Hello all! I am back with a different kind of update this time. Today, we'll be going in-depth with the battle system of this project. It will focus on its terminology and everything you need to know about what they mean and why they matter.

While most of this is pretty much common knowledge, there are some new twists here and there that you'll need to know about and newcomers will also need to get up to speed on it. With that said, let's get started!

Battle System Inspiration

The battle system itself is an action rpg battle system primarily based on the original Monster World 4. For those who have never played it, the game had a focus on jumping, running, blocking, and a type of critical hit known as a Magical Hit. A Magical Hit is five times more powerful than a normal attack.

As far as equipment goes, depending on what you equip, your defense will increase. Defense however, was handled much differently. Not only would it increase your HP, but it would increase your chances of being protected by a barrier if you took damage. This barrier made you invincible for a short time and was perfect for gaining the advantage in battle.

When colliding with enemies, instead of taking damage, you get knocked back in a controllable state. However, there are certain enemy body types that will make you take damage upon contact.

Battle System Overview

While many things from the original remain, many aspects of it were changed in order to make it so it works for everyone in the game. Several new gimmicks and abilities were added to expand on the original's concept as much as possible. Below is an encyclopedia of every term in the game's battle system.

Status Terminology

Term	Description
Health Points	How much damage you can take before you are unable to battle
Action Points	The amount of points you have for skill usage.
Special Points	The amount of points you have to perform a special move. The max is always 100.
Attack	Your physical attack power. Not all attacks a character has reflects this.
Barrier	Your invincibility period. This is displayed in seconds.
Shield	The percentage chance of a magic shield protecting you from damage completely.
Luck	How much extra damage you can do with each attack
Title	Your character's title
Level	Your current player level
Experience Points	The current number of experience you have in combat
Next	How much experience you need to level up

Battle Mechanic Terminology

Term	Description
Normal Hit	An attack that is normal
Critical Hit	An attack that is two times more powerful than a normal hit
Magical Hit	An attack that is five times more powerful than a normal hit
Lucky Hit	An attack that is seven times more powerful than a normal hit
Perfect Hit	An attack that is ten times more powerful than a normal hit
Block	When an attack is blocked completely
Flash Guard	When an attack is blocked at the right moment a shield is activated.
Reflect	When an attack or projectile is reflected
Barrier Break	When a barrier is lessened by an attack
Damage	The amount of damage taken or given
Knock Back	When you are launched in a direction when colliding with certain enemy or attack types
Combo	The number of attack combos you have without taking damage
Element	Your current element
Weak Point	When an opponent's weak point is struck
Special	When a special attack is released
Attack Name	The name of the last performed attack or skill
Live Message	A real-time message that delivers quick information

Growth and Equipment Terminology

Term	Description
Guest	A third party member that is not Shantae or Asha
Tag In	When a player is defeated, another will tag in
Talisman	A lucky charm that alters your stats and abilities
Bond	The relationship strength of an individual you have met throughout the world
Bond Ability	The ability a particular bond passes on to you when they are in your heart.
Bond Special	When a bond does a special attack in your place.
Upgrade	The act of making your character better or stronger in a multitude of ways.
Synth Crystal	A gem that is used to upgrade an individual

Battle Result Terminology

Term	Description
Enemy EP	Experience points earned from boss(es)
Time Bonus	Score based on how long it took to defeat a boss
Combo Bonus	Score based on how many combos were performed in combat
Revive Bonus	Score based on whether you were automatically revived during battle
Damage Bonus	Score based on how much damage was taken in combat
Special Bonus	Score based on how many special attacks were performed during battle
Total Score	Your total score from the previous installments combined, except enemy EP
Rank	Your battle rank during that particular fight
EP	Experience gained during that fight

Why do certain terms matter?

Within the game, there are a multitude of stats that at first, don't seem like they would matter much, but the higher some of these stats are, the more powerful and safe you'll become in combat. As mentioned before, a lot of them are common knowledge and/or self-explanatory, but it would be wise to take note on some on the newer ones. I'll briefly go into detail on why some of them are crucial.

Barrier Break for instance lessens an enemy barrier so that a combo string can continue. While some attacks have these built in, other equipment or upgrades can also decrease this slightly. The default value for an enemy's invincibility barrier is 15(which is half of a second). Certain attacks you have that are meant to be combo strings have barrier break built in. A great example would be Zero's saber combo or Ellie's melee string.

Hits are also incredibly important because normal hits aren't particularly powerful. They are pretty useful for normal foes, but bosses have much higher HP values and it is crucial you have stronger hits so you can take them out as fast as you possibly can. Not doing so could make you be in a boss fight much longer than you need to and will decrease your score when a battle is complete.

Shield is incredibly important because the higher this stat is, the more often a protective shield will appear. With some bond skills, it is possible to gain new abilities and advantages when these are activated. Luck will also increase the dice roll of extra attack power, so everyone will become stronger artificially.

Closing Words

That is the complete battle system as of now and I doubt I'll expand it any further from this point out. Everything that was needed is now 100% completed and I'm very excited for what is yet to come for the project. This will also be the standard I'll be using for other projects as well.

With that said, I hope this cleared up a lot of confusion about what the battle system is and how every mechanic works. A page for the battle system will be added to the main profile soon with some images or videos showcasing some of these things. Until next time!