INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS BOTVGH ARENA?
PART 1: THE GOAL
PART 2: JOINING
PART 3: THIS AND THAT
PART 4: STATUS EFFECTS
PART 5: JOB CLASSES AND SKILLS
5-A. Fighter (Swordsmanship)
5-B. Holy Swordsman (Master Swordsmanship)
5-C. Rune Knight (Magic Sword)
5-D. Monk (Martial Arts)
5-E. Dragoon (Dragon's Power)
5-F. Pirate (Piracy)
5-G. Ninja (Ninjitsu)
5-H. Hammer Brother (Koopa Tech)
5-I. Black Mage (Black Magic)
5-J. White Mage (White Magic)
5-K. Time Mage (Time Magic)
5-L. Summoner (Summon Magic)
5-M. Blue Mage (Blue Magic)
5-N. Witch Doctor (Voodoo Magic)
5-O. Red Mage (Red Magic)
5-P. Chemist (Item Ability)
5-Q. Gambler (Gambling)
5-R. Hazardeer (Hazard Control)
5-S. NetNavi (Execute!)
5-T. Mimic (Mimicry)
5-U. Offensive Specialist (Pure Offense)
5-V. Defensive Specialist (Pure Defense)
5-W. Zombie (Braaains)
5-X. Giant Robot (Mecha Power)
5-Y. Wild Mage (Wild Magic)
5-Z. Elementalist (Elemental)
5-AA. Amnesiac (Who Am I?)
5-BB. Samurai (Bushido)
PART 6: EXPERIENCE POINTS AND LEVELS
PART 7: VARIOUS INFORMATION
PART 8: MINI-EVENTS AND STORYLINES
PART 9: THE END OF BATTLE/REF BOMBS

APPENDIX 1: HAZARDS
APPENDIX 2: NETNAVI CHIPS
APPENDIX 3: SUMMON MAGIC
APPENDIX 4: FAQ
APPENDIX 5: REMOTES

v2.13.5, last updated 5/6/13

UPDATES:

5/6/13: (2.13.5) Red Mage, with minor changes to Witch Doctor and Elementalist. Seriously we're almost done.
4/21/13: (2.13.4) Time Mage tweaked.
4/1/13: (2.13.3) The Kode isn't updated, especially not Rune Knight. OMG APRIL FOOLZ!!!111
3/22/13: (2.13.2) Holy Swordsman had some work done, as did Gambler's 5-Card Draw results.
3/9/13: (2.13.1) Blue Mage got an overhaul, and now it has some new tricks besides just the blue magic. Also, some minor stat changes to Witch Doctor.
2/22/13: (2.13) Some very minor Elementalist changes, and some VERY MAJOR Summoner changes, including an entirely new appendix.
2/16/13: (2.12.3) Offensive Specialist and Defensive Specialist, with some very minor tweaks in NetNavi's EXP costs.
2/9/13: (2.12.2) Wild Mage this time, with one or two more jobs coming down the pipes in another week or so. Lowered the MP cost (and thus the power) of Curaga a bit.
1/28/13: (2.12.1) Undead fighters may now recover MP normally. In that vein, Zombie is the big upgrade this time, with smaller upgrades to Dragoon and White Mage.
1/14/13: (2.12) In addition to Black Mage changes (and by extension, Red Mage changes), there's also been a huge change to status effects and instant death, at least as they pertain to bosses. Check "Deathproof" and "Immunity" in Part 7, under Lingo.
11/23/12: (2.11.5) And Gambler is next in line. Lots of changes there. Also added three-letter "shorthand" to all the job classes, as those may now be used with remotes instead of typing out the whole class name.
10/17/12: (2.11.4) Giant Robot gets its long-overdue revamp.
9/14/12: (2.11.3) Hammer Brother gets a makeover, and the Overdrive skill was beefed up.
8/12/12: (2.11.2) Adrenaline now increases differently for bosses, and there's a change to one of the Amnesiac's skills.
8/8/12: (2.11.1) Made a few changes to Ninja.
7/22/12: (2.11) Changed various skills and such all over a bunch of job classes. Changed the default tick lengths for a bunch of status changes.
7/12/11: (2.10.1) Made some changes to Summoner, and various minor nerfs to other skills. Battles now take place Tuesdays instead of Wednesdays.
9/25/10: (2.10) Berserk works differently, boosting both Atk and MAtk but not by as much. The Wild Mage's Dark Magic skill works completely differently. Summoners lose Carbuncle but gain Mana Boost. A lot of the magic users' MP values have been increased slightly.
3/23/10: (2.9.4) And finally, Rune Knight. Also, Zombies now take half damage from cure spells.
3/9/10: (2.9.3) Samurai revamp complete. Just one more class to go on that front.
3/3/10: (2.9.2) MageNavi out, Elementalist in. Initiative was renamed to First Blood, and Ninjas lose Ninja Vanish in favor of Ranged Throw.
2/24/10: (2.9.1) Thief is out, Pirate is in.
2/20/10: (2.9) Changes everywhere; practically every job class got tweaked. Another update should come shortly; a new Pirate job will soon replace Thief, Elementalist will replace MageNavi somewhere down the line, and Samurai and Rune Knight are in line for revamps. Removed the section on 1v1s.
10/31/09: (2.8.4) Golem nerf, and slight change (but not really a nerf) to the Shockwave ability. This SHOULD be it for a while, but you can expect big changes to Offensive Specialist, Defensive Specialist, and probably Wild Mage after the story arc. >.>
10/23/09: (2.8.3) MORE fucking Comet/Meteo nerfs :B  Also a nerf to OffSpec's Anti-Overkill ability
10/17/09: (2.8.2) Nerfs to Comet and Meteo, slight nerfs to the OffSpec and DefSpec stats.
10/3/09: (2.8.1) Overhauled Runic entirely... and that's it. :V
9/29/09: (2.8) Nerfs everywhere: gravity-based moves (mostly time magic), Runic, EX Attack, Quick, Dark Buster, Climhazzard, the Fighter's statbreaks and Slash, Blood Lust, Beast Claw, Madoka, and reactions in general. :B Also, a couple new blue magic spells.
7/14/09: (2.7) Added MP to several job classes that didn't have any before, made some changes to Amnesiac and Gambler's skills (one new Gambler skill required its own subsection). Made slight changes to the way Item Box works, as well as the way Stop status works. Defensive Specialists lose Return Magic. One new blue magic spell. Added a note on random draws to part 3.
2/27/09: (2.6.1) Updated masteries. Made some big updates to the 1v1 rules. Added the Mastery Watch, Trance KtR Watch, and Prize Watch to the lingo. Some changes to the blue magic. Updated the hazards, chips, FAQ, and remotes, because it's been a while.
7/8/08: (2.6) I know, I just updated, but these changes are important enough for me to want to update as soon as possible (given how many newbies love to start with Item Box). Item Boxes and Program Folders now work differently outside of primary jobs; also, NetNavis lose Full Synchro (chips always work full power) and get HP Memory instead.
7/3/08: (2.5) Holy Swordsman, Monk, and Gambler got mastered, and all of the job classes are now playable... though some (particularly Wild Mage) may be subject to change somewhere down the line. Speaking of changes to the unlocked jobs, MageNavi lost its element-based Soul Unisons and gained some new, better moves in their place... also, Blue Soul has been changed to Surge Soul. Amnesiac lost Skill Convert and gained Learn (not to be confused with Learning) in its place. 1v1 rules have been updated, with a powerful job class nerfed, a powerful skill nerfed, and an even more powerful skill nulled completely. One new blue magic spell was added.
4/6/08: (2.4) Four new masteries -- Black Mage, Time Mage, Thief, and Dragoon -- and as a result, Samurai and Wild Mage are now playable. Only three masteries remain among the "standard" 20 jobs, and those will lead to the other six unlocks. The Chemist's Distribution ability now has a 60-second time limit on it (as in the old system). Also, Water Pulse is finally listed under blue magic -- it's been in the system for like half a year but I kept forgetting to add it to the Kode.
2/24/08: (2.3) Red Mage is mastered, Scarecrow lasts 21 ticks now (same as Mute), and Dragon Sword was nerfed a bit. Job class unlock requirements now show Job Class Guardians... or they will, once you know who those guardians are. Got rid of the Wasted Adrenaline bonus. Added a short paragraph in Part 8 about the "arena personnel" who occasionally show up in pre-battles. Anyway, fairly minor update, though we'll start seeing more masteries -- and, yes, job unlocks -- soon.
12/21/07: (2.2.1.1) Just fixing a quickie grammar error, but while I'm at it, Fighter's mastered. The hazards page was updated earlier this week, too.
12/15/07: (2.2.1) Seven new masteries since last time: Rune Knight, Summoner, Ninja, Chemist, Hazardeer, Hammer Brother, and Witch Doctor (with more probably on the way soon). Despite all of that, none of the locked job classes have become available... yet. Also, I tweaked a few stats here and there (especially on a couple of the hidden jobs) and reduced the power of Spiraller (though it can still revive the dead, which is mainly what it's been used for). Updated a couple of links, like for NK's Kode and for the arena's LiveJournal. Added a lot of information about pre-battle, which has become much more important in recent years, in Part 7. Speaking of Part 7, there's a lot of new terminology.
8/9/07: (2.2) NetNavi and White Mage have been mastered. A few job classes have different stats than before -- notably, physical defense on most of the magic-users has been increased, while job classes like Hammer Brother have been toned down a bit in a few areas, and the Dual Wield, Slots, and Aura skills got nerfed. Auto-Life and Final Strike status can now be dispelled. Added a new Witch Doctor skill, "Venom", and reduced some other skills' other EXP costs to make room for it. Added "!Am" flags for skills that cannot be drawn by Amnesiacs... though most of the !Am skills aren't listed in the Kode.
4/19/07: (2.1.2) Mimic has been mastered. Fighters may now hand off one item without using up their turn, though you can't do that and IU an item on the same turn. Magic charge (see Status Boosts) can now be converted to MP (and it doesn't even use up a turn). Increased the MP cost (and hence the power) of Fire Sword, Blizzard Sword, Thunder Sword, and Bio Sword, which were previously weaker than a basic physical attack. Some EXP costs have changed slightly, including Speed Break, Darkside, and a few Samurai skills. (Speaking of Samurai, some of the lower-end moves have been toned down a bit.) Offensive Specialists lose Ignore Defense but gain a new skill, Anti-Overkill. And finally, there's four new blue magic spells.
3/8/07: (2.1.1) That didn't take long. >:O I changed the unlock requirements for all eight of the "locked" job classes -- they now require five masteries each (instead of the ten previously required for most of them), and each standard job mastery goes toward unlocking two of the hidden jobs. Speaking of masteries, we have our first (Cyber Black Yoshi in Blue Mage).
3/6/07: (2.1.0) Wow, it's been a while since I last updated this thing. There are two new unlockable job classes, Samurai and Amnesiac. Red Mage got some extra MP. The offensive Ninja magic works differently (it costs less and is more powerful). Add Chips and Add Spells got nerfed to 1d3 new draws instead of 5. I'm now hosting 1v1 battles in my system, so I added a section on that. Adrenaline Rush now works differently for major bosses. All HP/MP level-up stats have been doubled.
12/8/06: (2.0.5) The "Shoulder Throw" attack can no longer cause critical damage. Damage and chance of poison on the Bio spells has been increased. Added the blue magic "Breath Wing". Increased the MAtk for Time Mages and Summoners. Removed the time magic X-Zone and replaced it with two new spells, Renew and Delay, and added "Wait" as a basic skill. Joining and skill-setting is now handled by remotes and Part 2 now reflects that. Added "DW" flags (Dual Wield) to certain skills. Added some strategy in Part 7.
10/19/06: (2.0.4) Tweaked the stats of a bunch of job classes, in most cases making them slightly stronger. Also, most of the summon magic has been powered up (in both MP cost and power). Added the "Soul Cannon" blue magic spell.
10/5/06: (2.0.3) Added an "Undermanned" bonus to Part 6, and reduced the cost of Esuna to 12 MP.
10/3/06: (2.0.2) Added the Full Synchro skill for NetNavis and edited the Navi chips page to reflect it. Also, Rune Knights have more MP than they used to.
9/18/06: (2.0.1) I've changed some terms and made some minor tweaks (the Fighter's stat-breakers cost MP, Raijin becomes Kusaarashi, Potential becomes Prevail), but the big change here is the addition of the Dark Sun from Disgaea 2. See the hazards page for more information. Also, there's a few new blue magic spells.
8/30/06: (2.0.0) The Kode for the new system is up. Virtually everything is brand new.

INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS BOTVGH ARENA?

BOTVGH Bosses is a subdivision of BOTVGH Arena, which was originally a forum for #botvgh chatgoers to fight against each other in one-on-one matches. It was a turn-based battle system, based partially on strategy and partially on luck, and things were pretty freestyle. Two people would fight and one person (usually me or Diskmaster) would be the "referee", keeping track of HP and MP, whose turn it was, whether attacks hit or missed and how much damage they did, etc. Eventually, Neo-Kamek came along and had the idea for multiple people to fight against a common enemy or enemies, and thus BOTVGH Bosses was born. And the battle system(s) evolved over time. Turn-based battles became a CT system similar to Final Fantasy, job classes with special attributes and abilities were added, and so on. Hazards (outside forces that would affect the battle every so often) existed before Bosses was created, but when Bosses came along hazards were expanded and improved. For two years, boss battles were held in Neo-Kamek's #botvgh_bosses channel, until he left the community and briefly banned everyone from the channel. It has since become available again, but I like the classic #botvgh_arena and that's where I host my battles now.

My first battle system had an excellent run, from spring of 2001 until summer of 2006, but it eventually had to be discontinued... partially due to balance issues, and partially there were just things I wanted to try that I couldn't just work in. The concept for the current system came about in spring of 2006 and I began hosting in early fall.

I usually host boss battles once a week on Wednesday nights at 9:00 pm EST. I used to host twice a week (Mondays and Wednesdays), then I cut back for a while, and for a couple years I used Monday evenings to host one-on-one battles, or 1v1s, but for now it's just boss battles once a week. (I've been going back and forth between Tuesdays and Wednesdays for a couple years; as of this writing, it's Wednesdays.) New players are always welcome, though it's strongly recommended that they sit and watch one or two battles first so they have an idea of what's going on. You can read the Kode, but there's no substitute for seeing the system in action.

Arena and Boss battles are held on IRC, in #botvgh_arena. I won't give the IRC server address here, because of general troll/lamer problems; if you want to know, ask me through e-mail or AIM (HCuz1). (Note that if I don't know who you are, I'll want to know how you found the Kode, etc.) mIRC is strongly recommended, but any IRC client should work. Also note that as of October '08, one of our regulars is an IRCop, so those who are problematic can be gotten rid of.

Other people have run boss battles as well, though as of this writing, I'm the only active referee in the channel. Other battle systems tend to run off the same basic premise as mine and usually have the same base rules, but things like job classes and hazards vary widely from ref to ref. I may reference Neo-Kamek's old system(s), and I may also reference my own old system, whose Kode is still up.

Those are the basics. The nitty-gritty stuff is listed in the rest of the Kode and in the FAQ.

PART 1: THE GOAL

90% of the time, your goal as a team is to defeat a boss enemy or enemies. A boss is defeated when its HP (Hit Points) goes to zero, if it becomes petrified, or if it becomes removed from battle (or "sneezed") by a hazard. If the heroes are defeated by any combination of those three effects, they lose. (In certain cases, there may be other conditions in which a character becomes "unable to fight".) During a mini-event (see part 8), your objective may be different; in these cases, your goal will be clearly stated before battle.

Your options in combat consist of a smallish set of "basic skills" (described in Part 5), and your primary and secondary skillsets. The primary skillset is all the skills used by your job class; the secondary skillset consists of skills you purchased in another job class. You can also have one extra reaction or support skill to round out your abilities. More on this in Part 5. You can use long RP descriptions of your attacks or just say "Blizzaga on the boss". (Usually, the latter is preferred.) You can cause damage with basic attacks or magic attacks (which use Magic Points, or MP). There are also various other means of attack, such as special physical attacks (which may also use MP), items, and so on.

Depending on your performance and results of the battle, you'll earn experience points, which are used to gain skills and/or levels. See Part 6 for specifics.

Depending on hazards and such, your goal (and possibly the reward) may change mid-battle. Read on for more info.

PART 2: JOINING

When the boss battle starts (usually around 9:00 pm EST) the referee will open entries. At this point, anyone who wishes may join by typing "@join (jobclass)". Note that you must type your job class with no spaces and no underscores; to join as a Black Mage, you type "@join BlackMage". You may also use the three-letter shorthand provided in the Job Classes section; so, for Black Mage, "@join BKM".

When you join, you must specify three things: your job class (specified when you join), your secondary skillset, and your reaction ability.

Your job class determines your stats, your strengths and weaknesses, and your primary skillset. You may use all abilities of your job class, regardless of whether you have purchased them. Once you choose a class, you are stuck with it for the remainder of the battle (unless it's changed by a hazard). Note that all EXP you earn will go toward the job class you joined as, even if you get job-changed mid-battle.

Your secondary ability is a skillset from a different job class. There are two differences between this skillset and your primary skillset. One is that you may only use the abilities you've purchased with EXP. The other is that you may not use reaction or support skills from your secondary. To set a secondary, type "@secondary (skillset)". Unlike @join, @secondary will accept multiple words, so you can put in "White Magic" or "White Majix" or just "White" or whatever else you want. Just make sure it's clear to the ref what exactly your secondary IS.

Your reaction ability can be a reaction ability or a support ability. It can be from any job class, as long as you've purchased it with EXP. To set a reaction/support, type "@reaction (ability)". Yes, it's @reaction even if you're setting a support skill (though @support and @aux work too). As with @secondary, you're not restricted to one word; keep in mind, Auto-Safeguard and First Blood will apply themselves automatically if you type them in correctly.

For more information on job classes and the various kinds of skills, see Part 5 of the Kode.

If a boss battle gets too large, problems inevitably arise. For this reason, I have put up a limit of no more than 10 heroes per boss battle. If there are more than 10, I will not start the battle until someone withdraws. If you're gracious enough to back out, you'll earn 50 EXP. (However, no EXP will be rewarded if you never intended to battle and are just trying for easy EXP.) Ideally, I'd prefer for those who battle often to deign to those who don't fight very much, but I won't usually enforce this.

You may change job classes before entries close -- however, you may not use @join to do so. Instead, you must notify the ref of the job-change. Note that if you had high CT in your original job, it will be rerolled; if you had low CT, it will remain the same.

Everyone who is fighting will be given voice. Once the ref has enough heroes, he closes entries, rolls random draws (Item Boxes, 5-Card Draws, Program Folders, Pocket Skillsets) and the boss is introduced! Often, the boss's stats will be hidden. Your only clue to his stats will be that his HP and MP bars will change colors when he's running low on either one. Or, you may scan (using the Chemist's Study skill) to view his stats.

PART 3: THIS AND THAT

My system utilizes a speed system like the one seen in many Final Fantasy games (and explained in detail in Final Fantasy Tactics). When you join, you are given random starting CT (anywhere from 0 to 100 - it's part of the character-adding protocol, though there is a special skill to increase your starting CT). This adds a bit of randomness to battle, and makes it so that multiple people with the same Speed won't always move at the same time. The battle advances in "ticks" (the standard arena time unit). Every tick, your CT increases depending on your speed. When it reaches 100 or higher, you get a turn. The higher your speed, the more often you get turns; speed can be increased or decreased in mid-battle by certain status effects (see Part 4). For a better explanation of CT, see Neo-Kamek's Kode. Note that while KO'ed, CT "decays" at a rate of 1/4 your speed.

• The Adrenaline Gauge In the old system, players had a Trance Gauge (a-la Final Fantasy 9). Although popular, this system had some flaws, so for the new system I got rid of it and implemented Adrenaline in its place. The "adrenaline gauge" (AD for short) appears alongside your HP and MP, and it's listed as a percentage. Every time you take damage, your adrenaline gauge increases. The increase is dependent on where the damage comes from, but not how much damage you take; it increases by 2x the normal amount if you have the "Steroids" status effect. If the gauge reaches 100%, you get an Adrenaline Rush; you may use this with ANY action to double its effect or accuracy. The adrenaline gauge then resets to 0 and must be filled again. Unlike the old trance gauge, the adrenaline gauge does NOT carry over from battle to battle; it starts each battle at 0%. Also unlike the trance gauge, adrenaline is something that all fighters (including bosses) have and can use. Some bosses have special techniques they can only use with an Adrenaline Rush. (Should you find yourself fighting Shin Akuma, this is how he'll perform the Raging Demon.)
  
  Note that for most major bosses, allowing standard Adrenaline Rush can quickly cause various problems, so they get and use adrenaline differently. Since bosses get hit a lot more, they have to receive adrenaline more slowly. Under most circumstances, if a major boss takes less than 100 damage, its adrenaline will not increase at all. If it takes 100 to 299 damage in one turn, its gauge increases by 10%; 300 to 499 damage causes an increase of 20%. 500+ damage is rare, but causes a 30% increase in adrenaline. Once the gauge is full, most bosses can't use Adrenaline Rush to double their attack power. Instead, when a boss gets an Adrenaline Rush, he will be able to "use" it on his turn to heal himself. This recovers 20% of max HP (halved on gravity-resistant enemies) and clears all status ailments. Using Adrenaline Rush to heal does not use up the turn, and it can be used regardless of status effects.
  
  
• How the Adrenaline Gauge increases For heroes, how much the Adrenaline Gauge increases depends on how the damage was incurred:

Taking a direct attack from an enemy increases the gauge by 20%.

Taking damage from a hazard or wild surge will increase the gauge by 15%.

Getting hit with a counterattack from an enemy will increase the gauge by 10%.

Getting hit by an ally, intentionally or not, will increase the gauge by 5%.

If you block an attack with something like an Aura, your adrenaline gauge will not increase. Your HP has to actually go down. Similarly, taking MP damage or getting hit with status effects will not affect your adrenaline gauge.


You can't get adrenaline from indirect damage such as poison damage, nor from recoil damage from moves like Darkside.

Being KO'ed will immediately drop your adrenaline gauge to 0. If a deathproof boss is hit with an instant kill move, they won't die, but their adrenaline will drop to 0 anyway.


Certain "???" status changes will prevent your adrenaline gauge from increasing, while Steroids status will double all increases.


Multi-hit attacks and hazards increase the gauge ONCE. Using Multistrike won't cause the gauge to go up three times, and so on. Likewise, if a fighter is Quick and attacks the same target with both actions, the adrenaline gauge will only increase once.


If you're Metal, you'll barely feel the impact of attacks, and hence the gauge will increase by a mere 1%. However, any attacks that ignore Metal will cause your adrenaline to increase normally. Likewise, attacks from Tiny fighters will only cause a 1% increase.


The gauge cannot increase any more once it's at or past 100%, and even if you go from, say, 95% to 115%, it will always reset to 0.




• The Critical Rule You will be unable to finish off your enemy until his/her HP appears in red, which means their HP is low (below 20%). By the same token, enemies will not be able to finish you off in one move unless they have a special technique to bypass the critical rule (such as Death). Hazards also go by this rule, unless it's stated otherwise. There are some rare instances when the critical rule may be disabled or ignored (usually hazards). If a single attack or hazard hits multiple times (or multiple hazards go off at the same time), then as with the Adrenaline gauge, it's treated as a single attack; the same applies to attacks used while under Quick status.
  
• Damage All damage is calculated by me (well, by my scripts anyway). You can ask for projected damage on an attack before you use it, if you wish. Physical damage is based on the attacker's Atk stat and the target's Def stat. Magic damage is based on the attacker's MAtk stat and MP used, and the target's MDef stat. Magic damage decreases by 50% if used on multiple targets. Magic Sword damage uses the attacker's Atk stat and MP used, and the target's Def stat. The exact formulas are in the FAQ. Some skills "ignore defense", which means that the target's Def/MDef is assumed to be 50.
  
• Healing Healing magic is based off MAtk, and assumes 40 MDef. Healing is halved over multiple targets. However, White Mages and Defensive Specialists get a healing multiplier which gives them more efficiency. (The White Mage's healing multiplier may also be carried into other jobs as a support skill.)
  
• Wait Your Turn Don't attack until your turn is announced. Premature attacks won't be counted and may even be penalized. The only exception to this is if you won't be around for your next turn, you are allowed to set a pre-set attack. (Similarly, you can't use a skill like Block until after I've rolled accuracy, unless there is no accuracy roll.) You may not pre-set reaction skills.
  
• Move On Your Turn I don't have all day. When it's your turn you're expected to move. Otherwise, you'll be penalized on every turn you miss. If you know (or even think) you're not going to be around for your turn, set a pre-set move or allow someone else to move for you (preferrably someone who's not already battling). If you get disconnected or something like that, your move will be decided by a majority vote among your allies. If you miss multiple turns with no presets or replacements, penalties may be assessed.
  
• Spells' Accuracy Attack spells cannot miss, unless you're blinded or the target is airborne, MIA, or otherwise unhittable. Offensive and status magic will usually miss if the target has "Shadow" status. Unlike most other systems, my system does not utilize Magic Accuracy or Magic Evade stats.
  
• Physical attacks' hit rate is based on the attacker's "Accuracy" stat and the defender's "Evade" stat. The higher your Accuracy, the better the chances are of the attack hitting, while higher Evade means that attacks miss more often. When both stats are 50 (the most common value), the hit rate is 80%. Each successful hit has a 25% chance of being a critical hit, which causes extra damage (slightly less than double the normal amount). Note that Accuracy and Evade are NOT PERCENTAGES. Also note that regardless of Accuracy or Evade, there is always at least a 1% chance of success and a 1% chance of failure. The exact formula is in the FAQ. Physical attacks will usually miss if the target has "Vanish" status.
  
• Basic Skills All fighters, regardless of job class, have access to the same set of basic skills. Basic skills will be described in Part 5.
  
• Charging You may charge up to 3 times (some items increase that number). Charging increases the potency of your moves, but if you charge to max, the enemy may get wise and take defensive measures. There's more info under status boosts. Note that some skills (such as the Hammer Brother's Precise Shot) require charges to activate. Charging is best used strategically; if you use it solely to power up your attacks, it'll be rather inefficient. Also note that you cannot store charges, and if you use them on something that doesn't use charges (like status effects), they'll be wasted.
  
• This should go without saying, but only one attack per turn. You can't attack AND heal in the same turn, or use physical AND magic attacks. One or the other. The exception is if you have Quick status, which enables you to act twice in one turn, or a skill like the Red Mage's "X-Magic" which enables consecutive spells.
  
• Quick When you have Quick status, you get TWO ACTIONS in one turn, but not two separate turns. So, for instance, if you have both Paralysis and Quick status, you only call ONE coin flip. If you call it, you get two actions, otherwise, you get none. The same applies if you're Confused, Berserk, and so on. You only get one IU/handoff (though you can use it between actions if you wish), and a random-draw user (like NetNavi) will not get new random draws in between actions. And so on.
  
• Innate vs. Indefinite Some job classes, bosses, and so on have innate status (usually marked with a * where you'd normally see the duration), meaning they will have that status right from the beginning of battle. Innate status can never be removed by anything ever. Indefinite status changes have a duration of ???; they can be removed by Esuna, Dispel and the like, but they won't wear off on their own. Some status effects (such as Safeguard and Seizure) have no duration listed and are assumed to be indefinite (though if you begin battle with them, they are innate).
  
• Keep It In The Battlefield The referee and the crowd are shielded. Try to attack them, and you'll take the damage (or worse). Likewise, crowd interference is prohibited. This isn't pro wrestling.
  
• Elements There are eight elements: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Water, Wind, Earth, Wood, and Holy. They don't have any special properties on their own, but pay attention to your enemies' elemental properties. They may absorb a certain element (being healed by all attacks of that element), they may simply be immune to it, they may resist it (half damage), or they may be weak against it and take double damage. Nine times out of ten, elements won't mean anything, but sometimes, exploiting elements can be vital to winning certain battles. The Elementalist class specializes in manipulating the various elements, making them advantageous even if the enemy doesn't have any special properties.
  
• Item Grabbing When an item hazard occurs, the item lands on the arena floor. You may use your turn to pick up the item, after which it may be used. Pirates may pick up an item out-of-turn using the Plunder reaction skill (but only once per turn). Note that items do not carry over from one battle to the next, so don't grab items just for the sake of grabbing them. An item which is marked [IU] will automatically take effect once you pick it up; if you pick up an item marked (IU OK), you may choose to use the item immediately or hold onto it. The same applies when items are handed off. Items that appear in an Item Box cannot be IUed except when distributing items, and the same applies when using Loot. If you hold any items marked [IU] or (IU OK), you may use one (and only one) without using up your turn. (You may not use two such items if you're Quicked.) Some items are marked "Item Box Reroll", and will be rerolled if they show up in ANY large stash of items, including Item Box and Loot.
• A Note On Random Draws Non-item random draws are NOT items. NetNavis' chips, Amnesiacs' skills, and Gamblers' cards may not be handed off, mixed, thrown, infused with gunpowder, etc.
  
• Arena Conditions Whenever someone's turn comes up, you will see a list of abnormal battle conditions brought on by hazards, surges, and the like. (For example: "All castings of Cura cause a wild surge" or "Casted status boosts become status ailments".) Always pay close attention to the Arena Conditions, or you'll regret it.
  
• Early Exits Fighters who leave early without a good reason will be penalized instantly, regardless of whether they are KO'ed or petrified. (Remember, KO'ed and petrified units can be healed.) You'll rack up penalties if you miss too many turns, and you may earn less EXP (or none at all) post-battle. The ref may also choose to withhold bonuses like Wasted Battle.
  
• Late Entries I generally don't allow late entries, except to replace someone who left. Sometimes I'll allow late entries if I think the heroes will need more manpower than they have at the outset. There are also a couple of hazards and surges that allow for late entries...
  
• You may not attack your own teammates or heal the opposition, unless you can offer a good combat reason for it (Ally has 95% adrenaline, etc.). Doing so will draw penalties.
  
• One Man, One Fighter One fighter per player. You may not control two people, nor may you replace someone who left if you're already fighting. NO EXCEPTIONS.
  
• If you're a spectator, behave. If the crowd gets rowdy, I'll mute the non-fighters.
• Keep it in perspective. It's just a game.
• Wasted Battle If you don't get a single turn for the entire battle, you get 40 EXP as consolation. If you get turns, but lose them all to status effects, you get 20 EXP.
  
• The Final Word What the ref says, goes. Do not try to argue with him. Nothing good will come of it. If what I'm doing DIRECTLY contradicts something in the Kode, or if I just messed up, you can correct me, but otherwise, the ref gets the final word. Period.
  
• More Info See Part 7.

PART 4: STATUS MODIFIERS

It's a good idea to know these. Some of these are not that severe and easy to remedy, but some status modifiers can really turn the tide.

(Status Ailments) (??? Status Ailments) (Status Boosts) (??? Status Boosts)

STATUS AILMENTS
These are the negative status changes. All status ailments can be cured with skills like Esuna and Remedy unless otherwise noted. Status ailments can usually be blocked with a Safeguard (see Status Boosts).

• Attack Down - Physical power (Atk) drops by 30%. 51 ticks.
  
• Defense Down - Physical defense (Def) drops by 30%. 51 ticks.
  
• Magic Attack Down - Your magic attacks (MAtk) lose some potency (30%). Any attack that uses MP and does not have a "!Mag" flag in the description counts as a magic attack. Since healing moves are based off MAtk, they're also affected by this status; however, fixed-damage and non-damaging/curative attacks are not. 51 ticks.
  
• Magic Defense Down - Magic resistance (MDef) drops by 30%, and you take more damage from enemy magic. 51 ticks.
  
• Accuracy Down - Your accuracy (Acc) drops by 30%, and your physical hit rate drops. 51 ticks.
  
• Evade Down - Your evade rate (Evade) drops by 30%, making you an easier target for physical attacks. 51 ticks.
  
• Poison - You lose HP at 5-tick intervals. HP loss is random, between 1 and 10% of your max HP. 41 ticks.
  
• Confusion - At the start of your turn, a coin is tossed. If you call it right, you move as normal. If you call wrong, you'll perform a random action (Physical, charge, job class specialty, wild surge, random magic spell, etc.) on a random target. 41 ticks. Unlike most systems, you do NOT become un-confused if you get hit. May prevent use of certain Reaction skills.
  
• Paralysis - At the start of your turn, a coin is tossed. If you call it right, you move as normal. If you call wrong, you lose that turn. You retain any charges you have, but otherwise it counts as a turn. 31 ticks. May prevent use of Reaction skills.
  
• Blindness - If you are attacking, whether physically, magically, with status, with items, or through Hazard Focus, you must call a coin toss. Call incorrectly, and the attack will miss. Lasts 31 ticks. This applies even to "never-miss" techniques like Swift. However, non-offensive techniques can be performed normally.
  
• Mute - You can't use magic while mute. Luckily, it only lasts 21 ticks. This applies to any attack that uses MP and does not have a !Mag or !Mu flag on its description. If the target is immune to Mute, their magic power is cut in half instead.
  
• Scarecrow - The opposite of Mute. This makes you unable to use physical attacks. Lasts 21 ticks, or until the target runs out of MP. Also, fighters cannot be scarecrows and muted at the same time, nor can they be scarecrows with no MP. If the target is immune to Scarecrow, their physical power is cut in half instead. (Taken from Mario RPG)
  
• Missing In Action - Your upcoming turn(s) are skipped, but you cannot be hit. This status cannot be cured normally; it can only be canceled by the time magic "Warp". Your CT still increases while you're MIA and you are still considered "able to fight" (so it's not like petrification). Duration varies, default is 11 ticks. If the target is immune to MIA, they will be sent away long enough to miss one turn, and return just in time to take the next turn.
  
• Petrified - You become an immobile stone statue, unable to move or fight. You cannot be damaged or cured while in this state. Also, CT resets to 0 and stays there until you're cured. Indefinite, lasts until remedied. If the only fighters on a team are Petrified, the team loses. If the target is immune to Petrify, CT resets but there is no other effect.
  
• Asleep - On your turn, a coin is tossed. If you call the toss right, you wake up (waking up uses the turn). If you call wrong, you continue sleeping and repeat on the next turn. It's indefinite, but you can be woken up if someone hits you with a critical hit (or if you're remedied). If the target is immune to Sleep, they will wake up at the first opportunity.
  
• Dispel - Not really a status effect in itself. This removes all positive status changes, except for Auras, from the target. Innate status cannot be removed.
  
• Seizure - This causes 1 HP damage with every tick... not that bad normally, but if an enemy can drop you to 1 HP you need to watch out for this. Indefinite. (See Final Fantasy 4 or 5)
  
• Tiny - 21 ticks. All attacks by you -- physical, magical, or otherwise -- do 1 damage. Doesn't affect non-attack skills. Enemies won't feel your attacks, and thus their adrenaline gauges will barely increase. If the target is immune to Tiny, their damage output will be cut in half.
  
• Imp - 11 ticks. A very powerful status change. This locks off everything except for basic skills (and Imp Song for those who have it). Cannot stack with Scarecrow. If the target is immune to Imp, their damage output will be cut in half and they will take 30% more damage from attacks. (Final Fantasy 6)
  
• Embarrassment - An artifact of the old system, Embarrassment is indefinite and cannot be cured (except by Amnesia Dust). It cannot be inflicted by standard means and will not come up as a "random badstat". This disables a fighter's special techniques permanently, including reactions and support. This is one of the most powerful status ailments in existence, but only hazards and surges can cause it.
  
• Slow - Lasts 41 ticks. While in effect, this decreases your speed by 30%, and you will receive turns less often.
  
• Stop - Lasts 21 ticks. While in effect, this sets your speed to 0. If your turn comes up while Stopped, you may still take the turn as normal, and reactions may also be used normally. If the target is immune to Stop, the duration will always be reduced to 5 ticks.
  
• Death Sentence - Lasts 19 ticks. When the timer on this status expires, you are KO'ed instantly. It's not curable via standard means (only the Chemist's Tungsten skill can do that), but you can soften its impact with Auto-Life.
  
• Undead - You take damage from HP-healing techniques and items; on the upside, Drain and Osmose work in reverse on you. 31 ticks, and it's one of the few status effects that will not go away even if you're KO'ed. Undead fighters CAN be revived normally, and MP recovery will work normally.
  
• Elemental Weakness - Take double damage from a randomly selected element. Indefinite; can be canceled by the Elementalist's Arcane Shield ability.
  

??? STATUS AILMENTS
These status effects, listed only as "???", is spawned chiefly by Boo Cuz and Ref's Choice hazards. These all last 31 ticks and can be cured normally unless otherwise noted. Here are some of "???"'s more common effects.

• Charge Down - Charging makes attacks weaker instead of stronger.
  
• Undead - This is more dangerous if you don't know about it.
  
• No Critical - The critical rule doesn't apply to you if this is "???"'s effect.
  
• Coin Hates You - All coin tosses will be rigged against you. You may not use dice or cards or the like to get around this.
  
• Burned - If you take an action, you will be KOed immediately after the action resolves. If the target is immune to burn status, they will take some damage after every turn. Cannot be stacked with Poison. (Final Fantasy 9)
  
• Frozen - This is like Stop in that it sets your speed to 0, but in addition, you'll be KOed instantly if hit with a physical attack. Additionally, you may not use reactions while frozen. If the target is immune to being frozen, they will be slowed instead of stopped; the next incoming physical attack will deal physical damage and end Freeze status. (Final Fantasy 9)
  
• Emotionless - Adrenaline is fueled by a fighter's emotions. If this is the nature of "???", your adrenaline gauge will stop increasing.
  
• Can't Run Can't Hide - Any attacks targeting you will connect, regardless of success chance.
  
• Shitty Aim - Any attacks by you that can miss, will miss, regardless of success chance. Does not apply to attacks that always hit. If the target is immune to Shitty Aim, it will be treated as Blindness instead.
  
• Wild - All magic spells have a 25% chance of wild surging. Cannot be cured normally.
  
• Glitchfest - All actions have a 50% chance of glitching.
  
• Faith - All your spells have double effect, but so do incoming magic spells. This is listed as both an ailment and a boost. Cannot be cured normally. (Final Fantasy Tactics)
• Innocent - You cannot use magic, nor are you affected by it. This is listed as both an ailment and a boost. Cannot be cured normally. (Final Fantasy Tactics) 

STATUS BOOSTERS
These are the positive status changes. All status boosts can be nullified with Dispel, Status HaXX0r, and the like unless otherwise noted.

• Attack Up - Your physical power (Atk) increases by 30%. 51 ticks.
• Defense Up - You take 30% less damage from physical attacks. 51 ticks.
• Magic Attack Up - The potency of your magic attacks (MAtk) increases by 30%. 51 ticks.
• Magic Defense Up - You'll be better protected from enemy magic (30%). 51 ticks.
• Accuracy Up - Lasts 51 ticks. Raises accuracy (and hence hit rate) (Acc) by 30%.
  
• Evade Up - Lasts 51 ticks. Your Evade rate (Evade) increases by 30%, making you tougher to hit.
• Regen - Lasts 41 ticks and is the opposite of poison. You gain semi-random amounts of HP at 5-tick intervals, determined by your max HP.
• Morph - Lasts until dispelled or MP runs out, but can be disengaged at will. (Demorphing uses a turn but is free of MP.) While this is in effect, you will lose MP constantly (1 MP per tick). However, all magic and skills will cost half the usual amount of MP. This is great if your job class relies on its MP, but for more physical-oriented jobs, this can be more of a hindrance than a help.
  
• Reflect - Lasts 31 ticks. Magic spells used on you will reflect to a random target on the opposite side. Any attack that uses MP and is not marked !Mag or !Rf can be reflected. Spells can only reflect once. While Reflect is useful for protecting you from enemy magic, it's a double-edged sword because it won't protect you from physical attacks, hazards, and non-reflectable spells, and what's worse, you'll have a hard time healing yourself, so use this with caution. If you reflect a multi-target spell off of multiple targets, it will deal 2x damage to a single enemy regardless of how many targets it bounced off of.
  
• Berserk - Lasts 31 ticks. While Berserk, your physical and magic attack power increase by 50%, and your speed increases by 2. However, on your turn, you must call a coin flip; if you call wrong, you'll automatically use a physical attack on a random enemy. Obviously, this is only useful on certain fighters; it's not something you want a chemist or hazardeer to end up with. It could be considered a boost or an ailment depending on the situation (and some bosses will resist it like a badstat), but for my purposes, it is a goodstat. May prevent use of Reaction skills.
  
• Charging - You can use a turn to power up, or charge. You can charge up for a maximum of 3 turns before unleashing the powered-up move. You can also receive 3 charges instantly from some hazards, and some items may let you charge even higher. Charges cannot be stored -- they must be used immediately. Charges have no effect on status effects or jumps. Each charge increases your Atk and MAtk by 40% (not cumulative; three charges will increase the stat by 120%, for instance). You cannot give charges to other combatants. Certain job class skills (such as Smash-All) require one or more charges to use.
  
• Quick - Lasts 21 ticks. A very useful status that allows you to act twice on your turn. (Final Fantasy 5 and 6)
  
• Final Strike - When your HP reaches 0, you get a turn immediately before dying. (You cannot use that turn to revive/cure yourself.) No tick length, lasts until you die.
  
• Auto-Life (a.k.a Life 3 or Reraise) - When you are KO'ed, you're auto-revived with 50% of your max HP. No tick length, lasts until you die. (Final Fantasy 6)
  
• Vanish - Lasts 31 ticks and renders you immune to physical attacks. Cannot stack with Reflect. Be warned that physical attacks have a 20% chance of ignoring Vanish.
  
• Shadow - Lasts 31 ticks and renders you immune to magic attacks. Cannot stack with Vanish. Be warned that magic attacks have a 20% chance of ignoring Shadow. (Megaman Battle Network 2)
  
• Esuna (a.k.a Remedy) - Not really a status effect in itself. This removes all negative status changes from the target, except for Death Sentence, MIA, and Embarrassment. Innate status cannot be removed.
  
• Airborne - Jump like a Dragoon! Actually, you pretty much have to be a Dragoon (or using its skillset) to jump, and this status cannot be added to other fighters. While airborne, you cannot be hit except by very specific techniques (such as Swift or Shoryuken). It lasts 3 ticks by default, after which you can attack a desired target and land. (Dragoons have a variety of different attacks they may use while landing.) Damage from jumping is physical. Jump cannot be dispelled. CT does not increase while jumping.
  
• Aura - Lasts until broken, the Aura is worth a certain amount of HP and nullifies any attacks that aren't strong enough to break it. If an attack is too powerful for it, it will nullify the damage but break afterwards. Auras do NOT weaken over time, and can NOT be dispelled by normal means (though the blue magic Status HaXX0r will work). However, attacks have a 20% chance of bypassing auras. If this happens, the aura will not break, even if the attack is powerful enough to break it. (Megaman Battle Network)
  
• Metal - All incoming attacks do 1 damage. However, you become heavier and your speed drops by 2 while this is in effect. 31 ticks. Cannot stack with Auras of any strength. Also, you become insensitive to pain, and your Adrenaline Gauge will barely increase. You'll still take normal damage 20% of the time, and take the full effect of attacks that ignore defense.
  
• Safeguard - Renders one immune to bad status. Indefinite. Badstats can still sneak through, but there's only a 20% chance of that happening. This status is common among bosses.
  
• Haste - Lasts 41 ticks. While in effect, this increases your speed by 30% and you will receive turns more often.
  
• Adrenaline Rush - Indefinite and cannot be added normally. While in effect, you have the option of using it to double the effect (or in some cases accuracy) of any skill. Adrenaline Rush is induced if your Adrenaline gauge reaches maximum, but some hazards may cause it instantly. Adrenaline Rush may not be removed by ANY means (except being KOed), and it cannot come up randomly as a "random status boost". Some bosses who get Adrenaline Rush cannot double their attack power with it, but instead may use it for healing or for "super" moves.
  
• Steroids - You can achieve Adrenaline Rush faster; the gauge increases at twice its usual rate. 31 ticks. (Final Fantasy 9)
  
• Magic Sword - This is sort of a magic "charge" that is applied to physical attacks to deal "magic sword"-based damage. You can receive it as a random goodstat, but it's not normally castable. When you choose to release the charge, it will be treated as a physical attack using Atk and Def... however, damage will be calculated using the magic formula. If your class has a lot of physical power and/or the enemy is weak physically, Magic Sword is a great way to pile on the damage. It can be dispelled. Magic Sword can also be used with certain physical-based skills, ask the ref for details. Rune Knights may use Magic Sword charge instead of MP to power their special techniques. If you don't want to use the magic charge to attack, fighters may opt to convert the charge into extra MP (doing so does not use up a turn, unless you've already used Sword Charge during that turn).
  
• Elemental Absorption - Absorb all damage of a randomly-selected element. Indefinite.

??? STATUS BOOSTS
These status effects, listed only as "???", are spawned chiefly by Boo Cuz and Ref's Choice hazards. Here are some of "???"'s more common effects. And no, the ref won't tell you what it is. They all last 31 ticks and can be dispelled normally unless otherwise noted.

• Power Shielded - When hit, always counter for the same amount of damage. (Earthbound)
  
• Economizer - All magic costs 1 MP. (Final Fantasy 6)
  
• Guts - All hits are critical hits.
  
• Inflict Badstats - Each time you physically attack the enemy, you will also add a random status ailment (ignoring Safeguard).
  
• Mine3 - You're protected by a land mine. The next person who tries to attack you will take 100 damage. Cannot be dispelled. (Megaman Battle Network)
  
• Hazard Immunity - This could very easily save your butt, but in a few rare instances it might not be so useful.
  
• Coin Loves You - All coin tosses are rigged in your favor.
• Sniper Sight - All attacks by you will connect, regardless of accuracy.
• Auto-Batdodge - Any attacks targeting you that can miss, will miss, regardless of success chance. Does not apply to attacks that always hit.
• Damage Split - When you take damage, you will drain half the damage dealt from your attacker. Does NOT work in reverse on undead targets.
• Faith - All your spells have double effect, but so do incoming magic spells. This is listed as both an ailment and a boost, and cannot be dispelled. (Final Fantasy Tactics)
• Innocent - You cannot use magic, nor are you affected by it. This is listed as both an ailment and a boost, and cannot be dispelled. (Final Fantasy Tactics)

PART 5: JOB CLASSES AND SKILLS

When you battle, you'll select a job class. There are many job classes to choose from, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. There are two things to look for in a job class: stats and skills.

Stats are HP, MP, Atk, Def, MAtk, MDef, Acc, Evade, and Speed. HP is your life force; if it reaches 0, you die. MP is magic power or mana, and it powers magic spells and other special attacks. Atk and Def determine physical damage, Acc and Evade determine physical hit rate (and to a lesser degree, critical hit rate), while MAtk and MDef determine magical damage. Speed determines how often you get turns.

The skillset contains the special abilities available to your job class. A mage's magic, a swordsman's special sword arts, and so on. You are allowed two skillsets: your primary skillset (that is, your job's skillset), and a secondary skillset (which can be from any other job). You can use any skill from your primary skillset, but for your secondary, you may only use skills that you have purchased with EXP. For example, a Black Mage earns some EXP and purchases Fire, which costs 60 Black Mage EXP; he then plays as a White Mage with Black Magic secondary. He can now cast any white magic (his primary skillset), and he can also cast Fire.

When you buy every available skill in a skillset, you have mastered that skillset. All skillsets require a total of 3000 EXP to master. There is no special personal benefit to mastering skillsets, aside from pretty gold stars, having all those skills available, and getting your name in the Kode. If our mage friend up there spends a long time as a White Mage and masters the White Magic skillset, he can move on to another job and have two full skillsets at his disposal. While there aren't any personal benefits, there are overall benefits to mastering job classes... mastering a lot of classes has opened up certain additional job classes which weren't initially playable.

Choose your secondary skills wisely. Some skillsets only work well with certain job classes. For instance, the Swordsmanship skillset requires high Atk and Acc to be useful; a White Mage with Swordsmanship is not a very good combination. Likewise, Summon Magic goes best with high MP and MAtk, and doesn't fit very well on the likes of Fighters and Monks. A few skillsets -- such as Item Ability -- are not highly dependent on stats, and thus can be used as a secondary on almost any job class.

Your secondary skill only gives you action skills: skills that you perform actively on your turn. Reaction skills are shown in red below; they are still performed actively, but out of turn. Counterattacks and such fall into this category; you may only perform one at a time. (If you Cover someone from an attack, you can't Block the attack at the same time.) Support skills are shown in greenish-blue, and they're "always-active" abilities that do things like enhance your attacks or give you an extra weapon. In addition to your two skillsets, you are allowed one reaction OR support skill not of your job class. As with secondary skills, you need to purchase a reaction/support skill before you can use it in other job classes. Note that some possible secondary skillsets are far more useful with accompanying support skills. For example, the Execute! skillset is virtually useless without the Program Folder support skill. While the Item Ability and Mimicry skillsets are decent on their own, they're at their best with Item Box and Perfect Copy, respectively. As for reactions, many of these skills can go just about anywhere. Anybody can benefit from the ability to Block attacks, absorb magic, nullify Ref Bombs, learn Blue Magic, dodge attacks, and so on... though there are exceptions. Counter is not very useful on mages, for example.

Over time, you can make some interesting combinations, like a Black Mage who can use Time Magic and Runic, or a Mimic with Execute! and a Program Folder. Experiment and see what fits your playing style best.

Before I get into the job classes and special skills, here's a list of basic skills. These are very simple skills that are available to all fighters, regardless of job class.

Fight: Physically attack one enemy. If you have a Magic Charge, deals Magic Sword-type damage. (DW, !Am)
Wait: Do nothing on your turn, and increase your CT by 20. This uses your ENTIRE turn, even if Quicked. (!Am)
Idle: Do nothing on your turn. The hazard bar will not increase and you will not lose charges, but your CT goes to -20. (!Am)
Hazard Slash: Physically attack one enemy and cause the hazard bar to increase. (DW, !Am)
Spark: Magically attack one enemy. Non-elemental. (5 MP, !Am)
Bandage: Patch up minor wounds. Recovers one target's HP. (5 MP, !Am)
Charge: Store extra power until your next turn. Adds one charge (see status boosts). (!Am)
Meditate: Recover 10% of your Max MP. (!Am)
Osmose: Absorb an enemy's MP. Absorbs a random amount based on how much MP you're missing. You may recover up to 1/4 the amount of MP you're missing. (1 MP, !Am)
Pick Up: Pick up an item off of the arena floor. Items marked [IU] will take effect immediately, and items marked (IU OK) may be used immediately or retained for later use. (!Am)
Hand Off: Give a held item to another combatant. You can also drop an item by "handing off" to the floor. Items marked [IU] will take effect immediately, and items marked (IU OK) can be used immediately by the recipient or retained for later use. You may hand off ONE item without using your turn, but that will prevent you from IUing items. (!Am)
Item: Use a held item. You can use ONE (IU OK) or [IU] item without using up your turn, but that will prevent Handing Off. (!Am)
Ascend: Special command only usable after the Dark Sun hazard comes up. Using this sends you MIA for 31 ticks, during which time you are considered defeated, but it destroys the Dark Sun and halts further Dark Sun effects. (!Am)

And now for the meat of this section (possibly even the meat of the Kode itself).

All of the playable job classes are listed below with their stats, their level-up stats (explained in Part 6), and a complete list of skills (with accompanying EXP costs), listed alphabetically by job class.

A note on the flags: !Mu means an attack can be used even while mute, !Rf means it's unaffected by Reflect status, !Runic means it cannot be absorbed by Runic, and !Mag means that even though a skill costs MP, it's not magic at all. (However, many !Mag attacks are actually physical attacks and thus Block and Counter WILL work on them.) !Bl means a skill cannot be Blocked, and DW means that if the user has the "Dual Wield" support skill, an extra blow will be added to the move. (However, it will always be a simple blow with no frills; if you've played Final Fantasy 7, you can think of it as being similar to an "Added Cut" materia. If used with a multiple-target attack such as Stasis Sword, the extra hit will target ONE of the targets at random.) The !Am flag is mostly reserved for boss-only and surge-only skills not listed in the Kode, but it indicates a skill that cannot come up via Pocket Skillset/Reaction Draw/Support Draw, usually either because it's too powerful, associated with a particular gimmick, or it's a basic skill.

Just your basic swordfighter, they can reduce your stats or just kill you outright. They're pretty decent both offensively and defensively, with the second-highest base physical power of any job class.

HP: 110 MP: 40 SPEED: 10
ATK: 100 DEF: 70
MATK: 20 MDEF: 55
ACC: 70 EVADE: 50

Level-Up Stats: HP+2, Atk+1, Def+1

SWORDSMANSHIP:
Armor Break (100 EXP): A sword technique which reduces the target's physical defense. Deals physical damage with a 50% chance of Def -10%. On a critical hit, Def -20%. (7 MP, !Mag, DW)
Block (200 EXP): Raise your shield to ward off physical attacks. 50% success rate.
Charge! (150 EXP): Encourages wounded allies to team up and beat the shit out of the target. All allies who are critical perform Fight, at 2x power, on the target.
Climhazzard (500 EXP): The ultimate sword technique. Cuts through all enemies for 3x damage. Cannot miss or deal a critical hit. (30 MP, !Mag)
Cover (180 EXP): Step in front of a critical ally to defend them from single-target attacks. Cannot be used if you yourself are critical.
Darkside (175 EXP): A sword technique which expends the user's vitality to deal extra damage. HP loss is 10% of maximum; deals double physical damage. Cannot miss.
Impale (330 EXP): A sword technique which runs the target straight through, but seldom hits cleanly. Has half accuracy but 4x power. (DW)
Incision (180 EXP): A sword technique which sacrifices some power to ensure a clean hit. Has 2x accuracy but half power. (DW)
Laceration (260 EXP): Rush down the target and take a giant swing of your sword. Has 75% accuracy and 2x power. (DW)
Magic Break (100 EXP): A sword technique which reduces the target's magic capacity. Deals physical damage with a 50% chance of MAtk -10%. On a critical hit, MAtk -20%. (7 MP, !Mag, DW)
Mental Break (100 EXP): A sword technique which reduces the target's magic resistance. Deals physical damage with a 50% chance of MDef -10%. On a critical hit, MDef -20%. (7 MP, !Mag, DW)
Minus Strike (200 EXP): A sword technique that grows stronger as the wielder grows weaker. Damage is equal to the amount of HP the swordsman is missing. Does not require an accuracy roll. (14 MP, !Mag)
Overdrive (150 EXP): A sword technique so intense, it leaves the user worn out. Attack as if with five(!) charges, but spend the next turn recovering. (DW)
Power Break (100 EXP): A sword technique which reduces the target's physical strength. Deals physical damage with a 50% chance of Atk -10%. On a critical hit, Atk -20%. (7 MP, !Mag, DW)
Slash (150 EXP): Sends a slash of energy through the ground at the target, dealing physical damage with a 50% chance of dispelling all status boosts. (DW)
Speed Break (125 EXP): A sword technique which reduces the target's movement. Deals physical damage with a 50% chance of Speed -1. On a critical hit, Speed -2. (14 MP, !Mag, DW)

MASTERED BY: Locos Docos, SSLRranma, UDX

This job class won't make you hideously overpowered like in Final Fantasy Tactics, but it's got good enough stats and a small but potent skillset. Learned in several advanced sword techniques; you'll never even consider using just plain Fight.

HP: 100 MP: 30 SPEED: 10
ATK: 90 DEF: 55
MATK: 30 MDEF: 50
ACC: 60 EVADE: 40

Level-Up Stats: HP+2, Atk+2

MASTER SWORDSMANSHIP:
Blastar Punch (300 EXP): A Divine Knight's sword technique, which deals physical damage to the target and destroys helmets. Adds Magic Defense Down, ignoring safeguard, while you receive Magic Defense Up for 26 ticks. (DW)
Crush Punch (300 EXP): A Holy Knight's sword technique, which does double physical damage to one target and has a 20% chance of causing instant death. (DW)
Dark Sword (200 EXP): A Dark Knight's sword technique, which does physical MP damage and drains MP from the target. Damage cannot exceed target's current MP. (DW)
Hellcry Punch (300 EXP): A Divine Knight's sword technique, which deals physical damage to the target and destroys weapons. Adds Attack Down, ignoring safeguard, while you receive Attack Up for 26 ticks. (DW)
Holy Explosion (500 EXP): A Holy Knight's sword technique, which hits up to two targets for 2x physical damage. Has a 50% chance of confusing each target. (DW)
Knightsword Change (500 EXP): Equip a Knightsword to receive an undispellable status change of some sort. Does not use up your turn. Available Knightswords are: Save the Queen (Defense Up), Ragnarok (Magic Defense Up), Excalibur (Haste), Chaos Blade (Regen), and Defender (enables Block).
Night Sword (200 EXP): A Dark Knight's sword technique, which does physical damage and drains HP from the target. Damage cannot exceed target's current HP. (DW)
Shellbust Stab (300 EXP): A Divine Knight's sword technique, which deals physical damage to the target and destroys armor. Adds Defense Down, ignoring safeguard, while you receive Defense Up for 26 ticks. (DW)
Souleater (175 EXP): A Dark Knight's technique, offering some of your own life force in exchange for physical might. You take damage equal to 20% of your max HP; in exchange, an accompanying physical skill is powered up by 20%. Alternatively, you take the damage and get Attack Up status for 51 ticks.
Stasis Sword (225 EXP): Upon taking damage, strike back with a Holy Knight's sword technique, damaging your attacker for 1.5x damage and a 50% chance of Stop. However, its range is limited, so there's only a 40% chance of success. (DW)

MASTERED BY: Locos Docos, Neo-Kamek, UDX

Rune Knights combine swordplay with magic in a variety of ways, making a formidable combination! They are particularly skilled with "magic charge" status. They can also weaken enemy spellcasters with their Runic ability.

HP: 75 MP: 60 SPEED: 10
ATK: 75 DEF: 50
MATK: 60 MDEF: 65
ACC: 60 EVADE: 50

Level-Up Stats: MP+4, Atk+1

MAGIC SWORD:
Item Shatter (240 EXP): A physical attack that breaks a selected arena item and may gain properties based on that item. Can consume Magic Charge instead of MP. (15 MP, !Mag, DW)
Life Force (240 EXP): Converts Magic Charge to HP at a 1:1 ratio, or to both HP and MP at a 2:1:1 ratio.
Master Sword (180 EXP): Your weapon fires beams when you are at full HP, adding 25 damage to any physical attack. (If the attack is multitarget, the beam strikes one selected target.)
Runic (550 EXP): Attempt to partially absorb a casted spell with your sword. Has a 50% success rate and may only be done once per turn. Absorbed spells are converted into magic charge equal to the spell's cost; the spell itself goes off, but only with half effect.
Shock (350 EXP): A powerful holy-elemental attack. Deals Magic Sword-type damage to one target. Can consume Magic Charge instead of MP. (50 MP, !Mag, DW)
Soul Strike (200 EXP): A special kind of sword skill that targets the enemy's magic defense instead of its physical defense, dealing 2x damage. (11 MP, !Mag, DW)
Spellblade (240 EXP): Imbues your sword with an ally's magic spell and attacks. Your attack will take on power and properties from the spell chosen. Requires the ally's consent; the ally must spend the MP for the spell. You may also use your own magic for this. (DW)
Sword Charge (360 EXP): Convert MP to Magic Charge at a 1:2 ratio (if this skill is in your primary skillset) or a 2:3 ratio (if it's a secondary skill). Alternatively, you can convert HP to MCharge at a 1:1 ratio instead of using MP. Does not use up your turn.
Syphon Sword (200 EXP): Removes a selected status effect from one target (can be positive or negative) and adds to your magic charge depending on the effect removed. (Amount absorbed usually depends on how much it cost to add the effect.) The target takes physical damage. If used on an ally, ignores Evade. Can consume Magic Charge instead of MP. (20 MP, !Mag, DW)
Variable Blade (200 EXP): A Magic Sword attack against one target. Can be any element. Can consume Magic Charge instead of MP. (30 MP, !Mag, DW)
Wizard Sword (240 EXP): A physical attack that also casts a magic spell (from a preset list of offensive spells) for no MP cost. You select the spell's target. Can consume Magic Charge instead of MP. (15 MP, !Mag, DW)

MASTERED BY: Ashton

The ultimate hand-to-hand combatant. Uses a variety of martial arts techniques to deal damage, and with their knowledge of the human body, they can even heal allies in a pinch.

HP: 100 MP: 40 SPEED: 11
ATK: 80 DEF: 60
MATK: 25 MDEF: 40
ACC: 60 EVADE: 60

Level-Up Stats: HP+4, Atk+1

MARTIAL ARTS:
Carter's Tech (120 EXP): Legendary martial arts skill instantly destroys defensive status boosts on one target.
Chakra (150 EXP): Target recovers random HP and MP based on the user's Atk. Works even on undead fighters.
Counter (200 EXP): Counterattack with Fight after taking physical damage.
Giant Throw (200 EXP): A powerful throw technique whose strength is proportional to that of the thrower. Damage is equal to the thrower's HP. (14 MP, !Mag, !Bl)
Hadouken (125 EXP): Expels Ki energy as a giant fireball. Deals 2x magic damage, but uses whichever attack stat (Atk/MAtk) is higher. (10 MP)
Hyper Slam (300 EXP): A devastating backbreaker, but it leaves you vulnerable (Stop + DefDown for 3 ticks ignoring safeguard) if you miss. User's Accuracy is cut in half when attempting this move. If it hits, it deals 3x damage, ignoring defense. (!Bl)
Mantra (200 EXP): All allies except the user recover random HP based on the user's Atk. Works even on undead fighters.
Multistrike (250 EXP): Attack one target with three punches in a row, but your CT is set to -35 afterward. If Quicked, the CT penalty stacks.
Shoulder Throw (270 EXP): Toss one target, sending them sailing clear out of the arena. Physical damage, has a 50% chance of adding MIA. Cannot cause critical damage. (!Bl)
Shoryuken (125 EXP): Invincible rising uppercut. 2x damage, double effect on airborne targets (and grounds them), and cannot be countered. (10 MP, !Mag, Mute OK)
Smash-All (225 EXP): Bull-rush all enemies using stored energy. Deals 2x physical damage, requires one charge.
Spin Punch (160 EXP): Punish all who come near you. Anyone who directly attacked you on their last turn takes 3x damage.
Spiraller (250 EXP): All allies except the user recover random HP based on the user's Atk. Works like Mantra except that it also affects KO'ed allies... but it also KOs the user.
Strike-All (150 EXP): Flying kick attacks all enemies at once.
Triple Roundhouse (275 EXP): Effective against people who make Chuck Norris jokes. This move is potentially very powerful but very unreliable... three attacks are delivered to random enemies, each attack has half the usual accuracy but does 1.5x damage. (20 MP, !Mag)

MASTERED BY: Locos Docos, Specs

A warrior who attacks from the sky with polearms, this is perhaps the most powerful overall physical job class. At worst it's a useful class to have around on the ground, and it becomes downright nightmarish once it gets into the air.

HP: 80 MP: 50 SPEED: 11
ATK: 70 DEF: 70
MATK: 30 MDEF: 45
ACC: 65 EVADE: 35

Level-Up Stats: MP+2, Atk+1, Def+1

DRAGON'S POWER:
Dragon Might (150 EXP): Imbues the target with the fierceness of a dragon. Atk and MAtk increase by 10 each. (10 MP, !Mag)
Drill Jump (350 EXP): A jump landing that spins while descending, dealing tremendous (3x, cannot crit) damage on impact. (15 MP, !Mag)
High Jump (400 EXP): Go airborne for 7 ticks, then attack an enemy from the sky. Deals physical damage +60%. (DW)
Ignore Defense (200 EXP): Powers up an accompanying attack with armor-piercing properties, causing it to ignore Def/MDef. (+8 MP, !Mu)
Jump (200 EXP): Go airborne for 3 ticks, then attack an enemy from the sky. Deals physical damage. (DW)
Lancer (150 EXP): Equip a spear. All jump damage x1.5, and guarantees at least two hits when using Multijump.
Mid Jump (300 EXP): Go airborne for 5 ticks, then attack an enemy from the sky. Deals physical damage +30%. (DW)
Multijump (300 EXP): A jump landing that attacks a single enemy multiple times in a row. Flip a coin after each hit, for each heads, you continue attacking. Cannot crit except on the final hit. (15 MP, !Mag, DW)
Shockwave (300 EXP): A jump landing that creates a powerful shockwave, dealing earth-elemental damage to all foes. (10 MP, !Mag)
White Draw (350 EXP): Summons a dragon to absorb MP from the enemy. Physical damage to the target's MP (cannot crit), half that amount is absorbed by all allies. Damage cannot exceed target's current MP, and the move cannot be used on allies. (30 MP, !Mag)
Wyvern (300 EXP): Summons a wyvern to attack enemies. Double physical damage to all foes. (24 MP, !Mag)

MASTERED BY: Locos Docos, Mario Mario, Metal Man88

Yo ho ho! Grab your favorite rum, a pistol, a parrot, and an eyepatch, and take to the seas in pursuit of pieces of eight! Created from the ashes of the defunct Thief job class.

HP: 75 MP: 40 SPEED: 10
ATK: 80 DEF: 50
MATK: 20 MDEF: 50
ACC: 65 EVADE: 50

Level-Up Stats: HP+2, Atk+1, Acc+1

PIRACY:
Belt Shot (170 EXP): A well-aimed pistol shot that causes the target to drop their supplies. Deals physical damage, and all held items are dropped to the arena floor. (8 MP, !Mag)
Cannon Fire (280 EXP): Fires a cannonball which explodes on the enemy team for 2x physical damage. (If there's only one enemy, s/he takes 3x damage.) You must first load the cannon, which requires a turn action.
Cheers! (135 EXP): Drink some rum with a buddy! You and a selected ally recover 25 HP, but suffer Accuracy Down.
Double Shot (220 EXP): Blam blam! Launches two physical attacks against one target, and doesn't draw counters. Has a 75% chance to add Evade Down, ignoring safeguard. (3 MP, !Mag)
First Blood (200 EXP): Pirates love to be the ones to start a conflict. Adds 50 to starting CT.
Gun Maintenance (100 EXP): Cleans your gun to improve its performance. You get Accuracy Up and Attack Up, though there's a 25% chance of accidentally shooting yourself in the foot for physical damage.
Gunpowder (205 EXP): Imbue a held item with gunpowder, making it explosive (regardless of its previous nature). However, using gunpowder on an already-volatile item will backfire. (12 MP, !Mag)
Jolly Roger (180 EXP): Unfurl a fearsome pirate flag to embolden allies. Each ally gets a random status boost, and each enemy gets a random status ailment, but this can only be used once per battle.
Loot (200 EXP): Raid a secret stash to load up on items. Go MIA through your next turn; return with 10 random items.
Parrot Strike (205 EXP): Summons a parrot to assist you in battle. At the start of your next three turns, it will attack a random enemy for physical damage.
Peg-Leg (205 EXP): Kick one enemy in the chest with a peg-leg. Deals 1.5x wood-elemental damage; has a 50% chance of lowering CT by 30. (9 MP, !Mag)
Pillage (180 EXP): Steal while attacking. If the attack fails, so does the steal. (6 MP, !Mag, DW)
Plunder (180 EXP): Take items from the arena floor out-of-turn. Can only be done once per turn.
Point Blank (100 EXP): Shoot one target from close-range, giving them no chance to react. Deals physical damage, ignoring reactions. (3 MP, !Mag)
Poison Hook (170 EXP): Stab one enemy with a pirate's hook hand. Has 75% accuracy, but always deals critical damage. If successful, has a 30% chance to induce Poison status. (5 MP, !Mag, DW)
Steal (110 EXP): Steal a held item or a random item from the target. 75% success rate.
Steal Boost (160 EXP): Steal an enemy's status boost. 75% success rate.

MASTERED BY: TIASIAN

Guaranteed delivery in 30 minutes or less, or we commit seppuku! Ninjas use underhanded techniques similar to Pirates, and are skilled at discarding items. At high velocity. Even from great distances, their shurikens will always find their mark.

HP: 80 MP: 65 SPEED: 13
ATK: 65 DEF: 40
MATK: 55 MDEF: 40
ACC: 55 EVADE: 90

Level-Up Stats: Atk+1, Evade+1, Speed+0.2

NINJITSU:
Assassinate (250 EXP): Attempt to KO one enemy in a single blow by striking a vital point. 25% success rate.
Backstab (160 EXP): Sneak up on the opponent from behind to ensure a critical hit. 75% accuracy. (DW)
Blink (90 EXP): Ninja magic creates multiple images of the target, adding Evade Up. (7 MP)
Blood Lust (300 EXP): Close off all rational thought and enter an enraged state for 21 ticks. Adds Attack Up, Berserk, Haste, and Quick. Self only. (36 MP, !Mag)
Chomp (170 EXP): Generate a random item (cannot be badges, materia, or food items) and throw it at the enemy.
Cloak of Shadows (170 EXP): Special ninja cloak enables the target to hide in the shadows. Adds Shadow status. (16 MP, !Mag)
Draw Weapons (100 EXP): Generates four ninja throwing weapons. Roll 1d5 for each weapon; if 1, the weapon is a Kunai Dagger, if 2 it's a Surge-iken, otherwise it's a Shuriken.
Dual Wield (150 EXP): Wield a weapon in each hand to attack twice in a row. Used with a compatible special skill, it simply tacks an extra slice onto the skill without the special properties of the ability in question.
Firecrackers (220 EXP): When hit with a direct attack, retaliate by having a held item explode on the enemy. Damage dealt depends on the size of the item, which is destroyed afterward.
Invisible Cloak (110 EXP): Special ninja cloak makes the target invisible by causing light rays to pass straight through. Adds Vanish status. (12 MP, !Mag)
Ninja Vanish (130 EXP): When damaged, vanish in a puff of smoke, going MIA for 11 ticks. Ignores safeguard.
Kawarimi (350 EXP): Use a ninja substitution technique to evade damage/status/etc. Can be done once per battle.
Pin (200 EXP): Pin the enemy against a wall with a volley of needles. Causes brief (11 ticks) paralysis, has a 100% success rate. (12 MP, !Mag)
Ranged Throw (150 EXP): Fighter may throw items even while MIA.
Seppuku (0 EXP): Commit ritual suicide. Self-KO.
Silent Movement (160 EXP): Approach enemies undetected, neutralizing their attempts at evasion. When attacking physically, you always have the option to ignore the enemy's Evade by setting it to 50.
Sneak Attack (180 EXP): Attack and startle the enemy, dealing damage and lowering CT. Deals 75% damage; CT loss is equal to half the damage dealt. (DW)
Throw Item (110 EXP): Throw held items to damage enemies.

MASTERED BY: Neo-Kamek, TIASIAN

Hammer Brothers are hardy Koopa warriors; they've been in a pain in Mario's neck (and his skull!) for over 20 years. They attack by throwing hammers (and sometimes other things too), and their shells can protect them from magic and status effects. Their attacks are mostly power-based.

HP: 120 MP: 50 SPEED: 10
ATK: 95 DEF: 75
MATK: 30 MDEF: 40
ACC: 60 EVADE: 40

Level-Up Stats: HP+2, Atk+1, Acc+1

KOOPA TECH:
Auto-Safeguard (300 EXP): Sturdy Koopa Shell blocks out status ailments.
Boomerang (200 EXP): Physical attack which hits twice: coming and going. Does not draw direct counters. (3 MP, !Mag)
Crush (250 EXP): Bashes the target so hard it may leave them stunned. Physical damage, and on a critical hit, it will force the target to miss one turn, however, accuracy drops to 80% that of a regular attack. A miss leaves the user vulnerable (Stop + DefDown for 3 ticks ignoring safeguard). (DW)
Fireballs (180 EXP): Throws one to six fireballs at selected targets. Each fireball has 5 MP of fire-elemental magic power, using whichever attack stat (Atk/MAtk) is higher. The first fireball is free to cast, each additional fireball costs 4 MP (max is 20 MP for six fireballs). (0-20 MP)
Giant Hammer (180 EXP): If your enemy has put up defensive measures, you must swing a bigger hammer to hit them harder! Deals regular physical damage, but the multiplier increases by 1 for every defensive status boost on the target. Ignores Metal status. (10 MP, !Mag, DW)
Hammer Time (160 EXP): Unleashes a flurry of attacks at one target. Deals 1/2 physical damage, hits 1d7 times. (3 MP, !Mag)
Precise Shot (250 EXP): Careful aim produces amazing results. Deals 3x physical damage to the target, requires one charge. (DW)
Shell Retreat (285 EXP): Duck into your shell to block a magic attack, and remain immune to magic until your next turn. During this time, any one unit may kick you into his/her enemies, forcing a use of Shell Slam without the rebound chance. After retreating into your shell, you lose your next turn getting back on your feet.
Shell Slam (280 EXP): Duck into your Koopa Shell and spin through all enemies. Physical damage, ignores defense. After hitting, you have a [1 / (#enemies + 1)] chance to rebound off the wall and hit again (50% against one enemy, 33% against two, 25% against three, 20% against four, and so on), and continue hitting in this manner as long as the dice allow. (15 MP, !Mag)
Sledge (285 EXP): Brings down a powerful sledgehammer from the ceiling to squash all enemies, dealing physical damage. If you pay 14 MP, you can add on a 50% chance of paralysis for each target.
Swift (100 EXP): Flings a hammer with pinpoint accuracy to physically damage remote enemies. Never misses; can hit jumpers and even MIA fighters. (DW)
Throw Item (110 EXP): Throw held items to damage enemies.
Tool Bag (220 EXP): Carry three hammers into battle. When using any physical attack, you may discard one hammer for a 25% boost in power... but there's no way to get fresh hammers, so be careful!
Valor Up (200 EXP): Increase your offensive and/or defensive capabilities, depending on the situation. Caster receives two selected "[Stat] Up" status boosts for 31 ticks each. (11 MP, !Rf)

MASTERED BY: Dragoshi, Specs

As always, Black Mages make big numbers come up and enemies go down. Their skills range from generic elemental magic to bigger guns like Flare and Ultima.

HP: 55 MP: 120 SPEED: 10
ATK: 25 DEF: 40
MATK: 100 MDEF: 75
ACC: 30 EVADE: 50

Level-Up Stats: MP+2, MAtk+2

White Mages are the healers, and also have limited statbuffing ability. They also have a lot of useless utility shit, but they're pretty indispensable nonetheless. Don't leave home without one!

HP: 65 MP: 120 SPEED: 10
ATK: 35 DEF: 45
MATK: 65 MDEF: 80
ACC: 20 EVADE: 50

Level-Up Stats: MP+2, MAtk+1, MDef+1

Time Mages manipulate time and space, and can attempt to overwhelm enemies with their speed or use the power of the cosmos to deal heavy damage.

HP: 65 MP: 105 SPEED: 10
ATK: 30 DEF: 40
MATK: 70 MDEF: 70
ACC: 30 EVADE: 50

Level-Up Stats: MP+4, MAtk+1

Deep beneath the earth, powerful beings called Eidolons dwell. Summoners develop powerful bonds with these Eidolons, and can call them into this plane to fight for them for a while.

HP: 65 MP: 105 SPEED: 9
ATK: 30 DEF: 40
MATK: 70 MDEF: 60
ACC: 30 EVADE: 40

Level-Up Stats: MP+6

Blue Mages excel at studying the ways of their enemies, and can even use their magic spells -- sometimes permanently. They also carry some very important... paperwork. (The blue magic spells themselves are not listed here, but can be found in Part 7 of the Kode.)

HP: 80 MP: 95 SPEED: 10
ATK: 45 DEF: 40
MATK: 75 MDEF: 50
ACC: 50 EVADE: 50

Level-Up Stats: MP+4, MAtk+1

Using medicine to strengthen allies and voodoo magic to attack enemies, Witch Doctor is sort of a home for all the status effects -- good and bad -- that wouldn't fit elsewhere. However, the class's poor initial stats mean it's limited in what secondary skillsets it can use effectively.

HP: 70 MP: 85 SPEED: 10
ATK: 40 DEF: 45
MATK: 65 MDEF: 65
ACC: 50 EVADE: 50

Level-Up Stats: MP+2, MAtk+1, MDef+1

Red Mage has some low-level black, white, and status-causing magic, with some swordery thrown in, and the ever-handy Double Sworcery ability allows for multitasking.

HP: 75 MP: 100 SPEED: 10
ATK: 65 DEF: 55
MATK: 65 MDEF: 55
ACC: 55 EVADE: 50

Level-Up Stats: MP+2, Atk+1, MAtk+1

This job's specialty is items. It can also restore HP and MP to allies, and it can even make shroooooooms. However, it's not a very good carrier of secondary abilities, due to poor stats.

HP: 90 MP: 60 SPEED: 10
ATK: 35 DEF: 50
MATK: 35 MDEF: 50
ACC: 40 EVADE: 50

Level-Up Stats: MP+4, Speed+0.2

Gamblers' skillsets are full of random elements, risks, and chance. They can attack with the classic Dice and Slots, but they have many other aces up their sleeves. If you're feeling lucky, try this job class. If not, don't!

HP: 77 MP: 77 SPEED: 11
ATK: 70 DEF: 55
MATK: 70 MDEF: 55
ACC: 55 EVADE: 65

Level-Up Stats: HP+2, MP+2, Evade+1

Hazardeers control hazards! Although unreliable, they can be powerful. Their true value lies in their ability to alter or even cancel certain effects, such as ref bombs.

HP: 70 MP: 120 SPEED: 9
ATK: 60 DEF: 50
MATK: 25 MDEF: 65
ACC: 50 EVADE: 60

Level-Up Stats: HP+2, MP+4

The biggest gimmick job class of the old system returns, drawing and using battle chips for combat (as in Mega Man Battle Network)! Now comes with the Cross/Beast system from MMBN6, for even more destructive power!

HP: 100 MP: 20 SPEED: 11
ATK: 60 DEF: 50
MATK: 30 MDEF: 50
ACC: 70 EVADE: 55

Level-Up Stats: HP+4, Evade+1

Anything you can do, I can do better... well, maybe not. Mimics can copy ally and enemy actions, without worrying about using up resources like MP and items.

HP: 60 MP: 25 SPEED: 10
ATK: 60 DEF: 40
MATK: 60 MDEF: 40
ACC: 50 EVADE: 40

Level-Up Stats: HP+2, Atk+1, MAtk+1

The Offensive Specialist is a two-fold threat, good at both physical and magical attacks. The one thing they can't do well? Take hits.

UNLOCKED JOB CLASS. Was unlocked by mastering five job classes: Fighter, Holy Swordsman, Dragoon, Black Mage, and NetNavi, then defeating the Job Class Guardian "Odin".

HP: 90 MP: 90 SPEED: 10
ATK: 90 DEF: 20
MATK: 90 MDEF: 20
ACC: 70 EVADE: 30

Level-Up Stats: Atk+1, MAtk+1, Acc+1

The Defensive Specialist is a tank unit that takes hits very well but has pitiable Atk and MAtk. It's good at healing and support.

UNLOCKED JOB CLASS. Was unlocked by mastering five job classes: Rune Knight, Monk, White Mage, Chemist, and Mimic, then defeating the Job Class Guardian "Shin Akuma".

HP: 90 MP: 90 SPEED: 10
ATK: 20 DEF: 90
MATK: 20 MDEF: 90
ACC: 30 EVADE: 70

Level-Up Stats: Def+1, MDef+1, Evade+1

Zombies have high stats (including the highest HP and Atk in the Kode), powerful abilities, and an insatiable hunger for the flesh of the living. However, their weakness lies in their permanent Undead status.

UNLOCKED JOB CLASS. Was unlocked by mastering five job classes: Monk, Pirate, Witch Doctor, Red Mage, and Mimic, then defeating the Job Class Guardian "Zombie Brachiosaur".

HP: 160 MP: 100 SPEED: 12
ATK: 105 DEF: 75
MATK: 105 MDEF: 75
ACC: 70 EVADE: 70
INNATE STATUS: Undead

Level-Up Stats: HP+4, MP+2

Everything can be made better by including giant robots. This job class features an arsenal of weapons, some support, and lots and lots of endurance.

UNLOCKED JOB CLASS. Was unlocked by mastering five job classes: Holy Swordsman, Ninja, Hammer Brother, Hazardeer, and NetNavi, then defeating the Job Class Guardians "Mecha-Kamek and Mecha-Kammy v2.0".

HP: 110 MP: 70 SPEED: 10
ATK: 80 DEF: 70
MATK: 20 MDEF: 40
ACC: 60 EVADE: 40

Level-Up Stats: HP+2, Atk+1, Def+1

The ultimate magic user. It has lots of high-powered spells and high MAtk, but its vitality is dangerously low, it's sluggish, and its spells sometimes cause random wild surges. :O

UNLOCKED JOB CLASS. Was unlocked by mastering five job classes: Black Mage, White Mage, Time Mage, Summoner, and Witch Doctor, then defeating the Job Class Guardian "Benny Ben Ben The Talking Sock".

HP: 40 MP: 150 SPEED: 9
ATK: 20 DEF: 30
MATK: 110 MDEF: 80
ACC: 30 EVADE: 30
INNATE STATUS: Wild

Level-Up Stats: MP+2, MAtk+2

The old MageNavi is gone, and this job class replaces it. It specializes in manipulating the eight elements: fire, ice, lightning, water, wind, earth, holy, and wood. It can provide offense and support, sometimes simultaneously.

UNLOCKED JOB CLASS. Was unlocked (as MageNavi) by mastering five job classes: Time Mage, Summoner, Blue Mage, Red Mage, and Gambler, then defeating the Job Class Guardian "MagicMan.EXE".

HP: 65 MP: 95 SPEED: 10
ATK: 40 DEF: 40
MATK: 90 MDEF: 65
ACC: 30 EVADE: 40

Level-Up Stats: MP+2, MAtk+1, MDef+1

A job class shamelessly stolen from NK, and more fun with random draws! A warrior skilled in all kinds of combat... until he got amnesia. Now he can only remember a few skills at a time.

UNLOCKED JOB CLASS. Was unlocked by mastering five job classes: Pirate, Blue Mage, Chemist, Gambler, and Hazardeer, then defeating the Job Class Guardian "Amnesiac Dust Cloud".

HP: 90 MP: 70 SPEED: 10
ATK: 80 DEF: 50
MATK: 80 MDEF: 50
ACC: 60 EVADE: 50

Level-Up Stats: Atk+1, MAtk+1, Acc+1

An honorable warrior skilled with the blade, learned in a variety of techniques. This class also has good defenses and the ultimate desperation move.

UNLOCKED JOB CLASS. Was unlocked by mastering five job classes: Fighter, Rune Knight, Dragoon, Ninja, and Hammer Brother, then defeating the Job Class Guardian "Ruffian".

HP: 100 MP: 30 SPEED: 10
ATK: 85 DEF: 65
MATK: 20 MDEF: 55
ACC: 60 EVADE: 30

Level-Up Stats: HP+2, Atk+1, Acc+1

PART 6: EXPERIENCE AND LEVELS

After each battle, fighters will be awarded EXP based on varying factors (shown below). EXP is awarded on a per-job class basis, and it can be used for two things. The first thing, as you see in Part 5, is that you can purchase abilities to be carried over to other jobs.

However, there's more... namely, the level-up system. EXP can be used to purchase levels in a job class. You start at Level 1, and you can get to Level 2 by paying 100 EXP. From there, you can hit Level 3 by paying 200 EXP, and so on. Basically, to level up, you need (current level x100) EXP. Each level you gain increases your stats slightly when playing as that job class. The level-up stats themselves are in Part 5. The boosts shown there are your increases for each level above 1. For example, a Black Mage's level-up stats are MAtk+2 and MP+2. A Level 1 Black Mage will go into battle with 100 MAtk and 110 MP. A Level 2 Black Mage gets 102 MAtk and 112 MP, a Level 3 Black Mage gets 104 MAtk and 114 MP, and so on.

Aside from the slight stat increases (which, while slight, add up over time), there are no additional benefits to leveling up. It's up to you whether you want to focus on a single job class, racking up levels to become more powerful, or focus on your versatility, mastering a job class then moving on to another one.

New fighters to the system will get 500 EXP right off the bat, to be distributed however they choose. You can buy skills or levels right away, or you can simply put EXP into a job class and save up for something big. Do note, however, that you have to distribute it ALL, because "global EXP" does not exist in my system.

EXP earnings are as follows:

• 100-120 EXP if you win, and if you put on a good fight. It helps if all fighters move promptly and don't need presets, but this is not a requirement. Basically, if you impress the ref, you might get a little something extra. But remember, triple-digit EXP is not easy to earn.
  
• 70-100 EXP if you win, and if you were there from start to finish.
• 60 EXP is given out for randomly-spawned ref bombs.
• 30-60 EXP is awarded if you lose.
• You'll usually earn extra EXP if you end up fighting an interruptions boss or a similarly-powered, unexpected opponent. However, unlike Neo-Kamek, I don't have a concrete number. It depends on the interruption (I won't shower you with EXP for beating WaRiOsHaDy), when it shows up, how it's dispatched, and so on.
  
• If you weren't there from start to finish, but you contributed a fair amount to a victorious effort, you may earn anywhere from 40 to 70 EXP depending on how much you contributed. If it was a losing effort, expect 20 to 40. If it was a ref bomb, somewhere around 40.
  
• If you made minor contributions (taking over for someone while he went to the bathroom), you may get anywhere from 15 to 30 EXP.
  
• If there are more than 10 entries and you drop out, you get 50 EXP. If you come back later mid-battle, as a replacement or a late join, you lose those 50 EXP, but you earn whatever "replacement" EXP you earn.
  
• 40 EXP consolation if you go an entire battle without receiving a single turn. If you lose all your turns to status effects like Paralysis, you get 20 EXP.
• 20 EXP consolation if you receive Adrenaline Rush but don't get a chance to use it. If you get such a chance but lose it to a status effect like Paralysis, you get 10 EXP.
• If there are less than 10 heroes who join a battle, for each person under 10, the fighters will gain an additional 10 EXP as an "undermanned" bonus. (9 heroes get +10 EXP, 8 heroes get +20, 7 heroes get +30, and so on.) This way you get compensated somewhat if you lose due to lack of manpower, and if you overcome said lack of manpower to win a tough battle, you get extra rewards for it.
  
• No EXP is earned for joker battles (battles in which it's either impossible to win, or impossible to lose). Also, if a battle goes horribly awry and is refbombed early, minimal or no EXP will be awarded. Usually, however, there will be a retry.
• The ref may withhold EXP entirely if you leave early without a good explanation. ("I'm bored" isn't a good explanation.)
• If you do something really boneheaded, and especially if it costs your team a win, the ref may choose to penalize you EXP.
  
• If a hazard removes you from the battle, you will still earn EXP based on the battle's final outcome. EXP earnings may also depend upon how early you got sneezed, and how much of an impact your absence had on the battle. However, if the removal is in exchange for something (such as EXP), you do not earn additional EXP at the end of battle.
• All EXP values may be changed via hazards and the like. You can also gain or lose EXP from hazards and wild surges.
  
• I will NOT nuke your EXP. EVER. Even if I hate your guts. Even if you ask me to. I'm well aware of how hard it is to earn EXP in my system and it's my personal experience that people tend to change their mind about that sort of thing. There are people who have been banned for years yet still have EXP.
• Any EXP you earn goes to the job class that you JOINED AS, regardless of whether it changes mid-battle.
  
• 150 free EXP on your birthday in the job class of your choice. You must be somewhat active in the system to qualify for birthday EXP.
  
• EXP is non-transferrable.
  

PART 7: VARIOUS INFORMATION

Links
(The Lingo) (Strategy) (Blue Magic List)

The Lingo
All sports have their own unique terminology, jargon, and verbiage, almost like another language. The arena is no different.
Turn Cycle - The time it takes for everyone to get a turn, usually about 10 ticks.
Tick - The standard arena time unit.
Turnout - The number of heroes who show up and join when the battle starts. If turnout is too low, the ref will cancel the battle; if turnout is too high, things get chaotic. My absolute minimum is 3, and maximum is 10. Most bosses are designed to take on the maximum ten heroes, so if turnout is much less than that, things may get ugly (or the ref may run a different boss than planned). On the other hand, low turnout means more EXP for the few who do join, thanks to the "Undermanned" bonus (see Part 6).
Guest Boss - A thing of the past. Usually the boss is controlled by the referee; when someone else was playing the boss, it was a "Guest Boss". As a whole, guest bosses were tougher to beat than ref-controlled bosses. After some clashing egos and disasters, guest bosses no longer occur in my system.
Dan Boss - A type of guest boss. Because of a variety of reasons (general incompetence, hazards, inflated stats, heroes leaving early), Dan (the shorts guy) racked up over 20 wins as a guest boss, losing only once. Dan Bosses had a reputation for being incredibly tough to take down, often having multiple attack phases.
Joker - There are two types of jokers: the unbeatable jokers who are impossible to defeat, and the unloseable jokers who are impossible to lose against. An unbeatable joker might have an attack that deals 9999 damage to all fighters, ignoring critical; an unloseable joker might be a Goomba. If a boss is a joker, the ref will tell you so before the fight starts. Accusing normal bosses of being unbeatable jokers is an easy way to get the ref angry at you. Also known as "OMG BOOS JOKAR" (Copy and paste link, because Tripod)
Trance KtR - When Kamek the Ref gets pissed off, he becomes Trance KtR and the heroes will face him in a special battle. The fight itself is a joker, as the ref can rig all the random elements, has every skill ever, and his stats are through the roof. (And if all of that wasn't enough, he's immune to instant death and even has innate Auto-Life.) However, the heroes' incentive to join is that they can gain massive EXP if they manage to deal even one point of damage to the ref before they are all messily slain. As of 2010, these battles no longer take place.
Pre-Battle - Sometimes called the "pre-show". This is information on the upcoming boss battle, posted in the Arena LiveJournal (usually about 3-5 hours before the battle). These contain lots of information about the boss's gimmicks and such, and they are recommended reading if you plan to fight effectively. More in the Strategy section.
Recap/Recrap - A recap of each battle goes in the Arena LiveJournal, usually about an hour or two after the battle ends. Recaps may be short and sweet, or they may be very detailed, depending on how well the battle went. (Recaps of especially amusing or noteworthy battles may even include copy-pasted sections of chat.) If a battle goes badly, the recap is often called a "recrap", and may be as short as "LOL SHITTY TURNOUT, SEE YOU NEXT WEEK". Both pre-battles and recaps usually include...
Mastery Watch - A list of all fighters who have at least 1500 EXP worth of skills in a particular job. The Mastery Watch shows the total worth of the skills they've bought, plus their actual EXP in the job class; this serves to show how close they are to mastering the job class. If a fighter's name appears in gray, it means they haven't touched the job class in over a month.
Prize Watch - During a story arc (see below), this keeps track of who is eligible for massive prizes at the end of the arc. People who don't miss a lot of battles will stay on the Prize Watch longer than people who do; at the story arc's conclusion, whoever is still on the Prize Watch wins the prizes.
State Of The Arena - This is basically a recap of the year gone by, posted in the Arena LiveJournal in early January every year. Doesn't contain details of individual battles, but does look for overall trends and such (plus the heroes' won-lost record for the year), and often contains musings on what to look for in the coming year.
Mini-Event - If it's not a straight-up boss battle, it's probably a mini-event. Mini-events range from simple endurance battles to puzzles that actually have very little combat. More info in Part 8, and some examples below.
Endurance - A mini-event where you continue to fight enemies until you're defeated (or until time runs out); EXP earnings are usually on a per-KO basis.
Job Class Chaos - A mini-event where you are given completely random job classes to fight the boss, with additional job changes occurring at each hazard.
Protect Peach - A mini-event which is just like a standard boss battle... except that Princess Peach joins you as a ref-controlled fighter (usually a powerful one), and if she becomes unable to fight, you lose automatically. You may have to protect someone else instead, but it's usually Peach.
Heroes vs. Heroes - A mini-event where the heroes are split into two groups and then pitted against each other.
Story Arc - A series of boss battles, usually with the same "theme" (all against characters from the same game series, for example), tied together by a story that unfolds mostly in pre-battles and recaps. Fighters can usually receive big prizes for participating in most of the battles in a story arc (see Prize Watch, above). More info in Part 8.
Arena Barrier - An impenetrable barrier that separates the combatants from everyone else. This prevents late joins, crowd intervention, and the like.
Ref Barrier - An impenetrable barrier that protects the referee from anything and everything. For this reason, attacking the ref is strongly discouraged.
Learn/Teach Magic - Refers to the acquisition of blue magic. Also referred to as "bloo whoring".
Blue Magic Session - A battle where all combatants use job classes that can learn blue magic. The players don't necessarily try to beat the boss; instead, the objective is to learn as many spells as possible.
Global EXP - In some special cases (like abnormally difficult or gimmicky bosses, or certain mini-events such as Job Class Chaos), EXP earnings will go not to the class that you play as, but to whatever job class you wish. These earnings are called "global EXP". Global EXP can also be obtained from hazards and surges.
Ref Assistance - Indicates that the referee had a huge stake in the battle's outcome, often by blatantly rigging coin flips and/or hazards.
Sneeze - Removal from battle. The term originated in Final Fantasy 6, where Chupon used this technique.
Random Effect - Usually refers to one or more wild surges (see below).
Wild Surge - A random effect. It generally appears along with a magic spell, so many of these specify a caster and/or a target. Wild surges may cause extreme damage or healing; status changes up the wazoo; it may spawn new combatants or hazards, or affect someone's EXP or skills; it may not even affect the battle at all. Wild surges usually occur if a wild mage has trouble getting a spell off. I recently found out that wild surges are used in games like AD&D, so I'm assuming that's where Neo-Kamek (the first ref to use wild surges) got the concept. As wild surges are supposed to be random, I don't have them listed anywhere, but let's just say there are over 1800 of them (and counting).
Absolute-Target Wild Surge - There are two kinds of wild surges. One of them always works the same; it affects the same person or people each time. Some examples include: "Three random hazards spawned", "Caster and target destiny-bonded", "Critical rule toggled", "Bananas in pajamas stampede through the arena", and "Spell is casted repeatedly until caster runs out of MP or ref gets bored".
Random-Target Wild Surge - The second kind of wild surge specifies its target... but that target is different each time. Examples include "[Caster]'s speed halved", "[All heroes] falls into a vat of chocolate pudding", "[The fighter(s) with the least MP] Safeguarded", "[A random boss]'s speed becomes negative", and "[Anyone with P in their name] gains the ability to juggle spoons with his/her toes". You can tell these kinds of surges, because the randomly-selected target is shown in brackets. When it comes to these surges, nobody is safe; these can hit anyone in the channel, even people who aren't battling.
Xybersurge - An ungodly high number of wild surges spawned all at once. A Xybersurge will usually screw up a battle in unimaginable ways, and there's potential for people to gain/lose massive EXP and such... but damn, it's fun to do. Added Wild Surge now works differently than it used to, so it's impossible to throw a Xybersurge at will. They can still occur randomly, though...
Wild Surge Battle - A special kind of battle, in which combatants can do nothing but spawn wild surges. There are special rules for wild surge battles: for example, other people may use their own surges, and changes to EXP/skills/etc. are not permanent. Wild surge battles are strictly for fun and no EXP is earned from them.
Surge Word - Sometimes, a hazard, a summon or a boss will set a "surge word". Whenever this word is said by a combatant, a wild surge occurs with that fighter as both caster and target. Usually it's a fairly commonly-uttered word like "turn" or "hazard" or "attack". Non-combatants who abuse the surge word will be ignored at best, and sometimes kicked out. As is usually the case with wild surges, it's generally a good idea to avoid using the surge word unless you're in really bad shape and can't get boned much worse. Since surge words lead to refbombs 90% of the time, there are usually certain measures taken to keep things from getting out of hand.
Glitches and Glitched Abilities - Some skills may appear with a "?" on the end. That means that the skills are glitched, and might not go off as planned. Possible glitches include: "Skill canceled", "skill effect reversed", "targeting reversed", "skill canceled and 1d3 wild surges spawned", "skill canceled and interruption hazard spawned", and "skill canceled and ref bomb spawned". The chance of the skill going off normally are just 30%. Some skills have multiple question marks on the end, and they glitch multiple times.
Interruptions Hazard - These are hazards that add a new boss character; a character so powerful, all previous bosses become your allies. The big Interruptions Hazard in my system is Shin Akuma (Street Fighter hazard 1), but there are many others. NOTE: If an interruptions boss is already in play, and another interruption hazard comes up, the new enemy will replace the old one. The old interruption doesn't join you.
Rejected Hazard - If the ref doesn't like a hazard, he can reroll it. There are a few possible reasons for this. It might drag out the battle too long, or end it prematurely. It may have already been used earlier in the battle. (When you have 1800+ to choose from, repeat hazards are annoying.) It might be a guest hazard that's incompatible. And yes, the ref IS allowed to reject Hazardeer-borne hazards. Wild surges can be rejected, but they cannot be rerolled unless otherwise specified. Note that rejected hazards and surges are a LOT less common now that the heroes have their own R-skills for dealing with hazards.
Guest Hazard - Anyone else's hazards, usually Neo-Kamek's, Incardine's, or Canadian Yosheh's.
Hazard Mania - Indicates a hazard after every turn. Used often for sudden death situations.
Wild Surge Mania - Indicates a wild surge tacked onto every spell or action.
Hazard Slash - A rarely-used technique; this is a basic physical attack, but if it hits, it causes the hazard bar to increase more than usual. If you desperately need the hazard bar to fill up for some reason, this is the next best thing to having a Hazardeer or something similar on board.
Ref Control Panel (RCP) - A strange device which allows the ref to run battles. Each official referee has his own RCP, with its own commands and features. The Control Panel, like the ref himself, is shielded and hence immune to damage. Only KtR has the knowledge necessary to operate his Control Panel properly. The RCP is key to maintaining order in a fight, and if it were to fall over or something, screwy things could happen. The RCP is also a euphemism for the IRC script that I use; if "the RCP can't handle" something, such as a fighter with 0 Defense or Magic Defense, that means it's not supported by the script. The RCP also generates the Arena Barrier and the Ref Barrier.
Wasted Battle - A battle in which you receive no turns at all... either the battle ends really quickly, or you get KOed really early. If your battle is "wasted", you're compensated with 40 EXP.
Half-Wasted Battle - Same as the Wasted Battle... except you get turns, but lose them to status effects like Paralysis. This is compensated with 20 EXP.
Deathproof - To keep the battles challenging, most major bosses cannot be killed in one shot. They are immune to one-hit kill attacks and hazards, they cannot be sneezed, and they're immune to Petrify. Such bosses are referred to as "Deathproof bosses". If hit with an instant death attack or a sneeze, a deathproof boss will lose all its adrenaline and status effects, as if KO'ed and then revived with the same amount of HP. If hit with petrification, the boss will merely have its CT dropped to zero, as if petrified and then immediately cured.
Immunity - Most major bosses are Safeguarded. However, Safeguards still have a small chance of failure, and some moves can penetrate Safeguards. Thus, major bosses are "immune" to some of the major status effects. This used to mean complete immunity, but now it's a little different... If you can get past the Safeguard, these statuses can still be inflicted... but they will work differently than normal. For instance, a boss who relies heavily on magic will be immune to Silence; if you Mute that boss, it will still be able to use magic, but at half power. Most major bosses are immune to Sleep, Stop, Imp, Embarrassment, MIA, and Petrification. You can still LAND these status effects, but they will work differently or just not last long at all. The "alternate" effects are all listed in the Status Ailments section in Part 4. (The exception is Embarrassment; because it is very rare and very gamebreaking, most bosses will be completely and utterly immune to it.)
Status Resistance - In addition to immunity, many bosses have resistance to timed status ailments. A boss who resists a status effect will recover from it faster (50% duration; for instance, Poison would last 21 ticks instead of its usual 41). If the boss is already under a status effect, he'll recover from the second even faster (25% duration, 11 ticks instead of 21); if he's under two, the third will only have 12.5% duration (6 ticks), and so on, making it impractical to try to bury the boss under a mountain of status effects. Note that even though Berserk is listed as a status boost, SDIR bosses resist that as well.
Gravity Resistance - Big bosses (usually solo bosses) take half damage from percentage-based attacks like Graviga, Breath Wing, and poison damage; this is called gravity resistance. They also get half benefit from percentage-based healing, such as Regen status or Adrenaline Rush-based heals.
SDIR - Short for "safeguarded, deathproof, immunities and resistances", which is all stuff that major bosses tend to possess.
Ref Bomb - The battle ends instantly without a result; see Part 9.

Strategy
Tips from the ref himself. If I battled as a hero in my own system, this is what I would do. :P
Read The Pre-Battle. In the past, battles used to happen spontaneously and not be very gimmicky; fighters could do whatever and usually still win. However, those days are long gone. Now actual preparation goes into boss battles, for both the heroes and the ref/boss. It wouldn't do to bring a Black Mage into a battle against an enemy who has high MDef, high MAtk, and Counter Magic. Before each boss fight (usually about 3-5 hours before the battle starts), I post pre-battles in the Arena LiveJournal. Pre-battles (or "pre-shows") will tell you about what skills the boss will have, what kind of stats they have, and what sort of protection they have (safeguards, death protection, etc.). Sometimes you might be able to get away with not reading the pre-battle, but often you'll be sorry if you don't.
Scan. Use the Chemist's Study skill to your advantage. Just knowing the enemy's HP, Atk, Def, and so on is useful to know what kinds of techniques you should use against him. You can also find out hidden weaknesses and the like.
The X-Factor. Even the most carefully-planned strategy can go up in smoke if you don't account for the hazards. Keep an eye on the HZ gauge.
Conserve your power. Classes like Black Mage and Summoner are big on damage, but they tend to squander MP early. Save your Flares and your Bahamuts, you never know when you might need one late. This holds especially true if the boss has no MP, since moves like White Draw and Rasp can be rather vital for keeping your MP up.
Luck of the Draw Depending on what you draw, jobs like NetNavis and Amnesiacs can be absurdly powerful or exceedingly weak. I'd advise you to limit yourself to two (maaaybe three) of these on a team. Any more, and you open yourself up for disaster. (Chemists and Gamblers are exceptions, because they can easily unload unwanted items and/or they don't rely entirely on them.)
Forces of Nature? Hazards and wild surges can be your best friend or your worst enemy. The hazardeer's ability to focus hazards makes it, potentially, one of the most powerful classes in existence. Speaking of which...
Hazard Reroll This Hazardeer reaction skill would be best saved for really bad hazards that you really cannot afford to have happen. If you use it against a moderately bad hazard, you run the risk that the new hazard will be much worse, and you only get one reroll per hazard.
Hazard Focus As a Hazardeer, it's tempting to focus the Really Evil set, Flame of Recca set, and the like. However, those sets contain a lot of hazards that are in no way beneficial. Rerolls cost MP. Stick to more standard hazard sets (the Esper set is good for focusing, though not mind-bendingly awesome). And never, EVER summon a Really Evil hazard without focusing it. Oh yeah, Ref's Choice can't be focused, but if you're losing badly, it might be worth a try.
Seizures and Poison. Get rid of them ASAP. Otherwise, it's too easy for an enemy to knock you to 1 HP, then let the seizure finish you off. Poison damage only occurs every 5 ticks, but it's also dangerous if left alone. "Every 5 ticks" is based on the overall length of the battle, so you may want to check on that if you're wondering when poison will strike.
Pay Attention! I can't stress this enough. I've seen so many people do stupid things (casting Flare on a boss with Reflect status, attacking enemies who are KO'ed or airborne or MIA, healing people who don't need it, etc.). There are also ploys for catching people off guard... hazards that penalize you for saying/doing certain things, hazards based on idle time. Making critical mistakes is grounds for EXP loss. You especially need to pay attention if you have important reaction skills such as Cover, Runic, or Hazard Reroll.
Ultimate Magic The ultimate magic spells are Ultima and Meteo. They both cost 70 MP. Remember, Ultima punishes large groups; Meteo is a multi-hit attack, and works best against a single enemy.
Item Distribution Items don't come up often. Chemists can make good use of items by combining, but they already have an Item Box... Ninjas and Hammer Brothers, however, don't have built-in item supplies (Ninjas can generate their own throw fodder, but that takes a turn). The item-throwing jobs tend to be at their best when they're throwing things, so try to get them the items when they do appear. This is especially true of big hurty-looking items (like pianos). Pirates can use their gunpowder to make many items more powerful (especially as throw-fodder), but this can backfire if you try it on the wrong items.
The Ref's Ruling Never, EVER argue with the referee.
Interruptions Hazards AAAAHHH!! WE'RE DOOMED!! Not quite. Those bosses that become allies are crucial to victory. Help them out. Haste, Regen, Auto-Life, stat boosters, Metal, whatever you got. Even Shin Akuma is outmatched against a pumped-up boss. However, do be mindful that certain interruption bosses have access to Status HaXX0r and the like.
Keep Your Cool Keep your tempers in check and leave your ego outside. I've had to ref bomb more than once because of flame wars and the like. Oh, and no whining. I can't stand whining.
Auras Auras are almost never a bad idea. Even if a powerful boss can break them easily, at least it's a turn where the auras are taking the damage and not you! For this reason, Madoka is one of the best defensive techniques you can arm yourself with.
Surges 'N' Such Wild surges are a totally random factor, and as such, they benefit the underdog. The bosses, who are outnumbered and usually out-strategized, are generally the underdogs. Save your surges for desperate situations. Opening-round wild surges are a bad idea; a friend of mine did the math (this was back when I only had about 300 surges, but the point still stands). Even though Added Wild Surge has a practical use now (boosting spell power), the surges are as unpredictable and as dangerous as ever... if you plan to throw them around, you'd better check with your allies first.
Targeting If the boss has a plan and you're a threat to that plan, chances are you're going to eat a lot of attacks early on. For instance, if the boss wants to become Metal, and you have Status HaXX0r or Carter's Tech, you'd better have someone healing you. All other things being equal, bosses will usually go after the soft squishy types -- like mages, and especially healers -- first. Sometimes, they'll just go after whoever moves immediately following them.
Turn Order Keep an eye on the turn order and use it to plan strategies. Suppose your team is low on HP and you are a Red Mage, but someone else on your team is a White Mage and thus a much better healer than you are. If the White Mage moves before the boss's next turn, you can focus on attacking; if not, you'll likely want to cast Cura. (The hazard gauge may also be a factor in this situation; see "The X-Factor".)
The Dark Sun If the Dark Sun hazard occurs, it's bad news for the heroes. You should have someone Ascend and destroy it ASAP... just make sure the person Ascending isn't someone you're going to need within the next 31 ticks (like a healer). Oh, and no matter what, never leave the battle while Ascending.
Bad Status Sure, most bosses worth their weight will be Safeguarded. But some job classes can bypass safeguard and inflict badstats anyway. Adding Confusion or Paralysis can buy you some time, especially if a boss has little or no support. With that said...
Assraping The Boss While totally sticking it to the boss is a lot of fun, coming out of battles unscathed or downing them in record time or just frustrating them by statraping their turns away, it's not always advisable because of long-term effects. The ref may throw you into a Dark World version of the battle (complete with Dark Sun), and then overcompensate for a few battles afterward. That means making bosses ridiculously strong, fast, and numerous because he fears there will be no challenge otherwise. And speaking of bosses who aren't challenging...
Finish The Job If everything is going your way and the boss is in deep shit with no foreseeable way out, don't drag out the battle by fucking around. If the boss thinks you're not taking it seriously anymore, it will achieve Adrenaline Rush (and possibly various other goodies), and you'll wish you'd killed it when you had the chance. And heaven help you if a Ref's Choice hazard comes up.

THE BLUE MAGIC LIST
The blue mage skillset consists only of Casting and Learning, so the individual spells are listed here.

100 Needles. Shoot 100 needles at the target for 100 HP damage. Ignores status modifiers of all kinds. (30 MP, !Rf)
Added Wild Surge. Increases the power (or in some cases accuracy) of an accompanying magic spell by 25%, but causes a wild surge. Only one surge at a time may be added to any given spell. (+8 MP)
Adrenaline Bomb. Caster's current adrenaline value is used as the spell power. Empties caster's adrenaline gauge. (40 MP)
Aqua Breath. All enemies are consumed in a stream of bubbles. Deals 20 MP worth of water-elemental damage. (32 MP)
Awakening. Restores one target to full HP and adds undispellable Attack Up for three turns. But when those three turns are up, target's HP is reduced straight to 1. (25 MP)
Bad Breath. Exhale noxious fumes on one target. Adds Poison, Blindness, Silence, Paralysis, and Confusion. (45 MP)
Barrier Implosion. If the target has an aura, destroys the aura and the target takes damage equal to the aura's strength. Also has a 75% chance to add Imp status. (17 MP)
Breath Wing. A tornado rips about, and each combatant has a 75% chance of having his/her HP reduced by 15%. Wind-elemental. (44 MP, !Rf)
Choking Vines. Deals wood-elemental damage to all enemies, and may add paralysis if any of the targets have status boosts. Paralyze chance per target depends on number of boosts (1 boost: 50%, 2 boosts: 75%, 3 boosts: 87.5%, and so on). (28 MP, !Rf)
Condemned. The grim reaper foreshadows one target's death. Adds Death Sentence. (22 MP)
Demon Breath. Exhales sleeping gas on up to three targets. Deals magic damage and has a 75% chance to add Sleep status. (20 MP)
Dragon Force. Imbues all allies with the fierceness of a dragon. Adds Attack Up and Magic Attack Up. (36 MP, !Rf)
Embargo. Prevents one target from doing anything with items (using, handing off, receiving, throwing, mixing, etc.) for 21 ticks. (15 MP)
Exploder. Attack the enemy with explosive force at the cost of your own life. Power of the attack (in MP cost) is equal to your HP. Ignores critical. (30 MP, !Rf)
Goblin Punch. A fierce punch attack. Physical damage, ignores all status modifiers. (2 MP, !Rf)
Heat Riser. Target gets Attack Up, Defense Up, and Evade Up. (16 MP)
Hell Pepper. Poisoned powder that leaves up to three targets writhing in pain. Deals magic damage and has a 75% chance to add Poison status. (14 MP)
Magarula. All enemies are consumed in a raging whirlwind. Deals 20 MP worth of wind-elemental damage. (32 MP)
Magic Hammer. Mystical hammer depletes one target's mana, and MP is reduced by half. (3 MP)
Magifist. A magic attack that uses the target's physical defense to determine damage. (30 MP)
Mega Star. Deals non-elemental magic damage to 1-5 targets. MP cost increases by 25% for every target greater than one. (32+ MP)
Microflare. An explosive magic spell, though not quite as powerful as Flare. Non-elemental damage which ignores defense. (30 MP)
Mighty Guard. Sets up a powerful barrier to protect all allies. Adds Defense Up and Magic Defense Up. (36 MP, !Rf)
Nightmare. Causes the target to die in their sleep. May add Sleep and/or Death Sentence status. (24 MP)
PSI Thunder. A lightning-elemental telekinetic attack that is... somewhat inaccurate. Attacks three random enemies, with a 50% success rate per hit. (20 MP)
Pumpkin Head. Giant Jack-O-Lantern falls from the sky and lands on the target. Damage is equal to the amount of HP the caster is missing. (14 MP)
Rainbow Burst. Deals magic damage to one target. This attack combines all eight elements, damage is modified if the target resists/absorbs/is weak to any ONE of the eight. (28 MP)
Richter Rumble. Summons an earthquake to cause 18 MP worth of earth-elemental damage to all enemies. Flip two coins upon casting; if both are tails, the spell deals half damage, and if both are heads, it deals double damage. (26 MP, !Rf)
Roulette mkII. Picks three random combatants (no repeats); caster chooses one to be instantly KO'ed. (33 MP)
Soul Cannon. A grim beam attack, powered by the souls of fallen comrades, which hits all enemies. Spell power starts at 12 MP, and increases by 6 for each KO'ed ally. (20 MP)
Status Copy. Imbue yourself with all the same status boosts as the target, for the same tick length. (20 MP, !Rf)
Status HaXX0r. Use MAD SKILLZ to replace all of the target's status boosts with random status ailments. Ignores safeguard. (33 MP, !Rf)
Steal Heart. Attacks the target's HP and MP. If target is the opposite gender, has a draining effect. (20 MP)
Tie Down. Restricts one target with magical bonds. Deals magic damage and paralysis. (12 MP)
Timber!. Drop a giant tree trunk on the enemy for heavy wood-elemental damage. (50 MP)
Water Pulse. Deals 20 MP worth of water damage to one target, has a 50% chance to add Confusion. (27 MP)
White Wind. Refreshing breeze restores all allies' HP. Recovery is equal to the caster's HP. (23 MP)

PART 8: MINI-EVENTS AND STORYLINES

Since mid-2004, I've expanded beyond just straight-out slugfest boss battles. Sometimes I want to throw out a curve, force the heroes to think a little more. When this happens, I host a mini-event.

In a mini-event, you still receive turns, select job classes, and so on. However, the objective is different. Instead of just "defeat the boss", you might be asked to clear a series of battles against minor enemies. You might have to protect someone for a certain time period. You might be forced to examine your surroundings so that you can solve a puzzle. There might be a time limit -- either real-time or in ticks. I'll usually drop hints and such for a while before hosting a mini-event, then spill the beans a day or two before. Since mini-events require a bit more thought than a straight-up boss battle, the rewards are usually higher. This is not to be confused with an actual RP session... whatever your objective is, you'll accomplish it within the turn-based arena system. So think creatively, and pick a job class that's suited to the task. The four most common mini-events (Endurance, Job Class Chaos, Protect Peach, and Heroes vs. Heroes) are explained in Part 7.

A storyline is a series of battles with a common theme. Often, these battles are more challenging than run-of-the-mill bosses, because I put a lot of planning into them. There usually IS a storyline binding the battles, and it unfolds in both pre-battles and recaps in the Arena journal. A full storyline usually lasts a month or so, and often, I will host twice a week (Mondays and Wednesdays) for the duration. A sample storyline might involve the storied conflict between Bowser and the Mario Bros.; you can expect to face Mario-related enemies for the duration of the storyline. Most storylines will have at least one mini-event, to keep things interesting. (In the aforementioned Mario storyline, there might be a mini-event wherein you climb up several floors of Koopa Kastle.) Also, due to the sheer number of battles involved, there's often a huge reward for any players who participate in almost every battle of a storyline, in addition to all the EXP and such you rack up from the battles themselves.

Due to the nature of mini-events and storyline battles, some things work a little differently. Ref bombs will almost never occur in a storyline battle, and interruption hazards will usually be rerolled during mini-events.

Speaking of storylines, many battles (usually in storylines, but not always) have pre-battles that include a "pre-show" with characters and dialogue and whatnot. The most commonly seen are the "arena personnel"; people who "work" at this fictional arena. There are five arena personnel: Kamek the Ref (referee, head of operations), Rydia from Final Fantasy IV (receptionist), Cammy from Street Fighter (head of security), Hoover from Captain Commando (technician), and Faust from Guilty Gear (medic).

90% of the time, I'll stick with a battle to the end. The battle ends when either all the bosses or all the heroes have been defeated. (As stated in Part 1, a fighter is "defeated" if his/her HP reaches 0, if s/he becomes petrified, or if s/he is sneezed from battle.) When this happens, the ref clears the battle data and gives out EXP as described in Part 6. If I think you won too easily or too quickly, or both, I may bring in a second boss to provide some challenge, or send the battle to the Dark World for a more difficult variation on the fight. Note that every so often, I host a battle that's an unbeatable or unloseable joker -- these battles tend to be very short. No EXP is earned from these, and they are usually followed by a standard boss.

However, there are a few times when a battle simply cannot be played to the end. Whether there's too much infighting, too many people leaving, I run out of time (this is rare -- I stay up very late -- but I do have to do other things sometimes), etc. In these situations, I use my last resort, better known as the "ref bomb". The ref bomb is, basically, a hazard set that ends the battle instantly without a result.

I call it a hazard set because that's technically what it is. However, it won't come up randomly during a battle and Hazardeers may not summon from it. It's set up like a hazard set; several possible outcomes, the ref picks one randomly. All the outcomes have the same final result (except for one which can be prevented, but if I really need/want to end the battle, I'll just spawn another ref bomb).

Situation 1: I'm getting off the computer for whatever reason. Most frequently, this is because I have late-night TV shows I watch around 1:30 AM; if the battle is still going at that time, I'll refbomb it, so do try not to drag things out. There is also the unexpected; if my Internet crashes and I'm stranded offline, obviously, the battle can't continue unless I can get back on within a reasonable amount of time. I'll usually be in a rush, so EXP may not be administered right away. However, if you remind me the next time you see me, I'll try and give you 50ish experience points. (If you were winning soundly, I'll give you 75.)

Situation 2: If too many people leave, and there aren't enough heroes left to make a serious run at victory, I'll probably nuke the battle. If you're one of those remaining people, you will earn full EXP depending on how the battle was going. If you were one of the early departures, you won't earn anything. This also applies if too many people aren't paying attention to the battle. That drags things out a LOT and sometimes I just don't feel like dealing with it.

Situation 3: Tempers flare, flames fly, the heroes are flaming the boss and the boss is flaming back (that typically only happens with guest bosses), or the heroes are just flaming each other. I host these battles because it's fun. Hopefully you participate for the same reason. If the battle turns into a massive flame war, I'll ref bomb it. No EXP will be earned; the biggest offenders may lose EXP.

Situation 4: If a ref bomb is not initiated by the ref (the ref bomb item, master list hazard 666, etc.), 60 EXP will usually be awarded.

This document is (c) H Cuz 2002/2012 and may not be reproduced without permission