Saboteurs use their skills to weaken enemies. Their bag of tricks includes not only attribute-lowering abilities, but also those that inflicts status ailments, like Poison.
Primers: Battle
Saboteur is a paradigm role in Final Fantasy XIII whose main function is to enfeeble enemies while slowing down their chain gauges. The role is symbolized with the initials SAB and the color gray.
Profile[]
Saboteur abilities deal a small amount of magical damage that can increase the chain gauge more effectively than a Commando while providing more chain duration than a Ravager. Each ability has a chance to inflict a status ailment, which is treated as an additional “hit” that grants a moderate bonus to the chain gauge and a large increase in the chain duration.
Each time a Saboteur ability is cast without the status ailment landing on a target that isn't immune to it, the target's resistance to it goes down by 2 points, to a minimum of 0. Once an ailment has landed, casting it unsuccessfully will no longer lower the target's resistance to it, and the target will gain 1 point of resistance every 2 seconds, to a maximum of 99. After an ailment has worn off, the target's resistance will go down by 1 point every 2 seconds, eventually stopping once it reaches its base value.
Being in the Saboteur role boosts the character's chances of inflicting the target with status ailments, and the boost is greater depending on the role level and how many Saboteurs are in the current formation.
Saboteur is a primary role for Vanille and Fang, and a secondary role for Lightning, Snow, Sazh and Hope.
The achievement Saboteur's Seal is earned after learning all the abilities and reaching level 5 for the Saboteur 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, Saboteurs choose targets that have the least number of status ailments inflicted upon them.
- Saboteurs only attack when their ATB gauge is completely charged.
- When inflicting a certain status ailment, Saboteurs cast the area-of-effect spells if there are at least three enemies not inflicted by the desired status effect, and single-target spells if there are two enemies or fewer.
- If an enemy's notes section in the bestiary flag up a status ailment it is susceptible to, the Saboteur will cast the same spell multiple times in the queue.
- When all status ailments flagged on the enemy's notes are inflicted (if any at all), the Saboteur will attempt to remove status enhancements from foes with Dispel. The step is ignored if the enemies do not have any status enhancements, the enemies are known to be immune to the effects of Dispel, or the Saboteur has not learned Dispel.
- Finally, the Saboteur will mix up various spells in the same queue on opponents. Saboteurs will not choose status spells they know the target is immune to.
- In general, Saboteurs use debuffing spells (such as Deprotect, Deshell, Poison and Imperil) if there are only a few enemies to fight, and debilitating spells (such as Pain, Fog, Daze, Curse and Slow) if faced by many opponents.
- Once all possible status ailments the Saboteur can inflict and the opponents are not immune to are inflicted on the opponents, the Saboteur will take no further action until the status effects expire.
- If Vanille is controlled by the computer as a Saboteur, she will never cast Death.
Role level[]
Below are the Crystarium Levels when each character can advance in role level.
| Role Level | Lightning | Sazh | Snow | Vanille | Hope | Fang |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| 2 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 4 |
| 3 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 6 |
| 4 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 8 |
| 5 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
The Saboteur's role bonus increases the success rate of all status afflictions that target enemies. This bonus applies to the status effect's base rate by multiplying the bonus factor by the base rate. If there is more than one Saboteur in the paradigm, the bonus factor is the sum of all applicable Saboteur role bonuses. 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 | +20% | +4% |
| 2 | +24% | +4% |
| 3 | +28% | +8% |
| 4 | +33% | +8% |
| 5 | +40% | +12% |
Abilities[]
Auto-hinder[]
Stock a set of commands focused on weakening enemies.
Description
| Ability | ATB | Class.Classification | Crystarium Stage | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning | Sazh | Snow | Vanille | Hope | Fang | |||
| Deprotect | 1 | Debuff | 7 | 7 | — | 2 | — | 8 |
| Reduce target's physical resistance and deal magic damage. Decreases resistance to physical damage by 89% by inflicting Deprotect for 60 seconds. Base chance 40%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Deprotega | 3 | Debuff | 7 | — | — | 7 | 7 | — |
| Reduce physical resistance and deal magic damage within a wide radius. Decreases resistance to physical damage by 89% by inflicting Deprotect to all enemies in range for 60 seconds. Targets all enemies. Base chance 30%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Deshell | 1 | Debuff | 7 | 7 | — | 2 | — | 8 |
| Reduce target's magic resistance and deal magic damage. Decreases resistance to magical damage by 89% by inflicting Deshell. Base chance 40%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Deshellga | 3 | Debuff | 9 | — | — | 7 | 7 | — |
| Reduce magic resistance and deal magic damage within a wide radius. Decreases resistance to magical damage by 89% by inflicting Deshell to all enemies in range. Targets all enemies. Base chance 30%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Poison | 1 | Debuff | 7 | 7 | — | 4 | — | — |
| Poison target and deal magic damage. Constantly damages the target's HP by inflicting them with Poison status that drains a percentage of the target's total health, equal to roughly 1% every three seconds. Base chance 30%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Poisonga | 3 | Debuff | 10 | — | — | 8 | 7 | — |
| Poison and deal magic damage to targets within a wide radius. Constantly damages the target's HP by inflicting Poison status that drains a percentage of the target's total health, equal to roughly 1% every three seconds. Targets all enemies. Base chance 24%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Imperil | 1 | Debuff | 7 | 7 | — | 5 | — | 9 |
| Reduce target's elemental resistances and deal magic damage. Decreases the target's elemental weaknesses by one class: Absorbed -> Immune -> Resistant -> Halved -> Normal -> Weakness by inflicting Imperil. Base chance 30%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Imperilga | 3 | Debuff | 10 | — | — | 8 | 10 | — |
| Reduce elemental resistances and deal magic damage within a wide radius. Decreases the target's elemental weaknesses by one class: Absorbed -> Immune -> Resistant -> Halved -> Normal -> Weakness. Targets all enemies by inflicting Imperil to all enemies in range. Base chance 24%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Slow | 1 | Debil.Debilitation | — | 10 | 7 | — | — | 5 |
| Reduce target's ATB gauge recharge rate and deal magic damage. Halves the rate at which the ATB gauge fills by inflicting Slow status. Base chance 30%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Slowga | 3 | Debil.Debilitation | — | — | 9 | — | 8 | 5 |
| Reduce ATB gauge recharge rate and deal magic damage within a wide radius. Halves the rate at which the ATB gauge fills by inflicting Slow status to all enemies in range. Targets all enemies. Base chance 24%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Fog | 1 | Debil.Debilitation | — | 9 | 7 | 8 | — | 7 |
| Disable target's spell-casting abilities and deal magic damage. Prevents use of all magical related abilities by inflicting Fog status. Base chance 20%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Fogga | 3 | Debil.Debilitation | — | — | 10 | — | 9 | 7 |
| Disable enemy spell casting and deal magic damage within a wide radius. Prevents use of all magical related abilities by inflicting Fog status to all enemies in range. Targets all enemies. Base chance 15%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Pain | 1 | Debil.Debilitation | — | 9 | 7 | 8 | — | 8 |
| Disable target's physical abilities and deal magic damage. Prevents use of all physical related abilities by inflicting Pain status. Base chance 20%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Painga | 3 | Debil.Debilitation | — | — | 10 | — | 9 | 8 |
| Disable enemy physical abilities and deal magic damage within a wide radius. Prevents use of all physical related abilities by inflicting Pain status to all enemies in range. Targets all enemies. Base chance 15%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Curse | 1 | Debil.Debilitation | — | 8 | 7 | — | — | 5 |
| Lower target's odds of interrupting actions and avoiding interruption of own. Increases the chance of actions being interrupted by the opponent and decreases the chances of interrupting the opponent's actions by inflicting Curse. Base chance 20%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Cursega | 3 | Debil.Debilitation | — | — | 7 | — | 7 | 5 |
| Render targets within a wide radius interruption-prone and deal magic damage. Increases the chance of actions being interrupted by the opponent and decreases the chances of interrupting the opponent's actions by inflicting Curse status to all enemies in range. Targets all enemies. Base chance 15%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Daze | 1 | Debil.Debilitation | — | 10 | 7 | — | — | 8 |
| Stun target, rendering it vulnerable, and deal magic damage. Target is unable to take action, and takes more damage from the next attack, which dispels the Daze status. Base chance 30%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Dazega | 3 | Debil.Debilitation | — | — | 8 | — | 10 | 8 |
| Stun and deal magic damage within a wide radius. Target is unable to take action, and takes more damage from the next attack, which dispels the Daze status. Targets all enemies. Base chance 24%. Base duration 60 seconds. | ||||||||
| Dispel | 2 | Debuff | — | 8 | — | 6 | 7 | 5 |
| Remove target's most recent status enhancement and deal magic damage. Removes the most recent enhancement from an opponent by inflicting Dispel status. Base chance 100%. | ||||||||
| Death | All | None | — | — | — | 9 | — | — |
| Slay target instantly, dealing magic damage instead if unsuccessful. Instantly kills an opponent; inflicts heavy magic damage (3.64–4.00 APAttack Power) if unsuccessful. Exclusive to Vanille. Base chance 1%. | ||||||||
Passive abilities[]
| Ability | Crystarium Stage | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning | Sazh | Snow | Vanille | Hope | Fang | |
| Jinx | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Extend duration of a target's existing status ailments upon inflicting new ones. When a character successfully inflicts a negative status effect on an opponent, any negative status effects already on the enemy will have their remaining length of duration increased by 5 seconds. | ||||||
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. |
Status effect infliction and duration[]
The chance to inflict a target with a status effect is:
- (Base chance %) * (alteration due to target's resistance) * Chain Bonus[1]
The alteration due to resistance is equal to [(100 - Enemy Res) / 100]; if the enemy has 10 resistance against the status effect the alteration is equal to 0.90. The chain bonus is taken as a percent value, so 100% gives a multiplier of 1 while 255% gives a multiplier of 2.55. Vanille's full ATB skill, Death, ignores the chain bonus factor.
Vanille's weapons skills Improved Debuffing and Improved Debuffing II increase the chance of debuffs landing, while Fang's weapon skills Improved Debilitation and Improved Debilitation II affect debilitations.
Status effect duration is calculated by the following formula:
- Base Length * Chain Bonus + (MA of the caster / 100)[1]
A higher Magic stat will result in longer-lasting ailments. Anything that directly affects the Magic stat will help, such as Faith and the Power Surge passive abilities, with Stifled Magic and Fettered Magic being an exception.
Damage calculation[]
Damage is calculated with:
- MA * Mod * 0.81Will give the lowest possible damage output. To get the highest possible damage the value is instead 1.0. The actual damage is any value between these. * Chain Bonus * Commando Role BonusAssuming Saboteur was switched with Commando during the Spell's animation * Shell/Shellra0.67 for Shell, 0.5 for Shellra and 1.0 for neither * Sentinel abilityAdded as a sum * Fringeward0.65 if applicable, 1.0 if not * Daze2.0 if applicable, 1.0 if not * EquipmentOnly applicable to characters
In the case of the Full ATB Skill Death, if the user is under the effect of an En-spell, a multiplier based on the following table will be added:
| Type Resistance | Elemental Resistance | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Absorbed | Immune | Resistant | Halved | Normal | Weakness | |
| Immune | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Resistant | Absorbed | 0 | 0.01 | 0.05 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Halved | Absorbed | 0 | 0.05 | 0.25 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Normal | Absorbed | 0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 1 | 2 |
| Weakness | —No such enemy exists in-game. | 0 | 0.2 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
If the target is afflicted by Deshell, its magical resistance is lowered by 89%.
Other appearances[]
Pictlogica Final Fantasy[]
This section about an ability in Pictlogica Final Fantasy is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade[]
Some of the characters use their Saboteur abilities.
- Ability Cards
- Legend Cards
Behind the scenes[]
Originally, there were only five roles in Final Fantasy XIII, but the Saboteur role was later added as the designers felt its abilities were missing from the game and did not fit with the other roles.[2]
In an early trailer for the English version of the game, characters were seen with the initials "TAC" in gray as their paradigm role. It can be assumed that the Saboteur role was originally referred to as "Tactician."
Gallery[]
Etymology[]
Saboteur is someone who commits sabotage. Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity or corporation through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction.
The paradigm role "Jammer" is possibly derived from the pilot class "Jammer" of Front Mission 5. Both share the similar role in the battle.
(邪魔, 邪魔 / じゃま?, lit. Jama) is the Japanese term for "obstacle" and "interference."