Threat Level and Special Tool/Curative Usage by Pawns

Pawn usage of Special Arrows, such as Blast Arrows, debilitation arrows, Periapts and group status boosts are determined by the level of threat the enemy (or group of enemies) poses to the party. This is determined between the moment the enemy is announced by a pawn and when the enemy completes its acknowledgement of the Arisen and party. This is most easily observed when fighting Dragonkin, especially the Cursed Dragon, though all enemy encounters commence with this "moment".

The threat level is then indicated by the choice of battle music the game selects. There are two sets of soundtracks for battle music, one for Gransys (also used exclusively in the original version of the game) and one set for Bitterblack Isle. They are, in increasing order of threat level: For Bitterblack Isle, they are: Pawns will typically only use two status-affecting items (Periapts, Group Status Boosters) and typically will single-fire Special Arrows rather than use them rapidly with skills*. Keep in mind that the Periapts and Group Status Boosters stack up to 4x in use at a time; if a Pawn uses two, then the Arisen can choose whether or not to stack two more.
 * Combat       Special Arrows, Tools and Curatives are NOT used
 * Combat Tension    Special Arrows, Tools and Curatives are used
 * [http:// http://youtu.be/R0VkXB8p6g8 Hopeless Battle]      Special Arrows, Tools and Curatives are used
 * Ordinary Battle     Special Arrows, Tools and Curatives are NOT used
 * Intense Battle       Special Arrows, Tools and Curatives are used
 * Desperate Battle    Special Arrows, Tools and Curatives are used


 * Pawns will infrequently use special arrows with their skills, but this is rare as the threat level must be dire indeed.