Buffs

Buffs are the Effects that increase a leek's Characteristics. They can be applied:

by using certain chips (usually the ones with a dark blue background):

by using certain weapons:

through the passive effect of certain forgotten weapons:

For example, the Plutonium Bazooka converts 5% of the damage it deals into a raw shield (raw resistance) for the shooter.

How it works

Some buffs are affected by the Science of the leek using the item, others are not. For example, the characteristics granted by the Motivation chip do not depend on the caster's characteristics (EFFECT_RAW_BUFF_TP effect), whereas those granted by the Rage chip do (EFFECT_BUFF_TP effect). As a general rule, if the effect name contains _RAW_, the effect does not depend on the caster's characteristics.

Buffs can only add a whole number of characteristic points to a leek: the value is always rounded. So Acceleration and Seven-League Boots need the leek using them to have some points in Science for their MP buff to always take effect.

If the effect depends on the caster's science, the formula for the buff value (that is, the number of points added to the target's characteristic) is:

final_buff = round((v1 + v2 * roll) * (1 + caster_science / 100) * area_factor * critical)

where v1 + v2 × roll is a float drawn uniformly at random between the bounds given by the weapon or chip (for Rage, for example, between 0.5 and 0.6), area_factor depends on the target's position in the area of effect, and critical is 1.3 on a critical hit (1 otherwise).

If the effect does not depend on the caster's science, the formula is simply:

final_buff = round((v1 + v2 * roll) * area_factor * critical)

So raw buffs (_RAW_) are affected by critical hits too.

Note the round: for other effects (heals, damage, armor...), being off by 1 rarely matters. Here, for MP and TP buffs, every point counts, and the fact that it is a round rather than a floor or a ceil really matters.

Actual thresholds for TP and MP buffs

The table below gives the values you get for TP and MP buffs depending on caster_science, and therefore the science thresholds worth reaching:

caster_science | Acceleration and Seven-League Boots MP buff (0.4 to 0.5) | Rage TP buff (0.5 to 0.6) | Whip TP buff (0.6 to 0.7) ------------|-----------|-----------|-------- 0 to 24 | 0 or 1 | 1 | 1 25 to 114 | 1 | 1 | 1 115 to 149 | 1 | 1 | 1 or 2 150 to 199 | 1 | 1 or 2 | 2 200 to 257 | 1 or 2 | 2 | 2 258 to 274 | 1 or 2 | 2 | 2 or 3 275 to 316 | 2 | 2 | 2 or 3 317 to 399 | 2 | 2 or 3 | 3 400 to 483 | 2 or 3 | 3 | 3 or 4 484 to 524 | 2 or 3 | 3 or 4 | 4 525 to 542 | 3 | 3 or 4 | 4 543 to 599 | 3 | 3 or 4 | 4 or 5 600 to 649 | 3 or 4 | 4 | 4 or 5 650 to 685 | 3 or 4 | 4 or 5 | 5 686 to 774 | 3 or 4 | 4 or 5 | 5 or 6 775 to 799 | 4 | 4 or 5 | 5 or 6 800 to 816 | 4 or 5 | 5 | 5 or 6 817 to 828 | 4 or 5 | 5 or 6 | 6 829 to 960 | 4 or 5 | 5 or 6 | 6 or 7

When the table says "n or n+1", the chance of getting n+1 rather than n increases with caster_science.

The calculations go up to 960, the theoretical maximum for a leek's characteristics (without components or buffs).