GAME MECHANICS

Each playable character in EarthBound Zero has a handful of stats that change over time. Each stat has a different purpose. It's good to know what these stats do and how to use them to your advantage, as well as have a full grasp of what might be in store for you while fighting your foes.

STATS

• HP - Hit Points. They lower as you take damage, and if it hits 0, you become unconscious. HP is equal to 20 + (Strength x 2). When you level up, your HP is changed to reflect how much Strength you have, though sometimes you will make big leaps in HP or small ones, due to randomization. If you use a Strength Capsule, HP won't be recalculated until your next level up.
  
  
• PP - Psychic Points. This lowers as a character uses PSI techniques.
  
  
• Level - The current experience level of a character. The higher the level, the stronger the character.
  
  
• Experience - The total exp. points a character has. A character gains levels as this increases.
  
  
• Offense - Increases the damage you do in battle with the Fight command. Damage done is approximately equal to Attacker's Offense - (Defender's Defense / 2). Damage with SMAAAASH hits is equal to Offense and ignores the target's defense. All physical damage is halved if the target has a PSI Shield up or if the target is guarding.
  
  When you level up, you permanently gain Offense equal to how much Fight you gain at level up, and Offense can be increased by equipping weapons. Note that you can only switch weapons, not unequip your current one. Also, Fight Capsules appear bugged in that when you use one (along with the Magic Candy in Magicant), your Fight goes up, but your Offense does not change to reflect the new fight value, even if you level up afterwards.
  
  
• Defense - Increases the resistance of physical attacks. Physical attack damage is approximately equal to Attacker's Offense - (Defender's Defense / 2). Damage from SMAAAASH hits is equal to the enemy's Offense and ignores defense. All physical damage is halved if the target has a PSI Shield up or if the target is guarding. Defense can be increased by equipping rings and coins. Note that you can switch rings and coins but not unequip them.
  
  Defense goes up by an number equal to the amount of Speed earned upon levelling up. Note that Quick Capsules will increase the Speed stat, but Defense will not go up at all when one is used, even if a level up is earned afterwards.
  
  
• Fight - Determines how often you get SMAAAASH hits and decreases the chance an enemy will SMAAAASH you. It also helps increase the chance of dodging an attack and increases the chance of connecting with your own attacks.
  
  
• Speed - Determines who goes in what order in battle. The higher it is, the better chance a character has of going first.
  
  
• Wisdom - Increases the chance of hitting with status ailments, both in the form of PSI and items like the Flashdark (note: the Bullhorn's success rate is 50% regardless of Wisdom).
  
  
• Strength - A placeholder showing about how much you can expect your HP to be the next time you level up. HP = 20 + (Strength x 2) approx. Also decreases the chance of getting hit by Darkness, Poison and Paralysis (Stone will always hit).
  
  
• Force - A placeholder stat that gives you an estimate of how much PP you'll have at the next level up. PP = Force x 1.5 approx. Also decreases the chance of getting hit by Puzzled, Confused and Hypnosis (Stone will always hit).
  

Some stats can be permanently increased with the items below:

• Fight Capsule - Permanently increases Fight by 4 or 5.
• Force Capsule - Permanently increases Force by 4 or 5.
• Physical Capsule - Permanently increases Strength by 4 or 5.
• Quick Capsule - Permanently increases Speed by 4 or 5.
• Wisdom Capsule - Permanently increases Wisdom by 4 or 5.
• Magic Candy - Permanently increases Loid's Fight by 4 or 5.
• Magic Ribbon - Permanently increases Ana's Force by 4 or 5.

BATTLE CALCULATIONS

• Physical Damage - When a character attacks or is attacked, upon a successful hit damage is approximately equal to Attacker Offense - (Defender Defense / 2). SMAAAASH hits will do damage roughly equal to Offense, and ignores the target's defense. Physical damage is halved if the target has a PSI Shield on. With a Powershield on, the character will not take the damage from an attack: instead it is reflected back at the enemy (the Tank in the desert has a permanent Powershield effect when fighting). The Fight stat helps determine your hit rate, along with the chance of getting a SMAAAASH hit.
  
  
• Guarding - Guarding is a command in battle that reduces ALL damage taken for the whole round by half. This stacks with Defense, PSI Shields, and Resistances and will halve both Physical and all types of PSI damage. Guarding with a PSI Shield and Resistance to element means taking a mere 1/8th the damage (1/2 from guard then 1/2 from Shield then 1/2 from resistance).
  
  Guarding takes effect immediately when a turn begins, so speed doesn't matter. However, guarding does not prevent PK Freeze Gamma, PK Beam Gamma or PK Fire Omega/Super Bombs from connecting, and likewise doesn't appear to reduce the chance of getting hit by ailments.
  
  
• Running - The chance of running is 50/50. Each character may make an attempt to run once per turn, and on a success, the whole party flees.
  
  
• Status Ailments - Status ailments from items and PSI will hit more if the user has high Wisdom, and defense against ailments is based on type. You will be hit by fewer physical ailments if you have a high Strength stat (Darkness, Poison and Paralysis) and hit by less by mental ailments if you have a high Force stat (Puzzled, Confused and Asleep).
  
  Ninten will ALWAYS have an asthma attack when hit by a car exhaust. No other characters can receive this ailment, and StoneOrigin ALWAYS causes Stone if it hits a non-immune target (there is no way to get this immunity for the characters either).
  
  
• Null Damage - Null element represents PK Beam, car/truck exhaust attacks and Giegue's unknown attack. The Sea Pendant does NOT provide a resistance to these attacks. The damage ignores defense but like anything else, is still halved by a PSI Shield.
  
  Some enemies DO have a natural resistance (half damage) from PK Beam that will NOT show up when Checked. Furthermore, some enemies (namely barbots) resist PK Beam Gamma: it will never have an effect. If you have one of the two Franklin Badges in a character's inventory, PK Beam Gamma will reflect back at whoever shot it at that character. Great for blocking and downing Starmen who do not resist PK Beam Gamma.
  
  
• How PSI Damage Works - When a PSI attack hits, it has a base damage range that it will hit for. For instance, PK Beam Beta will always do 60-80 Null-type damage. If the enemy resists the element being used, then the damage done is halved. A PSI Shield will halve the damage, thus the most you can reduce PSI damage down to 1/4 by resisting and having a PSI Shield up.

CODING BUGS

• Fight and Quick Capsule - In a nutshell, when you use either capsule, Fight/Speed will go up but Offense/Defense won't. Only level-ups affect Offense/Defense.

EarthBound Zero Walkthrough Top