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Commandos are offensive specialists, employing brutal physical attacks and damaging magic as the tools of their trade.

Primers: Battle

Commando is a paradigm role in Final Fantasy XIII whose main function is to deal damage and slow the pace the enemy's chain gauge decreases. The Commando has the fewest command abilities among the six roles, being the most straightforward of all. It is symbolized with the initials COM and the color red.

Profile[]

When the party has multiple attackers, the Commandos will hit different targets, maximizing the number of enemies whose chain gauges decrease at a slower rate. Merely being in the Commando role boosts the person's physical and magical power, and the benefits extend to other party members to a lesser degree. The bonus depends on the Commando's role level. If the paradigm has more than one Commando, the bonus is the sum of all applicable Commando bonuses.

Commandos deal slightly more damage with melee than with magic if their strength and magic stats are equal, but the difference is negligible, and characters with higher magic than others have strength will still deal more damage with Ruin than the others with Attack.

Achievement icon.

Commando is a primary role for Lightning, Snow, Sazh, and Fang, and a secondary role for Vanille and Hope.

The achievement Commando's Seal is earned by learning all the abilities and reaching level 5 for the Commando role of a single character. This can be achieved after defeating the final boss to unlock Stage 10 of the Crystarium.

AI mechanics[]

  • When choosing a target, if the party leader is a Ravager, Sentinel, or Saboteur, the computer-controlled Commando will always choose the party leader's target. If the party leader is a Medic or Synergist, the computer-controlled Commando will choose a random target and continue attacking that target until it is either defeated or the leader shifts role. If the party leader is another Commando, the computer-controlled Commando will select a different target to the party leader's target if there is more than one opponent. Computer-controlled Commandos won't attack a Dazed enemy as long as there are other un-Dazed enemies on the field. If all enemies are Dazed, the computer-controlled Commandos will act as normal and split the targets up between them.
  • The computer-controlled Commando usually attacks when their ATB gauge is full. The only exception is when their target is about to recover from stagger, in which case they choose one single attack per turn.
  • The computer-controlled Commando will always select abilities it believes will deal the most damage from the data it has available. When attacking a solitary target, the Commando will favor Attack over Ruin if Strength and Magic are close. If Magic is higher they will favor using Ruin.
  • If the opponent is more resistant to physical attacks than to magic, the Commando will always use multiple Ruin spells. The only exception is if the opponent is staggered when the computer-controlled Commando will always use Attack as its first command to launch the opponent.
  • If the target's physical and magical vulnerabilities are not currently known, the Commando will always use Ruin first, then the remaining commands will be Attack.
  • Assuming the abilities are learned, if there is at least one other opponent close to the chosen target just before the Commando's turn, they will use Blitz instead of Attack, or Ruinga instead of Ruin.
  • The computer-controlled Commando will never use Sovereign Fist or Highwind.

It is possible to make two Commandos attack the same target, even if there is more than one enemy on the field. The player must be a Commando, choose their attacks, and then select a target without initiating the attacks. The other Commando's AI will compel them to target the enemy the player is not targeting. As soon as as the AI Commando approaches the other enemy, the player can select that enemy and initiate their attacks.

Role levels[]

Below are the Crystarium Levels when each character can advance in role level.

Role Lv Lightning Sazh Snow Vanille Hope Fang
1 1 1 1 7 7 5
2 3 6 5 9 9 5
3 6 6 6 10 10 6
4 8 8 8 10 10 8
5 10 10 10 10 10 10

Commandos get a boost in damage depending on their role level, and the bonus extends to other party members. If the party has more than one Commando, the Commandos get both their personal bonus for being a Commando in addition to the party Commando bonuses from the other Commando(s). The role bonus is not contributed if the party member is incapacitated, and when summoning an Eidolon, only the party leader's role bonuses count.

Level Self Party
1 +100% +5%
2 +110% +5%
3 +120% +10%
4 +130% +10%
5 +150% +15%

Abilities[]

Auto-battle[]

Stock a set of commands focused on dealing damage.

Description
Ability ATB AP (Attack Power) Crystarium Stage
Lightning Sazh Snow Vanille Hope Fang
Attack 1 1.2*(for Sazh, 2 shots of 50% damage each) 1 3 1 7 7 5
Deal physical damage to target.
Deal physical damage to one foe.
Blitz 2 1.8*(for Sazh, 8 shots of 60% damage each) 1 3 8 7 5
Deal physical damage to targets in range.
Deal physical damage to target and nearby foes. In Sazh's case, multiple attacks in a 30° fan centered on target.
Ruin 1 1.0 1 3 1 7 7 5
Deal non-elemental magic damage to target.
Deal non-elemental magical damage to one foe.
Ruinga 3 2.2 8 9 8 10 9 8
Deal non-elemental magic damage to targets within a wide radius.
Deal magical damage to target and nearby foes. May lift foes into the air.
Sovereign Fist All 2.0/0.5 9
Crush foes with a ruinous blow, clearing chain gauges. Damage varies by situation.
Powerful attack with multiple hitboxes that resets the foe's chain gauge and ends a stagger period. Exclusive to Snow.
Highwind All 0.5/0.5/
1.0/0.5
9
Release a catastrophic blast, clearing chain gauges. Damage varies by situation.
Powerful attack with multiple hitboxes that resets the foe's chain gauge and ends a stagger period. Exclusive to Fang.

Passive abilities[]

Ability Crystarium Stage
Lightning Sazh Snow Vanille Hope Fang
Powerchain 1 6 8 7
Bolster Attack or Ruin at head of attack queue when target's chain gauge is empty.
The AP of an initial "Attack" or "Ruin" increases to 1.5 or 1.25 respectively and extends chain duration by 10 seconds when attacking a foe with a chain gauge at 100%. Takes priority over Blindside.
Lifesiphon 1 8 7 6
Recharge one ATB gauge segment upon slaying target.
Recover one ATB slot when defeating a foe.
Faultsiphon 2 7 7 8
Slightly charge ATB gauge upon attacking target afflicted with status ailments.
Recover 20% of an ATB slot when attacking a foe afflicted with a status ailment.
Launch 3 5 5
Attack and launch staggered target into the air.
Performing "Attack" on a staggered foe launches the enemy into the air.
Ravage 3 8 7 6
Bolster Blitz or Ruinga at head of attack queue when Ravager is present.
When the active paradigm has a Ravager who is not KO'd, the AP of "Blitz" and "Ruinga" increase to 2.00 or 2.45 and extend chain duration by 7.33 or 8.33 seconds respectively when used as the first ability in the attack queue.
Smite 4 7 5
Deal heavy damage with Attack to launched target about to recover from stagger.
When a launched foe is 2.4 seconds or less from the end of stagger, the AP of the next "Attack" command increases to 5.0. Also activates against midair targets, with reduced damage.
Blindside 6 8 7 8
Bolster Attack or Ruin at head of attack queue when non-staggered target is not targeting you.
When starting a series of attacks on a foe not targeting the attacker, the AP of the first "Attack" or "Ruin" increases to 2.0 or 1.7 respectively. Does not activate against staggered foes.
Scourge 6 6 6 7 7 6
Deal heavy damage with Attack to target about to recover from stagger.
When a foe is 2.4 seconds or less from the end of stagger, the AP of the next "Attack" command increases to 5.0.
Jeopardize 7 6 8 7 8 8
Boost chain bonus of staggered target upon attacking.
When attacking a staggered foe, attacks gain increased chain bonus.
Deathblow 5 9 7
Instantly slay target with low HP.
When attacking foes below a certain HP threshold, there is a chance to kill them in one hit; if target's remaining HP is less than 1.2 times the damage that would have been dealt, damage will become 1.5 times the normal.
Adrenaline 8 5 8 5
Boost Strength and Magic when HP is high.
When the Commando's HP is above 70%, physical and magical power is increased by 20%.

Other abilities[]

If hacked, Hand Grenade and the Potion ability are fully functional and work as intended. Hand Grenade can appear within the Auto-battle command while both Hand Grenade and Potion can manually be selected from the Abilities command. The Hand Grenade is fire-elemental.

Name ATB Cost Description
Hand Grenade 2 Deal physical damage to targets in range.
Potion Battle: 1
Menu: 2
Restores a small amount of HP to all allies.

Other appearances[]

Pictlogica Final Fantasy[]

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Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade[]

The characters use their Commando abilities.

Ability Cards
Legend Cards

Final Fantasy Record Keeper[]

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Final Fantasy Brave Exvius[]

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Behind the scenes[]

In an early trailer for the English version, characters were seen with the initials "GLA" in red as their paradigm role. It can be assumed the Commando role was originally referred to as "Gladiator".

Gallery[]

Command abilities
Passive abilities
Augmented versions

Etymology[]

Commando is a soldier or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force often specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting or abseiling.

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