Sazh Katzroy/Gameplay



Sazh is a playable character in Final Fantasy XIII who also appears in Final Fantasy XIII-2 as a downloadable content character. He wields dual pistols in battle, thus being a ranged fighter, and can combine them into one for a finishing attack. In Final Fantasy XIII he has a unique Blitz, and specializes in fire magic and offensive buffs. In Final Fantasy XIII-2 he can join as a Paradigm Pack "monster". His signature attack is Cold Blood, which has him rain down bullets on his opponents.

Final Fantasy XIII
Sazh wields a pair of pistols that can transform into an assault rifle. He shoots from a range. Out of the six playable characters, Sazh has the shortest Crystarium expansion, and he is the only character to start with only one role: Ravager. Despite having low stats during the main storyline, Sazh's battle efficiency increases in the post-game sidequests, as his pistols offer a range of useful passive abilities, such as Augment Maintenance and Stagger Maintenance. Sazh has slow animation speeds.

Roles


As a Ravager, Sazh has access to Fire and Lightning-elemental attacks (magical and physical), as well as Aero. Sazh's full ATB skill, Cold Blood (Desperado in the Japanese version), is a series of explosive shots that hit random enemies to increase chain gauge. It gives 17 hits to trigger Random: Instant Chain.

As a Synergist, Sazh first learns offensive buffs like Bravery and Faith, and also learns Haste the earliest. By the end of the game Sazh learns every buff aside from Veil and the -ra level buffs, rivaling Hope, who learns all buffs except Vigilance and the -ra level buffs.

Sazh works well as a Commando due to his Blitz ability, which is the strongest attack in the game the player can control. It differs from the Blitzes of other characters, which are one spread hit, whereas Sazh unleashes a barrage of eight bullets in a narrow fan, vastly increasing overall damage against multiple enemies, or racking up hits to large or nearby targets. It is most effective when enemies are standing close together and/or are large in size. Each shot deals 60% normal damage and the AI rarely uses Blitz, so to make best use of it Sazh should lead. Sazh cannot launch enemies as a Commando.

Sazh can be helpful as a Saboteur as he learns all single-target spells, making him potentially one of the best characters to be used in active party. Thanks to his high HP he can take hits as a Sentinel more effectively than most other characters, and has access to both Wards and Steelguard. He is also one of four of the party to learn Curasa as a Medic, making him an effective healer if the player gives him equipment that boosts his Magic.

Stats
Sazh generally has lower stats than other party members, although he has the second highest max HP by the end of the game.


 * Base statistics

Eidolon


Sazh's Eidolon is Brynhildr, a female, fire-elemental Valkyrie, who can turn into a race car in her Gestalt Mode. Brynhildr has multiple abilities that can be used effectively with Sazh's Synergist role that allow for a change of elemental damage.

Sazh, along with Snow, is one of two characters who doesn't help others claim their respective Eidolons.

Weapons
Because he has two weapons, Sazh gets double the attacks in number for a single Attack command used. If Sazh performs a series of attacks, he combines the pistols into a rifle for the last shot, which hits once. Sazh's attack power is divided between his weapons, however, so he won't get an advantage over the other characters even if his attack always hits twice.

Sazh's guns or their holsters are not rendered while he is on the field; only the straps that hold the holsters are present. The guns are only rendered if they are required for a cutscene. At the Sunleth Waterscape, Sazh doesn't have his pistols at the beginning of the cutscene where he tells Vanille about Dajh, but after the flashback, his guns have suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Most of Sazh's guns are named after stars and star clusters, similar to those of Final Fantasy XII.

Vega 42s is his balance weapon with equal STR and MAG. Deneb Duellers augments his Magic. Having Sazh focus on magic is not a bad idea, but the low Strength will cripple his unique Blitz.

Spica Defenders boost Sazh's Synergist abilities with the Augment Maintenance that makes offensive buffs last x1.4 longer, and the LV II version lengthens the duration to x1.8. The synthesized ability Buff Duration lengthens all buffs on himself as well.

Rigels have high stats but Stagger Lock. It can be a good weapon for Sazh as he is not usually a primary stagger person in the party. It has the ability to synthesize Random: Instant Chain to use with Cold Blood.

Antares Deluxes have low stats but also Chain Bonus Boost and the ability to synthesize ATB Rate. This augments Sazh as a Ravager and gives him a speed boost, but is not used for damage dealing.

Procyons has poor stats, but its Stagger Maintenance lengthens stagger duration by 10% or 30% for the LV II version if the stagger is triggered by Sazh. The max limit is 45 seconds. It requires Dark Matter to be upgraded into its tier 2, which is not available until late into the game. It can synthesize Random: Instant Chain.

Pleiades Hi-Powers have the highest STR, offering only nominally more STR at tier 3 when compared to its tier 2, meaning this weapon doesn't need a Trapezohedron. Having high STR augments Blitz but with no MAG Sazh must only perform physical attacks. Paper Tiger reduces Sazh's HP by 60%. With high STR and a downside that can be circumvented, it can be a good weapon for Sazh.

Aldebarans boosts his MAG the most, but it has Leadenstrike making Sazh devastatingly slow, and it has no STR so all physical attacks are weakened.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
Sazh appears as downloadable content in the form of a "recruitable monster" who joins Serah and Noel after completing the downloadable episode "Sazh's Story: Heads or Tails?"

Sazh joins the party as Synergist and can learn most of the spells available from the Crystarium. If given Potent or Vitality materials, his HP can exceed 9,000, making him a useful addition to the Paradigm Pack. An all-Mana build is good as well. His Feral Link is Cold Blood, his full ATB Skill in Final Fantasy XIII, and functions the same. It is like Ravager Lightning's Army of One in that it is excellent for driving up an opponent's post-stagger chain gauge. Cold Blood's damage is calculated by Sazh's Strength, so it doesn't inflict much damage.

He learns +2 ATB from Crystarium expansions.

By infusing him with all Synergist spell variations, Sazh can become a competent all-around Synergist due to his fast casting speed and 6 ATB segments. While it is impossible to prioritize particular buffs, the player can switch Sazh out for another monster so that the rest of the Paradigm Pack benefits from his Auto: Buffs.