Tutorial 3

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0	Break
1	<c4>【What is Break?】<c1> Break is a special action caused by accumulating damage. While affected by Break, the target cannot move and takes increased damage. When anything is hit by an attack, it receives Break Damage. As this damage accumulates, <c5>!<c1> signs appear above the target's head. When three <c5>!!!<c1>s appear, a Break happens. <c4>【Go for Break!】<c1> This is an explanation of how to cause Break. First, deal damage to your target. The more damage, the easier it is to cause Break, but high-damage abilities are usually slow, so start by using fast attacks that don't consume much SP. Once the <c5>!!<c1> sign appears above the monster's head, switch to attacks that have a <c5>Break Effect<c1>. Once the <c5>!!!<c1> sign appears, a Break will occur. What happens next depends on the Break Effect of the attack that caused the Break. This effect is written in the ability's description, so check there to see what it does. For example, with effects such as <c5>Juggle<c1> or <c5>Launch<c1>, you can knock the monster into the air, making it easier to continue attacking. All attacks will successfully connect during a Break, so go for powerful abilities that cause a lot of damage. Skillful use of Break can shift a battle to your favor. Conversely, you can get into big trouble if you or your allies are hit with a Break, so watch out for any red <c3>!<c1> signs.
2	Break Effects
3	Attacks can have certain impacts on monsters when they cause a Break. These are known as Break Effects. <c4>【Types of Break Effects】<c1> <c5>Knockback<c1>: push backwards <c5>Juggle<c1>: hit diagonally upwards <c5>Launch<c1>: hit vertically upwards <c5>Knockdown<c1>: slam onto the ground Abilities that have no Break Effect written in their descriptions will cause the monster to jerk back and stop whatever it was doing. By skillfully using these Break Effects, you can chain them together into a combo. Each effect's strength depends on the weight of the enemy - light enemies will float high into the air, while heavy enemies will only move a short distance.
4	Burst Hits
5	Attacks dealt during a Break all become Burst Hits that deal increased damage. The effect of a hit changes for a Burst Hit, which can be distinct from normal damage.
6	Counter/S-Break
7	There is a technique known as <c5>Counter<c1> you can use when aiming for a Break. When you deal damage to your target <c5>when it has started to attack but has not hit yet<c1>, it will deal more Break Damage than usual. For example, if you attack a monster after it raises its sword but before it hits you, you will Counter it. <c3>* Watch out - the stronger the ability you are using, the more Break Damage you will take if it is Countered.<c1> Furthermore, if you cause a Break with a Counter, it will become an S (Super) Break. S-Breaks have the following properties: ・<c5>Break Effects cover more distance.<c1> ・<c5>Burst Hits deal more damage.<c1> This strategy comes with the big risk of taking more hits from monsters, so wait to try for it until you've already dealt a large amount of Break Damage.
8	Avoiding Breaks
9	There are three ways to make it harder for Monsters to Break you. <c4>【1: Reduce the damage you take】<c1> ・<c5>Raise DEF and elemental resistances using equipment.<c1> ・<c5>Raise your VIT via the Stats screen.<c1> You can make yourself tougher by raising your DEF through VIT and/or equipping a shield. You can raise your resistances with equipment and orbs, or by using support abilities. <c4>【2: Use recovery items】<c1> A Guts Drink will completely restore your Break Damage. You can also restore some by using HP recovery items like Life Bottles and Magic Stones. <c4>【3: Let it recover naturally】<c1> Break Damage will gradually recover by itself as time passes.
10	Impact Damage
11	When monsters are knocked back due to a Break Effect, you can deal further damage if they hit an obstacle. This affects players as well, so be cautious when fighting in enclosed spaces. Also, only for monsters, knockback can cause damage if monsters hit each other. When there is a crowd of monsters, it may be advantageous to aim for a knockback.
12	Selecting Targets
13	<c4>【Bows, Guns, and 1-Target Magic】<c1> When using ranged attacks, a cursor will automatically appear under your target when you press down the button. With the button held down, you can change your target by pressing left or right on the control pad. Also, once you have selected a target the targeting cursor will stay on that target. If you want to use 1-target magic to heal an ally, you can switch the targeting cursor over to them beforehand, allowing you to quickly heal them in a pinch. <c4>【Area Attacks】<c1> Unlike 1-target magic, area magic and traps are multiple-target spells with an area cursor that must be moved around manually. While holding down the button, the area cursor will appear at your feet. You can then use the control pad to move it around freely. On the <c5>Save/Config<c1> menu under <c5>Options<c1>, you can select <c5>Far<c1> to have the area cursor start out a short distance away, reducing the amount of time you need to spend moving it.
14	Attributes
15	The eight attributes are divided into two categories, physical attributes and magical elements. <c4>【Physical Attributes】<c1> <c5>Piercing・Blunt<c1> Weapons with piercing damage include things like swords and bows, while weapons with blunt damage include things sticks and knuckles. Raising your DEF reduces the damage you take from these attributes. <c4>【Magical Elements】<c1> <c5>Fire・Water・Wind・Earth・Light・Dark<c1> Raising the corresponding elemental resistance will reduce the damage you take from these elements, as well as protect you from related status effects. These elements are opposites: ・<c5>Fire and Water<c1> ・<c5>Wind and Earth<c1> ・<c5>Light and Dark<c1> For example, if a monster uses Dark attacks, that means it's weak to Light. Now you can use these relationships to figure out a monster's weakness. <c4>【Hit Effects】<c1> These elements each have a related Hit Effect in addition to dealing damage. <c3>* This also applies to Piercing and Slashing damage.<c1>
16	Guard/Evasion
17	You can avoid taking any damage from a physical attack by dodging it with <c5>Evade<c1>, or halve the damage by absorbing the blow with <c5>Guard<c1>. However, you cannot defend against magical attacks. The probability of a Guard or Evade happening depends primarily on your <c5>SKL<c1>, but the difference between your level and your opponent's will affect it. You can also improve your chances through equipment and support effects.
18	Back Attacks
19	If you are attacked from behind by monsters, you won't be able to Guard or evade, and you will take increased damage. Be careful not to turn your back when a monster is preparing to attack. Also, there are monsters that have the ability to Guard and evade, so if you don't seem to be doing much damage, try attacking them from behind.
20	Added Effects
21	Added Effects are temporary conditions that affect both players and monsters. These affects have 3 categories: <c5>Support<c1>: Gives advantages in battle <c5>Status<c1>: Gives disadvantages in battle <c5>Special<c1>: Unique personal support You can only be affected by one Added Effect from each category at a time. For Support Effects, new effects can always be applied. The old effect will be overwritten, as you cannot have two at once. However, for players only, each ally can have a unique effect. That means for a 3-player Multiplay game, your party can have up to 3 different Support Effects. For Status Effects, Petrify will erase Poison. The rest depend upon the effect's priority number. For Special Effects, they behave exactly like Support Effects, but they only affect you.
22	Status Effects
23	Status Effects are each associated with an element, and the chance that they will be caused by an attack depend on the target's resistance to that element. If you are being hit by Status Effects from monster attacks, raise your resistance to the approprate element. <c4>【Fire】<c1> <c5>Fatigue<c1>: Lowers DEF. <c5>Exhaustion<c1>: Lowers ATK and Mag. ATK. <c5>Pain<c1>: Multiplies physical (Piercing, Blunt) damage taken by 1.5. <c4>【Water】<c1> <c5>Snare<c1>: Lowers movement speed. <c5>Slow<c1>: Lowers attack and cast speed. <c5>Freeze<c1>: Renders you unable to move. If you take any damage, you will be destroyed (instant death). * No tombstone will appear. <c4>【Wind】<c1> <c5>Blind<c1>: Lowers ACC and EVD. <c5>Mute<c1>: Disables Active Abilities. <c4>【Earth】<c1> <c5>Paralyze<c1>: After using an Active Ability, makes you unable to act for a short period. <c5>Magnetize<c1>: Lowers Wind and Earth resistances by one grade. This effect can stack 3 times. Also, causes allied characters to be pulled closer. <c5>Petrify<c1>: Renders you unable to move. If you take any damage, you will be destroyed (instant death). * No tombstone will appear. <c4>【Light】<c1> <c5>Resist Down<c1>: Lowers all elemental resistances. <c5>Stun<c1>: Renders you unable to move. <c4>【Dark】<c1> <c5>Poison<c1>: Repeatedly deals damage at fixed intervals. <c5>Toxin<c1>: Deals damage at fixed intervals like Poison, but also causes Poison in nearby allies. <c5>Weak<c1>: Lowers ATK, Mag. ATK, DEF, ACC, and EVD. <c5>Death Chain<c1>: When the affected target is defeated, the damage from the killing blow chains to nearby allies. <c5>Mirror<c1>: The target is sealed in the mirror world, unable to interact with the real world. While sealed, the target takes suffocation damage over time. <c4>【Special Effects】<c1> <c5>Stop<c1>: Freezes time throughout the map, preventing everyone but the user from acting. <c3>* As this affects the entire map, other status effects remain active.<c1>
24	Party Members
25	All the members of Pharzuph that you can use during Single Play have different abilities they can use, so you may want to change the characters and combat styles you use depending on the situation. Also, the ability sets known as Form Types that they can use will change based on your Class Rank, widening their combat abilities. When your Class Rank increases, try out your party members' new forms.
26	Healing your Party
27	When your party members lose HP, you can go back to Myrtle to heal them, but you can also heal them right on the field with recovery items, bells, and Green Pillars. If your allies lose all of their HP, they will withdraw to base, so pay attention to their HP gauges as well.
28	Advanced Combat
29	<c4>【Basic Attacks are Only to Start】<c1> The basic attack you can use from the beginning is nice in that it does not consume any SP. However, unlike abilities, it cannot be leveled up. This means that compared to abilities, it will take a longer to defeat any but the weakest of monsters, so it is important to find abilities you can use instead. If you find yourself running out of SP too quickly, use SP recovery items like Soma Crystals during battle so that you can continue to use Abilities. <c4>【Critical versus Shock】<c1> Critical hits do twice normal damage. Shock hits do six times normal damage. <c4>【Physical versus Magical】<c1> <c5>Physical Attack<c1> damage is affected by <c5>DEF<c1> and can be blocked by Guard and Evade. <c5>Magical Attack<c1> damage is affected by <c5>resistances<c1> and cannot be blocked. <c4>【How does Absorb work?】<c1> The item abilities HP Absorb and SP Absorb restore a set percentage of the physical damage (<c5>Piercing<c1>, <c5>Blunt<c1>) that you deal to monsters. Magical damage (<c5>Fire<c1>, <c5>Water<c1>, <c5>Wind<c1>, <c5>Earth<c1>, <c5>Holy<c1>, <c5>Dark<c1>) is not included. <c4>【How Does Damage Reflection Work?】<c1> <c5>Iron Maiden<c1> reflects damage from melee physical attacks back at the attacker. Ranged attacks and magic cannot be reflected. <c4>【Attack Speed and Cast Speed】<c1> You may think that item abilities and Support Effects that boost attack speed would be worthless for magic users. However, attack speed also includes cast speed, so these abilities can also reduce the time it takes to cast magic spells.