unlock spells in Forspeaken?
There are effectively three ways to unlock spells. The first and most obvious is the use of mana, a resource that can be obtained by leveling up with XP or simply by finding mana pools that adorn the landscape and run through it. Many spells can be unlocked or upgraded by collecting enough mana.
The other way to actively unlock new spells is to find various Sources of Blessings on the map. Beyond finding them on the map, there’s more to it than that and unlock a variety of helpful spells, most of which focus on crafting and parkour.
The final method of unlocking spells is also the simplest: story progression. As you progress through the story, access to all colors/types of spells will be unlocked as well as unlocking certain specific spells.
best forgotten spells
With the exception of magical parkour spells, some of which are automatically unlocked and are basically required to complete the game, most of Frey’s arsenal unlocks so late that basic abilities are really all you need. But if I was asked to pick some of the best spells Forspoken has to offer, these are the ones I would recommend people grab sooner rather than later.
Series shooting
While technically one of the enchantments that automatically unlocked from the start, upgraded versions of Burst Shot are incredibly useful. While I often find myself defaulting to Scatter Shot when facing normal enemies, Burst Shot’s upgraded abilities were a boon against bosses and stronger enemies, allowing me, as the name suggests, to quickly recharge and inflict massive bursts of damage.
legion
This bit of support magic might not make much sense at first – summoning two fiery helpers is pretty boring, right? – but its usefulness cannot be overstated. While they won’t do much damage, these summoned allies will distract a large number of enemies and last a long time. Any hit not taken on Frey is fine, and while the damage output isn’t incredible, it’s nothing.
Cataract
While the ripple magic relies heavily on positioning, I’ve found Cataract to be the easiest way to get the most bang for my buck. Also, luring various enemies into a whirlpool allows Frey to focus his fire regardless of what spells players decide to use as a follow-up.
Impact Darts
The upgraded version of this green magic spell is my favourite. It’s extremely satisfying to use other green spells to mark a group of enemies and then – looking for all those marks – fire it. It won’t be a spell that everyone uses all the time, but it’s invaluable when you’re up against a large crowd.
Arc Slice
Much of Frey’s ability is, of necessity, within range, but many warriors like to get up close and personal. As such, the upgraded version of the Arc Slice is incredibly useful, producing a fiery sword that (as the name suggests) creates a giant arc around it. Let’s say it won’t do much against flying enemies, but it will easily protect you from being surrounded.
