Atk Ploy 3

The Ploy family of skills is one of only a handful capable of debuffing the stats of enemies. There are four skills in this category, differentiated by the stats that they debuff. They work in a similar way to Threaten skills, but have an additional requirement: The user must have more resistance than the foe, or they will remain unaffected. However, they have one huge advantage over Threaten skills. Ploy skills affect all foes that are lined up with your unit horizontally or vertically. This gives them a huge range and makes them one of the only debuff skills that can be triggered reliably before the unit ever enters combat.

Satisfying the resistance requirement is the most important thing to consider when picking a user for the skill. Ideally, the unit with the highest resistance on your team should wield the skill. Skills such as Fury can help to boost resistance to higher levels without compromising strength elsewhere. Choosing which Ploy skill to inherit is also important: Atk and Spd Ploy are the most impactful on battle. Atk Ploy effectively grants a +5 defense and resistance buff to whichever unit enters combat with a debuffed enemy. However, Def and Res Ploy can be useful on units with lower attack stats, proving them with a hefty boost. Flier units are best suited for Ploy skills, as they have the mobility to capitalize on more debuff opportunities. The user of the skill need not expose themselves to danger if necessary and only position themselves appropriately.

Requiring a high resistance is the biggest weakness of this skill, eliminating many of its potential carriers and making it somewhat predictable. Ploy skills apply debuffs at the same time as Threaten skills: the beginning of the player’s turn. A clever player can completely avoid the debuffs, provided the map doesn’t force them through choke points. Ranged attackers can simply attack from a diagonal angle to circumvent Ploy skills, something they cannot do with Seal or Threaten skills. Depending on the unit running the skill, Ploy skills can be very map-dependent with some maps favoring them heavily and others making them difficult to use. Harsh Command or a skill with its effects can be used on a unit affected by a Ploy skill to reverse the debuffs, turning them into powerful buffs instead.