it's not easy to get right, especially for smaller projects like this.
Gotta say though, that I appreciate you making status effects an essential part of combat to begin with. There's no such thing as "grinding" you just have to strategize accordingly, which beats the older style of RPG design where one hits the player with a cliff of difficulty every few hours.
Looking forward to seeing more from you!
edit: Also...what's this about a second optional fight??