A One-Hour Ability (1HR, 1-hour) is a Job Ability which has a 1 hour (Earth time) recast time (thus the origination of its common name "1-Hour(s)". Each job has its own 1-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. 1-Hour abilities previously had a 2-hour recast timer, but this timer was decreased in the 12/12/2012 update. A player may only use the 1-Hour corresponding to his Main Job at any given time; the 1-Hour of the Support Jobs cannot be used by a player unless he changes it into his main job.
These abilities are tailored to the job's primary role in some way and are generally powerful, and are often used in emergency situations, or as part of a pre-planned strategy. Effective use of 1-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 99.
All 1-Hours share the same recast timer across all jobs, meaning that if you use your 1-Hour on one job then change to another one, the recast is the same for the other 1-Hour. (Example: If you are a Ninja and used Mijin Gakure then changed your job to Paladin, Invincible would not be ready until 1 hour has passed since you last used Mijin Gakure.) Although you cannot recharge a 1-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 1-Hour Wild Card (not guaranteed to work, and it will not restore the 1-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 and Abyssea. Goblin Dice used by Goblins in Dynamis have a variety of random effects one of which is resetting everyone's job abilities including 1-hours.
Job One 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 Negates the MP cost of magic spells.
Prevents spell interruption from physical attacks.Blue Mage Azure Lore Enhances the effect of blue magic spells.
Allows blue magic to participate in Skillchains and Magic Bursts without the use of Chain Affinity and/or Burst Affinity.Corsair Wild Card Has a random effect on all party members within area of effect. Dancer Trance Negates the TP cost of Sambas, Waltzes, and Steps.
Reduces all Waltz recast times to 6 seconds.Dark Knight Blood Weapon Standard melee damage dealt to an enemy will be drained and restored to the user's HP. Dragoon Spirit Surge Dismisses the pet wyvern in exchange for HP/TP recovery and several beneficial effects.
Recharges and augments the user's Jump abilities.Monk Hundred Fists Applies a high degree of Haste to speed up melee 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.
Prevents overloads.Ranger Eagle Eye Shot Delivers a powerful and accurate ranged attack. Red Mage Chainspell Negates the casting time and recast timers for all magic spells. Samurai Meikyo Shisui Reduces the TP cost of weapon skills to 100%.
TP is boosted to 300% upon use.Scholar Tabula Rasa Optimizes both white and black magic capabilities.
Recharges Stratagems and temporarily allows charge-free Stratagem use.
Enables the use of Embrava and Kaustra.Summoner Astral Flow Allows avatars to use their full power.
Negates Avatar Perpetuation Costs.
Enables the summoning of Odin and Alexander.Thief Perfect Dodge Evades all melee attacks. Warrior Mighty Strikes Causes all physical attacks to become critical hits. White Mage Benediction Restores a large amount of HP and removes several status ailments for party members within area of effect.
Notes
- Dragoon has the distinction of being the only job to have its 1-Hour changed entirely. From April 2003 to December 2005, Call Wyvern was its 1-Hour. Following the 12/13/2005 version update, Spirit Surge replaced Call Wyvern as the 1-Hour, and Call Wyvern became a standard Job Ability on a 20-minute recast. Call Wyvern remains somewhat unique as a non-1-Hour JA, because it still is only available for use when Dragoon is set as the main job, like 1-Hours are.
- The mechanics of 1-Hours for monsters sometimes vary from the mechanics of the same 1-Hour for players. Mijin Gakure and Astral Flow (for monsters that do not summon Avatars or Elementals) operate differently. Additionally, Dragoon enemies that use a 1-Hour still have Call Wyvern as their 1-Hour, instead of Spirit Surge.
- Some monsters are able to defy the conventional mechanics of 1-Hours, such as being able to use a 1-Hour multiple times (a recast time of less than 1 hour) (e.g. Purson, the Jailers of Sea), being able to use two 1-Hours or more once in battle (e.g. Ark Angels), or being able to use more than one 1-Hour multiple times (sometimes as many as 15 1-Hours) (e.g. Dynamis Lord, Absolute Virtue, Apocalyptic Beast). This applies to some Battle NPCs as well (e.g. Prishe, who can use two 1-Hours, but cannot use them more than once per battle).
- Some Battle NPCs use 1-Hours that differ from all known Jobs, such as Selh'teus, who uses Redemption.