Full ATB skill Full ATB skills , also known as unparalleled attacks , are attacks used in " Final Fantasy XIII " and its sequel " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . They are akin to Limit Breaks in other " Final Fantasy " series games . Appearances . " Final Fantasy XIII " . Mechanics . Each member of the main party has a unique attack , which requires the use of the whole ATB bar . These attacks deal extreme damage or multiple strikes . To perform these moves , the player must manually select them during the battle , as the A . I . - controlled battle members will never use them and auto - battle will not select them . Full ATB skills have a special effect against stagger ed enemies . They ignore target ' s type - based defense , meaning even enemies that are immune to physical / magical damage can still be damaged by them . This also means status effects like Deprotect and Deshell have no effect on the sustained damage . If used against a staggered target , the target ' s stagger status can ' t end before the full ATB skill ' s animation has finished . Even if the enemy ' s stagger gauge depletes during the full ATB skill execution , its stagger status will not end until after the skill has been completed , and during this time allies will also be able to continue dealing damage to the enemy . Even if the enemy has all of its HP depleted by the full ATB skill execution , it will still hang on with 1 HP , no matter how much damage it takes until the animation for the move is complete . Full ATB skills are disabled if the character is afflicted with Pain or Fog . Full ATB attacks are unlocked at Crystarium Stage 9 , after the final boss of Chapter 11 . When executed , a stream of golden watery effect will run along the top and bottom rims of the screen . A full ATB skill is not a " Limit Break " in the traditional sense of the term , but like a Limit Break , it has potential for massive damage and is a character - specific skill . List of skills . Army of One . Army of One is Lightning ' s full ATB skill . It is part of her Ravager Crystarium tree , and deals eleven hits of physical damage against a single opponent . The game calculates every hit separately , meaning if Lightning is equipping the passive ability , it has eleven chances to trigger . This also means that if Lightning has the ability , her ATB gauge will get charged eleven times , giving an extra 1 . 1 ATB segments with the basic ability , or 2 . 2 segments with . When used against a staggered foe its ability to accumulate chain bonus is boosted , and it can rapidly fill the enemy ' s gauge to 999 . 9 % . The attack manifests as several fast strikes from Lightning ' s gunblade , as well as heavy kicks . If this move is performed midair , it has the same appearance as a ground attack , meaning Lightning lands midair and also pushes off the air for her back - flip . Army of One is a physical attack that uses Lightning ' s Strength stat to calculate damage . Army of One ignores physical resistance , but also ignores physical weaknesses ; it will deal 100 % damage whether it is resistant , normal , or weakness . Army of One can be affected by Commando bonus , Bravery / Bravera , and Debrave , but is unaffected by Deprotect , Protect on enemy , or enhanced element spells like Enfire . A player can Paradigm Shift during the attack animation . If the player shifts to Commando during it , Lightning will deal more damage , but will still increase the chain bonus . Army Of One reappears as the Feral Link ability for Lightning in " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . Sovereign Fist . Sovereign Fist is Snow ' s full ATB skill . It is part of his Commando tree , and deals one strong hit of physical damage . It is an area attack , meaning it will hit nearby enemies as well . Sovereign Fist has Snow leaping into the air , heaving his fist down into the enemy . Sovereign Fist is a physical attack that uses the Strength stat to calculate damage . Sovereign Fist ignores physical resistance , but also ignores physical weaknesses ; it will deal 100 % damage whether it is resistant , normal , or weakness . Sovereign Fist can be affected by Commando bonus , Adrenaline bonus , Bravery / Bravera , and Debrave , but it is not affected by Deprotect , Protect on enemy , or enhanced element spells like Enfire . When used against a staggered opponent Sovereign Fist gains a massive boost in its damage multiplier . When executed , Sovereign Fist will reset the target ' s chain gauge to 100 % . This means it also ends an opponent ' s stagger status , meaning it is best used once the enemy is about to recover from stagger . This property can be used for strategic advantage in the battle against the " Proudclad " whose Retaliatory Strike can be avoided if the player uses Sovereign Fist as soon as it staggers . Cold Blood . Cold Blood is Sazh ' s full ATB skill . It is part of his Ravager Crystarium tree and deals seventeen hits to one enemy . Cold Blood is similar to Army of One in that it serves to raise the enemy ' s chain gauge , and each hit is calculated separately , meaning , if Sazh is equipped with it , Random : Instant Chain has seventeen chances to trigger . When used against a staggered opponent the skill ' s ability to amass chain bonus is boosted , making it a fast way to raise a staggered foe ' s chain to 999 . 9 % . Cold Blood is a physical attack that uses the Strength stat to calculate damage . Cold Blood ignores physical resistance , but also ignores physical weaknesses ; it will deal 100 % damage whether it is resistant , normal , or weakness . Cold Blood can be affected by Commando bonus , Adrenaline bonus , Bravery / Bravera , and Debrave , but it is not affected by Deprotect , Protect on enemy , or enhanced element spells like Enfire . The player can shift paradigm during Cold Blood ' s attack animation to make Sazh a Commando to use the aforementioned bonuses . Cold Blood returns as the Feral Link for Sazh in " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . Last Resort . Last Resort is Hope ' s full ATB skill . It is part of his Ravager tree and deals eight hits of magic damage to different targets ; Last Resort shuffles through the list of enemies dealing a single hit to each until all hits have been distributed . Appearance - wise , Last Resort resembles Holy spell from previous " Final Fantasy " games , with a ring of white beads flying into the air . However , there is no Holy element in the game and Last Resort is considered non - elemental . Last Resort is a magical attack that uses the Magic stat to calculate damage . Last Resort ignores magical resistance , but also ignores weaknesses ; it will deal 100 % damage whether the target is resistant , normal , or weak to the element in question . Last Resort can be affected by Commando bonus , Faith / Faithra , and Defaith , but is unaffected by Deshell , Shell on enemy , or enhanced element spells like Enfire . When used against a staggered foe its ability to amass chain bonuses increases significantly , meaning it can be used to quickly bring an opponent ' s chain gauge to 999 . 9 % . However , because Last Resort shuffles between targets , not all eight attacks land on the staggered foe unless there is only one opponent . Death . Death is a classic " Final Fantasy " skill available to Vanille . It is part of her Saboteur skill tree , making it the only full ATB skill not to be found in the Commando or Ravager tree . Death deals base damage equal to 364 – 400 % ( randomly determined ) of Vanille ' s Magic parameter and has a 1 % chance to instantly kill the enemy , increasing by an additional 1 % per negative status the target is afflicted with . Death does not benefit from a staggered target other than the normal damage increase . Unlike the other full ATB skills , Death can benefit from En - spells and does not clear the chain gauge , giving it the highest potential repeatable multiplier of any special attack . Death deals magic damage , but ignores weaknesses or resistances to magic damage including the effects of Shell and Deshell . Death is still affected by weaknesses or resistances to elemental damage if Vanille has an En - spell active . Death is not classified as a debuffing spell ; consequently , its instant kill chance does not benefit from the Belladonna or Malboro Wand . Unlike all other Saboteur skills , Death ignores chain bonus as a factor when calculating success rate . Buffs like Faith boost the damage the spell deals , but not the instant death chance . The only way to boost the success rate of Death is via the Saboteur role bonus and by inflicting as many status effects as possible on the target . Death ' s casting animation is long enough for the player to shift to a Commando paradigm before the damage is calculated , vastly increasing the damage dealt . Highwind . Highwind is Fang ' s full ATB skill . It is named after the recurring surname of the many Dragoons in the series . It is part of her Commando tree , and manifests as Fang leaping into the air and bringing her spear down into the enemy — similar to the Dragoon ability Jump — with an explosion damaging nearby enemies as she hits the ground . Highwind is a physical attack that uses the Strength stat to calculate damage . Highwind ignores physical resistance , but also ignores physical weaknesses ; it will deal 100 % damage whether it is resistant , normal , or weakness . Highwind can be affected by Commando bonus , Adrenaline bonus , Bravery / Bravera , and Debrave , but it is not affected by Deprotect , Protect on enemy , or enhanced element spells like Enfire . When used against a staggered opponent , it will gain a massive increase in its damage multiplier . When executed , Highwind will reset the target ' s chain gauge to 100 % , meaning it will also end a foe ' s stagger status immediately . The attack is therefore best used against an opponent that is about to recover from stagger . This property can be used for strategic advantage in the battle against the " Proudclad " whose Retaliatory Strike can be avoided if the player uses Highwind as soon as it staggers . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . Mechanics . Serah and Noel can learn their respective full ATB skills once they reach Stage 11 of their Crystaria , but they can be used only once per battle unless the player uses an Elixir , which restores the ability to use a full ATB skill . The recruitable human monsters available through the downloadable content also have their full ATB skills in the form of Feral Link s . When using Serah ' s and Noel ' s full ATB skills , neither the target or the caster can be knocked out during the animation . This can lead to a scenario where the player unleashes a full ATB skill on a near - death enemy that is just about to launch a strong attack on the player : if both parties kill each other during full ATB skill animation , the player will win the battle even if it was technically a double KO situation . During the game ' s prologue Lightning uses skills that consume the entire ATB bar , but can be used repeatedly , namely , Ullr ' s Shield while Lightning is riding Odin , and War ' s Benediction when Lightning and Noel are fighting Caius on Bahamut . Both are curative abilities . Lightning also unleashes Army of One on Caius during a Cinematic Action sequence before she buries him in debris . A number of full ATB skills appear as Feral Links for recruitable monsters in downloadable battles and scenarios . For example , Lightning ' s Army of One is her Feral Link , Snow uses his Sovereign Fist during the battle and as his Feral Link , and Sazh uses Cold Blood as his Feral Link once recruited upon completion of the " Heads or Tails " scenario . Other human Paradigm Pack monsters also have access to attacks that seem to be their full ATB skills as Feral Links , e . g . : Nabaat and Amodar using Sadistic Surge and Iron Bear Claw against the party and as Feral Link attacks respectively . An upgraded and more powerful version of Lightning ' s Army of One is used by Lightning during " " downloadable content scenario as a Feral Link . Titled Legion of One , the attack is almost identical to Army of One but heals the player when used during the scenario battles , and ends with an explosive stream of light rather than just a slash . List of abilities . Ultima Arrow . Ultima Arrow is Serah ' s full ATB skill , and part of her Ravager Crystarium tree . It is obtained as a Crystarium Expansion ability later on . It manifests as Serah firing an arrow into the air and it exploding into light as it returns to earth , consuming the area directly in front of its shooter . Ultima Arrow is best used just after the opponent has been staggered . As soon as Serah starts to execute the attack , the player should switch to a paradigm in which Serah is a Commando , such as Aggression or Cerberus . This can yield a mass amount of physical damage to the target , as well as greatly raising the chain gauge . Meteor Javelin . Meteor Javelin is Noel ' s full ATB skill , and is part of his Commando Crystarium tree . Just like Ultima Arrow , it is obtained as a Crystarium Expansion late in the game . It manifests as Noel leaping into the air and throwing four spears into the enemy . Similar to Highwind or Sovereign Fist from " Final Fantasy XIII " , it resets the chain gauge to 100 % . Meteor Javelin is best used just before the enemy is exiting their stagger period . This is the time the chain gauge will be at the highest , delivering the greatest amount of damage . It is also extends the period of time other allies can use attacks , such as Smite or Scourge , which deal a lot of damage to enemies exiting stagger , for the use of a full ATB skill freezes the depletion of the chain gauge . Other appearances . Lightning can use her Army of One , but it is no longer a full ATB skill , but rather , a special skill activated during Overclock . Noel uses Meteor Javelin as an enemy attack when he is fought as a boss . Lightning and Hope use Hope ' s full ATB skill Last Resort in the ending . " Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy " . Lightning ' s full ATB skill , Army of One , returns as one of Lightning ' s abilities for her Ravager skillset . She spins towards the opponent slashing , then performs a combo of sword attacks and gunshots that knocks the opponent away . " Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade " . Characters from " Final Fantasy XIII " use their full ATB skills when they are summoned as Legends . In addition , players can obtain certain full ATB skills to use as abilities . " Final Fantasy Record Keeper " . Some of the full ATB attacks appear . " Final Fantasy Trading Card Game " . One of Lightning ' s cards can use Army of One . For the discard cost of another Lightning card and a Thunder CP , Lightning gains the abilities Haste and Preemptive Strike for the rest of the turn . One of Serah ' s cards can use Ultima Arrow . For the discard of a Serah card , Dulling Serah and paying 2 Ice CP , Ultima Arrow deals 8000 damage to all the opponent ' s Dulled Forwards .