Attributes, Elements, Weaknesses, and Offensive Coverage
Attributes and elements are separate combat systems. Attribute offense asks whether the formation can threaten the main Vaccine–Data–Virus triangle; elemental offense and weakness metrics measure the elements attached to skills and defenses.
Attribute offense and defense pull in different directions
The offensive target is three Vaccine, three Data, and three Virus attackers across the six-member party plus any fixed guests. Moving closer to that 3/3/3 target improves Attribute Offense because it creates answers to more opposing attributes.
- Vaccine, Data, and Virus members count when they have damaging skills.
- Free, Variable, Unknown, and No Data do not add triangle offense coverage.
- More triangle representation can also create more opportunities for an enemy to exploit an attribute weakness.
- Attribute Defense therefore rewards limiting repeated exposure rather than simply maximizing variety.
Special-skill elements describe actual damage
A special skill is classified by the element of the damage it deals when activated. Triggered attacks and counters count by their resulting damage element, so a fire-damage counter contributes Fire even if its primary behavior is reactive.
- Elemental Offense rewards distinct damaging special-skill elements.
- Weakness Breadth rewards exposing fewer different vulnerable elements.
- Repeated Weaknesses penalizes multiple members sharing the same vulnerable element.
- Team result cards show the incidence count for every exposed element.
Hard limits protect the active and reserve trios
Optional limits can require unique attributes within each three-member party, reject repeated special-skill element and damage-type pairs, or cap an attribute-plus-elemental-weakness pairing at two. Guests participate in elemental limits but not pure party-attribute limits.