Combat in South Park: The Fractured But Whole

Combat is a major aspect in South Park: The Fractured But Whole.

Basics

Combat preview

Combat is usually triggered when The New Kid attacks or gets attacked by another character, or following the appearance of a prominent enemy during missions. A combat window will appear where the player gets to review the enemy they will be fighting, and the allies they will be using. At this time the player can make adjustments to their allies, abilities and artifacts before they begin combat.

There are 4 modes of difficulty, ranging from Casual to Diabolic. The difficulties reflect the AI-controlled players by how much damage they can make and how they play. For example, an AI-controlled opponent who is set to Casual will have their troops carry light damage when they attack the player and their level of intelligence is low. An AI-controlled opponent who is set to Diabolic will have their troops carry very heavy damage when they attack the player and their level of intelligence becomes very wise during their turns in combat.

• Casual - The easiest level of the game. The player gets advantage over the AI-controlled opponent.
• Heroic - Both the player and his AI-controlled opponent share the same amount of advantages.
• Mastermind - The AI-controlled opponent gets advantage over the player.
• Diabolic - The hardest level of the game. The AI-controlled opponent gets extreme advantage over the player.

At the start of combat, the player gets the first turn if they had attacked the enemy first. Similarly if the enemy attacked the New Kid they get the first turn.

During the end of each character's turn, if they have been affected by Grossed Out, Bleeding, Shocked or Burning, damage from them will be taken then.

If unlocked, the player can use Timefart abilities to cancel an enemy's turn anytime, subject to a three-turn cool down. Timefart abilities cannot be used if the New Kid is defeated, until they have been revived.

Combat usually ends when all enemies are defeated. In some battles, there is a special objective that should be met without the need to take down all enemies.

Allies

The player may use any 3 characters for the combat, subject to restrictions on some missions. The player is limited to the Coon and Friends faction up until The Chaos Gambit, where the New Kid switches allegiance to the Freedom Pals, then later in The Thin White Line where all allies are available. From To Catch a Coon mission, The Coon would no longer be available even after completion of all missions.

Other restrictions include:

• Rise of the Fourthies - Super Craig and the Human Kite only.
• Mosquito in a Honey Pot - Mosquito is a compulsory ally.
• The Bowels of the Beast - Captain Diabetes is a compulsory ally.
• Alternate Universes Collide Again - Human Kite is not available.
• Medicinal Fried Fiasco - Restricted to The Coon only.
• The Hundred Hands of Chaos - Toolshed is a compulsory ally.
• The Chaos Gambit and Always Bet on Chaos - Professor Chaos is a compulsory ally.
• The Samaritan Agenda - Restricted to Tupperware, Wonder Tweek and Professor Chaos.
• Farts of Future Past - During the fight against the Zaron fighters, allies will change over corresponding to the appearance of their respective alter egos.
• Therapy Wars - Restricted to Super Craig and Wonder Tweek only.
• (You Can) Call on Me - Restricted to Call Girl only.

List of combats where no allies are permitted:

• Human Kite 2 in Alternate Universes Collide
• Pedophile Priests in A Touch of Faith
• Raisins Girls in Medicinal Fried Fiasco
• Operation: Just 'Cause and Operation: Blind Justice
• All four Origins missions
• The Big Beatdown

Levels

Upon victory, the New Kid will receive experience which add towards their combat level. Higher levels unlocks additional artifact slots, increases status effect damage, and damage/heal from summons.

Enemies fought during missions has a fixed amount of experience. Regular encounters (such as the 6th Graders, Raisins Girls that are found throughout South Park awards experience at a rate of $20*DayNumber$.

Level	Exp required	Cumulative exp	Unlocks
1	0	0	None
2	75	75	None
3	270	345	Minor artifact slot
4	500	845	Major artifact slot
5	600	1445	Major artifact slot
6	700	2145	Epic artifact slot
7	800	2945	Minor artifact slot
8	900	3845	Minor artifact slot
9	1000	4845	Epic artifact slot
10	1600	6445	None
11	1800	8245	None
12	2000	10245	None
13	2200	12445	None
14	2400	14845	None
15	2600	17445	None

Battle Grounds

Grids

Layout of the battle ground

The combat field is laid out in square grids. The player may move their characters around these grids using 'WASD' keys (PC)/stick button (Xbox/PS4), subject to the character's Move radius. No two characters may stand on the same grid.

Different colors on the grid denotes different scenarios:

• Blue - The character may move within blue grids (except where another character is already in place).
• Yellow - When an ability is selected, it may be used within grids highlighted in yellow.
• Green - For healing and protecting abilities.
• Purple with target icon - Where a summoning ability (e.g. Professor Chaos' "Hired Hands") will be used.
• Red - Where an ability with fixed range will be used.
• Striped red - Telegraphed attacks where an attack will be executed on the enemy's next turn.
• Blue diamond - The character will move to this grid at the end of their turn.
• Black - Some abilities cannot be executed due to an obstacle in between the character and their target(s).

Obstacles

In some combats, the player may find obstacles in field. Most of them can be cleared with any offensive abilities, however destroying certain obstacles may trigger an explosion, causing damage and knockback on adjacent characters.

List of combats with explosive obstacles:

• Meth Tweakers in The Hundred Hands of Chaos
• Shub-Niggurath

Artifacts

Main article: List of Artifacts in South Park: The Fractured But Whole

Abilities

Ability selection interface

Four abilities are allowed in combat, including three basic abilities and an ultimate ability. Each ability can be selected by clicking on the ability image or using a keybind.

For allies, their abilities are fixed, but for the New Kid, they can customize their abilities however they want.

Attributes

Abilities are classified into 3 attributes:

• 

  Brawn

• 

  Brain

• 

  Spunk

• Brawn increases damage done with Melee attacks.
• Brain increases damage done with Ranged/Mental/Magic attacks.
• Spunk boosts the effects of support abilities, like Healing and Shield skills.

Classes

Classes are the New Kid's powers' classification, each carrying one ultimate and three basics. In Origins, the player gets to choose Brutalist, Speedster or Blaster. During the subsequent Origins missions, three more classes will be available, and those that were not chosen previously will rollover into the selection. However, at the end of Freedom Calling the player will have access to abilities from all classes.

The New Kid has the right to choose between the abilities within their selected classes.

• 

  Assassin

• 

  Blaster

• 

  Brutalist

• 

  Cyborg

• 

  Elementalist

• 

  Gadgeteer

• 

  Martial Artist

• 

  Plantmancer

• 

  Psychic

• 

  Speedster

• 

  Final Girl (Bring the Crunch DLC)

• 

  Netherborn (From Dusk till Casa Bonita DLC)

Basic Abilities

Toolshed using his Spiral Power ability

Each character can use up to 3 abilities at a time during combat. These can be used anytime during the character's turns, with some abilities being subjected to a cooldown (e.g. Wonder Tweek's "Icicle Strike").

Ultimate Abilities

Each time a character is attacked, a time meter appears which the player must respond within a split second. Doing this correctly adds to an Ultimate meter. When the Ultimate meter is charged up to 100%, anyone will be allowed to use their ultimate ability which is very powerful. And after it has been unleashed, the meter will reset to 0%, and the player will have wait for the next full charge.

Note that it is not possible to overfill the ultimate meter. This will stay at 100% until an ultimate ability is executed.

Status Effects

Main article: Status Effects

Telegraphed Attacks

Danger zone of telegraphed attacks marked by red striped grids

Some enemies may prepare for an attack that will execute at their next turn, creating a danger zone indicated by red striped grids. The player should avoid the attack by moving their characters away from the striped grids before they end their turn. The player may also use knockback abilities on some characters to shift their danger zone, however care must be taken to ensure that other characters do not end up in the shifted zone.

Timefarts

Over the course of the game, the New Kid will unlock the ability to rip the fabric of space and time through their farts, known as Timefarts. During combat, the New Kid may use these Timefarts at any time, subject to a three-turn cooldown. There are four variants of Timefarts.

• 

  Timefart Glitch

• 

  Timefart Pause

• 

  Timefart Shift

• 

  TimeFart Summon

• Timefart Glitch - Unlocked during The Bowels of the Beast, when the New Kid consumes an Enchirito. In combat, the New Kid may use Glitch to cancel an enemy's turn. Outside of combat, the New Kid may use this to rewind objects and living things back to their original positions.
• Timefart Pause - Unlocked during Medicinal Fried Fiasco, when the New Kid consumes a Cheesy Shrimparito. In combat, Timefart Pause allows the New Kid to roam around the battlefield freely for 10 seconds and punch any opponent for additional damage within this timeframe. Outside of combat, the New Kid may use this to bypass hazards or other obstacles and complete puzzles.
• Timefart Shift - Unlocked during The Many Asses of Dr. Mephesto, when the New Kid farts on a fan outside the South Park Genetic Engineering Ranch. Timefart Shift allows the New Kid to advance from day to night and vice versa. Using this ability is essential during the combat against Mutated Human Kite 2.
• TimeFart Summon - Unlocked when the New Kid consumes a Chocolate Memberito. In combat, the New Kid may use this to summon their past self into battle for three turns.

Red Wine Drunk Randy on glitch, signifying an impending defeat.

When an enemy begins to glitch, it is a sign of an impending defeat of the New Kid. Players must use this opportunity to activate their Timefart before the turns end. This is especially the case of the battle against Red Wine Drunk Randy, where failure to use Timefart will lead to a Game Over situation.

Damage Calculation

Damage inflicted by the superheroes is dependent on the player's stats and the type of ability used.

The formula for determining damage inflicted is: $Playe{r}^{\prime }sattributestats*Difficulty$

With Heroic as the default difficulty, the damage values are scaled at 1.3 on Casual, 1 on Heroic, 0.75 on Mastermind, and 0.6 on Diabolic.

The formula for determining damage resulting from status effects is: $(5*(1.205-0.01*2)*(1.205-0.01*2.5)...(1.205-0.01*n))*T*Artifactbonus$

Where $n$ is the New Kid's current level, and $T$ is the type of status effect. $T$ carries a value of 1 for Bleeding, 2 for Burning, 3 for Shocked, and 4 for Grossed Out.

Damage inflicted by the enemy varies according to the selected combat difficulty. With Heroic as the default difficulty, the damage values are scaled at 0.5 on Casual, 1 on Heroic, 1.25 on Mastermind, and 1.75 on Diabolic.

Time Meters

In some battles, the player will find a time meter at the bottom of the screen. Once the time meter fills, combat is interrupted and the enemy will execute their special attack. Following the attack, the character's turn (regardless ally or enemy) at this time will be lost. Therefore, the player will need to think fast and act quickly before the meter fills. The player may also time their attacks such that the meter would fill during the enemy's turn.

List of timed combats:

• Spontaneous Bootay in The Bowels of the Beast (Instead of fighting, the player should run away from the danger zone)
• Shub-Niggurath
• Mitch Conner (time meter is activiated randomly during combat)
• Many-assed Sixth Graders
• Mutated Human Kite 2
• The ultra challenges at the Sixth Grader Base in the Danger Deck DLC

Summons

Main article: Summons

Summons can be used to aid the player in combat. Each summon costs an item to execute, which cannot be replenished.

• 

  Warrior of Nippopolis

• 

  Master Marksmen

• 

  Hit 'N' Run Queen

• 

  All-Powerful Healer

• Warrior of Nippopolis (Chessing Vial) - Gerald will appear inside his fantasy land, riding his bomber plane as he will then be seen running around crazily, knocking down targeted enemies. Unlocked after For Nippopolis.
• Master Marksmen (Ham Radio) - Jimbo and Ned will appear with all guns blazing towards targeted enemies. Unlocked after Peppermint Hippo Lost & Found.
• Hit 'N' Run Queen (CLASSi's Burner) - CLASSi will appear with her convertible, ramming down all enemies on sight, cussing them and dashing away afterwards. Unlocked during Freedom Calling.
• All-Powerful Healer (Macaroni Picture) - Moses will unleash holy powers from the Super Best Friends headquarters, blessing all team members with health, clearing away any status effects and providing an attack boost. Unlocked after A Touch of Faith.

The Cheesing Vial, Ham Radio, and CLASSi's Burner are offensive summons which will inflict damage on all enemies.

The formula in determining damage resulting from these summons is: $Damage(uptoLevel6)=(5*(1.205-0.01*2)*(1.205-0.01*2.5)...(1.205-0.01*n))*4*T*Bonus$ $Damage(fromLevel6.5to8)=C*T*Bonus$ $Damage(fromLevel8.5)=(160+40*((n-8.5)+(n-0.5-8.5)+(n-1-8.5)...+0))*T*Bonus$

Where $n$ is the player's current level, and $T$ is the type of summon. $T$ carries a value of 1 for Cheesing Vial, 1.25 for Ham Radio and CLASSi's Burner, and 2.5 for All-Powerful Healer. $Bonus$ is dependent on the combat difficulty, and if there is an Attack Up and/or Defense Down status effect. This does not apply to the All-Powerful Healer.

$C$ carries a value of 100 for Level 6.5, 120 for Level 7, 130 for Level 7.5, and 150 for Level 8.

Items

Consumables may be used on combat to heal and regenerate characters. Unlike South Park: The Stick of Truth, consuming an item would use up the character's turn.

Game Over

If the player loses in combat, a "You’re Dead." in blood is displayed on screen. The player will then have the option to restart the battle or end the game.

A Game Over occurs when all characters are defeated in combat. In the case of Mysterion, the ghost variant is considered defeated. An exception to this is during the fight against Red Wine Drunk Randy, where the player loses if Captain Diabetes is defeated.

Other scenarios where the player is defeated include:

• The Chaos Gambit - When the New kid is defeated and all other characters are grounded by Stephen Stotch.