Actually, Smash/Firebolt/Magnum Shot(when not blocked with shield + defense)/Windmill(same)
always knock down. Even when the enemy has rank 3 in Mana Reflector, Natural Shield, Heavy Standing. It's hardcoded, so they're really useful in defeating enemies like the Knightmare or whoever it was that has four colors. One color each for invulnerability to ranged/melee/magic, and one color for total invincibility; he changes color when knocked over, meaning you need to use the above skills for their knockdown ability.
On the other hand, hitting a Heavy Standing 3 enemy with any other attack(melee) resets their stun&knockdown bars, so don't. xD
In case this hasn't been brought up!:
Stages of Natural Shield, Heavy Standing, Mana Reflector: Passive DefenseEach monster has a different rank. There are three distinct ranks, 1, 2, and 3; four if you count 0. Inside the game, it is coded as rank 9, 5 and 1, but we don't need to know that :3
Most weak monsters don't have any of these skills, while many strong monsters have one or more. The player can access these skills' effects through three methods. One, use Defense with a shield: blocking Magnum Shot with a shield will cause the player to flash yellow, create a metallic ringing, and reduce damage while still standing. Same with all magic except for Firebolt. The second method is to raise the Transform (Paladin, Dark Knight, Beast, Falcon) skills. Third is to upgrade your shield to have a small chance of creating a special effect.
There are three of these special skills. Natural Shield is against ranged physical attacks, Heavy Standing against physical melee, and Mana Reflector against magic.
Heavy StanderRank 1 of any of those three:
- No stun from the applying attack type
- Cannot be knocked down from the applying attack type
- 10% chance of above two effects being activated
Rank 2 of any of those three:
- Same as Rank 1, except it has a 50% chance of being activated
- Upon activation, damage is reduced by a certain amount.
Rank 3 of any of those three:
- Same as rank 1, except it has a 100% chance of being activated
- All damage is rendered as "1".
Personally, I like the activation sound. It's so distinctive and cheery (even if I'm on the receiving side. . . ).
Natural Shield activates 100% from rank two. It also does not ignore stun, but does ignore knockback gauge. Also, it doesn't flash yellow with that nice sound at Rank 1, but is always on, with a passive knockdown ignoring effect.
Same with Mana Reflector. You cannot knock down a Mana Reflector Rank 1 monster with three Icebolts.