Assist (term)

The Assist system is a gameplay feature in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. It is a new feature that was not previously found in the original Dissidia Final Fantasy, and allows for a fighter to call an ally into battle to perform an attack. It is designed to be directly opposed to EX Mode as a game mechanic - Accessories that enhance Assists negatively effect EX Mode and vice-versa, and EX Break and Assist Break allow one mechanic to cancel out the other.

Function
The player can set their Assistant and his or her outfit freely in some battle modes, while in others, such as in all storyline gameplay, their Assistant is pre-set for them. As characters perform attacks, the Assist gauge under their HP bar fills, a section turning orange when it is completely filled. After a few moments of inactivity from the player, their Assist Gauge will start to decrease, so aggressive actions keep the meter filled. Any sort of attack will fill the meter, even if it does not connect. Whenever one character enters EX Mode, the other character's Assist Gauge instantly depletes to zero. Attacking the opponent when low on either Bravery or HP, or a well-timed counterattack, can trigger an Assist Charge, wherein the attacker's Assist Gauge instantly fills by half or all the way, depending on the circumstances; if the character is low on Bravery, the Assist Gauge fills halfway, and if the character is low on HP, the Assist Gauge fills completely. When an Assistant is summoned, the "Assist" tag next to the summoned Assistant glows blue if he/she is Assisting the player, and red if he/she is Assisting the opponent.

A Bravery Assist attack, known in-game as "Assist-B," can be triggered by pressing L+, which consumes one assist bar, while HP Assists, known in-game as "Assist-H," are triggered by pressing L+, consuming two assist bars. The Assist will react, and appear according to what conditions were in the assist ability customization screen. While an Assist attacks, their blows do not produce EX Force. However, depending on the Assist character's amound of damage dealt, the opponent's EX force meter is reduced by a proportionate amount.

After an Assistant attacks, depending on the attack used, one of two things can occur. If the Assistant's attack inflicted Wall Rush, the opponent is still vulnerable and the player can attack them while they are still recovering from the attack to press their offensive further. If the Assistant's attack began a Chase Sequence, pressing will teleport the player character behind the opponent while they are recovering, allowing them to attack again. These two abilities allow the potential for Assistance attacks and main player attacks to be chained together in different ways.

Assist Lock and Assist Change
If the Assistant character is staggered or attacked before they can leave the field, it will result in an Assist Lock. Once the player's Assistant is locked, they can no longer build or use the Assistant character for about twenty-two seconds. In addition to the Assist Gauge becoming locked, the opponent who locked the Assistant out will receive all of the EX Force on the field. The more times the Assistant is locked, the longer the time required for it to recover. When the Assist Lock wears off, the Assist Gauge returns to whatever state it was in when it was locked, and retains any charge it had at that time.

Players may also use an Assistant to perform an Assist Change, wherein they call their Assistant while being attacked to have their Assistant take the blow for them, with the main character being flung up or down out of the opponent's attack to avoid damage. Calling the Assistant while consuming one bar will perform "Change-1", wherein the main character escapes, but is inflicted with Assist Lock. Using two bars will cause the Assistant to perform "Change-2" where the character evades the attack and the opponent is staggered, but the Assist Gauge is not locked. Timing an Assist Change properly is important, as some attacks will continue to home in on the player and hit them if they perform an Assist Change too early, such as Cloud's ''Omnislash Vers. 5, or Onion Knight's Guiding Swipe and Swordshower''.

EX Break & Assist Break
If a character calls their Assistant to attack an opponent in EX Mode, an EX Break will occur if the Assistant's attack connects. This grants the player who called the Assistant the Stage Bravery, as though they had inflicted Bravery break, and the opponent's EX Gauge instantly depletes to zero, their EX Mode ending. Similarly, if an Assistant character is attacked by an opponent in EX Mode, an Assist Break occurs - the EX Mode character receives the Stage Bravery in addition to their opponent being inflicted with Assist Lock. There are two exceptions - Gabranth's EX Mode ability "Jamming" prevents the opponent from gaining the Map Bravery when he is inflicted with EX Break, but his EX Gauge is still canceled, and Feral Chaos is unable to be inflicted with EX Break during his EX Burst.

List of Assistance attacks
Though the player can set their Assistant freely, the attack that their Assistant uses is set to one of four attacks. The attack they use changes depending on whether the opponent or the player's character is in the air or on the ground. The Assistant character also appears near the opponent or the player depending on the attack used.