A Normal Attack is executed by the player simply striking a foe with their weapon. Normal Attacks are typically weaker than most other available skills, but are advantageous in the sense that they either do not require MP to use (EBF1-4) or have no cooldown period (EBF5). Because of this, Normal Attacks are often used to finish off foes at low health. It should also be noted that, like many other weapon-elemental skills, Normal Attacks can activate a weapon's special on-hit effects.
Out of all characters, Matt's Normal Attack traditionally has the most power, and Natalie's has the least. It's also worth noting that Natalie's Normal Attack (and later Anna's in EBF5) has a guaranteed chance of triggering her weapon's unleash or bonus spells, which can be a very powerful effect with certain weapons.
Normal Attacks can be used through the "Attack" command available at the top of each player's command list. Matt's Normal Attack deals weapon-elemental damage and applies a bonus effect, both based on his currently equipped sword, while Natalie's always do light, non-elemental damage.
They're mostly the same as in EBF1, but several skill bonuses are now available to enhance their perfomance.
Matt[]
Normal Attack
(No description)
Target
Type
Element
Status Effect
MP
RdF
Single
--
10%
Power
Status Chance
Status Strength
5500
(100%)
(100%)
Skill Bonuses
Name
Effect
Swordsman
1.4x damage multiplier
Counter
50% chance to counter physical attacks with Normal Attack
Counter x2
100% chance to counter physical attacks with Normal Attack
Mana Leech
Recovers MP equal to 1/80 of expected damage from one hit. (No effect if Blood Blade or Rune Blade are equipped)
Swordbreaker
150% chance of 20% Attack debuff (200% chance and 40% strength with Anarchy equipped, no effect if Black Fang is equipped)
Potion Thief
Steals an item from the target (one item per foe, works even on a miss)
Natalie[]
Natalie's Normal Attack technically ignores her base Attack stat (but still considers buffs and debuffs). However, since Natalie's base Attack cannot be increased anyway, this effectively does nothing.