Chaos Zero Nightmare Combat Status Effects: Full debuff and condition list

Chaos Zero Nightmare tracks “status effects” in two layers: negative status ailment cards that clog and damage your hand, and buff/debuff icons like Weaken, Vulnerable, and Mark on units. Together with Stress/Mental Breakdown, they define how safe or lethal a fight becomes once enemies start stacking conditions on you.​​

Status ailment cards (deck‑clogging debuffs)

These are cards enemies add to your draw pile; most hurt you if you leave them in hand, or force you to waste AP to Exhaust them.​

• Anxiety
  • Draw 1 card when played.
  • If left in hand, deals 20% fixed damage to all allies at end of turn.
  • AP 0, Exhaust on use.​
• Bleed
  • While in hand, deals 40% fixed damage to the Combatant at end of turn.
  • AP 1, Exhaust on use.​
• Burn
  • When drawn, deals 40% fixed damage to allies immediately.
  • AP 1, Exhaust on use.​
• Contamination
  • While in hand, deals 70% fixed damage to Combatants at end of turn.
  • Ephemeral (auto‑Exhausts if still in hand at end of turn).
  • AP 1, Exhaust on use.​
• Futility (status ailment version)
  • Listed as a Status Ailment with no direct positive effect, used to clog your hand; some Kayron cards also create Futility.​
• Overload
  • Has no benefit; you must pay AP to Exhaust it out of your deck.
  • AP 1, Exhaust on use.​
• Piercing Deafness
  • When drawn, applies 1 stack of Weaken to allies (damage debuff).
  • AP 1, Exhaust on use.​
• Shock (Status Ailment)
  • Marked as Ephemeral; disappears if still in hand at end of turn.​
• Wound
  • Listed with no direct effect, simply clogs your hand when drawn.​

All of these are either direct HP loss, damage debuffs, or dead cards that eat your AP or draws, so clearing them efficiently is a core combat skill.​

Key debuffs and harmful conditions (buff bar icons)

These don’t sit in your hand; they show under a unit’s HP/shield bar and modify damage taken/dealt or shields.​​

• Weaken
  • Stacking debuff that reduces damage dealt by 25% per stack, with duration ticking down when the afflicted unit attacks.​
• Vulnerable / Coair‑type shield shred
  • Debuffs that reduce shield effectiveness; e.g., a guide example notes a 120% shield becomes 60% with one stack, and 0% with two stacks.​
• Mark
  • Each Attack card used triggers an extra attack from that character for 100% damage, hitting Tenacity without damaging HP; used to quickly break Tenacity bars.​
• Tenacity / Breakthrough
  • The bar under an enemy’s HP; when depleted the target enters Breakthrough, enabling effects tagged with Destroy/Breakthrough and often opening big damage windows.​
• Stress & Mental Breakdown (team‑wide condition)
  • Each Combatant has a purple Stress gauge that fills when they take damage or turns pass without sufficient healing/blocking.​​
  • At 100% Stress they enter Mental Breakdown:
    • One third of the team’s HP bar is blocked off and lost.
    • Their normal cards are replaced by Breakdown cards, Ego Skills are disabled, and they become effectively immobilised until you play enough Breakdown cards to recover.​​
    • If all three characters break down, you lose the fight/run.​​

Other debuffs (including various damage/defence modifiers) appear as icons; you can tap them in‑game for exact numbers, but Weaken, shield‑reduction, and Stress are the main ones shaping combat outcomes.​​

How to play around status effects

• Clear status ailment cards proactively
  • Use spare AP to Exhaust Bleed, Burn, and Contamination before end of turn, and avoid ending turns with multiple ailment cards in hand.​
• Track debuff stacks on HP bars
  • Watch Weaken and shield‑shred icons on both sides; stacking Weaken can neuter your damage, while debuffs that cut shield effectiveness can make your defensive plan collapse if ignored.​​
• Manage Stress to avoid breakdown
  • Keep an eye on the purple Stress bars; letting multiple characters hit 100% will cost you huge chunks of HP and turn off their kits.​​
  • Use heals, shields, and shorter fights to keep Stress from spiralling, and recover quickly once a Breakdown happens by playing the provided Breakdown cards.​​

Mastering these card‑based ailments and debuff icons is as important as raw damage in Chaos Zero Nightmare, most wipes in higher content come from status mismanagement, not from simply being under‑geared.