Weapon attributes are the stats that govern each weapon's effectiveness in combat in the Dark Cloud series. Attributes generally come in three forms, those that govern the base stats of each weapon, those that affect elemental damage, and those that affect damage against specific monster types. Raising attributes is key to leveling weapons and improving them through Synthesis and with the use of items such as Attachments, crystals and gemstones.
Weapon hit points[]
Weapon hit points (WHp, or WHP) is the stat used to indicated a weapon's hit points. A melee weapon loses WHP when it hits an enemy, whereas a ranged weapon always loses WHP whenever it is used. Rate of WHP loss is determined by the Endurance and Durability stats in respectively Dark Cloud and Dark Chronicle, though the exact formula is unknown.
Weapons in both games gain WHP on a level-up, with weapons in the second game gaining one, two or three extra WHP per level. The average appears to be around 1.6. Weapons in Dark Chronicle beyond the base weapons do not have a minimum WHP level, thus the maximum of 255 can only be reached by repeatedly leveling.
If a weapon (excluding the starter weapons) reaches zero it will break and be permanently lost, although in the second game it will only lose half of its gained ABS so far. Repair Powders are used to repair weapons.
Base attributes[]
Weapons in Dark Cloud have four base attributes, those being Attack, Magical Power, Endurance and Speed. Speed determines how fast a weapon can attack after attacking once, both it and Endurance are never required for building up a weapon. Attack and Magical Power determine damage dealt, with the latter affecting elemental attributes.
Dark Chronicle only has Attack and Durability, with the latter always gaining one extra point per level. Attack gains 2 for the first five levels; if the weapon attack is 100 or more, the bonus is 3. After five levels the bonus gets tuned down to just one. Because of this it is always worth it just to level weapons to +5. Note that all weapons in both games have a limit on these attributes, with stronger weapons having higher limits.
Elemental and anti-monster attributes[]
In the first game you had to select an elemental attribute to actually use it, which made all the others do effectively nothing, forcing the player to repeatedly switch to make use of any elemental weaknesses. Said weaknesses are relatively infrequent in Dark Cloud, though there is some merit in using a specific element if a floor is occupied with a large of number of enemies specifically weak to said element. On the other hand, anti-monster attributes always affect the relevant monster type, but because of the ten different attributes it is difficult to keep track of what weapon works best on what monster.
The second game tones it down to only four elemental attributes and four anti-monster attributes, with the former also granting a visual display of the strongest element on each attack. The reduction in attributes makes it easier to decide on using specific weapons with high attributes on certain monsters, although not every Beast-type is necessarily weak against the Beast attribute per example. Dark Chronicle also introduces specific weapon effectiveness, with some monsters and their variations being excessively weak or strong against certain weapon types.
Dark Cloud[]
| Icon | Attribute (short) | Inventory description | Effective against |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Weapon Hit Points (WHp) | When it reaches 0, the weapon breaks. | — |
|
Absorption (Abs) | MagicalPwr absorbed. Max allows upgrade. | — |
|
Attack (At) | Basic weapon power. | — |
|
Endurance (Ed) | Rate of Whp loss. | — |
|
Speed (Sp) | Weapon speed. Go to next attack quicker. | — |
|
Magical Power (Mp) | Weapon's MagicalPwr. Magic&Attribute up. | — |
|
Fire (Fi) | For enemies weak against flame. | — |
|
Ice (Ic) | For enemies weak against cold. | — |
|
Thunder (Th) | For enemies weak against electricity. | — |
|
Wind (Wi) | For enemies weak against wind. | — |
|
Holy (Ho) | For dark or undead enemies. | — |
|
Anti-Dragon | Damages reptiles & dragons. | Dragon |
|
Anti-Undead | Damages undead monsters. | Undead |
|
Anti-Marine | Damages water monsters. | Marine |
|
Anti-Rock | Damages rock monsters. | Rock |
|
Anti-Plant | Damages plant monsters. | Plant |
|
Anti-Beast | Damages beasts. | Beast |
|
Anti-Sky | Damages flying monsters. | Sky |
|
Anti-Metal | Damages metal monsters. | Metal |
|
Anti-Mimic | Damages mimic monsters. | Mimic |
|
Anti-Mage | Damages mages. | Mage |
Dark Chronicle[]
| Attribute (short) | Inventory description |
|---|---|
| Weapon Hit Points (WHP) | — |
| Attack (At) | A weapon's attack level. Damage increases as it goes up. |
| Durability (Du) | A weapon's durability. WHP resiss decreasing as it goes up. |
| Flame (Fl) | Effective on opponents who are susceptible to fire. |
| Chill (Ch) | Effective on opponents who are susceptible to cold. |
| Lightning (Li) | Effective on opponents who are susceptible to lightning. |
| Cyclone (Cy) Cyclone Slash |
Damages flying monsters. |
| Smash (Sm) | Damages armored monsters |
| Exorcism (Ex) | Damages undead monsters |
| Beast (Be) Beast Slice |
Damages beasts |
| Scale (Sc) Scale Slash |
Damages reptiles and dragons. |