Status

This article is about character attributes. For status problems inflicted in battle, see Status ailments.

Status or statistics, and commonly shortened as stats, are a series of statistics present throughout the EarthBound series that determine a particular area of strengths in a character during battle. These can range from the amount of damage dealt to an enemy, how much damage a party member can withstand, the turn order, etc. Stats can be raised each time a party member recieves a level up in battle. Stats can also permanently be raised when using certain status boosting items such as Capsules. In addition, certain items and PSI techniques can temporarily raise a party member's stats for the duration of a battle such as the Defense spray or Offense Up.

The following is a list of statistics that are found throughout the EarthBound series.

In all games

The following stats are present in every EarthBound game:

Experience

Experience Points (Japanese: けいけんち Experience) determines a character's current level. It can be raised by defeating enemies, or in Mother 3, giving Dung to Wan Sum Dung in the Death Desert. A character's level maxes out at 99. Temporary party members that cannot be controlled by the player are unable to gain experience under normal circumstances. In EarthBound Beginnings, however, a single enemy, Groucho, can allow a Flying Man's experience to increase.

HP

A rolling HP counter from Mother 3.

HP or Hit Points (Japanese: ヒットポイント Hit Point) is a character's health. When HP reaches 0, a character will become unconscious. In EarthBound and Mother 3, it is represented by a rolling counter, and if a character takes enough damage to lower their HP to 0, they will not become unconscious until it reaches zero. If the battle is finished before the counter reaches zero, the character's HP will remain at whatever number it was when the battle was completed.

Additionally, in EarthBound, if HP reaches zero but the current action ends the battle, the HP will increase to 1 if the party member has not been knocked unconscious yet.

PP

PP or Psychic Points (Japanese: サイコポイント Psycho Point) determines a character's ability to use PSI. While in EarthBound and Mother 3 it uses a similar rolling counter to HP, the counter on PP has no effect on gameplay. If a battle is finished while it is still rolling, it continues to count down or up depending on the situation.

Offense

Offense (Japanese: オフェンス Offense) determines the amount damage a character will inflict with a physical attack. Weapons such as Baseball bats and Sticks will raise a party member's Offense when equipped. It can be raised or lowered temporarily by using Offense Up, Strengthen Up, or, occasionally, Salsa's Dance. In EarthBound, offense also determines whether or not the player will win a battle instantly upon contact with a weaker enemy. In EarthBound Beginnings, the amount of Offense gained upon leveling up is the same as Fight: however, using the Fight Capsule does not increase Offense.

Memo description

"A higher offense will increase the amount of damage dealt to the enemy. Offense may be displayed as OFF."

Defense

Defense (Japanese: ディフェンス Defense) determines how much damage will be taken when receiving an enemy attack. Armor such as Coins and Bracelets will raise a party member's Defense when equipped. It can be raised temporarily by using Defense Up, Toughen Up, Defense spray, Defense shower, or, occasionally, Salsa's Dance. In EarthBound Beginnings, the amount of Defense gained upon leveling up is the same as Speed: however, using the Quick Capsule does not increase Defense.

Memo description

"A higher defense will decrease the amount of damage taken from an enemy attack. Defense may be displayed as DEF."

Speed

Speed (Japanese: スピード Speed) determines the turn order in battles, as well as the rate of dodging an enemy attack in EarthBound and Mother 3. For EarthBound, the calculation for evasion is ((2 X Target speed - attacker speed)/500). It can be increased temporarily by using QuickUp, or, occasionally, Salsa's Dance. In EarthBound Beginnings, Speed can be increased by using a Quick Capsule, while in EarthBound, it can be increased by using either a Speed Capsule or Rock Candy.

Memo description

"As speed increases, the character will be able to act before the enemy does. Speed is displayed as SPD."

Game specific stats

The following are stats found only in specific games:

In EarthBound Beginnings

Fight

Fight (Japanese: ファイト Fight) is only present in EarthBound Beginnings. When attacking, it is compared to the target's Fight stat in order to determine both the odds of the attack landing, as well as the likelihood of the attack being a hit. Fight can be permanently increased by using a Fight Capsule. Lloyd can also permanently increase his Fight by using a Magic Candy.

The equation for dodging an attack and performing a smash hit is (26 + ((target's Fight - attacker's Fight))/2)/256.

Wisdom

Wisdom (Japanese: かしこさ Intelligence) raises the chance of inflicting status ailments on an enemy, whether from items or certain PSI techniques. While IQ is occasionally referred to as Wisdom in later games, the two stats are not the same; in Mother, level-up PP gains are determined by the Force stat, and the power of PSI attacks are not based on any stats. Wisdom can be permanently increased by using a Wisdom Capsule.

Strength

Strength (Japanese: たいりょく Physical fitness) raises the amount of HP gained upon leveling up. It also decreases the chances of Blindness, Poison, or Paralysis being inflicted upon the character. Strength can be increased by using a Physical Capsule in Mother, while in EarthBound, Vitality can be increased by using either a Vital Capsule or Rock Candy.

Force

Force (Japanese: フォース Force) raises the amount of PP gained upon leveling up. It also decreases the chances of Puzzled, Confusion, or Sleep being inflicted upon the character. Force can be permanently increased by using a Force Capsule. Ana can also permanently increase her Force by using a Magic Ribbon.

In EarthBound

Guts

Guts (Japanese: ガッツ Guts) is only present in EarthBound. It determines the chance of a character getting a hit, and may occasionally protect characters from sustaining mortal damage in battle by stopping the HP counter at one point. The chance of this happening is Guts/500 or 1/20, whichever is greater. It can be raised temporarily during battle by using a Sudden guts pill, or permanently by using a Guts Capsule or Rock Candy.

Luck

Luck (Japanese: ラック Luck) raises the accuracy of battle items that inflict status ailments. In addition, it also raises the chance to avoid certain enemy abilities. Luck can be increased permanently by using a Luck Capsule or Rock Candy.

Vitality

Vitality' (Japanese: バイタリティ Vitality) in EarthBound raises the amount of HP gained upon leveling up. It is the equivalent of Strength from EarthBound Beginnings without the additional resistances provided by Strength. Vitality can be increased by using either a Vital Capsule or Rock Candy.

IQ

IQ raises the amount of PP gained upon leveling up in EarthBound. In addition, a large amount of items that can be obtained are broken, rendering them useless. Jeff can repair these objects when resting at a hotel or a similar location, and the types of items he can repair depend on how high this statistic is. IQ can be permanently increased by using an IQ Capsule or Rock Candy.

Stats with shared effects

While having different names, the stats found in EarthBound are actually the same as the ones in EarthBound Beginnings due to sharing a similar primary effect. The following table lists the stats from EarthBound Beginnings and their equivalent in EarthBound:

EarthBound Beginnings	EarthBound	Shared effect
Fight	Guts	Both determine the likelihood of landing a hit
Wisdom	Luck	Both determine the success rate of status inflicting items
Strength	Vitality	Both determine the amount of HP gained upon leveling up
Force	IQ	Both determine the amount of PP gained upon leveling up

In Mother 3

IQ

While it shares its name with the IQ stat from EarthBound, it actually functions differently. Instead, it raises the amount of damage a PSI attack will deal as opposed to determining PP growth.

Memo description

"Intelligence is displayed as IQ. If a character is able to use PSI, a higher IQ will increase its effectiveness."

Kindness

Boney's Kindness stat increasing.

Kindness (Japanese: やさしさ Kindness) is a hidden statistic only present in Mother 3. While there is no legitimate means to trigger an increase to the stat upon level up, it can be seen increasing if a character levels up past level 99 via cheating. However, it can be legitimately increased during the course of the story; whenever Lucas' party does something that leaves a "warm feeling", the Kindness stat of all party members will increase by one point. While Lifeup factors in the user's Kindness when determining how much HP will be recovered, there are not enough opportunities to raise Kindness during normal gameplay for the effects to be visible.

Memo description

"This is one of the most important things for us humans, so let's be kind to others. If your "Kindness" goes up, something good is bound to happen."

Growth rate

In EarthBound Beginnings and EarthBound, a party member's Growth rate refers to the internal variable which factors the rate in which a party member's individual stat is expected to increase with each level up gained. A party member's Growth rate can be used to compare which stat a party member specializes in compared to another. It is comparable to how RPGs typically give characters different stats based off of their archtypes.

As an example, Poo is primarily an Offensive character, and the growth rate for Offense is the highest of the four party members (21), as such his Offense will increase by greater amounts in comparison. Conversely, Jeff's Offense is the lowest out of everyone (10), thus his Offense stat will increase by a lower amount at each level up compared to the others. On the flip side, because Jeff's IQ has a higher growth rate than the rest (9), his IQ stat will increase by greater amounts than everyone else, while Poo's IQ has the lowest growth rate thus his IQ (and by extension, PP) increases the least out of the four.

In EarthBound Beginnings

In EarthBound Beginnings the formula for stat increase is (constant + (random number 0-3))/2, rounded down. Offense increase and Defense increase is equal to the amount of Fight and Speed respectively. Incidentally, Pippi's stats are identical to that of Teddy's.

Ninten	Lloyd	Ana	Teddy Pippi
Stat Growth rate Comparison Offense 4 ★★★★☆ Defense 4 ★★★★☆ Fight 4 ★★★★☆ Speed 4 ★★★★☆ Wisdom 4 ★★★☆☆ Strength 4 ★★★★☆ Force 4 ★★★★☆ Total 28	Stat Growth rate Comparison Offense 3 ★★★☆☆ Defense 1 ★☆☆☆☆ Fight 3 ★★★☆☆ Speed 1 ★☆☆☆☆ Wisdom 5 ★★★★★ Strength 3 ★★★☆☆ Force 2 ★☆☆☆☆ Total 18	Stat Growth rate Comparison Offense 0 ★☆☆☆☆ Defense 2 ★★☆☆☆ Fight 0 ★☆☆☆☆ Speed 2 ★★☆☆☆ Wisdom 6 ★★★★☆ Strength 2 ★☆☆☆☆ Force 7 ★★★★★ Total 19	Stat Growth rate Comparison Offense 8 ★★★★★ Defense 8 ★★★★★ Fight 8 ★★★★★ Speed 8 ★★★★★ Wisdom 1 ★☆☆☆☆ Strength 5 ★★★★★ Force 3 ★★★☆☆ Total 41

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In EarthBound

In EarthBound the formula for stat increase is ((growth rate * old level) - ((old stat - 2) * 10)) * r/50

"r" is determined the following way:

• If the stat is vitality or IQ, and the new level is 10 or lower, r = 5.
• Otherwise, if the new level is divisible by 4, r is a random number from 7 to 10.
• Otherwise, r is a random number from 3 to 6.

Ness	Paula	Jeff	Poo
Stat Growth rate Comparison Offense 18 ★★★★☆ Defense 5 ★★★☆☆ Speed 5 ★★☆☆☆ Guts 7 ★★★★★ Vitality 5 ★★★★★ IQ 5 ★★★☆☆ Luck 6 ★★★★★ Total 51	Stat Growth rate Comparison Offense 12 ★★☆☆☆ Defense 3 ★☆☆☆☆ Speed 8 ★★★★★ Guts 5 ★★★☆☆ Vitality 2 ★☆☆☆☆ IQ 7 ★★★★☆ Luck 5 ★★★★☆ Total 42	Stat Growth rate Comparison Offense 10 ★☆☆☆☆ Defense 6 ★★★★☆ Speed 4 ★☆☆☆☆ Guts 5 ★★★☆☆ Vitality 3 ★★★☆☆ IQ 9 ★★★★★ Luck 4 ★★★☆☆ Total 41	Stat Growth rate Comparison Offense 20 ★★★★★ Defense 18 ★★★★★ Speed 7 ★★★★☆ Guts 3 ★☆☆☆☆ Vitality 4 ★★★★☆ IQ 4 ★☆☆☆☆ Luck 3 ★☆☆☆☆ Total 59

Trivia

• In EarthBound, with the exception of HP and PP, each stat has a maximum of 255 as each individual is stored in one byte, with the highest number that can be held in one byte being 255. If a stat exceeds 255, it will overflow to 0 and start from there as it cannot exceed 255. However, stats cannot exceed 255 during normal gameplay even at level 99 unless the condiments glitch is used.