Weakness Trigger

Abyssea 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.

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).
 * 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.

Note: Summoner's Elemental Spirits can Proc with the corresponding spells above. I just proced yellow on Lusca using Water Spirits Flood. Proc also lands if spell damage is absorbed. Have screenshot for proof. NeoGhola, Shiva, 21/10/2011

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 45 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:

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

Dynamis Weakness Trigger Conditions
In Dynamis, almost all enemies can be staggered, even standard non-NM mobs. Doing so will cause enemies to drop ancient currency more frequently, as well as open more potential drop slots for currency to drop.

In order for a player to trigger weaknesses, they must have obtained at least 3 of the 5 available time extensions in the zone on their current visit. Obtaining more will increase the chances of staggering enemies, as well as increase both the drop rates on ancient currency and the negative effects on the staggered enemy:


 * 0-2 ~> None
 * 3 ~> Low proc rate / Blue - Potentially transient Amnesia, or nothing.
 * 4 ~> Medium proc rate / Yellow - Terror/Stops 2-Hour/Able to Re-use 2-Hour
 * 5 ~> High proc rate / Red - Terror/Stops 2-Hour/Unable to Re-use 2-Hour

Enemies in Dynamis are staggered by repeated usage of one of the following 3 types of attacks: Weapon Skills, Job Abilities, or Magic. Which one of the three is needed is based on two sets of conditions; one if the enemy has a set job (Vanguard, Kindred, or Hydra enemies), and one if it does not (non-beastman, "Nightmare" enemies in CoP Dynamis areas):


 * Enemy job: WAR PLD DRK SAM DRG - WEAPON SKILL / Any enemy-targetable weapon skill and some Puppetmaster Maneuvers, possibly based on current Automaton frame's deciding maneuvers for Weapon Skills
 * Enemy job: MNK THF RNG BST NIN - JOB ABILITY / Any enemy-targetable ability or physical Blood Pact: Rage, except pet commands and possibly Ventriloquy. Pet TP moves (via "Ready" command) fall under this category
 * Enemy job: RDM WHM BLM BRD SMN - MAGIC / Any magical Blood Pact: Rage or Blood Pact: Ward such as Somnolence, or enemy-targeted spell with the possible exception of cures and Odin.

If the enemy has no job (CoP Dynamis areas), the type of attack needed to stagger it will vary depending on both Time of Day and the type of ancient currency that it drops.
 * Starting from 00:00-07:59, changes at 8:00-15:59, and again at 16:00-23:59:
 * Ordelle Bronzepiece = Magic > JA > WS
 * 1 Byne Bill = JA > WS > Magic
 * T. Whiteshell = WS > Magic > JA


 * Due to the relative ease of "spamming" magic spell attacks compared to WS and JA, the chance to stagger enemies with magic is lower than it is for WS and JA. With all 5 TEs obtained, the chance to stagger with magic is roughly 5%, whereas for WS and JA the chance is roughly 15-20%.
 * If AoE weapon skills or magic are used, they are capable of staggering any appropriate enemy in the range of the attack, potentially multiple enemies at once.
 * As of the October 4, 2011 maintenance, stagger rates on AoE attacks have been drastically reduced for enemies that are not the direct target of the attack. This restriction applies only to CoP Dynamis areas, in which it is relatively simple to "train" up multiple enemies that are all staggered by the same type of attack.
 * Unlike in Abyssea, there is no specific set attack determined upon claim that will stagger an enemy. Any successful attack under the appropriate grouping will have a chance to stagger the target, including attacks that have already been used on it before.  For instance, a magic-staggered enemy can eventually be staggered by casting Dia on it over and over.
 * In the case of enemies without jobs, because specific attacks for stagger are not set, this means that the required type of attack can change mid-battle if the Time of Day elapses to the next window. For instance, if you claim a Nightmare Fly in Valkurm at 15:50 (drops One Byne Bills, so it is staggered by weapon skills at this time) and the time elapses to past 16:00 without staggering it, its weakness will shift to being triggered by magic.  If you are having a difficult time staggering such an enemy, check the clock to make sure that its weakness has not changed.
 * Also unlike in Abyssea, you are able to stagger enemies while they are casting or readying TP moves.
 * Enemies can only be staggered once.
 * In CoP Dynamis areas, if a player has his subjob locked, there is a small chance that they will trigger a white "!!" stagger animation instead of the usual color when staggering an enemy. When this occurs, the enemy will drop a 100-unit ancient currency of the appropriate type when defeated.
 * This applies only to the player(s) in the party who have their subjobs locked. Other player(s) in the party may elect to keep their subjobs unlocked without hampering the chances of getting a white stagger, as long as they are not the ones attempting to stagger enemies.

Voidwatch Weakness
Here is a link to a site that has the full list of VW weaknesses: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&key=0Au2a1TIiTj8WdHlvTWtkdU5DRU1JU21fbEtLUjN1TkE&hl=en_US&gid=0