Shining Force II War of the Gods In late 2018 I began work on a definitive Shining Force II hack. The goal was to overhaul many of the gameplay and story elements. I previously released it in September, but I went back to update some small things recently. I also began to realize that I never made a topic here about the hack. Below I have listed the changes for the hack: Story Changes WARNING: SPOILER! Story In my hack I wanted to incorporate elements from Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon and Shining Force The Final Conflict. To do this I was required to shuffle several story elements to make things fit in continuity. Thus, I established a timeline: Before Current History -The Ancients had developed a somewhat modern civilization. The ancients discovered immortality and birthed several other mortal races: humans, centaurs, etc. The ancients created the Dark Dragon to control the growing population of mortals. -Inevitably war broke out. The power-hungry Dark Sol seized control of Dark Dragon and turned its power on the other ancients. The other ancients hastily created the White Dragon, Loucyfer, to combat the Dark Dragon. Great battles were fought and many mortals died as a result. In desperation, the mortals performed a dark ritual and summoned Zeon from deep within the Cosmos. -The ancients quickly abandoned their war and called a truce to combat Zeon. The ancients used the dragons to weaken Zeon enough to seal him. The ancients developed a means to seal Zeon's power in a device known as the Jewel of Evil. However, some ancients blinded by a lust for power created another device to siphon off Zeon's power for themselves. A device known as the Jewel of Light... -The Jewels are one device in two. If one is destroyed so is the other. If Volcanon and Mitula were destroyed the Jewels would shatter as well. If the Jewel of Evil was shattered Zeon would be left powerless. -As part of the truce, the Dark Dragon was sealed. Loucyfer having been broken by the battle retired to Dragonia. Dark Sol sealed himself for 1000 years as he believed that in time Dark Dragon's seal would weaken in time. However, this process robbed him of many of his memories. -Civilization was left broken, the ancients numbered less than 100. Many used their remaining powers to establish themselves as spirits, devils, and even gods. -Many minor creatures that were controlled by the ancients are let loose integrating with the local wildlife, giving birth to monsters. -The mortals used the last of the ancients' technology to create the Sword of Light and the Sword of Darkness. Weapons that repelled the powers of the Jewel of Evil and the Jewel of Light. Over the next 1088 Years -Over the next 1000 years, the mortals seized the Earth developing their own society. The stories of the ancients quickly fell into legend. Many of the ancients' artifacts were treasured and seen as great magical treasures. The surviving ancients were reluctant to join the mortals, but many did allow themselves to be worshipped by the mortals. Year 1000 Events of Shining Force Resurrection of the Dark Dragon Between 1000 and 1022 -Max and Adam help establish Hassan as a town for refugees from Guardiana and Runefaust. Slowly some other settlements began to appear(Ribble, Polka, etc) -Mishalea ferries Dark Sol's husk to the Ancient Tower. Year of 1022 Events of Shining Force Final Conflict -The fusion of Dark Sol and Dark Dragon left Dark Sol a mindless husk sealed beneath the ancient tower. -Zeon absorbed some of the power used in Dark Sol's resurrection, inadvertently weakening the other devil. Between 1022 and 1085 -Ian and the rest of the settle on Grans the Land of Beasts. -Morton settles North of Grans and starting a Dojo -Dwarves are freed and they travel to Paramecia to establish their own village. -Jewels and Force Blade are sealed. The presence of the Sword weakens the connection of the jewels. -Mitula uses the husk of Dark Sol to guard the Necklace of Light and the Accursed Key; ancient artifacts that could possibly hurt her or Volcanon. -Hawel helps create Yeel and lives as a hermit. Hawel's research leads to the proliferation of magical weapons. -Ian and Cynthia marry giving birth to Bowie's mother. -Rumors of something Dark residing in the tower begin to proliferate. Ian and Jon, his son-in-law, are sent to investigate. Neither returns... Class Changes WARNING: SPOILER! Classes Hero The Hero resists Lightning and as usual, has decently high stats. Additionally, the Hero can utilize unique weapons and one unique accessory. 1/4 chance of 150% Critical 1/8 Double Attack Chance 1/8 Counter Red Knight The Red Knight is a fusion of magic and physical prowess. Red Knights learn three spells; two elemental spells and the spell Missle. 1/8 chance of 125% Critical 1/8 Double Attack Chance 1/8 Counter Pegasus Knight The Pegasus Knight uses flight and power to decimate the battlefield. The Pegasus Knight is unfortunately weak to Wind. 1/4 chance of 150% Critical 1/4 Double Attack 1/4 Counter Barbarian The Barbarian replaces the Gladiator. The Barbarian serves as a stout and powerful foot soldier. Ability to Stun 1/4 Double Attack 1/4 Counter Paladin The Paladin replaces the Baron class. The Baron brings high ATK and AGI but loses some of the DEF and HP of the Barbarian. Finally, the Paladin is granted access to two support spells to help carry the team. 1/8 chance of 150% Critical 1/8 Double Attack 1/8 Counter Wizard The Wizard is largely just an evolved version of the original. Wizards do have somewhat higher ATK since ATK now factors into spell power. Wizards also have several elemental resistances. Ability to Poison 1/32 Double Attack 1/32 Counter Magus The Magus is a glass cannon. The Magus has only two spells. One is Raze the other is a summon spell. Also, the Magus is resistant to fewer elements than the Wizard. 1/4 chance of 125% Critical 1/8 Double Attack 1/8 Counter Cleric Clerics are one of only two classes that learn Aura. Clerics utilize high DEF and high MP to support their team. Clerics learn two support spells and the Desoul spell. Ability to Stun 1/32 Double Attack 1/32 Counter Mystic The Mystic is a slightly bulkier, support version of the Magus. The Mystic retains all the spells they knew as a Priest. 1/8 chance for a 150% Critical 1/8 Double Attack 1/8 Counter Sorcerer The Sorcerer brings a myriad of spells to the table. The Sorcerer learns Aura, as well as the Aid and Freeze spell. Finally the Sorcerer also supports very high ATK to bolster his spells. 1/8 chance for a 125% Critical 1/8 Double Attack 1/8 Counter Brass Gunner The Brass Gunner is a very mobile and defensive archer. Ability to Stun 1/8 Double Attack 1/8 Counter Bird Knight The two Bird Knights cover very different roles. One acts as a spellsword and the other is a pure fighter. 1/4 chance for a 150% Critical 1/8 Double Attack 1/8 Counter Werewolf The Werewolf is a very powerful pure fighting individual. While the Werewolf has low HP it makes up for it with high AGI. 1/4 chance for a 150% Critical 1/4 Double Attack 1/4 Counter Sniper The Sniper is a very powerful archer. While the Sniper promotes high ATK and mobility it lacks in DEF. Ability to Poison 1/4 Double Attack 1/4 Counter Phoenix The Phoenix has very high ATK and the ability to cast some fire magic. 1/8 chance for a 125% Critical 1/8 Double Attack 1/8 Counter Ninja The Ninja is speedy and strong. The Ninja also gets access to several unique spells to cripple his enemies. Ability to Poison 1/4 Double Attack 1/4 Counter Dragon The Dragon has great strength and defense. The Dragon also resists all elemental spells. 1/32 chance for a 125% Critical 1/16 Counter 1/16 Double Attack Robot The Robot also resists all elements. Additionally, the Robot has high ATK, DEF, and mobility. 1/4 chance for a 150% Critical 1/16 Double Attack 1/16 Counter Bow Knight The Bow Knight is the only archer with the ability to fly. Unfortunately, there is only one Bow Knight in the game. 1/4 chance for a 150% Critical 1/16 Double Attack 1/16 Counter Summoner The Summoner is a new class to the game that borrows a lot from the vanilla Sorcerer class. The Summoner has the ability to cast all the summon spells and has very high MP to use those spells. Ability to Stun 1/32 Double Attack 1/32 Counter Item Changes WARNING: SPOILER! I will not bother to go through EVERY item, but I will go through some of the more unique items. -Gold Dust and Dark Matter are now crafting materials like Mithril was in the original version. Gold Dust is somewhat common, but Dark Matter is very rare. There are five pieces hidden throughout the game. -There are four elemental orbs that can be used to cast some Summoner spells. -The Ring of Balance casts a minor Raze spell when used -The Silver Ankh is a reusable item that heals your units. -The Gold Ankh is a reusable item that restores MP. -The Accursed Key is used to open a certain door... Mechanical Changes WARNING: SPOILER! There are lots of minor changes mostly thanks to Siel for the changes. -The Repair option in the shop has been replaced by Train. The Train option allows the player to level up your units with gold. -AGI now factors into evasion of physical attacks. -ATK now factors into the damage of spells -Enemies are separated into five distinctions: Fighters, Fliers, Mages, Healers, and Archers. Each distinction has an elemental resistance and weakness, except for the Mage which resists all elements. -Poison does 10% of damage to HP -Desoul splits current HP in half when used. Additionally, the hit chance of Desoul has gone up to 50%. -The blacksmith now allows the player to pick which weapon they'd like to buy. -All of the Creed characters can be picked up on your first visit. -Detox has been replaced by Aid a spell that heals and cures all status effects by level 2. -Dispel has been replaced by the spell Poison You can download it here: https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4664/ I look forward to any questions you may have, and I look forward to all the coming comments.