Skills

This page is about the special moves used by playable characters. For the special moves used by bosses, see the Boss Battle Skills section of the respective character's page.

Skills Menu on Lower Screen

Skills are a battle mechanic in the Azure Striker Gunvolt series. They are powerful techniques that are much stronger than regular attacks or can provide Gunvolt with non-offensive aid, and can only be used periodically.

In Azure Striker Gunvolt and Azure Striker Gunvolt 2, Gunvolt can unlock these skills when he reaches specific level-up milestones and equip up to four skills. Instead of EP, skills use SP: small "cards" located at the bottom left of the screen. Gunvolt has a total of 3 SP. When consumed, a SP will fill itself over time, regenerating after 1 minute and 7 seconds by default, alongside a short cooldown which each skill has before it can be used again. This, along with the SP consumption factor, limits the use of special skills. Unlike with EP, no equipment exists that can increase Gunvolt's maximum SP.

Although all of Gunvolt's skills in GV1 and GV2 have a 10-second cooldown, the player must wait a bit longer in GV2, due to a minor change in cooldown mechanics. In GV1 the countdown begins immediately when the player presses the skill button, while in GV2 it begins after GV becomes controllable again.

In Azure Striker Gunvolt 3, Gunvolt can only use one skill at a time, and using them once will drain the Fetters Gauge completely and switch the control back to Kirin. What determines which skill will be available is the percentage of the Fetters Gauge that has been built up as Kirin before switching. Additionally, the player can set which skill will be used by Gunvolt regardless of the gauge's percentage via DLC Passive Image Pulses.

Copen in GV2, Kirin, and ZedΩ can also use skills as playable characters, but their skill loadouts are fixed and non-customizable, and their skill usage is limited by cooldowns rather than by SP.

Copen in Luminous Avenger iX and iX 2 technically has a Skill Point system,^[1] but his offensive Special Skills in both games function the same as in GV2, as they are still non-customizable and will drain SP (which serves as a cooldown) completely upon usage.

Offensive Skills[]

Some skills are damage-dealing and can deal massive damage if used correctly.

The offensive skills that cost SP are called Special skill. Using a special skill will play a cut-in art and bank Kudos, while 0 SP skills will not.

Skill	Learned at	Cost	Damage (GV1/GV2)	Damage (GV3)	Cooldown Time (GV1/GV2)
Astrasphere	Default	1 SP	50 ~ 1200	10 ~ 780	10 seconds
Luxcalibur	Level 13 (GV1/GV2) Switching when Fetters Gauge is 200% to 299% or equipped with Kirin XX Image Pulse (GV3) Hidden in Water Works Bureau (MGB)	2 SP	2500	900
Voltaic Chains	Level 40 (GV1/GV2) Switching when Fetters Gauge is 300% and more or equipped with "Anthem" Lumen Image Pulse (GV3) Hidden in Capitol Building (MGB)	3 SP	1 target = 2000 2 targets = 2500 3 targets = 3000 4 targets = 3500 5+ targets = 4000	1200 (1500 while Anthem is active)
Grand Strizer	Level 60 (GV2) Equipped with "Grand Strizer" Gunvolt Image Pulse (GV3)	3 SP	400 + Kudos	Kudos ÷ 2 (1200 at minimum)
Crashbolt	Level 5 (GV1 TE) Hidden in Mysterious Manor (GV2) Hidden in Gateway (MGB)	0 SP	600	N/A
Dragonsphere	Level 15 (GV1 TE) Hidden in Data Facility (GV2)	0 SP	41 ~ 451
Shadowstriker	Level 20 (GV1 TE) Hidden in The Sewers (GV2 TE)	0 SP	60 per second
Electroshock	Level 35 (GV1 TE) Hidden in Frozen City (GV2 TE)	0 SP	10 ~ 300

Astrasphere[]

ライトニングスフィア、Lightning Sphere

"Lightning that flickers / Like a star, and purges all / That violate its realm! Astrasphere!"

Gunvolt summons three electric orbs that briefly circle around him, dealing damage over time. Gunvolt remains stationary and is invulnerable to enemy attacks for the duration of this attack.

Unlike other Special Skills, Astrasphere consists of six hits. The actual attack power of each hit is 50/50/50/350/350/350 in GV1 and GV2, and 10/10/190/190/190/190 in GV3. Since damage from a single hit is limited to 350, this is the most unsuitable skill to earn overkill Kudos in GV1.

Luxcalibur[]

スパークカリバー、Spark Calibur

"Sacred sword agleam / Barbarous and bathed in blue / Cleaving right from wrong! Luxcalibur!"

Gunvolt unleashes a large electrical sword in whatever direction he's facing, dealing massive, instantaneous damage to any enemy within its range. Used as Gunvolt's Special Skill in the first phase of the final boss in GV2.

Voltaic Chains[]

ヴォルティックチェーン、Voltic Chain

"Bolts of rebellion / A thunderous voice in his heart / Speaks of one true law! Voltaic Chains!"

Gunvolt summons several chains that crisscross the screen. He then charges them with electricity that deals instantaneous damage to any enemy that is in contact with the chains. In GV1 and GV2, the number of chains and damage output scales with the number of targets on-screen (anything that the contact Flashfield can interact with is considered a target).

In GV3, the attack power of this skill is no longer affected by the number of targets, always doing 1200 damage (1500 if Anthem is active). Due to this change it will always do more damage than Luxcalibur, unlike in previous games.

Grand Strizer[]

グロリアスストライザー、Glorious Strizer

"Let praise be unleashed / As blades of lightning cleave sky / Yielding great glory!" Grand Strizer!

Gunvolt unleashes a large electrical blade similar to Luxcalibur, but larger and much more powerful. The amount of damage dealt is determined by the amount of Kudos that Gunvolt has at the moment of the skill's activation. With 0 Kudos it will do only 400 damage, which is even weaker than Dragonsphere or Crashbolt.

With enough Kudos, it can kill a boss in one hit, making it the single most powerful skill in the series, depending on the amount of kudos. Kudos that has been banked or lost will not affect this skill's power. Costs 3 SP. Introduced in GV2.

In GV3, Grand Strizer does 1200 damage at minimum, similar to Voltaic Chains. If Gunvolt has more than 2400 Kudos, damage dealt is equal to Kudos÷2.

Crashbolt[]

吼雷降、Kou Rai Kou (Roaring Thunder Fall)

A lightning bolt strikes Gunvolt, hitting nearby enemies and any enemies above or below Gunvolt. Exclusive to GV2 and the Trilogy Enhanced version of GV1.

Dragonsphere[]

霆龍玉、Tei Ryu Gyoku (Thunderclap Dragon Sphere)

Gunvolt creates a stationary orb of electricity in front of him for a short time that damages foes on contact (up to 11 hits, 41 damage per hit, 3.75 times per second). Exclusive to GV2 and the Trilogy Enhanced version of GV1.

The player cannot use other skills or open the pause menu while a Dragonsphere is in use, unless the game is the Trilogy Enhanced version of either GV1 or GV2. In TE, these actions are not restricted but will remove the Dragonsphere on screen immediately.

Electroshock[]

雷霆解放、Raitei Kaihou (Thunderclap Discharge)

Gunvolt instantly expends all of his current EP to damage all on-screen foes, causing him to overheat. Damage is equal to EP x 0.3 if GV has at most 500 EP (the default maximum value), or (EP - 200) x 0.5 if GV has more than 500 EP via equipment. Minimum damage is 10, equal to the power of a single bolt. Exclusive to the Trilogy Enhanced versions of GV1 and GV2.

Shadowstriker[]

電影招雷、Denei Shourai (Thunder Shadow Summon)

Gunvolt summons two ghostly copies of himself that float to the left and right of him, continuously damaging foes on contact (60 damage per second). The copies last for 15 seconds, or until the player uses another skill or opens the pause menu. The skill cooldown for Shadowstriker will not start counting down until the copies disappear. The player can press and hold up or down to adjust the gap between Gunvolt and the copies. Exclusive to the Trilogy Enhanced versions of GV1 and GV2.

Support Skills[]

In addition to offensive skills, Gunvolt can learn a plethora of support skills that can temporarily or instantaneously bolster Gunvolt's battle capabilities or save him in a pinch. The use of support skills does not "lock-in" the Kudos multipliers to the overall stage score.

Skill	Learned at	Cost	Effect (read below for more)	Duration	Cooldown Time
Galvanic Patch	Level 3	1 SP	Healing (1/4 of max HP)	Instantaneous	10 seconds
Septimal Burst	Level 10	1 SP	Faster EP recovery	30 seconds
Split Second	Level 18	1 SP	Fully recovers EP, cures Overheat and Chaff	Instantaneous
Alchemical Field	Level 24	1 SP	Increases currency gain, doubles EXP gain and instant healing	30 seconds
Galvanic Renewal	Level 30 (GV1) / 35 (GV2)	2 SP	Fully recovers HP	Instantaneous
Septimal Surge	Level 65 (GV1) / 70 (GV2)	1 SP	Doubles the damage output of all attacks excluding bolts.	30 seconds
Septimal Shield	Level 30 (GV2)	1 SP	Reduces damage taken to 4/9x (0.44x).	30 seconds
Infinite Surge	Level 50 (GV2)	2 SP	Completely removes EP consumption for the duration of the skill	30 seconds

Galvanic Patch[]

ヒーリングヴォルト、Healing Volt

Gunvolt instantaneously recovers a fourth of his maximum health.

Septimal Burst[]

ブーストヴォルト、Boost Volt

Upon use, Gunvolt recovers his EP at a faster rate than usual. Multiple uses do not stack the effects.

Split Second[]

チャージングアップ、Charging Up

Gunvolt instantaneously restores his EP to a full meter. Using this support skill cures Gunvolt of Overheat, and removes the effects of Copen and Asimov's Greed Snatcher bullets as well as Carrera's Quasar Collapse.

Alchemical Field[]

アルケミィライズ、Alchemy Rise

Upon use, Gunvolt will recover health, gain credits, and gain experience at twice the usual rates. The effects of this skill do not apply to the Kudos gain from collecting the hidden characters (i.e., collecting a hidden character will not set your Kudos count to 2,000).

Galvanic Renewal[]

リヴァイヴヴォルト、Revive Volt

Gunvolt instantaneously recovers maximum health.

Septimal Surge[]

アンリミテッドヴォルト、Unlimited Volt

Upon use, Gunvolt's damage output is doubled. Used as Gunvolt's "Anthem" Special Skill in the second phase of the final boss of Azure Striker Gunvolt 2. Does not apply to bolts.

Septimal Shield[]

シールドヴォルト、Shield Volt

Upon use, Gunvolt's damage taken is reduced to 4/9x for a short amount of time. This skill is first introduced in GV2.

Infinite Surge[]

エターナルヴォルト、Eternal Volt

Upon use, Gunvolt's EP will never deplete for a short amount of time. This skill is first introduced in GV2.

Vanishing World[]

In Azure Striker Gunvolt 3, there is a certain "SP skill" which may activate under specific circumstances where Kirin will not be available to fight and switch places with Gunvolt, leaving GV to fend for himself. While this might not sound like a problem at first, it means she will not be around to watch GV and keep his fetters in check by returning him to his raijū form. Due to his Azure Striker being out of control, this may have immeasurable consequences...

If Kirin falls in battle, similar to past games, Lumen may show up in order to sing her Anthem. She'll sing for Gunvolt, releasing him from the limiters of the Radiant Fetters, giving him nigh-unlimited power. However, this time around, her salvation will not be a simple "instant-win". Similar to when the characters have low HP, the borders of the screen will start flashing red; as time passes, this becomes much more prominent. At some point, if Gunvolt takes too many hits or overuses his abilities, he'll stop, holding his head and groaning as he instantly activates this skill. Gunvolt will immediately return to his Primal Dragon state, his silhouette appearing on a white screen. With no Glaives or fetters holding him or his power back, the azure dragon has no choice but to release all of his accumulated power. The game then returns to the title screen, or to the Trial Mode menu in Trial Mode.

In D-nizer Mode, if Gunvolt's fetter gauge reaches 0% or the G-counter ever reaches 100%, this skill will be immediately triggered, ending your game. Afterward, the game will return to the D-nizer Mode menu.

Copen's Skills[]

Copen is also able to make use of Skills. Instead of equippable Skills gained by leveling up, Copen has one or two powerful Skills in his moveset right from the start in each game.

Shred Storm[]

ストライクソウ、Strike Saw

May claws shatter chains / Of those who traipse in my wake / Begone you impure! Shred Storm!

A Special Skill carried out by the “Bits” and covers the whole screen. It’s a storm of slashes that draw the “Claw” (爪) Kanji on the screen. It instantly deals 1000 damage to all enemies on the screen. It has one use that recharges in 60 seconds.

This is the only skill for Copen that can be assigned a shortcut.

Healing (GV2)[]

ヒーリング、

If you open the Pause Menu, the “Shred Storm” icon will become the “Healing” icon. If you touch it, you can recover all of your HP. Healing has one use that recharges in 60 seconds, and is used and recharged independently of Shred Storm.

Twin Shredder[]

Action	Romaji	Japanese	Translation
Twin Shredder	Copen: Kimeru! Iku zo, Roro! Lola: Ōkē, Acura-kun! Copen: Haaaah! Lola: Hoyaaa! Copen: Kurosu! Lola: Dizasuta!	Copen: 決める！行くぞ、ロロ! Lola: オーケー、アキュラくん！ Copen: はああああっ！ Lola: ほやあああ！ Copen: クロス！ Lola: ディザスタ！	Copen: Let's end this! Let's go, Lola! Lola: Okay, Copen! Copen: Haaaah! Lola: Hoyaaa! Copen: Twin! Lola: Shredder!

クロスディザスタ X-Ross Disaster

"Dual blades perform their / Fervorous dance, ready to / Strike with conviction! Twin Shredder!"

Copen's Special Skill in Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX. It is functionally identical to Shred Storm, but is far more dynamic and stylized, with Lola taking part in the attack and featuring several pieces of artwork. Damage output is also increased to 1600 in exchange for a longer cooldown (108 seconds). Additionally, unlike Shred Storm, Twin Shredder instantly recharges when Copen touches a checkpoint.

If this attack is used against Demerzel's first form during his Voltaic Chains attack, it will break the chains and cancel the attack, but will not deal damage to Demerzel.

CoLoSSAL MAELSTROM[]

クロスシュトローム X-Ross Strom

Copen's Offensive Skill in Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger iX 2. It works similar to Twin Shredder, but with both damage and cooldown time slightly decreased. In addition, Lola uses Darkness Mode instead of Awakened Mode.

Healing (iX2)[]

Copen's second skill in Luminous Avenger iX 2. Lola heals Copen to full HP. Can be used unlimited times and banks Kudos any time you use it. Cannot be used in Hard Mode unless choosing Assist Mode in the beginning.

Kirin's Skills[]

92nd Rite - Divine Ruin Arc[]

Similar to Copen's Shred Storm, it is a screen-wide attack that deals 1000 damage and takes 60 seconds to recharge.

Hidden 92nd Rite - Divine Ruin Heresy[]

The skill for Kirin while she's accompanied by Gunvolt. Despite the different name, it is visually and functionally the same as Divine Ruin Arc.

88th Rite - Pale Mist Refined[]

八十八式·朧叢雲改 Hachijuuhachishiki: Oboro Murakumo Kai

Replaces Divine Ruin Arc/Heresy for Kirin XX. Aesthetically different from Divine Ruin, but functionally the same except it deals 1500 damage.

ZedΩ's Skills[]

In his playable appearance in Epilogue ATEMS, ZedΩ has all four of his skills at the start. Unlike Gunvolt and Copen's multiple skills in GV1 and GV2, all skills are put on cooldown upon use of any one skill, with the cooldown duration depending on the skill used.

Rexcalibur[]

ZedΩ summons large swords in front of him, and after a brief pause, those swords drop down. Each sword has an independent hitbox, and damage dealt is determined by their size. Medium-sized swords do only 100 damage per hit, being actually weaker than the smallest ones (200 per hit). Biggest swords have 300 attack power. Takes 60 seconds to recharge.

Lux Ballista[]

ZedΩ takes aim with a giant ballista and shoots nine arrows at once, with more damage dealt when more arrows hit. The attack aims diagonally upward on ground, and diagonally downward in mid-air. Each arrow does 80 damage. Takes 45 seconds to recharge.

Legitima Futura[]

ZedΩ's ultimate skill which hits everything on-screen. Similar to Copen's CoLoSSAL MAELSTROM, it deals 1200 damage and takes 100 seconds to recharge.

Healing Feathers[]

ZedΩ restores half of his maximum health. Takes 60 seconds to recharge.

Offensive Skills & Kudos[]

Main article: Score and Kudos

In all games except GV3, most Offensive Skills will bank the player's Kudos after use; the exceptions are the 0 SP Skills in GV2 and the Trilogy Enhanced version of GV1. Thus, if the player is pursuing a high score by avoiding banking Kudos until the end of a stage, most Offensive Skills should only be used to finish off the stage's last boss.

Defeating a foe with an Offensive Skill yields a Skill Finish bonus, which is small or nonexistent for normal enemies but large for bosses. Most of the time, obtaining this bonus on mid-stage bosses is not worth the cost of banking Kudos. However, Gunvolt in GV2 and GV1 TE can use a 0 SP Skill to get the bonus without banking Kudos, and in GV3, any character can do this with any skill.

In GV1, Offensive Skills that use at least 1 SP yield Kudos from raw damage, equal to 1 Kudos per 10 points of damage as usual, with overkill Kudos applying. In all other games, Offensive Skills (except Shadowstriker in GV2 TE) yield no damage Kudos regardless of SP consumption, unlike the player's regular attacks. The same rule also applies to the 0 SP Skills added to GV1 TE. In either case, it is optimal to bring a boss down to very low HP with regular attacks before finishing them with an Offensive Skill.

Anthem[]

Main article: Anthem

Anthem (ソングオブディーバ、Song of Diva) is a supportive skill that can be invoked on playable characters by the Muse characters who assist them. When the player's health reaches 0, there is a chance that they will receive Anthem, reviving them on the spot with full health and enhancing their abilities, though at the cost of Kudos and score. Anthem's activation chance can be increased by viewing base conversations before embarking on missions. Luxia, who in the story uses The Djinn instead of The Muse, can analogously invoke Djinn's Wish (ソングオブジーン、Song of Jinn) on ZedΩ.

Boss Skills[]

When a boss reaches their third and final bar of life, they will perform their own unique skill. In GV1 and GV2, after being performed for the first time, this skill may be performed randomly as part of the boss' regular moveset. Bosses can also perform their skills again in GV3, but the amount of time before they do so is not fully random. Check the "Boss Battle Skills" section on any boss' respective page for more details.

Unused Skills[]

The 0 SP Offensive Skills Electroshock and Shadowstriker were planned for the original version of Gunvolt 2, but went unused. Although menu graphics were drawn for them, voiceovers were recorded for both their Japanese and international names, and it is possible to equip them like a normal skill, attempting to use them will only freeze the game.

Shadowstriker would later be referenced in Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon by Alfred's skill Soul Vision, one of his four different skills corresponding to GV's. In Gunvolt 3, GV's screen-wiping attack when Kirin switches to him is called 雷霆解放 Thunderclap Discharge in Japanese, the same as Electroshock, though it is localized in English as Arc Unleash. GV3's Image Pulse mechanic also conceptually resembles Shadowstriker, but with GV and Kirin creating illusions of other characters instead of only themselves.

In Azure Striker Gunvolt Trilogy Enhanced, Electroshock and Shadowstriker were incorporated into the revised gameplay of GV1 and GV2.

Trivia[]

In Luminous Avenger iX 1, when using X-Ross Disaster / Twin Shredder, Copen calls out the word "X-Ross"/"Twin" while Lola calls out "Disaster"/"Shredder". However, the game contains unused voice files of Lola saying "X-Ross"/"Twin" and Copen saying "Disaster"/"Shredder", suggesting that earlier in development they were planned to say the skill's full name together.

References[]

↑ iX1 Perfect Guide + iX2 (白き鋼鉄の X（イクス）パーフェクトガイド＋ X（イクス） 2) - pages 10 and 114

[1] X1 Perfect Guide + iX2 (白き鋼鉄の X（イクス）パーフェクトガイド＋ X（イクス） 2) - pages 10 and 114

[1]