[2.0] Esper Equip Bonuses
#22
11 October 2016 - 07:11 AM
Here's headered and unheadered patches to implement the esper equip bonuses.
Notes/disassembly:
#24
11 October 2016 - 05:57 PM
(An effectively blank index in the esper list named Loki.)
#26
27 October 2016 - 05:30 PM
1/2 Ice damage - Shiva
1/2 Bolt damage - Ramuh
1/2 Wind damage - Maduin
1/2 Water damage - Bismark
1/2 Earth damage - Terrato
These are interesting, particularly in WOB were less equipment is available that can nullify/absorb an element, and when these espers are more prevalent. I see these likely being used a lot less in WOR, but they could in theory be helpful against the Dragons on a character who can't equip protective gear like Gaia Gear or Aqua Gear.
Block Blind/Mute/Muddle - Siren
Block Poison/Imp/Bserk - Stray
Block Sleep/Stone/Death - Seraph
Basically like early game relics
Auto-Rflect - Alexandr
Auto-Regen - Starlet
Auto-Haste - Palidor
Auto-Safe - Bahamut
Auto-Shell - Tritoch
Great effects! Probably most helpful in random encounters since AoE versions of these skills are often cast in a boss fight anyway
+5 Vigor - Unicorn
+5 Magic - Kirin
+5 Stamina - Shoat
+5 Speed - Odin
5 is a small number, enough to be noticable (esp in WOB) but not anywhere near enough to be overcentralizing
+10 Def - Golem
+10 M.Def - Zoneseek
+10 Evade - Fenrir
+10 M.Evade - Phantom
Same as the above, though 10% in evasion can make a big difference
HP +25% - Phoenix
MP +25% - Carbunkl
Physical Damage +25% - Crusader
Magical Damage +25% - Ragnarok
These may be a bit much but it certainly gives a reason to equip these more situational espers
Terra: Available Bonuses
Unicorn: Vigor + 5, modest boost to Vigor Terra
Maduin/Bismarck: Wind/Water protection, good for specific bosses
Carbunkle: MP + 25%, will be consistently useful thoughout the whole game, even on Vig Terra cause of MP crits
Tritoch- Auto-Shell- Not bad, but take a turn to cast shell yourself, and get +25% MP
Phoenix: +25% HP, make a Stamina Tank Terra build even more unkillable
Ragnarok: Mag Dam +25%, it's gotten so late it's almost of no consequence, especially since base Mag Terra in Morph form can often damage cap
Carbunkle seems to be the clear winner here, Phoenix right behind. With Carbuncle you can invest fewer levels into MP boosts and focus more on Vig/Mag/Stam and HP, while still having a respectable MP pool. Plus it's available right from the magitek factor. Phoenix is fantastic is you're going full Stam Terra and don't care about MP as much, Terra will be difficult to kill even in morphed form and 25% more HP indirectly boosts Omega Weapon. Phoenix can also help promote longevity in a Vigor Build, and is likely more beneficial than Vigor +5 in that respect
Celes Available Bonuses
Ramuh/Shiva/: Bolt/Ice protection, both pretty common so not bad
Siren/Seraph: blind/mute/muddle, sleep/death/stone not bad
Phantom: M Evade
Alexander: Auto Reflect, bit more useful than the other autos, since it wears off when cast
Crusader: Phy Dam + 25%...not even close! is available fairly early into WOR and allows Vig Celes to dominate while preserving relic slot.
Locke Available Bonuses
Ramuh/Ifrit: Bolt/Fire protection
Kirin- + 5 magic, not bad for a magic oriented Locke
Phoenix: +25 hp, for any Locke Build, this is probably the way to go. + 5 magic is not enough of an impact
Edgar Available Bonuses
Siren: Block Blind/Mute/Muddle
Golem: +10 Def
Unicorn: + 5 Vigor, good option for chainsaw/dragoon Edgar
Palidor: Auto-Haste likely offers more DPS than + 5 Vigor once available
Sabin Available Bonuses
Stray: Poison/Imp Bserk..though odd, Sabin may not want Bserk blocked if Vigor, good if Stam
Golem: +10 Def
Terrato: Half-Earth damage
Cyan Available Bonuses
Kirin- + 5 Magic, might be noticeable in WOB
Bismarck: Half Water
Alexander: Auto Reflect
Setzer Available Bonuses
Shoat: + 5 Stam
Seraph: sleep stone death
Starlet: Auto Regen, likely winner, especially for Stam variant of Setzer
Shadow Available Bonuses
Fenrir and Phantom: Physical or Magic evade, kind of fitting
Gau Available Bonuses
Fenrir: Phy Evade
Stray: Poison/Imp Bserk
Mog Available Bonuses
Maduin/Terrato: Half wind/Earth
Shoat: + 5 stamina
Palidor: Auto Haste
Strago Available Bonuses
Shiva: half Ice
Carbunkl: +25% MP (FUCK YES! use this with Pure Shiva build for destruction)
Zoneseek- +10 Mdef
Odin: + 5 speed (since he's slow to begin with, this might not be bad choice)
Relm Available Bonuses
Ifrit: Half Fire
Zone: + Mdef
Starlet: Auto Regen for stam Relm esp
Bahamut: Auto Protect, she's backrow all the time anyway, but she's squishy
My point of view on this is that the elemental protection and status protection are great when used at certain times, the auto effects can be nice since they save you time in battle and can't be dispelled, but all in all aren't huge a deal since unlike elemental/status protection, the player does have ways to apply these effects in battle. The 25% boosts effects are all huge boons to the players who possess them, and completely trump almost any other effect. For this reason, I feel that the + 5 on the main stats of Vig/Mag/Stam/Speed is just too small, its hard to justify them on most characters because while +5 is cool, unless it's WOB before stats get boosted too much, + 5 will hardly be noticed compared to other esper effects. I'd probably boost it to +8 to represent a bonus 4 Espers Levels in that specific stat, and comparable to bonuses granted by late game equipment (which are typically + 7).
#27
27 October 2016 - 07:11 PM
Quote
My opinion? Reduce the HP/MP bonuses to just 12.5% each one. Why? almost everyone will use those all the time since having more HP it's never a bad thing and more MP means more room to blast away things without any recharging, making some builds less attractive (See: Stam Strago........... and he's having a hard time already in my eyes......)
#28
27 October 2016 - 08:13 PM
#29
28 October 2016 - 06:15 AM
The biggest benefit of most of these is that it allows you more flexibility with what you decide to equip. Previously it was mostly about helmets and armor to provide defenses or hp, but now you have a lot more choices. The most powerful one is definitely the 25% on Crusader. This is a massive boost to Vigor and Stamina Celes. Much needed.
#30
28 October 2016 - 09:07 AM
ronlyn, on 27 October 2016 - 07:11 PM, said:
I agree they are the most useful on paper, but characters have access to some equipment that can boost stats by 25% as well (circuit as mentioned for mp) so these boosts really free the player from equipping a specific relic or item opening up their options. Still they are the best bonuses.
#31
28 October 2016 - 09:13 AM
Mishrak, on 28 October 2016 - 06:15 AM, said:
The biggest benefit of most of these is that it allows you more flexibility with what you decide to equip. Previously it was mostly about helmets and armor to provide defenses or hp, but now you have a lot more choices. The most powerful one is definitely the 25% on Crusader. This is a massive boost to Vigor and Stamina Celes. Much needed.
3 5 and 7 I assume is a coding issue with equipment bonuses, 7 isn't a big difference over 5 anyway so I don't feel strongly either way. By late game the stat boost (cept 25% cause it scales all the way) will not be relevant by the end. That just means the player will favor those boosts early and switch to others later which works out well.
#32
28 October 2016 - 02:38 PM
One nice thing about the +'s on a few of those stats is those are on ones that are a bit harder to boost - Edgar only gets so much vigor if he's 2 handing a spear, neither Locke or Cyan ever have enough magic, and +5 speed on Odin is a GODSEND for Strago.
#33
29 October 2016 - 09:23 AM
I may putz with it if/when I get around to actually working on 1.7.5.
#34
29 October 2016 - 09:54 AM
EDIT: To be clear, though, that would actually be a major nerf to Odin, a buff to Unicorn for Vig Edgar/Terra, and generally imperceptible to Kirin. And I don't think it would make Stam Setzer go Shoat over Starlet anyways, and it'd nerf the Magic Mog using Shoat to buff Dance use case considerably. I'm not happy with a percentage change looking at the theory.
#35
29 October 2016 - 11:55 AM
#36
29 October 2016 - 01:24 PM
#37
29 October 2016 - 11:10 PM
#38
30 October 2016 - 08:15 AM
Quote
I can see some uses: When you're spamming Tentacle/Shrapnel, you don't wanna get berserk or else you got stuck with an useless character that wasn't gear up to do physical damage
#39
30 October 2016 - 10:17 AM
ronlyn, on 30 October 2016 - 08:15 AM, said:
This only matters if Gau is Berserked before he Rages, which is unlikely. If he is Berserked while he is Raging he will still use Tentacle and Shrapnel, so it's really just a boost to his occasional attack.
#40
30 October 2016 - 05:03 PM