The unknowable forces of magic don’t always work as intended in video games. Magic spells are one of the most common tools in your RPG arsenal, giving you access to fireballs and poison clouds and ice blasts. Learning to use magic effectively is a big part of RPGs — but these magic spells are completely devastating. Through developer error or just ignorance, the following seemingly innocuous magic spells are game-breakingly powerful.
And we’re not just talking about a single magic spell for each entry. Some magic requires combination, experimentation, or the perfect gear — then suddenly a useless magical attack becomes overpowered beyond belief. Final Fantasy games are a goldmine of overpowered (and unintended) spells that crack the game in half. The Elder Scrolls is another buggy goldmine of hilariously powerful skills.
We’re here to talk about some of our favorite evil magical exploits in video games, so grab your Magic Wand and drink an Ether. It’s time to start casting.
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Vampiric Grip [Skyrim]
The Dawnguard expansion for Skyrim adds a little spell that’s much stronger than it looks. The magical attack Vampiric Grip is unique to the Vampire Lord form you’ll earn by joining up with the fanged undead. Using this spell allows you to grab an enemy from afar — kind of like when Darth Vader force-chokes rebels. You do a little damage while choking, then immediately throw the enemy backwards.
The choking doesn’t do that much damage. No, this attack is all about the throwing. Instead of throwing the ragdoll backwards, you’ll want to throw that sucker straight into the air. By choking and yeeting your enemies into the sky, they’ll suffer seriously huge fall damage. Almost every boss in the game, even dungeon bosses, hang out in huge underground chambers — and even the most unkillable enemies can’t withstand more than a few high drops from the sky.
You can choke enemies from afar, so they don’t even get a chance to get close. This weird spell isn’t just absurdly strong, it’s also hilarious.
Firestorm [Demon’s Souls]
Magic is completely overpowered in Demon’s Souls. The first game in the Souls series isn’t really concerned with balanced gameplay, giving you some impressively deadly magic if you’re willing to spend the souls. You’ll earn this after defeating the Dragon God boss, and Firestorm is straight-up the most powerful area-of-effect magic in the game.
Casting the spells causes geysers of flame to spring from the ground around the caster. The geysers are pretty random, but if you’re facing off against a big enemy — like almost every boss in the game — they’re bound to absorb insane damage. Most bosses can’t survive more than 2 or 3 casts. Firestorm can make the rest of the game trivial.
Discover more broken magic spells on the next page.
