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2221

Gaming Discussion / FF4 - Equipment Distribution

« on: July 29, 2008, 02:18:31 PM »

For clarification, unlike the Bow+Arrow thread, which did have a bit of personal bias, this thread very likely will end up having more. I will try to be objective, but I cannot guarentee that it will cover all bases.. I'll try to nonetheless. A lot of this will obviously be based on existing data, but will apply some logic that some may not have thought about when it comes to impact of a piece of equipment relative to a portion of a game.

Ok, so onto the info...

Shadow+Iron armor set - Initial Equipment

Simply non-impactful, with the Shadow set being better IIRC than the Iron set (then again Kain has Jump, so it's a wash). One of the rare underrated weapons is the Spear, since it gives Kain 99% hit rate.. and unless he's in the back row (and not Jumping), he's technically doing a lot more reliable damage than Cecil will up to a certain point.

Rydia's initial equipment + Weapon+Armor shops @ Kaipo...

Rydia already has optimal equipment, but won't be able to take advantage of the armor's evasion until her Agility is at 8. The Rod has a decent initial weapon-spell, which has a decent initial spell power, but has a 1x spell multiplier. This can still be stronger than the other elemental Rods when it is vs magic defense, which tends to actually increase overtime with newer monsters, unlike defense. The Bow+Arrow setup is only there for Rosa, unless you like torturing yourself. The Staff is also completely useless, since Poison status isn't exploited until Milon-Z/Scamaglione (undead version). I'm surprised they never made this a White Magic spell. The other strange thing is why the hell are they selling the Cloth Robe... when it has no positive attributes over the Leather Robe...

Cave of the Octomammoth..

IceRod - Once in a blue moon, you may want to try your luck with Rydia hitting, but it's best when she has at least a 2x attack multiplier to increase the chances of a hit. At least you have an alternative to cast a kinda weak Ice-1, but it has a better spell multiplier.. even though the spell power of Ice 1 is weak. It depends whether you want concentrated fire with the Rod vs the potential split damage that the IceRod can provide.. which can be useful for eliminating Zombies which tend to survive a pathetic Tellah's Fire1 or Cure2.

Silver Ring - If you're fortunate, you may get this via a drop by the TinyMage. This has actual impact once you get it, since there are a number of Spirit enemies you face before being able to buy this @ Mysidia.

Leather Hat - One of the few peeves I have is that this armor is only findable early on, yet buyable @ Toroia of all places... it bothers me when the early party is put in a really bad position of "who gets the crappy Cap".

Darkness equipment set - I've got lots of meh, although the weapon is probably the most impactful of them all.

At the Spoony Bard's Domain..

RubyRing - This is a good time to just store them up.. though I can't say it's that useful.. until version 2 of the Dark Elf's battle.. which is most likely when you are not equipping this piece of equipment. I get the feeling this ring needs a stat boost, other than the rarely used Piggy status...

CrossBow - Just for Rosa please.

Bard's Robe - Initially, I thought it was a good idea to just sell this... after finding out it provides Silence resistance.. I was a tad reluctant to do so. There isn't really a technical merit for keeping it over the Leather Robe, but for the small chance that you want Edward to keep singing, Silence protection should be there. It probably needs a stat boost though...

Yang and "The Claw"

Sometimes it seems annoying, but having the FireClaw is great because his hit rate increases, but there are a few monsters that simply aren't receptive to that attack (damn you Spirits+Souls).  Oh well, no big deal I guess.

Once you are able to buy the Black armor set and the oddly priced Claws.. especially when they don't have varying hit rates or anything to justify price differences... it's another meh.

Black Sword/Deathbringer - Great weapon, kills everything that's "underleveled". It's a great weapon to bond with Twins when you're exposing the area north of Mt. Ordeals.

The Town With the Awesome Theme

Paladin equipment set - It would've been nice if they hinted that you should buy this stuff before going up the mountain.. so idiots would not have a right to be stupid. There's only a few peeves that I have with this set, primarily because the next set (the Silver/Mythril set) is effectively the most useless armor set in the game, and I've explained why on the monster type distribution argument thread I wrote a while back. Spirit protection is great if.. you fight them more often than not.

Gaea Hat - This arguably is better than the Paladin Hat... you get evasion, an additional boost to Wisdom/Intelligence (for more magic evasion), and magic defense over the meh-for-defense.

Gaea Robe - I'm not sure who wrote the fucking manual, but it's protection is against gradual petrification... this would've been nice if that was available before Mt. Hobs where the Cockatrice is worth fearing.

Holy Arrows - These are possibly most underrated arrows that people don't bother using for the Twins. They are worth their usage (and it's all fucked up in FF4A anyways) all will mow everything down, minus the Liliths. These become temporarily useless at the Baron Waterway...

Cure Staff - It's better than seeing Tellah fight.. make him and maybe Porom useful.. and play more defensively/conservative if you like to keep guys alive.

Flame Rod - An increased spell multiplier (3x), but it will take some time to kill certain monsters, minus the monsters that absorb this.. either way, you have a choice between reliability vs insta-kill gambles with the Bow+Arrow setup.

Back @ Baron...

Tiara - Taking that extra trip to Mist is worth it. Obviously this is best used on Rydia, but the added extra defense (magic too) with Dragon resistance (which starts being useful at the Tower of Bab-il via Cave Eblana) and Lightning resistance (which is also a benefit vs the same monster) cannot be understated.

Change Rod - This is the best monster neutralizer. It's obviously not going to work for every monster, but since weapon-magic is nearly realiable, you can't really argue against it, plus it makes Tellah a better Black Magic user (to actual reasonable levels).

Whip - Meh since Rydia comes back with one.

Dancing Dagger - This has a decent life span until you reach Tomra. The simple fact this weapon-spell ignores Reflect and has a reasonable better spell power base than the elemental Rods but not the level 2 elementals is a nice boost.

Thunder Rod - Meh, a 4x spell multiplier doesn't give me any "shock" value. It doesn't have the same impact that the Dancing Dagger has.

Karate Robe - Although expensive, it is the best armor available for the Magnetic Cave. You can easily justify the value over the lacking Gaea Robes.. but it won't beat out the Paladin Armor IMO. Besides, it's cheaper that way. Once the twins leave, the extra pair of Robes will go to Cid and Cecil.. which is financially sane. The Strength Boost is a nice bonus.

Headband - This is one of the few pieces of equipment that one should considering buying a set for the entire party. Charm protection is worth the price. The nifty Strength bonus is even better, and this piece of equipment easily beats out the Leather Cap when you are considering equipment options for the Magnetic Cave. In fact, you combine the Karate Robe with the Headband, you get an insta-attack multiplier boost.

Ancient Sword - The only letdown is that this weapon should at least attempt to be stronger than the Legend Sword.. since the status afflication doesn't provide impact until the next attack.

Once You Get the Airship...

Elemental Arrows - They are not impactful for the Magnetic Cave, despite being stronger in attack power. Holy Arrows hold their own much better.

GreatBow - It's reasonable at this point of the game to use, and it's fairly reliable.

Silver Armor Set - Virtually useless set, as the defensive boosts are of minimal impact IMO.

Silver Weapon Set - Most of these are useless.. the Knife is a nice throwaway weapon, the Staff heals like the Unicorn Horn (which is nothing worth speaking of), the Sword is surpassed by the Slumber Sword easily, and the Hammer is a nice bump.. but if the Wooden Hammer kept its Lit-2 weapon-spell property, ths Silver Hammer would be useless to me. In fact, it would make the trek through the Tower of Zot much easier (especially with the Pudding/Flan monsters).

*Hand Axe - Although this was never included in the original, after testing this out in Paladin's hack, I believe this weapon sucks if it was inserted in this scenario (it would suck more than the Legend Sword too).. primarily because of its shit-for-hit-rate. This weapon is not better than the original Wooden Hammer, and it's metallic to boot.. so even if you have Cid with the best defense, he couldn't hit a lick.

Edit: More to be added later.

2222

Gaming Discussion / Re: FF4 - Bow+Arrow Impact

« on: July 29, 2008, 12:51:44 PM »

The bats in the sealed cave absorb lighting, I think Miss Vamp does too.

Those bats die quickly though. Miss Vamp isn't, but the rare Yellow Dragon is. Still few and far between for impact.

i'd be interested in reading it. 

Yeah, me too.

I guess I'll post it, relative to the original game in which you obtain the equipment.

2223

Gaming Discussion / Re: FF4 - Bow+Arrow Impact

« on: July 29, 2008, 12:00:27 PM »

The Blitz Whip was underpowered (like every other whip she had)... the Mech property would've been nice it that were added... would've made her bearable in the Giant. Then again, all her whips are kinda underpowered... at one point, I felt that Bows+Arrows for her were a better idea, but that's only true once she gets the Elven Bow...

I usually give her a dancing dagger until Tomra, where I buy the chain whip, that one's pretty useful until bahamut's cave and the subterrain.

The Dancing Dagger is probably the coolest weapon spell.. too bad its impact is lessened over time. It's hard to quantify the actual difference between the Chain Whip and Dancing Dagger at that point in the game. No Blitz Whip though in between though.. not that its impact was improved.. plus the elemental property has literally no impact at that point in the game.. I think there were 0 monsters by that point in the game that are weak vs lightning, but there is only 1 monster that's resistant (Manticore from the Sealed Cave) comes to mind... that's "no impact" for you.

Anyone interested in an overall equipment analysis for the game? I'm up for writing that out.

2224

Gaming Discussion / Re: FF4 - Bow+Arrow Impact

« on: July 28, 2008, 08:46:00 PM »

I kinda find it gimmicky, even if it is effective on one particular monster. I prefer to conserve the Holy arrows, since I tend to level up on Mt. Hobs for Rosa (to learn Cure2/Cura).

Yeah, they should really give the angel arrows to you at Eblan, so you can take advantage of them for the mad ogres. I usually gain a few levels at Mt. Hobs too, you can always just use the holy arrows for the bombs, undead, and spirits and swap the iron on for anything that's flying.

Well, Mute Arrows would just be as effective.. though the Silence Staff has a good chance of being available/dropped.... which is just as effective (well, almost anyways).

Well, the Darkness arrows are underrated, though monster presence somewhat limits their usefulness (plus this status is useless vs most, if not all undead monsters)...

Maybe a death arrow "Hades Arrow", as a complement to the Medusa Arrows. Revamping the Holy, Fire, Ice arrows... Holy being effective vs Spirits, Fire being effective vs Undead, Ice being effective vs Reptiles... add a Drain Arrow perhaps? Allow it to be effective vs Flan/Pudding... Have a Sleeping Arrow? There are a few untapped statuses that could work out... Perhaps the Poison Arrow gets one extra added status of Paralysis could revitalize it. Curse status is underused.. it could be added to the Darkness Arrows (and it may need a new name to boot) as the ultimate monster weakener...

The dark arrows are dark-elemental now, in addition to causing darkness status. Dark weaponry is set to do extra damage against humanoids (Yeah, I played around with the races a bit) so they should be pretty useful around the time you get them.

Instant death is something I already considered, but on a rare bow instead of an arrow. Basically it would be able to turn any arrow, including useless iron, into an instant death weapon. Wasn't sure if I actually wanted to do it or not though.

Personally, those weapons need to be weak to compensate for the semi-overpowered... which was planned correctly in the original game. I'm not entirely a fan of stuff being a "drop only" or steal option, particularly arrows since I have a preference buying en masse... I'd prefer it in arrow form, but a limited rare drop can't be all that bad.

I usually don't think to add stuff to bows, but maybe there should be a Bow that inflicts Piggy status (would be useful vs the BlackCat monsters since they auto-counter with Bluster)... perhaps revise the Artemis Bow to be a Dragon killer like FF4ET... create a Bow that is effective against both Giants and Mechs (basically something for the Giant of Bab-il to replace the slightly less effective Lightning Arrows at this point in the game).

I think that about covers it though.

I stole the piggy's stick from FF4ET and made it a rare drop, everyone except Yang can equip it despite it being a sword, so that plays the same role as the piggy bow would. The Artemis bow has anti-dragon properties now but if I add the one I mentioned above it will be the Artemis bow that gets cut - I favor replacing the rare items with new rare items. The anti-mech/giant idea is a good one but I added a special weapon for Rosa right before the giant that already serves that purpose and Rydia's blitz whip got an upgrade to do extra damage against mechs too.

I hope I haven't said too much about my hack, I don't mind people knowing this stuff but I think it'll be more fun if everyone goes in blind. Then again this is nothing more than what will be included in the instruction manual-type readme I have planned anyway.

The Blitz Whip was underpowered (like every other whip she had)... the Mech property would've been nice it that were added... would've made her bearable in the Giant. Then again, all her whips are kinda underpowered... at one point, I felt that Bows+Arrows for her were a better idea, but that's only true once she gets the Elven Bow...

2225

Gaming Discussion / Re: FF4 - Bow+Arrow Impact

« on: July 28, 2008, 05:24:26 PM »

Here's some reference posts:

Rosa's Best Equipment Options Analyzed: http://slickproductions.org/forum/index.php?topic=175.0
My Equipment Rebalancing Wishlist: http://slickproductions.org/forum/index.php?topic=445.0

Part of my ideas originally involved rebalancing arrows, so they are useful all game... the other issue is that I didn't quite factor in the back row bit (or the bug that can be abused)... but they normally would be solid options... I'd have to rethink it a tad anyways.

2226

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: DS Version Research

« on: July 28, 2008, 05:19:20 PM »

Post 666? 

 

2227

Gaming Discussion / Re: FF4 - Bow+Arrow Impact

« on: July 28, 2008, 01:27:44 PM »

I'm going to disagree with you on the charm/angel arrows, I find them very useful for taking out red giants alone. I generally have Rosa equipped with the Yoichi bow and mute arrows and Rydia equipped with the elven bow and angel arrows for the first part of the subterrain, then switch over to Artemis arrows on Rosa and give Rydia the stardust rod. Similarly, I find the holy arrows very useful on Mt. Hobs, I've never managed to go through all 30 of them before I was done on the mountain, I usually get to Fabul with plenty left.

I kinda find it gimmicky, even if it is effective on one particular monster. I prefer to conserve the Holy arrows, since I tend to level up on Mt. Hobs for Rosa (to learn Cure2/Cura).

Do you have any suggestions for effects that would be useful on new arrows? This is something I haven't really touched in my hack yet, except for replacing poison arrows with aevis killers, which completely decimate anything that's flying. I'm currently selling them in Troia and they're the same price and strength as the other elemental arrows.

Well, the Darkness arrows are underrated, though monster presence somewhat limits their usefulness (plus this status is useless vs most, if not all undead monsters)...

Maybe a death arrow "Hades Arrow", as a complement to the Medusa Arrows. Revamping the Holy, Fire, Ice arrows... Holy being effective vs Spirits, Fire being effective vs Undead, Ice being effective vs Reptiles... add a Drain Arrow perhaps? Allow it to be effective vs Flan/Pudding... Have a Sleeping Arrow? There are a few untapped statuses that could work out... Perhaps the Poison Arrow gets one extra added status of Paralysis could revitalize it. Curse status is underused.. it could be added to the Darkness Arrows (and it may need a new name to boot) as the ultimate monster weakener...

That goes for bows as well, I already decided the crossbow was found too soon after the starting bow so I replaced it with a mythril bow that is stronger than the great bow but metallic, so Cecil can't take advantage of it in the magnetic cavern. The twins can't equip bows anymore so they don't suffer from not having an upgrade, the healing and mythril staves fill the role of undead remurdering device.

I usually don't think to add stuff to bows, but maybe there should be a Bow that inflicts Piggy status (would be useful vs the BlackCat monsters since they auto-counter with Bluster)... perhaps revise the Artemis Bow to be a Dragon killer like FF4ET... create a Bow that is effective against both Giants and Mechs (basically something for the Giant of Bab-il to replace the slightly less effective Lightning Arrows at this point in the game).

I think that about covers it though.

2228

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: DS Version Research

« on: July 28, 2008, 01:05:06 PM »

If the armor properties haven't changed.. you could take advantage of the few armors with stat protection:

Headband - For Charm (which is of ultimate importance IMO)
Giant's Glove - For Mini (can't hurt you there, though Toad status will still hurt you just as well)
Ruby Ring - For Piggy (Piggy penalty is minimal)
Rune Ring - For Silence (kinda hard to cast magic with the other statuses involved)

So, the Headband would still be the top option, regardless of the other status effects.

2229

Gaming Discussion / FF4 - Bow+Arrow Impact

« on: July 27, 2008, 09:40:59 PM »

I guess this is the long awaited post, but here's a breakdown of Bows+Arrows in general, relative to when you have access to it and the monster distribution... Note that this info may be helpful to gage how powerful the weapon balance, particularly for characters that aren't Rosa (Aim ensures maximum hit rate which means maximum damage effectiveness, but it doesn't magically improve her attack power).

Irow Arrows - First Buyable @ Kaipo
Bow (Short Bow) - First Buyable @ Kaipo

It has virtually no impact other than being the first arrow set Rosa can use. Bows and Arrows in general are useless for Rydia+Edward due to low hit rate are better options. Rydia's Rod or IceRod has a better chance of doing mediocre to decent damage (particularly with the IceRod) vs the enemies. Edward's Harps have a very high hit rate, despite not being back row compatible (except in FF2US).

Holy/White Arrows - First Acquired @ Damacyan/Mt. Hobs, Buyable @ Mysidia, Holy elemental, 4x attack power vs Undead and Spirits
CrossBow - First Acquired @ Damacyan, Buyable @ Mysidia

One of the few times you get it, I actually recommend that combo particularly on Mt. Ordeals, less so on Mt. Hobs, only because you obtain a limited supply of Holy Arrows. Reliablity can be hit or miss, but if you gain a number of levels with the twins, they will eventually gain enough Strength to increase the attack multiplier to be semi-reliable. This combo can easily murder most units, with the exception of the Lilith (and Slap is a nasty attack at this point in the game). These arrows become useless @ the Underground Waterway in Baron.

Fire/Ice/Lightning Arrows - First Buyable @ Toroia, Lightning Arrows give 4x attack power vs Mechs
Greatbow - First Buyable @ Toroia, +3 Str

These elemental arrows are not that great when you first get them.. since the Holy Arrows are actually better for Cecil in the Magnetic Cave. There are a few monsters that are not weak against Holy elemental, making it the viable arrow of choice. The Greatbow starts pouring on some Strength bonuses that may help in getting the additional attack multiplier to make it even more useful than before.

Darkness Arrows - First Buyable @ Dwarf Castle, inflicts Darkness Status

These arrows are nifty if you want the Darkness status to wreak some havoc on certain enemies. Darkness status halves magic evasion (useless for enemies) and evasion (same reason as before), but also halves hit rate which can effectively reduces an enemies's attack by half and halves spell hit rate, which may allow some magic attacks fizzle out more frequently. Unfortunately these arrows are generally overshadowed by the Ice Arrows you would primarily use in this part of the underground, but those don't have enough power to kill the Black Lizards.. unless you overlevel or give Rosa some decent Strength boosting equipment instead of Spirit/Will Power boosting equipment.

Medusa Arrows - Pretty much obtainable by stealing or praying for those drops (first monster you find that will drop these are the Black Lizards), inflicts Stone status

These are the weakest arrows of the bunch in terms of power, but their primary task is to insta-kill monsters via Stone status. Status inflicted effects are primarily based on the target's level vs the attacker's level. The higher the level the attacker is, the more likely the status is inflicted. It's handy to know this when you are hoping for that Stone status to be inflicted... you might be in for a surprise.

Archer/Killer Bow - Obtainable @ Tower of Bab-il Underground, Buyable @ Eblan Caves, +5 Str

This is a nice improvement, and can better guarentee a chance at an increased attack multiplier. Although, that's not too much of an improvement...

Poison Arrows - Acquired by Monsters related to the Hydra and Naga, first seen @ the Underground Waterway, Buyable @ Eblan Caves, inflicts Poison

If you get them in drops early in the game, they are technically more valuable to you then than at the time you can buy them. Poison status is a useless effect when the rate of poison damage is directly corellated with the monster's HP. In other words, you won't benefit from the Poison damage. These arrows by themselves don't really do much when you can buy them. One of the few rare notes is that the Holy arrows are the most effective around Cave Eblana.. with Fire arrows and Ice arrows holding up the rear in terms of overal effectiveness.

Mute Arrows - First Acquired @ Castle of Eblan, Buyable @ Tomra, Inflicts Silence Status, 4x attack power vs Mages

It's kinda annoying that the time you buy them, you won't be able to use them vs the Mad Ogre (I digress). Anyways, these arrows are nifty, but unfortunately you obtain a bow that is an insta-Mage destroyer, minus the Silence status..

Elven Bow - First Acquired @ Sylph's Cave, 4x attack power vs Mages, casts Shell as an item, +5 Wisdom/Intelligence

This is an insta-Mage destroyer weapon. This is probably the first bow that is useful for any character than can take advantage of it, given that it's strangely abnormally high hit rate will allow 99% hit rate @ level 96, which is the maximum. This weapon IMO is the best in FF4, since anyone can use it and Mages are very visable late game and can be taken advantage of. Unfortunately this weapon won't get them killed unless paired with reasonably powerful arrows...

Charm/Fairy Arrows - First Acquired as a semi-rare item drop from Lamia and Queen Lamias, Buyable @ Land of Summoned Monsters, Inflicts Charm Status, 4x attack power vs Giants

These arrows seem useful, but I think they are not as useful as they could be. There are very few Giants (and their formations) late game that you would expose these arrows to, unlike certain areas of the game. Adding Charm status is a nifty touch, but technically too little, too late for their impact. Even the Lightning Arrows, as weak as they are have more impact overall in the Giant of Bab-il than these arrows in general.

Samurai/Yoichi Arrows - First Acquired @ Land of Summoned Monsters, Rarely Dropped by Marlboros @ Sylph's Cave, Buyable @ Blacksmith's

These are the most useless second version of the "generic arrows". Unless you are playing FF4ET, these arrows are useless. They need significantly more power so I'd give a damn.

Samurai/Yoichi Bow - Acquired @ Land of Summoned Monsters, +10 Str

Although this may appear to be the "strongest" bow, I don't believe it's as impactful as people think it is. Hit Rate for those who don't have Aim and Strength bonuses are more beneficial to Rosa.. not Cecil or Rydia (Rydia gets uber Strength bonuses post level 70). Still, the Elven Bow is better, but that's my opinion.

Artemis Arrows - First Acquired By Kary/Moon Goddess drops (though stealing is a better option), 4x attack power vs Dragons

Given that the distribution of dragons are insane in the Lunar Subterraine, you would be foolish to avoid this. Paired with the Elven Bow, you shouldn't be fearing very much. The only issue though is that the enemies that are not dragons won't really be torched... but I guess that's better than nothing.

Artemis Bow - Rare Drop by Kary/Moon Goddess, 4x attack power vs Dragons, but that's only in FF4ET, +10 Str, Agi, Vit, -10 Wis, Will

This is a completely overrated bow if you aren't playing FF4ET. If you pair this Bow with the Heroine/Minerva Robe, you will have a dumb, but strong female archer. The Heroine/Minerva Robe in FF4ET does not have the stat penalty so it becomes relatively favorable to use in that version of the game. I don't see the specialness of this bow otherwise...

Note: I've already written some threads on what I think the bow+arrows should be in powerwise and the optimal Rosa configuration (maybe I'll dig up the links later if anyone cares)... the reality is that there are many parts of the game where the arrows and the bows have little or no impact. Increasing the hit rate early on (maybe lowering the attack power, but that's a balance issue) will help their progression and people liking it better for those not named Rosa.

2230

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: DS Version Research

« on: July 27, 2008, 07:46:38 PM »

Used Whirlwind on an enemy that absorbs fire; accomplished nothing. Still absorbs fire.

Fire on a Medusa from sealed cave with no weakness before whirlwind about 487 damage. After whirlwind 862.

Fire on a bat; 780. natural weakness to fire. Fire after whirlwind actually jumped up to 1050. Not bad.

This was all based on fire. I'm not sure how many would survive a firaga attack. Going to try those out next.

Btw, it doesn't show weakness when you hit it with fire after, nor does it add fire to the weaknessess at the bottom. I'm wondering if using whirlwind on that absorber actually made it absorb more hp.

Trap door normal firaga; 3258 damage. After whirlwind; 4449.

Damage increase of 25% sounds about right. Seems more like an elemental boost. Given the properties of most elemental spells, they do need a boost since they become relatively obsolete late game (well, you shouldn't expect the level 1 elemental to useful.. the level 2 one tends to be outshined by Bio due to better damage for MP consumed.. plus factoring the spell casting time).

Also, the multiplier for kain's jump seems to work even without a spear. I don't know how correct it is, but I was reading in the old version, you had to have a spear for jump to do extra damage or something? I have an axe on him right now.

That's an FF5 behavior, not FF4.

Arrows aren't consumed upon use

It wasn't like that in the original was it?

No, but it's finally a saner idea to not consume resources.

2231

Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: DS Version Research

« on: July 27, 2008, 11:27:28 AM »

Libra
Why is this here? Basically, Libra fills in a few missing entries on the help screen at the bottom of battle. It displays the enemy's current HP, weakness, and resistance. These are recorded permanently, you only need to cast it on one of each enemy to have these stats listed  forever. I'm going to take a moment to rant in the two paragraphs, feel free to skip to Whyt (Or better yet, skip that too since it's also ranty and go onto the commands, I only rant about auto potion and cry there).

First off, I really like the help window and the way Libra works, this isn't a rant about them. It's about the bestiary, and how utterly useless it is compared to all five FF Advance games. It only records the monster's level, the number you've killed, where it appears, EXP gained, and treasure it can drop. The help menu only lists weakness and resistance, there is absolutely no place in the game to learn which elements enemies attack with (And they do attack with elements now) or which statuses they're resistant to. It's pointless except for the treasure section. You can poke the enemy on the touch screen to view their attack animation, that was a nice touch (I'm not being sarcastic, I really do like it, I'd happily trade it for that information I mentioned though).

I realize that the GBA games were developed by an entirely different company but you'd think the developers of this version of the game would have a little common sense and realize that knowing these things is extremely helpful. This bestiary was clearly an afterthought, unlike the ones in the GBA versions. I wouldn't have minded it if you had to use Libra or a bestiary item on an enemy to have access to the information either, that would've been cool, but that little bit in the help menu just isn't enough.

How thoughtful...

Whyt (Or whatever you named it)
Summons Rydia's Whytkin into battle, where it replaces her. Stats are upgraded by playing mini games at the fat chocobo, you can assign it five commands (Commands like white and black magic are not allowed, instead you must select a single spell from the list), and you can draw a new face for it as well. It's one huge gimmick really, I've yet to find a place where I'd rather replace my best magic user with a marshmallow that randomly uses five commands instead of an entire list of black magic and Eidolons... You can battle them but doing so requires two copies of the game, there's no option to send a small program to the other DS as many games have, and no way to play it over Wi-Fi (Which is the only way it would've been any fun...for a week, before all the cheaters got a copy of the game like Metroid Prime Hunters...).

One possible good situation is right after you get it, raise its intellect until it is higher than Rydia's, fill its command list with nothing but Thunder (And maybe Cure, although with 0 spirit it probably won't work at all) and summon it against the octomammoth. That's the last boss I can think of where it would work well, since most of them change weaknesses or have times you don't want to be attacking them. If the damn thing didn't cost 50 MP to summon it would have a few more uses in random encounters.

Cure with 0 Spirit = 1 Magic Multiplier (which is bare minimum of uselessness).

Commands and Augments

Pray (Rosa)
Restores a percentage of HP and a smaller percentage of MP, I've yet to determine the actual values but it definitely improves later in the game.

You may want to check the numbers... you would need to determine if that is Spirit based or level based or unlikely maxHP/MP based... the randomness of the numbers should be limited to the same 100 to 150% effectiveness...

Focus (Yang/Augment)
Read: Power. Doubles the character's attack power. Can be applied up to three times, which means you can hit for 8x damage. Seems to apply to every physical attack command.

Does it still have the negative magic defense droppage property? That would be the only thing that would hurt its usage.

Cry (Porom/Augment)
Halves all enemies defense. Oddly enough it seems to have a 100% success rate, which means it has the potential to massively unbalance the game.

It generally doesn't. Unless the monster defense has been revamped, the majority of monsters have defense at both extremes of the scale... which makes this most effective vs Flan/Pudding monsters.

Last Stand (Augment)
Doubles a character's defense when they're critical.

It would probably do better on a spellcaster (not that I give a crap about Edward), but probably benefits a White Wizard the most since you want them to be alive long enough to heal everyone.. though Cecil could benefit by surviving extra long to heal himself, revive others, and auto-Cover... but meh.

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Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: Which maps allow Exit?

« on: July 26, 2008, 06:50:57 PM »

It may be a good idea to trace Exit's execution... if not to just change the code for that magic's highlighting (and Warp while you're at it). Luckily they fixed that in FF4A, but it is annoying nonetheless.

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General Discussion / Re: Gamefaqs + eternal stupidity

« on: July 24, 2008, 09:20:28 PM »

Double check the link first.

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Final Fantasy IV Research & Development / Re: Ambidextrous characters and shields

« on: July 24, 2008, 07:36:39 PM »

I completely forgot about testing this.

All we need is a "Noooo" icon, even though the picture is nice, but eh not quicky enough for me... 

Double recessive characters are interesting because...they're not ambidextrous. They can only equip one shield at a time, in either hand in via the equip menu. They can equip bows and arrows just fine. The most shocking thing I found is that they're treated just like a left-handed character in battle, and can even equip weapons. The only difference between them and a normal lefty is that they have their own strings for which hands can be equipped, blank by default because FF2us only lists the dominate hand, but you can easy add whatever text you want and it'll display.

Some of this isn't shocking.. but I'm willing to bet it's more like the check for the back row bit for ambedextrous characters... it only check the right hand. It's convienent as a bit-wise specific operation.

As for my bow idea, it worked as I expected but had an unforeseen side effect - it makes characters with weapons in their left hand use the unarmed animation instead of their weapon animation. I'm not sure why this is but I can guess, when you only have a shield equipped the game defaults to using the unarmed animation, since the unarmed animation is now an arrow it can't use it unless you have a bow equipped, so it loads another (hardcoded, I'm guessing) punching animation to use instead. Either this check overrides the check for a weapon in the left hand or it just overrides the animation used.

What's the handedness are you testing against? The only thing that comes to mind is the earlier comment.

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Gaming Discussion / FF4 - EXP/Monster Distribution

« on: July 23, 2008, 08:53:28 PM »

I figured I should explore this detail since I haven't written that many posts (articles?) on the EXP distribution.. as it might give one some insight/interest into something that seems a tad weak, although maybe I'm a little paranoid... The monster distribution will be explored, but won't be the focus here...

Baron->Kaipo
The experience distribution seems alright, topping out at ~160 EXP between 2 people for the most part, and some solo Cecil time so you have a chance to beat the Baron Soldier+Captain with ease... the hardest monster set may be the Sandmoth+Larva combo... as being afflicted by blind status is a really bad thing (tm).

Kaipo->Damacyan

The experience here is alright, though one may argue that the most MP draining issue are the Zombies... (when there are six of them). The most rare monster are those Blue Toad monsters (called Toad Ogre I think in FF4A)... and they potentially can be the most threatening. The TinyMage is the hardest.. particularly if you have to face them in bulk. I forget if Hold works on them, but that easily reduces her MP pool that could be used in calling Chocobo vs Octomammoth.

Damacyan->Mt. Hobs

The most experience you can obtain are from the Yellow Flan monsters (I forget their name off the top of my head).. but you trade 5 MP to get the experience.. it's a pretty damn good bargain..

Mt. Hobs->Mysidia

It's worth pointing out that the Bombs give the most EXP, but they hurt too. I often think they were unbalanced to prove some sick point, so the want to learn Cure2/Cura is often warrented here. Otherwise, most of the monsters are not too much of a threat if you use Edward correctly...

Mysidia->Baron

This is where the EXP seems to level off into "the same" for most of the game... everything seems a tad hard before conversion.. yet insanely easy afterwards. It's hard to make of the imbalance, other than Liliths being very valuable, yet hard to kill physically... generally speaking.

Baron->Tower of Zot

Maybe it's just me, but the EXP pool starts sucking, not just because you have a 5th party member, but EXP growth is completely retarded in this, and EXP doesn't really come fast enough, even with the AquaWorm combinations...

Tower of Zot->Tower of Bab-il (Underground)

The major source of EXP technically comes from the dolls, but their drops kinda stink (I mean, you get free Image casting items, but is it worth it? Perhaps...) Otherwise there aren't many monsters worth worrying about.. except when you are facing the Flan monsters before you have the Earth/Gaea Hammer.

Tower of Bab-il (Underground)-> Tower of Bab-il (Overworld)

Same summoner, different dolls (that technically are a bit more threatening).. yet everything else is weak by comparison (well, maybe the Chimera, but you end up having to use Bio/Virus). It's nice when you expose elemental weakness, but sometimes I feel it goes to an extreme...

Tower of Bab-il (Overworld->Underground)->Sealed Cave

Summoned monster options are better, and have better EXP or better drops (particularly the Mad Ogres). Probably the only monster that can threaten your ass is the Green Dragon... and that monster is rare (well, the summoned version is easier to find, but not by much).

Sealed Cave->The Moon

There are a number of optional areas to visit before the Sealed Cave... EXP distribution finally becomes sane (if you don't factor in summoned monsters).. the easiest place to get EXP seems to be the Sealed Cave.. though the best place is the Land of Summoned Monsters.. the Sylph's Cave is kind of an in-between, though there are more nuisances than hard monsters...

The Moon->Giant of Bab-il

The experience is a little erratic, but consistant. It gets better if Bahamut's Cave is visited, but the difficulty also rises nicely as well. At least "optional" doesn't have to suck...

Giant of Bab-il->Lunar Subterrane

Someone needs to help me with the damage taking between the Genji armor set vs the "Ninja Armor set"... it's somewhat hard to quantify the damage taken (well, I'd have to look into it further, but I don't remember it being that dramatically different, though I have to see how much of a power loss I get for doing so as well, though I think that's not an issue...). Since abusing Searchers is making Rydia or FuSoYa make pitiful hits... the monsters can be plentiful. The only true issue is that Machine Dragons are the most overpowered monster when you face them... (Flare/Nuke + Holy/White could negate their impact, but that multitargeted Fire attack is nasty).

Lunar Subterrane->End

I find myself disappointed at the end game formations.. I understand that the 3 Red Dragon formation is pretty close to the 2 Behemoth in terms of EXP (unless you are FF2 or FF4ET), but when they explored the 3 Red Dragon formation.. why didn't they do the same for the friggen Behemoth? It actually looks better for them due to meshing death color and their natural color... although I wonder if the EvilMasks should even attempt them (hell no)... or their EXP matches their difficulty.. even though the Mech property is worth exposing....

I kinda liked the themed monsters (Zemus's Breath+Mind), but couldn't they have done a little better...?

Ok.. I guess this was kinda bland, but I probably could do better.. hopefully the arrow analysis is better... hopefully to explain why I think it's underpowered at times.