Buffs

Buffs are the positive Status effects. Most come from elixirs and powders (Consumables). A few come from hero skills and talents, and some from the Purifying Saint statues in the Dark Mist maze (Maze statues). The game shows them only as icons, never with numbers. This page lists the numbers from the data, explains which buffs cancel each other, and shows what the item talents really do. Shields, death wards, invincibility and debuff immunity are covered in Shields and protection.

How buff values work#

Every stat buff uses one formula: a flat amount (Param4) plus a percentage of the hero's base value of that stat (Param5, in tenths of a percent), rounded up. Item buffs use only one of the two parts:

• Flat buffs, such as +35 Attack or +55 Fire Resistance, add a fixed number no matter how strong the hero is.
• Percentage buffs, such as +100% Stamina Recovery or +17.5% Attack, scale with the hero's base stat from Attributes. They do not count other buffs.

The value is recalculated continuously while the buff runs, so a level-up during a buff updates it.

Item buffs#

"Normal" items last 30 s and Blessed versions last 60 s, with the same strength. Items with IDs starting 72 are maze copies (mostly of the Blessed items, plus Hound Amulet, Slightly Sweet Roots+ and the Elixir of Hallucination).

For Stamina and the resistances, see Damage types and resistances. A resistance of +55 cuts matching status damage by 55/(55+100), about 35%, when the hero has no other resistance (status formula; resistance values add together).

Skill and talent buffs#

Benita's shield, Norwood's counter invincibility and Elena's single-blade guard are listed in Shields and protection.

Maze statue buffs#

The Purifying Saint statues in Deep into the Dark Mist (StoryMazeStatue statues 1 and 2) offer six buffs. The table lists no cost for any of them.

Each maze buff has its own family (310-315), so it stacks with every item buff.

Hidden mechanics#

• One buff per family, and the newest wins. Statuses in the same family (StatusType) replace each other. The game never compares strength: it removes the old buff and starts the new one. Drinking Brute Force (+35) while Elixir of Epiphany (+55) is active leaves you with only +35. Families that catch players out:
  • All four resistance elixirs are one family (301). An Antitoxin Potion removes your Fire Resistance, so you can only have one elemental resistance buff at a time.
  • Elixir of Stamina and Elixir of Energy are one family (303). Drinking one cancels the other.
  • Health regeneration (300) covers the Large Health Potion's regeneration too.
• Different families add up. Buffs of the same stat from different families are summed. Brute Force (+35 attack) plus the maze Attack Up (+17.5% of base) plus Benita's or Viola's skill buffs all stack.
• Re-using the same item resets the timer. The duration goes back to full. It does not add to the remaining time.

• The item talents are bigger than they look, but miss some items. Every hero has Prolonged Duration (27 items) and Improved Effect (24 items), but the number of levels differs:

  Hero	Prolonged Duration (duration)	Improved Effect (strength)
  Terrence, Viola, Benita	+10 / 20 / 30%	+10 / 20 / 30%
  Norwood, Jerold	+10 / 20%	+10 / 20 / 30%
  Elena	+15% (one level)	+15 / 30%

  The strength bonus multiplies both the flat and the percentage part before rounding up:

  Base value	Improved Effect 1	2	3
  +35 attack	+39	+42	+46
  +55 (attack, defence or resistance)	+61	+66	+72
  +85 defence	+94	+102	+111
  +20 HP/s	+22	+24	+26
  +35 HP/s	+39	+42	+46
  +1 sanity/s (Elixir of Sanity)	+2	+2	+2
  +100% stamina recovery	+110%	+120%	+130%

  Because of the round-up, rank 1 already doubles the Elixir of Sanity. Durations at +10/20/30% become 33/36/39 s (30 s items) and 66/72/78 s (60 s items). Elena's two Improved Effect levels (+15% / +30%) give: +35 attack +41 / +46, +55 +64 / +72, +85 defence +98 / +111, +20 HP/s +23 / +26, +35 HP/s +41 / +46, Elixir of Sanity +2 / +2, stamina recovery +115% / +130%; her one Prolonged Duration level gives 34.5 s and 69 s.

  • Not covered by Improved Effect: the maze copies (72xxx), Large Health Potion's regeneration, Elixir of Energy, Potion of Wealth, Hound Amulet, Glowstone, Vertebra Nail, Slightly Sweet Roots and Shriveled Holy Fruit. Potion of Wealth and Elixir of Energy do get the longer duration.
• The talents also boost the drawbacks. Side effects are applied by the same item, so they get the same bonuses. Epiphany's self-bleed becomes 1.65/1.8/1.95% of base HP per second (1.725/1.95% for Elena) and lasts longer (Bleed, Corrosion). The Elixir of Hallucination also drains harder (see Sanity loss (status)).
• Avoiding the side effects. The defence and bleed side effects are flagged as debuffs. If Slightly Sweet Roots' Debuff Immunity is active when you drink Brute Force or Epiphany, you keep the attack buff and never get the drawback (Status effects).
• Side effects share families with enemy debuffs. Epiphany's bleed is in the Bleed family (101), but no enemy puts a Bleed on a hero in the base game, so nothing replaces it. Brute Force's defence loss is in the Corrosion family (103), so a Corrosion from the Holy Father or Edith replaces it, and the reverse is also true (details).
• Benita in her Lunatic state: while she has a Drug Tolerance status (10044-10046), elixir effects flagged DrugFast (HP regeneration, resistances, attack, defence, stamina, sanity) work at half strength. The same is true from the Abnormal state on, because the check (IsHeroSanNotNormal) is true in both stages (Status effects, Benita).
• Viola needs the talent. Viola gets no crit buff from a backstab or execution unless she has Break Out. Rank 1 gives 10038 and rank 2 gives 10039.
• Some buffs survive scene changes and saves. The six statue buffs (10091-10096), the stacking death ward, and also the Hound Amulet (10099) and Glowstone (10098) buffs are flagged shared and saved. They are stored when you go down to the next maze floor (and on game saves) and restored on the next load. They are wiped when you start a fresh maze run or when you die and are reborn. All other item buffs are not carried over.
• Talent text that doesn't match the data. Elixir: Lingering Wind Whisper claims +33.3% / +66.6% duration. The data gives 40 s, then 50 s and 60 s, which is +25% / +50%.

Trivia#

• Benita's Perpetual Motion has unused 40 s and 50 s versions (10023, 10024). No talent upgrades the 30 s version, so they never appear.
• The backstab and execution moves in Viola's skill table also carry 10038, and that copy is applied to the enemy being stabbed. With Break Out rank 2 the talent's +1 ID shift turns it into 10040, the enemy Sanity Loss status, which does nothing to an enemy (inferred: enemies have no sanity). With rank 1 the same shift turns it into 10039, the crit-rate buff, on the enemy, which is equally pointless (inferred).
• The boss The First Fallen: Handel gives himself a buff of his own when his rampage move starts: status 10108 (designer label: dragon-man berserk), physical defence +50% of base for the rest of the fight (listed duration 999 s). The same move locks his HP at no less than 1% of max.

Sources#

• Status-group pass: HeroTalent 11302-17304, types 42/48 (Value, ValueAdd, StoneLevel = one entry per level: "2,3,4" three levels, "2,3" two, "2" one; Elena's Value 150); statusbase.lua:209-224 (duration), :340-341 (DrugFast check uses IsHeroSanNotNormal(10003), i.e. Abnormal or Lunatic); es_statusdata.lua 10025 (family 111), 10108/10109.
• StatusData rows with StatusId 10005-10007, 10009, 10013-10015, 10019-10024, 10038, 10039, 10047-10069, 10084-10087, 10091-10100, 10108, 10114 (es_statusdata.lua): Param1/4/5, Time, StatusType, IsRefresh, IsDebuffer, DrugFast, SaveEnable, Share.
• ItemData rows 67, 309-336, 343-345, 361-371 (StatusId1, StatusId2). StoryMazeStatue rows 1-12 (GetStatusId).
• HeroTalent rows 22 and 24 (every hero has the same pair, e.g. rows 58/60, 92/94): Condition item lists, Value 100, ValueAdd 100. Rows 46 (Break Out), 70 (Soul Kiss), 88 (Lingering Wind Whisper): type 95 StatusChange.
• luascript/logic/status/statusbase.lua:209-224 (duration talent), 284-350 (value formula, talent bonus on Param4 and Param5, round-up, Benita's 50% cut); status101.lua:9-25.
• luascript/common/mathhelper.lua:193-196 (addValuePermil).
• luascript/logic/player/animalbase.lua:5248-5351 (family replacement), 5425-5478 (buffs of the same stat are summed), 6604-6634 (items apply StatusId1/2), 15135-15139 (move speed).
• luascript/logic/player/hero10002.lua:220-229, hero20053.lua:350-362 (Handel 10108); hero10003.lua:81-89, 284-289, 346-366; logic/playervalue/hero10003_value.lua:82-121 (SuckHpMaxRatio 0.25, hero10003_define.lua); hero10007.lua:425; logic/playervalue/hero10007_value.lua:15-30.
• luascript/logic/playervalue/animalbase_value.lua:2678-2685 (lifesteal); luascript/controller/controllerstorymode.lua:2230-2236, 4606-4609 (maze drain, double pickups), 1946, 7499, 8524-8532 (shared statuses cleared on reborn / fresh maze, saved on game saves); luascript/logic/status/status122.lua:6-8 (fog); luascript/controller/controllermain.lua:2165-2179 and logic/player/animalbase.lua:5623-5660 (shared statuses saved between maze floors).