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Fatal Strike (ToV)

A Fatal Strike being performed in Tales of Vesperia.

The Fatal Strike (フェイタルストライク Feitarusutoraiku?), often shortened to FS, is a feature of the Evolved Flex Range Linear Motion Battle System used in Tales of Vesperia and imported into Tales of VS. for characters from that game.

Function[]

In Tales of Vesperia, the Fatal Strike is one of techniques Yuri Lowell learns merely by watching others, as an example of his natural fighting prowess. He learns after seeing Clint of the Hunting Blades guild perform a Fatal Strike at Caer Bocram, spreading the ability to his allies afterward.

Performing a Fatal Strike allows the character to fell an enemy with a single blow, regardless of the monster's remaining HP. Though the Fatal Strike does some damage and is subject to such skills as Half Damage and Minimum Damage, simply connecting the hit will defeat a normal foe. For boss enemies, however, Fatal Strikes deal a large amount of damage to compensate for not instantly killing the enemy. As a consequence, damage reduction skills will affect this damage done during these battles.

There are three different Fatal Strikes:

  • Blue, denoted by an up arrow
  • Red, denoted by a down arrow
  • Green, denoted by a right arrow

Every enemy has three bars denoting how many more hits must be performed before that particular Fatal Strike becomes available. This information can be checked in the same manner as checking an enemy's HP. To deplete these bars, the enemy must be attacked with either artes or normal attacks corresponding to that particular Fatal Strike. Normal attacks with the control stick pointed in the same direction: sideways for Green, up for Blue, and down for Red, will deplete that bar for that enemy, while which bar artes deplete can be found in their descriptions. After depleting the bar, a glowing symbol in the same color as the bar depleted will appear on the enemy for a limited time. Pressing the Fatal Strike button while the symbol is active will start the Fatal Strike. Each Fatal Strike has a different animation, and some have limited range, so performing a Fatal Strike does not necessarily mean it will hit. It is also possible for multiple party members to initiate a Fatal Strike on the same symbol; while for the most part useless on normal enemies, it can add up to major damage for bosses.

Fatal Strikes offer a bonus, as well as can be easier or harder to trigger, depending on which enemy type it was used on and what color it was:

Enemy Type End of Battle Bonus
(Increased)
Ease of Trigger
Blue Red Green Blue Red Green
Human

Hito
EXP LP Drop Rate Normal Normal Normal
Beast

Kemono
EXP LP Drop Rate Normal Hard Easy
Bird

Tori
LP Drop Rate EXP Hard Easy Normal
Magic
魔生
Masei
EXP LP Drop Rate Normal Hard Easy
Plant
植物
Shokubutsu
Drop Rate EXP LP Easy Normal Hard
Aquatic
水棲
Suisei
Drop Rate EXP LP Easy Normal Hard
Insect
昆虫
Konchuu
LP Drop Rate EXP Hard Easy Normal
Inorganic
無機物
Mukibutsu
EXP LP Drop Rate Hard Hard Hard
  • FS Bonuses are increased
Scale

Uroko
EXP LP Drop Rate Hard Hard Hard
  • FS Bonuses are increased

Performing Fatal Strikes, however, is not the end of the system. By not performing a Fatal Strike, the player can build up an FS Chain, which is a chain of unused Fatal Strike symbols. If a Fatal Strike symbol is allowed to fade, the enemy will continue to be covered in a black aura, and causing another symbol to appear will increase the chain. A large FS Chain gives Grade at the end of the battle as well as causes the enemy to drop more items. If the enemy guards an attack, however, the FS Chain disappears. As the Fatal Strike system is an integral part of the Vesperia's battle system, there are several skills supporting it. All characters can learn the FS Bonus and FS Bonus 2 skills, which allow them to recover HP and TP respectively for performing a Fatal Strike. Repede can learn Hunter's Fang, which doubles the bonus from green Fatal Strikes. Yuri Lowell can learn Fatal Finish and Fatal Finish Plus, where he can recover all of HP in the former and all of both his HP and TP in the latter for performing a Fatal Strike after a FS Chain of 8 or 16.

Enemies cannot use Fatal Strikes on the party in the Xbox 360 version of the game. This changed in the PlayStation 3 and Definitive Edition versions, where Clint can be fought in an optional battle. Fittingly, as he is the one who, if unknowingly, teaches the party how to use the ability, Clint has a special Fatal Strike he can use, denoted by a unique yellow color. His Yellow Fatal Strike is performed much in the same way as the party does; after dealing some hits, the afflicted party member will have a yellow symbol, at which time Clint can perform a Fatal Strike and instantly kill that party member. His Yellow Fatal Strike also factors into his mystic arte Ultimate Fatal Strike, which may activate when he manages to get a Fatal Strike symbol on one party member. In it, he releases a blast of energy in close vicinity to the original target that can create Fatal Strike symbols and then perform Fatal Strikes on every vulnerable party member.

Other Appearances[]

Tales of VS.[]

Fatal Strikes make their way to Tales of VS. as a skill for Yuri Lowell, Rita Mordio, and Judith, the game's Vesperia representatives. Equipping it gives them the ability to perform Fatal Strikes by pressing the O button at the right time. Unlike in Vesperia, where each arte can only cause one color of Fatal Strike to appear, different parts of an arte may cause different colors to appear. For example, Yuri's Rouha Senretsushuu can cause both Green and Red Fatal Strikes to appear.

Project X Zone[]

In Project X Zone, Fatal Strike is a Cross Hit used by Estelle in tandem with Yuri's Lone Wolf Charge. She begins with Air Divide, followed by Star Stroke and Pow Hammer before using her Red Fatal Strike. Interestingly, there is no red symbol showing up after using Pow Hammer.

Project X Zone 2[]

In Project X Zone 2, Fatal Strike is also a Cross Hit used by Yuri and Flynn. Yuri begins barraging his enemy with Brutal Fang while Flynn follows with Demonic Chaos from behind. Yuri performs Severing Fang and Azure Edge while Flynn pins the enemy with Sword Rain: Alpha. The final uppercut slash from Sword Rain: Alpha creates a green symbol, allowing Yuri to perform a Green Fatal Strike. Fatal Strike is also one of Yuri's Skills, by consuming 50 SP, it increases Yuri's and Flynn's Cross Break Damage by 100%.


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