I'm ready for anything!
Sazh in battle in Final Fantasy XIII
Sazh is a playable character in Final Fantasy XIII who wields dual pistols in battle, thus being a ranged fighter, and can combine them into one for a finishing attack. He has a unique Blitz, and specializes in fire-elemental attacks and offensive buffs. His signature attack is Cold Blood, which has him rain down bullets upon his opponents.
Out of the six playable characters, Sazh has the shortest Crystarium expansion, and is the only character to start with only one role: Ravager. Despite having low stats during the main storyline and slow animations, Sazh's battle efficiency increases in the post-game sidequests, as his pistols offer a range of useful passive abilities, such as Augment Maintenance and Stagger Maintenance. His victory pose is to spin his guns, return them to their holsters, and dust his hands.
Roles[]
Sazh in battle as a Ravager.
As a Ravager, Sazh has access to Fire and Lightning-elemental attacks (magical and physical), as well as Aero. Sazh's full ATB skill, Cold Blood (Desperado in the Japanese version), is a series of 17 explosive shots that strike an enemy and increase their chain gauge, with each hit capable of triggering Random: Instant Chain.
As a Synergist, Sazh first learns offensive buffs like Bravery and Faith, and also learns Haste the earliest. By the end of the game, Sazh learns every buff aside from Veil and the -ra level buffs, rivaling Hope, who learns all buffs except Vigilance and the -ra level buffs.
Sazh as a Commando.
Sazh works well as a Commando due to his Blitz, which is the strongest attack in the game the player can control. It differs from the Blitzes of other characters, which are one spread hit, whereas Sazh unleashes a barrage of eight bullets in a narrow fan, vastly increasing overall damage against multiple enemies, or racking up hits to large or nearby targets. It is most effective when enemies are standing close together and/or are large in size, and can miss targets that are too high or too far away. Each shot deals 60% normal damage. The AI will not use Blitz against individual enemies, so leading with Sazh is required to make best use of it. Sazh cannot launch enemies as a Commando.
Sazh can be helpful as a Saboteur, as he learns all single-target spells, making him potentially one of the best characters to be used in active party. Thanks to his high HP, he can take hits as a Sentinel more effectively than most other characters, and has access to both Wards and Steelguard. He is also one of four party members to learn Curasa as a Medic, making him an effective healer if the player gives him equipment that boosts his Magic.
Stats[]
Sazh shifting paradigm.
Sazh generally has lower stats than other party members, although he has the second highest max HP by the end of the game.
- Base statistics
| Stat | Beginning | L'Cie | Mastered Crystarium |
|---|---|---|---|
| HP | 220 | 320 | 27,000 |
| Strength | 12 | 27 | 1,000 |
| Magic | 12 | 27 | 1,000 |
Eidolon[]
Sazh with Brynhildr.
Eidolons, start your engines!
Sazh unleashing Brynhildr's Gestalt Mode
Sazh's Eidolon is Brynhildr, a fire-elemental Valkyrie, who can turn into a race car in her Gestalt Mode. Brynhildr has multiple abilities that can be used effectively with Sazh's Synergist role that allow for a change of elemental damage.
Sazh and Snow are the only characters who don't help other party members claim their respective Eidolons.
Weapons[]
Sazh's pistols.
Because he has two weapons, Sazh gets double the attacks in number for a single Attack command used. If Sazh performs a series of attacks, he combines the pistols into a rifle for the last shot, which hits once. Sazh's attack power is divided between his weapons, and so he will not get an advantage over the other characters even if his attacks hit twice. As a Ravager, his elemental strikes are a single attack, even though he fires two shots. From farther away, Sazh's shots are more prone to missing.
Sazh's guns or their holsters are not rendered while he is on the field; only the straps that hold the holsters are present. The guns are only rendered if they are required for a cutscene. At the Sunleth Waterscape, Sazh does not have his pistols at the beginning of the cutscene where he tells Vanille about Dajh, but after the flashback, his guns will suddenly appear.
Most of Sazh's guns are named after stars and star clusters, similar to those of Final Fantasy XII.
Vega 42s is his balance weapon with equal Strength and Magic. Deneb Duellers augments his Magic. Having Sazh focus on Magic is not a bad idea, but the low Strength will cripple his unique Blitz.
Sazh wields his pistols in battle.
Spica Defenders boost Sazh's Synergist abilities with the Augment Maintenance that makes offensive buffs last x1.4 longer, and the LV II version lengthens the duration to x1.8. The synthesized ability Buff Duration lengthens all buffs on himself as well.
Rigels have high stats but Stagger Lock, which prevents him from staggering enemies (he can stull drive up the gauge). It can be a good weapon for Sazh as he is not usually a primary stagger person in the party. It has the ability to synthesize Random: Instant Chain to use with Cold Blood.
Antares Deluxes have low stats but also Chain Bonus Boost and the ability to synthesize ATB Rate. This augments Sazh as a Ravager and gives him a speed boost, but is not used for damage-dealing.
Procyons has poor stats, but its Stagger Maintenance lengthens stagger duration by 10% or 30% for the LV II version if Sazh triggered the stagger. The max limit is 45 seconds. It requires Dark Matter to be upgraded into its tier 2, which is not available until late into the game. It can synthesize Random: Instant Chain.
Pleiades Hi-Powers have the highest Strength, offering only nominally more at tier 3 when compared to its tier 2, meaning this weapon does not need a Trapezohedron. Having high Strength augments Blitz, but with no Magic, Sazh must only perform physical attacks. Paper Tiger reduces Sazh's HP by 60%. With high Strength and a downside that can be circumvented, it can be a good weapon for Sazh.
Aldebarans boost his Magic the most, but they have Leadenstrike making Sazh devastatingly slow, and have no Strength so all physical attacks are weakened.
Quests[]
Sazh is playable in chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13. The player becomes able to freely configure their party make-up in the end of chapter 9, and Sazh can be used as the party leader in the later chapters, so he is the one to appear on the field. As party leader, he can ride a chocobo on the Archylte Steppe and search for hidden treasures. Sazh is a mandatory party member for the following boss battles:
- Manasvin Warmech (Tutorial)
- Anima (Chapter 2)
- Garuda Interceptor (Chapter 3)
- Dreadnought (Chapter 4)
- Enki and Enlil (Chapter 6)
- Midlight Reaper (Chapter 8)
- Brynhildr (Chapter 8)
Oerba has a sidequest where Sazh fixes Vanille's pet robot, Bhakti, if the player finds the missing components scattered around the town.