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Artificial Intelligence (AI) FAQ
by blackfeather_58
v1.2
Copyright 2009 blackfeather_58
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| All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned |
| by their respective trademark and copyright holders. |
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| This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for |
| personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or |
| otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. |
| Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public |
| display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. |
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. AI TACTICS
3. AI LEVELS (ATTACK AND DEFENSE)
4. SELF-PRESERVATION
5. DETERMINING A TARGET FOR ATTACK
6. ATTACKING
7. MINOR/MAJOR ATTACKS
8. ELEMENTAL ATTACKS
9. CANCELING BATTLE SKILLS
10. SUBVERTING THE CANCEL CONDITIONS
11. CANCELING PSEUDO BATTLE SKILLS
12. DURATION BATTLE SKILLS
13. CONTINUING ATTACKS
14. SYMBOLOGY
15. HEALING SYMBOLOGY
16. RESTORATION SYMBOLOGY
17. ALLY AI & THE NO MOVEMENT EXPLOIT
18. ALLY AI & THE STATE CHANGE (MINOR <-> MAJOR) EXPLOIT
19. SKILL SETUP CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE AI
20. SKILL SETUP RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE AI
20.1. NTSC ADRAY
20.2. PAL ADRAY
20.3. NTSC ALBEL
20.4. PAL ALBEL
20.5. NTSC CLIFF
20.6. PAL CLIFF
20.7. NTSC FAYT
20.8. PAL FAYT
20.9. NTSC MARIA
20.10. PAL MARIA
20.11. NTSC MIRAGE
20.12. PAL MIRAGE
20.13. NTSC NEL
20.14. PAL NEL
20.15. NTSC PEPPITA
20.16. PAL PEPPITA
20.17. NTSC ROGER
20.18. PAL ROGER
20.19. NTSC SOPHIA
20.20. PAL SOPHIA
21. GLOSSARY
22. VERSION HISTORY
APPENDIX
A1. ELEMENTAL ATTACKS
A2. CANCELING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PAL AND NTSC VERSIONS
A2.1. ADRAY
A2.2. ALBEL
A2.3. CLIFF
A2.4. FAYT
A2.5. MARIA
A2.6. MIRAGE
A2.7. NEL
A2.8. PEPPITA
A2.9. ROGER
A2.10. SOPHIA
A3. BATTLE SKILLS WITH ANIMATION-CROSSOVER
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1. INTRODUCTION
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| "知披知己， 百戰不貽； 不知披而知己， 一勝一負； 不知披， 不知己， |
| 每戰必敗。" |
| 孫子 |
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| "Know thy enemy and know thy self, find naught to fear in a 100 |
| battles. Know not thy enemy, but know thy self, find victory and |
| defeat in equal measure. Know thy enemy, but know not thy self, |
| find defeat in every battle." |
| Sun Tzu |
| |
| This is the translation used in Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII |
| of the above quote. Regretably, the translation is not entirely |
| accurate - the last sentence would be better translated as "Know |
| not thy enemy, and know not thy self, find defeat in every |
| battle." |
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Having a basic understanding of the AI is one of the most valuable tools for a
player who wishes to improve on their or explore other play-styles, as this
knowledge can be used to make accurate predictions on the behaviour of both
allies and enemies. Instead of always reacting to events that occur in battle,
the player can take preemptive action or to manipulate the AI to behave in a
way that would be advantageous to the player. This guide will cover the
observed behavioural patterns of both ally and enemy AI, and discuss possible
methods of using this to the player's advantage.
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| The testing of the AI was done on the PAL release of this game - |
| if you have the PAL version as well and would like to dispute my |
| results, then please feel free to do so. As for those with the |
| NTSC version... there are known to be differences between the two. |
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| All the NTSC version-specific information of the game was provided |
| to me by MetalGearSolidBoy. |
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2. AI TACTICS
The following is a list of the settings available to the fighters under AI
control and what each does:
2.1. Attack enemy with all your might! – Self-preservation is disregarded.
There is no Fury conservation.
2.2. Act in a well-balanced manner! – Self-preservation is considered. The AI
will stop attacking when Fury is 25% or below.
2.3. Conserve Fury! – The AI will stop attacking when Fury is 60% or below.
2.4. Focus your attack! – The AI will stop attacking when Fury is 25% or
below.
2.5. Don't use coups de grace! – The AI will not activate any battle skills.
In addition, the AI will not activate normal attacks when Fury is 40% or below
and will stop the continuation of continuous attacks when Fury is 25% or
below.
2.6. Do nothing! – The character can only be manually controlled by the
player.
The following is a list of the settings available to the mages under AI
control and what each does:
2.7. Act in a well-balanced manner! - A mix of "Support your party!" and
"Concentrate on attacking!".
2.8. Concentrate on healing/recovery! - Battle Skills are given priority.
2.9. Concentrate on attacking! - Priority is given to casting offensive
symbology.
2.10. Support your party! - Priority is given to casting stat-enhancement
symbology.
2.11. Don't use symbology! - The AI will not cast any symbology or activate
any battle skills. In addition, the AI will not activate normal attacks when
Fury is 40% or below.
2.12. Do Nothing! - The character can only be manually controlled by the
player.
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| The best AI tactic to use is "Attack enemy with all your might!" |
| for fighters. Mages should use "Concentrate on healing/recovery". |
| "Do nothing!" is good for those that wishes to micro-manage their |
| entire active party. |
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3. AI LEVELS (ATTACK and DEFENSE)
These determine how effective the character will be when under AI control.
"Attack" governs how good the AI will be at attacking and "Defense" governs
how good the AI will be at self-preservation. Higher Attack levels will allow
the AI to perform cancels reliably, and higher Defense levels will allow the
AI to perform sidesteps and more accurately judge the need for
self-perservation.
As such, having unbalanced levels will encourage the AI to behave in such as
way as to reflect the AI level that is signficantly higher. If a character's
Attack is maxed out (lvl 10) and has no SP invested in Defense, then said
character will be aggresive under AI control in battle, with little to no
competence in self-preservation. Vice versa is the SP is invested into only
Defense - the AI controlled character will be incompetent at attacking.
It is recommended that Attack and Defense are leveled up evenly, with Attack
first. For a character under AI control, the AI levels are the most important
aspects to invest SP into - HP and MP are secondary. Since the AI tends to be
fairly consistent and reliable into their performance when their AI levels are
at lvl 4 or higher, it would be more advantageous overall to invest SP into HP
and MP when both AI levels are at lvl 4. By functioning better, characters
under AI control will survive longer by being hit less. This is more effective
than just by being able to take a few more hits if HP/MP was leveled.
To get optimal AI performance, both Attack and Defense needs to be maxed out
(lvl 10). As such, it is not possible to permanently mess up the AI of any
party member.
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| The following is a basic description of what can be expected at |
| these Attack and Defense levels: |
| Attack = 1, Defense = 1 - The AI is capable of targetting downed |
| enemies and executing attacks while the target is downed. The AI |
| will not cancel attacks. The AI will not use side-steps or flee |
| when near death. |
| Attack = 2, Defense = 2 - More or less the same as previous. The |
| AI is capable of obtaining a cancel bonus of 175%, but the |
| occurence is relatively low. |
| Attack = 3, Defense = 3 - The AI is incapable of targetting downed |
| enemies and executing attacks while the target is downed. The AI |
| is capable of canceling attacks. Use of side-steps possible. |
| Attack = 4, Defense = 4 - More or less the same as previous, but |
| more reliable. Refer to the cancelingg battle skills section for |
| more information. |
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4. SELF-PRESERVATION
When the AI determines that the character that it is controlling is near
death, then it will try to keep said character alive by avoiding the enemies.
This will result in either the character remaining stationary at long range to
the enemies or running around the field.
Early on in the game when the characters have low AI levels, the AI may end up
perceiving itself to be near MP death and focus on self-perservation when the
character's Max HP:Max MP ratio is quite high. This is one of the reasons why
it is recommended to invest SP into Attack and Defense first as opposed to HP
and MP.
If the AI attempts self-preservation during battle and you find it
undesirable, then the following is a list of possible fixes (both in-battle
and out-of-batle):
4.1. Restore the character's HP and/or MP. This should be done if the reason
for self-preservation is apparent.
4.2. Switch to a more aggressive AI Tactic. "Attack enemy with all your
might!" for fighters and "Concentrate on healing/recovery!" for mages.
4.3. Switch control to the aforementioned character and input a command to use
a normal attack. This should reset the AI and may get it fighting again if the
reason for self-preservation is not apparent.
4.4. Balance the HP and MP levels of the character. The level of MP should not
be below that of HP. This can only be done out of battle though.
4.5. Balance and then raise the Attack and Defense levels of the character.
The level of Attack should not be below that of Defense. This can only be done
out of battle though, and may take several level-ups to rectify.
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5. DETERMINING A TARGET FOR ATTACK
The observed behavioural traits of AI with respect to how they find their
targets are as follows:
5.1. Both ally and enemy AI are capable of finding a suitable target during
their own stationary animation.
5.2. Enemy AI are capable of finding a suitable target during their running
animation.
5.3. Both ally and enemy AI are incapable of targetting those that are lying
on the ground – they are still capable of targetting those in the downed
animation.
5.4. Ally AI are incapable of targeting those that are running.
5.5. Ally AI are incapable of targetting those that are in their attack
animations.
5.6. With the exception of petrification, ally AI is incapable of targetting
enemies rendered immobile by status ailments not inflicted by said AI.
5.7. With the exception of petrification, enemy AI is capable of targetting
party members rendered immobile by status ailments.
5.8. Priority is given to potential targets that are casting symbology.
As a result of observations 5.3, 5.4, and 5.5, the conclusion is that the
ally AI can only target something that is either in its stationary animation
or casting animation.
The following are observed enemy AI behavioural traits that are observed in
specific game difficulties:
5.9.1. In Galaxy difficulty, enemy AI are capable of targeting those that are
running.
5.9.2. In 4-D difficulty, enemy AI are incapable of targeting those that are
running.
5.10.1. In Galaxy difficulty, enemy AI are capable of targeting those that are
in their attack animations.
5.10.2. In 4-D difficulty, enemy AI are incapable of targetting those that are
in their attack animations.
If the AI is unable to find a target then they will stand still and do nothing
if there is no other action that they can take. This doesn't happen with enemy
AI in lower difficulties because remaining stationary and moving aimlessly are
apparently valid actions that they can take anytime (attacking is not a
priority for them).
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| This is the reason why the AI may sometimes seem like that they |
| are waiting for the opponent to trigger an AAA. Neither ally or |
| enemy AI are capable of actively waiting to replenish Fury back to |
| 100%. The closest you can get are enemy AI on lower difficulty |
| where they remain stationary, but the fact that they will continue |
| to do so even after Fury has long been replenished implies that |
| Fury is not the reason for their actions. |
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In higher difficulties, the enemy AI becomes more aggressive and will almost
always focus on attacking. The result is that the enemy will end up standing
still if they are unable to find any valid targets since they will have no
other action to take. This behavioural trait can be exploited to reduce the
frequency of enemy attacks by ensuring that all the active party members are
in motion when the enemy is stationary (result of observations 5.9.2 and
5.10.2). The misnomer that describes the inability of the AI to find a valid
target and thus resulting in them not moving is called the "No Movement
Glitch" (NMG).
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| The most effective way to make use of the NM exploit is to use |
| cancel chains – not only are enemies are unable to target party |
| members that are in their attack animation, it also provides the |
| longest period of time in which the party members can move while |
| doing more than just running. |
| |
| If a battle skill in the chain is able to interrupt the enemy |
| (via knockdown, launching, or flinching), then the attacking party |
| member cannot be targeted by said enemy during the entire |
| animation of the cancel chain. As such, any battle skill setup |
| with this inherent ability to trigger the NM exploit is desired in |
| higher difficulties. |
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Note that Freya does not follow this behavioural trait when there are active
party members within short range distance to her. Freya is able to target
them; it is not possible to use the NM exploit against Freya in short range.
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| Freya's attempt to subvert the rules actually ends up providing an |
| advantage for those that use the Roe Tablets/Shielding Device |
| exploit, as her ability to target the (temporarily) invincible |
| party member will encourage her to use minor attacks and hence |
| frequently trigger the AAA of the other two manual characters. |
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The result of observation 4.7 gives another possible exploit with regard to
enemy targeting. Enemy AI can be manipulated to target a desired party member
by making said member cast symbology. Unlike the tactical skill Taunt, this is
100% reliable and effective.
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6. ATTACKING
The observed behavioural traits of AI with respect to how they attack are as
follows:
6.1. The AI does not take note of range when choosing to attack.
6.2. When an attack is being executed, ally AI will automatically position
themselves to a predetermined acceptable distance to their target before
activating the attack of the corresponding range during the moment of
execution.
6.3. Ally AI prioritises long range battle skills over long range normal
attacks.
6.4. Enemy AI will position themselves to a predetermined acceptable distance
to their target before inputting an attack.
6.5. For enemies that have reverse attacks, the aforementioned attack will be
automatically activated by the enemy if there is a party member behind them
when said enemy is able to do so.
As a result of observations 6.1 and 6.2, ally AI will only use a long range
attack when the distance to their target is of a length that is deemed to be
long range. They will not purposely change the distance between themselves and
their target in order to execute long range attacks. As such, ally AI will
only continue to use long range attacks if the preceding attack activated was
inherently long range and did not force them to position themselves to within
short range distance to their target. This is the reason why the majority of
party members are unsuitable for fighting at long range when under AI control
– with the exception of Adray, Maria, and Sophia, their long range normal
attacks are short range in nature, and normal attacks are what will be
activated when the character is unable (or no longer able) to activate battle
skills.
The result of observation 6.3 provides a method to promote the AI ally to
fight at long range. By using the support skill Max Fury, it will hopefully
activate and restore the character's Fury before the AI decides to attack.
Provided that the battle skills keep the character in long range after
activation, this would increase the length of time in which the AI controlled
ally will stay at long range with respect to its target.
Enemies are capable of changing targets while running towards their original
target. In higher difficulties, this could be coupled with the NM exploit to
encourage the enemy to use a different attack (via targeting a different
character that is at a different distance from said enemy). However, this
requires familiarity with the enemy's set of attacks and their activation
ranges.
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| Most reliable way to make an enemy charge its target is to get a |
| party member to cast symbology, as casters have higher priority. |
| Don't bother with the tactical skill Taunt - it is not as reliable |
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The result of observation 6.5 allows the player to force the enemy to use only
their reverse attack(s) by placing a party member behind said enemy. Note that
the No Movement exploit cannot prevent the enemy from activating their reverse
attacks - there is no targeting requirement.
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7. MINOR/MAJOR ATTACKS
Upon determining a target, ally AI decides on whether to use a minor or major
attack depending on the current Fury of its target. If it is high, the AI will
use a major attack so as to remove any chance of their attack being guarded
against. A low Fury will result in a minor attack.
Since all enemies start with full Fury at the start of battle, all AI ally
members will always start with either a major attack or symbology so as to
break guards. As the majority of battle formations will place the party
members at long range distance with all the enemies, this means that all ally
members under AI control will start off with their long major normal attack if
no battle skill was set to the long major slot (observation 6.3).
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| For main-game blitzing with Peppita's Power Dance, always set it |
| to her long major slot. The AI's opening move in battle will be to |
| boost the ATK of the other two allies, who will be the ones to |
| quickly dispose of the enemies. |
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8. ELEMENTAL ATTACKS
8.1. The AI will not use inherently elemental attacks on a target that has
protection against said element.
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| Note that the AI will still attack those with elemental damage |
| recovery (i.e. the factors provided by the Aegis and Blazing |
| Pendants). |
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There is an exception to the above observation:
8.2. The AI will activate elemental battle skills on a target with
protection against said element in a cancel chain if the skill is not the
origin point of said chain.
As such, the following conclusions can be drawn:
1) Ally AI will disregard the effect of elemental factors on weapons when
attacking.
2) It is possible to prevent an enemy from using an elemental attack or
symbology on an active party member by providing said member with the required
elemental protection.
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| For those that intends to get "No Damage" trophies against Lenneth |
| and Freya by using (long range) Max Shockwave chains with Cliff, |
| it may be more effective overall to obtain elemental protection |
| against wind and earth element than to equip a Blazing Pendant. |
| Since symbology are always capable of causing flinching, Cliff |
| will not be interrupted via being hit by Lightning Strike or Stone |
| Rain. This should increase overall damage output. |
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| For those that intends to solo, having elemental protection will |
| make battle easier. Long range AoE symbology are relatively hard |
| to evade, and getting stunlocked by it may end up fatal. Elemental |
| protection means that enemies will never cast symbology of the |
| concerned element. |
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9. CANCELING BATTLE SKILLS
The following are conditions necessary to cancel into a battle skill:
1) The current attack must either be or originated from a valid cancel origin
(minor normal attack or minor battle skill).
2) There is a battle skill in the corresponding battle skill slot needed to
perform the cancel.
3) The costs (HP/MP and Fury) of activating the next skill must be met.
4) The window for canceling out of the current battle skill has not been
passed.
The AI will always cancel into the next battle skill if these additional
conditions are met:
9.1. The current battle skill must have hit the enemy.
9.2. The current battle skill must have dealt damage to the enemy.
There are some attacks that don't follow the above conditions – they are as
follows:
Adray's Sea Gate – the AI will never cancel out of this skill.
Albel's Aura Wall – the AI will never cancel out of this skill.
Maria's Energy Burst – the AI will always hold down this skill.
Maria's Gravity Bullet - the AI will never cancel out of this skill.
Maria's Magnetic Field – the AI will never cancel out of this skill.
Nel's short minor bomb special normal attack – the AI will never cancel out of
this minor normal attack.
Nel's Lightning Chain - the AI will never cancel out of this skill.
Nel's Whirlwind - the AI will never cancel out of this skill.
Peppita's Power Dance – the AI may cancel out of this skill at the end of its
animation.
Peppita's Panic Dance – the AI may cancel out of this skill at the end of its
animation.
Peppita's Healing Dance – the AI may cancel out of this skill at the end of its
animation.
Peppita's Magical Dance – the AI may cancel out of this skill at the end of its
animation.
Note that there is an issue with the NTSC version of the game in which the AI
may not cancel into the next battle skill even when both conditions are
satisfied. There is a table of which battle skills can be reliably canceled in
the NTSC version of the game in the Appendix (A2)
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10. SUBVERTING THE CANCEL CONDITIONS
Clause 9.1 and 9.2 would actually be more accurately described as:
10.1. Damage must have been dealt to the enemy at any time during the
animation of the current skill.
The result of this is that if the previous battle skill in the cancel chain
provides a series of multiple hits and its animation can cross over to that of
the current skill being activated, then the AI will cancel out of said current
skill even if it doesn't damage the target! A list of battle skills with
animation cross-over is provided in the Appendix (A3).
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| Due to clause 10.1, the following skill setups will always allow |
| the AI to cancel as desired without requiring the major battle |
| skill to satisfy any extraneous canceling conditions, provided |
| that said major skill is not one of the exceptions listed in |
| section 9. |
| |
| Adray's Emotion Torrent -> (any other battle skill) |
| Nel's Flying Guillotine -> (any other battle skill) |
| Cliff's Sphere of Might -> (any other battle skill) |
| Sophia's Laser Beams -> (any other battle skill) |
| |
| Unfortunately, the advantages of this exploit is trivial for all |
| but Sophia. The reason for this is because symbology can cause |
| flinching even if the target has elemental protection; as such |
| this can allow AI Sophia to provide a stunlocking role against all |
| enemies. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
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| Cliff's Sphere of Might is different to that of Mirage's. Its last |
| hit crosses over with the next skill being animated, but Mirage's |
| Sphere of Might does not allow any animation cross-over. |
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Apparently, this exploit does not work in the NTSC version of the game.
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11. CANCELING PSEUDO BATTLE SKILLS
Since the battle system "officially" treats Aerial and Charge as short range
special normal attacks, the AI will not cancel into the aforementioned skills
in a chain.
There are two methods to make the AI acknowlege that Aerial and Charge are
battle skills as opposed to normal attacks. They are as follows:
11.1. Make the concerned character the formation leader.
11.2. Taking control of said character and then performing a normal attack.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| Said normal attack in 11.2 can be either minor or major, and |
| does not even have to hit its target. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
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12. DURATION BATTLE SKILLS
12.1. The AI will cancel out of a duration battle skill if it satisfies the
conditions for canceling true battle skills.
12.2. When a duration battle skill is in effect, the AI will not activate any
battle skills.
Note that the is a bug with Albel's Aura Wall - the AI will not recognise when
the effect of the skill has ended. As such, the AI will only use Aura Wall
once in battle by itself, and that will be the last battle skill that AI Albel
will ever activate (obseration 12.2).
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13. CONTINUING ATTACKS
13.1. For normal attacks and battle skills that have a continuation option,
the AI will attempt to do so if it does not contradict with previously
stated clauses.
13.2. For multi-press normal attacks and battle skills, the AI will attempt to
continue the attack for two more hits if it misses the target.
The practical implications of observation 13.1 is that the AI will immediately
cancel out of these attacks if it is possible to do so. The only way to force
the AI to continue using continuous battle skills is to prevent it from
canceling - the following is a list of the possible methods:
1) Not using the continuous attacks in a cancel chain - Do not set battle
skill setups that will make canceling of the continuous attack possible. The
disadvantage of this is that damage output is reduced due to the inability to
obtain cancel bonuses.
2) Prevent the AI from activating battle skills - Set the AI tactic to "Don't
use coups de grace!". This allows the continuous battle skill to make full use
of cancel bonuses, but requires the player to manually cancel and hence set up
the skill. Not only that, the Fury conservation of "Don't use coups de grace!"
applies - the AI will stop using additional hits at 25% Fury.
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| The continuous battles skills will have to be either without any |
| cancel bonuses or be set up by the player ("Don't use coups de |
| grace!'). |
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14. SYMBOLOGY
14.1. Both ally and enemy AI will only cast symbology if they have enough Fury
to prevent said symbology from missing the target.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| It is possible to make the enemies miss their target by dealing |
| Fury damage to the enemy. However, this is not exactly the best or |
| even recommended method for disrupting a casting enemy. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
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15. HEALING SYMBOLOGY
15.1. Both ally and enemy AI will only cast Healing symbology when either they
or their allies are near critical HP levels.
15.2. If more than one active party member is in critical condition, then the
AI will prioritise healing according to their affection levels to said
members, with themself being the highest priority.
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| A combatant is considered to be in a critical HP condition when |
| their current HP is less than 30% of the maximum. The highest |
| current HP that I have seen an ally AI cast Healing on is 33% of |
| maximum (rounded down to the nearest percent. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The conclusion to be drawn from observation 15.1 is that AI tactic do not
influence how often an AI-controlled character will cast Healing - even the
mage AI tactic "Focus on healing/recovery" does not encourage the AI to heal
more often.
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| The factors to take into consideration when deciding to allow an |
| AI controlled character to use Healing symbology are: |
| 1) Casting speed of the character - a faster caster will |
| less time to finish casting the symbology, and hence should have a |
| higher chance of successfully casting the symbology |
| 2) Inherent battle range of the character - a long ranged |
| character will be further away from the enemies, and hence should |
| have a higher chance of successfully casting the symbology. |
| 3) The character's skill setup - The total animation time of |
| the cancel chain must be relatively short so as to allow said |
| character to have many opportunities in spotting an ally in need |
| of healing. |
| 4) For character's that are set to battle in short range, using |
| skill setups that will result in the target being downed at the |
| end of the cancel chain are desired. This prevents the character |
| from being targetted by one enemy for the time taken for said |
| enemy to get back up. |
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The result of observation 15.2 provides an exploit with regard to healing
priority. It is therefore possible to manipulate the order of priority for the
AI members via Private Actions and affection reducing potions.
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16. RESTORATION SYMBOLOGY
16.1. Ally AI will only cast Restoration symbology when there is an
incapacitated ally.
The result of observation 16.1 is that the AI will tend to cast Restoration
twice in a row on the same incapacitated enemy. This is because of the lag
time in reviving the character - the AI still continues to see an
incapacitated ally upon finishing the casting of (the initial) Restoration.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| Don't let the AI cast Restoration - turn it off in the Symbology |
| section of the camp menu. If curing incapacitation via symbology |
| is desired, cast Restoration manually. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. ALLY AI & THE NO MOVEMENT EXPLOIT
As described earlier in section 5, the No Movement behavioural trait is the
result of the AI's inability to find a target to perform any action on. This
can be seen in ally AI at all difficulties and in enemy AI at higher
difficulties. Since there are no advantages at all in having the ally AI stand
absolutely still, this section will only cover the exploiting this on enemy
AI.
The number of (living) active party members is irrelevant to triggering the No
Movement effect, so an entire active party can still make use of this exploit
in battle if soloing is not desired. Since ally AI will only move to attack or
to run away in self-preservation, the only method to reliably keep ally AI
moving is to encourage them to use cancel chains.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| It is more favourable to give the AI skill setups that will allow |
| them to cancel without any difficulties when there are no outside |
| influences between said ally AI and its target. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18. ALLY AI & THE STATE CHANGE (MINOR <-> MAJOR) EXPLOIT
For all battle skills, the minor/major state is determined by the last battle
skill (being) performed. Therefore, if a battle skill is activated while the
previous one is still in animation (that is, if animation cross-over occurs),
then the state of said previous battle skill would change to become the same
as that of the battle skill being activated. This leads to two exploits that
base on the same principle.
18.1. In a cancel chain – If a battle skills can be canceled before its
animation finishes, then the state of the battle skill being canceled will
become that of the battle skill that it is canceling into. Canceling a minor
battle skill would change it to a major, allowing its remaining hits to deal
more damage and break enemy guards. Conversely, canceling a major battle skill
would decrease its damage and make it able to trigger enemy AAAs.
18.2. To change a duration battle skill using pseudo battle skills –
Activating a pseudo battle skill will change the state of the duration skill
that is currently in effect to its own.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| The desired method to exploit 18.1 is to cancel out of the minor |
| battle skill as quick as possible, and to cancel out of the major |
| battle skill after all its hits are dealt. This way, the maximum |
| possible number of hits in the cancel chain will be of the major |
| state, resulting in both superior damage and decreased chance of |
| triggering enemy AAA. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately, ally AI is incapable of exploiting both methods. However, the
conditions which determine whether the AI will cancel into the next skill or
not will cause the AI to inadvertently use exploit 18.1 if one of the battle
skills in the cancel chain consists of a series of hits and is capable of
animation cross-over. There is no useful application for this, but this is not
undesirable either.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| This is identical to the requirement to get the AI to subvert the |
| canceling conditions. However, note that the application here is |
| different. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. SKILL SETUP CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE AI
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| Since Fury is the most important aspect in determining what |
| actions an ally member can do, the support skill "Max Fury" is |
| recommended for all fighters under AI control. In fact, it is |
| simply recommended for all characters that can learn said support |
| skill. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Ideally, the AI should use skill setups in the same manner as the player.
Unfortunately, what the AI can do is governed by a set of rules. This section
serves to give advice on what properties of battle skills to consider when
establishing a skill setup for the AI.
For the majority of battle skills (and hence setups), the desired behaviour
would be for the AI to continue canceling if possible. To do this, clause 9.1
requires that the current battle skill in animation to hit the enemy. This is
sometimes easier said than done.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| If the prior battle skill did something to the target and causes |
| the current battle skill to miss, then this effectively ends the |
| chain. As such, properties like launching, juggling and knockdown |
| must be taken into consideration when making an effective skill |
| setup for the AI. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Considerations to consider when canceling is desired are:
1) Launching - the next skill in the chain must be able to hit the now
airborne target.
2) Juggling - same conditions as launching.
3) Knockdown - the next skill in the chain must be able to hit the target when
it gets back up. This requires either a relatively long start-up time or a
relatively long animation consisting of a series of hits.
4) Range shift - there must be a skill in the slot of the corresponding range
that the current skill will alter the distance to.
5) Elements - the target must not have protection to the current skill.
6) Cancel points - battle skills with multiple cancel points are desirable as
it allows for "interference" caused by other active party members.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| For those that do not wish to think too much about skill setups, |
| there are two solutions: |
| 1) Give one of the active party members a stunlocking role. This |
| should prevent the enemy from being downed and reduce the chances |
| of a battle skill missing. |
| 2) Use a battle skill with cross-over animation. As long as said |
| skill hits, the next battle skill will always be canceled out of |
| if it is possible for the AI to do so. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. SKILL SETUP RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE AI
This section lists all the reasonable skill setups that can be used as desired
by the AI, including their limitations and recommended purpose during battle.
Note that some skill setups are not note-worthy in battle, but for some of the
characters those setups are the best that can do under AI control. Since the
AI of characters in the PAL version can use any skill setup available to their
NTSC counterparts, skill setups for the NTSC AI will be listed first, followed
by additional skill setups for the PAL version of the character.
20.1. NTSC ADRAY
The AI is incapable of reliably canceling out of Adray's short minor normal
attack. Coupled with the fact that Adray is incapable of learning the support
skill Max Fury, this makes AI Adray ineffective at fighting in short range. In
addition, his long range battle skills are almost all elemental, thus making
Adray the worst character to leave under AI control in the NTSC version of the
game.
SKILL SETUP: Charge -> Charge
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires player manipulation for pseudo battle skills.
COMMENTS: Arguably Adray's best setup in terms of general purpose damage.
SKILL SETUP: Lightning Blast -> Lightning Blast
BATTLE PURPOSE: Stunlock
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no wind-element protection.
COMMENTS: Symbology always have a chance of causing flinching, but the AI
won't cancel out of Lightning Blast if it doesn't damage.
SKILL SETUP: Aerial -> Aerial
BATTLE PURPOSE: Juggle
LIMITATIONS: Requires player manipulation for pseudo battle skills.
COMMENTS: Arguably Adray's most useful skill setup overall.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Titan Fist -> (long range) Titan Fist
BATTLE PURPOSE: Elemental damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no earth-element protection.
COMMENTS: Titan Fist has a horrible recovery time when not canceled out of, so
it should only be used to exploit earth-weak enemies. It shouldn't
really be used for general purposes.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Fire Bolt -> (long range) Emotion Torrent
BATTLE PURPOSE: (Elemental) Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no fire-element protection.
COMMENTS: Emotion Torrent is fairly slow, so it should be used at long range.
Problem is, all of Adray's other long range skills are elemental.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Ice Needles -> (long range) Emotion Torrent
BATTLE PURPOSE: (Elemental) Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no water-element protection.
COMMENTS: Has the very slight advantage to Fire Bolt -> Emotion Torrent in
that Ice Needles seem to have a faster activation time and is
capable of freezing the enemy.
20.2. PAL ADRAY
The only skill that the AI can't cancel out of is Sea Gate. Regardless, the
lack of Max Fury stilll makes AI Adray an awkward melee character. In addition
to the skill setups available to NTSC Adray, PAL Adray also can make use of
the following skill setups under AI control:
SKILL SETUP: Aerial -> Southern Cross
BATTLE PURPOSE: MP Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires player manipulation of pseudo battle skills.
COMMENTS: Since good INT boosts are obtainable earlier than ATK boosts,
Southern Cross is fairly good for damage in the main-game.
20.3. NTSC ALBEL
Since all but three of Albel's skills are capable of causing knockdown, this
makes using skill setups in a cancel chain more difficult when the AI is
fighting an enemy by itself without ally contribution. In addition, the AI is
incapable of using Albel's useful skills as desired; making Albel a poor
character to leave under AI control.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Air Slash -> (long range) Air Slash
BATTLE PURPOSE: Elemental damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no wind-element protection. Albel's long
range normal attacks are short range in nature.
COMMENTS: Only skill setup for to make Albel a long range fighter. Would do
far more damage if used at short range (PAL version only) and under
manual control minor <=> major exploit) though.
SKILL SETUP: Palm of Destruction -> Palm of Destruction
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Cannot be used fully as desired when fighting stand-alone.
COMMENTS: Quite good for damage, if you can keep the target from being downed
(via stunlocking).
SKILL SETUP: Aerial -> Charge
BATTLE PURPOSE: Juggle
LIMITATIONS: Requires player manipulation for pseudo battle skills.
COMMENTS: The longest juggle that can be done by the AI for all characters in
a skill setup. A fairly useful skill setup.
SKILL SETUP: Hand of Doom -> Hand of Doom
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Damage is only good if the target is kept from being downed (via
stunlocking), else it acts more like a mediocre interruption chain.
SKILL SETUP: Hand of Doom -> Dragon Roar
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Hand of Doom is capable of positioning the enemy close to the
optimal distance for Dragon Roar. However, the skill's damage output
is quite low; it is recommended to use something else for damage.
20.4. PAL Albel
Not much better than his NTSC counterpart. Being able to cancel Double Slash
doesn't really give the AI any advantages.
SKILL SETUP: Air Slash -> Air Slash
BATTLE PURPOSE: Elemental damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no wind-element protection.
COMMENTS: Useful against enemies weak against wind-element.
SKILL SETUP: Double Slash -> Dragon Roar
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: The optimal variant of the Dragon Roar setups. However, it is still
not recommended for damage.
20.5. NTSC Cliff
One of the better characters to leave under AI control. Most of his useful
battle skills can be used as desired by the AI.
SKILL SETUP: Sphere of Might -> Sphere of Might
BATTLE PURPOSE: Stunlock
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Damage output is fairly high for a stunlock-capable skill setup.
SKILL SETUP: Charge -> Charge
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires player manipulation for pseudo battle skills.
COMMENTS: Damage potential is fairly high, but the auto-positioning produces a
hit delay that shouldn't be. Best used under manual control with FAM
enabled.
SKILL SETUP: Aerial Assault -> Aerial Assault
BATTLE PURPOSE: MP Damage
LIMITATIONS: Only works when the AoE version of the skill is used (NTSC
version only; no limits in the PAL version)
COMMENTS: A high risk of triggering enemy AAAs. The normal version of the
skill is capable of knockdown, so this may be a problem in the PAL
version.
SKILL SETUP: Sphere of Might -> Aerial Assault
BATTLE PURPOSE: MP Damage
LIMITATIONS: Only works when the AoE version of the skill is used (NTSC
version only; no limits in the PAL version)
COMMENTS: Alternative to pure Aerial Assault chains with low risk of death by
enemy AAA.
SKILL SETUP: Sphere of Might -> Fists of Fury
BATTLE PURPOSE: Stunlock
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Excellent stunlocking ability, with the ability to knock the enemy
down if the chain ends with Fists of Fury. The AI is able use this
skill setup just as effectively as the player.
SKILL SETUP: Fists of Fury -> Fists of Fury
BATTLE PURPOSE: Stunlock
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Provides longer stunlocking than Sphere of Might -> Fists of Fury,
and is capable of knocking the enemy down at the end of the chain.
This makes it the best stunlocking skill setup in the game, and the
AI can use it just as effectively as the player.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Max Shockwave -> (long range) Max Shockwave
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Cliff's long range normal attacks are short range in nature.
COMMENTS: The knockback effect makes pure Max Shocwave chains safe to use.
20.6. PAL Cliff
The only battle skill in which the AI cannot use as desired is Uppercut, which
is not that useful of a skill in the first place.
SKILL SETUP: Hammer of Might -> Hammer of Might
BATTLE PURPSE: Elemental damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no fire-element protection. Cannot be
used fully as desired when fighting stand-alone.
COMMENTS: Very good damage if the enemy is kept from being downed (via
stunlocking) and is not resistant to fire-element.
SKILL SETUP: Fiery Tackle -> Fiery Tackle
BATTLE PURPOSE: Elemental damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no fire-element protection. Cannot be
used fully as desired when fighting stand-alone
COMMENTS: Only worth it if the enemy is weak against fire and is prevented
from being downed (via stunlocking).
SKILL SETUP: Electric Fists -> Aerial Assault
BATTLE PURPOSE: MP Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Optimal Aerial Assault setup. Can be used as desired by the AI.
20.7. NTSC FAYT
Another character with poor canceling capabilities when under AI control.
Fortunately, Fayt's more useful skill setups do not require canceling.
SKILL SETUP: Blade of Fury -> Blade of Fury
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Arguably the best general-purpose cancel option for NTSC AI Fayt.
SKILL SETUP: Charge -> Charge
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires player manipulation for pseudo battle skills.
COMMENTS: Acceptable cancel chain.
SKILL SETUP: Blade of Fury -> Air Raid
BATTLE PURPOSE: Interruption
LIMITATIONS: Cannot be used fully as desired in the NTSC version. Cannot be
used fully was desired when fighting stand-alone in the PAL
version.
COMMENTS: Being able to cancel out of Air Raid is not necessary for this skill
setup.
SKILL SETUP: Blade of Fury -> Dimension Door
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Dimension Door is better used for keeping generic enemies in their
flinching animation, but the AI will not do so in a cancel chain.
SKILL SETUP: Blade of Fury -> Ethereal Blast
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Potentially very damaging, but Ethereal Blast's optimal activation
range is mid-range. As such, it is only recommended for use when
the enemy is kept in place (via stunlocking) and is a large target.
20.8. PAL FAYT
SKILL SETUP: Blade of Fury -> Aerial
BATTLE PURPOSE: Interruption
LIMITATIONS: Requires player manipulation for pseudo battle skills.
COMMENTS: Cancel chain ends at Aerial. Decent at the start of the game where
there simply aren't much options available.
SKILL SETUP: Blade of Fury -> Side Kick
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Acceptable cancel chain.
SKILL SETUP: Charge -> Side Kick
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires player manipulation for pseudo battle skills.
COMMENTS: Optimal Side Kick setup, and the AI is capable of using it as
desired.
SKILL SETUP: Side Kick -> Side Kick
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires the target to be large in size.
COMMENTS: If the requirement is not met, then the major Side Kick will almost
always miss when used in a cancel chain.
SKILL SETUP: Shotgun Blast -> Shotgun Blast
BATTLE PURPOSE: Elemental damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no fire-element protection.
COMMENTS: Good damage, provided that the enemy is not resistant to
fire-element.
SKILL SETUP: Side Kick -> Dimension Door
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Dimension Door is better used for keeping generic enemies in their
flinching animation, but the AI will not do so in a cancel chain.
SKILL SETUP: Air Raid -> Ethereal Blast
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Optimal Ethereal Blast setup, and the AI can use it as desired.
However, it is still not recommended for use.
20.9. NTSC MARIA
Cannot use the most damaging skill setup in the game as desired. Fortunately,
she still have Pulse Blast chains (one of the most damaging setups).
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Scatter Beam -> (long range) Scatter Beam
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Damage output is reduced drastically as most hits will miss.
SKILL SETUP: Charge -> Charge
BATTLE PURPOSE: MP Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires player manipulation for pseudo battle skills.
COMMENTS: Acceptable cancel chain.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Pulse Blast -> (long range) Pulse Blast
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Potentially very damaging skill setup, and the AI can use it as
desired.
SKILL SETUP: Crescent Locus -> Crescent Locus
BATTLE PURPOSE: Interruption
LIMITATIONS: Cannot be used fully was desired when fighting stand-alone
COMMENTS: Can become a fairly damaging skill setup if the enemy is kept in
place (via stunlocking).
SKILL SETUP: Crescent Locus -> Triple Kick
BATTLE PURPOSE: Interruption
LIMITATIONS: Cannot be used fully was desired when fighting stand-alone
COMMENTS: Can become a fairly damaging skill setup if the enemy is kept in
place (via stunlocking).
SKILL SETUP: Laser Blast -> Laser Blast
BATTLE PURPOSE: Elemental damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no fire-element protection.
COMMENTS: Very damaging skill setup if the enemy is weak to fire-element.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Aiming Device -> (long range) Energy Burst
BATTLE PURPOSE: MP Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Best MP damaging skill setup in the game, and the AI can use it as
desired.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Scatter Beam -> (long range) Energy Burst
BATTLE PURPOSE: MP Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: A launching-incapable alternative to Aiming Device -> Energy Burst.
20.10. PAL MARIA
Allows the use of pure Scatter Beam chains at point-blank range.
SKILL SETUP: Scatter Beam -> Scatter Beam
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Best HP damaging skill setup in the game.
20.11. NTSC MIRAGE
Another one of the least useful characters to leave under AI control.
Fortunately, she has skill setups in which canceling is not really necessary.
SKILL SETUP: Charge -> Charge
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires player manipulation for pseudo battle skills.
COMMENTS: Acceptable cancel chain.
SKILL SETUP: Charge -> Sphere of Might
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires player manipulation for pseudo battle skills.
COMMENTS: Acceptable cancel chain.
SKILL SETUP: Sphere of Might -> Sphere of Might
BATTLE PURPOSE: Stunlock
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Mirage's best stunlocking setup, and the AI can use it as desired.
SKILL SETUP: Aerial Assault -> Aerial Assault
BATTLE PURPOSE: MP Damage
LIMITATIONS: Only works when the AoE version of the skill is used (NTSC
version only; no limits in the PAL version)
COMMENTS: A high risk of triggering enemy AAAs. The normal version of the
skill is capable of knockdown, so this may be a problem in the PAL
version.
SKILL SETUP: Sphere of Might -> Aerial Assault
BATTLE PURPOSE: MP Damage
LIMITATIONS: Only works when the AoE version of the skill is used (NTSC
version only; no limits in the PAL version)
COMMENTS: Alternative to pure Aerial Assault chains with low risk of death by
enemy AAA.
SKILL SETUP: Crescent Locus -> Crescent Locus
BATTLE PURPOSE: Interruption
LIMITATIONS: Cannot be used fully was desired when fighting stand-alone
COMMENTS: Can become a fairly damaging skill setup if the enemy is kept in
place (via stunlocking).
SKILL SETUP: Crescent Locus -> Triple Kick
BATTLE PURPOSE: Interruption
LIMITATIONS: Cannot be used fully was desired when fighting stand-alone
COMMENTS: Can become a fairly damaging skill setup if the enemy is kept in
place (via stunlocking).
20.12. PAL MIRAGE
The only battle skill in which the AI cannot use as desired is Blazing Cannon,
which is not that useful of a skill in the first place.
SKILL SETUP: Hammer of Might -> Hammer of Might
BATTLE PURPSE: Elemental damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no fire-element protection. Cannot be
used fully as desired when fighting stand-alone.
COMMENTS: Good damage if the enemy is kept from being downed (via
stunlocking) and is not resistant to fire-element.
SKILL SETUP: Electric Fists -> Aerial Assault
BATTLE PURPOSE: MP Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Optimal Aerial Assault setup. Can be used as desired by the AI.
SKILL SETUP: Sphere of Might -> Avenger Charge
BATTLE PURPOSE: Elemental Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no fire-element protection. Cannot be
used fully as desired when fighting stand-alone.
COMMENTS: Recommended for enemies with weakness to fire-element.
SKILL SETUP: Electric Fists -> Avenger Charge
BATTLE PURPOSE: Elemental Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no fire-element protection. Cannot be
used fully as desired when fighting stand-alone.
COMMENTS: Recommended for enemies with weakness to fire-element.
SKILL SETUP: Sphere of Might -> Infinity Kick
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Cannot be used fully as desired when fighting stand-alone
COMMENTS: Good general purpose skill setup under AI control.
SKILL SETUP: Electric Fists -> Infinity Kick
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Electric Fists has multiple cancel points, making it a better minor
than Sphere of Might for continuing the cancel chain. Is Mirage's
best general purpose skill setup under AI control.
20.13. NTSC NEL
The AI is incapable of using Nel's useful skills as desired; making Nel a poor
character to leave under AI control.
SKILL SETUP: Shockwave -> Shockwave
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Acceptable cancel chain for the NTSC version only due to a lack of
significantly superior alternatives.
SKILL SETUP: Shadow Wave -> Shadow Wave
BATTLE PURPOSE: MP Damage
LIMITATIONS: Cannot be used fully as desired when fighting stand-alone
COMMENTS: Enemy needs to be kept in place via stunlocking to make damage dealt
acceptable.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Ice Daggers -> (long range) Ice Daggers
BATTLE PURPOSE: Elemental damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no ice-element protection. Nel's long
range normal attacks are short range in nature.
COMMENTS: Acceptable cancel chain.
SKILL SETUP: Charge -> Charge
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires player manipulation for pseudo battle skills.
COMMENTS: Acceptable cancel chain.
SKILL SETUP: Poison Cloud -> Poison Cloud
BATTLE PURPOSE: MP Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Acceptable cancel chain.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Flying Guillotine -> (long range) Flying Guillotine
BATTLE PURPOSE: MP Damage
LIMITATIONS: Nel's long range normal attacks are short range in nature.
COMMENTS: Arguably Nel's best long range skill setup under AI control.
SKILL SETUP: (both slots) Poison Cloud -> (short) Divine Wrath
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires no other combatant to stand between Nel and her target
COMMENTS: Divine Wrath has too many inherent flaws to be a good skill to use.
Problem is, there aren't any noticeably better AI alternatives.
20.14. PAL NEL
Significantly better than her NTSC counterpart, but still cannot use her most
dangerous (albeit elemental) battle skill as desired.
SKILL SETUP: Ice Daggers -> Ice Daggers
BATTLE PURPOSE: Elemental damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no ice-element protection.
COMMENTS: Quite damaging when the enemy does not resist against ice-element.
SKILL SETUP: Shockwave -> Mirror Slice
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Good, but not the best Mirror Slice setup available.
SKILL SETUP: Shadow Wave -> Mirror Slice
BATTLE PURPOSE: Interruption
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Shadow Wave causes knockdown, which will cause the first few hits of
Mirror Slice to miss.
SKILL SETUP: Charge -> Mirror Slice
BATTLE PURPOSE: Juggle
LIMITATIONS: Requires player manipulation for pseudo battle skills.
COMMENTS: Optimal Mirror Slice setup as it provides a continuous juggle after
the enemy gets launched by the initial Mirror Slice. The AI can use
it as desired.
20.15. NTSC Peppita
Has the most battle skills in which the AI cannot use as desired out of all
the characters. As a result, AI Peppita loses out on all the good setups
possible for her more damaging battle skills; stunlocking support is a must
for the AI to contribute.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Frozen Daggers -> (long range) Frozen Daggers
BATTLE PURPOSE: Elemental damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no ice-element protection. Peppita's long
range normal attacks are short range in nature.
COMMENTS: NTSC AI Peppita's only usable long range setup in a cancel chain.
SKILL SETUP: Kaboom -> Kaboom
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Cannot be used fully as desired when fighting stand-alone
COMMENTS: Enemy needs to be kept in place via stunlocking to make damage dealt
acceptable.
SKILL SETUP: Kaboom -> Faerie Friend
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: NTSC AI Peppita's only short range skill setup that can be used as
desired when fighting without ally assistance.
20.16. PAL Peppita
Better than her NTSC counter-part.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Magic Hook -> (long range) Magic Hook
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Peppita's long range normal attacks are short range in nature.
Magic Hook can force Peppita into short range with respect to
the enemy.
COMMENTS: Not recommended for use due to lack of reliability.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Instanto Blast -> (long range) Instanto Blast
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Peppita's long range normal attacks are short range in nature.
COMMENTS: If you must use Peppita at long range, then this is the setup to use.
SKILL SETUP: Charge -> Kaboom
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires player manipulation for pseudo battle skills. Cannot be
used fully as desired when fighting stand-alone.
COMMENTS: Enemy needs to be kept in place via stunlocking to make damage dealt
acceptable.
SKILL SETUP: Charge -> Faerie Friend
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires player manipulation for pseudo battle skills. Cannot be
used fully as desired when fighting stand-alone.
COMMENTS: Enemy needs to be kept in place via stunlocking for the AI to use
the cancel chain as desired.
20.17. NTSC ROGER
Since the majority of his battle skills are incapable of knockdown, he is one
of the few characters whose AI is able to function as well as the player in
terms of using cancel chains.
SKILL SETUP: Charge -> Charge
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires player manipulation for pseudo battle skills.
COMMENTS: Roger's most useful skill setup for both versions and even when
under manual control.
SKILL SETUP: Piercing Claw -> Raging Helmet
BATTLE PURPOSE: Interruption/Stunlock
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Knockdown provided by Piercing Claw will make up for Raging
Helmet's relatively long activation time. Problem is, it is not
exactly efficient to knock enemies down so as to stunlock them
afterwards.
SKILL SETUP: Raging Helmet -> Raging Helmet
BATTLE PURPOSE: Stunlock
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Unfortunately, slow activation time is counterproductive to
stunlocking.
20.18. PAL ROGER
No different to his NTSC counterpart.
20.19. NTSC SOPHIA
Inability to learn Max Fury makes Sophia a poor character to leave at short
range under AI control. In addition, the fact that the majority of her
symbological battle skills are elemental also limits her ability under AI
control.
SKILL SETUP: Efreet -> Efreet
BATTLE PURPOSE: Elemental Damage
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no fire-element protection.
COMMENTS: Since good INT boosts are obtainable earlier than ATK boosts,
Efreet is fairly good for damage in the main-game.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Thunder Flare -> (long range) Thunder Flare
BATTLE PURPOSE: Stunlock
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no wind-element protection.
COMMENTS: Best single-target stunlock setup available to Sophia. However,
there is a period of hit inactivity between cancels in the chain.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Stone Rain -> (long range) Stone Rain
BATTLE PURPOSE: Stunlock
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no earth-element protection.
COMMENTS: Multi-target stunlocking.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Explosion -> (long range) Explosion
BATTLE PURPOSE: Stunlock
LIMITATIONS: Requires target to have no fire-element protection.
COMMENTS: If you don't mind fighting blind, then this is an alternative to
Thunder Flare chains. While the cancel chain is longer to start, it
provides a constant stream of hits.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Laser Beams -> (long range) Laser Beams
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: General purpose damage with some stunlocking ability.
20.20. PAL SOPHIA
Unlike her NTSC counterpart, the AI can be made to use any skill setup as
desired provided that Laser Beams is the minor skill - this offers
significantly more flexibility.
SKILL SETUP: (long range) Laser Beams -> (long range) Thunder Flare
BATTLE PURPOSE: Stunlock
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: Due to animation cross-over, the AI can use this skill setup as
desired - the only flaw is the signficant hit delay of Laser Beams.
SKILL SETUP: Blood Scylla -> Blood Scylla
BATTLE PURPOSE: Damage
LIMITATIONS: None
COMMENTS: The amount of damage dealt to the enemy is absorbed by Sophia.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21. GLOSSARY
Animation cross-over - When the animation of the previous battle skill remains
in effect while the current battle skill is being animated.
Anti-Attack Aura (AAA) – The aura that is emitted when the guarding animation
is performed.
Attack – Any source of hit(s) in which damage can be dealt.
Battle Skill – An attack that can be set in any of the four attack slots
available in the skills menu. When the term "battle skill" is used in this
guide, it refers to active battle skills only.
Active – Any battle skill that requires either HP or MP to activate.
Continuous – Any true battle skill that can have its animation extended
either by holding down or pressing the button in which it was assigned to
in the skills menu as long as the Fury cost can be satisfied or.
Duration – Any active battle skill that remain active even after the user
regains their ability to move freely.
Pseudo – Any Aerial or Charge. "Officially" treated as normal attacks by
the battle system. In other words, active battle skills that gives either
"Triple Experience" or "Double Fol" upon filling the Battle Bonus Gauge,
depending on the slot that they are set to.
Symbological – Any active battle skill that gives "Increased Chance for
Item" upon filling the Battle Bonus Gauge. Effectively a symbology that
can be set to a skill slot.
True – Any active battle skill that gives "Increased Recovery After
Battle" upon filling the Battle Bonus Gauge.
Critical condition - When the current HP or MP is below 30% of the maximum.
Downed – To be lying down. When downed, the combatant is incapable of taking
any action, except to automatically get back up after a set time frame if
there is enough room for said combatant to do so.
Elemental Protection – When a combatant has the ability to absorb or nullify
the concerned element.
Elemental Damage Recovery – The target is instead healed by a set fraction of
elemental damage that should have been dealt. This is different from
absorption, where the target is healed by the full amount.
Fighter – Any party member that do not possess any symbological battle skills;
anyone but Adray and Sophia.
Guard – The defending animation that a combatant at 100% Fury will
automatically use just before being hit by a minor attack.
Juggle – A series of hits that serves to maintain the target airborne, thus
preventing said target from being forced into its downed animation.
Knockdown – A single hit that is capable of forcing the target into its downed
animation.
Launching – A single hit that is capable of forcing the target airborne.
Mage – Any party member that possesses symbological battle skills; Adray and
Sophia.
Reverse Attack - An attack that the enemy will automatically use when there is
an active party member behind them.
State – Refers to whether an attack is minor or major.
Stunlock – A series of hits that serves to maintain the target in its
flinching animation, thus preventing said target from attacking.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
22. VERSION HISTORY
v1.0 - The basics of AI behaviour is documented.
April 07 2009
v1.1 - Added in the following sections:
ALLY AI & THE NO MOVEMENT EXPLOIT
ALLY AI & THE STATE CHANGE (MINOR <-> MAJOR) EXPLOIT
SKILL SETUP CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE AI
GLOSSARY
VERSION HISTORY
APPENDIX
Changes were made in the following section:
AI LEVELS (ATTACK AND DEFENSE) - added a basic description of what sort of
behaviour can be expected at low AI levels.
DETERMINING A TARGET FOR ATTACK - altered to accomodate the differences
in enemy AI behaviour between difficulties.
ATTACKING - added in information about reverse attacks.
ELEMENTAL ATTACKS - minor revision.
CANCELING PSEUDO BATTLE SKILLS - minor changes for consistency's sake.
CONTINUING ATTACKS - removed range-shifting as a method for continuuing
attacks; it doesn't work.
HEALING SYMBOLOGY - added in the HP level in which Healing can be expected
to be cast (33%).
May 05 2009
v1.2 - Added in the following section:
SKILL SETUP RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE AI
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
APPENDIX
A1. ELEMENTAL ATTACKS
The Worm-eaten Tome teaches the character that it is used on the following
symbology: Earth Glaive, Fire Bolt, Lightning Blast.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Attack Name | Character(s) | Type | Element |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Air Slash | Albel | True | Wind |
| Air Slash of Fury | Albel | Continuous | Wind |
| Aura Wall | Albel | Duration | Earth |
| Avenger Charge | Mirage | True | Fire |
| Blazing Sword | Fayt | Duration | Fire |
| Crush | Sophia | Symbology | Earth |
| Deep Freeze | Adray, Fayt, Sophia | Symbology | Water |
| Earth Glaive | Adray, Sophia | Symbology | Earth |
| Efreet | Adray, Sophia | Symbology | Fire |
| Emotion Torrent | Adray | True | Varies |
| Explosion | Adray, Fayt, Sophia | Symbology | Fire |
| Fiery Fury | Roger | True | Earth |
| Fiery Tackle | Cliff | True | Fire |
| Fire Bolt | Adray, Nel, Sophia | Symbology | Fire |
| Frozen Daggers | Peppita | True | Water |
| Gremlins | Sophia | Symbology | Earth |
| Hammer of Might | Cliff, Mirage | True | Fire |
| Ice Blade | Fayt | Duration | Water |
| Ice Daggers | Nel | True | Water |
| Ice Needles | Adray, Nel, Sophia | Symbology | Water |
| Laser Blast | Maria | True | Fire |
| Lightning Blade | Fayt | Duration | Wind |
| Lightning Blast | Adray, Fayt, Nel, Sophia | Symbology | Wind |
| Lightning Chain | Nel | Duration | Wind |
| Lightning Strike | Adray, Nel, Sophia | Symbology | Wind |
| Long minor normal | Albel | Normal attack | Wind |
| Meteor Swarm | Sophia | Symbology | Fire |
| Sea Gate | Adray | True | Water |
| Shotgun Blast | Fayt | True | Fire |
| Sirocco | Adray | True | Fire |
| Splitting Sky | Nel | Duration | Wind |
| Star Fall | Roger | ??? | Fire |
| Stone Rain | Adray, Fayt, Sophia | Symbology | Earth |
| Thunder Flare | Adray, Nel, Sophia | Symbology | Wind |
| Titan Fist | Adray | True | Earth |
| Whirlwind | Nel | Duration | Wind |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A2. CANCELING DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PAL AND NTSC VERSIONS
The following tables list whether a battle skill will be canceled out of by
the AI. The descriptions are as follows:
"Yes" - The AI will always cancel out of the skill if the conditions given in
section 9 are satisfied.
"Possible" - The AI will always cancel out of the skill if the player
manipulates said AI to do so; else no.
"Never" - The AI will never cancel out of the skill.
"No" - The AI will not reliably cancel out of the skill if when the conditions
given in section 9 are satisfied.
"Random" - The AI might cancel out of the skill, but the specific conditions
for making it do so is currently unknown.
A2.1. ADRAY
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Skill Name | PAL version | NTSC version |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Aerial | Possible (Section 11) | Possible (Section 11) |
| Chaos Tide | Yes | No |
| Charge | Possible (Section 11) | Possible (Section 11) |
| Emotion Torrent | Yes | Yes |
| Fire Bolt | Yes | Long range only* |
| Ice Needles | Yes | Long range only |
| Lightning Blast | Yes | Yes |
| Long minor normal | Yes | Yes |
| Sea Gate | Never | Never |
| Short minor normal | Yes | No |
| Sirocco | Yes | No |
| Southern Cross | Yes | No |
| Titan Fist | Yes | Yes |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
* It is possible for Fire Bolt to be canceled out of short range if the
timing happends to be right (circling motion).
A2.2. ALBEL
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Skill Name | PAL version | NTSC version |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Aerial | Possible (Section 11) | Possible (Section 11) |
| Air Slash | Yes | Long range only |
| Air Slash of Fury | Yes | Long range only |
| Aura Wall | Never | Never |
| Charge | Possible (Section 11) | Possible (Section 11) |
| Double Slash | Yes | No |
| Double Slash of Fury | Yes | Yes |
| Dragon Roar | Yes | Yes |
| Hand of Doom | Yes | Yes |
| Long minor normal | Yes | Yes |
| Long minor followthrough | Yes | Yes |
| Palm of Destruction | Yes | Yes |
| Shockwave Swirl | Yes | Yes |
| Short minor normal | Yes | Yes |
| Short major counter | Yes | Yes |
| Vampiric Flash | Yes | Yes |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A2.3. CLIFF
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Skill Name | PAL version | NTSC version |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Acrobat Locus | Yes | Yes |
| Aerial | Possible (Section 11) | No |
| Aerial Assault | Yes | AoE version only |
| Charge | Possible (Section 11) | Possible (Section 11) |
| Electric Fists | Yes | No |
| Fiery Tackle | Yes | No |
| Fists of Fury | Yes | Yes |
| Hammer of Might | Yes | No |
| Infinity Kick | Yes | No |
| Long minor normal | Yes | No |
| Max Shockwave | Yes | Yes |
| Mid minor normal | Yes | Yes |
| Short minor anti-air | Yes | No |
| Short minor normal | Yes | Yes |
| Sphere of Might | Yes | Yes |
| Uppercut | Yes | No |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A2.4. FAYT
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Skill Name | PAL version | NTSC version |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Aerial | Possible (Section 11) | No |
| Air Raid | Yes | No |
| Blade of Fury | Yes | Yes |
| Blazing Sword | Never | Never |
| Charge | Possible (Section 11) | Possible (Section 11) |
| Dimension Door | Yes | Yes |
| Divine Blade | Never | Never |
| Ethereal Blast | Yes | Yes |
| Ice Blade | Never | Never |
| Lightning Blade | Never | Never |
| Long minor normal | Yes | No |
| Short minor normal | Yes | Yes |
| Short minor anti-air | Yes | No |
| Short minor followthrough | Yes | Yes |
| Shotgun Blast | Yes | ??? |
| Side Kick | Yes | No |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A2.5. MARIA
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Skill Name | PAL version | NTSC version |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Aerial | Possible (Section 11) | No |
| Aiming Device | Yes | Mid & long range only |
| Charge | Possible (Section 11) | Possible (Section 11) |
| Crescent Locus | Yes | Yes |
| Energy Burst | Never | Never |
| Gravity Bullet | Never | Never |
| Laser Blast | Yes | Yes |
| Long range anti-air | Yes | No |
| Long range normal | Yes | Yes |
| Magnetic Field | Never | Never |
| Pulse Blast | Yes | Mid & long range only |
| Radiation Bots | Never | Never |
| Scatter Beam | Yes | Mid & long range only |
| Short minor normal | Yes | No |
| Short minor side-step | Yes | Yes |
| Triple Kick | Yes | Yes |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A2.6. MIRAGE
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Skill Name | PAL version | NTSC version |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Acrobat Locus | Yes | Yes |
| Aerial | Possible (Section 11) | No |
| Aerial Assault | Yes | AoE version only |
| Avenger Charge | Yes | No |
| Blazing Cannon | Yes | No |
| Charge | Possible (Section 11) | Possible (Section 11) |
| Crescent Locus | Yes | Yes |
| Electric Fists | Yes | No |
| Hammer of Might | Yes | No |
| Infinity Kick | Yes | No |
| Long minor normal | Yes | No |
| Mid minor normal | Yes | Yes |
| Short minor anti-air | Yes | No |
| Short minor normal | Yes | Yes |
| Sphere of Might | Yes | Yes |
| Triple Kick | Yes | Yes |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A2.7. NEL
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Skill Name | PAL version | NTSC version |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Aerial | Possible (Section 11) | No |
| Charge | Possible (Section 11) | Possible (Section 11) |
| Divine Wrath | Yes | Yes |
| Flying Guillotine | Yes | Long range only |
| Ice Daggers | Yes | Mid & long range only |
| Lightning Chain | Never | Never |
| Long minor normal | Yes | Yes |
| Mirror Slice | Yes | No |
| Poison Cloud | Yes | Yes |
| Shadow Wave | Yes | Yes |
| Shockwave | Yes | Yes |
| Short major followthrough | Yes | No |
| Short minor bomb special | Never | Never |
| Short minor normal | Yes | Yes |
| Short minor special | Yes | No |
| Splitting Sky | Yes | Yes |
| Whirlwind | Never | Never |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A2.8. PEPPITA
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Skill Name | PAL version | NTSC version |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Aerial | Possible (Section 11) | No |
| Charge | Possible (Section 11) | No |
| Dream Hammer | Yes | Yes |
| Faerie Friend | Yes | Yes |
| Frozen Daggers | Yes | Yes |
| Healing Dance | Random | Random |
| Instanto Blast | Yes | No |
| Kaboom | Yes | Yes |
| Long range normal | Yes | Yes |
| Magical Dance | Random | Random |
| Magic Hook | Yes | No |
| Panic Dance | Random | Random |
| Power Dance | Random | Random |
| Short minor counter-attack | Yes | No |
| Short minor normal | Yes | Yes |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A2.9. ROGER
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Skill Name | PAL version | NTSC version |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Aerial | Possible (Section 11) | No |
| Bug Triad | Yes | Yes |
| Charge | Possible (Section 11) | Possible (Section 11) |
| Fiery Axe | Unconfirmed* | Explosion only |
| Fiery Fury | Unconfirmed* | No |
| Flying Torpedo | Unconfirmed* | No |
| Land Mines | Unconfirmed** | No |
| Long minor normal | Yes | Yes |
| Piercing Claw | Yes | Yes |
| Raging Helmet | Yes | Yes |
| Shield and Cannon | Unconfirmed* | Yes |
| Short minor | Yes | Yes |
| Star Fall | Unconfirmed* | Yes |
| Whirling Heat | Yes | No |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Presumably "Yes".
** Presumably "No".
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| As far as I am concerned, Roger is the second most useless |
| character in the game overall and as such I have no game saves in |
| which he is in my party to confirm whether canceling is possible. |
| Incidentally, the AI is most capable at controlling Roger due to a |
| lack of knockdown-capable battle skills. |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
A2.10. SOPHIA
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Skill Name | PAL version | NTSC version |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Aerial | Possible (Section 11) | No |
| Blood Scylla | Yes | No |
| Charge | Possible (Section 11) | Possible (Section 11) |
| Dark Sphere | Possible (Section 12) | Never |
| Deep Freeze | Yes | Yes |
| Earth Glaive | Yes | Yes |
| Efreet | Yes | Yes |
| Explosion | Yes | Yes |
| Fire Bolt | Yes | Long range only* |
| Gremlins | Yes | Yes |
| Ice Needles | Yes | Long range only |
| Laser Beams | Yes | Yes |
| Lightning Blast | Yes | Yes |
| Lightning Strike | Yes | Yes |
| Long minor normal | Yes | Yes |
| Mid minor normal | Yes | Yes
| Meteor Swarm | Yes | Yes |
| Short minor normal | Yes | Yes |
| Southern Cross | Yes | No |
| Stone Rain | Yes | Yes |
| Thunder Flare | Yes | Yes |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
* It is possible for Fire Bolt to be canceled out of short range if the
timing happens to be right (circling motion).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A3. BATTLE SKILLS WITH ANIMATION-CROSSOVER
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Skill Name | Character(s) | Element | Range |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Deep Freeze | Sophia | Water | Either |
| Efreet | Sophia | Fire | Short |
| Emotion Torrent | Adray | Varies | Either |
| Explosion | Sophia | Fire | Either |
| Flying Guillotine | Nel | None | Long |
| Laser Beams | Sophia | None | Either |
| Laser Blast | Maria | Fire | Short |
| Lightning Blast | Adray, Sophia | Wind | Short |
| Max Shockwave | Cliff | None | Long |
| Sphere of Might | Cliff | None | Short |
| Stone Rain | Sophia | Earth | Either |
| Thunder Flare | Sophia | Wind | Either |
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Document
