Cloud Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy Guide: Strategies & Abilities

Cloud is by far the single strongest attacking unit in Dissidia Duellum Final Fantasy. Thanks to his game-high attack stat, plus his powerful offensive skill set and stunning effects, Cloud is deadly to anyone in his sights—a fact that is just as true in his debut title, Final Fantasy 7, and his other appearances.

However, his lack of character-specific support abilities, limited mobility, and low defense mean he is not suited for taking on a supportive role or approaching enemies without having his strongest attacks to keep him safe.

If you’re looking for Cloud’s best strategies and abilities, look no further, as we’re going to go over which abilities to equip, fight tips, and stat prioritization.

Stats

As a unit entirely focused on damage-dealing, Cloud’s Support bar abilities should prioritize boosting his attack stat. Having a high attack stat leans into Cloud’s role as a damage dealer, pushing his boss damage to heights not achievable by the other characters in the game.

Having a high attack stat also assists with eliminating the smaller enemies and opposing players more efficiently—hopefully without the need to use a damage ability in the process.

Passive and Unique Abilities

A Sword Entrusted

Cloud’s Passive is A Sword Entrusted, which increases the damage he deals to bosses. This passive, combined with Cloud’s already high attack stat and high-damage character-specific moves, makes him the ultimate boss-killing machine.

Ascension

By holding down the attack button, Cloud charges forward and unleashes Ascension, damaging foes and launching them into the air. This Unique Ability can be a good way to initiate a fight against another player if you have the opportunity to charge it up, but the damage isn’t particularly impressive. Launching foes into the air can also provide a chance to escape from rivals, if needed, or as an opportunity to reset for further attacks.

UR Abilities

Omnislash

• Type: Invincible/Special Attack
• Area: Single Target
• Special Effect: None
• Cooldown: 90 Sec.

Although this version doesn't rank among the strongest moves in the Final Fantasy ​​​​​​series, Omnislash is Cloud's most iconic move and his most powerful in Dissidia Duellum. It does severe damage to a single target, making it the highest damage move in the game when combined with Cloud’s game-high attack stat and his Passive.

Its extremely long animation means Cloud is safe from damage for long periods of time, but it also means he’s locked into place until it’s done. As bosses can’t be killed until a move's animation is complete, finish the boss off with another attack, if possible.

The 90-second cooldown is brutal and means it should never be used in PvP unless dying would put an enemy into burst territory. Matches will likely only be long enough to get this off once or twice, so make sure to optimize its value by sticking it onto a boss.

Who knows, you may end up catching someone in the attack anyway. You’ll need this to climb the ranks with Cloud, but for Casual, any high-damage move will do.

Cross Slash

• Type: Invincible/Special Attack
• Area: Single
• Special Effect: Paralysis
• Cooldown: 42 Sec.

As one of Dissidia Duellum's strongest moves, Cross Slash targets a single foe and attacks with high damage, stunning anyone hit in the process for five seconds. Despite targeting a single foe, there is a small area of effect on this attack, making it possible to hit multiple opponents with the move if they’re closely grouped. This stun also works on bosses, so it also provides a bit of cover from damage for Cloud and all other players in the match.

While the stun can secure a kill in PvP scenarios, Cloud should ideally be saving his damage for bosses. This is especially true if there is a Krile on the team, as she can more easily distribute bravery from crystals to the team.

If you need to immediately stop someone for any reason, Cross Slash is the best tool for the job—an absolute must-have for high-level Cloud play.

Cloud Only Abilities

Finishing Touch

• Type: Attack
• Area: Area
• Special Effect: None
• Cooldown: 36 Sec.

As Cloud’s biggest Area of Effect attack, Finishing Touch has many uses in a match. It can be used to deal medium damage over a wide area, launching anyone caught by it into the air. It is wide enough to hit all foes around a crystal if you need to clear it immediately, can hit groups of players to launch them into the air, and can catch others as collateral damage while bursting down a boss.

As Cloud should primarily focus on damaging the boss, using this move in single PvP encounters is a bit of a waste. It is nice to throw out in team engagements, thanks to its wide area of effect and quick release, but such scenarios should not be actively sought out.

Limited ability slots mean some decisions will need to be made on whether you keep this, Braver, Selphie/Wall, or Ace/Fire RF on the bar. I’ve seen high-level players with any combination of these moves on their bar, so it will ultimately come down to player preference and team composition when grouped.

Braver

• Type: Attack
• Area: Single
• Special Effect: None
• Cooldown: 18 Sec.

Working as a gap closer, Braver sends Cloud forward, dealing medium damage to anyone caught in the attack. The 18-second cooldown is insanely good, meaning Cloud can use this on cooldown in PvP fights and can even use it multiple times during a single burst window.

As Braver is only a Rare move, the stats it provides are a bit worse than his UR and SR abilities, and it does less damage than moves like Ace/Fire RF and Auron/Shooting Star. Still, its low cooldown makes it a great way to keep those burst chains going, and its low rarity does mean that it can be fully upgraded more easily than most UR and SR moves, unless you’ve gotten very lucky.

Other Abilities to Consider

Selphie/Wall

• Type: Boost
• Area: Self
• Special Effect: Barrier
• Cooldown: 36 Sec.

This move decreases damage taken by 80% and nullifies status ailments. By far the most powerful general-use defensive tool in the game, Selphie/Wall will ensure that you aren’t staggered and massively increase your chances of survival in an unwanted encounter with another player. The status nullification is great, too, as it prevents things like stun or poison from hampering you.

While Earth Breaker can destroy the barrier, keeping it up reduces all other damage to the point where the risk is worth it. If you’re going to include a non-damage ability on your bar, it should be this one.

Hope/Renew

• Type: Recovery
• Area: Self
• Special Effect: None
• Cooldown: 28 Sec.

Alternatively, you could also carry a healing move like Hope/Renew, which fully heals the player who uses it. Cloud doesn't really want to be in the thick of things with other players if he can avoid it, as he has low defense and poor mobility, so I view this as a sub-optimal pick, especially if another team member has a heal of their own.

Surge

• Type: Boost
• Area: Self
• Special Effect: None
• Cooldown: 50 Sec.

Surge increases the damage for all of Cloud’s attacks by 30 percent for a duration of 20 seconds. A decent addition if you’re going to solo queue for Ranked Battle, but this boost does not stack with Krile’s Hopeful Cheer, so if she’s in the party, it’s a bit of a dead move.

Minwu/Teleport

• Type: Other
• Area: Self
• Special Effect: Movement
• Cooldown: 50 Sec.

Minwu/Teleport instantly warps a player to a chosen crystal on the map. Very useful for getting the jump on a far-off player or to capture a crystal far away if it’s unguarded by opponents. It can be a great way to get an early bravery lead to deal damage to the boss ASAP, maximizing Cloud’s strengths as a boss killer. Can also be used to escape from rivals in a tough spot.

Ace/Fire RF

• Type: Attack
• Area: Ranged
• Special Effect: None
• Cooldown: 46 Sec.

As the most powerful generic attack ability in the game, Ace/Fire RF is a high-rank mainstay. It does serious damage, and the range is substantial, hitting all enemies in a far-reaching line in front of the player.

With an attack boost, this can outright eliminate foes. When used on a boss, it can still hit opposing players in the distance if aimed appropriately, and does much more damage than any other general-use attack aside from Auron.

Auron/Shooting Star

• Type: Special Attack
• Area: melee
• Special Effect: None
• Cooldown: 38 Sec.

An homage to one of Final Fantasy's most powerful allies, Auron/Shooting Star does serious damage in a short line directly in front of the player, launching any smaller foes into the air in the process. Its long cooldown and short travel distance make it a poor PvP option, but an excellent supplement for damaging the boss. Stick with Ace/Fire RF if you’ve only got room for one, but you can’t go wrong here, either.

Earth Breaker

• Type: Special Attack
• Area: Ranged
• Special Effect: Barrier Breaking
• Cooldown: 36 Sec.

Earth Breaker is a low-damage attack that only sees use in PvP scenarios, functioning as a barrier-breaker. When used on an opponent with a barrier, it also does additional damage, and its wide line area of effect means it can hit multiple foes at once. More of a situational choice, as his UR abilities give him some long i-frames and can apply stun to keep him safe.

Battle Strategies

Strengths

As noted earlier, Cloud is best at damaging bosses. All of Cloud’s abilities are attack abilities, and his passive increases damage to bosses, pointing players to getting bravery quickly and hitting the boss hard. Cloud can take down rivals just as quickly by using those same abilities, with Cross Slash applying a stunning effect to secure kills.

His auto-attack does good damage, as well, but the final hit has bad recovery, so you’ll have to use a technique where you input a forward walking motion while hitting the attack button to cancel that recovery.

Priorities

Focus on taking down crystals and getting bravery early to have all of your abilities up for bursting down the boss. When Omnislash is on cooldown, you can hunt a bit for bravery, but try not to get caught up in PvP too much, as Cloud has limited ways to get out of danger.

If you need to leave, Ascension can give you a boost out, or Finishing Touch can launch aggressors into the air so you can leave. Cross Slash is obviously powerful due to its damage and stunning properties, but don’t use it willy-nilly.

Sometimes, party composition will dictate Cloud’s priorities. Characters like Onion Knight and Krile want to clean up crystals and enemies to empower the team, so that may push Cloud into avoiding crystal capture on his own.

If you see a weakened rival straggling, you can try to catch them with Ascension or Braver to finish the job and get into bursts, but don’t prioritize player-hunting.

Weaknesses

While Cloud has incredible damage capabilities, his defensive skill set and movement options are limited. Cloud shouldn’t venture too far out on his own, lest he get caught by a ranged character or by a group. His few options to mitigate damage or disengage, such as Cross Slash, Omnislash, and Finishing Touch, all come at the cost of lost damage on bosses.

Final Thoughts

Cloud is great for taking out bosses, with his high damage abilities and Passive pushing him to focus on bursting. Thanks to his high strength, Cloud is good for PvP, and his Cross Slash's stun and Finishing Touch's wide area of effect give him tools to deal with foes effectively. However, you would ideally like to use both on the boss.

Braver can be thrown out against rivals early and often thanks to its low cooldown time, but consider alternatives like Ace/Fire RF in its place for maximizing burst damage and the utility of a long-range move that keeps you out of harm's way. Either way, make use of Cloud's massive strength to deliver victory to your team!