Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see Kyoko Kirigiri, Nagito Komaeda, and Kaito Momota fight a horde of Monokumas? Do you also enjoy the board game aspect of Mario Party, but not the obnoxious bonus stars at the end? (Seriously, I had three freaking stars, and Waluigi wins because he was the slowest player?) Well, Switch ota♎kus, rejoice! You will get all of that and more in .
If you have played the Ultimate Talent Development Plan in Danganronpa V3, many of the gameplay elements will already feel familiar to you. However, if you need a refresher or never played before, here are some tips to understand Danganronpa S's battle system.
Battle Basics
What's excellent about Danganronpa S's battle system is that it draws a lot of its influence from traditional, turn-based RPGs. Therefore, if you've ever played a turn-based RPG, picking up the flow of battle will be a snap. To start, here are fundamental values you'll need to stay aware of:
- Influence: Like in the mainline Danganronpa series, Influence indicates your health. In battle, your goal is to completely deplete your enemy's Influence before they can decimate yours.
- Focus: Focus works similarly to SP. In other words, you can use your focus points to activate special skills. When the battle begins, your character will have an initial focus value. Then, their focus will recover a certain amount after each turn.
- Awakening: Awakening is a power-up meter that enhances the effects of your actions. Characters gain Awakening whenever they act or receive damage. Once the gauge hits fifty percent, characters can Awaken for one turn. During an awakened turn, skills also cost no focus points. Lastly, activating Awakening after the gauge fills to one hundred percent amplifies player actions even more. It's best to time your actions in tandem with Awakening to reap its full benefits.
Phases Of A Turn
Danganronpa S's battles proceed as follows: First, you decide the actions for each of your party's characters. Then, characters and enemies attack in order of how high their speed attribute is. Battles end when either all members of the enemy party or your party get knocked out.
Here are some ꩵchoices you will have available to you in each turn:
- Attack: A basic attack.
- Skill: Spend Focus points to perform special skills on either an enemy, yourself or a member of your party.
- Awaken: This option becomes available once your Awakening gauge reaches fifty percent. Keep in mind; you need to activate Awaken fist before choosing your desired action. If you fail to do so, the amplified effects will not occur.
- Character-Specific Skill (Development Mode Only): Your character can use one skill specific to their type per match in Development Mode. The character-specific skills are as follows.
Character Type |
Skill |
Effect |
---|---|---|
Athletic |
Amass Power |
This skill raises your attack power by 1.5 times for three turns. Additionally, Amass Power also ensures you get the first attack. |
Cerebral |
Ultra Magic |
This skill is an amplified attack that deals 1.5 🧸times more damage than a normal attack. |
Balanced |
Barrier |
This skill recovers thirty percent of your Influence and reduces damage taken to one Influence point. |
Enemies
You will come across numerous enemies in Danganronpa S. All of them have unique skills, which you can look up in the Battle Mode Help section. For instance, Monokuma Gather monsters absorb most physical damage. However, they get quickly downed with elemental attacks. Yet Monokuma Hermit monsters are immune to elemental attacks but get critically affected by physical a🐻ttacks.
Additionally, some enemies have elemental weaknesses, which you can discern through their eye color. Here is a ❀quick rundown for yo𓃲u:
Eye Color |
Weakness |
---|---|
Red |
No weakness. |
Blue |
Weak to ice. |
Yellow |
Weak to lightning. |
Green |
Weak to wind. |
Conversely, enemies weak against one element are significantly stronger against elements outside their weakness. Therefore, it is cruci🎀al to exploit these weaknesses while remaining mindful to avওoid feeding into their strengths.
Afflictions
Afflictions can work either for or against your party by inflicting various status conditions. On the one hand, some afflictions have positive impacts. For example, Energize raises Awakening gauge each turn it is in play. But, on the other hand, there are plenty of afflictions with adverse effects. Curse, for instance, prevents the afflicted character from using any of their skills. You can research all the game's afflictions in the Battle Mode Help section of the game.
Auto Vs. Manual Control
Danganronpa S also provides the option to play in automatic or manual mode. Additionally, the game offers three different speeds. Therefore, you can zip through low-level enemies for quick grinding. However, it is not a good idea to face off against a boss in automatic mode.ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ Luckily, the system settings offer an option to pause automatic operation during boss battles.
Developing Characters
The most distinctive aspect of Danganronpa S is ﷺits character development system. Unlike most RPGs, Danganronpa S has one mode for building up characters and a separate mission-driven battle mode. Playing both modes in tandem will help you progress through the game.
So, how does the Development Mode work? Development Mode is a board game where players get fifty turns to defeat the six bosses of Jabberwock Island. Throughout these trials, players can raise their student's abilities through battles, growth squares, and events. Additionally, players can assign students different skills by trading in talent fragments earned throughout their playthrough. However, character stats are saved and carried over to Battle Mode once the fifty turns are up. From this point, character stats remain stagnant, and battles played outside the Development Mode will not raise your character's experience.
Therefore, if you are not satisfied with your character's stats after your first playthrough of the Development Mode, you need to rebuild the character from scratch through an additional playthrough. Luckily, as you continue developing characters and face secret bosses, you'll gain more substantial experience and Jabbercoin buffs in future playthroughs. Furthermore, passing specific checkpoints in Battle Mode unlocks items to help you progress through the Development Mode quicker.
Battle Mode
While the Development Mode focuses on building your character's abilities, the Battle Mode puts them to the test. In this game mode, players fight enemies using the characters they built up in the Development Mode. In addition, during the Battle Mode, players can clear missions that reward medals, crafting materials, and unique items. Most battle features are similar in this mode. However, there are a couple of distinct differences to keep in mind.
Party Formation
While the Development Mode battles pit one student against multiple enemies, the Battle Mode allows you to build a party of up to four of your developed students. As you progresไs through the Battle Mode missions and face more formidable enemies, it will prove beneficial to form new parties regularly. In this way, the gameplay between the 🥃Development and Battle modes heavily cycle into each other.
Items And Crafting
In the Development Mode, items bought in the various school stores offer temporary buffs that only last through the playthrough. However, you can craft items that grant permanent stat buffs in the Battle൲ Mode, as long as they stay equipped.
If you've played any of the task management bonus modes in the Danganronpa series, you'll discover that crafting in Danganronpa S works in very much the same way. Except, instead of gaining materials from assigning chores, you will get them from defeating enemies. Crafted items offer all sorts of stat buffs. Furthermore, as the items increase in quality, the materials required to craft them becom✨e increasingly rare.