The following will cover the basics on combat in Final Fantasy XIII-2.
Enemy Encounters
FFXIII-2 has a new encounter system in which most of your encounters are not enemies in set locations on the map, but can appear in front of you like random battles. When this happens, the Mog Clock and Encounter Circle appear on-screen.
Encounter Circle
The Encounter Circle will surround your character with a colored field on the ground:
- Red - When the enemy is close by.
- Blue - When the enemy is distant.
- Yellow - When the enemy is aware of you and trying to start a battle encounter by making contact with your lead character.
If you can move away so that none of the enemies are in the Encounter Circle, you can avoid the battle (this is not always 100% true).
Mog Clock
The Mog Clock appears inside the Encounter Circle under your characters feet. There are three stages to take note of when this happens:
Stage 1
- When enemies first appear, the clock will be green, unless they are fast monsters that start in stage 2. As time passes, the hand on it will count down until it reaches Stage 2. During this short time, enemies will be unable to move and if you attack them you can score a Preemptive Strike.
Stage 2
- Once the hand reaches the yellow area, the enemies will become active and try and make contact with you, starting a battle. Note that only contact with your controlled character will start combat.
Stage 3
- When the hand reaches the far left side of the gauge, it will flash red. If you do not escape or start combat by now, you will be automatically be forced into the battle. If this happens, you can't select Retry to leave combat.
Roles & Paradigms
As with Final Fantasy XIII, characters do not have set roles, or classes, but can change between different types to fit the situations in which they find themselves.
There are a total of 6 roles, each with a specific emphasis in one type of combat:
| Commando: Physical and non-elemental magic attacks. Role Bonus: Slower recovery for the chain gauges of the attacked enemies. |
| Ravager: Elemental magic attacks, building the chain bonuses quickly. Role Bonus: Improved chain building, faster staggering. |
| Sentinel: Enhance the defense, draw the enemy attention. Role Bonus: Higher Physical and magical resistance. |
| Medic: Restore HP, remove status, and revive fallen party members. Role Bonus: More effective healing abilities and items. |
| Synergist: Status enhancing for self and party members. Role Bonus: Longer enhancement duration. |
| Saboteur: Status ailments to the enemy. Role Bonus: Higher success rate for the abilities. |
Paradigms & Paradigm Shifts
In the menu, anytime you are not in combat, you have the ability to choose your party members and create Paradigms by selecting what role you would like each to be. For example, if you currently only have Serah and Noel and you have both as Sentinels you will be using the Twin Shields paradigm. If you have a three person party, achieved with having a tamed monster, and have a setup of Commando, Ravager, and Medic you will be using the Diversity paradigm.
You have a set number of paradigms that you can create, but each set up paradigm can be switched between at any time in battle. This means that if the enemy is going to do a heavy attack that does a lot of damage, you can quickly switch to an all Sentinel paradigm. This is best followed by a paradigm with a Medic role to heal the party back to full health.
Battle Results
Each confrontation that does not end in a Game Over will lead you to the Battle Results page. The man factor that determines your rating is the speed at which you kill the enemies.
| Target Time | The time in which you are given to kill the enemy. |
|---|---|
| Battle Duration | The amount of time you took to kill the enemy. |
| Enemy Points | The number of enemies slayed. |
| Preemptive Bonus | Bonus points for getting a Preemptive Strike. |
Score: This is the total after all of the above is totaled.
Rating: Your score in stars. Getting a 5 star will give you Rare Drop +200% and Item Drop +200%
Crystogen Points & Gil: These are determined by the monsters you killed.
Cinematic Actions
During certain boss battles you may find yourself doing QTE's (quick time events) called Cinematic Actions. These are button combinations you must press in order to complete certain actions against the boss (in cutscene format). If you get 100% on these bosses, you will be rewarded with an Adornment.
Leveling Up
After each battle, and sometimes through other events, players will be rewarded Crystogen. Using the Crystarium, the player can develop the roles of the characters and grant them new abilities.
