Projects => Works in Progress => FFT: Parted Ways => Topic started by: Eternal on October 15, 2014, 01:04:41 am
Title: Parted Ways 2.0 Weapons
Post by: Eternal on October 15, 2014, 01:04:41 am
Equipment in PW 2.0 each fills a varied role, with different weapon types having different advantages over others. Unlike PW 1.0, where items were more-or-less equal like Arena, PW 2.0 is a little more traditional in how items are handled.
KNIVES
Knives fill the role of debuffing weaponry in PW 2.0. Most Knives can inflict a debilitating debuff on an enemy at around a 20% chance. Though they're not directly powerful, the ability to damage and debuff an enemy in one fell swoop is vital in PW 2.0's status-heavy battles.
Dagger
Ripper Add: Poison
Mage Masher Add: Silence
Blind Knife Add: Blind
Cat Claw Add: Slow
Dancing Dagger Add: Immobilize
Sacrificial Dagger Add: Undead
Man-Eater Add: Curse
Assasssin's Dagger Add: Doom
Tonberrian Add: Death
NINJA BLADES
Ninja Blades act as the mobile weaponry in PW 2.0. Merely equipping a Ninja Blade grants a very valuable (and rare) boost to Move and Jump. Though Ninja Blade damage isn't high, they deal more damage than Knives. The last few Ninja Blades in the game each offer a unique boon that benefits different players depending on their builds. Want a large, but short boost of Speed? Masamune is your friend. Want a first strike? Yagyu Darkblade. Want to focus on staying alive? Orochi. Want a permanent, but small boost in Speed? Ichigeki. Want to potentially hugely cripple a foe for a short period of time? Kagenui. It all depends on how you play.
Kunai Move/Jump +1
Kodachi Move/Jump +1
Sakura Move/Jump +1
Kagenui Move/Jump +1, Add: Stop
Ichigeki Move/Jump +1, Speed +1
Yagyu Darkblade Move/Jump +1, Initial: Vanish
Orochi Move/Jump +1, Drains HP
Masamune Move/Jump +1, Initial: Haste
SWORDS
Swords are varied and have many random effects, as befits the variety of jobs (which in turn can do a variety of things) that can use them. Swords are average and reliable, and have very little in terms of unique gimmicks- but what they do, they do well.
Shortsword
Rapier +10% EVD
Frostmourne Ice Elemental, Cast: Confuse
Wightslayer Holy Elemental, Cast: Exorcise
Blood Sword Drains HP
Aqua Saber Water Elemental, Cast: Water
Moonblade +20% EVD
Onion Sword PA +1, MA +1
Shadowblade Dark Elemental, Cast: Dark
Organyx Earth Elemental
Soul Sabre Damages MP instead of HP
Enhancer MA +2
Lionheart PA +2
Ultima Weapon Cast: Ultima
KNIGHTSWORDS
Knightswords are incredibly powerful weapons- having high WP, they can easily cleave enemies in twain. Knightswords come with an initial buff, granting the wielder some added defense... temporarily. Since they're Initial buffs, they can wear off over time and can be Dispelled, and will be removed upon dying. This means that it's important to choose between a Shield for more reliable defense, or a Knightsword for better, but more temporary defense. Further, the stronger the Knightsword, the less universally useful the buff is. Choose the Knightsword based on your situation!
Defender Initial: Protect
Save the Queen Initial: Shell
Excalibur Initial: Haste
Ragnarok Initial: Veil
Chaos Blade Initial: Regen
AXES
Much like Vanilla, Axes deal random damage... but this time around, they can proc one of Meliadoul's Crush skills, allowing them to do further damage and destroy an enemy's piece of equipment, reducing their defensive abilities. Dangerous stuff!
Francisca Cast: Icewolf Bite
Headsman's Axe Cast: Blastar Punch
Golden Axe Cast: Shellbust Stab
WANDS
Wands are PW 2.0's answer to Vanilla Rods. Wands have 3 Range and are based on MA, making them perfect for mages to use when they run out of MP. Wands each also have the ability to cast Faith-based magic, with each Wand casting a different spell.
Staves in PW 2.0 are different from Vanilla FFT in that they deal no damage. Each Stave bestows a positive effect 100% of the time and grants the wielder immunity to Berserk, allowing them to properly use their Staves. Staves are great on Devouts to boost their defensive capabilities, or Freelancers equipped with Heavy Armor to act as battle medic buffing... things.
Healing Staff Immune: Berserk, Add: Regen
White Staff Immune: Berserk, Add: Protect
Cadeuceus Immune: Berserk, Restores HP
Crown Sceptre Immune: Berserk, Add: Shell
Pure Staff Immune: Berserk, Cancel: Debuffs
Ruby Staff Immune: Berserk, Add: Reflect
Dreamwaker Immune: Berserk, Add: Haste
Nirvana Immune: Berserk, Add: Reraise
FLAILS
Flails in PW 2.0 cannot miss, making them vital for finishing off evasive foes, such as Ninja.
Flail
Whip Range +1
Vesper Holy Elemental
Scorpion Tail Cast: Bio II
GUNS
Guns in PW 2.0 have a variety of effects, ranging from emulating shotguns, to assisting the wielder in getting to an advantageous sniping position, to blowing limbs off of a foe. Since they can't miss, they're lacking in power, but different Guns can bring different strategies into play.
Altair
Sirius Jump +2
Aldebaran Range -2
Spica EVD +20%
Arcturus Add: Disable
Fomalhaut Range +2
CROSSBOWS
PW 2.0 Crossbows excel in penetrating enemy defenses in unique ways, such as dispelling buffs, breaking gear, and reducing their elemental resistances. Unlike Guns, Crossbow damage can be easily increased, at the cost of lessened Range in comparison.
Crossbow
Knightslayer Add: Poison, Blind, or Immobilize
Mageslayer Cancel: Buffs
Shieldrender Cast: Shield Break
Starshooter Add: Imperil
Gastrophetes Cast: Weapon Break
LONGBOWS
Longbows in PW 2.0 are far more useful than their Vanilla counterparts. Most Longbows have varied effects that allow them to cripple the enemy in a variety of ways from varying positions around the battlefield. Though lacking in power, their ability to snipe away targets is a great boon once their wielders get the high ground.
Longbow
Charbow Add: Blind
Ranger's Bow Range +1
Burning Bow Fire Elemental
Nail Bow Add: Immobilize
Heavenly Bow Thunder Elemental, Cast: Thunder II
Hayate Bow Cast: !Rapid Fire (Deals damage equal to a weapon strike)
Yoichi Bow Move +1, Jump +1
Sagittarius Bow PA +1, Speed +1
TOMES
Tomes are designed specifically to aid the Scholar job in their duties. As such, most Tomes are beneficial to Scholars, although their benefits can be wielded by a wide array of jobs if built as such.
Scholar's Tome Boost: Wind, Weak: All Elements
Necronomicon Dark Elemental, Add: Curse
Millenial Tome MA +2
Omnilex Add: Frog
SPEARS
Spears are a destructive force in PW 2.0, and many are rare and unique. Spears boost high PA while being one-handed, allowing the user to also wield a Shield for defense. Finding Spears is a tricky process, requiring use of Treasure Hunt, but units wielding Spears are powerful and difficult to slay. Each Spear also boosts the user's Jump by 2, allowing them to emulate Dragoons of old.
Javelin Jump +2
Dragoon Lance Jump +2, Cast: Jump
Trident Jump +2, Water Elemental
Gungnir Jump +2, Thunder Elemental, Cast: Odin (PA-based damage with a chance to inflict Death)
Wyvern Lance Jump +2, Cast: Wyrmslayer
Holy Lance Jump +2, Holy Elemental, Cast: Dia II
Highwind Jump +2, Wind Elemental, Cast: Aero II
Zodiac Spear Jump +2
POLES
Poles are more or less magically-inclined versions of Swords, albeit with Range. Poles have high EVD and decent power, allowing mages to use them as an alternative to slinging spells. That said, many Poles have strange and random effects, which potentially have the ability to change the tide of battle.
Battle Bamboo
Aurora Pole All Elemental, Cast: Prism (Heavy MA and Faith-based damage, All Elemental)
Zephyr Pole Wind Elemental
Mythril Pole +10% EVD
Gokuu Pole Add: Atheist
Fairy Tale Add: Confuse
Whale Whisker Water Elemental
Princess Guard Initial: Protect, Shell
BAGS
As homage to Vanilla FFT, Bags have been kept nearly identical, albeit with new names.
Croakadile Bag
Fallingstar Bag PA +2
Princess Bag Initial: Regen
Hydrascale Bag Speed +1
Feedback and thoughts welcome as always! Armor will be posted eventually-ish!
Title: Re: Parted Ways 2.0 Weapons
Post by: Selius on October 15, 2014, 02:30:55 am
are spears at all purchasable in stores or will we have to treasure hunt all of them? i'm assuming knightswords are forced 2 handed, will they get the double grip bonus? with the lack of dual wielding for that matter, do any jobs get double grip? maybe im blind i dont see it. what's the difference between rapid fire and a normal attack? for the aurora pole if an enemy absorbs an element, but is weak to another does it cancel out and do regular damage or get absorbed/halved, wtv ?
Title: Re: Parted Ways 2.0 Weapons
Post by: Eternal on October 15, 2014, 12:27:44 pm
Some Spears will be buyable. Knightswords are forced 2H. Doublehand will be on Valkyries/Templars. Rapid Fire basically is a normal attack. If an enemy absorbs any element, the attack will be absorbed. If an enemy cancels an element, the attack will be cancelled. If an enemy is weak to any element but lacks absorption/cancellation, it'll be weak to the entire attack.
Title: Re: Parted Ways 2.0 Weapons
Post by: The Damned on October 15, 2014, 05:47:00 pm
A bit more traditional in terms of weapons not being "equal" is indeed a bit disappointing, but it's certainly understandable and definitely less headache-inducing, especially after you realize that ARENA currently isn't using about ten or so weapon spaces as it is. As it is now, Parted Way 2.0's weapons still look rather interesting for the most part and I think that you've largely succeeded in making them varied even if some of the earlier instances of weapons inevitably get obviated. Despite not having officially worked on any weapons myself save for Rods yet for the patch I'm currently working on, I generally think that the focuses of these work well and are generally varied enough to not have entire weapon groups obviate others as was arguably the case in vanilla save for one case that I'll get into below. Well, that and ignoring the fact that you kept Bags around€.
That said, compared to my other initial responses, this one will be pretty "short", relatively speaking. Of course I'm sure it's still decently long to normal people, so there's that:
Oh, hey. It's nice to see Man-Eater finally get some recognition. I can't remember if I've seen anyone else ever reference it and until recently even I mostly overlooked it. It's a shame we can't make it more do extra damage specifically against humans only somehow though. Oh well. It's also nice to see someone else use Dancing Dagger. Besides that, I generally like these and the focus is clear, concise and still interesting enough to actually merit use.
You already know how wary I am of Tonberrian though, even if it's doubtless a weapon that can't be bought in stores.
Much like Man-Eater, it's nice to see Kagenui and Yagyu Darkblade get referenced, even if the latter makes me wonder if the A.I. would be able to it use without bugging out given it tends to dislike breaking even only temporary Vanish. Of course, that concern is valid only provided the A.I. can ever even get its hands on it. Aside from that, I'm not exactly sure how I feel about Masamune being a Ninja Blade now, even if I was expecting that to be the case since for some reason Ninjato tend to get folded into Katana and vice versa if one of them doesn't appear as a category. It's probably just because they get lumped together under "Foreign Blades", which shouldn't bother me nearly as much as it does for some reason.
Regardless, of these, Orochi is the one I like the best.
It's good to see that these are still the most varied type of weapon despite their "average" quality, though in truth that average quality is doubtless why they're the most varied class of weapon in the first place. As with the above two categories, it's nice to see Aqua Saber, Organyx and Enhancer get some recognition. I also have to applaud you for not going with Ice Brand as the name of the almost required Ice-elemental sword and trying to do with Soul Saber what you are. I had an idea similar to the latter in the earliest phases of Embargo (or Human Advancement, I forget), but I eventually scrapped it. Of course, I scrapped it without testing it (very much) and I also scrapped it because the WP was too damn low; it was also a Knife as that patch's version of Mage Masher, so Soul Saber should fare better I imagine, at least on the WP and innate PA front.
Besides all that, it's a bit of a shame to see Rapier get obviated by Moonblade, but oh well I guess.
The reasoning for the decisions about what Sword got what type of temporary buff seems sound, but I'm a bit confused on how Veil is less strong than Protect or Shell under said reasoning. I'm guessing it's weaker along the lines of surviving against direct damage, though if that was the case, then Haste and Veil would be "weaker" than Regen, even though I vaguely recall you saying that Veil doesn't have a finite CT. Meh. Just a bit of nitpicking that doesn't ultimately matter I suppose since aside from that, I overall like the designs, even if it's a bit weird to see any version of Excalibur in FFT not be Holy element. I'll deal and so will Old Man Genocide if he has access to Hamedo.
I've no real comments here despite my continued general worries about the entire idea of "Mighty Sword as proc", so I'll just say that I like the new names for Axes and move on.
So this is the category I can comment the most on having been the only one I've done myself so far. Despite us having separately come to the same general overall conclusions for Wands in terms of range, MA-powering and focusing on Faith-based magic procs, our Wands actually have little in common besides that. In fact, the only ones that are remotely the same are Lilith Wand/Rod and, to a degree, Demon Wand/Rod.
I find this rather surprising and interesting but doubtless for the better. What I find most interesting is tied between the fact that three of your eight Wands cast non-damaging spells and the fact that you've entirely gotten rid of the Elemental Rods. In fact, it was only in viewing this section for a second time that I realized, rather belatedly, that aside from Scholar's Tome, none of your weapons boost any element at all. Similarly, there's also currently no mage weapon aside from Millenial Tome that boosts MA. Hunh.
Going back to what we have in common when it comes to Rod/Wand design, we both seem to have currently gotten rid of Faith Rod and Dragon Rod, though I'm not sure how much longer that will be true on my end. I too will probably get rid of Rod and Wizard Rod in their entirety though.
All that said, "Mage Arrows" is interesting as a proc-only ability. I do have to wonder how tempted you were to call it "Magic Missile" though. [Insert lame "projecting" joke here.]
Oh, good. You used the Immune: Berserk idea I just randomly came up with. Good to know my ramblings can actually be of use on some rare occasions. Aside from that and still wondering if the A.I. will use these correctly, there's not much to say about these aside from that I like them. It is going to take some getting use to having Healing Staff no longer immediately heal while at the same time having a staff that does immediately heal but has a completely different name.
Other than that, Dreamwaker's name has me thinking that Haste cancels Sleep now, though that's probably not the case. ...Right?
There's not much to say or even ask about these since I asked what I wanted when I asked you about Mustadio. Good to see what you meant about one of them being Range 2 though.
Oh, hey, you got rid of spellguns and actually varied these a lot more than your initial reply to my question about guns under Corsair made me suspect. You even gave them/kept the star-naming theme that they had in FFXII that I've always liked. Neat.
I do have to ask what their default range is (and if it's still Range 8) given that Aldebaran and Fomalhaut are defined as having Range -2 and +2 respectively, which don't really mean much without knowing the default range. Other than that, I also have to wonder if these will still be usable with Shields or if you're going to make them all Forced Two Hands.
To be honest, this is the first group of weapons and I think only group of weapons I don't really like as a whole. I'd go so far as to say that I actually actively dislike these somewhat. For one, Shieldrender and Gastrophetes seem like they step on Axe's designs even if you've made it so that Shield Break and Weapon Break miss units that don't or no longer have those type of equipment equipped. I appreciate you using the correct spelling of Gastrophetes though; vanilla's mangled spelling of it still bugs the hell out of me.
The other reason this bothers me is the implication that these are still PA-based, which is hardly your "fault" given it was like that in vanilla. I just find it rather nonsensical, really, but meh, it's up to you.
Besides that, despite using the "proper" name for "Night Killer", Knightslayer seems like it should have it have Mageslayer's proc between the overall designs of both Sentinel and Knight Swords. That said, I can see why both Crossbows have the procs they have--it's just one of those tiny things that going to bother me for at least a bit.
All that said, I do like Starshooter (in theory) and I think the overall focus is relatively fine.
These look good for the most part, though Nail Bow seems like it steps on Aim: Leg a bit. Besides that, it seems you're also using Hayate Bow and it's nice to see someone else using it in general. The same goes for Burning Bow.
There isn't much to say here that I haven't already said under Wands, so I'll just say that it's a bit amusing to see Necromonicon become so prominent in patches now. Aside from that, Omnilex seems a bit redundant with Polymorph Wand, even if the latter casts Frog while the former directly adds it.
Hmmm...a rather interesting approach to Spears as a whole, right down to the idea of having them being the "most special" type of weapon, if only just in terms of how to acquire them. I also find it rather interesting that Gungnir seems to be a generic Spear given its placement, but it's a bit difficult to tell. Regardless, I like the names of these overall and the procs overall, though Odin as a proc will likely have the same problem I told you Prism would have unless you've done tests that have shown the opposite. As such, I don't think it will actually ever add Dead.
Regardless, I'm guessing Wyvern Lance's proc, Wyrmslayer, is actually supposed to be "Dragonslayer" now given Dragonslayer is the name of the skill Valkyrie has. Then again, Wyrmslayer may well be a different skill--I doubt it though.
There's not much to say about these, especially since we already talked about Prism. I'm not sure if you've had time to test it out otherwise, but it looks like it doesn't attempt to add any statuses anymore, so I suppose it's a moot point there now.
Overall, I like these for the most part, including Princess Guard even as lukewarm-at-best as I am about FFVII. I even like Fairy Tale, if only in name given it just had to be the one to add Confuse rather than, say, Frog.
There's not much to say about these except that I'm rather surprised you're keeping them--I doubt I will personally. I do like "Princess" over "Pantherskin" though, especially since you could have just used the lengthened names from PSP for all of them.
I'm guessing every other weapon space, namely Katana, was used for the Instruments that aren't actually weapons that Performer is going to use. It's a bit of a shame that we can't turn Shuriken and Bombs spaces into actual weapons, especially since you don't seem to be using Throw on anyone.
That said, what you have now looks pretty good.
Title: Re: Parted Ways 2.0 Weapons
Post by: Eternal on November 10, 2014, 01:04:04 am
Who knows? Maybe Rapier will have Spear Range?
Veil is less useful if only because it doesn't last as long as Protect/Shell and it doesn't block direct damage, which is just as deadly as a debuff. Also, Excalibur is Holy Elemental- I just forgot to note that on there. :P
Elemental boosting in general is being kept under very tight lock and key this time around. It gets out of hand too quickly. Further, Mage Arrows is the spell that the default Rod weapon casts as an item in FFIV, which is where it came from.
Nah, Haste won't cancel Sleep. It only did that in FFV with the Hermes Sandals item.
Yes, default Range is still 8, so when it says + or -, it means from 8 as the default. I'm unsure of their Two-Handed status as of right now.
If you look closely at Axes and Crossbows, you'll notice that Crossbows break the item types that Axes can't, so they don't step on each other's toes in that regard.
Gungnir is a special Spear. You'll see!
The idea of killing eldritch demons with a handbag is just too amazing to kill off.
Title: Re: Parted Ways 2.0 Weapons
Post by: The Damned on November 16, 2014, 04:02:25 am
(Even with having under-counted Item Attributes for some reason, I'll say that Staves are a pain to think of since most iterations of them throughout Final Fantasy history see them being utterly plain aside from Healing Staff. You're lucky you got yours down early.)
Hmmm, it would seem that we think like with regards to this weapon as well. Of course, I was giving my own Rapier that due to the fact that it will undoubtedly be the weakest of Swords WP-wise. It's up to you what you want to do though, especially since you're not trying to make all weapons "equal" or at least continually usable.
Oh, so Veil does have a finite CT. I see. I was under the impression that it and Curse had CT 0 and were thus "infinite", especially since I vaguely remember you confirming that earlier. I must be remembering something else then.
Still, good to know that and that Excalibur is still actually Holy elemental.
Hmmm...on this point we differ since I'm being rather liberal with Strengthen despite also planning to boost it from a "mere" 125% boost to a 150% boost. We'll see how horribly that backfires I guess, especially since I'm also planning on weakening Half.
As for Mage Arrows, good to know, especially since I've never played FFIV.
Hmm...I see. Interesting to know, especially given I've made a copy of that item.
Given what little I know about Norse mythology, I suppose I can guess, but good luck with it regardless.
I'll have to continue to resist the temptation to defeat the forces of evil with trendy handbags, it seems, though I wish you luck in keeping them.