EX Mode (term)

WarriorEX — Warrior of Light enters EX Mode.

To shine brighter!
Warrior of Light enters EX Mode

EX Mode is a gameplay term from Dissidia Final Fantasy and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. EX Mode serves as the Limit Break system, granting a boost in power and access to new abilities, including EX Bursts.

EX Force and EX Gauges[]

D012 - EX Core Model — An EX Core in its stages of growth.

All characters except Chaos have an EX Gauge that fills as the player collects EX Force, glowing orbs of light that appears whenever an attack is landed or an attack is blocked. Chase Sequences also produce high amounts of EX Force. Characters absorb EX Force as they move around the arena, but not while attacking or being attacked. At times EX Cores appear in the arena and slowly absorb all EX Force present, growing wings to symbolize how much EX Force they have absorbed. Collecting an EX Core grants all EX Force they have absorbed in addition to a small base amount. When the EX Gauge is full, it begins to glow orange, and players may enter EX Mode by pressing and .

Various equipment pieces affect the player's efficiency in building up EX Force, by increasing the radius of their EX Force absorption, the amount gained by absorbing EX Force and EX Cores, allowing absorption of EX Force while attacking or being attacked, and increasing the rate at which EX Cores spawn. Original Rules can also adjust these factors. There are also equipment pieces that extend the duration of EX Revenge and EX Mode.

EX Revenge[]

In Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, a feature called "EX Revenge" drains the player's EX Gauge to recover from a foe's attack and slow down the opponent for six seconds, or until an HP attack is landed. It can stop an opposing attack or combo that could swing or decide a battle, but does not automatically knock the opponent away. The duration of this period can be adjusted by Original Rules or by certain equipment. During this time the player's attack cooldown is reduced to nothing, allowing the player to link several Brave attacks one after another.

If the opponent is Wall Rushed, the player can still continue their assault, as the foe doesn't receive temporarily invulnerability during EX Revenge. The player who has been slowed down can cancel out the opponent's EX Revenge by initiating their own EX Mode or performing an Assist Change.

EX Mode[]

View images of the different EX Modes here.

Once EX Mode is entered, the EX Bar slowly drains, and EX Mode ends when it is depleted. The rate at which the gauge drains can be slowed by using certain accessories and equipment pieces. While in EX Mode the character can still collect EX Force and EX Cores, refilling their gauge as it depletes. While in EX Mode, characters gain the Regen status, slowly regenerating their HP, and they have a higher chance of dealing critical hits. Characters also gain bonuses specific to them, such as special attacks, increased damage, and other enhancements.

In the first Dissidia entering EX Mode blocks any combos the opponent is striking them with and staggers them if they would normally stagger from a blocked attack. This is removed in Dissidia 012 with the addition of EX Revenge. Entering EX Mode can also cancel out certain HP attacks the character is executing, letting attacks be chained together in new ways.

UlimeciaExModeScreen — Ultimecia and Squall in their EX Modes.

For most of the playable cast entering EX Mode involves a transformation they perform in their original game. For example, Ultimecia fuses with Griever, Jecht transforms into his "Final Aeon" form, the Warrior of Light class-changes into a Knight, Zidane, Terra and Kuja enter their variations of Trance, and so forth. The fighters who do not transform instead exchange their base weapons for their ultimate weapon from their original game, such as Squall's Revolver turning into the Lion Heart or Firion's weapons into "blood" weapons.

In Dissidia 012, the opponent's Assist gauge will drain completely when the player enters EX Mode. However, if one can use an Assist attack to hit a character in EX Mode, a new feature called "EX Break" knocks the character out of EX Mode and gives the attacker the Stage Bravery, similar to a Bravery Break, but the opponent will not be under Bravery Break status. If the Assist character is hit by a character in EX Mode, the EX Mode character inflicts an "Assist Break," in which the character in EX Mode receives the Stage Bravery, while the opponent is Assist Locked.

Manikins treat EX Mode differently from the playable cast. Their EX Mode is "Powered Up", where they gain Regen and have a higher chance for critical hits, but do not gain their counterpart character's unique benefits. They also do not change appearance or weapon aside from a glowing aura. The exception is Gabranth's manikin, the Warrior of Antiquity, who changes appearance as Gabranth does and gains a new moveset in the same manner. All manikins, including the Warrior of Antiquity, are unable to use EX Bursts,

EX Burst[]

View videos of the different EX Bursts here.

During EX Mode, after connecting with an HP attack an icon appears on the screen. If is pressed again while the icon is visible the character will use their EX Burst. The player can cancel initiating an EX Burst either by waiting for the icon to disappear, or by pressing . When an EX Burst is executed, the player must perform some sort of charging sequence, such as tapping a button rapidly or inputting a sequence of button commands, to power up the attack.

Following this the character attacks the opponent with a series of Bravery attacks before landing an HP attack. The exact method of input, as well as if the charging sequence occurs before the EX Burst executes or during execution, depends on the character. Failure to power up the EX Burst fully results in a simpler and less-powerful attack being used, minimizing the Bravery damage done before the HP attack. If the player charges up the EX Burst to full, it is considered "Perfect" and will do full damage. Feral Chaos from Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy is the only character who can't get Perfect for his EX Burst.

Once an EX Burst is executed, EX Mode is automatically canceled. If the player falls victim to an opponent's EX Burst, the player can increase their Defense to reduce damage taken by continuously pressing at the same time as the opponent charges up the EX Burst to set the meter to +5 or +10 defense. However, if the player presses too quickly, it rises past the +10 indicator to -5, lowering Defense.

For the games that have the Limit Break system, EX Bursts are based on that character's Limit Break. For example, Terra uses Riot Blade, Cloud uses Omnislash, Squall uses Renzokuken, and so forth. For the characters from games that do not have a Limit Break system, their EX Burst is more original. Cecil's EX Burst involves magic and sword slashes, Firion's uses all of his weapons with elemental affinities, Bartz's revolves around his abilities as a Mime, etc.

For the villains, many of their EX Bursts are based on powerful abilities used in story sequences, like Kefka's Light of Judgment, or their strongest attacks when fought against as a boss, such as Sephiroth's Supernova or Cloud of Darkness's Ultra Particle Beam. The rest of the villains' EX Bursts are entirely original, like Garland's Soul of Chaos.

For players who don't want to enter EX Burst commands (i.e. EX Bursts of Jecht, Tidus, and Tifa which require precise timing to get "Perfect"), they may activate the support ability Auto EX Command that is unlocked at Level 15, although using this sometimes fails. The player must master this ability to unlock Auto EX Command Ω, which never fails.

List of EX Modes[]

Dissidia Final Fantasy[]

Character	Name	Unique Effects	EX Burst
Warrior of Light	Class change	Mirror Attack: Reflects minor projectiles while attacking. Protect: Raises defense +10. Light's Blessing: Summons swords of light to strike opponent when attacking, doing additional damage.	Oversoul
Garland	Class change	Indomitable Resolve: Garland is not stunned or knocked back when dealt Bravery damage if when attacking himself. He still takes damage, though, and is knocked back by HP damage.	Soul of Chaos
Firion	Blood Weapon Equipped	Blood Weapon: Whenever Firion lands an HP attack, he regains HP equal to the amount of HP damage the opponent took.	Fervid Blazer
The Emperor	Power of Hellfire	Blood Magic: Whenever the Emperor lands an HP attack, he regains HP equal to the amount of HP damage the opponent took.	Absolute Dominion
Onion Knight	Job Change	Dual Wield: Increases the number of hits done by physical attacks. Sage's Wisdom: Fires more projectiles when using magical attacks, increasing the number of hits.	Ninjutsu/Spellbook
Cloud of Darkness	Flood of Darkness	[Null] Particle Beam: Cuts the recovery time of the Cloud of Darkness's HP attacks, letting her attack again much quicker.	Ultra Particle Beam
Cecil	Job Augment	Proteus: Can freely change between Paladin and Dark Knight forms without attacking by pressing and . Inner Strength: Increases the amount of Bravery damage Cecil deals by 1.5 times.	Soul Shift
Golbez	Summon Shadow Dragon	Black Fang: Hold and to charge energy, instantly inflicting Break on the opponent after a period of time.	Twin Moon
Bartz	Job Mastered	Goblin Punch: Press and to use a quick, short-ranged HP attack. If Bartz and the opponent are at the same level, damage increases 8x.	Spellblade-Dual Wield-Rapid Fire(Dissidia)/Master Mime(Dissidia 012)
Exdeath	Power of the Void	Speed Guard: The recovery time of Exdeath's guard attacks decreases, and he is able to perform twice as many counterattacks as normal.	The laws of the universe mean nothing!(Dissidia)/Power of the Void(Dissidia 012)
Terra	Trance	Glide: Glides through the air by holding . Chainspell: Can use magical attacks twice in succession by pressing the attack button twice.	Riot Blade
Kefka	Power of Destruction	Glide: Glides through the air by holding . Exhilarating Magic: Augments magic to fire more projectiles and/or hit over larger areas.	Warring Triad
Cloud	Ultima Weapon Equipped Alt: "The power of mako"	Ultima Weapon (CRUSH): Cloud's melee attacks all have Melee High Damage Priority. Ultima Weapon (ATK): Increases the amount of Bravery damage Cloud inflicts according to how much HP he has.	Omnislash
Sephiroth	Reunion	Glide: Glides through the air by holding . Heartless Angel: Hold and to charge energy, sapping the opponent's Bravery to one. Fails if Sephiroth is in Break status.	Super Nova
Squall	Lion Heart Equipped	Lion Heart (RANGE): Increases the range of all Squall's Bravery attacks. Lion Heart (HIT): Doubles the number of hits that Squall's Bravery attacks inflict.	Renzokuken
Ultimecia	Junction Griever	Time Crush: Hold and to charge energy, paralyzing the opponent for several seconds.	Time Compression
Zidane	Trance	Aerial Jump: Allows Zidane to jump ten times in succession. Dodge Jump: Grants limited invincibility while jumping.	Reverse Gaia
Kuja	Trance	Hyper Glide: Kuja maintains altitude longer while gliding. Auto Magic: Automatically conjures orbs of Flare and Holy magic around Kuja when moving through the air.	Final Requiem
Tidus	Caladbolg Equipped	Mirror Dash: Reflects minor projectiles while running and increases running speed. Caladbolg (ATK): Increases the amount of Bravery damage Tidus inflicts according to how much HP he has. Caladbolg (DODGE): Increases the amount of time Tidus is invincible while dodging.	Blitz Ace
Jecht	Final Aeon	Full Combo: Allows Jecht to continue his combo attacks even if the first hit fails to connect.	Blitz King
Shantotto	Two-Hour Ability	Manafont: Shantotto retains her Bravery after landing an HP attack and using her EX Burst.(Dissidia)/Instantly restore Shantotto's Bravery to base value after landing an HP attack after about 2 seconds.(Dissidia 012)	Play Rough
Gabranth	Mist	Stray's Tenacity: Grants Gabranth an entirely new set of attacks, and greatly boosts his movement speed. Jamming: Dissidia 012 only. Prevents the foe from gaining Map Bravery if they successfully inflict EX Break on him.	Quickening

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy[]

Character	Name	Unique Effects	EX Burst
Kain	Holy Strength	Lancet: Press + to use an HP attack that restores Kain's HP equal to the damage dealt to the opponent.	Dragoon's Pride
Gilgamesh	Gilgamesh Morphing Time	Octo-Break: Uses eight random weapons to various effects.	Strongest Sword
Tifa	Premium Heart Equipped	Premium Heart: Increases Tifa's attack power the more EX Force she has.	Final Heaven
Laguna	Look, the faeries are here!	A Faeries Miracle: Reduces the ending lag of Laguna's Bravery attacks to zero by attacking again afterward.	Desperado
Yuna	Grand Summon	Double Summon: Yuna summons two Aeons at once to attack the opponent together when using Bravery attacks, dealing additional damage.	To the Farplane
Prishe	Two-Hour Ability	Hundred Fists: Increases movement speed and adds a third attack to Bravery combos for additional damage.	The Five Lights
Vaan	Obtained all Licenses!	Zodiak: Increases Vaan's stats and increases the length of his attacks. Free Switch: Can put weapon away without attacking by pressing + .	Quickening
Lightning	Omega Weapon Equipped	Omega Weapon: Automatically inflicts Break when attacking if opponent's Bravery is 30% or less of its base value. Grav-Con Unit: Prevents Lightning from being Wall Rushed—an animation occurs where she bounces safely off the wall.	Gestalt Drive
Feral Chaos	The power of discord reveals the true Chaos	Divine Might: Increases movement speed. Brutal: Increases attack and defense	Regnum Dei*(Lat. Kingdom of God)

Other appearances[]

Pictlogica Final Fantasy[]

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Final Fantasy Record Keeper[]

Various Ultra Soul Breaks cause the character to enter EX Mode. EX Mode is signified by a swirling aura of red light around the user for the duration, usually 15 seconds. Characters under an EX Mode gain various beneficial effects dependent on the Ultra Soul Break that initiated the EX Mode, with common effects including increased stats, reduced execution time for actions, and following up certain types of abilities with an additional attack, among many other, unique advantages.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game[]

EX Burst is a game mechanic and an ability possessed by some cards with "EX Burst" written in their ability description. When a player takes damage and places cards from their deck into their Damage Zone, if one of those cards has EX Burst, the card's ability immediately activates for no cost and no other abilities can be used in response to it.

Numerous characters retain their Limit Break abilities that were used as their EX Mode or EX Burst in Dissidia.

One of Jecht's cards, showing his alt outfit EX Mode, can use Blitz King. For the discard of a Jecht card and two Fire CP, Blitz King makes all of the player's Forwards active and allows them to attack an additional time that turn.

Bartz's card depicting his EX Mode can use Job Master. For the discard of a Bartz card, Job Master grants Bartz the special abilities of all the other player's Forwards that turn, on top of his card's normal ability to copy abilities save for special abilities from the player's other Forwards.

Kain's card showing his Dissidia artwork can use Dragoon's Pride. For Dulling Kain, discarding another Kain card and paying two Lightning CP, Dragoon's Pride Breaks a Forward of the player's choice. As a penalty, Kain does not become Active during the player's next turn.

Laguna's card showing his Dissidia render can use Ultimate Ragnarok Cannon. For the discard of another Laguna card and one Ice CP, the ability Breaks all of the opponent's Forwards that have action abilities.

Behind the scenes[]

In the Japanese versions, when the player achieves a "Perfect" in the character's EX Burst, the word Perfect has two exclamation marks. In the western releases, the word Perfect has only one.

In Dissidia, EX Bursts were executed against a field of orange and blue. In Dissidia 012, characters aligned with Chaos execute their Bursts against an orange field, while characters aligned with Cosmos use a blue field while executing an EX Burst. Feral Chaos, however, would use the field of either side he is fighting against, as he smashes the opponent through the field and into the arena of fire when his EX Burst is executed.

When characters use their EX Bursts, the soundbite used is when the player is selecting commands and when battle menu opens up from their respective game. This is more prominent with the Warriors of Cosmos, and seen with few Warriors of Chaos. The Warrior of Light and Firion's EX Burst plays the command select and confirmation sound byte from the Final Fantasy Origins version of Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II, for example.