EX Mode (term)



EX Mode is a gameplay term from Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. EX Mode effectively serves as the Limit Break system in Dissidia, granting the user an extreme boost in power. This grants access to new abilities, including executing EX Bursts.

EX Force and EX Gauges
All characters except Chaos have an EX Gauge that fills as the player collects EX Force, glowing orbs of light that appears whenever an attack is landed or an attack is blocked. Chase Sequences also produce high amounts of EX Force. Characters automatically absorb EX Force as they move around the arena, but not while attacking or being attacked. At times EX Cores appear in the arena and slowly absorb all EX Force present, growing wings to symbolize how much EX Force they have absorbed. Collecting an EX Core grants all EX Force they have absorbed in addition to a small base amount. When the EX Gauge is full, it begins to glow orange, and players may enter EX Mode by pressing and.

Various equipment pieces affect the player's efficiency in building up EX Force, by increasing the radius of their EX Force absorption, the amount gained by absorbing EX Force and EX Cores, allowing absorption of EX Force while attacking or being attacked, and increasing the rate at which EX Cores spawn. Original Rules can also adjust these factors. There are also equipment pieces that extend the duration of EX Revenge and EX Mode.

EX Revenge
In Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, a new feature called "EX Revenge" completely drains the player's full EX Gauge to recover from a foe's attack and slow down the opponent for six seconds, or until an HP attack is landed. It can stop an opposing attack or combo that could swing or decide a battle, but does not automatically knock the opponent away. The duration of this period can be adjusted by Original Rules or by certain equipment. During this time the player's attack cooldown is reduced to nothing, allowing the player to link together several Brave attacks one after another.

Also, if the opponent is Wall Rushed, the player can still continue their assault against them, as the foe doesn't receive temporarily invulnerability during EX Revenge. The player who has been slowed down can cancel out the opponent's EX Revenge by initiating their own EX Mode or performing an Assist Change.

EX Mode

 * View images of the different EX Modes here.

Once EX Mode is entered, the EX Bar slowly drains, and EX Mode ends when it is depleted. The rate at which the gauge drains can be lowered by using certain accessories and equipment pieces. While in EX Mode the character can still collect EX Force and EX Cores, refilling their gauge as it depleted. While in EX Mode, all characters gain the Regen status, slowly regenerating their HP, and they have a higher chance of dealing Critical Hits. Characters also gain bonuses specific to them, such as special attacks, increased damage, and other enhancements.

In Dissidia entering EX Mode blocks any combos the opponent is striking them with and staggers them if they would normally stagger from a blocked attack, but this is removed in Dissidia 012 with the addition of EX Revenge. Entering EX Mode can also cancel out certain HP attacks the character is executing, letting attacks be chained together in new ways.

For most of the playable cast in Dissidia, their EX Modes involve a transformation they perform in their original game. For example, Ultimecia fuses with Griever, Jecht transforms into his "Final Aeon" form, the Warrior of Light class-changes into a Knight, Zidane, Terra and Kuja enter their variations of Trance, and so forth. The fighters who do not transform instead exchange their base weapons for their ultimate weapon from their original game, such as Squall's Revolver turning into the Lion Heart or Firion's weapons into "blood" weapons.

In Dissidia 012, the opponent's Assist gauge will drain completely when the player enters EX Mode. However, if one can use an Assist attack to hit a character in EX Mode, a new feature called "EX Break" will occur, knocking the character out of EX Mode and giving the attacker the Stage Bravery, similar to a Bravery Break, but the opponent will not actually be under Bravery Break status. However, if the Assist character is hit by a character in EX Mode, the EX Mode character inflicts an "Assist Break," in which the character in EX Mode receives the Stage Bravery, while the opponent is Assist Locked.

Manikins treat EX Mode differently from the playable cast. All manikins share a single EX Mode titled "Powered Up", where they gain Regen and have a higher chance for critical hits, but they do not gain their counterpart character's unique benefits. They also do not change appearance or weapon aside from a glowing aura. The exception is Gabranth's manikin, the Warrior of Antiquity, who changes appearance as Gabranth does and gains a new moveset in the same manner. All manikins, including the Warrior of Antiquity, are entirely unable to use EX Bursts while in EX Mode.

EX Burst

 * View videos of the different EX Bursts here.

During EX Mode, after connecting with an HP attack an icon appears on the screen. If is pressed again while the icon is visible the character will use their EX Burst. The player can cancel initiating an EX Burst either by waiting for the icon to disappear, or by pressing. When an EX Burst is executed, the player must perform some sort of charging sequence, such as tapping a button rapidly or inputting a sequence of button commands, to power up the attack.

Following this the character attacks the opponent with a series of Bravery attacks before landing an HP attack. The exact method of input, as well as if the charging sequence occurs before the EX Burst executes or during execution, depends on the character. Failure to power up the EX Burst fully results in a simpler and less-powerful attack being used, minimizing the Bravery damage done before the HP attack. If the player charges up the EX Burst to full, it is considered "Perfect" and will do full damage. Feral Chaos from Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy is the only character who can't get Perfect for his EX Burst.

Once an EX Burst is executed, EX Mode is automatically canceled. If the player falls victim to an opponent's EX Burst, the player can increase their Defense to reduce damage taken by continuously pressing at the same time as the opponent charges up the EX Burst to set the meter to +5 or +10 defense. However, if the player presses too quickly, it rises past the +10 indicator to -5, lowering Defense.

For the games that have the Limit Break system, EX Bursts are based on that character's Limit Break. For example, Terra uses Riot Blade, Cloud uses Omnislash, Squall uses Renzokuken, and so forth. For the characters from games that do not have a Limit Break system, their EX Burst is more original. Cecil's EX Burst involves magic and sword slashes, Firion's uses all of his weapons with elemental affinities, Bartz's revolves around his abilities as a Mime, etc.

For the villains, many of their EX Bursts are based on powerful abilities used in story sequences, like Kefka's Light of Judgment, or their strongest attacks when fought against as a boss, such as Sephiroth's Supernova or Cloud of Darkness's Ultra Particle Beam. The rest of the villains' EX Bursts are entirely original, like Garland's Soul of Chaos.

For players who don't want to enter EX Burst commands (i.e. EX Bursts of Jecht, Tidus, and Tifa which require precise timing to get "Perfect"), they may activate the support ability Auto EX Command that is unlocked at Level 15, although using this sometimes fails. The player must master this ability to unlock Auto EX Command Ω, which never fails.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
EX Burst is a game mechanic and an ability possessed by some cards with "EX Burst" written in their ability description. When a player takes damage and places cards from their deck into their Damage Zone, if one of those cards has EX Burst, the card's ability immediately activates for no cost and no other abilities can be used in response to it.

Numerous characters retain their Limit Break abilities that were used as their EX Mode or EX Burst in Dissidia.

One of Jecht's cards, showing his alt outfit EX Mode, can use Blitz King. For the discard of a Jecht card and two Fire CP, Blitz King makes all of the player's Forwards active and allows them to attack an additional time that turn.

Bartz's card depicting his EX Mode can use Job Master. For the discard of a Bartz card, Job Master grants Bartz the special abilities of all the other player's Forwards that turn, on top of his card's normal ability to copy abilities save for special abilities from the player's other Forwards.

Kain's card showing his Dissidia artwork can use Dragoon's Pride. For Dulling Kain, discarding another Kain card and paying two Lightning CP, Dragoon's Pride Breaks a Forward of the player's choice. As a penalty, Kain does not become Active during the player's next turn.

Laguna's card showing his Dissidia render can use Ultimate Ragnarok Cannon. For the discard of another Laguna card and one Ice CP, the ability Breaks all of the opponent's Forwards that have action abilities.

Trivia

 * In the Japanese version of Dissidia/Dissidia 012, when the player achieves a "Perfect" in the character's EX Burst, the word Perfect had two Exclamation marks '!'. However, in the western releases, the word Perfect had only one exclamation mark.
 * In Dissidia, all EX Bursts were executed against a field of orange and blue. In Dissidia 012, characters aligned with Chaos execute their Bursts against an orange field, while characters aligned with Cosmos use a blue field while executing an EX Burst. Feral Chaos, however, would use the field of either side he is fighting against, as he smash's the opponent through the field and into the arena of fire when his EX Burst is executed.
 * When characters utilize their EX Bursts, the sound byte that is used is when the player is selecting commands and when battle menu opens up from their respective game. This is more prominent with the Warriors of Cosmos, and seen in with few Warriors of Chaos. The Warrior of Light and Firion's EX Burst plays the command select and confirmation sound byte from the Final Fantasy Origins version of Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II, for example.

Mode EX Modalità EX EX Mode