Debuff
A Debuff is a Magic spell, Tech, or Element in the Chrono (Series). Unlike Buffs, which increase skills, debuffs temporarily decrease one or more of an enemy's or character's statistics and are used to alter the course of a battle. Stats effected by Debuffs include Defense, Magic Attack, Magic Defense, Hit Percent and so on. Players may wish to decrease an enemy stat to improve their chances of winning a battle; alternatively, it is possible to debuff a stat of one's own party, to evoke a certain effect. Enemies also possess Techs and Elements that debuff character stats, and do so to ensure victory or stall a battle.
Examples of debuff Elements are LoRes, Imbecile, and BatEye. Imbecile, for instance, lowers an opponents Magic Attack stat. Lynx is one such boss to perform it, and does so to lower the probability that a character can cause massive amounts of damage by exploiting his Innate Element. This is only one such tactic for the use of debuffs.