Two Hour Ability
From FFXIclopedia, the free Final Fantasy XI encyclopedia
A Two-Hour Ability (2HR, 2-hour) is a Job Ability which has a 2 hour (Earth time) recast time (thus the origination of its common name "2-Hour(s)". Each job has its own 2-Hour ability, and all of them are available at level 1, meaning they are available to a player right at the start of the game or when starting to play a new job. A player may only use the 2-Hour corresponding to his Main Job at any given time; the 2-Hour of the Support Jobs cannot be used by a player unless he changes it into his main job.
These abilities are powerful (open to debate for some) and quite potent, and are often used in emergency situations, or as part of a pre-planned strategy. Effective use of 2-Hours can potentially change the tide of battle, or salvage an otherwise lost situation. They retain their usefulness far beyond level 1, being useful even at level 75.
All 2-Hours share the same recast timer, meaning that if you use your 2-Hour on one job then change to another one, the recast is the same for the other 2-Hour. (Example: If you are a Ninja and used Mijin Gakure then changed your job to Paladin, Invincible would not be ready until 2 hours have passed since you last used Mijin Gakure.) Although you cannot recharge a 2-Hour simply by changing jobs like you can with other Job Abilities, there are some instances where you may be able to recharge them, such as by using the Corsair 2-Hour Wild Card (not guaranteed to work, and it will not restore the 2-Hour of any Corsair, including his/her own), using the temporary item Revitalizer, or opening a "full restore" treasure chest in areas such as Limbus.
Job Two Hour Ability Effect Bard Soul Voice Doubles the effectiveness of songs. Beastmaster Familiar Enhances your pet's powers and increases the duration of charm. Black Mage Manafont Eliminates the cost of magic spells and prevents interruptions. Blue Mage Azure Lore Enhances the effect of blue magic spells. Corsair Wild Card Has a random effect on all party members within area of effect. Dancer Trance While in effect, lowers TP cost of dances and steps to 0. Dark Knight Blood Weapon Causes all attacks to drain enemy's HP. Dragoon Spirit Surge Adds your wyvern's strength to your own. Monk Hundred Fists Speeds up attacks. Ninja Mijin Gakure Sacrifices user's life to deal damage to an enemy. Paladin Invincible Grants immunity to physical damage. Puppetmaster Overdrive Augments the fighting ability of your automaton to its maximum level. Ranger Eagle Eye Shot Delivers a powerful and accurate ranged attack. Red Mage Chainspell Allows rapid spellcasting, without casting time or recast timers. Samurai Meikyo Shisui Reduces cost of weapon skills. Scholar Tabula Rasa Optimizes both white and black magic capabilities while allowing charge-free stratagem use. Summoner Astral Flow Allows Avatars to use their full power. Thief Perfect Dodge Evades all physical attacks. Warrior Mighty Strikes Causes all attacks to become critical hits. White Mage Benediction Restores a large amount of HP and removes all status ailments for party members within area of effect.
Notes
- Dragoon has the distinction of being the only job to have its 2-Hour changed entirely. From April 2003 to December 2005, Call Wyvern was its 2-Hour. Following the 12/13/2005 version update, Spirit Surge replaced Call Wyvern as the 2-Hour, and Call Wyvern became a standard Job Ability on a 20-minute recast. Call Wyvern remains somewhat unique as a non-2-Hour JA, because it still is only available for use when Dragoon is set as the main job, like 2-Hours are.
- The mechanics of 2-Hours for monsters sometimes vary from the mechanics of the same 2-Hour for players. Mijin Gakure and Astral Flow (for monsters that do not summon Avatars or Elementals) operate differently.
- Some monsters are able to defy the conventional mechanics of 2-Hours, such as being able to use a 2-Hour multiple times (a recast time of less than 2 hours) (e.g. Purson, the Jailers of Sea), being able to use two 2-Hours or more once in battle (e.g. Ark Angels), or being able to use more than one 2-Hour multiple times (sometimes as many as 15 2-Hours) (e.g. Dynamis Lord, Absolute Virtue, Apocalyptic Beast). This applies to some Battle NPCs as well (e.g. Prishe, who can use two 2-Hours, but cannot use them more than once per battle).
- Some Battle NPCs use 2-Hours that differ from all known Jobs, such as Selh'teus, who uses Redemption.
