Warp (Final Fantasy XV)

Noctis throws his weapon before warping.

Warp (シフト, Shifuto?, lit. Shift) is a command used by Noctis in Final Fantasy XV, and by the player characters in Final Fantasy XV: Comrades expansion. It teleports to a nearby location by throwing the equipped weapon.

Final Fantasy XV Ultimania Scenario Side describes warping as a form of magic. To warp, one must use the magic of the kings of Lucis, either by being royalty, or by the king lending his power with others like with the Kingsglaive and King Regis. Appropriate training is also required. The training requirement may be the reason Noctis's retinue does not warp in Final Fantasy XV outside of the one battle with the adamantoise where Noctis seems to warp all of them. Noctis himself started to practice warping after his 16th birthday, likely with the Engine Blade he received as present from his father. The persons known to be able to warp are Noctis, Regis, the members of the Kingsglaive, the Old Wall statues and their spirits, Ardyn Izunia, and the Eroder in Close Encounter of the Terra Kind.

In Chapter 1 of Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ignis, the player can use a hookarm that works similarly to Noctis's warp from the main game.

Appearances

Final Fantasy XV

Mechanics

Warping costs 30 MP. Pressing the Warp button without a "destination" is a "free-warp" (added in the Crown Patch), and propels Noctis forward in the direction he is facing. It is the only type of warp that can be used outside of battle, although it still can't be used in towns and outposts, when an indicator is on-screen, or in dungeons (unless in a battle). Like with phasing, warping leaves behind blue silhouettes of Noctis.

Free-warping can allow the player to reach some locations they can't otherwise get to by jumping. Noctis cannot free-warp through solid objects, and can only free-warp once in mid-air outside of battles. Warping in mid-air will mitigate fall damage (whereas swinging a weapon will not). When used in battle, it can be useful for dodging or quickly covering ground, but still deals minor damage if Noctis throws his weapon into an enemy, and has a small period of invincibility, like a dodge roll. Some enemies' grapple attacks will bring up a prompt, allowing Noctis to warp out of danger.

Noctis can free-warp with any weapon type except machines. Daggers and the Katana of the Warrior have especially fast warp animations. Free-warps with the Ring of the Lucii, the Cerberus rifle, and elemancy are quicker than with weapons, but do not damage enemies and cover slightly less distance.

Suspended after point-warping.

Warping to out-of-the-way locations and objects is called a point-warp, done by holding the Warp button while a warp indicator is visible on-screen. It fully restores Noctis's MP, but gradually drains his stamina gauge if he is left hanging from the area to which he warped. When Noctis's stamina runs out, he falls. Hanging is considered a form of cover, and Noctis's HP replenishes at an expedited pace. Performing the first point-warp suspension earns the Just Hangin' Around achievement/trophy.

Noctis can point-warp with anything equipped; the weapon model used for hanging from structures is Noctis's equipped one-handed sword; if he has none equipped, he is shown using the basic Broadsword model. Noctis can only point-warp when in battle, with a few minor exceptions (i.e. in Adventurer from Another World, the player can warp back to where they fell off from during a platforming sequence.) If the battlefield has multiple point-warp spots, Noctis can freely travel between them.

Warp-striking can break off enemy appendages.

Warping to enemies and subsequently dealing damage to them is called a warp-strike. The farther away from his target Noctis is, the greater damage warp-striking deals. Once the damage multiplier exceeds 3.0, warp-striking is almost guaranteed to put any non-boss enemy in a vulnerable state, though not all battlefields have enough space for this. Warp-striking to enemy appendages from afar can also be a good way to break them off.

The player can further increase the damage output of warp-strikes through the Ascension grid. Slaying an enemy with a warp-strike grants 1 AP. Some battles offer extra AP for completing an objective, requiring Noctis to perform a warp-strike that deals double damage. If the player is using character swap, a confused and AI-controlled Noctis will try to warp-strike into the sky and then fall onto the ground.

Warp-striking with Ragnarok.

Warp-striking can't be performed with machinery, magic, the Ring of the Lucii, or the Cerberus. Royal arms often have unique warp-strikes, as does the Mutant Rakshasa Blade. The Ragnarok is a Season Pass-exclusive weapon that significantly boosts warp-strike damage, with a unique sound and red hue, at the cost of being slower to execute.

Invoking Armiger turns all of Noctis's movements into warps for its duration, and he gains a unique lengthened warp-strike consisting of multiple weapon swings. Noctis will be in a sustained Armiger mode during the boss battles against Leviathan and a phase of the final boss, where moving or pressing the jump button will also cause him to warp. In Armiger Unleashed, warp-strikes vary depending on the distance to the target, with farther distances resulting in more complex combos and damage, though they take longer to execute.

Ignis's Mark Technique creates four warp points on enemy targets in battle for Noctis to perform an extended warp-strike sequence. Defeating enemies this way does not yield AP.

When infiltrating imperial bases, Noctis can use warp-kill to instantly defeat imperial troops. He cannot use this ability if he is detected.

Warp-enhancing abilities

The player can unlock abilities that enhance Warp from the Ascension.

Name	Category	Effect	AP
Daemon Destroyer	Combat	Warp-Strike can break daemon appendages.	24
Death Drop	Combat	From afar, use the attack button in midair to warp above the enemy and strike down with a sword or polearm.	28
Point-Blank Warp-Strike	Combat	Eliminate the damage modifier penalty of close-range warp-strikes.	333
Warp Decoy	Combat	Leave a hologram to divert enemies after warping.	48
Warp Factor	Combat	Warp-Strike damage increased by 25%.	24
Warp Factor II	Combat	Warp-Strike damage now increased by 50%.	52
Hang In	Recovery	Increase HP recovery rate while hanging from a warp-point position.	12
Warp-Ambush	Wait Mode	During Wait Mode, warp-strike an enemy not targeting Noctis to increase the likelihood of breaking its appendage.	18
Warp-Punish	Wait Mode	During Wait Mode, warp-strike an enemy with half or less of its HP remaining to increase damage inflicted.	99

Final Fantasy XV: Comrades

Players can warp to move in whatever direction the character is moving, and warp-striking quickly moves to a target and attacks them. If an enemy is parried, the enemy cannot move, and will be open to linked warp-strike for a short time. Point-warping allows players to hang from surfaces.

Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV

Nyx warping.

The members of the Kingsglaive can warp due to tapping into the king's magic powers. Nyx Ulric warps by throwing his kukris. When the king perishes, Nyx loses his ability to use magic, including the ability to warp, but regains it after he makes a deal with the kings of the old. The statues of the Old Wall can warp, and at one point, Nyx digs his weapon into The Mystic's statue and accompanies it as it warps away.

In the Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV "Fan Appreciation Special Movie" Yamachang humorously warps to Ultros with his sandal.

Other appearances

Final Fantasy XIV

During the A Nocturne for Heroes collaboration event, Noctis gives the Warrior of Light access to the Warp Strike during their fight with Messenger Garuda. The ability deals additional damage based on distance, and can be used on special targets in the arena to avoid attacks. By timing one's attacks with Noctis, the Warrior of Light can even perform a link-strike. The process of bestowing the ability on a Kingsglaive is also shown, with Noctis personally imbuing the Warrior of Light with magic. It is unclear if the Warrior of Light retains the king's blessing after Noctis departs for Eos at the event's conclusion.

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT

Warp is Noctis's EX Skill. He throws his sword at a designated area and warps to it. He has one charge at the start of a battle and can charge up to three times throughout.

Pictlogica Final Fantasy

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Final Fantasy Record Keeper

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Final Fantasy Brave Exvius

Point Warp.

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World of Final Fantasy

Shift Break is an active physical ability that inflicts neutral physical damage on a single target for 8 AP. It has very high topple strength. It can be used by Lann (Noctis's Champion Jewel).

Behind the scenes

Prerelease footage of warping

2006 trailer.

Noctis teleporting and materializing weapons from thin air was already present in the extended version of the E3 2006 reveal trailer of Final Fantasy Versus XIII, released in 2007 on the Dengeki Cloud DVD. Noctis is shown engaging soldiers with his crystalline weapons while remaining immune to their attacks as the weapons shield him from harm. His ability to teleport is showed as well as his ability to warp to his weapons and scale a building this way.

Past trailers, as well as earlier demos, showed Noctis point-warping to any weapon he has equipped. The final game launched with three generic hang animations (basic blade, Engine Blade, and Blazefire Saber). As of patch 1.23, all one-handed swords appear in point-warp animations, but no other weapons. Episode Duscae had spears as point-warp weapons as well, and in the Platinum Demo the player could point-warp with all weapons present with the adult Noctis, including the Star of the Rogue.

In the TGS 2014 trailer, Noctis can be seen point-warping outside of combat.

Warping depicted in current media

Warping is depicted in various Final Fantasy XV media.

• Somnus Lucis Caelum defeats Ardyn by warp-striking him with a spear in Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn – Prologue.
• As Noctis packs his sword in Final Fantasy XV Prologue Parting Ways, he remembers how he used to practice warping with it.

Noctis warp-strikes in Brotherhood Final Fantasy XV.

• Noctis warps in Brotherhood: Final Fantasy XV.
• When Ignis dons the Ring of the Lucii in Verse 1 of Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ignis, he warps backwards away from Ardyn before battling him.
• The final boss warps with a reddish glow. Gilgamesh can phase with a red glow, albeit his ability to do this goes unexplained.
• Ardyn seems to warp into the confrontation between Noctis and Ravus at the imperial base before his powers are revealed to the player and the party. It happens off screen, but the warping sound effect plays before Ardyn walks onto the scene. In Final Fantasy XV: Episode Ardyn, Ardyn can phase towards specific locations, similar to point-warping, or simply dash forwards in mid-air in the same manner. He also doesn't suffer fall damage.

Nyx warping when empowered by the Ring.

• The Glaives in Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV warp with a mixture of red, blue, and orange sparks. When Nyx gains power from the Ring of the Lucii, the color of his warp becomes is similar to Noctis's blue warp in Final Fantasy XV, but it gradually fades as dawn approaches. Noctis warps with the same colors as the Glaives in the movie in Omen .

Gallery

Warp-strike.

Warp-strike.

Point-warp.

Warp phantoms.

Etymology

[view · edit · purge]Warp is an element in video game design that allows a player character instant travel between two locations or levels.