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Vaan fights by switching between a variety of weapons.
Along with Vaan's battle style, we're revealing his Another Form too!
Vaan's abilities are divided into "Normal Skills" and "Switch Skills."
If you want to know when to use which, check Kujiraoki's comments below.
Vaan (Another Form)
Vaan uses various different weapons in succession. As you can see in the
screenshots, he can wield a one-handed sword, two-handed sword, spear,
and rifle as well as other weapons.
Burst forth in the inter-dimensional war! Mist Knack Fusions! (Quickening
Concurrences in English.)
In FFXII, Fusions occurred when you executed the right amount of Mist
Knacks. These are what his HP attacks are based off of. Rain down giant
torrents of water, or incinerate your enemies in a grand inferno!
"Inferno of Flame" (English: Inferno)
"Eruption of Water" (English: Torrent)
An Interview with Battle Director Takeo Kujiraoka
Vaan's Battle Style
"Tell us about Vaan's special characteristics."
Kujiraoka: His abilities revolve around him switching weapons for his
abilities; we designed him with a "Switch Attacker" concept. Vaan has a
particularly large variety of Brave Attacks, and you can freely customize
all of his individual brave attacks wherever you want into different
strings. Each ability is also prefixed with a weapon, such as "katana" or
"crossbow." Once again, Vaan was designed with "Switch Skills" in mind,
so that will be a huge part of his gameplay. The order his abilities are
arranged in will have a very large impact in battle.
"What do you mean by 'Switch Skills'?"
Kujiraoka: Vaan is different from Frioniel and Butz in that he doesn't
put away his weapon after an attack. For example, after he uses a "Katana"
move, the katana will still be in his hand afterwards. At this point, if
you use another brave attack that isn't a "Katana" move, a Switch will
occur. In other words, a "Switch Skill" is when you follow up a brave
attack with another brave attack that uses a different weapon. Although
employing the Switch Skill will cause the attack to come out slightly
slower, you could break your opponent's guard, perform stronger attacks,
pull the opponent in, or dodge mid-combo, depending on the weapon that is
used.
"What happens if you don't switch and continue attacking with the same
weapon?"
Kujiraoka: If you continue attacking with the same weapon, that is known as
a "Normal Skill." This is much simpler and easier. There are advantages and
disadvantages to both Switch Skills and Normal Skills. The key to success
is finding the perfect balance.
Most two-handed sword skills deal heavy damage. Spear skills pull the
opponent towards you. How will you employ them!?
Extra Tidbit: Vaan can use eight different kinds of weapons, including
"Unarmed." In his EX Mode, the appearance of all of Vaan's weapons changes
appearance, so it seems like he has quite an arsenal. Also, After HP
Attacks and chases, and at the beginning of a battle, Vaan is unarmed.
There are no Switch Skills into unarmed skills, however, any armed attack
you switch into after an unarmed attack becomes a Switch Skill.