Paradigm

A paradigm , also known as an optima , is a party composition based on roles in Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIII-2. The player can preset up to six paradigms when outside of battle. During battle the player can freely switch between the preset paradigms via /, 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, paradigm names' suffixes may change according to the Paradigm Tune the 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 systems, however, each role resembles a mix of 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.
The names differ between the English and the Japanese releases:
*Commando (COM) / Attacker (ATK)
*Ravager (RAV) / Blaster (BLA)
*Sentinel (SEN) / Defender (DEF)
*Saboteur (SAB) / Jammer (JAM)
*Synergist (SYN) / Enhancer (ENH)
*Medic (MED) / Healer (HLR)
Lightning also has six additional roles in her DLC episode of Final Fantasy XIII-2:
*Paladin (PLD) / Attack Paladin (ATK-PLD), a role similar to Commando.
*Mage (MGE) / Blast Wizard (BLA-WIZ), a role similar to Ravager that uses lightning-attribute magic attacks.
*Shaman (SHA) / Blast Shaman (BLA-SHM), a role similar to Ravager that uses wind-attribute physical attacks.
*Knight (KNT) / Defense Knight (DEF-KNT), a role similar to Sentinel.
*Conjurer (CNJ) / Enhance Adept (ENH-ADP), a role similar to Synergist.
*Sorcerer (SRC) / Jamming Witch (JAM-WTC), a role similar to Saboteur.
Each role is set to a character 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 easily distinguishable from one another.
===Paradigm Shift===
The ATB gauge continues to fill during a Paradigm Shift, although commands cannot be input or carried out by the player for its duration. Any queued commands will be canceled and the unused portion of the ATB gauge will be saved. Shifting paradigms also fully refills everyone's ATB gauge at a regular interval; there is a 12-second cooldown for this effect after each time it activates. The computer-controlled characters have their commands automatically selected immediately following the shift.
In Final Fantasy XIII, the first Paradigm Shift in each battle has a longer animation, which can be bypassed by only shifting during an animation that cannot be cancelled by the Paradigm Shift.
#During an Attack command special animation (gunshot for Lightning, rifle shot for Sazh, three-sectioned staff blows for Fang).
#While airborne, either launched by an enemy or attacking a launched enemy.
#While using a character's full ATB skill.
Circumventing the long animation will make the next shift have the long animation.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 removes the long animation from the initial shift to reduce time spent shifting between various paradigms. If a battle begins as a result of the Mog Clock running out, the initial paradigm shift will not refill the party's ATB gauges. Shifting will also be disabled for the first few seconds if the Clock Master Fragment Skill is set to "High speed", unless a Preemptive Strike is obtained. 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 health will transfer its critical status to the monster switching in, and a KO'd monster will remain KO'd. 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.
===Single===
Name	Role 	Description
() 	Commando 	Attacks enemies with the goal of dealing as much damage as possible.
() 	Ravager 	Attacks enemies with the aim of quickly building chains.
() 	Sentinel 	Draws and defends against the attacks of enemies.
() 	Saboteur 	Focuses on weakening opponents, debilitating them when overwhelmed.
() 	Synergist	Focuses on augmenting offense and defense, defending when overwhelmed.
() 	Medic 	Concentrates on healing and recovery.
===Double===
Name	Role 1 	Role 2 	Description
() 	Commando 	Commando 	Each COM attacks its own target.
() 	Commando 	Ravager 	COM and RAV combine their attacks to take down one enemy at a time.
() 	Commando 	Sentinel 	SEN focuses on drawing enemy aggression while COM attacks.
() 	Commando 	Saboteur 	SAB debilitates enemies and COM attacks them.
() 	Commando 	Synergist	COM attacks enemies, augmented by SYN's enhancements.
() 	Commando 	Medic 	COM attacks enemies while MED concentrates on healing.
() 	Ravager 	Ravager 	Both RAVs concentrate their attacks on the same target.
() 	Ravager 	Sentinel 	SEN draws enemy aggression while RAV attacks.
() 	Ravager 	Saboteur 	RAV attacks while SAB attempts to weaken enemies.
() 	Ravager 	Synergist	RAV attacks enemies, augmented by SYN's enhancements.
() 	Ravager 	Medic 	MED heals while RAV attacks enemies.
() 	Sentinel 	Sentinel 	Both SENs defend against enemy attacks.
() 	Sentinel 	Saboteur 	SEN protects SAB, who attempts to weaken enemies.
() 	Sentinel 	Synergist	SEN protects SYN, who focuses on strengthening the party.
() 	Sentinel 	Medic 	SEN protects MED, who concentrates on healing.
() 	Saboteur 	Saboteur 	Both SABs attempt to quickly weaken and debilitate enemies.
() 	Saboteur 	Synergist	SAB weakens opponents while SYN focuses on strengthening the party.
() 	Saboteur 	Medic 	SAB weakens opponents while MED handles healing.
() 	Synergist	Synergist	Both SYNs focus on quickly strengthening the party.
() 	Synergist	Medic 	MED handles healing while SYN focuses on strengthening the party.
() 	Medic 	Medic 	Both MEDs concentrate on healing.
===Triple===
Name	Role 1 	Role 2 	Role 3 	Description
 	Commando 	Commando 	Commando 	Each COM attacks its own target. Effective for picking off weaker enemies.
() 	Commando 	Commando 	Ravager 	RAV and one COM attack a common target while other COM attacks its own.
() 	Commando 	Commando 	Sentinel 	SEN defends against dangerous attacks while COMs focus on dealing damage.
() 	Commando 	Commando 	Saboteur 	COMs attack separate targets while SAB weakens dangerous opponents.
() 	Commando 	Commando 	Synergist	COMs attack separate targets while SYN supports with enhancements.
() 	Commando 	Commando 	Medic 	COMs attack separate targets while MED supports with healing.
() 	Commando 	Ravager 	Ravager 	COM and RAVs focus on taking down one target at a time.
 	Commando 	Ravager 	Sentinel 	SEN draws enemy aggression while COM and RAV attack a common target.
() 	Commando 	Ravager 	Saboteur 	COM and RAV combine their attacks while SAB attempts to weaken enemies.
() 	Commando 	Ravager 	Synergist	COM and RAV coordinate attacks, augmented by SYN's enhancements.
() 	Commando 	Ravager 	Medic 	COM and RAV coordinate attacks while MED supports with healing.
() 	Commando 	Sentinel 	Sentinel 	SENs defend while the lone COM attacks. Limited in effectiveness.
() 	Commando 	Sentinel 	Saboteur 	COM attacks enemies weakened by SAB while SEN defends against them.
() 	Commando 	Sentinel 	Synergist	COM attacks and SEN defends while SYN strengthens them.
() 	Commando 	Sentinel 	Medic 	MED heals and SEN defends while COM attacks enemies.
() 	Commando 	Saboteur 	Saboteur 	COM attacks while SABs attempt to weaken dangerous enemies.
() 	Commando 	Saboteur 	Synergist	COM, augmented by SYN's enhancements, attacks enemies weakened by SAB.
() 	Commando 	Saboteur 	Medic 	SAB weakens opponents while COM attacks them and MED heals the party.
() 	Commando 	Synergist	Synergist	SYNs strengthen COM, who picks off weaker enemies in the meantime.
() 	Commando 	Synergist	Medic 	COM dispatches targets with healing and support from MED and SYN.
() 	Commando 	Medic 	Medic 	Both MEDs focus on healing while lone COM attacks enemies.
 	Ravager 	Ravager 	Ravager 	All three RAVs combine their attacks, attempting to quickly fill chain gauges.
() 	Ravager 	Ravager 	Sentinel 	RAVs combine their attacks while SEN protects them from dangerous enemies.
() 	Ravager 	Ravager 	Saboteur 	RAVs combine their attacks while SAB weakens dangerous opponents.
() 	Ravager 	Ravager 	Synergist	RAVs coordinate their attacks, augmented by SYN's enhancements.
() 	Ravager 	Ravager 	Medic 	MED heals while RAVs combine their attacks against a common target.
() 	Ravager 	Sentinel 	Sentinel 	SENs defend while the lone RAV attacks. Limited in effectiveness.
 	Ravager 	Sentinel 	Saboteur 	RAV attacks enemies weakened by SAB while SEN defends against them.
() 	Ravager 	Sentinel 	Synergist	SEN defends while RAV attacks, augmented by SYN's enhancements.
() 	Ravager 	Sentinel 	Medic 	SEN draws enemy aggression while MED heals and RAV attacks.
() 	Ravager 	Saboteur 	Saboteur 	RAV attacks enemies heavily weakened by two SABs.
() 	Ravager 	Saboteur 	Synergist	RAV attacks while SAB weakens enemies and SYN strengthens the party.
() 	Ravager 	Saboteur 	Medic 	SAB weakens opponents while RAV attacks and MED heals.
() 	Ravager 	Synergist	Synergist	RAV attacks enemies, heavily augmented by two SYNs.
() 	Ravager 	Synergist	Medic 	MED heals while RAV attacks enemies, augmented by SYN's enhancements.
() 	Ravager 	Medic 	Medic 	RAV attacks enemies while MEDs rapidly heal the party.
() 	Sentinel 	Sentinel 	Sentinel 	All three SENs tighten their defenses. Effective for withstanding area attacks.
() 	Sentinel 	Sentinel 	Saboteur 	SENs protect SAB, who attempts to weaken enemies. Limited in effectiveness.
() 	Sentinel 	Sentinel 	Synergist	Both SENs defend while SYN strengthens the party. Limited in effectiveness.
() 	Sentinel 	Sentinel 	Medic 	Both SENs defend while MED heals the party. Limited in effectiveness.
() 	Sentinel 	Saboteur 	Saboteur 	SEN protects SABs while they weaken dangerous enemies.
() 	Sentinel 	Saboteur 	Synergist	SEN defends while SAB weakens opponents and SYN strengthens the party.
() 	Sentinel 	Saboteur 	Medic 	MED heals and SEN defends while SAB attempts to weaken enemies.
() 	Sentinel 	Synergist	Synergist	SEN protects two SYNs while they strengthen the party.
() 	Sentinel 	Synergist	Medic 	SEN defends while MED heals and SYN focuses on strengthening the party.
() 	Sentinel 	Medic 	Medic 	SEN protects two MEDs while they concentrate on rapid healing.
() 	Saboteur 	Saboteur 	Saboteur 	SABs attempt to quickly weaken and debilitate even resistant enemies.
() 	Saboteur 	Saboteur 	Synergist	SABs attempt to weaken enemies while SYN supports with enhancements.
() 	Saboteur 	Saboteur 	Medic 	SABs attempt to weaken enemies while MED supports with healing.
() 	Saboteur 	Synergist	Synergist	SYNs strengthen the party while SAB attempts to weaken enemies.
() 	Saboteur 	Synergist	Medic 	MED heals while SYN strengthens allies and SAB weakens enemies.
() 	Saboteur 	Medic 	Medic 	MEDs concentrate on healing while SAB attempts to weaken enemies.
() 	Synergist	Synergist	Synergist	All three SYNs focus on strengthen the party to take on powerful enemies.
() 	Synergist	Synergist	Medic 	MED heals while SYNs focus on strengthening the party.
() 	Synergist	Medic 	Medic 	Both MEDs concentrate on healing while SYN strengthens the party.
() 	Medic 	Medic 	Medic 	MEDs concentrate on healing, quickly removing numerous status ailments.
==Tuning==
Final Fantasy XIII-2 lets the player tune paradigms in the menu to specify the AI-controlled party members' behavior. Tuned paradigms get the suffix of -X or -W.
Normal adapts to the situation, Wide (lit. "Spread") makes each party member target a different enemy (or ally, when healing and buffing), and Cross (lit. "Concentrate") makes everyone act on a single target.
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. The exception is when the paradigm has Serah in the Sentinel role, wherein she will always use her weapon's sword form even if the Paradigm is Wide-tuned.
==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.
====Dissidia Final Fantasy NT====
Lightning lacks the Medic role, leaving her with only the Commando and Ravager paradigms. Otherwise, her battle style is near-identical to that of 012's Lightning.
By clicking the left joystick, Lightning can switch between the Commando and Ravager, each with its own set of Bravery attacks. HP attacks are shared across both paradigms. The Commando paradigm is built around close-range attacks, whereas the Ravager paradigm uses long-ranged projectiles.
===Final Fantasy Record Keeper===
==Behind the scenes==
thumb|Screenshot shows GLA assigned to Lightning, AUG to Snow, and TAC to Vanille.
When the Final Fantasy XIII project was at its inception, first person shooters were becoming more popular. The developers thus wanted to keep away from the traditional RPG style (tactical and command-based), and make the game faster and more action-based. Though the developers hadn't thought of this particular battle system before, it didn't take long to produce it. 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 Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII, this became possible with the garb system.
In an advertisement for E3 2009, three of the 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 also had 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.
The only time the player can see Twin Shields, Stumbling Block, Havoc, or Rally without using a cheating device in Final Fantasy XIII is the battle against Hecatoncheir. Stumbling Block is put into the Paradigm Deck by default, but to see the other three, the player needs to get a Game Over on the fight or Retry it. Furthermore, Twin Shields requires the player to teach the Sentinel role to Vanille, and Rally requires the player to teach the Synergist role to both Fang and Vanille.
A party of Lightning, Fang, and Hope/Vanille can learn every skill from every role (excluding the exclusive full ATB skills).
According to a Brain Blast! question in Academia, the term "paradigm shift" is used by office workers to refer to reshuffling staff.
==Gallery==
FF13-2-battle.jpg|Paradigm Shift menu in Final Fantasy XIII-2.
FF13-2-paradigm shift.jpg|Paradigm Shift in Final Fantasy XIII-2.
FFXIII-2 Amodar boss3.jpg|Lightning and Amodar Paradigm Shifting.
==Etymology==
The Japanese name of Rapid Growth, Trismegistos, alludes to Hermes Trismegistus.
The paradigm Cerberus refers to the mythological creature. 
The Japanese name of Salvation is Asclepius. It refers to the paradigm's unrivaled healing potency.
The paradigm All for One alludes to the Three Musketeers, a novel by Alexandre Dumas, whose titular heroes' motto is "all for one and one for all". The paradigm's Japanese name is literally The Lionheart King, which could allude to King Richard the Lionheart of England and the folkloric portrayal of his braveness. The paradigm War & Peace gets its name from War and Peace, 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.
==Citations==
de:Paradigma
pl:Paradigm
Category:Roles in the Lightning Saga