Poison is a negative status effect in Final Fantasy XIII that constantly damages the target's HP, draining 0.32% of the afflicted target's total health per second, or about 19.2% per minute. Poison alone can remove all of a target's health in just over 5 minutes. Because it removes a fixed percentage over time regardless of the number of hit points, it is especially advantageous on enemies with lots of HP.
While summoning an Eidolon, the duration of Poison will be paused in Gestalt Mode, although it will continue to deal damage. When using an Eidolon's finisher attack, the opposite is instead true.
Vanille is the Saboteur who learns the Poison spell the earliest.
Poison returns in the sequels to Final Fantasy XIII, where it also becomes opposite status to Regen, a status not present in Final Fantasy XIII. Using Mediguard can mitigate the effect of Poison, but it is best removed if struck with.
Abilities[]
| Game Element | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Poison | Saboteur ability for Lightning, Sazh, and Vanille | Inflicts Poison to the target for 60 seconds (base duration). Base chance 30%. |
| Poisonga | Saboteur ability for Lightning, Vanille, and Hope | Inflicts Poison to the targets in range for 60 seconds (base duration). Base chance 24%. |
Ailment duration for effects inflicted from spells cast in battle can be somewhat lengthened with high chain gauge when the spell hits the target, and the Jinx ability. In addition, Poison lasts for one more second for every 100 points of Magic the caster has; anything that directly affects the Magic stat will help, such as Faith status and the Power Surge passive abilities, with Stifled Magic and Fettered Magic being exceptions.
Enemy abilities[]
| Game Element | Effect | Enemy |
|---|---|---|
| Anathema | Inflicts Poison, Slow, Imperil, Deshell, and Defaith onto one target. | Sacrifice |
| Chains of Torment | Inflicts Poison and any status ailments from one party member to all party members. | Orphan (First Encounter) |
| Diluvial Plague | Deals minor damage, dispels up to eight status enhancements, and inflicts Debrave, Defaith, Deprotect, Deshell, Slow, Curse, and Poison on all targets. Removes up to eight status ailments from the user and modifies resistances to take half damage from all elements and become immune to Deprotect, Slow, and Imperil. | Dahaka |
| Miasma | Deals damage and may inflict Poison, Imperil, Slow, Deprotect, Deshell, and Daze on all targets within a wide radius, depending on the Cie'th. | Bituitus, Edimmu, Mithridates, Pijavica, Varcolaci |
| Nerve Gas | Deals damage to the party and inflicts Poison. | Midlight Reaper |
| Poison | Inflicts Poison onto one target while dealing damage. | Chonchon |
| Poisonga | Inflicts Poison onto targets in range while dealing damage. | Barthandelus (Second Encounter), Cid Raines, Penanggalan |
| Pollen | Heals nearby Microchus or Picochus and removes status ailments, while damaging the party, removing status enhancements, and inflicting Poison and Slow, as well as Debrave, Defaith, Deprotect, Deshell, Imperil, and Curse when used by Neochu. | Ochu, Neochu |
| Spin Attack | Deals moderate damage to character and may inflict Curse, Deprotect, Deshell, or Poison, depending on the user. | Barbed Specter, Mushussu, Triffid |
| Virulent Breath | Deals moderate damage and may inflict Curse or Poison, depending on the user. | Gorgonopsid, Megistotherian, Silver Lobo, Ugallu, Uridimmu |
Resistance[]
The player can resist Poison with Veil status, as well as the Star Pendant and Starfall Pendant accessories for Poison specifically, and Ribbon and Super Ribbon for all status ailments. The Debuff Resistance passive ability can additionally used to shorten the duration of Poison.
Removal[]
Poison can be removed with Esuna, Dispelga, and Antidote. When an Eidolon is dismissed, regardless of whether it entered Gestalt Mode or not, all party members will be fully healed, both status and HP.
Enemies[]
The higher the number, the more susceptible the enemy is to the status. Some enemies are immune in their normal state but susceptible during stagger, or simply more susceptible to statuses when in stagger.
Most high HP enemies are immune to Poison, but two of the highest-HP enemies, Vercingetorix and Long Gui, are susceptible.
Enemies fought when the player lacks access to the Poison spell still have resistances to the status even if the player cannot use the status against them in a normal playthrough.