Rance I:Game mechanics

This page discusses the game mechanics for Rance: The Quest for Hikari.

Windows Version
The Windows version uses two seperate sections for combat mechanics, one for most combats and another exclusively for the coliseum. Most of the differences between the two are stylistic or text-based, but any mechanical differences are noted below. Standard combats have a 50-50 chance of the enemy moving first ("attacked by surprise"). Coliseum fights always have Rance move first.

If a fight goes on for a very long time (which isn't particularly likely), enemy stats will change every ten turns. Speed and defence go down by 1, but evasion (VAR0039) and strength (VAR0042) go up by 1.

Attacking
To determine if an attack hits, the game rolls Rance's Attack plus a random value from 0 to Rance's Attack again (so if Rance's Attack is 10, his attack roll can be anything from 10-20). We'll call this an "Attack Roll." This is compared to a similar roll made against the enemy's Evasion. If Rance's roll is higher, he lands a hit.

Once a hit is landed, another roll is made using Rance's current weapon's Attack Value. This roll is boosted by the number of levels Rance has gained since the start of the game (so if Rance is level 15, he gains +5). This is compared to a roll against enemy defence. If enemy defence is higher, Rance causes no damage, otherwise, he causes damage equal to the difference between the attack roll and the defence (capped at the monster's current HP, i.e. you won't appear to cause more damage than the enemy has health).

For example: Rance has an attack of 10 and is level 15. He can cause from 15-25 damage. The enemy has a defence of 10, meaning its defence roll can go from 10-20. Let's presume that they both roll the minimum result: 15 and 10. Rance would inflict 5 points of damage.

If enemy health is reduced the 0, Rance wins the fight.

Rance's Magic

 * Healing: Always heals to full.
 * Magic Missile: Deals damage equal to 0-50 points minus an enemy Defence Roll. Yulan Mirage will dodge and take no damage.
 * Down: Enemy defence reduced by 1, to a minimum of 1.
 * Downlock: Enemy evasion reduced by 1, to a minimum of 1.
 * Reader: Produces a single line of text based on the enemy. All enemies outside the coliseum use "-I am going to kill you, I am going to kill you.-"

Items

 * Medicine: Restores HP and MP to full.
 * Seirogan: Restores HP to full.

Enemy Turn
Enemies have three seperate attacks that they can use during their turn, and each attack has its own seperate Attack (accuracy) and Attack Value (strength) stat - the enemy does not have Attack or Attack Value stats of its own, per se. At the start of each turn, a random number from 0-100 is rolled. If the roll is greater than a hidden statistic, the enemy will use their first attack and its associated stats; if it is smaller than the first hidden stat but greater than a second hidden stat, they will use their second attack. If both checks fail, they will use a third attack. (It's theoretically possible that some enemies do not actually have three attacks and are set to always fail one or more of the above checks, statistics will have to be datamined to be sure)

Standard Attacks
Identical to Rance's attacks. An Attack Roll is made using the chosen attack's Attack stat, and compared to an Evasion roll for Rance. If the attack hits, an Attack Value Roll is made against a Defence Roll for Rance's combined body armour and shield defence ratings. So if the attack has an Attack Value of 10, it can cause from 10-20 damage, and if Rance has a combined defence rating of 10, he can absorb 10-20 damage.

There are four standard attacks in the game's library (called "attacked," "counterattacked," or "swung its weapon" at various parts of the game), but they are all identical.

Special Attacks
Supervolt and Memory Killer cannot miss. Hanny Flash will hit unless the player has the Haniwa Bronze Statue, in which case it will always miss. Mirage Attack will only miss if the player has solved the puzzle required to avoid it as part of the plot.
 * Supervolt and Mirage Attack deal damage as per a standard attack, using the selected attack's Attack Value.
 * Hanny Flash deals damage equal to an attack roll using the attack's Attack Value - it ignores Rance's Defence.
 * Memory Killer removes an amount of EXP up to the attack's Attack Value.

Fleeing
The player can attempt to flee from standard battles, but not from: The player has a 45% chance (must roll higher than 5 on a roll from 0-10) of escaping successfully..
 * The thief who charges you 200 GOLD to pass, if you choose to fight him.
 * The head thief.
 * Any coliseum match.
 * Kanami