How often do you use status effecting attacks in RPGs?

[SimpleTactician]

Bounce/Magic Mirror is pretty lame in the Fowleye fight, since he will use disruptive wave to strip it off due to relying on casting.It's hilariously OP against Elusid though.Either way, most bosses use Disruptive Wave rather sparingly, unless their AI notes that whatever buff/debuff pre-IX setup you used will crush them, like with the Fowleye scenario mentioned above....I do wish VIII gave the player access to Disruptive Wave. Enemies in that game LOVE tension, and being able to strip it easily without fail would be rather nice. IX gave it to Sages, but enemies in IX aren't nearly as tension happy as the ones in VIII.

Yeah, I got the two bosses mixed up. I haven't played IX in nearly 2 years. I also grew up with the FF4 remake on the DS. Slow, Haste and Reflect are all viable spells, although the last one is situational. I've never found myself using Poison, Sleep, Hold or Berserk unless they were necessary. Float only helps against earthquakes and floor hazards, and I never use the transformation spells (Mini, Toad, Pig) against enemies in any FF game.

Edited July 27, 2016 by MathMagoo12

[Topaz Light]

In EarthBound Beginnings, buffs are useful pretty often in tougher fights. Haven't had much success with status ailments, but I hear some are situationally very useful (PSI-Block against Cerebrums, etc.).

In EarthBound, Paralysis doesn't wear off over time (that I'm aware of), has a decent chance of success against most enemies, and completely shuts down anything physical that they could potentially do, although how helpful this is obviously depends on the enemy. Infamously, once you've inflicted Paralysis on Mondo Mole—and it's not hard to do—you've basically already won.

In Mother 3, though, Defense Up Ω, Offense Down α, Duster's Scary Mask, and the occasional Shield or PSI Shield Ω were what got me through boss fights alive. Offense Up Ω and Defense Down α were pretty helpful, too.

Final Fantasy IV DS was basically Cast Slow to Not Die for most boss fights.

Pokémon, as has been mentioned, does have status moves—both buffing/debuffing and status ailments—as being pretty useful.

Fire Emblem, as of Fates, has actually made debuffs and ailments pretty darn helpful. Can't tell you how many times I've used them to soften an enemy up from a distance before coming in for the kill.

Honestly the main issue is that most RPGs make it so that every enemy a given status ailment would actually be useful against (i.e. Silence on a Magic-based enemy) is immune to that ailment, and with random encounters it's almost universally the case that it's just more efficient to smash your way past them with normal attacks.

Edited August 7, 2016 by Topaz Light

[saisymbolic]

It depends on the game.

Dragon Quest requires usage of ailments if you don't want to be wiped out. I learned this early when playing DQVIII. Sap and Kabuff were my favorites.

Final Fantasy, I tended not to. Only when playing X and XIII did I spam status ailments. I only truly used Darkness during X and I used all the ailments during the XIII trilogy.

During main game Pokemon, debuffs tend to be replaced with buffs early on. Competitively, moves with secondary effects dominate. Scald is way too OP.

[Quamosthy]

In most of the RPGs that I play( Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest) it seems better to just attack and brute force through most battles. I barely use them unless it's a very specific tactic against a boss. Etrian Odyssey is the only game that made me see how useful they are.

Hexer is probably my favourite EO class. I think the reason for that is that the status effects are really potent, the first one that comes to mind being poison. Instead of just chip damage, poison is very lethal and can one-shot some normal mooks.

Aside from that, I find having a status user in the Bravely games to be pretty useful, especially the Patissier class from Bravely Second giving enemies certain elemental weaknesses.

[MisterIceTeaPeach]

In Persona 3 not very much (only really against Nyx), but in Persona 4 quite often.

The bossfight against Shadow Kanji was almost impossible to beat without debuffing, because if you don't debuff, one of his helpers will heal Shadow Kanji instead of buffing him.

[Original Alear]

Hexer is probably my favourite EO class. I think the reason for that is that the status effects are really potent, the first one that comes to mind being poison. Instead of just chip damage, poison is very lethal and can one-shot some normal mooks.

Ya. In EO2 level 10 poisoon can clear most random fights for you for the first 2-3 strata. It falls off later on but is great early.

[Drarky]

I love using debuffs most of the time, but they tend to be something that you use in special/boss fights. Same goes for buffs, but I don't find them to be quite as interesting.

!SNES FFV has the most broken Sleep debuff ever (It won't wear off if you don't use a physical attack), and Old is probably one of the scariest debuffs to deal with. It basically levels you down non-stop, and if you have Haste (one of the most useful buffs), the effect will happen even faster!

In Pokemon, status effect is a big part of my playstyle most of the time, and they have a lot of depth when combined with some other attacks or items. In the Mystery Dungeon games, they tend to be something that you shouldn't be afraid to fight against (Most of them wear off after going to the stairs), but they are very strong when you use them (My first time beating the final boss of PMD2 he couldn't do anything since I threw him a Scare Seed)

Live a Live really likes having powerful attacks that weaken you, and the debuffs can hurt you badly. However, the game also has a lot of booster attacks that are bonkers (Cube alone is already ridiculous, and then you add some of his attacks)

Golden Sun has my favorite set of buff/debuff balance. The buffs wear off, but are very powerful, summons level up your elemental damage, but leave you vulnerable since you have to Set Djinns to do it, debuffing a boss is a viable option and sometimes even a better one than buffing since they have attacks that nullify said buffs. Status effects are rather bad however. Except for Lethal Poison, which is broken.

[Shinehollow]

Depends on the game. Pokemon I usually inflict status on a Pokemon to catch them, or if I'm just having trouble defeating them. Fire Emblem I'll use a Rally Bot if I need to, but I don't use debuff staves or debuff skills. Xenoblade I love using debuffs and buffs.

[Jave]

I use them in Tokyo Mirage Sessions. Kiria's Pastel Power skill causes a random status effect on all enemies, works on almost every enemy (save a couple of bosses) and has a very low activation cost. Makes the game sooooo much easier.

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

EO and Pokemon is ones that i remember. Status Ailments is just so ridiculously overpowered there its not even funny anymore

Thunder Wave is arguably amongst the best move in the history of the series alongside Explosion

In particular Dark Hunter is stupidly game breaking in Untold since boosted Poison is the most efficient damage option in the game for 90% of it

[Lord Raven]

I don't use them often except for like slow and defense decreasing stuff, though in FF13 I always made sure to have a Ravager/Ravager/Saboteur because of how useful it is to be able to slow the stagger gauge.

[Rage-chan]

I don't usually use status effects that often in most RPGs, but in a game I've been playing recently called 7th Dragon, a few of the classes are practically dependent on certain status effects. Like the Fortuner, who can pretty much only damage the enemy when they have a status effect. I don't tend to use them much in EO actually, I never really use binding moves, I mainly just focus on attacking.

[Sasori]

Normally I don't bother with status or buff moves in rpg's. They aren't worth it in most normal encounters and bosses tend to be immune.

Final fantasy 4 ds was a big exception though. You absolutely needed slow and to a lesser extend protect and shell or else the bosses would wipe the floor with you.

I was also a big abuser of status moves on my online team in Pokemon XY. Most of my team knew either thunder wave, sleep powder or Will-o-whisp to cripple opponents during switch ins or when they where outspeeded.

[Gemma]

is it just me or is sleep like always the worst status to try to inflict on enemies, yet its one of the most annoying ones to be under as the player?

[DragonFlames]

Depends on the game, honestly.

In Etrian Odyssey, I use mostly binds to get rid of particularly nasty attacks of certain bosses.

In Fire Emblem, I have never used any status effect aside from Shuriken or skill debuffs.

In Tales of, I also never use them consciously, because my 'strategy' there usually consists of 'attack until the enemy is dead, have one healer' and that's pretty much it.

In Trails of Cold Steel, I have used them frequently to help fight against monsters, but I have never planned to use them in specific situations. They came when they came.

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth is a different story. I use the effects themselves and skills and equipment that protect against status. I have also trained some Digimon specifically to inflict ailments. I also love to use buffs and debuffs.

In Pokémon, the most I used was Toxic in conjunction with Poison Trap to lower my opponent's stats. Otherwise, Thunder Wave has seen many uses during my Pokémon XD Gale of Darkness playthroughs.

[Gemma]

Tales has attacks that induce status effects?! I can only think of debuffs for some of the healer chars (Mint, Annie, etc.)

Edited August 14, 2016 by Gemma

[DragonFlames]

Tales has attacks that induce status effects?! I can only think of debuffs for some of the healer chars (Mint, Annie, etc.)

The Xillia games have, anyway. Sometimes, elemental attacks have status effects attached to them, in fact, some physical attacks can also cause status effects, but no weapon or Arte description ever says anything about causing status effects - at least not from my memory - and they appear so rarely that it barely even matters (since enemies usually die fast enough anyway and the bosses are, as per usual, immune to that stuff).

In Tales of Zestiria, there are a lot more of them, but only the enemies can use them reliably. To give an example, there are minibosses later on in the game that can cause Petrify and there is also your standard status debuffs and I think I even remember Confusion being a thing.

[Zanarkin]

It depends on the status, the game, and the boss.

Although most of the time the bosses (in the games I have played) are immune to most statuses except slow and such so meh. That or the debuff immunities info is not displayed so I don't bother trying them.

Edited August 15, 2016 by SlayerX

[fengaridotdll]

I use them very rarely, except in Pokemon. Most of the time, it's just more efficient to attack the enemy, and bosses tend to be immune to status spells anyways. Most of the time when I use them in Pokemon, it's just either Will-O-Wisp or Thunder Wave, because of the fact they also decrease stats and can very easily cripple some commonly used Pokemon in competitive.

[Shadow Mir]

Tales has attacks that induce status effects?! I can only think of debuffs for some of the healer chars (Mint, Annie, etc.)

They do, but for the most part, you don't get the chance to inflict most of them, if any. The only games where you got any real chance to hit enemies with status effects were the Xillia games, pretty much, because every element had an ailment associated with it (in Xillia 2, all nine attack types have ailments - basically the elements plus Strike, Slash, and Shot).

Edited August 21, 2016 by Levant Mir Celestia

[FiboSai]

Status effects are very useful if the enemy is too powerful to take on by brute force. If you can just OHKO every enemy in the game (like in many Final Fantasy games), then Buffs/Debuffs are rather useless.

[TempestStorm]

Depends on the game. SMT, DQ and FFX I use buffs/debuffs a lot. FE only enfeeble, berserk or freeze if I really need help. Most of the time I don't nother

[The DanMan]

Generally not, except in Monster Hunter. Even then, Status effects are of limited use- you have to hit a monster with a status weapon so many times to apply it, and once it wears off it's resistance to it is increased. Meaning you have to hit it more times than before to re-apply it.

I generally use them online- solo, the loss of damage from trading an element/non-elemental weapon with high attack power for a weapon with a status generally really isn't worth it.

[Noma9]

I like to in basically every game that has them, though I typically have to go out of my way to make them "useful" because it rarely feels like they're implemented intuitively. Usually there are much better things to use. But I don't care! Buffs/Debuffs/Status Effects are my favorite things. I can always appreciate a game where those types of moves are as useful to you as the are to the enemies, or even more so.

[Lyn]

Mostly in Pokemon, not really in other games.