Weakness Trigger

Abyssea Weakness Trigger Conditions

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

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.

If the player possesses an Abyssite of Discernment, it is possible for them to receive clues toward the correct weakness trigger by using Weapon Skills and magic against the enemy.

Weaknesses can be triggered even if the enemy absorbs the damage from the attack, as long as it is timed properly.

Red Weakness

• - triggered by using a specific elemental Weapon Skill on the NM.
  • Ensures that Atma, Abyssite, and key items will drop to the puller and/or his/her party. (Not 100%)
  • Has no effect on the upgrade rate of Demilune Abyssites used to spawn VNMs.
  • Inflicts Terror on the enemy for 30 seconds, with halved duration on each repeated use. The message displayed in the log will read:

"<Player>'s attack staggers the fiend!
The fiend is frozen in its tracks."

• The table below represents the 13 weapon skills that are the potential triggers. The exact weapon skill is random, but it will always be one of those listed below. At this time there are no indicators that spawn or claim time are linked to the trigger element.

Red Weakness Triggers By Weapon
Weapon Type	Element	Weapon Skill	Alter Egos
Club		Seraph Strike
Dagger		Cyclone	Trust: Najelith
		Energy Drain
Great Katana		Tachi: Jinpu	Trust: Ayame
		Tachi: Koki	Trust: Ayame
Great Sword		Freezebite	Trust: Leonoyne Trust: Zeid
Katana		Blade: Ei
Polearm		Raiden Thrust	Trust: Halver Trust: Shikaree Z
Scythe		Shadow of Death	Trust: D. Shantotto
Staff		Sunburst	Trust: Karaha-Baruha
		Earth Crusher
Sword		Red Lotus Blade	Trust: Curilla Trust: Naji Trust: Rainemard Trust: Rongelouts Trust: Trion Trust: Valaineral Trust: Volker
		Seraph Blade	Trust: Areuhat Trust: Curilla

• If the puller or spawner of the NM is not in the party at the time of the monster's death and red stagger was triggered, the atma/abyssite drops will not be distributed to the party/alliance fighting the NM.
• You ideally want to use 1 damage weapons or pull additional monsters to get TP. Consult [=1&damage[0]=1&damage[1]=1#adv FFXIAH's power search] for options.
• An alliance with a Warrior and a Ninja will have access to every weapon skill.
• WAR/NIN has access to all 13 weapon skills with:
  • Hardwood Katana, Ark Tachi, or Mutsunamoki/+1, 8 Great Katana merits, along with +20 Great Katana skill from any gear source, but basically requires the +15 from Agelast Torque, and +5 from another item such as Fazheluo Helm or Bushinomimi.
  • Access to Blade: Ei is granted with 5 Katana merits and equipping Yarak Torque. For weapons, WAR can equip a Trainee Burin or a Debahocho/+1
• A NIN/WAR will have access to every weapon under these conditions:
  • Raiden Thrust: Obtain a Pitchfork or Pitchfork +1 from the Harvest Festival event.
  • Shadow of Death: Obtain an Ark Scythe from Mog Bonanza and certain Repeat Login Campaign events, or a Hoe from the Mog Garden Hypnotic Hospitality quest.
  • Sunburst: Spend 3 merit points on Staff skill, or 1 merit point and equip Hakke Hachimaki, or equip Temperance Torque and no Staff merits will be required. Because merits are very easy to get at level 99 and you can get all Combat Skills unimpeded, it's much faster, easier, and more inventory friendly to get merits.
  • Freezebite: Obtain a Lament from ★The Shadow Lord during the Day of the Shadow Lord event.
• A THF/WAR with the above-mentioned weapons will have access to all but Tachi: Jinpu, Tachi: Koki, and Blade: Ei. Thief also has Flee, Perfect Dodge, and high evasion, making it easy to conflux warp or log out to reset hate if the trigger is one of those three. Ideal for solo hunting upgrade items because of Treasure Hunter.
• A WAR with a support job of THF, RDM, BRD, RNG, DNC, or NIN will have access to every weapon skill except Tachi: Jinpu, Tachi: Koki, and Blade: Ei.
  • A WAR/SAM with a Hardwood Katana or Ark Tachi will give up Cyclone and Energy Drain for access to Tachi: Jinpu.

Yellow Weakness

• - triggered by casting a specific magic spell on the NM. 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. Drop rate for AF3 (Empyrean Armor) upgrade items is also increased, and additional "drop slots" for these items may be added depending on the NM and type of upgrade item.
  • Has no effect on the drop rate for Empyrean Weapon upgrade items.
  • It is necessary for the spell to accurately hit, regardless of its effectiveness, in order to potentially trigger a weakness. For instance, a resisted Dispel will not be able to trigger weakness. However, using Dispel for "no effect" against the enemy (due to the enemy not having any buffs to be dispelled) is treated as a successfully landed cast and may still trigger weakness.
  • Inflicts Silence on the enemy for 30 seconds, with halved duration on each repeated use. The message displayed in the log will read:

"<Player>'s attack staggers the fiend!
The fiend is unable to cast magic."

• The table below lists verified and potential spells triggering , with columns sorted by the Vana'diel day of the week.

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.

Yellow Weakness Triggers
Spell Types	Spells by element
	Fire	Earth	Water	Wind	Ice	Lightning	Light	Dark
Elem. Tier III	Fire III	Stone III	Water III	Aero III	Blizzard III	Thunder III	-	-
Elem. Tier IV	Fire IV	Stone IV	Water IV	Aero IV	Blizzard IV	Thunder IV	-	-
Elem. Tier III -ga	Firaga III	Stonega III	Waterga III	Aeroga III	Blizzaga III	Thundaga III	-	-
Tier I Ancient Magic	Flare	Quake	Flood	Tornado	Freeze	Burst	-	-
Divine Magic	-	-	-	-	-	-	Banish II, Banish III, Banishga, Banishga II, Holy, Flash	-
Dark Magic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Aspir, Drain, Bio II
Enfeebling Magic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Dispel
Blue Magic	Heat Breath	Magnetite Cloud	Maelstrom	Mysterious Light	Ice Break	Mind Blast	Radiant Breath	Eyes On Me
Ninjutsu	Katon: Ni	Doton: Ni	Suiton: Ni	Huton: Ni	Hyoton: Ni	Raiton: Ni	-	Kurayami: Ni
Songs	Ice Threnody	Lightning Threnody	Fire Threnody	Earth Threnody	Wind Threnody	Water Threnody	Dark Threnody	Light Threnody

• A BLM/BRD has access to the widest variety of Yellow spells (35 out of 56), lacking only Divine (5), Enfeebling (1), Blue (8), and Ninjutsu (7).
  • A BLU/NIN gives the party access to another 15 spells. The last 6 can be cast by a WHM/RDM or WHM/SCH.

Blue Weakness

• - triggered by using a specific physical Weapon Skill on the NM. 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).
  • It is necessary for at least one hit of the Weapon Skill to connect with the enemy, regardless of how much damage the WS does, in order for weakness to be triggered.
  • Inflicts Amnesia on the enemy for 30 seconds, with halved duration on each repeated use. The message displayed in the log will read:

"<Player>'s attack staggers the fiend!
The fiend is unable to use special attacks."

• The table below lists all reported Physical Weapon Skills triggering , depending on the Vana'diel time of claim/force pop:

6:00-14:00 - Piercing
Weapon Type	Weapon Skills
Archery	Sidewinder	Blast Arrow	Arching Arrow	Empyreal Arrow	-
Marksmanship	Slug Shot	Blast Shot	Heavy Shot	Detonator	-
Dagger	Shadowstitch	Dancing Edge	Shark Bite	Evisceration	-
Polearm	Skewer	Wheeling Thrust	Impulse Drive	-	-
14:00-22:00 - Slashing
Weapon Type	Weapon Skills
Sword	Vorpal Blade	Swift Blade	Savage Blade	-	-
Katana	Blade: Ten	Blade: Ku	-	-	-
Axe	Mistral Axe	Decimation	-	-	-
Scythes	Cross Reaper	Spiral Hell	-	-	-
Great Axe	Full Break	Steel Cyclone	-	-	-
Great Katana	Tachi: Gekko	Tachi: Kasha	-	-	-
Great Sword	Spinning Slash	Ground Strike	-	-	-
22:00-6:00 - Blunt
Weapon Type	Weapon Skills
Club	Skullbreaker	True Strike	Judgment	Hexa Strike	Black Halo
Hand-to-Hand	Raging Fists	Spinning Attack	Howling Fist	Dragon Kick	Asuran Fists
Staff	Heavy Swing	Shell Crusher	Full Swing	Spirit Taker	Retribution

• A Monk can use all Blunt-type weaponskills except for Judgment and Hexa Strike. A MNK/THF with Atma of Dread and either Tarutaru Sash or Chaac Belt can also reach Treasure Hunter IV, making it a viable option for soloing drops.
  • A MNK with a subjob of WAR, WHM, PLD, DRK, SAM, BLU, or GEO can use Judgment.

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, except pet commands (including all Blood Pact: Rage) and possibly Ventriloquy. BST's pet TP moves (via "Ready" command) can stagger, even unclaimed enemies if using AoE abilities (for instance Faithful Falcorr's conal attack "Choke Breath")
• Enemy job: RDM WHM BLM BRD SMN - MAGIC / Any enemy-targeted Blood Pact: Rage (Magical OR Physical) 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

See Voidwatch Weaknesses for an updated list of Voidwatch Weakness Triggers.