Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grim Grimoire Beta 0.7- Last Updated: 2/25/16

[Gomen]

Nerf´s everywhere :v

pls down damage or the move on the wolfs on the first lvls is very dificult and the probability states alteraded is very high in skills the wolfs

[Eternal]

The testing continues. I discovered a bug wherein Bravery- the new Scholar spell- summons Exodus to drop a meteor on your allies' heads to raise their ATK. As awesome as that is, that'll be fixed for the next update. Also, I discovered that new party members will only join up to level 50, which really kills the party average level for difficulty. I'm at Illua II (The Ritual) now, and even 30 levels beneath me, she can completely solo my party and whittle them to nothing. It's both kickass and awful at the same time.

[IcyGlare]

New party members only joining at 50...even when setting their Max Level in the Recruits sheet past 50? That's strange.

[Eternal]

I actually totally forgot that recruit levels were capped and that the level addresses were in that spreadsheet until you mentioned it, so thanks! That's been fixed for the next update.

EDIT: I wonder if level could be uncapped to 255...

EDIT 2: Level is hard capped at 99. Sadness.

[chocolatemoose]

Going to slowly start in on this new version.

General question for those on the thread: in a case like this, where you want to play around with all the classes, do you prefer to go wide (e.g. full clan roster, every character specializes in ~2 jobs) or deep (fewer characters, everyone has ~4)?

[Eternal]

I would say that it depends on what you're looking for. Due to the way level scaling works, it works based on your ENTIRE party's levels, so keep that in mind. I, personally, just usually stick to my starting units + story recruits.

FYI: new recruits will scale with level properly in the next update, which will likely be released after the craziness of Valentine's Day next week. In Vanilla, generic job recruits would only scale in level and max out at 30. Now the max is 99. Likewise, all new recruits can now level scale between 1-99 properly in the next update.

[wrongstuff]

Hey! Been playing a bunch of your mod, and so far, it's fantastic.  I read through all the posts, but the job and skill descriptions still seem to be out of date (unless I missed something).  Any chance you could post an updated list with growths/skills?

[chocolatemoose]

@eternal: will 0.62 saves be compatible with the upcoming release?

I usually end up with two Moogles, Bangaa and Nu Mou a piece, three Viera, one each of Gria and Seeq, and lots of Humes, all including story recruits (I guess make that 3 Moogles with Monty, but he comes quite late). It allows me to get some breadth.

[wrongstuff]

Another question - is it possible to enable story units to be dispatched? Or does that cause too many issues with story quests? Perhaps not being able to dispatch while a story quest is active/not being able to accept a story quest while dispatched?

[Eternal]

Welcome to FFH, Wrongstuff! What skill descriptions are still wrong? Most of them should be accurate, minus the monster and special unit skills. Sadly, I have no idea how to make story units dispatchable, and it probably couldn't be done without breaking the game.

Chocolatemoose: Saves will be compatible with each update.

[wrongstuff]

Well in particular, on the item Vajra, shock for raptor is unable to be learned (there may have been another 1 or 2 that I saw but this is the one I wrote down when I registered for the forum ).

Also, since I've been obliterating mobs since my last post with this -> have a Nou Mou with Ultima magic, turbo MP and Absorb MP, have speedy Viera Occultist's possess him every turn to focus / cast All Ultima wins battles in 1-2 turns, it's a little absurd.  I'm not sure if possess maybe shouldn't work on your own units? But god damn is it effective.

Can you edit the help text on the job descriptions in game? If so, having the growth's listed there might be a cool thing too.

[Eternal]

Hmm, thanks for bringing that up. I wasn't aware of the issue with Vajra, but I'll look into it. Unfortunately, there's just not enough room to add the stat growth to each job description, but I love that idea!

As far as All Ultima is concerned, that skill will probably be flat out removed sometime in the near future and replaced, I'm not sure with what yet though. Same with Gigaflare.

[Madeen]

I usually end up with two Moogles, Bangaa and Nu Mou a piece, three Viera, one each of Gria and Seeq, and lots of Humes, all including story recruits (I guess make that 3 Moogles with Monty, but he comes quite late). It allows me to get some breadth.

Same as me minus a banga and a viera for me, at least in vanilla

Now in this mod, I might get more... depending on number of "cool" jobs

[wrongstuff]

Hmm, thanks for bringing that up. I wasn't aware of the issue with Vajra, but I'll look into it. Unfortunately, there's just not enough room to add the stat growth to each job description, but I love that idea!

As far as All Ultima is concerned, that skill will probably be flat out removed sometime in the near future and replaced, I'm not sure with what yet though. Same with Gigaflare.

No problem, thanks for putting out this awesome mod.  I'm at like, 230/400 quests

[Eternal]

Do you have any other feedback, Wrong? I'd love to hear what some of your favorite/least favorite new things are about the mod so I can work on those.

[wrongstuff]

Sure, I've got a bunch! Lemme type up my comments tomorrow

[Madeen]

400 quests?  Wasnt that 300?  Or I'm mixing up with FFTA...

[wrongstuff]

First of all, thanks for this great mod.  I've written some notes/comments about the game below.  Please keep in mind that these are not necessarily criticisms, just observations that I've made, and I realize that some of the issues are just part of the base game/genre that I see a lot of in tactical RPG's, and not your contributions.  In fact, I feel that most of the stuff you've added is fantastic.

General notes:
-I haven't used an item even once.
-Debuff effects don't seem worth it.  The enemies you'd WANT to use them on are immune, and using them on chaff just feels ineffecient.  I think FFXII is maybe the only game I've ever played where I felt like status effects were worth using.  I think that status effects should either be a very high chance of hitting (otherwise it feels like you wasted your turn), or, like you did with Arts of War, as an additional effect to the attack.
-A lot of classes simply feel like stepping stones to another class (eg. Thief/Archer, Fencer).  I realize these are just the base classes, but perhaps there is something to be said to giving them some sort of additional bonus for actually being that class.  For example (and these are bad and maybe not even codable, but you get the idea), maybe Archers get an additional range on their attack, and maybe Monks would do more damage when they counter.
- Some of these classes seem linked (I.e. Archer + hunter/sniper).  It'd be nice if the hunter/sniper skill bases included the archery skills in them, similar to red magic / seer magic having black + white magic skills in them.
- I found the game particulary difficult in the early levels (especially the one clan trial with the Fairies) because they could wipeout/stone my team before I even moved.  This is before you get enough equipment to handle things appropriately.  Once you hit the mid/late game, I found that even though the enemies were my level or higher, the game actually got SIGNIFICANTLY easier.  And this is without abusing All Ultima/Possess.
-Mp Damaging skills (outside of Magick Hammer) - barely did MP damage at all compared to the enemies Max MP, and so many skills in the game are free anyways.  Have you ever played Star Ocean: Till the End of Time? They had a cool mechanic where you could MP kill an enemy by reducing MP to zero.  I have no idea if this is codeable/desired.
-It would be really cool to be able to use certain skills with other weapons, to give those classes more playability.  For example, Archer(or hunter)/Paladin, and being able to holy strike at a distance with a bow.
-Moves with built in-movement/knockback for the user might also be an interesting idea to explore.  Example, maybe Rush hits all enemies in a line and lands the user at the last tile (tile must be unoccupied).  Melee classes with 3 move felt awkward because of their lack of mobility, whereas it didn't affect ranged users as much.
-The auction house: I can definitely see this trivializing a lot of the game by having access to uber weapons early. 

====================================================================
Humes: Overall, they felt very flexible (as they are supposed to)

Soldier - Good class for the early game, but once I got some more advanced classes, I never wants arts of war
White Mage - TurboMP is so strong, it makes thunder hit for ~300 around lvl 50 or so, almost invalidating many melee/attack based units
Thief - stepping stone to Ninja/Dual Wield
Black Mage - I really liked this class, the different effects in the black magic were really nice, other than just having different elements (fire having more AOE, thunder having more range, and blizzard not being able to hit your own allies I'll admit was weird)
Archer - felt very weak, I almost never wanted to use the status effects that either A)don't deal at least your attack damage and B)have a lower percentage chance to hit.  (See my comments above about status effects)
Paladin - Nurse's Regen never goes away, and it doesn't cure status ailments as it says in the description.  Still a good skill I used alot.  Sanctify was good for the couple of undead battles there are.  Defend/Cover I rarely used, I'd rather just nurse and keep on trucking.  What is the damage scaling on Saint Cross? I felt it was lower than basic attack but I could be wrong.
Fighter - Grapple is cool.  Aurablast is the best skill in this job, tho it did feel awkward that you'd hit yourself with it.
Hunter - I haven't played this class
Parivir/Samurai - I haven't used this class much, but, similar to the ninja, I felt that their skills were underpowered.  I would rather just autoattack most of the time.
Blue Mage - It's blue magic!  Whitewind is useful. I guess also Magick Hammer, but there are few fights where I wanted this as opposed to just doing damage.
Necromancer - What a frickin baller class.  Undead? Now I have a statue garden.  However, I felt that outside of battles with undead, they weren't really worth it.
Seer - Felt like the Hume Version of the Red Mage, except with better magic available.
Ninja - This class has dual wield! woohoo! That being said, the ninjutsu skills felt extremely underpowered.

====================================================================
Moogles: Kupo! Hurdy is the friggin nuts with Soul Etude (why yes, please repeatedly quicken my whole team).
Animist - There weren't many skills available to this class in the early game other than 100%wool, and I never went back to it.
Thief - again, very rarely did I want to steal.  I seem to remember some game where the thief could permanently steal stats, so by using a thief all game you could have a very powerful unit.  Again, may not be codeable.
Black Mage - Felt like moogles didn't have enough of the support skills to make me want a mage here.
Moogle Hero - Heal was kinda cool, and the AOE holy.  That being said, these are magic skills in what felt like an attack power based class, so they never felt like they were worth using over an actual mage. Flexible unit tho.
Flintlock/Fusilier - Not a great stat growth.  Felt similar to hume archers.
Corsair - I haven't used this class
Oracle - I felt like the single target buff's weren't worth the loss in damage of just attacking
Time Mage - Another buff/debuff class.  Being single target, and not having a source of damage in it's skill set felt undesirable.  I think some FF games have time mages with Meteor in their skill set?
Chocobo Knight - Didn't use
Engineer - I liked this class more than the Flintlock, again, I felt like this was an upgrade over the other gun based class, and the growths for it made me feel as though I was better off using other classes/units.

======================================================================
Viera - Great race, lots of options for the way to take a party member
Fencer - generic melee class for Viera, I never wanted to really use any fencing skills except maybe the multi-hit one you get fairly early one (can't recall the name).  Used as a stepping stone class
White Mage - Nothing special to say here
Archer - Same issue as hume Archers
Kunoichi - Great speed, but I rarely found myself wanting to use the abilities
Summoner - Haven't used this class yet
Sniper - Same thing as Archer I've said before
Occultist - Absolutely love this class.  I'm pretty sure Possess is the best skill in the game, since you can possess your most powerful, although maybe not speedy unit, and have them essentially do multiple actions.  Also, Possessing Hurdy to spam cast Soul Etude means enemies are lucky if they ever get a turn.  I felt it was a little awkward having a MPOW based class that equips similar to a fencer.  I did like that the abilities used HP instead of MP (nice touch).  I thought it was kind of cool that I could drop my own HP, then use skills that deal damage based on the amount of HP missing (although these attacks have really low accuracy that I rarely wanted to use them).  It would be really neat to find a way of incorporating MP usage to regain HP in this class, either through this job's skills or another (and don't say just use white magic -> cure
Red Mage - I haven't used this class much, but I'm looking forward to having dualcast + Occultist abilities / summoner.
Green Mage - I think I've been clear about my opinions on debuffs
Spellblade - I haven't used this class yet

=====================================================================
Bangaa - In my opinion, the worst race for the sheer fact they are the most average race - they simply aren't great at anything.Little AOE, average speef, and 3 movement on most of these jobs means that they generally won't contribute that much to combat.  Early game I was stuck with them, but once I acquired a Gria, they were completely outclassed.  That being said, this could also be a playstyle choice, and as such I never really gave cannoneer/trickster a chance.  When I get more towards the endgame I will train one up and report with some feedback.
Warrior - Nothing special
Monk - As a I mentioned above, maybe having a higher % return on the counter when you are this class?
Dragoon - I actually like the dragoon class, primarily to the fact that spears hit 2 tiles (Also, the breath abilities can be pretty useful.  I'd like to see the different breaths have different effects similar the the black magic spells).  I never used jump due to it's super low accuracy.
Defender/Myrmidon - It would be really cool if there was a taunt-like ability that would make units within range target this unit until it's next turn, so it could function as a tank.
Bishop - Didn't use much, used one Humes/NoMou/Viera as spellcasters instead
Gladiator - I didn't use this class much
Templar - Upgraded Dragoon as I saw it (The sprite at least, dat blue robe). Lifebreak would be much more useful if the accuracy was higher (and maybe damaged the user as well? so being at a super low life may kill you, but also make the skill stronger? I don't know, just brainstorming here)
Cannoneer - I didn't use this class
Trickster - I didn't use this class

===================================================================
White Mage - nothing special
Black Mage - same comments as before
Beastmaster/Druid - Loved this class.  I was never able to figure out how to cast squelch, as it was always grayed out for me.  However, the ability to tame/charm, along with the free (and unique feeling spells - I love thorns).  I haven't tested whether or not turboMP boots the power of these spells yet, but it's on my to-do list
Time Mage - Same comments as the moogle, not great, not your fault
Necromancer - Same comments as Hume
Sage - Didn't use
Alchemist - Didn't use
Daemon - busted as hell with the possess method I mentioned before, you just spam ultima and things don't live very long
Scholar - I'm not a buff-player (and also Hurdy is the best buffer in the game I think, at least so far that I've encountered.  At the time of writing, my average party level is in the 70's, I'm at ~250 quests completed, and I'm on the 2nd to last story mission)

===================================================================
Seeq - I want to use this class more, I haven't gotten much use in with them yet.
Ranger - Traps seem underpowered, especially if enemies don't step on them
Berserker - Better than Bangaa-based claw classes, if not for their speed
Lanista/Reaver - I liked the Dark-knight feel to these, although I thought it odd that these skills didn't cost HP and the occultist's did
Viking - Felt magic based, but I'd rather use a race that had more spell variety available if I was going to use a mage.

==================================================================
Gria - Might be my favorite race, for the sheer fact they have built in flying movement.  I could be wrong but monkey grip didn't do much for this race since they can't dual-wield or equip shields (unless I missed something)
Raptor - My best unit is a Raptor/Ravager.  I don't really use the skills in this job that much, but chose it because it had the highest base move + could equip tournesol.
Hunter - I havent used this class much, it's on the to-do list
Ravager - This might be my favorite job in the game. Tailwind/updraft were the few buffs I used throughout the game other than Hurdy.  Also, Zephyr was a really sweet move, since you got to AOE attack on top of the wind spell.  The only complaint I had about this class was that all the skills were wind based, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Geomancer - Haven't used this class yet, I need to level my spare gria up first

[Eternal]

Thanks for your detailed reply! I'll try and address each point individually.

General Notes:
-Items (namely HP/MP healing items) are being buffed. I'm considering making them heal by a percentage, so that they're more useful end-game. That being said, I don't really want Item to be an end-all/be-all skillset. That's kinda what happened in FFT, and I don't want that to happen in A2 as well.

-Debuffs are tricky. Anyone who plays any of my patches agree that I have a sort of fetish for buffing/debuffing. The challenge with debuffs is that enemies have a flat resistance to debuffs. This means, for example, that I can't make things like Frog less accurate than things like Poison. The chance of any debuff landing is (100 - Enemy Resilience), which is a hidden stat that varies from job to job. Things like Blackout, Arm Shot, and Leg Shot will probably end up dealing damage in the near future though. Ultimately, I really want buffs and debuffs to be more useful, but it's tricky since I can't edit the individual hit rate of each particular debuff. (Also, play FFXIII- that game will make you really appreciate buffs and debuffs!)

-Archers are in line for a buff. I'm thinking of making them more AoE focused, whereas the Hunter would be more about precision. Snipers have a new skill called Arrow Rain, and I may make something similar for Archers. Maybe something like Cover Fire. IMO, Monks are great, but they just aren't very flashy. Things like Chakra and Revive can come in real handy, as does Air Render.

-Early game madness is how Hard Mode in general is, honestly. I'm doing my best to make sure end-game is just as tough (or at least ensure everything is evened out), but even with the level scaling hack, I need to be able to edit which abilities enemies have to make it tougher, which is doable at the moment, but it's incredibly tedious. I'm hoping to be able to tackle that in the near future.

-Death by 0 MP isn't really viable in A2. That, and even if it were, I think it would just really make people not want to risk using mages more than they're already hated. Rasp and Soul Sphere will likely be buffed in the very near future; possibly to deal percentile damage, just like Magick Hammer now deals.

-Changing things like Holy Blade to Holy Strike could be interesting. I'll go through the list of abilities and see what's currently Weapon Range.

-Knockback is a challenge. I want it to be useful because it's a fun gimmick, but unlike in FFT, there are so few maps with height differences that Knockback is pretty useless. And knocking a unit back a single tile ultimately doesn't change much. Archers would probably be getting a ranged Knockback skill though with their buff.

-Auctionhouses are being flat-out nerfed in the near future, it's just a matter of finding an efficient way of doing it and still making it useful to participate in Auctions.


HUMES:

-Soldiers are really only meant to be a beginning-game job, but their Art of War skills are a little more useful even endgame now because their Breaks deal damage, and First Aid is free, more potent, and can clear some debuffs. They sync really well with Archers/Hunters. I wanted to give Soldiers equipment breaking skills, but I lack the room.

-Turbo MP is being removed in the next update; just trying to figure out what to replace it with. I'm leaning towards Illude, a formerly enemy-only ability that raises the user's Evasion passively.

-As far as Thieves are concerned, you should really try them now. They can steal better loot earlier, can drain HP and MP, and can steal weaponry and armor now. They're a lot more fun, especially when you use the Brigand's Gloves with them!

-I'm not happy with Blizzard's gimmick at the moment, and it seems to see the least use. I'm thinking of making it more powerful but single target or something. I'm not sure yet.

-Archers are being buffed, so don't worry too much about them!

-I thought I changed Nurse's description ages ago, but I'll check it out. Regen (and Poison) never wear off, and are absolutely amazing to use. In fact, I'd argue that they're almost gamebreaking. First Aid, Nurse, and Chakra are all meant to be similar, but complement each other and be different.

-Aurablast has 2 Range and 1 AoE, meaning it doesn't have to hit the user, but you have to be careful with how you position yourself and how you use it. It's meant to be a little more difficult to use, but it's still very potent.

-I'm really dissatisfied with Samurai at the moment. They're definitely going to see a change in the near future, and probably a totally new gimmick altogether.

-Blue Mage is definitely useful, and I want to nerf White Wind, but it seems like it'd be awful to take away its gimmick, so it'll stay for now, albeit with an increased MP cost, perhaps. Blue Mages rock because they're versatile, but they can't do anything particularly amazingly.

-Necromancer is definitely a niche class, and one that is being constantly reworked. Seal Evil, in particular, is tough to balance. I don't want to make the hit rate less on it, but at present it's ridiculously good. Brainrot and Crucify are going to be reworked (since Crucify is actually bugged at the moment for whatever reason).

-Ninja are actually pretty damn amazing at the moment. I'm not sure if you've played FFT, but FFTA2 GG Ninja are a lot like FFT Geomancers but with Dual Wield. Minimal damage, but AoE (and almost free) debuffs to go around. Katon and Mokuton in particular are really good and can easily cripple enemies. Using them for their debuffs is the best way to use Ninjtusu, IMO.


MOOGLES:

-Soul Etude is being nerfed, you needn't worry about that either!

-Animist is in line to be reworked, but I haven't figured out the specifics yet, and I haven't come up with an idea that I like just yet. Needless to say, it will be changed in the near future though.

-Moogle Heroes are definitely meant to feel flexible. I designed them to be part tank, part melee, part mage, and part healer. My Moogle Hero was definitely an MVP in quite a few fights.

-Fusiliers are getting a buff with their equipment breaking skill accuracy. So, basically, they'll be as accurate as a Myrmidon's breaking skills, but they won't inflict damage, however being used with a long-range weapon means they'll get more range out of those skills. MP costs will likely be applied to those skills.

-Orators need to be revised in the near future. I designed them as one of the first new jobs, before I created things like Scholar, so they've fallen by the wayside a bit. They'll be sufficiently buffed in the near future though.

-Time Mage is losing Undo and Extend and gaining Demi and Comet to give them a few damaging skills.

-Engineer works well as a secondary skillset, and their skills are very potent. I used Moogle Hero with Engineer secondary for a good part of the game and it works really well.


VIERA:

-Fencers are basically melee with flair, which is why their skills are as they are. As enemies become more balanced once I edit their abilities, their skills should find more use.

-Kunoichi are a very high-class job that requires the user to both A) Know how growths work and aim for as much HP as possible and B) Be willing to risk keeping their HP low to get the most use out of their skills. Basically, it's a very high-risk, high-reward job that isn't for everyone's playstyle, including my own. That said, I know of at least a few people who enjoy playing as Kunoichis.

-Occultists are definitely among my favorite new job. Possess is pretty damn broken, but mostly just because other facets of the game are broken. Considering Viera have a wide array of effective skills, sacrificing their turn for another unit to act is a pretty big deal. As far as healing is concerned, using Kirin on your party (Summoner) before using Blood Magick pretty much makes those spells free. If anything, I'll be greatly increasing their HP costs in the near future.

-Dualcast now only works with Red Magick abilities. It's still really good though, and I found myself using it often. Dualcast Cure in particular is really good.


BANGAA:

-Bangaa are relatively buffed in the next update. Monk and Templar got a Move boost. I don't use Cannoneer much, but I love Trickster. Their Speed is ridiculously good, and they can attack from 8 tiles away with Cards. Their debuffing skills are also pretty fun.

-Myrmidon probably won't ever get a Taunt ability. If anything, Paladins would. I've considered making a skill that Covers all allies or inflicts Berserk and Immobilize on adjacent units for Paladins, but I haven't decided on any of that yet.

-Lifebreak is wonderful late-game when HP is ridiculously high. That said, you need to watch what you use it on since it's Dark Elemental and most bosses are immune to it.


NU MOU:

-Nu Mou can enter Water tiles now, and that's how Squelch, Aqua, Torrent, and Flood are used. They're very potent skills! For the record, Turbo MP works on -any- skill that costs MP, to my knowledge, so it should work with Druid skills as well. Well, until I take away Turbo MP, anyhow.

-Daemons are being reworked slightly to be more balanced. They're going to lose All Ultima for sure.

-I'd argue that after I buffed Scholars in the latest update that they're downright amazing. Here's how they work: spells like Protect bestow the Protect status, which wears off after 3 turns. Scholars, however, can use Paling which bestows both Protect and Defense Up statuses. Protect will wear off after 3 turns, but Defense Up will not. Scholars can also access the Spellbound Passive Ability which makes any buff or debuff they use last longer. Using Scholars effectively have really saved me in some late-game fights, and make you almost invincible, especially with Regen.


SEEQ:

-Using Rangers effectively is all about knowing how the AI works. In FFTA2, the AI will always try to go for a back attack when it can. Therefore, placing traps behind your units will make the AI walk into them fairly often, not only causing the trap to trigger, but ending the target's turn. That, and Rangers have Mirror Item, but that may go to Alchemists in the near future.

-Reaver skills DO consume HP when noted in the tooltips, but the animation doesn't display the damage being dealt to the Reaver.

-Vikings are a lot like Moogle Hero. They're versatile units that can attack at just about any range. They're basically a magick option for Seeqs.


GRIA:

-Vartan is definitely an amazing job, and several enemies are weak to Wind. Having one around never hurts!

-Geomancer is being redone in the near future, since it's basically a less interesting Druid at this point. Thinking of making it a magickal version of Dragoons.

Thanks for the insight! Let me know how the rest of the game goes!

[wrongstuff]

Thanks for the response.  I think you've got a really good vision for the mod and I'm excited to see what you do with it.  A couple of questions: can you make seeq/gria available earlier? Also, when can we expect another patch update?