The Super Mario RPG remake introduces new gameplay mechanics to differentiate it from the original. One of the new features are Ally buffs, which we'll explain in this guide.
If you've familiarised yourself with pulling off Action Commands plus how the Action Gauge and Chain counts work, then you must know that an extra incentive to keep the ball rolling are Ally buffs. Think of them as passive abilities that trigger when you have a sizeable Chain count.
In Super Mario RPG, all five playable characters have a unique Ally buff. Let's explain what each does and how to trigger them.
How to trigger Ally buffs in Super Mario RPG
Ally buffs will start triggering when you start chaining Action Command timings correctly. You need two consecutive Action Commands to trigger Ally buffs.
There are three levels of potency to them:
- 2+ Chain count: Small stat boost
- 3-4 Chain count: Regular stat boost
- 5+ Chain count: Big stat boost
All Ally buffs in Super Mario RPG
These are the Ally buffs each character has in Super Mario RPG:
- Mario: Action Gauge fills up faster
- Mallow: Increases magic attack
- Geno: Increases attack and speed
- Peach: Incrases magic defense
- Bowser: Increases defense
Getting into the rhythm of combat in Super Mario RPG is heavily rewarded as you can see. Not only by the Action Command perks themselves, which include the ability to do splash damage to all enemies during an encounter or to completely mitigate damage taken but by how you can stack those with the Ally buffs listed above.
One thing to note is that only active party members during combat will have their Ally buff triggered. For example, if you have no use for Peach's magic defense boost during an encounter, you can swap her out for another member who's riding the bench but has an Ally buff that will serve you more in that instance.
Finally, as you'd expect, if your Chain count drops to zero, you'll instantly lose all Ally buffs you've managed to trigger during an encounter.
And that's it, for more on Super Mario RPG, check out our review of the game for our full thoughts. Also, don't miss on how to change music in case you want to hear the original soundtrack.