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Status Priority (Game Mechanic)

Most spells and items that inflict status effects can fail if the target already has certain other status effects active. This check uses a priority system, where higher priority status effects cause lower priority ones to fail.

Status Bytes

Magical and physical attacks have different approaches to status priority, but both are based on the following two bytes, with their status effects listed in decreasing order of priority.

Status Byte 1 Status Byte 2
Swoon Curse
Stone Paralyze
Toad Sleep
Small Charm
Pig Berserk
Mute Gradual Petrification
Darkness
Poison

Magic

Magical attacks include all spells, monster abilities, j-items and weapons used as items.

Magical attacks that inflict statuses combine these two bytes into a list, treating the first byte as higher priority1). If the target has any existing status effect with higher priority than the highest priority status of the spell/ability being used, no new status effects will be inflicted.

As an example, Breath inflicts Toad, Mini, Piggy, Silence, Darkness and Charm. The highest priority among these is Toad, so the only status effects that could prevent it are Stone and Swoon. Thus, Breath essentially cannot be prevented with status priority (however, it can be prevented through status immunities2) [TODO: relevant article!]).

Physical

Physical attacks include characters attacking with a weapon (rather than using it as an item), as well as monster “punches” and certain monster abilities.

Physical attacks that inflict statuses combine these two bytes into a list, treating the second byte as higher priority.3) If the target has any existing status effect with higher priority than the one being inflicted, the effect fails.

Physical attacks must also meet certain other requirements to take effect, as described [nowhere, yet! TODO: relevant article!]

Exceptions

Poison ignores status priority when being inflicted by magical spells or abilities. In these cases, it can only be prevented with immunity.4)

Gradual Petrification ignores status priority when being inflicted via the monster ability Petrify. It can only be prevented with immunity.

[TODO: Other exceptions?]

1)
Swoon > Stone > … > Darkness > Poison > Curse > Paralyze > …
2)
Immunity to any of the spell's status effects will cause all status effects to fail.
3)
Curse > Paralyze > … > Gradual Petrification > Swoon > Stone > … > Darkness > Poison
4)
And in general, effects that do damage while inflicting Poison also ignore immunity.
status_priority.1630195830.txt.gz · Last modified: 2021/08/29 00:10 by wylem