zedorfed66

On 30/09/2022 at 6:05 AM, macanu said:

Thank you, does this info apply to your Shadow Hearts 3 mod too?

Yes since that mod is even more simple than Covenant one. I simply altered enemy stats in that one. I'm terribly sorry about the stop to my modding efforts. There's room for improvements in these. Competitive online games keep taking all my freetime right now. I'd like to get back to modding again at some point.

On 26/09/2022 at 10:01 AM, macanu said:

Wait, does this mean you can switch between Vanilla and Godslayer on one save? I was thinking about playing this mod, but having to restart the game was going to be disheartening. On top of not being sure what the difficulty was going to be like.

I believe everything i've changed are the type of changes that get rechecked and changed immediately when loading a memcard save. savestates are different though. I think even the Asmodeus Crest price gets rechecked whenever loading a save. I'm not entirely sure about that though and if you find something opposite i wish you could inform on it here. Have fun!

v7.1 is a small update on top of 7.0 that has following changes:

- Gesper's 'Degenerator' can miss.

- Esthar Soldier's 'Boomerang Sword' and punch attack nerfed.

- Elastoid's 'Beam Laser' buffed.

- Few enemies that had their og Mug items changed into 'M-Stone Pieces' and 'Magic Stones' on lvl 1 and lvl 2 now give more of them when using Mug on them.

I'll be doing more test runs whenever I got time for it and updating this mod if I see something that should be changed. But at this point the mod looks pretty good.

Ok v7.0 is finally out! I've done so much testing on it already i felt it was about time to release it for you all. To be honest there's so many changes I don't know if I wanna delve into it all specifically. I listed the changes on 1st page and I hope it's not just a pile of gibberish to you!  I'll be more than happy to answer all possible questions here if you have them.

This mod is getting huge update that will change much more than what I've done with previous versions. But I want it to be as perfect as I can possibly do and I prefer to not having to update it much after that. I'm currently working on that and try to avoid the hook that is League of Legends. There's no estimate when it will come out but it will at some point unless something bad happens to me. Hopefully not. Shadow Hearts is on hold until I get this out, sorry  FF8 and SH:C are my most favorite games so this mod means a lot to me.

On 11.9.2021 at 8:59 AM, elltacko said:

Oh wow, it's very exciting to see that there's a new update, Zed! It amazes me that you're still able to improve the mod! I'll definitely play it when I have time -- Shadow Hearts 2 + this mod is still my favorite combat system.

I was sort of surprised that you upped the EXP in general -- it seemed like from the last feedback, you were against it. As for seals, I used them to compensate for being lower level, which I thought was fun in itself because it was one of the few ways to permanently "customize" your party members towards a build. Of course, putting them (and especially the agility ones) on Yuri is the most powerful choice, but I think it's also fun to non-optimally put them on other characters, especially to compensate for other challenges/playstyles.

In terms of having a more consistent difficulty curve for players, it makes sense to remove it (especially with the increase of EXP), but it does sadden me a bit to see it go because it comes at the cost of player expressiveness. (Of course, they're still usable by loading up vanilla, but it feels significantly more "cheaty" to do so.) I like your philosophy on Technical Ring, in which if you want to use it to make the mod easier, it's all good, but it's not required to win. The mod was still definitely difficult enough even with using everything available to me. 

When I play the newest version, is there any specific feedback you would want? Was it useful for me to document my levels before the bosses? Should I document random encounter "one shots," like how you lowered the damage of Rhondda Mines so Blanca doesn't get one shotted? See if I can still get Libertis before Disk 2 if I use everything available to me? I'm still thinking of playing it without Yuri and Keys (to limit physical damage stacking, big fusion into 3 combo, and Dark Seraphim, all things that are out of scope for a mod to do) but on new game plus, just for extra copies of the AOE buffs that Yuri would otherwise have.

Also, out of curiosity, what team do you use? And how far do you buff stack for damage? Do you just stop at Rage? Or do you go all the way with Keys + Energy Charge + Mind's Eye? I ask because that makes a huuuuggggeeeee difference in damage output.

Well yeah I replayed the mod again and felt it was too grindy this time around and took the advice. This version of the mod is basically the best version with everything better and more together. Characters have their pros and cons and using Seals just removes that balance. Of course I can understand those who want to use them, it was just my decision to remove their effect. Having the best Fusions before the end of disc 1 is way overkill for this mod imo. You can still do that but not while my mod is on.

You can leave feedback on the mod if you want. I'm not really expecting anything though. Just have fun xd. In bosses I use the party members best suitable for them (with everyone equally leveled). I use all the buffs that work well for the bosses. Gale, Shield, Barrier, Rage is the basic deal for many bosses. In wolf bouts I often use Gale and Shield. As for the bosses that use Energy Charge I only use Gale and Rage. Using Energy Charge can be a waste unless you're sure you are able to attack on next turn. Basically I use that only on the pit fights since they're easier and I can destroy fast. I don't use Mind's Eye since I like seeing the strike areas. And Keys take turns away so you gotta be careful not to overdo it. I think I started using 3rd Keys in King Solomon and the bosses after that.

5 hours ago, SirShaggy said:

I'll be sure to leave some feedback as soon as I can Zed! New semester at college just started so things are really hectic at the moment. To be honest, I might replay through the game if grinding is no longer necessary. It's been a long time since I've streamed it and I think switching to the newest version now would leave me kind of overpowered... Ah well, can never get enough Shadow Hearts, honestly.

Hey Shaggy, hope things will go right for you with the studies. There will be extra grinding required at the optional dungeons, but it's still way less than in v5.0 since the dungeons give 3x the exp instead of 2x. Manmariana Island enemies give 3x exp so getting 3 levels there should go pretty well with the exploring. I hope you like the new changes I made and that you enjoy the mod more overall.

v5.6 changes the "max level mod".

Now Ifrit and the Sorceress bosses after Adel have max level while scaling to player's level instead of having fixed level.

With this change now the only fixed level fights in the "max level mod" are the bosses in the final dungeon.

v5.5 is an important update: 

Hit, Eva & Luck Magic Junctions and Ability Junctions halved.

Zell's 'My Final Heaven' finisher buffed and Rinoa's 'Invincible Moon' now grants Protect, Shell, Regen & Aura.

'Defend' command no longer denies physical damage, but instead grants 'Protect' on all characters. This is very useful and works well for example vs Omega Weapon and also on random encounters where you would have to use 3 turns to cast Protect on everyone.

Omega Weapon's 'Terra Break' power halved, now dealing a little over 1k per hit on characters with Protect applied.

I noticed Quistis' 'Degenerator' kept missing a lot so i nerfed all enemies' Expulsion resistance and it should be better now.

'Cover' changed into doing nothing for now. I have plans to make the characters with that ability receive full damage instead of half but I haven't figured out how, so it's on hold for now.

17 hours ago, itsRaddas said:

Hey! I was to say Thanks for the SH1 mod. I played through it and enjoyed the hell out of it. Even though it made me stress a lil bit LOL. I'm playing through this one as well. People on twitch asked me why I put myself through this LMFAO

I'm glad you've found enjoyment amidst all the brutality. I still need to make a peace with my Shadow Hearts demons before I can rest in peace. I now focus on my SH1 mod again while pending help for my ff8 project on another forum. Hope you like my new SH:C edition too btw. Haven't gotten any comments on it yet so I don't know what people think about it.

Another ff8 update: v5.3 makes Rapture & LV? Death probability abilities instead of 100% hit/miss. Since enemies have high death and expulsion resistance these abilities now sometimes work and sometimes don't. I also upped enemies slow and expulsion resistance by 5 %. Also removed 'Vit 0' effect from Quistis Bad Breath (yeah I noticed it only just now, baka me).

Hi again. I've been busy updating my ff8 mod lately.

v5.2 makes the final dungeon enemies scale above player's average level (same deal as Deep Sea Research Center) making the fights more exciting and give out more exp.

Another change is Granaldo and Raldo are now weak to Gravity damage. They're really almost impossible to defeat at high levels cause of their crazy Vit and Spr values so now they're fixed. I looked up all other enemies and there shouldn't be any more problems like that. Another past boss the sorceress from the future likes to throw at us is Oilboyle which does have high Vit but can be dispatched with magic.

I've noticed bosses have started missing their ailment inducing abilities cause of the changes I made to the offensive status magic in v4.8.

v5.1 fixes that by returning the status magic and items back to 100% effective state. This makes bosses hit with status effects everytime when there's no protection. To contrast this change I upped all enemies' status defenses.

I'm sorry for making another update almost immediately, but I accidentally upped the early bosses hp when they should've remained untouched. v5.0 fixes that. I had to make the update to live with myself. Weekends!

Another ff8 update. v4.9 nerfs various Limit Breaks (they're listed in the main post). Also now various bosses have 3 x their original hp. Some remained untouched. I'll be back with updates if I find something I want to change.

I come a bit late to update this mod but better late than never!

v4.8 changes Status Attack Junction strength to 33% instead of the previous 50% of the original. I had Status Magic effectiveness untouched for some reason. Now Status Magic effectiveness is 33% of the original just like when used as 100 spells Junction. This also makes Rinoa's Angel Wing status stuff whiff at times (as intended).

On 13.7.2021 at 8:12 PM, SirShaggy said:

Thank you so much Zed, and happy very belated birthday man! I will definitely start the Covenant streams up again very soon with this new "grind-free" version of the mod.

Hi again Shaggy. Give it a go when you feel like it. I'm just happy people are giving my mods a go  and thanks. I didn't plan to release it on my bday it just happened to go right.

v6.05 is tiny update that changes Rhondda Mine's enemies' str & int multipliers from 1.4 & 1.68 to 1.3 & 1.56. This prevents Lambton Worm from one shotting Blanca with lucky crits. Sometimes I miss something like this and come back to update my previous projects. I've also started working on less grindy and better version of my SH1 Imbroglio mod.

Some more info to make things more clear:

Fusion battles go as follows: Earth, Light and Dark before the bosses in Idar Flamme (do Earth and Light here so you get Arc Shield and Arc Barrier. After Rasputin go get 3rd Soul Drop to do the Dark battle). Water before Terada in Mikasa, Fire before Kouenki in Inugami Village and Wind before the baby boss in Queen's Garden. After clearing the main story boss in Queen's Garden you can immediately take on 'Guardian' there. You can take on 'Kouenki 2' immediately after beating 'Garan 3'. Dark Seraphim, King Solomon and Man Festival can be done after clearing the boss in Neam Ruins Underground. I did the final boss at around 95 level so it can be done before lvl 99 but it still hits hard so maxing out is the best course of action.

Here's the recommended levels at the end of each area in the game for the newest release (v6.0):

2         Apoina Tower
4         Domremy
5         Ardennes Forest
7         Paris Subway
10        Wine Cellar
12        Rhondda Mine
15        Manmariana Island
16        S.G. Headquarters
18        Neam Ruins
21        St. Marguerite
24        Winter Palace
25        Mirror Palace
27        Gallery of the Dead
28        Hermitage
32        Idar Flamme
35        Apoina Tower 2

38        Battleship Mikasa
42        Otherworld
43        Nihonbashi
46        Hojo Research Lab
49        Purgatory
53        Immortal Mountain
56        Azabu Kamiyashiki
59        Queen's Garden

66        Tiffauges Castle
69        Doll House
72        Black Forest
77        Dog Shrine
84        Neam Ruins Underground
99        The Vessel
 

Hi guys. This is a good day. It's the 17th of June. My birthday and I'll be glad to do the gifting. This is it, the release of v6.0! 

This is the new version of the mod I promised. This could be considered the ultimate version since it has so many changes that improve it for the better.

You no longer need to use as much time for level grinding while the bosses and random encounters should still remain interesting. There will be more leveling required in optional dungeons, but these dungeons also give more Exp, Cash and Soul.

Earlier random encounter enemies now deal less damage but are still agile to the current level. Early bosses should be more challenging now having twice the agility but with og attack power and magic. There are power adjustments to bosses and other enemies all around and agility levels are more accurate to the recommended levels. I'll make a list of the new recommended levels for each area in next message.

Another change I made is that you can no longer sell the best equipment. You also can't sell the equipment that would sell for 10 Cash. Those accessories are usually valuable and can't be reaquired, that's why I made them unsellable as well. Hit and Strike Area Expands are still sellable since they were in another segment of the code I didn't care to touch. Basically just make sure you don't sell them xd.

I've made the decision to remove the ability to up stats using Seal items as they're farmable and can potentially hurt the experience. Basically the Seal items now do nothing when used. Of course one can still use them in original and then turn the mod back on.

I wonder if I forgot something? Maybe not. I'll make a list of the new recommended levels for next message.

Have fun with the mod people!

3 hours ago, SirShaggy said:

Hey Zed! Glad and AMAZED to see you still hard at work on this mod! I've kind of put my current playthrough on hiatus because of the excessive grinding, and can't wait to try the latest version! Any ETA on when you might have it ready? Hope you've been doing well and taking care of yourself man!

Hey Shaggy. It's more than fair if you don't want to continue with the v5.0. It is kinda excessive I agree. I've been working on the new version at least some time everyday but it's still gonna take a lot of time, I'm sorry about that. It was risky for me to announce it so early but I also saw it as necessary to let people know I'm still trying to improve the mod. I've been thinking of making Seals give nothing since apparently you can farm the Seal items from the Solomon trials and make your party members excessively strong making you able to take on the Fusion battles earlier than intended which I don't like. Basically I'm learning stuff about the stats mechanics even now so I'll be able to make the newer version better than v5.0 in many ways other than having to grind less. I want to make this new version as complete and good as possible when it comes out so it's still gonna take time, I'm sorry about that.

You too man. Hope you've been well. We have to cope in there. Pretty much all we can do

On 2.5.2021 at 5:55 PM, Heretic said:

Any recent updates? Thinking of giving this mod a spin.

Hi Heretic,

No, I'm pretty happy with the way the mod is now. The only thing is the refine amount descriptions on some items that are showing incorrectly. Hope you have great time with the mod ^^

On 21.4.2021 at 9:41 PM, tacticalcraptical said:

Thanks for your work on these game Zerdorfed!  I am very interested in your versions that take less grinding. I played your SH1 mod and I liked it but in the interest of time, I cheated and gave myself 3 sets of Monk Earrings for the EXP increased and I still felt like I was grinding a lot longer than I preferred just be able to scrape by in most of the boss battles no matter what strategies I tried.

Thanks for your interest. It's a bit trickier to get the enemies' Agl multipliers right cause they need to be specific for the areas now instead of same multiplier. I'll get this right, I just need lots of testing and I'm currently playing through the game. I actually like being on lower level. You gotta have better control on how you use Cash and Soul energy is lower so you need to do right stuff with the Fusion power upping too.

20 hours ago, yano17 said:

In the PAL version of Shadow Hearts 2 there is the "Debug Island" where it is possible to make several modifications, including choosing who to play with. In Shadow Hearts 3 there is also this Debug Island, but I don't know how to access it ... I've already got a faq to help me while playing Grace, I'll start today

There's some grinding required in each area but I hope you like it regardless. I have started working on a less grindy version of my Shadow Hearts: Covenant mod and may plan to do the same for SH1 and SHFtNW as well if everything goes well.