In Final Fantasy Zero, when an enemy attacks you, you resis their onslaught with your defensive abilities, which lessen the damage you take. Certain abilities (such as statuses) require some Luck to avoid.
Physical or Magickal?
Every attack in FFZ falls into one of two categories — it is either a physical attack, coming from a character's real bodily effort of swinging around a violent thing; or it is a magickal attack, manifesting hostility from the aether around a creature.
You can tell which is which because of two keywords: Techniques, which indicates a physical attack, or Spells, which indicates a magickal attack. Items are a special case that have their own attack and damage values that do not change (and so don't rely on your statistics at all), but even items will either be Phsyical or Magickal.
You defend against a Technique with Stamina. You defend against a Spell with Willpower.
Stamina
When you are dealt physical damage from an enemy's Weapon Power, you reduce it by an amount equal to your Stamina.
Willpower.
When you are dealt magickal damage from an enemy's Spell Power, you reduce it by an amount equal to your Willpower.
The Defend Action
All characters can take the Defend action during combat to gain a breather and protect themselves.
| Defend |
|---|
| No Speed Cost |
| You gain Speed equal to your Agility, Hit Points equal to your Stamina, and Magick Points equal to your Sorcery (all minimum 1). You also negate all temporary bonuses and penalties on your character. |
