Cancelling seemingly strips away any resistances granted by

[etony33]

Someone posted this over at GameFAQs, and I tested it...and yeah, it definitely does, at least with the Plasma Field.

[MrStarbird]

it shouldn't. I've seen speedrunners equip Kyra with the Plasma Field and still negate damage from PFD3's normal attack after a cancelling. I'd have to see it myself but cancelling is only coded to set Def, MDef, Agi, and Str back to original values, much in the same way the Psycho Wand returns Lashiec's stats to their normal value after a Reinforce.

[etony33]

I started a new game and changed Chaz's Factor 2 resistance to 0A, put him at level 99, brought him through The Edge, changed PD1 and PD2's HP so that theyd transform after one hit. PD3 attacked for 13 damage before Cancelling and 999 afterwards. It surprised me, too.

[MrStarbird]

that could explain it. resistances, from what I recall, normally only go up to 4, and the higher the number, the more damage you will take. a resistance of 10 probably causes an overflow in damage at times that causes it to go low (same thing happens in Phantasy Star II with the overflow wherein anything above 255 loops back to 1). So in theory, it isn't outside the realm of possibility to have 999 loop to 13, which would only be a difference of 14 damage, well within the range of RNG this game offers.

[etony33]

He had the Plasma Field equipped, which overrides his resistance and sets it to 1. I could set it to 04 and try again.

[etony33]

https://youtu.be/vgCSRVH97Uo

Here you go. I set Chaz's F2 resistance to 04, started a new game (it doesn't work on an existing save), got him to level 99, gave him the Plasma Field, sent him into The Edge, set PD1 and PD2's HP low enough so that they'd transform after one hit, and PD3 attacked for 1 or 2 before Cancelling and 593 afterwards.

[MrStarbird]

After seeing your video and after rewatching bichpuongballz's 2nd place speedrun video where the exact scenario happens, I can confirm this to be absolutely true. Thanks for pointing this out.

[etony33]

It probably doesn't change much as far aa strategy is concerned. Maybe it justifies giving Hahn the Mahlay Shield instead of the Plasma Field (Mahlay has +28 DEF and +12 MDEF while the Plasma Field has +22 and +11 respectively. However, the Plasma Field still may be the better option for two reasons: the Factor 2 resistance helps tremendously against Ray Breath, PD2's attack, and PD3's attack prior to Cancelling, and also, not equipping the Mahlay Shield means you can keep it in your inventory so that anyone can use it for the Deban effect if Rika needs to be healing instead).

It also possibly means that dual Laser Barriers may be the best choice for Rune or Raja (not both, you only get two). Psy Shield gives +21 DEF, +10 MDEF, and +1 Mental, while Laser Barroer gives +18 DEF and 12 MDEF. There's also the Silver Shield (+25 DEF and +4 MDEF), but it's probably inferior to both the Psy Shield and Laser Barrier.