Part 17: (Game Mechanics) Fuckin' Biorhythms, how do they work?

Let's Talk About Game Mechanics!
Episode the Fifth: Fuckin' Biorhythms, how do they work?

Biorhythms were bought up waaaaaay back in the very first update (well, technically the second, but who counts cutscenes?) and have only been mentioned in passing a few times. So let's do them justice and then never talk about them again.

We're already familiar with three of the screens that make up a character's info screen - the Stats, the Info/Weapon Ranks, and Skills screen. But there's a fourth!

Here's Jill's.



Associations is a load of boring stuff you don't care about; some armies' commanders have authority bonuses that boost the accuracy and evasion of all their soldiers, which is basically just a way for the game to boost enemy attributes without telling you how. You can also see who, if anyone, a unit has a Bond support with.

To the right, though, is the Biorhythm graph.

The status of a character's biorhythm is determined by the glowing dot on the graph. It moves along the sine wave by a set amount at the start of each turn.

The lines on the graph show the height/depth at which actual changes occur, except for the middle line, which is just there to show where the middle point is. When the dot is below the lowest line, the biorhythm status is Worst. When it is between the lowest line, and the second lowest, it is Bad. When it is between the second lowest and the second highest (ignore the middle line), it is Normal. Between the second highest and the highest, it is Good, and above the highest, it is Best.

The entire sine wave pictured covers 25 turns of fluctuation, and the starting point is randomized each chapter.

As to what the biorhythm actually does… that's pretty simple.

Best: +10 Hit, +10 Avoid, +10% Skill activation, +20% Chance of finding hidden items
Good: +5 Hit, +5 Avoid, +5% Skill activation, +10% Chance of finding hidden items
Normal: No effect
Bad: -5 Hit, -5 Avoid, -5% Skill activation, -10% Chance of finding hidden items
Worst: -10 Hit, -10 Avoid, -10% Skill activation, -20% Chance of finding hidden items

For the most part, you don't need to pay much attention to Biorhythms, unless you're playing in Hard Mode where everything is Deadly Serious™. Usually, they're just matter-of-factly there, and there's no sense in fussing over them. They do make a difference, however, so it's worth keeping an eye on them (you can see the status of a character's biorhythm in the numbers window before you attack), and if you have a choice of two units to send and one of them's just coming into their Best and another's going into Worst… it's a factor. And it does make a difference to finding hidden items, but that's kind of an exceptional case.

BUT!

There is one caveat - different characters have different waveforms. Jill's, as you can see, repeats quickly, and she'll go from Best to Worst every few turns, never staying in either for very long. Contrast Zihark's:



Zihark's waveform has more pronounced extremes than Jill's and the repetition period is much, much, much longer. Zihark will stay at his Best - or his Worst - for five or six turns at a time, and that is useful, especially when you put skills like Adept on him. Sending him on an offensive just as his upswing begins is a really good idea.

Here's Fiona's:



Fiona will spend a few turns at a time in Good/Bad but will, on the whole, be Normal most of the time. Therefore, you don't need to be as mindful of her biorhythm as you would Zihark's.

A few enemy units have completely flat biorhythms - and a few are cheating fuckers whose entire waveform is shifted up so it never goes into Worst. Cheating fucks.

In Path of Radiance, there existed skills that suppress or amplify the effects of biorhythms, but they have been removed in Radiant Dawn. A shame, if you ask me, because the thought of Zihark having +20% skill activation for six turns at a time is pretty damn compelling. Also, later - much later - we will be able to directly manipulate biorhythms in combat.

Don't worry too much about Biorhythms, don't just forget they're there, because they are there, and they do have an effect.