Combat
The flow of a combat encounter is different depending on if it is on the Map of Orience or elsewhere.
Random Encounters
You will sometimes encounter enemies as you move across the Map of Orience. An encounter will switch you to a special battle map. If you touch any of the enemies moving around on the Map of Orience, your characters will enter a triggered encounter battle.
Fight Enemies that Appear
Choose an action and fight! When you have defeated an enemy, you will get EXP right away and your character may also level up.
Return to the Map of Orience
When all enemies are defeated, the battle ends. Then, when everything that can be obtained from the enemy (such as Phantoma) has been acquired, you will return to the Map of Orience or you will be prompted to fight another, stronger wave of enemies.
Meet Enemies in Each Area
During a mission or in a dungeon, there will be enemies stationed at certain points, and battle will commence with no change on screen.
Fight Enemies that Appear
Fighting the enemy here is the same as doing battle on the Map of Orience. The only major difference is that you may receive a Special Order during a mission.
Battle Ends
Even if you defeat all the enemies in a mission or a dungeon, there will be no change on the screen, and you will be able to continue your exploration.
After finishing an encounter battle, your HP and MP will recover and your Ability Gauge will replenish. In missions, however, you won’t recover without a Recovery Portal.
Use a Teleport Stone When You Want to Flee
To run away from enemies on the Map of Orience, you will need to use the Teleport Stone item. Teleport Stones cannot be equipped. When you want to use one, you will have to open to the Items screen. But while the Items screen is open, the battle will continue, so be careful of the enemies’ continuing attacks.
You cannot use a Teleport Stone during a mission, and when you run away, you will need to find a place where enemies cannot reach you. In a dungeon, other than fleeing, you can also use Teleport Stones, but remember that using a Teleport Stone will bring you to the Map of Orience.
Placing Teleport Stones on the top-left of the Items window when you arrange your items manually will mean you can access them quickly.
Game Over Conditions
A Battle Member Dies
A character who has no remaining HP will collapse dead. After fifteen seconds, his or her body will disappear, unless it is the body of the active leader.
Switch Out
It doesn’t matter whether a fallen character has disappeared or not, you can switch him or her out for another active member using the Up Directional Button.
Death and Game Over
When all of your party is dead, including reserve members, it is game over. Choose whether to go back to the title screen or load a save file.
If the Enemy Has a CO, Non-CO Enemies Can Surrender
You may encounter leaders (called COs) within a group of enemies. Defeating the CO will immediately end the battle, and the remaining enemies can be easily defeated, or you can steal their items.
Defeat the Leader
Defeat the leader to end the battle. When the remaining enemies try to run away from your active leader and allies, their Killsights will appear.
Enemy Surrenders
Enemies that haven’t reached the area entrance/exit a few seconds after the battle has finished will stop running and surrender. Approach a surrendered enemy and press the assigned button to obtain items.
Sometimes Random Encounters Will Happen Back to Back
Choose to Fight or Retreat
After defeating all the enemies in random encounter battles, sometimes you will be told that there are more enemies nearby. You can choose to fight them or flee.
Continuous Battles
If you choose to keep fighting, you will have the same party line-up and the enemy level will be higher than the first battle. Your HP and MP will remain the same as it was when you ended the last fight and KO’d party members will not resurrect between these fights. If you win five battles or you select “Retreat,” the battle will end and you will be returned to the Map of Orience.
Enemy Level Will Change with Each Additional Battle
| Battle Number | Level Change |
|---|---|
| 2nd Battle | 2 levels higher than the 1st battle |
| 3rd Battle | 4-6 levels higher than the 1st battle |
| 4th Battle | 8-12 levels higher than the 1st battle |
| 5th Battle | 16-24 levels higher than the 1st battle |
Ambushes and First Strikes
When you get into a random encounter battle, occasionally an explosion animation will be displayed on the screen before combat actually begins. The color of the explosion will tell you if you’ve been ambushed or if you’ve got the jump on your enemies.
First Strike (Red Explosion Effect)
Positive status effects will be enjoyed by the active leader, or there will be a Killsight on the enemy. Status effects, probability, and their duration are the same for any battle.
Ambush (Blue Explosion Effect)
Negative status effects will appear on allies, or the enemy will enter Rage. The status that appears will depend on the group of enemies, but the same status effects will share a duration.
Status Effects During an Ambush
| Status | Duration |
|---|---|
| Burn | 15 seconds |
| Freeze | 2 seconds |
| Shock | 15 seconds |
| Silence | 60 seconds |
| Poison | 15 seconds |
| Stop | 4 seconds |
| Killsight | 15 seconds |
Weather
Apart from good weather, the weather will have an impact on the battle.
Impact of Weather
| Weather Type | Fire Attack | Ice Attack | Lightning Attack | Water Attack | Earth Attack | Wind Attack | King’s Gun Attacks | Lock-On Distances | Other Factors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | x 1.00 | x 1.00 | x 1.00 | x 1.00 | x 1.00 | x 1.00 | x 1.00 | 40 m | — |
| Fog | x 0.50 | x 1.13 | x 1.00 | x 1.50 | x 1.00 | x 0.25 | x 1.00 | 10 m | — |
| Snow Storm | x 0.06 | x 1.50 | x 0.25 | x 0.25 | x 1.00 | x 1.50 | Decreases | 10 m | HP reduces at a rate of 3.75 every second apart from when you are standing still |
| Snow | x 0.25 | x 1.13 | x 0.50 | x 0.50 | x 1.00 | x 1.00 | Decreases | 40 m | — |
| Sandstorm | x 1.00 | x 0.25 | x 0.13 | x 0.13 | x 1.00 | x 2.00 | x 1.00 | 10 m | — |
| Heat Wave | x 1.50 | x 0.06 | x 1.00 | x 0.06 | x 1.00 | x 0.50 | x 1.00 | 40 m | HP reduces at a rate of 2.8 every second apart from when you do nothing |
| Heavy Rain | x 0.13 | x 0.50 | x 1.50 | x 3.98 | x 1.00 | x 0.13 | Decreases | 10 m | — |
| Rain | x 0.25 | x 1.00 | x 1.13 | x 2.00 | x 1.00 | x 0.25 | Decreases | 40 m | — |
Some accessories will nullify certain weather effects. However, these accessories will not correct the negative effects the weather puts on King’s ranged attacks.
What enemies appear will often differ depending on the weather.
When enemies are influenced by the weather, there will be a change to damage amount depending on the type of weather.
You Will Recover HP if You Are Standing Still
When an active member is standing and doing nothing, he or she will automatically recover HP. When you want to save items or MP, check that you are safe and there are no enemies nearby, then you can replenish HP by waiting and doing nothing. The speed of recovery differs depending on whether you have your weapon drawn or not and whether there are enemies in the same area or not. Changes are shown in the table.
Characters Can Either Have Their Weapons Drawn or Sheathed
| Changes | Description |
|---|---|
| Movement speed | When you draw your weapon, your movement speed will change depending on the character. |
| The speed at which you recover HP when standing idly | Recovery will be quicker when your weapon is sheathed. |
| Damage inflicted by enemy attack | If the enemy attacks you when you have your weapon sheathed, not only will you have no defense, but damage will also be double. Also, if you would have recoiled, you will instead fall down. |
Attack Using the Normal Attack Button
Some characters, such as Trey, can use charged attacks by holding down the normal attack button for a period of time, then releasing it to fire a stronger-than-normal attack. In the case of Cater, you do not need to hold down the button to charge. Instead, it will automatically charge when Cater is not attacking.
Melee Attacks and Ranged Attacks
Pressing the normal attack button while entering a direction will, for many characters, perform a different skill from a regular attack. (However, there are many skills that will only appear once the ability for it has been learned.) If you draw your weapon with a normal attack, unlike an ability command, it will not consume the Ability Gauge.
Combos
If you keep pressing the normal attack button or hold it down, you will be able to chain attacks toward a maximum combo (the maximum combo differs depending on the character and type of attack). Depending on how you perform the combo, the combo flow will change. There are also situations where a strong combo finish will be added, depending on if you’ve learned the ability.
Charging
In the case of Cater, you do not need to hold down the button to charge. Instead, it will automatically charge when Cater is not attacking.
Defense Commands
Defense commands are defensive spells and “Block”. Using defensive spells works the same as using attack spells, while Block is used by holding the Defense button. It reduces damage taken to 1/8 of the original damage you would’ve incurred and protects you from recoil, but while in use the Ability Gauge will go down by 18.75 every second.
Dodging
Dodge allows you to move quickly and makes your character invincible for a short time, making it easy to avoid enemy attacks.
As shown in the table, the length of invincibility differs depending on the character. There can also be differences in character animation when weapons are drawn.
Ace can warp when dodging with a weapon drawn. Cater will slide. Other characters will have their own unique dodges. When characters have their weapons sheathed, they will all roll.
Recoiling and Falling Down
Active members and enemies may recoil or be brought down when they take an attack.
Attacks have a recoil value and characters have a recoil resistance. Many characters have a recoil resistance of zero, but Eight, Jack, King, and Machina have a recoil resistance of one. Other characters will have even greater recoil resistance.
When playable characters or enemies take an attack, the recoil value of the attack and the character’s recoil resistance will determine whether the character recoils or not. When recoiling, any actions in process will be interrupted, and no action will be possible until the recoil animation has finished. Also, when a character is recoiling, there is a chance that they will fall down.
Why Does a Character Recoil?
When the recoil value is greater than the recoil resistance by at least two, the character recoils.
When the recoil value is greater than the recoil resistance by 1, action will be stopped for a moment, but the character will not recoil.
If the recoil value is less than the recoil resistance, the character will not recoil.
When there is a critical hit, a character or enemy will definitely recoil.
When in a Protect state, Endure state, or while defending, dodging, using an item, or harvesting a Phantoma, the character will not recoil.
If an ability animation is in progress, the character can’t recoil even if attacked (Nine’s Jump for example). There are also stationary abilities where the character won’t recoil even if they take an attack (Queen’s Divine Judgment for example).
Why Does a Character Fall Down?
When a character falls down, it will be at a probability of fall rate x fall resistance(%).
The fall rate is a value carried by the attack. The fall resistance is a value carried by the character.
When a critical hit occurs for skills where the fall rate is above 0% and it is an opponent who can fall down, the opponent will fall down.
If a character recoils with their weapon sheathed, they will fall down.
Stun
When an enemy takes an attack and certain conditions are fulfilled, the enemy will be stunned.
When an enemy is attacked, the damage inflicted will also carry a Stun value (the Stun value is not shown on screen). If you ever successfully stun an enemy, go in for an all-out attack!
Conditions of Removing Stun
The duration elapses (duration differs depending on the enemy).
Enemies that are stunned will crouch and be unable to move (if you are locked on to this enemy, you will be able to see the word “Stun” above their HP gauge). Note that during a Stun animation, Killsight and Breaksight do not appear until the enemy is fully crouched.
Effects of Stun
Will not be able to move for a short time.
With a Stun status, right after the enemy crouches, a Killsight or Breaksight will appear.
Damage will be double. (For Cinque’s Focus, Seven’s Insult to Injury, and Machina’s Cyclone Drive, damage will be quadruple.)
What Increases or Decreases an Enemy’s Stun Value?
When you inflict damage on an enemy, the enemy will bank the Stun value of the attack.
Collected Stun value will decrease at a rate of thirty every second. (Behemoth types and giant types have a decrease rate of sixty per second.)
While stunned, Stun value will not increase or decrease.
When the Stun effect lifts, Stun value will be reset to zero.
Cancel
When an action is interrupted and another action is started, this is called “Cancel.”
Main Circumstances Where You Can Cancel an Action
In a combo, you can cancel the end of an attack action by using an ability.
You can cancel the end of certain ability actions with dodge or another ability.
You can cancel dodge actions with another dodge or an ability.
When a character is getting up from falling down, you can cancel this with a dodge.
When a character has learned the ability Quick Draw or something similar to it, the end of certain actions can be canceled with a spell with the attribute of fire, ice, or lightning. When canceling, the spell cast time will be zero and it will be cast as soon as the button is pressed.
Critical
When an enemy takes an attack, there is a chance of it being a critical hit depending on the critical hit rate of the attack.
Critical Effects
This nullifies the opponent’s defense and inflicts double damage. (For some enemies, it is not possible to nullify the defense.)
Critical hits will knock down any enemy that is capable of being knocked down.
When a critical hit happens, other than the screen flashing, there will be a sound effect to accompany it.
Attributes
Attacks that have attributes will have differing damage depending on the resistance of your enemy to that attribute.
The ten types of attributes are below. Most weapons and abilities have bullets, impact, pierce, or cut attributes. Half of the attack spells have fire, ice, or lightning attributes. On the other hand, water, earth, and wind attacks are very rare.
There are some enemies that will absorb the damage of certain attributes (without taking damage).
Attribute Types
| Bullets | Impact | Pierce | Cut | Fire |
| Ice | Lightning | Water | Earth | Wind |
Damage Calculations
The damage when an ability or spell is used is calculated using a specific formula for each ability or spell. The basic calculation is as below. However, the results of this calculation will vary depending on the level difference between the attacking side and defending side. These variations have a large impact on damage, so if your level is higher than your opponent’s, it will be very advantageous. Also, the final damage will be affected by various other factors, such as Killsight.