Buff (XC3)

Buffs are a mechanic in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. They are temporary beneficial effects granted to characters in combat, marked by an upwards-pointing blue pentagon near the character's marker (to the right of it for party members, below it for enemies). The detrimental version of buffs are s.

Despite being functionally similar, Stances are distinct from buffs. The key difference is that only one Stance can be in effect on any one character at one time, whereas a character can be under the effect of multiple buffs.

Granting buffs
Buffs are typically granted via using s or meeting the condition of a. Doing so either grants a particular buff to the Art/Skill's user, to all party members within a certain distance, or to the entire party depending upon the source. Some Arts or Skills grant random buffs; several buffs cannot be granted from any of these skills (e.g. ).

If two party members Interlink, the resulting Ouroboros will have each buff which was originally on each of the two characters. If the Interlink is cancelled before such a buff expires, both Interlink members will have the buff. In this way, buffs can be shared. Buffs can also be shared via Resonant Flag.

Duration
Each buff lasts for a standard length of time. However, this can be extended with the right effects. The formula for how long a buff lasts is: BuffDuration = BaseDuration * (1 + sum of DurationBonus) * FusionMultiplier * ShackleRingMultiplier In this formula:
 * FusionMultiplier is 2 if the Art used to enact the buff was used as part of a Fusion Art and said Art has a Fusion Bonus that increases duration; it is 1 otherwise.
 * ShackleRingMultiplier is the multiplier from the effect of a Chain Ring, Shackle Ring, or Mighty Link on the Art used to enact the buff (see the linked pages for details), and 1 if this is not applicable.
 * DurationBonus contains any other effect which increases buff duration, and is zero if no such effects exist. The effects which increase buff duration are:
 * Strengthening Gambit
 * I've Got Your Backs
 * Refined Blessing

Each buff has a maximum duration (in all cases equal to twice its base duration); if the above formula would mean a buff's duration is greater than its max duration, it is set equal to its max duration instead. However, effects that make the buff timer itself tick down more slowly or stop (Pause Buff Timer and Unceasing Blessing) can be used to get around this limitation.

Strength
Each buff has a default strength of its beneficial effect. Like the duration, this can be increased: the strength of a buff in practice is, where BuffPower contains either (or both) of the two applicable effects that increase buff strength: Strength Support and/or Swelling Blessing.

Some buffs have parameters which cannot be increased in this way: BuffPower has no effect on 's bonus to recharge rate or, and cannot be stacked enough to increase the number of times , Debuff Barrier, and Ether Anchor have an effect. It also does not alter or Pause Buff Timer.

Stacking and replacement
Buffs do not stack; each character can only have one instance of each buff at once. If a character has a buff and they are granted the same buff, the new buff will overwrite the old one if both of the following conditions are met:
 * The new instance's duration is greater than or equal to the remaining duration on the old instance.
 * The new instance's strength is greater than or equal to the strength of the old instance.

Field Arts
The function of a Field Art is to grant a certain type of buff to each character in a certain area. Each Field Art is associated with a specific buff that all affected characters receive. One important functional difference between these and ordinary buffs is stackability: while only one instance of each buff can be applied to any one character at once, a character can be in multiple instances of the same Field Art, and each of these will provide a stacking instance of the same buff (even if the character already has an ordinary instance of that buff).