Part 125: Mechanics Talk 2 - Agent Growth

Mechanics Talk 2: Agent Growth

The first thing to know about Agent growth is how stat ranks and promotions are figured. Each stat has a total of five levels, from I-V, and as agents gain total stat levels they are increased from rank I to V as well. The chart below shows the stat breakpoints for each level up, as well as the total number of stat levels necessary to be promoted to each Agent rank.



As a quick example, Talow is currently below 30 in everything but Attachment, making him a 1/1/2/1 Agent. This totals 5, so he's 1 stat level away from hitting rank 2. If his Justice were to hit 30, he would get promoted at the end of that day and from then on be a rank 2 Agent.

There is a sixth stat level, EX, which is for stats of 100 or higher. It does not count towards an Agent's promotions and is more of a 'you can stop now' sign.

Now let's talk about how to gain those stats and level up Agents quickly. Everything about EXP gain is originally sourced from this document, which goes more fully into the code of how EXP gains are calculated. I have simplified the information for an easier reference that requires less math.

Being able to estimate how much EXP agents have gained is useful for dealing with a couple of missions in the game, and knowing how EXP is calculated will make finding good training Abnormalities much easier to do. We'll start with the formula for calculating growth for Fortitude, Prudence, and Temperance. (Instinct/Insight/Attachment work, respectively)

The Training Modifier starts at 1, and a research later on will raise this to 1.5. Certain other things can raise this as well, but they're either rare or tiny.

The Level Modifier is a constant number that's based on an Agent's stat level and the risk level of the Abnormality being worked. The chart below shows all of the possible values for the level modifier, and nothing can affect this number.



Notably, if an Agent has gotten enough experience to be put into a higher stat level at the end of the day they start using the higher stat level to calculate further growth immediately, even if the day has not yet been ended. There's no benefit to trying to rush an Agent from I to V in a single day.

The Damage Modifier is the main number that we can affect. It's calculated by comparing the Agent's max HP (for Instinct work), SP (for Insight work), or both combined (for Attachment work) to the level after the work ends, and then a modifier is assigned based on the % remaining, according to the chart below.



Damage already on the Agent does not count for this calculation, so there's no benefit to working with an injured Agent. Fear damage does count for Insight/Attachment calculations, as it's considered damage done by the Abnormality. Finally, any healing done while in the cell will lower the damage modifier calculation, so it doesn't matter how low an agent's HP/SP was if they're fully healed before leaving-the modifier will immediately revert to the lowest possible in this case. Outside of very specific setups, I generally try to work with Abnormalities that will leave my Agents at ~50% in whatever stat is being trained, since that's 2.5x more efficient than taking no damage at all. This is also why Mizu's Prudence went up by more on Day 1 despite Talow having more successes: Modifiers are really powerful!

Finally, the PE Boxes gained is the number of work successes you have. More boxes = more EXP.

Justice is more streamlined, as it doesn't care about damage taken at all:

The Justice Modifier is a constant which works out to be exactly half of the level modifier for the same stat/risk combination. I've put a table for it below for easy reference.



Since we cannot easily change any of the modifiers for Justice growth, the only thing that matters is the # of successes on your Repression work. The way I did that trick with Mizu was by noting how many boxes she'd gained and multiplying the number times 0.3 to get her EXP. Stats are rounded up, so if an agent ends the day at 28.5 they'll be treated as having 29.

The main takeaways from all of this math are the following:

• Use R damage Abnormalities to train Fortitude
  
• Use W damage Abnormalities to train Prudence
  
• B damage Abnormalities can be used to train any stat they respond to
  
• Risk level and success rate are the only things that matter to train Justice
  

That's it for the basics of Agent growth. Have a great day!