Glossary

The Epic Battle Fantasy series and its associated media (including spin-off games and the Epic Battle Fantasy Wiki itself) use a variety of terms to describe concepts both in and out of the games. The following glossary covers some of the more common terms used when discussing the series.

1-Hit Kill

When a player or enemy kills the opponent with only one hit. Very rare unless there is a significant stat/level difference between the attacker and target, but certain skills can do it readily via incredibly high damage or Instant Death. Also known as One-Hit K.O. or Instant Kill Attack.

Not to be confused with One Turn Kills.

Alt

The alternate form of an equipment seen in EBF5's Equip Remix, with different stats, effects and resistances from its standard. This is not related to equipment being present in a different location due to the "Randomized Equipment Locations" Custom Game.

AP

Short for Ability Points; the resource used to learn and upgrade skills in Epic Battle Fantasy 3, 4 and 5.

Area

A distinctive environment in the game; often denoted by a change in the background music and the types of foes encountered. Sometimes also called Locations, Stages/Zones (EBF1 and 2), or Maps/Screens (EBF3 and later).

EX (EBF1): The battles in the original Epic Battle Fantasy can be divided into groups based on area: the grassland (Slimes/King Slime), the ruined forest (Eyeballs/Beholder), the swamp (Haunted Trees), the factory (Defender), the rock beach (Crabs/Regice and Regirock), the volcano (Eyes), the bunker (Mecha), and the graveyard (Skull Ghosts/Goku).

EX2 (EBF3): Epic Battle Fantasy 3 has seven distinct areas: The Town (shops/no foes), Vegetable Forest (Poison/Earth foes), Rock Lake (Water foes), Glacier Valley (Ice foes), the Kitten Kingdom Ruins (Thunder/Earth foes), Volcano Peak (Fire/Dark foes), and The Rift (Dark foes/final boss).

Optional Area

An area that doesn't need to be visited in order to complete the main plotline of the game, although it usually has unique foes or equipment for players looking for total completion. A subcategory is the Bonus Dungeon, an optional area with more difficult enemies and puzzles than the mandatory locations, sometimes with a special boss at the end.

EX: The Medal Areas (EBF3), Graybone Cemetery (EBF4), and The Great Sea (EBF5) are all optional areas.

Automatic Skill/Auto-Skill

An ability that activates between turns, usually as a bonus from an equipment effect. Also known as a Bonus Skill (although this term has some overlap with an Unleash) or a Free Skill.

Auto-Summon

An automatic skill that summons a creature to assist the party.

Base Power

The amount of damage inflicted/healed by a skill before stats and other modifiers are taken into account. Also known as Skill Power or just Power.

Base Stats

The stats of a character before equipment, Steroids, and buffs/debuffs are taken into account. It also refers to a foe's "default" stats, which are increased by a set modifier depending on their level (EBF3 and later) or the wave in which they are fought (EBF2).

EX: In EBF4 and 5, the average foe has a Base Stat of 4 in most non-HP stats. A Base Stat higher than 4 would be considered above-average, while a Base Stat lower than 4 would be considered below-average.

Bestiary

An in-game record of foes encountered; usually filled by scanning new enemies. For specific information, see here, here, here, and here.

"Between Turns" Effect

An effect that occurs after all player or enemy characters have taken their turn, but before the other side begins their turn. Many passive effects on player equipment and most damaging status effects occur between turns; in EBF5, weather effects also happen between turns.

EX (EBF5): At the start of the player's turn, Matt is suffering from the Poison status and is wearing the Officer's Hat, Natalie has the Regen status and is equipped with the Fur Dress, and the weather is sunny. Assuming that all potential effects trigger, the next round of combat would occur thusly:

1. The player characters take their turns.
2. Matt is damaged by his Poison status.
3. The enemies take their turns.
4. Natalie regains some HP from the Regen status, the Fur Dress summons a Viking Monolith to give the party Haste, and the Officer's Hat casts Tank Cannon to attack all enemies.
5. All buffs, debuffs, and status effects on the combatants fade by one stage.
6. The Sunny weather triggers, randomly applying Brave or Morale to each combatant.
7. The player's next turn begins.

Buff

A temporary effect that helps the recipient by raising their stats, healing them over time, or providing other benefits. Usually separated into Stat Buffs and positive Status Effects.

Build

A set of skills and equipment meant to put a character in a specific role; sometimes known as a Loadout, a Setup, or a Niche. See here for more information.

Bulk

The overall ability of a character to endure incoming damage. Usually accounts for their Defence, Magic Defence, and HP into account, and sometimes considers their weaknesses, resistances, and healing options. It does not account for their Evade or ability to lower enemy Accuracy, as this is a measure of their ability to take hits, not dodge them. Sometimes divided into Physical Bulk and Magical Bulk, usually for characters or builds that have much more of one over the other. A character or piece of equipment with little to no bulk is considered to be Frail.

EX: The Genji Armor usually has very high Defence and very low Magic Defence, so it would be considered to be physically bulky but not very magically bulky. In contrast, the Pope Dress usually has the opposite stats; great magical bulk (via high Magic Defence), but poor physical bulk (via low/nonexistent Defence).

EX2 (EBF4): The Bone Armor appears very bulky at first glance, with strong defenses and HP, but it also has two elemental weaknesses that can greatly compromise its bulk against the relevant foes. Additionally, it has a high chance to Curse its wearer, which gradually reduces his defenses (and thus, his bulk) over time in addition to making him even more vulnerable to Holy attacks. As a result, the Bone Armor is generally considered more useful for its Dark resistance and its great offensive stats than its overall bulk.

EX3 (EBF5): In Equip Remix, the Alt Honjo Masamune is considered a superb defensive weapon for NoLegs due to massively boosting his already-impressive Evade. However, it has no defensive stats and actually lowers his HP by a substantial amount, so it actually has negative bulk (or high frailty).

"Certain Skills"/On-Hit effect

A weapon effect that can only be triggered by using specific attacks or skills; includes unleashes, HP/MP draining, stealing, status effects, and stat debuffs. Generally triggered by the equipped player's weapon-elemental skills.

Unleash

For the skill, see Unleash.

A skill or summon activated by hitting a foe with a weapon-elemental skill. Named after the recurring EBF skill, which increases the power of the user's weapon and sometimes activates a unique effect. Also called Bonus Skills.

Character

A being within the game. Usually divided into Playable Characters, Enemies, Bosses, and NPCs.

Boss

A very powerful, unique enemy that must be defeated to progress in the game. See this page for more details.

Enemy/Foe

A non-playable character that acts as an obstacle to the player's progress and must be defeated in battle. See here for more.

NPC

Short for Non-Playable Character; a game character who cannot be controlled or battled. May be helpful, hindering, or just present for detail.

Playable Characters

The characters controlled by the player in the games. In the main series, these consist of Matt (EBF and later), Natalie (EBF and later), Lance (EBF3 and later), Anna (EBF4 and later) and NoLegs (EBF5 and later).

Cooldown

The number of turns that must pass before a skill can be used again. Usually appears on powerful skills (Heal More, Judgement, Air Strike, etc). Replaces MP in EBF5. Sometimes abbreviated to "CD" by fans (including the Epic Battle Fantasy Wiki).

Spam/Spamming

Repeatedly using a specific skill in a few turns. While the concept has existed since EBF1 (usually referring to a skill with high damage/effectiveness for its MP cost), it became more relevant in EBF5, where it usually refers to skills without cooldowns.

EX (EBF3): A viable offensive strategy for Lance in most of the game's battles is to spam Airstrike, due to its great damage and rarely-resisted element.

EX2 (EBF4): When the Diamond Golem has less than 9% of its HP remaining, it will do nothing but cast Genesis every turn.

Counter Attack

The ability to use a Normal Attack or skill in response to an enemy attack without using a turn. Also known as a Counter. Certain Skill Bonuses and Equipment Effects give player characters a chance to counterattack.

Critical Hit

An attack that deals 50% more damage than normal, first introduced in EBF2. Occurs randomly, but the chances of occurrence can be increased by other factors (such as Staggering the target, giving the attacker Brave status, or by using certain skills with an innate bonus to Critical Chance). EBF5 introduced Double and Triple Critical Hits, which can only be achieved by attacks with more than 100% and 200% critical chance respectively, and deal 100% and 150% more damage than normal.

A Critical Hit is denoted by showing the damage numbers in larger font than normal, sometimes accompanied by a special graphic. It is sometimes called a Crit for short.

Critical Chance/Critical Hit Modifier/Critical Hit Rate

The likelihood of an attack or skill to cause a critical hit. In EBF5, attacks with a critical chance above 100% have a (Critical Chance - 100)% chance of becoming a Double Critical hit, and attacks with a critical chance above 200% have a (Critical Chance - 200)% chance of becoming a Triple Critical Hit.

Damage Stacking

Increasing a skill's damage without changing its Base Power. This can be achieved with buffs and debuffs in all games; however EBF4 and especially EBF5 have far more ways to pull this off, including elemental boosts, status effects, and more reliable means of increasing critical hit chance. Also called a Damage Combo or just a Combo.

EX (EBF5): Suppose Lance's Bullet Hell deals 300 damage to a given foe. This can be drastically increased by certain status effects:

• Applying Dry to the foe gives a 1.5 multiplier to Bullet Hell because it is a 100% elemental Fire skill.
• Applying Invisible to the foe gives a 2.0 multiplier to Bullet Hell because it deals magical damage.
• Applying Stagger to the foe guarantees a critical hit, giving another 1.5 multiplier.

If the same foe was suffering from all three status effects, Bullet Hell's damage would rise from 300 to 1350, four-and-a-half times greater than before: 300 (base) * 1.5 (Dry) * 1.5 (Stagger) * 2 (Invisible) = 1350. The damage could be increased even further by other means, such as buffing Lance's Magic Attack, debuffing the target's Magic Defence, giving Lance equipment with a Fire boost, or using Brave, Good Luck, and Bad Luck to further amplify Lance's critical chance.

Debuff

A temporary effect that hinders the recipient by lowering their stats, hurting them over time, or providing other impediments. Usually separated into Stat Debuffs and negative Status Effects.

Not to be confused with the Dispel status (which was called Debuff in the first two games).

Drain

A character's ability to heal HP or MP by striking an opponent with a certain skill or weapon; sometimes called Absorption (not to be confused with the healing achieved from elemental resistance above 100%). This should not be confused with abilities that heal independently of damage inflicted.

EX: Natalie's recurring Judgement skill often has the ability to heal her in addition to dealing magical Holy damage to a targeted foe. In Epic Battle Fantasy 1 and 2, this is not a drain effect; the healing has a set power independent of damage inflicted. In Epic Battle Fantasy 5, this is a drain effect; the amount Natalie heals is equal to one third of the damage inflicted by Judgement.

Drop

An item carried by an enemy that may be awarded to the player after its defeat. The chances of receiving the item are determined by a percentage known as the Drop Rate - the higher the percentage, the better the chances of getting the drop, with a 100% drop rate guaranteeing that the item will be awarded. In general, rarer items have lower drop rates, and stronger enemies carry better drops (including rare items with high drop rates).

EX (EBF4): A Gem Idol may drop five items when killed: Rainbow Gems (25% Drop Rate), Amethyst (10% Drop Rate), Ruby, Emerald, and Topaz (2% Drop Rate for all). On average, the player will receive Rainbow Gems for every fourth Gem Idol killed, an Amethyst for every tenth Gem Idol killed, and one of the other drops for every fiftieth Gem Idol killed; however, any given Gem Idol can drop any, all, or even none of those items at once.

Element

A property of an attack, item, character, or piece of equipment that modifies the damage it can inflict/resist. See this page for more details.

Elemental Affinity

An attack, area, item, character, or piece of equipment associated with a specific element; also known as an Elemental Theme or being (Element)-Based. The definition of "association" varies depending on what you're talking about.

• For attacks, "elemental affinity" means that their damage is at least partially based on the given element; see "Elemental Degree" below. EX (EBF3): Lance's Oblivion Limit Break is a rare example of an attack with multiple elemental affinities; the initial tank drop deals Earth damage, the follow-up gunshots are non-elemental, and the final explosion is Bomb-based.

• A character's elemental affinity can be determined by their appearance, resistances, and favored attacks. Usually applies to foes more than players. EX (EBF4): The River Squid is a foe with a Water affinity; it is predominantly blue with markings resembling splashes of water, it is usually found near rivers and other bodies of water, and most of its attacks deal Water damage and/or inflict Wet.

• An area's elemental affinity is determined by the general appearance of its environment and the types of foes encountered in it. EX (EBF5): The Frozen Valley can be considered to have an Ice affinity; most of it is covered in snow and ice, there are several Slip-N-Slide puzzles, and Ice-based foes are common.

• For equipment, elemental affinity can be determined by its main resistances, elemental boosts, and other Equipment Effects. EX (EBF4): The Anarchy is a sword with a Dark affinity; it is black with small red and white accents, empowers Matt's Dark attacks, gives his weapon-elemental skills a partial Dark element, and resists Dark, Doom, and Instant Death.

• An item's elemental affinity usually refers to the type of equipment it is generally used to forge. In the case of attack items, their elemental affinity is determined by the elemental damage they inflict (if any). EX (EBF5): The Topaz is generally used to upgrade Thunder-based equipment; thus, it can be considered to have a Thunder affinity as a forging material.

Elemental Boost

A specific Equipment Effect that increases the power of skills based on a certain element. It does not affect weapon-elemental skills; any elemental damage they inflict is considered to be a property of the user's equipped weapon instead of a natural element that benefits from its elemental boost.

EX (EBF3): The Arctic Wind is an Ice-elemental staff that boosts the power of Natalie's Ice skills, such as Iceshard. However, it will not increase the power of Natalie's Normal Attack, which is a weapon-elemental skill; the Ice damage inflicted is a property of the Arctic Wind itself.

Elemental Degree

The percentage of an attack's damage that is considered to have an element, with the rest usually being treated as non-elemental damage. Attacks that have damage split in this fashion are also known as part-elemental, while attacks that have a 100% elemental degree are also known as pure elemental.

EX: Matt's Cataclysm skill has a 50% Earth-elemental degree in EBF3 and 4, which increases to 100% in EBF5. This means that the EBF5 version of Cataclysm gets greater benefit from Earth-elemental boosts and deals more damage to Earth-weak foes; however, it also does less damage to Earth-resistant foes.

Equipment

Items that improve a player character's performance in battle, either offensively or defensively. Also known as Gear.

Armor

A piece of equipment worn on the body for defense. Sometimes called Body Armor to distinguish it from Hats. 

Flair

A small trinket that provides specific bonuses to the wearer. See here for more details.

Hat

A piece of equipment worn on the head; includes hats, helmets, baubles, ribbons, and masks. Also known as Headgear or a Helmet.

Weapon

Equipment used by players to inflict damage on enemies. Each playable character has a different type of weapon; Matt uses Swords, Natalie uses Staves, Lance uses Guns, NoLegs uses Cat Toys, and Anna uses Bows. Some foes and NPCs also use weapons.

Equipment Effects

The special abilities of equipment, beyond their stat increases and resistances. See here for more.

Fading

A term referring to how buffs and debuffs slowly become weaker with each passing turn unless reapplied; in the first two EBF games, this was indicated by the icons literally fading away as they neared their end. "Maintaining" a buff/debuff is the process of preventing/compensating for natural fading by reapplying the effect or (in the case of debuffs) using Weaken, Tired, or Curse to prevent them from wearing off.

Status effects also fade over time, but this usually doesn't compromise their effectiveness. The only exceptions are damage-over-time effects like Burn or Poison; the amount of damage they deal each turn is dependent on how much they've been stacked on the target.

Farming

The act of repeatedly defeating the same enemies in order to collect items. See here for more details.

(Level) Grinding

A variant of farming that involves repeatedly defeating enemies to gain XP and increase the party's levels for later areas. 

Forging

The ability to increase the stats of equipment by sacrificing items. See here for more details.

Generalist

A term referring to a build, skill, or piece of equipment that can be used reliably for general combat instead of a specialized role. Also known as "Day-to-Day".

EX: Natalie's Crystal Staff is considered a good generalist offensive staff due to its above-average Magic Attack and balanced resistances, allowing Natalie to hit quite hard with all of her spells while reducing the damage of some of the more common elemental attacks she'll face throughout the game.

EX2 (EBF3): Lance's Airstrike is one of his most effective skills for day-to-day battles; it's quite strong, has a high chance to hit all foes at once, and its Bomb element is rarely resisted in EBF3.

EX3 (EBF5): The Honjo Masamune is arguably NoLegs's best weapon for a general offensive build. Its ridiculously high offenses let it hit harder than other cat toys even with their elemental boosts factored in, and its severe HP penalty is mitigated by its Evade bonus, NoLegs's natural frailty, and the potential for him to wipe out his enemies before they get the chance to exploit it.

Giant Enemy

An enemy at a higher level than most of the enemies in the area, sometimes (but not always) represented by being larger than "normal" enemies of its type. Mostly found in EBF4 and EBF5, it provides challenge for the players by having higher stats than what they have come to expect.

Giant Enemies should not be confused with enemies that are naturally large (e.g. Golems, Squids, or Dragons) or that have names indicating that they are giant (e.g. Big Bushes or Big Slimes). EBF5 also has a few "Tiny Enemies" (mostly Pixels) who have similar level advantages while being smaller than normal.

Gold

The resource used to purchase items and equipment from shops. Usually acquired by defeating foes in battle or by selling items.

Helper

A catch-all term for enemies that appear to support a boss or miniboss, especially if the enemy is unique to the boss fight. Also called minions.

EX (EBF3): The Giant Squid can summon a variety of enemies to assist it, such as Blue Jellies - these could be considered "helpers." However, the Giant Squid is also assisted by two Squid Arms, which are exclusive to this battle - as such, they are more likely to be referred to as "helpers" in descriptions of the boss fight.

Item

A consumable object that benefits the player in some way; can be used to heal/buff player characters (Potions or Food), increase their stats (Buff Items and/or Steroids), attack enemies (Attack/Throwing Items), or to improve equipment via Forging (Materials). See here for more information.

Level

A general measure of a character's strength. Players increase their Level by acquiring XP, while foes generally have a preset level depending on where/when they are fought.

Level Scaling

A gameplay feature where foes will automatically have their levels increased to keep them consistent relative to the party. Usually seen in optional areas of EBF4 and 5.

EX (EBF4): The final opponent of the Battle Mountain Monster Marathon is a Cat Soldier scaled to be 15 levels above the party. If the party battles it at Level 20, the Cat Soldier will be at Level 35; if the party comes back at Level 37, the Cat Soldier will be at Level 52.

Skill Level

A general measure of a skill's effectiveness; base power, infliction chance, and so on. Skill levels can be increased by paying a specific amount of AP.

Obstacle

An interactive element of an area that serves to impede player progress until they have a specific Key Item to bypass it; unlike Foes, it cannot be battled. Introduced in Epic Battle Fantasy 3 and greatly expanded upon in subsequent games, there are many types of obstacles.

• Locks: Require Keys. Originally limited to a single locked door in EBF3, later expanded to specific blocks. Introduced in EBF3.
• Pedestals: Require different items to be placed upon them, depending on where they're located. For example, the pedestals in the Kitten Kingdom Ruins and Volcano Peak require Crimson Orbs, the pedestals in the Waste Disposal Plant require Batteries, and the pedestals in the Forgotten Temple require the Sacred Jewels. Introduced in EBF3.
• Trees: Require The Axe; may drop plant-themed Materials when removed. Introduced in EBF4.
• Torches/Braziers: Require The Candle. Unlike most obstacles, they are used more for optional treasure than progression impediments. Introduced in EBF4.
• Boulders: Require The Hammer; may drop stone and gem-themed Materials when removed. Introduced in EBF4.
• Lily Pad Tiles: Require Leafy Boots. Introduced in EBF4.
• Lava Tiles: Require Thermal Boots. Inflict mild Fire damage on players when walked upon. Introduced in EBF4.
• Small Gaps: Require The Stepladder. Introduced in EBF4.
• Cloud Tiles: Require Winged Boots. Introduced in EBF4.
• Dirt and Snow Piles: Require The Shovel; introduced in EBF5. Dirt Piles may drop earth-related Materials when removed; Snow Piles can drop ice-themed Materials instead.
• Water Tiles: Require The Raft and open ports. Introduced in EBF5.
• Crystal Boulders: Require The Big Hammer; may drop Glass Shards or crystal-based Materials when removed. Introduced in EBF5.

One Turn Kill

Also called OTKs and (broadly speaking) Quick Kills. A term in the metagaming community of EBF5 in which a specific set up is used to defeat a specific fight before the foes have a chance to act. This is achieved through immense damage stacking, Weather Storage, and strategizing, instead of sheer levels. It is generally done on Epic difficulty, with no additional level grinding.

EX (EBF5 v2): OTK Triple Crystal Hydra - https://youtu.be/EBS0vp3xIBE

EX2 (EBF5 v1): OTK Poseidon - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xunkJpJKoC4

One Turn Capture

Similar to a One Turn Kill, but involving capturing a foe instead of killing them. Also called OTC for short.

#-Turn Kill/Capture

A capture or kill performed in the minimum amount of turns possible. Also called #TK or #TC for short.

EX: Killing a foe in three turns would be considered a Three-Turn Kill, or a 3TK for short.

Outclassed

A skill or piece of equipment that, while potentially viable on its own merits, can usually be ignored in favor of another skill/equipment that performs its role more efficiently. Often occurs with equipment that specializes in one specific niche to the exclusion of all else, leaving slightly weaker but more versatile gear to be more useful. Alternatively, it can happen when a piece of gear is significantly less useful than the other options, either because it lacks effects or comes far later.

EX (EBF3): While the Skull Hairclip has good Evade and the best Accuracy of any female hat, Accuracy is rarely an issue in the game, especially since Natalie doesn't have any low-Accuracy skills. As such, the Skull Hairclip is usually outclassed by the Cat Ears, which have better Evade and useful status resistances while retaining decent Accuracy.

EX2 (EBF4): Lumber outclasses Log as a damaging Earth skill, due to its higher power. However, Log outclasses Lumber as a means to Stagger foes, having a much higher status infliction chance and no risk of immediately consuming Stagger stacks with a subsequent hit.

EX3 (EBF5): NoLegs has two Holy weapons: the Godly Book and the King's Guard. While the Godly Book has free Auto-Revive and can apply Curse to boost its own damage, the King's Guard has significantly better offensive power, thereby outclassing the Godly Book as an offensive Holy cat toy. However, the Honjo Masamune's ridiculously high offensive stats give it better damage output with any element, even accounting for the King's Guard's Holy boost. Because of this, the Honjo Masamune outclasses the King's Guard and the Godly Book for offense.

Availability

When a specific skill or piece of equipment is available in the game; can refer to the exact area they are acquired or simplified to Early Game, Mid-Game, Late Game, or Endgame. Sometimes factors into the usefulness of a specific skill, gear, or build.

EX (EBF3): The Viking Dress is acquired a ways into Glacier Valley, yet is outclassed as a generalist defensive armor by the Whitemage Dress (which is Natalie's default equipment) and the Green Dress (which can be found in Vegetable Forest).

EX2 (EBF4): The Genji Helmet is considered to be largely outclassed by other male hats; not only can they fulfill most of its potential niches, they're available much sooner than the Genji Helmet (which is purchased in the Equip Shop of Goldenbrick Resort).

Efficiency

A gauge of effectiveness for a specific build, strategy, skill, or piece of equipment; generally involves comparing the amount of effort and maintenance it takes to use against its effectiveness in battle and the prevalence of other options. A common cause of something being outclassed in the EBF series is the presence of a more efficient option. Also known as Synergy.

EX: Although Matt can often develop a decent magical offensive build with the right weapons (such as the Rune Blade or the Crimson Razorback), these builds have poor synergy with his base stats and available skills. Therefore, it's more efficient to let players like Natalie or Lance focus on magical offense while Matt takes the role of a supporter, a tank, and/or a physical attacker.

EX2: Temper and Star Power are offensive buff skills locked to the players with the best Attack and Magic Attack (Matt and Natalie, respectively). While a player's first instinct might be to have them use the buffs on themselves, they won't be able to actually attack until their next turn (unless they also have Haste in EBF5), by which point the buff will have faded slightly and potentially have been counteracted by enemy debuffs. As such, it's more efficient to use Temper or Star Power on an ally so they can immediately utilize the full power of the buff.

EX3 (EBF4): The Angel Wing isn't a particularly efficient bow for an offensive Anna build; its offenses are average at best, and she doesn't have an effective Holy skill to exploit its elemental boost. However, it's a very efficient bow for a status build, since its ability to cast Arrow Rain between turns lets Anna passively apply or maintain status effects while she does other things on her actual turn.

EX4 (EBF5): NoLegs has very low bulk and very high Evade; as a result, it may seem like a good idea to equip him with gear that mitigates the former. However, equipment that raises his Evade has much better synergy with his stats; bulk-increasing gear only brings him up to the base level of the other characters, so it's better to emphasize his unparalleled ability to dodge attacks from a defensive standpoint.

Party

A group of Playable Characters.

Backup

Players not currently taking active part in a battle; once all of the playable characters have been recruited, there is one in backup in EBF4 and two in backup in EBF5.

Front Line

The players actively taking part in a battle; also known as the Active Party. Consists of two players in EBF1 and 2, and increases to three players in EBF3 and later.

Player

The person playing the game. Can also refer to the Playable Characters.

Powerful Attack

"YA DINGO DINGUS!"

―Matt hit by a powerful attack, Epic Battle Fantasy 5

An attack that deals heavy damage to its target; also called a Strong Attack in some instances. Usually elicits a different reaction from the victim - player characters will be knocked off-screen for a moment, while enemies will generally stagger briefly and/or make a different noise than normal. Some abilities will only activate when a character is hit by a powerful attack; in later EBF games, a "powerful attack" can be defined as "enough damage to trigger a specific ability or effect".

EX (EBF4): The Cow Costume buffs its wearer's Defence if she loses more than 50% of her maximum HP to a single attack.

EX2 (EBF5): Hydras can have their heads severed from their necks if they take a powerful attack, increasing their base Evade while changing their moves and resistances. Initially, a "powerful attack" is defined as "a single hit that deals more than 25% of the Hydra's maximum HP"; however, the damage threshold is reduced to "more than 5% of the Hydra's maximum HP" once a head has less than 32% of its HP remaining.

Prerequisite

A skill that a character needs to know in order to learn another skill. In EBF5, most prerequisite skills are simply the lower-levelled versions of their stronger forms, "evolving" into the latter once they've reached a certain Skill Level.

EX (EBF3): Quick Slash is a prerequisite skill for Revenge, Unleash, and Wind Slash; Matt cannot begin developing any of these three skills until he has at least one level in the former. Unleash also has a second prerequisite in Drain, so Matt will need to know both Drain and Quick Slash before he can put any AP into Unleash.

EX2 (EBF5): Ice is one of Natalie's basic elemental spells. When it reaches Level 3, it becomes Iceshard; when it reaches Level 5, it becomes Ice Storm.

Puzzle

A set piece that acts as a complex obstacle for players; introduced in Epic Battle Fantasy 3, but far more prevalent in Epic Battle Fantasy 4 and 5. While sometimes used to block progression, most puzzles are optional challenges that reward completion with treasure, often including equipment, stat-boosting items, or rare Materials. Not to be confused with basic obstacles that require specific Key Items to circumvent or destroy.

While their elements can overlap, there are several distinct types of puzzle. If the player gets stuck, they can be reset by leaving the screen and coming back.

Block Puzzle

Introduced in EBF4, this puzzle involves pushing blocks around to make a path. It may involve pushing a single block to make a shortcut to a previous screen (which sometimes drops a treasure chest), putting a few blocks on X-marked spots, or navigating an entire "maze" of blocks that have to be moved in sequence to avoid an impassable jam.

Hidden Path Puzzle

Introduced in EBF3, this puzzle simply involves finding a path to a new area that's obscured by the environment. In some cases (most notable in some bonus dungeons of EBF5), the path also has some hidden obstacles that must be cleared with the corresponding Key Item.

Lever Puzzle

Introduced in EBF3, this puzzle involves opening paths blocked by spikes or doors by activating and deactivating a set of levers or switches. The more difficult versions usually have clues hidden nearby (or around the world in EBF5).

Looping Screen Puzzle

Introduced in EBF4, this puzzle involves an optional area with "trick" exits that send the player somewhere other than where they expected to go. To reach their intended destination, they need to use specific exits on each screen; in EBF4, a specific Key Item is also required.

Slip N' Slide Puzzle

Introduced in EBF5, this puzzle involves navigating slippery floors that force players to walk in a straight line until they hit a obstacle. Sometimes combined with a block puzzle to make it more difficult to put them on the designated spots. This type of puzzle usually involves icy floors (which can be negated if the Spiked Boots have been obtained) or arrow plates (which can be mitigated if the player touches a metal tile with the Magnetic Boots equipped); prior to the defeat of Poseidon, the Rainbow River has a third variant involving one-way water currents.

Teleporter Puzzle

Introduced in EBF5, this puzzle involves a series of one-way teleporters. Stepping on a colored lens teleports the player to a colored sigil elsewhere on the screen; the puzzle requires memorization or trial-and-error to figure out which lens takes the player where they want to go.

Walk-Once Puzzle

Introduced in EBF5, this puzzle involves a floor made of black glass tiles that light up when stepped upon. The objective is to maneuver the player in such a way that all of the tiles are illuminated simultaneously, made more difficult by the fact that stepping on a lit tile causes all lit tiles to deactivate. Often combined with arrow plates to force players along an entire line of tiles and/or "broken" tiles that can be walked over repeatedly without penalty.

Resistance

A stat that reduces the damage a character takes from a certain element, or increases their chances of being unaffected by a certain status condition. It is given by equipment for players and is innate for foes.

Absorption

An elemental resistance greater than 100%, allowing the character to heal themselves by taking damage of that element. Also called Elemental Absorption in order to differentiate it from skills that drain/absorb HP or MP.

EX (EBF5): The Putrid Worm has a 200% Bio resistance, so hitting it with any Bio attacks (including passive damage from Poison or Virus) will actually heal it for the same amount that it would normally inflict as damage. Hitting it with a Bio attack that has a 50% elemental degree will do 0 damage instead; the non-elemental half of the attack cancels out the absorption of the Bio half of the attack.

Immunity

100% resistance to a status effect or element; the character cannot be damaged or affected by the relevant element or effect.

Weakness

Increases the damage a character takes from a certain element, or increases the likelihood of being affected by a certain status effect. Also known as Vulnerability, Susceptibility, or Negative Resistance. Not to be confused with Damage Stacking, which involves increasing damage independently of the target's resistances.

A Negated or Nullified weakness refers to a weakness that is compensated for by other resistances (usually player equipment, element-dampening status effects, or the "More Foe Resistance" challenge).

SP

Short for Summon/Summon Points; the resource used to perform Summons in EBF4 and 5.

Skill

A special ability that a character can use in battle. In general, all of the player characters' abilities outside of their Normal Attack can be considered a skill; starting from EBF3, most of them have to be learned and upgraded by spending Ability Points (AP).

Attack (move)

An action that attempts to inflict damage on an opponent. Usually either physical or magic-based, but may also come as a status effect or stat debuff. May specifically refer to a physical attack (that uses the Attack stat for damage calculation or visually involves striking a target) to differentiate it from spells/magical attacks.

Centered Skill

A skill that hits a single target for full damage and all other targets for reduced damage. Compared to a multi-target skill, it's usually stronger against the main target, but weaker against the secondary targets.

EX: Bullet Hell, Plasma Field, and Antimatter Flux are centered skills.

Hybrid Skill

Player skills that have the option of being cast either as a multi-target attack or a centered/single-target attack (with the latter having higher power and/or status chances and stacks). This allows the player to choose whichever version to use depending on the situation at hand. The single-target version of a hybrid skill is also known as a Focused Skill. So far, these skills are exclusive to EBF5.

EX (EBF5): Natalie's Fire Storm can be cast as a multi-target skill that hits all foes for moderate Fire damage. However, she can focus the skill on a single target for greater damage, essentially acting as a stronger version of Fireball.

EX2 (EBF5): Lance's Plasma Field can be cast as a centered skill or a multi-target skill (similar to Plasma Wave). Either way, it will hit all foes for magical Thunder damage and a chance to debuff their Evade, with the main difference being the damage distribution among them and the strength of the associated debuff.

EX3 (EBF5): Heal More normally targets all active players to restore their HP. However, it can be focused into a more powerful single-target Heal if a particular player is severely damaged.

Limit Break

An extremely powerful skill only accessible when a special gauge is full. See here for more details.

Locked Skill

A skill that cannot be unlearned from a character and taught to someone else. Usually synonymous with a natural skill, with the exception of EBF3; in that game, shared skills were locked to whichever character they were initially taught to.

Multi-Target Skill

A skill that hits all targets on the player/enemy side for equal damage. Also known as an All-Target or Area-of-Effect (AoE) skill.

EX: Fire Spin, Slicing Cyclone, and Pulsar are multi-target skills.

Natural Skill

A skill that is exclusive to a specific character, also known as Personal Skills or Base Skills. The sum total of these skills is sometimes called a character's Natural Skill Set or Base Kit; the extent of their abilities without shared skills or specific equipment.

EX: In EBF1 to 4, Swift Slash is one of Matt's natural skills. In EBF5, it became one of NoLegs's natural skills instead.

EX2: Lock On was one of Lance's natural skills in EBF3, but became a shared skill in subsequent games.

EX3 (EBF5): Natalie's base kit includes sources of Fire, Thunder, Ice, Dark, Holy, non-elemental, and (to a lesser extent) Bio damage. Conversely, she has no access to Earth, Wind, Water, or Bomb damage outside of elemental staves and shared skills.

Random-Target Skill

A skill that hits multiple times, with each hit striking a random valid target. Enemy skills of this nature can be focused on a single player if they have Target status.

Shared Skill

A skill that can potentially be learned by more than one of the Playable Characters. In EBF3, it was permanently bound to whoever learned it, but EBF4 and 5 allowed the player to remove it and teach it to a different character as desired. Also known as an Unlockable Skill, as it usually has to be "unlocked" by completing Quests or finding certain Chests.

EX (EBF3): Syphon, Power Metal, and Meow Meow are shared skills in this game.

EX2 (EBF4): Geyser, Cleanse, and Plasma Cage are shared skills in this game.

EX3 (EBF5): Enfeeble, Geometry, and The Reaper are shared skills in this game.

Spell

A skill with a distinct "magic" appearance - usually identified by its use of Magic Attack to calculate damage/healing, or by the use of a "casting" pose when the skill is used. Most buffing/debuffing skills are spells. Also known as a magical attack to differentiate it from physical attacks; the term can also be used as an alternative for skills in general.

Summon

A skill that enables the caster to call another being to their aid. Usually a specific form of spell, but made into a unique skill set in EBF4; see here for more details.

"Weapon-Elemental" Skill

A skill whose element is determined by the user's equipped weapon. Also called Weapon-based skills, Variable-element skills, or Weapon's element skills. Weapon-elemental skills usually use the weapon's effects for their element and status, and they don't benefit from elemental boosts; on the other hand, they're able to activate on-hit effects such as stat debuffs and unleashes.

EX: Matt's Legend, Natalie's Spectrum, Lance's Snipe, Anna's Combo Shot, and NoLegs's Jump Attack are all weapon-elemental skills.

Stat

An attribute of a character that governs their performance in battle.

Accuracy

A stat that determines the chances of a character hitting a target. Represented by an eye.

Attack (stat)

A stat that determines the amount of damage a character does with physical attacks. Represented by a sword/spearhead.

Defence

A stat that reduces the damage a character takes from physical attacks. Represented by a shield.

Defenses/Defensive Stats

A collective term used for Defence and Magic Defence (and sometimes HP and/or Evade).

Evade

A stat that determines the chances of a character dodging enemy attacks. Represented by a wing.

HP

Short for Health/Hit Points, this stat determines the amount of damage a character can take before being defeated. Represented by the color white as a meter/neutral damage, gray when taking resisted damage, red when a weakness is being hit, and green when being healed.

Magic Attack

A stat that determines the amount of damage a character does with spells. Represented by the outline of a five-pointed star.

Magic Defence

A stat that determines how much damage a character takes from spells. Represented by a circle with a star-shaped hole.

MP

Short for Magic/Mana Points, this is the resource spent on skills. Usually represented by the color blue or green. Replaced by Cooldowns in EBF5.

Offenses/Offensive Stats

A collective term used for Attack and Magic Attack (and sometimes Accuracy and/or MP).

Status Effect

A condition that affects the target in ways other than modifying their stats (although there is some overlap, such as with Berserk or Tired). Also called Status Conditions; negative status effects are sometimes called (Status) Ailments or Status Problems.

For a more comprehensive description of status effects, see here.

(Status) Stacks

Not to be confused with "damage stacking", this term refers to the turn duration of a status effect, indicated by a small number next to its icon. Stacks can usually be increased by reapplying a status effect before it expires; in EBF5, the Sharpen skill can also add stacks equal to its skill level. Most status effects can be stacked up to nine times, giving them a maximum duration of nine turns. In the case of Doom or Stoned, the "stacks" refer to the number of turns before the status takes effect; this leads to them sometimes being referred to as a Timer instead. Some status effects can also have their stacks consumed/used up in certain conditions, usually when the status is used for damage stacking.

Threshold

A specific HP level, usually associated with a change in a foe's tactics or the game registering an attack as a "powerful attack". Sometimes accompanied by a change in the affected character's appearance. Also known as Damage Thresholds or HP Thresholds.

EX: In later EBF games, certain Medals are awarded when players pass specific damage thresholds with a single attack. Lower thresholds can be reached simply by levelling up the players and their skills, but harder Medals of this kind will require damage stacking to reach the threshold.

EX2 (EBF4): Once Dark Matt's HP falls below 65%, he stops using his Eat Bat move and adds Revenge and Legend to his list of potential skills. After passing the 32% HP threshold, he uses Drill Time to buff himself and switch his weapon from the Anarchy to the Drill Lance, spending subsequent turns using either Legend, Revenge, or Giga Drill.

EX3 (EBF5): Mirrors can break in battle, losing access to most of their skills and their passive damage reflection ability. There are four ways to break a Mirror, with all but one involving thresholds:

1. Hitting a Mirror with an attack that depletes at least 50% of its HP while also leaving it with less than 24% of its HP remaining will break it. This essentially requires both a damage threshold and an HP threshold to be passed.
2. A Mirror will break if it suffers any amount of damage once it passes the 14% HP threshold.
3. Reducing a Mirror to less than 39% of its HP will give it a chance of using Glass Shard Volley, an attack that forces it to break itself. This is easier than the first method and quicker than the second method, due to passing a higher HP threshold; it also removes the need to suffer Bad Luck by breaking the Mirror with an attack. However, it's not guaranteed that a Mirror will use Glass Shard Volley immediately.
4. Inflicting Berserk on a Mirror will force it to use Glass Shard Volley, averting the need to reach any specific HP threshold or suffer Bad Luck.

Trigger Chance

The chance of an unleash/on-hit effect activating. The trigger chance of a status effect is sometimes referred to as Infliction Rate or Status Chance.

Wave

A group of foes fought at once; up to five foes can be present at a time. Often occurs in multiples, increasing the challenge of a battle by forcing players to confront numerous groups of enemies in succession.

EX: A battle where two Green Slimes, two Red Bees, and a Kitten Fort are fought all at once would make up a single enemy wave. However, if the Red Bees and Kitten Fort only appeared after the Green Slimes were killed, the battle would consist of two waves (Slimes, followed by Bees and Kitten Fort). If the Kitten Fort, in turn, appeared after the Bees were beaten, the battle would consist of three waves (Slimes, followed by Bees, followed by Kitten Fort).

Weather

A game mechanic introduced in EBF5, causing unique between-turn effects in specific battles. For more information, see here.

Weather Storage

A glitch that involves manually changing the weather and then ending the battle on the foes' turn (by relying on a counter-attack, auto-skill/summon, or damage over time statuses); by doing this, the weather's effect will activate right at the beginning of the next battle.

EX: Cherry Blossom Weather Storage used to facilitate a One-Turn-Capture on Lancelot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7ti8qtkLXI

XP

Short for Experience/Experience Points, these are points gained by defeating enemies in EBF3, 4, and 5. When enough XP is earned, the player levels up. Also known as EXP.