Commando (Final Fantasy XIII)

Commando is a Paradigm role in Final Fantasy XIII. The role's main function is to deal damage and slow the pace the enemy's chain gauge decreases. The Commando has the least command abilities among the six roles, being the most straightforward of all. It is symbolized with the initials COM and the color Red.

When the party has multiple attackers, the Commandos will usually hit different targets maximizing the number of enemies whose chain gauge decreases at a slower rate. Merely being in the Commando role boosts the person's physical and magical power and the benefits extend to other party members to a lesser degree. The bonus depends on the Commando's role level. If the Paradigm has more than one Commando the bonus is the sum of all applicable Commando bonuses.

Commandos deal slightly more damage with melee than with magic if their strength and magic stats are equal. However, the difference is negligible, and characters with higher magic than others have strength will still deal more damage with Ruin than the others with physical attacks.

Commando is a primary role for Lightning, Snow, Sazh, Fang and a secondary role for Vanille and Hope.

Role Levels
The Crystarium Levels when each character can advance in role level.

Damage bonus per different role levels. Commando gets a boost in damage depending on their role level, and the bonus extends to other party members. If the party has more than one Commando the Commandos get both their personal bonus for being a Commando, plus the party Commando bonuses from the other Commando(s). The role bonus is not contributed if the party member is incapacitated, and during summoning an Eidolon, only the party leader's role bonuses count.

AI Mechanics

 * When choosing a target, if the party leader is a Ravager, Sentinel, or Saboteur, the computer-controlled Commando will always choose the party leader's target. If the party leader is a Medic or Synergist, the computer-controlled Commando will choose a random target and continue attacking that target until it is either defeated or the leader shifts role. If the party leader is another Commando, the computer-controlled Commando will select a different target to the party leader's target if there is more than one opponent.
 * The computer-controlled Commando usually attacks when their ATB gauge is full. The only exception is when their target is about to recover from Stagger, in which case they choose one single attack per turn.
 * The computer-controlled Commando will always select abilities it believes will deal the most damage possible from the data it has available. When attacking a solitary target, the Commando will favor attack over ruin if strength and magic are close. If magic is significantly higher they will favor ruin.
 * If the opponent is more resistant to physical attacks than to magic, the Commando will always use multiple Ruin spells. The only exception is if the opponent is Staggered when the computer-controlled Commando will always use Attack as its first command to launch the opponent.
 * If the target's physical and magical vulnerabilities are not currently known, the Commando will always use Ruin first, then the remaining commands will be Attack.
 * Assuming the abilities are learned, if there is at least one other opponent close to the chosen target just before the Commando's turn, they will use Blitz instead of Attack, or Ruinga instead of Ruin.
 * The computer-controlled Commando will never use Sovereign Fist or Highwind.

Other Languages

 * Spanish: Castigador - Punisher
 * Italian: Attaccante - Attacker
 * French: Attaquant - Attacker
 * German: Brecher - Breaker
 * Chinese: 攻擊者, Gongjizhe - Attacker

Trivia

 * In an early trailer for the English version of the game, characters were seen with the initials "GLA" in red as their Paradigm role. It can be assumed that the Commando role was originally referred to as "Gladiator".