you fancy yourself a warrior?
Reference post for Gabranth's fighting style and abilities. This is mostly for my own reference, but I'll leave this public for the benefit of others, as well. Feel free to comment with questions, suggestions, or accusations of being too omg!hax and/or god-moding (though I would prefer those to go in the crit post).
General notes
His weapon is composed of two swords-a long right-hand blade, Chaos Blade, and a shorter left-hand, Highway Star-which can connect at the hilts to form a double-ended lance. He typically uses the lance to guard and aid with charging of Mist, and the swords to attack; however, this is a generalization and thus not always the case.
Under most circumstances, he fights primarily defensively: he’ll stay out of his opponent’s reach, attempt to block or parry all attacks, and will only counter or take the initiative when he is absolutely ensured of a successful blow. If his swords are disengaged when he lands a hit, the chain of attacks that will inevitably follow is difficult to break.
The one exception to the above is when he has been incredibly angered, or otherwise pushed to his emotional limit. Once he is spurred into such a frenzy, he will attack ruthlessly without regard for his own safety or anything else around him. The important thing to note is that he is relentless to a fault-even when he can barely stand or lift his sword, he will not stop until either his opponent has fallen or he is physically forced to do so.
The array of magicks he can use is extremely limited and consists solely of buffs. Rather, he relies almost solely upon technicks, both to boost his physical strength and perform long-range/area attacks. (Canonically, Gabranth is capable of using Renew, the strongest curative magick in FFXII. Since this appears to be more of an Annoying Boss Tactic rather than a reflection of his actual skill, I have decided to ignore this ability altogether.)
Despite his limited use of magick, he is capable of using Quickenings: Fulminating Oblivion (equivalent of one Mist charge), Ruin Unflinching (two charges), and Frost Purge (three charges). Use of any of them requires him to gather a significant amount of Mist, and the effort and expenditure involved will exhaust him accordingly. This tactic is a last resort.
Technicks
✩ The following list is based on FFXII, not Dissidia (except for Innocence and Guilt). In-game descriptions and circumstances of the technicks below are included in brackets.
✩ All attacks deal physical damage, not magickal.
Buffs/Protectives
➢ Enrage - speeds his movements and allows him to attack more easily. [grants Attack CT 0 status]
➢ Leech - allows him to draw Mist from his opponent or the surrounding air to restore his energy; however, this is as difficult to pull off as a normal attack. [restores HP equivalent to damage dealt]
➢ Magick shield - triggered when his health is low; guards against most spells to a reasonable limit, and will break once that limit has been reached or his concentration has been broken. [grants total magick immunity for ~2 minutes]
Attacks
➢ Circle of Judgment - spins with his lance to attack all those surrounding him. [area attack]
➢ Guilt - after charging Mist, strikes first with his lance, then disengages his swords to quickly slash at the opponent; the sword strikes call an explosion of Mist. [cutscene attack]
➢ Innocence - after charging Mist, slashes at the air to send homing blades at the opponent; intended for long-range use. [cutscene attack]
Immunities
✩ None of the immunities below take effect if he is without his armor. If he is without his helm, he is no longer immune to Blind or Confuse.
✩ Any of these may be ignored for the purpose of plot, provided there are reasonable circumstances at play. This list is more just a general guide to what should and should not affect him when game mechanics are taken into account, not a definitive ruleset that grants him a get out of [status] free! card.
Statuses
⇁ Berserk
⇁ Blind
⇁ Confuse
⇁ Death
⇁ Disable
⇁ Disease
⇁ Doom
⇁ Immobilize
⇁ Lure
⇁ Oil
⇁ Petrify
⇁ Poison
⇁ Reverse
⇁ Sap
⇁ Sleep
⇁ Slow
⇁ Stop
Technicks/Skills/Abilities
⇁ Achilles
⇁ Addle
⇁ Charm
⇁ fractional damage (Gravity magicks et al)
⇁ Numerology
⇁ Poach
⇁ Sight Unseeing
⇁ Syphon
⇁ Warp
⇁ Wither
❧ Resources
FFWiki, checked against FFXII Ultimanias and the games themselves. Headcanon has been mixed in with caution and common sense.
General notes
His weapon is composed of two swords-a long right-hand blade, Chaos Blade, and a shorter left-hand, Highway Star-which can connect at the hilts to form a double-ended lance. He typically uses the lance to guard and aid with charging of Mist, and the swords to attack; however, this is a generalization and thus not always the case.
Under most circumstances, he fights primarily defensively: he’ll stay out of his opponent’s reach, attempt to block or parry all attacks, and will only counter or take the initiative when he is absolutely ensured of a successful blow. If his swords are disengaged when he lands a hit, the chain of attacks that will inevitably follow is difficult to break.
The one exception to the above is when he has been incredibly angered, or otherwise pushed to his emotional limit. Once he is spurred into such a frenzy, he will attack ruthlessly without regard for his own safety or anything else around him. The important thing to note is that he is relentless to a fault-even when he can barely stand or lift his sword, he will not stop until either his opponent has fallen or he is physically forced to do so.
The array of magicks he can use is extremely limited and consists solely of buffs. Rather, he relies almost solely upon technicks, both to boost his physical strength and perform long-range/area attacks. (Canonically, Gabranth is capable of using Renew, the strongest curative magick in FFXII. Since this appears to be more of an Annoying Boss Tactic rather than a reflection of his actual skill, I have decided to ignore this ability altogether.)
Despite his limited use of magick, he is capable of using Quickenings: Fulminating Oblivion (equivalent of one Mist charge), Ruin Unflinching (two charges), and Frost Purge (three charges). Use of any of them requires him to gather a significant amount of Mist, and the effort and expenditure involved will exhaust him accordingly. This tactic is a last resort.
Technicks
✩ The following list is based on FFXII, not Dissidia (except for Innocence and Guilt). In-game descriptions and circumstances of the technicks below are included in brackets.
✩ All attacks deal physical damage, not magickal.
Buffs/Protectives
➢ Enrage - speeds his movements and allows him to attack more easily. [grants Attack CT 0 status]
➢ Leech - allows him to draw Mist from his opponent or the surrounding air to restore his energy; however, this is as difficult to pull off as a normal attack. [restores HP equivalent to damage dealt]
➢ Magick shield - triggered when his health is low; guards against most spells to a reasonable limit, and will break once that limit has been reached or his concentration has been broken. [grants total magick immunity for ~2 minutes]
Attacks
➢ Circle of Judgment - spins with his lance to attack all those surrounding him. [area attack]
➢ Guilt - after charging Mist, strikes first with his lance, then disengages his swords to quickly slash at the opponent; the sword strikes call an explosion of Mist. [cutscene attack]
➢ Innocence - after charging Mist, slashes at the air to send homing blades at the opponent; intended for long-range use. [cutscene attack]
Immunities
✩ None of the immunities below take effect if he is without his armor. If he is without his helm, he is no longer immune to Blind or Confuse.
✩ Any of these may be ignored for the purpose of plot, provided there are reasonable circumstances at play. This list is more just a general guide to what should and should not affect him when game mechanics are taken into account, not a definitive ruleset that grants him a get out of [status] free! card.
Statuses
⇁ Berserk
⇁ Blind
⇁ Confuse
⇁ Death
⇁ Disable
⇁ Disease
⇁ Doom
⇁ Immobilize
⇁ Lure
⇁ Oil
⇁ Petrify
⇁ Poison
⇁ Reverse
⇁ Sap
⇁ Sleep
⇁ Slow
⇁ Stop
Technicks/Skills/Abilities
⇁ Achilles
⇁ Addle
⇁ Charm
⇁ fractional damage (Gravity magicks et al)
⇁ Numerology
⇁ Poach
⇁ Sight Unseeing
⇁ Syphon
⇁ Warp
⇁ Wither
❧ Resources
FFWiki, checked against FFXII Ultimanias and the games themselves. Headcanon has been mixed in with caution and common sense.