Active Time Battle: Tutorials 2

Learn the ins and outs of Final Fantasy XIII's Active Time Battle system! We break down the ATB gauge, command lists, and targeting to help you dominate every fight.

Alright, let's dive into how combat actually works in Final Fantasy XIII! This is the Active Time Battle, or ATB, system. Don't worry, it's not as complicated as it sounds, and once you get the hang of it, you'll be chaining attacks like a pro.

First up, look at the lower left of your battle screen. You'll see your ATB Gauge. When you start, it'll only have two segments, but these fill up over time. Think of these segments as action points. Once a segment is full, your character can perform an action.

Right below the ATB Gauge, you'll see your available commands. Initially, you'll have three main options:

• Auto-battle: This is your AI assistant. It'll pick the best action for the situation. Handy when you're just starting or want to focus on something else.
• Abilities: This is where you get hands-on. You can manually choose the specific commands you want your character to use.
• Items: Exactly what it sounds like – use any battle items you've got stocked up.

The ATB Gauge fills from left to right. When it's full, your leader will execute commands in the order you set them. Most basic actions will cost one ATB segment, but you'll eventually unlock more powerful moves that use two, three, or even all of your segments.

When you select Auto-battle, you'll still need to pick your target. You can switch between enemies and decide who to focus on. Learning to prioritize targets is a really important skill!

If you choose Abilities, you can then pick exactly what you want your character to do. Each command you select gets added to the ATB Gauge. You can queue up as many commands as you have available segments. If a command is greyed out, you don't have enough ATB segments for it right now. Once you've picked all your commands, the game will show you the possible targets.

You'll eventually be able to have up to six ATB segments! You start with two, gain two more as you progress through the game, buy one with upgrade nodes (we'll cover that later), and the last one comes from fully upgrading a character's weapon.

Now, let's look at the lower right of the screen. This area shows you important character info:

• Character's Name: Obviously, who you're looking at.
• Character's current HP: This is their Health Points. If it drops to zero, they're KOed (Knocked Out).
• A green bar: This visually shows you the ratio of your character's current HP to their maximum HP. Keep an eye on this!

In the upper right corner, you'll spot the Stagger Gauge for your targeted enemy. We'll cover that in more detail in its own tutorial, but for now, just know it's important for dealing massive damage!

The game's tutorial puts it nicely: time flows continuously in battle. Your ATB gauge charges, and characters use those charges to perform actions based on your commands. You can even input a whole sequence of commands and unleash them at once. Use 'Auto-battle' for the AI's choices or 'Abilities' to micromanage. Descriptions for each command pop up at the top of the screen, so you always know what you're selecting.

Remember, characters other than your leader act based on their assigned role and you can't control them directly. They'll follow the commands you set up for the party.