EX Mode (term)



EX Mode is a gameplay term from Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. EX Mode effectively serves as Dissidia's Limit Break system, 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 do not absorb EX Force while attacking, while being attacked, or dodging. Certain accessories allow this. The radius in which the character absorbs EX Force, as well as the amount of the EX Gauge filled as they collect EX Force, can also be modified using accessories and some equipment pieces. 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 turns orange, and players may enter EX Mode by pressing and R.

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 normally or until a HP attack is dealt. The duration of this period can be adjusted by making custom Rules or by certain equipment. During this time the player's attack cooldown is reduced to nothing, allowing the player link together several Brave attacks one after another.

EX Mode
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, refill 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 new attacks, increased damage and certain 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. 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 Dissidia's playable cast, 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 while they are in EX Mode, a new feature called "EX Break" will occur, knocking the character out of EX Mode and giving the attacker the Map Bravery, like a Bravery Break.

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 taping a button rapidly or imputing 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 usually results in a simpler and less-powerful attack being used, minimizing the Bravery damage done before the HP attack.

EX Bursts tend to be devastating, capable of depleting all of an opponent's HP. 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 to 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, some of their EX Bursts are either based on their strongest attacks when fought against as a boss, like Kefka's "Light of Judgment", Sephiroth's Supernova or Cloud of Darkness' "Ultra Particle Beam." The majority of villain EX Bursts are entirely original, like Garland's "Soul of Chaos".

Trivia

 * 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.

Modalità EX EX Mode