Match of the Millennium

Abilities are a set of special skills and talents that diversify the characters on MotM. These can range from being able to focus your energy so that you can unleash more powerful techniques sooner than most people can, or even being able to send a chi blast right back at your opponent.

Every character has at least three abilities, though higher ratio characters will usually have more.

One of each fighter's abilities is chosen as a "signature ability." So, for example, two fighters might both have Rush, Enhanced Moves, and Resolve, but one could have the Rush signature ability, BLITZ, while the other has the Resolve signature ability, GROOVE. Each signature ability is very different - check out the individual files to learn more.

Analysis: If you are a veteran fighter or have a keen perception or something else that lets you observe more than the average person can, Analysis is an excellent ability. Analysis is a passive ability that tells you specific details such as a fighter's exact health and reserve, any weakpoints in defense, and other various things. More info in analysis.

Brace: If you're not good at avoiding damage, you can still minimize it with this ability. Using Brace before reacting to an attack ensures that that attack's power will be reduced significantly. The tradeoff to using this ability is that the next attack you make will do slightly less damage than usual. This ability also costs some reserve to use each time. More info in brace.

Burst: Fighters brimming with energy, able to dynamically explode into dramatic moments of power or defense can make use of Burst. More dramatic than typical bracing or smashing techniques, Burst trades functionality for form with fewer, but more intense, moments of strength. More info in burst.

Charging: People with this ability are adept at concentrating and building energy. If you spend an Action to use your Charging ability, your defense takes a modest penalty, but you gain a good amount of Super Meter and replenish some of your Reserve if it isn't currently full. More information can be found in charging.

Charisma: Some characters have the ability to influence others, thrive on intensity of emotion, or incite things through little more than a show of their spirit. These characters may gain super faster, and with enough super expenditure can even regain DM charges. See charisma for more information.

Control: Fighters able to modify their attacks to suit changing circumstances would be prime candidates for the Control ability. Control lets you add an effect to your attacks on the fly. More information is available in control.

Counter: Having this makes you capable of catching, redirecting, and negating Attacks that have the Physical and/or Throw types, instead dealing damage to your attacker. It also gives you a chance of catching Physical-type Projectiles, albeit without dealing damage back to the opponent. Counters affect how Actions and Reactions work, and they have a fair number of rules attached to them, so you should definitely read our detailed file on Counters even if you don't plan on having the Counter ability. This file is in counter.

Enhanced Moves: Some fighters modify their attacks in mid-fight, but others practice their attacks so much out of the fight, that they're just better. Stronger. Faster. Enhanced Moves provides additional flags which can make attacks more efficient, more flashy, or just plain faster. See enhanced moves for more info.

Evade: For some characters, outlasting your opponent and avoiding damage is the best way to win a fight. Evade is a step towards emphasizing this philosophy. Evade is used before you chose your reactions to incoming attacks and causes your chances to succeed in dodging or enduring to increase. The tradeoff? Your next attack's Speed suffers a penalty, though the bonus gained previously is generally higher than the penalty incurred. Using evade consumes a small amount of reserve. See evade for more info.

Imbued: Those characters who are so filled with energy that it spills out even on a simple punch may want to consider Imbued. Imbued (which comes in two flavors, Imbued-Chi and Imbued-Psi) gives you access to a set of normal attacks that combine regular Physical and Throw attacks with Chi or Psi. Imbued characters also spend less reserve for any attacks with an energy component in it. More info in imbued.

Just Defended: Taken from Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves (AKA Garou), this ability is also known as JD or JDing. Anyone with the Just_Defended ability has a random chance of activating it when they block an attack. If successful, they take no damage, instead gaining a small amount of Health and a fair amount of Reserve. More info can be found in jd.

Manipulate: Some characters are especially good at getting other people to do what they want. They rely on misdirection and subterfuge to lay traps for their opponents. Choosing Manipulate gives you an option to lay a trap for an opponent when you attack them, granting benefits whenever they succeed. More information can be found in manipulate.

Mindset: This is present in characters who can undergo major physical and/or psychological changes; enough so that their talents, tendencies, and even capabilities change to a noticable degree. This is a lot like Style, only it takes a full Action to switch to a new Mindset mode; a Style swap is instantaneous. While Style generally focuses on changes to your Attack list, Mindset allows drastic changes to virtually everything about a character between modes. This is an even more complex topic than Style, so you're especially encouraged to read mindset.

Parry: Based on the engine feature from the videogame Street Fighter 3, our ability works in similar fashion to what it was drawn from. Anyone with the Parry ability has a random chance of activating the ability when they dodge an attack. When this happened, they gain a bit of Super Meter and a Speed bonus on their next attack. It is, in effect, a type of defense that can lead to a good offense. More info can be found in parry.

Presence: There are some fighters who just carry with them into combat a certain presence. Perhaps they're incredibly famous or infamous, or maybe they bear certain aura of inspiration or dread. At crucial points in battle, these fighters can even unleash an additional dramatic moment to turn the tide. See presence for details.

Reflect: Similar to Counter, this is a defense-oriented ability. Where Counter focuses on harming an attacker for using 'solid' attacks, that is, ones with Physical and/or Throw types, Reflect does this against Chi and Psi attacks, and any type of Projectile. While the concepts are similar to the ones used in Counter, there's a few special rules that apply to Reflect, and so our additional reading on this ability is highly advised, even if you don't have Reflect. That info can be accessed in reflect.

Resolve: Resolve is for people who enjoy using their Dramatic Moments. While most people can only use one DM per fight, if you have the Resolve ability you can use several DMs during a fight at the cost of a substantial amount of super meter. More info in resolve.

Restore: Some fighters can just stay in the ring longer than others, due to a latent healing factor, pure adrenaline, or just plain stubbornness. The Restore ability allows such fighters to regenerate health at a cost of 1% reserve and 1% super per turn. More information is available in restore.

Rush: The opposite of Evade, this ability permits a significant focus on trying to land a hit on your foe, with less caution placed on personal safety. Rush is used before making your attack but it causes your chances to react successfully to be lower on your next turn. The Speed bonus for using rush is higher than the penalty to reactions you will take. Using rush consumes a small amount of reserve. See rush for more info.

Second Wind: Maybe you're not quite beaten yet, if you have this ability. Any time your health falls below zero, there's a chance you'll immediately gain some Health, and possibly a few other benefits, letting you keep fighting. There is a chance it won't work, and that chance is totally automated; you do not activate Second Wind in any direct manner. Nonetheless, it facilitates comeback victories and may give you a second chance at pulling off a success, so it has its value. More info can be found in second wind.

Smash: Where Rush makes your next attack more likely to hit, this ability lets you do more damage. When you use this ability before making your next attack, that attack will do significantly more damage. In return, the next attack made against you will do slightly more damage than usual if it hits. Like Brace, Smash also uses some reserve with each use. More info in smash.

Style: This ability represents the capability for some characters, such as Gen and Maylee, to switch back and forth between two distinct combat styles in mid-battle. This is usually accompanied by a very slight shift in Stats, and most frequently a whole different set of Attacks. Sometimes the non-Style abilities may change as well. Style is a fairly complex topic, so you may wish to read style.

Training: This ability represents the introductory martial artist trying to find their niche in the fighting world. Each fight the martial artist can try another Ability out for size. See training for more information.

Toughness: Tough guys and gals who are willing to endure the pain of their opponent's attacks if it gives them the right opening to land their own. Toughness provides access to the chance to Tough Out attacks when enduring and also reduces the damage taken when poke interrupting. It provides other situational damage reductions as well. See toughness for more information.

Vigor: If you have stamina beyond most people, Vigor is a suitable choice. It increases your available reserve pool significantly, which allows you to use specials more often and also have an easier time using certain abilities. It also increases the reserve gained from using normals. More info in vigor.

Some abilities are granted by staff for special events or plot and may NOT be applied for or learned through advancement:

Awaken: Functionally similar to mindset, this ability allows a person to awaken to their greatest potential by use of the 'awaken' command. Unlike Mindset, there are no /pass or /focus options to disguise the effect. This ability is sometimes granted to characters who would normally have different modes, but are either so difficult to shift or so rare that it's not worth taking up an ability slot for.

Overburn: Sometimes, a fighter is pushed to give 110%. When it's simply not enough to play it safe, when one absolutely must put everything into the fight, that's where Overburn steps in. As a passive ability, it's always on; there's no need to invoke it. Each round, the character exchanges [3]% health for [5]% reserve and [5]% super. In addition, all attacks gain [0.7] power levels. In TOP, this bonus is increased to [1.4] power levels. While Overburning, you may neither 'rest' nor 'compose'. Restore and the Recovery dramatic moment may still be used.