Curse of Nihility

This article lists generic interactions with Curse of Nihility. For interactions with uniquely-named or special buffs, or otherwise unusual interactions, see the List of Special Curse of Nihility Interactions.

 Curse of Nihility (CoN) is a special debuff effect that removes certain buffs on adventurers and nullifies their effects for a certain amount of time. It is primarily used by bosses in the Rise of the Sinister Dominion and the Trials of the Mighty quests.

Mechanics

• Affected buffs will be removed entirely when Curse of Nihility is inflicted.
• Using skills and triggering abilities that would grant affected buffs, will not grant them if Curse of Nihility is active.
• The vast majority of Buff Zones will not grant their buff while Curse of Nihility is active.
  • However, for abilities that count the amount of buff zones an adventurer or enemy is standing in, the buff zones will still be counted.
  • For example:
    • Nevin's Magnus ApocalypseLv. 2: Deals 1 hit of 1000% shadow damage to the target and nearby enemies, and decreases the remaining time of Locked Sigil by 60 seconds if the attack connects.
      
      During Sigil Released, this skill instead deals 1 hit of 1000% shadow damage to the target and nearby enemies plus a number of additional hits of shadow damage to nearby enemies equal to the number of buff zones they're standing in. Damage dealt by those hits is 300% for user-created buff zones and 100% for buff zones created by allies.
      
      If this skill is used as a Shared Skill, it always uses the Sigil Released variant. [7500 SP] will still deal extra hits to enemies in nullified buff zones.
    • Dragonyule Victor's Holiday AidLv. 2: Using Chuting Stars while in a buff zone restores the user's HP with 50% Recovery Potency. will still heal him if he uses Chuting StarsLv. 2: Deals 1 hit of 2500% shadow damage to the target and nearby enemies, and deals additional hits to enemies in buff zones created by both the user and other adventurers. Damage dealt by those hits is 1 hit of 500% shadow damage per buff zone that the enemy is standing in. [6017 SP] while standing in nullified buff zones.
• Curse of Nihility cannot be removed by shapeshifting.
  • However, if an adventurer is already in dragon form without Curse of Nihility, Curse of Nihility cannot be applied upon them for the duration of their dragon. In other words, being in dragon form lets the player "block" or "dodge" CoN.
  • Adventurers that use Hybrid Transformation, such as Tiki or Gala Notte, can also avoid Curse of Nihility by being in their transformed state.
  • Adventurers that use Dragondrive or Partner Summon are NOT able to avoid Curse of Nihility by being in their transformed state.
  • Skills that are modified after shapeshifting, such as Dragonyule Xainfried's Breath of the YuletideLv. 3: Deals 1 hit of 889% wind damage to enemies directly ahead, and raises the dragon gauge by 90 DP if the attack connects.
    
    After the user has shapeshifted once, this skill will raise the dragon gauge by 130 DP instead. [7634 SP], will become reverted to their pre-shapeshift version if Curse of Nihility is active.

Passives vs Buffs

Buffs and Debuffs

• Boosts that are classified as "passive" are always immune. Passive effects do NOT create any visible buff icons above the player's skills.
• Only boosts that are classified as "buffs" are considered for nullification by CoN. Buff effects will create visible blue-bordered buff icons above the player's skills (pictured).
• See the Stat Boosts article for a discussion on the difference between "passive" and "buff" effects.

Avoiding CoN

• Curse of Nihility is a debuff, and as such can be cleansed with self-debuff removal, such as Natalie's Clean SlateLv. 2: Removes all debuffs from the user.
  
  If the user's HP is below 30% of max HP when using this skill, increases the user's strength by 20% for 15 seconds.
  
  If the user's HP is above or equal to 30% of max HP, reduces their HP to 20% of max HP and grants them a one-use divergent shield that nullifies damage less than 80% of the user's maximum HP. Divergent shields can stack with ordinary shields. [6000 SP].
• Under certain circumstances, Curse of Nihility can be prevented from being applied (commonly referred to as "CoN dodge")
  • As mentioned above, being in a dragon form or Hybrid Transformation at the time of CoN's application will block it from being applied.
  • In solo play, being in the middle of a Helper's skill animation will cause CoN to be applied to the Helper unit itself. This effectively blocks CoN from being applied to the controlled unit.
• Depending on the content, CoN dodging might not be available.
  • Master and Legend difficulties of CoN quests will often apply CoN at the start of the quest, so fast as to be very difficult or impossible to avoid.
  • A single CoN application in Master or Legend difficulties will also usually last 10 minutes (the full time limit of the quest), making it effectively permanent for the entire quest.

Effects Nullified by CoN

Curse of Nihility will remove and nullify the effects of the following buffs, unless specifically stated otherwise:

• Strength Up
  • Because the buff provided from Agito weapons like Caladbolg

    Caladbolg
    HP: 270 Strength: 1720

    Skills	Abilities
    Mag Mell	(Light) Fhiannaíocht (Light) Rúraíocht

    is removed, the combo time from (Light) FhiannaíochtLv. 1: If the user is attuned to Light: extends the window between hitting an enemy and the combo counter resetting by 1 second after using Mag Mell. This effect will persist until the user uses Tír na nÓg. is removed as well.
• Attack Rate Up
• Critical Rate Up
• Critical Damage Modifier Up
• Skill Damage Up
  • Gala Cat Sìth's Skillful Trickery stacks are removed, thus making her effectively useless. To make her work, the user has to shapeshift or avoid the attacks that apply Curse of Nihility.
• SP Regen
• Skill Haste Up
• Certain buffs that upgrade or alter skill effects, not including Skill Shift. (Some exceptions apply)
• Force Strike Damage Up
• Force Strike Charge Rate Up
• Force Strike Attack Rate Up
• Debuff Chance Up
• Defense Up
• Life Shield
• HP Regen originating from wyrmprint abilities (Healing Doublebuff, Last Recovery)
• Movement Speed Up
• Energy
  • The removal of Energy essentially reduces Gala Thor to a 50% strength dragon.
  • Valyx's Energy is uniquely stated to be immune.
• Inspiration
• Buff Zone

Effects Immune to CoN

Some immune exceptions include:

• Surge of Strength
• Critical Damage Surge
• Primal Dragalia
• Elemental Damage Up
  • However, the Flame Damage Up from Panther's skill 1 is nullified.
• Overdamage
• Affliction Chance Up
• HP Up
• HP Regen originating from adventurer, dragon, or weapon abilities/skills
• Life Steal
• Recovery Potency Up
• Skill Shift
  • However, skill-shift-like stances such as Mikoto's Ravenous FireLv. 4: Deals 2 hits of 910% flame damage to enemies directly ahead, and activates "Flare Stance" for 20 seconds if the attack connects. During Flare Stance, the user's strength is increased by 10% and gives access to Ravenous Fire (Flare).
    
    Ravenous Fire (Flare) deals 3 hits of 685% flame damage, ends Flare Stance, and activates "Ruin Stance" for 15 seconds. During Ruin Stance, the user's strength is increased by 15%, adds 30% to the modifier applied to their critical damage, and gives access to Ravenous Fire (Ruin).
    
    Ravenous Fire (Ruin) deals 3 hits of 517% and 1 hit of 776% flame damage, and activates "Ruin Stance" for 15 seconds. [4500 SP] and Hanabusa's Dance of BladesLv. 3: Deals 1 hit of 1130% light damage to enemies directly ahead and activates "Dragon Dance" for 20 seconds if the skill connects. During Dragon Dance, this skill is upgraded to Dance of Blades (Dragon Dance).
    
    Dance of Blades (Dragon Dance) has a reduced SP cost of 2567, deals 1 hit of 1382% light damage to enemies directly ahead and if it connects, ends Dragon Dance and activates "Tiger Dance" for 15 seconds, granting access to Dance of Blades (Tiger Dance).
    
    Dance of Blades (Tiger Dance) has a reduced SP cost of 2567 and deals 1 hit of 1633% light damage to enemies directly ahead. If the skill connects, Tiger Dance will end. [2840 SP] are still nullified.
• Locked Sigil and Sigil Released
• Damage Reduction
  • However, the Damage Reduction from Gala Chelle's buff zone is nullified.
• Elemental Res Up
• Shield and Divergent Shield
• Damage Diffusion
• Knockback Immunity
• Reflexive Evasion
• Amps
  • Strength Amp
  • Defense Amp
  • Critical Damage Amp
• Altered Force Strike buffs, such as Yachiyo's Peerless HeartLv. 2: Activates "Dauntless Spirit." The user's next force strike will deal extra damage. [4139 SP]

Unique Cases and Further Reading

Buffs that are unique to certain adventurers or dragons (whether a unique name or unique icon) could be nullified or immune - this is determined on a case-by-case basis.

For more details, see the List of Special Curse of Nihility Interactions.

Cleansers

Skills that remove Curse of Nihility

Name	Adventurers with Skill	Weapons with Skill	Dragons with Skill
Clean SlateLv. 2: Removes all debuffs from the user. If the user's HP is below 30% of max HP when using this skill, increases the user's strength by 20% for 15 seconds. If the user's HP is above or equal to 30% of max HP, reduces their HP to 20% of max HP and grants them a one-use divergent shield that nullifies damage less than 80% of the user's maximum HP. Divergent shields can stack with ordinary shields. [6000 SP]	Natalie	-	-

Abilities that remove Curse of Nihility

Name	Might Value	Adventurers with Ability	Wyrmprints with Ability	Dragons with Ability	Weapons with Ability
Emergency Repairs I	60	Laxi	-	-	-
Emergency Repairs II	80	Laxi	-	-	-