SF2 Counteraction v1.2.1 (Jul 14 2019) Table of Contents: Main Features Changelog Difficulty Setting Characters&Classes Alternate Promotions Spell Learning Items Spells Chest Changes Known Issues =============== Main Features =============== Counterattacks! Instead of randomly triggering, counterattacks are now guaranteed to occur when possible. Double-attacks also are no longer based on chance and are class and/or weapon dependent instead. Pre-emptive attacks and double-counterattacks are also now possible with similar conditions. Battle renovations! All battles have been edited to some degree to be faster-paced, including player starting location, enemy entities, and enemy behavior. Stats rehaul! Player character, enemy, item, and spell stats have been heavily edited. Weapons now function more as side-arms rather than outright upgrades, a bit like the lance&spear combo in vanilla. Spell learning has been shuffled around and some more characters have been granted access to them. Most characters have their own spell specializations, rather than learning the maximum level in every spell, and lower levels of spells can remain useful. Promotion level has been shifted to 25. Stat gains past pre-promoted level 25 have been drastically reduced and the pre-promotion level cap has been reduced to 30. These changes were originally balanced around the Ouch! difficulty mode and grinding is not required to beat the game. More parameters affected by the difficulty level! The difficulty level selected at the beginning of the game also affects enemies' HP and DEF, in addition to ATK. Normal: HP 100%, ATK 90%, DEF 90% Hard: HP 100%, ATK 90%, DEF 100% Super: HP 100%, ATK 100%, DEF 100% Ouch!: HP 133%, ATK 100%, DEF 100% (reduced ATK actually scales from 96% (early-game) to 90% (end-game) and increased HP from 118% to 133%) Further promotion differentiation! Branching promotions now differ slightly more: -pegasus knights gain increased offense against low-defense targets in addition to flight -sorcerers trade cost efficiency for higher spell range -brass gunners can root themselves in place to greatly expand attack range -master monks stop learning new spells Attack and spell ranges extended! Certain weapons and spells can target farther than 3 tiles away. Other changes of note: -damage is no longer randomized -turn order is no longer randomized -EXP gains are no longer randomized -EXP gains have been reworked to help catching back up --EXP cap per action is increased to 100 --combat EXP is increased more when falling behind --healing, support, and debilitating spell EXP is affected by level difference --as a trade-off, non-combat EXP no longer stacks up per target -spells that inflict status ailments have a higher success rate (roughly double to triple) -status spells overwrite their duration instead of failing when already in effect -some status ailment effects have been changed --Stun: guaranteed to run out after a single turn instead of 3 --Sleep: reduces ATK and MOV by 25% instead of disabling action --Poison: deals 12.5% of remaining HP instead of flat 2 --Curse: no longer randomly causes paralysis or recoil damage --Desoul: halves current HP instead of causing instant death -DETOX is effective against all types of status ailments instead of only poison, stun, and curse -PETER joins properly right away without being automatically controlled -all four Creed characters can be recruited the first time -FRAYJA doesn't force himself into the battle party -the darkness effect in caves has been disabled Boring changes: -rare enemy drops' drop rate has been increased from 3% to 100% -healing EXP can be gained regardless of class -evasion has been lowered from 3% to 0.8% -floating units no longer gain the evasion boost that flying units have (12%) -land effect display changed to actually match their effect (10% and 20%) -some physical attacks partially ignore the defense stat -the physical attack effect that would inflict Muddle 2 inflicts Muddle 1 instead -stat gains on level ups are calculated differently to deviate less in the long term -item sell price has been lowered from 75% to 50% -item repair fee has been lowered from 25% to 12.5% -item break chance has been lowered from 25% to 10% -priest uncurse fee has been lowered from 25% to 12.5% -the dwarven blacksmith's pool of possible results has been reduced from 4 to 1 per weapon type -the fairy woods time attack battle has been made inaccessible -prism flowers deal more damage -BURST ROCKs' on-death explosion has been disabled Bug fixes: -EXP is granted for ranged counterattacks -chests can be opened during battle -enemy "JAR"'s name properly displays as JARO =============== Data&Info =============== ------------------------------ Changelog ------------------------------ v.1.2.1 (Jul 14, 2019) reverted enemy counterattack enhancement to double damage (the player version remains at 125%) v1.2.0 (Jul 14, 2019) doubled player counterattack damage (i.e. it's no longer halved) changed the counterattack enhancing trait from double damage to 125% damage v1.1.1 (Jul 14, 2019) fixed battle 12 archer repeating his on-death dialogue at the end of every subsequent turn v1.1.0 (Apr 17, 2019) reduced enemy HP by 15% (early-end) to 25% (end-game) reduced enemy ATK by 6% (early) to 10% (end) reduced enemy DEF by 10% implemented difficulty setting changes that restore the above stats v1.0.4 (Mar 16 2019) renamed hand axe to throw axe renamed sturdy axe to guard axe increased all warrior base DEF by 1 increased all gladiator&baron growth DEF by 2 increased red baron growth HP by 6 increased warrior Jaha growth HP by 1 increased knight rick growth DEF by 1 increased tortoise kiwi base&growth DEF by 1 increased monster kiwi growth DEF by 2 increased Zynk growth HP by 6 increased Claude growth DEF by 2 decreased Freeze Lv2 MP cost from 5 to 4 decreased Bolt Lv2-4 MP costs by 1 each lowered demon rod resale value in line with other evil weapons decreased galam soldier DEF by 1 decreased golem (enemy) ATK by 1 v1.0.3 (Mar 13 2019) lowered BOOST MP cost from 3/6 to 2/5 lowered SLOW MP cost from 3/6 to 2/5 lowered ATTACK MP cost from 3 to 2 lowered MUDDLE1 MP cost from 3 to 2 increased mithril's ATT from -18 to -14 increased throw axe's ATT from -5 to -4 increased throw knife's ATT from -5 to -3 made mithril additionally usable by golem v1.0.2 (Mar 13 2019) fixed off-screen enemy in battle 15 v1.0.1(Mar 2 2019) fixed FORCE SWORD's effect changed prism flower battle chest content v1.0.0 (Feb 28 2019) battle changes battle edits have been extended to the entire game instead of stopping at Zalbard stat changes HP<->DEF shift -promo BOWIE CHESTER RICK RANDOLF GYAN KIWI: growth HP-3, growth DEF+1 -promo KAZIN: growth HP+10 growth DEF-3 -FRAYJA: growth HP-6, base DEF+3, growth DEF+2 -SHEELA: growth HP-17, growth MP -3, base DEF +2, growth DEF+3 BRN ideology change -BRN JAHA RANDOLF: growth HP-7, growth ATK-2, DEF+7 MMNK defensive buff -MMNK KAZIN KARNA: base DEF+2 growth DEF+3 ACHR stat shift -BRGN JANET: fixed stats to actually apply BRGN differences -SNIP ELRIC JANET: growth ATK+1, growth DEF-1 -BRGN ELRIC JANET: growth ATK-2, growth DEF+2 -RHODE: growth DEF-2 misc -PGNT RICK: growth DEF+1 -JARO: starts with wing spear instead of bronze lance -readjusted joining levels of post-Zalbard characters spell changes PETER: fixed to actually continue learning spells after promotion SHEELA: stop at level 2 spells, 4th spell changed from SLOW to SLEEP all SORC spells' level 2 costs reduced by 1 item changes mithril weapons' resale value lowered to be more in line with the rest IRON BALL gains stun effect MITHRIL's ATT reduced from -12 to -18 GISARME changed to reducing remaining HP by 75% instead of 99% cannon-type weapons' ATT increased by 1 QUICK RING changed from 6 to 8 AGI EVIL RING equipability corrected other minor tweaks to post-Cameela weapons enemy changes most enemies beyond Cameela had their durability slightly reduced some enemies beyond Cameela had their stats and weapons further readjusted DEMON MASTER spell changed from Apollo to Dao MIST DEMON stats fixed NECROMANCER's unintended ambush trait removed JAR's name changed to JARO technical or other changes fixed sorcerer spells not dealing damage when cast by enemy changed status spells to reset the duration to full instead of failing when already inflicted fixed MUDDLE's infliction rates ignoring resistances and intended rates added lifesteal effect to weapons added spell range-extending weapon added counter-from-any-range weapon changed land effect text display to actually reflect their 10% and 20% effects changed poison damage from flat 4 to 1/8 of current HP changed evil damage from 1/5 of MAX HP to 1/4 of current HP fixed BURST ROCKs not dealing damage when bursting disabled BURST ROCKs bursting on death made NINJ class ignore counterattacks pushed Elis to the corner in the penultimate battle added damage bonus against giant mouths to FORCE SWORD v.0.2.1 (Dec 23 2018) fixed equipability of some items (mainly latter half weapons) added a makeshift visual indicator on the status screen for enemies with special abilities v0.2 (Sep 30 2018) extended demo to battle 30 (Mitula Shrine) modified battle 28 (Tristan Bridge) adjusted levels of enemies in battle 27 and 28 adjusted joining levels of last third of characters adjusted power of mid-ranged weapons changed Hyper Cannon's minimum range from 3 to 4 v0.1 (Sep 18 2018) initial demo release ------------------------------ Difficulty Settings ------------------------------ The v1.1.0 update has enemy stats reduced in difficulties below Ouch!. Stat changes compared to 1.0.4 and earlier: Normal: HP85~75%, ATK96~90%, DEF 90% Hard: HP85~75%, ATK96~90%, DEF 100% Super: HP85~75%, ATK 100%, DEF 100% Ouch!: HP 100%, ATK 100%, DEF 100% In other words: Super and below cut down on enemy durability (-15% at start of game, -25% by end), Hard and below cut down on enemy physical offense (eff. about 15% less dmg later), and Normal weakens sturdy-type enemies' durability in particular (eff. about 40% more dmg). Ouch! is the original difficulty (same stats as v1.0.4 and prior), but I'd recommend playing on Super for non-inflated enemy HP. ------------------------------ Characters&Classes (short descriptions) ------------------------------ BOWIE: Main character, forced in the party, sword-wielding swordsman. He starts off slightly on the weak side but gets relatively stronger as the game progresses and as he gains the use of exclusive story weapons. Warrior: Fighters with mediocre mobility and little access to ranged options that make up for it by being walls of stats. JAHA: balanced approach, with an offensive penchant GYAN: defense up the wazoo LEMON: not a wall of stats, just a glass cannon RANDOLF: learns DETOX, SLOW, and MUDDLE at the cost of some physical stats Knights: Fighters with superior movement and a ranged option in the spear, but weaker than warriors CHESTER: balance RICK: defense ERIC: -physical +HEAL BOOST DISPEL JARO: flight, offense Archers: MAY: mobility ELRIC: balance RHODE: offense JANET: AURA ATTACK SLEEP Birdmen: Fighters with the maneuverability of flight and the ability to double attack. They can deal great damage to frail enemies, but are a bit on the frail side themselves. Luke: balance, strong to magic Screech: offense, weak to magic Mages: They ignore the counterattacking game and can hit multiple targets at once. Their spells at low levels are cost efficient while higher levels deal more immediate damage. SARAH: AoE mage TYRIN: long-range mage CHAZ: close-range mage TAYA: mid-range nuke PETER: close-range flying mage HIGINS: mounted mage, variety of spells Healer: Healing spells and support spells! KAZIN: single-target healer KARNA: AoE healer FRAYJA: frontline tank-healer hybrid SHEELA: +attack +mobility --magic SLADE: He is frail and seemingly has a low ATT score, but he partially ignores the opponent's DEF stat and, after promoting to ninja, does not trigger enemy counterattacks. KIWI: He has the ability to cast some support spells in addition to being fairly durable. He also has the ability to deal full damage on counterattacks. GERHALT: He can throw powerful punches or throw puny rocks at things. He can't handle being hit back very well at first, and still can't later on, but gets a bit better at it. Robot&Golem: Fighters that are even bigger walls of stats with even worse mobility. Golem also has the ability to deal full damage on counterattacks. ------------------------------ Alternate Promotions ------------------------------ PGNT: growth ATT-2, growth DEF-1~2 Pegasus knights gain flight and the use of the WING SPEAR, a weapon that enables double attacking from range. In exchange, they lose some power with regular lances and physical durability. BRN: growth HP-7, growth ATT-2, growth DEF+2, MOV+1 Barons expand their weapon options with swords. They lose some raw physical prowess in the process, but also gain some mobility. SORC: growth HP+7, growth MP+10, growth ATT+2, growth DEF-10 Sorcerers leave behind the spells they learned as mages to learn new spells with high costs but also high range and damage. To slightly make up for the higher costs, they also eventually gain more MP. MMNK: growth MP-10, base ATT+8, growth ATT+16, base DEF+2, growth DEF+3, MOV+1 Master monks cease learning new spells but gain the use of weapons more suited to fighting and greatly increased physical stats to put them nearly on par with regular fighters. At worst, they are healers with less MP but more mobility. BRGN: growth HP-6, growth DEF+6, MOV-1 Brass gunners might just be archers with worse maneuverability at first, but by equipping weapons exclusive to their class, they gain greatly extended attack range at the cost of rooting themselves in place. Furthermore, regaining their mobility requires an entire turn. Luckily, they also have a tool that temporarily increases their mobility in exchange for their ability to attack. This tool also takes up a turn to remove. ------------------------------ Spell Learning ------------------------------ char spell LV1 LV2 LV3 LV4 BOWIE EGRESS 0 BOLT 26 SARAH BLAZE 0 5 20 35 FREEZE 8 16 32 MUDDLE 12 28 SLEEP 24 TYRIN FREEZE 0 5 20 35 BLAST 8 16 32 DISPEL 12 MUDDLE 24 CHAZ BOLT 0 0 0 0 BLAST 0 0 0 SLEEP 0 SLOW 0 0 PETER BLAST 0 5 20 35 BOLT 8 16 32 DISPEL 12 DESOUL 24 40 HIGINS BLAZE 0 26 38 FREEZE 0 0 42 BOLT 0 0 30 BLAST 0 0 34 SARAH DAO 25 35 APOLLO 30 40 ATLAS 45 TYRIN DAO 25 35 NEPTUNE 30 40 APOLLO 45 TAYA DAO 25 35 ATLAS 30 40 NEPTUNE 45 KAZIN HEAL 0 5 16 30 DETOX 3 9 24 35 ATTACK 7 AURA 12 20 42 KARNA HEAL 0 0 36 AURA 0 0 0 30 ATTACK 0 BOOST 0 32 FRAYJA HEAL 0 0 36 DETOX 0 29 48 BLAST 0 0 30 SLOW 0 0 SHEELA HEAL 0 0 AURA 0 0 BOOST 0 SLEEP 0 KIWI BOOST 0 16 SLOW 8 24 ERIC HEAL 0 30 BOOST 0 35 DISPEL 0 RANDOLF DETOX 0 0 SLOW 0 30 MUDDLE 0 JANET AURA 0 30 ATTACK 0 SLEEP 0 promoted characters are considered 24 levels higher priests that promote to master monks cease learning spells ------------------------------ Items ------------------------------ name ATK other Short Sword 3 Power Sword 8 -5 DEF Ward Sword 0 +4 DEF Critical Sword 1 25% crit chance, 150% crit damage Counter Sword 1 double counterattack damage Mage Slayer 3 can also inflict MP damage Repel Sword 1 counterattack from any range, double counterattack damage Achilles Sword 5 +2 DEF, regen 4 HP/turn Taros Sword 6 1-2 range, -6 MOV, takes a turn to unequip Levanter 3 mithril, Blaze 2 on use Force Sword 0 1-2 range, +2 DEF, +40 effectiveness against Zeon Dark Sword 6 25% HP loss/turn, steals HP on hit, takes a turn to unequip Bronze Lance 3 Power Lance 7 -4 DEF Guard Lance -1 +5 DEF Killer Lance 0 25% crit chance, 150% crit damage Spear 0 1-2 range Wing Spear -4 1-2 range, attack twice, pegasus knight-only Counter Spear -1 1-2 range, double counterattack damage Holy Lance -3 mithril, +7 DEF, heals 40 HP on self-use Evil Lance 6 25% HP loss/turn, steals HP on hit, takes a turn to unequip Short Axe 3 Power Axe 9 -6 DEF Guard Axe 0 +4 DEF Killer Axe 0 25% crit chance, 150% crit damage Stun Axe 1 stun on-hit Hand Axe -4 1-2 range Rune Axe 3 +1 MOV, ATTACK1 on use Evil Axe 6 25% HP loss/turn, steals HP on hit, takes a turn to unequip Dagger 3 ignore half DEF Thieves' Dagger 6 -3 DEF, ignore half DEF Sneak Dagger 0 +3 DEF, ignore half DEF, preemptive attack ArmorBreaker 2 can inflict slow, ignore half DEF Throw Knife -3 1-2 range, ignore half DEF Gisarme 3 can reduce target's remaining HP by 75% Wooden Arrow 7 2-3 range Heavy Arrow 11 2 range, -2 DEF Robin Arrow 2 3-5 range Nullify Shell 6 2-3 range, MP damage on-hit Reprisal 0 1-3 range, +4 DEF, double counterattack damage Hyper Cannon 9 3-7 range, -4 MOV, takes a turn to unequip, gunner-only Focus Cannon 13 4-5 range, -4 MOV, takes a turn to unequip, gunner-only Booster X +2 MOV, cannot attack, takes a turn to unequip, gunner-only Grand Arrow 0 mithril, 4-6 range Evil Shot 6 25% HP loss/turn, steals HP on hit, takes a turn to unequip Wooden Rod 3 Dispel Rod 3 dispel on-hit Haze Rod 3 muddle on-hit Sleep Rod 3 sleep on-hit Slow Rod 3 slow on-hit Flail 8 1-2 range, -5 DEF Guard Stick 1 +2 DEF Iron Ball 6 1-2 range, stun on-hit Mystery Staff 3 mithril, increases spell range by 1 Demon Rod 6 -25% HP/turn, +2MP/turn, steals HP on hit, 1 turn uneqp Leather Glove 4 Power Glove 8 -4 DEF Reflex Glove 0 +4 DEF, preemtive attack, double counterattack damage Mystic Glove -3 1-2 range, silence on-hit Giant Knuckles 0 pre-emptive, muddle on-hit, MUDDLE1 on use Mithril -14 1-2 range Power Ring +3 ATT, -1 DEF Black Ring +5 ATT, -2 DEF Protect Ring -1 ATT, +2 DEF White Ring -2 ATT, +4 DEF Chirrup Sandals +1 ATT, +4 AGI Quick Ring +8 AGI Running Ring -2 ATT, +1 MOV Evil Ring -6 ATT, +2 MOV, takes a turn to unequip Medical Herb heal 20 HP, self use Healing Seed heal 40 HP, self use Healing Drop heal 60 HP, self use Healing Water casts Aura 2 Antidote cure poison, 0-2 range Fairy Powder cure everything but curse, 0-2 range ------------------------------ Spells ------------------------------ name power (promo) aoe range cost Blaze 14/12/16/20 (17/15/20/25) 0/1 2 2/4/8/12 Freeze 14/16/22/28 (17/20/27/35) 0 2/3 2/4/9/14 Bolt 12/16/20/25 (16/20/25/31) 0 2/1 2/3/6/10 Blast 10/08/11/14 (13/10/13/17) 1/2 2/2 2/4/8/12 Heal 20/28/45/32 (25/35/56/40) 0 2/3/3/6 2/3/6/6 Aura 15/20/26/22 (18/25/32/27) 1/1/2/X 2/3/3/X 4/5/9/14 Dio (23/41) 1 5 7/17 Apollo (26/45) 2 5 8/19 Neptune (21/37) 1 7 7/17 Atlas (28/50) 1 3 8/19 Detox cure poison/cure all/cure curse 1/0/1/2 2/2/3/4 2/3/5/7 Attack ATK +15.6% for 3 turns 0 3 2 Boost DEF +20.3% for 3 turns 0/1 2 2/5 Sleep ATK -25% & MOV -37.5% for 3t 1 3 4 Slow DEF -25% for 3 turns 0/1 3 2/5 Muddle HIT -50% and/or confusion 1/0 5/3 2/6 Dispel silence 2 3 5 Desoul HP -50% 0/1 2 4/8 name hit rate (depending on resistance) Sleep 100% to 25% Slow 100% to 25% Muddle1 75% to 0% Muddle2 50% to 0% Dispel 75% to 0% Desoul 50% to 0% ------------------------------ Chest changes ------------------------------ Jewel Shrine power water to medical herb Ship quick chicken to medical herb New Granseal cheerful bread to healing seed Ribble bright honey to healing seed Polca Village protect milk to fairy powder Achilles Ruins power water to healing seed Hassan running pimento to running ring Ketto bright honey to brave apple Pacalon cheerful bread to power ring Tristan Caves protect milk to protect ring Mitula's Shrine (inner) power water to fairy powder Moun (underground) running pimento to quick ring Prism Flower Field valkyrie to life ring Yeel Revisited quick chicken to healing seed --------------------------- Known Issues --------------------------- DETOX 2 can display extraneous messages for untreated status ailments enemy sorcerer spells work functionally, but are a visual mess evil damage message immediately closes if followed by poison message droppable items sometimes disappear without direct interaction under certain specific circumstances? land effect for certain enemies displays 50% (functionally 20%) enemy traits don't have their own icons and display as regular items ============== copypasted from author's thread at https://forums.shiningforcecentral.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=44356