(last updated: 08/15/21)Overdrive Effects are special effects that are significantly stronger than normal attack effects. To keep their awesomeness in check, they can only be applied to your character's supers with the following rules:
- SUPERS can have 1 Overdrive Effect
- MAXs can have 2 Overdrive Effects
- ULTRAs can have 2 Overdrive Effects
Their awesomeness does come with a trade off, however. For each Overdrive Effect you apply to a Super or a MAX, the base speed of the attack is reduced by [10]. ULTRA attacks are not diminished by Overdrive effects; they get two Overdrive effects without a speed drop.
Overdrive Effects can be added via the dojo. They cost zero AP to add. We consider them part of the core building blocks of building a super technique so they do not add any AP overhead to the attack.
We're not going to be sticklers in how you justify these effects. Just like DMs, their interpretations are very liberal. We DO expect you to pose them in your fights, however, so if you're not sure how you would go about posing a certain Overdrive with a specific attack, we recommend you don't put the effect on. When adding Overdrives via the Training Dojo, make sure to give a rough idea of how you imagine the mechanic matching your attack. Again, we're going to be very liberal here, we just want to see that you've thought about it.
Other than the Recovery ticks of ENERGIZE, all Overdrive effect bonuses stack with everything else present in the game.
Overdrive Effect Summary
Here are the Overdrive effects available.
Assault (ASSA, AS): An Assault super grants +[6]% to To Hit and Dodge/Block/Endure on clean hit, decaying over [3] turns. If the attack does not hit cleanly, it grants the attacker [6]% to To Hit decaying over [3] turns but no bonus to react. These are supers that generate momentum for the attacker.
Enfeeble (ENFE, EN): An Enfeeble super causes the enemy to take [0.6]PL additional damage and suffer a [6]% penalty to-hit for [3] rounds if they block or are cleanly hit by the attack. If the attack is poked, the penalties incurred are [0.3]PL and [3]% to-hit. Otherwise, Enfeeble does nothing. This flag can be used to represent any kind of attack designed to hinder an opponent's ability to fight above and beyond just straight damage.
Impact (IMPA, IM): On a direct hit or block, the opponent deals [0.6]PL less damage with their attacks and has a [6]% penalty to Dodge/Block/Endure for [3] turns. If the attack is poked, the opponent's penalties are [0.3]PL and [3]% to Dodge/Block/Endure. Otherwise, IMPACT does nothing. This flag occupies largely the same design space as Enfeeble in that it staggers or throws off an opponent's game enough to leave them reeling for a bit.
Vanguard (VANG, VN): A Vanguard super grants -[1]PL in incoming damage for [3] rounds on a clean hit. If the attack doesn't hit cleanly, it grants -[.5] PL against incoming damage for [3] rounds.
Chain (CHAI, CH): This flag represents supers that do not fire unless the opening attack hits. If a Chain super is dodged, countered or interrupted, the attacker is refunded [50]% of of the super spent on it. If the attack is blocked or Just Defended, it refunds [25]% of the super spent. Attacks with this flag cannot be used to interrupt and will also never provide a refund if the attack is used as a multi-target attack. Cannot be used on ULTRAs.
Proficient (PROF, PF): A Proficient super costs -[20] super and a total of -[20] speed from a non-Proficient Super. (In other words: Overdrives are -[10] speed, and Proficient is another -[10] speed.). Proficient Supers are those attacks that are not quite Supers, but still a cut above Specials. Cannot be used on MAX or ULTRA attacks. You can only have one Proficient attack in your attack list.
Drain (DRAI, DN): On direct hit, gain [10]% health immediately. This flag can only succeed once per fight. Subsequent attacks with Drain will still be slowed down but will not grant the health. This can clearly be used to represent life-drain supers, but doesn't need to be limited to only those. Concept-wise, can exist with the same kind of justification the PREDATOR trait or DM/Recovery might represent.
Energize (ENER, EG): An Energize super grants a [3]% Recovery effect and [4]% reserve per turn for [3] turns if it hits cleanly. Like other recovery, the health ticks don't stack with RESTORE and will overwrite existing RECOVERY ticks if they are smaller. If the attack misses, the attacker is still granted the [4]% reserve recovery ticks for [3] rounds. This flag can occupy the same conceptual design space as ASSAULT in terms of building momentum for the fighter that uses it.
Exhaust (EXHA, EH): An EXHAUST super drains [25]% reserve and [25]% super from the target on a clean hit. The drained resources do recover over [3] rounds. If the attack does not hit cleanly, the EXHAUST effect does nothing. This flag is a super enhanced version of the SAP flag, so can occupy the same design space, such as debilitating attacks, special sealing techniques, etc. Characters can only be affected by the EXHAUST effect once per fight.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do Overdrives reduce speed? Isn't that bad?
Well -- maybe? But sometimes the effect is worth it. If your character has trouble dealing with speedy types, you might be able to apply an Enfeeble penalty with a high-speed, low power Super. Or if you need to make a beefy opponent hurt less, you can either go for an Impact or a Vanguard super. These are options that now exist for all characters, without requiring a Dramatic Moment or an Ability that might not suit the character as well. We're all about options here!
I don't understand Proficient, can you explain?
Proficient allows you to build a mini-Super -- something that bridges the gap between a Special and a Super. Some builds reward spending Super, others just don't have much "zing" until supers can be thrown.
Consider -- a Super is [40] speed faster than a Special of the same power level. (i.e. a PL6 super is [40] speed faster than a PL6 special). Adding an Overdrive reduces a Super's speed by [10], and adding Proficiency reduces it by another [10] speed, resulting in a net difference of -[20] speed. And it costs [20] Super less.
This means instead of a Super that costs [50] Super for +[40] Speed, you get a Proficient Super that costs [30] Super for +[20] Speed that can still generate some super if it hits. So a Proficient Super can be pretty useful to change up the pace of the fight -- not everyone will know if you have a Proficient Super or intend to use it. It's still more expensive than a Special attack, but sometimes you may want to make that damage count sooner rather than later.