Damage (XCX)

Damage is the means of reducing an opponent's to zero in Xenoblade Chronicles X. Damage is primarily dealt via s, which are often boosted through effects such as Overdrive, buffs such as and , and debuffs such as , among other sources. Each of these deal varying amounts of damage based upon the stats of the BLADE, the weapons and Skell used, and many other factors.
When the player deals damage, the amount of damage dealt appears as white text on the screen. When a party member deals damage, the damage dealt appears as light blue text on-screen instead and in a smaller text size. If a damage-increasing bonus effect is met, a yellow starburst appears around the number. The numbers for damage received by party members appear red; damage appears purple; and damage caused by damage-over-time effects appears orange. s are in a larger text size.
==Damage formula==
===In brief===
Ground damage is broadly calculated as follows:
Damage = (100+0~5)% * [(AttackStat * AttackBuffTotal * HitScaling) + (WeaponAttack * Stability) - Defense] * CooldownBonus * AdditiveBonuses * AppendageHardness * AttributeResistanceTotal * MultiplicativeBonuses
If the final result is lower than 1, damage is set to 1. The damage cap is typically 9,999,999, although the multiplier from Core Crusher and the multiplier from CooldownBonus bypass this damage cap.
In this formula:
* Damage fluctuates: there is a random 0 to 5% increase to all damage dealt.
* AttackStat depends on the Art type first, followed by the weapon used. If it's a TP Art, this stat is equal to the player's Potential. Otherwise, melee weapons (including melee attacks that use ranged weapons like Assault Hammer) use Melee Attack and ranged weapons use Ranged Attack (not the stats labeled "Total Melee/Ranged Attack").
* AttackBuffTotal depends on the damage type determined in AttackStat:
** Potential calculates the attack buffs from the auras Boost Barrel, Dual Dynamo, Full Specs, Killing Machine, Master Gunner, or , plus the increase from the buff and the weather buff from the Crimson Aurora in Sylvalum or the Aurora in Primordia and Oblivia.
** Melee Attack calculates the attack buffs from the Melee Attack Probe plus the buff and the auras Dual Dynamo and Killing Machine (Offensive Stance and Defensive Stance are multiplicative and described later).
** Ranged Attack calculates the attack buffs from the Ranged Attack Probe plus the buff and the auras Dual Dynamo, Full Specs, Gunforce, and Master Gunner.
* HitScaling is a value that determines the total power of the attack used. s have a hit scaling of 120%, and ranged auto attacks have a scaling of 30%/(base ammo of gun). All other Arts have a hit scaling dependent on the Damage value shown on their Art page, meaning that their power depends on their level.
* WeaponAttack is the Attack stat of the weapon. This can be increased using Weapon Attack Power Up.
* Stability refers to the Stability stat of the weapon. This multiplies the WeaponAttack by a value between (100-stability)% and (100+stability)%. 
* Defense is the defense of the character. Typically, enemies have 0 defense, while player defenses are determined by the worn. However, high defenses aren't very useful in this game.
* CooldownBonus refers to Arts that gain bonuses when their secondary or tertiary cooldowns are completed. For all Arts in primary cooldown, this value is 100%. For arts that get stronger with cooldowns, the secondary cooldown sets the value to 250% and the tertiary cooldown sets the value to 400%. This multiplier can bypass the damage cap.
* AdditiveBonuses refers to a large class of damage boosts called "additives", as they are added together before being multiplied onto the rest of the formula. If an affect that increases or decreases damage is not specified below, it may be assumed to be additive.
* AppendageHardness is a multiplier related to the hardness of the appendage. Negative hardness increases the damage dealt, and positive hardness reduces the damage dealt.
* AttributeResistanceTotal is the target's resistance to the attribute used, plus or minus the buffs/debuffs from statuses like Ether Res Down. This is equal to (100-(attribute resistance)/100)%, 
* MultiplicativeBonuses is the product of any damage modifiers that are multiplied on to the formula separately. See below for a full list.
===Technical details===
====Stability====
====Damage cap====
====Additive bonuses====
This section lists the additive multipliers. These are all added together before being multiplied to the final damage value. While having some of these is important, they do provide diminishing returns:
* Overdrive attack bonus (max 500%).
* Most skills that boost damage (like Conductive Strike). Exceptions include Core Crusher and Aura Assault.
* Slayer augments (like or Ultrafauna Slayer).
* Attribute damage augments and skills (like Ether Attack Plus).
* Damage bonuses from s that boost attribute damage (like Astrolibrium or Crisis Zone) 
* Positional bonuses (like in ).
* Conditional "boosts damage" effects (like boosts in melee combos like Starfall Rondo or other conditions such as Skell loss for )
* Opening Art bonuses (like Opening Art: Damage Up). This only applies if the enemy is not attacking and has not seen the player.
* Damage bonus from Soul Voices.
* Damage bonus from Supercharge.
* Division Support bonuses like Melee Master and Ranged Master.
* 10% is added for each appendage that is destroyed.
* If target is d, add 50%.
* If target is Stunned, add 50%.
* If target is Bound, add 100%.
* If it is nighttime and the user has the skill , add 20-100% (depending on skill level).
* If there are party members piloting Skells, party members in ground combat will gain 20% damage reduction per Skell (up to 60% damage reduction). Subtract 20% * (Active Skell Number).
* s add 25%. However, this value can be increased further by gaining Critical Power.
** Critical hits have a [5 + (player level-enemy level)]% base chance to occur. The difference always caps at ±25%.
* Level Difference: When higher-level enemies deal damage to the player, they will deal 12*(Level Difference)% more damage to the player. The Level Difference will use the smaller value between the enemy's level or level 60 when calculating the bonus (e.g. A level 65 enemy will be treated level 60 when calculating the difference). This bonus does not apply to player damage.
====Multiplicative Bonuses====
This section lists the multiplicative bonuses.
* The skill Core Crusher is multiplicative: ether attacks that target appendages multiply damage by 1.5 to 2.5 depending on the level of the skill. This skill can bypass the normal damage cap.
* The skill Aura Assault is multiplicative: when an is active, attacks that use melee weapons (including TP Arts) multiply damage by 1.1 to 1.3 depending on skill level.
* The aura Offensive Stance is multiplicative and increase damage: attacks that use melee weapons (including TP Arts) multiply damage by 1.5 to 3.0 depending on the Art level.
* On the other hand, the aura Defensive Stance is multiplicative but reduces damage: attacks that use melee weapons (including TP Arts) multiply damage by 0.2 to 0.5 depending on the Art level (higher Art levels increase the damage).
==Other damage types==
===Debuffs===
* : Weapons that inflict Blaze will deal damage equal to a percentage of the original Blaze attack. In absence of Thermal resistance, if an attack that inflicted Blaze did 600,000 damage, Blaze will do 240,000 thermal damage every three seconds (or 40% of the original damage dealt). This is further increased by the skill Flame Trigger.
* Shock: Weapons that inflict Shock will deal damage equal to a percentage of the original Shock attack. In absence of Electric resistance, if an attack that inflicted Shock did 50,000 damage, Shock will do 20,000 electric damage every two seconds (or 40% of the original damage dealt).
* : After ( for tier ), the inflicted fighter will take damage equal to a percentage of their max HP. For example, Time Bomb does 50% max health after 10 seconds.
Blaze and Shock are also affected by enemy elemental resistances: if an enemy has (say) 50 Thermal resistance, each Blaze tick will deal 20% of the original attack's damage rather than 40%. Because the original attack's damage is also affected by elemental resistance, this means resistance has a quadratic effect on damage over time.
===Spike===
Spike damage scales based on Potential. Spike damage is broadly calculated as follows:
damage = (100+0~5)% * [(Potential * AttackBuffTotal) * (SpikeAuraScaling/100)] * AttributeResistanceTotal * AdditiveBonuses
In this formula:
* SpikeAuraScaling is a value that determines the total power of the spike used. Player spikes have a scaling dependent on the numerical value shown on their Art page, meaning that their power depends on their level.
* In addition to details about additive bonuses above, AdditiveBonuses includes:
** The boost from Double Spike (20-100%, depending on level)
===Reflection===
When an attack is reflected (either through a reflection Aura like Raijin, the Verus' Overdrive, or natural reflection like that from Go-rha, the Guardian Deity), the fighter with Reflect takes zero damage and all damage they would have taken and debuffs that would have been inflicted are dealt to the fighter that inflicted it.
The augment and the Skell equivalent Reflect.DAMAGE-UP allow the player to increase the damage reflection they do. Additionally, intentionally equipping gear that reduces resistance to a reflected element can increase the damage as well. However, since enemies have many times more health than players and their damage outputs reflect that difference, enemy damage reflection will always be more potent than player damage reflection.
==Outside of battle==
Not all damage is sustained from enemy attacks; wandering into dangerous areas will also inflict damage. These sources of damage do not stop when in battle, so it is important to avoid them when possible while fighting. Computer-controlled party members cannot be killed by terrain or weather damage unless a fight is ongoing; they will drop to 1 instead.
===Fall damage===
Unlike other games in the series, Xenoblade Chronicles X does not have fall damage of any kind. However, there are two bottomless pits that can cause instant death in the Yawning Giant and the M'gando Volcanic Crater.
===Weather damage===
===Terrain damage===
Various liquids are hazardous to swim in, dealing damage based on max HP every few seconds. Auto-healing does not activate when in such a substance. The augment Terrain Damage Reducer reduces this damage, up to the point of nullification with Terrain Damage Reducer .
==Strategy==
===Increasing damage dealt===
===Decreasing damage taken===
==Gallery==
Category:Battle mechanics (XCX)