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In the various Digimon games that have been released over the decades, while each has a unique identity, there have been recurring elements that have proliferated the franchise's titles. One of these is the notion of partner Digimon becoming more proficient at using their special abilities.
Depending on the game, how this is classified and quantified will vary, however, in Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory it takes the form of the ABI stat (short for Ability). While a certain threshold of ABI is crucial for digivolving one's partners into specific Mega or Ultra-level allies, the game sadly doesn't explain how to increase this stat very well. Thankfully, plenty of tireless Digimon tamers have been experimenting and evaluating ABI since the game's release in 2017 and have discovered how to boost this stat without much issue.
Updated on November 1, 2021, by Reyadh Rahaman: The strongest Digimon in the game will need high ABI in order to reach their final forms--their Ultra evolutions. Ultra-level Digimon can most often only be obtained through the rigorous training of one's digital partners before leveling them up all the way to Mega before, finally, taking the last step to reaching their strongest abilities.
There are 5 Ultra-level Digimon that need 100 in the ABI stat or more to be acquired by the player, which will mean a lot of back-and-forth digivolving as well as other methods to increase this obscure stat--though, for true power, it is worth the stat-grinding.
What Is ABI & What It Does
ABI & Digivolution
Initially, the most notable factor revolving around ABI is that is it needed to digivolve certain Digimon into their Mega or Ultra-level forms, though, how much is needed will vary depending on the species. As a general trend, the more powerful Digimon require more ABI than others, and the amount of ABI needed will vary between 20 to 120, though most Mega forms will only need the former. A couple of examples of Digimon archetypes that need greater ABI to be obtained are the Royal Knights and the Seven Deadly Digimon.
ABI & Training
Besides digivolving purposes, ABI is greatly helpful when training a partner's other stats while they are not in one's active party. There is an unmentioned threshold that will cap how many points one can pump into a particular stat of a specific Digimon partner, but, put simply, having more ABI raises this threshold. The actual formula used by the game to determine this threshold of potential training point growth is as follows:
- Potential training points = (ABI/2) + 50
The higher one's ABI stat, the more training that Digimon will be able to do, which, in turn, will make it much easier to reach the required stats to digivolve one's partners into their most powerful forms.
How To Get ABI
Increasing ABI By Using Consumables
The quickest and easiest way to increase a Digimon's ABI (by a small amount) is with the Miracle Meat item, which players can buy and feed to their partners, albeit at a steep price and in very limited quantities. This will certainly help tamers push their partner's ABI stat up when needed, but should not be used as the only means of increasing ABI, as it is not nearly as efficient as other methods.
Scanning Digimon To Get Partners With Higher Starting ABI
Normally, players don't bother scanning wild Digimon after reaching 100%, as it doesn't seem very necessary to do so, however, the greater the scanning data, the higher the base ABI of a created Digimon will be. Starting from 105% scan data, players will get 1 more point of ABI for every 25% over 100% scan data.
This means that, at the max scan data level of 200%, players can create Digimon of that species with 5 base points in the ABI stat. While not super useful by itself, beginning to train one of the more common Digimon after getting 200% scan data for them will make getting them to their strongest Mega or Ultra-level form a bit easier.
Increasing ABI By Digivolving & De-Digivolving
By far the most efficient and ideal long-term method of gaining ABI is to digivolve and de-digivolve one's partner multiple times. While it is never directly explained why this is the prime method of gaining ABI, it is implied that Digimon are meant to be fluid entities that should change form multiple times. This is an incentive for the player to try out different partners as well as to possibly point them toward completing their Digimon encyclopedia.
When it comes to digivolving, partners going from the Rookie-level to the Champion-level, as well as those going from the Ultimate-level to the Mega-level, will gain the most ABI. Though, with that said, de-digivolving Digimon definitely yields more ABI points than digivolving them.
In this regard, Ultra-level Digimon going down to a Mega-level form will gain the most ABI, as higher-form alterations grant the most returns. Though, since the end goal of ABI training methods is usually to attain an Ultra-level form, the ideal training method will be a bit lower. After all points are considered, arguably the most efficient method of gaining ABI though this mechanic is to digivolve an Ultimate-level Digimon into a Mega-level form before immediately reversing the process. Rinsing and repeating this will likely be the fastest way to rack up huge ABI points.
The 5 Ultra-Level Digimon That Need The Most ABI
Armageddemon
With strange and unintuitive stat distribution, Armageddemon is one of the most awkward Digimon to obtain, and, furthermore, isn't really worth the effort. This is an Ultra-level Digimon that has incredible Intelligence for special attacks...but does not learn any signature ones or even very good common skills that make use of this stat.
For a Digimon that will take 100 ABI to get, this species isn't really ideal for a special attacker, especially considering how low its base HP stat is.
Imperialdramon PM (Paladin Mode)
The majestic dragon Digimon has a few impressive forms, but this bipedal one clad in white armor is the strongest. It will take 100 ABI to digivolve into Imperialdramon PM, but, once done, players will have an ally with excellent all-around stats and a great signature move that deals heavy Light-type damage with a 30% chance to cast the Dot status effect.
The rare Dot status effect, for those unaware, will cause an afflicted target to be unable to use skills, meaning that they can only perform basic attacks--a devastating tactic to use against any foe except those with high base Attack stats.
Examon
The massive red dragon Digimon, which is also part of The Royal Knights, is another Ultra-level digital monster that needs 100 ABI to be acquired. They possess excellent offensive stats, particularly in the Attack and Speed departments.
Players can make use of multiple signature moves, the first of which unleashes very high physical Electric-type damage to a single target and the other which strikes all foes with high physical Fire-type damage.
Susanomon
The last of the Ultra-level Digimon to need 100 ABI to digivolve, Susanomon is also a fusion Digimon that needs the Mega-level KaiserGreymon and MagnaGarurumon to be obtained.
The effort will be worth it, as, among other excellent traits, Susanomon has an Electric-type skill that deals special damage 8 times--and each strike has a chance to apply the Paralyze status effect to the target.
Apocalymon
Easily the Digimon that needs the most ABI for the players to get them, Apocalymon requires 120 ABI, though, like the previously mentioned Ultra-level, is also a fusion Digimon. However, this fusion Digimon will need 4 Mega-level ones (the Dark Masters) to be created.
On top of those already demanding criteria, players will also need to achieve a level of 99 to digivolve into Apocalymon, which is also the highest level requirement for digivolving in the game, making this Ultra-level monster arguably the most time-consuming to obtain.
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows.