Surrender (status)

"Will flee on next turn instead of attacking. Battle rewards are unaffected"

―Surrender's hover-over tip, Epic Battle Fantasy 5

Surrender is a new status and mechanic exclusive to foes introduced in Epic Battle Fantasy 5. When a foe is in a disadvantageous scenario, it may decide to give itself the Surrender status on its turn; if a foe with Surrender gets a turn, they will immediately run away from the battle. This does not affect the foe's drops; it will release the same items with the same chances as if it had been defeated conventionally. Additionally, foes with the Surrender status receive a massive bonus to their Catch Rate, all but guaranteeing their capture unless they also have multiple positive status effects or very high Defence/Magic Defence/Evade buffs.

Despite not being shown, Surrender does have a set duration, with all Surrender effects automatically giving 9x stacks of it; this means that if a foe that has already Surrendered is kept locked down with Freeze or Stun to prevent them from fleeing, they'll eventually lose the status.

Certain pieces of equipment can also make a specific class of foes automatically Flee, Surrender, or go Berserk on their turn (see the relevant section for more details).

The player can perform an Execution by killing a foe with the Surrender status; on the other hand, they can Spare the foe by allowing it to flee. This only affects the chance of being closer towards achieving ending thresholds in the game, however; this amount is minimal and does not have much impact overall on the ending of the game. The number of Spared and Executed foes are noted in the player's Records. Additionally, two Medals can be earned from Surrendering foes; "Mercy" is awarded for Sparing one, while "No Mercy" is awarded for Executing one.

Calculation

Follow in order (all HP % are calculated after the attack, thus taking into account any damage it did):

• [Average player party HP % - average foe party HP % + intimidating gear bonus]
  • Intimidating Gear bonus is equal to [5 + 1.5 * equipment level] per piece, stacking additively, and takes into account equipment worn by all front line players.
• If a skill that boosts Surrender chance was used (eg Bow Whack), multiply the result by 1.3.
• Add [catch score / 2] to the previous result.
  • Catch score is base catch score, and thus unaffected by status ailments, debuffs or missing HP %.
  • If the enemy cannot be captured, it defaults to 0.
• Add targeted foe's missing HP % to the previous result.
• If the final score obtained is >190, the foe will Surrender.

EXAMPLE: Anna uses Bow Whack against a Dirt Boulder (base catch score: 18). After the attack, the player party is at full health, all enemies (including the Dirt Boulder) are at 20% HP, and someone in the active party has a Level 5 Pumpkin Head equipped:

• Average party HP and intimidating gear: 100 - 20 + (5 + 1.5 * 5) = 92.5
• Skill bonus: 92.5 * 1.3 = 120.25
• Catch score bonus: 120.25 + 18 / 2 = 129.25
• Missing HP bonus: 129.25 + 80 = 209.25
• Final Score: 209.25 > 190, thus the Dirt Boulder will Surrender.

Most bosses and minibosses will never Surrender (exceptions include the first two Chibi Knight fights, the arcade bosses sans THE MAW and CORALIA, and the various player bosses). Additionally, since the v2 update, foes with a catch score < 8 or that have either the Brave or Morale statuses won't Surrender even if their score has already reached the necessary threshold, unless a Skill with a Surrender bonus is used against them. None of the Classic foes found in the Data Bunker can Surrender, since the mechanic didn't exist before EBF5.

When a boss is defeated, all other foes will automatically Surrender (unless it clashes with the exceptions stated above).

As a final reminder, certain foes also have specific scenarios (usually involving the Lovable and/or Syphon statuses) denoted in their Battle Logic sections where they'll Surrender. These cases are separate from the above calculation, which is more general and applies equally to all foes.

Surrender-Boosting Equipment

• Pumpkin Head
• Spider Bobble - effect added in the v2 update.
• Giant Slayer
• Soul Crusher
• Juggernaut
• Black Widow
• Agnry Faic, both the regular and Alt versions.

Surrender-Boosting Skills

• Bow Whack
• Screamer
• Firecrackers

Trivia

• The Surrender mechanic - specifically, the choice to Spare or Execute a foe with the status - may be based on a similar mechanic in the video game Undertale.