Status

In battles in the World of Eternal Sonata, both playable characters and opponents at times fall under various types of status. These can generally be classified into three different groups - those statuses that are unambiguously positive, those that are distinctly negative, and those that could be considered either beneficial or harmful depending on the situation.

Status effects can be healed by items that can either be purchased at shops, dropped by enemies or found as treasure. Unlike some RPGs, there are no character abilities that are able to heal negative statuses. They can be prevented by equipping specific accessories, or any accessory or armor that guards against all status effects. There are many items that afflict status ailments on opponents, which can be purchased at shops, and many are also dropped by opponents. There are also some items that will place characters temporarily in certain statuses. Many weapons or armor grant positive statuses to characters, but others will afflict a negative status. This can be negated by equipped an accessory that prevents that status ailment, though many such accessories are only made available in Encore Mode.

Status effects are represented by indicators seen on both the characters/targets themselves, and on the character portraits that appear at the top of the menu for some statuses on characters. While the ones on the menu portrait will display all statuses currently active that they can show, the indicators on the characters/targets themselves are only capable of showing one status at a time and will rotate every so often as long as a character or target is under multiple statuses.

All statuses are removed at the end of a battle, though those generated by equipment will immediately take effect again at the beginning of the next battle, unless the equipment is removed.

Statuses[]

Poison - The character takes a certain amount of damage based on their current maximum HP each time they begin a turn. If the character does not have any Tactical Time, then they will also stagger at the beginning of the turn and lose time on the Action Gauge before they are able to make any moves. Effective use of poison can greatly ease many boss battles, as the enemy will have less time to act and will take damage even if the player is unable to take any other action. Many bosses, however, have resistance to poison and so the player may have to attempt the poisoning several times before it will take effect, and some seem to be either immune or nearly immune.
Slow - The character moves sluggishly when traveling across the field of battle.
Stop - The character is unable to act for the first two seconds of their turn. Can be slightly alleviated by nudging and holding the analog stick forward to move prior to the start of the character's turn.
Shining Body - The character generates a field of light around them and can only use light Special Attacks. Any playable character standing within the field of light will also use light Special Attacks.
Darkness Body - The character generates a field of darkness around them and can only use dark Special Attacks. Any playable character standing within the field of darkness and not under Shining Body will also use dark Special Attacks. The character under Darkness Body status can use light Special Attacks by standing within the field of light generated by another character's Shining Body.
Air Body - The character's Special Attacks are not affected by the shadow generated by an opponent and the character does not cast a shadow.
Burst - The character's overall STR stat is doubled, but their DEF is halved. Effective use of Burst can prove extremely valuable in making short work of tough opponents at later stages of the game. For example, if a character possesses 500 STR and 300 DEF, then with Burst their STR will increase by 500 points to 1000, but their DEF will decrease by only 150 points to 150, which can be off-set by possessing a high HP stat and careful use of Guard or Counterattack. The character becomes a mighty damage dealer able to overwhelm even the toughest opponents, though the player must be a bit wary of the character taking enough damage to be KOed. In the original Xbox 360 version of Eternal Sonata, there were two characters with weapons that granted them permanent Burst status - Allegretto (Hellstriker) and Jazz (Pyro Blade and Skofnung). In the game's PlayStation 3 release, this was increased to a massive five, with three other characters now having weapons which granted Burst - Viola (Imperial Bow), Frederic (Gold Baton) and Serenade (Ares Staff).
Passive - If targeted by the enemy, the character is unable to use Counterattacks. Effectively carries no penalty if the Party Level is not at least 4.
Marked - Not officially named by the game, applies only to opponents. The target is marked for damage by Viola's Hawk Eye attack. A green glyph appears underneath the opponent when marked. The opponent becomes easier to target for distance attacks from Viola's bow (she only needs to hit within the glyph) and all attacks from any character do greater damage. The high defense of opponents that morph into stronger forms is effectively neutralized. Special Attacks will deal massive damage, but the status is removed from the target following any Special Attack. It can be reapplied by again using Hawk Eye. It will also be easier to locate the enemy at a far distance, or in an area with more darkness than light.
Special Attack Burst - Not officially named by the game. By using Salsa's Shadow Silhouette, she and anyone in the immediate area around her are placed in an enhanced status that allows their next non-healing Special Attack to carry great power, regardless of whether or not Echoes have been built up, with Special Attacks powered by Echoes dealing genuinely massive damage. This status can be combined with Marked for even greater damage.
Enhanced Defense - Not officially named by the game. By using March's Aurora Curtain, she and anyone in the immediate area around her are placed in a special status that allows them to take little or no damage. The status will break after the first time they are targeted by an attack, but if they take collateral damage from an attack targeted at another character, then they will remain in the status.
KO - Not officially named by the game. The character has zero HP and has been knocked out. They are completely unable to take any actions, and they will lie on the ground as an obstacle. They may be revived using Angel Trumpet, Goddess Bouquet or Saint's Mirror. If the party is victorious in battle with a character KO'd, that then character will be revived automatically following the battle with 1 HP, but will not gain any experience for that battle, nor will the lost experience be gained by those who are not KO'd. If all three characters in the active party are KO'd, it is Game Over. If the character was under any other status prior to KO, they will not be under that status when revived, unless equipped with armor or an accessory that generates it. If the character is wearing an armor or accessory that generates either Shining Body or Darkness Body, then the character will continue to emit a field of light or darkness even when KO'd. This status also applies to monsters that can be revived by other monsters, but such monsters are not normally shown KOed on the field of battle, with the exception of mushroom-type opponents in the Xbox 360 release.
Regenerate - The character recovers HP at the beginning of each turn. This can be either a percentage of their total HP, or a fixed amount of 2200 HP if granted by the Stone of the Spring item. If the character is poisoned, then the HP will be recovered first, prior to the damage from poison status taking effect.

Status Items[]

Twilight Feather - Heals Shining Body
Dawn Feather - Heals Darkness Body
Pure Feather - Heals Poison
Chance Feather - Heals Slow
Time Feather - Heals Stop
Icy Feather - Heals Burst
Heroic Feather - Heals Passive
Peacock's Feather - Heals all statuses

Glowing Tail - Recover HP & temporary Shining Body
Shining Tail - Recover HP & temporary Shining Body
Shadow Tail - Recover HP & temporary Darkness Body
Dark Tail - Recover HP & temporary Darkness Body
Bubble Straw - Recover HP & temporary Air Body
Bubble Ring - Recover HP & temporary Air Body
Hell Mustard - Temporary Burst
Stone of the Spring - Temporarily Regenerate 2200 HP each turn

Poison Whitecap - 70% chance of Poison on opponent
Wormwood - 80% chance of Poison on opponent
Scorpion's Tail - 90% chance of Poison on opponent
EZI Photo - Burst and damage on an opponent
EZI String Phone - Stops an enemy

Status Accessories[]

Dark Brooch - Darkness Body
Brilliant Brooch - Shining Body
Rainbow EZI - Shining Body
Sky Blue Brooch - Air Body
Chapel EZI - Air Body
Crimson Brooch - Burst
Solomon's Ring - Burst (ATK +10, PS3 only, Encore Mode)
Tyrant's Crown - Burst (HP +20%, only has Burst effect in Xbox 360)
Emerald Bracelet - Prevents Poison (Encore Mode)
Topaz Bracelet - Prevents Slow (Encore Mode)
Onyx Bracelet - Prevents Stop (Encore Mode)
Amethyst Bracelet - Prevents Burst (Encore Mode)
Ruby Bracelet - Prevents Passive (Encore Mode)
Diamond Bracelet - Prevents all status effects (Encore Mode)
Scudetto - Prevents all status effects (DEF +50, for Crescendo, Encore Mode)
EZI Pocketbook - Regenerate 1 HP per turn

Smiling EZI - Poison
Elite EZI - Slow and Stop
Swimming EZI - Stop
Laughing EZI - Passive
EZI Certificate - Poison

Armor with Status Effects/Prevention[]

Pair Jacket - Increases resistance to poison (DEF +22)
Tundra Vest - Increases resistance to slow (DEF +47)
Leather Guard - Increases resistance to passive (DEF +50)
Concealing Jacket - Increases resistance to poison (DEF +80)
Peacock Dress - Prevents all status effects (DEF +143)

Ugly Clothes - Passive (DEF +53)
Skull and Bones - Stop (DEF +60)
Obscure Jacket - Air Body (DEF +80)
Cursed Armor - Darkness Body (DEF +85)
Daybreak Cloak - Shining Body (DEF +120)
Dark Armor - Darkness Body (DEF +150, HP -20%)

Weapons with Status Effects[]

Allegretto[]

Poison Blood - Chance of poisoning the enemy (ATK +24)
Hellstriker - Burst (ATK +65)
Nidhogg's Fang - Chance of poisoning the enemy (ATK +128)

Beat[]

Hatchet Musket - Chance of slowing the enemy (ATK +58)
Sabertooth - Chance of poisoning the enemy (ATK +63)

Falsetto[]

Power Stroke - Chance of slowing the enemy (ATK +54)
Celestial Gloves - Chance of slowing the enemy (ATK +108)
Iron Gloves - Slow (ATK +160)

Frederic[]

Gold Baton - Burst (ATK +67, only carries Burst effect in PS3)
Oracle Cane - Darkness Body (ATK +75)
Freudhersch - Chance of stopping the enemy (ATK +185, SPD +30)

Jazz[]

Herebra - Passive (ATK +95)
Rib Crusher - Slow (ATK +105)
Pyro Blade - Burst/Stop (ATK +115)
Skofnung - Burst (ATK +195)

March[]

Solar Eclipse - Shining Body (ATK +25, Dark +65)
Wheel of Will - Darkness Body (ATK +127)

Polka[]

Torn Umbrella - Darkness Body (ATK +55, MAG +5)

Salsa[]

Lunar Eclipse - Darkness Body (ATK +25, Dark +65)

Serenade[]

Ares Staff - Burst (ATK +55)

Viola[]

Thunder Stir - Shining Body (ATK +80, Increases movement speed in battle)
Imperial Bow - Burst (ATK +91)