Quake Psynergy series

Quake Sphere being cast in Dark Dawn

Quake (クエイク), Earthquake (アースクエイク), and Quake Sphere (クエイクスフィア) are a series of offensive Venus Psynergies featured throughout the Golden Sun series. They are among the earliest Psynergy spells the player encounters and masters, and are only available to party leaders.

Basic Description

Quake, Earthquake, and Quake Sphere are offensive, ranged Psynergies. The overall power of each stage is determined by comparing the user's Venus Power and the target's Venus Resistance, and multiplying the resultant ratio by the base power of the Psynergy being used.

Quake

Venus

4 PP

"Attack with a powerful quake." (GS-TLA) "Strike with a powerful quake." (DD-present)

Strikes up to 3 enemies with a base power of 12.

Earthquake

Venus

7 PP

"Attack with a mighty tremor." (GS-TLA) "Strike with a mighty tremor." (DD-present)

Strikes up to 5 enemies with a base power of 35.

Quake Sphere

Venus

15 PP

"Attack with a massive quake." (GS-TLA) "Strike with a massive quake." (DD-present)

Strikes up to seven enemies with a base power of 65.

Visually, each stage of the quake series features three columns of earth rising from the ground underneath the targets, bouncing them up and down. Quake does this once, Earthquake, twice, and Quake Sphere three times.

Damage calculation example

Elemental Power attacks such as Quake, Earthquake, and Quake Sphere use a set base power as the base damage to be modified. For example, the base power of Quake Sphere is 65. Thus, an unmodified Quake Sphere would deal around 65 points of damage. Quake Sphere's attack takes this base damage value and uses it in the following equation: final damage = (base damage) * (1 + (User's Venus Power - Enemy's Venus Resistance) / 200) To word this in prose, Quake, Earthquake, and Quake Sphere take the base damage of the particular attack, and then modifies this by how much higher or lower the user's Venus Power is than the target's Venus Resistance. The difference between the user's Venus Power and the target's Venus Resistance is then divided by 200, then 1 is added to this, resulting in what can be called the "elemental damage multiplier". This number is what the Psynergies' damage is multiplied by. For example, if an Adept with a Venus Power of 150 casts Quake Sphere on a monster with a Venus Resistance of 50: damage = (base damage) * (1 + (Power - Resistance) / 200) damage = (65) * (1 + (150 - 50) / 200) damage = (65) * (1 + 100 / 200) damage = (65) * (1 + 0.5) damage = 65 * 1.50 damage = 97 Therefore, a Quake Sphere cast under these circumstances would deal approximately 97 points of damage to the main target. Since Quake Sphere is a ranged Psynergy, adjacent targets would take a percentage of the total damage, with the percentage decreasing as the distance from the main target increases.

Availability

The Quake series is unique to the Squire class series, a Venus-based mono-elemental class series. Thus, the Quake series is unique to Isaac, Felix, and Matthew, who will know it when they have no or only Venus Djinn Set to them. Quake is learned at Level 2, while Earthquake is learned at Level 4, and Quake Sphere is learned at Level 14.

Analysis

Isaac casting Quake Sphere in the GBA games.

General: The Quake series is among the earliest Psynergy spells the player can try out. Thanks to its relative power and cheap cost, combined with the speed each stage is learned, the series is an excellent choice for early game. As the Squire levels up, the Quake series will usually be left behind for more powerful options such as the Gaia Psynergy series and the duo of Ragnarok and Odyssey.

By Game

Golden Sun: Quake will be the first offensive Psynergy available to Isaac, and will be used throughout the prologue. By the time the main game begins, Isaac will have learned Earthquake, which can be put to good use in the thief trio fight in Vault. Quake Sphere will be useful when learned, but will be set aside for stronger Psynergies like Ragnarok, Clay Spire, and Mother Gaia by game's end.

Golden Sun: The Lost Age: By the time the player is able to control Felix, he will already know Earthquake, giving the player a useful option for early random encounters. Earthquake is quite useful against Chestbeater boss trio in the Kandorean Temple. Should the player level up to 15 before hand, Quake Sphere can be a useful tool against Briggs and his Sea Fighters.

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn: Matthew will learn Quake during his exploration of the first dungeon, but it will compete with the more powerful, but single-target Growth that he learns inherently. Since Matthew would normally need a Mars Djinn set during the Tanglewood portion, Quake will not see much use. Earthquake, available by the time the main game begins, is an excellent choice for the early game, and can be useful against the Stealthy Scouts, assuming Matthew's Psynergy isn't exhausted. Meanwhile, Quake Sphere is excellent during the later portions of Ei-Jei, but will quickly be discarded for more powerful options.

Trivia

• Quake has the distinction of being the weakest Power-based Psynergy in the series, with a base power of 12.