Abilities

There are hundreds of abilities that units can learn in Dusk Tactics. Abilities tend to be grouped in Ability Sets which are learned with specific Jobs.

Abilities differ from basic attacks in that they usually have a special cost associated with them. They also have different damage modifiers and can cause a range of different outcomes besides simple damage. One main advantage of using abilities is that they are often unable to be blocked or countered, unlike basic attacks.

An Ability Set has a special name and theme that fits the Job it comes from. Depending on the Job, there can be anywhere from 4 – 8 Abilities in a set. Advanced Jobs tend to have more overall.

There are several different categories of abilities which differentiate how they work, what they do, and how one uses them.

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Ability Types

Most Ability Types are further grouped into sub-types.

Skills

Skills are essentially a step above normal attacks. They’re mostly Physical Power based and they cost MP to use.

	Basic Skill
	Similar to normal attacks, these abilities do physical damage. They usually require MP to use.
	Support Skill
	Instead of doing damage, these abilities have a physical healing effect and/or a positive buff. They usually require MP to use.
	Sabotage Skill
	The opposite of Support Skills, these tend to do damage and/or apply a negative debuff to the target. They usually require MP to use.
	Provoke Skill
	These skills focus on getting and maintaining the attention of the target through the Infamy system. They usually require MP to use.

Techniques

Techniques, or Techs, are a very specific, specialized form of abilities. They deal with things like stealth, thievery, defense, and even speech. Most of them use Physical Power and they cost MP to use.

	Defense Tech
	Techniques in this category usually don’t do any damage, they tend to focus on redirecting enemy attention as well as rescuing weakened units. They usually require MP to use.
	Stealth Tech
	Specialized techniques for hiding ones presence or outright avoiding enemy detection. They usually require MP to use.
	Theft Tech
	Not the most noble of techniques, these allow a unit to steal various items, weapons, or armor from enemy units. They usually require MP to use.
	Speech Tech
	A very special set of oratory techniques that work off of magick power. They usually require MP to use.

Arts

Arts are abilities that are used in conjunction with specific equipment. As such, they require the unit to have the correct items equipped in order to use them. They usually require MP to use.

	Weapon Arts
	Weapon Arts can be specific to a single Weapon Type or multiple similar Weapon Types. They take the name of whatever type of weapon they use, for example: Bow Arts, or Sword Arts. They usually require MP to use.
	Shield Arts
	A rare, but useful type of art. Shield Arts help defense-based Jobs survive between turns. They also replace the default Defend command units have access to with a more powerful one based on their currently equipped shield. So far, none require MP to use.

Spells

Spells utilize Magick Power and make up a large amount of all abilities. Most magick-based Jobs have access to some type of spell. These abilities tend to have moderately high MP cost. There are different ways those who wield spells may categorize them, but the standard method is to use colors.

	Black Magick
	This broad category of spells all have one thing in common, they inflict Magick Power damage to their target(s). These almost always cost MP.
	White Magick
	Another broad category, this time for Magick Power healing abilities focused on restoring HP. These almost always cost MP.
	Green Magick
	This was once split into Green Magick, for buffs, and Purple Magick, for debuffs. Most non-magick users started classifying them all under Green Magick much to the discontent of those who practice magick. Spells that cause both status effects and damage/healing are usually classified as Black or White Magick, so these spells typically only inflict status effects. These almost always cost MP.
	Gray Magick
	Essentially utility spells that don’t fit into the above categories. Like Green Magick, they tend to not damage or heal. These almost always cost MP.

Summoning

While Summoning is a type of Magick, it has it’s own category due to how different it is in practice.

	Summon Magick
	This highly specialized type of magick has incredibly high MP costs. Not a lot is known about summoning, however it involves making a pact with a powerful entity who will aid the caster during battle.

Taming

Taming is essentially the Physical equivalent to Summoning’s use of Magick. It relies on capturing and taming wild animals and then sending them out in battle.

	Beast Taming
	The most common form of taming is Beast Taming which specifically focuses on Beast-type monsters.

Prayer

Prayer is a special set of abilities that are neither Physical nor Magickal in nature. They do not have any costs to use them, but they can only be used a set number of times during a single battle.

	Holy Prayer
	Holy Prayer requires a tremendous amount of faith and is reserved for those with righteous hearts. It can be extremely powerful when used correctly, but is limited in use.
	Dark Prayer
	A perverted form of Prayer that comes from the darkest parts of the soul. Dark Prayer is not looked upon kindly by most humanoid races and is said to corrupt the body and spirit.

Science

One of the more recently founded schools of ability focuses around knowledge, natural laws, and other newly discovered topics.

	Chemistry
	An old form of “science’ that dealt with the creation of restorative potions and tonics. Not technically just a type of ability as any unit can use any item so long as they have it in their bag. The real ability comes in creating the potion itself.
	Alchemistry
	A field developed more recently as an offshoot of chemistry. Alchemistry involves transmuting one object into another. This includes converting HP to MP and vice versa. It’s cost depends on the action, it can use MP or even HP.