Hold

Type White Magic
Effect Inflict Paralyze
Status Ailment Paralyze
MP 5
Base Accuracy 85%
Reflectable No
Target One

Learned By

Compare Hold to other Spells
Haste Holy

Related

Pin

Type Ninja Magic
Effect Inflict Paralyze
Status Ailment Paralyze
MP 5
Base Accuracy 75%
Reflectable No
Target One

Learned By

HOLD

Sprite
Hit % 115%
Type Black Magic LV 3
Effect Inflicts Status-elemental Paralysis on one foe
Target One foe
Element Status
Inflict Status Paralysis

Learned by

WM
RM
BM
Kn
WW
RW
BW
Ni
Sold In ElfLand (1,500 G)
HOLD is a good Spell with an element of risk. It's highly accurate, so it will usually work, but there's no way to know when the Monster you hit will break out of its Paralysis. (That said, Monsters have less than a 10% chance to recover each turn.) It's more likely than many debuffs to actually work on bosses (especially KARY). Any time you find yourself facing one tough enemy, see if they have high Magic Defense or resist Status. If not, HOLD can be effective.

Bind

Type Black Magic
Level 3
Effect Paralyzes a foe.
Hit Rate 115%
Target One foe
Element Status
Status Paralysis
Price 1,500 gil
Sold In Elfheim

Learned By

WM
RM
BM
Kn
WW
RW
BW
Ni
Bind is a very hit-or-miss Spell (and not just literally). It's highly accurate, so it will usually work, but there's always the chance the Monster you hit will break out of its Paralysis immediately. It's more likely than most debuffs to actually work on bosses (especially Marilith), though. Any time you find yourself facing one tough enemy, see if they have high Magic Defense or resist Status. If not, Bind can be great. It's a good third Spell for your Black Mage simply because Focus2 is so mediocre.

Stun

Sprite
Power 5 Accuracy +40%
Type Black Magic
Effect Inflicts body-elemental paralysis on the target
Status Paralysis
Element Body
Tome Stun Tome
Effect Stun 6 (All enemies)
Value 4,000 gil
Found In Castle Deist 1F
Dropped By Magician, Royal Guard
Used By Beelzebub, Ghost, Hecteyes, Pit Fiend, Skull, Sorcerer
Stun and Stop are interesting Spells. They both do the same thing, the only difference being that Stun is slightly more accurate and is Body-elemental as opposed to Matter-elemental. Less Monsters resist Body than Matter, and Stun is resisted by every Spell Stop is, but the reverse is not true. Thus, if you're going to choose between the two, Stop is more flexible at the cost of a bit of accuracy.