Statuses
Seven conditions can cling to a soldier. Three tick at the start of the afflicted soldier's own turn; three change what they can do; one changes who their enemies aim at. Every status arrives as a rider on a skill or reaction, lasts a stated number of the owner's turns, and burns down by one as each of those turns ends.
| Status | What it does | Carried by |
|---|---|---|
| Poison | Deals damage at the start of each of the soldier's own turns, for as many turns as it lasts. A soldier can die of it. | Venom Dart |
| Burn | Deals damage at the start of each of the soldier's own turns, the same way Poison does. While it lasts, Regen does not heal the soldier. It comes from fire skills such as Cinder Burst. | Cinder Burst, Firestorm |
| Regen | Heals the soldier at the start of each of their own turns, for as many turns as it lasts. | Blessed Renewal |
| Stun | The soldier loses their next turn outright and cannot react until it lifts. Their other statuses still tick during the lost turn. | Stunning Blow |
| Blind | Drops the soldier's accuracy to zero while it lasts, so their attacks almost never land. | Sand Toss |
| Guard Seal | Stops the soldier from guarding while it lasts. Their guard chance drops to zero, shield included, so every hit lands at full force. | Guard Crush |
| Marked | Paints the soldier as the squad's target. While it lasts, every enemy of theirs reads them as a target an ally has already attacked this round, so writs that favor those targets converge on them. Nothing ticks and no stat moves. | Mark Target |
The laws of affliction
- Refresh, never stack. A second Poison on the same victim does not double the venom: the affliction keeps the stronger potency and the longer clock. Two of a status is still one of that status.
- Riders need a landed blow. A missed, parried, or negated action inflicts nothing. Each rider then rolls its own stated chance.
- Ticks come first. At the start of a soldier's turn, their afflictions bite before their writ is read. A soldier who falls to their poison never acts; a stunned soldier's stun spends the turn as a hold.
- Fire smothers mending. While a soldier is burning, their Regen does not heal them. The Regen still runs its clock down; it simply gives nothing back until the fire is out.
- Some skills are paid for the affliction. A few writs hit harder against a body that is already suffering — Twin Arrows into poison, Sunlance into a sealed guard — and a couple spend the condition to do it. Cinder Burst turns a poison into a burn that keeps whatever was left of it; Vampiric Strike drinks the poison away. Setting a condition up with one soldier and cashing it with the next is a real plan, not a coincidence.
- A mark is an order, not a wound. Marked does no damage and moves no stat. All it does is answer Targeted By Ally for everyone on the marking side, so a squad of Prefer Focus Fire writs gathers on the body the archer picked instead of on whoever swung first. It is still a harmful status, so a cleanse lifts it — and Sniper Shot is paid extra for answering one.
- Stat wounds are their own kind. Skills like Armor Break and War Chant bend a stat — defense halved, attack raised — for a stated number of turns. The same law applies: a reapplied bend replaces the old one; it never stacks.
A writ can also read afflictions directly: the Status Effects conditions filter and favor targets by what already clings to them — spread poison to the untouched, or press the advantage a stun opens.
Every affliction is a bet about time. Poison beats enemies who plan to outlast you; Stun beats enemies whose one big turn you cannot afford; Guard Seal pays off exactly when your heavy hitters strike next. Write the writ so the follow-through lands inside the affliction's window.