The joy of FFV is that this is definitely the case, although it isn’t the only way to break this game wide open. All the tools you need to make this game as easy as possible are right there for you – so you just need to know what to do with them. With the Chemist job you can mix two items together to result in various concoctions. These will either restore HP, inflict damage, or outright kill, as long as you know the right combinations. In this article I’ll rank out the best mixes in FFV, what they do, and what you need to mix them in battle.
10. Panacea
There’s nothing worse than an enemy that constantly spams negative status effects. And FFV features some of the more annoying ones in the series. By mixing together a Panacea you’ll heal one party member of every single negative effect in the game. This is useful in so many scenarios, and actually doesn’t require anything hard to find to mix together. How to mix: Phoenix Down and Turtle Shell.
9. Dragon’s Kiss
If you’re tired of getting hit with status effects and having to constantly remove them, you can preempt the whole situation by giving yourself protection against them. Dragon’s Kiss offers a number of interesting effects. Specifically it gives the target the “Heavy” and “Dragon” status. Heavy is what most bosses in the game are classified as, and allows them to negate most status effects, which happily is what this will also do for you. It also protects against most gravity attacks – but sadly not instant death. The Dragon status doesn’t offer anything beneficial, but actually hinders you, as it makes you weak against any Dragon slaying attacks. One use for this mix is to use it on a boss that’s already “Heavy”. They’ll now carry the Dragon status, and weapons such as Apollo’s Harp will deal extra damage to them. How to mix: Maiden’s Kiss and Dragon Fang.
8. Drain Kiss
Either the strength of this Mix is intentional, or the developers simply didn’t take into account the Mix’s strength and effect combined. Because this is probably the easiest way to cheese most boss fights. When you use Drain Kiss you’ll drain HP from the enemy. Incredibly, this Mix has a spell power of 255. And when used with any party member with high magic (Black Mage, Summoner etc.) you’ll deal a heap of damage – and most likely heal yourself back to full health. Unless you’re fighting an undead enemy, then there aren’t any situations where this Mix isn’t useful. How to mix: Maiden’s Kiss and Turtle Shell.
7. Reincarnation
This is the ultimate reset switch Mix. And if you stock up on its component items then you’ll never really be in any trouble at all. Reincarnation will revive a party member to full HP and MP. There’s a weaker version of this in Resurrection that has the same effect but without the MP restoration, but honestly why should you settle for less? How to mix: Phoenix Down with an Ether or an Elixir. Or for Resurrection, replace the Ether/Elixir with a Potion or Hi-Potion.
6. Dragon Power
Another Mix in the Dragon family, this one increases the target’s level by 20. The best part of this is that the effect is cumulative and you can go all the way to level 255 if you so wish! You can use this in a number of ways. You could give yourself a much needed stat boost if you’re struggling with a particular boss. Or you could go all the way to the top and totally max out your party members’ levels. This Mix is a fun one to use against tough bosses as you’ll feel like a literal god in comparison once you’re done beefing yourself up. How to mix: Dragon Fang and either a Potion or a Hi-Potion.
5. Dark Elixir
Dark Elixir is the Mix to use when you’re tired of reducing enemy HP with conventional methods, and you just want to get a move on. Using this on an enemy will place them in critical HP, similar to the Blue Magic spell Death Claw. This gives you the opportunity to finish them off with a regular attack. Extremely useful against any enemy with high HP – because who has the time to slowly whittle their health down when you’ve got a world to save? How to mix: Elixir and Dark Matter.
4. Dragon Armor
This Mix is the best one to use on party members to keep them safe and sound in pretty much any situation. When used in battle, Dragon Armor grants the target Protect, Shell, Reflect, and Regen. This gives them so much freedom to go all out with their attacks without any risk or danger to their HP. How to mix: Phoenix Down and Dragon Fang.
3. Giant Drink
Unless you’ve spent a large portion of the game grinding levels, then this Mix will give you so much safety in battle that you’ll start to wonder if anything is capable of even hurting you at all. Giant Drink doubles the target’s maximum HP. And since maximum HP in FFV doesn’t increase all that much until you reach really high levels, you essentially give yourself an extra layer of protection. This is obviously proportional to your HP levels though. So the higher they are then the better effect it will have. How to mix: Elixir and Dragon Fang.
2. Elemental Power
The Elemental Power Mix boosts all elemental spells by 50% and offers an array of uses. You can use this on your Black Mage to ensure their elemental magic hits even harder, giving them a tad more utility in the late game. The best use though is when you cast it on your Summoner. This will boost every one of your elemental Summon attacks, especially Syldra and Titan, making them hit even harder. Best of all, Elemental Power is the only way to boost the water element. So provided the enemy doesn’t resist water, then all of a sudden Leviathan eclipses the power of Bahamut and becomes the strongest Summon in the game! How to mix: Holy Water and Eyedrop.
1. Kiss of Blessing
If you’re familiar with the fabled Kiss of Blessing glitch then you’ll know exactly why this is number one on this list. On its own this Mix grants the target the Berserk, Haste, and Blink status effects. This turns whoever you cast it on into a bloodthirsty physical attack that dodges nearly every attack. However, on the SNES version of FFV, this Mix had a peculiar property when used on enemies. The Berserk status would override any scripts that the enemy may have in their kit. The best use of this is against the Tree form of Exdeath during the final battle. Due to the glitch, Exdeath will never transform into Neo Exdeath, and this battle just got a whole lot easier! This glitch was eventually patched in the GBA release, so sadly this exploit lived and died with the Super Nintendo. The only hope for this to return is if the current developers of the Pixel Remasters decide to include it in (or patch it in) the upcoming remaster of FFV.
