raics

Feedback and Suggestions

599 posts in this topic

If it's possible I'll do it, sure, Steal is severely underused in the game.

There's only one Denam in the racial template table, that's because he never appears as an npc. As a point of reference, there are 4 Vyces.

The game doesn't use the targeting type that hits everything, I'll see if tampering with the parameters of the type that hits all enemies can give us that effect. But I probably won't create any new effects just for items, I don't have much room left in ability table so I'd like to save it for new skills or spells.

Which ice hold move and emblem system?

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Freezing Gust, and the emblem system from KoL. There's no way that's actually in there, said that as a joke, but it still feels like they tried to go for that with the skill ranks. Would have been cool to unlock classes through tricks and achievements again, though. Of Course, Fist Fight might break the game in half, but still.

Out of curiosity, is there a Gold or Brown Vyce that looks like Delita?

Does it count as a whole other move to add an effect on spells? Like say if the dark version of the poison move wanted to be both poison and hobble?

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Ah, right, there are most certainly no emblems, can't see them trying that too, they already tried a bunch of crap that didn't work.

I was mostly avoiding giving debuff spells to gear because a straight fighter would have very low chance to do anything, there are a few on gear with MND bonus, like daggers or instruments. There's Dominate on Skull Mask, that one also infllicts stop.

There are no Vyces that we didn't see, there's the recruitable Vyce, law NPC, chaos NPC and the dead one.

Well, the whole thing works like this, there a big table with all spells, active skills, special skills, finishers and item effects, you can give an item anything from there but it will be exactly the way it is, you can't modify it on the fly.

As a sidenote, I remembered you were wondering about float buff, the whole point of that is it gives you +1 jump, a gremlin rogue has 4 jump in the mod.

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Oh, ok, that makes more sense, never figured that it did anything aside from traps. Guess I'll have to try it more, that's really useful.

Is double or triple hitting an effect that can be set as a use ability?

Dead Vyce being zombie Vyce? Is there a way to allow recruitable Vyce to be a zombie? I actually haven't seen him yet to confirm he exists, aaaaaalmost there at this point. (Thank You again for making getting to Coda an actually enjoyable prospect!)

Did they add a Plot Gun hidden somewhere for fun? That gun Barbas and the presumed Tiger Knight get looks like awesome. Maybe it was just loaded with plot bullets! You mentioned a warlock gun Sprite (I vaguely remember that coming up), who would You add guns on if their sprites were found? (Warlocks and their force push are probably my favorite class now)

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Not in a way you think, on hit weapon effects are different from skill effects, you can have only one and your control over it is limited. A skill lets you fully define a primary effect and two additional ones, so a triple hitting ability just has three hits which can use different damage formulas and elements. However, a skill can't be a normal attack because there's no animation that works with every damage type and there's no skill damage formula that does normal attack damage, that's why sidearm finishers feel a bit wonky, they use the animation that looks the least awful out of them all and some thrown weapons are fairly different, like javelin and bola.

Yeah, I think it's zombie Vyce, if I find out how to trigger the recruit dialogue anything can be hired but that won't happen soon.

There are only real weapons in the table, the cutscene probably uses real rimfire or just plays the animation blank, there was probably no need to create dummy weapons because the game doesn't seem to use separate weapon entities. I mentioned guns and warlocks as a joke, they give off that Indy vibe of a badass archeologist so I gave them whips but they're 2handed so you wouldn't be able to use a gun and a whip anyway to play the full role, I could give them guns no problem.

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Ok. I've done everything but the Palace of the Dead and CODA. Before I go into that, some considerations:

Class balance: Spellblade, Beast Tamer, and Berserker feel like bottom feeders.

Spellblade might be a generalist, but this game is built around specializing and in the end it can't deal decent damage to anything (Since it seems to be held back mostly by lackluster stats, could be simply tuning). Beast Tamer is crippled by the short range on its skills, severely limiting its effectiveness as if it's not in range of a beast it's a worse Warrior. Berserker is way too fragile for too little offensive benefit and can generally be replaced by other, sturdier fighters for little to no loss.

On another note, Terror Knight could be a little bit tankier. They're not bad, but they're barely more resilient than other frontline melee and way behind Knight and Hoplite. Just a little bit would help.

Stats: Avoidance feels way too strong. Waaaay too strong. Making the sturdiest knight possible still seems to be more vulnerable than anyone packing full avoidance gear.

Ranged Weapons: Once again, the RT penalty still doesn't feel harsh enough. I was thinking 66, 76, 86 for 2H Bows, Crossbows, and Fusils, and 20, 40, 46, 52 for 1H Sidearms, Bows, Crossbows, and Fusils. 

Spells: On top of the disparity of status effects available that I mentioned, offensive Draconic doesn't feel as powerful as it should be for its measly 3 range (should be made stronger and more expensive, I believe), and the status effects seem to still be gated to those two areas I haven't visited yet, which doesn't feel right. I feel it should be tailored to be really good for specific "battlemage" classes, Warlock, Princess, and Knight Commander come to mind.

That's it for now. I need sleep.

Edited by Valenhil

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Dang, now I definitely have to have a whiplock for the Ironman Run.

So You said the different hits can have different affinities, is it possible to change their damage type like that sort of omni-spork idea of crush-stab-slash? I assume no based on the no on that earlier, but in this case it was mentioned, so gotta ask (sorry for occasional redundancy).

Gotta agree on the above on heavy bows, they do still rock pretty hard. Guns, not so much, having a team comprised or firearm users updated for the mod now, I can safely say that they get overwhelmed a LOT. Actually, if it wasn't for mass Attunement( Which still only effectively works 60%ish of the time with the way Bewitch applies, which is fair.), they would stop being viable. I have Canopus with a 1h bow and dagger combo, and he seems about right, my sidearm sidekick of his seems to take turns every other week some days though, albeit he is a hoplite, so that's likely why. 

Just to add two more cents on the above, is there a chance of higher range of their empower moves? Damage wise they seem fine, they're not exactly fighters, though it would be nice to be able to rotate their finishers and powers a little more, they can friggin rule with a lightning mage behind them though. Spellblades seem awesome in my book, I'd prefer a little more speed on them to use as light infantry, but that would break stuff. Berserkers are friggin great, though, friggin gotta turn on their invincibility move and go to town while keeping a knight near them. I love the way their moves go together, allowing to go for AoE, high single target, next turn survival and counter damage or just plain defensive. They're easily one of my favorites, especially with axes or fists.

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Dunno, I was getting awfully good mileage from my berserker but there's a new skill coming up in next patch to replace risk management, it should be an improvement. The game is indeed built on specializing but that doesn't mean generalists can't work, warlock, ninja and rogue are a good example of strong generalists. I made all beast tamer's skills scale range by rank for next patch, that should help a bit but it's ok if he has to stay close to his pets, I wouldn't let some of them out of my sight for long. If I get a good idea for some spellblade skill I'll do it but won't touch their stats anymore, they're already very close to specialists.

On the subject of defense, I can't make terror knights or dragoons quite as tanky as knights or hoplites, they dish out more damage and have other advantages. Avoidance chars are generally weaker to spells than tanks so it's a good thing if they're stronger vs attacks.

I'm planning to make dragon magic more readily available, lesser buffs will probably be available in Deneb's shop and picking up everything else will likely be possible by one PotD playthrough. The general idea is that some dragon spells are more or less known and the good ones, aka 'secrets of dragon magic' are hidden away.

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Warlock, Ninja, and Rogue are not generalists in the way Spellblade is. They still have the stats and skills to excel in what they choose to do. Warlock has the mind for 100% accuracy disables, which is pretty much the strongest option available right now. Ninja and Rogue have the speed and mobility to engage the targets they're most effective at. Spellblade can only do two things, deal physical damage and deal magical damage, and it's good at neither. On top of that, while ninja and rogue have incredibly useful skills for their role, Spellblade's selection is a mess. HP infusion is useful, but it's a tanking ability. MP infusion is misguided, as the class can already attack physically to accumulate MP. And I don't thing anything needs to be said about Barricade. Spellblade, as it is, seems tied with Warrior for the most pointless class in the game.

I don't think Terror Knight should be as resistant as a Knight, just a little bit more than it is right now. The gap between them is very large, to the point where Terror Knight is closer to berserker than it is to knight. It already pays the price for ibeing tankier in speed and shitty accuracy.

The thing about beast tamer is that the range on their skills should be at least good enough for the two to confortably pick their targets within an area. The way they are now, the tamer often can't simultaneously reach a beast and a target. Feral Remedy should be Range 3, and the others range 5.

About ranked skills, I'd be more tempted to do away with them entirely. They have to be balanced according to their highest rank, after all, so they're just one more grind, but now on a unit by unit basis, which gets aggravating fast.

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OK, so gotta disagree a bit. I know, that never happens ever. 

So...soldiers friggin rule. As far as an outright overall excellent front liner, they really take the cake. Vigorous Assault helps them serve a defensive/support role at a pretty cheap cost, and it's saved multiple units more times than I can count. Mighty is just amazing for cliff knocks and damage, and double impact is, as far as I'm concerned, the best damage ability in the game with a two-hander on them. 

Spellblades may be generalists, but they still can do most things pretty well. Barricade, while I'd prefer it to be a 20-30 cost move, can still provide a good block if they get a good spear stab and pop it in front of them. HP infusion is good for tanking, but again, helps them serve as support, they can use their turn for item heals, and still heal themselves. The MP one is admittedly less useful, but against some lower defense stuff, their summons can one-shot, in turn sense, anyway. Unlike rogues, they can actually take some damage, too, friggin rogues need to be fast to avoid getting 1-2 shotted. 

(Also, that avoidance thing...armored gloves and a robe on sword masters can be awesome. They still get hit hard by spells and such, and a debuff will always end them, but it's far more mage tanky, and the AI sees the high damage potential and gets themselves prempted over and over and over, it's fantastic. Other than that, with how many hits are flying around, even 25% can't be relied on when one hit can debilitate or disable someone. Voltare had avoidance gear and high armor. Voltare's dead now, because one of those 25%s critted him off a cliff on his last life. RIP Voltare.)

Also very glad to hear that we won't be needing to invade heaven to learn how to detect traps! Friggin...detect....coming about 500 battles too late to be useful. Actually, is there a way to change the range of detect to maybe double what it does? Also, it'll be interesting to see the beast changes, really looking forward to this next one!

Edited by coffee potato

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It's kinda hard to get a tanky caster outside of special classes, that's a niche of sorts and spellblade fills it good enough currently. I don't really think he can do it better without stepping on the toes of straight classes, which is something I'd like to avoid. We could say that spellblade's real problem is that his role is far from the meta, but I still think that role should be there.

About ranked skills, I'm trying to balance them with mid-rank in mind, if you went through the trouble to farm it fully I say you earned your OP skill, enjoy.

Probably mentioned this before, but I don't think this game can ever become truly well balanced, the mechanics are complex (read: crappy) and there's a lot of factors in play. What I'm trying to do here is remove the worst of it at least while keeping as much of the fun stuff in as I can.

Edited by raics

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If you want it to be a tanky caster, then give it higher magic resistance. That'll at least give it a niche in being the only "tank" that doesn't get hit by a 100% petrify.

Edited by Valenhil

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That's one of those examples of crappy mechanics I was talking about, both int and mnd contribute to debuff accuracy and only avd helps you avoid it, mnd and res have nothing to do with it. As a result it's kinda tricky to balance it, I can't give all units high avd and if terror knights or familiars are to hit anything with their spells I need to use a high accuracy formula that causes real casters to do a guaranteed status on most targets, which is ok if I want them to compete with damage spells. And I do because the best status in the game is still 'dead' and damage casters are pretty strong.

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Damage casters are pretty darn amazing. Right now for post game, there's at least a reasonable choice between classes, honestly I don't really see a problem with spellblades, again, aside from the barricade thing, which is a personal preference. I just like the look of barricades everywhere. That being said, the damage ranges are interesting.

Actually current rounded min/max damage numbers, including multi-hit numbers are looking a bit like such:

Dragoon: 3-1,500 (Cursed Fusil with Dragon Slayer and Instill)

Knight Commander: 4-1200 (Cursed 1h Sword, Cursed Spear, Double Attack, Instill)

Vartan: 150-1,000 (Cursed Bow, Instill) [Canopus reigning champion of inflicting DEAD]

Heretic: 200-900 (Hellhound)

Shaman: 150-900 (Salamander)

Spellblade: 90-800 (Sylphide)

Wicce: 200-500 (Sparksphere)

Warrior: 300-700 (Stasis Blade, Double Impact)

Berserker: 200-700 (2h Axe, Last Resort)

Terror Knight: 150-400, 250-550 (2h Sword, Instill, plus terror)

Juggernaut: 100-400 (2h hammer)

Knight: 80-300 (Lombardia)

Songstress: 2-800 (Cursed Guitar) (holy hell)

Archer: 200-550 (2h Bow, Double Shot)

Rogue: 50-200 (2h crossbow)

Fusillier: 100-350 (Jezzail, standard or course correction shot) (Seems underpowered until mass bewitch causes mass chaos)

Hoplite: 50-300 (Sidearms)

Warlock: 999999 (Mindblast best move confirmed)

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Too bad Resistance doesn't affect magic defence, then. That was an intuitive guess, but no such luck.

And I know warrior is good. It's one of those classes that really feels how much stronger 2H weapons are now. And it's good because it has a skillset that enables it to make a role for itself.

Spellblade really doesn't have that. I suggested increasing its magic resistance because we don't have a "magic tank", but it's really the skillset that holds it back the most.

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A magic tank does sort of exist in the form of the Angel Knight, they're kind of late game, but that would be when spells hit their apex. 

Also, yeah, a warrior hitting two things with a double impact with spears is just bruuuuuutal.

Edited by coffee potato

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They aren't quite as tanky as spellblades, though.

Version 0.88 is up for grabs too, have fun. I can make you a code for new cursed weapons so you don't have to run the palace again, Coffee.

Edited by raics

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It's as simple as turning on 'enable cheats' in ppsspp's system options, starting the game, pasting the code into the cheat text file and turning it on.

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Oh sweet, I had to do that to get Armored Core to stop graphically eating itself on launch, awesome! (Yes Please!)

Also, my god man, just did the part on these updates, and this is friggin BEAUTIFUL. :D

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So Necromancer is now this weird squishy that can simultaneously destroy other squishies with a crossbow, get the high accuracy Charm/Petrify/Stop on tanky units, instantly kill and prevent undead units from rising, and instantly revive your own undead units through a skill?

This is odd, after your reluctance to give 2H crossbows to Beast Tamer (I mean, it's literally a fantasy hunter with an animal companion). I was finding Necro just as good as the other casters, with the added benefit of keeping undead from rising without wasting a turn, and I haven't even tried recruiting some undead yet.

Edited by Valenhil

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Yup, also a lot of his functionality is tied to undead so you probably wouldn't want him if there aren't any in your team and his damage with a crossbow is subpar. Probably already mentioned this back on gamefaqs, but I'm trying to give the classes what they need to function or stand out, a 2H crossbow would be counterproductive on a beast tamer because his pets are out there on the front lines so I made him tanky enough to survive there instead and gave him decent sidearm options to farm TP if needed.

Necro was overlapping with lich and heretic too much and the mod doesn't have this type of character so I'm trying if this would click. The general idea is median necromancer with crossbows, several damage spells and good debuffs, I didn't like the class as it was and if this doesn't work out we can always try something else.

That reminds me, maybe I should try turning banish into a corpse explosion move.

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I love the idea, I will finally use these guys. It feels like they actually have a lot more function for their rarity on both of the undead classes. Plus necros can actually range farm tp for their stuff now.

But yeah, the mortality update is real.

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Have you tried the moddb version or these patches? Better use that one, they can't host the moddb version here and these are fiddly.

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