Earth is a rare element in Final Fantasy XIII. It could be considered to be opposed to wind, as all other elements have an "opposite" and earth and wind are typically opposed in the series, but there is only one earth ability the player can use. Quake is a magical technique or Eidolon ability that hits all grounded targets of a chosen party; in three-way battles, it will only target one of the enemy groups. It will also extend the targets' chain bonuses by 26.6 seconds.
Unlike the other elements in the game, earth is not used by a Ravager, and similar to wind, has no en- nor bar-effect. Though Hecatoncheir could be considered the game's earth Eidolon, he can only use the same earth spell the player can, Quake, and though his ultimate attack is called "Gaian Salvo", it is non-elemental.
Oretoise- and behemoth-type enemies use earth against the player. Though the player cannot become permanently airborne like in some other Final Fantasy games with the Float status, enemies' Quake tend to miss if the player's party members are not currently touching the ground, such as when they jump to attack a high target.
The player is likely to only rarely use Quake outside of summoning Hecatoncheir, as it will not come up in Auto-battle and AI-controlled allies will not use it. There are still some good uses for it, especially against enemies that appear in large groups, as the earth shaking tends to interrupt them. Earth no longer appears as a gameplay element in Final Fantasy XIII-2 or Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.
Abilities[]
| Magical | Quake |
|---|
The Earth Affinity synergy effect increases the damage dealt by the user's Quake by +20%–50%, depending on the affinity's strength. The player can activate the effect by equipping multiples of accessories that protect against earth damage.
Everyone party member can learn Quake, at different parts of their Crystarium systems.
Alexander's Divine Judgment does increased damage to targets weak to any elemental damage, though the attack itself is considered non-elemental.
Enemy abilities[]
| Ability | Description | Enemy |
|---|---|---|
| Quake | Same as the player's Quake technique | Adamanchelid, Adamantoise, Adamantortoise, Corrosive Custard, Flowering Cactuar, Hecatoncheir, Long Gui, Shaolong Gui |
| Sunder | Deals major earth damage to target and nearby allies through multiple attacks. | Behemoth King, Humbaba, Kaiser Behemoth, Lodestar Behemoth, Proto-behemoth |
Protection[]
There is no bar-spell to mitigate earth damage, but the player can still use Shell against oretoises' Quake and Protect against behemoths' Sunder.
The Clay Ring mitigates earth damage received by 20%, the Siltstone Ring by 25%, and the Gaian Ring by 30%, and the Earth Charm randomly converts earth damage to healing, but does not block every earth attack. The Entite Ring resists all elements by 10–25%.
The damage-mitigation from accessories stacks with each other: the percentages are subtracted from 100% and multiplied together.
Enemies[]
Enemies' elemental vulnerabilities are recorded in their Enemy Intel, viewable during battle and in the Datalog. Various enemies can be weakened to elements with Imperil, which lowers the enemy's elemental resistance by one stage, e.g. from Halved to Normal, or from Normal to Weakness. Enemies have programmed elemental resistances/vulnerabilities even when it is not possible to use that element against them in a normal playthrough.