Starter Guide (Dissidia 012)

Introduction - What is Dissidia 012?

Dissidia 012 [duodecim] Final Fantasy is an action rpg style 1-on-1 fighting game that was released for PlayStation Portable in 2011.

The game features role-playing game elements such as stats and customization, along with a distinct bravery system that's used to build up damage and inflict it on the opponent's character.

What do you need to play online?

Console

• PlayStation Portable with wi-fi functionality (1000, 2000, 3000, Go and PS Vita models all work.)
• PlayStation 3 with an ethernet connection and Ad-Hoc Party application installed

Emulation

• PC with an ethernet connection
• PPSSPP emulator
• VPN (Hamachi, Radmin etc.)

For more details on setting up emulator online, refer to this page.

How to play?

The goal in any Dissidia 012 fight is to deplete the opposing character's health to 0. This is achieved by controlling a character in 3D space and attacking them with bravery and HP attacks.

Controls (Battle)

Move:

Camera:

Jump:

Bravery attack:

HP attack:

Quickmove: (When near a wall, rail etc.)

Change target:

Block:

Dash: +

Dodge: +

EX Mode: + (When EX gauge is full)

EX Revenge: + (When EX gauge is full and you are in a damaged state)

Assist attack (bravery): + (When 1 assist gauge is full)

Assist attack (HP): + (When 2 assist gauges are full)

Assist Change (LV1): + (When 1 assist gauge is full and you are in a damaged state)

Assist Change (LV2): + (When 2 assist gauges are full and you are in a damaged state)

Start: Pause

Select: Reset camera position

Mechanics

Dissidia 012 has several gameplay mechanics. This section will briefly cover essentials to get you started.

HP

Health points. A character's health must be depleted to 0 for a fight to end. This is achieved with HP attacks, which is explained further below.

Movement

Use to move a character in one of eight (inter)cardinal directions. Works on the ground and midair.

Jump with to become airborne, traverse terrain and avoid some grounded attacks. Every character also have at least one (1) midair jump by default.

Dash with + in a direction. This is usually a homing dash towards the opponent with ground and midair versions, but the behavior is ultimately decided by which basic abilities the player equips. Dash is an important mechanic for offense and defense alike. For more info, please refer to the dash page.

Dodge with + to perform a quick evasive maneuver and avoid incoming attacks. Much like dash, basic abilities must be equipped to do this, but players can move in a specific direction with . Dodge is a very powerful defensive mechanic in this game. For more info, please refer to the dodge page.

Quickmove is a context dependent movement option that can be performed with when near a certain stage element. These are indicated by yellow arrows. This ranges from wall running to grinding on rails and leaping across a stage. For more info, please refer to the quickmove page.

Bravery

A game defining offensive mechanic. This is the number that is above the player character's health bar. It dictates how much damage an HP attack will do. Characters can raise this number by hitting the opponent with bravery attacks that players equip during customization. The higher the number, the better. Conversely, getting hit by a bravery attack lowers this number.

Bravery attacks () alone cannot end a match, but they are often strong by design. Fast startup, low recovery and varying amount of tracking, damage and utility.

If a character's bravery is depleted below 0, that character will suffer a bravery break and the attacker will receive additional bravery indicated by the number between health bars. This will make HP attacks deplete even more health, so keep this in mind. The higher the number, the better.

For more info, please refer to the bravery page.

HP Attack

The other game defining offensive mechanic. Press to perform a slow, but powerful attack that inflicts HP damage to the opponent on hit. The amount of damage depends on the attacker's bravery, but this is the only way to end a match.

HP attacks are designed in contrast to bravery attacks. HP attacks are often more telegraphed, slower to come out and they have longer recovery. But they can also break through blocks, functioning as a secondary option that requires a different defensive technique. Each character's HP attacks have various traits and quirks that make them unique, but they all adhere to this fundamental rule.

For more info, please refer to the HP page or each character's page.

Block

Block () is a defensive mechanic that's used to defend against incoming bravery attacks. Projectiles will be reflected and melee attacks (sword swings etc.) that are blocked will stagger the attacker, after which the defender has a brief opening to attack freely. e.g. Cloud blocks > Sephiroth does Sudden Cruelty > Sephiroth is staggered > Cloud can attack.

However, if a character tries to block against an HP attack, that HP attack will guard break the defender and inflict HP damage regardless. e.g. Cloud blocks > Sephiroth does Octaslash > Sephiroth guard breaks Cloud and follows through with the attack.

The basic idea then is to block fast bravery attacks, but avoid getting crushed by a much slower HP attack. At a very rudimentary level, this dynamic between block, bravery and HP attacks can be likened to a form of "50 / 50" or "strike vs. throw mixup", even though the application is a bit different in practice. These interactions are influenced by the attack priority system and many characters have exceptions to this fundamental concept.

For more info on blocking, please refer to the block page.

EX

This is a secondary resource mechanic that grants access to EX Mode and EX Revenge, which is indicated by the vertical purple gauge at a bottom corner of a screen. Whenever an attack connects on the opponent, floating spheres can appear known as EX Force. Characters can collect these spheres by simply being close to them, which fills the EX gauge. By default, EX spheres can only be collected when not attacking or taking damage.

The amount of EX Force produced varies greatly between attacks and should be treated on a case-by-case basis. Character pages have more info on this.

Occasionally, an EX Core spawns somewhere in the stage which provides a minimum amount of EX to the character who first touches it. The core will attract all floating EX into itself and subsequently increase the amount of EX gained from it.

For more general info, please refer to the EX page.

Assist

assist stuff

Who should I play?

If you have a character you are already interested in, try that one first. If not, you can try the following recommendations:

Beginner: Warrior of Light, Cloud, Sephiroth, Squall, Vaan

Easy to play and mechanically well rounded. Good for learning the game with and playing competently at low and mid level.

Advanced: The Emperor, Exdeath, Kefka, Ultimecia, Jecht, Shantotto, Lightning

Medium to high learning curve for playing.

Other characters not listed fall under a spectrum of "straightforward, mechanically well rounded or intermediate difficulty". Many protagonists are fairly easy to pick up and play with a bit of practice. For example, Zidane has a very straightforward gameplan / win condition, but isn't as well rounded as Tidus.

Ultimately these are only recommendations - Different characters require different skillsets, and some people may find advanced characters easier to play with due to their own merits as a player.

Where should I start?

Start with playing one character and learn how to convert hits into HP damage (with assist).

Next should be understanding the game overall. At an intermediate level, Dissidia 012 is a relatively easy game to play once the player gets past the initial knowledge barrier. So the most important thing early on is to simply learn more about the game and understand how things work.