Quickenings

Quickenings are powerful combos that consume the Mist Charges of one to three party members. The power of the attack is based upon the combination of attacks executed to release a devastating finishing attack or “Concurrence.” This unique system is much like a slot machine and a little difficult to understand at first, so it’s better to break it down and explain just how to get the most out of Quickenings.

Unlocking Quickenings

Characters begin the game without Quickenings. To obtain them, you must unlock the special Quickening panels on the license boards. Each character can only unlock three panels total. It doesn’t matter which panels are unlocked, as Quickenings are based on the character and the number of Quickening panels unlocked rather than the chosen panel itself. The only thing to keep an eye out for is that certain license boards have panels hidden away behind Quickening panels. Each board has four Quickening panels, but the remaining unused Quickening panels will disappear when a character reaches the maximum of three unlocked. Any panels bottlenecked behind unpurchased Quickening panels will become accessible, so keep this in mind when planning which to buy, just like with Esper choices.

Unlocking one panel earns a character a level 1 Quickening. Unlocking two panels produces the character’s level 2 Quickening and a second Mist Charge. Unlocking three panels releases the character’s level 3 Quickening and adds a third Mist Charge.

Mist Charges

Quickenings consume Mist Charges based upon the level of the Quickening used. Level 1 consumes one Mist Charge; level 2 uses two Mist Charges; and level 3 devours three Mist Charges. Thus, a character with two Mist Charges can use a level 1 or level 2 Quickening.

How It All Works

The Quickening system is much like a slot machine, so there’s some luck involved. As the initial attack occurs, up to three lines of text appear in the bottom-right corner of the screen, one line for each character participating in the attack. Think of these lines as the wheels of a slot machine.

The “wheels” randomly cycle through four possible outcomes. They will display the name of a character’s level 1, level 2, or level 3 Quickening or the words “Mist Charge.” When they appear in white, the player can activate the command by pressing the button shown to the left of the line of text. Note that lines appearing gray in color aren’t available.

With a little luck, there will be a white line or two available from which to choose, but eventually three gray lines will appear. Press the R2 button when this occurs to shuffle the commands again in hopes of getting a white line or two.

The player can initiate as many attacks as possible within the four-second time limit. By achieving certain attack combinations, the party unleashes a powerful Concurrence that delivers a devastating final hit to the target and any nearby enemies. So what makes the white and gray lines appear? This is where things gets tricky. Read on to make sense of it all.

Cost vs. Available Mist Charges

As noted previously, each Quickening costs a certain number of Mist Charges. Characters can only perform an action if they have the Mist Charges to fuel the attack. For example, let’s say Vaan enters battle with three Mist Charges and begins his assault with his level 3 attack, Pyroclasm. This will immediately drain all of his Mist Charges, meaning that he can no longer participate in the combo. His teammates, however, likely still have Mist Charges and can perform additional attacks.

Don’t count Vaan out just yet, though. Keep an eye on his command line and watch for the words “Mist Charge” to appear. Press the corresponding button when these words appear on-screen to completely refill Vaan’s Mist Charges as the commands reshuffle. Now he can use any of his attacks again.

The phrase “Mist Charge” may appear for a character whenever that person has completely drained his or her Mist Charges. Always use the Mist Charge command when it appears, as combos can continue to grow until the timer runs out.

Consider this next example. Ashe begins with three Mist Charges. She uses Maelstrom's Bolt, her level 3 attack, to open a Quickening. Either by luck, or by R2 shuffle, "Mist Charge" appears on-screen and is triggered, so Ashe gains three fresh Mist Charges.

When Mist Charge is activated, the Quickening slots will reshuffle automatically with possible attacks (this makes it a great idea to double-tap buttons when you select Mist Charges, since you'll select follow-up attacks automatically, without wasting much time). By chance, Maelstrom's Bolt appears and is triggered. Ashe spends her Mist Charges down to nothing again while using her best Quickening attack twice in a row.

With a little luck, the Mist Charge command will appear again and Ashe can continue to attack, or the timer will run out and a Concurrence will occur if the right Quickening combo was used.

Managing the Clock

The clock pauses whenever you trigger an attack command. It doesn’t start to move again until the next animation starts to play. Enter the commands quickly to save time, but don’t do so in haste. The combination of attacks is very important, so choose the next action carefully and quickly.

The Mist Charge command doesn’t stop the clock, but it does reshuffle the commands. Be ready to press another button quickly to avoid wasting time.

Note that a small amount of time is added back to the clock each time a command is entered. As the clock winds down, the bar also speeds up with each successful attack, so eventually there’s no time to shuffle or even read the command lines.

Triggering Concurrences

Concurrences arrive at the end of a Quickening when certain conditions have been met. The conditions are based upon the number of level 1, 2, and 3 attacks that are used during the Quickening. For instance, the weakest Concurrence requires that the party perform three level 1 attacks during the Quickening. The toughest, Black Hole, requires four of each level. Obviously, it’s easier to perform some Concurrences than others and there’s a little luck involved, too. It’s usually easy enough to get Ark Blast once everyone in the party has three Mist Charges.

The best combination is always used, too. Say the party uses seven level 1 attacks, five level 2 attacks, and two level 3 attacks. That combination would qualify them for five different Concurrences, but would always result in Ark Blast.

Any damage caused by a Concurrence is non-elemental. The names may make them seem like elemental attacks, but resistances don’t come into play. The only creatures that can resist a Quickening are those with an immunity to physical damage.

Requirements