Enemy Gimmicks

How to use this page

Each table uses the game’s names and battle icons, explains the effects and lists suggested counters. Look for Specials that remove or shorten an effect, Captain Abilities, Crewmate Abilities, Unlocked Powers or Potential Abilities that resist it. Potential Abilities appear with their badges.

Check a quest’s information before you start, so you can choose characters who counter its gimmicks.

Gimmicks that inflict status ailments

Weakens your crew

Gimmick	What it does	How to deal with it
Despair	Turns off the target character’s Captain Ability.	Bring a Captain whose Captain Ability shortens Despair. Or use a Special that shortens Despair. Or bring a crewmate whose Unlocked Power gives Despair Resistance.
Fear	Turns off the target character’s Crewmate Abilities.	Bring a crewmate with the Fear Resistance Potential Ability. Or use a Special that shortens Fear.
ATK Down	Lowers your ATK.	Use a Special that shortens ATK Down. Or bring a support character whose effect shortens ATK Down.
Weaken Skill Damage (Non-Normal Attacks Deal 1 Damage)	Every attack except normal attacks deals only 1 damage.	A Special that ignores this effect and deals damage.
Increase damage taken	You take more damage from enemies.	Use a Special that shortens it. Or use a Special that reduces damage. Or bring a character with the Potential Ability that resists increased damage taken.
Reduce chain multiplier growth rate	Your chain multiplier grows more slowly on normal attacks.	Use a Special that shortens it. Or keep the chain high with a Special that locks your chain multiplier.
Lock chain multiplier	Locks your chain multiplier on normal attacks.	Use a Special that shortens it. Or use a Special that locks the chain multiplier before the enemy does.
ATK Down when below certain chain multiplier	Lowers your crew’s ATK while the chain multiplier is below a set number.	Lock the chain multiplier above that number with a Special, or raise it past that number with a Special that adds to it.
ATK Down when above certain chain multiplier	Lowers your crew’s ATK once the chain multiplier on normal attacks goes above a set number.	A Special that locks your chain multiplier below that number.
Bind Ship Ability	Turns off your Ship Abilities.	Bring a crewmate with the Bind Ship Ability Resistance Potential Ability. Or use a Special that shortens Bind Ship Ability.

Restricts actions

Gimmick	What it does	How to deal with it
Bind	The character can’t act or use any effects, with some exceptions.	Bring a Captain whose Captain Ability shortens Bind. Or use a Special that shortens Bind. Or bring a crewmate whose Unlocked Power gives Bind Resistance.
Paralysis	The character’s normal attacks sometimes fail when you tap.	Bring a Captain whose Captain Ability shortens Paralysis. Or use a Special that shortens Paralysis. Or bring a crewmate whose Crewmate Ability shortens Paralysis.
Blow Away	Blown-away characters are removed from the crew.	Bring a Captain whose Captain Ability nullifies blow away. Or bring a crewmate whose Crewmate Ability nullifies it, placed where the blow-away attack will land.
Stun	The character can’t act, and their Captain and Crewmate Abilities are turned off, with some exceptions. You also take more damage, and Stun stays until your crew takes damage.	Use a Special that lowers your crew’s HP. Or use a Special that shortens Stun.
Lock Target	Locks your target, so you can’t attack other enemies.	Use a Special that hits all enemies. Or use a Special that removes Lock Target.
Swap Captains	Your Captain is replaced by a set crewmate, and so is your Captain Ability.	Use a Special that swaps your Captain before the enemy does. Or bring characters who won’t hurt your crew if they become Captain.
Silence	You can’t use Specials, or flick up and down for things like Switch Effects. Normal tapping still works.	Place or swap characters carefully to avoid Silence. Or use a Special whose effects last several turns before the enemy applies it.
Remove beneficial effects	If certain Specials are used during the quest, all your crew’s helpful effects are removed. The conditions vary by quest.	Read the quest’s information or strategy beforehand, and avoid meeting the conditions.
Remove accumulated values	If certain Specials are used during the quest, any values your crew has built up to boost Specials and other effects are removed. The conditions vary by quest.	Read the quest’s information or strategy beforehand, and avoid meeting the conditions.

Tap-impeding gimmicks

Gimmick	What it does	How to deal with it
Remove SFX	The effects for tap attacks stop showing.	Use a Special that shortens Remove SFX. Or bring a crewmate whose Crewmate Ability shortens it.
Limit Number of Taps	Limits how many times you can tap for normal attacks.	A Special that locks the chain multiplier, so a few taps still hit with a high chain.
Tap Difficulty	Makes tap timing for normal attacks harder.	A Special that makes tap timing easier cancels it.

Special-impeding gimmicks

Gimmick	What it does	How to deal with it
Special Bind	The character can’t use any Specials.	Bring a crewmate whose Crewmate Ability shortens Special Bind. Or use a Special that shortens it. Or bring a Captain whose Captain Ability shortens it.
Reverse Special	The character’s Special charge time goes up.	Use a Special that reduces Special charge time. Or bring a Captain or crewmate whose ability shortens Reverse Special.
Lock Special Charge Time	The character’s Special stops charging at the end of each turn, until you land a set number of normal attacks with the required tap timing.	Use a Special that reduces charge times. Or bring a support character whose effect reduces charge times. Or land the set number of normal attacks with that tap timing.
Limit Number of Special Use	Limits how many Specials you can use in a turn.	Bring a crewmate with the Potential Ability that resists it. Or use a Special whose effects last several turns before the enemy applies it. Or swap characters, use support effects, or anything else that isn’t a Special.

Damage over time

Gimmick	What it does	How to deal with it
Burn	You take a set amount of damage at the end of the turn whenever you land a Perfect tap.	A Special that shortens Burn.
Super Burn	You take damage at the end of the turn for every Perfect tap that turn, more than regular Burn.	A Special that shortens Burn.
Poison	You take a set amount of damage at the end of each turn.	A Special that shortens Poison.
Progressive Poison	You take damage at the end of each turn, and it grows every turn.	A Special that shortens Progressive Poison.
Bleed	Your max HP and current HP go down at the end of each turn.	Use a Special that raises your crew’s max HP. Or clear the quest in as few turns as you can.
Pain	Anything other than normal tapping (flicking up or down for Specials or Super activation) costs you HP.	Restore your crew’s HP and keep flicking to a minimum.
Hungry	Lowers your crew’s ATK, and characters take damage after they act. It lasts until you collect a set number of [RCV] and [SEMLA] slots.	Use a Special that changes slots to [RCV] or [SEMLA], then tap to collect them (Perfect taps don’t collect the slots, so the effect stays). Or bring a crewmate with the Potential Ability that gives Hunger Resistance.

Healing prevention

Gimmick	What it does	How to deal with it
RCV Bind	Your crew’s healing effects don’t work.	A crewmate with the RCV Bind Resistance Potential Ability.
HP Recovery Down	Lowers how much HP you heal, from every effect except ones that heal a set percentage.	Bring a crewmate with the Potential Ability that resists it. Or use a Special that heals a set percentage of your crew’s HP.
RCV Down	Lowers your RCV. When you collect [RCV] and [SEMLA] slots, it only lowers how much you heal.	A Special that shortens RCV Down.
Convert Healing to Damage	Every healing effect except [RCV] and [SEMLA] slots hurts you instead.	Don’t heal with anything except [RCV] and [SEMLA] slots.
Convert Healing Slots to Damage	Healing from [RCV] and [SEMLA] slots hurts you instead, and the total hits at the end of the turn.	Use healing effects other than [RCV] and [SEMLA] slots.

Slot-impeding gimmicks

Gimmick	What it does	How to deal with it
Slot Bind	Your slots can’t be changed, and slots give no attack boost.	Bring a crewmate with the Slot Bind Resistance Potential Ability, or shorten Slot Bind with a Switch Effect or Special.
Lock	You can’t use up slots by tapping for a number of turns.	A Special that changes your slots.
Slot Change Impossible	Your slots are locked until you land a set number of normal attacks with the required tap timing.	Land the set number of taps with that timing.
Automatic Slot Change	Some slots change to a set type as soon as they appear.	If they turn unfavorable, use a Special that makes them favorable.
Appearance Down	Some slots change to a set type as soon as they appear.	A Special that changes slots to favorable ones.
Appearance Up	Some slots show up more often, usually ones that are bad for your crew.	A Special that changes slots to favorable ones.
Favorable/Unfavorable Slot Transformation	Turns a targeted slot favorable or unfavorable, usually unfavorable.	Turn the targeted slot favorable with a Special first, so the enemy can’t make it unfavorable. Or turn it back with a Special that changes slots.
Slot Effects Down	Weakens a particular slot’s effect.	A Special that changes it to a different slot the effect doesn’t touch.
Certain Slot Appearance + End of Turn Damage	Odd slots such as [BLOCK] appear every turn, and your crew takes damage at the end of each turn.	A Special that changes slots to favorable ones.

Slots with unfavorable effects

Slot	What it does	How to deal with it
[PARALYSIS] slot	The character is paralyzed when they make a normal attack.	A Special that shortens Paralysis and changes the slot to the character’s own type.
[POISON] slot	Your crew takes damage based on its max HP after the character makes a normal attack.	A Special that shortens Poison and changes the slot to the character’s own type.
[BOMB] slot	Any tap that isn’t PERFECT or MISS costs your crew HP based on its max HP.	A Special that changes slots and targets [BOMB] slots.
[S. BOMB] slot	Like [BOMB] but more damage, and slot changes that target [BOMB] slots don’t work on it.	Change slots ahead of time to ones that Change Slots can’t touch, such as Rainbow, [SEMLA] or [WANO].
[EMPTY] slot	The slot is removed, so slot attack boosts don’t apply.	A Special that changes slots to a particular slot.
[BLOCK] slot	Can’t be changed by a normal slot change, and works like an unfavorable slot: normal attacks are weaker.	Use a Special that changes slots and targets [BLOCK] slots. Or use a Special that cancels slot effects that lower attack.
[S. BLOCK] slot	Like [BLOCK] but stronger, and slot changes that target [BLOCK] slots don’t work on it.	Change to slots that Change Slots can’t touch, such as Rainbow, [SEMLA] or [WANO]. Or use a Special that cancels slot effects that lower attack.

Gimmicks that strengthen enemies

Enemy endurance-boosting types

Gimmick	What it does	How to deal with it
ATK Damage from Certain Slots Reduced	Enemies take less damage from certain slots.	Change those slots to another type before attacking.
Resistance Boosts	Enemies take less normal attack damage from certain Types and Classes.	Attack with a character of another Type or Class. Or use an effect that lowers their resistance to that Type or Class.
Resilience	The enemy survives on 1 HP even when hit for more than they have left. Only normal attacks can be survived this way.	Use a Special that removes Resilience. Or use a Special that deals extra damage, Poison or Burn at the end of the turn, to finish them after a normal attack.
DEF Up	Raises an enemy’s DEF.	Use a Special that removes DEF Up. Or use a Special that drops the enemy’s defensive effects to 0.
Damage Reduction	The enemy takes less damage.	Use a Special that removes it. Or bring a Captain whose Captain Ability ignores defensive effects.
Damage Nullification	The enemy takes no damage.	Use a Special that removes it. Or bring a Captain whose Captain Ability ignores defensive effects.
Reduce Damage Over Certain Amount	The enemy takes less damage from any hit above a set amount. The amount and the reduction vary by character.	Use a Special that removes it. Or bring a Captain whose Captain Ability ignores defensive effects.
Damage Limit	Any damage above a set total is cut to 0. The total resets at the end of each turn.	Spread your damage over several turns. Or use damaging status ailments.
Percentage Damage Resistance	Percentage-damage Specials deal only 1 damage, even if they ignore defensive effects.	Use attacks other than percentage-damage Specials.
End of Turn Healing	Every enemy heals a set amount of HP at the end of each turn.	A Special that removes End of Turn Healing.

Enemy barrier types

You can also bypass barriers with a crewmate whose Potential Ability pierces defensive effects, such as Barrier Pierce.

Barrier	What it does	How to deal with it
Barrier (Hit Combo)	Blocks damage for a set number of hits.	Tap with characters who hit many times per attack. Or use a Special that shortens barriers. Or bring a Captain whose Captain Ability ignores defensive effects. Or use a Special that hits repeatedly.
Barrier (Tap-Timing)	Blocks damage until you land a set number of taps with the right timing.	Use a Special to make tap timing easier, then land the required taps. Or use a Special that shortens barriers.
Barrier (Slot)	Blocks damage until you attack with a particular slot a set number of times.	Use a Special to get the required slot, then attack with it. Or use a Special that shortens barriers. Or bring a Captain whose Captain Ability ignores defensive effects.
Barrier (Damage)	Soaks up all damage until the barrier’s own HP reaches 0.	Use a Special that shortens barriers. Or bring a Captain whose Captain Ability ignores defensive effects.

Gimmicks that strengthen enemies (other)

Gimmick	What it does	How to deal with it
Immunity to Status Effects	The enemy ignores status effects. If only some are listed (for example Delay Block or Poison), the others still work.	A Special that can ignore Immunity to Status Effects.
End of Turn Damage	Your crew takes extra damage at the end of each turn.	Use a Special that cancels extra damage from enemies. Or use a Special that restores HP.
ATK Boosted/Turn Interval Reduced	Raises an enemy’s ATK and makes them attack more often.	Use a Special that removes it. Or use a Special that reduces damage taken.
Counter	When conditions are met (turns passed, HP left), the enemy hits back for as much damage as they’ve taken so far.	Use a Special that raises the enemy’s attack interval (when the Counter goes by turns). Or use a Special that blocks damage for a number of turns.
ATK Up	Raises an enemy’s ATK.	Use a Special that removes ATK Up. Or use a Special that reduces damage taken.
Intimidation	Weakens some status effects and cuts how many turns they last, including effects that power up your crew. It doesn’t touch VS Effects or effects that fire mid-attack.	Use a VS Effect. Or use a Special whose effects last longer than the shortened count.

Unique actions

Special Interruption: when certain conditions are met during a quest, an enemy activates an effect outside their attack turn. Defeated Action: after you defeat certain characters, an effect activates at the end of the turn. For both, the conditions and the effect depend on the quest, so check its information first.

For the Potential Abilities above and how to raise them, see Powering Up Characters.