HiRes

HiRes
Mel uses HiRes on herself.
Details
Type	Magic
Color	Yellow
Allocation Level	4
Target	One Ally or Self
User	Any
Description	Temporarily increases your defense.

HiRes is a 4th-level Yellow Element in Chrono Cross. Temporarily increasing a single ally's Defense, its counterpart is LoRes. After assisting the sailors on the S.S. Invincible defeat the Ghost Ship, HiRes, and several other strong elements, Traps, Buffs and Debuffs are purchasable from the Demi-human merchant in Guldove and on Marbule. HiRes is valued at 430G in each of these markets. Commonly, Geos drop it after battles. It can be Pilfered or Snatched from Googhoul and Cybot on rare occasions.

Specifically, HiRes maximizes a single ally's Defense, regardless of level allocation. Because of this, it is wasteful to set HiRes and other Buff/Debuff Elements any higher than the level 1 allocation spot on an Element Grid. Although this will depict the Element as being -3, no quality difference is noticeable in-game; the character with HiRes cast on them will still receive the same boosts for several turns.

Enemy Element

While the Element is identical in animation and innate allocation level, several different enemies use it and have it allocated at different levels. For instance, Beeba cast HiRes as level 2 Elements (HiRes -2), while Acacia PVT and Acacia SGT cast it as level 5 Elements (HiRes +1). Dwarves cast it as both 4th level Elements and 5th level Elements (HiRes +1). Googhouls and Rockroaches cast it at its traditional 4th level, while Cassowary and Gurgoyle cast it as Level 3 Elements (HiRes -1). Wight Knights have HiRes twice on their Element grids and cast it as level 7 Elements (HiRes +3).

Description

When the player casts this element, an iridescent sphere encompasses the target.

Name Origin

HiRes is a portmanteau of "high" and "resolution". Obviously a pun on sensory graphics and the negative effects they may have on viewers when exposed to in excess. For instance, an enemy, blinded by bright lights, would inflict weaker attacks on a target afterward.

Another meaning for HiRes is the portmanteau of "high" and "resistance". This is much more likely to be the accurate explanation since the game refers the Defense and MagicDefense attributes as resistances throughout the game.