The Assist system is a gameplay feature in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. It is a new feature that was not previously found in the original Dissidia Final Fantasy, and allows for a fighter to call an ally into battle to perform an attack. It is designed to be directly opposed to EX Mode as a game mechanic - Accessories that enhance Assists negatively effect EX Mode and vice-versa, and EX Break and Assist Break allow one mechanic to cancel out the other.

FunctionEdit

The player can set their Assist and his or her outfit freely in some battle modes, while in others, such as in all storyline gameplay, their Assist is preset for them, although they can still change the Assist's outfit.

As characters perform attacks, the Assist gauge under their HP bar fills, a section turning orange when it is completely filled. After a few moments of inactivity from the player, their Assist Gauge will start to decrease, so aggressive actions keep the meter filled. Any sort of attack will fill the meter, even if it does not connect. Whenever one character enters EX Mode, the other character's Assist Gauge instantly depletes to zero.

Counter-attacking the opponent when low on either Bravery or HP can trigger an Assist Charge, wherein the attacker's Assist Gauge instantly fills by half or all the way, depending on the circumstances. Countering an opponent's bravery attack when the character's bravery is low will fill their Assist Gauge halfway. Countering an HP attack whilst under Near Death status will completely fill the character's Assist Gauge.

When an Assist is summoned, the "Assist" tag next to the summoned Assist glows blue if he/she is Assisting the player, and red if he/she is Assisting the opponent (in an early screenshot of the game, the opponent's "Assist" tag glowed yellow instead of red in the final release).

A Bravery Assist attack, known in-game as "Assist-B", can be triggered by pressing and , which consumes one assist bar, while HP Assists, known in-game as "Assist-H," are triggered by pressing and , consuming two assist bars. The Assist will react, and appear according to what conditions were in the assist ability customization screen. While an Assist attacks, their blows do not produce EX Force. However, depending on the Assist character's amount of damage dealt, the opponent's EX force meter is reduced by a proportionate amount.

After an Assist attacks, depending on the attack used, one of two things can occur. If the Assist's attack inflicted Wall Rush, the opponent is still vulnerable, and the player can attack them while they are still recovering from the attack to press their offensive further. If the Assist's attack began a Chase Sequence, pressing will teleport the player character behind the opponent while they are recovering, allowing them to attack again. These two abilities allow the potential for Assistance attacks and main player attacks to be chained together in different ways.

Assist Lock and Assist ChangeEdit

If the Assist character is staggered or attacked before they can leave the field, it will result in an Assist Lock. Once the player's Assist is locked, they can no longer build or use the Assist character for about twenty-two seconds. In addition to the Assist Gauge becoming locked, the opponent who locked the Assist out will receive all of the EX Force on the field. The more times the Assist is locked, the longer the time required for it to recover. When the Assist Lock wears off, the Assist Gauge returns to whatever state it was in when it was locked, and retains any charge it had at that time.

Players may also use an Assist to perform an Assist Change, wherein they call their Assist while being attacked to have their Assist take the blow for them, with the main character being flung up or down out of the opponent's attack to avoid damage. Calling the Assist while consuming one bar will perform "Change-1", wherein the main character escapes, but is inflicted with Assist Lock.

Using two bars will cause the Assist to perform "Change-2" where the character evades the attack and the opponent is staggered, but the Assist Gauge is not locked. Timing an Assist Change properly is important, as some attacks will continue to home in on the player and hit them if they perform an Assist Change too early, such as Cloud's Omnislash Vers. 5, Tidus' Slice and Dice, or Onion Knight's Guiding Swipe and Swordshower.

Assists can inflict Assist Lock by hitting the opponent's Assist with their attacks. However, this cannot be done on purpose as Assists will always target the opponent regardless of who the player is currently targeting. Thus, locking an opponent's Assist with the player's own Assist is largely down to the luck of calling an Assist against the opponent while their own Assist is present and happens to get in the way. As with two attacks cancelling each other out, if two Assists happen to hit each other at the same time, they both will inflict Assist Lock.

EX Break & Assist BreakEdit

If a character calls their Assist to attack an opponent in EX Mode, an EX Break will occur if the Assist's attack connects. This grants the player who called the Assist the Stage Bravery, as though they had inflicted Bravery break, and the opponent's EX Gauge instantly depletes to zero, their EX Mode ending.

Similarly, if an Assist character is attacked by an opponent in EX Mode, an Assist Break occurs - the EX Mode character receives the Stage Bravery in addition to their opponent being inflicted with Assist Lock. There are two exceptions - Gabranth's EX Mode ability "Jamming" prevents the opponent from gaining the Map Bravery when he is inflicted with EX Break, but his EX Gauge is still canceled, and Feral Chaos is unable to be inflicted with EX Break during his EX Burst.

List of Assistance attacksEdit

Though the player can set their Assist freely, the attack that their Assist uses is set to one of four attacks. The attack they use changes depending on whether the opponent or the player's character is in the air or on the ground. The Assist character also appears near the opponent or the player depending on the attack used. Feral Chaos is the only playable character that can not be used for assist.

Character	Ground Bravery Assist	Midair Bravery Assist	Ground HP Assist	Midair HP Assist
Warrior of Light	Sword Thrust Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Rising Buckler Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush	Shining Wave Player is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Shield of Light Player is in the air Additional effects: Block, Wall Rush
Garland	Round Edge Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Bardiche Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush	Tsunami Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Cyclone Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Absorb
Firion	Rope Knife Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Magic Arts: Flame Opponent is in the air	Straightarrow Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Weaponsmaster Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush
Emperor	Thunder Crest Player is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Mine Player is in the air Additional effect: Chase, Absorb	Flare Player is on the ground	Flare Player is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush
Onion Knight	Blizzard Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Turbo-Hit Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush	Blade Torrent Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Comet Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Chase
Cloud of Darkness	Tentacle of Pain (two whips) Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Tentacle of Suffering (two whips) Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Chase	[Anti-air] Particle Beam Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	[Fusillade] Particle Beam Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush
Cecil	Shadow Lance Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Radiant Wings Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush	Soul Eater Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Saint's Fall Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush
Kain	Lance Burst Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Crashing Dive Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush	Jump Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Dragon's Fang Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush
Golbez	Glare Hand Opponent is on the ground Additional effects: Chase, Wall Rush	Attack System Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Chase	Nightglow Player is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Genesis Rock Player is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush
Bartz	Blade Crash Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Slide Shooter Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush	Dark Flame Player is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Ragnarok Blade Player is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush
Exdeath	Sword Dance Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Hurricane Opponent is in the air Additional effects: Chase, Absorb	Grand Cross Opponent is on the ground Additional effects: Chase, Absorb	Delta Attack Opponent is in the air Additional effects: Chase, Absorb
Gilgamesh	Cross Slash Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Tsubamegaeshi Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush	Death Claw Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Hurricane Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Chase
Terra	Graviga Player is on the ground Additional effects: Absorb, Wall Rush	Blizzara Player is in the air Additional effects: Magic Block, Wall Rush	Flood Player is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Meltdown Player is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush
Kefka	Meteor Player is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Extra-Crispy Firaga Player is in the air Additional effect: Chase	Hyperdrive Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Havoc Wing Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush
Cloud	Sonic Break Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Slashing Blow Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush	Cross-slash Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Braver Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush
Tifa	Beat Rush Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Falcon's Dive Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush	Meteodrive Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Rolling Blaze Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush
Aerith	Cure Player is on the ground	Seal Evil Player is in the air	Planet Protector Player is on the ground	Holy Player is in the air Additional effects: Wall Rush, Block
Sephiroth	Reaper Opponent is on the ground Additional Effect: Chase	Sudden Cruelty Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Chase	Octaslash Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Hell's Gate Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Chase
Squall	Solid Barrel Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Heel Crush Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush	Blasting Zone Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Aerial Circle Opponent is in the air Additional effects: Wall Rush, Absorb
Laguna	Machine Gun Opponent is on the ground	Shotgun Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush	Satellite Laser Player is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Ragnarok Blade Player is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush
Ultimecia	Knight's Axe (uncharged) Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Knight's Axe (charged) Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush	Hell's Judgment Player is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Apocalypse Player is in the air Additional effect: Chase
Zidane	Rumble Rush Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Vortex Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush	Stellar Circle 5 Opponent is on the ground Additional effects: Chase, Absorb	Free Energy Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Chase
Kuja	Snatch Blow Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Strike Energy Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Chase	Flare Star Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Force Symphony Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Chase
Tidus	Sonic Buster Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Hop Step Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Chase	Spiral Cut Opponent is on the ground Additional effects: Chase, Magic Block	Slice & Dice Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Chase
Yuna	Meteor Strike Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Heavenly Strike Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush	Hellfire Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Diamond Dust Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Chase
Jecht	Jecht Rush ( — — + ) Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Jecht Stream ( — — + ]) Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush	Jecht Blade Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Triumphant Grasp Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush
Shantotto	Bind Opponent is on the ground	Bio Opponent is in the air	Spirit Magic: Earth Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Spirit Magic: Ice Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Chase
Prishe	Howling Fist -> Raging Fists Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Backhand Blow -> Shoulder Tackle Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush	Nullifying Dropkick Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Auroral Uppercut Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush
Vaan	Greatsword Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Staff Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Chase	Cataclysm Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Inferno Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush
Gabranth	Enrage Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Wall Rush	Aero Opponent is in the air Additional effects: Chase, Absorb	Execution Opponent is on the ground Additional effects: Chase, Magic Block, Absorb	Hatred Opponent is in the air Additional effects: Wall Rush, Absorb
Lightning	Aerora Opponent is on the ground	Smite Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush	Lightning Strike Opponent is on the ground Additional effect: Chase	Thunderfall Opponent is in the air Additional effect: Wall Rush, Magic Block