Weakness Trigger

(Redirected from Stagger)


Abyssea Weakness Trigger Conditions[edit]

Upon claiming/popping any NM within Abyssea, 3 types of weaknesses (Red/Blue/Yellow - see below) will be set. They will shift to a new random weakness with each battle, including if the NM goes unclaimed and de-aggros.

When a monster's weakness is struck, a pair of exclamation marks(Weakness.png) appears over its name. The effects of triggering a weakness can vary widely and are explained below. According to NPC dialog, exploiting the weakness once will grant larger treasure rewards, potentially even ones normally unavailable, but hitting the same weakness repeatedly can decrease the terror/silence/amnesia effect and remove the treasure bonus. However, exploiting each of the three types of weakness once incurs no penalties to drop rates and is theorized to boost all potential rewards.

Yellow and possibly Red weaknesses are related to the element of the previous/current/next day the NM is claimed/popped. More information is needed on the patterns Red weaknesses followInformation Needed. Regarding Blue weakness follows the current time of the day that the NM is claimed and the type of damage dealt by Physical WS (Piercing/Slashing/Blunt).

Weaknesses cannot be triggered if the weapon skill misses or if the spell is resisted ("resists the effect of the spell" or "fails to take effect"), but may still process if the weapon skill or spell hits for 0 damage, or even if it heals the enemy. Additionally weaknesses cannot be triggered while the enemy is preparing or using a TP move or casting a spell. Finally, weaknesses cannot be triggered while the enemy is already staggering (e.g., cannot trigger blue weakness while the enemy is under Red Stagger), or while the enemy is stunned. For this reason, it is generally recommended to Stun only TP moves and spells (during which enemies cannot be staggered anyway).

Certain enemies, such as those of the Iron Giant family, possess standard attacks that are considered TP moves, even if there is no indication of it in the chat log. Likewise, weaknesses cannot be triggered while these enemies are attacking. Finally, certain NMs face further restrictions as to when their weaknesses may be targeted; for example, enemies such as Chloris and Usurper cannot be staggered during the effect of their 2 Hour abilities.

If the player possesses an Abyssite of Discernment, it is possible for them to receive clues toward the correct weakness trigger by using Weapon Skills and magic against the enemy.

Weaknesses can be triggered even if the enemy absorbs the damage from the attack, as long as it is timed properly.


Red Weakness Red.png Weakness[edit]

  • Weakness Red.png - triggered by using a specific elemental Weapon Skill on the NM.
    • Ensures that Atma, Abyssite, and key items will drop to the puller and/or his/her party. (Not 100%)
    • Has no effect on the upgrade rate of Demilune Abyssites used to spawn VNMs.
    • Inflicts Terror on the enemy for 30 seconds, with halved duration on each repeated use. The message displayed in the log will read:

"<Player>'s attack staggers the fiend!
The fiend is frozen in its tracks."

  • The table below represents the 13 weapon skills that are the potential triggers. The exact weapon skill is random, but it will always be one of those listed below. At this time there are no indicators that spawn or claim time are linked to the trigger element.
Red Weakness Red.png Weakness Triggers By Weapon
Weapon Type Weapon Skills
Club Seraph StrikeTrans Light.gif
Dagger CycloneTrans Wind.gif, Energy DrainTrans Dark.gif
Great Katana Tachi: JinpuTrans Wind.gif, Tachi: KokiTrans Light.gif
Great Sword FreezebiteTrans Ice.gif
Katana Blade: EiTrans Dark.gif
Polearm Raiden ThrustTrans Lightning.gif
Scythe Shadow of DeathTrans Dark.gif
Staff SunburstTrans Light.gif, Earth CrusherTrans Earth.gif
Sword Red Lotus BladeTrans Fire.gif, Seraph BladeTrans Light.gif
Red Weakness Red.png Weakness Triggers By Element
Element Weapon Skills
Light Tachi: KokiTrans Light.gif, Seraph StrikeTrans Light.gif, SunburstTrans Light.gif, Seraph BladeTrans Light.gif
Darkness Energy DrainTrans Dark.gif, Blade: EiTrans Dark.gif, Shadow of DeathTrans Dark.gif
Fire Red Lotus BladeTrans Fire.gif
Earth Earth CrusherTrans Earth.gif
Water None
Wind CycloneTrans Wind.gif, Tachi: JinpuTrans Wind.gif
Ice FreezebiteTrans Ice.gif
Thunder Raiden ThrustTrans Lightning.gif


Yellow Weakness Yellow.png Weakness[edit]

  • Weakness Yellow.png - triggered by casting a specific magic spell on the NM. The spell's element coincides with the element of the current day, the previous day, or the next day of the Vana'diel week. The "current day" is determined when the monster was made active (by aggro, claiming, or popping).
    • Greatly enhances drop rate for synthesis items. Drop rate for AF3 (Empyrean Armor) upgrade items is also increased, and additional "drop slots" for these items may be added depending on the NM and type of upgrade item.
    • Has no effect on the drop rate for Empyrean Weapon upgrade items.
    • It is necessary for the spell to accurately hit, regardless of its effectiveness, in order to potentially trigger a weakness. For instance, a resisted Dispel will not be able to trigger weakness. However, using Dispel for "no effect" against the enemy (due to the enemy not having any buffs to be dispelled) is treated as a successfully landed cast and may still trigger weakness.
    • Inflicts Silence on the enemy for 30 seconds, with halved duration on each repeated use. The message displayed in the log will read:

"<Player>'s attack staggers the fiend!
The fiend is unable to cast magic."

  • The table below lists verified and potential spells triggering Weakness Yellow.png, with columns sorted by the Vana'diel day of the week.

Example: if you claim or pop an NM during Waterday, look at columns Earth, Water, and Wind (Before/Current/Next days) to determine which spells to try.

Yellow Weakness Yellow.png Weakness Triggers
Spell Types Spells by element
Fire Earth Water Wind Ice Lightning Light Dark
Elem. Tier III Fire III Stone III Water III Aero III Blizzard III Thunder III - -
Elem. Tier IV Fire IV Stone IV Water IV Aero IV Blizzard IV Thunder IV - -
Elem. Tier III -ga Firaga III Stonega III Waterga III Aeroga III Blizzaga III Thundaga III - -
Tier I Ancient Magic Flare Quake Flood Tornado Freeze Burst - -
Divine Magic - - - - - - Banish II, Banish III, Banishga, Banishga II, Holy, Flash -
Dark Magic - - - - - - - Aspir, Drain, Bio II
Enfeebling Magic - - - - - - - Dispel
Blue Magic Heat Breath Magnetite Cloud Maelstrom Mysterious Light Ice Break Mind Blast Radiant Breath Eyes On Me
Ninjutsu Katon: Ni Doton: Ni Suiton: Ni Huton: Ni Hyoton: Ni Raiton: Ni - Kurayami: Ni
Songs Ice Threnody Lightning Threnody Fire Threnody Earth Threnody Wind Threnody Water Threnody Dark Threnody Light Threnody
  • A BLM/BRD has access to the widest variety of Yellow spells (35 out of 56), lacking only Divine (5), Enfeebling (1), Blue (8), and Ninjutsu (7).
    • A BLU/NIN gives the party access to another 15 spells. The last 6 can be cast by a WHM/RDM or WHM/SCH.


Blue Weakness Blue.png Weakness[edit]

  • Weakness Blue.png - triggered by using a specific physical Weapon Skill on the NM. The required Weapon Skill will be one of a set of 45 Weapon Skills of the Slashing, Piercing, or Blunt varieties (15 each). Which type of Weapon Skill is required is based on what game time it is when the NM is claimed.
    • Greatly enhances drop rate for equipment and weapon(s).
    • It is necessary for at least one hit of the Weapon Skill to connect with the enemy, regardless of how much damage the WS does, in order for weakness to be triggered.
    • Inflicts Amnesia on the enemy for 30 seconds, with halved duration on each repeated use. The message displayed in the log will read:

"<Player>'s attack staggers the fiend!
The fiend is unable to use special attacks."

  • The table below lists all reported Physical Weapon Skills triggering Weakness Blue.png, depending on the Vana'diel time of claim/force pop:
6:00-14:00 - Piercing
Weapon Type Weapon Skills
Archery Sidewinder Blast Arrow Arching Arrow Empyreal Arrow -
Marksmanship Slug Shot Blast Shot Heavy Shot Detonator -
Dagger Shadowstitch Dancing Edge Shark Bite Evisceration -
Polearm Skewer Wheeling Thrust Impulse Drive - -
14:00-22:00 - Slashing
Weapon Type Weapon Skills
Sword Vorpal Blade Swift Blade Savage Blade - -
Katana Blade: Ten Blade: Ku - - -
Axe Mistral Axe Decimation - - -
Scythes Cross Reaper Spiral Hell - - -
Great Axe Full Break Steel Cyclone - - -
Great Katana Tachi: Gekko Tachi: Kasha - - -
Great Sword Spinning Slash Ground Strike - - -
22:00-6:00 - Blunt
Weapon Type Weapon Skills
Club Skullbreaker True Strike Judgment Hexa Strike Black Halo
Hand-to-Hand Raging Fists Spinning Attack Howling Fist Dragon Kick Asuran Fists
Staff Heavy Swing Shell Crusher Full Swing Spirit Taker Retribution



See the discussion page for more information about specific mobs and potential triggers.

Dynamis Weakness Trigger Conditions[edit]

In Dynamis, almost all enemies can be staggered, even standard non-NM mobs. Doing so will cause enemies to drop ancient currency more frequently, as well as open more potential drop slots for currency to drop.

In order for a player to trigger weaknesses, they must have obtained at least 3 of the 5 available time extensions in the zone on their current visit. Obtaining more will increase the chances of staggering enemies, as well as increase both the drop rates on ancient currency and the negative effects on the staggered enemy:

  • 0-2 ~> None
  • 3 ~> Low proc rate / Blue - Potentially transient Amnesia, or nothing.
  • 4 ~> Medium proc rate / Yellow - Terror/Stops 2-Hour/Able to Re-use 2-Hour
  • 5 ~> High proc rate / Red - Terror/Stops 2-Hour/Unable to Re-use 2-Hour

Enemies in Dynamis are staggered by repeated usage of one of the following 3 types of attacks: Weapon Skills, Job Abilities, or Magic. Which one of the three is needed is based on two sets of conditions; one if the enemy has a set job (Vanguard, Kindred, or Hydra enemies), and one if it does not (non-beastman, "Nightmare" enemies in CoP Dynamis areas):

  • Enemy job: WAR PLD DRK SAM DRG - WEAPON SKILL / Any enemy-targetable weapon skill and some Puppetmaster Maneuvers, possibly based on current Automaton frame's deciding maneuvers for Weapon Skills
  • Enemy job: MNK THF RNG BST NIN - JOB ABILITY / Any enemy-targetable ability, except pet commands (including all Blood Pact: Rage) and possibly Ventriloquy. BST's pet TP moves (via "Ready" command) can stagger, even unclaimed enemies if using AoE abilities (for instance Faithful Falcorr's conal attack "Choke Breath")
  • Enemy job: RDM WHM BLM BRD SMN - MAGIC / Any enemy-targeted Blood Pact: Rage (Magical OR Physical) or Blood Pact: Ward such as Somnolence, or enemy-targeted spell with the possible exception of cures and Odin.

If the enemy has no job (CoP Dynamis areas), the type of attack needed to stagger it will vary depending on both Time of Day and the type of ancient currency that it drops.

  • Due to the relative ease of "spamming" magic spell attacks compared to WS and JA, the chance to stagger enemies with magic is lower than it is for WS and JA. With all 5 TEs obtained, the chance to stagger with magic is roughly 5%, whereas for WS and JA the chance is roughly 15-20%.
  • If AoE weapon skills or magic are used, they are capable of staggering any appropriate enemy in the range of the attack, potentially multiple enemies at once.
    • As of the October 4, 2011 maintenance, stagger rates on AoE attacks have been drastically reduced for enemies that are not the direct target of the attack. This restriction applies only to CoP Dynamis areas, in which it is relatively simple to "train" up multiple enemies that are all staggered by the same type of attack.
  • Unlike in Abyssea, there is no specific set attack determined upon claim that will stagger an enemy. Any successful attack under the appropriate grouping will have a chance to stagger the target, including attacks that have already been used on it before. For instance, a magic-staggered enemy can eventually be staggered by casting Dia on it over and over.
    • In the case of enemies without jobs, because specific attacks for stagger are not set, this means that the required type of attack can change mid-battle if the Time of Day elapses to the next window. For instance, if you claim a Nightmare Fly in Valkurm at 15:50 (drops One Byne Bills, so it is staggered by weapon skills at this time) and the time elapses to past 16:00 without staggering it, its weakness will shift to being triggered by magic. If you are having a difficult time staggering such an enemy, check the clock to make sure that its weakness has not changed.
  • Also unlike in Abyssea, you are able to stagger enemies while they are casting or readying TP moves.
  • Enemies can only be staggered once.
  • In CoP Dynamis areas, if a player has his subjob locked, there is a small chance that they will trigger a white "!!" stagger animation instead of the usual color when staggering an enemy. When this occurs, the enemy will drop a 100-unit ancient currency of the appropriate type when defeated.
    • This applies only to the player(s) in the party who have their subjobs locked. Other player(s) in the party may elect to keep their subjobs unlocked without hampering the chances of getting a white stagger, as long as they are not the ones attempting to stagger enemies.

Voidwatch Weakness[edit]

See Voidwatch#Voidwatch Weaknesses for an updated list of Voidwatch Weakness Triggers.

This article uses material from the "Weakness_Trigger" article on FFXIclopedia and is licensed under the CC-BY-SA License.