Sabre Dance

Sabre Dance is a stand-alone Venus Psynergy introduced in Golden Sun: The Lost Age.

Basic Characteristics
Annihilation is an offensive, single-target Psynergy that is Attack-dependent, meaning characters with higher Attack ratings will deal more damage with these attacks. In addition, the caster's Venus Power and the target's Defense and Venus Resistance all factor into the damage dealt.

Visually, Saber Dance features a group of swords spiraling up from the ground and striking the target.

Damage Calculation
As previously stated, there are several factors determining the damage dealt by Psynergies like Saber Dance. The exact damage calculation formula for these attacks can be represented with the following two equations:


 * base damage = (User's Attack - Enemy's Defense) / 2

This formula is identical to the formula used to determine the damage dealt by standard physical attacks. In other words, base damage is half of the difference between the caster's Attack and the target's Defense. If this number falls below zero, it is automatically reset to zero.

This is the base damage. Saber Dance then uses this value for another equation:


 * Final damage output = (base damage) * (1 + (Venus Power - Venus Resistance) / 400) * 1.5

Power and Resistance are used to determine the multiplier applied to this new base damage. The target's Resistance is subtracted from the caster's Power, the difference is divided by 100, and the result is added to 1 before being multiplied by the base damage. As a result, the final damage dealt by these attacks can, theoretically, vary from roughly 50% to 150% of a normal physical attack.

For example, if an Adept with an Attack rating of 600 and a Venus Power  of 150 casts Saber Dance on a monster with a defense of 200 and a Venus Resistance of 50:
 * damage = ((Attack- Defense) / 2) * (1 + (Power - Resistance) / 400) * 1.5
 * damage = ((600 - 200) / 2) * (1 + (150 - 50) / 400) * 1.5
 * damage = ( / 2) * (1 +  / 400) * 1.5
 * damage =  * (1 + ) * 1.5
 * damage = * ) * 1.5
 * damage = 375

Therefore, a Saber Dance cast under these circumstances would deal 375 points of damage.

Availability
Saber Dance is available to the Pierrot class series, an Item-dependent class attainable by equipping a Mysterious Card onto an Adept. Currently, the Mysterious Card can only be found in The Lost Age; thus, only the eight playable Adepts from that game can access Saber Dance. Saber Dance is learned at Level 10.

Analysis
General: Saber Dance is one of the Pierrot's most reliable abilities. Most of the class's other offensive options are subject to the limitations on elemental Power and Resistance. On the other hand, Saber Dance's Attack-based power means it will grow stronger over the course of the game. In addition, it has a fairly low PP cost, useful when considering the Pierrot's lower PP cost. If using the Pierrot class, Saber Dance is essential for allowing the Pierrot to inflict higher damage during boss battles.

By Game
Golden Sun: The Lost Age: Due to unequal Djinn distribution, the Pierrot class is often taken advantage of, since prevents class changes when unleashing Djinn. Saber Dance is learned fairly early, and can be an alternative to Ragnarok, due to its high damage multiplier. While there are no Venus-weak bosses to truly take advantage of Saber Dance, none have high Resistance, making Saber Dance a useful option.