Stagger
Similar to the past FFXIII games, you still do the most damage when your target is staggered. To do this, the general rule is to hit them with physical attacks to extend stagger time then follow-up with magic attacks to actually stagger them. By the time you run out of ATB for your spells, your opponent should be staggered. If not, then nearly so.
You can tell the stagger status by the pulsing wave that appears on their health bars. The more violent the oscillation, the closer the target is to staggering.
If you’re having a tough time dealing with a particular monster, hitting R2 or RT will bring up Libra, which will give you info about your target. Stagger information is at the bottom of that screen.
Red, Yellow, Blue
Assign bar colors to specific setups. For example, Red is my strength / physical attack bar. Yellow is for defense and status ailments. Blue is for magic. If I pick up garbs or weapons that enhance magic, then I know to equip them in Blue. Likewise, I don’t ask myself where Heavy Slash is. I know it’s in Red.
Immunity
Equipping the following will make you immune to physical and magic attacks. Note that you’ll take damage if you get debuffed by Deprotect or Deshell.
| Physical Immunity | Garb: Cyber Jumpsuit Accessory 1: Ghostly Hood Accessory 2: Guard Glove |
| Magic Immunity | Garb: Quiet Guardian Accessory 1: Preta Hood Accessory 2: Runic Ring |