While implementations vary across gaming genres, a status effect is typically a temporary effect resulting from an in-game event or action, often ending after a set duration or once a specific condition is met.
Application Status effects, especially buffs, may be applied as a result of one character performing a type of action on another. Players may also acquire status effects by consuming
items, defeating enemies, interacting with the game world or
NPCs, or remaining in a particular location. Some games offer permanent status effects which persist for an entire level and act as modifications to the game's native
difficulty.
Removal The process of removing a status effect varies. Some status effects expire after a certain amount of time has elapsed or can be removed with items capable of healing specific status effects, or rarer items which can heal all of them. Many games also include magic spells that can eliminate status effects. Many games in the
Final Fantasy series include items and spells that remove status effects. Common examples are
Antidotes, which cure poison;
Smelling Salts, which cure sleep; and
Remedies, which cure multiple conditions. The recurring spell
Esuna is typically available to
healer-oriented characters or as
materia in
Final Fantasy VII, and removes most negative status effects from the target. Status effects are often removed at the end of a battle or once the originating enemy is defeated, however some may persist until they are explicitly cured. Games which allow players to rest may remove some status effects when that action is taken. If a game has multiple classes, one will often be a class capable of healing, who will have a greater ability to remove negative status effects than other classes.
Immunity or mitigation In addition, many games have weapons,
armour, or other equipment that can mitigate status effects or prevent a character from getting one in the first place. Depending on the game, some increase the chance to escape suffering the effect each time the player may potentially receive it, while others grant complete immunity. However, sometimes the equipment that is resisting an effect, will in exchange, as a penalty, increase vulnerability against a different effect, offering the player the opportunity to make tactical choices. ==See also==