FF Resonance Damage Formula Explained

What is the damage formula?

r = effective attack / max(effective defense, 1)
F(r) = 0.5r                    if r < 0.5
       r²                      if 0.5 ≤ r < 1
       8 / (1 + exp(1 − r)) − 3 if r ≥ 1

Damage for hit i ≈ 0.6 × (effective level + 2) × F(r)
  × effective power × variance × element × critical
  × staggered-target factor × other applicable factors
  × hit share[i]

Effective attack and defense

Physical attacks use Physical Attack against Physical Defense. Ordinary magic uses Magic Attack against Magic Defense. Light magic has a Sanctity-derived attack path. These are combat attributes, not raw Strength or Magic alone.

Effective power

Base skill power multiplied by applicable percentage power bonuses, then increased by flat power additions. Power is a coefficient, not literal HP damage.

Hit share

The portion of total power assigned to that hit. Lasswell’s normal attack has two 50% shares. Other moves can have unequal shares; the presets use the extracted arrays.

Variance and multipliers

Ordinary variance is approximately ±5%. Ordinary weakness, critical damage, and damage against an already-staggered target can each contribute 1.5×. Specific effects can change the applicable factors.

Why more hits do not mean more damage

In the starting example, the unsplit baseline is 86.4. Each 50% hit starts at 43.2 and displays about 41–45 after variance and truncation. Two landed hits therefore total about 82–90, not twice the unsplit baseline.

What should I improve to deal more damage?

• Use the matching attack stat. Physical Attack will not improve an ordinary Magic Attack calculation.
• If attack is low relative to defense, test an attack increase or a verified defense-reduction effect. Defense is not flat subtraction.
• Compare power and battle multipliers, not just hit count. Under equal conditions, doubling effective power doubles uncapped raw damage.
• Exploit a verified elemental weakness and an already-staggered target when the action supports those conditions. Do not assume every hit will be critical.
• Compare the same enemy, level, and turn in the build calculator. A minimum-defense test target is not a prediction for a particular boss.

How does attack versus defense scale?

The ratio factor approaches 5. That is not a damage cap: level, power, and later multipliers can still increase damage.

Evidence and limits

This ordinary HP-damage model is reconstructed from Steam demo build 24032336, extracted skill tables, and targeted native-code investigation. It is not a claim that every battle interaction has been replayed in-game.

Do not apply it to fixed damage, maximum-HP-ratio damage, defense-ignoring effects, healing, scripted overrides, or untraced Vision Resonance attacker paths. Stagger-bar damage has a separate formula.

• Complete damage model and modifiers
• Native combat research and reproducibility notes
• Lasswell’s Attack: stored power and hit shares
• Research methods and source authority

Common questions

Does doubling attack double damage?

Not generally. Attack changes the attack-to-defense ratio, whose contribution is piecewise and nonlinear. Use the curve or change attack in the illustration to compare.

Does this predict healing?

No. Ordinary Cure-style healing uses Sanctity and healing bonuses, not enemy defense or the damage ratio curve. See the healing explanation in the mechanics guide.

Is the highest displayed damage the best build?

Not necessarily. MP costs, survival, setup turns, enemy resistance, and unmodeled special effects can change the best action. Compare complete builds under the same conditions.