How do I know that Thunder I/II is doing something?

[416to305]

Great thanks everyone, I'm fine even knowing that it works as long as the buff shows up. I guess it's more I assumed that some enemies it might have a lesser effect on than others, but there's no real way to tell if the Thunder spell I cast is actually helping out all that much. I'm sure it does though.

Side question, when it says something "Delivers an attack with a potency of 170", is that 170 HP it delivers, or I assumed it meant it's more of a way to compare it to say one that says delivers 100 from myself, but is more of a ratio? Was just wondering since as mentioned when I get Fire up there it will be like 134, 159 etc, haven't seen it over 170 yet so was wondering if that's what that meant. Thanks!!!

[Tex_Mex]

Great thanks everyone, I'm fine even knowing that it works as long as the buff shows up. I guess it's more I assumed that some enemies it might have a lesser effect on than others, but there's no real way to tell if the Thunder spell I cast is actually helping out all that much. I'm sure it does though.

Side question, when it says something "Delivers an attack with a potency of 170", is that 170 HP it delivers, or I assumed it meant it's more of a way to compare it to say one that says delivers 100 from myself, but is more of a ratio? Was just wondering since as mentioned when I get Fire up there it will be like 134, 159 etc, haven't seen it over 170 yet so was wondering if that's what that meant. Thanks!!!

There is a VERY complicated equation that is used to calculate potency into actual damage. This calculation is based off of a BUNCH of stats including (your magic attack damage, your determination stat, your intelligence stat, your enemy's magical defense stat, and the potency of the attack).

So no, potency is not equal to damage dealt. It is just part of an equation. This means that as your stats and gear increases, you will do more and more damage. All you really need to know is that a 100 potency attack does half of the damage of a 200 potency attack.

[Viridiana]

Side question, when it says something "Delivers an attack with a potency of 170", is that 170 HP it delivers, or I assumed it meant it's more of a way to compare it to say one that says delivers 100 from myself, but is more of a ratio? Was just wondering since as mentioned when I get Fire up there it will be like 134, 159 etc, haven't seen it over 170 yet so was wondering if that's what that meant. Thanks!!!

Like other people said, it's just a measure of scaling. So, five ticks of Thunder dot (35x5) would be about the same as a completely unbuffed Fire (170). It also lets us use a definite number when comparing actions and rotations. Even if sometimes the difference in potency is so tiny it doesn't really matter.