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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 0.90 See changelog
Released
Patch notes v0.90
Equipment
- Daggers, Claws and Katana are slightly stronger
- Ranged weapons are slightly weaker in general
- 2H Bow sidegrades have lower range (same as guns) and slightly lower ATK
- AVD bonus on most early game equipment pieces was lowered so characters in some gear combinations aren’t quite as hard to hit
- Usable effects on some endgame weapons were changed, mostly because giving them grenade effects makes no sense anymore
- Fans are late game weapon options now, some players liked using them for flavor but outgrew them too fast
- Baldur and Damasc blowguns swapped status effects because the scroll required for baldur recipe isn’t available yet at its level
- Lob Boulder range reduced by 1
- Most armor pieces are cheaper, especially shields
- Catapult was removed as a Lobber upgrade, it has increased range from the get go instead
- Throw Item innate ranged attack was introduced. As a reminder, throwing items costs more RT than using them normally
- Scrolls in some recipes were changed for a different one due to spell changes, so double check before buying
- Various minor bug fixes
Consumables
- Field Alchemy requirement for most items was adjusted to two tiers of the skill
- Field Alchemy requirement for most status removal items was relaxed or removed to prevent enemies from getting status locked as often. As a rule, status removal items that require FA skill are used for statuses that are somewhat exotic and not heavily disabling, like fear or curse
- Introduced Panacea, the ultimate status removal item that fully cleanses the unit of all debuffs at once, requires Field Alchemy II
- Introduced Holy Water, an item that can exorcise stilled undead, requires Field Alchemy I. This does mean more enemies will try to exorcise your undead if you’re using any, you should animate them as soon as possible or prevent enemies from getting close until they get up
- Crafting consumables is much simpler
- Salvation Gem now revives the target, transferring all life force from the user and forcing him to withdraw, it was changed because reviving is required in some rescue missions and forcing players to have a trained Spellblade handy to use Relay wasn’t a good solution. Crafting the gem now requires one Lifeline gem instead of two, as it isn’t strictly an upgrade and it requires Field Alchemy I instead of II
- Using monster food doesn’t require Field Alchemy
- Grenades are cheaper but they aren’t hitting an area now, that means they should only be thrown and enemies won’t go suicide bomber on you now, but they will throw them if able
- Formerly consumable fans that swordmasters in optional areas drop can now be sold, some can be sold well
- Some spell scrolls were renamed to fit new spells better
- The price and recipe for some crafting materials was changed
- On Medicine I crafting book was renamed to Ars Magna, it contains endgame spell recipes instead and can be bought from Deneb in CODA
- On Medicine II crafting book was renamed to Herbalism, it is still a story battle drop
Classes
- Classes that can’t use any ranged weapons lost the ability to throw stones, some of them got a different ability as a replacement
- Some squishy classes are less squishy
- Most classes are more resistant and some casters don’t scale both of their casting stats as high, it should limit spell scaling in endgame
- Adjusted access to buff/status spells according to the caster’s specialization for all changed elemental, light, dark and draconic spells
- Cleric gained access to Consecrate Dead
- Wizard can use minor buff spells and Fixate
- Spellblade gained access to major buff spells and can use Throw Item
- Knight can learn all status removal spells
- Terror Knight can use Fixate
- Swordmaster gained access to Challenge
- Warlock can use Throw Item
- Necromancer lost access to Consecrate Dead, he also can’t use elemental spells anymore, only dark
- Fusilier gained access to Silverado, a class-exclusive fusil finisher with fixed TP cost that has low range and lowered damage against living but hits undead harder and will automatically destroy them on kill
- Familiar lost access to dark magic and instill dark but gained all status removal spells, the class is supposed to be fairy-exclusive in future so it’s setting the expectations. It also lost access to Pumpkin Lure
- Lord gained access to Animate Dead as a Necromancer signature skill and lost Consecrate Dead
- Ranger lost access to Sneak Attack but gained Booby Trap. He can also use minor debuff spells
- Princess can use elemental projectile spells but she lost access to light buffs/debuffs so she’s limited to area, status removal and healing there, it was changed to make elemental setups more attractive as most Princesses used light magic exclusively
- Vartan gained access to Featherstep
- White Knight and Paladin lost Instill Light, it was redundant after reworking Consecrate Edge. White Knight gained access to Fervor
- Astromancer gained access to Evanescence, a self-teleport that restores some HP and MP on warp
- Shaman lost access to Nature’s Whisper but gained Storm Call and Clear Skies
- Songstress can use Throw Item
- Knight Commander can use minor debuff spells
- Vyce’s NPC-only Assassin class can use the same gear as Ranger, he would sometimes come equipped with heavy gear
- Male Songstress renamed to Bard, in case some are cheating the class onto male characters
Skills
- Rally had to be moved to another slot, that means your Knights will have to relearn it
- Field Alchemy has two tiers now, it was unlocking two potions of healing, some status removal and a few other items so there was no real need to stretch it out over 4 tiers of skill. Tier I is available to everyone and tier II is restricted to classes that were previously able to learn tier IV
- Many ranked active skills aren’t ranked anymore, guaranteed chance to work was a potential problem at very high ranks
- Squash is learned by Warriors instead of Terror Knights and can be used by all classes proficient with strength-based 2H weapons
Spells and Active Skills
- Spells that deal damage have a much higher RT cost in general, casters ended up a bit too fast at all game stages. Conserve RT before a powerful spell will lop quite a chunk off your timer
- Damage of Burst I spells was increased
- Range of Summon spells was increased by 1 and the area of second tier was reduced as it only made focusing fire harder, they also do 1 less hit in both tiers
- Apocrypha II costs 100MP
- Area of minor buff spells was increased
- The structure of elemental spells was changed so they have 2 buff and 2 debuffs each, one major and one minor
- Turbulence replaced by Hover Draft, a spell that grants CLOUDWALK to a single target
- Balmy Breeze replaced by Dust Devil, a spell that inflicts SLOW in an area
- Storm Prison affects an area
- Dust Storm replaced by Razorback, a spell that protects a unit and reflects the damage it takes until it moves
- Lodestone also inflicts STAGGER
- Stagnate replaced by Drift, a spell that grants WATERWALK in an area
- Poison Mist always hits
- Sludgebind affects an area
- Flame Fusion renamed to Enrage
- Pyroclasm renamed to Flame Fusion, a spell that grants a guaranteed critical hit to the target’s next attack
- Meltdown renamed to Melta, it also inflicts WEAKEN
- Basalt renamed to Brimstone (most of the name shuffling was for lack of space on new location)
- Numbing Cold renamed to Frostbite, a spell that resets TP in the area
- Silent Light was renamed to Mute
- Boon of Swiftness has lower range but also lower cost
- Awaken II was renamed to Disenchant
- Singing Light was replaced with Paramedic, a spell that grants HEALCRAFT in an area, it is mostly available to healers
- Innervate also removes SILENCE
- Cleanse II was replaced with Oblivion, a spell that inflicts SLEEP on a single target
- Cleanse also removes ENVENOM
- Awaken Stone was renamed to Ameliorate
- Ease is available earlier but has lower range
- Evacuate II affects an area
- Drain Life doesn’t work on undead
- Drain Mind costs 10 MP but is faster and drains more
- Drain Power cost reduced to 20 MP
- Spellcharge range reduced to 6
- Sleep replaced with Lancet, a spell that damages the user and heals the target
- Poison Cloud and Deadly Poison always hit
- Torpor renamed to Slow
- Detect replaced with Ascend, a spell that grants Nimble to a single target
- Springboard and Teleport can also be used on enemies, which should be fun, we’ll see if the former is a bit too fun
- Benediction replaced with Soul Harvest, a spell that drains half of target’s TP as HP and MP
- Gift of Renewal duration increased
- Blade Dance renamed to Acrobatics, it also grants TRUESTRIKE but affects a smaller area
- Ballistics also grants TRUEFLIGHT but affects a smaller area
- Enlighten replaced with Warcraft, a spell that grants STRENGTHEN and FORTIFY in an area
- Phantom Shell replaced with Thaumaturgy, a spell that grants SPELLCRAFT and RESILIENT in an area
- Sacrifice renamed to Martyrdom, it affects a small area around the user instead of all unconscious units on the field, but, similar to Rally, you can still do X for 1 exchanges with some clever corpse manipulation
- Frenzy also grants STRENGTHEN to the target and is cheaper but its range was reduced to 3
- Release is more costly and now requires touch range
- Phantom Pain can also be cast on others
- Dance costs are a bit lower in general
- Lion Dance also grants DODGE
- Bellows Dance replaced with Pixie Dance, it grants TRUESTRIKE and RESILIENT
- Shriving Dance renamed to Liberty Dance
- Comely Dance renamed to Tremor Dance, it inflicts STUN instead of BREACH
- Bedeviling Dance renamed to Lingering Dance, its area of effect was increased by 1
- Envigorating Dance renamed to Macabre Dance, it removes all TP from enemies instead of percentage and costs 30 HP instead of TP
- All songs affect a larger area and have one beneficial and one harmful effect, but are more expensive and do not affect the user
- Ardent Conga replaced with Black Swan, it grants TRUESTRIKE to allies and inflicts FALSESTRIKE on enemies
- Weakening Joropo replaced with White Witch, it grants SPELLSTRIKE to allies and inflicts SPELLSLIP on enemies
- Taunting Mambo replaced with Dragon’s Child, it grants STRENGTHEN to allies and inflicts WEAKEN on enemies
- Weakening Joropo replaced with Silent Goddess, it grants SPELLCRAFT to allies and inflicts SPOILSPELL on enemies
- Somber Chacarera replaced with Circle of Life, it heals allies and damages enemies
- Escalating Sanat replaced with Secret of Mana, it restores MP to allies and damages MP of enemies
- Poised Arabesque replaced with Blaze of Glory, it restores TP to allies and damages TP of enemies
- Rank 2 sword finisher Bad Blood inflicts ENVENOM instead of POISON
- Most ranked skills have a fixed chance to work instead, usually 60% which is a rank 4 equivalent
- Iron Maiden won’t always inflict STOP when it hits
- Liberate reverted to First Aid, it isn’t a duplicate name anymore and there’s a status removal spell of same name
- Durations of RENEWAL and SIDESTEP on Huappango Winds should be closer to one another, it’s impossible to make it even because those two effects calculate their durations differently but it should be close enough
- Pumpkin Lure renamed to Challenge and its effect to Taunt, it also got changed to special skill so it can be comboed with Preempt. Hard to say how effective it actually is because range seems to play a role too, but it does lend some flavor to the class
- Bloody Gag is a single target skill
- Empower skills also shave off 40RT from the target’s counter so the beast will act sooner
- Meditate costs more RT to use but its TP cost is still very low, that way it’s more of an emergency charge you can always count on if you need to use a stronger spell than something you spam non stop. It should also make other methods of charging MP more attractive.
- There’s a greater chance that Mind Blast will sometimes be able to maybe damage something for more than 1, in rare cases, hopefully
- Blade Focus costs 30 TP and grants STUN-BRINGER, the effects it had were covered well enough by dances
- Heal Aura was replaced by Fervor, a melee range skill that hastens the user when he exorcises a stilled undead
- Consecrate Edge grants LIGHT-TOUCHED, STRENGTHEN and TRUESTRIKE, pretty much a souped up Instill Light
- Stardust Grace gains range with rank instead of accuracy
- Holy Water was renamed to Last Rites, it also affects a small area now
- Nature’s Whisper was replaced with Clear Skies, a dragon shou... skill that improves weather and has a lowish chance to inflict FALSESTRIKE on all enemies.
- Storm Call was added as a Clear Skies counterpart, it worsens weather and inflicts FALSEFLIGHT, got a feeling Gimli’s winning this one
- Barricade now creates two obstacles in a straight line
- Squash is now able to remove most obstacles in the game, including but not limited to undesired barricades, pumpkins, clones, bushes, crates, boulders and fluffy woodland creatures
- Aegis doesn’t work on undead
- Consecrate Dead affects a 2 squares larger area
- Last Resort removes 5% of current life instead of max, enemies won’t be able to kill themselves with it now
- Break Curse replaced with Turn Undead, a special skill that has a chance to FRIGHTEN all undead in sight
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