Stats & Changing What They Do

Hello! First off I'm new to using this and haven't read a whole lot into the stats section of RPG Maker VX Ace which is the reason I'm posting this.

Basically what I'm trying to learn/do are two things:

I really want to know what each stat DOES in the game exactly as follows:

ATK: does this increase default attack damage by the amount of ATK you have? (for example if I have 30 ATK will that increase my damage by 30?)

DEF: does this decrease damage taken by the amount of DEF you have? (same as above)

MATK/MDEF: same questions as above but for magic.

LUCK: Does this change crit chance or item appearance chance after defeating a monster?

And if luck doesn't affect crit chance/item drop rate how can I change that so it will affect both?

Not exactly...


ATK, DEF, MAT and MDF have absolutely no fixed functions inside the game engine - they are only values for the game developer to use however he/she decides to use them.


They are intended to be used in the skill damage formulae, and there is where a default exists - the default damage formula (which can and is usually changed) is 4*a.atk - 2*b.def (for physical attacks, magical ones will get the default with MAT/MDF).


That formula means that the damage is four times the attackers ATK minus two times the target's DEF - and that default fomula is usually replaced when the skills are entered, because the player and the monsters rarely have every skill do the same damage amount.


LUK and AGI are the only base parameters that have additional functions inside the game engine - LUK will affect the probability of getting hit by States, and AGI will change the action order in the default battle system.

I'm not too certain about luck (or agility for that matter, though you've not mentioned it).

Anyway, atk determines the damage of physical skills, normally, yes. Same with MAT. MDEF and Def reduce damage.

Now, this is where it gets tricky to answer.

The exact amount of damage done per attack varies from game to game because if you look in the database and open up the skills tab, you'll see you can set up your own formulas easily. For instance, the attack skill is what's used when you attack normally.

If you have this formula:

a.atk * 2 - b.def * 1

That means you take your attack stat, multiply it by 2, then reduce the result by whatever your defence stat is. You can also add in a variance of, say, 10%. So if your calculations come out at 100, it could be 90 or 110. Or anything in between.

If you hover your cursor over the damage formula box too, you'll see a list appear showing all of the different abbreviations when it comes to stats. Like, it'll tell you what abbreviation to use for attack. You can click the formula button to easily set things up too.

(That's it for the basics,.Mess around with it, test things and once you've got a handle on it, you can start messing around with elements and states.)

Thanks guys, this helps me a lot. I didn't realize that the default attack came with an equation as well, though I should have since I knew abilities did..

As for agility I didn't really need to know anything about it but this actually makes sense as well.

And for luck I think I understand what you're saying, I'll have to mess around with it and the different settings and just keep testing until I come out with something I like. Thanks again :)