Monster Girl Quest/Combat

Combat in Monster Girl Quest is a turn-based game where Luka and his opponent take turns trying to defeat one another.

Overview
The goal in battle is, as with every RPG battle, is to lower the opponent's HP to 0, though in some rare cases Luka must perform some sort of feat to become either victorious or to simply progress with the story.

Luka will always have the first turn, but in very few battles the monster will have a preemptive strike.

Battle Options
At the beginning of every turn, Luka is given a series of options. Some of these options, however, become available or unavailable as events happen.

Attack
Attack allows Luka to strike at the enemy dealing a small amount of damage while also allowing him to gain 1 SP. Sometimes when normal attacking Luka will miss the target and deal no damage, or score a Critical Hit which deals more damage than usual. Every regular Attack also generates 1 SP, regardless of whether it hits or misses. Also, sometimes when bound, depending on the monster and/or attack, regular Attacking may be the key to breaking free instead of struggle, but the damage of attacking while bound is severely reduced.

All Four Spirits have the ability to enhance normal attacks:
 * Sylph at level 2 (Playful Wind) allows Luka to strike at the enemy without missing his target.
 * Sylph at level 3 (Devastating Gale) allows him to attack the enemy twice, both with separate critical hit rates, however he still gains 1 SP.
 * Gnome at level 2 (Breath of the Earth) also slightly increases critical hit rate.
 * Gnome at level 3 (Wild Lands) increases his critical hit rate to 100%.
 * Undine at level 2 (Serene Mind) changes his regular attacks to Blade of Still Water, equal to a critical hit, though it cannot score one.
 * Undine at level 3 (Serene Mind 2) has Blade of Still Water damage stack with critical damage from Wild Lands.
 * Salamander at level 1 (Blade of Flame) increases overall damage by a fairly small amount.
 * Salamander at level 2 (Hellfire Blade) increases overall damage by a more large amount than Blade of Flame.

Skill
Skill allows Luka to use any skill that he has learned throughout his journey. At first this list will be small, but as Luka progresses through the story, he will gain more skills which range from dealing extra damage, summoning one of the Four Spirits or healing himself. Skills use SP to activate. Unlike regular Attacks, Skills cannot be dodged and ergo will always hit, with a few exceptions.

Struggle
Struggle is available when Luka has been bound and restrained by the enemy and will have Luka attempt to force the enemy off him. Most monsters can be shaken off with Struggle but some require for Luka to continue attacking the enemy instead. Gnome is able to aid Luka when he is attempting to Struggle.

Guard
Guard allows Luka to defend himself against any possible attack the enemy may launch this turn. Unless the enemy's attack is meant to cut through any and all defenses, the damage received will be cut in half. Some enemies will also charge an attack in which by Guarding Luka avoids the otherwise powerful attack.

Wait
Having Luka Wait also makes Luka not make any offensive movements like Guard but instead Luka simply does nothing and will take any damage head-on. This serves no purpose other than for losing.

Surrender
Surrender has Luka surrender to the enemy in which no more actions will be performed by Luka and instead the enemy will continue to attack him until his HP reaches 0 resulting in a Game Over.

In some cases it is not possible to Surrender.

Request
By choosing Request Luka surrenders to his opponent by a specific attack by the player's choice. Much like Surrendering, Luka will make no further actions and allow himself to be defeated, but the monster will continuously use that specific attack until Luka has fallen. Requested moves can only be done if Luka has been attacked and hit by them.

HP
As stated before, the goal of the battle is to lower the opponent's HP to 0 while keeping Luka's HP above 0. Both the monster and Luka have ways to continuously damage one another, and likewise have ways to survive.

Luka gains many powerful offensive skills throughout his journey as well as defensive and supportive skills. Sylph at level 1 (Wind Protection) as well as Undine at level 2 and 3 (Serene Mind 1 and 2) grant Luka the ability to dodge and nullify the opponent's attacks, and Gnome level 2 (Breath of the Earth) reduces the damage he receives. Furthermore, Meditation allows Luka to regenerate half of his maximum health, further bolstering his survival. Finally, Salamander at level 3 (Purgatory Flame) allows him to completely restore SP which allows Luka to continuously reapply his spirits, heal, and attack.

Monsters on the other hand have nasty Status Ailments to either damage Luka over time or severely hamper his ability to fight and retaliate by stunning or binding him in some way which thus wastes his turns to struggle or do nothing at all. Few monsters also have the ability to drain Luka's HP and make it their own or even outright heal a large amount of their lost HP.

Monster's Phase
After Luka's battle phase ends, the enemy will attack in various ways but can be broken down into either: damage-only attacks, status-inducing, binding attacks, high damage, or 1-hit knockout that usually requires several turns to charge. Monsters may give an indication as to what attack they are or plan to use. In very few cases the enemy may do nothing at all and waste a turn.

After the enemy has performed their turn and Luka have survived it, his next turn starts and the cycle continues until either one of them has been defeated.