Combat Mechanics (Crossbell)

This page explains the basic mechanics of combat in Trails from Zero and to Azure.

Entering Combat

When the party makes contact with an enemy in the overworld, the game changes to the battle field and combat is entered. Depending on the way contact is made, the battle can start normally, with a preemptive strike on the party's side, or ambushed by the enemy. Combat can also be entered from a scene, from extermination confirmations or from opening a chest, which save exceptions start battles without advantages on either side.

The party member at the front of the walking order can attack enemies on the field. Each party member has a different attack, and striking an enemy in the back while on the field will stun them for a few seconds. Striking an enemy in the front will alert them or briefly stop their movement. If the attacker is at least 10 levels higher than the enemy, when they notice the party they will run away instead of towards them, and field attacks will stun them regardless of facing. A second attack while stunned will instantly defeat them, granting a small amount of sepith depending on the enemy.

Normal battles start with the enemy on one end of the field and the party in the other, according to the formation set in the Tactics menu. Each unit will have a random delay until their first turn comes (explained later).

Party Advantage

If combat is entered through contacting an enemy from their back, the battle will start with a preemptive strike: the enemy will have a much larger delay until their first turn, allowing for more party turns before they're able to act. Escape chance will start at 70%.

Party Max Advantage

If combat is entered through contacting an enemy stunned from a field attack, the battle will start with an ambush: the enemy will have a much larger delay until their first turn, and the first few turns are guaranteed to have a Critical bonus, with a 40% chance of a Team Rush bonus appearing. Escape chance will start at 100%.

Enemy Advantage

If combat is entered through the enemy contacting a party member's back, the battle will start as an enemy ambush: formations for both enemy and party will be ignored, and the enemies will surround the party members in a circle on the field. The party members will have a large delay before their first turn, which will likely allow the enemy to act before any of the party members. Escape chance will start at 0%.

Delay and Speed

The Action Time Battle system determines the order in which the units will take turns. For this, the game uses AT Units (AT for short) as a measure of the time it takes for a unit to have their next turn. Every action has a different Base Delay associated with them in AT units:

• Moving (or not being able to act due to status effects) has a base delay of 20 AT.
• Regular attacks have a base delay of 30 AT.
• Using an item has a base delay of 20 AT.
• Failing to escape has a base delay of 20 AT.
• Crafts each have a different base delay, expressed in the tables.
• Arts have two base delays: the Cast delay before the art takes effect, and the Delay after casting before the caster can act again. Cast quartz will reduce only the former, rounded up.
• Using an S-Break to interrupt a turn will make the user suffer only the normal delay of the S-Craft, discarding any delay they had before.
• Some attacks can inflict an additional base delay as part of their effects, which is added to the current delay of the target.
• Some skills can reduce the delay of allies to zero (AT Advance or Accelerate), making their turns happen immediately after.

However not all units take the same time to process the same base delay. Depending on their SPD stat, the base delay will be modified to obtain the real delay before the unit can act:
$Final\ Delay = 100\times\frac{Base\ Delay}{Unit\ SPD} \text{(rounded down)}$

Hit Chance

While arts and S-Crafts are guaranteed to hit, normal attacks and most crafts have a chance to miss and have no effect. First, the target's EVA% is used to determine whether the target evades the attack (or automatically gets hit if it's negative). If they don't, the attacker's ACC% is used to determine whether the attack automatically hits (or misses if it's negative). If this also fails, the chance to hit then depends on the attacker's DEX, and the target's AGL:
$Chance\ to\ hit = 100\%\times\left (1- \frac{Target\ AGL}{5\times Attacker\ DEX}\right )$

Counter

If a unit misses an attack or craft against another unit that can attack back (i.e. within range and not channeling arts or otherwise unable to attack), they will perform a counterattack against the attacking unit, which cannot miss, but also cannot hit units other than the attacker. The counterattack is always normal attack in case of player characters, but enemies may have a different skill to use automatically as a counterattack.

If multiple units avoid the same attack, the first unit that evaded that can counter will do so.

Damage

The formulas for physical and magical damage are the same, with the only difference being the stats used. Every number in each step is rounded down. A reflected attack considers the target to be the same as the attacker.

$Base\ Damage = 2.5\times Attack\ Power - 1.25\times Defense\ Power$
$Final\ Damage = Base\ Damage + Random$
$Attack\ Power = (Attacker\ (STR_\text{ (Physical attacks)}\text{ or }ATS_\text{ (Magic attacks)}$$\times Elemental\ Efficacy)+ Attacker\ Status\ Modifier)\times Skill\ Power$
$Defense\ Power = Target\ (DEF_\text{ (Physical attacks)}\text{ or }ADF_\text{ (Magic attacks)})$$+\ Target\ Status\ Modifier$

• Skill Power is the power of the art or craft used (normal attacks have a power of 100%).
• Status Modifiers for the relevant stat are applied as the base value of the stat multiplied by the percentage the status effect active uses (e.g. 25% for one stack of status buff, 50% for two), without taking into account equipment or quartz.
• Random is a random factor between -Base Damage/15 and Base Damage/15.
• A Critical hit (due to quartz or AT bonus) multiplies the final damage by 1.5.
• Using an S-Craft with 200 CP multiplies the final damage by 1.4.

Healing

In Zero, reviving arts and healing arts used outside of battle will heal a flat amount equal to their power. In Azure, and in both games during a battle, healing arts and crafts not based on maximum HP have a formula:

$Base\ Healing=Skill\ Power\times \left(1+{\frac {Heal\ Factor\times User\ ATS}{1000}}\right)$
$Final\ Healing=Base\ Healing+Random$

• Skill Power is the power of the art or craft used.
• Heal Factor is an additional factor. In Zero, each art or craft has a unique factor, while in Azure, all arts and crafts have a factor of 20.
• Random is a random factor between -Base Healing/20 and Base Healing/20.

Ending Combat

Combat can end in various ways: the victory condition is met (usually defeating all enemies), the party runs away, time runs out or a defeat condition is met.

Victory

The victory condition for the majority of battles is the defeat of all enemies present. In other cases, only specific enemies need to be defeated. When the victory condition is met, the party is taken to the battle results screen.

Ending a battle with a victory grants the items and sepith dropped by the enemies as reward, as well as experience to characters not K.O.'d. The Combat Notebook as well as enemy lists note the various rewards for defeating enemies.

The experience each party member gains from each enemy depends on the level difference between them and the enemy. For each level the party member is above the enemy, the experience is halved and rounded down, until a minimum of 1. For each level the party member is below the enemy, the experience is increased by 25% and rounded down, until a maximum of 9999. Afterwards the experience is increased by any tactical bonuses obtained.

Retreat

Most battles can be ran away from, with the exception of battles entered from scenes such as story-forced battles. The Run option can be chosen on a party member's turn, which will cause the battle to end without granting any items or experience if successful.

Escaping, if possible, is not necessarily guaranteed to succeed. Instead there is a escape chance, the percentage chance of escaping on that turn, and it can be modified by various actions:

• The chance starts at 50% on a normal battle.
• Party Advantage gives a 70% starting escape chance.
• Party Max Advantage makes escape guaranteed.
• Enemy advantage gives a 0% starting escape chance.
• Attempting to escape and failing raises the chance by 10%.
• The Hare quartz raises the chance by 50% when that character attempts to escape.
• Using a Smoke Grenade makes escape guaranteed on the following turns.
• In Azure only, if the enemy could be defeated with field attacks, escape is guaranteed.

Afterwards, the enemy will flicker on the overworld, indicating combat cannot be entered again with that enemy until it stops flickering, or the chest from which the enemy appeared will remain closed. In Zero, a flickering enemy can still be attacked and stunned, but not in Azure.

Defeat

The defeat condition for the majority of battles is all party members being K.O.'d. In other cases, NPCs accompany the party and the battle ends in defeat if any of them are K.O.'d.

In most situations a defeat results in a game over, with the option to retry the battle or go back to the menu to load a save. Some battles allow for a defeat that doesn't result in a game over, with victory being optional for bonus rewards or the outcome not affecting the story. Items and experience aren't granted in these cases.

Time Out

In a few cases the battle has a time limit. If a certain amount of turns pass without reaching either a victory or defeat condition, the battle will end without warning or granting any rewards. In these cases victory before the time limit is optional for bonus rewards.