Status effects

A status effect (状態変化) is any alteration that applies to units in combat, characterized by an icon above the unit on the field, and an icon above their stats display in the user interface. Various effects can be applied through the use of arts, crafts, equipped quartz that modify the user's attacks, Battle order bonuses or by enemy skills.

Overview

Status effects are classified depending on how they affect the unit:

• Stat modifiers affect the statistics of the unit. Positive modifiers are called stat buffs and negative modifiers are called stat debuffs.
  • Up to Azure, stat modifiers only take into account base stats.
  • From Cold Steel onwards, stat modifiers take into account bonuses from quartz and equipment.
• Abnormal status are other types of effects that can be beneficial or detrimental. Negative abnormal statuses are also called ailments (状態異常).

Application

Only one of each status effect can be applied to a unit. Depending on the game, reapplying a status has a different effect:

• In Sky FC, SC, and the 3rd, reapplying any kind of status overwrite the previous effect's strength and duration (e.g. Zin's Distend's 30% STR increase for 800 AT will be replaced by Estelle's Morale's 20% STR increase for 500 AT).
• In Zero and Azure, reapplying abnormal status refreshes the duration, while reapplying stat modifiers allows for stacking up to +50% or -50% (+3 or -3 in the case of MOV). This is also the case in Cold Steel I and II, with MOV stacking up to +100% or -100% in increments of 50%. This can result in positive and negative modifiers cancelling each other.
• In Cold Steel III and IV and Reverie, reapplying abnormal status refreshes the duration, while reapplying stat modifiers allows for stacking up to three stages in each direction (S, M and L). Each stage has different effects depending on the stat it applies to:

	STR / ATS / SPD	DEF / ADF	MOV
	±15%	±25%	±50%
	±30%	±50%	±75%
	±45%	±75%	±100%

• In Daybreak I and II, both abnormal status and stat modifiers can have multiple levels. Reapplying status adds their levels together while refreshing their duration, or substracts levels if an opposite effect is added onto an existing one.

Duration

Most effects last for a certain amount of time/turns, but some may be permanent, lasting until the end of battle, or only for a certain amount of attacks.

• In Sky FC, SC, and the 3rd, most status effects' duration is expressed in AT Units. This means units with higher SPD will spend more turns under status effects than units with lower SPD. Reapplying a status effect overwrites its duration with the new one.
• Starting from Zero, most status effects have a set turn duration. From Cold Steel onwards, the turn spent preparing an art before casting it does not count towards the turn counter. Reapplying a status effect refreshes its duration if it was less than the new effect's duration.

Resistance

Negative effects can be resisted, in which case the effect will not apply and RESIST will appear on screen. Player characters can resist status effects by equipping various pieces of equipment, while enemies can have innate resistances to various effects:

• Up to Azure, resistances are absolute. If a unit has a resistance to a status, it will always resist it.
• From Cold Steel onwards, enemies have a set of status vulnerabilities for each possible status, including stat debuffs (S-Down or Stat Down) and AT Delay. The chance of inflicting a certain status effect is multiplied by the enemy's vulnerability to that status effect to obtain the final chance of inflicting it. The chance can also go higher than 100%, making it more likely than usual to inflict that status effect.
• From Daybreak onwards, players' resistance from equipment or shard skills isn't absolute, with better gear having higher chances of resisting status. There is also a status effect that changes the vulnerability to other status effects, making it more or less likely to be resisted.

AT Delay vulnerability is a unique case. When a character has several sources of delay (from quartz and crafts) each source will roll the chance to apply according to the vulnerability independently of the others, meaning the total chance of applying delay is:
$Chance\ to\ delay=1-\left[1-\left({\frac {Vulnerability}{100}}\right)\right]^{Sources}$

• In Cold Steel I and II, if successful, the delay applied will be the sum of all the sources' delays.
• From Cold Steel III onwards, if successful, the delay applied will only be the craft's delay and the highest delay from quartz sources.

Curing and Dispelling

Negative status effects can be cured through arts, crafts or healing items, or by waiting until they wear off. K.O. while technically being a status effect needs to be cured specifically through revival effects. Positive status effects can also be forcefully removed through specific crafts or arts.

Lists of Status Effects

For more details specific to each game, see their subpage:

Games	Subpage
Sky FC, SC, and the 3rd	/Sky
Zero and Azure	/Crossbell
Cold Steel I and II	/Cold Steel I and II
Cold Steel III and IV, Reverie	/Cold Steel III - Reverie
Daybreak I and II	/Daybreak