a t t r i b u t e s  i n t r o d u c t i o n
welcome to the attributes section of final fantasy viii annihilation. this section is an introduction to the stat based combat system we use here on the site and explains the basic functions of each of your characters seven attributes. for those of you more acustomed to free-form combat i suggest you give the section a read, and if your still not interested remember we do support free-form combat on the site, if thats what you choose. if you have any questions or comments about the information present in the section feel free to post them on the ( questions board )

 h i t  p o i n t s  e x p l a i n e d
hit points (represented usually as HP)  are quite possibly the most important of all your characters stats as they represent your characters life force. when a characters hit points reach zero they are knocked out and can no longer participate in combat. along those lines the more HP your character has the better, hit points max out at 9999.
›› ( example ) :: ( squall takes 200 damage, 1000 HP – 200 = 800 )

 s t r e n g t h  e x p l a i n e d
for combat strength is very important statistic as it represents your characters physical strength. strength plays it’s main role with melee attacks, when attacking bare handed your strength represents how much damage your character can do. when fighting with a weapon the strength plays a key part in the damage formula as well.
 ›› ( stat formula ) :: ( weapon + strength = attack )
 
 v i t a l i t y  e x p l a i n e d
the vitality attribute represents your characters physical defense, making it one of the more important combat statistics. when attacked in combat the attacker must fire subtract your vitality from his/her attack before finding out what the final damage will be, because of this junctioning to improve your vitality will be something most every player is familiar with.
›› ( example ) :: ( attack (1000) - vitality (800) = 200 total damage )
 
 m a g i c  e x p l a i n e d
magic, like strength when it comes to melee attacks, is the attribute that represents the offensive power of your characters magic arsenal. in combat the magic stat comes into play when a character casts a spell, the stat is multipled times the spells unique spell multiplier to get the final outcome of the spells attack.
 ›› ( stat formula ) :: ( magic x spell multiplier = magic attack )
 
 s p i r i t  e x p l a i n e d
spirit falls along the same line of relation of strength to magic, like vitality it represents part of your characters defense, in this case their ability to resist magic damage. when a spell is cast on your character during combat the attacker must subtract your spirit from his/her magic attack to get the final damage of the spell.
 ›› ( example ) :: ( magic attack (1500) - spirit (1000) = 500 total damage )

 

 s p e e d  e x p l a i n e d
the speed statistic is rarely used in combat past its initial use to determine the combat order. when entering combat (with other players or beasts) the attack order will be set by speed, the characters and beasts with the highest speed going first, and those characters or monsters with the lowest speed going last.
›› ( example ) :: ( only used to determine combat order )
 
 l u c k  e x p l a i n e d
luck is an important stat like all the rest, and as the name implies it determines how lucky your character is in certain situations. luck is used in many dice roll tables to see if your character, based on the amount of luck, can dodge attacks, land criticals, or even flee battle. make sure to take good care of your luck stat, you never know when you may need it.
›› ( example ) :: ( used in tables to determine lucky actions. )