Signature Attack Q&A

This thread is devoted solely to answering questions regarding the new signature attack system, rules, current signature effects, new signature effects, and clarifications.

Questions asked by members Via PM, Private Chat, and other means of communication will also be quoted, posted, and answered, if possible.

This thread deals with the system itself, and the individual components it is made of, not with building sigs from scratch. However, if you would like to post for more generalized help with creating your signature attacks, please post in the Signature Attack Help Thread in the General Forum.

Please, no SPAM.... Thankyew.

These questions came to me via Personal Message.

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For the Nerfs, it says that it minuses costs, so does that mean that if I spend 20 points and take an 80 nerf, I could do 100 points of damage with my attack?

Yes, but they still add cooldown.

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Do we scrap our old signatures and make new ones for the new system starting now?

You may attempt to convert them into the new caps. But yes, starting now the old system is history.

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Plus since I'm using my old sig and attacks, does that mean I should apply the new sig pool rules and such, or should I just end it altogether?

That's your call. You have to use the new Pool rules no matter what though... How you get there is your decision, though. You're free to make your own sigs.

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I'm in the middle of a battle that I'm stuck in until I'm done, so I was just trying to see what I should do in this situation, because I've been confused every since the changes.

Your current signatures are good until the end of your current battle, at which point they will stop functioning. That's when you go see Suitachi for a refund, then use that refund to buy PU's, and more levels so you can buy yet more PU's.... Unless you'd rather not use signatures, that is. The money will be yours to spend as you please.

This question comes from the Chat.

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What exactly is 'Tactical Movement'?

Essentially, Tactical Movement is when you spend an action to....

- A: Get into a better firing position to nail a group of enemies with a spread attack.
- B: Move into attack range, if needed.
- C: Retreat
- D: Anything else that may require an action and involves moving.

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Can't you use a normal action for that?

Yes.

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Then what is the point?

Have you ever wanted to build a signature where you moved super fast, ran up walls, or performed a complex series of moves that just wont fit in one action? This ability is simply to allow you to pull it off, thus giving you the ability to build an epic RP-driven attack, rather than just stats.

It's there for fun.

Ability Locks. This has been on alot of minds lately... So I'll clarify.

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How do Locking Nerfs work IC? (such as Sig Lock)

Locks work by overclocking your Navi's protocols to an absurd level of performance, giving them a boost of 80 extra points to use in executing their signature attack. However, overclocking is taxing on your Navi, and puts a strain on the systems that make them run, resulting in the systems locking up and shutting down while they recover. Push them too much, or too often, and those systems will burn up, break down, and stop working until you get them fixed.

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How do they work mechanically?

You place a Lock in a sig, and it gives you 80 points to use to make that sig more powerful. But, there are major drawbacks...

First: You'll be adding 2 TCD to your sig's cooldown, along with the 80 points. This is both to keep things fair, and for your own good as well (you'll understand as you read further along).

Second: When you use the signature you put the Locks in, you will trigger a system shutdown that turns off whatever battle system you used to power the Lock. This shutdown occurs at the END of your current turn, not during, and will stubbornly refuse to go away until the duration expires.

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How long does this last?

The shutdown lasts for 2 turns per lock, with additional Locks of the same type simply adding another 2 turns to the duration.

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It goes away if I jack out, though... right?

Nope. This effect will follow you from battle to battle, and thread to thread, until the duration expires. You can still use the signatures that caused the systems to shutdown, even while they are shutdown. (Unless you shut down your Sig Attack system...)

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I'll just blitz it, and deal hundreds of damage with tons of Locks. Who needs a Folder when you're this uber! >=3

This is a BAD idea.

If, for any reason at all, your lock-down duration exceeds 7 turns for any single System, that System will burn out. If you burn out your Systems, you will not be able to use it again until you jack out, travel to Sci-Lab, and get it fixed for a large sum of Zenny.

That may not bother you.... but this should:

Additionally, any and all of your signature attacks that use that type of Lock will stop working until the system is repaired. You cannot edit a signature attack that has been disabled in this manner until you fix the system it is based on.

Ergo: No, you will not be abusing this.

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I can stop it with a Status Guard!

For the effect to work, you have to willingly bypass your Status Guards, otherwise nothing happens.... So, no.

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Can I cure it, and decrease the duration that way?

No. I really suggest you use this carefully.

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I broke my Navi... Can I fix it using my Net-Op?

No. You have to have a master technician from Sci-Lab fix your PET and repair your Navi's fragmented code.

Master techs charge lots of money...

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Why did you make something so crippling?

So you could have the freedom to break the caps if you really, really, really just had to have that extra ounce of power to cause Epic Win with. My advice is that you use them responsibly, since they are there to make the game more fun for you, should you decide you need them.

Enjoy.

Hey Pally... Care to run over everything that you and I talked about involving passive sigs and nerfs used together? I'm still a little sketchy on what ended up being decided out of that.

Can regeneration be made passive, so taht you autogain 5/hp an action throughout the entire battle?

Yeah, you can have HP regen passive, but 5HP an ACTION would be insanely high. I suppose you could do that, but the ammount of points you'd have to dump into it...

I'd suggest looking at Knight's sigs, I belive he's converted his old HP regen sig into the new format.

Thing is, passive regen is fine right now >.> That is probably my only sig that had not been outlawed by the recent changes.

And yes, it is probably one of the best low cost passives.

Oh yeah, keep in mind that your passives may only heal 30/round total on you. So even if you have regen 10 as a passive, you won't heal more than 30 a turn. It also becomes less effective if you want to use other signatures with regen, since the stacking is global.

I'm sure someone, somewhere will ask, so I suppose I'll do it for them.

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To-All-Clause: Free, but SELF FULL-CRASH (when activated) [Attack targets all enemies, all allies, or both, but inflicts NC Lock, Buster Lock, Folder Lock, and Sig Lock when attack ends. This effect carries over from battle to battle and thread to thread until the duration has expired. See Nerfs for more details.]

How to get: Purchase To-All Signature Upgrade from Suitachi for 5000 Zenny. Upgrade is good for one use before burning out.

The part I'm interested in is the "good for one use before burning out". The way it's worded, I'm assuming that you would need this to register the To-All clause, and then have one in inventory to use the attack? And of course, upon using the attack, you lose one from you inventory.

Is that correct, or am I over-thinking it as I like to do?

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Yeah, you can have HP regen passive, but 5HP an ACTION would be insanely high. I suppose you could do that, but the ammount of points you'd have to dump into it...

I'd suggest looking at Knight's sigs, I belive he's converted his old HP regen sig into the new format.

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Regeneration: 20 (Per round, per target, stackable) [Regenerate 5HP / Action]

YEah, I'd only need 20 points to regain 5hp per action. Since it's passive, it's always in effect, so I always regain up to 30hp from a single passive regen. sig.

Keep in mind that 20 point is required for 5 passive points. Meaning, to make passive regain, it should cost 20/5 x 20 = 80 points total.

How many points would an Aregrab effect, minus the dodge effect, cost? For example:

After all attacks are done, NaviA's EndSlash is activated, teleporting up to VirusD and delivering an X damage.

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Can we make Passive Sigs that can be turned on and off at will?

No.

You'll notice how I've stated that passives cannot be shut off at will. There are many good reasons for it. I'm too tired to dredge them all up, but just know that this breaks the game.

My suggestion is that you make active sigs like my own 'Towering Guard' that last until their stated effects expire. Delayed TCD is allowed, and even encouraged. You can easily get what you want out of the signature system in this manner without breaking the system.

If you want the ability to spam an ability when you absolutely need it, I also suggest making multiple low-cool-down signatures that all do the exact same thing. This accomplishes the same thing as a haxed passive, but it does so without breaking the system.

You have the freedom to do just about anything you want. You just need to take a little time to figure out how.

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Can regeneration be made passive, so that you auto-gain 5/hp an action throughout the entire battle?

Yes.

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Oh yeah, keep in mind that your passives may only heal 30/round total on you. So even if you have regen 10 as a passive, you won't heal more than 30 a turn.

That rule is obsolete, and will probably be removed or changed once the effect of the stacking clause on passive turn-duration-based effects has been established. So watch for that.

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It also becomes less effective if you want to use other signatures with regen, since the stacking is global.

This is true, which is why the 30/turn healing limit is subject to review.

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I'm sure someone, somewhere will ask, so I suppose I'll do it for them.

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To-All-Clause: Free, but SELF FULL-CRASH (when activated) [Attack targets all enemies, all allies, or both, but inflicts NC Lock, Buster Lock, Folder Lock, and Sig Lock when attack ends. This effect carries over from battle to battle and thread to thread until the duration has expired. See Nerfs for more details.]

How to get: Purchase To-All Signature Upgrade from Suitachi for 5000 Zenny. Upgrade is good for one use before burning out.

The part I'm interested in is the "good for one use before burning out". The way it's worded, I'm assuming that you would need this to register the To-All clause, and then have one in inventory to use the attack? And of course, upon using the attack, you lose one from you inventory.

Is that correct, or am I over-thinking it as I like to do?

This is correct.

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How many points would an Aregrab effect, minus the dodge effect, cost? For example:

After all attacks are done, NaviA's EndSlash is activated, teleporting up to VirusD and delivering an X damage.

See: Tactical Movement (Costs 20 points.)

I think I still need to write out the description, but it is there so you can do things like that. Have fun.

Quoted from the chat so everyone will see it.

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Frosted_Shuryou: What is the difference between Empower and Burst again? >:
Knight: empower is whole turn.
Knight: Burst is next attack
Frosted_Shuryou: If you say that and you're correct...
Frosted_Shuryou: Burst: 20 Damage per 15 Cap conversion ratio (per instance)
Frosted_Shuryou has left.
Frosted_Shuryou has joined.
Frosted_Shuryou: Then define 'instance'.
Knight: Indeed, empower gets stronger
PaladinGC: You can stack it on top of itself to make it stronger
Knight: I mean, argh
Frosted_Shuryou: Empower: 8 Damage per 20 Cap conversion ratio (Per isntance, per round)
Frosted_Shuryou: So you pay for instance and for round?
PaladinGC: stacking penalties appliy...
Frosted_Shuryou: And the stacking penalty.
Frosted_Shuryou: Yeah, I know.
PaladinGC: one instance works for one whole turn.
Knight: for burst, one instance works for one action.
PaladinGC: right
Frosted_Shuryou: So you cannot increase the 8 damage?
PaladinGC: only by stacking it.
Knight: You can
Knight: but it stacks
Knight: yep
Frosted_Shuryou: Mind giving me an example? D:
Knight: stacking rules up in the headline
PaladinGC: you can get 16 damage for 45 points....
PaladinGC: 24 for 75
Frosted_Shuryou: For 1 round?
PaladinGC: 1 round
Knight: yes
Frosted_Shuryou: What about increasing the amount of rounds?
Knight: that does nopt stack
PaladinGC: that's just 20 per round, no penalty.
Knight: power stacks, rounds don't
Frosted_Shuryou: So...
Frosted_Shuryou: 75+40 would give me +24 damage to all my chips for 3 rounds?
Knight: no
PaladinGC: ...no?
PaladinGC: 75 x 3
Knight: 75*3 would give you +24 for 3 rounds
PaladinGC: each round stacks all by itself.
Frosted_Shuryou: Oh, times 3.
Frosted_Shuryou: Then what was the "20 per round, no penalty" thing? >:
Knight: you don't get penalty by rounds
PaladinGC: uhh... that's just if you use one instance for 3 rounds.
Frosted_Shuryou: Oh, OK.
PaladinGC: like...
PaladinGC: 8 damage bonus for 3 rounds would be 60.
Frosted_Shuryou: You could've said 'times the amount of rounds you want it to work'.
Knight: well, yes, but thats long >.>
Frosted_Shuryou: <______<;
PaladinGC: But you can change how much you want each round to give you...

From the The "Everything you ever wanted to know" Thread, asked by Zane:

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I want to know this, but call me ignorant if you will because I just don't understand, and I need a full fledged break down since I have a sig in mind. What are we saying when we're talking about the term 'stacking" and what exactly is it? In other words, define and give an example, please, if you don't mind.

'Stacking' refers to piling up multiple uses of a turn-based-duration signature effect, like Poison or Regen, so that the effect is stronger, but doesn't actually last longer (Ergo, you're increasing the intensity of the effect).

Example: Poison
Intensity: 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, etc. (all in one turn)
Duration: 20, 20, 20, 20, 20... (spread out over multiple turns)
Medium intensity and duration: 20, 25, 20, 25, 20, 25... (2 stacks per turn)
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In case that still confuses you (because it took me a while to get it the first time I looked at it in the modcave), look at it this way:

For your information, a single turn will be enclosed in []

Example: Poison
Intensity: You stack 3 poison effects on top of each other for a more damaging effect, lasting 3 turns.
Numbers: [20,25,30] [20,25,30] [20,25,30] = 225 Sig Points in total.

As you can see, since poison has a base cost of 20, the second poison effect costs 25 (20+5), and the third costs 30 (20 +2*5).

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Duration: Your single poison effect lasts for 5 turns.
Numbers: [20] [20] [20] [20] [20] = 100 Sig Points in total.

Since there is only one poison effect per turn, it stays 20 the entire time.

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Badly Poisoned: The poison builds itself up to excruciating pain over 3 turns.
Numbers: [20] [20,25,30] [20,25,30,35,40] = 245 Sig Points in total.

Just used to demonstrate that you can stack different amounts each turn.

I must inquire (should I ever come back, see my welcome center topic)

WHY, WERE, SUBTYPE AND ELEMENT CHANGES BANNED IN SIGNATURES? That was the only constant in all of my sig ideas. Now I have nother to pool for (Im thinking of not having a 1st level sig, and just polling everything towards a transformation signature...but then this happened.)

Please tell me why, for I would really like to know what just happened here.

Well, reasons for it being unlawful are somewhat obvious. A better question would be to ask one's self 'Is there a way to make it legit?' Perhaps make it a delayed activation? Like, you activate it, your opponent (unless blatently ignoring you or something) gets the jist of what you're doing, but the effect doesn't finalize until your next turn. Eh? Eh?

Not to mention that subtypes are quite easy to emulate, maybe with the exception of recover.

That, and if sigs that change subtypes/elment were allowed, there'd be almost no uniqueness in crosses. If you want an ability that changes your sig/subtype, go, get a cross.

Recov's Conversion: Convert 1/2 of the attack into heal.
Sig Heal: Convert 40 sig cap into 30 heal. (or 3/4 or your cap becomes a heal)

Which was hard to emulate :3?