Escape (command)

Escape is a command in the Final Fantasy series, which, when employed, lets the party members to try and escape a random encounter.

The most common way to escape a random encounter is by pressing down two buttons on the game controller or the console. For the titles on the PlayStation, this is done by simultaneously pressing both the R1 and L1 buttons. The Game Boy Advance titles require pressing both R and L buttons. In Final Fantasy XII, however, the command is issued by holding down the R2 button while running away from the enemy, and in the Final Fantasy IV Nintendo DS remake, it is issued by holding down the R button.

In Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, there is a special option which causes the team to escape at the battle menu. After escaping, the mission will fail or the battle will be lost.

As with Flee, Escape can only be employed in random encounter with normal enemies. The player cannot escape from storyline enemies and bosses, but there are few exceptions.

Escaping varies from game to game. In some games, when one member flees, the others will. In other games, the members flee individually and the battle will not end until any remaining party member flees or gets knocked out.

Final Fantasy
Individual characters may choose whether to flee or not while others can still fight. If the shoulder buttons are pressed, the entire team automatically chooses to flee. If one character is successful in fleeing, the entire party flees with them.

Running is always successful in a preemptive attack, and never possible in inescapable battles. Running is successful if:


 * $$Luck > 0...[Level + 15]$$

However, running is bugged on the NES and it loads something else instead of the runner's level:


 * Slot 1: Slot 3's Status byte
 * Slot 2: Slot 4's Status byte
 * Slot 3: Identifier for entity that attacks third, either 0-8 or 128-131
 * Slot 4: Depending on the one's digit of Slot 4's HP, 128-137

So, someone in Slot 1 or 2 will usually be able to run if their Luck is 15 or higher and the character in slot 3 or 4 has normal status. Enemies can always run in any battle. They will if:


 * $$Morale - 2*[Leader's Level] + (0...50) < 80$$

Final Fantasy II
The process for escaping from battle, and using the Flee command, functions the same way as in the original Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy III
The Thief Job has the command "Flee", which acts as a normal command to escape, but with a higher chance of success.

Final Fantasy IV
When escaping from battles, there is a chance of the party dropping gil equal to 1/4 of the amount that they would have received if all of the initial enemies in the battle would have been defeated. The party won't drop gil if they escape by the spell Teleport or the Ninjitsu ability Smoke. Using the ability Cry in the non-DS versions reduces the amount of time it takes for the party to escape from a battle.

In the DS remake, the player can escape non-boss battles by holding the R button. Edge can also learn a move called Smoke, which enables the party to successfully escape from non-boss battles. Again, the amount of gil lost when running is the same as in the previous versions.

Final Fantasy V
Escape can be done by simply holding the L and R buttons together, or by using the Thief ability Flee, the Time Magic spell Teleport, or the Ninja ability Smoke to escape instantly. If all party members were to use the Hide command, then the party will instantly flee from the battle, unless it is an unescapable battle. The weapon Chicken Knife has a 25% chance of forcing the party to flee whenever the user attacks with it.

Final Fantasy VI
Holding the shoulder buttons will cause all characters to proceed with running animation. But unlike the other games, each character escapes individually until there are no characters on the screen. This is determined by a "run difficulty value" for each character (this value is 0 in side attacks; otherwise, the value is equal to double the number of enemies present, though some enemies add 6 instead of 2 to the equation). Each character's "run difficulty value" is as follows.


 * Terra: 4
 * Locke: 5
 * Cyan: 3
 * Shadow: 5
 * Edgar: 4
 * Sabin: 4
 * Celes: 4
 * Strago: 3
 * Relm: 5
 * Setzer: 4
 * Mog: 5
 * Gau: 5
 * Gogo: 4
 * Umaro: 3
 * Banon: 2
 * Leo: 3
 * Vicks: 4
 * Wedge: 4

Once every 2 seconds, the game will check to see if the the party is trying to run. If they are, then each character's "run success" value increases, depending on the character and a random number between 1 to a value listed above. If a character's "run success" value is greater than or equal to the "run difficulty" value AND if the character's ATB gauge is full, then that character will escape. If not, they will keep trying to escape and their "run success" value will increase 2 seconds later.

Final Fantasy VII
To escape from a battle, the player has to hold the R1 and L1 buttons at the same time to attempt an escape. The animation has the players facing the opposite way and running on the spot. If the players have success in escaping, they will then flee off the screen and the character models will fade. Characters in certain statuses will not flee, these are Death, Paralyzed, Petrify, and Stop. Players in the Confusion status will be running while spinning. Players cannot flee from bosses. A player cannot escape an ambush until all enemies on one side are defeated.

Final Fantasy VII uses the Global Timer to decide when the party can escape. The Global Timer is the timer for the entire battle, and its speed is based on the the Battle Speed in the Config. The default Battle Speed is 128, and at max it is 255. A Global Timer Unit is earned for every mark of 8192 the Global Timer reaches. On the fastest Battle Speed setting, it would take just over 30 ticks for a single Global Time Unit, but on the slowest it would be about 152.

At the end of each Global Time Unit, the game checks if the party has been running for at least half the unit's time. If they have not, there is no chance of escaping until the next Global Time Unit has finished. If they have, then further mathematics has to be checked.

The battle will end once the Run Difficulty reaches zero. Depending on the encounter, the Run Difficulty will vary. Usually it is one, but for back attacks, it is usually two, and if encounters include certain enemies it is also higher. Every Global Time Unit that the party has been running for at least half the time of, there is a 25% chance of reducing the Run Difficulty by one. If the battle was a Preemptive Strike, or the party enclose the enemy via a Side Attack, the Run Difficulty will always reduce by one.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
Zack can escape from most "normal" battles by running towards the edge of the battlefield. After several seconds of persistently running against the invisible wall around the battlefield, the battle will end, or a "Can't escape!" message will be displayed if the battle is inescapable.

Final Fantasy VIII
The player can escape random battles by holding the L2 and R2 buttons. Experience can still be acquired if damage has been dealt to at least one enemy. E.g. damaging the enemy for 10% of its max HP would mean the party gets 10% of the EXP the enemy would've normally dropped. However, the player will not get AP or items fpr the battle. The number of escapes affects the SeeD exam score in Dollet, and the player must escape from the first encounter with X-ATM092.

Holding the L2 and R2 buttons makes all party members run. Every second or so, the game will check if a random number between 0 and 255 is less than the battle's "running difficulty" and if that is the case, the party will successfully flee. The running difficulty depends on each encounter, usually being 255 or 128. Bosses always have a running difficulty of 0, meaning escaping is impossible.

Final Fantasy IX
The player can use the L1 and R1 buttons to escape, or use Zidane's Flee skill to escape instantly. Using the Flee ability will cause the party to drop a small amount of Gil; this does not occur when the party runs away manually, although it may take longer than Flee, which allows the party to escape as soon as the move is completed.

The chance to escape from battle by holding L1 & R2 simultaneously is decided by the level average of members in the party (KO included) and the level average of the opponents (dead monsters not included)
 * $$Chance of escape = [Party Lv Avg * [200 / Monster Lv Avg] / 16] $$
 * $$If Rnd (0...99) >= Chance, battle continues$$

This check is performed once per second for as long as you hold R1 & R2. Escape is possible only during the idle time when enemy ATBs are filling. A Level 1 party has no chance of escape against any monster or group of monsters whose level average is 51 or higher.

Final Fantasy X
In Final Fantasy X characters run away individually, and are not replaced by another character when they do; once all three characters participating in battle are either KO'd, ejected from battle or have escaped, the battle ends. All characters can flee from an escapable battle at once through the use of the ability Flee.

Final Fantasy X-2
In Final Fantasy X-2, the escape command is an accessible command given by any Dressphere, using the button to change Battle Menus and select Escape, unless hindered by a status ailment such as Petrify, Stop or the character is KO'd. The character will escape from the battle and not be able to be replaced. The entire party can escape simultaneously using the Flee command in the Thief Dressphere.

Unlike in Final Fantasy X (here if the remaining party is KO'd and one or two of the other party members have escaped it will result in a Game Over), in Final Fantasy X-2, if one or two of the party members have escaped from the battle, and the remaining characters are KO'd, the battle will end, but not in a Game Over. The player will simply return to the game, with no experience points earned.

Final Fantasy XII
By pressing the R2 button, the party will put their weapons away and the player will be able to flee. Pressing the R2 button cancels all actions. Escaping is made easier by changing the battle speed to slow in the config; the enemies take longer to execute commands, but the party will still be running away at the same pace. The game's escape function can sometimes stop enemies from fleeing; some enemies, while in low health, tend to run away. However, if the player presses the R2 button when this happens the enemy's AI might be reset and it'll launch after the party again. This is useful to avoid chasing fleeing enemies across the battlefields.

Final Fantasy XIII
In Final Fantasy XIII the player may no longer escape from battles, and was replaced by a "Restart" function to bring the party back to the previous screen before they engaged the enemy, effectively acting as a replacement to the escape system. Also, unlike Escape, Restart will also work on boss battles.