Buff (computer gaming)

In role-playing games, a status effect is a temporary modification to a game character’s original set of stats that usually comes into play when special powers and abilities (such as spells) are used, often during combat. It appears in numerous computer and video games of many genres, most commonly in role-playing video games. The term status effect can be applied both to changes that provide a character an advantage (increased attributes, defensive barriers, regeneration), and those that hinder the character (decreased attributes, incapacitation, degeneration). Especially in MMORPGs, beneficial effects are referred to as buffs, and hindering effects are called debuffs.

A status effect in the abstract is a persistent consequence of a certain in-game event or action, and as such innumerable variants exist across the gaming field. Status effects may result from one character performing a certain type of attack on another. Players may acquire status effects by consuming items, casting spells on themselves or each other, activating devices in the world, interacting with NPCs, or remaining in a particular location. Some games offer permanent status effects which persist for an entire level and act as modifications to the game's native difficulty.

The process of removing a status effect varies as widely as the effects themselves. Some status effects expire after a certain amount of time has elapsed. Most games contain items capable of healing specific status effects, or rarer items which can heal all of them. Many games also include magic spells that can eliminate status effects. Status effects are often removed at the end of a battle or once the originating enemy is defeated, however some may persist until they are explicitly cured. Games which allow players to rest may remove some status effects when that action is taken. If a game has multiple classes, one will often be a class capable of healing, who will have a greater ability to remove negative status effects than other classes.

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