Limit Breaks, at their core, are a character's ace-in-the-hole moves that tend to deal enormous amounts of damage. The signature moves were first introduced in Final Fantasy 6 as Desperation attacks but settled on the appropriate nomenclature during the next entry in the series - the adored Final Fantasy 7. Nowadays these are indivisible from the Final Fantasy series at large, even worming their way into spin-off titles like Kingdom Hearts.

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The 13th mainline installment in the FF series came with its fair share of divisive changes, and unfortunately, Limit Breaks are no exception. In the game, they are known as Full ATB skills. Plain and to the point, these actions drain the entirety of the ATB gauge. The gauge replenishes quite quickly and there is no further associated cost so it's left to the player's discretion whether to continuously spam them. On one hand, that's pretty sweet, but on the other, it lessens the impact and the symbolism behind Limit Breaks. Another setback is that these moves don’t differ too drastically, so let's see what sets them apart from one another.

6 Sovereign Fist

Snow's Full ATB Skill in Final Fantasy 13 - Sovereign Fist

Sovereign Fist, also known as Ruler Fist, is a relatively recent addition to FF's grimoire of spells. It's a physical move exclusive to Snow's Commando tree. The full ATB skill isn't dissimilar from Fang’s upcoming Highwind skill, both in terms of its execution and gameplay properties, with the exception that all of the power is condensed into a single strike rather than spread over a multi-hit hitbox. Snow likes to play up the hero persona he built up around himself so when the player reaches the Archylte Steppe, the open-world section of Vallis Media, it's entirely within the realm of possibility to go all-out on the One Punch Man mode and farm Adamantoises with Sovereign Fist.

Understanding that Sovereign Fist lacked severely in its presentation and complexity as a Limit Break, the FF13 team actually tried to expand on Snow's trademark skill in its subsequent appearances. Some might say they went overboard because when it appears as a Feral Link in Final Fantasy XIII-2, it's much stronger and smoothly transitions to the Game Over screen during the boss fight against Snow. For its World of Final Fantasy appearance, The Sovereign Fist was toned down, got a coat of ice-elemental properties, and gained some utility by increasing the entire party’s defense, which is more in line with Snow’s Sentinel Paradigm and the Shiva Eidolon summon.

5 Last Resort

Hope's Full ATB Skill in Final Fantasy 13 - Last Resort

Hope didn’t have the easiest journey in Final Fantasy 13. It all started when Hope lost Nora - his mother. With no love for himself and no love for another he was searching to find salvation on a higher level but kept finding nothing but questions and devils. Fortunately, the devil yielded to Hope becoming one of the party’s many Eidolon companions - Alexander. At around the same time, the player should be able to reach the ninth level in Hope’s Ravager Crystarium tree, which will unlock the allegorical Last Resort skill.

Last Resort finds its roots as a spell in the long-forgotten MMO RPG - FF11. This skill belonged to the Dark Knight class and increased their offensive faculties by 15% while lowering defense by the same amount. Despite becoming a staple of the Dark Knight meta back in the day, the FF13 iteration bears practically no resemblance to the original. In fact, it is on the exact opposite end of the thematic spectrum and resembles Holy, the damaging magical explosion of bright light native to the White Mages. Whether this skill in the context of Hope's character arc is a Papa Roach reference is still up for debate.

4 Cold Blood

Sazh's Full ATB Skill in Final Fantasy 13 - Cold Blood

Cold Blood, more commonly known as Desperado in the larger Final Fantasy universe, is an ability relegated to the Gunner class. It’s likely that the skill is known by its alternative name in FF13 to differentiate from the Laguna Loire’s Limit Break from Final Fantasy 8. Sazh acquires it from the Ravager Crystarium tree.

The ability hits more than 15 times, which makes it an effective tool for increasing the enemy’s Chain Gauge. The synthesized skill Random: Instant Chain is very strong in combination with Cold Blood’s multi-hit attacks because it has an upward of 15 chances to instantly fill up the enemy’s Chain Gauge. The skill itself is a great enhancement in general as it's quite cheap and requires only two items. For its sequel appearance, Cold Blood wasn’t changed too much but the boost provided by it as Feral Link remains largely situational.

3 Highwind

Fang's Full ATB Skill in Final Fantasy 13 - Highwind

Highwind is a staple of the Final Fantasy franchise, one that is specifically associated with Dragoons. Introduced as a character name in FF2 but eventually transcended to Limit Break as well, it was first used by FF7’s eponymous Cid Highwind himself. To continue with the Dragoon theme - similar to their signature Jump ability, Fang performs an aerial leap and slams into the ground with an explosion rippling outward damaging the enemies caught in the blast. This physical move is best used at the end of a Stagger phase as its execution will reset the enemy’s chain gauge back to 100%, however, the damage multiplier will be increased before it ends.

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Similar to Snow's Sovereign Fist, the two factors that determine Highwind's damage output are the Strength stat and the enemies’ Chain Bonus. In line with other unique moves in the game, Highwind ignores the enemies’ defensive modifiers entirely, both positive and negative, (whether it's Protect or Deprotect) meaning it deals the same amount of damage no matter what. The skills cannot be enhanced by the Synergist's elemental buffs either. However, its effectiveness can be enhanced with the Bravery spell variants. Moreover, Commando’s natural Crystarium upgrades like Adrenaline, which increases their physical and magical damage by 20% at 70% or higher, will factor into Highwind’s damage output.

2 Army of One

Lightning's Full ATB Skill in Final Fantasy 13 - Army of One

Army of One, or Scene Drive as it is known in Japan, is Lightning’s Limit Break acquired from the Ravager Crystarium tree. This ability sees Lightning acrobatically jumping from place to place, striking the enemies numerous times during the span of a single focused assault. This execution formula for the protagonist’s Limit Break is prevalent in all Final Fantasies with Tetsuya Nomura’s involvement – Cloud’s Omnislash, Squall’s Renzokuken, and Tidus’ Blitz Ace.

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The ability is a very effective way to both Chain and to elevate the Chain Bonus to 999% during a Stagger phase. This makes it great at dealing with opponents who have massive health bars and Chain resistances. To make this ability even more effective it's recommended to use Army of One in combination with Haste, which will increase the player’s ATB bar recovery rate, not allowing the Staggered enemy to catch their breath. A useful hack that will make use of the full range of the Paradigms system is Shifting from Ravager into Commando mid-animation to rack up additional damage on subsequent hits. This technique was likely intentional on the part of the devs, as the same can be done in the Dissidia 012 spin-off that transposes Lighting’s moveset onto a 3D aerial arena fighter.

1 Death

Vanille's Full ATB Skill in Final Fantasy 13 - Death

Vanille is the only character whose ultimate ability does not come from the active class duo – Commando and Ravager. Instead, she gets her spell from the Saboteur Crystarium tree. Although the skill has an imposing name, finality is not guaranteed. The spell deals massive amounts of magic damage and comes with a 1 percent probability of instantly killing enemies afflicted by any other debuffs.

There are ways to improve Death’s landing potential. The first step involves equipping the Belladonna Wand, which is one of the best weapons in FF13 as it comes with an increased chance of landing debuffs successfully (between 20%-40% depending on its upgrade level). In battle start by applying Haste, Faith, and Vigilance to Vanille. Faith raises the magic stat while Vigilance increases the chances of interrupting enemies’ actions, and lowers the chances of them recoiling. Although Vigilance is equipped it's still the Sentinel’s job to prevent Vanille from being interrupted. Finally, cast Curse on the enemy you wish to subject to probable doom. The spell’s effectiveness will also naturally increase as her Role level as a Saboteur rises in the Crystarium. This sequence can carry the party through any tricky encounter.

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