Curse is a negative status effect in Final Fantasy XIII that makes the afflicted more easily interrupted by enemies' actions, and makes it more difficult for the afflicted to interrupt enemies. Curse is mutually exclusive with Vigilance, which has the opposing effect, making the unit more resilient to interruption and more able to interrupt enemies. Fang is the Saboteur specializing in debilitating spells and learns Curse the earliest.
Curse returns as a status in the sequels with slightly different mechanics.
Mechanics[]
"Cut" is the disruptive capability of an ability measured against the opponent's "Keep" value. Each ability has a Cut and Keep value, ranging 0–100. Cut determines how likely an ability is to interrupt another, while Keep determines how difficult it is for an ability to be interrupted. All party members and enemies have a base Keep value when idle; party members have a Keep value of 5, and most enemy attacks have a Cut value greater than 5. If the ability used to hit a target has higher Cut than the their current Keep, the ability will interrupt the target. This can cancel their action or simply delay them from initiating the action during the hit. Physical abilities tend to have higher Cut and Keep than magical abilities.
For staggered opponents, their base Keep value and all of their actions with a Keep of 89 or less are reduced to 0, making them easily interruptible. Some enemies may have their base Keep reduced, but will maintain the Keep of some or all of their abilities. These enemies can be thwarted by keeping them stunlocked, either by constantly attacking them or keeping them launched in the air. Some bosses also retain their normal Keep values when staggered.
The Vigilance status increases the Cut and Keep of all actions by 10, while Curse reduces them by 20. Vigilance will not raise Keep above 89, and will not boost the Keep of a move that is already above 89. Curse will not reduce the values below 0, or affect any Keep values above 89.
Abilities[]
| Game Element | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Curse | Saboteur ability for Sazh, Snow, and Fang | Inflicts Curse to the target for 60 seconds (base duration). Base chance 20%. |
| Cursega | Saboteur ability for Hope, Snow, and Fang | Inflicts Curse to the targets in range for 60 seconds (base duration). Base chance 15%. |
Ailment duration for effects inflicted from spells cast in battle can be somewhat lengthened with high chain gauge when the spell hits the target, and the Jinx ability. In addition, Curse lasts for one more second for every 100 points of Magic the caster has; anything that directly affects the Magic stat will help, such as Faith status and the Power Surge passive abilities, with Stifled Magic and Fettered Magic being exceptions.
Enemy abilities[]
| Game Element | Effect | Enemy |
|---|---|---|
| Accursed Breath | Deals moderate physical damage and may inflict Curse, Pain or Fog. | Amam, Mánagarmr |
| Cursega | Attempts to inflict Curse status to all enemies in range. | Barthandelus (Second Encounter) |
| Deep-Seated Grudge | Deals major damage to all party members and may inflict Curse and Fog. Restores the user's HP to full, removes all status ailments, increases stats, and raises status resistances. | Tonberry |
| Diluvial Plague | Deals minor damage, dispels up to eight status enhancements, and inflicts Debrave, Defaith, Deprotect, Poison, Slow, Curse, and Deshell on all targets. Removes up to eight status ailments from the user and modifies resistances to take half damage from all elements and become immune to Deprotect, Slow, and Imperil. | Dahaka |
| Lamenting Cry | Deals minor damage around the user, and inflicts Deprotect, Deshell, Debrave, Defaith, and Curse. | Syphax |
| Manadrive Curse | Attempts to inflict Curse status to a target. | PSICOM Predator |
| Pollen | Heals nearby Microchus or Picochus and removes status ailments, while damaging the party, removing status enhancements, and inflicting Poison and Slow, as well as Debrave, Defaith, Deprotect, Deshell, Imperil, and Curse. | Neochu |
| Serious Grudge | Deals major damage to all party members and may inflict Curse and Fog. Restores the user's HP to full, removes all status ailments, increases stats, and raises status resistances. | Tonberry |
| Ultimate Grudge | Deals major damage to all party members and may inflict Curse and Fog. Restores the user's HP to full and removes all status ailments. | Tonberry |
| Unfathomable Grudge | Deals major damage to all party members and may inflict Curse and Fog. Restores the user's HP to full, removes all status ailments, increases stats, and raises status resistances. User glows purple. | Tonberry |
| Vehement Grudge | Deals major damage to all party members and may inflict Curse and Fog. Restores the user's HP to full, removes all status ailments, increases stats, and raises status resistances. | Tonberry |
| Virulent Breath | Deals moderate damage and may inflict Curse or Poison, depending on the user. | Gorgonopsid, Megistotherian, Silver Lobo, Ugallu, Uridimmu |
Resistance[]
The player can resist Curse with Veil status, as well as the Warding Talisman and Hexbane Talisman accessories for Curse specifically, and Ribbon and Super Ribbon for all status ailments. The Debuff Resistance passive ability can additionally used to shorten the duration of Curse.
Healing[]
Curse can be removed with Esuna, Dispelga, Holy Water, and any abilities that bestow Vigilance. Curse can, conversely, be used to remove Vigilance from a target. Also, when an Eidolon is dismissed, regardless of whether it entered Gestalt Mode, all party members will be fully healed, both status and HP.
Enemies[]
The higher the number, the more susceptible the enemy is to the status.
Enemies fought when the player lacks access to the Curse spell still programmed resistances to the status even if the player cannot use the status against them in a normal playthrough.