Kingdom:Combat Mechanics Breakdown
In Kemono Friends Kingdom, the player sends Friends into a 2-D battlefield riding atop a vehicle called a Patrol Plane. Upon landing, either by colliding with a target to deal direct damage or by hitting the ground, Friends automatically position themselves to fight enemy Celliens using automatic basic attacks on each turn and powerful special abilities, called Miracles, used once per game per Friend at the player's manual discretion.
Friend Basics
Each Friend has a particular role on a team and specific types of enemies against whom they have a combat advantage or disadvantage. These are their role and their Radiance, respectively. All Friends can be powered up by increasing their personal Levels to boost their stats, their Awakening tiers to enhance their skills and unlock new abilities, and their Miracle levels to improve their Miracle attack. While the stats and general power level of a Friend generally correlates positively with her rarity level— six-star Friends usually being the strongest, followed by five-star, four-star, and three-star Friends— there are cases where a lower-rarity Friend will fit a team better than a higher-rarity Friend due to her role, Radiance, and/or abilities possessing a particular synergy with another Friend or with an overall team strategy.
Role
A Friends' role determines what she will generally best be able to contribute to a team. There are six roles in total, some of which are very similar to others and some which are wholly unique.
| Role Name | Role Purpose | Example Friends |
|---|---|---|
 Guard |
Enhances team DEF |  Hippopotamus,  Aurochs
|
 Assault |
High single-target damage |  Least Weasel,  Serval
|
 Group Assault |
High AoE damage |  Crested Ibis,  Northern White-Faced Owl
|
 Support |
Enhances team stats, typically ATK |  Eurasian Eagle-Owl,  Gray Wolf
|
 Control |
Reduces enemy stats and impairs enemy attributes |  Shoebill,  Jaguar
|
 Heal |
Restores HP for the team |  Chevrotain,  Suri Alpaca
|
Radiance
Kemono Friends Kingdom uses a triangle advantage combat system, akin to rock-paper-scissors, wherein all Friends and Celliens possess one of three Radiance types. Friends will deal more damage to enemies of a Radiance they have an advantage over and less damage to enemies who have a Radiant advantage over themselves; in turn, Friends are resistant to damage dealt by enemies of a Radiance that is weak to the target Friends' Radiance, but they do not deal bonus damage to such Friends when the Cellien has the advantage.
| Radiance | Associated Archetype | Example Friends | Strong against | Weak Against |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Splendor |
 Catapult Attack |
 Saltwater Crocodile,  Red Junglefowl,  Mouflon |
 Wonder |
 Brilliance
|
| Wonder |
 Power-Up / Leaf |
 Lion,  Moose,  Axolotl |
Brilliance |
Splendor
|
| Brilliance |
 Generate Dice |
 Tsuchinoko,  Sand Cat,  King Cobra |
Splendor |
Wonder
|
Stats
Friends and Celliens each have a set of six stats that determine basic combat capabilities. These are their HP, PATK, PDEF, SATK, SDEF, and Speed.
| Abbreviated Stat | Full Stat Name | Functionality |
|---|---|---|
| HP | Hit Points / Health Points | Determines how many numerical points of damage can be taken |
| PATK | Physical Attack | Determines damage of attacks utilizing PATK |
| PDEF | Physical Defense | Reduces damage taken from PATK-based attacks |
| SATK | Special Attack | Determines damage of attacks utilizing SATK |
| SDEF | Special Defense | Reduces damage taken from SATK-based attacks |
| Speed | N/A | Determines turn order of entities already on the field |
Speed
Speed is the most unique stat in the game, being unable to be boosted by the bonus effects of Albums and never increasing even through level up. The Speed stat of an entity determines when it will move relative to other entities on the field; a Friend who has newly entered combat will always take her turn immediately, regardless of her Speed stat, and any subsequent turns will be taken relative to the Speed of the rest of the field. Celliens tend to have extremely low Speed stats, and so will almost always attack last.
Team Archetypes
As touched upon in the section about Radiance, multiple team archetypes exist in Kemono Friends Kingdom, typically correlating to the Radiance of particular Friends. Teams focusing largely or entirely on these archetypes can be very powerful, but there are numerous Friends who are built for one archetype but flourish just as well in teams built around other strategies, and in some cases those who are staples on virtually all team types.
Catapult Attack
Catapult Attack teams, often called Catapult teams by players, are the specialty of Splendor Friends, and focus on stacking buffs to deal colossal damage with the Patrol Plane and follow-up attacks. Support Friends of this archetype tend to grant buffs to the attacking stats of the next Friend to enter play after the use of their Miracle. Friends who specialize in Catapult Attack strategies include:
Serval (a 
Splendor Assault Friend)
Gray Wolf (a 
Splendor Support Friend)
Crested Ibis (a 
Wonder AoE Assault Friend)
Power-Up/Leaf
Power-Up teams, often called Leaf teams by players, are the specialty of Wonder Friends, and focus on allowing an Assault Friend to charge up power in the form of collecting Leaves before unleashing a mighty blast on the final turn of play. While powering up, these Friends cannot attack, but greatly bolster their defenses in order to weather attacks as they charge up. Support Friends in this archetype tend to grant Leaves with their Miracles. Friends who specialize in Power-Up strategies include:
Scarlet Macaw (a Wonder Assault Friend)
Caracal (a Wonder Support Friend)
Western Parotia (a Splendor AoE Assault Friend)
Generate Dice
Generate Dice teams, often simply called Dice teams by players, are the specialty of Brilliance Friends, and focus on collecting large amounts of dice to roll for high numbers to be used in attack damage calculations. Support Friends of the Brilliance Radiance can often grant dice to other Friends, as well as boost their offensive stats. Friends who specialize in Generate Dice strategies include:
Red-Eared Slider (a 
Brilliance Guard Friend)
Silver Fox (a Brilliance Support Friend)
Raccoon (a 
Wonder Heal Friend).
Penguins/PPP
An informal archetype revolving around the musical group PPP, a Penguin team generally contains most or all of the following, all of whom share the Wonder Radiance type:
Emperor Penguin (a Support Friend)
Royal Penguin (a Heal Friend)
Southern Rockhopper Penguin (an Assault Friend)
Gentoo Penguin (a Guard Friend)
Humboldt Penguin (another Support Friend)
These Friends possess unique buffs and effects which can synergize within their group, though the nature of these mechanics can make PPP teams somewhat unintuitive.
Using the Patrol Plane
As mentioned, all Friends enter the battlefield by use of a Patrol Plane, which can be flown either to a specific point on the field or directly into an enemy Cellien. Direct strikes with the Patrol Plane deal Catapult Attack damage, the specialty of most Splendor Friends, and can do further damage by striking the core of a target with the Patrol Plane when it is visible. Cores may become visible either on a set turn or through the effects of a Friends' Miracle. Some Bosses have very difficult-to-strike cores, as striking anywhere in the red circle is not always sufficient to register a hit.
