Hold-Up and Rush Mode

Rush Mode

If you press the Options button during battle, your party will perform melee attacks continuously. You cannot input any commands or actions while in Rush Mode. You can cancel this anytime by pressing the circle button. This is handy if you’re just dealing with a single target or several low-HP targets, especially when you just want the battle to end quickly or you want to save SP.

Hold-Up

If you managed to knock down all enemies either by landing critical hits and/or attacking their weaknesses, your team will perform a Hold Up. From here, you’ll have three options:

• All-out Attack - Perform an ultimate attack
• Break Formation - Return to the normal battle menu
• Talk - Initiate a Shadow Negotiation

All-out Attack

These are flashy ultimate attacks that deal heavy damage to all enemies. However, you cannot use this if the main character cannot act or he’s the only one that can act. It’s recommended to use these attacks often especially when dealing with a large group of enemies to save SP and avoid unnecessary damage.

Negotiation

(See the dedicated page in this guide for Shadow Negotiation for an in-depth tutorial)

Surrounded by Enemies

If ever an enemy catches you by surprise, you’ll start the battle at a disadvantage. They’ll get the pre-emptive strike and you won’t be able to escape. This is essentially bad news especially if you’re running on fumes and just trying to reach a safe room to escape the palace. This also increases the security level of the palace by a bit.