Skills (スキル*)? are a command, as well as a term for actions that are performed in combat. The function is common in Role-playing games.
Functionality[]
Skills are a type of command. Generally, the user uses their turn when they perform a skill. The effect of these skills is also influenced by the user and the target's stats.
Types of skills and properties[]
Skills are primarily offensive-based, dealing damage to enemies. They are differentiated between one-another depending on their affinity, their strength, their range, as well as their MP cost.
Ailment skills do not deal damage directly, and instead have a chance to afflict the enemy/ies with an ailment.
Some skills are instead support-based, such as Recovery skills, which specialize in recovering HP and ensuring the players can act, as well as Support skills, which grant special conditions in battle, such as influencing the party's attack or reducing that of the enemy.
There are also Passive skills that are automatic and do not need to use up the user's turn to activate.
Learning skills[]
There are several means for demons to learn skills. In normal cases, they already have several specific skills in their pool, and can learn a few more by leveling up.
On principle, a user cannot learn the same skill twice, regardless of whether it's via skill slots or via external means, such as accessories.
Skill Slots[]
Each individual unit has a limited number of skills it can learn, bound by their skill slots. Normally, the number of skill slots is 8.
In Shin Megami Tensei V, each demon, as well as the protagonist, start with 4 skill slots each. The number of skill slots can be expanded for the demons and the protagonist separately via Miracles. In New Game Plus, the skill slot Miracles for demons are retained, as to cater to registered demons in the demon compendum with more than 4 skills that can be
Remembering skills[]
Generally, skills that are discarded cannot be remembered again, requiring the skill be taught again through regular methods, such as via skill cards. There are several exceptions to this rule:
- In Persona 5, party members can only remember skills via the Confessional, and only 1 at a time, with time passing with each use.
- In Persona 5 Royal, party members can remember more than 1 skill at once, and in New Game Plus may also be able to remember skills learned from Jazz Jin.
- In Persona 5 Strikers, skills can be remembered at any time. Skills taught to the protagonist's Personas via skill cards cannot be remembered after they forget them.
Equipment[]
Skills can technically be learned via equipment. They are primarily passive abilities that are already invisible in combat. For example, equipping the Red Band in Persona 5 will grant the user a damage boost to their attack power, only labeled to grant "+Fire attacks". But the ability is a direct equivalent to Fire Boost, and as such the user cannot stack the accessory with the skill.
This only becomes prominent in Persona 5 Royal, as users can now equip directly offensive or support skills via accessories.
Power Tiers of Skills[]
Normally, the attack power and damage that each skill can deal is invisible to the player. They are only grouped as "Weak/Light," "Moderate/Medium," "Heavy," "Severe" and sometimes "Colossal" and "Minuscule."
Terminology and prefixes/suffixes[]
General Magic, Support and Recovery skills have several prefixes that determine certain properties, such as their affinity, their strength and their range. Agi, for example, is the base for general Fire skills in the series. Not all skills obey these rules, and might have unique names of their own.
Although skills with regular power don't have prefixes, stronger skills will have suffixes. The 2nd tier of skills have unique suffixes depending on their element (Agilao, Bufula, Zionga, etc.), but the third tier of skills always ends with the "-dyne" suffix, which is the unit of force in physics. In Shin Megami Tensei V, a Severe-type of attacks has been introduced, all of which use the "-barion" suffix.
Multi-target skills in particular that serve as variants to regular single target skills, are given the "Ma-" prefix, or "Maha-" (マハ) in Japanese. It means "great" in Sanskrit.
Light, Dark and Almighty skills do not follow these rules to the specifics.
Skill Lists[]
Megami Tensei / Shin Megami Tensei series[]
- List of Megami Tensei Spells
- List of Megami Tensei II Skills
- List of Shin Megami Tensei Skills
- List of Shin Megami Tensei II Skills
- List of Shin Megami Tensei: if... Skills
- List of Shin Megami Tensei NINE Skills
- List of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Skills
- List of Shin Megami Tensei: 20XX Skills
- List of Shin Megami Tensei IMAGINE Skills
- List of Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Skills
- List of Shin Megami Tensei IV Skills
- List of Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse Skills
- List of Shin Megami Tensei V Skills
Devil Summoner series[]
- List of Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner Skills
- List of Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers Skills
- List of Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army Skills
- List of Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon Skills
- List of Soul Hackers 2 Skills
Persona series[]
- List of Megami Ibunroku Persona Skills
- List of Persona 2: Innocent Sin Skills
- List of Persona 2: Eternal Punishment Skills
- List of Persona 3 Skills
- List of Persona 4 Skills
- List of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax Skills
- List of Persona 5 Skills
- List of Persona 5 Royal Skills
- List of Persona 5 Strikers Skills
- List of Persona Q Skills
- List of Persona Q2 Skills
Other[]
- List of Last Bible Skills
- List of Last Bible II Skills
- List of Another Bible Skills
- List of Last Bible III Skills
- List of Majin Tensei Skills
- List of Majin Tensei II: Spiral Nemesis Skills
- List of Ronde Skills
- List of Devil Children Red/Black/White Book Skills
- List of DemiKids Light/Dark Version Skills
- List of Devil Children Fire/Ice Book Skills
- List of Devil Children Messiah Riser Skills
- List of Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner Skills
- List of Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2 Skills
- List of Devil Survivor Skills
- List of Devil Survivor Overclocked Skills
- List of Devil Survivor 2 Skills
- List of Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku Skills
- List of Shin Megami Tensei Trading Card: Card Summoner Skills
- List of Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE Skills