Current Events > Random Golden Sun mechanics questions

(+) Yeah! (+)

Im replaying through Golden Sun for who knows how many times and Im starting to pay real attention to the mechanics of this game. One thing I think I finally figured out it after all these years and another I dont understand.

The first thing I think I figured out. Its about weapons and their releases. In particular, their elements. Most know that weapons with a Howl correspond to a particular element. Some weapons when you inspect them have a color dot indicating what element that weapon corresponds with while others dont. I never understood this for a long time but now I think I figured it out. Are those color dots an indication of what element of damage the weapon does at a base level without the Howl? I know that when they do have their Howl the animation shows what element that is. If this is the case then are weapons without those color dots just so no elemental damage at base? Im assuming all of this is true.

Next question is about the elemental resistance in the stats. I thought this was pretty straightforward. Power indicates how strong that element is for you when you use it and Resist indicates your defensive capabilities against that element. I had something happen that doesnt make sense though. Garret, who has a high resistance to Venus, was hit by the Spire Psynergy and took super effective damage from it. That doesnt line up with what I thought unless I somehow didnt understand how the game tells you how resistant people are to damage during the battle. . for being resistant, ! for regular damage and !!! for super effective damage. Ive tested this multiple times and this is the case eventhough he has the second highest resistance to Earth in the stats. Hell, even a Clay Golems base attack does super effective damage. I dont get it