Final Fantasy Hacktics

My username is rrs_kai and I like strategy rpg games. I dont know any mod/hack and am fairly new to forums although I read a lot (linux forums).
My first srpg was Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (a friend gave it to me). I like this game a lot and have cleared it twice.

On youtube I sutmbled upon FFTA:X and was searching for other mods...and found FFTA: Grim Grimoire.
I am here to contribute to make FFTA:GG, a great game better, and will probably stick as long as its development continues.
I hope you find my suggestions noteworthy

Other srpg games I have are:
Disgaea 2 DHD - The game reverberates 'broken' but is fairly complex and fun.
Tactics Ogre psp - I like the story and intricate battle mechanics in this game.

Quote from: Eternal on September 12, 2014, 02:29:56 pm
Thanks, everyone, for your feedback! There's a lot to go over, so I'll try and take it one point at a time, please bear with me here.
RRS' posts:

-Absorb MP also existed in Vanilla, but it mattered very little there since MP was restored each turn. It's actually one of the best Reactions in the game now because of the MP change. It's acting exactly how it should- it's just that more skills trigger it now. Absorb MP won't trigger if a caster uses a skill on itself, though.

-Backdraft is actually NERFED from Vanilla. That should give you an idea of how strong it was.

And please, keep posting your thoughts! They're greatly helpful!

-Absorb MP works on ally casts (Clan Dip's sage used raise and restored 75MP to their sumoner). Wonder how many races have access to this powerful reaction ability?
-Do bangaa's have access to Absorb MP....that would make Templars more of an anti-mage class (yes a Dota2 reference).

-Well backdraft only added fire element and no bonus damage in FFTA2, and yeah i did not use it in vanilla FFTA.

Quote from: Eternal on September 12, 2014, 02:29:56 pm
RRS' posts:

-Templars already are getting an RES and HP boost in the next update, so I'm way ahead of you on that!

-Yay, armoured lizards for the win (please do justice to their cool sprite and make them the tanks that the Bangaa race can take pride in).

-The only thing left is to give them access to 'Demon Fusion' from Disgaea 4 to make their sprite double the size (yes you will need shades to see them once that happens, their sanctity is too bright for normal LCD displays.....unless you are wearing shining armour yourself).

Quote from: SilverAuron on September 12, 2014, 06:07:45 pm
Taking about equipment tough, I didn't mean for you to pot, say, judge coat at the 7th battle, but to go against  units who use kikuichimonji and diamond grea when you only have access to bronze is not very fair, what I ment was that by the time you unlock  for example, iron armour and elm, you already won form quests and randoms at least adamant/diamond, wich makes them useless even befor you got them.

-I am in agreement with SilverAuron on this...battles last longer, classes have more prequisites, newer classes....maybe upgrading the shops after every Totema mission might work (i don't know how many upgrades there are).
-Also you could steal diamond gear from the Templar in Clan Dip (who are available from the beginning of clan wars).
-You can get more than one adamant armour this time?...from random battles?...wow

Quote from: rrs_kai on September 10, 2014, 01:08:15 pm
Glad i could be of help

Another bug

When encountering Sporhm Knights their monk cheered their fighter. Marche(DEF 214) used backdraft on the fighter and got counterd for 24dmg and the fighter lost his buff. When he normally hit Montblanc(DEF 215) he hit for 24dmg which means that counter neglected the cheer buff.
Can anyone verify this?

I know its a self quote (is it fine to self quote?) but it has not been adressed, is cheer not applying on reaction abilities a bug?

Quote from: SilverAuron on September 12, 2014, 06:07:45 pm
What moogles don't have right now is power, moogle knights have been nerfed

-Also agree on this...the moogles dont have a physical attack class. Mogknights atk growth nerf from 8.8->8.3 is only 0.1pt above juggler and mediator(8.2). IMO the nerf was unnecessay, the moogle race needs atleast one physical atk class.
-Moogle lance got nerfed but so did Air-Render.
-On the contrary their defensive skills have been improved, Mog guard now imbunes shell+protect as well as defend status, Mog shield gives regen+astra, Mog peek range is upto 8, which now should reduce DEF and RES (I have yet to verify these as I need to obtain more mog knight equipment and use one).
I will update when I get to use these skills and find their behaviour as described.

A few more observations

:::Bugs:::
-'Mug' bypasses reaction abilities
-Maintenance not working for NoMu (stole from Clan Dip's Sage)

:::INCONSISTENCIES:::
-Shieldbearer (bronze shield) costs 200AP for soldier/warrior but 100AP for fencer
-Immunity (survival vest) costs 300AP for bluemage but 100AP for beastmaster
-Maintenance works fine for humans and moogles

:::CORRECTIONS:::
-LV.3 expose seems to target most valid units (friend and foe)...so excuse my previous post on questioning its behaviour and calling it bugged.

:::THOUGHTS:::
-Chakra is single-target (with 1AOE range) and heals less just above 1/3rd (depending on mag.pow) that of first-aid(also no regen), just to remove a debuff.
In vanilla FFTA the paladin's nurse was better because of 1AOE heal+recover.
-Earth heal is single target 0AOE and costs 12MP but heals same as cure (8MP) with no added effect.

:::PROGESS:::
At the first totema fight. Also beat Clan Dip (party Lv.16)

Thanks for merging the posts @Darthatron 

I have no clue on tech mod/hack...and am also new to forums in general (though i read a lot).

Also, how to IRC?
I will be available @ 19:00 (GMT+5:30)...if that helps

Glad i could be of help

The gameplay feels a lot smoother as units have more MP pool (currently Lv.8 party) to sustain protect/shell/cure/esuna.

Also the RES stat for Templar's(7.6->6.9) and Bishop's(7.6) feel low, in the vanilla FFTA Templar was a mage-bane class and having low RES seems to be defeating the purpose IMO. Do you find it viable to increase their RES by 1pt to both classes to compound the fact that they are the slowest bangaa.

I find this necessary because the moogle Mediator/Gadgeteer is high in DEF and highest in RES, very tanky for the slowest moogle (still faster than Bangaa) with decent attack and magick.

The moogles seem to the best tanks (my bard/animist is) and have managable speed. IMO this seems overpowered since all they do is buff/debuff (i am aiming for the Mediator class to make Montblanc the best tank). So, shouldn't the Bangaa should share the same trait being slower than moogles, and looking like big and powerful armoured lizards? (although they look closer to the horses with the headgear, also lizards have scaly skin).

Else maybe consider an increase Templar's HP stat to something like 7.2->8.6
This opinion maybe biased because I picture the Bangaa race as a high endurance class. Also I like his portrait and sprite alot (armoured horssse *ahem*  lizard).

I think the fencer is a lot better of a class (swallowtail's improvement is well thought-out). I think she need an upgradable class to move into.
+1 to the idea of footwork and baldework, this reminds me of Raptor or Ravager who also had Tenacity(power increases with debuffs) to combo it with.
Honestly its a great idea (incorporating the fencers battle stance) though I may not use it becaure the Bard's 'Rime' boosts all stats. Lowering your defence and waitng for a turn can turn out to be a risky measure (more costly than its worth IMO). Still great idea and adds homogenity to the classes nature.
Maybe something like Bladework->attack up and haste (or is it overpowered?)

on a side note, I like this mod's emphasis on defence because in the vanilla FFTA protect/shell were just an intermediary excuse until the player unlocks better classes from whreon the game becomes ruled by speed (Assassin).

P.S. The spellblade from FFTA2 is a great upgrade to fencer. Maybe the Gladiators elemental blades could be added to her skill set (they look so cool in FFTA but were terrible in FFTA2).

I found another bug.

I just liberated Giza Plains (dispatch) and then proceed to fight the 'White Flower' mission. All behaviour was proper.
Giza plains then got attacked. Now liberating the area the Lv.9 Antilion(blue) ran away used 'Lv.3 expose' on itself lowering its own stats (probably thinking of it as a buff).
Not sure if this happens only here because in 'White flower' there were 3 antilions (two Lv.9 one Lv.8) but none of them used that move.

*edit*
-The Bard ran away and used 'Hide' to become invisible and then the game crashed. This is my first time seeing a Bard with that move in his skill set.
-Restarted the map and now there are 2 Antilions (Lv.8 and Lv.10) and one Jawbraker. The LV.10 Antilion used 'Lv.3 expose' on itself again.
-Completed the mission, this time the bard didn't use Hide.

My thoughts : this behaviour probably means that the AI is confusing this skill with some other buff skill because its not checking the level of the target (itself).

*edit2*
-Are the Antilions weak to Fire? I don't remember this in vanilla FFTA. I could be wrong.
-The ice shield now negates ice, neutral to lightning and is weak to fire. Is this an intended change or a bug?
-What does Earth heal do? Single target heal for 12MP that doesnt remove blind (this is my experience). What is it intended to do? The amount being healed is same as cure...so whats the advantage of using Earth heal?

Another bug

When encountering Sporhm Knights their monk cheered their fighter. Marche(DEF 214) used backdraft on the fighter and got counterd for 24dmg and the fighter lost his buff. When he normally hit Montblanc(DEF 215) he hit for 24dmg which means that counter neglected the cheer buff.
Can anyone verify this?

Overpowered ability (I hope its a bug)

The ability in question is Abosrb MP

When facing Clan Marble their Bard(with half MP) used haste on their Fencer and she absorbed 3MP. This could potentially mean that high MP healing skills/buffs can simply be used on allies for MP recovery.
I don't know how Absorb MP behaves in vanilla FFTA as I have not used it, I doubt it actually exists. I remember Green mages with this skill in FFTA2. I could be wrong here, if so correct me.

I cannot verify if this works on self-cast as I have no unit with this ability and that Fencer has no MP using skills that terget self.

Is this bugged or random skill? - Paeon

I see that it always shows +30 on tool tip and understood that it probably should be MP restoration. When targeting this skill it highlights only the selected character but when used the following happens:
-Once it restored zero to all units in 2AOE and cast reflect on affected units.
-Next time it restored zero to all units 2AOE and cast regen on affected units.
-Another time it damaged the closest enemy in the 2AOE and stopped (didnt affect others in AOE).
Was this skill supposed to just restore 30MP? It is not doing that.

I think its still using the AOE of skill:Friend and cast the effects of summons like carbuncle, kirin and some other damaging summon like Ifrit.

On a side note, I have 4 Bard skills, namely Paeon, Lulluby, Minnie and Rime. Among these Rime has a elevation limit of 3h, is this intended or just the limitation of previous skill (whatever it replaced). If so then consider making the elevation of all song skills the same (logic being distance how far the Bard's voice can be heard). Maybe even make it so as not to cross walls (same logic voice cant be heard through walls).

Also, how do i get the small text under the portrait which says the name of your class (like mediator)....i tried the dragoon, but it didn't show its name?
*edit* I got it, its personal text

I honestly hope that my posts are not rudely imposing anything/anyone and are being useful
(Excuse my ignorance of forum ethics).

On an entirely unrelated note to the game...what is more ethical?

1. To post every thought or bug in detail (which I think is helpful and reduces need for furthur clarificaiton).

2. Just list important stuff because you already know how they work (less clutter).

Should I even post my thoughts?

About the game
Here is how I am winning: The AI puts reviving allies at top priority (using phoenix down, life..etc) so taking him out means a great advantage. Even if there is an OHKO character nearby the CPU will always revive, I am using this to force the CPU to avoid KOing my weaker units.
Backdraft is powerful, never used in vanilla FFTA but here it does quite the damage. Turned Marche the white mage (on road to paladin) into a KO machine.

i have found a bug playing update 0.95beta...the mog knight's ability 'moogle lance' is using current wp.atk power (variying with equipped weapon) whereas the move 'air render' is using a fixed number multiplier (somewhere around 24wp.atk)
is this intended to make the mog knight balanced, because its powerful.

on a side note, the game's difficulty feels much more managable (in a good way) thanks to clan wars (all i needed was a few levels and game became very balanced).
great mod
-I like the aggressive AI (archers don't run away after hitting they come at you).

Hello every one, I just wanted to share my experience with this game mod (am not a modder/hacker)
To start things off this was my first SRPG and first final fantasy game and I completed the game twice (including judge missions)

The things I liked in this mod:
-Elemental magick being varied adds a nice strategic balance rather than being copies of eachother (makes it meaningful to master all elements).
-Improved and balanced classes.
-Reduced AP cost. Reduces grinding for abilities a lot.

I have just completed mission [Thesis,Thesis] and here are the difficulties that i have encounterd:
-Enemy units always being the same or higher than my max level unit made levelling weaker units difficult.
-Reducing the max unit limit to 5 made me reluctunt to using new units and one of the starter units is still at Lv.1 (my human archer).
-Enemy clans having many abilities mastered seems like a psuedo-advantage over the player's party.
-Was it intentional to make 'Clan Dip' so end-game material? (they were my first encounter).

To append the above listed gripes, i have found a "minor tweak pack" on romhacking.net... i will post the link if anyone can confirm that posting links to mods is legal.

The tweak changes the starting unit setup from [Black mage, Soldier, Monk, White mage and Archer] to [Bard/Animist, Archer, Warrior, Black mage, White mage] in that particular order, excluding Marche's class.
This is very similar to the starting party found in FFTA2 and makes sense in the that many changes were adopted from the sequel like ability changes, evade rates...etc;the exception being the moogle who's a Thief there.

Advantages:
-Montblanc has better stats to tank damage because he is sort of mandatory for battles like Thesis, Thesis. (He is also my team's MVP thanks to his good defences and 'lullluby'. Took me 50min to win Thesis Thesis).
-Soldier + Warrior is better than two soldiers because Bangaa races are interesting in this mod.
-Viera white mage has good mag.pow and is faster than No Mou.
-No Mou black mage has high mag.pow and is better than Mont blanc (both are slow).
-Human archer vs viera archer isn't that big of a change but monsters being stronger in this mod makes Hunter's with sidewinder a stronger choice IMO, although this depends on how fast you actually acquire the respective equipment for that ability.
-Since the unit lmit is 5 the above setup gives you one of each race to experiment with (leaving the archer).

All in all I find this mod very interesting and would to hear your opinion on changing the starting party to the aforementioned setup. Also looking forward to tool-tips being corrected.

P.S. I would gladly appreciate if you decide to make max units 6  . I always feel like i need one more unit but that's just me.