- This page covers facts and in-depth game usage of the character, Jade Curtiss. For a comprehensive reference list of in-game commands, see Command List: Jade Curtiss.
Jade`s Status Image In Character Select Screen
Jade casts a Spell
Dr. Jade Balfour, more commonly known as Jade Curtiss (ジェイド・カーティス Jeido Kaatisu) or as Jade the Necromancer (死霊使いジェイド「ネクロマンサー・ジェイド」 Nekuromansaa Jeido) is a fonist in Tales of the Abyss. He always seems to be smiling, or at least cheerful, regardless of the events taking place around him, giving little indication of his true thoughts on anything. He first met Luke fone Fabre and Tear Grants while he, Ion and Anise Tatlin were chasing down bandits and he immediately deducted that Luke is an aristocrat. Jade then asked for Luke's help in signing a piece treaty between the two warring countries as he introduced himself as an emissary of peace from one of the countries.
Jade uses spears as his weapon of choice and carries it around invisibly. He has a wide arsenal of powerful spells at his disposal but has only a limited number of strike artes. He can also use FOFs (Field of Fonons) to augment his artes with different elements. His stats are somewhat a balance between a spellcaster and a melee fighter and his fighting style focuses more on comboing spells together.
Jade is not very difficult to use although he has a hard time evading attacks since his movement stat not as good as a full-fledged melee fighter.
Character Facts[]
Jade summons his spear to attack.
- Jade has 550 HP.
- He has only one victory pose.
- Jade summons his spear, the Fonic Spear, out of thin air to attack and recalls it after attacking.
- Numerous unique dialouges will occur whenever he is pitted against other Tales of the Abyss characters.
- Most of the party, especially Anise Tatlin and Tear Grants, call him Colonel out of respect for his abilities.
- Jade is the creator and father of fomicry (creating replicas of objects and living things) with Nebilim as the very first living replica of his and Dist the Reaper's deceased teacher, Gelda Nebilim.
- Jade's original last name, Balfour, was the name of an actual, historical doctor.
General Tips & Usage[]
- Jade is a high-risk, high-reward, slightly momentum based character. Almost everything he has is punishable on block, especially at close range, but his damage output is very high and difficult to Overlimit out of. His primary strength is the ability to combo the opponent at full-screen, as well as a fairly strong defensive game with artes like Meteor Swarm and Splash, and his Melee Attack A. He also can sometimes be scary to counterhit, as if he is hit while one of his spells is being casted, the spell animation and hitboxes will still appear and give Jade an advantage. As the battle goes on and you gain the ability to quick-cast Set B Spells, Jade starts to become a major threat, tagging any minor mistake from any part of the screen with a 100~ damage combo.
- However, the risk in doing anything to start an offense, such as casting, still makes it very difficult to land a hit scot-free. Unlike Klarth F. Lester or most of the boss characters, Jade has too long of a TTL on his spells to effectively play keepaway, and the lack of a reliable horizontal projectile hurts his game too. Because of this, Jade falls in an awkward middle ground of a playstyle. Patience and general knowledge of fighting games are absolutely required.
- Jade has an above average jump height and damage output, an average move speed and dash length and HP.
- Jade has excellent defense against Guard Break.
- Jade receives 20% more damage from Fire Elemental attacks and receives 10% & 20% less damage from Water and Dark Elemental Attacks respectively. (Please refer to this page for more information on ACS Elements).
- Jade can perform all the basic movements in ACS except for High Jump, Forward Step and Backward Leap.
- Jade's Double Jump reaches the top of the screen.
- Jade has moderate delays after landing from a jump or a backstep.
- Jade has two melee ground attacks (Press A twice). Jade cannot attack in mid-air.
- His melee attacks are fairly slow compared to other characters, and recover fairly slowly as well, so both caution and prediction is required to use his melee attacks effectively. Take advantage of their large vertical hitbox.
- Jade can use FOF Changes by pressing a directional button and the D button (e.g. →D) after using a Base or Arcane arte that hit the enemy.
- Whenever Jade casts Spells or FOF Spells, he has a moderate amount of Hidden Penetrate Counters which prevent cast interruption and make him harder to stagger.
- Jade's Mystic Artes can still be cast interrupted normally.
- Some of the enemy's attacks like Mystic Artes or certain unblockable artes can still interrupt Jade when he is casting.
- Jade's Overlimit Blast blows the enemy upward but still close to him.
- During Overlimit Lv1, Jade casting time is reduced for all spells excluding Mystic artes.
- During Overlimit Lv2, Jade can use Spells, FOF Spells and Mystic Cage instantly without casting them.
- At first, Jade's Spells (B) & FOF Spells (B) needs to be casted but after he has used 3 Spells (B) or 4 FOF Spells (B), he no longer need to cast any of the same type.
- This might be a reference to Jade undoing his fon slot seal similar from his original game.
- Jade can taunt enemies by pressing E. If the taunt animation is successfully executed, Jade's Overlimit Gauge will slightly increase and then enemy's Overlimit Gauge will slightly decrease.
- His chain orders consist of:
- Melee > Base or Spells (B) > Arcane > FOF Change
- Melee > Base or Spells (B) > Arcane or FOF Spells (B) > Spells (C) or FOF Spells (C) > Spells (D) > Mystic
- Whenever Jade uses Spells or FOF Spells consecutively within his chain order, that spell will be executed without the need to cast it. This is also true if Jade connects any of his Strike artes or Melee attacks to spells within their proper chain order.
- During Overlimit, his chain order can become:
- Melee > Base or Spells (B) > Arcane or FOF Spells (B) > Spells (C) or FOF Spells (C) > Spells (D) or FOF Spells (D) > Mystic
Spell Classification Table[]
| B | C | D | |||
| Spells | FOF Spells | Spells | FOF Spells | Spells | FOF Spells |
| Energy Blast Rock Break Splash Turbulence Flame Burst |
Photon Eruption Icicle Rain Flare Tornado |
Ground Dasher Saint Bubble Thunder Blade Ignite Prison |
Explode Frigid Coffin Raging Mist |
Absolute Prism Sword Meteor Swarm |
Divine Saber Gravity |
Shortcuts[]
| Command | Ground |
|---|---|
| F | Overlimit Lv1 |
| ← F | Splash |
| → F | Rock Break |
| ↑ F | Turbulence |
| ↓ F | Overlimit Lv2 |
Base Artes[]
- Shunjinsou (Sonic Spear)
ACS Jade Curtiss Arte Exhibition (v.5.505b) COMPLETE-0
Jade Curtiss' Arte Exhibition by Kratos1991.
- Tenraisou (Thunder Lance)
Arcane Artes[]
- Tenshou Tsuigasou (Impaling Heaven)
- Fuujin Kousenshou (Sovereign Gale)
- Jade thrusts his spear into the ground, creating a whirlwind.
- Slow and hard to hit. No Base Arte can connect with this arte, so its not recommend to use in combos.
- Has a very high chance of Guard Break. If you get the break, connect this to an FOF Change. If not, you're left vulnerable, so use at your own risk.
- Wind Elemental.
- TTS is Slow. TTL is Average if the enemy is hit on the ground and Long if hit in mid-air.
FOF Changes[]
- Gansai Retsujinsou (Crushing Spear)
- Raijin Senpuusou (Lightning Tempest)
- Tsuiga Bakuensou (Goring Hell)
- Suijin Karyuusou (Mighty Deluge)
Spells[]
- Energy Blast
- Rock Break (Stalagmite)
- Splash
- Turbulence
- Flame Burst
- Ground Dasher
- Saint Bubble (Blessed Drops)
- Thunder Blade
- Infernal Prison
- Absolute
- Prism Sword
- Meteor Swarm (Meteor Storm)
- The sky rains with huge meteors of rock and fire, annihilating enemies across the entire battlefield.
- Hard to chain with most Spells (C) or FOF Spells.
- Sometimes leaves Jade defenseless.
- Using this arte near a wall would cause less meteors to fall.
- TTS is Average. TTL is Short or Average, depending on how many meteors will hit the enemy.
FOF Spells[]
- Photon
- Eruption
- Icicle Rain
- Flare Tornado
- Explode (Explosion)
- Frigid Coffin
- Raging Mist
- Both a cloud of ice and a scorching pool of fire appear. They mix and create hot-spring mayhem.
- A bit hard to chain with any Spells (D) or FOF Spells (D).
- Moderate knockback effect.
- You can reset the chain after this arte by running towards the enemy and attacking but you must cast it in ront of the enemy and the combo counter must not be greater than 21 hits.
- TTS is Average. TTL is Long but once the combo counter exceeds 21 hits, it becomes Short.
- Divine Saber
- Gravity (Gravity Well)
Mystic Artes[]
- Mystic Cage
- Jade binds the entire battlefield in a sphere of energy, then at his command it explodes in a flash of light.
- This arte is unblockable as it causes the confirmed status effect.
- The only way to avoid this spell is by using Overlimit or being disabled.
- Always requires casting time even if included in Jade's normal chain order.
- During Overlimit Lv2, this arte does not have a casting time requirement.
- Enemies will be disabled after this arte.
- Press and ↓ hold to change the original Tales of the Abyss cut-in.
- TTS is Slow but Instant when Jade is in Overlimit Lv2. TTL is Average.
- Indignation
- Jade create a huge glyph below the enemy. He literally calls upon the thunder of heaven to channel its power onto unsuspecting enemy heads.
- Can not be chained with other spells. This Mystic arte must be used as a stand alone.
- This arte is unblockable as it causes the confirmed status effect.
- Cannot be avoided. Even with Overlimit.
- Enemies will be disabled after this arte.
- Press and ↑ hold to change the original Tales of the Abyss cut-in.
- TTS is Slow. TTL is Non-existent.
Advanced Tips & Combos[]
Battle Strategy []
General Use Combos[]
Combo 1[]
- Melee Attack X2 > Rock Break > Photon > Meteor Swarm [Note 1] > Spell Cancel (double-tapping ←) > Quickly Run Towards Enemy > Melee Attack X2 > Splash > Flare Tornado > Ignite Prison > Prism Sword > Mystic Cage [Note 2].
- Quick Input version:
- A > A > ↓→B > C > →←→ D > ←← > Quickly Run Towards Enemy > A > A > ↓←B > ↓←→B > ↓↓C > ↓←→D > ↓→←E
- Total number of hits = 45
- Requirements:
- Can be used anywhere, requires certain timing to execute
- Requires TP for 2 final artes. If you dont have enough TP, use Absolute instead of Prism Sword to finish the combo
- Notes:
- Note 1: Use Meteor Swarm right after the first hit of Photon then use spell cancel right after that.
- Note 2: Hardest part of this combo. When connecting Prism Sword to Mystic Cage, the hit counter should be at 36 (use Mystic Cage right after the 6th hit of Prism Sword).
- Requirements:
Combo 2[]
- Melee Attack X2 > Rock Break > Flare Tornado > Ignite Prison > Prism Sword > Mystic Cage [Note 1] > Spell Cancel (double-tapping ←) > Quickly Run Towards Enemy > Melee Attack X2 > Splash > Eruption [Note 2] > Ignite Prison > Prism Sword > Mystic Cage [Note 3]
- Quick Input version:
- A > A > ↓→B > ↓←→B > ↓↓C > ↓←→D > ↓→←E > ←← > Quickly Run Towards Enemy > A > A > ↓←B > ↓→↓→B > ↓↓C > ↓←→D > ↓→←E
- Total number of hits = 62
- Damage around 80% of Kakashi Scarcrow's HP
- Requirements:
- Can be used anywhere, requires around 70% TP to start the combo, need certain timing to execute.
- Notes:
- Note 1: Hardest part of this combo. Use Mystic Cage right after the 6th hit of Prism Sword then use spell cancel right after that.
- Note 2: you can replace Eruption with Flare Tornado, this is just optional .
- Note 3: Use Mystic Cage right after the 6th hit of Prism Sword.
- Requirements:
Highest Combo[]
- Rock Break [Note 1] > Flare Tornado > Raging Mist [Note 2] > Quickly Run Towards Enemy > Melee Attack X2 > Rock Break > Flare Tornado > Ignite Prison > Prism Sword > Overlimit Lv2 [Note 3] > Quickly Run Towards Enemy > Melee Attack X2 > Rock Break > Flare Tornado > Raging Mist > Prism Sword [Note 4] > Mystic Cage [Note 5].
- Quick Input Version:
- ↓→B > ↓←→B > ↓→↓→C > →→ > A > A > ↓→B > ↓←→B > ↓↓C > ↓←→D > ↓F > →→ > A > A > ↓→B > ↓←→B > ↓→↓→C > ↓←→D > ↓→←E.
- Total number of hits = 91.
- Damage is about 50% of Kakashi Scarecrow's (500) HP.
- In ver. 5.516, damage is about 85% of Kakashi Scarecrow's (500) HP.
- Requirements:
Tales of ACS v5.502 Jade Curtiss Combo 90 Hits
Jade Curtiss 90 Hit Combo
- At the start of the combo, Jade must be at melee range of the enemy.
- TP for Mystic Cage.
- Overlimit Gauge is set at 2.
- Notes:
- Note 1: Jade must be at melee range before casting Rock Break.
- Note 2: Timing is necessary here to connect Raging Mist to Jade's melee attack. Make sure that Raging Mist does not hit the enemy while they are still in mid-air after getting hit with Flare Tornado.
- Note 3: Use Overlimit 2 before the Prism Sword's sword of light falls down on the enemy. Spam ↓F if you have yet to grasp the correct timing.
- Note 4: Connecting Raging Mist and Prism Sword together requires perfect timing.
- Note 5: Use Mystic Cage before the Prism Sword's sword of light falls down on the enemy.
- Requirements:
- Although not necessary, pushing an enemy against a wall makes it easier to execute this combo.
- Contributed by Minarie 07:59, June 10, 2011 (UTC)
Story Mode[]
Jade has a total of 5 Story Modes, ranging from Easy to Unknown. Note that all modes including and preceding Hard feature opponents that come in "Rounds", meaning that the field, positions, and statistics (HP and otherwise) will reset once an opponent is defeated. Modes after Hard feature opponents that come one after another, meaning that the fields, positions, and statistics of your character will not reset once an opponent has been defeated. However, A portion of your HP is refunded whenever an opponent is defeated in Mania Mode.
Easy[]
Klarth F. Lester
Stan Aileron
Zelos Wilder
Shizel (Enemy) & Zelos Wilder (Ally)
Normal[]
Lloyd Irving
Mary Agent
Rid Hershel
Synch
Hard[]
Lion Magnus
Luke fone Fabre
Guy Cecil
Gelda Nebilim
Mania[]
Hugo Gilchrist
Dhaos (Upon defeat of Hugo Gilchrist)
Barbatos Goetia (Upon defeat of Dhaos)
Gelda Nebilim (Upon defeat of Barbatos Goetia)
Unknown[]
Shizel
Dhaos (Upon defeat of Shizel)
Hugo Gilchrist (Upon defeat of Dhaos)
Kratos Aurion (Upon defeat of Hugo Gilchrist)
Alexei Dinoia (Upon defeat of Kratos Aurion)
AI Behaviours[]
Jade's combos and actions are randomly generated based on the probabilities listed below:
| # | Behaviour | Probability (%) | Distance (px) | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Backstep | 0 | 0-300 |
|
| 2 | Backstep | 0 | 0-250 | - |
| 3 | Walk Backwards | 5 | 0-200 | - |
| 4 | Air Tech. | 100 | 0-1000 |
|
| 5 | Sonic Spear | 2 | 100-250 | - |
| 6 | Thunder Lance Impaling Heaven |
2 | 0-150 |
|
| 7 | Impaling Heaven | 3 | 0-160 | - |
| 8 | Melee (A) Melee (B) Rock Break |
10 | 0-120 | - |
| 9 | Melee (A) Melee (B) Splash |
5 | 0-160 | - |
| 10 | Melee (A) Melee (B) Turbulence |
5 | 0-140 | - |
| 11 | Energy Blast | 5 | 200-600 |
|
| 12 | Rock Break | 2 | 200-500 | - |
| 13 | Splash | 5 | 160-450 | - |
| 14 | Turbulence | 5 | 300-600 | - |
| 15 | Flame Burst | 1 | 180-500 | - |
| 16 | Ground Dasher | 5 | 100-500 | - |
| 17 | Saint Bubble | 5 | 160-560 | - |
| 18 | Thunder Blade | 5 | 100-500 |
|
| 19 | Thunder Blade | 3 | 200-600 | - |
| 20 | Ignite Prison | 5 | 100-400 | - |
| 21 | Absolute | 2 | 100-500 | - |
| 22 | Prism Sword | 3 | 100-700 | - |
| 23 | Meteor Swarm | 3 | 300-800 | - |
| 24 | Photon | 3 | 80-420 | - |
| 25 | Eruption | 3 | 80-380 | - |
| 26 | Icicle Rain | 2 | 220-450 | - |
| 27 | Flare Tornado | 0 | 130-480 | - |
| 28 | Explode | 3 | 200-500 |
|
| 29 | Explode | 3 | 150-500 | - |
| 30 | Frigid Coffin | 7 | 150-450 | - |
| 31 | Divine Saber | 1 | 130-440 | - |
| 32 | Gravity | 1 | 160-550 | - |
| 33 | Raging Mist | 1 | 300-520 | - |
| 34 | Mystic Cage | 10 | 80-600 | - |
| 35 | Overlimit | 2 | 0-200 | - |
| 36 | Air Tech. | 30 | 0-1000 |
|
| 37 | Backstep / Air Tech. | 50 | 0-1000 |
|
Cut-Ins[]
In ACS, Jade has four cut-ins.
- Tales of the Abyss
- Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2
- Tales of the Abyss
- Tales of VS.
Jade's regular cut-in for Mystic Cage.
Jade's optional cut-in for Mystic Cage. Press down to show.
Jade's regular cut-in for Indignation.
Jade's optional cut-in for Indignation. Press up to show.