Skill
Skills are a recurring mechanic in the Megami Tensei franchise.
Overview
- For a list of all skills per title, see Category:Skill Listings.
A skill is any uniquely named ability tied to its user that has a distinct effect that can be found on the skill menu of a particular title. This makes it distinct from items (which are agnostic to the user) and traits (which are not considered skills by the game, despite similar functioning). Skills may also be called magic, spells, or a variety of other terms depending on the title in question; however, later titles in the Megami Tensei franchise have standardized the term to "skill" in most instances. Skills are often subcategorized into further groups such as Extra skills and magic skills. The most common form of skill is magic, which encompasses the vast majority of skills throughout the Megami Tensei franchise. These skills have no special restrictions and operate similarly between most titles. Some titles include other categories of skill which operate under different rules; examples include Extra skills, Commander Skills, Racial Skills, Fusion Spells and Magatsuhi Skills.
Skills often have an associated attribute such as physical, fire, healing, support and ailment which affects how the skill will affect the target and whether or not the skill is inherited by a particular demon during fusion. They typically (but do not always) cost a resource to use such as MP/SP, HP, a dedicated meter, Macca, and so on. Skills can be inherited through fusion or learned through other methods such as with skill cards, Demon Whisper, essences, story-based events, and evolution, among others. Most demons have an innate set of skills that are learned naturally.
Many skills have other qualities such as base power, a damage type, hits per target, a modified critical hit and/or accuracy rate, a secondary effect, a maximum range of targets, a usage restriction (such as only being able to use a skill outside of combat) and a rank. Some skills are passive, meaning these skills do not have a cost nor do they need to be manually activated; their effects will apply universally and often cannot be disabled. Some skills are considered to be unique; this means they will not be inherited during fusion regardless of the skill attribute and can only be used by a restricted pool of units. Other skills only exist as the side effect of an equipped item. Skills may also be exclusive to enemies and are unusable by the protagonist or the ally version of a particular demon.
In addition, skills share some traits with basic attacks and other forms of attack, such as All-Out Attacks and Follow-Up Attacks. Internally, some of these attacks may be programmed as skills and have an associated skill ID for programmer convenience; however, they are mechanically distinct and cannot be considered true skills.
Mechanics by Game
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Digital Devil Saga series
Skills in the Digital Devil Saga series are learned through Mantras, where each Mantra will provide one to four skills to the character that masters it. Once the skills are learned, the character is able to freely set them on a skill slot or remove skills from their occupied skill slots while outside of battle. In Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2, there are unique skills that can only be used by a specific character and can only be learned through certain events, ignoring the Mantra system.
Characters start with four skill slots, gaining two at level 10 and another two at level 20, for a total of eight slots. Enemies do not have these restrictions.
If multiple characters in battle possess a predetermined combination of skills, they can cast a Combo Skill, requiring resources and Press Turns from all participants. The list of Combo Skills and their requirements are initially hidden, though the Combo menu will display all discovered Combo Skills and highlight the ones that are usable by the active party.
Devil Survivor series
Skills in the Devil Survivor series are divided into multiple categories: Command Skills are skills that must be manually activated to be used, Passive Skills do not have to be manually activated, Racial Skills are unique to demons of a given Race, and Auto Skills are unique to Leaders. Each character has three slots for Command Skills, three slots for Passive Skills, and one slot for a Racial or Auto Skill, depending on whether they are a demon or a Leader.
Demons have predetermined skill sets, some of which may be unusable until the demon gains levels. Leaders instead gain skills through Skill Crack, which involves targeting a skill on an enemy before battle with one of the player's teams; if the appropriate team defeats that target, the skill is cracked and added to the player's skill list. Outside of battle, the player can set their cracked skills on the Leaders' skill lists, with a limit of one copy of a given skill among all Leaders.
Nomenclature
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| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
 English
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Skill | |
Magic Revelations: The Demon Slayer | ||