(last updated: 01/01/18)The Variable effect represents versatile attacks that can do multiple things when needed. In the source material, several characters have "chain" moves which have a variety of possibilities. Others have a great deal of normal attacks which can be used to meet differing needs.
All characters have access to the Large Thrown Object and Random Weapon global attacks. These have the Variable effect; by their nature, they're not well-defined attacks, and could be anything with almost any properties. That's what Variable is intended to represent: attacks that have some shifting nature so that they aren't always the same thing. This flexibility comes with a price: Variable attacks are 5 speed slower than non-Variable attacks.
The Vary command is available to all players: 'vary/< effect >'. It's just like Control, except no ability is needed. (See Control for more info) An effect added with the Vary command will only be added to attacks that have the Variable effect.
VARY can add one of the following effects per turn:
- PROXIMITY - No cost change in the attack.
- PRIORITY - Adds [10]% super cost to the attack.
- CRUSH - Adds [5]% super cost to the attack.
- PRESS - Adds [6]% super cost to the attack.
- SAP - Adds [5]% super cost to the attack.
- ATK+ / DEF+ / INT+ / EVD+ - No change in costs.
- DEADLY - No change in costs. (Requires the DEADLY trait)
If you have the Control ability but not the Counter ability, Variable flags reduce the cost of control/counter from [50]% super to [45]% super. Likewise, if you have the Control ability but not the Reflect ability, Variable flags reduce the cost of control/reflect from [50]% super to [45]% super.
If you try to use VARY and CSYS says you can't because you do not have enough super, you can use the keyword 'forced' to force CSYS to let you apply the flag anyway. In other words:
vary/<flag> forced
CSYS will apply the flag to your next attack but if you do not have the resources to do the attack, it will prevent you from using the attack anyway.
NOTE: As a design consideration, players are now limited to no more than three (3) VARIABLE attacks in their attack lists. (For MINDSETs and STYLEs, that's 3 per character, not 3 per mode.) Normals and globals do not count toward this limit.