Cloud of Darkness

Vanguard

This infernal manifestation terrorizes the battlefield by gathering energy, then emitting destructive beam attacks. Use Umbral Torrent to keep this fiend at its most fearsome and its enemies crying for help.

Original Appearance: FINAL FANTASY III

Year: 1990

Role: The wizard Xande is the main adversary of Onion Knight and other Warriors of Light throughout the adventure; only at the end, with Xande finally succumbing, does the entity poisoning him finally appear: the elementally evil swirl of forces known as Cloud of Darkness. Formless and genderless, Cloud of Darkness has no true likeness and chooses to appear as an Amazonian female form draped in a cowl, attacking with sentient, plant-like tendrils.

Other Noteworthy Appearances: DISSIDIA FINAL FANTASY (2009), DISSIDIA 012 FINAL FANTASY (2011)

Arsenal

Charged attacks: After 10 seconds, dark energy swirls around Cloud of Darkness, granting a one-time, optional bonus: hold down the command when executing any Bravery Attack to trigger a stronger version of the attack. The effect is usually more damage and knockback on the final stage of the move (meaning you must finish off the chains to get those bonuses), though some moves have other bonuses too, like extra priority.

Use any charged attack, and the 10-second timer begins anew. The bonuses Cloud of Darkness gets for charged attacks are small compared to some characters’ bonuses for similar states, but Cloud of Darkness gets the chance to use charged attacks often, and the option isn’t lost if hits are taken or uncharged attacks are used.

Bravery Attacks

HP Attacks

EX Skill

Bravery Attack Breakdown

Toying Appendages

Cloud of Darkness swipes forward counterclockwise with its right tendril. On contact, a follow-up clockwise swipe with the left tendril is possible, into a spinning knockback punch with both snaking limbs together.

The first swipe is lateral, and while it’s not quite as good as it looks—the motion lines surround Cloud of Darkness, but the attack just hits frontally—it does swipe across a conal area with about 75 degrees of arc, with terrific forward reach. This gives the opening poke a great chance to swipe fighters who sidestep or dash away poorly. It also helps the opener potentially snap up more than one enemy at a time.

Like most of Cloud of Darkness’s combos, Toying Appendages has HUGE knockback, way more than normal. As a rule, if you touch someone with Cloud of Darkness, you can blast them to the edge of the minimap, score a wall hit, or achieve both. With charged attack variants, the knockback is even better, increased by about another 10%.

The first two hits alone can be used repeatedly to harass enemies trying to run, like a marksman you’ve managed to corner. This technique can also hold enemies in place till your allies dive in for their own Bravery combos or HP Attack finishers. As long as you don’t carry out the last hit, you won’t knock them far away.

Appendages of Avarice

Both tendrils extend far forward—not quite to 1.5 circles’ distance on the minimap, but almost—seizing anyone in the way in their jaws and reeling them in. Cloud of Darkness pulls them overhead to the other side, then smacks them hard in the other direction.

This is a great way to poke at targets on the ground from early mid-range, without exposing Cloud of Darkness as badly as with Toying Appendages (Cloud of Darkness hangs back during Appendages of Avarice, instead of rushing forward).

This is also noteworthy as one of the few melee attacks that swaps your position with that of the target. Obviously, it’s bad to have your back to a wall, but with this attack, you can reverse that situation against an obliging target. Even if they guard it, taking no Bravery damage, getting pulled around can be disorienting for them and will certainly interfere with whatever positioning tactics they had in mind.

The charged version adds extra damage and knockback to the final hit.

Uncanny Beam

A tendril uproots dark energy from underground, causing a series of dark laser pillars to shoot up from the ground toward the target. Ultimately, 12 laser pillars emerge, snaking toward the target if they move.

Uncanny Beam is a great general-purpose mid-range poking, space-clearing, and crowd-control tool, like all shockwave-style attacks. The pillars extend high enough to ensure all but the highest fliers are shot down if they try to go over the pillar tops.

When charged, Uncanny Beam deals increased damage and increases a projectile-durability tier, meaning it overpowers and plows through more enemy projectiles than normal. In mid- to long-range standoffs against a patient enemy force, especially one underpinned by a busy marksman, firing charged Uncanny Beam into the fray is a good way to force an opening.

Merciful Appendages

Instead of slicing horizontally with three tendril attacks as with Toying Appendages on the ground, Cloud of Darkness uses vertical slices. The first swipe starts just under the airborne dark cloud, then rises in front and slightly above, with great forward reach. A follow-up slash proceeds the same way, before the finishing tendril punch blasts the victim far away, blocked or not.

The range and lower-to-higher vector of the outstretched tendril make this attack effective for dueling with fliers trying to maneuver around Cloud of Darkness at the edge of close range. The initial poke works great against double/triple-jumping targets and those dashing at a slightly different altitude, but attentive enemies can easily sidestep it. If an exploratory Merciful Appendages first stage misses, evasion cancel to reposition in mid-air and avoid retaliation, or guard cancel to fall to the ground safely, vacating the dogfight.

On hit, if teammates are nearby, it’s often worth performing just two hits, choosing to forgo the finishing blast, as with Toying Appendages.

Appendages of Depravity

As with Appendages of Avarice when standing, this tendril strike’s range is terrific for a basic physical attack. The tendrils extend and retract, pulling back anyone they hit while hitting multiple times. Once the fish is hooked, Cloud of Darkness can finish off the two-stage attack with a walloping tendril punch, blasting victims away.

This strike lets Cloud of Darkness take physical shots at close- to mid-range foes without encroaching dangerously. Use this technique to fish out individuals from swarming groups, to strike at fleeing marksmen, and to punish foes whose attacks you’ve just sidestepped around. Pull them in, then knock them far away, perhaps scoring a wall rush. Or pull them in and pause before resuming attacks, a test to see if they react poorly on the defensive.

Induction Beam

Cloud of Darkness has two arms and two tendrils to use to conjure magic energy. Here, it raises them all to send three homing laser globes after the target.

Induction Beam is an aerial-projectile complement to Uncanny Beam. At the range beyond where Appendages of Avarice/Depravity reaches, these projectile attacks still allow Cloud of Darkness to threaten enemies and control space.

This is a decent stalling or sniping option, and it’s better to have a projectile than not. However, keep in mind that Cloud of Darkness’s role is that of vanguard, so Induction Beam is mostly filler, not a central part of its arsenal. Uncanny Beam is more potent for space/projectile-clearing, whereas Wide-Angle Particle Beam (HP Attack) and Zero-Form Particle Beam (EX Skill) are more overpowering still.

The exception is the charged version, where Induction Beam’s homing globes gain projectile priority and damage.

Insulating Appendages

Coming out of a dash, Cloud of Darkness glides prone through the air, tendrils lashing in a blur in all directions. As the name suggests, Cloud of Darkness is fully insulated by this move, striking in all directions at once while gliding.

Cloud of Darkness is basically a giant projectile while moving. The speed, range, and nature of this move make this a terrific melee attack when dashing at someone in range. It’s a single multi-hit attack, no follow-up press needed, and knocks the opponent a long way, though not as far as the melee combos available.

HP Attack Breakdown

Wide-Angle Particle Beam

Cloud of Darkness crouches, tension building, then rises upward as though flipping a table, arms and tendrils and all, and a flat, wide wave of laser energy surges forward.

The energy wave rolls quickly, a little taller than Cloud of Darkness and three times wider. The range is similar to that of Appendages of Depravity/Avarice, a bit past the first minimap circle. The wide, flat hitting area means this attack can clip enemies who don’t sidestep cleanly, and even catch multiple foes if they’re lined up nearby. The windup is a tad slow to be ideal for following up wall hits, unless an ally sets up the wall splat, in which case you can get the HP Attack started up early.

The wide danger zone of the attack also makes it great to aim at foes just as they recover from invincible periods, such as after air-recovering from another hit or peeling off the wall.

Diffusion Particle Beam

Cloud of Darkness sparks a dark glimmer in the air before it, then swipes it away with both hands, dispersing all the energy with a laser scattergun effect.

If you’re after a reliable follow-up HP Attack, and one that’s good for close-quarters skirmishes, look no further. The range is decent—if not quite reaching to the first minimap circle, then not too far off—and the wide cone covers everything in front. Diffusion Particle Beam is also quicker to strike than other HP Attacks, so it’s more likely to allow you to hit opponents right away after a wall hit from a Bravery combo.

Anti-Air Particle Beam

After a crouching spin, Cloud of Darkness stretches to the sky, making laser energy erupt all around it. Five huge energy pillars emerge, reaching up to triple-jump height.

This HP Attack has manifold purposes. It’s obviously good anti-air against anyone dashing around above Cloud of Darkness. Since it’s possible to move around during the windup before the pillars erupt, it’s also possible to boldly use this as a close-range attack, essentially crouch-dashing in close before going for an unblockable area-of-effect hit. It can also be used this way to cap off wall hits and combos (though, like Wide-Angle Particle Beam, it’s a tiny bit slow to guarantee Cloud of Darkness can follow up its own wall hits, unless the victim is lazy about timing their recovery off the wall).

High-Speed Particle Beam

Cloud of Darkness quickly hurls forward a tiny dark orb, which skates a bit into mid-range and then reveals itself as a portal for Cloud of Darkness itself. Cloud of Darkness teleports forward to the portal instantly, skipping the intervening space and causing a dark explosion on arrival.

Neither the thrown portal nor Cloud of Darkness teleporting constitutes an attack in itself—just the dark area-of-effect discharge that accompanies Cloud of Darkness reemerging into reality. Cloud of Darkness throws the portal straight at the target, though obstacles in the way like boulders or steep slopes can cause it to trigger short of its usual reach. Assuming nothing is in the way, the portal pulls Cloud of Darkness to about a range of 1.8 circles on the minimap, but the explosive splash carries over to a little beyond the second circle, giving this attack respectable blast range.

Cloud of Darkness does an excellent job hurling the portal steeply up or down at foes if they’re way above or below. This is not to mention that Cloud of Darkness really does vanish from the arena while teleporting during the attack, like Kain during his higher-level Jumps. This means, with good timing, High-Speed Particle Beam can be used to pass through incoming threats on purpose. If you’re feeling bold, try using the teleport to dodge and counter incoming shockwaves and projectiles, dashing melee combos, and even enemy summon attacks.

EX Skill Breakdown

Umbral Torrent

After bursting with dark energy, all attacks are automatically charged versions for 20 seconds. As a magic-backed vanguard slugger, the benefit of extra damage, knockback, and priority on melee pokes and Uncanny/Induction Beam projectiles helps Cloud of Darkness bully the opposition for a good chunk of time.

Outside of Umbral Torrent, you’ll get used to seeing dark power coalesce 10 seconds after you use any charged attack variant. Since that gives you a sense of how long 10 seconds feels in match time, remember that this buff basically lasts for two normal recharge periods. This buff isn’t just about briefly powering up every poke, though. It also gives Cloud of Darkness single-use access to a kind of super HP Attack, at the cost of ending Umbral Torrent immediately.

Zero-Form Particle Beam

Gathering the remaining force of Umbral Torrent, Cloud of Darkness unleashes it in an unmatched frontal beam, which remains on-screen for a whole second.

This ludicrously large shaft of dark laser light stretches most of the way through mid-range and is much taller and wider than Cloud of Darkness. With its duration and behavior, this is basically a super version of Wide-Angle Particle Beam, available every 90 seconds as the finale to Umbral Torrent.

This is a game-changer. If you’re patient, Zero-Form Particle Beam kills should be almost automatic; making efficient and lethal use of this EX Skill

goes a long way toward justifying Cloud of Darkness over other vanguards. The sheer hitting area of Zero-Form Particle Beam means that it’s not at all unreasonable to hit multiple adversaries with it, and it gains in potential payoff when a duo or trio is focused in concert on Cloud of Darkness. If the whole enemy team is trying to rush you, the vanguard, from one side, they may be in for a nasty surprise when you unleash Zero-Form Particle Beam. In the best possible scenario, with high Bravery and some foolhardy foes incoming, you may score two or three incapacitations at once.

The extremely long-hitting duration of Zero-Form Particle Beam also opens it up for use with fighting-game-style tactics. When enemies get knocked into a wall twice in a row, or when they air-recover from knockdowns, they become briefly invincible, evidenced by their temporarily transparent bodies. With some practice and experience, you will develop a sense of when their invulnerable period will end—which means you can greet them with a well-timed Zero-Form Particle Beam that’s already in progress right as their invulnerability runs out. (A “meaty” attack. Sneaky!)

Battle Plan

This unusual combatant isn’t a woman, really, and isn’t quite a single entity, either. As a vanguard, too, Cloud of Darkness is hard to categorize, with a mage-like charge system and some serious spell firepower to go along with long-reaching melee attacks and a plodding travel speed.

Every 10 seconds (give or take), you can choose to power up a Bravery Attack. There’s no reason to save this frequent buff if you have a solid reason to be attacking—another charged Bravery Attack is right around the corner, with no effort from you, and enemies don’t deplete the charge by hitting Cloud of Darkness unless it’s a knockout.

Charging up your attack can make a huge difference in mid- to long-range projectile standoffs with Induction/Uncanny Beam, and rushing in with Insulating Appendages. These charged-attack use cases have the considerable bonus of not needing a follow-up stage for receiving the benefit, whereas if you begin charged Toying Appendages by holding , then perform only one follow-up hit, you’ve expended a charge with no bonus attached.

Cloud of Darkness’s vanguard style entails that each time you touch an enemy, you’re kicking them so far away from their comrades that it amounts to a temporary debuff. Finish combos, then immediately swap target to an enemy close by who’s still on their feet. Unless you’re going to wall-hit someone, it’s not worth dash canceling to chase combo victims as Cloud of Darkness; this conglomerate of evil forces is too slow to effectively rush that way. On the bright side, your assassin friends are ideal for pressing the attack on foes you’ve punted away from the crowd. Turn your attention to the remaining two enemies while checking in on any ranged/mage allies to see if they need help.

When approaching unsuspecting enemies, dashing in with Insulating Appendages is the obvious choice. This can pry enemies off allies and quickly send them tumbling away without occupying too much time for Cloud of Darkness.

Enemies who see you coming require a different approach. Induction/Uncanny Beams (+ , ground and air) are built for this, giving Cloud of Darkness an option to keep the opposing team honest when they’re entering engagement ranges. These attacks are also good around summoning cores, since you can work in hits without redirecting your gaze by moving to shoot at the current enemy target through the summoning core.

A little closer in, too far for neutral  pokes but cramped for projectiles, the fishing tendril attacks are excellent retaliation tools. You may catch people dashing in this range without them realizing you’re there too, in range to snare them and pull them in with + . Against enemy marksmen close enough, these strikes can preempt or interrupt ranged-attack attempts, catch the end of poorly timed sidesteps, and reach out and grab someone right after you successfully sidestep their attacks. They’re also perfect for tacking on hits when you realize an ally is holding an enemy with a lengthy combo but isn’t close enough for > >  (Toying Appendages on the ground, Merciful Appendages in the air) to catch.

At the closest ranges, neutral > >  (Toying Appendages on the ground, Merciful Appendages in the air) combos are versatile tools, good for dueling opposing vanguards, holding your own against assassin assaults, and bullying marksmen, should you get them in sight. It’s at this range that Diffusion Particle Beam and Anti-air Particle Beam come into their own as scary HP Attacks, whereas the other choices are mid-range-oriented.

Cloud of Darkness’s charged attacks are a dime a dozen; you’ll be using them constantly. Umbral Torrent, the EX Skill buff, is where good timing can really make all the difference. First available a minute and a half into the battle, this EX briefly makes Cloud of Darkness a bully by auto-charging all attacks, but more importantly, it gives access to Zero-Form Particle Beam. This is basically Wide-Angle Particle Beam, except three times bigger and longer-lasting. At the very least, you should get a solid Wide-Angle shot at a single enemy, potentially an easy match point if enough Bravery is in hand and two points are on the board (though usually your team won’t be there the first time Umbral Torrent is available; surely by the second time, approaching four minutes elapsed). At the very most, with lots of Bravery on hand and two to three opponents lined up tenpins, you could turn an entire match around with a magic railgun shot for the ages.

Though Cloud of Darkness is powerful wherever the tendrils can reach, the entity isn’t the speediest getting around, whether pursuing enemies, beating others to summoning cores, or forcing itself as the center of attention wherever a new skirmish breaks out and teams shift around rapidly. When in doubt, don’t get in cycles of fruitlessly chasing around enemies like a bad assassin, or using projectiles ineffectually like a bad marksman. Instead, find a close comrade to group up on, preferably a marksman or specialist. Someone will surely come for them at some point, if they aren’t already. Cover a quicker/longer-ranged buddy and blockade anyone who picks on them, and your cover will be built in, with a grateful marksman backing up your vine-swipes.

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