Enthunder is an elemental infusion status effect in Final Fantasy XIII that adds the lightning attribute to most of the party members' Commando, Sentinel, or Saboteur attacks. For Ravagers, it will strengthen their lightning-elemental attacks and not affect abilities of other elements (e.g. Enthunder not make Flamestrike lightning-elemental, but will make Sparkstrike stronger).
Its visual indicator is that the affected party member's weapon glows purple (for Snow, his fists will glow though his equipped weapon is the emblem on his coat). Enemies have no visual cue besides the icon next to their HP bar.
Mechanics[]
Enemies weak to lightning take double damage from lightning-elemental attacks, making Enthunder great against such enemies. Against enemies that resist or absorb lightning damage, Enthunder would be a detriment (AI-controlled Synergists would thus not use it in these battles).
Enthunder pairs well with Imperil on an enemy, which weakens the target to elemental damage. Enthunder improves damage, but abilities' measure on the chain gauge remains fixed. Enthunder, or another compatible en-effect, may be good to bestow right before an enemy's stagger.
The following abilities are made lightning-elemental when Enthunder is in effect: Commando's Attack, Blitz, Ruin, Ruinga, all Saboteur spells (including Death), and Sentinel's Vendetta and Entrench.
Sparkstrike when under the effect of Enthunder.
Lightning-elemental Ravager abilities under Enthunder will deal x1.3 damage (Thunder, Thundara, Thundaga, and Sparkstrike). When using Sparkstrike, the animation for Thundara (which is an area attack) will display.
It will not affect Smite, Army of One, Highwind, Sovereign Fist, Last Resort, nor Cold Blood. Vanille's full ATB skill is the only one that can benefit from Enthunder. Enthunder will not affect most Eidolon abilities, but will give Brynhildr new lightning-elemental abilities that she does not have available to her otherwise.
Enthunder is overwritten if an en-effect of another element is bestowed on top of it, as a unit can only have one elemental infusion effect at any one time. En- statuses are dispelled if attacking an enemy that is not weak or normal to the corresponding element.
In the early game, Sazh is the one specializing in augmenting spells and learns Enthunder the earliest.
Enthunder may make it easier to score five stars battle rating as it makes the party deal more damage without affecting target time. An Enspelled Commando deals more damage than a Ravager even with the +30% boost from Enthunder, due to the Commando's role bonus (53%–92% more damage depending on the Commando role level, assuming equal Strength/Magic). This benefit and the elemental bonus are curtailed somewhat in short battles, where the time taken to cast the Enspell and shift paradigms lengthens the battle time. Due to their long duration, en-effects are particularly valuable in long battles against enemies that are weak to the corresponding element.
A way to make lightning attacks even stronger by 20–50% is with Lightning Affinity synthesized ability from equipment.
Abilities[]
| Game Element | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Enthunder | Synergist ability for Lightning, Sazh, and Hope | Bestows Enthunder to the target for 180 seconds (base duration). |
Status duration for effects earned from spells cast in battle can be lengthened with high level Synergist role level, many Synergists in the same paradigm, the target's high chain level, the caster's high Magic stat (base stat + any boons, such as from Faith), the Boon ability, the Positive Effect synthesized ability, and Augment Maintenance and Augment Maintenance II weapon skills from Sazh's Spica Defenders and Sirius Sidearms, respectively.
Enemy abilities[]
| Game Element | Effect | Enemy |
|---|---|---|
| Exoproofing: Lightning | Makes the user absorb Lightning, immune to Ice, and weak against Water. Also grants Enthunder. | Aster Protoflorian, Vernal Harvester |
Removal[]
Enthunder can be removed with any abilities that inflict Dispel, and are overridden by Enfire, Enfrost, or Enwater.