Lightning

Assassin

Lightning’s Commando role helps her overpower enemies with physical attacks, while her Ravager role keeps them at bay with a bevy of spells. Overwhelm your foes with magic until you find an opening, then go in for the kill.

Original Appearance: FINAL FANTASY XIII

Year: 2010

Role: Lightning was a soldier of the Guardian Corps, a military arm of the theocratic government of Cocoon. Lightning’s odyssey begins when she sets out to free her sister, Serah, from captivity at the hands of deity-like beings known as the fal’Cie.

Other Noteworthy Appearances: DISSIDIA 012 FINAL FANTASY (2011), FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 (2012), Theatrhythm FINAL FANTASY (2012), Lightning Returns: FINAL FANTASY XIII (2014), World of FINAL FANTASY (2016), DISSIDIA FINAL FANTASY Opera Omnia (2017)

Arsenal

Bravery Attacks: Commando

Bravery Attacks: Ravager

HP Attacks

EX Skill

Commando Bravery Attack Breakdown

Launch

Lightning advances at the enemy with two rapid slashes. Upon contact, she continues her aggression with two sword uppercuts, launching her target flying into the air.

Launch is an extremely quick attack, primarily used up close to catch enemies off their guard. Its speed makes it difficult to react to with guard.

On hit, you can opt to end the entire sequence, sending your foe into the sky, where you can follow them with the use of a dash cancel. Alternatively, if you have teammates nearby to capitalize on your attack, you can stop after the second  input (your uppercut keeps them in place), giving nearby allies an opportunity to inflict Bravery or HP damage on your target.

Launch can be used to cancel the recovery on Beat Down (dashing ).

Blitz

Lightning lunges forward at a target with two spinning slashes, carving into enemies nearby. She then delivers a focused overhead chop on her primary target, knocking them away past mid-range.

This unique circular attack shines against grounded foes. On confined low-verticality maps, like the Promised Meadow, Blitz becomes more useful since you’re more likely to engage in ground-to-ground combat.

Unlike most +  lunge attacks, Blitz’s initial swipe is a broad circular area-of-effect attack, potentially hitting multiple foes within a small radius. Heavy Slash (airborne + ) does not have this property.

Like Launch, you can combo into Blitz from a grounded Beat Down (grounded dashing ).

SMite

From the air, Lightning executes two quick strikes, a left swipe into a right swipe, then performs a somersault slash to finish the assault sequence.

Smite and Launch deal the same damage and cover similar horizontal range, but there are notable differences between the two. Whereas Launch begins with a double slash, Smite begins with a single slash. Additionally, Smite’s knockback effect is much less drastic, leaving your victim at a closer distance, allowing for an easier follow-up attack.

As with Launch, you can set up team combos for extra damage by going for a two-hit Smite instead of committing to the full three-hit series.

Its vertical tracking and horizontal range leave much to be desired, so you’re most likely to use this as a follow-up cancel to Beat Down (dashing ).

Heavy Slash

Lightning flies toward the enemy with an angled overhead slash and then follows up the strike with a quadruple-slash spinning sequence, flinging the foe far away.

Heavy Slash is particularly fast for an attack of its type and covers a substantial horizontal distance, making it effective as an almost instantaneous close- to mid-range engagement attack. Its verticality is lacking, so it’s vital that you match your target’s altitude before committing to a Heavy Slash.

While airborne dashing  (Beat Down) provides superior vertical tracking and is generally better suited for chasing fleeing foes, Heavy Slash is preferable from a non-dashing state since there’s a slight start-up to dashing.

Beat Down

Lightning thrusts into the opponent with the point of her blade, stunning them and leaving them at her mercy as she readies her next attack.

This dashing attack is your primary tool for catching enemies in flight. It has all the attributes of a superb assassin attack: excellent vertical tracking, respectable horizontal range, and relatively quick start-up speed.

Additionally, Beat Down has a special property that allows you to transition its recovery with one of her other  Bravery Attacks (depending on your dashing state). If you performed Beat Down from a grounded dash, you can follow up with either Launch or Blitz. From an airborne Beat Down, you can follow up with Smite or Heavy Slash.

Beat Down into Smite into neutral dash cancel (dashing > > > > hold ) is an incredibly powerful sequence for isolating and decimating vulnerable targets. Smite’s short knock-away effect allows you to quickly close in with another potential Beat Down.

Paradigm Shift

Lightning toggles between her two roles, replacing her close-range sword attacks (Commando role) with magic-based ranged attacks (Ravager role), or vice versa.

Paradigm Shift is executable at any time, except when she’s in the middle of an attack. You can switch roles in any state, including guarding, sidestepping, and dashing.

Mastering the use of Paradigm Shift is key to your success with Lightning, as you essentially have access to two sets of attacks, with each set providing entirely unique utility.

Since you can freely toggle between roles, using Paradigm Shift takes up no action time. At a moment’s notice, you can go from casting a tracking Aerora sphere at an enemy, into dashing at them with a Beat Down follow-up.

Ravager Bravery Attack Breakdown

Fire

Lightning sets up a trio of fireballs that hover in front of her. After a short time, they quickly accelerate and pursue her target.

Most of Lightning’s Ravager projectile attacks are designed to complement her assassin style of combat, providing cover for an aggressive melee engagement.

You can conjure from one to three fireballs, depending on how many times you input . While you can fire off three at a time, they have low projectile priority, so they’re easily nullified by larger projectiles. As such, engaging in firefights with marksmen shouldn’t be your main priority (you have better tools for dealing with marksmen anyway).

Although Watera is a much stronger projectile with similar attributes, casting Fire may be preferable because of its quick cast time (especially when casting only one or two).

Watera

Lightning sends out a large ball of water that slowly chases the enemy, causing an explosive blast upon impact.

When you and your team are jockeying for position from a distance, one of the best tactics you can apply in Ravager mode is throwing out multiple slow-moving projectiles to cover your potential aggression. From a grounded position, use Watera, and from an airborne position you can use Aerora, which fills an identical role.

Aerora

Lightning deploys a wind-based tracking sphere toward the enemy, enveloping them in a small tornado and stunning them in place for a brief period, before popping them up into the air.

Aerora’s trajectory and velocity are identical to Watera’s, but Aerora has a different on-hit effect; it wraps up enemies in a mini tornado, dealing several instances of Bravery damage. This affords you time to follow up with an attack, with a sequence such as:

Aerora >Paradigm Shift >Beat Down >Smite

BLizzara

Lightning unleashes a blizzard that surrounds the foe and pulls in all other enemies nearby with a gravitic force. After a short time, the blizzard collapses and crushes all enemies within its grasp.

Blizzara is a large area-of-effect spell with a unique draw-in effect that can only be evaded by dashing or sidestepping away. Otherwise, enemies nearby are forced to guard it or take the damage. Its start-up time is significant (but not too long when compared to other attacks of its kind), so it’s not an easy attack to connect with. You generally won’t be able to catch mobile targets, so it’s best used as a surprise attack against enemies who are already engaged with your allies.

Like Aerora and Watera, you can follow up Blizzara with a Commando shift engagement if you can lock down a target with it.

Thundaga

Lightning whips up a linear shockwave of multiple lightning strikes before her, shocking and flinging up all foes in its path.

The lightning path on this attack is strictly linear, with no vertical or horizontal tracking, making it easily avoidable in most cases.

Its main strength is in the height of its effective hitbox. For instance, when executed low to the ground, it can tag enemies above you, provided they don’t sidestep or dash away from it horizontally.

HP Attack Breakdown

Crushing Blow

Lightning creates a manifestation of Odin’s blades, then rushes and cuts into her foe with a scissor-like attack.

This melee-based HP Attack covers great horizontal range but provides only slight vertical tracking. It deals no Bravery damage, but it’s superb for punishing foes at mid-range (just past Heavy Slash distance) with an unguardable HP-damaging attack.

Crushing Blow is best used if you prefer an aggressive playstyle. Thanks to its range and relatively fast travel speed, it’s particularly effective against opponents who are prone to guarding your Bravery Attacks.

Razor GAle

Lightning uses Odin’s swords to project a revolving blade that persistently pursues her target.

Like Aerora and Watera, Razor Gale is a slow-moving tracking projectile, covering a long distance. It’s easily evaded, but its persistent area presence gives it an indirect implication in zone control since it forces your target to actively avoid it.

Its main drawback is that it has a start-up time, immobilizing you as you conjure it. It fosters a more passive approach, and although assassins generally focus on close-range aggression, Lightning’s versatility with Ravager attacks allows her to be effective from range with this kind of playstyle.

Lightning Strike

Lightning rapidly calls down an array of lightning bolts directly in front of her, devastating enemies in range and blasting them past mid-range.

Lightning Strike is Lightning’s fastest HP Attack, but with an obvious disadvantage of having practically no range. While it’s almost impossible to avoid if you can get into point-blank range to cast it, getting into range, particularly on larger maps, can prove extremely difficult.

Lightning Strike shines on smaller maps where you’re likely to wall-pin enemies, giving you an easy follow-up HP Attack to combo with on successful wall pins.

Thunderfall

Lightning conjures a plethora of lightning strikes directly upon her target, electrifying them with several bolts before pitching them away with a final massive thunderbolt.

Thunderfall is a long-range projectile attack that deals a respectable amount of Bravery damage before its HP-damage hit. It’s an excellent HP Attack for catching opponents off guard and can be used from any altitude since the attack is cast directly on the enemy as long as they’re within range.

During its casting, you can slightly alter your own trajectory, allowing you some freedom of movement.

EX SKill Breakdown

Army of One

Lightning aggresses on her target with a far-reaching and quick uppercut slash, transitioning into an overwhelming barrage of strikes that locks down and devastates her victim.

Lightning’s signature attack is a high-impact ability that deals a heavy amount of Bravery damage, with an additional HP-restoration effect.

Army of One usage is highly skill-intensive, because unlike other unique EX Skills that provide a guaranteed effect (such as Cloud’s Limit Break buff), Army of One requires you to connect with it in order for you to gain any benefit. It’s also on a 60-second recast time, so in an average match, you get around three attempts with it. For this reason, it’s essential that you set it up either with a wall pin, with a team combo, or as a surprise attack against an inattentive target. 

Battle Plan

As an assassin, your primary objective is to pursue and take down vulnerable targets (usually marksmen and other assassins). Unlike pure-offense assassins like Jecht, Lightning’s overall toolkit comprises two entirely unique sets of attacks and fosters a versatile and safe playstyle that revolves around deploying elemental spells to cover her subsequent melee engagements.

The following is a sample of an effective attack sequence while the Ravager role is active:

Airborne(Aerora) >+ (evasion cancel forward) >(shift to Commando) >(neutral dash) >dashing(Beat Down) >airborne(Smite)

Aerora is used here to pursue an enemy, while an immediate evasion and dash cancel technique is applied to quickly engage to combine Aerora’s lockdown effect with a Beat Down and Smite combo.

With some creativity and mastery of all of Lightning’s attacks, you can execute several combinations and attack sequences on the fly. And since your HP Attack is usable regardless of which role is active, you can easily link spells into fast HP Attacks, like airborne +  (Blizzara) into Crushing Blow/Lightning Strike, without having to switch to the Commando role.

You can set up team combos with Lightning’s Beat Down, Launch, and Smite attacks, provided your allies are nearby and ready to capitalize on your attacks. For instance, you can execute a chase-down combo like Beat Down into Smite (two hits), then instead of completing your Smite combo, let your ally finish off your stunned victim with their own Bravery/HP Attack. If you’re solo, you can finish your Smite combo and use a neutral dash cancel to further press an offense, thanks to Smite’s minor knock-away effect.

While one-on-one dueling with assassins and vanguards isn’t particularly her strong suit, Lightning’s attacks with her Commando role are adequate as long as you’re mindful of their range limitations. Grounded  (Launch) and airborne  (Smite) are limited in range, but they’re extremely fast, making for great reprisal attacks following a well-timed sidestep. Grounded +  (Blitz) and airborne +  (Heavy Slash) provide a bit more reach but are limited in verticality, so try to stay level with your adversary. If you’re being assaulted by a vanguard (who generally outranges an assassin), it’s best to either keep your guard up or prepare to sidestep their attacks, at which point you can swiftly retaliate with your own Commando strikes. Alternatively, you can create space between you and your vanguard assailant before pestering them with Ravager spells. Since your move speed is generally superior to that of vanguards, you can outrun them with your dash to create breathing room and then lure them into your defensive spells, like dashing  (Thundaga).

Even though Lightning has a complete set of ranged spells, getting into firefights with dedicated marksmen isn’t advised, as their ranged attacks usually have more priority and deal more damage than yours do. If you’re being tormented by a marksman, your best bet is to use your superior mobility to get into a flanking position to mount a close-range offensive.

Lightning’s various HP Attacks give her a bit of flexibility that can influence your combat strategy. Crushing Blow is a mid-range melee rush attack that deals straight HP damage. It’s an excellent complementary attack for a more aggressive approach, giving you a quick unguardable attack for opening up an opponent’s defenses. Its range, speed, and respectable vertical tracking make it difficult to evade on reaction. Razor Gale is a long-range projectile designed to keep enemies on their toes, and punishes those who don’t. Thunderfall is a ranged lightning bolt attack that deals significant Bravery damage. Its use is substantially effective on high-verticality maps and makes you a deadly threat from past mid-range. Lightning Strike is one of the fastest HP Attacks in the game, great for confined areas or for following up a team combo with. However, its severe range limitation makes it difficult to use.

In addition to her versatile move set, Lightning’s unique EX Skill, Army of One, provides her with a degree of survivability along with a high burst of Bravery damage. Successfully connecting with the entire combo restores over 800 HP (around 25% of your total HP). While it’s on a 60-second cooldown timer, Army of One makes for an incredibly powerful threat when it’s available. Furthermore, it’s usable in both paradigm roles, making it relatively easy to employ as a follow-up attack to your Ravager spells.

In general terms, your battle plan is simple: use Paradigm Shift to switch to Ravager mode to cast spells from long distances, and toggle to Commando when you’re ready to engage into close-quarters combat. It can be difficult to transition between the two because of the potentially chaotic nature of skirmishes, but it’s entirely possible because Paradigm Shift can be used on demand without sacrificing your mobility (as long as you’re not in the middle of an attack). With practice, you’ll be able to perform elaborate attack sequences and make strong plays to secure kills for your team.

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