Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia gameplay

This article describes basic gameplay of Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia
==Party setup==
The player assembles a party of three units to battle waves of enemies spawned from the Torsions that threaten to corrupt the world. Each unit is representative of a realm in the entire chronology of the series, including subseries, gaiden stories, and spin-offs.
Up to ten parties may be formed for any purpose, and are selected at the player's discretion from among all units acquired. Each unit may be outfitted with relics to improve base stats and increase CP for equippable passive skills and command augments. Should a relic be a match to a particular unit's realm and personal preferences, an Affinity Bonus will be awarded upon equipment, and will remain in effect only while the relic is equipped. However, limit-breaking the relic three times and raising it to its maximum level will grant the bonus to the assigned unit as an equippable skill, allowing its abilities to carry over while other relics are equipped. As well, events and Lost Chapters offer additional boosts to the featured unit and two other predetermined units when in play.
==Navigation==
Gameplay in the core narrative takes place in a world of many islands and dimensions, with each major area divided into honeycombed nodes that unlock and expand as the story unfolds. The player may tap on any node to move the party to a desired location.
Six types of activity nodes may appear within any map:
*Battle nodes are portals to encounters with one or more waves of enemies. Relative difficulty is indicated by the color of the Battle Piece icon within the node: green copper is easiest, followed by silver, gold, ruby, and amethyst for the most difficult. Beginning with Act 2 Ch. 5, battles with difficulty level 110 or greater have larger gold battle pieces. 
*Event nodes appear as books on the map. They are collections of stories and battles representing a single arc within the chapters that house them. The player must clear all segments to clear the event, and must meet all listed objectives to mark it Complete.
*Story nodes are indicated by speech bubbles. Viewing cutscenes may be required for some sections of a story or an event to unlock, but many can be skipped during playback. New units are frequently recruited upon completing two story nodes corresponding to them, and will be marked with the unit's avatar. 
*Gate nodes block potential paths forward in an area until listed objectives are met, usually recruiting a certain unit or meeting certain level targets for him/her.
*Stairs allow for movement between floors when an area has two or more floors to traverse.
*Treasure chests may contain valuable items to help fortify the party.
==Battle==
The game features a turn-based battle system, adding the Bravery (BRV) and HP attack mechanics of previous entries, allowing players to raise their own BRV and severely damage their enemies. In battle, players are able to utilize the distinct abilities of their characters which vary in effect. Friends can be used in battle for a duration of 3 to 5 turns.
Player and enemy units exchange turns according to a CTB queue. Battle continues this way until all enemies have been vanquished. Each move by the player counts as a "turn".
===BRV vs. HP Attacks===
To execute an attack, a unit must first build enough BRV with BRV Attacks to deal sufficient damage. All units will open each wave with a set Initial BRV (INT BRV) as determined by their accumulated levels and equipment bonuses and can build up to a Maximum BRV (MAX BRV) further determined by Crystal Strength augments and equipped passives in addition to the above. To damage a target is to expend accumulated BRV in an HP Attack, with all damage scored equal to BRV spent. 
===Attack types===
Each unit is assigned one of three basic attack types:
*Melee: Basic, direct strikes (e.g. swords, fists, spears) ideal in close-range combat. Ineffective against aerials and non-material fiends.
**Cut: Can be used on most enemy types when no resistance is given.
**Punch: Very effective vs. skeletons. 
*Ranged: Distance strikes (e.g. thrown, guns, bows) ideal in aerial combat. Very effective vs. aerials, except Cie'th.
*Magic: Strikes that manipulate mystic forces and elements (e.g. rods and staves) to damage targets. Ideal vs. non-material enemies such as the various flans, sahagins, Cie'th, and ghosts. Ineffective vs. armored fiends.
Special skills of each character may be of different attack types than their basic attacks, and should also be taken into account when creating a party. For example, Setzer is a Ranged unit with the Magic ability Freeze Joker.
===Ability types===
There are several ability types in the game, including:
*Command Abilities, which are the initial command ability (excluding Rem who learns it as part of Crystal Strength tutorial) and Crystal Strength Level 20; they all have limited ability uses and are based on a character's abilities from their previous appearances.
*EX Abilities , which are the equivalent of EX Bursts from the PSP games, come from EX weapons, and are recast-type abilities, requiring perfoming actions to charge the EX gauge.
*Additional Abilities (abbreviated as "AA" in the game), which are learned at Crystal Strength Level 65 that provide a variety of effects, yet usually comes with a single use; they are not based on a character's abilities from their previous appearances.
*Limited Abilities (abbreviated as "LD" in the game), which are particularly powerful abilities with very limited number of uses; they come from LD weapons.
*Force Abilities (abbreviated as "FR" in the game), which are extremely powerful abilities with up to two (2) uses that extend the damage-per-second ratio of the user and compatible allies for up to 10 turns. The user has selected a partner, with whom they combine for the initial maneuver (e.g. Kain calling Aranea for their tag jump "Cross Jump"). They come from FR weapons.
*Burst Abilities (abbreviated as "BT" in the game), which are single use abilities that when used allows the character to temporarily break BRV and HP damage limits; they come with BT weapons and are exclusive to main protagonists and antagonists.
*Call Abilities (abbreviated as simply "C" in the game), which are single use abilities that when used call in another character in place of the user and the called character uses their call ability; they are learned at Crystal Strength Level 75.
===BRV Break===
Should any unit, player or enemy, deplete its target's BRV below zero, the target enters Break status and will be delayed at least one turn. While broken, the target's HP attacks will deal zero damage; however, BRV attacks can cancel Break, especially when another enemy's BRV is broken. Break also clears automatically after several turns, but some objectives (see below) may be missed if the player does not use the Break mechanic effectively.
===Target prediction===
In addition to CTB mechanics, Opera Omnia gives the player a HUD over each enemy that indicates the target of the next attack or skill to be used. This can be used to plan the party's strategic order. For example, if Unit 2 is an intended target, one might consider building BRV to aid in its defense. Beware, however, that some enemies can scramble the HUD and perform randomized attacks against the party.
===Kill strike indicators===
Whenever a unit's BRV meets or exceeds its target's HP, the resulting value will be washed over in a purplish glow, indicating that its next HP Attack will strike down the target. The HP Attack buttons for party units will also flash with a purple aura. This means that the player must take care not to allow an enemy to build more BRV than they have HP, but also that the player should use excess BRV to minimize the number of turns required to clear the battle.
===Knockbacks and chain attacks===
If the same enemy is struck uninterrupted in the current wave, a knockback opportunity may be created wherein the next strike will launch the target into the air. When this happens, a timer may appear on screen. The player can then input the party's moves as a chain combo, so long as the timer is in play. All combined actions are treated as a single turn.
===Buffs, debuffs, and restorative skills===
Select units can use skills that support the party with buffs such as Attack Up, HP Regen, BRV Regen, Protect and Shell; or debuff an enemy for a given number of turns; or restore party members' HP immediately. Such skills use other iconology to indicate their effect: hearts for restorative skills, and "strongman" icons for supportives.
==Summoning==
As the player progresses through the story, they will earn the opportunity to bond with the various summon spirits of the Final Fantasy universe. Summoning is unlocked when the player completes Act 1, Ch. 1. All summons begin at their initial level cap of 20 with an opportunity to obtain training materials to reach level 30, and later to level 40. At level 31, summons can cause HP damage to enemy waves. 
====Battle====
In battle, actions taken fill an annular summon gauge. When the gauge fills to its maximum, the player can call their party's summon once per battle. A summon's effects may vary, but will also increase party MAX BRV for a set number of turns. The normal turn counter is frozen during summoning as well.
====Enhancement====
Just like party members, summons can be enhanced with materials dropped in battle, with higher levels of power requiring more and rarer materials. After a summon is leveled to LV 20, the Ultimate Trials for that given summon becomes available. In this stage, characters which complete missions - particularly LV 100 Challenge quests against the summon - acquire summon points and wild points. These points can be invested into a character's summon board, which offers raw stat boosts and passive abilities which further boost stats or enhances elemental damage and damage resistance for those characters.
==Scoring==
At the end of a battle, players are scored based on their performance. Each stage has a "Target Score", which can give bonuses like gil, crystals, and Gems when it is met. There are three main factors that affect the score: the number of turns used, the amount of damage taken, and the amount of Bravery Breaks taken. Score calculation is sometimes put into question, especially when it regards high difficulty quests: at times achieving required Number of Turns, Damage Taken, and Bravery Breaks Taken, and other objectives, the score may be calculated to 0, even though highly enhanced characters are used to complete them.
;Number of Turns
The total number of actions taken by the members of the party. Enemy turns do not count against this portion of the overall score. Lower numbers are better.
;Damage Taken
This score is derived from total HP lost less HP recovered by curative abilities.
;Bravery Breaks Taken
For each Bravery Break inflicted on party members, a set amount of the score multiplied by the number of breaks inflicted is deducted from the total score.
===Objectives and rewards===
Players are rewarded for each stage completed according to lists of preset objectives, such as completing a battle in a set number of turns or fewer, using specific party members or completing a battle without incurring a KO. Special "first clear" rewards are also given with each stage completed; and other bonuses are awarded for meeting specific score targets in battle. These rewards are collected immediately upon the completion of a stage.
;Perfect Clear
Many advanced quests may require the player to hit all quest targets at once before completing the quest itself. When this occurs, the condition known as a Perfect Clear is awarded to the player, which in turn offers better rewards. In certain types of events, receiving the Perfect Clear is required to unlock future quests. While it remains possible to complete all listed objectives in more than one attempt, doing so will not award the Perfect Clear. 
In the Abyss and some event quests, getting a Perfect Clear will bar the party that obtained it from continuing to the next quest in the same area; and the player must loadout a different party (and if needed, a new summon) before starting the desired quest. Fortunately, the player may also have the option to reset the Perfect Clear as is seen fit. 
Category:Gameplay in Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia