Dissidia Final Fantasy NT: how to summon, and what the summons do

Final Fantasy summons have never worked quite like this before - but they're still super cool-looking.

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is obviously a very different style of Final Fantasy game. This is something you'd very much expect, given that it's a fighting game - a genre that honestly couldn't be further removed from the traditional RPG styles of Final Fantasy.

Square Enix and Team Ninja have down a great job of blending Final Fantasy RPG features with more traditional fighting game mechanics, and one major FF staple that's been significantly altered to better fit into the new three-on-three Dissidia fighting universe are summons. Along with a fairly confusing HUD and a very unique method of killing enemies this stands as one of the parts of Dissidia that most might confuse - so we're here to help.

As Dissidia NT releases, we thought we'd gather some tips about characters, team composition, HP and bravery attacks. We also need to talk about how to call the gods to your side and what they do - which we explain here. So...

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT Summons

In order to Summon in Dissidia Final Fantasy NT you'll have to perform two actions: build the summon bar, and then actually perform the summoning itself. These are done in two separate ways, and how you approach them will significantly alter how you approach the battle. In general, teams should look to coordinate in order to cover themselves while summoning.

Summons are powerful beasts and truly can turn the tide of battle. Given that Dissidia has different characters with very different abilities, the right summon can truly open up your battle plan and cover your team's weaknesses - and the wrong summon could leave you open to enemy attacks.

We'll talk more about summon choice further down the page - but for now, let's talk about how you actually get these beasts to appear:

How to Summon in Dissidia Final Fantasy NT

First off, as you can see, there's a meter related to summons displayed either above or below the life bar for both the red and blue teams in any match.

It's an empty crystal-shaped, semitransparent meter with a picture of the summon in question to the left of it - this so you can remind yourself what summon both you and the enemy team have mid-match, if you need. In order to summon, you'll need to fill that bar. Here's how that's done:

• Each time you hit an enemy your summon bar builds some. This builds your summon bar a small amount, but not by an enormous amount.
• At times during battle a crystal will spawn onto the battlefield. If you hit the crystal that spawns it gets closer to breaking, and if you can be the one to break it your team will be rewarded with an enormous boost to their summon meter.

Once the meter is full, you're ready to summon. You initiate summoning by pressing on the touchpad repeatedly. Doing this makes your character stop still while they chant, leaving them vulnerable. This is where you'll want to coordinate with your team mates - you might want the other two players to protect you from the enemy while you summon, or you might get bold and have two players summon at once.

That's an important thing to note: the more players summoning, the faster the summoning will happen. Standing still to summon as a lone player while your two team mates hold off enemies will take around nine seconds - but if more of your team commit to summoning, the godly beast will come to your aid more quickly.

Picking the best summon for your team: what each summon does

Each of the summons does two different things: a pre-summon effect and a post-summon effect.

• Think of the pre-summon effect as a free buff for your entire team - based on your summon of choice you get this buff all battle, the blessing from that particular god or what have you.
• The post-summon effect is a souped-up, improved version of the pre-summon effect, but only comes into play once you actually execute a summoning. This buff replaces the pre-summon effect for the rest of the battle.

As well as these summon effects, once actually summoned your eidolon of choice will rage about the battlefield or provide assistance from afar, dropping some of their most iconic attacks onto the battlefield and thus making it a much more dangerous place for the enemy team.

What the summons do

Here's what each of the summons specializes in, broadly speaking:

• Ifrit is built around reducing a foe's stamina more quickly so you can break their guard and push past their defenses.
• Shiva is all about raising your bravery value, increasing recovery when it's lowered and boosting it in general once summoned.
• Ramuh improves all of the buff-related EX skills for your entire team, if you're buff-centric.
• Leviathan is the opposite of Ramuh in that it improves all the debuff-related EX skills that target the enemy team.
• Odin is mounted on his trusty steed, and so appropriately is focused on boosting your speed and dash stamina.
• Alexander is known in FF as the great protector, and so raises HP and defense stats.
• Bahamut buffs unique combat EX skills, making their skill gauges charge more quickly.