Damage in Terranigma is punishing and rewarding at the same time and being one level up can make all the difference.

Here is how damage works in Terranigma.

Basic Attacks

Magic Attacks

Magic damage depends on your luck value.

Stats	Ark	Ark	Enemy(Huball)
Level	1	10	1
Strength	3	11	4
Defense	2	10	2
Luck	3	12	5
Weapon	Crystal Spear (+3 ATK)	Crystal Spear (+3 ATK)	Body

Effective Enemy Defense: (EnemyLevel + 11) * EnemyDefense / 2 / 6

HuBall: (1 + 11) * 2 / 2 / 6 = 2

Effective Player Attack: (PlayerLevel + 7) * PlayerAttack >> 3 + WeaponAttack

Ark (1): (1+7) * 3 >> 3 + 3 = 6
Ark(10):(10+7) *11 >> 3 + 3 = 26

Effective Player Critical Chance:

Value = PlayerLuck + 8 - EnemyLuck
if Value < 4 
 Value = 4
if Value > (RandomByte AND 0x7F)
 Damage * 2

Ark: (3+8) - 5 > (0x23 AND 0x7F) = FALSE

Effective Damage: (TODO: figure out the random element of the damage range)