Final Fantasy Hacktics

Nice to see you around here again, FDC.  Going by your suggestions, I'm not sure how closely you've been following our changes, but they are mostly summarised here.

The following are selective responses to your suggestions.

Quote from: formerdeathcorps on July 26, 2013, 05:59:06 am
Ninjato--Change:
A) Short Edge (33% Oil, 10 WP because the key to using this sword is the oil proc, which is unusual among weapons, and serves the strategic role as anti-elemental)

Short Edge's proc is already at 50%, so it is serving its role very well.  WP is dropped to 9 to compensate for its nasty synergy with spellguns, Draw Out, and so forth.

Quote from: formerdeathcorps on July 26, 2013, 05:59:06 am
D) Kikuichimoji...

Indeed, it is seldom used.  We are introducing Genji Helm (Strengthen: Wind, Earth) to help remedy both this and Heaven's Cloud.

Quote from: formerdeathcorps on July 26, 2013, 05:59:06 am
Guns--Change:
A) Spellguns all need to have 4 range, not 6.  They are clearly the strongest guns, on par with the damage output of Gastrofitis after overwhelm and kaiser plate (so they should have the same range), but under normal circumstances, they don't do 300+ damage without Pilgrimage, so no damage changes are necessary. Reducing their damage or changing their effects simply takes away the wonderful synergy that makes gun teams so useful.  Reducing their range, however, makes it easier for mages (who move after gunners) and longbow users to outrange and defeat gunners.  It will also make Stone Gun see more use again.

Unfortunately, spellguns are never used under "normal conditions."  If players can boost spellgun damage to 1HKO territory, they invariably will.  In response, we're making spellguns cast Nether spells, which are weaker and cannot be boosted with Pilgrimage.

Quote from: formerdeathcorps on July 26, 2013, 05:59:06 am
Longbow--Change:
A) Silver Bow should be 15 WP, +2 MA, 40% Proc: Holy because as it stands, it's not being used effectively.  Three reasons are archer's bad MA and low proc rate, overshadowing by mythril bow and perseus bow (with southern cross), and the weakness of the proc compared to other longbows.  I think my fix addresses all of these and gives mages a real reason to consider EQ: Longbow.
B) Conversely, Mythril Bow needs to drop to 14 WP.  It's a little too dominant right now.

Mythril and Ultimus bows' WP are being dropped, so Silver Bow will become better by comparison.  Silver Bow's proc rate could indeed be increased, but I don't think it'll need a WP boost at the same time.

Quote from: formerdeathcorps on July 26, 2013, 05:59:06 am
Harps--Change:
A) Make the Blood Harp 11 WP because the drain effect is worth at least 2 WP (which compares favorably with 12 WP + 33% Status).

Bloody Harp's WP is actually going down to 10.

Quote from: formerdeathcorps on July 26, 2013, 05:59:06 am
D) Papyrus Plate has 8 WP, 50% Flare.  In short, a magical equivalent of the climhazzard knives everyone's grown to love or hate.

I'm hesitant about this change.  Flare is too powerful for a 50% proc rate.  For example, on a semi-optimised setup (40-70 BrFa, 15 MA, MAtkUP), Flare will hit for 283~396 damage.  This practically makes the book 1HKO 50% of the time.

Quote from: formerdeathcorps on July 26, 2013, 05:59:06 am
C) Genji Gauntlet must be changed because a charging mage has 0 effective MEV and a draw out user or geomancer would clearly prefer the Magic Gauntlet, Red Shoes, or Diamond Armlet.  It should be +1 MA, ignore enemy MEV because as someone pointed out, MEV is no longer as trivial as it was in S6 and a magic team that's being totally blocked by Aegis Shields + Abandon needs an equipment response.  This is also because I have no idea which support abilities FFM can still freely hack.

This sounds kind of broken.  Creating a way to get around M-EV has never been a concern of mine because magic is (a) powerful, (b) can be used from 5~6 tiles away, and (c) usually targets multiple units at once.  There are already a few ways of getting around M-EV:

• Inflict Don't Act (with Talk Skill or a weapon)


• Break the shield or steal the accessory


• Use a spell that ignores M-EV (e.g. certain summons, Flare)

The best strategy, however, is to simply mix physical offense with magic offense.

Quote from: formerdeathcorps on July 26, 2013, 05:59:06 am
C) I may be biased here but you all overnerfed -ton last time.  ...[T]here's a fundamental imbalance between a wizard (with higher base MA to a squire's PA or a monk's effective PA since he can't use hats) than a physical job ... Furthermore, ninjitsu doesn't even have AoE, so there's even less rationale for justifying MEV.  Instead of insuring "parity" between -ton and Nether Spells (when the classes and spells themselves are just too different), the correct comparisons should be with physical equivalents like Wave Fist, Cover Fire, and Earth Slash ... Hence, a system restore is in order:
-ton: Y = 11, DEFUP, unevade, Reflect (15 MP)

First of all, many of us agree that Tons are weak at the moment.  For this reason, we are buffing them (just not back to 1.37 levels as you propose at the end of the quote).  The three Tons are being variegated:  Suiton ignores reflect and evasion but receives a damage nerf, Meiton does not trigger reaction abilities, and Fuuton receives a damage buff.

Tons are not comparable to Black Magic and Punch Art.  Black Magic and Punch Art require 70 faith and brave, respectively, so their users weaken themselves to damage of like types.  On the other hand, Tons require low faith, so their users are typically impervious to magic.  In other words, it's safer to use Tons than Black Magic or Punch Art.

Quote from: formerdeathcorps on July 26, 2013, 05:59:06 am
D) I think Kagesougi right now is still pretty overpowered.

Yep.  We all do.  It's losing is Don't Act proc and having its MP cost increased for a start.  Merging it with Hokouton hasn't been considered.  Would it retain Hokouton's AoE?

Quote from: formerdeathcorps on July 26, 2013, 05:59:06 am
F) Similarly, Tsumakuzu does not need to conflict with Bullrush by also nulling haste.  INstead, it could easily be merged with Hokouton into an unevadable skill (1 Range, 1 AoE, 2 Vertical, 3 Directions, 12 MP, unevade, weapon damage)

Tsumazuku is being replaced with something much more useful: a ranged AoE skill that cancels both Haste and Regen.

Orichalcum's WP nerf is not about Orichalcum; it's about Katar.  If we don't nerf Orichalcum's WP, then Katar in 1.39 will become more redundant than Orichalcum now.  Damage bots and Draw-Out bots alike will use Orichalcum.

Quote from: JamesOnyx on July 24, 2013, 11:50:29 pm
I like all the changes so far, even the change to Coral Sword which I was little hesitant to accept at first.

Coral Sword is going to have some growing pains.  I predict that it will be completely broken with Two Swords.

Quote from: JamesOnyx on July 24, 2013, 11:50:29 pm
Heaven's Cloud: 10 WP; 15 W-EV; Range: 1; Element: Wind; 50% Add: Slow; Two Hands: Yes; Two Swords: Yes

Heaven's Cloud's status proc is too good for 10 WP, in my opinion.  This katana is already getting a buff with Genji Helm, so I don't believe the WP boost is necessary.

Quote from: The Damned on July 24, 2013, 05:16:54 pm
Would this version of Bizen Boat still be AoE?

Yes.

Quote from: CT5Holy on July 25, 2013, 01:17:17 am
I vote for keeping Stone Gun the way it is. It has a very real drawback; it costs 2 actions to simply get the Stone Gunner in the fight (1 action to remove Petrify, 1 action because Stone Gunner 'misses' his first turn), and then you have to wait for the Stone Gunner to get that first turn.

That's a pretty minor drawback on all but the smallest maps, in my opinion.  The first turn is usually spent advancing to engage the opposing team.  If anything, it keeps you from lining up in mid-field to get hit by AoE.  The risk of being preemptively struck is quite small, and this risk is certainly worth Stone Gun's 150+ concentrated damage.

Quote from: The Damned on July 25, 2013, 01:44:52 am
6. Spellguns: Yeah...I can't recall why the WP boost was "necessary" and I'm hesitant about it too. I think Gaignun explained a while ago, which is why I said I vaguely trust him around that part. He can probably chime in around here when he has time, even if, yeah, Blaze Gun could probably still be viable with "only" 13 WP even if the Fire series of spells in ARENA have the least power of Black Magic(k).

Simple answer: Its WP needs to be boosted to 14 to keep its damage comparable to Glacier and Blast guns' damage.

Detailed answer: It's a simple law of ratios.  Nether-tier spells have lower Q values than tier-two spells.  Meanwhile, the Q values of fire, ice, and lightning always differ by 1 regardless of tier. (Fire has the lowest Q value, followed by ice, then lightning.)  This effectively increases the damage ratio between the three elements in the nether tier.

Consider the extreme case. Fire, ice, and lightning's Q values are 1, 2, and 3, respectively.  Even though their Q value differ by only 1, ice and lightning are, respectively, twice and three times as powerful as fire.  Accordingly, a fire spellgun would need roughly twice and three times the WP of an ice and lightning spellgun to deal the same damage.

Of course, this fact applies to damage ratio between Glacier Gun and Blast Gun, too.  The reason why Glacier Gun isn't receiving a similar WP boost is because it is already the strongest gun.  Moving to the nether tier makes its damage fall in line with Blast Gun.

Quote from: reinoe on July 25, 2013, 01:38:52 am
But why is 8 Range problematic?  Even with the opportunity to combine with Breaks, Kagesougi, or other weapon based attacks, it's not been a problem.

It has been a problem.  Crossbows, with their meager 4 range, aren't being used at all. 

Quote from: reinoe on July 25, 2013, 01:38:52 am
And it looks like the proposal is to get rid of two guns to be replaced with one.  Is there a reason for that?

We would add a healing gun.  The total number of guns remains at 6.

Quote from: The Damned on July 24, 2013, 04:22:07 am
KNIGHT('S) SWORDS

A 14 WP Excalibur would be identical to a 14 WP Ice Brand with Kaiser Plate, but with worse evasion.  Would this mean you have issue with the Ice Brand combo as well?

Quote from: The Damned on July 24, 2013, 04:22:07 am
Please no. If anything, that will only make Bizen Boat worse. While it will no longer be outright nuking MP pools, it will instead be putting mages into (slowly) dying loops of attempting to cast things, only to get them repeatedly canceled while taking "light" damage.

Good point.  We could make it deal zero damage, or light MP damage.

Quote from: The Damned on July 24, 2013, 04:22:07 am
1. If we give Orichalcum the same WP as Katar (and probably as Air Knife), then it's Orichalcum is just going to fall into disuse again as +1 MA really isn't all that useful for Knife users, especially compared to +1 PA.

Such is the fate of Orichalcum.  From the start, it's only real application has been giving mobility to MA units.  High melee damage isn't really its thing.

Quote from: The Damned on July 24, 2013, 04:22:07 am
2. In addition to the above, Main Gauche, which for some reason can be Two Handed as well, is already perilously close to Orichalcum as it is. That will likely overtake using Orichalcum anymore.

If it's a matter of maximising damage, players will choose Katar or Air Knife.  Neither Orichalcum nor Main Gauche will be considered, so comparing their WP is irrelevant.  We could drop Main Gauche's WP by 1 if you're still concerned.

Quote from: The Damned on July 24, 2013, 04:22:07 am
Healing gun stuff

Yeah, having it add Faith would make its combination with insta-Cure pretty broken.  A 33~50% chance of adding reflect is a better idea.  Nothing adds reflect in-battle at the moment.

Quote from: The Damned on July 24, 2013, 04:22:07 am
Do you at least think [the healing gun's] current WP is fine?

Yeah.  It's fine. 

Quote from: The Damned on July 24, 2013, 04:22:07 am
I'm assuming you mean the spells Protect (1) and Shell (1) on White Magic and the not the statuses themselves.

Even if we gave them some HP to add, the A.I. still wouldn't use them proactively as far as I'm aware. They'd use them more often, yes, but they still wouldn't be likely to use them "appropriately" if you had both unless something was being charged on the target.

Since I don't believe we can use a formula for adding statuses and change HP values at the same time, we would probably turn it into a cure spell that adds Protect/Shell at 100%.  In this case, the AI should use it like any other cure spell.  Off the top of my head, it could be something like:

Protect: 4 Range, 1 AoE, 0 Vert, 3 CT, 20 MP, Heal_F(MA*6), 100% Add: Protect, 200 JP

Quote from: reinoe on July 22, 2013, 09:37:44 pmBut is there any actual results based reason for Stone Gun getting nerfed? 

Yes.  Patch 1.37.  They were one of the only weapons Archers used, if I recall correctly.

In Patch 1.38, 22 archers are in S2, and only 1 is using a crossbow that won't get modified.  Meanwhile, 15 are using guns.  Once spellguns are nerfed, The Damned and I expect that many of their users will migrate back to Stone Gun.  This nerf is to make them consider moving to crossbows as well.

Quote from: CT5Holy on July 22, 2013, 02:05:31 pm
Did people agree on Forced 2H for Stone Gun? That seems unnecessary. Stone Gun already has the initial: petrify drawback, and you need AUP for it to do good damage (144 pre-fury no AUP, 192 pre-fury with AUP). Shields allow for flexibility when creating a Stone Gunner, and it's non-elemental, so you can't strengthen Stone Gun damage with a shield (which really helped make spellguns nuts).

That damage has 100% accuracy and 6 range, though.  It also doesn't require any PA stacking, so you have greater freedom when choosing armor and accessories.

Holy spoilers, Batman.

Quote from: Andante49 on July 21, 2013, 04:33:34 pm
In a related note, did the MP poison/regen idea fall by the wayside?

Implementing MP poison/regen requires ASM hacking.  As none of us here except for FFMaster actively hacks FFTA's assembly code (to the best of my knowledge), we can't push for these status effects too hard.

Quote from: Avalanche on July 21, 2013, 03:16:54 am
i dont think Bizen Boeat is a huge Probleme, sure it can win a Match with a singular action. But it is used very rarely by the ai. I think the AI uses it ifff: Enemy unit is charging and can be stoped by BB and there is no way to kill that unit or to put it into critical. So BB is an huge investment but very unreliable, So one cant integrate it into a strategy. It is more of a left-over-Jp spell.

I agree about its rare use.  I also agree with Otabo about it being imbalanced by the numbers.  Sinkhole, Magic Ruin, and so forth don't blow up an enemy's entire MP pool like Bizen Boat does.

Make Bizen Boat deal light, non-elemental HP damage with a 100% chance to cancel charging & performing.  There.  It fulfills its original purpose without the nuclear fallout.

Quote from: The Damned on July 21, 2013, 07:38:41 pm
2. Orichalcum: 11 WP; 15% W-EV; +1 Move; +1 MA; Two Hands: Yes; Two Swords: No. (The weapon drop here is in red because, personally, I really don't think Orichalcum needs to drop down too Katar, yes. Orichalcum, possibly, but it seems unlikely given it doesn't boost itself like Katar does, especially when Two Handed. Shrug.)

Orichalcum needs a nerf, or Orichalcum will become the new Katar, only with 1/2 fewer XA.

Quote from: The Damned on July 21, 2013, 07:38:41 pm
Mage Masher: ...should this go "back" to 50% Silence? Stay with 50% Bizen Boat? Go to 100% Bizen Boat? Go to 100% Silence? Get other changes?

...Or should it just die?

If it should just die, then just leave it.  Its existence is not doing any harm.

Quote from: The Damned on July 21, 2013, 07:38:41 pm
Additionally, Mage Masher is already a mediocre-at-best weapon that is only going to get worse between the aforementioned changes to the Silence-inducing weapons and the much needed buff Spell Edge is getting. Hell, even without buffing Bizen Boat the katana (even though I still think it deserves at least slight buff), Bizen Boat is outright a better weapon than Mage Masher between the katana doing more damage and having a 100% proc.

By the numbers, you're right: Bizen Boat is better than Mage Masher.  Katana are superior to many things in general.  However, katana are accessible by only Paladins and Samurai (i.e. 3 Move 8 SP classes), so they're harder to make the most of.

Quote from: The Damned on July 21, 2013, 07:38:41 pm
[Concerning Mythril and Ultimus Bows] The W-EV is in red because it's listed as 0% in Gaignun's thread and I'm assuming it's just a typo. Not that I would mind it going to 0% W-EV from 10% W-EV....)

It was a typo.  Thanks for catching it.

Quote from: The Damned on July 21, 2013, 07:38:41 pm
4. Stone Gun: ... This gets an implicit buff from the spellguns being nerfed, which once again makes it the strongest gun overall as it should given its literally initial drawback.

Force-Two Hands makes it a straight nerf.  If Stone Gun gets an implicit buff, we failed.

Quote from: The Damned on July 21, 2013, 07:38:41 pmGuns

I give a firm "no" toward any gun getting more than 6 range unless it's as weak as the current Mythril Gun.  We're trying to encourage the use of crossbows, after all.

Vector Gun is a Star Ocean 2 reference?  Wouldn't it be Vectra Gun, or (more accurately) Kaleidoscope?  Regardless, I am fine with a (maximum 6 range) healing gun.  However, straight healing is too similar to potions.  Why don't we follow Barren's suggestion and make it inflict Faith as well?

Thanks for the list.  No need to post when you have other things to do.  Life first, man.

My comments are as follows:

Quote from: The Damned on July 18, 2013, 04:44:40 pm
1. Asura Knife: 9 WP; 15% W-EV; Range: 1; Element: Fire; +1 MA, Strengthen: Fire, Ice & Lightning; Two Hands: Yes; Two Swords: Yes.

This does too much in spite of your reasons to the contrary.  This will make 16 MA female Samurai with elemental strengthening and Magic Attack UP possible (using a +1 MA accessory).  No class other than Wizards should have that kind of destructive power.

This also walks all over Black Robe, which is similarly seldom used.  Asura Knife + Wizard Robe will be leagues better than C Bag + Black Robe (assuming we're changing Kiyomori).  Compare:

Asura Knife + Wizard Robe: +3 MA, 65 HP, 40 MP, 15 W-EV
C Bag + Black Robe: +2 MA, 65 HP, 60 MP, 0 W-EV

+20 MP isn't worth the hit to MA and W-EV, so Black Robe will almost never see use on a Samurai.

At the very least, the MA bonus should be dropped.

Quote from: The Damned on July 18, 2013, 04:44:40 pm
2. Ko(u)tetsu Knife: 10 WP; 15% W-EV; Range: 1; Element: Dark; Strengthen: Dark & Holy; Two Hands: Yes; Two Swords: Yes.

Adding Holy strengthening is not justified on grounds of helping Samurai get around dark resistance.  Units that have trouble getting around resistance to their weapon are, naturally, PA-based.  However, all Holy skills are MA-based, so Holy strengthening is ineffective.

The WP boost is enough in my opinion.  At 10 WP, this self-strengthened, two-handable weapon deals beastly damage.  Commitment to a single element is the price you pay for this damage.  Of course, the current Asura is exactly the same, but is seldom used.  The best way to get these weapons used is to nerf the alternatives that eclipse them, such as Katar (which I will get to).

Quote from: The Damned on July 18, 2013, 04:44:40 pm
3. Bizen Boat: 11 WP; 15% W-EV; Range: 1; Special: 100% Add: Silence; Two Hands: Yes; Two Swords: Yes.

Boosting WP on grounds that its proc is often protected against is not valid in my eyes.  Silence is protected against because it is difficult to cure.  By making Bizen Boat attractive to use in spite of this will make silence-resistant gear that much more indispensable.

In other words, there's nothing wrong with the current Bizen Boat.  It just doesn't fit into the current meta-game.  Once we give silence a finite duration, players might start easing up on silence protection.  This is when Bizen Boat will become effective.

Quote from: The Damned on July 18, 2013, 04:44:40 pm
4. Kiyomori: 8 WP; 20% W-EV; Range: 1; Special: 25% Cast: Bio; Immune: Blind/Darkness & Poison; Two Hands: Yes; Two Hands: Yes.

Like Asura, this also does too much.  Before we let our creativity get the best of us, I'd like to advise against loading weapons with too many functions.  To start with, let's keep status protection to armor and accessories as much as possible.  (A weapon like Murasame, which protects against Berserk, is excused since it heals on hit.)  The Bio proc is a neat idea, though.  It fits right in with Kiyomori's Draw Out ability without being redundant.  We could bump the proc rate all the way up to 50%.  Even at this rate, it will still be outperformed by Chirijiraden in terms of DPS.

I think the Masamune change is fine.  I love me some Sephiroth.

Ninja edit Ninjedit: It seems that with the introduction of the new Genji Helmet, we should probably give Kikuichimoji a bit of a nerf:

Kikuichimoji: 10 WP, 15 W-EV, Earth Element, 25% Cast: Quake

With a 25% proc rate, Kikuichomoji will deal the same average damage as a 10 WP Koutetsu on a male samurai.

Quote from: CT5Holy on July 15, 2013, 11:21:28 pm
Uh, yeah, Katar is definitely better than Air Knife because you don't have to worry about elemental resistances, and it does plenty of damage ("lol broke damage," as you would say) anyway. The +1 PA is nice, too.

Yeah, Katar is a little too good at the moment.  A weapon that grants +1 Move and can be used by slippery thieves shouldn't deal damage comparable to katana and knight swords.  Dialing back its WP by 1 (to 11) is in order.  To keep knives balanced, Orichalcum will need also need its WP lowered to 11, and Air Knife will need a further, minor nerf (such as a reduction of its W-EV).

Quote from: Avalanche on July 18, 2013, 01:57:51 pm
the problem with the perception of rng. One is only concerned with the the outstanding events. But if you look at the whole Luck is balanced out quite good most of the time (as more events happen).

Two people, A and B, enter n lotteries, with one half awarding $1 at a 50% chance and the other half awarding $1000 at a 50% chance.  Person A wins every $1 lottery but loses every $1000 lottery.  Meanwhile, person B loses every $1 lottery but wins every $1000 lottery.  Although both people win the same number of times, person B still ends up better off than person A.

It's not just the number of wins that counts.  The gains are also important.

Quote from: The Damned on July 16, 2013, 06:22:14 am(As I said on Youtube, except for me to lodge an "official complaint" about there being no indication in the Master Guide whatsoever that Cover Fire ignores Protect & Defense UP (and presumably Unyielding), FFMaster. That's rather...important, especially since Cover Fire can still do crazy ass damage.)

Technically it doesn't.  Defense UP and Protect reduce the PA in Dmg_(PA+25) :V

Quote from: The Damned on July 15, 2013, 02:29:49 pm
Not that I'm against not testing it out since it will probably be stupid, but until someone comes up with a sound replacement or decides what the fuck we're doing with Crossbows as a whole, it's going to be there regardless.

I hope crossbows will gracefully enter the meta-game once guns get nerfed.  There is little need to shake crossbows up at this point (aside from adding a point of WP here and there).  It's fine if crossbow WP damage is outshone by other alternatives.  Archers were originally damage-support, after all.  Only, at some point we went astray, putting guns in their hands and turning them into wrecking machines.

Quote from: The Damned on July 15, 2013, 02:29:49 pmSo, what, Chirijiraden as "WP: 10; W-EV: 15%; Special: +1 PA; Strengthen: Earth, Wind & Water"? I...guess I could get behind that. Not terribly necessary, but definitely at least a slight improvement, especially with the upcoming Monk changes (that we still need to decide on--with Desert Rose dead, I'm guessing Earth Slash stays as it is).

Yeah, it basically becomes a Punch Art weapon for Paladin and Samurai.  Both classes have difficulty stacking PA, so they still won't outperform Monks at their own job.

About Earth Slash, I would still like it to be water elemental, the reason being that water is more difficult to strengthen, especially following our Genji Helm change.  This is fitting for what is arguably the best offensive skill in the set.

I don't have time to comment on everything I'd like to, but

Quote from: The Damned on July 14, 2013, 04:20:52 amLionheart maybe gets some W-EV (even though I personally really think it doesn't "deserve" that). Icebrand maybe loses some WP and gets a better proc? The other swords remain the same regardless.

Let's see how popular Lionheart becomes with 10 W-EV and go from there.  I don't see a problem with Ice Brand.  It's not a bad weapon; it simply doesn't fit in the current meta-game.

Quote from: The Damned on July 14, 2013, 04:20:52 amBow Gun will still probably have to replaced by...something.

I wouldn't miss it if it is gone.

Quote from: The Damned on July 14, 2013, 04:20:52 am(Again, I'd be fine with changing Kiyomori to something less lazy, especially in the light of Murasame & Bizen Boat the abilities' current level of power. Like, say, giving Kiyomori's the katana Masamune's current Dispel Magic proc, perhaps at a higher percentage as recompense.)

I don't feel a reason to distribute the current Masamune's effect across two weapons.  It's pretty unattractive as it is.  That being said, I don't agree with increasing Masamune's proc rate to 100%.  100% dispel is Gold Staff's job.

Edit: We could increase Masamune's WP by 1, though.

Quote from: The Damned on July 14, 2013, 04:20:52 amWould Masamune the katana be fine also getting Initial: Regen in the face of Kibaku Fuda and the boost to Dispel Magic?

This is sensible and seems to be agreed upon by all parties.  I will add it to the list.

[/quote]

Quote from: Dokurider on July 14, 2013, 05:23:51 pm
Flails can piggy back on Equip Light Blades.

I'm fine with this, myself.

Quote from: Dokurider on July 14, 2013, 05:23:51 pmSo then what about making Asura a PA * Y formula? It would still be considered a magical attack, including being boosted by Magic Attack Up and taking magic evade.

No objections here.

Quote from: Dokurider on July 14, 2013, 05:23:51 pmFor Chiri, make it +1 MA, +1 PA

I agree with only adding 1 PA, and at a cost of lowering WP from 11 to 10.  I don't want Chiri to overshadow Murasame as an MA-boosting weapon or Asura/Kotetsu as DPS weapons.  Chiri already boosts Heaven's Cloud and Kikuichimoji, after all.

Quote from: The Damned on July 14, 2013, 10:54:49 pm...at least while Hawk's Eye is still adding Poison (on top of 100% accurate, at least decent damage and Oil).

Is there a reason why Hawk's Eye ignores P-EV?  Why don't we make P-EV apply?

Quote from: reinoe on July 13, 2013, 01:02:58 am
In season 1 we had the brackets color coded for each uploader.  Is there a way we can do that this season?

I color-coded brackets last season with Photoshop.  Unless somebody is willing to invest the time to do that, I don't think it can happen.

Quote from: Dokurider on July 13, 2013, 02:20:25 amI suppose Earth strength would be OK, but leaving Whale Samurai with a free accessory might be trouble. Whatever, do it and we'll measure it by how pissed off everyone gets when they start getting sodomized by Whale Whisker on a regular basis.

Genji Helm won't have Strengthen: Water, so no worries.

Quote from: The Damned on July 13, 2013, 02:55:24 am
Terror Blade/Darkhold Blade/Darkbringer/Magus Sword: WP: 8; W-EV: 15%; Range: 1; Element: Dark; Special: 50% Stop (Spell/Ability); Two Hands: Yes; Two Swords: ...Probably not.

Not a bad idea.  We might as well name it after WotL's Balmung given that that sword has the exact same function.  Indeed, Holy and Dark are the elements of choice for faith weapons, since they fit well with Golden Hairpin's MP boost.  WP doesn't need to be that low for the sake of Golden Hairpin, though.  That headgear is only going to add more PA than Twist Headband if PA is greater than 12, which requires specific equipment on most classes.

Quote from: The Damned on July 12, 2013, 09:25:16 pm
I'm going to assume you mean 70-40 here given both Attack's damage going off the Fury of targets and the -tons damage going off UnFaith.

No, I mean 40-70.  Against 70-40, it'll do ~380.

Suiton will probably stay as Suiton.

Quote from: The Damned on July 12, 2013, 09:25:16 pmDokurider objected to Strengthen: Earth mostly on grounds of Kikuichimoji--I'm guessing the ability since no one is using the damn katana anymore--possibly becoming overpowering given the Earth element abilities, sans maybe Titan, are pretty good already.

Hmm.  Well, Earth Clothes has been buffing Kikuichimoji on Bards and Geomancers for awhile now.  This change will make Samurai as good at using Kiku as these two classes, but no better (and with no Earth absorption).

Glad to receive conformation about Bow Gun and Shieldrender working.  Thanks for the info, Reinoe and Otabo. 

Quote from: The Damned on July 11, 2013, 02:59:32 pm
I'm guessing the "it" here is "Poison status" rather than Wiznaibus, right?

No, it refers to the new status that seals reactions.

I think changing Wiznaibus from a damage skill to a status skill is best, but there's no use trying to redirect popular opinion.

Let me try a different approach: can we scrap Phoenix Blade?  We can put Dokurider's wind sword in its place.

Edit: Let me mix in some ideas from several pages ago.

Phoenix Blade Kazekiri: 10 WP, 10 W-EV, Wind Element, 2 Range, 2H, No 2S
Coral Sword: 7 WP, 10 W-EV, Water Element, 33% Cast: Suiton, 2H, 2S
Genji Helmet: 120 HP, Strengthen: Wind (Init: Berserk removed).

Kazekiri:  Its damage is about the same as a 12-WP Air Knife.  It has +1 Range, but -1 Move and -5 W-EV.  Basically, it's an Air Knife for Paladins and Geomancers.  If this is too samey, we can change it into a different element, preferably Dark.

Coral Sword: This version has about the same power as Platinum Sword on average and is much more effective at busting 40-40 BrFa and Flash-Hat users.  More importantly, it'll have crazy burst damage.  When dual-wielded, it can push 280 damage against a 40-70 target 57% of the time (pre-evasion).  That's about 40 damage more than what a 12-WP Air Knife deals to that same target 100% of the time.  WP has been dropped from 9 to 7 to compensate for this.

Genji Helmet: This should make Heaven's Cloud much more usable on the Samurai class.  Cool, but kind of limited in application.  To remedy this, we can add Strengthen: Water or Strengthen: Earth. 

Strengthen: Water will primarily buff Whale Whisker Samurai (optimised damage on a female Samurai is 252~352 with 324 HP and a free accessory slot).  For comparison, optimised damage on Thieves with 13-WP Air Knives is 266~374 damage with 294 HP and no free accessory slot.  Bear in mind that Thieves have higher base SP.  Still, kind of scary.

Strengthen: Earth will primarily buff Kikuichimoji.  Other buffs, however niche, include armor-clad Titan and Quake users.  This will nicely overlay Genji Helm with the new Thief Hat as complementary headgear: one strengthens wind and earth; the other halves them.  In my opinion, this is the better of the two choices.

Does anyone have any comments about these proposals?

Quote from: The Damned on July 11, 2013, 01:28:38 am
So, what, Wiznaibus becomes "25% curHP damage" at 100% accuracy? I...guess I could get behind a Demi Dance, maybe.

I would rather kill of Wiznaibus than have it come to this.  CurHP or no, two instances will still drop HP to nearly 50%.  Map-wide, unevadable, unabsorbable, poison-inflicting Demi 2?  Count me out.  If it's Auto Potion we're worried about here, we should rather invent a new status ailment that blocks reaction abilities and have Wiznaibus inflict it.  Make the proc rate high (25~50%) and the duration low (10~20 CT) so that it doesn't outlive its designed purpose.

(I cannot remember if I mentioned this in a previous post, or thought about mentioning it but chose not to.)

All wrong.  The Damned is going to come in both first and second.

I don't think you'd use the armor to make a powerhouse Elemental user in the first place.   It would be more of a hybrid thing for male samurai, particularly for boosting attack power and Murasame healing at the same time.  Alternatively, it could be used for book users that use Equip Armor... if book users existed.