Balmung Cycle Part I: The Messenger and the Heretic

Below the portrait of each character in battle is a small meter called the adrenaline bar that most often begins empty. Using physical attacks in a battle will increment the adrenaline bar by a single digit.

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When any party member has the appropriate amount of adrenaline, they can use unique attacks listed under the "special" menu that cost very little SP. Though special skills are not nearly as powerful as logia spells, they don't require any special weapon to be equipped to utilize.

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In the image above the has one adrenaline point that has been gained from attacking and can now use the skill Laufey Stance.

Don't forget that skills require an equal amount of adrenaline and SP to execute. This is an unfortunate limitation of the engine.