                   Chrono Trigger Mechanics Guide
                         by DragonKnight Zero
                    dragonknight_zero@hotmail.com
                         Version 0.1 9-28-01

Contents
- Legal Jazz/Intro
- Physical attack damage
- Single Techs
- Dual and Triple Techs
- Maxing out stats
- Other notes
- Credits

Legal Jazz/Intro

  This guide looks into the innards of Chrono Trigger's battle
system.  To be honest, I've lost interest in the game hence the
incompleteness of this guide.  If anyone wants to take over the
maintenance of this FAQ, be my guest.  This is intended for personal
and public use; commercial use is forbidden.  I wrote everything
here so give me some credit for what I've done.  Otherwise, do
whatever the heck you want with this guide.  It is not necessary to
e-mail me if you want to take over this FAQ although doing so will
allow me to vouch for your legitimacy.

This guide is only allowed to appear at GameFAQs until under new
authorship.  I will ignore any e-mails about this guide once that
happens.

Physical attack damage

First off here's how the attack power values are derived.  I'm
referring to the number next to the weapon icon on the stat screen.

For the guys, the formula is:
(PWR * 4/3) + (weapon's attack * 5/9)

For Lucca and Marle:
(HIT + weapon's attack) * 2/3

Ayla works a little differently
PWR * 1.75 + ??? (some factor dependent on level)

It's true, 99 power at level 55 (via an accessory) is not the same
as 99 power at level 61.  I'm fairly sure that level factors into
the damage formula but haven't really proved it.  Also, although the
game won't display an attack value higher than 255, it seems to go
past it when figuring attack damage.  Ayla's regular attacks do more
damage as she gains levels even after maxing out her power.

  Expected damage is double the attack power value.  However the
games adds a variable amount between zero and (expected damage *
0.1) HP.  I'm not sure of the degree of variance; 0.1x is a guess.
I'm sure it's an absolute HP variance and not a percentage of the
actual damage.  The difference is most noticeable on enemies with
extreme physical defense.  For critical hits, double expected damage
before calculating the variance.  If an enemy takes drastically
different damage from the expected value, it's because it has
abnormal defense.  Goblins are an example of an enemy that takes
double damage from everything while Heckran takes almost zero
damage from physical attacks.  There are also a few enemies who will
always evade physical attacks such as Shadows.

There are three instances where weapon attacks ignore the damage
usual damage formulas.

Robo's Crisis Arm's expected damage is (attack * last digit of
Robo's current HP)
Ayla's Bronze Fist will do 9999 with a critical regardless of the
target's defense.
Lucca's Wondershot will randomly deal expected damage or double,
triple, half, or 10% the amount.

Single Tech formulas

  For magical techs, the formulas given apply to enemies with normal
magic defense with no elemental weaknesses or resistances.  For
physical techs, any multiple of damage refers to expected physical
attack damage as described in the previous section.
  The range abbreviations I use here mostly come from the manual of
Lunar on the Playstation.  I have this feeling that Lunar PSX
borrowed heavily from the Chrono Trigger battle system.  Here's a
quick explanation of the abbreviations.

1E: single enemy
EZ: all enemies close to targeted enemy are affected.  In CT, there
is only one size of enemy zone
AE: all enemies
AZ: ally zone  Effect area is a range around a caster.  For dual or
triple techs, I'll specify which ally the effect area is around.
1A: single ally
AA: all allies
SL: line from caster through target.  Flame Toss is the only
exception; it only goes to the targeted enemy while hitting anyone
in between.  I will indicate the "caster" in a dual tech.
HL: horizontal line on screen, independent of your characters'
locations

  Some Techs have elemental properties which will influence their
effects on various enemeis.  I don't claim these formulas as 100%
accurate and there may be a few errors.  There are a few cases where
the formula completely eludes me.

Crono

Tech                                              Range and Element
Cyclone: 1.2x damage                              EZ
Slash: MAG * 11                                   SL Lightning
Lightning: MAG * 13                               1E Lightning
Spincut: Critical hit damage                      1E
Lightning 2: MAG * 15                             AE Lightning
Life: Revive MAG * 10                             1A
Confuse: 4 hits, each about 0.9x attack damage,
3.6x damage total                                 1E
Luminaire: MAG * 54                               AE Lightning

Marle

Aura: Restore HP (MAG * 5.5)                      1A
Provoke: Add Chaos status                         1E
Ice; MAG * 9                                      1E Water
Cure: Restore HP (MAG * 15)                       1A
Haste: Add Haste status                           1A
Ice 2: MAG * 11.5                                 AE Water
Cure 2: Restore HP (MAG * 25)                     1A
Life 2: Revive with full HP                       1A

Lucca

Flame Toss: MAG * 5                               SL Fire
Hypno Wave: Add Sleep status                      AE
Fire: MAG * 8.5                                   1E Fire
Napalm: MAG * 9                                   EZ Fire
Protect: Add Protect status                       1A
Fire 2: MAG * 10.3                                AE Fire
Mega Bomb: MAG * 24                               EZ Fire
Flare: MAG * 32                                   AE Fire

Frog

Slurp: Restore HP (MAG * 5)                       1A
Slupr Cut:                                        1E
Water: MAG * 10.5                                 1E Water
Heal: Restore HP to all allies (MAG * 6)          AA
Leap Slash: 2.2x attack damage                    1E
Water 2:                                          AE Water
Cure 2: Restore HP (MAG * 25)                     1A
Frog Squash:                                      AE

Robo

Rocket Punch: 4/3x attack damage                  1E
Cure Beam: Restore HP (MAG * 15)                  1A
Laser Spin: MAG * 10                              AE Shadow
Robo Tackle: PWR * 12                             1E
Heal Beam: Restore HP to all allies (MAG * 10)    AA
Uzzi Punch: 3x attack damage                      1E
Area Bomb: MAG * 30                               AZ Fire
Shock: MAG * 40                                   AE Lightning

Ayla

Kiss: MAG * 14 and removes negative status        1A
Rollo Kick: 1.5x attack damage                    1E
Cat Attack: 2.2x attack damage                    1E
Rock Throw: 3.3x attack damage misses on enemies  1E
that are "locked" in place
Charm: Steal item                                 1E
Tail Spin: MAG * 30                               AZ non-elemental
Dino Tail:                                        AE
Trpile Kick: 3 hits, each about 4/3x attack
damage, 4x damage total                           1E

Magus

Lightning 2: MAG * 13                             AE Lightning
Ice 2: MAG * 13                                   AE Water
Fire 2: MAG * 13                                  AE Fire
Dark Bomb: MAG * 18                               EZ Shadow
Magic Wall: Add Shell status                      1A
Dark Mist: MAG * 18                               AE Shadow
Black Hole: Death to nearby enemies.              AZ
DarkMatter: MAG * 28                              AE Shadow

Dual and Triple Techs

  All I can provide for certain are ranges and elemental properties.
Look in another FAQ for who and what are required for each combo;
that information is widespread.  The damage formulas often depend on
the strength of the components but I've no interest in figuring them
out.

Combo              Range           Combo          Range
Aura Whirl         AA              Fire Whirl     EZ Fire
Ice Sword          1E Ice          Fire Sword     1E Fire
Ice Sword 2        EZ Ice          Fire Sword 2   EZ Fire

X-Strike           1E              Rocket Roll    AE Shadow
Sword Stream       1E Water        Max Cyclone    AZ (Robo)
Spire              1E Lightning    Super Volt     AE Lightning

Drill Kick         1E              Antipode       EZ Shadow
Volt Bite          1E Lightning    Antipode 2     EZ Shadow
Falcon Hit         HL              Antipode 3     AE Shadow

Ice Water          AE Water        Aura Beam      AA
Glacier            1E Water        Ice Tackle     1E Water
Double Cure        AA              Cure Touch     AA

Twin Charm         1E              Red Pin        1E Fire
Ice Toss           EZ Water        Line Bomb      HL Fire
Cube Toss          EZ Water        Frog Flare     AE Fire

Fire Punch         EZ Fire         Fire Kick      1E Fire
Fire Tackle        1E Fire         Fire Whirl     AE Shadow
DoublevBomb        AZ Fire (Robo)  Blaze Kick     1E Fire

Blade Toss         SL (Robo)       Slurp Kiss     AA
Bubble Drop        1E              Bubble Hit     1E
Cure Wave          AA              Drop Kick      1E

Spin Kick          1E
Boogie             AE
Beast Toss         1E

Delta Force        AE Shadow       Spin Strike    1E
Arc Impulse        1E Water        Dark Eternal   AE Shadow
Life Line          AA              Grand Dream    AE
Final Kick         1E Shadow       Omega Flare    AE Shadow
Delta Storm        AE Shadow       Poyozo Damce   AE Non-elemental
Fire Zone          AZ Fire (Robo)
Gatling Kick       1E Shadow
Triple Raid        1E
3D Attack          1E
Twister            AE Shadow

Maxing out stats

  This lists the levels characters will max out particular stats
without the use of Tabs or any event-related stat gain.  If a stat
has a blank next to it, it's because I know it will max out but
never reached the actual level for it to happen.  Speed doesn't
appear here at all because speed doesn't increase with levels.

Crono              Marle                Lucca
HP at LV 56        Mag Def at LV 54     MP at LV 53
Stamina at LV 57   MP at LV 56          Mag Def at LV 56
MP at LV 59        HP at LV 60          HP at LV 59
Mag Def at LV 62                        Magic at LV 92
Power at LV 69

Frog               Robo                 Ayla
HP at LV 55        HP at LV 50          HP at LV 54
Stamina at LV 58   Stamina at LV 51     Stamina at LV 54
Mag Def at LV 60   Power at LV 59       Power at LV 61
MP at LV 61        MP at LV 67          MP at LV 63
Power              Mag Def              Mag Def at LV 66

Magus
MP at LV 52
Mag Def at LV 53
HP at LV 54
Power
Magic
Stamina at LV 93

Other Notes

- When a character not in the active party gains a level, he or she
will not gain any EXP towards the next level.
- Non-active characters gain 75% (rounded down) of the EXP that
active members gain.  This happens as soon as a character becomes an
playable member of the party even if he or she is not selectable for
a while.
- Reraise status can only occur two ways: via the triple tech Life
Line or through the Greendream accessory.  When a character with
Reraise dies, he or she will revive with (MAG * 5) HP.
- Protect and Shell status cannot be on the same character
simultaneously unless one is imparted by a Safe Helm or Prismdress.
- Haste doubles a character's speed; however I believe it caps at an
effective level of 24.
- Frog Squash, Frog Flare, and Grand Dream will do more damage as
the difference between Frog's current HP and max HP increase.  Dino
Tail works the same way except with Ayla's max HP - current HP.

Credits

???: I haven't the slightest idea who discoveed the 9999 damage
aspect of the Bronze Fist or where it first become publicly known.
Still, it is something someone else found out and not me so I'm
extended credit to this anonymous individual or group.