View source for Feral Skills Guide by Shoya

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This guide will attempt to list all known feral skills, plus some limited info about how these skills work. It will '''not''' talk about where to find the skills.

While I collected all the initial info for this Guide myself (including the full skill list), to get any further, I rely on reader contributions, and on posts on various forums. My thanks go to everyone who is sharing their knowledge on the web, and especially to the people who made corrections and additions to this guide.

== Soul Plate ==

A [[Soul Plate]] can be used to create a new monster, or to add a skill to an existing monster (but not both!). Some monster families (e.g., [[:Category:Cerberus|Cerberus Family]]) are not allowed in the Pit, at least for the time being. Therefore, soul plates that captured them can only be used to add skills to the existing monsters.

If you look at a [[Soul Plate]] in your inventory, you will see the following data:

<pre>
<Beast Killer>
(FP:8)[TinyMandragora]
</pre>

You can get slightly more detailed description by trading the plate to an [[Official Screener]] NPC (e.g., Idjham at the Annihilation battle cage counter):

<pre>
Using this soul plate, I can forge a soul reflector containing
a level 1 mandragora-type monster, or add the following skill
to an existing reflector:

~ Beast Killer (lv. 1) ~
  Adds the effect of Beast Killer
  FP requirement: 8
</pre>

If you want to create a monster, you trade an [[Official Screener]] the [[Soul Plate]] and one ice crystal. If you want to add the skill, you trade him the [[Soul Plate]] and the [[Soul Reflector]] containing the monster to be trained. In either case, your account will be charged 1 [[jetton]], and the soul plate will disappear.

The name TinyMandragora in this soul plate tells you who it was obtained from -- very useful if you see a soul plate in the bazaar, and want to hunt for it yourself instead of buying it. The names of monsters in soul plates are limited to 14 characters; any further characters are simply cut off.

Each [[Soul Plate]] has a level associated with it, which determines the initial level of the monster or skill you create from the plate. The soul plate level is equal to the captured monster level divided by 10 and rounded down {{verification}}. You can see the precise level by trading the soul plate to an [[Official Screener]], but you can make a good guess by examining the monster from which the soul plate was captured.

== Feral Skills ==

Each feral skill is completely described by:
*name
*cost in feral points
*level (if any)

All of this information is given by the [[Official Screener]] NPC if you trade him the soul plate you are planning to use to add that skill. All of that except the level is also written on the soul plate itself (and the level can be estimated from the monster mentioned on the plate).

Feral skill cost is expresssed in feral points (FP). The cost can be: 5, 8, 12, 17, 23, 30, 38, 47, 58, 70, and it is always the same for the given skill. Each monster has a maximum FP capacity. Once you exceed that capacity, you can't teach your monster any more skills unless you remove one of the existing skills. Since the FP cost of a skill is used by the Square Enix developers to balance the battlefield, the higher-cost skills tend to be more powerful.

Most feral skills have a level attribute. As your monster fights, both the monster's own level and the level of the equipped skills increase. The only skills that do NOT have a level are:

* skills with a number in the description (e.g., +25, +25%, etc.)
* Job-Related skills
* ''<...> Scrolls'' and ''Ninja Tool Supply'' skills {{verification}}

The skill level will increase by 1 every single fight, regardless of winning/losing. The current skill cap  is level 50.

If you remove a skill, and later re-equip it, your skill level will be determined by the new soul plate. Therefore, removing a high-level skill is quite painful. On the other hand, a low-level or a level-free skill can be removed without much thought, as it can be easily replaced (all possible soul plates are available at a very modest cost from bazaars, and are relatively easy to capture in the wild).

Note that there is one group of skills, ''Resist <Status>'', which only occur as innate skills. These skills are never encountered on soul plates, and so cannot be equipped. Therefore, they don't have an FP cost (since they always come for free).

=== Skill Effects ===

This section will list any non-obvious observations about which skills do what.

The following skills also enable the trait, not only enhance it {{verification}}:

*''Double Attack Rate +15%'' enables double attack trait
*''Triple Attack Rate +15%'' enables triple attack trait
*''Additional <Elemental> Damage +25'' enables additional <elemental> damage trait
*''Auto Refresh +5'' enables auto refresh trait
*''Auto Regen +5'' enables auto regen trait
*''Auto Regain +3'' enables auto regain trait
*''Subtle Blow Rate +15%'' enables subtle blow trait

== Colosseum Monsters ==

To describe a colosseum monster, you need to know the following attributes:
*[[:Category:Bestiary|Family]]
*level
*main and support job (if any)
*FP capacity
*innate feral skills
*equipped feral skills
*discipline level
*temperament

All these attributes will be given by the [[Official Screener]] NPC if you trade him the [[Soul Reflector]] containing the monster. However, most of them are not known prior to creating the monster. If you trade the [[Official Screener]] NPC the soul plate you are planning to use to create the monster, he will only tell you the family and the level of the future monster. The remaining attributes appear to be random, although they may have some relationship to the level or other characteristic of the captured monster.

=== FP Capacity ===

A monster's FP capacity at birth depends on the monster type and level, and then increases as your monster levels up. The rate of FP increase depends on monster type; so far the following have been reported: 
*1 FP every 3 levels: evil weapon
*1 FP every 2 levels (always at even levels): manticore, kraken

Two monsters of the same type at the same level almost always have the same FP capacity. Sometimes there are small variations (up to 2-3 FP have been reported); if they happen, usually the monster caught at a lower level has the advantage (by having the same FP capacity at birth, and gaining a couple FP while catching up to the higher level monster).

The FP capacity for different monster types, observed at level 10, ranges from ~30 FP to ~100 FP. A monster type that normally has very large FP capacity is likely to be relatively weak in other respects, since the FP capacity is used by Square Enix to balance the battlefield.

=== Jobs ===

The main and support jobs at birth are usually determined by the monster type; but again, variations are seen (e.g., Cactuar has been reported as either WAR or MNK main). Most monsters have no support job at birth.

Both main and support job may be changed using feral skills, but only certain jobs are compatible with each family.

For now, I'm only collecting information about the main jobs. If it's not too overwhelming, I may add subjobs later. This table is always '''under construction''' due to the large amount of data required to fill it.

{|class=wikitable border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" width="100%"
|-
!Main Job
!Can be set by soul plates or acquired at birth for:
!Can only be set by soul plates for:
|-
|WAR
|Wyvern, (Small) Bird, Greater Bird (Roc), Spider, Cactuar, Coeurl, Manticore, Marid, Opo-opo, Rabbit, Tiger, Bugard, Raptor, Wivre, Scorpion, Leech, Wamoura, Cactuar, Goobbue, Orobon, Raptor, Kraken, Giant Bat, Acrolith, Bomb, Cluster, Spheroid, Doll, Evil Weapon, Golem, Magic Pot, Mimic, Dragon, Ahriman, Eft
|need info
|-
|MNK
|Mandragora, Apkallu, Tauru, Diremite, Cactuar
|need info
|-
|PLD
|Ram, Crab, Beetle, Buffalo, Wamouracampa,
|Cluster
|-
|DRK
|Ghost, Qutrub, Diremite, (Small) Bird, Corse, Golem
|need info
|-
|THF
|Chigoe, Wamouracampa, Boreal Coeurl
|Ghost, Roc, Spheroid, Antlion, Mandragora, Raptor
|-
|BLM
|Worm, Imp, Qutrub
|Scorpion, Golem, Leech
|-
|RDM
|Colibri, Wyvern, Bee
|Eft
|-
|BRD
|Puk, 
|need info
|-
|NIN
|need info
|Giant Bat, Treant
|-
|COR
|(Small) Bird
|need info
|}

Note that COR, PUP, BLU are not available as equippable skills. Therefore, the only monsters with ToAU jobs are those who got these jobs at birth.

It is not clear at this time what exact role the job has. One thing seems certain: passive job traits are '''not''' enabled by default; they need to be enabled with the ''Job Trait: XXX'' feral skill. It is possible, but far from certain, that the job also affect:
*the monster's stats (STR, attack, accuracy, elemental magic skill, and so on)
*the monster's skill in the weapon it is assumed to use in melee
*the monster's ability to cast spells, use ninjutsu, summon pets, etc

=== Equipped Feral Skills ===

You can equip skills to an existing monster up to a limit of the monster's FP capacity. You can also remove the skills you equipped, to make space for new skills. Some skills can be equipped only to certain types of monsters; however, for now I only have seen this happen to Job-Related skills (e.g., the ''Main Job: MNK'' skill is incompatible with a Manticore-type monster).

To equip a skill, you simply trade a [[Soul Plate]] and a [[Soul Reflector]] to an [[Official Screener]] NPC.

There is no level restrictions on skills. That is, a skill from a lv. 9 soul plate can be equipped to a lv. 1 monster, and it will have full effect as a lv. 9 skill.

=== Innate Feral Skills ===

Most monsters are born with no feral skills, but sometimes a monster may get 1 or (rarely) 2 innate skills. The differences between innate skills and equipped skills are:

*an innate skill doesn't take FP capacity (providing potentially enormous advantage, especially if it's an expensive skill!)
*an innate skill cannot be removed (and you don't really have any reason to)
*an innate skill may be one of the ''Resist <Status>'' skills, which aren't available from soul plates (few people want those skills, though)

For monsters with a single innate skill, it is often the skill from the soul plate. Just as often, it is a ''Resist <Status>'' skill. However, there are exceptions; monsters have been reported with a single skill that is something completely different (e.g., ''MP Max +15%'' innate skill, coming from a plate with ''Plantoid Killer'' skill).

For monsters with two innate skills, usually one of them is often the skill from the plate, and the other something completely random (although ''Resist <Status>'' occurs much more frequently than anything else). However, again, there are exceptions; sometimes both skills seem completely random.

I've also seen one isolated report on Allakhazam that equipping a skill changed the innate skill. An owner of a Manticore moster with innate ''Attack Bonus'' equipped ''Fire Attack Bonus'' skill, only to discover that the monster now had ''Fire Attack Bonus'' and ''HP +15%''. If it's not a glitch, the first thing to find out is whether it's random or predictable, and whether it is reversible.

=== Temperament and Discipline ===

I don't know whether the temperament depends on the family or level of the captured monster, and whether it can change or remains fixed forever. I'm also not sure what its effects are.

Discipline seems to always {{verification}} start at "extremely low" level; it then improves if you give instructions to your monster during battles (using [[Speaking Tubes]]), regardless of whether the monster actually listens to those instructions. The higher the discipline, the more likely the monster is to listen to you.

=== Other Attributes ===

It is also possible that some additional monster attributes not disclosed by the [[Official Screener]] NPC. For example, the color of the monster in the Cage keeps the color of the captured monster. Whether this has any impact on the fight, or is done purely for aesthetic reasons, is unknown.

=== How to Get a Perfect Monster ===

I haven't played enough to know.. .Please contribute here if possible; otherwise, I'll try to find another guide to link to on this topic.

Once you decide which innate skills and jobs your perfect monster should have, you may have to trade dozens if not hundreds of identical soul plates before you get the perfect outcome. Therefore, any ideas about how to make this process less random are very valuable.

== Skills by Categories ==

=== Job-Related ===

*Main Job: <Job> (8 FP)
*Support Job: <Job> (8 FP)
*Job Trait: <Job> (12 FP)
**<Job> can be any existing job, except COR, PUP, BLU. Therefore the only way for a monster to have a ToAU job is to get it at birth.
**Official description: "Teaches basic <...> job traits. Only effective when <...> has been set as main or support job."

=== Stats ===

*<Primary Stat> +25 (17 FP)
*<Primary Stat> Bonus (23 FP)
**<Primary Stat> can be: STR, VIT, AGI, DEX, INT, MND, CHR)

*<Secondary Stat> +15% (23 FP)
*<Secondary Stat> Bonus (30 FP)
**<Secondary Stat> can be: Attack, Magic Attack, Accuracy, Magic Accuracy, Defense, Magic Defense, Evasion

*<Elemental> Attack +15% (12 FP)
*<Elemental Attack Bonus (17 FP)
**<Elemental> can be: Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, Ice, Thunder, Darkness, Light, Neutral
**Official description: "Increases damage dealt with attacks affiliated with <...> element", or (for neutral attack): "Increases damage dealt with attacks not affiliated with any element"

*<Elemental> Defense +15% ({{verification}})
*<Elemental> Defense Bonus ({{verification}})
**Reported on forums, but I haven't seen in-game

=== Attack Traits ===

*Subtle Blow Rate +15% (23 FP)
*Subtle Blow (30 FP)
*Critical Hit Rate +10% (30 FP)
*Critical Hit Rate Bonus (38 FP)
*Double Attack Rate +15% (30 FP)
*Double Attack (38 FP)
*Triple Attack Rate +15% (47 FP)
*Triple Attack (58 FP)
*Attack Speed +50 (58 FP)
*Attack Speed Bonus (70 FP)

=== En- Spells ===

*Additional <Elemental> Damage +25 (30 FP)
*Additional <Elemental> Damage (47 FP)
**<Elemental> can be Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, Ice, Thunder, Darkness, Light

=== HP ===

*HP Max +50 (8 FP)
*HP Max Bonus (12 FP)
*HP Max +15% (23 FP)
*HP Max Rate Bonus (30 FP)
*Auto Regen +5 (38 FP)
*Auto Regen (47 FP)

=== MP ===

*MP Max +50 (5 FP)
*MP Max Bonus (8 FP)
*MP Max +15% (12 FP)
*MP Max Rate Bonus (17 FP)
*Auto Refresh +5 (30 FP)
*Auto Refresh (38 FP)

=== TP ===

*Store TP (47 FP)
*Store TP +10% (38 FP)
*Auto Regain +3 (58 FP)
*Auto Regain (70 FP)

=== Casting ===

*Interruption Rate -25% (23 FP)
*Interruption Rate Bonus (30 FP)
*Magic Casting Speed +15% (23 FP)
*Magic Casting Speed Bonus (30 FP)
*<Type> Scrolls (17 FP)
**<Type> can be Bard, Black Magic, Ninjutsu, White Magic, Dark Magic
*Ninja Tool Supply (8 FP)
**The ''Ninja Tool Supply'' feral skill is not required to use ninjutsu. The exact function of this skill is unknown (maybe increase the number of times ninjutsu can be cast in battle? {{verification}})
*<Skill> +10% (12 FP)
*<Skill> Bonus (17 FP)
**<Skill> can be Dark Magic, Divine Magic, Elemental Magic, Enfeebling Magic, Enhancing Magic, Healing Magic, Ninjutsu

=== Status Attacks ===

*Poisoning Attack (17 FP)
*Aspir Attack (23 FP)
*Bio Attack (23 FP)
*Blinding Attack (23 FP)
*Binding Attack (23 FP)
*Dia Attack (23 FP)
*Gravity Attack (23 FP)
*Paralyzing Attack (23 FP)
*Sleep Attack (23 FP)
*Slowing Attack (23 FP)
*Curse Attack (30 FP)
*Silencing Attack (30 FP)
*Stun Attack (38 FP)
*Viral Attack (38 FP)
*Draining Attack (38 FP)
*Amnesia Attack (47 FP)
*Petrifying Attack (58 FP)
*TP Drain Attack (58 FP)
*Terrorizing Attack (70 FP)
**Official description: "Adds <...> effect to regular attacks. Cannot be combined with any other elemental damage additions." This description is confusing, since the status attacks in this list do not really add elemental damage. But it seems all attacks that have any additional effect or damage do not stack with each other; that would include all status attacks and all en-spells. {{verification}}

=== Instant Buffs ===

*Instant Bar<Element> (8 FP)
**<Element> can be Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, Ice, Thunder
*Instant Bar<Status> (8 FP)
**<Status> can be Blind, Paralyze, Petrify, Poison, Sleep, Stone, Virus
*Instant Blink (12 FP)
*Instant Aquaveil (12 FP)
*Instant Stoneskin (17 FP)
*Instant Protect (17 FP)
*Instant Shell (17 FP)
*Instant Phalanx (23 FP)
*Instant Shock Spikes (30 FP)
*Instant Ice Spikes (30 FP)
*Instant Blaze Spikes (30 FP)
*Instant Dread Spikes (38 FP)
*Instant Haste (38 FP)
**Official description: "Adds <...> effect at the onset of the battle."

Instant buffs are already active at the beginning of the battle, so they don't cause any delay during the battle. While the feral buffs are of course similar to the same-name regular buffs, their potency may be quite different, since they depend on the feral skill level in addition or instead of the usual factors. E.g., the feral Barstone is not determined purely by the monster's enhancing magic skill (and in fact, may not be affected by it at all).

=== Resists ===

*<Element> +2 / <Opposite Element> -2 (5 FP)
*<Element> Bonus / <Opposite Element> Penalty (8 FP)
*<Element> Resistance +2 (8 FP)
*<Element> Resistance Bonus (12 FP)
**<Element> can be Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, Ice, Thunder, Darkness, Light
**<Opposite Element> is the element strong to <Element> (e.g., if <Element> is Water, then <Opposite Element> is Thunder)
*<Type> Damage Resistance +15% (30 FP)
*<Type> Damage Resistance Bonus (38 FP)
**<Type> can be omitted or can be Magic, Breath; if omitted it means Physical ({{verification}})
*Resist <Status> (0 FP; these skills only come as innate skills, never as equippable skills)
**<Status> can be Blind, Gravity, Paralysis, Petrify, Poison, Sleep, Slow, Virus
**Official description: "Increases resistance to <...>."

=== Intimidation ===

*<Type> Killer (8 FP)
**<Type> can be Beast, Lizard, Vermin, Plantoid, Aquan, Amorph, Bird, Undead, Arcana, Dragon, Demon
**Monsters will always have their family killer trait, even when it's not listed. A treant will intimidate an opo-opo (Beast Killer) but the trait most likely is enhanced with the feral skill.

Empty Killer skill seems to be missing, but this is irrelevant since Empty monsters are not currently allowed in the Pit.

[[Category:Feral Skills]]
[[Category:Guides]]