Reaction Endurance
Reaction Endurance (リアクション耐久値 Riakushon Taikyū-chi) is a combat mechanic in the Kingdom Hearts series. It determines how many hits an enemy will take before reacting from an attack or being staggered by it.
Enemies begin encounters with a certain amount of Reaction Endurance. Each attack that hits the enemy decreases their Reaction Endurance by a certain amount, which is referred to as the attack's Reaction Value (リアクション値 Riakushon-chi). When an enemy's Reaction Endurance reaches 0, they instantly react to an attack by flinching or will be staggered by it.
Mechanics[edit]
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance[edit]
In Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, every enemy and Spirit has a hidden Reaction Endurance value. Every attack landed on the target will deplete their Reaction Endurance by the attack's Reaction Value. Once a target's Reaction Endurance reaches 0, they will react by flinching, being staggered or stunned. If a creature with a current Reaction Endurance of 1 or greater is unharmed for at least 10 seconds, their Reaction Endurance will fully recover. If a creature with a current Reaction Endurance of 0 is unharmed, they will recover from their stagger after a period of time determined by their Reaction Endurance stat. If a creature with a current Reaction Endurance of 0 flinches from an attack, their Reaction Endurance will fully recover.
Young Xehanort, Xemnas, and the Spellican follow a special set of rules when their Reaction Endurance reaches 0. It will not be recovered if they flinch from attacks, and they will continue to flinch every time they receive an attack. However, if this situation continues for 6.7 seconds (3.3 seconds for Xemnas), their Reaction Endurance will fully recover and they will bounce back.
Some bosses, such as Chill Clawbster, will not react to attack from party members while executing their own powerful attacks, even if their Reaction Endurance has reached 0.
Ordinary Dream Eaters have a Reaction Endurance of 1. Certain strong Dream Eaters have a Reaction Endurance of 3 or 4; this includes the Kooma Panda, Zolephant, Drill Sye, Halbird, Eaglider, Thunderaffe, Cera Terror, Tyranto Rex, Aura Lion, Pegaslick, Electricorn, Skelterwild, Keeba Tiger, Ryu Dragon, Ursa Circus, and Beatalike[KH 3D HD]. Bosses have a unique Reaction Endurance value.
Kingdom Hearts III[edit]
In Kingdom Hearts III, Reaction Endurance functions nearly identically to Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. Most enemies have a base Reaction Endurance value, and any successful attack from anyone in the party will deplete their Reaction Endurance by the attack's Reaction Value. These enemies will not react to attacks from the party until their Reaction Endurance reaches 0; at this point, they will instantly stagger and will be interrupted mid-action, creating an opening to the player to attack.
Most attacks from playable characters, party members, as well as attacks from enemies that cause friendly fire (such as certain attacks from Rock Trolls) can decrease an enemy's Reaction Endurance. Typically, combos and Basic-style magic spells decrease this value by 1 per hit; party member action abilities, reprisals from playable characters, magic combo finishers, Grand Magic, and finish commands from Team Attacks and Formchanges may deplete an enemy's endurance by values up to 10; finish commands from Link Summons, Attractions, Spellweaver, certain Team Attacks such as Mighty Avalanche and reprisals from the Counter Shield and Formchanges may decrease endurance by 50 per hit. Some actions, such as Pole Swing or Goofy Tornado, as well as many combo melee attacks from most party members will not decrease an enemy's endurance at all.
An enemy's Reaction Endurance is restored by 1 for every 10 seconds the enemy is not attacked. The Reaction Endurance will be completely restored to its base value if the enemy flinches or staggers from a party member's attack, if 10 seconds pass after their endurance reaches 0, or if the enemy uses a Revenge Action.
Most enemies react to the party's attacks either through Reaction Endurance or Revenge Actions; a few, such as Yozora and Dark Baymax, use both mechanics concurrently. The Darkside, Rock Titan, Demon Tower, Demon Tide, King of Toys, Raging Vulture, and Lightning Angler do not have a Reaction Endurance value and their behavior is consequently not directly affected by party members' attacks; instead, many of these bosses have battle phases (like the Rock Titan), behaviors triggered by depleting their HP thresholds (like the Demon Tower), or other combat strategies independent of Reaction Endurance. Additionally, many members of the real Organization XIII have a Reaction Endurance value of 0, but do not flinch from party members' attacks when attacking themselves.
Certain enemies such as Yozora will also receive less damage from all elements when not staggering from party members' attacks (when their Reaction Endurance has not been depleted yet), and more after staggering (once their Reaction Endurance has reached 0).
