Weakness Trigger

Weakness Trigger Conditions
Upon claiming/popping any NM within Abyssea, 3 types of weaknesses (Red/Blue/Yellow - see below) will be set. They will shift to a new random weakness with each battle, including if the NM goes unclaimed and de-aggros.

When a monster's weakness is struck, a pair of exclamation marks appears over its name. The effects of triggering a weakness can vary widely and are explained below. According to NPC dialog, exploiting the weakness once will grant larger treasure rewards, potentially even ones normally unavailable, but hitting the same weakness repeatedly can decrease the terror/silence/amnesia effect and remove the treasure bonus. However, exploiting each of the three types of weakness once incurs no penalties to drop rates and is theorized to boost all potential rewards.

Yellow and possibly Red weaknesses are related to the element of the previous/current/next day the NM is claimed/popped. More information is needed on the patterns Red weaknesses follow. Regarding Blue weakness follows the current time of the day that the NM is claimed and the type of damage dealt by Physical WS (Piercing/Slashing/Blunt).

Weaknesses cannot be triggered if the weapon skill misses or if the spell is resisted ("resists the effect of the spell" or "fails to take effect"), but may still process if the weapon skill or spell hits for 0 damage, or even if it heals the enemy. Additionally weaknesses cannot be triggered while the enemy is preparing or using a TP move or casting a spell. Finally, weaknesses cannot be triggered while the enemy is already staggering (e.g., cannot trigger blue weakness while the enemy is under Red Stagger), or while the enemy is stunned. For this reason, it is generally recommended to Stun only TP moves and spells (during which enemies cannot be staggered anyway).

Certain enemies, such as those of the Iron Giant family, possess standard attacks that are considered TP moves, even if there is no indication of it in the chat log. Likewise, weaknesses cannot be triggered while these enemies are attacking. Finally, certain NMs face further restrictions as to when their weaknesses may be targeted; for example, enemies such as Chloris and Usurper cannot be staggered during the effect of their 2 Hour abilities.

Yellow weaknesses can be triggered even if the enemy absorbs the damage from the spell.

Do note that if the player who triggered the stagger (of any kind) is out of the party or zone by the time the monster is defeated, the stagger will not take effect. In addition, for red (atma/abyssite) staggers, the person who pulled/spawned the monster must also be in the party or alliance fighting the monster at the time of its death, or else the key item will not be distributed to the party/alliance.

In order to solve what the possible weakness triggers can be, data is being summarized in the forms below. Also, if you have some personal experience in achieving any particular weakness on any NM, please feel free to refer to the | Weakness Discussion segment of the Discussion tab above and add your data to the data capture form.

Red [[Image:Weakness_Red.png]] Weakness
"Your attack staggers the fiend! The fiend is frozen in its tracks."
 * [[Image:Weakness_Red.png]] - gained by using a specific elemental Weapon Skill on the enemy.
 * Ensures that Atma, Abyssite, and key items will drop to the puller and/or his/her party. (Not 100%)
 * Does not ensure Demilune Abyssite upgrade on VNMs.
 * Inflicts Terror on the enemy. The message displayed in the log will read:
 * The table below represents the weapon skills which have been repeatedly verified as potential triggers. The exact weapon skill is random, but it will always be at least one of those listed below. At this time there are no indicators that spawn or claim time are linked to the trigger element.


 * If the puller or spawner of the NM is not in the party at the time of the monster's death if red stagger was triggered, the atma/abyssite drops will not be distributed to the party/alliance fighting the NM.

Yellow [[Image:Weakness_Yellow.png]] Weakness
"Your attack staggers the fiend! The fiend is unable to cast magic." Example: if you claim or pop an NM during Waterday, look at columns Earth, Water, and Wind (Before/Current/Next days) to determine which spells to try.
 * [[Image:Weakness_Yellow.png]] - gained by casting a specific magic spell on the monster. The spell's element coincides with the element of the current day, the previous day, or the next day of the Vana'diel week. The "current day" is determined when the monster was made active (by aggro, claiming, or popping).
 * Greatly enhances drop rate for synthesis items and EA (Empyrean Armor) items (allows for additional drops of seals/cards/stones/jewels).
 * Also called "Grellow" due to the fact that the color is between yellow and green
 * Inflicts Silence on the monster. The message displayed in the log will read:
 * The table below lists verified and potential spells triggering [[Image:Weakness_Yellow.png]], with columns sorted by the Vana'diel day of the week.

Blue [[Image:Weakness_Blue.png]] Weakness
"Your attack staggers the fiend! The fiend is unable to use special attacks."
 * [[Image:Weakness_Blue.png]] - gained by using a specific physical Weapon Skill on the enemy. The required Weapon Skill will be one of a set of 48 Weapon Skills of the Slashing, Piercing, or Blunt varieties (15 each). Which type of Weapon Skill is required is based on what game time it is when the NM is claimed.
 * Greatly enhances drop rate for equipment and weapon(s).
 * Inflicts Amnesia on the mob. The message displayed in the log will read:
 * The table below lists all reported Physical Weapon Skills triggering [[Image:Weakness_Blue.png]], depending on the Vana'diel time of claim/force pop:

|Thread: Abyssea NM Weaknesses

See the discussion page for more information about specific mobs and potential triggers.