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About This File
TO: LUCT is no doubt one of the classics of turn based tactical games, it can boast complex storyline with a memorable cast of characters and multiple endings, as well as a deep combat system with a vast arsenal of equipment, items and spells. Its PSP port can also serve as an example of how such things should be done, with the game getting not only a much needed facelift but also a thorough redesign of most combat elements.
Sadly, the game isn’t without faults, as some of the new features make it extremely prone to exploits which an experienced player can use to fully remove any challenge from the game. The main goal of this mod is to render such exploits more difficult, bringing weapons, classes and skills closer to the level they should perform at, as well as to each other. Its secondary goal is to provide tweaks to immersion, visuals and some of the more cumbersome game systems like crafting and endless skill farming.
This is still a work in progress so all feedback is welcome.
For installation instructions and more info check the included Readme file.
Major features:
- Weapon, armor and consumable item rework. Equipment is more likely to do what you expect of it, 2H weapons will do a lot of damage and a tank in heavy armor will be hard to kill.
- Additional items, spells and skills, as well as changes to the existing ones with a focus on improving the more unappealing choices.
- Skills that grant stat bonuses, like Strengthen or Spellcraft, as well as static choices like Switfoot or Spell Ward were removed and compensated with higher stat differences between classes than in vanilla game.
- A full Finishing move rebalance.
- Most ways of gaining permanent stats were removed to reduce power creep in late game and increase options during early game.
- The power of special characters was reduced across the board, they're about on par with each other now and not overwhelmingly stronger than generics.
- Generic characters have more diverse templates that split into fighter, rogue, mage and generalist archetypes, their stats can differ a lot depending on which one you hire.
- Significantly increased the levelling speed of slow skills, like Steal or Parry.
- Most classes were tweaked, with emphasis on nerfing the strong ones and buffing the weak, many gained new tricks.
- Monsters don't scale natural armor as high as before. With the changes to skills, their new role is high HP bullet sponges that take a lot of damage and use the TP gained to spam special moves.
- Many items are easier to acquire, reducing the endgame tedium.
- Visual changes to some items, special characters, skills and spells.
- Streamlined crafting.
Consolidated changelist available in feedback thread.
What's New in Version 0.89 See changelog
Released
Patch notes v0.89
Equipment (general changes)
- When crafting becomes available the impact of being able to augment lower level gear is very slim, and enabling crafting earlier likely wouldn’t be worth the effort as you go through gear tiers very fast early on. With that in mind I opted for removing the upgrades for most items below level 9 and moving all regular gear down to cover those slots and get more room for better selection in the endgame section. That means your item list will siginificantly change, as the game saves the inventory amount per slot, so you will end up with items you didn’t have and your characters might end up equipped with items they might not be able to use, so make sure to double-check everything. Also, shifting gear around is a tricky process, though, so errors and glitches are very likely (especially in names/descriptions) and every such report is appreciated.
- Speaking of which, getting enough room for names is a real problem, so description slots were sacrificed sometimes for overflow. That means I had no room to give everything a unique description so, for instance, all normal 1h swords have one and all upgrades ahve another, it’s mostly a flavor thing and I’ll probably find a few more slots over time as I tweak the system but everything having a fully unique one is unlikely.
- Unlike original game, in the mod the upgrades intentionally lacked impact to avoid overshadowing the next regular upgrade and giving player too much advantage over CPU, it was a lesser evil but far from ideal as the was little reason to bother doing it. Instead, this patch turns upgrades into sidegrades, usually slightly but sometimes significantly different from the original item. Endgame weapons usually have a balanced offering of both versions but armors often have unique stat configurations instead.
- The instances where this isn’t true are items with large progression gaps, like whips, instruments or 1h bows/crossbows. Instead of a sidegrade, crafting them offers a significant power upgrade and those items will also be found on enemies. The main idea is that sidegrades are mostly a novel, untested or highly specialized gear pieces you might find on black ops agents but not as a standard gear on regular troops.
- Crafting is mostly standardized, with common gear requiring common ingredients and endgame gear with one or two that are drop-only.
- Level requirement of all gear is staggered to up to level 40, nothing will go over that.
- Animations for some items are changed, for instance, you will be able to tell a 1h axe/mace from a 2h one at a glance, fans use a proper swing instead of an overhead tap, claws use a thrust for piercing/crushing types and daggers are reverted to a swing with a pierce effect as the thrust was somewhat inconsistent.
- Impact sounds were also changed for a lot of weapons, you will notice some sounding appropriately for the type or just a bit more meaty.
- The appearance of some items was shuffled around to avoid too obvious overlaps with the new ones, I also included a few sword sprites the game didn’t use. Some items were also renamed.
- There were slight number adjustments to some gear types, most notably small dex weapons are a bit stronger and ranged are a bit weaker with a larger gap between 1H and 2H versions.
- Axes and hammers differ more in behavior, axes have only slightly higher ATK than swords but a high damage bonus and maces have very high ATK but low damage bonus. As a result, axes should do better versus poorly armored targets and maces should do better versus tough ones, extensive testing needed.
- All weapon projectiles fly faster, as in ‘less comically slow’. Arc weapons are the slowest and straight trajectory ones are faster, more feedback needed, some might be a bit too fast.
- Shop availability is changed for some gear types and damascus tier is available around the end of act 4, it isn’t terribly special and isn’t needed for crafting anymore either. Upgrade gaps in mid-late campaign will likely be lower, more feedback needed.
- As a flavor improvement, light/dark weapons are also restricted by class alignment like armor, you won’t be able to use a light sword on a terror knight or a dark claw on a cleric.
- Gear sets were slightly expanded. You can now complete the dragonslayer set with any two of wyrmscale chest, helm, gloves or greaves and either a dragonscale/wyrmscale shield or any 2H weapon with a dragon racial bonus. Shaytan’s Bulova can be used instead of Dadga’s Hammer for dark relics set if you prefer axes and you can also use Shadow Tramplers. The Reeking set was restyled into Legion set.
Equipment (fists)
- All normal claws have a 50% chance for poison its duration was also increased
- The Claw sidegrade are magehunter claws, they drain 10-20 mana per hit (depending on gear tier) and have a RES bonus
- Animation and impact sound is dependent on damage type
- Jarnglofars are reverted to 2H claws with 100% knockback and a STR bonus
Equipment (daggers)
- Dagger RT cost is down to 4RT per attack
- Normal daggers have a 15% chance to hamstring (inflict bound)
- The Dagger sidegrade are cultist daggers, they have a MND bonus and a few uses of Spellstrike
- Animation reverted to swing with pierce effect
Equipment (1H swords)
- All 1H swords have a 25% chance for stagger
- The 1H sword sidegrade are bastard swords, they’re 2-handed and their stat bonus is split with AVD, weaker than true 2H swords but faster
Equipment (2H swords)
- All normal 2H swords have a 40% chance for stagger
- The 2H sword sidegrade are barbarian swords, a heavier and slower with higher damage, 100% stagger and AGI penalty
- Added a certain 2H sword to the game as a high level craftable, currently the strongest (and heaviest) melee weapon available
Equipment (axes)
- All normal 1H axes have a 25% chance for breach and 2H ones have 40%
- ATK value of all axes was reduced but their damage bonus was significantly increased
- The axe sidegrade are bearded axes, 1H variant delays the enemy by 15RT and 2H ones by 25, but they cost extra RT to use
Equipment (spears)
- The spear sidegrade are long spears, they have the old 2-3 range, the lack of which some players were regretting, let it never be said I don’t do fanservice
Equipment (hammers)
- All normal 1H hammers have a 15% chance for stun and 2H ones have 25%
- ATK value of all hammers was increased but their damage bonus was significantly reduced
- The hammer sidegrade are kinetic sledges, 1H variant has a 60% chance for knockback and 2H ones have 100%
Equipment (1H katana)
- All normal 1H katana remove 25TP on every hit, instead of 15% chance for the same amount as damage done
- The 1H katana sidegrade are dual wielding blades, a sturdier, less elegant version with a parry bonus and LUK penalty
- The endgame section received a unique sword trilogy craftable with rare ingredients, you can have only one of each at any time and trying to craft another will just give you some money for the spent ingredients. All three are 1H katana that require both hands, the first focuses on movement, the second one is a strong attack weapon that hinders spellcasting and the third is a hybrid weapon with a unique ability. The swords were featured in an online game Path of Exile, based on design and lore by the author of Blackcloak series, W. James Chan.
Equipment (2H katana)
- All normal 2H katana remove 40TP on every hit, instead of 25% chance for the same amount as damage done
- The 1H katana sidegrade are spirit blades, weaker and lighter version attuned to their spiritual side and able to use the Draw Out ability
Equipment (cudgels)
- All normal staves have a varying amount of Charge 25 uses
- The cudgel sidegrade are quarterstaves, instead of augmenting casting they an AVD/Parry bonus, like spears
- Elemental caster staves have one use of ninjutsu, the light one has one use of heal 50% and the dark one can charge 25% MP to user
Equipment (whips)
- Whips are available earlier, their upgrades are spaced further apart and will also be used by enemies
- All whips have a 40% chance for weaken
Equipment (spellbooks)
- All normal spellbooks have three uses of the corresponding recruitment skill
Equipment (instruments)
- Whips are available earlier, their upgrades are spaced further apart and will also be used by enemies
- All whips have a 40% chance for weaken
Equipment (bows)
- 1H bow upgrades are spaced further apart and will also be used by enemies
- The 2H bow sidegrade are siege bows, with lower accuracy, higher range and power but also weight, deadzone and RT cost
Equipment (crossbows)
- 1H crossbow upgrades are spaced further apart and will also be used by enemies
- The 2H crossbow sidegrade are bowcasters, they have the highest range in the game and can fire through some obstacles but can only aim in four directions up to the first destructible object and have poor vertical tolerance
Equipment (thrown)
- All normal thrown weapons got 25% chance for hobble
- The thrown sidegrade are weighted sidearms, they have higher attack and inflict slow (bound for bola) but have lower range and higher weight/RT
- Valkenheim added as an endgame weapon, it’s a 2H ice elemental throwing axe with increased range and power
Equipment (unarmed)
- The huge hand sprite was removed from some animations
- Most hits sound meatier
- Ki Strike does more damage and has a higher chance to hit
Equipment (ranged unarmed)
- Shuriken poison duration increased
- Sling stone renamed to Flicker and its class availability was changed, it has 15% chance to stun but only goes in straight line
- Malediction looks differently, it does dark damage without physical component, has a higher chance to hit and has 15% chance to wither
Equipment (shields)
- All shield bashes have a higher chance to hit
- The light shield sidegrade are rune shields, they trade AVD bonus for RES and have a 50% chance to inflict silence instead of knockback
- The heavy shield sidegrade are assault shields, they trade the HP bonus for more bash damage and guaranteed stun
- Spiked/Shard shield have low defense but compensate it with innate reflect damage/spells
- The endgame section got Mirror shield, a low defense heavy shield with very high RES, physical damage reflection and a few uses of Phantom Pain. It also got Power Fist and Main Gauche, low and no defense shields that offer other advantages
- The lower level version of dragonscale shield is light, neither is elemental anymore and either can be used as part of the set
Equipment (helms)
- Cloth helm weight reduced to 1
- The cloth helm sidegrade are target helms, they reduce the user’s RES to make him a more likely target for spells and absorb MP
- The light and heavy helm sidegrades give up the HP bonus and some of their main stat for a MND bonus
- The endgame section got Scout Helm, a reduced weight light helm with innate trajectory and high AGI bonus. Also Blind Guardian, a powerful defensive helm for casters that carries certain penalties
- Holy Crown reworked to a target helm template
Equipment (body armor)
- The cloth armor sidegrade are wanderer cloaks, they trade caster bonuses for AVD and improved defense versus intelligent races
- The light armor sidegrade is plated cuirass, a beefier version with higher defense but no AVD bonus
- The heavy armor sidegrade is powered armor, it has a STR bonus and innate Steadfast but is heavier and not as good defensively
- The endgame section got higher level versions of normal armor and also Scout Armor, a light armor with extremely poor defense that enhances movement
- Elemental coats and mail armor can be crafted with Secrets of the Master
Equipment (armguards)
- The light/heavy glove upgrades are battlemage gloves, they trade some of the other bonuses for an INT bonus
- Overguards and their sidegrades are heavier and have very high stats but they also have high penalties
- The endgame section got Scout Gloves, a higher level version of normal leather gloves. Also Grapnel Brace, a heavy gauntlet with a grappling hook that can use Escalade and also Snake Charmers, light gloves with poison immunity and a few uses of Envenom.
- Hellforge Mitts were reworked into high level Overguards
Equipment (legguards)
- The light legguards sidegrades split the bonus between AVD and RES and heavy ones transfer all of it to RES
- The endgame section got Scout Boots, light legguards with innate Jump I, Wyrmscale Greaves, heavy leagguards from the Wyrmscale set and Armored Hakama, cloth legguards with high defense versus intelligent races
- Worldtree roots got innate Steadfast
- Tidal waders got innate Wade
Equipment (cursed weapons)
- They inflict a portion of target’s max HP dependent on weapon type as additional damage
- Their accuracy, RT and weight is returned to default for that weapon type
Consumables
- Salvation Gem can be crafted from two Lifeline Gems
- The range of Salvation gem was increased to 6, RT cost reduced for both evacuation items
- RT cost of status removal items reduced to 10
- Added Rubber as a crafting material, it is created from Birnewood and Sulfur
- Adjusted the prices of some crafting materials
- Ways of the Gerges renamed to Ways of the Wild
- Humanoid classmarks can be crafted with Ways of the Wild
Class
- Patriarch/Matriarch gained access to Spellbooks, they’re literate after all... probably
- Access to augment light/darkness varies based on class alignment
- Casters have a slightly higher RT penalty
- Wizard can use Dead Man’s Ivy
- Knights are more accurate
- Knights have access to all status removal spells except Liberate, Decurse and Ease
- White Knights have access to all status removal spells except Liberate, Decurse and Ease
- Terror Knights can use the Torpor and Dead Man’s Ivy spells
- Necromancer can use only the first tier of projectile spells
- Lord can use Draconic damage spells, we’ll see how that goes
- Scylla was able to use Liftoff by oversight
Skills
- First tier of Counterattack, Knockback, Channeling, Wade, Reflect Damage, Reflect Magic and Absorb MP was disabled because the values were pointlessly low, the remaining tiers were spread over the same level range
- Counterattack renamed to Counterhit, Knockback renamed to Bash, Expand Mind renamed to Clarity, Channeling renamed to Efficacy, mostly for spacing reasons
- For the most part, slots with deactivated skills will say ‘nothing’ and have no description
Spells and Active Skills
- Some buff spells are available earlier
- Levels are which spells become avaialble were standardized based on the magic ability of the class
- Reduced MP/RT cost of most status removal spells to 10-15, lowered their level and made some of them easier to acquire
- Unburden also removes slow
- Reduced the MP cost of Evacuate I/II spells to 30/40 and RT cost to 20/25, losing a character is a high enough cost
- Leaping Monkey renamed to Escalade
- TP/RT cost of Shriving Dance reduced to 30/20, area of effect increased to 3
- Added Her Blessing and Draw Out, which are used on some of the new items
- Relay now affects all disabled units within an area of 3 instead of entire battlefield
- Blood Price now removes half of current HP and converts that amount to TP, it has no other cost
- Flame and Sand Breath now always hit with RT delay and TP removal but the amount is lowered
Racial Templates
- Canopus is slightly more resistant
- Cressida’s stats slightly adjusted to make her a better ranged attacker
- Some early game leader stats were further adjusted
Shop
- Damascus gear is available in late act 4 instead of during CODA
- Spell availability in shops standardized based on their level
Draconic grimoire Prestesse and Oeildaigle can be bought in all shops
With version 0.89:- Download
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