Dinosaur King
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Dinosaur King

Technique is an arcade and DS game mechanic related to Move Card use.

Arcade[]

Kentrosaurus card

Kentrosaurus arcade card, 700 Technique

A dinosaur's Technique determines how effectively it can utilize the power of its Move Card. Though the specific coding mechanics are uncertain, most Move Cards' attacks may be stronger the higher a dinosaur's Technique is (unconfirmed), and randomly-triggering ones will activate more often (confirmed). A collection of 9 Normal Move Cards make particular use of Technique, three for each Sign following this pattern: the Move is best used by a dinosaur with just above either 200, 500, or 800 Technique depending on the Move; dinosaurs with less Technique only have a weak effect from the Move, and those with higher Technique than needed actually use it slightly weaker than ideal, but still stronger than if they had less Technique.

Technique typically ranges from 0 to 1100 in increments of 100, though Eoraptor has 3000. Technique and Strength are often inversely related, minimum of one alongside maximum of the other. This means that the larger, more "tank"-like dinosaurs with more health and higher Attack use Move Cards less effectively, and smaller weaker dinosaurs are hard hitters with Moves. The Normal Move Technique Boost can be used to increase a dinosaur's Technique a limited number of times, and some Moves decrease the opponent's Technique after a successful hit.

When a Super Dinosaur takes their Super mode, their base Technique doubles.

Compatibility Chart[]

Eucentrosaurus Card 3

Eucentrosaurus card with 5th tab indicated

Atomic Bomb Card 2

Atomic Bomb card showing compatibility smileys (from top: okay, great, bad)

The 2006/Series 1 to 2007/Series 2 editions of the Japanese/other language arcade cards show tabs indicating ideal Technique matches between Dinosaur and Normal Move Cards (Super Moves do not use this mechanic). There are 6 tabs that Dinosaurs can have "preference" in by having one be colored orange, but Move Cards usually only distinguish between three pairs of tabs. Each tab corresponds to a non-exclusive range of Techniques, as there is some overlap, with dinosaurs with the same Technique having different preference tabs (the higher tab seems to go to those with less Strength). The bottom/leftmost tab accompanies dinosaurs with 0-400 Technique, the next one up means 400-500, third is 600-700, fourth is 700-800, fifth is 900-1000, and the top/rightmost tab is 1000-1100.

Normal Move cards show icons (which differ between Japanese/other versions) in these tabs to indicate their match level for dinosaurs with various tabs (descriptive, no official terms exist): great match (double circle/yellow smiley face) for right in the "sweet spot", okay match (single circle/blue smiley face) usually for more Technique than needed, and bad match (triangle/red frowny face) for less Technique than preferred. Placing a Move Card under a Dinosaur Card (of the same edition) and sliding it out slightly will line up the Compatibility Charts for quick reference.

Most Normal Moves register a great match for all six tabs, while each of the Technique-minimum Moves great match either the top (for 800 Technique), middle (for 500), or bottom (for 200) pairs, okay matching above and bad matching below. Several Assist Moves great match in specific regions and okay match elsewhere: Tie Breaker and Counterattack Recovery great match the top pair, Venom Fang great matches the top three, and Stun Dash great matches the bottom three. Moves introduced past the 2007 4th Edition+ do not display the Compatibility Chart, so their Technique preferences are unknown.

Secret Dinosaurs indicate preference for all six tabs at once, thereby great matching all Normal Moves, though the Technique-minimum ones give them their Secret Moves instead of equipping normally, making them unusable.

DS Game[]

See also: DS Stat Tables/Technique

Technique also features in the DS game, where it is instead used to determine how fast the Dinosaur's MP (Move Point) meters replenish each turn, the rate increasing by 1 when its Technique reaches multiples of 300 (with 1 MP regen from 0-299 Technique, 2 at 300-599, etc.) as the dinosaur levels up throughout the game. Dinosaurs feature one of several standard Technique stat curves, matching precisely at every level, which is determined by their Rarity star count, with 1 star indicating the highest Technique curve and lower curves for more stars. Standard Technique curves start at 110-210 and increase by 5-15 per level, higher-starting curves also rising faster (though extreme special cases can be higher or lower); it is the only numerical stat not to be shared between Dinosaurs of different Rarities at levels 1-2. Technique is scaled inversely with the other stats so that the highest Technique matches the lowest Rarity, HP, and Attack Power, and vice versa. Dinosaurs with the same Technique curve (the same Rarity) will have a higher HP or Attack Power curve if they are Defense or Attack Type, respectively, though no Battle Type signifies an increased Technique. The Water status Suffocation cuts a Dinosaur's Technique in half for several turns, and several Moves affect either Technique or MP regen directly. The highest extant Technique (level 99, 1-star Rarity) is 1680 for 6 MP per turn; the effective ceiling would be 2700 for 10 MP per turn, as Move slots only have 10 MP and higher Technique would have no greater effect.

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