Attack Telagraph

Im just working on a bunch of test thingies, looking to make a state that telegraphs a super strong attack.
If you've played lisa the pointless you'll know what im getting at, basically an enemy uses a skill that gives them the "oh heck watch out" state and they use the special attack in question one turn later.

Is this even doable without scripting?
Just wondering.

you'll most likely need a plugin for animated battlers, or custom effects.
aside from that, the skill itself should be pretty easy, as it only has to do with setting the AI of the enemy to use the actual skill after the windup, and the windup itself at some specific points.
to enable the actual skill, the windup should end with a common event unlocking that skill, or adding a self state, which the AI will look for.

the thing you need to sell the whole effect, is the animation.

Please note, that Ace uses scripts, not plugins.

If you want to telegraph to the player in a simple, straightforward way, you could try the following. The turns used are purely for illustration.
Create a skill which does nothing except have a very specific animation. You could also use a phrase like "prepares his killer move" in the 'Using message' section at the bottom of the skill page if you want to give the player even more of a warning.
Assign it to turn 3, with a rating of 10.
Assign the big attack skill to turn 4, with a rating of 10.

What I did for my game using the same mechanic is giving the enemy a unique visible state, so that when it's active, the player can immediately see it above the enemy's graphic. For the enemy, make the special attack highest priority, but under the condition of being inflicted by that unique state, so that it's guaranteed to use the special attack on the next turn.

awesome thanks
i'll try that out next time