Full ATB skill



Full ATB Skills are attacks exclusive to Final Fantasy XIII and its sequel Final Fantasy XIII-2. Each member of the main party has a unique attack which requires the use of the whole ATB bar. These attacks all deal extreme damage or multiple strikes. In order to perform these moves player must manually select them during the battle, meaning the A.I.-controlled battle members will never use them and auto-battle will not select them.

All Full ATB Skills (besides Vanille's Death) also have a special effect against staggered enemies. Full ATB Skills ignore target's type-based defense, meaning even enemies that are immune to physical/magical damage can still be damaged by Full ATB Skills. This also means status effects like Deprotect and Deshell have no effect on the sustained damage.

If used against a staggered target, the target's stagger status can't end before the Full ATB Skill's animation has finished. Even if the enemy's stagger gauge completely depletes during the Full ATB Skill execution, its stagger status will not end until after the skill has been completed and during this time allies will also be able to continue dealing damage to the enemy.

Full ATB Skills are disabled if the character is afflicted with Pain or Fog.

In Final Fantasy XIII, full ATB attacks are unlocked at Crystarium Stage 9, after the final boss of Chapter 11. When executed, a stream of golden watery effect will run along the top and bottom rims of the screen. A Full ATB Skill is technically not a "Limit Break" in the traditional sense of the term, but like a Limit Break, it deals massive damage and is a character-specific skill.

Army of One


Army of One (シーンドライブ) is Lightning's Full ATB Skill. It is part of her Ravager Crystarium tree, and deals 11 hits of physical damage against a single opponent. The game calculates every hit separately, meaning if Lightning is equipping the Random: Instant Chain passive ability, it has 11 chances to trigger. This also means that if Lightning has the Attack: ATB Charge ability, her ATB gauge will get charged 11 times, giving an extra 1.1 ATB segments with the basic ability, or 2.2 segments with Attack: ATB Charge II. Army of One has a special effect when used against a staggered foe, in which the ability gains a boost in its ability to accumulate chain bonus and it can very quickly fill the enemy's gauge to 999.9%.

The attack manifests as several fast strikes from Lightning's gunblade, as well as heavy kicks. Interestingly, if this move is performed midair, it has the same appearance as a ground attack, meaning Lightning lands midair during the attack, and also pushes off the air for her back-flip kick.

Army of One is a physical attack that uses Lightning's strength stat to calculate damage. Army of One ignores physical resistance, but also ignores physical weaknesses; it will deal 100% damage whether it is resistant, normal, or weakness. Army of One can be affected by Commando bonus, Bravery/Bravera, and Debrave, but it is not affected by Deprotect, Protect on enemy, or enhanced element spells like Enfire.

A player is able to use a Paradigm Shift during the cutscene that Lightning uses her Full ATB Skill. If the player shifts to Commando role during the attack animation, Lightning will deal more damage but will still increase the chain bonus.

Sovereign Fist


Sovereign Fist (ルーラーフィスト) is Snow's Full ATB Skill. It is part of his Commando tree, and deals one strong hit of physical damage and is an area attack, meaning it will hit nearby enemies as well. It is shown as Snow leaping into the air, and heaving his fist down into the enemy.

Sovereign Fist is a physical attack that uses the strength stat to calculate damage. Sovereign Fist ignores physical resistance, but also ignores physical weaknesses; it will deal 100% damage whether it is resistant, normal, or weakness. Sovereign Fist can be affected by Commando bonus, Adrenaline bonus, Bravery/Bravera, and Debrave, but it is not affected by Deprotect, Protect on enemy, or enhanced element spells like Enfire.

Sovereign Fist gains a special effect when used against a staggered opponent, when it will gain a massive boost in its damage multiplier. When executed, Sovereign Fist will reset the target's chain gauge to 100%. This means it also ends an opponent's stagger status instantly, meaning it is best used once the enemy is about to recover from stagger. This property can be used for strategic advantage in the battle against the Proudclad which Retaliatory Strike can be completely avoided if the player uses Sovereign Fist as soon as it staggers.

Cold Blood


Cold Blood (デスペラード) is Sazh's Full ATB Skill. It is part of his Ravager Crystarium tree and deals 17 hits to one enemy. Cold Blood is similar to Army of One in that it serves to raise the enemy's chain gauge, and each hit is calculated separately, meaning, if Sazh is equipped with it, Random: Instant Chain has 17 chances to trigger. When used against a staggered opponent the skill's ability to amass chain bonus is boosted, making it a fast way to raise a staggered foe's chain to 999.9%.

Cold Blood is a physical attack that uses the Physical stat to calculate damage. Cold Blood ignores physical resistance, but also ignores physical weaknesses; it will deal 100% damage whether it is resistant, normal, or weakness. Cold Blood can be affected by Commando bonus, Adrenaline bonus, Bravery/Bravera, and Debrave, but it is not affected by Deprotect, Protect on enemy, or enhanced element spells like Enfire. The player is able to shift Paradigm during Cold Blood's attack animation to make Sazh a Commando to use the aforementioned bonuses.

Cold Blood reappears as the Feral Link ability for Sazh in Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Last Resort


Last Resort (ラストリゾート) is Hope's Full ATB Skill. It is part of his Ravager tree and deals 8 hits of magic damage to shuffled targets; Last Resort shuffles through the list of enemies dealing a single hit to each until all hits have been distributed. Appearance-wise, Last Resort is similar to Holy spell from previous Final Fantasy games, as it is shown as a ring of white beads flying into the air.

Last Resort is a magical attack that uses the Magic stat to calculate damage. Last Resort ignores magical resistance, but also ignores weaknesses; it will deal 100% damage whether the target is resistant, normal, or weak to the element in question. Last Resort can be affected by Commando bonus, Faith/Faithra, and Defaith, but is not affected by Deshell, Shell on enemy, or enhanced element spells like Enfire.

Last Resort gains a special effect when used against a staggered foe, when its ability to amass chain bonuses increases significantly, meaning it can be used to quickly bring an opponent's chain gauge to 999.9%. However, because Last Resort shuffles between targets, it is impossible to land all 8 attacks on the staggered foe unless there is only one opponent.

Death


Death (デス) is a classic Final Fantasy skill available to Vanille. It is part of her Saboteur skill tree, making it the only Full ATB Skill not to be found in the Commando or Ravager tree. It deals strong magic damage to one target and in addition attempts to instantly knock out the enemy, with a base success rate of 1%, but the base success rate increases by 1% for every negative status the target is afflicted with. Death does not gain extra benefits on staggered opponents.

Death can, however, gain benefits from enhanced element spells, unlike the other Full ATB Skills. As it does not clear the chain gauge, this makes it the special attack with the highest repeatable multiplier. Death is a magical attack and uses the Magic stat to calculate damage. Death ignores magical resistances and weaknesses. It can be affected by Commando bonus, Adrenaline bonus, Faith/Faithra, Defaith, and enhanced elemental spells like Enfire. It is unaffected by Deshell or Shell.

Despite widespread word-of-mouth to the contrary, Death is not classified as a debuffing spell and thus its chance to hit can't be boosted with the Belladonna or Malboro Wand. Unlike all other Saboteur skills, Death ignores chain bonus as a factor when calculating success rate. Buffs like Faith boost the damage the spell deals, but not the instant death chance. The only way to boost the success rate of Death is to have Vanille as level 5 Saboteur and have other high-level Saboteurs in the current Paradigm, and by inflicting the target with as many status effects as possible.

Because the damage is affected by Commando and Adrenaline bonuses, Death will deal more damage if the player is quick enough to shift to a Commando role before the damage numbers appear on screen.

Highwind


Highwind (ハイウィンド) is Fang's Full ATB Skill. It is named after the recurring surname of the many Dragoon characters in the series. It is part of her Commando tree, and manifests as Fang leaping into the air and bringing her spear down into the enemy - similar to the Dragoon ability Jump - with an explosion damaging nearby enemies as she reaches the ground.

Highwind is a physical attack that uses the strength stat to calculate damage. Highwind ignores physical resistance, but also ignores physical weaknesses; it will deal 100% damage whether it is resistant, normal, or weakness. Highwind can be affected by Commando bonus, Adrenaline bonus, Bravery/Bravera, and Debrave, but it is not affected by Deprotect, Protect on enemy, or enhanced element spells like Enfire.

Highwind gains a bonus when used against a staggered opponent, where it will gain a massive increase in its damage multiplier. When executed, Highwind will reset the target's chain gauge to 100%, meaning it will also end a foe's stagger status immediately. The attack is therefore best used against an opponent that is about to recover from stagger. This property can be used for strategic advantage in the battle against the Proudclad whose Retaliatory Strike can be completely avoided if the player uses Highwind as soon as it staggers.

Strategies/Trivia

 * Army of One, Cold Blood, and Last Resort are best used on a recently staggered foe, as they are the best moves in the game for boosting chain bonuses.
 * Death is best used against a strong enemy that is not immune to the spell. It is commonly used against Adamantoise, as they are a tough enemy, but killed relatively easily through the Death spell. The attack is also commonly used when battling against a Long Gui for a quick win, where Death can do up to 999,999 points of damage each hit, provided Vanille is buffed with the right enhancements, enemy is debuffed, the stagger bar is near 999.9%, Genji Glove is equipped (for the Break Damage Limit ability), and that the player switches to the Cerberus paradigm (COM/COM/COM) before Death hits.
 * Highwind and Sovereign Fist are best used against a foe about to recover from stagger, as it instantly clears the chain gauge. Using them against a staggered foe usually results in two hits of 99,999 (with Genji Glove accessory it can easily do up to three hits of over 200,000).
 * When an enemy is about to exit stagger, using a Full ATB Skill prevents the stagger gauge from emptying, allowing other allies to attack a little longer while the enemy is still staggered; the stagger will last until the attack animation's end.
 * Fang is actually "seen" using a jump attack in a cutscene on the Palamecia at Chapter 9, bringing down a Garuda Interceptor. She also does use Highwind at the end of Chapter 13 when she attacks the party after deciding to turn into Ragnarok.

Video
thumb|500px|left|A video showcasing each of the characters' Full ATB skills.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Full ATB Skill usage has been changed to only allow one use per battle; the only exception is with the use of an Elixir, which restores the player's ability to use Full ATB Skills when consumed.

During the game's prologue Lightning uses skills that take the entire ATB bar, but can be used repeatedly, namely, Ullr's Shield while Lightning is riding Odin, and War's Benediction when Lightning and Noel are fighting Caius on air. Both are curative abilities. Lightning can also be seen unleashing Army of One on Caius during a Cinematic Action sequence before she buries him in debris. Lightning's Army of One is also used in the Paradigm Pack as a Feral Link along with the Full ATB Skills of Amodar, Sazh Katzroy, and Jihl Nabaat (Iron Bear Claw, Cold Blood, and Sadistic Surge, respectively). Snow uses his Full ATB Skill from Final Fantasy XIII, Sovereign Fist, against the player party in a downloadable battle against him, and later uses it as his Feral Link as a Paradigm Pack ally as well.

Ultima Arrow
Ultima Arrow (アルテミスアロー) is Serah's Full ATB Skill, and part of her Ravager Crystarium tree. It is obtained as a Crystarium Expansion ability later on in the game. It manifests as Serah firing an arrow into the air and it exploding into light as it returns to earth, consuming the area directly in front of its shooter.

Ultima Arrow is best used either just after the opponent has been staggered or soon after. As soon as Serah starts to execute the attack, the player should switch to a paradigm in which Serah is a Commando, such as Aggression or Cerberus. This can yield a mass amount of damage to the target, as well as greatly raising the Chain Gauge.

Meteor Javelin
Meteor Javelin (メテオジャベリン) is Noel's Full ATB Skill, and is part of his Commando Crystarium tree. Just like Ultima Arrow, it is obtained as a Crystarium Expansion late on in the game. It manifests as Noel leaping into the air and throwing four spears into the enemy. Similar to Highwind or Sovereign Fist from Final Fantasy XIII, the Chain Gauge is reset to 100% upon its usage.

Meteor Javelin is best used just before the enemy is exiting their stagger period, due to the fact the Chain Gauge is reset after using it. It is also the best time as the Chain Gauge will be at the highest amount it could be, delivering the greatest amount of damage to the enemy. It is also extends the period of time that other allies can use attacks such as Smite or Scourge which deal a lot of damage to enemies exiting Stagger, for the use of a Full ATB Skill freezes the depletion of the Chain Gauge.

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Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Lightning's Full ATB Skill, Army of One, returns in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy as one of Lightning's abilities for her Ravager skillset.