Command Synergy Battle Command Synergy Battle ( CSB ) is the battle system in " Final Fantasy XIII " and " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 . " It was designed by Toshirō Tsuchida . It derives the flow of time from the Active Time Battle system , as each character has their own ATB gauge . Unlike in most other " Final Fantasy " battle systems , the player is only able to control the actions of the party leader , and the computer controls the two others . Command input . Commands can be either input manually or via the Auto - Battle feature . Selecting the commands manually from a list of available commands is identical to how it works in the other games in the series , but Auto - Battle selects commands automatically for the player . The commands drawn up with Auto - Battle are not random , but depend on the battle situation : the party ' s health and the foe the party is currently fighting . How much information on the foe the player has unveiled on its bestiary page affects the commands chosen in the Auto - Battle : If the foe ' s elemental weaknesses are unknown , a Ravager tries to hit it with different elements to unveil this info . Once a foe is known to be weak against an element , the Auto - Battle command only brings up commands of the element the foe is weak to , if the character in question knows these abilities . ATB gauge . The ATB gauge acts like an action point meter divided up into equal segments ( a similar system was used in Enix ' s game " " ) . Each action consumes a portion of the ATB gauge . For example , attacking consumes one point , while casting a powerful spell consumes three . Full ATB skill s use up the whole gauge . Commands can be chained so as long as there are enough action points . When the player decides on what commands to take , they press another button to execute the commands . If the player executes the chained commands without filling all ATB segments , the unused amount of the bar will remain . The characters start with two ATB segments . They gain one when becoming l ' Cie and gain one more when they obtain their Eidolon . Thus the minimum final size of the ATB gauge is four segments , as an additional segment is gained via the Crystarium system and one more is gained by equipping a Tier 3 weapon . Not all commands use up ATB gauge . Item s and Techniques can be used without expending ATB segments , as long as the character isn ' t stunned by status effects preventing their turn . Enemies also have an ATB gauge , but unlike the player , enemies can only stock one command per turn . Enemy abilities still consume a various number of ATB slots , so the enemy will need to spend a variable amount of time between turns . ATB gauge speed . " Final Fantasy XIII " . The speed the gauge fills on screen depends on how many ATB segments the character has in their ATB gauge . The speed shown below is when battle speed is set to " Normal " ; if the configuration settings are set to " Slow " the fill speed is halved . Statuses and passive abilities . Certain statuses and passive abilities affect the speed the ATB gauge fills . The base ATB speed is determined by the ATB level ( how long the gauge is ) ; statuses and passive abilities affect only the base ATB speed . The slowest gauge speed is - 90 % . Slow and Haste cancel each other out . Abilities . Certain abilities help the player gain more ATB gauge . The effect is seen that when the player gets their next turn , their ATB gauge is already partly filled . Another way to have a full ATB gauge at the start of battle is to enter a battle with a preemptive strike . Chain gauge . Both enemies and player characters have chain gauges . The enemies ' chain gauges fill when the players attack them , and the rate at which an enemy ' s bar can be filled depends on its chain resistance . The more resistance the opponent has the slower the party can fill its chain gauge , but the slower it drains . When the player fills the enemy ' s chain gauge fully it enters a state known as stagger and its chain resistance falls to zero . The player can rake up chains much faster and , depending on the enemy , it may have other advantages , such as being able to launch it into the air , or it loses its immunity to certain types of attacks . Paradigm Shift . After becoming l ' Cie the paradigm system becomes available . The player can choose between six " jobs " and the preset combination of character jobs is called a paradigm . The player can shuffle through the settings while in battle to change battle tactics on the go . The ATB gauge continues to increase during a Paradigm Shift . If the player shifts in the middle of an action , any unused ATB gauge is saved as if the player had cancelled the action . Shifting paradigms refills everyone ' s ATB gauge . There is a 12 second cooldown time for this effect after each time it activates . If the player shifts less than 12 seconds after this effect last activated , the gauge is not refilled at the end of the shift . The computer - controlled characters have their commands automatically selected immediately following the shift . Battle score . After the battle the player receives a star rating depending on how fast they finished the battle . The star rating affects the rate the Technical Points accumulate and the chance of spoils . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " features . Cinematic Action . Cinematic Actions are scripted cinematic sequences that prompt for a button input , similar to Reaction Commands from the " Kingdom Hearts " series . At times , the player will have to choose between two commands , and this will affect the scenes and battles to come . Failing a cinematic action sequence doesn ' t bring about adverse effects , but succeeding can bring about offensive or defensive benefits . Correct Cinematic Action inputs may result in benefits such as an enemy going into stagger / taking stagger damage , or Serah and Noel gaining beneficial statuses . It is possible to obtain bonus items for correctly performing all Cinematic Actions within certain boss fights , a total of five throughout " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . Each of these is a type of adornment with a crystal theme . The achievement / trophy , " Trigger Finger " , is awarded for completing all five of these Cinematic Action sequences perfectly without failing once , though if mistakes are made the player may retry the battles using the Gate Seal mechanic to achieve a perfect result . All visual effects an enemy had before the Cinematic Action started , are carried into the cutscene . Feral Link . Ally monsters can perform unique abilities . To use a Feral Link ability , the party needs to fill the Feral Link gauge and the ability is initiated by pressing / . To boost the Feral Link ' s powers , a feature called Synchronization requires pressing buttons or rotating the analog sticks , similar to Cinematic Actions . Wound damage . Sometimes when an enemy attacks it may lower a character ' s maximum HP . This " wound damage " ( blood damage in the Japanese version ) appears with text " WOUNDED " in red . Characters are recovered from wound damage after every battle , by use of Wound Potions , Elixirs or Phoenix Downs , or through certain Feral Links . It is possible to deal wound damage on enemies with Saboteurs . Mechanics . When at full health , a character ' s HP gauge is green . As they take damage , the lost HP is represented by a depletion of the green part of the gauge , with the part of the gauge representing the damage being red . When an enemy attacks , its attack may additionally inflict wound damage , resulting in a depletion of the character ' s effective maximum HP . This is indicated by a third part of the gauge , shown transparent , indicating the wound damage . Wound damage cannot be recovered by conventional healing , and so the character ' s HP cannot be restored above the limit of the red part of the gauge . In this example , Serah ' s current HP is 500 , out of a maximum of 750 , and the red gauge indicates 150 HP lost to normal damage , which can be restored . However , the grey section ( transparent in - game ) represents non - recoverable HP that has been lost to wound damage ; thus 100 HP is removed from Serah ' s maximum HP until the " wounds " are healed by items , Feral Links , or automatically through time on Easy Mode . Paradigm tuning . Via paradigm tuning the other party members ' AI can be changed out of battle in the paradigm menu with different settings for various situations . These are : Normal , which automatically adapts to the situation ; Wide ( lit . " Spread " ) , which makes each party member target a different enemy ( or ally , when healing and buffing ) ; and Cross ( lit . " Concentrate " ) , which makes everyone act on a single target . Certain Paradigm Tunes change the names of paradigms to have a letter at the end , for example " Aggression - X " . The suffix - X is added to " Cross " tune meaning the paradigm will concentrate on a single enemy unit . The suffix - W is added to " Wide " tune meaning the paradigm will spread its attacks on all enemies . Paradigms with no suffixes will follow their " original " tunes . When a paradigm is set to a Cross tune , Serah will only use the sword form of her weapon regardless of distance , and while one is set to Wide , she will only use the bow form . Standard tuning will have her switch according to distance . Change Leader . This function , added to the battle command menu , allows the player to manually switch the party leader between Serah and Noel . Party Leaders can be changed in battle manually , or when the current leader is KO ' d . This allows many different strategies to be used , due to a wider range of abilities being able to be manually utilized per battle . Development . Yuji Abe has commented the Command Synergy Battle system in " Final Fantasy XIII " as thus : Yoshinori Kitase , the producer of " Final Fantasy XIII " , has stated that at the time they were planning for another " Final Fantasy " title there was an emerging trend in the gaming industry where FPSs were becoming more popular . The developers wanted to keep away from the traditional JRPG style of tactical and command - based gameplay , and instead incorporate elements of speed and action . Kitase says they hadn ' t thought of this particular battle system prior to " Final Fantasy XIII " , but that it didn ' t take long to produce . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " adds new elements to the battle system , such as the Cinematic Actions . Motomu Toriyama , the director of " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , has mentioned that adding plenty of different outcomes throughout the game was one of the developers ' main goals and that it was their vision to incorporate the cinematic action sequences with command battles . Toriyama called this their first step to having a fully cinematic battle scene . Yuji Abe has later commented on what he views the system ' s weaknesses : These concerns were behind with developing the battle system in " " .