Final Fantasy Hacktics

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There are several posts expressing interest in the Blue Mage.  Some ask for help, others... help, I guess... this one is for collaboration, as there are some things I've figured out, and others I haven't (and likely never will).

First and foremost, what is a Blue Mage?
While the Blue Mage has seen several iterations, two things have remained consistent...  monster magic and versatility, albeit after a lot of completionism and vulgarity.  A great number of resources can be found at https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Blue_Mage (https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Blue_Mage).  The oldest, and arguably most badass, Blue Mage was made available in FFV, and gained a wide array of magics, including Aqua Breath, Aero 1-3 (also sometimes categorized as White Magic), Parasite, Exploder, ????, White Wind, and many others.  This gave the Blue Mage some of the most powerful non-elemental spells, and access to efficient, potent buffs and curatives.  They also are able to hold their own with physical prowess, so like a Red Mage, but better.

I wanted to show my appreciation to Kagebunji & Mando as early in the post as possible, so it's worth noting that a Blue Mage sprite exists (http://ffhacktics.com/sprites.php?search=blue+mage (http://ffhacktics.com/sprites.php?search=blue+mage)) and, in addition to my son who loves Blue Mages, served as inspiration.  Thanks, Kagebunji, Mando, and Nightmare Child!

What do they wear?
Blue Mages, in their earliest incarnation, used Knives, Swords, and Rods, and wore Shields, Hats, Robes, and Clothes.  FFT and FFV maintain a pretty strong 1:1 in gear, save bells, boomerangs, and maybe one other.  Later Blue Mages were limited to sabers, drastically reducing coolness.

Does FFT support Blue Mage Mechanics?
Yes, "Learn on hit".

In FF6, Strago started with Aqua Rake (Breath), Revenge, and Stone.  To start with spells in FFT:

• Set JP cost to 0
• Uncheck "Learn with JP (Player)"
• Check "Learn on Hit"

For the spells you want to have your Blue Mage learn through combat:

• Set JP cost to 9999 (or possibly any non-zero value)
• Uncheck "Learn with JP (Player)"
• Check "Learn on Hit"

The rate is up to the modder.  You may want more powerful skills to be lower %, missables to be 100%, or both.

What Blue Magics already exist?
Luckily, Mr. School has provided a table with a ton of Blue Magic/Lores/Enemy Skills to cross reference.  Some spells exist only in name, while others are ready to go out of the box.



Awesome, old school!  I'm going to jump in and make one!
Whoah, slow down.  First off, your enthusiasm is a little off-putting.  Second, here are all the things that have driven me to a life of self-loathing, courtesy of the Blue Mage:

1. The animations are super weird, since humans aren't monsters
When I Mimic Titan a guy's face off, my guy does a weird sword dance.  When I Exploder my best friend mid-battle, my guy does something that takes me back to middle school gym.  There is allegedly a method to reassign animations or have 2 sets of animations.

2. Blue Magic costs MP!
...but monsters' skills don't.  This creates a low degree of complexity but if you start to think "bro, I can't Osmose (FFV throwback, anyone?) a monster normally!" or "dude, Difference doesn't hurt monsters because no MP!" you start to get a feel for the unintended consequences of the re-balancing process.

Additionally, If a skill costs MP, the monsters will not use it if they lack the MP to do so (despite not requiring MP themselves to use them).

Don't care?  Then on to...
3. MP wasn't the beginning!
Human/humanoids have very low stats.  In contrast, their spells are very powerful.  Monsters, on the otherhand, have very high stats and weak skills.  If you are thinking weak human + weak skills = work, you nailed it.  How much work though?  If your second thought was to boost the stats of your Blue Mage, then you would deal tremendous damage with any other skill relying on the MA/PA stat.  Additionally, like with MP consequences, reducing the MA/PA of your monsters drastically increases the effectiveness of PA/MA breaks.  If your attack would have broken say... 6% of a monsters stat, maybe now you can break 18%.  That means weaker monsters that are more susceptible to a slightly larger array of FFT skills totally undermining the game's mechanics!  :shock:

In conclusion, to successfully implement the Blue Mage, you would need to
:v/: Rebalance all the stats of your monsters, accounting for MP consumption and MA/PA consequences
:v/: Get a nice list of versatile monster magics to fill your skill set (and make some of your own!)
:v/: Figure out how to
    • do conditional animations
    • animate them all as magics for player and monster, or
    • give up and still feel good about your crappy Macarena looking deal you do before blowing away a foe
:v/: Come up with a cool name!


Resources:
:v/: Sprite Sheets (http://ffhacktics.com/sprites.php?search=blue+mage)
:v/: Spreadsheet for Rebalancing Assistance (http://ffhacktics.com/smf/index.php?topic=10596.msg200915#msg200915)

An alternate animations spreadsheet exists, we use it for Jot5 to allow monsters and humans to have different animations for the same skill. Unsure if it's public.

Monster skillsets do indeed not consume MP, but this isn't actually that much of an issue. This is a function of their skillset type and has nothing to do with the actual skills themselves. And they will still use MP damaging skills if they will cancel enemy spell charging or if they aren't in range for anything else since the AI hates Wait, so they will still use skills like Osmose under certain conditions.

Plus they do HAVE MP, so Osmose can still be used ON them.

Look at Jot5 for an example of a mod with Blue Magic.

This is the reason for this post. I have been struggling for so long, and I figured this would turn up some resources. I'd love to check those out.

As for Absorb/Osmose, monsters have almost no MP. I play almost never, and haven't modded in a long time due to life, but can't you only drain what your enemy has? If so, a Chocobo with 5MP max will only yield 5MP.

We have both red and blue mage in Jot5 :D

Monster MP Growth is set very high across the board, and the higher they're set the worse they grow. I haven't tested this but I'd assume that if you lowered them to near-human levels they'd be better. Though you'd have to keep in mind that human MP is very dependent on equipped gear, too.

Elric, there's a disturbing lack of passive aggression in your posts these days!  :lol:

For real, though, any tips you guys have, I'd like to kinda aggregate it all and help out with what I can.  Less questions for you guys means more time you can spend doing pro level mods. These posts today are just to get initial thoughts on paper so other people can take advantage of my progress and failures (which are quite abundant).

Quote from: Nyzer on January 22, 2020, 12:03:28 am
Monster MP Growth is set very high across the board, and the higher they're set the worse they grow.

Exactly. But more MP means draining can be more effective. Personally, it's not something I'd spend a ton of time on, but I'd rather enumate all the possibilities for the next person that cares for maybe a more genuine experience. I think we're probably THINKING the same thing, Nyzer. I'm just trying to call out all the possible pitfalls.

Quote from: old school on January 22, 2020, 12:12:37 am
Exactly. But more MP means draining can be more effective. Personally, it's not something I'd spend a ton of time on, but I'd rather enumate all the possibilities for the next person that cares for maybe a more genuine experience. I think we're probably THINKING the same thing, Nyzer. I'm just trying to call out all the possible pitfalls.

One pitfall not mentioned is that though monsters don't consume MP, if they don't have enough for a skill, they won't use it. So if you put Ice 2 on a mindflare, it'll use it and not consume MP. But if you osmose its MP down, it will no longer use Ice 2. Now osmose type skills suddenly become almost exploitative when fighting certain monsters.

Hello there!

In my patch I'm using skills that doesn't rely on MA except for accuracy. Emmy created a lot of formulas that can be used for this purpose (i'm using various formula hacks from her set).
As from me, I created a functional formula for Transfusion. Combined with ARH to be used only on critical.

Enjoy:

Quote from: yamish on January 23, 2020, 07:35:26 am
One pitfall not mentioned is that though monsters don't consume MP, if they don't have enough for a skill, they won't use it. So if you put Ice 2 on a mindflare, it'll use it and not consume MP. But if you osmose its MP down, it will no longer use Ice 2. Now osmose type skills suddenly become almost exploitative when fighting certain monsters.

@yamish Thanks for the heads up!  It definitely changes things.  Any idea how that affects adding MP to the monster skills that already exist?

Quote from: Heisho on January 26, 2020, 06:37:07 pm
Hello there!

In my patch I'm using skills that doesn't rely on MA except for accuracy. Emmy created a lot of formulas that can be used for this purpose (i'm using various formula hacks from her set).
As from me, I created a functional formula for Transfusion. Combined with ARH to be used only on critical.

Enjoy:

spoiler

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Patches>

  <Patch name="Form 21 - Transfusion">
    <Description>Heals HP and MP to target equal to MaxHP and MP from caster/ Deals MaxHP and MP DMG to caster</Description>
    <Location file="BATTLE_BIN" offset="1225F4">
1980023C
942D428C
1980033C
902D638C
2A004494
00000000
060064A4
2E004594
50000634
250066A0
0A0065A4
1980023C
8C2D428C
01000334
000043A0
040044A4
A0000634
250046A0
0800E003
080045A4
    </Location>
  </Patch>

</Patches>

@Heisho Mind if I add that to my evergrowing first post?  Thanks a lot for the idea/formula!

Quote from: old school on January 27, 2020, 08:32:30 am
@Heisho Mind if I add that to my evergrowing first post?  Thanks a lot for the idea/formula!

Not at all. There is not much I can offer, but at least is something.

Quote from: old school on January 27, 2020, 08:32:30 am
@yamish Thanks for the heads up!  It definitely changes things.  Any idea how that affects adding MP to the monster skills that already exist?

As far as I know it works the same. They'll use the skills if they have enough mp, but won't consume mp. But won't use the skills if there isn't enough mp present.

http://ffhacktics.com/smf/index.php?topic=11211.0 (http://ffhacktics.com/smf/index.php?topic=11211.0)

Some of Emmy's ASM might be of use here. The real problem behind introducing Blue Magic is that monster skills and monster stats aren't balanced for human's stat scaling. I'd you want to do a proper blue mage you'll want to rebalance monsters. There's an ASM that gives monsters the attack skill. Irc, it will also make it so Monsters use MP for their skills. If you do this, you'll need to shift their growth and you'll probably want to repurpose their basic physical attacks into something else because they'll become redundant.

I'm just warning that trying this is opening a whole can of worms.

A can of worms whose tackling would be much appreciated by many, I'm sure. ;)

Looking through the FF Wikia pages on FFT Monster Skills (https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Tactics_abilities (https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Tactics_abilities)), I was able to make a skill set that only uses skills already in FFT. I personally gave it 5 skills that fit into 3 of the 4 main schools of magic (White, Black, and Green/Mystic. There aren't many Monster Skills that fit into Time Magic).

Green:
Doom
Bad Breath
Dischord
Level Drain
Zombie Touch

White:
Choco Cure
Squeak
Choco Esuna
Magic Nymph
Lick

Black:
Choco Meteor
Fire Breath
Ice Breath
Thunder Breath
Nanoflare

Quote from: Timbo on January 28, 2020, 09:24:16 am
http://ffhacktics.com/smf/index.php?topic=11211.0 (http://ffhacktics.com/smf/index.php?topic=11211.0)

Some of Emmy's ASM might be of use here. The real problem behind introducing Blue Magic is that monster skills and monster stats aren't balanced for human's stat scaling. I'd you want to do a proper blue mage you'll want to rebalance monsters. There's an ASM that gives monsters the attack skill. Irc, it will also make it so Monsters use MP for their skills. If you do this, you'll need to shift their growth and you'll probably want to repurpose their basic physical attacks into something else because they'll become redundant.

I'm just warning that trying this is opening a whole can of worms.

I mean, i dont remember it being too incredibly difficult to setup the Blue Mage in Jot5... most people seemed to really enjoy it

We didnt use any of Emmys ASMs, but we also had Pride, Xifanie, Choto, Glain and Pokeytax work on different parts of Jot5, so maybe something was made for this to accomodate that. Or maybe it was just the way Raven balanced it.

I think it's mostly to do with the rebalancing and ability formulas. Jot5 rethinks damage as a whole and the blue magic skills are mostly made up of abilities that won't be significantly affected by having less MA.

But yeah, if you just look at what Jot5 does for monsters, it really shouldn't take a lot of work to make blue magic viable. Jot5's monsters have one attack skill that nearly always inflicts a status effect, one strong/useful skill, the blue magic of their family tree, and a variety of innate RSM.

One easy example would be that someone could simply set up that second skill to be either physical or not really affected by MA, then make almost all blue magic MA based, then decrease monster MA across the board so it's closer to human MA.

Quote from: Elric on February 15, 2020, 06:17:30 pm
I mean, i dont remember it being too incredibly difficult to setup the Blue Mage in Jot5... most people seemed to really enjoy it

We didnt use any of Emmys ASMs, but we also had Pride, Xifanie, Choto, Glain and Pokeytax work on different parts of Jot5, so maybe something was made for this to accomodate that. Or maybe it was just the way Raven balanced it.

You know me, I have a flair for the dramatic. 😬 The average user however probably doesn't want to rebalance the MA is most of the monsters and their abilities to make them functional for a single job. Adding a Blue Mage works better as part of an overall patch. Jot5 is a perfect example of the kind of thing I'm talking about.

Also, ASM hacks are absolutely not necessary either for any of it.

@Timbo I specifically call out the rebalancing. I do actually need to restructure the original post, though, so I'm open to recommendations on format. Not to point the finger, but did you miss it? Should I move it up in the post?

Quote from: old school on January 21, 2020, 07:15:02 pmIn conclusion, to successfully implement the Blue Mage, you would need to
:v/: Rebalance all the stats of your monsters, accounting for MP consumption and MA/PA consequences
:v/: Get a nice list of versatile monster magics to fill your skill set (and make some of your own!)
:v/: Figure out how to
     • do conditional animations
     • animate them all as magics for player and monster, or
     • give up and still feel good about your crappy Macarena looking deal you do before blowing away a foe
:v/: Come up with a cool name!

Quote from: old school on February 20, 2020, 10:08:27 am@Timbo I specifically call out the rebalancing. I do actually need to restructure the original post, though, so I'm open to recommendations on format. Not to point the finger, but did you miss it? Should I move it up in the post?

Looks like it.

Quote from: Timbo on February 20, 2020, 12:27:26 pmLooks like it.

:D I love the honesty.

If I may add something.
In the end Blue Mage should use quirky or "unique" magic. In my take I will do that instead of using something that deals damage. That way the stats re balance might not be as difficult. Although I still think that might be too much work, I also think that might be enjoyable.

My humble pair of cents.

If there's a way to lock the blue mage class to use only the blue magic skillset, blocking the secondary A-slot (something like the chocobo rider on ffta2), you could buff/nerf the class as much as you wanted to, without the risk of breaking the game balance entirely (or having to rebalance half of the game for one job).

Quote from: Heisho on February 23, 2020, 08:50:16 pmIf I may add something.

Don't let the sarcasm fool you. I'm all about collaboration in this post! :)

Quote from: Heisho on February 23, 2020, 08:50:16 pmIn my take I will do that instead of using something that deals damage. That way the stats re balance might not be as difficult.

If you have anything you are especially proud of, let us know and I can add it to the main post.

There are lots of different possibilities.

Jot5 uses a White Wind formula for Choco Cure. There's that Transfusion formula. Self Destruct and Vengeance are based on damage taken. Most status inflictions will see a bump in hit % with extra MA but it won't be enough to make them stupidly OP. MP restoration is something unlikely to see much use by AI monsters, so a monster MA boost to that wouldn't be particularly noticeable. Some HP & MP drain formulas are just based on HP/MP totals.

Just tons and tons of ways to approach this, really.

Quote from: Nyzer on January 21, 2020, 09:43:32 pmAn alternate animations spreadsheet exists, we use it for Jot5 to allow monsters and humans to have different animations for the same skill. Unsure if it's public.

@Nyzer @Elric  Would one of you be so kind as to share?  I was unable to find the sheet referenced.

It'll be some of Xifanie's personal brand of witchery, so I'd recommend asking her if she's cool with letting you take a spin with it.

Quote from: old school on January 21, 2020, 07:15:02 pmDoes FFT support Blue Mage Mechanics?
Yes, "Learn on hit".  I have set the JP to 0 and disabled "Learn with JP".  It's been quite a while, but if memory serves, this did the trick.

Hi everybody! I am a bit new and don't want to mess up too much, just minor changes for fun, no advanced hacks!
This section is awesome, unfortunatelly i am almost giving up the blue mage, can i ask my question here?

I don't know much about hacks/spreadsheets but what i wanted on my Blue Mage:
:v/: Ok the weird things the characters does as performing the skills
:v/: Ok Weak human + weak skills, will put some gear to enhance only the blue mage maybe, still thinking
:v/: Ok MP usage, if monsters have MP they will perform and won't spend their MP that's OK
:v/: OK to rebalance all monsters MP, but MA/PA is gonna get confused for a newbie like me
:v/: Created no magic/skills, only using monsters skills available (including ulmaguest, nano/giga flare)

This is what i tested:

[Blue mage 1]
JP = each Monster skill has a amount of points needed (Ex: Choco Cure = 200, Self Destruct = 500)
LEARN ON HIT = NO
LEARN WITH JP = YES
Result: monsters were never using their skills, it seemed like they "couldn't buy the skill"

[Blue mage 2]
JP = 0
LEARN ON HIT = NO
LEARN WITH JP = YES
Result: all characters that changed job to Blue mage, had almost all skills learned, since lvl 1

[Blue Mage 3]
JP = 0
LEARN ON HIT = YES
LEARN WITH JP = NO
Result: too long to have a result, i put many skills but the monsters takes to long to show up

So...do you guys have any ideas to help?
Also, if i may, on [BM 3] how would an enemy Blue Mage come? It would have the skills assigned?

Attached my actual SKill Set and Job stats
Thanks a lot

Learn on hit with no learn with jp should give you the desired outcome.

As far as enemies, what I did to simplify it is make a second skillset past the generics in the list. Put the monster skills you want to see used by enemy blue mages in there. In ENTD, assign that skillset to the character directly, rather than letting it use the generic blue mage skillset. This will result in the enemy having all the skills you put in the skillset available in battle.

Monsters should never be unable to use their skills due to JP. The Monster skillset type forces the first three abilities into their skillset's action menu, regardless of whether the character has learned the skills.

I'd just like to point out that the Learn with JP flag is only for whether or not the player can spend JP to learn the skill from the formation screen (which is why the flag name has "(Player)" next to it). I don't believe the game even checks it when generating units from ENTD.

Neither one of those flags should affect whether generated units learn abilities...

It doesn't, no. Units are prevented from learning it upon generation by having a JP cost/low learn percentage on the skill, and keeping it at the bottom of the list.

Quote from: Nyzer on March 29, 2020, 12:25:54 pmMonsters should never be unable to use their skills due to JP. The Monster skillset type forces the first three abilities into their skillset's action menu, regardless of whether the character has learned the skills.

Good Night!
Thanks for you answer, that is valuable to know!!

Quote from: yamish on March 29, 2020, 11:19:01 amLearn on hit with no learn with jp should give you the desired outcome.

This will result in the enemy having all the skills you put in the skillset available in battle.

Good night!
Thanks for both, the second is even a nicer idea

Quote from: Glain on March 30, 2020, 03:44:48 pmNeither one of those flags should affect whether generated units learn abilities...

Quote from: Nyzer on March 30, 2020, 05:03:19 pmIt doesn't, no. Units are prevented from learning it upon generation by having a JP cost/low learn percentage on the skill, and keeping it at the bottom of the list.

I am sorry but i still have a doubt on these, maybe my english is poor, i am sorry in advance for that. I believe they are similar

1) The 2nd Skillset with Monsters Skills for Blue Mage Enemies from ENTD: The game comes with all monsters skills as (Jp Cost = 0, Learn With Jp Player flag, Chance to learn 100%, Learn on hit unflagged), assuming what i read, i should just leave like this for this 2nd Skillset i assign, right?

2) Nyzer said about enemies learning skills on ENTD are based on: JP cost, Percentage and Bottom/upper on the list. In vanilla i rarely saw (for example) a Black Mage/Summoner, High Lv, to use a Death/Fire 4/Cyclops/Lich. How can i make the enemies to use powerfull skills/magic?
(Maybe: Decreasing JP but it will affect myself as player; Big increase on Chance to Learn and maybe put them in the first places on the list i think. I want powerful enemies)

Thaaaaaaanks huge in advance

Quote from: Nyzer on March 30, 2020, 05:03:19 pmIt doesn't, no. Units are prevented from learning it upon generation by having a JP cost/low learn percentage on the skill, and keeping it at the bottom of the list.

Sorry to bother...but would you mind explain a little bit more?

Quote from: badstapp on March 30, 2020, 11:48:31 pm2) Nyzer said about enemies learning skills on ENTD are based on: JP cost, Percentage and Bottom/upper on the list. In vanilla i rarely saw (for example) a Black Mage/Summoner, High Lv, to use a Death/Fire 4/Cyclops/Lich. How can i make the enemies to use powerfull skills/magic?
(Maybe: Decreasing JP but it will affect myself as player; Big increase on Chance to Learn and maybe put them in the first places on the list i think. I want powerful enemies)

When a unit is generated, it goes through every available skillset it has, attempting to learn skills one by one from the top down. The higher the skill is in the list, the less likely the unit is to run out of JP before it hits the skill. If it has the JP to learn the skill by the time it reaches it, it will attempt to learn it based on the learn percentage chance.

Except for monsters. The Monster skillset type will automatically equip the first three abilities in the skillset (or the first four if standing next to a Beastmaster) regardless of whether those skills were actually "learned".

Hey, @Nyzer , can the Blue Mage Dual Cast?  :D

jk, but I updated the post slightly to include some of your points.

Is it possible to give some of these monsters an innate "No Charge" hidden ability?  Specifically the ones with 4 innate abilities already.  I would feel much better with 0 MP skills if the Blue Mage had to cast and the monsters didn't (unless they did, like the Ultima Demons).

The skills don't need to be 0 MP. Monsters won't consume the MP, but the AI won't attempt to cast if their MP isn't high enough. You just have to give them better MP multipliers.

And no, you would have to figure out which innates to cut if you wanted to give them Non-Charge.

Quote from: Nyzer on May 07, 2020, 01:29:39 pmThe skills don't need to be 0 MP. Monsters won't consume the MP, but the AI won't attempt to cast if their MP isn't high enough. You just have to give them better MP multipliers.

I don't think I'm asking the question the correct way.  In fact, I'm sure of it, because I should be asking for clarification around "MP".  Is that current or max MP?  Can a monster use a 40 MP skill with 0/200 MP if the monster skill consumes 0 MP?  I'd be concerned about the exploit @yamish pointed out, "Osmose"-ing a monster to 0 to cause it to avoid using a skill.

Quote from: old school on May 07, 2020, 04:47:30 pmI don't think I'm asking the question the correct way.  In fact, I'm sure of it, because I should be asking for clarification around "MP".  Is that current or max MP?  Can a monster use a 40 MP skill with 0/200 MP if the monster skill consumes 0 MP?  I'd be concerned about the exploit @yamish pointed out, "Osmose"-ing a monster to 0 to cause it to avoid using a skill.

That's not really an exploit, it's how the game works, lol

Quote from: old school on May 07, 2020, 04:47:30 pmI'd be concerned about the exploit @yamish pointed out, "Osmose"-ing a monster to 0 to cause it to avoid using a skill.

Why would anyone ever do this in the first place, though?

Under those circumstances, it would take multiple turns of draining a monster's MP to prevent it from being able to use a skill. Those same turns could be spent inflicting Disable. Or Sleep. Or Stop. Or Frog. Or Chicken.

Or just stabbing it to death.

And assuming the skills are set up the way Jot5 does them - one physical attack shared across the whole species, one blue magic attack shared across the whole species, and one monster-specific attack - draining their MP is going to prevent them from using one of their skills.

I can't imagine someone doing this even for the novelty of it, because it doesn't change enough about the fight to really matter.

Removing MP from a monster to prevent skill use could be the best option if the monster has a healing or revival skill, status immunities, permanent buffs, or useful innate skills.

If you don't like being able to drain monster MP to prevent them from using their skills, the fix is to increase their MP multipliers and growth so it's less feasible.

That's still a very specific kind of monster setup that doesn't even exist in vanilla. No generic monsters are immune to the status effects that would lock them down far more effectively. Someone would have to be designing generic monsters with the clear intent of preventing them from being CC'd in any way before it would come down to trying to "exploit" the fight by draining their MP, and then, well, yeah, just give them sky high MP and maybe Move-MP Up and that solves that.

@Nyzer @nitwit Good points.  I just wanted to clarify for the sake of the integrity of the original post (which I've updated).

As far as why, Duskblade on Orlandeau can crush MP with the fury, but I suppose if you're doing that, you'd be killing it with a different ability instead.  I don't know.  I'm feeling inclined to try now, just to say I've done it.

Anyway, thanks for the answers.

Quote from: Nyzer on May 07, 2020, 06:58:53 pmThat's still a very specific kind of monster setup that doesn't even exist in vanilla. No generic monsters are immune to the status effects that would lock them down far more effectively. Someone would have to be designing generic monsters with the clear intent of preventing them from being CC'd in any way before it would come down to trying to "exploit" the fight by draining their MP, and then, well, yeah, just give them sky high MP and maybe Move-MP Up and that solves that.

Agreed, but any modder worth their salt would give every monster at least a few immunities to debuffs, and reactions which make dealing damage more difficult or risky.

It seems like the most correct answer is to rebalance MA/PA and leave MP out of the equation.  It sounds like this achieves the highest degree of vanilla authenticity and customization potential.  This also makes other skills like Aqua Breath, Aero 1/2/3, and Flamethrower, Blue Magic staples, feasible again.