Limit Break (Final Fantasy XIV)

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FFXIV_Heavensward_Limit_Break_Exhibition

Limit Break is a party ability in Final Fantasy XIV. When in a party of four or more, players will have access to the limit gauge, which gradually fills during the course of battle. When a limit gauge is full, the stored energy can be used to activate limit breaks. The limit break executed is determined by the role of the party member who initiates it. Limit breaks have three levels, commonly referred to as LB1, LB2, and LB3; the more limit gauges are filled, the stronger the limit break. Limit breaks are available only to non-limited combat disciplines.

The limit gauge gradually builds over time during combat. Light parties have access to one limit gauge, meaning they are only able to use Level 1 limit breaks when it is filled. A full party has two limit gauges. Reaching the last boss of a duty adds an extra limit gauge, making a total of two gauges for light parties and three gauges for full parties. During duties which have a single boss and nothing else the extra gauge is unlocked by default. Level 3 limit breaks can only be performed with a job crystal equipped, and each job has a visually unique level 3 limit break.

Damage dealing limit breaks scale with the combined weapon damage of the party rather than the individual who performed it. All limit breaks are unaffected by abilities that reduce cast time, and when used have lengthy animations that prevent the user from moving, which can leave them vulnerable to area of effect attacks.

List of Limit Breaks[]

Tank[]

Tank limit breaks focus on drastically raising the defense and magic defense of the entire party for a short period of time. Typically only used when a large amount of party-wide damage is incoming, and its use is often planned ahead of time rather than spur of the moment. Prior to patch 3.0, Last Bastion was used by all tank disciplines as their level 3 limit break.

Ability	Cast	Range	Area
Shield Wall	Instant	—	50y radius
Shield Wall	Reduces damage taken by all party members by 20%. Duration: 10s
Stronghold fka. Mighty Guard	Instant	—	50y radius
Stronghold fka. Mighty Guard	Reduces damage taken by all party members by 40%. Duration: 15s
Last Bastion	Instant	—	50y radius
Last Bastion	Reduces damage taken by all party members by 80%. Duration: 12s
Land Waker	Instant	—	50y radius
Land Waker	Reduces damage taken by all party members by 80%. Duration: 12s
Dark Force	Instant	—	50y radius
Dark Force	Reduces damage taken by all party members by 80%. Duration: 12s
Gunmetal Soul	Instant	—	50y radius
Gunmetal Soul	Reduces damage taken by all party members by 80%. Duration: 12s

Melee DPS[]

Limit breaks for melee DPS disciplines focus on dealing massive damage to a single enemy. Often used to push through the final stages of a boss encounter, where their greater potencies make them preferable over the ranged limit breaks. Prior to patch 3.0, Final Heaven was used by all melee DPS disciplines as their level 3 limit break.

Ability	Cast	Range	Area
Braver	2s	8y	—
Braver	Delivers an attack with a potency of 2,400.
Bladedance	3s	8y	—
Bladedance	Delivers an attack with a potency of 5,250.
Final Heaven	4s	8y	—
Final Heaven	Delivers an attack with a potency of 9,000.
Dragonsong Dive	4s	8y	—
Dragonsong Dive	Delivers an attack with a potency of 9,000.
Chimatsuri	4s	8y	—
Chimatsuri	Delivers an attack with a potency of 9,000.
Doom of the Living	4s	8y	—
Doom of the Living	Delivers an attack with a potency of 9,000.

Ranged Physical DPS[]

The ranged physical DPS limit breaks inflict damage to enemies in a straight line in front of the player. Typically used to quickly eliminate large groups of enemies when chain pulling or during the add phase of a boss encounter. If no melee DPS is present, can also substitute for them against a single target. Prior to patch 3.0, ranged physical DPS disciplines instead used the same limit breaks as healers.

Ability	Cast	Range	Area
Big Shot	2s	30y	30y by 4y line
Big Shot	Deals damage with a potency of 1,650 to all enemies in a line before you.
Desperado	3s	30y	30y by 5y line
Desperado	Deals damage with a potency of 3,600 to all enemies in a line before you.
Sagittarius Arrow	4.5s	30y	30y by 8y line
Sagittarius Arrow	Deals damage with a potency of 6,150 to all enemies in a line before you.
Satellite Beam	4.5s	30y	30y by 8y line
Satellite Beam	Deals damage with a potency of 6,150 to all enemies in a line before you.
Crimson Lotus	4.5s	30y	30y by 8y line
Crimson Lotus	Deals damage with a potency of 6,150 to all enemies in a line before you.

Ranged Magic DPS[]

Caster limit breaks focus on dealing powerful damage to enemies in a circular area of effect. Typically used to quickly eliminate large groups of enemies when chain pulling or during the add phase of a boss encounter. If no melee DPS is present, can also substitute for them against a single target. Prior to patch 3.0, Meteor was used by all magic ranged DPS disciplines as their level 3 limit break.

Ability	Cast	Range	Area
Skyshard	2s	25y	8y radius
Skyshard	Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 1,650 to all enemies near point of impact.
Starstorm	3s	25y	10y radius
Starstorm	Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 3,600 to all enemies near point of impact.
Meteor	4.5s	25y	15y radius
Meteor	Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 6,150 to all enemies near point of impact.
Teraflare	4.5s	25y	15y radius
Teraflare	Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 6,150 to all enemies near point of impact.
Vermilion Scourge	4.5s	25y	15y radius
Vermilion Scourge	Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 6,150 to all enemies near point of impact.

Healer[]

Limit breaks for healer disciplines focus on restoring a percentage of HP and MP to their allies. Their limit break is the only one to gain an additional function at level 3, as it can revive any KO'd allies. In duties where level 3 limit breaks are available, the limit break is often kept is reserve for use by healers at level 3 in case of emergencies. Level 1 and 2 healer limit breaks are rarely used, as their function can be easily filled by regular spells such as Medica. Prior to patch 3.0, healer limit breaks were also used by physical ranged DPS disciplines, and Pulse of Life was used by all healer and physical ranged DPS disciplines as their level 3 limit break.

Unlike regular revives, party members revived by a level 3 limit break are revived instantly with no confirmation prompt, and need to be prepared to act immediately. The Weakness and Brink of Death statuses will not be applied, but their duration will be reset if players were already afflicted by them. KO'd party members are also revived with 100% MP, but no MP is restored to still-living party members.

Ability	Cast	Range	Area
Healing Wind	2s	—	30y radius
Healing Wind	Restores 25% of own HP and the HP of all nearby party members.
Breath of the Earth	2s	—	30y radius
Breath of the Earth	Restores 60% of own HP and the HP of all nearby party members.
Pulse of Life	2s	—	30y radius
Pulse of Life	Restores 100% of own HP and the HP of all nearby party members, including ones KO'd.
Angel Feathers	2s	—	30y radius
Angel Feathers	Restores 100% of own HP and the HP of all nearby party members, including ones KO'd.
Astral Stasis	2s	—	30y radius
Astral Stasis	Restores 100% of own HP and the HP of all nearby party members, including ones KO'd.

Adrenaline Rush[]

Adrenaline Gauge.

In PvP duties, the Limit Break action is replaced by Adrenaline Rush. The adrenaline rush gauge can be filled through combating enemies and completing other objectives, dependent on the PvP duty. Players have access to a single adrenaline rush gauge.

Ability	Role	Cast	Range	Area
Aegis Boon	Tank	Instant	—	30y radius
Aegis Boon	Reduces damage taken by self and nearby party members by 25%. Duration: 10s Can only be executed while the Adrenaline Gauge is full.
Raw Destruction	Melee DPS	2s	8y	—
Raw Destruction	Delivers an attack with a potency of 10,000. Damage dealt is not affected by increased or decreased damage effects applied by players. Can only be executed while the Adrenaline Gauge is full.
Terminal Velocity	Physical Ranged DPS	1.5s	30y	30y by 4y line
Terminal Velocity	Delivers an attack with a potency of 6,000 to all enemies in a straight line before you. Additional Effect: Reduces target's HP recovered by healing actions by 25% Duration: 10s Damage dealt is not affected by increased or decreased damage effects applied by players. Can only be executed while the Adrenaline Gauge is full.
Cometeor	Magic Ranged DPS	2s	25y	8y radius
Cometeor	Deals magic damage to enemies near point of impact with a potency of 4,000. Additional Effect: Increases target's damage taken by 25% Duration: 10s Damage dealt is not affected by increased or decreased damage effects applied by players. Can only be executed while the Adrenaline Gauge is full.
Empyrean Rain	Healer	Instant	—	30y radius
Empyrean Rain	Restores 50% of own HP and the HP of all nearby party members. Additional Effect: Removes Stun, Sleep, Bind, Heavy, and Silence Can only be executed while the Adrenaline Gauge is full.

Adventurer Squadrons[]

Running a command mission with an Adventurer Squadron grants access to a unique limit break. Using the Execute Limit Break squadron command will use the Ungarmax limit break. Ungarmax consumes only one limit bar, but requires all three squadron members to be conscious. There is no level 2 squadron limit break. Players can also execute the regular limit break of their current discipline instead of using Ungarmax.

Ungarmax was at one point the centerpiece of an exploit that allowed it to be used outside of Command Missions via the /ac Ungarmax macro due to a programming oversight when it was implemented in patch 4.1. The exploit went mostly undiscovered for over 5 months before news of it began to spread throughout the playerbase, with players finding that the significant damage boost it provided allowed it to outperform even level 3 limit breaks. In response the development team took down all servers for emergency maintenance to remove the exploit, punish players who had abused it, and to improve their anti-cheat measures.[1]

Ability	Cast	Range	Area	Image
Ungarmax	3s	100y (player range) 14y (squadron range)	20y radius (buff)
Ungarmax	Orders squadron to execute a limit break on a single target. Also increases damage dealt by party members within a 20-yalm range. Can only be executed while on a command mission, limit gauge is at level 1, and all three squadron members are conscious.