- 15,418
- 5,748
Two related topics that have been brought up quite often, so I'd like if they could be cleared up. Neither of them are outright changes yet, but more like clearing up and seeing if it's accepted.
The first is regarding how we deal with soul manip and the resistance to it in UT. As you might know, we currently give monsters Soul Manipulation based on the fact that they can directly attack the player's soul. This is not mere game mechanic either (like just being visually portrayed this way), since they can also directly affect the soul in a number of ways (including the soul "modes"). But this damage isn't static. Indeed, the stronger the monster is, the more they will deal damage to the soul. It increases alongside their AP, in fact.
This would imply that stronger monsters deal more damage to the soul, with some of them being even able to one-shot a soul with their regular attacks. This should be the case for anyone above 8-C (since 8-C is the "baseline" for soul durability), such as the dogs in Snowdin. Of course, Frisk doesn't get one-shot by the monsters, but that's due to their resistances increasing with their own strength. Frisk at the beginning of the game gets harmed by Froggit, but a level 19 Frisk would take a ridiculously small amount of damage from even mid-tier monsters.
Note that this logic of resistance to soul manip would also apply to monsters, since they use the same soul-damaging attacks on each other in regular fights. This is even more blatant than with humans since most of their body is their soul, unlike humans.
tl;dr the strength of a monster's soul manip increases with their AP and so does their resistance. The resistance would also apply to Frisk. This also means that Sans' attack can ignore the "durability" of souls to an extent, since he can still destroy Frisk and their soul quickly. If this assumption is truly accepted, all monster profiles would need to be fully updated to match this.
Now secondly, Sans' "intangibility". A lot of people seems to assume that Sans' attacks are intangible to a degree, since they ignore durability. While ignoring durability isn't enough, it does seem like Sans' attacks ARE intangible to a degree. Indeed, Sans's only way of dealing damage is having Frisk be either in contact with or literally inside his attacks.
One might assume that this is just game mechanic and that Sans simply bumps his attacks into Frisk, but that'd be incorrect, since many of his attacks actively deal with Frisk going through them, such as his "sea of bone" attack, his dunk or the concept of blue attacks in general. Blue attacks are intangible normally but can still deal damage if Frisk moves while they go through him. Sans' normal bones act the same except without the moving restriction. It would also be false, since Sans' damage is based on draining Frisk' health gradually, which wouldn't be possible if his attacks simply bumped into Frisk without going through them.
Now this would have two possible explanations. Either Sans' attacks are intangible and just deal constant damage to anything in them or Sans' way of ignoring durability actually actively digs into his opponent's body, making way for the attack. This seems highly unlikely to me, since this would imply Sans can just target anyone's organs and destroy them instantly, so I'd favor the former.
tl;dr imo yes, Sans' attacks are probably intangible and should be officialized as such.
The first is regarding how we deal with soul manip and the resistance to it in UT. As you might know, we currently give monsters Soul Manipulation based on the fact that they can directly attack the player's soul. This is not mere game mechanic either (like just being visually portrayed this way), since they can also directly affect the soul in a number of ways (including the soul "modes"). But this damage isn't static. Indeed, the stronger the monster is, the more they will deal damage to the soul. It increases alongside their AP, in fact.
This would imply that stronger monsters deal more damage to the soul, with some of them being even able to one-shot a soul with their regular attacks. This should be the case for anyone above 8-C (since 8-C is the "baseline" for soul durability), such as the dogs in Snowdin. Of course, Frisk doesn't get one-shot by the monsters, but that's due to their resistances increasing with their own strength. Frisk at the beginning of the game gets harmed by Froggit, but a level 19 Frisk would take a ridiculously small amount of damage from even mid-tier monsters.
Note that this logic of resistance to soul manip would also apply to monsters, since they use the same soul-damaging attacks on each other in regular fights. This is even more blatant than with humans since most of their body is their soul, unlike humans.
tl;dr the strength of a monster's soul manip increases with their AP and so does their resistance. The resistance would also apply to Frisk. This also means that Sans' attack can ignore the "durability" of souls to an extent, since he can still destroy Frisk and their soul quickly. If this assumption is truly accepted, all monster profiles would need to be fully updated to match this.
Now secondly, Sans' "intangibility". A lot of people seems to assume that Sans' attacks are intangible to a degree, since they ignore durability. While ignoring durability isn't enough, it does seem like Sans' attacks ARE intangible to a degree. Indeed, Sans's only way of dealing damage is having Frisk be either in contact with or literally inside his attacks.
One might assume that this is just game mechanic and that Sans simply bumps his attacks into Frisk, but that'd be incorrect, since many of his attacks actively deal with Frisk going through them, such as his "sea of bone" attack, his dunk or the concept of blue attacks in general. Blue attacks are intangible normally but can still deal damage if Frisk moves while they go through him. Sans' normal bones act the same except without the moving restriction. It would also be false, since Sans' damage is based on draining Frisk' health gradually, which wouldn't be possible if his attacks simply bumped into Frisk without going through them.
Now this would have two possible explanations. Either Sans' attacks are intangible and just deal constant damage to anything in them or Sans' way of ignoring durability actually actively digs into his opponent's body, making way for the attack. This seems highly unlikely to me, since this would imply Sans can just target anyone's organs and destroy them instantly, so I'd favor the former.
tl;dr imo yes, Sans' attacks are probably intangible and should be officialized as such.