Paradigm A paradigm , also known as an optima , is a combination of roles in " Final Fantasy XIII " and " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . The player can preset up to a maximum of six paradigms when outside battle . During battle the player can freely switch between the preset paradigms using the / button , also known as a Paradigm Shift or an Optima Change . Setting paradigms and shifting at optimal times during battle is the core of formulating winning strategies . In " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " , suffixes of paradigm names may change according to the Paradigm Tune player has selected for each paradigm . The player has only two main characters , but once the Paradigm Pack option unlocks the player can include a third party member from their roster of captured monsters . Shifting paradigms 1 , 000 times in " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " earns the player the " Strategist " achievement / trophy . Role . Roles are a gameplay element unique to " Final Fantasy XIII " . The system is akin to past " Final Fantasy " job system s , however , major changes have been made so that each role resembles a mix of different jobs . Monster allies in " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " have only one role each , and thus when paradigm shifting with monsters in the party the monster itself changes to another monster whose role corresponds with the chosen paradigm . Names have been changed between the English and the Japanese releases : Lightning also has six additional roles in of " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " : Setting each role to a character is made by default , although after a point , the player can freely switch between roles for each character outside of battle . The localization team was asked to help with the naming of the roles and the team intended to use different names in Japan and the US / EU from the start . The English translators brainstormed and proposed both sets . For the Japanese version , they needed English words that sounded cool when rendered into Japanese , and would be understood by non - English - speaking Japanese players . For the localized version , the team ' s focus was on creating names that would have a more sci - fi feel to a native speaker ' s ear , and also abbreviate to three letters in a way that looked natural and made the short forms quickly and easily distinguishable from one another . Paradigm Shift . 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 simply cancelled the action . Shifting paradigm 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 . During the Paradigm Shift animation commands cannot be input or carried out , but during the animation the ATB gauges of both the player party and the enemies continues to fill . The two computer - controlled allies can act again sooner than the leader , as the leader must wait until all characters ' animations are finished before acting . In " Final Fantasy XIII " , the first Paradigm Shift in each battle has a longer animation , but it can be bypassed by only shifting during an animation , which cannot be cancelled by the Paradigm Shift . Circumventing the long animation will make the next shift animation the long animation . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " removes the long animation from the initial shift to reduce time spent shifting between various paradigms . Additionally , since the third space in the party is filled by Paradigm Pack monsters with differing HP levels , the HP percentage remains constant between monster companions when switching . For example , a monster at critical hit points will transfer its critical status to the monster switching in , and a KO ' d monster will remain KO ' d . However , since only the percentage remains the same , the monster ally ' s hit points can potentially increase or decrease dramatically when the role is switched . Settings . With six roles and three maximum playable party members , it is possible to set up to 83 paradigms , sorted in the tables below by the number of contributing party members . The names for these paradigms remain the same from " Final Fantasy XIII " to " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . Names shown in brackets are direct translations from Japanese . Tunes . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " extends on the paradigms ' customization , letting the player tune them in the menu . Tuned paradigms get the suffix of - X or - W . Through 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 " . Suffix - X is added to " Cross " tune , meaning the paradigm will concentrate on a single enemy unit . 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 her bow form . Standard tuning will have her switch according to distance . Creation and development . When developing for the paradigm system the development team would have wanted the characters ' appearance to change for each role , but this wasn ' t possible due to limited system resources . With only a single playable character in " " , this became possible with the system . In an advertisement for E3 2009 , three of six roles have different names and abbreviations : Gladiator ( GLA ) for Commando ( COM ) , Augmenter ( AUG ) for Synergist ( SYN ) , and Tactician ( TAC ) for Saboteur ( SAB ) in their respective colors . Paradigm naming had also a different pattern . Paradigm shift and paradigm roles are not available in the " Final Fantasy XIII " demo ; instead , the player queues up all available abilities , mixing different types to the same command queue . Other appearances . " Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy " . Lightning ' s battle style is an adapted form of the Paradigm System . By pressing and during battle , Lightning can change between the Commando , Ravager , and Medic Paradigms , signified by the name of the new Paradigm being displayed and a visual effect engulfing Lightning briefly . Each Paradigm has its own set of Bravery attacks , with HP attacks being shared across all three , and allow Lightning to quickly change up her fighting style . Commando focuses on physical attacks , Ravager focuses on magic attacks , and Medic allows Lightning to cast healing spells to increase her Bravery without attacking . Etymology . The Japanese name of Rapid Growth , Trismegistos , alludes to . The paradigm Cerberus refers to Greek and Roman mythology where is a three - headed dog , or " hellhound " who guards the entrance of the underworld to prevent the dead from escaping and the living from entering . The Japanese name of Salvation , , is the name of the Greek god of medicine / healing in Greek mythology , referring to the paradigm ' s unrivaled healing potency . The paradigm All for One alludes to ' , a novel by Alexandre Dumas , whose titular heroes ' motto is " " . The paradigm ' s Japanese name is literally The Lionheart King , which could allude to of England and the folkloric portrayal of his braveness . The paradigm War & Peace gets its name from ' , a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy . The Japanese name of Decimation paradigm is Storming Dragon - Tiger . Various martial arts disciplines have symbolized the eternal rivalry between the dragon and the tiger , and both are needed to achieve the delicate balance of energies . A Chinese idiom to describe equal rivals ( often in sports ) is " Dragon versus Tiger " . Some of the paradigms in both the English and Japanese versions refer to various terms in the series : Delta Attack ( both ) refers to the signature attack of Magus Sisters , Tri - disaster ( both ) refers to an ability of the same name that deals damage of multiple elements , Dualcasting ( EN ) to the ability to cast two magic spells at once , Mighty Guard ( JP ) to magic that grants positive status effects on the target , and White Wind ( JP ) to a healing spell which removes negative status effects as well .