View source for Customisation Guide for Online Battles (Dissidia 012)

[[Category:Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy]]
This page is for anyone new or upcoming player that want a basic understanding how to make a working build for online play. Contents of this page are currently based on the [http://community.dissidia.wiki/topic/29-ddffguide-beginners-guide-to-customisation/ '''Beginner's Guide to Customisation'''] found on Dissidia Community forums and are subject to further modification later.

== About Accessories ==
Accessories are a category of equipment that can be worn by all characters in the game. Each accessory comes with an effect that either scales with booster-type accessories or has a fixed value. A maximum of 10 accessory slots can be utilised. Accessories often define key characteristics of a build, and as such are always important in online battles.
<br><br>
There are three (3) types of accessories.
==== Basic Accessories ====

Effected by the multiplied number (x) your booster accessories currently have.

For example: You have Hyper Ring (5% increased damage) and 3 boosters that give you 2.5x multiplier, basic math is 5 x 2.5 = 12.5 > rounded down to 12, so you get a 12% increased damage.

==== Booster Accessories ====
Your multiplier, the higher X you have the higher your basic while having no boosters equipped.

There are a few different mulitplier numbers
*1.2x - Average
*1.3x - Good
*1.4x - Really good
*1.5x - The best
*2.5x - This is only one accessory and the 2.5x only lasts 15 seconds and drop to 0.5x after that which halves your booster multiplier.
*5.0x - Also just one accessory that works only when you take damage longer then 4 seconds.

Also note that the boosters are different in how and when they are activated.

Example: You have two 1.2x, one 1.4x and lastly a 1.5x equipped: 1.2 x 1.2 x 1.4 x 1.5 = 3.024 rounded down to 3x which means your max booster is 3x.

==== Special Accessories ====
Pre-set effects that do not work with booster accessories. However, this does not render them useless and in many cases at least one of them will be equipped to define the style of a build.

If you see accessories with the note "Breakables" do not use them online.

== Creating a Build ==
When planning a PvP build it is often necessary to include meter depletion on both assist and EX. These can be included either via Judgment of Lufenia or Seal of Lufenia equipment sets (fixed percentage value) and / or Battle Hammer and Dismay Shock basic accessories. Meter depletion has a few key benefits, such as shifting momentum in generating crucial resources (Assist and EX) and bypassing EX Revenge situations where a player could have otherwise suffered a huge setback through bravery break or even lose a match outright.

However, a player may opt for less meter depletion in exchange for other attributes if they so desire.

After that, an ideal PvP build usually goes for one of the following:
* Damage (with or without wall rush)
* Side by Side
* EX
* EX Core
* Bravery boost on dodge / block
* Hybrid (a mix of everything)
    
Good reliable accessory boosters include Summon Unused (and the opponent variant), Pre-EX Mode, Pre-EX Revenge, Aerial and Large Gap in HP. You'll see these recommended a lot.

=== Damage ===
Self explanatory, a damage build prioritises high bravery damage output and subsequently total HP damage per HP hit. Not everyone can reach the same lengths of bravery damage, usually due to low damage multipliers on one's moves and lower base attack stat. These characters usually circumvent this shortcoming with wall rushes or the help of high base bravery in conjunction with assists, but we'll get to those a bit later.
    
Prishe, Garland, Sephiroth, Cloud, Kain, Kuja and Ultimecia are some of the characters who can benefit greatly from the following.
    
For equipment you should always seek out a weapon with 69 ATK stat unless your character's exclusive weapons provides 70 ATK (Garland's Gigant Axe for example). If your armor set is for Seal of Lufenia's 5 % EX depletion, Lufenian Dirk (hand, Parrying gear) is a great choice as it provides +1 attack as well as good 72 defense.
    
Earthbreaker, Cleaver and Rhongomiant (for King of Tragedy EX Revenge builds) are good weapons possessing 69 attack stat that anyone can wield with the help of a CP glitch.
    
For accessories it comes as no surprise that Hyper Ring, Muscle Belt / Earring are viable choices here. Bundle Hyper Ring + Muscle Belt or Earring (depending on the character) with boosters such as BRV > Base Value, Pre-EX Mode, Pre-EX Revenge, Summon Unused and Aerial / Grounded for a respectable damage output. 
    
Add extra abilities such as '''Sneak Attack''', '''Counterattack''' and '''Riposte''' to really shred the opponent's bravery with upped critical hit rates, maybe even include '''First Strike''' ability if you think you(r character) can go the distance, that one is guaranteed to activate on the first hit you land. These are generally good to have ''regardless of build'', your opponent can only disable one of them, meaning you will still maintain a good critical hit rate throughout the match. Even characters with subpar bravery damage can do wonders with a bit of double damage from critical hits, so when spreading out your CP give these abilites some thought.

=== Side by Side ===
These builds revolve around the special accessory [[Assist_(Dissidia_012)#Side_by_Side_.28.E3.82.B9.E3.82.BF.E3.83.B3.E3.83.89.E3.83.90.E3.82.A4.E3.83.9F.E3.83.BC.29|'''Side by Side''']] that ''prevents you from acquiring any EX'', even from EX cores (you can still grab them). In return it gives you a notable chunk of assist bar (30 %) from landing just one HP attack. Side by Side is very potent with characters who can connect HPs on their own and followup with an assist afterwards or need meter to for general momentum, including (but not limited to) Warrior of Light, Firion, Cloud, Onion Knight, Zidane, Jecht, Golbez and Kefka.
    
'''The goal with a Side by Side build is to deal a lot of damage''', which technically makes this a derivative of the damage build concept. This can be achieved either through high bravery damage output or high base bravery. In both cases wall rush is a big help.
    
For equipment you can apply a lot from the damage build. 69 attack or 70 if your exclusive weapon has it. Wall rush HP damage is also a good option e.g. Earthbreaker or Cloud's exclusive weapon Fenrir.
    
For high base bravery, '''Piggy's Stick''' is a Katana-type weapon that provides +239 to your base bravery in addition to the head armor, but it comes with -80 % BRV recovery. You have to be able to secure base bravery for each hp for optimal damage, so boosting BRV recovery will become a part of your build. If you focus your meter depletion on accessories, you can opt to equip '''Royal Crown (head)''' with 100 % BRV recovery, '''Borghertz's Hands''' (hand) and '''Lufenian Armor''' (torso) both providing 39 base bravery each. Lufenian sets' meter depletion is still nothing to sneeze at, but considering the potential damage this type of a build can cause, the opponent may feel incentivised to use assist meter to avoid a combo regardless.
    
For accessories you now have an excellent 1.5x booster at your fingertips, '''Empty EX Gauge'''. This is a big booster that will be active for the entirety of the match, and bundled with Pre-EX Mode, Pre-EX Revenge, Aerial and Summon Unused (as well as BRV = 0 if you can secure wall rushes) you have a lot of damage on your hands.
    
Aforementioned damage rings, as well as '''Sniper Eye''' for wall rush HP damage are good picks. If you don't equip Royal Crown, Bravery Orb as well as Great Gospel are worthy candidates too. Bravery Orb scales with boosters, but Great Gospel can easily compensate if used in conjunction with Bravery Orb. If you feel you need a good headstart in the meter race, Together as One is a great pick. Bundle it with Badge of Trust and you pretty much start the match with two assist bars. Characters who may struggle to generate assist meter safely through whiffing such as Kefka and Cecil may find this very helpful.

Example build: [here]

=== EX ===
EX builds prioritise EX absorption either through added intake range or increased value per ex absorbed into oneself, but even so they never sacrifice assist (they're that important).

Weapon department provides Heaven's Cloud for +3M EX intake range, but with a measly 67 attack. Addded intake range is good as you can accumulate more ex in one place more quickly and if your character does not deal big bravery damage like Lightning, the 67 attack is not that big of a deal. Yuna has an exclusive weapon that is essentially an upgraded version of this weapon.

Another weapon is once again Cleaver. 69 attack with +10 % ex force absorption. Garland, Kuja, Ultimecia and Gilgamesh have exclusive weapons with +10 % ex force absorption, but Garland's is undisputed best among them. 70 attack and +10 % ex force absorption is something other characters can only dream of.

Special accessories is where most of the magic happens. White Drop and White Gem add a fixed boost to ex force absorption by 5 % and 10 % respectively and you can equip up to three White Drops for a total of 25 % boost to your ex absorption rate. These accessories come with a downside of reduced assist gauge duration, meaning your assist bar will begin to decay sooner. With well placed whiffs it won't get you killed. Not often, anyway.

The other two accessories influence when you can acquire EX. Tenacious Attacker and Glutton allow you to absorb ex even when attacking or taking damage. Tenacious Attacker is a standard in EX builds as it allows you to whiff for meter and reap the rewards as you deal damage. Both work great in conjunction with Heaven's Cloud's added intake range as you will in most cases get a part of the ex either you or your opponent generated. Glutton is particularly a noteworthy choice against characters who can generate a lot of EX in a combo such as Shantotto. The opponent will have to invest a lot in EX meter depletion to properly combat this accessory which is powerful for a single special accessory.

'''Seal of Lufenia''' is a good anti-EX equipment set that any character can use. However, a basic accessory "EX Breaker" is particularly potent with Ultimecia. The accessory has a chance of depleting the opponent's entire EX gauge in one bravery hit and since it's a basic accessory, it can scale with your booster accessories. Other characters don't get mileage out of it as easily due to how one attack = one chance at triggering the EX Iai effect of the accessory, you don't get a new chance with every bravery hit you land except with Ultimecia. Don't ask why.

=== EX Core ===
A derivative of an EX-centric build, this is often a match-up specific build. The priority here is the amount of EX you get from a single EX core. This often means you play a grounded game or you are prepared for EX core races. Against characters who tend to hug the ceiling (Ultimecia and Exdeath) this can be an easy way to acquire a great amount of EX every time an EX core shows up. It is also viable in matchups where a character can outrun another character in a lot of situations e.g. Onion Knight vs. Cloud of Darkness, or characters who play grounded against primarly airborne opponents.

For equipment, '''Loki's Lute''' weapon provides +20 % boost to EX core absorption, although it does only have 67 attack. Squall and Vaan can equip their exclusive weapons for a 30 % boost with 68 attack.
    
The '''Soul of Yamato''' equipment set (Genji parts) provide an EX Core appearence boost, but is usually preferable only on Gabranth as the set complements more of his EX mode gameplan than others.
    
For accessories, '''Dragonfly Orb''' is often the go-to basic accessory for EX core builds. The assist gauge duration nerf is hardly relevant, it decays from two bars a bit faster, but if you can maintain your assist meter consistently it's not really a big problem.
    
Aside from the aforementioned good boosters, '''EX Core Present''' adds a good 1.5x bonus to each of your cores. Aerial can be a good choice as not all stages plant their ex cores to the ground (see World of Darkness).

=== Bravery Boost on Dodge / Block ===
This kind of build tailors specifically to few matchups: Ultimecia, The Emperor and Sephiroth (Shadow Flare abuse). By forgoing pure damage and some meter gain and depletion you can amass over 100 bravery every time you dodge a move, including unblockable projectiles. Same applies to blocking, except for the unblockable moves of course.
    
An example build involves the Adamant Chains set for an 8 % BRV boost on dodge.
    
* Weapon of Choice
* Adamant Shield
* Adamant Helm
* Adamant Vest
    
You can swap out Adamant Helm for '''Dueling Mask''' (3 % BRV boost on dodge) and your weapon of choice for Adamant Knife if the matchup you're playing won't grant you many opportunities to land hits.
    
For accessories '''Zephyr Cloak''' is a no-brainer. '''Heart's Ease''' if you can block consistently (e.g. Jecht and his Jecht Block) and of course Battle Hammer and Dismay Shock for meter depletion.

Boosters should include the usual Summon Unused, Pre-EX Mode, Pre-EX Revenge and Aerial (or Empty EX Gauge if you go Side by Side). BRV > base value is great too as the point is to accumulate a lot of bravery over time.

Special accessory '''Back-Breaking Straw''' is a good addition as well despite it not scaling with your boosters. At this point you should have one or two accessory slots to spare. If you do not use them for Side by Side + Together as One, other complementary special accessories such as Tenacious Attacker, Hero's Essence and First to Victory are not the worst picks out there, but your desires for a match-up will dictate this choice. Opponent's Summon Unused and After 30 seconds boosters may be worth considering as well.

=== Hybrid ===
This is all about picking a good balance between damage and meter play. Maybe some added ex force absorption with more wall rush damage? Or perhaps you really want that early assist meter boost with Together as One but still desire to benefit from EX cores? Hybrid builds can make that happen. In hybrid builds assist and ex co-exist and it's all about what you prefer.
    
An example set of accessories could include basic accessories Muscle Belt, Sniper Eye, Battle Hammer, boosters BRV > Base Value, Pre-EX Mode, Pre-EX Revenge, Aerial, special accessories White Gem, Tenacious Attacker and First to Victory for a nice headstart. A hybrid build is usually a "jack of all trades, master of none", and as such may not be preferable to a specialised build in certain match-ups.
    
At the end of the day you can mix and match a lot of these concepts in your build. If high base bravery and wall rush damage is your thing but you still want to benefit ex, that is fine. It's not wrong to think that with good boosters you can enjoy the benefits of bravery boost on dodge as well as meter drain and maybe damage if you go for it. For boosters you will always want something consistent, something that activates when it's most optimal for you and can be relied on through the course of a single match and pick special accessories that you feel are necessary to your gameplan or playstyle. Just don't equip Center of the World or any of the set damage / defense rings (aside from Sturm und Drang and maybe Avenger).

Have fun customising your next build!