A is a modification to a character's condition that appears in numerous Computer And Video Game s. Status effects are most commonly found in Role-playing Games , but also appear frequently in other genres. The term Status effect can be applied to both beneficial and harmful conditions, although harmful effects are the most common.
Although status effects vary widely from one game to another, certain effects appear in numerous games. Below is a partial listing of the most common status effects and descriptions of how they usually work.
- Attack/Defense UP — The character's Attack or Defense stat is temporarily boosted by a certain amount, enabling them to inflict or withstand more damage.
- Auto-Life/Preraise/Auto-Revive — The character will automatically be revivied when he or she is knocked unconscious. Games differ in how much HP the character gains, usually either half or full.
- Counterattack — The character responds to a physical attack by striking back. In some games, the defender takes no damage, but in others they do. Games also differ in how much damage is countered: it could be anything from a third to all to double damage.
- Dodgy/Evasion UP/Blink — There is a reduced chance of getting hit by attacks.
- Electric Charge/Static — Physical attackers will take a little damage themselves.
- Protect — Characters affected by the protect status take less damage from physical attacks.
- Reflect — Magic spells (or other projectiles) cast on the character are reflected. This usually means that the spell is used on a random character on the opposite side from the one it was cast on, be it player or monster. in some games, however, the rules are different. In '' Final Fantasy Tactics '' for example, a reflected spell is retargeted on a square the same distance away from the intended target as the caster was. The reflect ability generally doesn't work (or has less chance of working) against the highest level spells.
- Regeneration — The character slowly regains hit points over time. Sometimes works on magic power as well, or it can have its own effect (called "Osmosis" at times). Sometimes shortened to "Regen".
- Shell — Characters affected by the protect status take less damage from magical attacks.
Note: Negative status effects usually have a success rate, or in other words they aren't guarrenteed to work once the attack is launched.
- Allergic — This is a status effect that prevents all other status effects. This sounds good because allergic characters can't get poisoned or such, but they also can't raise their attack or defense.
- Asleep — The character incapable or doing anything. Sometimes, getting attacked will wake them up right away.
- Attack/Defense DOWN — The character's Attack or Defense stat is temporarily lowered, making their attacks weaker, or causing them to take more damage.
- Berserk — In some games, the Berserk status effect is harmful and causes a character to become uncontrollable, and constantly attack. In other games, the Berserk effect merely increases a character's fighting abilities. It can also do both of these things and in these cases it can be classified as both a positive and negative effect (usually dependent on whether it is cast upon a fighter or a spellcaster), although it is usually classed as negative. It is a reasonably common tactic to use this variant of the beserk effect on spellcasters, who generally have very poor physical stats and will therefore still not be particularly strong, even with the stat boost.
- Blindness — This usually greatly decreases the chances that the affected character's attacks will successfully damage their targets. Called "Dizziness" in some games, and "Crying" in " EarthBound ".
- Burn — This is a status effect that has a varying effect depending on the game. In " Paper Mario " games, it is equivocal to "Poison"; it has a similar effect for the " Pokémon " series, but with an additional decrease in Attack power. In other games not of these series, however, "Burn" designates an instant KO for any character that takes action while afflicted with the condition.
- Confusion — In many games a confused character may mistake allies for foes and attack them. In other games however, a confused character's simply attacks at random, hitting friends, foes, or even him or herself. In many Action-RPGs, the player's controls will be inverted or scrambled instead. Confusion usually ends after a certain period of time. In some games a single physical attack also cures this status effect. " EarthBound " has an equivocal effect known as "Feeling Strange."
- Curse — This effect has many different meanings. Sometimes, it prevents a character from attacking. At other times it functions like poison or deals even more damage and sometimes it blocks the victim's magic. Curse may also lower Ability Points until the curse is removed, usually by a spell. In some games, being cursed in battle begins a countdown; the character affected dies when the counter reaches zero. This type of curse is also sometimes referred called 'doom' or 'death sentence', especially in the '' Final Fantasy '' series. Sometimes, this is combined with Stone, in that a character will turn to stone after a set number of rounds have passed.
- Daze — A dazed character can walk around at a reduced speed, but cannot perform any actions, such as fighting or casting spells.
- Frozen — Usually (if not always) caused by an ice-based attack, being frozen usually halts further action of the character. In the ''Final Fantasy'' Series , if any character gets hit with a physical attack while frozen, it immediately inflicts KO, possibly due to a frozen object shattering with a well placed hit. In some games, a fire attack will end the effect instantly.
- Hold — A held character is similar to a character in paralysis, but the effects mostly come from a spell that binds the character.
- KO — This happens when a character's HP is 0. Technically it's considered in RPG's as a status effect because it causes inability of action that can be cured (being healed). Also, in " RPG Maker ", it's listed as a status effect and the only one you can't edit or delete. As an attack that causes it, if successful, the character's HP instantly becomes 0.
- Stun — A stunned character is unable to walk or perform any actions. Can be either electrical stun or frozen-time stun. Unlike Paralysis, it usually lasts for a short duration, such as one turn or a few seconds.
- Lock/Hold — Seen in a number of games under different names, this effect is like "Mute" for physicals. Under this ailment, units can no longer use their physical offense in battle.
- Paralysis — A paralyzed character is usually incapable of action. This usually prevents physical attacks and often prevents magical spells also. In some games, including the '' Pokémon '' series, a paralyzed character can attack with reduced speed, but his or her attacks will occasionally fail.
- Poison — A character who is affected by poison takes damage at a regular rate (once a turn, usually). In some games, this drain of HP is not able to kill the character, but leaves him or her so weak that even the most pathetic of attacks can defeat him or her. Some games also have an "On Fire" effect, which is very similar. " EarthBound ," which still has this status effect, also has a similar, weaker version known as "Cold."
- Silence — A character afflicted with the silence status effect cannot use magic. This is based on the idea that casting magic requires chanting and therefore since the character cannot speak, they can't cast magic.
- Stone/Bronzed/Diamondized/Petrified — This status effect usually denotes that a character has been petrified and is thus incapable of any action whatsoever until the status has worn off or been lifted. In some games, stone'd characters are also invincible. Usually, if the entire party gets petrified, the game ends.
- Zombie/Undead — Bodily death, this is a status effect that differs with the game. In some, "undead" status simply opens up new job classes, while altering elemental affinities (ex:" Ogre Battle "). In others, it is a status effect like any other, and causes the character to "die," but still remain in play with 0 HP and 'confusion.' In almost all cases, "undead" units take damage from curative spells and potions, and gain a weakness to holy and light elements.
Note: The following status effects are not common, but rather unique to a particular series or game. Maybe creative, sometimes bizarre, but they do give a flavor that describes the game as a whole.
- Charm/Attraction — Seen in a few game series, and works pretty much the same all the time. In " Final Fantasy " this will "recruit" the target to the side of whomever 'charmed' them. In " Pokémon ", your chance of attacking the enemy who used it on you, assuming they are the opposite gender, drops significantly.
- Float — Seen in a few games and series, notably " Final Fantasy ", this makes the target levitate, effectively negating Earth-based damage. Sometimes this raises evasion to physical attacks overall as well. One of the few beneficial status effects in " Final Fantasy " to remain after battle, protecting the player from injury when walking on damaging floors in games such as Final Fantasy IV. In " Pokémon " the most similar effect is the Pokémon Trait "Levitate."
- Frog/Mini — Both are essentially the same status effect, despite aesthetics. Defensive and offensive power drop immensely for the target, and magic may be locked. Frog can be cured using the same spell again, though. These appear in various " Final Fantasy " titles.
- Glass — Seen in Wild ARMs 3 , This makes the next attack against the affected character instantly fatal.
- Haste/Fast — Found in the " Final Fantasy " games, this status boost will double the speed of the character who has it. Effectively, it causes the ATB for the character to fill twice as fast, giving them more turns during battle.
- Homesick — Only seen in " EarthBound ", this solely afflicts the main character, Ness . It could be cured by calling home to your mother, or talking to her in person.
- Mushroom — Seen in "", this is the game's variation of "Regen," with a catch. While the characters restore HP, they are permanently frozen in the form of a mushroom, unable to make a move. In " EarthBound ", the affliction was something completely different, which worked similar to "confusion" in battle, and reversed the player's controls on the overworld.
- Oil — In " Final Fantasy Tactics ", this drenches the character in oil, and makes the next Fire-attack on that character twice as effective.
- Pig — Only seen in " Final Fantasy IV ", this is an alternative to "Frog" that prevents the user from casting magic. Can be cured with the same spell.
- Possession — Appears in many forms within the games it is in. In " EarthBound ," this status effect would sap your HP very slowly, while numbing your abilities during battle. You may have to attack the person who is affected to berid of it.
- Quick — Not to be confused with "Haste," some " Final Fantasy " games utilize "Quick" to give a character two moves in one turn.
- Scarecrow — Seen in "", this is the opposite of the "Mute" status effect. The target's body becomes transfixed as a scarecrow, and can no longer use items or physically attack; they are completely limited to their magic spells.
- Slow — Opposite of "Haste" in " Final Fantasy " games, this causes the speed of a character to drop. In other words, the ATB fills at half its normal speed.
- Sunstroke — An " EarthBound " exclusive. Similar to "Poison," but is received by walking in "hot" areas of the overworld. Unit is dealt damage in and out of battle.
- Stop — The ATB for characters in " Final Fantasy " with this status effect will no longer fill, meaning they can no longer receive turns. It goes away after a while.
- Thirsty — Found in Dark Cloud 2 as a Status Effect. The character cannot heal damage as long as they're thirsty.
- Weight — In "," a brother with weights tied on is a brother who can't jump very high. This limits the player's ability to dodge attacks through jumping, and slows the brother down in their reaction time overall.
This matter varies as widely as the effects themselves and the games in which they appear. Some status effects go away on their own after a certain amount of time has elapsed. Most games contain items capable of healing status effects. Often these items heal a specific status effect (such as Antidotes, which in many games cure Poison), though many games also include one or more universal status effect removing items (such as Full Heal from the Pokémon series, or Remedy in the Final Fantasy series). Many games also include magic spells that can eliminate status effects (such as the Esuna spell from the '' Final Fantasy '' series). Most of the time status effects are removed at the end of a battle, however in some games they continue to persist until either they are cured or until the character rests (such as at an inn, temple, or in a tent).
|
