Damage Cut

Damage Cut is a term that refers to any buff that specifically reduces damage by a fixed percentage. It is based on the English translation for Holy Saber's Phalanx skill, which reads "70% DMG cut to all parties."

Damage Cuts are calculated separately from other damage reduction effects, most notably defense. The main significance of damage cuts is that the different types are additive, meaning you can achieve a 100% damage cut, reducing all damage (except plain damage) received to zero. This is extremely important in many raids, such as Proto Bahamut and Grand Order, where certain triggered attacks can deal damage in the millions.

Character skills

Holy Saber's  

Phalanx IIAll parties gain

70% DMG CutTaking 70% less DMG

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Duration: 1 turns

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Damage Cut reducing damage taken.
Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage!

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provides the baseline, a 70% damage cut against all damage for 1 turn. Many characters also have similar abilities, typically these abilities will not stack with Phalanx or each other. In raids, there will usually be at least one Holy Saber who uses Phalanx with the correct timing, so you just need to provide another source of damage cut in order to achieve invulnerability.

Character	Rarity	Element	Damage Cut %	C/D	Skill
Anre	03	02	100	6	Arm the BastionAll allies gain 100% DMG CutTaking 100% less DMG Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
Alexiel	03	03	70	7 (6)	Uncrossable RealmAll allies gain 70% DMG CutTaking 70% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
Baotorda (SSR)	03	05	60	6	Noble SacrificeAll allies gain 60% DMG CutTaking 60% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
Charlotta	03	02	50	6 (5)	Kni ShiltAll allies gain 50% DMG CutTaking 50% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! . At level 75: All allies also gain 10% DEF UpDEF is boosted Strength: 10% Duration: 3 turns .
Charlotta (Event)	02	04	30 (40)	6	Shilt SteakAll allies gain 30% DMG CutTaking 30% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! . At level 65: Buff increased to 40% DMG CutTaking 40% less DMG Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
Galadar (SR)	02	03	40	5	Svel IIAll allies gain 40% DMG CutTaking 40% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
Gawain	03	04	60 (70)	6 (5)	Noblesse ObligeAll allies gain 60% DMG CutTaking 60% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! . At level 100: Buff increased to 70% DMG CutTaking 70% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
Katalina	02	02	40	5	Light WallAll allies gain 40% DMG CutTaking 40% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
Katalina (Dark)	03	06	25	3	Light Wall DividerAll allies gain 25% DMG CutTaking 25% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
Katalina (Grand)	03	02	25	3	Light Wall DividerAll allies gain 25% DMG CutTaking 25% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
Katalina (Summer)	02	02	40	5	Light WallAll allies gain 40% DMG CutTaking 40% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
Mikazuki Munechika	03	05	25	4	Touken BarrierAll allies gain 25% DMG CutTaking 25% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
Naoise	02	05	40	5	Ritter ShieldAll allies gain 40% DMG CutTaking 40% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
Nicholas	03	06	60	6	Giga ShieldAll allies gain 60% DMG CutTaking 60% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
Sara	03	03	50	5	QuadrigaAll allies gain 50% DMG CutTaking 50% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! . At level 75: All allies also gain 10% DEF UpDEF is boosted Strength: 10% Duration: 1 turns .
Sara (Summer)	02	03	40	5	Bene LitusAll allies gain 40% DMG CutTaking 40% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
Societte (Fire)	03	01	50 (60)	8 (7)	Sixth Dance: UnryuAll allies gain 50% DMG CutTaking 50% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! . At level 75: Buff increased to 60% DMG CutTaking 60% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
Zaja	02	06	40	5	Kvaall VandAll allies gain 40% DMG CutTaking 40% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .

Character skills stacking with Phalanx

Some damage cuts from character skills do stack with Phalanx, these are the currently known skills:

Character	Rarity	Element	Damage Cut %	C/D	Skill
Galadar	01	03	25	6	SvelAll allies gain 25% DMG CutTaking 25% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
Naoise (Event)	02	01	20	5	Elemental Ritter ShieldAll allies gain 20% DMG CutTaking 20% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! and 20% Wind CutWind DMG is cut Duration: 1 turns Wind Damage Cut. .

Summon call damage cut effects

Damage cut effects from summon calls will stack with other sources, but not other summon calls, so you can use these to reach 100% damage cut. Note that they do count as the same buff type.

Athena is the most popular option, being a summon stone that can be brought on any team and providing the perfect 30% to complement Holy Saber's Phalanx. In raids, players without Athena can also combo-summon to get the effect.

Godsworn Alexiel provides a one-time-use 70% damage cut (100% when fully uncapped).

Weapon charge attack damage cut effects

Damage cut effects from weapon charge attacks will stack with other sources, so you can use these to reach 100% damage cut. Note that they do count as the same buff type.

The Seven-Star Sword, once awoken, has a Charge Attack that also provides a 30% damage cut. However, it's generally difficult to always have your charge bar ready to use when necessary, unless you are using Berserker, Weapon Master, or maybe Seofon, so the Seven-Star Sword is not generally considered a useful application of damage cut.

Murgleis, when final uncapped, can obtain the same result as the Seven-Star Sword with a 35% damage cut on Charge Attack, albeit with the same timing issues. Obtaining a 4★ Murgleis is much more difficult than a Seven-Star Sword, often requiring Damascus Ingot usage, but can be well worth it as Murgleis is already considered an excellent Sword Master mainhand and powerful addition to Varuna grids.

Elemental Damage Cut

Skills and summons that grant Element Damage Cuts are also considered damage cuts, so they are commonly used to heavily dampen incoming damage of a specific element. Because these are completely different buffs from typical damage cut buffs, they stack with other types of damage cuts.

The most commonly-used sources of elemental damage cuts are the 6 carbuncles, Garnet Carbuncle, Aquamarine Carbuncle, Zircon Carbuncle, Peridot Carbuncle, Opal Carbuncle, and Onyx Carbuncle. By themselves, they provide 25% resistance to their own element, but they can easily be fully uncapped using Moonlight Stone from the casino, which boosts their resistance up to 50%. However, be warned that you will only get 25% with a combo-summon in a raid when another player calls a carbuncle.

The "SSR Carbuncles" ( Prometheus, Ca Ong, Gilgamesh, Morrigna, Hector and Anubis) provide higher damage reduction than SR carbuncles (30%, then 50% and finally 60% when fully uncapped), however they are significantly less common than SR carbuncles.

There are a few other summon calls that grant elemental damage cuts, such as Nezha and Twin Elements, however typically these do not provide enough resistance to combine with Phalanx for a full cut. One notable exception being Kero-chan which provides a 30% dark cut when fully uncapped, and can be useful for surviving things like Proto Bahamut's Skyfall.

Some weapons, such as Ice Crystal Staff, and some characters, such as Jeanne d'Arc (Dark), can grant elemental damage cuts to the party through their charge attacks.

Some characters have skills that grant elemental damage cuts to the party as well.

Character	Rarity	Element	Damage Cut %	C/D	Skill
Charlotta (Summer)	02	02		8	Flamme ShiltAll allies gain 40% Fire CutFire DMG is cut Fire Damage Cut. .
Io (Summer)	03	01		7	Red Wind200% Fire damage to one enemy (Damage cap: ~470,000). All allies gain 30% Wind CutWind DMG is cut Duration: 3 turns Wind Damage Cut. . At level 55: Damage increased to 300%.
Juliet	03	05		6	Fulmine BiancoAll allies gain 20% Light ATK UpLight ATK is boosted Strength: 20% Duration: 5 turns and 20% Dark CutDark DMG is cut Duration: 5 turns Dark Damage Cut. . Use 1 Spirit ShroudUses 1 Spirit per attack or skill (Spirits recover every 5 turns) : Also inflict 20% Light DEF DownDEF is lowered for light DMG Strength: 20% Duration: 180 seconds on one enemy.
Lily	03	02		8	Silverfrost BarrierAll allies gain 70% Fire CutFire DMG is cut Fire Damage Cut. .
Lily (Event)	02	02		5	Silverfrost BarrierAll allies gain 50% Fire CutFire DMG is cut Fire Damage Cut. . At level 45: Effect enhanced.
Meteon (Event)	02	04		8	High-End WindskinAll allies gain 20% Wind ATK UpWind ATK is boosted Strength: 20% Duration: 3 turns and 15% Earth CutEarth DMG is cut Duration: 3 turns Earth Damage Cut. At level 90: All allies also gain 30% Charge Bar Sped UpCharge bar speed is boosted Strength: 30% Duration: 3 turns .
Mina	02	02		5	Cyan CloakAll allies gain 10% Water ATK UpWater ATK is boosted Strength: 10% Duration: 3 turns and 10% Fire CutFire DMG is cut Duration: 3 turns Fire Damage Cut. .
Naoise (Event)	02	01		5	Elemental Ritter ShieldAll allies gain 20% DMG CutTaking 20% less DMG Duration: 1 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! and 20% Wind CutWind DMG is cut Duration: 1 turns Wind Damage Cut. .
Sarunan	03	05		8	Mad VeilAll allies gain 70% Dark CutDark DMG is cut Duration: 2 turns Dark Damage Cut. .
Siegfried	03	03		6	Uwe250-350% Earth damage to one enemy (Damage cap: ~600,000). Gain 20% Water CutWater DMG is cut Duration: 3 turns Water Damage Cut. . At level 55: Damage increased to 300-400%. At level 90: All allies also gain 20% Water CutWater DMG is cut Duration: 3 turns Water Damage Cut.
Tsubasa Kashiwagi	02	04		7	Fly HighWind damage to a foe. All allies gain 20% Earth CutEarth DMG is cut Duration: 2 turns Earth Damage Cut. .
Zahlhamelina	03	01		6	New FaithAll allies gain 20% Fire ATK UpFire ATK is boosted Strength: 20% Duration: 5 turns and 20% Wind CutWind DMG is cut Duration: 5 turns Wind Damage Cut. .

Repel

Last but not least, the

RepelTaking less DMG and reflects attacks

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Damage Cut reducing damage taken and reflecting attacks.
Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage!

buff is, again, a completely different buff, so it stacks with other sources of damage cut. It works the same as normal damage cuts, except that the amount of damage prevented is dealt back to the source of damage instead of being nullified, with the damage cap of 99,999. While many characters have Repel buffs for a single target or support skills, only those below have party-wide Repel buffs.

Character	Rarity	Element	Repel %	C/D	Skill
Danua	02	06	20	6	Gloomy PuppetGain 50% RepelTaking less DMG and reflects attacks Strength: 50% Duration: 3 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken and reflecting attacks. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! for 3 hits. At level 45: Buff increased to 60% RepelTaking less DMG and reflects attacks Strength: 60% Duration: 3 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken and reflecting attacks. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! . At level 90: All other allies also gain 20% RepelTaking less DMG and reflects attacks Strength: 20% Duration: 3 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken and reflecting attacks. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
De La Fille (Summer)	03	05	40	9	Gleaming MirrorAll allies gain 40% RepelTaking less DMG and reflects attacks Strength: 40% Duration: 3 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken and reflecting attacks. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! for up 3 hits.
De La Fille (Earth)	03	03	40	9	Glitter Reflection300% Earth damage to all enemies (Damage cap: ~480,000). All allies gain 40% RepelTaking less DMG and reflects attacks Strength: 40% Duration: 2 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken and reflecting attacks. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! for up to 2 hits.
Lecia (Summer)	02	04	20	8	Breeze TrickAll allies gain 20% RepelTaking less DMG and reflects attacks Damage Cut reducing damage taken and reflecting attacks. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! .
Medusa (Valentine)	03	03	40	9	Eyes for Only YouAll allies gain 40% 40% RepelTaking less DMG and reflects attacks Strength: 40% Duration: 3 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken and reflecting attacks. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! for up to 2 hits. Medusa gains Amplifier PrismWhen foe uses a special attack: All allies gain 50% boost to charge bar / Boost to C.A. specs [1 time] Duration: 3 turns . (When foe uses a special attack: All allies gain 50% Charge BoostInstantly boosts Charge Bar 50% Strength: 50% , 30% C.A. DMG Boosted (1 time)Charge attack DMG is boosted (1 time) Strength: 30% Duration: Until used , and 10% 10% C.A. DMG Cap Boosted (1 time)Charge attack DMG cap is boosted (1 time) Strength: 10% Duration: Until used .
Vane	02	02	30	8	Wall BashAll allies gain 30% RepelTaking less DMG and reflects attacks Strength: 30% Duration: 2 turns Damage Cut reducing damage taken and reflecting attacks. Warning! Does not work for Plain Damage! for up to 3 hits.

Note that Danua's Scapegoat is not enough by itself to reach invulnerability with Phalanx, but it can be combined with elemental resistance (such as combo-summoning a carbuncle) to get to 100%.

Elemental DMG Lowered

A different kind of resist buff are the Elemental DMG Lowered buffs.

The easiest way to spot these are that they show no number in their buff icon. These buffs stack multiplicatively with Damage Cut abilities, so a 80% Fire DMG Lowered paired with a 70% Fire Resistance Boosted will reduce damage taken by 94%.