Systems:Mechanics

Mechanics

Combat is turn-based. Faster combatants act first each round, enemies show their next move before they make it, and every number below comes from the game's own settings. No guesswork, no folklore.

How damage is worked out

Start from the ability's value, for example 140% of MAG. Empower makes ATK and MAG count as 30% higher.
Roll a random spread of ±10%.
A critical hit multiplies the result by 1.5. A move that hits several times rolls the spread and the crit for each hit.
Defense removes a share of the hit: DEF ÷ (DEF + 2 × (the attacker's level + 10)). Elemental hits count half the target's DEF, and the share never goes above 75%. For example, 30 DEF takes 33% off a level 20 enemy's physical hit. The share is measured against the attacker's level, so DEF keeps its worth as you level, and it counts for more against weaker enemies.
Weak cuts direct hits by 25%. Vulnerable adds 25%and Fortify removes 30%, including damage over time.
An enemy that resists the element takes 50% less, damage over time included: Burn is fire, Poison is nature, Bleed is physical, and Corruption and Agony are shadow. In a fight, an enemy's panel names what it resists. Enemy pages list their resists once their stats are known.
An enemy weak to the element takes 50% more, damage over time included. No enemy is weak to an element it resists. A weakness stays hidden until someone lands a hit of that element: from then on its panel names it, your moves of that element are tagged Effective against it, and its enemy page lists it.
Every hit deals at least 1. Shields absorb damage before HP does.

Damage over time (Burn, Bleed, Poison, Corruption, Agony) skips the spread, crits and defense.

Status effects

Reapplying a status keeps the longer duration and the stronger effect. They don't stack. Agony is the exception: your own fresh Agony starts over at its first, smallest tick.

Status	Type	Effect
Burn	Debuff	Takes fire damage at the start of each turn.
Bleed	Debuff	Takes physical damage at the start of each turn.
Poison	Debuff	Takes nature damage at the start of each turn.
Corruption	Debuff	Takes shadow damage at the start of each turn.
Agony	Debuff	Takes shadow damage at the start of each turn, 25% more each time.
Regen	Buff	Heals at the start of each turn.
Stun	Debuff	Loses its next turn.
Vulnerable	Debuff	Takes 25% more damage.
Weak	Debuff	Deals 25% less damage with direct hits.
Taunt	Buff	Enemies must target this combatant with single-target attacks.
Fortify	Buff	Takes 30% less damage.
Empower	Buff	ATK and MAG count as 30% higher.
Haste	Buff	Speed is 30% higher.
Slow	Debuff	Speed is 30% lower.
Marked	Debuff	Takes 20% more damage from the marker's side.
Evasion	Buff	Direct hits have a 40% chance to miss. Damage over time still lands.
Vanish	Buff	The next attack against you misses, for certain. That attack spends it.
Ambush	Buff	Your next damaging move deals 50% more, then it is spent.
Sleep	Debuff	Loses its turns until it wears off. Any damage wakes it up.

Experience per level

The level cap is 80. Dying resets your character to level 1.

Level	XP to next	Total XP
1 → 2	151	151
2 → 3	169	320
3 → 4	189	509
4 → 5	212	721
5 → 6	238	959
6 → 7	268	1,227
7 → 8	303	1,530
8 → 9	342	1,872
9 → 10	387	2,259
10 → 11	437	2,696
11 → 12	494	3,190
12 → 13	557	3,747
13 → 14	627	4,374
14 → 15	706	5,080
15 → 16	792	5,872
16 → 17	887	6,759
17 → 18	991	7,750
18 → 19	1,105	8,855
19 → 20	1,229	10,084
20 → 21	1,363	11,447
21 → 22	1,508	12,955
22 → 23	1,665	14,620
23 → 24	1,834	16,454
24 → 25	2,016	18,470
25 → 26	2,210	20,680
26 → 27	2,418	23,098
27 → 28	2,640	25,738
28 → 29	2,876	28,614
29 → 30	3,127	31,741
30 → 31	3,393	35,134
31 → 32	3,675	38,809
32 → 33	3,974	42,783
33 → 34	4,289	47,072
34 → 35	4,622	51,694
35 → 36	4,972	56,666
36 → 37	5,341	62,007
37 → 38	5,728	67,735
38 → 39	6,134	73,869
39 → 40	6,561	80,430
40 → 41	7,007	87,437
41 → 42	7,474	94,911
42 → 43	7,962	102,873
43 → 44	8,472	111,345
44 → 45	9,004	120,349
45 → 46	9,558	129,907
46 → 47	10,135	140,042
47 → 48	10,736	150,778
48 → 49	11,361	162,139
49 → 50	12,011	174,150
50 → 51	12,685	186,835
51 → 52	13,385	200,220
52 → 53	14,111	214,331
53 → 54	14,863	229,194
54 → 55	15,642	244,836
55 → 56	16,448	261,284
56 → 57	17,282	278,566
57 → 58	18,145	296,711
58 → 59	19,036	315,747
59 → 60	19,957	335,704
60 → 61	20,907	356,611
61 → 62	21,888	378,499
62 → 63	22,899	401,398
63 → 64	23,941	425,339
64 → 65	25,016	450,355
65 → 66	26,122	476,477
66 → 67	27,261	503,738
67 → 68	28,433	532,171
68 → 69	29,639	561,810
69 → 70	30,879	592,689
70 → 71	32,153	624,842
71 → 72	33,462	658,304
72 → 73	34,807	693,111
73 → 74	36,188	729,299
74 → 75	37,606	766,905
75 → 76	39,060	805,965
76 → 77	40,552	846,517
77 → 78	42,082	888,599
78 → 79	43,650	932,249
79 → 80	45,257	977,506

Gate boss XP

From Ingtonmurk on, a gate boss pays a set amount of XP instead of the usual formula, sized to carry you toward the next city's boss. The figure is for a hero at the boss's own level. Beat it above that level and it pays less, like any kill.

Boss	Level	XP	Levels it covers
The Blue-Flame Wight	15	1,050	1
The Glass-Eyed Seer	17	1,300	1
The Living Frieze	20	2,050	1
General Mordecai the Shadow-Stalker	22	2,700	1
The Corsair-King Al-Zaman	24	5,600	2
The Golem of Living Grain	27	7,750	2
The Obsidian Oracle	30	9,900	2
The Architect of Whispers	33	12,800	2
The Murder-King Valerius	36	9,700	1
The Sea-Steel Titan	38	25,650	3
The Ghost-Light Siren	42	33,750	3
The Sand-Dread Leviathan	46	42,450	3
The Matriarch of the Void	50	53,200	3
The Amnesiac Juggernaut	54	73,700	4
The Revenant Frost-Giant	62	106,000	4
The Fallen Inquisitor	70	191,250	5