Detaching a little from the first Dissidia, Dissidia NT re-proposes the formula of the strategic fighting game with the central characters of the various Final Fantasy, modifying it and adapting it perhaps to the needs of an audience very interested in competitive team games. In this regard, the game offers a training mode and a tutorial to get to know the various characters and their combos in depth, but strangely it is difficult to understand what the EX moves of the various characters actually do.
In this guide, therefore, we will show you the effect of these special moves, together with a brief illustration of the character's style, focusing first of all on the Heroes of the Light.
Warrior of the Light
The EX ability of the Warrior of the Light goes to further enhance his abilities of "tank": using this ability the Warrior will force all enemies to choose him as a target, thus attracting all their attacks. At this point he can use his Shield of Light ability to block incoming attacks and power up at the same time.
Firion
Firion occupies the same position as the Warrior of Light, but thanks to his playstyle focused on combos his role is completely different. Her EX Ability, Bloody Rose, increases her movement speed and causes her attacks to drain enemies' HP. Firion can also, instead of unleashing HP attacks, raise a barrier to block opponent's Boldness attacks and counterattack in various ways.
Cavalier Onion
In his basic form, the Onion Cavalier is a Specialist who can both attack closely with quick physical attacks, and attack from afar by casting spells. Based on what kind of attack he used his EX Profession Change ability the most he does exactly what the name implies: the Onion Cavalier will become a Ninja if he used multiple physical attacks or a Sage if he used multiple magic attacks. Essentially like Ninja he is a Sprinter, moving fast around the field and attacking with quick melee attacks or ranged attacks; as a Sage he is practically a Marksman, casting various spells that pursue the enemy.
It is important to note that if the Onion Cavalier has already used the EX skill, using it again will change profession again. From Ninja he will then become Wise and vice versa. Additionally, using the skill restores both HP and Boldness to the character.
Cecil
Cecil is another character with the EX Change of Profession ability: in this case he will switch from Dark Knight to Paladin and vice versa. As a Dark Knight Cecil has powerful moves when on the ground, while as a Paladin she is much stronger in aerial combat. Using the Change of Profession also increases his attack and defense stats, which will gradually return to the starting level.
Cain
Kain is a character with very powerful Audacity attacks, but less HP attacks… "exhilarating". However, his specialty lies in his EX ability: Jump. Jumping is a skill at various levels, from 1 to 3: based on how many times the skill bar is charged, the attack will have different effects. At level 1 the Leap is a Daring attack that blows Kain up to knock him down on opponents; at level 2 the ability also activates a buff for the character that temporarily increases the number of times he can jump; at level 3 the Leap becomes a HP attack and activates the same buff as at level 2.
Bartz
Bartz is the definition of Specialist: a character that requires a certain tactic to be used to the fullest. At the start of the game, Bartz can be described as "the weakest character", but thanks to his unique play style he can easily become incredibly strong. Bartz's moves, in fact, get "profession points" as they are used; reached a certain threshold Bartz will master these moves, making them more powerful and in exchange also obtaining a passive buff to his stats.
His EX Good Luck ability will then increase the attack, defense and speed of the whole team based on how many moves Bartz has mastered, making him master the moves faster while the ability is active.
Land
Terra is a relatively simple character to use but at the same time she can be extraordinarily powerful. Her EX ability, Trance, boosts her attack, defense, and movement speed; Combined with her long, powerful magic combos and her unique ability to “charge” and power up her next attack if she doesn't attack for a certain amount of time, Terra can become the character who can pull the team out of the most desperate moments.
Cloud
Cloud is another simple character, but with enormous potential. Its greatest advantage is that it can charge its various attacks, which using its EX Limit Risk ability can charge even faster and have increased defense, to inflict massive damage on enemies caught off guard. An added bonus is that he can still dodge while charging these attacks, giving him the ability to escape and immediately counter-attack, making him a fearsome character to deal with.
Squall
Unlike other heroes, Squall is a character that requires a little more attention and practice to be used effectively. In fact, launching into improvised combos brings more ruin than help; by pressing the attack buttons with the right timing, however, Squall will pull the trigger of his gunblade, effectively making each attack more powerful and keeping the enemies locked in place, opening the possibility to subsequent attacks.
Her EX ability, Assimila, is particular: it is not fully integrated into her playstyle, but varies according to the enemy against which it is used. Assimila in fact gives Squall a different buff based on class: a defense buff if used against a Stormtrooper, attack if against a Shooter, speed if against a Sprinter and a random buff if used against a Specialist. The ability also grants him the ability to use the powerful Ultima HP attack.
Zidane
Zidane is a Sprinter that quite particular, as he is a character who hardly manages to seriously damage his opponents. On the other hand, his dashing Boldness attack has the special effect of “stealing” part of the enemy's main stats - attack, defense and movement speed - to add to his own. His HP attacks, on the other hand, can have this same effect, or they can remove buffs from enemies, or they can debuff them directly, making Zidane a great character to keep dangerous enemies at bay.
His EX ability, Trance, causes moves that steal stats from opponents also deal HP damage, effectively making them even more susceptible to more powerful attacks from allies.
Tidus
Tidus is a Sprinter who definitely lives up to the name, having a very focused playstyle on the sprint and on the audacity attacks performed during the sprint. Tokkata, his EX ability, is a series of attacks after which they restore his dash bar and temporarily increase his maximum length and recovery speed, making him the most mobile character in the game.
Shantotto
Shantotto belongs to the Marksman class, and as a Marksman he is pretty standard as he has a multitude of ranged moves. His unique style is to improve attacks when he drops below a certain amount of health, but risk being surprised and overwhelmed in a short time by fierce enemies.
Her EX ability, Colossal Shantotto, causes her to zoom in and fire a beam of energy while she remains invincible for the duration of the move, making her a great trump card for critical moments.
Vaan
Vaan is a very worthy Specialist, as he has a very unique style. In fact, Vaan can equip two PV attacks and combine them together, a feature supported by the fact that after hitting enemies a certain number of times with PV attacks they are boosted, to inflict even more damage. However, since his audacity attacks are quite limited, he can use his EX Dreadnought ability at any time, which manually loads the audacity points with which he will then return to the attack.
lightning
Lightning is a very versatile character, capable of fighting at both long and close range. By pressing the L3 key, in fact, he can change Optimum and switch from the role of Attacker at close range to Occultist at long distance. In addition, Lightning can be healed thanks to its EX Furious Carousel skill, a series of sword attacks that restore HP on contact with the enemy.
Thanks to the combination of the various attacks, Lightning is a character able to fill various roles within the team, making her a tough opponent if you are not prepared.
Y'shtola
Y'shtola is a very useful character to use in support, despite being part of the Marksman class. His unique style is that he can cancel the animation of his Boldness attacks to immediately start others, although he cannot use the same attack twice in this way; his HP attacks also debuff enemies, making them more susceptible to allied attacks.
Extremely important to the team is his EX ability, Etheric Impulse, which gradually increases the Boldness and HP of allies within a certain range while holding the triangle key, making strategic retreat in the event of low HP a usable and possibly winning.
Noctis
Noctis makes an appearance in this game as well, and as expected his ability to teleport around is essential to him. It has in fact become his EX ability, Projection, which consumes one bar out of a maximum of three to instantly move him around the battlefield and make him perform special attacks. These bars recharge over time, but they are not the only ace up Noctis' sleeve: under a certain amount of health he will in fact summon his Ancestral Weapons, which will attack with him during the Audacity attacks making them much more powerful.
Ramza
Ramza is a specialist with great potential who can play an important role within the team. At the start of the game he will likely be in the back or helping other characters, but his main purpose will certainly be to use his EX Accumulation ability to fill the EX gauge. Upon filling this, he will be able to choose whether to use Scream or Support to buff the team and himself respectively, greatly increasing the possibility of countering enemy characters.
Ace
Ace, the last hero that we deal with in this guide, is another "hybrid" character: he is in fact a Shooter that we could however define in part as a Specialist. In fact, Ace has a unique style of play: using his EX Surprise Deck skill he can in fact draw a random card from his deck of cards; this card will be one of four colors including red, black, blue and yellow. In this way, Ace can draw up to four cards, of which the "oldest" will be canceled if he draws a new one, which he can always use with the Surprise Deck to obtain a specific effect.
According to the color and number of the cards, in fact, Ace will get different effects: the red cards are attacks that he will throw at the enemy, the black cards are debuffs that he will launch at the enemy, the blue cards will have a healing effect on him and the his allies, while cards are a stat buff for him and his companions. Based on how many cards of the same color he holds in his hand, with 3 being the highest number, the effect of the combination will be stronger.
And so ends the first guide to the EX skills of the characters of Dissidia Final Fantasy NT, to follow the one on the antagonists. If you've ventured here looking for an opinion on the characters and read through, we remind you that you can lay your red eyes on our review of the game for a more in-depth analysis.
► Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is a fighting game developed by Team Ninja and published by Koei Tecmo Square Enix for PlayStation 4, the video game was released on 11/01/2018
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