Soul Crusher

For the similar staff in EBF4, see Death Scythe.

The Soul Crusher is a non-elemental staff available for Natalie in Epic Battle Fantasy 5.

Description

The Soul Crusher is a black metal scythe with a huge, overly ornate head. The top of the shaft ends in a spear-like point, the bottom has a horizontally-curved point, and a series of chain links are tied around the shaft proper. Based on its stats and menu description, it is very unwieldy due to its size.

Normal

Natalie is generally not a physical fighter/tank, but the Soul Crusher attempts to rectify that. It provides the highest Attack among staves (or weapons in general) along with large bonuses to HP, Defence and Magic Defence. While the HP bonus is tied with the Kaladanda and the Dragon Wings for the third-highest among staves, the boosts to Natalie's defenses are only surpassed by the similarly impractical Oak Staff (and matched by the Wrecking Rod in terms of Defence). However, the staff also reduces Evade and Accuracy by significant amounts, and it has no Magic Attack whatsoever; coupled with its lack of elemental boosts or counter skills, its damage output will generally be mediocre.

The Soul Crusher strengthens buffs and has a modest chance to summon a Steel Wraith; it doesn't do spectacular damage, but its Stagger chance and Defence debuff help increase the party's damage output (especially on the physical side). The staff also increases the chances of foes Surrendering, making weaker foes less of an issue in the first place. Finally, it can inflict Curse with its Weapon-elemental attacks, which can passively debuff enemy defenses and give them a makeshift Holy weakness for Natalie's allies to take advantage of.

Ultimately, the Soul Crusher allows Natalie to become a durable supporter for a physically-inclined party, but it is hampered by its poor synergy with her stats and skills. The likes of the Kaladanda and the Slime Staff are far more reliable and much less gimmicky defensive support staves; the Beholding Eye is notable for improving both buffs and debuffs in addition to providing Poison and Virus support. On the other hand, the Soul Crusher competes with The Knife and the Gigavolt for Natalie's best physically offensive staff, although it's generally better to let other characters fill that niche.

The Soul Crusher provides resistance to both Wind and Thunder, becoming immune to neither at Level 5.

Equip Remix

Much like its normal counterpart, the Alt Soul Crusher lets Natalie do her best Matt impression by turning her into a physical-focused tank with deadly status shenanigans on the side. It lowers her Magic Attack, Evade, and Accuracy, but triples her Attack while giving her unmatched HP and great defenses; its Defence and Magic Defence are tied with the Alt Kaladanda as the second-best among Alt staves. This results in Natalie being much more durable despite her Evade issues, but with barely any viable offensive options due to her awful base Attack and dearth of physical skills.

However, the Alt Soul Crusher still provides a means for Natalie to threaten her enemies; it unleashes The Reaper with weapon-elemental skills, which benefits from the staff's boost to status effects. It counters attacks with Natalie's Normal Attack, allowing her to quickly dispatch Death-vulnerable foes if they target her; Accuracy buffs are recommended to help the unleash hit its mark. It also increases enemy Surrender chance, which is somewhat incidental but can be handy against weaker foes.

Overall, the Alt Soul Crusher has little to offer beyond its Instant Death gimmick, which makes it difficult to justify using it against bosses and other Death-resistant foes; if Natalie wants a general status build, she'll usually opt for the Alt Arctic Trident or the Alt Alchemy Set. Against Death-vulnerable foes, the Alt Celtic Cross can reliably spread Doom to entire waves at once due to its massive on-hit status chance; however, the Alt Soul Crusher is much more durable and doesn't require Bad Luck support to instantly kill its targets.

The Alt Soul Crusher resists Thunder, Light, and Heavy, becoming immune to the latter two at Level 5.

Epic Battle Fantasy 5

The Soul Crusher is found inside a chest at the bottom of the Deathly Hollows, accessible after defeating Telperion.

	Soul Crusher
	A weapon that's just too big to be practical. Makes enemies more likely to surrender and flee. Level 3: Randomly casts Steel Wraith between turns. Level 5: Increases the effect of buff skills used.

Statistics
Stat Bonus												Resistance
	LV1	LV2	LV3	LV4	LV5		LV1	LV2	LV3	LV4	LV5		LV1	LV2	LV3	LV4	LV5
	5%	5%	10%	15%	20%	-	-	-	-	-	-		10%	20%	30%	40%	50%
	40%[30%]	80%[45%]	120%[60%]	160%[80%]	200%[100%]		10%	15%	20%	25%	30%		10%	20%	30%	40%	50%
	-	-	-	-	-		10%	15%	20%	25%	30%	-	-	-	-	-	-
	-20%	-20%	-20%	-20%	-20%		-20%	-20%	-20%	-20%	-20%	Element		----
Spells & Statuses
			Power					Chance Modifier				Attack Status
Auto Skill			--					(66%)					60%	70%	80%	90%	100%
Bonus Skill			--					--					3x	3x	4x	4x	5x
Auto Status			--					--				-	-	-	-	-	-
Defend Status			--					--					-	-	-	-	-
Note: Stats in brackets (below/right from actual) are for its pre-v2 update version. Before the v2 update, didn't inflict Curse.

Forging Information
Lvl	Requirements			Lvl	Requirements
2	x 2	--	--	3	x 2	--	--
4	x 2	x 2	--	5	x 1	x 1	x 2

Statistics with Equip Remix enabled.

	Soul Crusher
	A weapon that's just too big to be practical. Makes enemies more likely to surrender and flee. Level 3: May unleash The Reaper while attacking. Level 4: Counter-attacks with Normal Attack. Level 5: Increases the chance of inflicting status effects.

Statistics
Stat Bonus												Resistance
	LV1	LV2	LV3	LV4	LV5		LV1	LV2	LV3	LV4	LV5		LV1	LV2	LV3	LV4	LV5
	10%	15%	20%	25%	30%	-	-	-	-	-	-		20%	40%	60%	80%	100%
	40%	80%	120%	160%	200%		10%	15%	20%	25%	30%		20%	40%	60%	80%	100%
	-20%	-20%	-20%	-20%	-20%		10%	15%	20%	25%	30%	-	-	-	-	-	-
	-20%	-20%	-20%	-20%	-20%		-20%	-20%	-20%	-20%	-20%	Element		----
Spells & Statuses
			Power					Chance Modifier				Attack Status
Auto Skill			--					--				-	-	-	-	-	-
Bonus Skill			100					(20%)					-	-	-	-	-
Auto Status			--					--				-	-	-	-	-	-
Defend Status			--					--					-	-	-	-	-

Forging Information
Lvl	Requirements			Lvl	Requirements
2	x 2	--	--	3	x 2	--	--
4	x 2	x 2	--	5	x 1	x 1	x 6