Aniimo Damage Formula Explained: ATK vs BREAK, REGEN and Level Scaling, STAB, Crit and the 2.56x Weakness

Aniimo’s damage formula starts from an effective attack, the higher of your ATK and 82.5% of your BREAK, subtracts the target’s defence, scales the result by the skill’s Might, then multiplies it by element, STAB, crit and several other modifiers: so ATK points are wasted on a Break Aniimo whose BREAK is high, and most Support, Heal and Regen Aniimo deal damage off their level, not their stats. That is the case menaceFT makes in his video of 5 October 2026, titled You’ve Been Wasting ATK On These Aniimo.

He credits the formula itself to Seb from his Discord server, who pulled it from the game, and the scaling rules to community testing compiled by RioRutail in a public damage spreadsheet. This page reads every line off his screen, checks what can be checked against the game’s own data files (build 1.0.0.7) and our element chart, and keeps the two apart: what the client confirms, and what rests on his sources.

What is the Aniimo damage formula?

The formula menaceFT shows has three lines: an effective attack, a raw hit built from that attack, the target’s DEF and the skill’s Might, and a final damage line that multiplies the raw hit by every bonus in play. Written out as it appears in his document at 0:46:

Line one, finalAtk = max(ATK, 0.825 × breakATK), picks a number to attack with. Line two subtracts the target’s DEF, with a floor of 10% of finalAtk so a hit never rounds to nothing, and multiplies by the skill term, skillFlat plus skillRate × power ÷ 10, where power is the Might printed on every skill card. Line three multiplies that raw figure by elementChart, STAB, abilityAdv, epRate, elementBonus and skillRatio, then by min(3, critMult), then by the taken-damage modifiers, each floored at 0.2, and a breakBonus. Fixed damage is added on top, and the whole thing is multiplied by 0.15 in PvP, by a level-difference term and by a modifier for the egg-heist mode.

Two of those terms you can read in the game yourself: Might on the skill card, and the element multiplier, which our data files put at 1.6 for an advantage and 0.625 for a resistance. The rest you cannot see in the client, which is why the video matters.

His example at 1:07: 1,000 ATK and 1,500 BREAK. The game compares 1,000 with 1,500 × 0.825 = 1,237.5, keeps the larger, and attacks with 1,237.5. Adding 100 ATK to that Aniimo changes nothing: 1,100 is still below 1,237.5.

Is ATK useless on Break Aniimo?

Yes, as long as 82.5% of the Aniimo’s BREAK is higher than its ATK, which on a built Break Aniimo it nearly always is: BREAK then sets both its HP damage and its gauge damage, and every ATK point is ignored. menaceFT names Magmarex and Inferlupa at 1:56, and says that even when a squad uses one as its main damage dealer, ATK on it is “a complete waste of mats”.

His own Magmarex proves the point. BREAK 145 × 0.825 = 119.6, against ATK 99, so the formula already attacks with BREAK at level 14. The break-even is easy to remember: BREAK wins once it is about 21% above ATK (1 ÷ 0.825 = 1.21). Below that, the formula as written would still read ATK.

That threshold explains something in the game’s own data that looks like a contradiction. The client recommends BREAK runes for 51 of the 56 Break entries it lists, but ATK runes for the five Bolty and Blazen entries. Their base values are almost level, ATK 85 to BREAK 87 on Bolty and 100 to 104 on Blazen, while Magmarex starts at 91 to 104 and Inferlupa at 89 to 108. Our reading, not the video’s: when BREAK never pulls 21% clear, ATK is the number the formula uses, and the game builds them that way. One line does not fit it: Popota starts at ATK 96 and BREAK 80 and still gets BREAK runes. Check the stat hexagon on your own copy before buying runes.

Which stat does each Aniimo’s damage scale on?

DPS Aniimo scale on ATK, Break Aniimo on BREAK, a few Regen Aniimo on REGEN, and most Support, Heal and Regen Aniimo on their own level, at 10.65 effective attack per level. That is menaceFT’s summary at 2:36, and it is where the spreadsheet comes in.

Role	Entries in the data	Rune the game recommends	Damage scales on (menaceFT)
DPS	86	ATK Rune (78), BREAK Rune (8)	ATK
Break	56	BREAK Rune (51), ATK Rune (5)	max(ATK, 0.825 × BREAK)
Regen	20	REGEN Rune (20)	Level × 10.65; REGEN on Somniwing and Flamerion
Support	34	REGEN Rune (34)	Level × 10.65
Heal	21	HP Rune (21)	Level × 10.65

The first two columns are the game’s data files, forms counted separately. The last is the video. The eight DPS entries that the client pairs with BREAK runes are the Fulmintis, Infergon and Pawney lines; more on why that is not a damage choice in the BREAK gauge section below.

The spreadsheet fits damage as roughly 0.0622 × Might × (1 + Amp) × STAB × Type × trait and counter boosts × Crit × (attack used − a level-based DEF − a species DEF), with the level DEF at about 2.49 × target level − 40.3. Its “attack used” is displayed ATK for a DPS, 0.85 × BREAK for a Breaker and 10.65 × own level for a Support. menaceFT puts the gap between 0.85 and 0.825 down to rounding in manual tests.

The level rule is easy to put a number on. A level 60 Support attacks with 10.65 × 60 = 639, whatever its ATK reads, so ATK runes and ATK Potential do nothing for its damage. The client agrees in its own words on four skills: Lunara’s Lunar Eclipse deals “massive additional BREAK damage based on the Aniimo’s level”, and Helion’s and Soleon’s Holy Storm deal “high BREAK damage based on the Aniimo’s level”.

The chart is the strongest evidence in the video: 103 DPS hits, 23 Support hits and 10 Breaker hits, from about 500 to 4,300 damage, sitting on the prediction line. Ten Breaker hits is a thin sample, so treat the Break numbers as well supported rather than settled.

Which skills break the scaling rules?

A handful of Support, Heal and Regen skills read a stat after all: menaceFT shows 15 skills that grow with ATK, 6 with REGEN and 4 with HP, so check the skill before you skip a stat. His example at 5:03 is Sparkelf, a Support whose Inspiration scales on ATK.

The list he scrolls is a community guide, not the client,, with a growth range per skill and a cap per stat that we could not check against the data files. The names on it include Eko’s Sonar Attack, Dazmand’s Thunder Sweep, Tromber’s Waltz and Melloblum’s Rose Garden on ATK; Somniwing’s Butterfly Dance and Ethereal Light Wave, Besauce’s Charged Geyser and Electric Dance Frenzy, Flamerion’s Phantom Barrage and Leafy’s Vitality Blooms on REGEN; and Hexxin’s Malicious Outburst and Oozing Malice on HP. What the data files do say: 47 skill descriptions carry the client’s own note “scales with the Aniimo’s stats”, and 38 mention Max HP. Read the card on Eko, Dazmand or Hexxin before you invest.

Does ATK help you break enemies faster?

No. The BREAK gauge has its own formula, and ATK is not in it: gauge damage is your BREAK minus the target’s BREAK DEF, times the skill’s Might and its BREAK percentage. menaceFT is blunt at 5:24: more ATK “doesn’t mean you’re going to break the unit faster”.

This is the split that decides a build. On a DPS, ATK moves the HP bar and BREAK moves the gauge. On a Break Aniimo, BREAK moves both. So BREAK on a DPS is not wasted, it is a gauge stat, and that is the honest reason the client recommends BREAK runes for Fulmintis: with ATK 130 against BREAK 50 in its base values, 0.825 × 50 = 41 never comes close to replacing its ATK.

The card is all you need: Sherro’s Torrent Slam reads Might 47 and BREAK 100%. A higher-Might skill empties the gauge faster even on a pure ATK build, menaceFT notes at 6:37, because Might sits in both formulas.

Do BREAK skills on a DPS use the BREAK stat?

No. A skill labelled BREAK on a DPS still deals its HP damage off ATK; the label means a higher BREAK percentage, so the skill drains the gauge faster, nothing more. menaceFT uses Lunara, a Light DPS, from 6:56.

Investing in ATK raises Lunar Eclipse’s HP damage like any other skill. Investing in BREAK on Lunara only raises the damage it does to shields and the gauge, “not to HP like an actual break character would”, in his words. Lunara is a DPS in our data, with base ATK 116 and BREAK 64.

One wrinkle for the record. The data files store each skill’s gauge power as a fixed share of its Might, and give Lunar Eclipse the same one-third share as Moon Impact, 20 for Might 60 and 15 for Might 45. The 150% on the card is therefore applied somewhere the export does not show; the level-based bonus its description promises is the likely place, but that is our guess.

How do damage multipliers stack in Aniimo?

Multiplicatively: elemental advantage, STAB, ability bonuses, elemental bonuses, skill modifiers, crits, damage-taken modifiers and BREAK damage bonuses are each multiplied into the hit, never added together. That is why a squad that stacks small bonuses outdamages one with bigger base stats, menaceFT argues at 8:50.

Run his numbers: 1.6 × 1.1 × 1.5 = 2.64x. If the same three were added as bonuses, +60%, +10% and +50%, the hit would be 2.2x. The gap grows with every term you add, and it is why the element matchup is the first thing our team builder scores.

Multiplier	Value	Where it comes from	Touches the BREAK gauge?
Element advantage	1.6x	Game data element table	Yes
Element resisted	0.625x	Game data element table	No, gauge uses max(1, chart)
Double weakness / double resist	2.56x / 0.39x	Our arithmetic on the table	2.56x yes, 0.39x no
STAB	1.1x	Spreadsheet and video	No (menaceFT)
Crit DMG	Capped at 3x	min(3, critMult) on screen	Not stated
Taken-damage modifiers	Each floored at 0.2	Code line on screen	Not stated
PvP	0.15x	Code line on screen	Not stated

How do you deal 2.56x more damage?

Hit a dual-element Aniimo with an element strong against both halves: the two 1.6 multipliers multiply, 1.6 × 1.6 = 2.56x. menaceFT’s example from 10:07 is Magmarex, Fire and Earth, and Water, which our chart gives 1.6 into Fire and 1.6 into Earth.

It cuts the other way too. Magmarex resists Fire on both halves, so a Fire hit lands at 0.625 × 0.625 = 0.39x, as he says. We ran every element from our data against Magmarex’s Fire and Earth: Water 2.56x; Dark, Grass, Earth, Light and Wind 1x; Lightning 0.625x; and Fire and Ice both 0.39x. Ice is the one his video does not mention, and the one most likely to catch out a squad built on Water and Ice together.

Does element typing affect BREAK damage?

Only upwards: an element advantage increases BREAK gauge damage, but a disadvantage never reduces it. The toughness line on screen at 5:32 already shows it, max(1, elementChart): a 1.6 passes through, a 0.625 is lifted to 1.

In practice, a Break Aniimo can be sent into a bad matchup to strip the gauge without losing gauge speed. Its HP damage still takes the 0.625, so swap out once the shield is down.

What is STAB in Aniimo?

STAB, same type attack bonus, is a 10% damage bonus, 1.1x, when a skill’s element matches the Aniimo’s own element; it does not raise BREAK gauge damage. menaceFT gives the figure at 11:20, and the spreadsheet uses the same 1.1.

Many Aniimo carry skills of other elements, so the real choice is matchup against STAB. Sherro, a Water DPS, shows it best: the data files list Torrent Slam (Water), Thunder Slam (Lightning) and Prismana Slam (Light), all at Might 47. Into a Water target, Torrent Slam lands at 0.625 × 1.1 = 0.69x, while Thunder Slam lands at 1.6x with no STAB, about 2.3 times as much. STAB is worth keeping when the matchup is neutral; it never rescues a resisted one.

How do Crit Rate and Crit DMG work in Aniimo?

Crit Rate adds your crit rate and the skill’s crit, subtracts the target’s crit resistance and adds type bonuses and a bonus against broken targets; at 100% effective Crit Rate every hit crits, and Crit DMG can never multiply a hit by more than 3x.

Both formulas include a bonus against broken targets, which is a reason to crit hardest after the gauge breaks. The 3x cap matters for crit-loop kits like Fulmintis, whose Lightning Surge raises skill Crit Rate by 35% for 20 seconds: past the cap, Crit DMG stops paying, so held items and Potential should go elsewhere.

How much do level differences change damage?

A lot, and mostly on the BREAK gauge: 10 levels below the target you deal half the toughness damage, 20 or more below only a tenth. Being higher helps, but less: +12% at 5 levels, +35% to +45% at 10, capped at +40% to +50% from 20 levels up.

That is the case for levelling your Break Aniimo first. An underlevelled Breaker loses half its job at minus 10, and no rune makes it back.

What are the best stats for every Aniimo?

DPS: ATK, with BREAK only if you want gauge speed. Break: BREAK, never ATK unless the Aniimo’s ATK and BREAK sit almost level. Support, Heal and most Regen: their job stats and their level, since their damage reads the level. menaceFT’s closing card at 13:15 puts it in five lines.

For which Aniimo fill each role, start with our best Aniimo for every role and the tier list; for squads, the best teams. Which six-stat Potential spread to keep is in our Potential guide, menaceFT’s earlier video on Irisalis skins is our Transmog guide, and the formula put to work on one Aniimo, his Irisalis stats, held item and team, is our Irisalis build guide.

What is confirmed, and what is not?

Confirmed by the game’s data files: the 1.6 and 0.625 element multipliers, so the 2.56x and 0.39x products; the role of every Aniimo and the rune the client recommends for it; Might and gauge power for every skill; the four skills that say they scale with level. On menaceFT’s screen but not in our export: the code line with 0.825, the toughness line, min(3, critMult), the PvP 0.15 and the Crit formulas. From the community spreadsheet: STAB 1.1, the 0.85 Breaker factor, 10.65 per level and the level DEF fit. Not verified anywhere: the skill caps on the community list and the level-difference percentages. Where the code says 0.825 and the spreadsheet 0.85, we print 0.825.