sandbox

Playable characters
		Lightning	Vaan	Laguna	Yuna	Kain	Tifa
Warrior of Light	Firion	Onion Knight	Cecil Harvey	Bartz Klauser	terra	cloud	squall	zidane	tidus
Garland	The Emperor	Cloud of Darkness	Golbez	Exdeath	kefka	sephiroth	ultimecia	kuja	jecht
		shantotto	prishe	gabranth	Gilgamesh	feral chaos

Build styles

Adamant Chains

Increased air dodge distance through the "Adamant Chains" set bonus. Primarily used to make air dodges safer to perform and difficult to punish by the opponent. Characters with average fall speed and weaker post-dodge defensive options can benefit a lot from it, such as Cloud, Squall and Yuna. Vaan can also use it for dodge cancel combos.

However, characters with fast fall speed such as Tidus and Prishe also benefit from the added distance; It makes their air dodges even more difficult to punish. An extra layer of security, if you will.

Adamant Chains improves defensive play, but it also comes at the expense of other traits. High base bravery is limited to one equipment slot (usually Piggy's Katana weapon) and it, along with damage and meter drain may require heavier investment via accessories to reach similiar heights.

Back to the Wall

Low health, but heightened stats / accessory boosters. Revolves around the special accessory "Back to the Wall" that causes the player to start the fight with 90 % of health already depleted. A "glass cannon", loosely speaking.

Balanced / Hybrid

Recommended characters: Any

Access to both EX and assist with no strong focus on one specific aspect. Characters who do not require Side by Side such as Exdeath, Squall and Lightning have an easier time fighting effectively with this build style than those who require it. Even so, having access to major resources can pay off the longer a match goes on.

Bravery Boost on Block / Dodge

Recommended match-ups: The Emperor, Sephiroth, Ultimecia

Gain bravery with each successful block / dodge. Commonly paired with Adamant Chains when using bravery boost on dodge.

This build style is strong against frequent projectile users, namely The Emperor, Ultimecia or Sephiroth. With proper investment, a single dodge can accumulate 100-200 bravery when used against a projectile. That can discourage the aforementioned characters from playing as actively and encourage adjusting playstyle altogether. If no adjustment is made, the user of this build can seek to benefit greatly from a single HP attack in due time.

Example build for Tidus

Stats
HP	9972
CP	450
BRV	917
ATK	180
DEF	184
LUK	60
Max Booster	x13.9

**Special Effect**: Adamant Chains
Equipment
Assist	Aerith
Weapon	World Champion
Hand	Adamant Shield
Head	Adamant Helm
Armor	Adamant Vest
Accessory 1	Zephyr Cloak
Accessory 2	BRV > Base Value
Accessory 3	Large Gap in BRV
Accessory 4	Summon Unused
Accessory 5	Pre-EX Mode
Accessory 6	Pre-EX Revenge
Accessory 7	Aerial
Accessory 8	After 30 Seconds
Accessory 9	Opponent Empty EX Gauge
Accessory 10	Opponent Summon Unused
Summon	Rubicante

Bravery Boost on Stage Destruction / Mindbreak

Recommended stage: World of Darkness

Gain bravery when destroying stage elements such as World of Darkness pillars. Revolves around the "Mindbreak" basic accessory.

Known to be practical in World of Darkness with Cloud of Darkness, but all other aspects of the build may be compromised.

Center of the World

Abbreviated as "CotW". EX only, no assist. Greatly enhanced EX gain for earlier EX mode access and depending on the build, longer EX mode duration.

Generally speaking a niche build style. Assist is a far more important resource for all characters, so forgoing it in favor of an earlier EX gauge often skews the risk / reward in the opponent's favor. Characters who can land HP attacks without assist, such as Cloud and Jecht can function with this build with adequate player skill. However, it does not function as a crutch in their unfavorable match-ups.

Damage (bravery)

Recommended characters: Garland, Kain, Cloud, Sephiroth, Vaan Prishe

Increased damage output through high ATK stat, bravery attacks, wall rush damage and higher critical hit rate,

Damage (high base bravery)

Increased default bravery for higher damage output without relying on bravery damage. For equipment, Piggy's Stick, Royal Crown and any LV100 piece that adds bravery are a good starting point. Investing in wall rush (Sniper Eye basic acc) and bravery recovery (Bravery Orb, Great Gospel accs) is also recommended. Commonly used with the special accessory Side by Side.

Defense

High DEF stat and reduced wall rush / physical / magic / chase brv damage.

Over the course of a match this will require the opponent to hit more times than what would be normally required. Equipment such as Hero's Shield, Grand Helm, Maximillian or accessories such as Block Ring, Decoy or Amulet may be used.

Depletion

Recommended characters: Any, Squall

Enhanced meter depletion through accessories Battle Hammer (assist meter) and / or Dismay Shock (EX meter). Great for offsetting the opponent's meter lead or shifting momentum. May be used in conjunction with Judgment / Seal of Lufenia equipment set bonus for even greater boosts.

Meter depletion is one of Squall's prominent strengths and can utilise it to devastating effect with Yuna assist.

EX

A variation of "balanced", with more emphasis on some aspect of EX, such as meter intake or intake range. Weapons such as Cleaver or special accessories such as Tenacious Attacker, Glutton, White Drop(s) and White Gem are a good starting point.

EX Core

Recommended match-ups: Exdeath, any ground vs. aerial match-up

Increased EX Core intake and / or spawn rate. For characters who do not generate a lot of EX consistently, but can still benefit from EX. Genji / Soul of Yamato equipment set, Dragonfly Orb basic accessory and weapon exclusives Squall's Lionheart and Vaan's Zodiac Blade are often used for this purpose.

First Strike

Abnormally high initial damage. Based on the Extra Ability "First Strike" that guarantees critical hits for the first connected attack.

King of Tragedy

Recommended characters: Garland, Gabranth

Named after the full King of Tragedy set. Extended EX Revenge duration for longer EX Charge time with Gabranth or higher damage output during EX Revenge (Garland).

Level Gap

Lowered character level in exchange for incredibly strong accessory booster multipliers. A type of glass cannon with Iai Strike, seemingly immortal with Last Chance...?!

Level + Level Gap accessories are banned by the in-game "Official" ruleset which has been community standard for years, however.

Machines

Increased bravery damage + HP wall rush damage at the cost of max health.

Side by Side

Abbreviated as "SbS". High damage with assist and wall rush. Based on the special accessory "Side by Side" that disables EX gauge, but generates assist bar when player's HP connects with the portion that inflicts HP damage. Commonly paired with high base bravery, this build style is potent with HP linkers (Onion Knight, Golbez, Cloud, Jecht) and characters who can apply raw HP attacks outside of combos (The Emperor, Kefka, Tifa, Squall, Ultimecia).

Zidane is infamous for synergising with this accessory very well with Aerith assist, being able to output over 6000 HP damage in a single combo without ground or wall rushes.

Wall Rush

Recommended characters: Garland, Cloud, Jecht

Increased wall rush damage. Commonly paired with other damage build styles, such as Side by Side. Booster and Sniper Eye basic accessories, as well as weapons with additional wall rush damage boosts, such as Earthbreaker are often used.