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FFT 1.3 EZ-8 - a FFT 1.3 Variant

Started by Davzz, November 29, 2015, 10:49:04 am

Davzz

November 29, 2015, 10:49:04 am Last Edit: December 01, 2015, 12:36:30 am by Davzz
Hello!

I am working on a variant mod based off the latest version of FFT 1.3 (especially the Content version of the mod) for myself but decided that maybe other people might enjoy it as well. It's a collection of balance changes, readjustments and convenient ASM changes compiled in one mod.

Without further ado, here it is.

QuoteFFT 1.3 EZ-8

Design Statement:
FFT 1.3 had some interesting ideas and rebalancing of the game's content, but is marred by a rather frustrating difficulty that always picks "Hard" over "Fun" when a choice between the two is had.

EZ-8 attempts to significantly speed up the early game (Chapter 1) and tone down
several of the more visible display of "egregious difficulty", while still remaining significantly more challenging than regular Vanilla FFT.

Current progress:
EZ-8 is now considered "complete" for the main game and sidequests, subject to testing.

Version updates:
-v1.05: Katanas rework, many more random battles tweaked.

Issues remaining:
*More changes to random battles
*New cutscene to explain Meliadoul's presence as a Guest in Chpt 4.

Quality of Life Features:

SMART ENCOUNTERS
When "passing" through areas, random battles will never occur. In order to trigger them, you will have to intentionally walk onto the exact dot icon.

This should make doing all those Bar Jobs slightly less tedious

CROSS SKIP
Holding down X will cause cutscene text to fly by at a rapid speed, thus speeding up storyline text that you have no doubt seen a billion times already.

(Note that this feature is slightly buggy and may rarely cause graphical glitches within the scene or freeze up for a while. Simply hit O and things should fix itself when these happen.)

CONTROLLABLE GUESTS
Guests are now controllable in Storyline battles. No longer will you have to play around the fact that your supposed allies are frankly, so moronic they wear their pants on their heads.

(Unless you're dumber than the AI, in that case, I can't help you)

IMPROVED JOB MARKET
Special characters such as Mustadio and Agrias may now be sent on Bar Propositions. This should make training up Special Characters much easier and encourage players to use a wider set of units.

INNATE GAINED JP UP
All Player classes now come with an innate Gained JP Up, thus lowering the grind for abilities.

(Onion Knight and Reis excepted - they already have all 4 of their Passive slots filled)

Game Changes:
-ENEMY GEAR CAP
In FFT 1.3, all enemies now scale to your party level even in storyline battles. This generally leads to a situation where being too weak to win a battle will eventually end up in more frustration as trying to grind will simply lead to enemies growing much stronger than the player rocking equipped gear that are impossible to purchase at that point of the story.

No longer is this the case, as Random Equipment Options for the AI is now capped to what is buyable at the store for the current Chapter you are in. Enemies may still have preset equipment that are stronger than usual to use against you (or be stolen!)

-IMPROVED MOVE FIND
Previously, Move-Find Item was completely junk up until post-game content, giving your items you could easily purchase in stores.

Now, many battlefields are guranteed to have gear that is at least 1 tier higher than what is currently purchasable in stores, ramping up in Chapter 3 onwards. Storyline battlefields tend to have better Move-Find Items than repeatable ones, because good luck running around trying to gather items as Elmdore and his two mistresses breath down your neck on the rooftop. Happy treasure hunting!

-SANDBAG BUSTING
Phoenix Down is now marked as "rarely used" by the AI and Elixirs have been completely changed (usable only by players). This should lead to less situations where two turns of an enemy using Phoenix Down -> Elixir causes you to lose several turns worth of progress in a battle, leading to frustration as a single unit keeps another standing and drawing out the battle.

All other forms of revival are untouched due to potential weaknesses of either Range (Wish/Revive), Charge Time or MP (Life/Full Life), leaving holes to exploit.

-SUPERIOR SQUIRES
Your starting party now consists of a group of highly trained individuals that have multiple job levels in a 2nd tier job (Knight/Archer/Black Mage/White Mage) and 72 Brave (the maximum possible in 1.3), speeding up the early game from boring Throw Stones fests. In addition, there are two Squires with Mime unlocked who start with much unspent JP to spend freely as they unlock classes.

-RECRUITMENT FUN
Many Random battles now have Guests who will fight alongside you. They are uncontrollable, but if you keep them alive til the end of the battle, they'll happily join up, providing a much more interesting way of acquiring Monster allies or replacement Generics.

(Due to testing, this is incomplete of the moment so don't expect to see them in every battle)


Balance Changes:
-All Zodiac Beasts and many bosses are now vulnerable to Slow, Blind, Don't Move and Oil and now Halve Dark (instead of Immunity). Zodiac Beasts also have their HP Multipliers reduced and lose Defense/Mag Def Up if possible.

Items:
-Summon Gun/Magic Cannon WP increased from 10 -> 13 WP
-Yagyu Darkness now Earth Elemental

DICTIONARIES REWORK:
Once a lackluster weapon type compared to other Caster choices such as Rods and Poles, Dictionaries have undergone a rework such that the upper tiers are now weighted equally yet tailored for different circumstances and have their availability time changed.

-Battle Dict - 10 WP. Casts Drain on Proc.
-Monster Dict - 13 WP. Casts Morbol Acid on Proc
-Papyrus Plate: Holy Elemental. 16 WP. Casts Holy on Proc
-Madlemgen: No longer Dark Elemental. 18 WP. Casts Dark Holy on Proc

KATANA REWORK:
Another lackluster weapon type gains a new lease on life. Most Katanas are now Forced 2H (with power boosted to compensate) and come with special abilities. Equip Katana may very well be a legitimate Support skill now.

-All offensive Katanas (except Chiri) now cast their Draw Out spell on Proc

-Asura Knife: 8 -> 14 WP. Fire Element. Strengthen: Fire.
-Kotetsu Knife: 9 -> 13 WP, Dark Element. Half: Dark, Cancel: Confusion/Charm.
-Bizen Boat: 10 -> 18 WP, Cancel: Don't Move/Don't Act
-Murasame: 11 -> 16 WP, W.EV 35% -> 60%. Cancel: Sleep/Death Sentence. Add: Death Sentence.
-Heaven's Cloud: 12 -> 15 WP. Move + 1, Half: Wind. Always: Float.
-Kiyomori: 13 -> 21 WP. Cancel: Stop/Petrify. Add: Confuse
-Muramasa: 15 -> 25 WP. Always: Regen
-Kikuichimoji: 16 -> 23 WP. PA/MA +1. Cancel: Slow


Unit Changes:

Specials:
Ubersquire (Ramza - Chapter 4)
*Ultima and Heretic Strike now learnable for 3000 JP (still Learnable on Hit)

Engineer (Mustadio)
*Speed Multiplier up from 110 -> 115
*Immunity to Slow, Stop and Don't Move.
*Seal Evil Hit Rate increased from 40 -> 60%

Holy Knight (Agrias)
*Can learn Esuna in Base Class
*C.EV 25% -> 40%
*JP Cost decreased
-Split Punch - 400 -> 200 JP
-Crush Punch - 400 -> 200 JP
-Lightning Stab - 600 -> 400 JP
-Holy Explosion - 800 -> 600 JP

Sword Saint (Orlandu)
*Improved Stat Growths

Onion Knight
*Can learn Two Hands and Two Swords in Base Class (loses Counter Throw)
*Zodiac Sign now always Scorpio

Rift Traveler (Marche)
*Zodiac Sign now always Cancer

Heaven Knight (Rafa)
*Significantly improved Stat Growths
*C.EV 10% -> 24%
*Can now Equip Shields

Hell Knight (Malak)
*MA Multiplier increased (100 -> 120)

*JP Cost decreased
-Asura / Back - 200 -> 100 JP
-Diamond Sword / Back - 300 -> 150 JP
-Hydragon Pit / Back - 400 -> 200 JP
-Space Storage / Back - 500 -> 300 JP

Dark Knight (Hitoshi)
*Can learn Equip Sword in Base Class


Generics:

Squire
As the only class that has the distinction of being obsolete as the game goes on, these changes are intended to give them a chance to potentially be in your party.

*Improved Stat Growths and Multipliers
*Innate Monster Skill
*Added Yell to abilities list.
*New ability: Mimic Ultima.
MA * 9, Range 5, AOE 2v3, 10 MP, 4CT. JP Cost 800
*Cheer Up now adds Regen & Defend.
*Heal now improved to remove more Status Conditions (same as Esuna)
*Wish now revives with 5% HP, Range 3.
*Defy Pain can now be used under the following conditions - Confusion/Critical/Slow/Death Sentence. Can now be used on other characters at Range 1. JP Cost increased to 300 JP. Also less used on the AI side
*Wild Swing Formula Change - Now (Rdm(1..9)*(PA*3+10)) (a.k.a Repeating Fist Formula). Vertical Tolerance up from 1 to 2. JP Cost increased to 600 JP (AI chance to learn 100% -> 50%)
*Target Damage Formula changed - SP * WP, CT 4
*Can now equip Robes, Poles, Books and Knight Swords.

Note that outside of the skill changes, these changes apply ONLY to Generic Squires.

Chemist
*Improved Speed Growth
*Power Source changed - now adds a random buff from Regen/Protect/Shell/Reraise/Haste

Mediator
*Innate Train
*Invitation Base Hit Rate increased from 0% -> 10%

Wizard
*Gains "Don't Move"
*Gains "Zombie"
*Zombie AOE increased from 0 -> 1
*"Comet" - now 5 CT, 40 MP, Fire Elemental, Faith-Independent MA Formula. 500 JP.
Essentially an boss-killing nuke alternative to Dark Holy.
*Cyclone - 200 -> 150 JP
*Meltdown - 280 -> 80 JP

Oracle
*Pray Faith/Doubt Faith range increased from 4 -> 5
*Silence Song CT 3 -> 2
*Paralyze JP cost 100 -> 25 JP

Monk
Many of the lesser used skills have their JP cost reduced

*Spin Fist - 150 -> 0 JP
*Repeating Fist - 250 -> 100 JP (AI Chance to learn - 0% -> 50%)
*Wave Fist - 250 -> 100 JP
*Secret Fist - 300 -> 150 JP (AI Chance to learn - 0% -> 50%)

Geomancer
*Significantly improved Growths (Especially Speed).

Bard
*Nameless Song no longer rolls Reflect from the list of potential buffs


Monsters:
Special Monsters such as Boco have had several experimental improvements made to them. Note that there's only so much I can do since they're used as enemies as well, which means any buff I make to them might roll over to the enemy versions.

Secondary + R/S/M.
Boco: Steal. Hamedo. Monster Skill. Ignore Height
Worker 8: Move-Find Item. Removed Immune: Haste.
Holy Dragon: Talk Skill. Dragon Spirit. Monster Talk. Move-HP Up
Archaic Demon: Time Magic Secondary. Counter. Magic Defense Up. Move-Find Item


REACTION CHANGES:
Many reactions were too expensive/weak to see much use. While changing them to be stronger may be beyond the scope of this project, there has been some adjustments made such that these weaker abilities may gain some usage.

MP Switch - Moved from Dancer to Knight, 300 -> 50 JP
Counter - 300 -> 100 JP
Distribute - 150 -> 50 JP, moved to Chemist.
Finger Guard - 250 -> 50 JP

Regenerator - 350 -> 150 JP.

MP Restore - 400 -> 25 JP
Absorb Used MP - 200 -> 25 JP

Critical Quick - 700 JP -> 150 JP

Catch - 200 -> 50 JP
Gilgame Heart - 0 JP (Unsalvageable!)
Caution - 150 -> 200 JP. Now adds Haste + Poison instead of Defending

Mediatate - 800 -> 400 JP, Moved from Sage to Summoner.

(MP Switch got a knee jerk nerf in the latest version of 1.3 where damage would now "spillover" into actual HP, making it almost pointless. I still don't think anyone is going to use it at this cost but I can't revert the change so thems the break.)

A Save - Moved to Geomancer
MA Save - Moved to Meditator


MOVE ABILITY CHANGES:
Like above except less salvagable.

Jump +1/2/3 - 100/200/300 -> 25/75/125 JP. Jump +3 moved to Meditator
Move MP Up - 350 -> 150 JP, moved to Oracle

Float - 300 -> 100 JP
Fly - 600 -> 300 JP

Move-Get EXP/JP: 0 JP
Any Weather/Any Ground/Move in Water/Move on Lava: 0 JP


SUPPORT ABILITY CHANGES:
JP Cost Tweaks for the lesser used abilities

Equip Sword - 350 -> 200 JP
Equip Spear - 350 -> 200 JP
Equip Gun - 350 -> 200 JP

Half of MP - 750 -> 300 JP

Defense Up - 350 -> 200 JP
Magic Def Up - 350 -> 200 JP

Gained EXP Up - 300 -> 0 JP

Train - 400 -> 200 JP
Martial Arts - 600 -> 350 JP

Monster Skill - 400 -> 200 JP


STARTING JOB UNLOCKS:
Most characters now begin with more JP than usual in their unlocked jobs.

Mustadio - ? -> Thief 5
Agrias - ? -> Geomancer 4
Rafa - Sage 3 -> Ninja 7
Malak - Ninja 3 -> Samurai 6
Orlandu - Ninja 3 -> Ninja 8
Meliadoul - Mime 1 -> Dancer 3

Rad - Lancer 5 -> (Dancer 1)
Alicia - Oracle 5 -> 6
Lavian - Mediatator 5 -> 6

Onion Knight - Thief 3 -> Samurai 5
Marche - Summoner 6 -> Bard 2 (THE GREATEST FINAL FANTASY TACTICS HERO)
Hitoshi - Geomancer 8 -> (Dancer) 4

Beowulf: Oracle 8 -> Sage 5
Reis: Sage 3 -> Sage 5

Cloud: Base 6 -> Samurai 6


POACH CHANGES:
Like Move-Find item, Enemy Poaches have been reworked. Enemies now have their (generally useless) Common poach set to their Rare poaches. Poaching should overall be much more rewarding with less hassle of reloading.

Chocobo: Chameleon Robe
Black Choco: Kiyomori
Red Choco: Flash Hat

Goblin: Magic Gauntlet
Black Goblin: Heroic Gloves
Gobbledeguck: Carabini Mail

Bomb: Sprint Shoes
Grenade: Scorpion Tail
Explosive: Angel Ring

Tonberry: Elixir
Master Tonberry: Ryozan Silk
Blood Stalker: Tonberry Knife

Pisco Demon: Aegis Shield
Squidlarkin: Magic Ring
Mindflare: Whale Whisker

Skeleton: Circlet
Bone Snatch: Air Knife
Living Bone: Crystal Shield

Ghoul: Reflect Mail
Gust: Elixir
Revnant: Cursed Ring

Flotiball: Heaven's Cloud
Ahriman: Wizard Rod
Plague: Slasher

Juravis: Feather Mantle
Steel Hawk: H Bag
Cocatrois: Engineer Rifle

Uribo: Barette
Porky: Ribbon
Wildbow: Cherche

Woodman: Gastrafitis
Trent  Fairy Harp
Taiju: Cupid Bow

Bull Demon: Power Sleeve
Minitaurus: Earth Clothes
Sacred: FS Bag

Morbol: 108 Gems
Ochu: Cacusha
Great Morbol: Madlemgem/Whale Whisker

Behemoth: Holy Lance
King Behemoth: Sasuke Knife
Dark Behemoth: Rubber Costume

Dragon: Crystal Mail
Blue Dragon: Ice Brand
Red Dragon: Dragon Rod

Hyudra: Salty Rage
Hydra: Chantage
Tiamat: Setiemson


SPECIFIC BATTLEFIELD CHANGES:

Chapter 1:
Orbonne Monastery: Lezales now a naked Level 1 Knight so you can get this fluff battle over with quickly.
Mandalia Plains: Algus can now Equip Helmets. Enemy Squires Job Levels lowered.
Sweegy Woods: Unchanged
Dorter Trade City: One of the archers got drunk and forgot to bring his bow again
Sand Rat's Cellar: Monks level and job levels lowered.
Thieves Fort: Unchanged
Lenalia Plateau: Unchanged
Windmill Shed: Wiegraf level lowered, always equipped with Linen Robe. Backup Generics job level decreased
Fort Zeakdan: Algus level lowered

Chapter 2:
Dorter Trade City: General lowering of Levels
Araguay Woods: Unchanged
Zirekile Falls: Gafgarion Thief Levels lowered
Zaland Fort City: Unchanged
Bariaus Hill: Summoners Level decreased
Zigolis Swamp: Unchanged
Slums in Goug: Mustadio now slightly better equipped
Barius Valley: Enemy Priests nerfed. Agrias now always equipped with Wizard Robe
Golgorand Execution Site: Gafgarion Thief Levels lowered. General lowering of Levels. Enemy Archer now always equipped with Cross Bow
Gates of Lionel Castle: General lowering of Levels. Heavy Armor Archer slightly nerfed
Inside Lionel Castle: Queklain's Level decreased

Chapter 3:
Goland Coal City: Unchanged
Back Gate of Lesalia: Zalmo Level - 5
Book Storage 2: Unchanged
Book Storage 3: General Lowering of Levels
Book Storage 1: Wiegraf Level - 5, Brave - 20. Always equipped with Linen Robe
Grog Hill: General lowering of Levels. One of the female Samurai is now removed (her equipment has been distributed as War Trophies)
Yardow Fort City: Rafa now always comes equipped with an Octagon Rod, Earth Clothes and Feather Mantle. General Lowering of Levels. Summoners no longer have Short Charge.
Yuguo Woods: Significant Level Decrease for all enemies (There were like Party Level +12 enemies in this fight wtf). One of the two Wizards removed.
Gates of Riovanes Castle: General lowering of Levels. Added Light Robe War Trophy
Inside Riovanes: Wiegraf Super Nerf
Reaction/Support set to Gilgame Heart/Monster Talk.
Always equips Linen Robe on Torso.
Brave dropped to 50.
General lowering of Levels.
Riovanes Rooftop:
Rafa now a Ninja (with matching equips) for this battle.
Elmdor's Muramasa -> Kiyomori
Rafalak both join with a set of Earth Clothes.

Chapter 4:
Almost all battles in this Chapter have a General Lowering of levels unless otherwise stated to be unchanged.

Many enemies with the "Immortal flag" (granting them immunity to many status conditions including crystallization) have their flag removed, especially Item using enemies, making them easier to deal with.

Doguola Pass: Hitoshi always equipped with Heroic Gloves
Bervenia Free City: Default changes.

From this battle onwards, Meliadoul will appear as a Guest for all story battles

Finath River: 1 Black Chocobo and Red Chocobo removed. Phoenix Dawn War Trophies changed to Elixirs. New White Chocobo NPC on player's side
Church: All Generic Enemy Sprites changed to Monks (due to technical graphic glitch issues)
Bed Desert: Balk's Brave dropped from 70 to 31. Oracle Sprite changed to Dark Knight.

South Wall: Mediatator removed. Existing Assassin enemy now moved to take her place
North Wall: One Elite Marksman removed.

Bethla Garrison Sluice: One Bard removed. Other Bard has Sprite changed to Onion Knight. Added Flash Hat War Trophy.

Germinas Peak: Default changes. Hell Knight sprite changed
Poeska Lake: Default changes. Oracle sprite changed

Gate of Limberry: Default changes.
Inside Limberry Castle: Elmdore loses Magic Attack Up, Brave lowered from 70 to 31.
Celia's Sprite changed to Lede
Underground Cemetary of Limberry: Default changes.

Inside of Igros Castle: Default changes.

Murond Holy Place: Holy Priest equipped with Green Beret instead of Thief Hat
Hall of St Murond Temple: Default Changes
Chapel of St Murond Temple: Zalbag's HP Multiplier decreased

Book Storage 4th Floor: Samurais equipped with Mythril Armor instead of Carabini Mail. Divine Knight boss's Angel Ring removed
Book Storage 5th Floor: All Time Mages equipped with Holy Miters instead of Flash Hats. Generic Divine Knights base class changed to Dark Knight.
Murond Death City (Kletain): Kletain no longer has Maintenence. Ninjas equipped with Green Beret instead of Thief Hat. Generic Sorcerers base class changed to Sage.
Murond Death City (Balk): Generic Engineers base class changed to Mediatators and Support ability changed from Two Swords to Maintenance.
All Flash Hats changed to Green Beret.
Two Enemy Worker 8s removed.
Balk Brave down from 70 to 31, loses Feather Mantle and Move-HP Up. Summon Guns replaced with Magic Cannons, Robe of Lords replaced with Wizard Robe

Graveyard of Airships (Vormav): Vormav (during 1v1 duel) has significant Equipment nerfs
Maximillian -> Plate Mail
Ragnarok -> Slasher

These items are now available as War Trophies after the battle

Hashmalum has Short Charge instead of Non Charge

Graveyard of Airships (Altima): Alma equipped with Sage Staff, Non-Charge and Move + 2.
One of the Ultima Demons is now on your side
Altima 1 - Feather Mantle changed to Leather Mantle. Concentrate removed
Altima 2 - Bravery lowered to 75. Short Charge instead of Non Charge.
Both forms have significantly less HP.
Grand Cross nerfed - now has a longer CT and checks Evasion
Level ? Angelic nerfed - now has Longer CT and maximum number of hits down from 6 to 3.
Awakening nerfed - Base Hit Rate down from 100% to 40%

Sidequests:
Colliery Sidequest now tuned to be "main-game" content rather than delegated to post-game content, though still on the tough end of things.

Colliery 3rd Floor: All White Knight enemies are now Geomancers
Colliery 2nd Floor: All Engineer enemies are now Mediatators
Colliery 1st Floor: All Assassin enemies are now Dancers
Underground Pass in Goland: Huge lowering of levels

Nelveska Temple: Huge level nerfs to all enemies. Worker 7 no longer has ???-level stats.

Zarghidas Trade City: The 2 Dancers, Monk and 1 Thief now have Zodiac signs of Leo, Scorpio and Taurus respectively. (In other words, bad compatibility with Cloud). Magic Gun Thief now has 31 Faith and many enemies have weaker equipment

The Deep Dungeon now has all enemies at a set level of 40, allowing you to potentially outlevel them if you wish.


Please report any bugs or suggestion on balance/battles. I'm interested in knowing if any battles are still considered "too hard" even after me toning a lot of them down.

Angel

Seeing as we do not currently host 1.3 here, nor do we have permission to do so, I hope you have permission from the creator to post this here citing it as a base so openly. If you do not have that permission, I suggest you request it in the near future.
  • Modding version: PSX
* Angel should quit being a lazy bitch
<@Elric> I agree to that as well

nyanyame nyanyajuu nyanyado no nyarabide nyakunyaku inyanyaku nyanyahan nyanyadai nyannyaku nyarabete nyaganyagame
At the end of the day, are we not all trapped inside lemons?

Davzz

Fair enough, should I do anything about this current thread then?

Shintroy

Some day my people will be free.