The Best Spells in Forspoken Help You Keep Your Distance

Forspoken drops its protagonist, Frey Holland, in the middle of Athia, a world brimming with magic. Before long, players will have Frey brimming with her own magic, too. Spells are the centerpiece and core of the game’s combat system, and there are dozens to earn and use over the course of the game. Not all are made entirely equal, though, and we’ve come up with a very quick guide covering some of the best spells in Forspoken, how to use them, and where to find them.

How do spells work in Forspoken?

In truth, the absolute best spells in Forspoken are the ones related to magical parkour. From Zip, to Shimmy, to Glide, and more, the abilities that let you blast across the face of Athia emphasize Forspoken‘s most distinctive aspects. However, since parkour abilities are basically essential parts of your toolkit that you’ll use anywhere and everywhere, I’ll ignore them in favor of combat-related spells and abilities. I’ll also ignore non-combat spells, although anyone who wants to upgrade their gear should aim to get the Diversify, Rarify, Modify, Vivify, Amplify, and Fortify skills to maximize the effects of crafting and upgrades.

Your abilities in combat will depend primarily on your currently active magic color (be it Purple, Red, Blue, or Green Magic). Each school is separate, and although you can switch from one to the other freely, you can’t use spells from one school while equipping another. Your general play style will also be determined by your chosen Attack Spell. Each school has three to choose from, besides the basic attack. Attack Spells are activated by holding down the trigger button to charge the spell. For example, Purple Magic’s basic attack shoots a small rock at a target, but if you’ve got the Scatter Shot Attack Spell equipped, charging the trigger will activate Scatter Shot’s unique rapid-fire mechanic.

You’ve also got Support Magic. Support Magic spells vary by school and have a variety of effects, from protecting Frey with a shield of rock to healing negative status effects or summoning minions. Each Support Spell has a cooldown time, so you’ll want to wait for it to recharge after using it.

Finally, Surge Magic spells are your ultimate attacks, and charge up as you use Attack and Support Spells. They inflict heavy damage over large areas, often wiping out entire crowds of enemies.

Which are the best spells in Forspoken?

Which spell is best depends on your situation. Most enemies have some form of vulnerability or resistance to different magic types, which will naturally force you to change things up to avoid doing reduced damage. Similarly, fights against, say, hordes of Breakzombies are different from duels against tough Mutants, and you’ll want to pick the right spell for the job.

That being said, I often found myself gravitating towards spells that helped me keep my distance from an enemy. Forspoken enemies can (mostly) only hurt you up close, so ranged attacks let me stay away from foes while leaving plenty of space to parkour around their attempts to harm me. I kept that in mind as I wrote the guide. This won’t be an exhaustive writeup of every spell, but more a highlight of favorite picks and combos.

Feel free to experiment with spells I don’t name in the list, as well. Forspoken lets you freely refund the mana spent learning a spell, in case you want to refocus your build. Try things out and suggest your own favorites in the comments!

The Best Forspoken Purple Spells

Purple Magic, also known as Frey’s Magic, is the first school of magic you’ll earn. An earth-based elemental school, Purple spells focus on shooting rocks at enemies from a distance. Purple spells also protect you directly, and cure your poison.

• Best Purple Attack Spell:
  • Burst Shot
    • Burst shot is sublime. Frey’s ability to just brain anyone she aims at with a massive rock that gets even bigger on contact is an all-purpose killer. Its only weakness is the fact that its range is pretty short – longer than the borderline-pointless Shield Shot, but too short to reach flying enemies or to keep yourself completely out of harm’s way. Never mind, though, because the blast area and impact force will send most enemies sprawling and often knock them down, ripe for a follow-up Killing Blow.
• Best Purple Support Spells:
  • Tendril
    • Tendril is a reliable tool in Frey’s arsenal, and has a wickedly fast cooldown, so you’ll be able to hit it relatively often. The whipping radius of tendril is quite large, and will often knock down anyone not really heavy or shielded up.
  • Disperse
    • Forget Cuff, your best friend in Athia is this little flower buddy. Disperse spawns a turret that shoots a stream of rocks at nearby targets. It doesn’t do a terrific amount of damage, but every little bit helps. It also shreds annoying flying enemies that are beyond the reach of your Burst Shot.
  • Prime
    • Make Frey do a war crime (kind of) by planting a landmine where your enemy’s likely to step. If a hostile’s approaching, just drop a Prime cast right at your feet and parkour away for some good damage, and a knockdown if you’re lucky.
  • Implant
    • Implant will feel a little weak at first, but as your stats build up, it’ll become a reliable workhorse, doing damage over time to enemies while you avoid their attacks.

The Best Forspoken Red Spells

Earned from Tanta Sila, Red Magic is all about burning enemies and taking them apart at close range. This can prove problematic as Forspoken‘s combat isn’t the best when you’re mixing it up in melee, but Sila’s suite of spells at least provides some compelling options to use when foes do get close. They also look very cool.

• Best Red Attack Spell:
  • Rage Slice
    • The main exception to my general preference to keep enemies at arm’s length is Rage Slice. It causes Frey to run up, deliver a barrage of punches, and then blast an enemy with heat. It also doesn’t require you to do an awkward jump to use its best moves, like Arc Slice and Blast Slice.
• Best Red Support Spells
  • Crucible
    • This is an excellent spell for any situation, trapping enemies in a burning arena that boosts your attack damage. Use it liberally to turn any battlefield into your personal killing ground.
  • Firetrap
    • Another useful spell that places hazards on the ground for enemies to walk into. It also hits bigger enemies multiple times.
  • Charge
    • A quick, powerful ram attack, Charge is a great way to open fights or break out of a crowd.
  • Fusillade
    • A useful protective spell if you’re charging your Attack Spells (something that happens all the time).

The Best Forspoken Blue Spells

The magic of Tanta Prav will finally give Frey the power of water and ice and a host of debuffing spells that can hinder bulkier foes.

• Best Blue Attack Spell
  • Chain Bolt
    • It’s the real sniper shot you’ve been waiting for and that’s always excellent. Chain Bolt a little hairy to use in a crowd due to targeting only one enemy at a time, but it will deal a lot of damage at a faraway enemy. Make sure to “stock up” your bolt orbs by using the basic attack a few times before charging your Chain Bolt to maximize damage.
• Best Blue Support Spells:
  • Alb
    • Alb is a critical spell to use in very tough fights, like ones against bosses and Mutants. It’ll protect you from a single unblockable or piercing attack. That means you’ll get a get-away-free card to use against a powerful enemy’s worst hit.
  • Eagre
    • Eagre is a great defensive spell that gives you breathing room, since its barrier also pushes away enemies.
  • Naedre
    • A poisoning spell, Naedre does even more damage than Implant, although this can vary based on an enemy’s elemental weaknesses.
  • Up and Away
    • More of a transition spell, Up and Away jets you into the air and replenishes your projectile supply.

The Best Forspoken Green Spells

Tanta Olas brings the lightning, which will give Frey the power of the storm. Green Magic can be used against enemy crowds even more aggressively than Red Magic, thanks to the basic “dart” attack’s ability to “mark” enemies to take damage from other spells.

• Best Green Attack Spell
  • Seeker Dart
    • Green Attack Spells are fairly well-balanced, but Seeker Dart has an extra convenience factor, since the lightning will charge between any marks you put on enemies with your darts beforehand. An excellent spell wherever you’re facing more than one enemy (which is most of the time).
• Best Green Support Spells:
  • Projection
    • Projection is as simple as it gets: Fire a huge lightning bolt that electrifies anything along and around its path. Great for when enemies are clustered.
  • Aggression
    • Aggression is a great support spell to weave in between your regular attacks and other spells, since the fan-shaped bolts will mark enemies they touch, setting them up to take a Seeker Dart.
  • Compensation
    • You should have Compensation on as much as you can, because it accelerates your Surge Magic recharge rate when you avoid attacks using parkour. That’s a core mechanic, and it’s great to be rewarded for it constantly.
  • Displacement
    • Displacement drops a double of Frey that distracts nearby enemies, a useful tactic if you’re being pressured or want some room to reposition.

Forspoken is available on PS5 and PC. Check out Siliconera’s official review, or a guide to finding all of Athia’s magical cats.