How do Soul Affinity and Soul Bonuses work?

Soul Affinity

In battles, if a character deals damage to a target, and that character has a Soul that is stronger than the target’s, the damage dealt to the target increases by 25%.
This is called Soul Affinity.

Each character has 1 Soul.
Souls are divided into 2 groups, and each group’s Soul Affinity works differently.

Group 1 (4-part balance loop):
Group 2 (2-sided matchup):

You can also check any character’s Soul via the icons displayed in the Character Index, each Character Info screen, etc.

The patterns below display the Soul Affinity of each group, with the arrows indicating which Soul a certain Soul has the advantage over.
 

• Azure Soul→Crimson Soul→Emerald Soul→Amber Soul→Azure Soul
  (continues in a loop)
• Radiance Soul⇄Chaos Soul
  (both have the advantage against each other)

Soul Affinity only applies the advantageous effects mentioned above. Thus, there are no negative effects that activate, such as decreased damage when a character attacks a target with a Soul that is stronger than their own.
Even when a character deals an attack to multiple enemies, Soul Affinity is only applied to the damage dealt to the target that the attacking character’s Soul has the advantage over.
Damage dealt will not increase if said damage is not directly tied to a character’s own “attacks.” As such, applied buffs and debuffs do not benefit from Soul Affinity.

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Soul Bonuses and Chaos Soul Bonuses

Soul Bonuses are activated by including a specified number of characters with the following Souls in the party: [ (excluding Chaos Souls)].
[ (Chaos Souls only)] do not count towards or benefit from Soul Bonuses. Instead, having Chaos Soul characters in the party activates Chaos Soul Bonuses.
Soul Bonus effects are only applied as pre-increased/decreased stats, which are stats in their initial states before any stat-increasing/decreasing buffs, debuffs, etc., are applied to them. Therefore, the effects can be confirmed only during battles.

• Soul Bonuses
  • The Soul Bonus with the strongest effect will be activated and applied to all party members based on the number of characters with the same Soul (among Azure Soul, Crimson Soul, Emerald Soul, Amber Soul, Radiance Soul) who are arranged in the party.
    • Only Radiance Soul characters are universal, and each of them is counted as 1 character of [the Soul that is included the most in the party, among Azure Soul, Crimson Soul, Emerald Soul, and Amber Soul].
      Additionally, if a party consists of only Radiance Soul characters, the Soul Bonus corresponding to the number of Radiance Soul characters in the party will be activated.
      • Example: In a party consisting of 4 Radiance Soul characters and 1 Azure Soul character, the 4 Radiance Soul characters will be counted as Azure Soul characters, so the Soul Bonus, [5 with the same Soul] will be applied to the entire party.
  • Soul Bonuses are not applied to Chaos Soul characters.
    • Example: In a party consisting of 3 Azure Soul characters, 1 Emerald Soul character, and 1 Chaos Soul character, the Soul Bonus, [3 with the same Soul], will be applied to only the 3 Azure Soul characters and 1 Emerald Soul character.
• Chaos Soul Bonuses
  • The Chaos Soul Bonuses that are activated are dependent on the number of Chaos Soul characters included in the party. All applicable Chaos Soul Bonuses will be activated.
  • Chaos Soul Bonuses are only applied to Chaos Soul characters.
    • Example: In a party consisting of 3 Chaos Soul characters and 2 Radiance Soul characters, the Chaos Soul Bonuses that increase DEF, HP Drain, and DEF Break will be applied only to the 3 Chaos Soul characters.