Battle Timers: A set of timers for each battle participant that determine when events occur in a battle.

Speed Modifier: A value that is raised or lowered by speed-modifying spells, and used as a modifier for most timers.

Menu Queue: The list of characters whose menu is ready to pop up.

Pointer: Keeps track of which slot is currently being checked for expired timers.

Queuing an action: Every action must be queued before it can be executed. For characters, this generally involves choosing a menu command; the period between queuing and execution of the action includes spell incantation animations, preparing to swing, etc. For monsters, there is no visible indication when an action is queued. (Note that “Queue” may be a misnomer here, and this is not to be confused with the Menu Queue)

Executing an action: When the action actually takes place. For most actions, this means the character moves forward and acts (or the monster flashes and acts).

All battle participants (characters and monsters) have an Action Timer that determines the number of ATB ticks must pass before they are eligible to queue or execute an action. At the start of battle¹⁾ and after each action is finished executing, the Action Timer is set to the Relative Agility of that participant, modified by the Speed Modifier.²⁾.

1. A delay occurs based on the Battle Speed setting.
   • If the ATB is paused because the player is in a submenu or the game is paused, wait until the ATB is unpaused. This does not count towards the delay timer.
2. All of the enabled timers of each participant are decremented by one, and those that reach zero are flagged as expired.
3. HP Sap and Regen are applied, if applicable.
4. The battle victory/defeat conditions are checked.
5. Any auto-actions (Berserk, Charm, Auto-Hide or Auto-Show) are enqueued for characters who meet those conditions and do not already have an auto-action queued.
6. The menu queue is handled:
   • If the menu is currently open, the game checks for any conditions that would automatically close it (auto-hide or equipping the Avenger)
   • If the player has just entered a menu command, it is queued at this point, setting that character's Action Timer accordingly.
   • Otherwise, if the menu was not open and any characters are in the Menu Queue, the first is pulled off that queue, and if they are eligible to act, their menu will start to open on the next frame.
     • If the character has fired their last arrow, it will be removed here.
     • If the character was Parrying, that status is removed here.
     • If the Avenger is equipped, Berserk status is set and the menu will not be opened.
7. The next expired timer is handled:
   • The slot the Pointer is currently pointing at is checked for any expired timers. If none are expired, it will continue moving through slots until an expired timer is found or all 13 slots have been checked. If an expired timer *is* found, it is handled.
     • Note: There are 7 different types of timers. In order, they are: Stop, Action, Sap, Poison, Stone, Wall, Count. Only one expired timer for one participant can be handled in a given tick, and they are checked in order.³⁾
     • In the case of characters, an expired Action Timer means that when the Pointer reaches that character, they will either execute their action (if one is queued), or enter the Menu Queue.
     • In the case of monsters, an expired Action Timer means that they will either execute their action (if one is queued), or the next turn of their battle script will be processed, queuing an action.⁴⁾
       • Note that if a monster starts a chain, all other participants' timers will be frozen until the chain is completed.
     • Queuing an action sets the Action Timer based on the command entered. In the case of monsters, this is always? a fixed timer with a duration equal to 1, adjusted by the Speed Modifier.
8. Any monster counters are processed.

All characters' Action Timers are set to 1; all monsters' Action Timers are set to twice their RA.

All monsters' Action Timers are set to 1; all characters' Action Timers are set to twice their RA.

All characters' and monsters' Action Timers are set to their RA.

The game then finds the lowest Action Timer value, and subtracts one less than that value from all Action Timers. (This effectively skips ahead until the lowest Action Timer is 1)