Special Items & Damage Formula FAQ
for Skies of Arcadia (Sega Dreamcast)
=====================================
Version 2.1
by Porcupine
FAQ Revision History
====================
Version 1.0 - first version, all info is compiled by myself
Version 1.x - several updates, with added info about items discovered by others
Version 2.0 - major update, FAQ name changed, magic damage information added
Version ?.? - latest version
Anyone with information to add to this FAQ please visit the Skies of Arcadia
discussion forum at
http://www.gamefaqs.com
Elemental Strength/Weakness Chart
=================================
This is the first FAQ to contain the correct Strength/Weakness chart for the
six elemental damage types (Green, Red, Purple, Blue, Yellow, Silver) and a
proper explanation of how they work. The instruction manual included with the
game is incorrect. Most of the relationships listed in the manual are
backwards, and some of the relationships are missing altogether. Other FAQs
besides this one have listed better Strength/Weakness charts but they have been
incorrect as well.
Your characters are capable of switching the active color of their weapon
freely between the six elemental damage types at any time inside or outside
battle. Each enemy monster also has an associated color with it, which you can
see by looking at the mini-portrait of each enemy monster when selecting which
one to attack during battle.
Both your characters and enemy monsters can perform three types of attacks...
normal physical attacks (always described as "Attack" while being performed),
magic attacks (there are exactly 36 spells of magic in Skies of Arcadia, namely
"Sacri", "Pyri", "Electri", "Sacrulen", etc), and special move attacks (moves
with any other name are always special moves).
For enemy monsters, their associated color is the color of their normal
physical attacks and special move attacks. Usually, any magic they can cast
will also match their color, but not always. The color of enemy monsters is
also the elemental type that they defend with. For your characters, the active
color of your weapon is the color of your normal physical attacks, as well as
your special move attacks (except for Fina and Aika). But your own characters
are always colorless defensively.
Depending on the color you attack with and the defensive elemental color of the
enemy, your attack will do moderately more/less damage. The following table
gives the relationships.
Enemy Defense: Green Blue Red Purple Yellow Silver
-------------- ----- ---- --- ------ ------ ------
Your Attack
-----------
Green = > < > < =
Blue < = > < > =
Red > < << >> = =
Purple < > >> << = =
Yellow > < = = < >
Silver = = = = > <
= means Your Attack does normal damage to the Enemy
> means Your Attack does more damage to the Enemy
>> means Your Attack does way more damage to the Enemy
< means Your Attack does less damage to the Enemy
<< means Your Attack does way less damage to the Enemy
For example against a Green enemy you should switch your weapon to Red.
Since your own characters are colorless defensively, what is the point of
knowing the enemy's attacking color? Various armors, accessories, and even
weapons in the game that your characters can equip will give them resistance to
certain colors of damage. For example Silver Armor gives resistance to enemy
Silver damage. Item descriptions are often vague and inaccurate. If an item
says it gives protection or resistance to a color of "Magic", that means it
actually gives resistance to that color of damage in general. Some weapons in
the game as a side effect give resistance to a color of damage. Silver Arm also
grants resistance to enemy Silver damage, and Thunder Cutlass gives resistance
to Yellow damage. Other examples probably exist.
The damage reduction of elementally resistant items is percentage based.
Wearing one such item will reduce damage you suffer to 80% of normal. If you
wear two items simultaneously that are both resistant to the same color, damage
you suffer from that color will be reduced to 60% of normal. Wearing three
elementally resistant items to the same color reduces damage to 40% of normal.
So wearing multiple items that are resistant to the same color of damage is
especially advantageous.
Damage bonuses and reduction of your own attacks is also percentage based.
Attacks that are > do 110% of normal damage. Attacks that are < do 90% damage.
Attacks that are >> do 140% damage. Attacks that are << do 70% damage.
There are a few enemies in the game that defensively do not quite obey the
elemental properties of their color. Most of these rare exceptions will be
noted in the Monster Special Items list below. These particular enemies still
attack with the expected color.
Monster Special Items
=====================
Many of the most powerful items in Skies of Arcadia are only dropped by enemies
as a reward after a battle. These drops only occur VERY rarely, by chance. Each
different monster species drops different items. The following list will help
you narrow down which monsters to fight if you are looking for a particular
item. Some items are dropped more rarely than others and you may have to fight
hundreds of monsters to get the item you are looking for. I have also provided
a location where each monster can be found, but some monsters can be found in
more than one location. The frequency at which you encounter particular monster
species can vary at different locations...sometimes even at different spots or
rooms.
Enemies listed as =Name= are bosses. Boss items are always given out.
Monster Color Location Items Dropped
------- ----- -------- -------------
Soldier yellow# Valuan Battleship Electri Box
Guard yellow# Valuan Battleship Sacri Crystal
=Antonio= yellow# Valuan Battleship Moonberry
Marocca blue@ Mid Ocean Marocca's Shell
Looper silver Mid Ocean Thief's Aura, *
Ghastling green Mid Ocean Sacri Crystal
Flestik blue Shrine Island
Seeker silver Shrine Island
Grouder purple Mid Ocean Throwing Blade
=Sentinel= silver Shrine Island Moonberry
Thorkyrn blue Mid Ocean Throkyrn's Scale
Scorfly purple& Nasr Airspace Revered Voice
Tsirat purple Valuan Airspace *
Dralnog green Catacombs
Mind Stealer green Catacombs Mace Hand
Crylhound green Catacombs Crylhound's Claw
Basallish red Catacombs Pyri Box
=Bleigock= green Catacombs Vidal Seed
=Spell Warden= yellow Catacombs
=Executioner= yellow Catacombs Electri Box, Sacres Crystal
Patrol Guard yellow Upper City Sacres Crystal
=Galcian= yellow Upper City
=Royal Guard= yellow Upper City Magic Droplet x 5
Razorbeak yellow Valuan Airspace Everlasting Gem, Silvite Ring
Stonebeak yellow Nasr Airspace Everlasting Gem, Silvite Ring
Azbeth blue Nasr Airspace Everlasting Gem, Silvite Ring
Jynnus blue Valuan Airspace Everlasting Gem, Silvite Ring
Loopalon red Nasr Airspace Black Map, Dexus Seed, *
Durel Beetle blue Nasr Airspace Behemoth's Ring
Magma Tiki red Pyrynn Pyri Box
Dung Fly blue Pyrynn Behemoth's Ring
Death's Head green Pyrynn Storm Wing
Salamander red Pyrynn Flame Mantle
=Zivilyn Bane= red& Pyrynn Paranta Seed
=Rokwyrm= red! Pyrynn Riselem Box
Graver green South Ocean Counter Bracer, *
Elooper green South Ocean Black Map, Dexus Seed, *
Varkris green Ixa'taka Airspace Hunter's Hand
Pinalisk green Ixa'taka Airspace Victory Mail
Tsorok blue Ixa'taka Airspace *
Roseln blue Ixa'taka Airspace
Langry blue Ixa'taka Airspace Wind Gem Ring
Serpantis green Moonstone Mountain
Lucich green Moonstone Mountain Risan Crystal?
Digger yellow Moonstone Mountain Glyph of Might
Mine Patrol yellow Moonstone Mountain
=Antonio 2= yellow Moonstone Mountain Moonberry
Ferlith green Rixis Sacri Box
Que'lak red Rixis Female Armor?
Totelm red Rixis
Slothstra purple Rixis
=Zivilyn Bane= red& Rixis Sylph Seed
Polraxis green Rixis Female Armor?
=Rik'talish= green Rixis Sylph Seed
=Mad Chef= red& North Ocean Sky Sardis x 10
=Gordo= red& North Ocean Cham, Red Sardis x 5
Yulooper yellow Valuan Airspace Black Map, Dexus Seed, *
Scorpon purple& Valuan Airspace Revered Voice
Thryllak blue Valuan Airspace Thryllak's Scale
Enforcer yellow Maw of Tartas
Grapor green Deserted Island Grapor Meat
Kanezl green Frontier Lands Gold Pollen
Burocca blue@ Frontier Lands Burocca's Shell
Lurker green Frontier Lands Electrum Box, *
Walrenk purple Daccat's Island Panika Box
=Zivilyn Bane= red& Daccat's Island Dexus Seed
Centralk blue Daccat's Island Daccat Custom
Baroo red Daccat's Island Pyrum Box
Feralisk green Daccat's Island Sword of Daccat
=Sinistra= red Daccat's Island Magus Seed
=Destra= purple Daccat's Island Icyl Seed
=Ramirez= silver Nasrad
Officer yellow Grand Fortress Jail Sacrum Crystal?
Shock Troop yellow Grand Fortress Jail Sacrum Crystal?
=Vigoro= red& Grand Fortress Jail
Destroyer yellow Grand Fortress Gate
Mage Warden yellow Grand Fortress Gate
=Zivilyn Bane= red& Grand Fortress Inside Vidal Seed
=Dralkor Tank= red& Grand Fortress Inside Riselem Crystal x 5
Drogerp purple Dark Rift Magus Seed
Iridzu green Dark Rift Slipara Box, *
Tsurak blue Dark Rift Wind Gem Ring, *
Imezl green Dark Rift Curia Crystal
Florast purple Dark Rift Inside Constitution Gem
Flyst purple Dark Rift Inside Chance Ring
Flat Fiend purple Dark Rift Inside Ghost Mail
Delzool green Dark Rift Inside
=Zivilyn Bane= red& Dark Rift Inside Paranta Seed
Ghrost green Yafutoma Airspace
Jellikra blue Yafutoma Airspace Ivy Band
Golooper blue Yafutoma Airspace Black Map, Dexus Seed, *
=Jao= blue Yafutoma Airspace Moonberry
=Mao= blue Yafutoma Airspace
Crylbeast green Mount Kazai
Slither red Mount Kazai Moon Robe
Sphyrus blue Mount Kazai
=Zivilyn Bane= red& Mount Kazai Dexus Seed
Mantoid green Mount Kazai
Alusphere blue Mount Kazai Gem of Fluidity
=Tortigar= blue Mount Kazai Moonlight Robe
Tenkou blue Tenkou Island Sacres Crystal
Soldier blue Delphinus Aura of Valor
Red Guard red Delphinus
=Muraji= blue Delphinus Magic Dew x 4
Medullizk blue Lands of Ice
Kilite purple Lands of Ice *
Valgand purple Lands of Ice Chom, *
Arclooper purple Lands of Ice Fortune Ring, Dexus Seed, *
Frost Worm purple Glacia Inside
Cerosik purple Glacia Inside
=Zivilyn Bane= red& Glacia Inside Paranta Seed
Dolthstra purple Glacia Inside
=Veltarn= purple Glacia Inside Crystalen Box
Shrilp red Maw of Tartas Ancient Bracer
Nairad blue Maw of Tartas Dexus Seed
Nadnarb blue Maw of Tartas Icyl Seed
Carnilak blue Maw of Tartas Riselem Crystal
Dracolurg purple Maw of Tartas Defensive Aura
Stalk Fiend green Maw of Tartas
Elite Guard yellow Dangral Island Warrior's Rune
Sentry yellow Dangral Island Glyph of Might?
Berserker yellow Dangral Island Healing Salve?
Lurgel Tank yellow Dangral Island Electrum Box
Shadow blue Crescent Isle Village
=Ramirez= silver Crescent Isle Village
=Vigoro= red& Dangral Island Paranta Seed
=Eliminator= silver Dangral Island Moonberry
Defender yellow Galcian's Ship Aura of Valor
Sorcerer yellow Galcian's Ship
Marauder yellow Galcian's Ship Hydra Wing
Assassin blue Galcian's Ship Marksman Gun
Hydra Elite yellow Galcian's Ship Ominous Mask
=Galcian= yellow^ Galcian's Ship Valuan Medallion
Hunter silver Soltis Warrior's Pistol, *
Telsor silver Soltis Airspace Serpent Strike, *
Delvax silver Soltis Serpent Strike
Hopril silver Soltis Cupil Ring
Garagor purple Soltis Ancient Bracer
Dracoslyth red Soltis Defensive Aura
Linark silver Soltis Silver Arm
Dorntak silver Soltis
Guardian silver Soltis Warrior's Heart
=Zivilyn Bane= red& Soltis Vidal Seed
=Ramirez= silver~ Soltis
=Ramirez= silver Soltis
Elcian yellow# Dark Rift Inside Valuan Medallion,
Black Map, Dexus Seed, *
# - These enemies are defensively colorless.
& - These enemies are not super weak or strong against the expected colors.
Instead, they are just normally weak and strong to those colors.
@ - The snails are ultra weak and strong to all the colors they would be
normally weak and strong to. They can receive 200% or 50% damage.
! - The Rokwyrm is mega ultra weak against Purple, and mega ultra strong
against Red. It is neutral to all other colors.
^ - This particular version of Galcian is almost a typical yellow monster, but
in addition he is also very slightly weak/strong to red/purple.
~ - This particular version of Ramirez is typical defensively, but his special
move Silver Eclipse is bugged. It counts as both a green and a blue attack.
His other attacks and special moves are silver.
* - Moonberry abbreviated. It's likely that all enemies can drop moonberries. I
only listed a * when I have encountered an isolated group of that enemy
that dropped a moonberry. I have gotten moonberries from many many groups
that consisted of different enemy species.
? - I haven't been able to determine yet exactly which of these enemies drops
the item.
This Monster Items list is far from complete! If anyone has any additional
information to give or errors to point out, please visit the Skies of Arcadia
discussion board at
http://www.gamefaqs.com...anything is welcome, even if
all you have to point out is that you saw lone Sorcerers drop a moonberry.
Stats and Calculating Damage
============================
The damage for all normal physical attacks (always named "Attack") is
calculated according to the formula (2 x Your Attack - Enemy Defense). The same
holds in reverse for enemies attacking you. Damage for all magical attacks is
calculated by (2 x Will - MagDef + SomeNumber). SomeNumber is a property of the
spell being used. For example, for Pyri which is one of the weakest magic
spells, SomeNumber is exactly 100. For Pyrulen, SomeNumber is 310.
Damage for special move attacks depends on whether they count as physical or
magical. Almost all special move attacks count as physical. Then the damage is
calculated according to the formula (2 x Attack - Defense) x SomeNumber. Vyse,
Enrique, Drachma, and Gilder have only physical special move attacks. Aika and
Fina have only magical special move attacks. These types of attacks are treated
exactly like regular magic, and damage is (2 x Will - MagDef + SomeNumber). All
Aika's special move attacks are Red Elemental type regardless of her weapon's
equipped color, and all Fina's special move attacks are Silver type.
The formulas for physical and magical type special moves differ a little. This
results in a noticeable difference in the way they behave. At low levels Aika's
and Fina's offensive special moves are very powerful, but at high levels they
are relatively weak compared to other characters' offensive special moves.
All above calculated damages are then altered by the color relationships.
Finally, all damages have a 5% randomness in damage, that is multiplied in
after the above average damage is calculated. Final damage will range from
97.5% to 102.5% of the average, in a continuous uniform distribution.
One example to look at are Loopers. In general, they have very high Dodge and
MagDef, making them very annoying to kill. The best way to kill them is Rain of
Swords, but moves like Pyri and Alpha Storm can work on them if your characters
are at a high level with very high Will.
Miscellaneous Information
=========================
How to determine Magic Exp gained for each color for characters on your team:
Magic Exp for color X on character Y =
(number of characters on team with color X equipped when you won the battle
+ 1 if character Y had color X equipped when you won the battle) x Magic Exp
Critical Hits only happen when the attacking character is standing up close to
the defender. They always hit, and never get counterattacked, so they are good.
They seem to happen more often as your level increases, maybe due to Quick.
Counterattacks also seem to happen more often at high level. Critical Hits
reduce the enemy's Defense to 0.
Guarding halves all damage taken, from any types of attacks. If you guard a
critical hit, you can still counterattack.
The maximum level for characters is 99, and the maximum stat for all stats is
999, including Agile. All characters' stats levelup in a unpredictable yet set
manner specific to them. Spirit and MaxSpirit is included...but at level 65 all
characters converge to 5 Spirit and 20 MaxSpirit...and from then on all levelup
spirit in the same way, ending up at 20 Spirit and 25 MaxSpirit at level 99
(except Gilder, Drachma, and Enrique who will have only 24 MaxSpirit).
For ship battles, the damage of your ship's main cannons and MoonStone Cannon
depend upon the Power stat of the character that fires them. For example, if
Vyse has 400 Power and fires the MoonStone Cannon with 800 Attack, the adjusted
Attack is 1200. Unlike regular monster battles, in ship battles your overall
Attack value is not maxed at 999, nor is damage maxed at 9999.
In ship battles, when you are hit, the damage your ship takes is dependent upon
the Vigor stat of the character that was active during the round you were hit.
The damage taken will depend upon Vigor + ship's MagDef for magic spell
attacks, or Vigor + ship's Defense for all other attacks including special move
attacks. Pinta the crewmember reduces all physical damage to 0, and this even
includes special move attacks!
For ship battles, the rounds with a C! marked in them do not mean that you get
an automatic critical hit if you fire in that turn. The C! does mean however
that you will deal double of normal damage if you fire in that turn. In
addition to this you are free to luck out and get a critical hit as well. Turns
in which you can fire the Harpoon Cannon or Moonstone Cannon also count as C!
rounds, which is part of the reason those weapons seem so ridiculously powerful
(they are always hitting in optimal rounds). If you don't have enough spirit to
fire your special weapon in the designated rounds, fire your regular cannons in
them instead. I'm not really sure what the effects of the Red, Yellow, Green
squares are. I think they are just general indicators of your ship's situation
that round. The color of the square sometimes influences different things, such
as the damage you could deal out, the damage you could receive, which ship has
an advantage to attack first, etc.
In ship battles, during certain rounds your main cannons and secondary cannons
will automatically miss, in which case it will say LOST. These rounds can be
unpredictable, especially since they can even be marked with green squares. If
you know which rounds these are, do not fire your cannons in them.
You can press Start on the controller to skip the animation for your own
characters' Special Moves.
Special Moves
=============
Although the characters you can use differ in many ways, Special Moves are the
most important attribute in determining how powerful a character is.
Cutlass Fury (Vyse) 7 SP SomeNumber = 2.5
--------------------------------------------------------
Does big damage to a single target. A decent move, average spirit efficiency.
Counterstrike (Vyse) 1 SP
--------------------------------------------------------
For one turn Vyse will do a standard Guard (works on all attack types) and will
Counter Attack any normal physical attacks that hit him. Not that useful.
Rain of Swords (Vyse) 14 SP SomeNumber = 1.5
--------------------------------------------------------
Damages all enemies on screen. A decent move that is fair for its spirit cost.
Skull Shield (Vyse) 5 SP
--------------------------------------------------------
For one turn your entire party is protected from normal physical attack damage.
Any characters that are the target of a normal physical attack will perform a
counterattack. Side-effect status ailments of normal attacks are not prevented.
Has its uses in certain situations. Works well together with Delta Shield.
Pirates' Wrath (Vyse) 21 SP SomeNumber = 7.5
--------------------------------------------------------
Does massive damage to a single target. A decent move with average spirit
efficiency. Often better than Cutlass Fury because it is equivalent to doing
three Cutlass Furies in one turn, leaving two extra turns to do other things.
Vyse is powerful and well-rounded. His offensive specials are the most diverse
of any character, and do decent damage.
Tackle (Drachma) 10 SP SomeNumber = 3
--------------------------------------------------------
Does big damage to a single target. Below average spirit efficiency, but the
fact that it does higher damage than Cutlass Fury can make it the better choice
in many situations. Drachma also tends to have extremely high Attack so the
damage of this move in practice ends up quite massive. You should find yourself
using this move quite often when Drachma is in your team.
Spirit Charge (Drachma) 0 SP
--------------------------------------------------------
For one turn Drachma simultaneously Guards and Focuses. His Focus will also
gain twice his normal amount of Spirit. Can be quite useful, but it's not as
good as it might sound.
Hand of Fate (Drachma) 25 SP SomeNumber = 9
--------------------------------------------------------
Causes guaranteed instant Death to a single target. If that target has Death
immunity, instead it will take damage. Average spirit efficiency damage-wise.
It is the most damaging move in the game. Rarely will you use it intending to
cause Death, but mainly against bosses when trying to do massive damage.
Drachma is awesome against bosses, but not as great in regular fights.
Gunslinger (Gilder) 9 SP SomeNumber = 3
--------------------------------------------------------
Does big damage to all enemies in a line that is quite thick. Against one
target it is nearly as efficient as Cutlass Fury, and against multiple targets
its destructive power and spirit efficiency is ultra whopping, easily the best
in the game.
Aura of Denial (Gilder) 3 SP
--------------------------------------------------------
Protects your entire party from being afflicted with status ailments for a
turn. Not as good as Delta Shield. Only use this over Delta Shield to protect
against side-effects of normal physical attacks or special moves, or if you
must cast positive magic on yourself in the same turn you are protected.
The Claudia (Gilder) 18 SP SomeNumber = 2.5
--------------------------------------------------------
Does big damage to all enemies on screen. Much more spirit efficient than Rain
of Swords.
Gilder is the best character at wiping out hordes of strong normal enemies.
Royal Blade (Enrique) 8 SP SomeNumber = 4
--------------------------------------------------------
Does big damage to a single target. A great move, excellent spirit efficiency.
Justice Shield (Enrique) 4 SP
--------------------------------------------------------
For one turn your entire party will effectively be Guarding, except that your
other characters are free to act. Quite good. Best when used alone, but can be
fine in conjunction with Skull Shield or Delta Shield. However using all three
simultaneously is not recommended.
The Judgement (Enrique) 16 SP SomeNumber = 8
--------------------------------------------------------
Does massive damage to a single target. A great move that is really efficient.
Enrique can be argued to be the best character in the game. He is not quite as
well-rounded as Vyse and is most useful against bosses, but the power of his
offensive special moves is overwhelming.
Alpha Storm (Aika) 4 SP SomeNumber = 120
--------------------------------------------------------
Does damage to all enemies in a line that is quite thick. Do not laugh at the
power of Alpha Storm, as early on it is by far the most powerful special move
in the game.
Delta Shield (Aika) 2 SP
--------------------------------------------------------
Protects your entire party from magic for one turn. This includes both damage
and status ailments, but unfortunately prevents you from casting positive magic
such as Increm or Sacres on yourself. Extremely useful.
Lambda Burst (Aika) 8 SP SomeNumber = 200
--------------------------------------------------------
Does damage to all enemies on screen.
Epsilon Mirror (Aika) 10 SP
--------------------------------------------------------
Makes Aika completely and utterly invincible for one turn, and also gives her
10 MP. Nothing will affect her, including status ailments. Once you learn this
move your team will probably be invincible if used well.
Omega Psyclone (Aika) 12 SP SomeNumber = 330
--------------------------------------------------------
Does damage to all enemies on screen.
Aika can be argued to be the best character in the game. Her defensive moves
are dominating and essentially make your team invincible. Offensively she is
useless against bosses except very early on in the game. However, she is the
mainstay offensive force on your team for clearing out hordes of weak normal
enemies. As the game progresses her offensive specials will get noticeably less
and less effective at wiping out hordes of normal enemies compared to Vyse's
Rain of Swords, but they will always remain competent. Her higher level
offensive moves are about as spirit efficient as her lower level moves at
first, but late game the damage they do becomes more similar, so Alpha Storm
becomes the most efficient.
Lunar Blessing (Fina) 12 SP
--------------------------------------------------------
Gives all members of your party Regeneration, which restores 200 HP at the end
of each turn. Useful against bosses, but not as good late game.
Lunar Glyph (Fina) 3 SP SomeNumber = 50
--------------------------------------------------------
Damages a single enemy. Enemy may be Stoned as a random side-effect. Quite
useful for damaging enemies early game. Later on this move is still useful
since it can Stone even very powerful enemies and bosses who are not immune.
Lunar Cleansing (Fina) 6 SP
--------------------------------------------------------
Cures all members of your party from negative status ailments. Not really all
that useful, and usually not worth the effort.
Lunar Winds (Fina) 6 SP SomeNumber = 150
--------------------------------------------------------
Does damage to all enemies on screen, and removes any positive status
enhancements on them. This move is often overlooked because its ability to
remove status enhancements is essentially useless. However it does decent
damage and can be used as an alternative to Aika's offensive specials.
Lunar Light (Fina) 18 SP
--------------------------------------------------------
Restores all team members to full health, even dead ones. Also cures all
members from negative status ailments. Once you learn this move your party is
almost sure to be invincible.
Fina can be argued to be the best character in the game because of Lunar Light.
Special Moves that aren't an attack always go first, which is usually good.
Also, Special Moves that attack always hit and never get counterattacked.
Prophecy (Crew Special) ALL SP
--------------------------------------------------------
Does damage to all enemies on screen. Damage done is independent of your own
stats or the enemy stats. Damage maybe given by the formula 110 x Vyse's Level.
Blue Rogues (Crew Special) ALL SP
--------------------------------------------------------
Does some damage to all enemies on screen and heals some life to each
character. Damage and healing is independent of stats. Damage may be given by
the formula 10 x Vyse's Level x number of damage-type crewmembers active, and
healing by 10 x Vyse's Level x number of healing-type crewmembers active. For
damage-type crewmembers the background as they perform their contribution to
Blue Rogues is blue. For healing-type crewmembers the background will be pink.
In addition, enemies lose their turn entirely on the turn your Crew Special is
performed. Nevertheless, the only time I've found the Crew Specials to be more
effective than normal special moves has been against Elcian.
Magic Spells
============
Magic attacks that do damage always hit and never get counterattacked, which is
good. However they don't really do all that much more damage than a normal
attack in most cases, because the SomeNumber damage bonus for a particular
magic spell in a sense competes with the Attack bonus the character would get
from his equipped weapon when executing a normal attack.
Nevertheless for characters with a weak Power stat and a high Will stat, like
Aika and Fina, attacking with magic or their magic-based specials will do a lot
more damage than their normal physical attack. Also if you get your characters
to level 99 and further max out their stats to 999 with seeds, their weapons
will become somewhat useless since they won't raise Attack beyond 999. But the
SomeNumber bonus of Magic will still boost damage even at 999 Will. Still, the
damage done by magic and magical special move attacks in this case will pale in
comparison to the damage done by physical special move attacks.
Damage done by magic attacks is generally a bit higher than damage done by
magical special move attacks of equal spirit cost, but this is fair since they
also take 1 MP to cast.
Pyri (red) 2 SP SomeNumber = 100
Pyres (red) 4 SP SomeNumber = 170
Pyrum (red) 6 SP SomeNumber = 240
Pyrulen (red) 10 SP SomeNumber = 310
--------------------------------------------------------
Does damage to all enemies on screen. For some reason Pyrulen costs a
disproportionate amount of spirit compared to the ultimate magic spell of the
other analogous color series. Yet it exhibits the same damage increase that
would be expected, following the same pattern. Probably the spirit cost was an
error in the game. Whatever the reason, try to avoid using Pyrulen.
Wevli (blue) 2 SP SomeNumber = 120
Wevles (blue) 4 SP SomeNumber = 210
Wevlum (blue) 6 SP SomeNumber = 300
Wevlen (blue) 8 SP SomeNumber = 390
--------------------------------------------------------
Does damage to all enemies in a circle of increasing radius, proportional to
the level of the spell being used.
Electri (yellow) 2 SP SomeNumber = 120
Electres (yellow) 4 SP SomeNumber = 210
Electrum (yellow) 6 SP SomeNumber = 300
Electrulen (yellow) 8 SP SomeNumber = 390
--------------------------------------------------------
Does damage to all enemies in a line of increasing thickness, proportional to
the level of the spell being used.
Crystali (purple) 1 SP SomeNumber = 140
Crystales (purple) 2 SP SomeNumber = 240
Crystalum (purple) 3 SP SomeNumber = 340
Crystalen (purple) 4 SP SomeNumber = 440
--------------------------------------------------------
Damages a single enemy.
Noxi (green) 3 SP SomeNumber = 120
Noxus (green) 6 SP SomeNumber = 200
--------------------------------------------------------
Noxi damages and poisons a single enemy. Noxus damages and poisons all enemies.
Eternum (silver) 15 SP SomeNumber = 500
--------------------------------------------------------
Causes guaranteed instant death to a single enemy unless it is immune. If
immune it will take damage instead.
Appendix: Raw Test Data
=======================
This is just a collection of some of the raw test data I had to accumulate to
figure out all the magic damages, as well as certain other facts about how
damage is calculated in this game. Only read this if you do not trust my
results or are really interested in some tiny details not mentioned yet.
Miscellaneous Enemy Stats
-------------------------
Elcian: Attack 2000, Will 1200, Defense 700, MagDef 700, HP 10000
Guard: Defense 38
Soldier: Defense 42
These stats were determined experimentally using the above damage formulas for
calculating average damage and the values of my own characters' stats. Except
for Elcian's MagDef which in all honesty has to be simply guessed because prior
to testing none of the SomeNumbers for the magic attacks were known. We only
know for sure Elcian's MagDef is greater than 650. But the guess makes a lot of
sense and there is never any indication it is wrong. Once we make the guess we
can then standardize and experimentally determine SomeNumber for all the magic
attacks. We can then experimentally determine MagDef for any other creature if
desired. We only need to make one standardized assumption for the MagDef of one
particular creature, which I chose to be Elcian.
The following data were gathered by hitting Elcian over and over, sometimes
more than 100 times for each move, to determine the exact damage ranges. Aika
was boosted to exactly 999 Will with seeds and Critical Vision. Fina also had
exactly 999 Will with seeds and Cupil Ring. Enrique was boosted to exactly 999
Attack with seeds and Serpent Strike. Both Vyse and Drachma were boosted to
1001 Attack or more after the combined effects of seeds and their weapons, but
as expected Attack maxes at 999 both on the stat screen and in reality.
For calculating damage averages, data from multiple moves that appear to do the
same damage were combined for better results. Randomness = Spread / Expected.
Move Name Damage Range Average Expected Spread Randomness
--------- ------------ ------- -------- ------ ----------
Enrique normal attack 1265 - 1330 1297.5 1298 65 5.008%
Drachma normal attack 1265 - 1330 1297.5 1298 65 5.008%
(perfect)
Pyri 1363 - 1432 1397.5 1398 69 4.936%
(perfect)
Wevli 1382 - 1451 1417 1418 70 4.937%
Electri 1384 - 1451 1417 1418 70 4.937%
Alpha Storm 1382 - 1452 1417 1418 70 4.937%
Noxi 1383 - 1450 1417 1418 70 4.937%
(theoretical) 1382 - 1453 1417.5 1418 71 5.007%
Eternum 1753 - 1842 1797.5 1798 89 4.950%
(perfect)
Lambda Burst 1462 - 1534 1497 1498 74 4.940%
Noxus 1460 - 1530 1497 1498 74 4.940%
(theoretical) 1460 - 1535 1497.5 1498 75 5.007%
Omega Psyclone 1589 - 1665 1627 1628 76 4.668%
(theoretical) 1587 - 1668 1627.5 1628 81 4.975%
Lunar Glyph 1314 - 1380 1347 1348 66 4.896%
(theoretical) 1314 - 1381 1347.5 1348 67 4.970%
Lunar Winds 1413 - 1484 1448.5 1448 71 4.903%
(theoretical) 1411 - 1484 1447.5 1448 73 5.041%
Pyres 1432 - 1502 1467 1468 70 4.768%
(theoretical) 1431 - 1504 1467.5 1468 73 4.973%
Wevles 1470 - 1538 1507 1508 74 4.907%
Electres 1471 - 1544 1507 1508 74 4.907%
(theoretical) 1470 - 1545 1507.5 1508 75 4.973%
Pyrum 1500 - 1574 1536.5 1538 75 4.876%
Crystales 1499 - 1571 1536.5 1538 75 4.876%
(theoretical) 1499 - 1576 1537.5 1538 77 5.007%
Wevlum 1562 - 1635 1597.5 1598 77 4.819%
Electrum 1559 - 1636 1597.5 1598 77 4.819%
(theoretical) 1558 - 1637 1597.5 1598 79 4.944%
Pyrulen 1570 - 1646 1608 1608 76 4.726%
(theoretical) 1567 - 1648 1607.5 1608 81 5.037%
Wevlen 1652 - 1728 1688.5 1688 79 4.680%
Electrulen 1649 - 1714 1688.5 1688 79 4.680%
(theoretical) 1645 - 1730 1687.5 1688 85 5.036%
Crystali 1403 - 1473 1438 1438 70 4.868%
(theoretical) 1402 - 1473 1437.5 1438 71 4.937%
Crystalum 1597 - 1675 1636 1638 78 4.762%
(theoretical) 1597 - 1678 1637.5 1638 81 4.945%
Crystalen 1695 - 1781 1738 1738 86 4.948%
(theoretical) 1694 - 1781 1737.5 1738 87 5.006%
Vyse normal attack 1273 - 1338 1305.5 1306? 65 4.978%
(perfect)
Vyse critical hit 1957 - 2056 2006.5 2006? 99 4.935%
(theoretical) 1955 - 2056 2005.5 2006? 101 5.035%
Rain of Swords 1911 - 2006 1958.5 1959? 95 4.849%
(theoretical) 1910 - 2007 1958.5 1959? 96 4.900%
As one can see the test data fits the damage formula perfectly. The game
appears to truncate the decimal point from the final resulting random damage.
This causes the actual theoretical average damage to be 0.5 points lower than
the raw calculated average damage. Although not recorded in the data it also
appears that the two endpoints of damage, the minimum and maximum, occur a bit
more rarely than the rest of the uniform damage distribution. This is due to
the truncation after the 5% randomness is multiplied in.
There is an abnormality in all physical damage done by Vyse. His normal
physical attack did exactly 8 points more damage than normal. As testing shows,
this increase also applies perfectly and properly for his Critical Hits and
physical special moves. After testing out hundreds of hypotheses why this might
be true I concluded that the only possible explanation is that Vyse is special
compared to all other characters. Further testing of damages against Elcian was
done. The above Aika and Fina at level 99 were physically tested. Aika had 535
Attack, and Fina had 444 Attack. A weaker Vyse at level 86, Attack 609, and
Will 285 was also tested.
Move Name Damage Range Average Expected Spread Randomness
--------- ------------ ------- -------- ------ ----------
Aika normal attack 360 - 379 369.5 370 19 5.135%
(perfect)
Fina normal attack 183 - 193 188 188 10 5.319%
(theoretical) 183 - 192 187.5 188 9 4.787%
Vyse normal attack 510 - 538 524 518 + ? 28 5.344%
(theoretical) 510 - 537 523.5 524? 27 5.153%
Vyse Crystalen 302 - 318 310 310 16 5.161%
(theoretical) 302 - 317 309.5 310 15 4.839%
Vyse Noxus 68 - 72 70 70 4 5.714%
(theoretical) 68 - 71 69.5 70 3 4.286%
Vyse Pyres 39 - 41 40 40 2 5.000%
(theoretical) 39 - 40 39.5 40 1 2.500%
So this time Vyse only did 6 points more damage than normal. And when tested at
the beginning of the game, Vyse did completely normal damage. The abnormality
seems to be linked to some unknown stat that only Vyse possesses which must
increase as the game progresses. What stat could this be? I can think of only
one such stat...the Swashbuckler Rating! So the Swashbuckler Rating might
actually have a minor effect in fights. This level 86 Vyse was only Dashing due
to purposeful poor answering of questions throughout the game. The level 99
Vyse from an entirely different play-through of the game was a Legend.
Overall though, an 8 point increase in damage is not too significant at high
levels. It will not make Pirate's Wrath as strong as The Judgement.
The above data shows another new abnormality. Both Fina and Vyse actually did
experimental damage outside the theoretical range! This never happened in any
of the previous tests. Extensive testing showed the damage outside the expected
range always occurs at the maximum possible damage value and is always exactly
1 point higher than previously theorized. The likelihood of seeing this special
1 point maximum damage is more likely at low damages, and nearly impossible at
high damages. Even at low damages, the likelihood of seeing the special 1 point
maximum is extremely low compared to the likelihood of seeing the rest of the
damage values.
For Vyse's Pyres attack, 102.5% x 40 is exactly 41 but that means the 41 damage
should theoretically never happen unless the game rolls a perfect maximum. In
actuality the 41 damage is only seen due to the 1 point special maximum which
occurs extremely rarely. The true average experimental damage is something
close to 39.5 and not 40, since the 41 occurs so rarely.
Another test was done with a Vyse of 291 Will against Elcian to show how rarely
the 1 point special maximum occurs, even at tiny damages.
Move Name Damage Range Average Expected Spread Randomness
--------- ------------ ------- -------- ------ ----------
Vyse Wevli 1 - 3 2 2 2 100%
(theoretical) 1 - 2 1.5 2 1 50%
# of trials: 73 times
# of times Damage was 1: 30 times
# of times Damage was 2: 40 times
# of times Damage was 3: 3 times
The 1 point special maximum most likely exists because of a quirky way in which
the actual game's Battle Damage Formula is coded. It's not important to figure
out what exactly what this is. The 1 point maximum occurs rarely enough at low
damages and is next to impossible at high damages. The theoretical formula is
exact enough.
Credits and Special Thanks
==========================
Here are some of the people who helped me on this FAQ. If you helped me and
would like your name added, just let me know.
Yorutsuki, Lunar Eclipse, gilderthegreat, Strippin Heat
