Ice is an element in Final Fantasy XIII-2. It is opposed to fire and ice abilities can be classified as physical or magical. The role specializing in elemental damage is the Ravager, and ice is especially associated with Noel, though Serah and various Paradigm Pack creatures also learn ice abilities in their Ravager trees; monsters can learn ice abilities that Serah and Noel cannot use. Another way to use ice abilities via a Feral Link and the Enfrost effect from monster allies.
The Ravager's ice abilities are used to quickly build stagger, especially when used on enemies that are weak to it. AI-controlled allies and Auto-battle will not choose ice abilities against enemies that are known to be healed by it, or if there is an ability available that would work better. Monster allies will use Enfrost, should they have it, when the enemy's intel denotes them as weak to ice damage.
Because water has been removed as an element since appearing as a separate element from ice in Final Fantasy XIII, many aquatic enemies in Final Fantasy XIII-2 have affinity with ice element instead.
Abilities[]
| Magical | Blizzard, Blizzara, Blizzaga |
|---|---|
| Physical | Froststrike |
| Paradigm Pack abilities | Ice Blitz, Enfrost[note 1], Multicast (Zwerg Metro) |
The Ice Damage synthesis effect increases the damage dealt by Serah/Noel's ice attacks by +30%. The player can activate the effect by equipping multiples of Ember Ring, Blaze Ring, and Fire Aegis, including their "delicate" and "durable" variations. Paradigm Pack creatures do not equip accessories, but some have the Felfrost passive that boosts ice damage against targets that are weak to ice.
Enemy abilities[]
| Ability | Description | Enemy |
|---|---|---|
| Blizzard | Same as Ravager's Blizzard spell | Gremlin, Pink Miniflan, Raspatil |
| Blizzara | Same as Ravager's Blizzara spell | Amanojaku, Blue Chocobo, Flowering Cactuar, Left Manipulator, Proto fal'Cie Adam, Raspatil, Taxim |
| Blizzaga | Same as Ravager's Blizzaga spell | Azure Behemoth, Blue Chocobo, Left Manipulator |
| Cold Shock | Deals ice-elemental physical damage over a small area and inflicts wound damage. | Pacos Amethyst |
| Exoproofing: Ice | Grants Enfrost and absorbs ice-elemental attacks while becoming weak to fire-elemental attacks. | Pink Lily |
| Frost Breath | Deals magical ice-elemental damage through four attacks over a wide area. | Ultros |
| Glacier Crush | Deals physical ice-elemental damage over a small area and inflicts wound damage. | Pacos Amethyst |
| Icy Breath | Inflicts magical ice-elemental damage through multiple attacks over a small radius and inflicts Daze. | Calautidon |
| Scatter Beam | Deals physical ice-elemental damage over a wide area through multiple attacks. | Dragoon, Lancer |
Protection[]
Serah and Noel can equip accessories to mitigate ice damage, whereas Paradigm Pack monsters learn many of the passive abilities the accessories confer innately. Many accessories have "delicate" and/or "durable" variations in addition to the normal version; delicate versions are lighter to wear, but their effect is weaker; durable is the converse. The damage-mitigation from accessories stacks with each other.
The Frost Ring and the Icicle Ring accessories mitigate ice damage directly, whereas the Entite Ring and the Genji Shield mitigate all elemental damage. Ice Aegis can make the wearer immune to ice damage altogether.
The Sentinel role mitigates all damage taken, and its Element Guard mitigates elemental damage specifically. Paradigm Pack creatures can have Resist Elements: +X%, Resist Ice: +X%, Nullify Element, and Random: Nullify Element, which are the effects Serah and Noel can get from wearing accessories.
Enemies and Paradigm Pack[]
Enemies' elemental vulnerabilities are recorded in their Enemy Intel, viewable during battle. 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.
Some monsters are never faced as enemies, and are only Paradigm Pack allies. Because water has been removed as an element since appearing as a separate element from ice in Final Fantasy XIII, many aquatic enemies in Final Fantasy XIII-2 have affinity with ice element instead. Snow was the party member associated with water and ice in Final Fantasy XIII; he appears as a guest and as a DLC boss and a Paradigm Pack ally, but is not associated with ice in Final Fantasy XIII-2 anymore, instead leaning into his Commando and Sentinel traits.