Mastering RPG Statistics - Level Up Your Game! 

We know what you’re thinking. Statistics? Math? Why is there math involved in roleplaying? In actuality, we’re referencing game attributes and player statistics, or stats, that you’ll usually find in modern RPGs and MMORPGs. These stats are numerical values that are mainly used to represent your character’s abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. 

For instance, your character might have something like a health bar, a mana bar, or even a stamina bar. In first-person-shooter (FPS) games, you might have something on your screen detailing the amount of ammo you have left, or even information about your weapon’s range, damage, and speed. You might also find some items in the world that can boost your character’s stats, such as gear/weapons, armor, or potions (these items can sometimes be purchased in shops using the game’s currency). Alternatively, your character could also gain better stats by leveling up in the game, hence unlocking new talents or skills to aid you in battle. Some player stats you’ve most likely stumbled across are listed below.

Main Stats

The core competencies of a player character may involve any of the following:

1. Health, also abbreviated as HP for Health Power, represents the character’s overall well-being. Some games will alternate this with vitality instead of health.

   • Mana, also called Mana Power (MP) or Energy Power (EP), is the measurement of one’s magical power and their ability to perform skills or spells. Mana usually accompanies HP in magic-related games. 

2. Strength, the measurement of physical or raw power that influences the amount of brute force or melee damage done to enemies. 

   • Attack, often abbreviated as ATK, is sometimes used instead of Strength, but can also be used alongside Strength to represent the attack power from weapons or magic.

3. Defense, sometimes abbreviated as DEF, reduces the amount of damage taken from attacks and increases the overall resistance to damage. 

4. Dexterity, the measurement of agility, precision, and coordination, and typically influences ranged attacks and evasion in combat.

5. Endurance, the measurement of a player’s resilience and resistance to damage, fatigue, or harsh conditions. Some games will alternate this with vigor or constitution.

6. Stamina, an attribute which reflects how long an individual is able to maintain themselves in combat before needing to rest. It can also be used to represent how long an individual is able to sprint or run before being forced to walk/break/idle.

   • 🛈 Some developers use stamina as a gameplay mechanic/monetization system to temporarily halt users from playing the game until it has regenerated. Impatient players would then have to pay for more stamina if they want to continue.

7. Intelligence, also called intellect, is the measurement of a player’s knowledge, mental prowess, or skill effectiveness, most prominently featured in magic-related games.

   • Wisdom is sometimes used in place of intelligence or accompanied with it entirely (often to measure willpower, intuition, or perception), and for magic-related games, it may be used to measure the player’s ability to cast certain spells.

8. Luck, a measurement of a character’s fortune or chance. It can affect critical hits (which we’ll discuss next) and the likelihood of favorable outcomes.

Advanced Stats

The advanced competencies of a player character may involve any of the following:

1. Critical Hit, sometimes abbreviated as CRIT or CRIT Rate, measures the likelihood of landing a critical hit, dealing bonus damage.

   • Critical Damage, also abbreviated as CRIT DMG, can be used to supplement the aforementioned with the total amount of damage dealt per hit.

2. Health Regeneration, which is the rate at which health is restored over time. Health regeneration can also be rewarded for escaping damage for a certain duration.

   • Mana Regeneration, like health regeneration, is the rate at which mana or energy is restored over time. You’ll only find this attribute in magic-related games.

3. Reduced Cooldown decreases the cooldown duration for skills and abilities so that players can use them more frequently.

4. Evasion Rate, abbreviated as EVA, increases the probability of evading damage or incoming attacks.

5. Status Effects, consisting of buffs and debuffs , are temporary changes to a character’s talents or abilities. Buffs provide beneficial effects to a character (e.g., auto-revive, gradual regen) whereas debuffs inflict ailments or impairments (e.g., power nullifiers, anti-regen). Status effects are often applied by using certain items (e.g., potions, food, special weapons). Enemies can also deliver harmful debuffs during battle. 

6. Resistance, which lessens the amount of damage taken by incoming attacks. Some games will generalize this stat as simply damage resistance (DR) that pertains to any kind of damage, while others will specify the type of resistance (elemental resistance [ice, lightning, fire], status effect resistance [poison, paralysis], etc). Resistance stats usually come in the form of status effects but can also be found in certain equippables like armor and gear.