Weaken Psynergy series

The Weaken Psynergy series is a Jupiter Support Psynergy series available throughout the Golden Sun series. which is used to lower the Resistance of one or enemies. It is available to the Apprentice class series and to the Page class series.

Basic Description
Weaken and Enfeeble are support Psynergies that affect only opposing targets. Weaken affects a single target, while Enfeeble is a multi-target Psynergy that affects up to three targets.

Visually, Weaken features a purple shield appearing in front of the target. In The Lost Age, the shield takes the form of a Heater Shield], while in Dark Dawn the shield is rounded with a seal in the center. In both cases, the shield dissipates to indicate the lowering of Resistance. Enfeeble is nearly identical, but shows multiple shields, dependent on the number of targeted enemies.

Mechanics
The Weaken and Enfeeble Psynergies are non-damaging, thus, the Power Rating of the caster does not come into play. Instead, each lowers Resistance by a specific amount. However, Resistance can only be lowered by a total of 80 points at one time. Thus, Weaken would hit this limit after two castings one one target, while Enfeeble would take four castings, but could hit multiple targets.



Availability
Weaken and Enfeeble are available to the Page class series and the Apprentice class series. Thus, the series is available to Venus, Mars and Jupiter Adepts. Venus and Mars Adepts require Jupiter Djinn to access the series, while Jupiter Adepts require 6+ Mars/Venus Djinn, depending on the class desired. For both classes, Weaken is learned at Level 9, while Enfeeble is learned at Level 25.

Analysis
General:A fairly staple move to the RPG genre, lowering an opponents Resistance can be one of the most useful support moves, as it can benefit most forms of offense. Only summoning can temporarily increase Elemental Power ratings while in battle; thus, lowering Resistance can provide an much more accessible alternative. In addition, when used, all Elemental Resistances are lowered, so that offenses of any Element can be increased. Finally, it can work on most bosses unlike status-inducing moves. Lowering Resistance is most useful when used immediately prior to summoning or casting Power-based Psynergy, due to the fact that Weaken and Enfeeble are only effective for a limited time.

The two classes that learn Weaken and Enfeeble, the Page and Apprentice classes, are often used during early-game, before the player can access the superior Ninja and Samurai classes. Weaken's usefulness increases dramatically during this time, as the lowered Resistance can outperform the Power increase gained by early summons.