*********************************************************** *** Nioden's Enchanted Arms Combat and Stat Guide v0.85 *** *********************************************************** >>>Spoiler Info<<< The only spoilers contained in this guide are a few skill names, golem names, and which (human) characters will join your party. The latter is only in the "suggestions for raising attributes" section. Also note, I'm only at 40% completion, so some info on what skills the main characters get could change, and possibly a few more tidbits. Intro: The damage and stat system is very very simple and a bit trivial, but still quite fun. There is no way to raise your defense and the damage each attack does is always listed when on the battlefield (it's the PP number). Damage can be modified when on the battlefield by a few things, which can be found in the "How damage is determined" section. Other than that, the guide starts with how to identify what types of attacks and elemental attributes characters have, and then discusses attributes and how to raise them. After that it's all about the combat. Enjoy! Major Changes/Updates: -Removed some information from what agility does. Who gets the first turn seems to be based on agility AND what level everyone is. My best guess for how it works is: 10 x(average level difference) + AGI. That's with limited testing. -Confirmed what rage does. -When three characters are in the same column, the third takes no damage from direct attacks. Previously listed as 25%. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #==================# |Table of Contents:| #==================# 1) Types of attacks & how to distinguish between them 2) Elemental attributes 3) Attributes, what skills they affect, and other stats 3b) Suggestions for raising attributes 4) How attributes affect skills 5) Battlefield & Combat: a) Battlefield & Movement b) Attacking & Death c) How damage is determined (defense, buffs, elemental atks, etc) d) Ex attacks e) Combos f) Over-breaks g) Status effects 6) Battle Strategy (for tough battles) 7) Corrections to game descriptions 8) Contact and Legal info Can't find something in this guide? You may find it in the in-game help files, accessed by opening the menu and selecting "help." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #==================# 1)Types of attacks(1 #==================# +Note: Skills tell you what type of attacks they are in their description, and also the symbol to the left of the skill name will tell you what it is. Direct: Distinguished by the fist symbol (with no arrow). Mostly consists of all physical attacks (melee, guns, etc). When used on a column of enemies (one is standing behind another), the enemy in back will take 50% of the damage. If there are three enemies, the third will take no damage. Some direct attacks, have a huge range, so don't get confused and think they should be raised with the 'range' attribute. They are still direct! Range: Distinguished by a fist symbol with an arrow. Magic attacks usually go under this category, but some physical do too. When used on a column of enemies there is no change in damage. Support/Cover: Distinguished by a sphere with a plus sign. Healing and magic effects usually go under this category. Can sometimes include offensive magic (APO golem for example). #======================# 2)Elemental attributes(2 #======================# Every character, golem, and enemy belongs to one of the six elemental attributes (denoted by an icon near their portrait). Some attacks are also elemental attacks, which are denoted by an icon to the left of the one that denotes attack type (direct, range, etc). If a character is hit with an attack that is of the same, or opposite, element as the character, then the damage will be modified. So Atsuma will take varying damage if he's attacked by water or fire, because his element is fire (read the damage section for more). Non- elemental attacks do normal damage, despite the character's elemental attribute. The elements and their symbols are: Non-elemental: No symbol present Fire (red) which is opposite of Water/Ice (blue) Wind (green) which is opposite of Earth (orange/brownish with a symbol in the middle) Dark (purple) which is opposite of Light (yellow) #=================# 3)Attributes, etc(3 #=================# Direct: Modifies the damage of direct attacks (marked by a fist) Range: Modifies the damage of magic attacks (marked by a fist with an arrow) Support: Modifies the damage/healing power of Support/Cover skills. Does not modify the skills you equip by going into "equip skill -> support" +Note: There has to be a PP amount next to the attack or skill for it to be modified by an attribute. Many support skills look like "—PP" and will remain unchanged. Agility: Lowers the amount of VP loss when you escape and determines who goes first in a battle (which can become very important). Who goes first in a battle is based off agi and what level everyone is. Also you can check enemy agi by going into "map", located in the main menu. Defense: There is none! There's no way to raise it or automatically take less damage. Check the "How damage is determined" Section for more. VP: VP lowers after most battles and when it hits 0 your character drops to 1 HP and 1 EP after every battle until the VP rises above 0 again. You can restore VP three ways; by using a resting station thingy, by placing a character in the reserve and walking around, or by using an item (you can eventually buy them at the black crystal shop thingies). If a character's VP is 0 then putting him in the reserve will not raise it so be careful! Max VP cannot be changed. You lose 1 VP every round after the first round. If the enemy goes first, you lose 1 VP when taking your first turn. You lose 1 VP for every time your characters get hit. You lose 10 VP for dying. You lose variable VP for fleeing, based on agility (10 VP for about 200 AGI and approx –2 VP for every 100 AGI). – Thanks to Rejier for info on VP. FP: Friend Points, it raises after each fight and affects combos and possibly Ex damage (check the combo section for more). Leveling up: When you level, all of your attributes automatically raise by a random amount. It seems to be something like 1-20 for HP and EP and 1-15 for the rest. ----------------------------------------- 3b) Suggestions for raising attributes ----------------------------------------- HP: All characters/Golems need HP, raise it regularly when the SP required to raise it won't make a huge impact on your total SP. When starting out with low-level golems, pump HP fairly early on. EP: Not all characters need much EP, as it increases each level. The best bet is to wait until a character needs more EP before pumping it up. Karin, for example, may need more when she gets her resurrection spell. Also, some Golems need EP above all else, like Taigalion who can't even use one of his skills until he gets more EP. Make EP one of your highest priorities for characters/golems who really need it, and lowest for those who don't. Agility: Raise this under two conditions. First, if the price to raise it seems cheap to you, then raise it (You get lots more SP as the game progresses). Second, if you're getting surprise attacked (enemy takes the first turn) a lot, then raise it. Before you pump it too much, realize that some golems have much higher AGL so you should consider using them if you need to defeat an opponent that gets the first turn every time. For the rest of the attributes (direct, range, and support), the Golems are easiest to figure out and the characters are a bit harder. Golems never get new skills so... Direct, range, and support for: #Golems# 1. Look at a golem's skills, if they have all 'direct' attacks, then only raise direct attack, as they will never need Range or Support. 2. Make sure the skill has a PP number, or it won't be affected (don't raise support to increase a 25% protection spell, cause it won't work. 3. When the golem has multiple skills with different attributes (for example; one is direct, and one is range), then decide on if you really want to use both. If so, raise both stats. If not, you can always put some points into the under-used one if the SP seems cheap to you. 4. Spend all your skill points for Golems. They don't need to be stashed for later! #Characters# Atsuma: He should get all direct and a little support if you use his support skills that have a PP cost, but mostly stick with direct. You don't need to go crazy, save SP for new skills and HP, but do raise it some. Toya: He has direct and range attacks, but his direct does much more damage. So, I recommend mainly raising direct, with maybe a few points in range if you really want to. Makoto: Makoto is range and support. He has quite a powerful healing spell and mediocre damage. I would definitely raise his healing as needed, as it increases a good bit when 'support' goes up. Raise range when his healing is satisfactory though. Karin: Karin is a tough one, as she has medium damage range attacks (elemental), support spells, and also gets some direct attacks (Non- elemental). You could spread yourself thin covering all of that. I personally recommend staying away from Karin's direct attacks and just using range and support, and raising the range and support attributes. She is the only character who can resurrect for quite some time (and it restores more hp with a higher 'support'), so I wouldn't skimp out on using her as a support character. Raigar: Raigar is simple. Raise direct. He eventually gets a some range stuff, but it isn't stronger than his direct attacks, so I would ignore them. His support spells don't use the support attribute. Yuki: Both range and direct, her direct hits more people and can include elemental damage, but her range does more damage. I would raise both for her. #==============================# 4)How attributes affect skills(4 #==============================# Short version: +5 to an attribute gives you 5% more damage (based on the base PP amount in the skills or status menu) Explanation: It is very straightforward; first, go into the menu and look at the skills (character -> status), the PP number (i.e. damage or amount of healing) for each skill is the base PP/damage a skill will do (it is usually a higher number on the battlefield, because the battlefield shows the modified PP). The corresponding attribute will act like a percentage and will directly modify that base PP. For example: 50PP for a direct attack and a 'direct' attribute of 100: 50PP x 100% = 50PP -- the attack will do 50 damage to an enemy. (on a calculator you would divide the attribute number by 100 then multiply by the PP) If the direct attribute is 200 then it doubles the damage so: 50PP x 200% = 100 PP -- enemies take 100 damage And unfortunately if your attribute is less than 100, then you only do a fraction of the PP/damage listed under the status menu: 50PP w/ an attribute of 50: 50PP x 50% = 25PP -- you do piddly damage So... when you're choosing a golem to buy, look at their damage (PP) and multiply it by the corresponding attribute divided by 100. Some Golems with low PP but high attributes will be very good, and some golems with high PP and low attributes can be leveled up to be quite exceptional. Also note the attributes max out at 999, so the most you can do is 10x the base damage or 20x damage with a 100% buff or 40x damage with a buff and getting an elemental damage bonus. Or even slightly more if you do a combo ;) #========================# 5)Battlefield and Combat(5 #========================# --------------------------------- 5a) Battlefield and Movement --------------------------------- This is pretty simple and the tutorial explains it to you so I will just try to add a little more. There are two side of the battlefield, each 4 squares wide and 3 squares deep. You can only move around on your side and not the enemy's side. The 3 square depth mainly adds defensive strategy, while the 4 square width lets you spread out your characters and move them around. The same goes for the enemy, they will often times move as far back as possible so Atsuma can't hit them with his close range attacks. Almost all characters can only move two squares each turn, and this number never changes. You can move two squares up/down, or two left/right, or one up/down and one left/right (meaning the game doesn't count diagonal movement). At the start of every battle you are randomly placed, so plan on moving around. On the plus side, characters won't block you from moving past them, unless they are too big (described next). Remember, nothing is permanent until your turn ends, you can go back and change what all your characters do until you execute a command for all characters. Some characters have a "size" greater than 1, this means they'll take up more than one square. The typical sizes are 1 and 4. If you have a character who takes up 4 squares you will not be able to move through them, and can only go around. Lastly, I would like to point out that you can select any enemy on the field and look at their combo gauge, attacks, and attack ranges. Use it to your advantage. --------------------------------- 5b) Attacking and Death --------------------------------- Attacking is just about as straightforward as moving. Select a character and his attacks/buffs/etc will pop up, select an attack and it will be performed. When selecting an attack some squares will light up red, your attack hits all of the red squares. Instead of attacking you can use an item or Ex attack as well, from the same menu as the attack skills one (hit left or right). Check the sections about how damage is determined for info on PP. EP use should be noted. Skills use up EP and if you run out of EP you can't use any skills until you recover some EP. You can use the standby command for this (last option on the attack screen). You can also drain EP from enemies with some characters and other characters have a HP/EP heal spell for themselves. Other than selecting attacks you have four options. You can standby, which automatically recovers EP (that's ALL it does). You can hit the right trigger (or Y) and choose auto, letting the computer fight for you. You can hit the left trigger (or Y) and end your turn, putting any characters you didn't tell to attack into 'standby'. Lastly, you can escape (press Y), with a 100% chance of success, but will lose a large amount of VP. After a fight all characters regain full HP and EP, but lose some VP (discussed later). Death: Death has very few negative affects. It can lower your VP after a fight and if you don't revive a character in three turns (there is an on-screen number indicating this) the character vanishes until the fight is over. Reviving: At first you cannot revive any characters. After awhile one of your main characters will get a revive skill and all you need to do is cast it. Eventually you can also buy items that revive people. That's about it. --------------------------------- 5c) How damage is determined --------------------------------- On the battlefield the PP number (which is next to the EP cost) is how much damage the attack will do. Normally this is the exact amount of damage you will do with an attack (Makoto would like to remind you that you can also look at the enemy's PP too). This number can be modified in a few ways: 1. If the attack has an elemental attribute which is opposite of the target character's element it'll do 2x damage. +Note: It doesn't matter if your character is fire and the enemy is water, you won't do any extra damage unless your character uses a fire-based attack. Some golems are of a certain element and have no elemental attacks. For example; a wind golem with all non-elemental attacks will cause no extra damage to an Earth enemy and are highly likely to take 2x damage from that enemy. So don't put someone up against the opposite element unless they have elemental attacks! 2. If the attack is the same element as the target it does 1/2 damage. The note above still applies. 3. Protection spells, which usually lowers damage by 50%. They do not stack. Read the caution below. 5. Power up spells, which usually raises damage (PP) by 25-100%. They do not stack. They do not raise HP/EP. CAUTION: Protect spells override Power up spells and vice versa, don't try to stack them! Raigar's first Ex skill can be overridden as well. 4. If there are two characters in the same column and you attack both with a 'direct' attack, the second guy will take 50% damage. A third would take no damage. There is no inherent defense, so if you want more defense use a protection spell or stack your guys in a column so they take less damage from direct attacks. ----------------------- 5d) Ex attacks ----------------------- These are special high-damage attacks you can do if your Ex gauge is high enough. It rises by taking damage, getting killed, or by killing an enemy. All or most Ex attacks are automatically gained as the story progresses and as your characters level. They can be used in combos and lower your Ex gauge by the specified amount. Just save them for harder fights. Also, some bosses have Ex attacks, so be careful! (Golems do not have, and cannot learn Ex attacks) +Note: The game also says FP affects Ex attacks, I'm not sure how. ---------------------- 5e) Combos ---------------------- Depending on your FP, your combo gauge will start between 0 and 50 (50 for 999FP) for each character. You typically get +30 to the gauge per round (sometimes varies by character/golem), regardless of what you do, and +10 for each enemy you and an ally hit. When it hits 100 (aka MAX) you can perform a combo simply by attacking the same enemy with multiple allies that have a combo gauge at MAX. The advantages are that you'll do more damage and that you are more likely to get an over-break from the damage being added together. +Note: You cannot do a combo between two characters if another character is setup to take a turn between the two. You can do a combo with all four characters or two different combos with three characters if some attacks overlap and some don't. Or mix it up any other way you can think of. ------------------------ 5f) Over-breaks ------------------------ Over-breaks happen when one character or a combo does more damage to an enemy than its max hp. They are a good thing and net you 120% SP from the enemy it happens to. There are also Over-break uppers that happen when you do twice as much damage as the enemy's max hp, and they net you 200% SP. When an Over- break upper happens to a character (you or the enemy) that character will be removed from the field and be un-revivable. ------------------------ 5g) Status effects ------------------------ Blurred: "Harder to hit" (I've never seen anyone ever miss... ???) Gravity: Cannot move Poison: Takes away a small amount of HP each turn Turn ELM: Flips the targets elemental attribute to its opposite (example: Astuma who is fire would be changed to water) Taunt/Rage: Enemy will attack you if you are in range. This doesn't mean they won't use an AOE attack and hit everyone around you, but the attack will include you. Depending on the attacks of the enemy, you could make it so only you get hit. Best used against healers. +Note: I've never seen anything happen when my characters get enraged. Nothing seemed to change. #====================# 6)Battle strategies (6 #====================# Step 1: Examine each enemy (you can select them on the battlefield): -- Do their attacks do elemental damage? -- You can see how many squares their attacks hit, is it all short range? A spread? A column attack? -- Check their element, hp, and check if bosses have Ex attacks. Step 2: Pick characters that are the same element as that of the enemy's attacks, if you need more defense. Choose characters with elemental attacks that will do extra damage (are opposite the enemy's element) if you need more offense (and especially if you can stay out of their range). Place your characters strategically; especially if enemies can only hit the front two rows, you'll want to be in the back with characters that have a good range. Choose whether to use protect spells and healing to stay alive or power spells to take enemies out fast. Or neither? Try and stack your allies in the same column, with the low hp ones behind others, so they take less damage. So like Atsuma, then behind him put a healer. The healer takes less damage and can heal Atsuma. Also, consider using multiple EP draining characters to quasi- silence enemies (take all their EP away and all they can do is "standby" to recover EP). You could also use turn element and some characters that are the same element as the enemy. This will effectively halve the damage you take while letting you do 2x damage, assuming everyone is using elemental attacks. Be ready to use Ex attacks in hard fights, especially in combos with other characters. Focus on lowering the number of enemies, starting with low hp ones, hard hitters, or ones with bad attack ranges (like ones who can hit everyone). A lot depends on what characters you have on the battlefield, but you'll get used to what your favorite party members can handle doing. #=============# 7)Corrections(7 #=============# Spoilsport: Calabaza and another golem or two get a skill called "spoilsport", the skill's description says you can only use it when you are immobile. This is incorrect; the only time the skill works is when Calabaza dies. It will automatically fire off when he falls, and he'll be taken from the field (can't revive). Nothing special happens if gravity (which immobilizes you) is cast on Calabaza. Either I missed something, or more likely the Japanese have a word for being KO'd that can be roughly translated into "immobile". ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8) Contact info: Have corrections or additions? Find this guide posted somewhere other than at gamefaqs? Hit me up at taolas@gmail.com and let me know! Please put FAQ in the subject area. Legal info: This guide was written solely for gamefaqs (www.gamefaqs.com). No part of this guide may be reproduced elsewhere. This may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. Copyright [2006] by [Damian Raczkowski]