Full ATB skill

Full ATB Skills are attacks exclusive to Final Fantasy XIII. Each member of the main party has a unique attack which requires the whole ATB bar to use. These attacks all deal extreme damage or multiple strikes. However 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 unless assigning the character to be player-controlled leader of the battle team. Full ATB attacks are unlocked at Crystarium Stage 9, after the final boss of Chapter 11. 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.

Army of One
Army of One (Scene Drive in the Japanese version) is Lightning's full ATB skill. It is part of her Ravager Crystarium tree, and deals 11 hits of physical damage. The attack has a greater effect on an enemy's Chain Bonus the higher the Chain Bonus is, making it very effective against Staggered foes as it can very quickly fill their 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 in midair, it has the same appearance as a grounded attack, meaning Lightning lands in midair during the attack, and also pushes off the air for her backflip kick.

Sovereign Fist
Sovereign Fist (Ruler Fist in the Japanese version) is Snow's unique full ATB attack. It is part of his Commando tree, and deals one strong hit of physical damage. It is shown as Snow leaping into the air, and heaving his fist down into the enemy. The higher the chain bonus of the target is, the more damage is dealt, but the chain gauge is cleared afterwards.

Cold Blood
Cold Blood (Desperado in the Japanese version) is Sazh's full ATB skill. It is part of his Ravager Crystarium tree and deals roughly 15 hits to one enemy. Cold Blood is similar to Army of One in that it serves to raise the enemy's Stagger, though Cold Blood is actually quicker at increasing the stagger chain percentage due to its higher Role Level bonus.

Death
Vanille's full ATB skill is the classic spell, Death. 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. In addition, it attempts to instantly kill the enemy, with a base success rate of 1% plus an additional 1% for every status ailment currently afflicting the target.

Last Resort
Last Resort is Hope's full ATB exclusive skill. It is part of his Ravager tree and deals roughly 6 hits of magic damage to all enemies. Appearance wise, it is very similar to Holy from Final Fantasy X, as it is shown as a ring of white beads flying into the air. However Hope's variant creates an explosion once crashing into the ground, rather than pulling the enemy up toward the sky.

Highwind
Highwind is Fang's full ATB skill. It is named after the recurring surname of many Dragoon characters. 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, but can be nullified by Pain or Fog. Highwind ignores physical resistance, but also ignores physical weaknesses; it'll deal 100% damage whether it's 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.

When executed, Highwind will clear the target's stagger gauge.

Strategies

 * 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 easily killed by a Death/Marlboro Wand combo.
 * 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 2 hits of 99,999 (with Genji Glove accessory it can easily do up to three hits of over 200,000).

Video
thumb|500px|left|A video showing each character's full ATB skills.