Formation
Formation, also known as row, is a mechanic in Magical Vacation and Magical Starsign.
Gameplay
Magical Vacation
There are a total of six spaces that party members can occupy; three in the front, three in the back. Combatants in the front row are more likely to get hit with attacks, while those in the back row are less likely. As such, party members with higher physical stats (HP, power, defense) are better in the front row, and magic-based characters (MP, agility, spirit) work best in the back row. When a party member in the front row faints, they swap positions with the character standing directly behind them, even if they are revived. The party's formation goes back to normal once combat is over.
Magical Starsign
In Magical Starsign, rows play a more significant role in combat. Up to four party members may occupy the front or back row at a time, and characters can be placed in the back row without automatically moving up to the front. During battles, characters can be repositioned individually using the move command on their turn, or all at once with items such as the clockwhistle and antiwhistle.
If a combatant is standing in the front row, the range of their magic spells will be single-target and can reach enemies in either row. However, physical attacking skills cannot reach enemies in the back row while there are combatants in front of them. If in the back row, the area of spells will be expanded to either a fixed range (damage distributed equally among enemies), shared range (healing or support distributed equally among allies), front focus range (60% of total damage directed to the front row, 20% to the back), or random range (damage or effects randomly distributed to targets). Consequently, combatants' physical attacking skills will be disabled while they are in the back row.
Nomenclature
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Error creating thumbnail: File missing Japanese | フォーメーション Fōmēshon たいれつ Tairetsu |
Formation Formation |
| Error creating thumbnail: File missing English | Row | |
