I swear I could've done more by now... but at least now there are outside factors influencing this.
I've had a few revelations.. the most important is that I've gotten counters to Sneak/Steal and Dart/Throw working as far as I can tell. I will most likely release a demo of it in action. I'll probably end up uploading this stuff on Youtube when it is all said and done. A patch will follow, with some updated documentation to Phoenix's work on the data involved (no ETA, it's up to me to actually do it).
There have been more tweaks to equipment and I'm unsure if anyone is willing to answer the following question:
What would it take to balance two katanas, the Long Katana and the Ninja Katana?
Here's some context... the Long Katana can be bought @ the Land of Summoned Monsters and you get a pair of them for free in the Sealed Cave.
Ninja Katana is obtained in the Land of Summoned Monsters.
The Long Katana isn't really that special... usually surpassed by the FullMoon boomerang for versatility (Wind/Air elemental weakness exposure).
Ninja Katana doesn't really compete with any available weapon at the time you obtain it. It is a prime weapon of the duplication trick for that reason.
Long Katana competes with the following weapons: Mute Knife (Mage mashing), FullMoon boomerang (Wind/Air elemental)
Default stats of listed weapons:
Ninja Katana: 48 attack power, 90 acc, throwable, +5 STR
Long Katana: 40 attack power, 90 acc
Mute Knife: 35 attack power, 75 acc, +5 WIS
FullMoon Boomerang: 40 attack power, 85 acc
Proposed stats of listed weapons:
Ninja (Sharp) Katana: 48 attack power, 90 acc, +5 STR, VIT, WILL (maybe WIS instead?)
Long Katana: 40 attack power, 90 acc, throwable, +3 AGI, VIT, WIS, WILL
Mute (Magemash) Knife: 35 attack power, 75 acc, +5 WIS, WILL
FullMoon Boomerang: 40 attack power, 85 acc, +5 AGI
Here's some reasoning behind it:
The Boomerangs are to get an AGI bonus... they are supposed to be nifty when you get them but are not that useful once you get on the moon (the Grenade monster is the only one that comes to mind where it would be useful to have this).
The Magemash Knife got a WILL boost for no particular reason... I dunno.. it would be a more defensive weapon against Mages (it's already a powerhouse against them).
The Ninja Katana is still meant to be a stronger weapon, but the other bonuses are just there for slightly added value. I was considering to boost WIS instead of WILL there but that would increase the chances of duplication, which is undesired.
The Long Katana is a bit more compelling to use I think. It has a key AGI bonus to supplant the FullMoon later on, where the elemental aspect is a lot less useful. This competes somewhat(?) reasonably well with the Ninja Katana with the rest of its bonus stats as it was also to somewhat replace the Magemash Knife. I had originally thought of giving the Long Katana a STR bonus, but that would increase the chances of duplicating the Long Katana (bonuses add up).
Ideally, I want to have both weapons in use on Edge when he gets to the Moon...and have relatively "equal" value. The Ninja Katana is still stronger, but the Long Katana would just be a tad more useful than its original incarnation. It would replace the Fullmoon, but not as much as the Mute Knife. I don't want it to be duplicated as much while equipped (it's a legal option either way, plus it does doubles as a thrown weapon in my hack). I don't really want either weapon to be duplicated because it would be the ultimate best option only at the time... I am thinking of making the Long Katana not throwable though...
Tell me what you think.
Some other changes of note:
Harps can be equipped by other characters such as the Twins, FuSoYa, and older Rydia
Hammers can be equipped by Rosa, as an homage to FF1. Porom doesn't have that opportunity (but she has access to the Cold Whip, so it's not that bad).
I was thinking about allowing the DK's Dark Swords to be equipped by FuSoYa... this does have a realistic chance of happening.
Also, monsters that are summoned will probably get some EXP boost of some sort to reduce the grinding required (in my save, I've accumulated 60 hours and I've only reached the Land of Summoned Monsters).
