Pokémon battle (Mystery Dungeon)

Pokémon battles in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series have different mechanics compared to the core series Pokémon games.

Regular attack

Main article: Regular attack

The regular attack deals typeless damage and does not expend PP when used. It is usable by all Pokémon in addition to the four moves it can have.

In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity onward, the regular attack inflicts at most 5 HP of damage. It cannot ordinarily be used by other Pokémon unless they are unable to use a damaging move or Struggle.

Moves

Main article: Move

Moves may be linked together, such that the linked moves are performed in succession and one PP is taken from each move. Moves can be linked at the Gulpin Link Shop in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team and Rescue Team DX, and at the Electivire Link Shop in Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky. In other Mystery Dungeon games, the ability to link moves was replaced by alternative mechanics: Gates to Infinity introduced Team Attacks, large-scale attacks used by every member of the team in a dungeon, while Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon introduced Alliances, a simultaneous attack by all party members on a single target.

Many individual moves have differences from the core series games. For example:

Some attacks that inflict specific HP damage (like Sonic Boom) inflict a different amount of damage compared to the core series.
Prior to Super Mystery Dungeon, Transform only changes the form of the user, not their moves.
Self-Destruct and Explosion will not necessarily knock out the user of the move. Instead, any team Pokémon within the blast radius (one tile for Self-Destruct, two for Explosion) will have their maximum HP cut in half, and any opposing Pokémon within this radius will receive 40 damage for Self-Destruct and 80 for Explosion. Note that Fire-types will receive only half damage from these moves. Any items within range are destroyed, and any wall tiles in range are converted to floor tiles.

There are two attacks specific to the Mystery Dungeon series: Wide Slash and Vacuum-Cut. No Pokémon learn either naturally, but all Pokémon that can use TMs can learn them through TM. These attacks are unavailable in Gates to Infinity onwards.

Moves that may be used by team members in dungeons can be switched on or off, meaning that they are selected or deselected for use. Certain tactics are also available which will direct how teammates attack and traverse through dungeons. In Red and Blue Rescue Team and Explorers of Time, Darkness and Sky, the availability of tactics depends on the team leader's level.

In Gates to Infinity onwards, moves gain experience and can be leveled up through repeated use. Leveling up a move increases its power, PP, and accuracy. In Rescue Team DX, if a team member has the Rare Quality Moving Up, moves used by team members gain more experience.

Damage

PMD Damage is in need of spading. See its section on the spading page for more information, and how you can help.
Reason: Other games' formula

Main article: Damage

In Explorers of Sky, the damage formula is as such:^[1]

$D a m a g e = M \times (\frac{153}{256} \times [A + P] - \frac{D}{2} + 50 \times \ln [10 {L + \frac{A - D}{8}} + 500] - 311)$

In most cases, this can be approximated as: $D a m a g e = M \times (\frac{33 \times A}{50} + \frac{3 \times P}{5} + \frac{L}{2} - \frac{14 \times D}{25} + 4.53 \pm 5)$

where

A and D are effective Attack and Defense stats. Certain equipment and exclusive items raise this by flat values. Stat stages are applied as multipliers. Certain IQ skills affect these by increasing or decreasing stats by one stage. Sandstorm increases Sp. Defense by 2 stages. Abilities can either modify the stat stages (such as Flower Gift) or the stat itself (such as Guts).
P is the move's base power, after accounting for Ginseng's boosts. Space Globe doubles this value. Attack's stat stages are applied to this value as well.
L is attacker's level
M is various other multipliers:
- All opposing Pokémon deal roughly 25% less damage than the Pokémon on the player's team
- Type matchup, STAB, and critical hit multipliers, as noted below
- Weather effect, if present (1.5x or 0.5x depending on whether the type is boosted or weakened)
- If attacker is burned (0.8x)
- Certain Abilities, such as Blaze, Thick Fat or Technician are applied here.
- Whether target has Reflect or Light Screen (0.5x)

Afterward, the damage is multiplied by a random factor, changing damage by up to ±12.5%.

In the Explorers games and Gates to Infinity, attacks can fail to deal damage to a target with high enough defenses.

STAB

Prior to Gates to Infinity, STAB is 1.5x (2x with Adaptability) as in main series.

In Gates to Infinity and Super Mystery Dungeon, it is 1.2x (1.5x with Adaptability).

Type effectiveness

Like the main games, the effectiveness of attacking moves is affected by the defending Pokémon's type, although the multipliers are different compared to the core series games. The type affinities are as follows:

Super-effective attacks, such as Grass attacks on Water, deal 150%^RB / 140%^TDS^GtI / 120%^SMD of normal damage, instead of 200% damage as in the core games.
Not very effective attacks, such as Fighting attacks on Psychic, deal 90%^RB / 70%^TDS^GtI / 87.5%^SMD of normal damage, instead of 50% damage as in the core games.
Attacks to which the attacked Pokémon is "immune" (called of little effect in the Mystery Dungeon games), such as Ground attacks on Flying, deal 50% of normal damage, instead of no damage as in the core games. In Super Mystery Dungeon and Rescue Team DX, these attacks inflict no damage.

Note that type affinity changes brought forth by moves or abilities do not use the above multipliers; Levitate will still render Ground attacks useless, for instance. Similarly, as in the core games, a Pokémon may be immune to certain status conditions based on its type; for example, Arbok remains immune to Toxic.

All multipliers stack multiplicatively against dual-type Pokémon. In Gates to Infinity, an ineffective attack against a dual-type Pokémon will override the type effectiveness of the other type.

In Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky, if either the attacker or the defender has the IQ skill Erratic Player, the multipliers become 170%, 50% and 25%.

Critical hits

In the Mystery Dungeon games, critical hits inflict only 150% of normal damage, instead of the 200% multiplier in the core games prior to Generation VI.

Each move has an inherent critical hit rate, which may be modified by held items such as the Scope Lens or IQ skills such as Type-Advantage Master. The use of Focus Energy can ensure (or increase the chance) that attacking moves used within a few turns become critical hits.

In Super Mystery Dungeon, stick items can deal critical damage.

Rescue Team and Explorers

In these games, critical hit mechanics differ from the core series in the following ways:

Critical hits inflict only 150% of normal damage, unless the Pokémon has Sniper, in which case it will inflict 200% of normal damage.
Male or gender-unknown Pokémon have their moves' base critical hit rate multiplied by 1.5.
Scope Lens, Patsy Band, the IQ skill Sharpshooter and Super Luck add a flat modifier to the move's critical hit rate (30% in Red/Blue Rescue Team, 15% in Explorers).
The IQ skill Type Advantage Master will set the critical hit rate to 40%, ignoring all other effects.
Focus Energy will guarantee critical hits, provided the critical hits are not prevented by exclusive items, Abilities, the Critical Dodger IQ skill or Lucky Chant.

Moves	Chance of critical hit
Pin Missile, Fury Attack, Fury Swipes, Comet Punch and Rock Blast	1%
Ice Ball, DoubleSlap, Bullet Seed, Twineedle, Barrage, Arm Thrust, Icicle Spear, ThunderShock, Spike Cannon, Triple Kick and Bone Rush	2%
Double Kick	3%
Other moves	12%^RB/8%^TDS
Moves with a high critical-hit ratio*	50%^RB/30%^TDS

Abilities

Prior to Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, Pokémon with two Abilities will have both at the same time instead of just one Ability. From Gates to Infinity onward, all Pokémon have only one Ability. In Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, Pokémon with two possible Abilities can have their Ability changed at Hawlucha's Slam School if the player has a Lucha Token. No Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series games have included Hidden Abilities.

In addition, some Abilities differ from their counterparts in the core series:

Different activation:
- Trace will only activate when hit by an attack. If the attacker has more than one Ability (as was the case prior to Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity), the copied Ability is randomly chosen.
- Truant only activates if a move or a Wonder Orb is used. Starting in Super Mystery Dungeon, it can inflict the yawning status on opponents.
- In Gates to Infinity onward, Rivalry strengthens attacking moves against the same type Pokémon.
- In Gates to Infinity onward, Anticipation increases the chance of evading super-effective moves and one-hit knockout moves.
- In Super Mystery Dungeon onward, Magma Armor and Flame Body can additionally burn thrown items.
Minor changes:
- Torrent, Blaze, Overgrow, and Swarm will double the power of Water, Fire, Grass, and Bug-type moves, respectively, when the user has reached ¼ of their total HP. In Gates to Infinity onward, power is increased by 50% as in the core series. Guts received similar changes.
- Static, Effect Spore, Flame Body, Cute Charm, Poison Point, Rough Skin, Arena Trap, and Shadow Tag only affect adjacent Pokémon, even if the move normally makes contact. For example, Quick Attack will not trigger these abilities when the attack is used from 1 square away.
- No Guard ignores accuracy and evasion modifiers, rather than ensuring attacks hit.
- Huge Power and Pure Power grant a ⅓ chance of dealing 50% more physical damage.
- Regenerator restores 20% of the user's HP instead of 33%.
- Prior to Gates to Infinity, Volt Absorb, Water Absorb, and Dry Skin restore HP equal to damage taken.
- In Gates to Infinity onward, Thick Fat and Iron Fist are less potent.
Changes to suit environment:
- Intimidate reduces the opposing Pokémon's physical power by 20%.
- Swift Swim and Chlorophyll use the same attack twice in one turn while it is raining or sunny, respectively.
- Speed Boost increases Travel Speed by one level every 250 turns. In Super Mystery Dungeon onward, Speed Boost instead activates on the first turn of a new floor, and subsequently activates every 20 turns; the increased Travel Speed wears off after 5 turns.
- Prankster doubles the usage of status moves.
Entirely changed:
- Run Away is activated at low HP and inflicts the Run Away status, forcing the Pokémon to avoid attacking and travel aimlessly; this behavior was removed in Super Mystery Dungeon onward. In Explorers of Time and Darkness onward, this Ability also prevents the Stuck condition.
- Illuminate summons enemy Pokémon when the user is struck by an attack. Starting in Super Mystery Dungeon, it instead grants the decoy status to the user upon using certain moves.
- Gluttony increases Belly reduction, but grants Belly-restoring benefits. In Gates to Infinity onward, it instead grants HP restoration when consuming an item.
- Forewarn can prevent an attack from working, or in Gates to Infinity onward, reveal map information while the user is sleeping.
- Aftermath sets off an explosion upon defeat; starting in Super Mystery Dungeon, it instead activates when the user struck by a contact move or an explosion.

Status conditions

Main article: Status condition (Mystery Dungeon)

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon introduced its own series of status conditions, of which any number may occur at once. These range from the conventional statuses (Paralysis, Poison, etc.) to "pseudo-statuses" (Confusion, Attraction, Flinching (here called Cringing), etc.). Statuses may be inflicted to account for two-turn attacks (i.e. SolarBeam or Sky Attack), low-priority moves (i.e. Counter, Endure, or Vital Throw), or moves whose effects last multiple turns (Mist, Safeguard, Charge, Perish Song, Taunt, Encore, etc.).

The duration of status conditions may also differ between Mystery Dungeon games and the core series. Paralysis, Leg Hold (caused by Arena Trap or Magnet Pull), and most other statuses are temporary and disappear after several turns; Burn and Poison, however, remain permanent. All status conditions are removed upon entering the next floor of a dungeon. In addition, Pokémon may be affected with both Sleep and Paralysis, and (much like in the TCG) other status ailments may replace previous ones. For instance, a Poisoned Pokémon may become Paralyzed instead.
Pokémon will never attack themselves while Confused. Instead, they may move or attack in a random direction, including hitting teammates. Note that Confusion does not affect thrown items.
Mystery Dungeon introduces a new status called Hunger, which occurs when the Pokémon's Belly drops to zero. Before the player's belly reaches zero, the game will display the message "Getting hungry..." at 20 Belly, followed by "Getting dizzy from hunger..." at 10 Belly. Once the player's Belly reaches zero, the screen will begin flashing yellow around the perimeter, with the game displaying "Oh, no! Your Belly's empty!" / "Hurry! You've got to eat something!" / "You'll faint from hunger!" From this point forward, the Pokémon cannot recover HP naturally, and each turn that passes while the Pokémon's Belly is empty, it will lose 1 HP (or 3 HP in Rescue Team DX), eventually causing the Pokémon to faint. Eating a food item such as an Apple will refill the Belly and thus remedy this status condition.
- In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, if a team member has the Rare Quality Notorious Fasting, Pokémon will not lose HP each turn once the Belly reaches zero, unless they walk inside walls.

Experience

Main article: Experience

In Rescue Team and Explorers, defeating a Pokémon without using at least one move will yield 50% less experience. An opposing Pokémon using moves on itself (for example, Synthesis) counts towards receiving the experience bonus when that Pokémon is defeated. Using moves that miss the opponent (or that hit, but inflict no damage) does not count, however.
Defeating a Pokémon using linked moves will yield 50% more experience.
If an enemy were to faint by means other than the party attacking it (such as by the effects of a sandstorm), the members of the party will not gain any experience points.
All team members in the party gain experience, whether or not they attack the opponent.
In Gates to Infinity onward, all recruited Pokémon will receive experience, regardless of whether or not they are in the party.
- In Gates to Infinity, Pokémon will not level up until brought into a dungeon.
- In Super Mystery Dungeon, motivated Pokémon receive bonus experience.
- In Rescue Team DX, if a team member has the Rare Quality XP Boost, only Pokémon that are on the team in the dungeon receive double the experience points. All other Pokémon left in rescue camps still gain experience points but only obtain the normal, unboosted amount of experience.
Pokémon require significantly more experience to level up than in the core series games.

Throwing items

Main article: Throwing item

In the Mystery Dungeon games, throwing items deal damage when thrown.

Throwing items can be stacked up to 99^RB^TDS^GtI / 40^SMD^RTDX units in a single item space, unlike other items for which duplicates take up multiple spaces in the item list.
- Unown Stones cannot be stacked despite being throwing items, however.
In Rescue Team DX, if a team member has the Rare Quality Thrown Item Boost, throwing items inflict 150% of their normal damage and cannot be caught by target Pokémon.
Wands are an item introduced in Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon. They behave similarly to throwing items, but can only be stacked up to 40. While some deal damage, they have varying effects such as warping the target or causing various status conditions.
Other items besides throwing items can also be thrown. When thrown, Seeds, Berries and other food items impart their typical effect on the Pokémon they hit. Held items, Wonder Orbs, TMs and HMs deal damage and are destroyed unless the target Pokémon catches them.

References

↑ Demystifying Damage: An in-depth look at damage calculation mechanics in Explorers of Sky

This article is part of Project Sidegames, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon Sidegames.

[1] Demystifying Damage: An in-depth look at damage calculation mechanics in Explorers of Sky

[1]