Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions: Final Fantasy Tactics - War of the Lions Tweak 
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War of the Lions Tweak is a balance and quality-of-life improvement mod for Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, designed to make the game more fun and less annoying to play. This mod is not intended to create a wholly *new* experience - instead, its goal is an idealized version of the same game that we all know and love. Play this mod if you intend to replay FFT or experience it for the first time.
Version 2.50 was the first release to embrace game balance as a goal itself, rather than as part of QoL. It added several ASM hacks in order to even further enhance the game. V2.52 is a balance and bugfix update that adds additional optional patches as well!
The full mod source is included in the archive for those who would like to mod the mod or just snoop the ASM code.
Major features include:
[li]PSP spell effects slowdown fix
[li]Controllable "Guest" characters
[li]JP Boost always in effect
[li]Treasure Hunter always in effect and always finds the rare item
[li]No missable items or spells
[li]Multiplayer items are obtainable in the campaign
[li]All rare (but not unique) items can be purchased at the end of the game
[li]Broken and Stolen equipment can be repurchased at the Poachers' Den
[li]Poachers' Den now opens earlier
[li]Special characters can go on Errands
[li]Balance pass across the game - reduced difficulty spikes, increased chapter 4 and postgame difficulty
[li]Gender equality - female and male characters have the same stats and equipment access
[li]ASM weapon formula improvements (axes are no longer terrible)
[li]Quicker spellcasting speeds
[li]Spellcasting quotes reimplemented
[li]Endgame job prerequisites reduced
[li]Optional Feature: Only fight random battles when you want to
[li]Optional Feature: No random battle level scaling
[li]...and much more!
Please consult the readme file for the details and reasoning for every change!
- War of the Lions Tweak v2.52 - Help support the anti-ASCII art
- By: Tzepish movement!
tzepish at gmail dot com
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Readme Contents
A.) Introduction
B.) How to Patch
C.) Optional Patches, Spoilers, & Source Folders
D.) Version Changelog
E.) Complete List of Changes - List Only
F.) Complete List of Changes - Details and Commentary (long!)
G.) Special Thanks
H.) The End! (of the readme)
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A.) Introduction
War of the Lions Tweak is a balance and quality-of-life improvement mod for Final Fantasy Tactics: War of
the Lions, designed to make the game more fun and less annoying to play. This mod is not intended to
create a wholly *new* experience - instead, its goal is an idealized version of the same game that we all
know and love. Play this mod if you intend to replay FFT or experience it for the first time.
Arguably the mod has outgrown its name. "Tweak" may be a bit of an understatement at this point, I admit.
However, the soul of the mod hasn't changed - this is Final Fantasy Tactics, but better. With every
release I find myself pushing further against the boundaries of what this mod should be "allowed" to do.
But also with every change I've asked myself whether the game is still "Final Fantasy Tactics", and
whether the game would have been better if it were released in this form back in 1997. If the answer was
ever "no", then I didn't make the change.
If I went too far in one or two places, I hope you won't hold it against me. Final Fantasy Tactics is my
my favorite videogame, despite its (many) flaws. I can't help but wish it was even more perfect. I started
modding the game mostly as an excuse to spend even more time in its world. Years later, the scope of this
mod has expanded beyond anything I could have predicted.
I've played through Final Fantasy Tactics maybe about 50 times now, and I still take something new from
it every time. This game from 1997 still has so much to show us. I hope I've done the game a service and
made its world more welcoming and fun for newcomers and oldtimers alike.
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B.) How to Patch
Before you can apply this patch, you will need the following:
1.) An unmodified ISO of Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions (USA version).
I can't help you find this!
2.) A program such as PPF-O-Matic or UMDGen that can apply PPF patches.
You can download PPF-O-Matic here: https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/356/
3.) An emulator such as PPSSPP or a modded PSP or PSVita to play it on!
You can download PPSSPP here: https://ppsspp.org/
Once you have gathered those three things, here's how you apply the patch:
- Step 1: Open PPF-O-Matic.
- Step 2: Click the disk icon next to "ISO File" and point it at your FFT ISO file.
- Step 3: Click the disk icon next to "Patch" and point it at the wotltweakv2.52.ppf file.
- Step 4: Click Apply!
That's it! Your ISO file should now be patched and ready to play.
If you want to quickly verify that the patch worked, run the game and check one of the following:
* Loading a save file will ask "Load this data?" instead of "Load game data?".
* If you're starting a new game, you will be able to control ALL allied characters in the intro battle!
* If the game crashes on startup, you probably had the Euro ISO instead of the USA version. Whoops!
Get your hands on the USA ISO (somehow) and try again!
You can quit the readme now and start playing, but if you are interested in applying the optional features
and/or reviewing the list of changes, read on!
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C.) Optional Patches, Spoilers, & Source Folders
In addition to the main patch and readme, the archive contains the following optional material:
- Optional Patches folder:
This folder contains six additional patch files that each enable an optional feature.
See wotltweakv2.52_optional_features.txt (inside the folder) for details on each feature.
To apply an optional patch, repeat steps 1 through 4 above (under "How to Patch") for each optional
feature desired. Apply them over the already-patched ISO (stack them all onto the same ISO file).
- Spoilers folder:
This folder contains five additional text files that go into more detail about certain changes made
in this mod (for example, the locations of all 40 multiplayer items).
Feel free to consult these if you want to be spoiled!
- Screenshots folder (inside Spoilers):
This folder contains screenshots that show a bunch of mod changes to items and abilities.
Again, skip these if you want to avoid spoilers!
- Source folder:
This folder contains the source files for the mod. This is only relevant to you if you intend to
reverse-engineer, modify, or build on top of my work. A readme file inside this folder will tell you
how. If you aren't interested in modding the mod, then you can ignore or delete this folder.
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D.) Version Changelog
Here's a brief changelog if all you need is to get caught up on what's changed in the latest version. If
you're new to the mod, or if you want additional details on the changes, then you can skip this section
for the much more detailed and complete lists below.
v2.52 - Balance and Bugfix update:
- Bugfix: Agrias/Mustadio/Rapha can no longer join the team with the wrong version of their skillset
equipped in the secondary slot. If your save file already has the wrong version, you can fix it
by simply unequipping and reequipping it.
- Bugfix: Fixed Yardrow's treasure hunter items.
- Balance: Minor nerfs to Cloud's Limit Break range and damage, but increased vertical tolerance.
- Balance: The "Static Brave & Faith" optional patch now also buffs Steel, Praise, and Preach.
v2.51 - Balance and Bugfix update:
- Equipment: Attack power buff to Axes and Flails; Katana prices slightly increased;
Rune Armlet regenerates more MP.
- Abilities: Buffs to Doom Fist, Earplug, Wall, and Poison (the status effect itself).
- Abilities: Buffed high level offensive magic damage even more!
- Jobs: Bard, Dancer, and Arithmetician job prerequisites slightly reduced.
- Jobs: Minor speed nerf to Arithmetician (previous speed buff went too far).
- Scenario: Agrias now stays on your formation screen when she leaves the team briefly (note that
Rapha already does this). This is to prevent getting stuck in a bad state when she returns for her
"Protect Agrias" battle.
- Scenario: Belius slightly buffed (previous nerfs went too far).
- Scenario: The final boss slightly buffed to mitigate a lockdown strategy.
- Characters: Starting job levels for Reis and Meliadoul slightly reduced.
- Feature: Units are allowed more Faith (or less Brave) before deserting the team.
- Feature: Added a bunch of optional feature patches. Enjoy!
- Bugfix: The improvements to Protectja and Slowja now properly apply in all patches.
v2.50 - Major release:
- This was the first release to really embrace game balance as a goal in itself, rather than just as
part of QoL.
- Restored the US PS1 balance updates that were lost when the game was ported to PSP.
- Gender equality: female and male characters now have the same base stats and equipment access.
- Endgame physical attack damage nerfed so that not everything goes down in one hit.
- Various changes to make physical/magic "hybrid" character builds more viable.
- Tweaks to characters who are just better or worse copies of other characters. Now no character is
obsolete - each character has something that makes them unique.
- Standardized "Growths" so you can't be hosed by leveling in the "wrong" jobs.
- Various equipment-related ASMs for better damage formulas. For example, Axes are good now.
- Nerfed Arithmeticks (but buffed Arithmetician). Believe it or not, the class should be fun AND
balanced while still maintaining the "feel" of the vanilla class.
- Updated the multiplayer item distribution for a more satisfying progression.
- Sidequests are easier to activate / harder to miss.
- Broken/Stolen equipment can be bought back at the Poachers' Den!
- Increased Midlight's Deep difficulty!
- Tons of additional tweaks, which is why the version number went up by so much!
v2.01 - Minor Bugfix update:
- Made Smart Encounters an optional feature.
- Poach-only items can now be purchased at the very end of the game.
- Onion Knight, Mime, and Dark Knight job prerequisites reduced.
- Status effect spells have more vertical tolerance.
- Bugfix: Fixed the sidequests dialogue choice bug introduced in v2.00.
v2.00 - Major release:
- Introduction of ASM hacks to the project, thanks to Valhalla!
- All 40 multiplayer items are obtainable in the campaign!
- No missable items!
- Treasure Hunter always applies and always finds the rare item!
- Optional Feature: "Smart Encounters" - Fight random battles only when you want to!
- Quicker spellcasting speeds!
- Buffed endgame magic; nerfed special sword skills.
- Buffed hit rates for revive and status magic.
- Lategame characters join with more JP!
- Reis can use all of her skills on any ally (instead of only Dragons). Note this was overpowered, so
as of v2.50 this has been scaled back (they now have half power when used on non-dragons).
- Reduced difficulty spikes; increased chapter 4 difficulty.
- Too many additional changes to list - almost everything else in the mod was added in this update!
- Note this version introduced a nasty bug that could sometimes lock you out of the certain sidequests
by automatically picking the incorrect dialogue choices. This bug is fixed as of v2.01 and above,
so please upgrade!
v1.07:
- Optional Feature: "Encounter Unscaling". This feature locks random encounter monster levels in place
instead of scaling them up along with the player.
v1.06:
- Spellcasting slowdown fix included.
v1.05:
- Certain important rare items will now always be found via Treasure Hunter.
Note that as of v2.00 this has been expanded include *all* Treasure Hunter rare items.
v1.00 - Initial release:
- Controllable Guest characters.
- JP Boost always in effect.
- No missable spells (can purchase Ultima and Zodiark).
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E.) Complete List of Changes - List Only
This section quickly lists all the changes done in this mod by name only. The section after this one
contains the same list with details and commentary for each change. Refer to this section if you're
looking for an overview of all changes. Refer to the next section if you're looking for the details and
reasoning!
GENERAL GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) PSP spell effects slowdown fix
2.) Controllable "Guest" characters
3.) Quicker spell & skill casting speeds
4.) JP Boost always in effect
5.) Treasure Hunter always in effect & always finds the better item
6.) No missable items or spells
7.) Multiplayer items are obtainable in the campaign
8.) All rare (but not unique) items can be purchased at the end of the game
9.) Broken and Stolen equipment can be repurchased at the Poachers' Den
10.) Poachers' Den now opens earlier + rare item chance raised to 50%
Opt1.) Optional Feature: Only fight random encounters when you want to (Smart Encounters)
Opt2.) Optional Feature: Enemies no longer scale to your level (Encounter Unscaling)
GLOBAL BALANCE IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) US PS1 Version balance updates restored
2.) Gender equality: female and male characters now have the same base stats
3.) Standardized levelup Stat Growths + initial randomization removed
4.) More consistent critical hits + chance increased while invisible or near-fatal
5.) Knockback can only happen on the last hit of a combo (critical hits no longer cause whiffs)
6.) More consistent reviving + JP costs reduced
7.) More consistent status attacks; Status -ja spells buffed; Misc Status Effect buffs & nerfs
8.) Slightly reduced Zodiac effects + new Zodiac protection accessory
9.) More consistent weather effects
10.) Perma-dead units on the player team always crystalize (and refund all equipment)
11.) More powerful endgame magic damage (but lower MP maximums) + new MP regeneration accessory
Opt3.) Optional Feature: Start at zero MP and gradually regenerate MP per turn (FFTA2 MP System)
12.) Less powerful special character skills damage
13.) Less powerful melee Support ability damage
14.) Endgame weapon attack power values reduced across the board
SCENARIO & RANDOM BATTLE IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Slightly easier/faster intro battles
2.) Your next world map objective now always shows as a red dot
3.) More varied monster innate abilities
4.) Monsters can now be weak to weapon types
Opt4.) Optional Feature: Undead Reanimation chance is 100% instead of 50% (Undead Always Reanimate)
5.) More relevant early and midgame Treasure Hunter items
6.) Random battles drop common items
7.) Slightly easier Golgollada Gallows battle (reduced difficulty spike)
8.) Human bosses are immune to fewer status effects
9.) Monster bosses have more HP/Defense; take less damage from Gravity & Drain; no longer have Swiftness
10.) Easier end of chapter 3 battles (reduced difficulty spikes)
11.) Rare battle friendlies can join your team
12.) Agrias's birthday sidequest is easier to activate
13.) Mustadio is no longer required to activate sidequests
14.) Removed "hose yourself" sidequest dialogue choices
15.) Chapter 4 sidequests are easier to find
16.) The Dark Dragon battle is less of a boring slog
17.) The Fort Besselat decision is less of a blind guess
18.) Harder end of chapter 4 battles
19.) Harder Midlight's Deep
UI & METAGAME IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Humans (in addition to monsters) can be renamed in the Warriors' Guild
2.) Recruit better generic units from the Warriors' Guild
3.) Special (non-generic) characters can be sent on Errands + Errands take half as many days
4.) Less confusing shop inventories
5.) More meaningful choices to make in shops (price and availability rebalances)
6.) Spellcasting quotes reimplemented
7.) Consistent skill list ordering
8.) Consistent status effects ordering
9.) Unique names for modified Squire classes
10.) Consistent "Boost" ability names
11.) Updated disallowed Support Ability equips for every job
12.) Additional Reaction Ability animations
13.) Earned JP/EXP is no longer shown for enemies; enemies no longer "celebrate" job levelups
14.) Readable sound novels in the Chronicle menu
15.) Improved Select-button character tips and quotes
16.) Units are allowed more Faith (or less Brave) before deserting the team
Opt5.) Optional Feature: Units NEVER desert the team (No Unit Desertion)
Opt6.) Optional Feature: Disable permanent Brave & Faith alterations (Static Brave & Faith)
17.) Misc UI text improvements
18.) Known issue: the Battle Tutorials don't work properly
EQUIPMENT IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Gender equality: female and male characters now have access to the same equipment
2.) Weapon evasion (Parry Rate) always applies; the Parry ability now doubles it
3.) Equip X ability improvements (and renames)
4.) Special Skillsets that require a Sword now function as "Equip Swords"
5.) Special Sword Skills can be used with a Katana equipped
6.) Knives, Bows, & Crossbows buffed (plus new endgame weapons)
7.) Axe/Flail Improved random-scaling & Available earlier in shops; Axes are no longer two-handed
8.) Knight Sword Improved Brave-scaling; Knight Swords are now two-handed
9.) Katana Improved Brave-scaling; Break chances INCREASED (but can be bought back from Poachers' Den)
10.) Fell Sword Improved AntiFaith-scaling
11.) Magic Gun Improved Faith-scaling and random spell selection (now they are proper weapons)
12.) Handbags Revamp: Reduced attack power and prices; Enhanced "accessory effects"
13.) Power/Speed and Power/Magick hybrid weapons round up when calculating damage
14.) Rod damage uses magic instead of physical attack power
15.) Pole damage uses magic and physical attack power instead of just magic (nerf)
16.) Innate: Haste removed - replaced with flat Speed bonuses
17.) Innate: Reraise removed - replaced with Initial: Reraise
18.) Weapon buffs: Sasuke's Blade, Materia Blade, Dragon Rod, Staff of the Magi
19.) Genji equipment buffs
20.) Midgame light armor buffs: Adamant Vest, Sorcerer's Habit (Wizard Clothing), Brigandine, Jujitsu Gi
21.) Midgame light armor nerfs: Power Garb, Wizard's Robe
22.) Accessory buffs: Battle Boots, Spiked Boots, Power Gauntlet; Red Shoes can be bought earlier
23.) Accessory nerfs: Bracer, Tynar Rouge
24.) Weapon & Shield battle sprites better match their UI icons + misc sprite changes
25.) Improved equipment descriptions
26.) Item Attribute & Inflict Status slot consolidation (for modders)
CLASS & ABILITY IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Squire: Basic ability list revision; Defend buff; Focus raises both physical & magic attack power
2.) Chemist: Can now equip Crossbows; Reduced JP costs for Item skills
3.) Physical/magic hybrid builds are more viable
4.) Knight: Reduced Rend JP costs + increased success rates; Can now equip Axes & Flails
5.) Monk: Damage formula changes
6.) Monk: Martial Defense; Cyclone, Pummel, & Doom Fist buffs; Chakra healing nerfs
7.) Geomancer: Increased vertical tolerance for Geomancy skills
8.) Archer: Slight Speed buff; Reduced JP costs for Aim+ skills
9.) Thief: Reduced Steal JP costs + increased success rates; Steal Heart JP cost increased
10.) Jump+X movement abilities are available earlier & have reduced JP costs
11.) Dragoon: Jump skills simplification
12.) Samurai: Innate Doublehand + HP buff + Iaido buff
13.) Black Mage: Innate Arcane Strength + Nerfs to compensate; Improved Magick Counter
14.) White Mage: Innate Arcane Defense + Magic Power buff
15.) Spellcasting classes can now all equip Tomes (Books)
16.) Time Mage, Summoner, & Mystic: Improved Gravity & Drain spells
17.) Mystic: New Support ability: "Combat Casting" for casting in melee
18.) Orator: Can now equip Crossbows; "Beast Tamer" = all beast abilities combined + no range requirement
19.) Endgame job prerequisite reductions (Bard, Dancer, Arithmetician, Onion Knight, Mime, & Dark Knight)
20.) Bard & Dancer improvements + gender equality changes
21.) Arithmetician: Arithmeticks nerfs + Stat buffs
22.) Onion Knight improvements
23.) Dark Knight: HP buffs; new "Greatsword Lore" Support ability; misc nerfs
24.) AI Swiftness-related bugfixes
25.) AI equipment selection improvements
26.) AI ability selection improvements
SPECIFIC CHARACTER IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Ramza improvements
2.) Lavian, Alicia, & Ladd improvements & changes
3.) Guest characters no longer reset their EXP and JP when they leave and rejoin the party
4.) Lategame characters start with much more JP
5.) Mustadio can equip Guns regardless of his class + misc improvements
6.) Luso improvements & changes; differentiation from Ramza
7.) Rapha & Marach improvements
8.) Agrias/Meliadoul/Orlandeau nerfs & buffs; Orlandeau differentiation from Agrias & Meliadoul
9.) Beowulf improvements
10.) Reis can use Dragon powers on non-Dragons at half effectiveness + misc improvements
11.) Cloud improvements
12.) Balthier nerfs & changes; differentiation from Mustadio; Barrage works with Doublehand & Dual Wield
13.) Byblos improvements
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F.) Complete List of Changes - Details and Commentary (long!)
This section lists all the changes done in this mod with details and commentary for each change. The
section before this one contains the same list, but with names only. Refer to the previous section if
you're looking for an overview of all changes. Refer to this section if you're looking for the details
and reasoning!
GENERAL GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) PSP spell effects slowdown fix:
- The PSP will no longer slowdown while spellcasting VFX are playing, so audio and visuals will
remain in sync!
(Thanks Archaemic and Eternal248!)
2.) Controllable "Guest" characters:
- "Guest" characters are now controllable by the player. No more AI allies ruining your strategies and
getting themselves killed!
In some cases Guest characters were left uncontrollable where it felt appropriate - for example,
when encountering friendly strangers and monsters in the wild who haven't "joined" you yet (such as
Boco). Also, characters you convince to join your team in the middle of battle (for example, with
the "Entice" skill) won't be immediately controllable.
3.) Quicker spell & skill casting speeds:
- Spell and skill casting speeds have been increased by "one step". For example, Curaja went from
Speed 10 to Speed 15. Anything that was already Speed 25 or faster was left unchanged (except in
cases where a speed up was needed to avoid a tie with a stronger skill).
This change is intended to make later game spells *actually usable* without having a large effect on
game balance. Personally, I almost never used anything slower than the -ra spells in vanilla FFT,
because the casting time just wasn't worth it. This change fixes that!
See wotltweakv2.52_skill_casting_speeds.txt (in Spoilers) for the complete list of casting
speed changes.
This change affects only player classes - not monsters or NPC classes (but enemies using player
classes benefit from it, too. So enemy Black Mages and Summoners are more dangerous than before).
4.) JP Boost always in effect:
- The "JP Boost" ability now applies at all times - you will always gain JP as if the ability were
equipped. I've also removed the actual ability from the game, since equipping it now would be
pointless.
JP Boost is one of those catch-22 abilities like Sprint Shoes from FF6 - you feel bad if you don't
equip it because you are leaving JP on the table, but you feel bad if you DO equip it because you
could have equipped something that makes you more powerful in battle instead. The game is grindy
enough already without inflicting this "no win" choice on the player!
5.) Treasure Hunter always in effect & always finds the better item:
- The "Treasure Hunter" ability now also applies at all times - you will always find the item when you
step on the item tile, as if the ability were equipped. And it will now always award the rare item
(instead of awarding you a garbage common item most of the time). In other words, there is no longer
a danger of getting a bad result on a unique item and having to reload your game!
(Thanks Xjamxx for the "Treasure Hunter rare minimum brave" ASM hack!)
Note that this applies only to human characters - monsters under your control still cannot find
items. Also, enemy characters will now never find these treasures (they will no longer rob you of
the chance to claim them yourself).
(Thanks Xifanie for the "Treasure Hunter is Player only" ASM hack!)
During playtesting, I found that making Treasure Hunter always find the rare item caused me to equip
it on all my characters at all times "just in case", so I ended up with the same catch-22 problem as
JP Boost. I felt bad for using the ability (because I could be using something cool that empowers or
differentiates my characters instead), but I also felt bad for NOT using the ability (because I'm
leaving items behind). It wasn't a fun situation, so it had to go!
Though it's no longer an ability you equip, the rest of this document will still use the term
"Treasure Hunter" (or "treasure hunting") to refer to finding items on the ground during battle.
6.) No missable items or spells:
- All the various missable items in the game are no longer missable*! You no longer have to remember
to use Steal or Treasure Hunter in specific, non-repeatable battles, or play the game with a
walkthrough handy just in case you miss something.
See wotltweakv2.52_unique_and_multiplayer_items.txt (in Spoilers) for the complete list of these
items and where they can now be found, if you want to be spoiled. Though these items are no longer
missable*, you will still have to go hunting for them, as they aren't on the critical path!
* Yes, you can still permanently miss items by dismissing Agrias, Beowulf, or Reis from your team.
You can also sell unique items, losing them forever. Don't do that!
- Oh yeah, the Ultima and Zodiark spells are no longer missable as well. They can now be purchased
with JP like any other skill (or you can still learn them the old way, if desired).
7.) Multiplayer items are obtainable in the campaign:
- All 40 items that were available exclusively in multiplayer can now be obtained in the campaign!
These items have been sprinkled across all the optional maps and quests in chapter 4. They are not
missable, but they ARE unique. In other words, there is exactly one copy of each of these items
obtainable in the campaign.
See wotltweakv2.52_unique_and_multiplayer_items.txt (in Spoilers) for the complete list of
multiplayer items and where they can now be found, if you want to be spoiled.
The short answer is: look for these items on optional, repeatable battle maps.
(Thanks Xjamxx for the "Treasure Hunter 9-bit rare items" and the "ENTD 9-bit equipment items" ASM
hacks!)
8.) All rare (but not unique) items can be purchased at the end of the game:
- You can now purchase items that were previously obtainable only with the Poach or Steal abilities.
These items appear at the end of the game, after the original final shop update (now there are two
more shop updates after it). They are distributed throughout the shops based on their item type (for
example, the Zwill Straightblade can be purchased anywhere other Knives can be). Also, their prices
have been reduced to be more balanced based on their power level (previously they were artificially
inflated since the player was only expected to buy them at half price from Poachers' Dens).
Of course, you can still get this stuff "early" by using Poach and Steal.
- The exception is the Defender, which was the only Knight Sword in this category. Knight Swords
aren't normally purchased in shops, so adding it felt like a super weird one-off. So instead, it
will drop as a war trophy after a particular chapter 4 story battle (against a foe who wields a
Defender). You will still need to use Poach if you want multiple copies.
In addition, some of these items will now randomly appear equipped on high level enemies at the end
of chapter 4 and in Midlight's Deep.
9.) Broken and Stolen equipment can be repurchased at the Poachers' Den:
- Equipment items that are stolen from you, thrown by you, or broken (either by enemy Knights or by
the Iaido skillset) will appear in the Poachers' Den, allowing them to be purchased back. Thus, you
no longer have to reset the game if you lose a unique item to an enemy Knight (such as my fricken
Genji Armor!!). As part of this change, all unique items have been given (super high) prices, so you
can't buy them back for 5 gil.
Note: Previous versions of this mod made AI Knights less likely to purchase the various Rend
equipment skills (such as Rend Weapon) so that the player would be less likely to be hosed by
them. This change has been removed now that equipment breaking only hoses you for the battle,
not permanently. Enjoy!
10.) Poachers' Den now opens earlier + rare item chance raised to 50%:
- The Poachers' Den now opens up in chapter 2 instead of chapter 3. Playtesting revealed that waiting
until chapter 3 was simply too long now that jobs open up faster (allowing you to unlock Poach
earlier - see "US PS1 Version balance updates restored", below), and now that broken and stolen
equipment items are added to the Poachers' Den (making you *want* access earlier).
- Also, the Poach ability will now give you the rare drop just as often as the common drop, so that
you'll get interesting and useful items more often throughout the game with this ability. Enjoy!
Opt1.) Optional Feature: Only fight random encounters when you want to (Smart Encounters):
If you opt in to this feature, you will fight random encounters only when you want to! Walking past
green dots on the map will never trigger a random battle, but stopping ON a green dot always will.
So if you want to fight a battle, click ON the green dot; if you don't want to fight a battle, then
click on a dot BEYOND the green dot to pass through it safely!
(Thanks Xifanie for the "Smart Encounters" ASM hack!)
The benefits of this feature are:
- It's entirely up to you when you want to grind vs when you want to advance in the story.
- You have more control over the difficulty. Story battles will be more difficult if you fight fewer
random battles (gaining less EXP).
If you want this feature, apply the wotltweakv2.52_opt1_smart_encounters.ppf optional patch file
(in the "Optional Patches" folder).
Yes, this means that they are technically no longer "random" battles, but the rest of this document
will still use that term.
Opt2.) Optional Feature: Enemies no longer scale to your level (Encounter Unscaling):
If you opt in to this feature, enemies will no longer scale to your party level in random battles.
Instead, they will have preauthored levels based on their monster type and the location of the
battle. For example, Chocobos in Mandalia Plains random battles will always be level 3.
The benefits of this feature are:
- If you are looking to grind, you can choose the level of your opponents.
- Random battles won't become harder than story battles, so story battles will feel more significant.
Note this does not affect multiplayer battles. This also doesn't affect "rare" random battles (such
as the all ninjas battle at Araguay Woods), which no longer felt special or interesting when I tried
them without scaling.
If you want this feature, apply the wotltweakv2.52_opt2_encounter_unscaling.ppf optional patch file
(in the "Optional Patches" folder).
See wotltweakv2.52_encounter_unscaling.txt (in Spoilers) for details on how levels were determined
for each monster type in each location.
GLOBAL BALANCE IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) US PS1 Version balance updates restored:
The US PS1 version of the game had additional balance updates added to it that, for whatever reason,
were forgotten about for the PSP version. If you originally played the PS1 version (which is
probably most of us), then these adjustments restore the game you're more familiar with. If you
didn't, then these adjustments make the game more playable and fair than you remember.
Below is a quick summary of the adjustments. Some of these will be repeated elsewhere in the readme
wherever they are relevant:
- Ramza, Delita, and Orran are slightly buffed
- Cloud is significantly buffed!
- Summon spells have much quicker casting times and deal more damage!
- Induration, Graviga, and Meteor have quicker casting times (and Meteor deals more damage)
- A few of the more infamous bosses are slightly nerfed; others are slightly buffed
- The final boss has slightly higher speed and slightly lower physical attack power
- Lower JP costs for several skills and abilities
- Lower JP requirements for job levels
- Lower job level requirements for job unlocks
(however, in this mod, the PSP version's higher enemy Job and JP levels are maintained)*
* Note: Reducing job requirements normally has the side effect of reducing AI character job levels,
because the game uses those prerequisites to determine job levels when generating characters.
However, one of the other goals of this mod is to increase the variety of AI skill and ability
use. Thus, an ASM edit has been added that causes the game to add +1 job level to each job
prerequisite and more JP on top of that when generating AI characters, in order to maintain
the PSP version's enemy job levels and skill variety.
There's one US PS1 change that was NOT implemented: the ability to steal Elmdore's Genji equipment.
Instead, the Genji equipment is a guaranteed reward elsewhere in the game (like all unique items,
they can no longer be permanently missed).
2.) Gender equality: female and male characters now have the same base stats:
The base game infamously made female characters much worse at physical classes and male characters
slightly worse at magic classes. This was theoretically "balanced" by giving Dancers exclusive
physical-enhancing abilities and giving Bards exclusive magic-enhancing abilities, but in practice
this was not enough of an incentive to "switch sides". In other words, if you had a female character
as a physical class like Knight, it was _always_ a better choice to have a male character there
instead.
This has been corrected by making the following adjustments:
- Female base stats gain +1 Power and +2 HP (to match male characters).
- Male base stats gain +1 Magick and +1 MP (to match female characters).
- Bards and Dancers now have access to both sets of stat-boosting support abilities.
- Female-only equipment is gone. Bags, Hair Adornments, Perfume, and Lip Rouge can now be equipped by
specific classes, like all other equipment (see "Gender equality: female and male characters now
have access to the same equipment", below, for more details).
The last bit of inequality has to do with the Steal Heart ability, which only works on opposite
gender characters. Since there were more male enemies in the base game than female enemies, female
characters could make better use of this ability. Thus, a few generic male enemies have been changed
to female in several battles to balance the gender ratio.
Note: Ramza previously had the best of both worlds (male Power and HP, female Magick and MP), but
now everyone has that. In order to ensure Ramza is a bit more special, his base stats have
been boosted. See "Ramza improvements", below.
3.) Standardized levelup Stat Growths + initial randomization removed:
FFTactics has a stat "Growth" system that is never explained to the player. Whenever you gain a
level, you gain permanent increases to your base stats based on the job you were using when the
level was gained. So far so good, but the problem is these bonuses are not intuitive (for example,
the Bard has terrible MP Growth, despite being a capstone magic class) and not balanced (for
example, it is strictly better to levelup as a White Mage than as a Chemist). Thus, if you weren't
paying attention, you could hose yourself and end up with a weaker character because you leveled up
in the "wrong" jobs.
This change fixes the above issues in the following ways:
- The very worst Growths have been eliminated. All Stat Growths for all classes have been raised to a
reasonable minimum value (except Onion Knight - more on that below).
- Each class has a set of three "Levelup Bonuses". These bonuses represent the stats that have better
Growths than the new base minimums when gaining a level as that class. A class may have multiple
bonuses to the same stat for an even better Growth value.
For example, Knight has the following three Levelup Bonuses: +HP, ++Power. In other words, gaining a
level as a Knight results in a higher HP increase and a much higher Power increase. (The rest of the
Knight's stats will increase by the new base minimum amount.)
Thus, every class is "balanced" in that they all have exactly three bonuses. If you are lower in one
stat, it's because you are higher in another - there are no longer any "strictly better" choices.
(There are still "better" choices if you are going for particular builds, though - for example, a
full physical build cares less about MP.)
- The specific Growth bonuses assigned to each class roughly match the base game and the player's
expectations, but since some classes had more than three good Growths and others had fewer, some
changes had to be made in order to balance them. For example, to balance the White Mage and the
Chemist, the White Mage no longer has good HP growth and the Chemist now has good MP growth. Since
most players paid no attention to this system or didn't even notice it, these changes are unlikely
to cause any surprises, but each character's stats *will* be slightly different.
- The new Growth bonuses have been biased towards higher HP, lower MP, higher Magick, and lower Power
when compared with the vanilla game. This is a sneaky way to help address other imbalances in the
game.
- The randomization that applied to character HP and MP has been removed. Now it will always pick the
highest result.
- The Select button help text for each class now tells you its three Levelup Bonuses, finally exposing
this system to the player and letting them plan ahead.
- The above changes do not apply to monsters or NPC classes.
- For those of you who like to use the "level down" trick/exploit to maximize your stats, this is
still possible. The Onion Knight's Growths are now all equal to the worst of all vanilla classes
(for example, it still has its original bad Power Growth, but now it also has the Bard's original
bad HP Growth, the Mime's bad MP Growth, etc. for all stats). So now you only need to use the Onion
Knight for the level down trick. Note also that the Master Onion Knight now retains the same
terrible Growths, so the trick doesn't go away if you master the class.
4.) More consistent critical hits + chance increased while invisible or near-fatal:
- Critical hits will now always add +50% damage (instead of randomly adding something between 0% and
100% damage). This ensures that critical hits are always substantial while also making them easier
to plan around during battle.
- The default critical hit chance has been increased from 4% to 5%, just to make things a bit extra
spicy.
- In addition, the critical hit chance increases from 5% to 25% if the attacker is invisible or
near-fatal (also called "Critical", but this is a coincidence).
5.) Knockback can only happen on the last hit of a combo (critical hits no longer cause whiffs):
This fixes an annoying and goofy thing from the vanilla game - since critical hits knock the target
backward, getting a critical hit on a multi-hit attack (such as Barrage or a Dual Wield attack) can
result in whiffing the rest of your attacks, because you knocked the target out of reach! In other
words, you were punished for scoring a critical hit.
So now the game checks if the current attack is the last one before it will allow knockback. You can
still score critical hits anywhere in the combo, but the knockback will only activate if it's the
last hit. Single hit attacks (like most in the game) are unchanged - their only hit is still "the
last hit", so they can still knock targets back.
6.) More consistent reviving + JP costs reduced:
Reviving downed party members is less annoying and "swingy", due to the following changes:
- Phoenix Down now restores 20 HP on average instead of 11. This is to prevent annoying (and
expensive) "revive -> death -> revive" loops early in the game.
- Raise, Arise, and Revive have a higher (but not 100%) success rate, and Arise now has the same
success rate as Raise. Is there anything more annoying than missing multiple times in a row with
these skills? No, there isn't. Hence, this change.
- Revive can now target tiles that are within 1 height from the caster (instead of being limited to
the exact same height). This allows the skill to be used on rougher terrain while still preserving
its "height matters" restriction that differentiates it from Raise and Arise.
- In addition, all the skills mentioned above except Arise have had their JP costs halved. This makes
chapter 1 far less annoying, as these reviving skills are now affordable.
7.) More consistent status attacks; Status -ja spells buffed; Misc Status Effect buffs & nerfs:
- The default status activation rate on weapon attacks (for weapons like Blind Knife) has been
increased from 19% to 25%. It now matches the random spellcast chance on weapons like Icebrand,
which is probably what the player always expected. This will make battles a bit more dynamic
throughout the game.
- Like Revive, spells that apply beneficial status (such as Haste) with "height matters" can now
target tiles that are within 1 height from the caster (instead of being limited to the exact same
height), allowing their use on rougher terrain.
- Spells that apply beneficial or harmful status effects, including transformation and instant death
spells, have slightly higher hit chances.
- Poison and Doom in particular have much higher hit rates. Poison needs it to compete with damaging
fire/thunder/ice black magic; Doom needs it to compete with the buffed Poison.
- Protect, Shell, and Quiescence have had their casting speeds improved even further than other spells
did (see "Quicker spell & skill casting speeds", above). This gives you a chance to land a Shell or
Quiescence spell quickly enough to stop an enemy's casting of a huge spell.
- Protectja, Shellja, Hasteja, and Slowja have been buffed significantly. Playtesting revealed that
these spells were unnecessary after improving the vertical tolerance on their base forms, so they
have received the following changes to give them some new uses:
* They have a much better hit rate than their base forms.
* They now hit a wider area.
* They discern from friend and foe. So now they can be cast over a group that's already in the thick
of battle, mixed in with the other team's units!
* Their casting speeds have been increased (even more than "Quicker spell & skill casting speeds").
* Their MP costs have been reduced. They are now only triple their base forms' costs.
- Wall's hit rate has been buffed to match Protect and Shell. It's JP and MP costs have been reduced
(but it still targets only one tile).
In addition, individual Status Effects were given buffs and nerfs:
- The Blind hit rate penalty has been increased, and targets that are Blind are now easier to hit as
well. This status effect is actually worth using now!
- Invisible now grants a critical hit bonus (as mentioned above) and an evasion bonus. Enemy AI will
already not attack you if you are invisible, but now the AI will benefit from this status effect as
well.
- The Confused hit penalty has been increased (so that confused units are less likely to hurt their
allies). This is a nerf, since this status effect is extremely powerful.
- Poison damage has been doubled. Watch out!
- Haste and Stop now cancel each other. In other words, you can caste Haste to cure Stop (and being
Stopped while Hasted will remove Haste).
- Charm can now be cured by Esuna, Purification and Dragon's Gift. It felt like a weird ripoff that it
couldn't be, since these spells work perfectly well against Confuse.
8.) Slightly reduced Zodiac effects + new Zodiac protection accessory:
- The Zodiac multipliers have been reduced from 25% to 15% for good/poor compatibility and from 50% to
30% for best/worst compatibility. In addition, the rounding has been tweaked so that it will never
round the effect down to zero.
The Zodiac system mostly serves as an unpleasant "gotcha" in this game. You'll plan out your turn,
spend your move to approach the enemy, and then see a completely unexpected damage value in the
preview window that throws all your planning out the window. The UI doesn't help you account for
Zodiac effects ahead of time very easily, and your other option is to memorize the various Zodiac
compatibilities or keep a Zodiac chart handy while playing the game. What sort of nerd keeps a
Zodiac chart handy while playing this game?
(Full disclosure: I kept a Zodiac chart handy while playing this game back in 1997.)
This change doesn't completely solve the problem, but it does mitigate much of the damage (see what
I did there). At reduced strength, Zodiac effects are enough to add a little spice and
unpredictability to combat without randomly hosing you as often.
(Thanks SecondAdvent for the Zodiac Rewrite ASM, which made nerfing the effects much easier!)
- A new accessory was added that allows you to bypass the Zodiac system, at least for one character.
It's called "Zodiac Glove", and it reverses harmful Zodiac effects (Poor becomes Good and Worst
becomes Best when attacking; Good becomes Poor and Best becomes Worst when defending). Basically,
it's another tool that can mitigate the annoyance of the Zodiac system. You will automatically
receive it at a certain point in chapter 4.
9.) More consistent weather effects:
What? Maybe not the most exciting fix in this mod, but it *was* annoying when a character tip said
"Ice-based magicks grow stronger when it snows", then you tried it at Ziekden Fortress and it was
all a lie.
It turns out the game only applied rain and snow weather effects for _heavy_ rain and _heavy_ snow.
The game doesn't use weather effects often enough to justify this nuance, so it was just a weird
gotcha when "sometimes" it didn't work. Now it works the way the player expects - if there's snow
_at all_, ice magic will be enhanced, and if there's rain _at all_, lightning magic will be enhanced
(and fire will be reduced).
In addition, the first battle at Dorter was bugged to specify no weather, even though it was
visually raining. This has been fixed so that lightning magic will be properly enhanced in that
battle.
10.) Perma-dead units on the player team always crystalize (and refund all equipment):
Most of us just reset when one of our units perma-dies, but for the 1% of you that accept the death,
this change makes it so your units will always turn into crystals. This not only allows you to
recover some of their learned abilities, but it also refunds you all their equipment (whether you
collect the crystal or not). Thus, you cannot lose access to an important or unique item if a unit
perma-dies with it equipped.
11.) More powerful endgame magic damage (but lower MP maximums) + new MP regeneration accessory:
In the base game, attack magic is very strong in the early game, but eventually it's completely
outclassed by special character skills (such as Orlandeau's sword skills) and even normal attacks.
These changes aim to address this imbalance by buffing endgame attack magic.
- The -ra spells and early summons are slightly buffed (+2 to their damage ratings).
- The -ga spells and midgame summons are buffed more (+8 to their damage ratings).
- The -ja spells and endgame summons are buffed even more (+10 to their damage ratings).
- Flare, Holy, Meteor, and Ultima are similarly buffed (+10 to their damage ratings).*
* Consensus on previous versions of this mod was that Flare and Holy didn't need these buffs,
because they were basically always the right answer anyway. I reverted them, but then found that
I needed them again during playtesting because of two other global balance changes that came in
v2.50 - higher HP totals and lower MP totals. Suddenly, casting these guys wasn't worth their
huge MP costs. So the buffs are back!
Note also that the "Quicker spell & skill casting speeds" change (see above) also improves attack
magic. Alongside these buffs (and the nerfs to melee below), magic should now be viable during the
whole game.
- However, MP maximums are now lower than they were before. In the vanilla game, I almost never had to
worry about running out of MP. This was a missed opportunity to introduce additional tactical
decision-making in the game. Now you'll need to be more conscious of your MP and prepare accordingly
(either with MP-boosting gear, MP recovery items, or by being MP efficient during battle).
- A new MP regenerating accessory was added to mitigate the above. It's called "Rune Armlet", and it
causes the wearer to recover 1/8th of their MaxMP at the end of each turn (when Poison and Regen
effects take place). You can find it during one of the chapter 4 sidequests.
Opt3.) Optional Feature: Start at zero MP and gradually regenerate MP per turn (FFTA2 MP System):
If you opt in to this feature, all characters will start with 0 MP at the beginning of battle and
will regenerate 1/8th MaxMP after every turn (this is the MP system from Final Fantasy Tactics A2).
This requires spellcasters to "build up" to their most powerful spells by conserving MP on each
turn. This also increases the value of MP-increasing equipment, since the amount of MP regenerated
each turn is based on the unit's MP maximum.
If you want this feature, apply the wotltweakv2.52_opt3_ffta2_mp_system.ppf optional patch file
(in the "Optional Patches" folder).
Note: The Rune Armlet (the new MP regenerating accessory) will still function if you apply this
optional patch. It will cause the equipped character to regenerate MP twice as fast
(1/4th MaxMP per turn instead of 1/8th MaxMP per turn).
12.) Less powerful special character skills damage:
Special character skills are completely overpowered in the base game, to the point where they make
attack magic obsolete (why spend MP and wait a charge time for an attack that's inferior in every
way to Hallowed Bolt?). These changes reduce the power and utility of these skills so that they no
longer completely dominate the game. Note that they are still the best thing in the game, though.
- Swords skills no longer achieve absurd damage with a Knight Sword equipped. Knight Swords now assume
50 Brave as a baseline (instead of 100) when calculating damage, and their attack power values have
been reduced to compensate. More on this below under "Knight Sword Improved Brave-scaling".
- The Sword skills themselves are further nerfed slightly (-2 to their damage ratings). Now regular
attacks (with Knight Swords) will hit for more damage than sword skills (which, remember, have no
charge time or MP cost).
- Reis's breath attacks are nerfed slightly (-2 to their damage ratings) in order to be balanced with
attack magic.
- Rapha and Marach's randomized skills have had their damage nerfed significantly, because these
skills have been buffed in other ways. Their randomization is much more reliable now - see "Rapha
& Marach improvements", below.
The above nerfs are intended to keep these skills under control in the endgame, but they had the
unintended side effect of increasing the difficulty of the beginning of chapter 2 (since you rely on
Agrias a lot during those battles), so the following was done to compensate:
- Agrias starts +1 level higher and starts with a Diamond Bracelet equipped (instead of no accessory).
- Gaffgarion starts +1 level higher as well (since his sword skills were also nerfed).
- The first battle of the chapter 2 was made just slightly easier. Boco now starts +1 level higher
and two Goblins are -1 level.
13.) Less powerful melee Support ability damage:
First of all, the Support Abilities that increase physical attack power and defense have been
renamed to match their magical counterparts:
- Attack Boost -> Martial Strength (for consistency with Arcane Strength)
- Defense Boost -> Martial Defense (for consistency with Arcane Defense)
(See "Consistent "Boost" ability names", below, for the reasons for the renames.)
Now let's talk about the nerfs. Raw melee damage is overpowered in FFT. By the end of the game,
generally you can one-shot everything with a melee attack if your character is well-built. Thus,
damage-enhancing Support abilities have been nerfed to try to rein this in. Most of these abilities
were the obvious choice most of the time (and to be honest, they still are, but the problem is
less egregious). The following chart shows how their damage bonuses have been reduced:
Ability: | Before: | After: | Note:
- Martial Strength | + 33% | + 20% | Previously called "Attack Boost"
- Doublehand | + 100% | + 60% |
- Dual Wield | | - 30% | 30% less damage on each hand
Note that Dual Wield was nerfed harder than Doublehand. This is because Dual Wield allows you to
benefit from the stat bonuses of both equipped weapons, so Doublehand needed more damage to
compensate.
Finally, JP costs have been adjusted to make damage-increasing Supports 100 JP more expensive and
defense-increasing Supports 100 JP less expensive.
14.) Endgame weapon attack power values reduced across the board:
The biggest balance problem in this game is that nothing can survive the ridiculously powerful hits
that endgame characters can inflict. The nuances that differentiate monster types and different
classes - maximum HP, abilities, status effects - it all goes out at the window at the end of the
game.
Everything is fine and dandy up until the second half of chapter 4, when suddenly equipment attack
power explodes upward at an extremely rapid pace. The following changes address this situation:
- Now that Poaching rare equipment is easier and Poachers' Dens are opened earlier, the Poach-only
rare weapons have less drastic attack power upgrades compared to weapons that can be bought in
chapter 4. Note that it's now relatively easy to get some of these as early as chapter 3 or
even chapter 2, so it's still quite a treat when it happens.
- The first set of unique weapons that are obtained before Midlight's Deep have been scaled down in
attack power. They are now closer to the Poach-only equipment's old values.
- The second set of unique weapons that are obtained inside Midlight's Deep (including multiplayer
items) are now a reasonable increase from the first set of unique items (instead of a dramatic one).
Note: Other changes mentioned elsewhere in this readme go further in nerfing endgame damage:
- The damage-increasing Support abilities (like Doublehand) have been nerfed
- The new unarmed damage formula nerfs Monks about as much as weapon-using classes
- The standardized levelup growths slightly favor HP and disfavor physical attack power
- Monster bosses and large monsters (like behemoths) have more HP and/or defense
SCENARIO & RANDOM BATTLE IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Slightly easier/faster intro battles:
The very beginning of the base game hasn't aged well. Spending the first three battles with a set of
identical Squires making identical melee attacks the entire time just doesn't fly nowadays. Not only
that, but it turns out making the Guest characters controllable actually makes the earliest battles
*harder* for new players, because they don't know what they are doing yet. So the following changes
help new players get their feet wet while helping experienced players get into the meat of the game
faster:
- The starting roster of generic characters start on level 2 instead of level 1, and each has a single
piece of equipment that's better than the rest:
- Squire 1 (male): Longsword
- Squire 2 (female): Leather Clothing
- Chemist 1 (male): Plumed Hat
- Squire 3 (female): Spiked Boots
- Squire 4 (male): Shoulder Cape
- Chemist 2 (female): Bowgun (btw, Chemists can use Crossbows now)
- Also, each starts with either level 2 Squire or level 2 Chemist, allowing you to unlock the next
batch of jobs faster (so you can start actually having fun a little bit earlier). They are
deliberately "mix and match" to create more varied characters:
- Squire 1 (male): Level 2 Squire
- Squire 2 (female): Level 2 Squire
- Chemist 1 (male): Level 2 Chemist
- Squire 3 (female): Level 2 Squire
- Squire 4 (male): Level 2 Chemist
- Chemist 2 (female): Level 2 Squire
- Ramza starts with BOTH level 2 Squire and level 2 Chemist, so that you can start him on whatever
progression path you desire right after the intro battles.
- Ramza starts with a few more JP and a few more abilities unlocked: Rush, Potion, Phoenix Down,
Tailwind, Chant (which he starts with in vanilla also), Aim+1, Cure, Raise, Fire, Thunder, and
Blizzard. Again, this allows you to use him however you like right out of the box.
- The first three battles (including the prologue tutorial battle) have been made a bit easier by
reducing enemy levels. Argath also starts with slightly better armor so that he's easier to protect.
- The first three battles have more generous item drops (including an early Longbow and an early
Leather Armor, so that the Archer and Knight classes can be equipped before reaching Eagrose).
- New hires (from the Warrior's Guild) have been enhanced in similar ways.
See "Recruit better generic units from the Warriors' Guild", below, for more on this.
2.) Your next world map objective now always shows as a red dot:
- The rule for showing a red dot has changed from "this is a new location" to "this has new story
content" (including some sidequests).
The vanilla game was sometimes ambiguous as to where to go next. It would show a red dot on "new"
locations, which was _usually_ your next objective location, but not always. If your next objective
was on a blue dot, then the game gave you no help or reminders. And worse - sometimes story battles
would surprise you on blue or green dots.
Thus, the rule has been changed to be more helpful to the player. Your next story objective will now
always appear as a red dot, even if it's a repeat location. For example, a couple times in chapter 1
you need to return to Eagrose Castle to advance the story - previously it remained a blue dot, but
now it will turn red in these cases.
- Red dots have also been added in cases where you would be surprised by a story battle. For example,
the Luso battle (previously a green dot) now shows as a red dot. However, non-battle story events on
a mandatory path on the way to a red dot (such as the grass whistles scene on Mandalia Plains) will
*not* be colored red. These events are still allowed to surprise you.
- There were a few cases where the next story battle is surprise-triggered by _leaving_ your current
blue dot. These cases have been removed - the game no longer puts you back on the world map and
instead proceeds to the next event automatically. These cases were "gotchas", in that the player
would think all is well and would save their game, only to discover that they were actually trapped.
Cases where the surprising event isn't a battle, however, are unchanged - these events are still
allowed to surprise you. If you happen to have a save file that is already "in between", the game
will proceed as normal (exiting the node triggers the next battle).
- Finally, red dots have been added for your next destination in some sidequest chains. For example,
you no longer need to consult a walkthrough to know all the various times you can (or cannot) return
to Goug for the next cutscene. In order to still support the thrill of "discovering" these, however,
some red dots will appear "on a delay" so that the player is only prompted if they may have missed
it. See "Chapter 4 sidequests are easier to find", below, for more on this.
In short, the game now behaves a lot more like modern games - there will always be an objective
indicator (red dot) reminding you of where to go to advance the story.
3.) More varied monster innate abilities:
Previously every monster in the game had Counter in their reaction ability slot. This change adds a
bit more gameplay variation by changing up the reaction abilities for some of the monster types:
Monster Type | Reaction Ability (instead of Counter)
- Goblin | - Counter Tackle
- Pig | - Counter Tackle
- Aevis | - Critical: Quick
- Mind Flayer | - Magick Counter
- Minotaur | - Bonecrusher
- Bomb | - Critical: Quick
In addition, Behemoths, Dragons, and Hydras now have increased physical defense, making them tougher
to take down. They don't have increased magic defense though, so have at it, mages!
I stole this idea from the excellent "FFT: WOTL - Valeria" mod, but in keeping with the philosophy
of this mod, I didn't go quite as far. I experimented with different sets of abilities on different
monsters, and these were the ones I landed on that enhanced the flavor of the monster without
drastically changing the gameplay. For example, you already want to hit the Bomb hard enough to skip
the critical state or kill it fast if it's already critical. Giving it Critical: Quick makes the
Bomb feel even more like a Bomb.
The changes to Behemoths, Dragons, and Hydras, on the other hand, were intentionally done to make
them more fearsome foes as part of making chapter 4 more difficult (see "Harder end of chapter 4
battles", below, for more on this). But I didn't increase their magic defense because another goal
of this mod is to buff endgame magic (see "More powerful endgame magic damage", above).
4.) Monsters can now be weak to weapon types:
Another tweak to monsters to increase variety, though this change is much smaller than the above.
Monsters can now be weak to weapon types (such as Axes) in addition to elements. They take only 1.5x
as much damage from weapon weaknesses (as opposed to the 2x damage they take from elemental
weaknesses). This tech is used exactly twice - Treants are now weak to Axes and Floating Eyes are
now weak to Bows. Their monster descriptions have been updated accordingly.
Opt4.) Optional Feature: Undead Reanimation chance is 100% instead of 50% (Undead Always Reanimate):
If you opt in to this feature, undead monsters will ALWAYS revive at the end of their death
countdown (instead of having a 50% chance). This makes battles against undead foes a bit trickier,
as you need to make sure they are all down at the same time in order to win the battle.
If you want this feature, apply the wotltweakv2.52_opt4_undead_always_reanimate.ppf optional patch
file (in the "Optional Patches" folder).
5.) More relevant early and midgame Treasure Hunter items:
Most of the Treasure Hunter items in the vanilla game were junk that simply backfilled your
inventory with obsolete equipment. For example, finding a Spear in a story battle in chapter 3, even
though you can already buy the next best Polearm (Mythril Spear) at that point. This is a missed
opportunity to make the player feel surprised and excited about finding something that will actually
be useful. Thus, these changes!
- Each map now has at least two items that are ahead of the current shop progression when first played
in the story, so that the player can get the excitement of finding something cool "early". Usually
these items are simply one-step upgrades from what was there before. For example, if previously
there was an armor item in that location, then the next-best armor is in that location now instead.
- Story battle maps that cannot be returned to (such as Brigand's Den) have even more "early" items,
letting the player feel like they found something "exclusive" or "missable" (without *actually*
being missable, because the player will eventually be able to buy whatever was missed).
- Some obsolete items remained if they made sense in the story (like finding Clothing in the Dorter
Slums).
- These upgrades start to taper off once you get to chapter 4, because eventually the best items (that
are non-unique) are already being awarded.
See wotltweakv2.52_treasure_hunter_items.txt (in Spoilers) for the complete list of all Treasure
Hunter items, if you want to be spoiled!
6.) Random battles drop common items:
Because I felt bad that the "Treasure Hunter always finds the rare item" change removes a source of
common items for the player, random battles will now randomly award common items after the battle as
war trophies. Each monster type has a specific item that they have a chance of dropping:
- Goblin | Potion
- Chocobo | Phoenix Down
- Mindflayer | Echo Herbs
- Floating Eye | Eye Drops
- Treant | Golden Needle
Human enemies also have a chance to drop common items (again, only in random battles):
- Squire | Potion - Mystic | Ether
- Chemist | Remedy - Time Mage | Ether
- Knight | Hi-Potion - Geomancer | Antidote
- Archer | Antidote - Dragoon | Hi-Potion
- White Mage | Holy Water - Orator | Echo Herbs
- Black Mage | Maiden's Kiss - Summoner | Hi-Ether
- Monk | Golden Needle - Samurai | X-Potion
- Thief | 500 Gil - Ninja | Shuriken
7.) Slightly easier Golgollada Gallows battle (reduced difficulty spike):
This battle is infamous for being a huge spike in difficulty. Though I didn't originally intend for
this to be a "balance mod", this case was severe enough for me to take action even in the earlier
releases (before I started doing other balance tweaks). I reduced the level of a few enemies by 1 or
2 each. The battle is still hard for this part of the game, but no longer insanely so.
8.) Human bosses are immune to fewer status effects:
Human bosses throughout the game can now be affected by more status effects. You spent your
hard-earned JP on these status effect skills - you deserve to be able to use them! After this
change, human bosses are generally only immune to instant death and transformation status effects.
If they are ever immune to anything else, it's because they have equipment that grants them the
immunity (equipment that can be broken or stolen).
In addition, bosses will no longer be inexplicably immune to having their equipment broken or
stolen. If the boss IS immune, it's because they have Safeguard equipped (which will be visible on
their status screen).
9.) Monster bosses have more HP/Defense; take less damage from Gravity & Drain; no longer have Swiftness:
- Lucavi and other super monsters with hidden stats (showing "???" for their HP) now also have a
slight HP boost and take less physical (but not magical) damage. These fights, like most "defeat the
single target" type fights, weren't quite as epic as they should have been. This slight boost helps
with that problem.
- Drain, Gravity, Graviga, and Lich were broken options against boss monsters, who have huge HP pools
but no special protection against damage based on maximum HP. Now these spells will deal half their
regular damage against any monster with hidden stats. This makes them still strong, but not
ridiculous.
- MP draining is also halved, even though these bosses don't typically have quite as gigantic MP
pools. They do still have more than any normal monster though, so halving MP drain means you can no
longer top off from one casting.
- Swiftness has been removed from these creatures (except the final boss). Now that spells are cast
quicker in general, and now that the AI bugs around Swiftness have been fixed, some of these Lucavi
attacks became extra ridiculous (like Belias casting Cyclops and wiping out the entire team before
the player can react). This is a slight nerf because they now cast a bit slower than in the vanilla
game, but the buffs above make up for it.
10.) Easier end of chapter 3 battles (reduced difficulty spikes):
The other infamous difficulty spikes occur at the end of chapter 3, and these cases are even worse
because the game prompts you to save before locking you into these three battles, causing several
players to have to restart the entire campaign!
First, a UI change: When prompted to save between a sequence of battles, you will now be reminded to
save on a separate slot, specifically to help avoid situations like getting stuck on battles like
these. Now, onto the battles themselves:
FIRST BATTLE:
- A few enemies were reduced in level by 1 or 2 each. This battle got a little bit harder because
Archers are stronger in this mod, so this is just a minor correction.
- This battle now drops a Jade Armlet and Rubber Boots as war trophies - items that may come in handy
in the next two battles (hint hint).
SECOND BATTLE (first boss):
- The first boss (human boss) has nerfed armor and a reduced level.
However, the biggest problem with the first boss isn't how *hard* he is - it's that very few
strategies will actually work against him. And depending on how you developed Ramza, you might be
locked out of *all* of them, even if your Ramza is a badass otherwise!
Thus, in addition to the nerfs above, the following changes were applied to the first boss in order
to allow for more strategies:
- His weapon deals lightning elemental damage (instead of non-elemental damage).
- He no longer has the Safeguard ability equipped.
- He is immune to fewer status effects (like all human bosses).
SECOND BATTLE (second boss):
This battle was nerfed more drastically, but it's still the hardest fight in the campaign.
- All enemy levels in this fight were reduced by 2 or 3 each.
- The second boss's HP has been reduced slightly (but note that he still gains Martial Defense, like
all other Lucavi).
- The second boss no longer has Swiftness (like all Lucavi), allowing you to actually scatter or drop
a Shell when you see him casting a party-killing Cyclops summon.
THIRD BATTLE:
The changes to this battle make it less likely that the battle ends in game over before your first
turn (yes, something that is very much a possibility here).
- Enemy levels have been reduced by 1.
- The two Assassins have slightly less speed.
- The Ark Knight's AI no longer prioritizes Rapha (but be careful, the Assassins still do).
- Rapha herself has more Speed, making it more likely that she'll get a turn. She also joined the
party (a few fights ago) at +1 level in order to make this fight a bit more survivable.
- Rapha will no longer vanish from your formation screen when she temporarily leaves the team. This
allows you to equip her specifically for this fight. This change prevents the player from hosing
themselves by not equipping Rapha with enough HP before she leaves the party, giving her no way to
survive this battle.
11.) Rare battle friendlies can join your team:
Random friendly characters encountered in rare random battles will now ask to join your party after
the battle. This doesn't apply to all cases in all rare battles, so it's just a nice bonus when it
happens.
Also, a few more of these characters have been added, and they have been given more JP and rare (but
not unique) equipment, just to make these rare events a bit more interesting and rewarding.
12.) Agrias's birthday sidequest is easier to activate:
This quest is normally a nightmare to activate and almost impossible to discover on your own. These
changes mitigate both problems:
- Lavian, Alicia, and Mustadio no longer need to be in your party. Feel free to dismiss them if you
want to!
- You now only need the 50,000 Gil to spend in order to trigger the quest (instead of requiring an
additional 450,000 Gil in your wallet).
(Thanks Xjamxx for the "Fix gil amount needed for the lip rouge quest" ASM hack!)
- You can now trigger the quest a day early or a day late. Agrias won't mind.
13.) Mustadio is no longer required to activate sidequests:
Scenes that require Mustadio to activate will automatically proceed as long as he isn't out on an
Errand (spoiler alert, special characters can now go on Errands). Mustadio will happily help you
from the sidelines, even if he is no longer in your team (if Mustadio "dies" in battle, he suffers
a career-ending injury instead).
This change makes several (but not all) sidequests non-missable, and allows their world map dots to
turn red at the proper times (because I can guarantee that the player can trigger them).
14.) Removed "hose yourself" sidequest dialogue choices:
Two dialogue choices have been removed. These dialogue choices had no purpose other than to hose the
player if they chose wrong (by permanently locking out some sidequests and items). The removed
dialogue choices are:
- The player can no longer turn down Beowulf from joining the team after meeting him in the tavern.
- The player can no longer turn down purchasing Aerith's flower (even if they have 0 gil).
Note that you can still hose yourself by dismissing Agrias, Beowulf, or Reis from your team.
Don't do that!
15.) Chapter 4 sidequests are easier to find:
In vanilla, a bunch of sidequests required reading specific Rumors or visiting unlikely places in
order to unlock them. This made these sidequests hard to discover (and hard to remember for
replays). So the following changes make these quests more discoverable:
- Some sidequest chains now have red dots on the world map to inform the player that there's something
there. Usually these appear on a delay so that the player still has the opportunity to "discover"
the quest on their own.
- Sidequest Rumors now open up earlier in the campaign and will appear in more towns, giving the
player more opportunity to discover them. If the player hasn't discovered the quest by a certain
point in the campaign, the Rumor requirement will be dropped, making them even easier to find.
The following is a list of changes done for each sidequest's requirements.
Skip this part if you want to avoid spoilers!
CLOCKWORK CITY GOUG SCENES:
- Goug will now appear as a red dot when there's a new scene available.
- Mustadio is no longer required to trigger these scenes.
THE HAUNTED MINE:
- The rumor appears in more towns.
- The rumor requirement will be dropped after Zeltennia if this quest isn't done yet.
- Lesalia will appear as a red dot after Zeltennia if the prerequisite Goug scene is done and the
quest still isn't complete.
- The player cannot turn down Beowulf.
- The rumor will now disappear after this sidequest is cleared.
RASH OF THEFTS:
- The quest is available earlier, right at the start of chapter 4.
- The second rumor appears in more towns (everywhere the first rumor does).
- The second rumor no longer appears in Dorter (so the user can't get "stuck" there).
- The first rumor requirement will be dropped after Zeltennia if this quest isn't done yet. (The
second rumor is _not_ dropped though. Doing so would have made this quest mandatory instead of
optional, because there's no way to avoid the Dorter world map dot).
- Reading the second rumor will cause Dorter to turn into a red dot one scenario later if the
quest isn't complete yet.
THE CURSED ISLE OF NELVESKA:
- Nelveska Temple will no longer appear as a red dot until there's a battle ready for you there.
- The world map transition is now a battle swirl instead of a fade in (bugfix).
A MYSTERIOUS OTHERWORLDLY TRAVELER:
- You can no longer turn down buying the flower (even if you have 0 gil).
- Sal Ghidos will appear as a red dot after the prerequisite Goug scene is complete.
LIONEL'S NEW LIEGE LORD:
- The quest is available earlier, after Limberry (instead of after Mullonde).
- The rumor no longer appears until the quest is ready.
- The rumor appears in more towns.
- The rumor no longer appears in Goug (so the user can't get "stuck" there).
- The rumor requirement is *not* dropped though (doing so would have made this quest mandatory if
you want to enter Midlight's Deep).
- The Dark Dragon battle is less of a boring slog (see below).
- The rumor will now disappear after this sidequest is cleared.
MELIADOUL'S BONUS BATTLE:
- This battle is still missable, but less so. It disappears later - after Mullonde instead of
after Eagrose (it simply doesn't make sense if fought after Mullonde).
- Meliadoul now hits the boss with Crush Armor during the cutscene instead of Crush Helm, because
Crush Helm may not have been learned yet.
- The boss now starts with no armor equipped (because Meliadoul crushed it in the cutscene).
DISORDER IN THE ORDER:
- The quest is available earlier, after Eagrose (instead of after Mullonde).
- The rumor appears in more towns.
- The rumor requirement will be dropped after Mullonde if this quest isn't done yet.
- The extra scene in Zeltennia is no longer required before fighting the battle at Brigands' Den.
In other words, the Zeltennia scene and the Brigands' Den battle can now be done in any order.
- Now that the enemies in this battle no longer carry missable equipment, they are no longer
flagged as immortal (so that you can snag their crystals).
16.) The Dark Dragon battle is less of a boring slog:
The Dark Dragon battle is particularly poorly designed. He is practically immune to magic, he has
absurd HP, and he has boring attacks. The result is a fight where nothing interesting happens - both
sides just smash each other with attacks for a very long time until the end. These changes add some
strategy to the fight:
- Dark Dragon's Faith has been increased from 10 to 30, and he no longer has Arcane Defense. This
makes magic actually _work_ on him, even if it isn't particularly strong. This also makes Marach's
anti-Faith magic merely "very strong" as opposed to "the win button" against him.
- Also, he can now be hit with status effects. In other words, the boss of Beowulf's questline is now
fun to fight against with Beowulf (instead of being a spectacularly poor matchup for him).
- He now has Martial Defense (previously called Defense Boost), like all large monsters do in this
mod. This reduces the bias towards physical attacks that this boss previously had. (Also, he now has
resistance to Gravity and Drain attacks, like all monster bosses.)
- His HP has been reduced so that the fight doesn't go on longer than it needs to - especially now
that he has physical damage resistance (and his magic damage resistance, while lower than before, is
still very good).
- His Speed has been increased so that he gets more turns, reducing the chance that the player will
"lock him down", repeating a loop of actions each round until he's dead.
- He can now summon Bahamut. If you see him start to cast, scatter!
17.) The Fort Besselat decision is less of a blind guess:
When you reach Fort Besselat, the vanilla game asks if you want to attack the North Wall or the
South Wall, but gives you no context whatsoever that you can use to actually make the decision.
It's just a blind guess (unless you look it up online).
- Now the text reads "Assault (North Wall)" or "Sneak in (South Wall)". This seems to fit the dialogue
and unit makeup of each of these battles, where the North Wall has heavily armored defending units
who say stuff like "a frontal assault?", and the South Wall has fast units who say stuff like "how
did you get in here?".
- The battles have also been modified so that the North Wall battle is more about HP and damage,
and the South Wall battle is more about speed and status effects.
- Also, the menu has been reordered so that the North Wall choice appears *above* the South Wall
choice.
18.) Harder end of chapter 4 battles:
The end of the game is infamous for being way too easy. And it certainly didn't help that this mod
awards more JP and guarantees access to 40 new powerful multiplayer items. So, to increase the
enjoyment of chapter 4, and to make up for the extra power awarded in this mod, the final several
battles were made more difficult.
- Enemy levels in the second half of chapter 4 are increased, starting with the battles at Limberry.
At first I thought I'd only need to raise their levels by 1 to 3 each, but upon further playtesting,
I actually had to scale each enemy up higher and higher based on how far into chapter 4 they appear.
So the battles at Limberry are +1 to +3 levels, the battles after that are +2 to +4, etc. all the
way up to a whopping +20 levels for the final boss!
- Enemies at the end of chapter 4 can now be randomly assigned more powerful equipment, including
items that were previously available only through Poaching.
- In addition to the level increases, the human bosses in the final dungeon all have innate abilities
that increase their physical and magical attack power and defense, as well as upgraded equipment
(including multiplayer items. Yes, this means you can get additional copies by stealing, but there's
no way to exit the final dungeon anyway, so they don't really "count").
- Finally, endgame monsters now have more powerful innate abilities that make them a greater threat on
the battlefield. These were already mentioned above under "More varied monster innate abilities",
but here they are again for reference:
Enemy Type | New Innate Abilities
- Final Human Bosses | - Martial & Arcane Defense, Martial & Arcane Strength
- Behemoth | - Martial Defense
- Dragon | - Martial Defense
- Hydra | - Martial Defense
As drastic as this all sounds, this part of the game is still too easy. To go any further would be
too drastic of a change for this mod. The end result of these changes is that the final battles are
just a bit easy rather than laughably so.
19.) Harder Midlight's Deep:
The Midlight's Deep (the postgame dungeon) was also too easy - I could clear it no sweat at the end
of my "no grinding, no random battles" playtests. So the following changes were made to increase the
challenge:
- Each floor has had its enemy levels increased by about 2 levels per floor. For example, the enemies
on Floor 1 are +2 levels, on Floor 2 are +4 levels, etc. up to +20 levels for the final floor!
- Human enemies in Midlight's Deep can now be randomly assigned more powerful equipment, including
items that were previously available only through Poaching.
- Note also that since endgame weapons have been nerfed (see "Endgame weapon attack power values
reduced across the board", above), the monsters of the lower floors are also harder.
UI & METAGAME IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Humans (in addition to monsters) can be renamed in the Warriors' Guild:
In addition to monsters, you can now rename human characters. You can now proceed to name all your
starting characters after your friends without having to boot them all from the party first!
Name changes for generic characters and Ramza work perfectly; name changes for special characters
(such as Agrias) will work in all gameplay-related text, but will not be reflected in story dialogue
(characters will still call her Agrias). Thus, the rename option is now called "Give Nickname", to
hint to the player that it won't change the name in all cases.
2.) Recruit better generic units from the Warriors' Guild:
- Units recruited from the Warriors' Guild will now start with additional job levels. Instead of
choosing between hiring a Male Squire and Female Squire, you now choose between hiring a fighter
class (randomly a Knight or an Archer) or a Mage class (randomly a White Mage or a Black Mage).
- In addition, all units recruited from the Warriors' Guild will start with the following abilities
already unlocked: Rush, Potion, and Phoenix Down. Fighter types will also start with Aim+1, and mage
types will start with Cure, Raise, Fire, Thunder, and Blizzard.
- Gender is now randomized, rather than explicitly selected, since it no longer has an effect on game
balance (see "Gender equality: female and male characters now have the same base stats"). If you are
aiming for a specific gender, just reroll!
These changes give these units a slight head start so that you don't need to grind them in Squire or
Chemist before they really get going.
3.) Special (non-generic) characters can be sent on Errands + Errands take half as many days:
- Special characters can now be sent on "Errands" in taverns. No longer will you have to hold onto
three generic characters just for this purpose (after a certain point in the story, anyhow).
The rest of the original restrictions still apply:
You still can't send Ramza, monsters, or Guests on Errands.
- All Errands now take half as many days as they did before, and extra days now give double the
rewards (for example, spending 2 extra days will now give you the rewards that 4 extra days used
to).
Let's be honest, we all just walked back and forth between two safe spots in order to pass all the
days anyhow. Maybe more players will now play it legit if they can use Errands to grow their whole
roster and the time requirements aren't so ridiculous.
4.) Less confusing shop inventories:
Usually when I'm shopping in vanilla FFT, I often don't understand why a particular item is missing
from the shop I'm in, so I just keep guessing shops until I find the item. Thinking on this problem,
I landed on a "brilliant" idea to divide the item types consistently across the shops based on the
"category" of the town - but when I sat down to do the work, I discovered that the game already does
this! It just does a poor job of it.
The shop inventories were already determined by the town's "category" (the four of which I'm calling
"Martial", "Magick", "Trade", and "Tech"). However, there were many exceptions to the category rules
littered about in individual towns, and the categories themselves had several overlapping item
types, so ultimately the player couldn't perceive them through the noise. Instead, it felt like the
shop inventories were arbitrary, and it was a common "gotcha" when your desired item was missing in
the current town.
So in this mod, those "exceptions" disappear, and there are fewer overlapping item types between the
categories. Yes, a "better" fix may have been to add every buyable item type to every shop, rather
than removing some types from some shops, but I thought what they were trying to do here was neat
for flavor, giving the towns a bit of personality. Also, breaking up the shops to reinforce that
flavor saves the player from having to scroll super long lists every time they visit a shop.
Here are the revised shop inventories:
Martial: | Magick: | Trade: | Tech:
- Knives | - Rods | - Ninja Blades | - Guns
- Swords | - Staves | - Katana | - Crossbows
- Axes | - Poles | - Bows | - Accessories
- Flails | - Tomes | - Handbags | - Bombs
- Crossbows | - Hats | - Instruments | - Items
- Bows | - Clothes | - Cloth |
- Polearms | - Robes | - Hats |
- Shields | - Accessories | - Clothes |
- Helmets | - Shuriken | - Robes |
- Armor | - Bombs | - Accessories |
- Accessories | - Items | - Shuriken |
- Items | | - Bombs |
| | - Items |
| | - Poachers' Den |
Martial Towns: | Magick Towns: | Trade Towns: | Tech Towns:
- Lesalia | - Gariland | - Dorter | - Goug
- Riovanes Castle | - Yardrow | - Warjilis |
- Eagrose Castle | - Gollund | - Sal Ghidos |
- Lionel Castle | - Zaland | |
- Limberry Castle | - Bervenia | |
- Zeltennia Castle | | |
In addition, the Select button help text for each town now tells you its shop category!
Note: Removing the "exceptions" means the player can no longer purchase Broadswords or Daggers at
the the very first shop of the game (in vanilla FFT, it's a Magick type that still sold Knives and
the Broadsword as exceptions). To make up for this, an extra Dagger and an extra Broadsword will
drop as war trophies in the earliest battles of the game.
5.) More meaningful choices to make in shops (price and availability rebalances):
Several equipment items have revised prices and availability timing in order to give the player more
interesting decisions to make while shopping.
- Shop progression compared to attack power has been smoothed out in general. No longer is there a
super long gap in the second half of chapter 2 with barely any upgrades, followed by a super rapid
period of upgrades in the first half of chapter 3, for example.
- Item types that are similar to each other have had their updates "staggered". For example, Bows and
Crossbows used to update at the same time, making it very unlikely that you'd ever buy a Crossbow.
Now they alternate updates instead.
- Axes and Flails are now available in shops slightly earlier, so that you can effectively choose them
over Swords if you want to. Note that these weapons have been improved to be viable alternatives to
Swords - see "Axe/Flail Improved random-scaling", below.
- Polearms appear in shops earlier in the game, so that Dragoon is more likely to be actually usable
when you unlock it. Early Polearm prices have been increased (they were a steal of a deal) and late
Polearm prices have been reduced (they were ridiculous).
- Rare items that were previously Poach-only have had their prices reduced to be more balanced based
on their power level. Previously they were artificially inflated since the player was only expected
to buy them at half price in Poacher's Dens.
6.) Spellcasting quotes reimplemented:
Inexplicably, the cool quotes that characters would sometimes say when casting spells were removed
for the English version of War of the Lions, despite their presence in the Japanese version and in
the PS1 versions of the game. They have been restored for WOTL Tweak (and the dummied quotes for
Beowulf's skills and the enemy skill Dispelna have been enabled).
(Thanks Xjamxx for the "Add spell quotes back to the game" ASM hack!)
(Thanks Daykeras for implementing the FF Record Keeper quotes and translating the rest of them!)
(Thanks to The Lion War team for the trimmed versions of Daykeras's quotes!)
Since these quotes weren't originally in WOTL, they don't have official translations. I started from
the quotes used in "The Lion War of the Lions", which are trimmed versions of the quotes that
Daykeras put together, which _themselves_ are based on the quotes from Final Fantasy Record Keeper.
Then, I trimmed them even further and increased the text delay on them so that you actually have
time to read them. Enjoy!
7.) Consistent skill list ordering:
Several skill lists have been rearranged in order to make them more consistent and/or intuitive. For
example, "Arm Shot" now always appears *above* "Leg Shot", and skills that reference equipment slots
(such as Crush, Rend, and Steal) now match the Equip screen slot order.
Elemental Order: | Equipment Slot Order: | Stats Order: | Healing Order:
- Fire | - Weapon | - HP | - Hit Points
- Thunder | - Shield | - Power | - Status Effects
- Ice | - Helm | - Speed | - Revival
- Wind | - Armor | - Magic |
- Earth | - Accessory | - MP | Attack Order:
- Water | | | - Direct Damage
- Holy | Body Parts Order: | | - Status Effects
- Darkness | - Arms | |
| - Legs | |
There are some exceptions to the above. For example, the Time Mage specializes in status effects, so
its direct damage spells are at the bottom of its list instead of the top. And several skill lists
are ordered by power before taking their elements or status effects into account (for example,
Rapha's and Marach's skill lists).
In addition, the Mystic, Geomancer, Orator, and Templar skill lists were rearranged in order to make
them more logical and less of a confusing mess (see below).
8.) Consistent status effects ordering:
Status effects are now listed in a more intuitive order in spell/item descriptions and in skill
lists. This new order attempts to balance severity (they get roughly more severe as you move down
the list) vs expectations (classics like Poison and Blind should be near the top) vs clarity
(keeping related status effects next to each other).
Status Effect Order: | Status Category:
- Poison | - Body
- Oil | - Body
- Blind | - Body / Actions
- Silence | - Body / Actions
- Slow | - Actions
- Stop | - Actions
- Disable | - Actions
- Immobilize | - Actions
- Berserk | - Mind
- Confuse | - Mind
- Charm | - Mind
- Traitor | - Mind
- Sleep | - Mind
- Doom | - Mind / Transformation
- Undead | - Transformation
- Vampire | - Transformation
- Chicken | - Transformation
- Toad | - Transformation
- Stone | - Transformation
- KO | - (the most "severe")
The Mystic, Geomancer, Orator, and Templar skill lists were rearranged to mostly follow the new
status effect order, which makes them much easier to understand. Though in some cases the order is
violated if there were good reasons for doing so - for example, the Orator's list starts with Entice
(Traitor) because that's the Orator's signature skill.
Known issue: The status effects are still listed in the old order on the "View List" equipment
screen. I don't know how to edit the order on that screen!
9.) Unique names for modified Squire classes:
Modified versions of the "Squire" class now have separate names and text descriptions. In other
words, this fixes the weird "it's a Squire, but not" situation for some special characters.
I've gotten criticism for this change because it's adjacent to changing the narrative, but I still
believe in it for gameplay reasons. These classes have different skills, stats, levelup bonuses,
and equipment proficiencies, so they never should have shared names with base classes to begin with.
I tried to pick new names for them that didn't mess with the story or "change" anything!
- Ramza and Delita begin with the "Cadet" class. For consistency with Ramza's version of the class,
Delita gains the Tailwind skill.
- Argath remains a Squire, but his version of the class has changed to be consistent with "normal"
Squires. In other words, he can now equip Axes, he can no longer equip Robes, and he no longer has
weird copies of the Rend Helm and Rend Armor skills. In exchange, Argath starts the game with a few
levels of Knight so that he's more likely to have these skills legit.
- Ramza in chapter 2 upgrades to the "Sellsword" class. Upgrading the class name helps new players
realize that something has changed - in this case, that he has new abilities available to purchase.
- Ramza in chapter 4 upgrades to the "Heretic" class (for the same reasons as above).
10.) Consistent "Boost" ability names:
Vanilla FFT had inconsistent ideas for when something should be called "Boost". For example,
"Attack Boost" is a support ability that always increases physical attack power, but "Magick Boost"
is a reaction ability that increases magic power when hit. Also, "Fury" is a reaction ability that
increases physical attack power when hit... so clearly "Attack Boost" would have been a better name
for the one called "Fury", but "Power Boost" would have been even better, because "Attack Boost"
doesn't tell you *which* attack (physical or magic) it's increasing!
Anyway, to solve all this mess, these abilities were renamed for consistency. The new rule of thumb
regarding the word "Boost" is: "Boost" is only used as *verb*, when something *happens*.
Hence, the following ability name changes:
- Attack Boost (support) -> Martial Strength (for consistency with Arcane Strength)
- Defense Boost (support) -> Martial Defense (for consistency with Arcane Defense)
- HP Boost (support) -> Double HP (Note: it's also been buffed from +20% to +100%)
- EXP Boost (support) -> Double EXP (for consistency with Double HP, and for clarity)
- Fury (reaction) -> Power Boost (for consistency with Magick Boost, etc.)
- Adrenaline Rush (reaction) -> Speed Boost (for consistency with Magick Boost, etc.)
It's a bit of a bummer losing the flavorful "Adrenaline Rush" name, but I think it's worth it for
the extra clarity. I tried going in the other direction - giving *everything* flavorful names like
Adrenaline Rush and Fury - but the change felt too drastic for this mod.
11.) Updated disallowed Support Ability equips for every job:
When equipping Support Abilities, the game is supposed to grey out the ability if it's already
innate to your current job, so that you don't equip something you don't need to. However, the
original game only did this for a hardcoded list of jobs and supports, and special characters like
Luso and Reis weren't on the list (so the game would allow you to equip Poach onto Luso, for
example, even though you don't need to because Poach is innate). This also prevented FFTPatcher
changes from benefiting from this behavior, so additional innates added to other classes in this mod
previously didn't gain this functionality (for example: Doublehand on Samurai).
This change removes the hardcoding and instead checks the current job's innate abilities before
deciding which ones to grey out. This means not only does it work for special characters and for
jobs that were changed in this mod, but it's now future-proof for any other job changes that may
occur (either by me or by anyone else who wants to use this mod as a base for their own).
12.) Additional Reaction Ability animations:
A few Reaction abilities that had no animation assigned to them will now play an animation when they
trigger. These animations were borrowed from other skills that have the same or a similar effect.
For example, Speed Boost now uses the animation from Tailwind (which also raises Speed). Note that
no new animations were authored for this change - I'm simply using existing animations in more
places.
Reaction Ability | ...uses the animation from:
- Power Boost | - Praise
- Speed Boost | - Tailwind
- Magick Boost | - Preach
13.) Earned JP/EXP is no longer shown for enemies; enemies no longer "celebrate" job levelups:
If you have "Display Earned JP/EXP" turned on, it will now only show for units on your own team.
Since this display wastes about a second or two per action, it's simply not worth showing for enemy
units. They're gonna die anyway.
For similar reasons, enemies will no longer celebrate (with the "jump up and down" animation) when
they gain a job level, as it's a waste of time and completely irrelevant in the current battle. Note
however that they will still celebrate gaining EXP levels, as these _are_ relevant in the current
battle.
14.) Readable sound novels in the Chronicle menu:
You can now read the in-game sound novels, just like you can in the Japanese versions of the game!
(Thanks 3lric and Cheetah for the "Unlock novels" ASM hack!)
(Thanks Tuffy da Bubba & RafaGam for translating these!)
These novels can be found under Chronicle, Artefacts after you discover them by completing enough
Errands. They are:
- Enavia Chronicles
- Mesa's Musings
- Nanai's Histories
- Veil of Wiyu
Note the Scriptures of Germonique are also readable (as they were in vanilla). They have been
renamed to "Germonique Scriptures" in the Artefacts menu (instead of "The Scriptures") so that the
player can find them easier.
Note also that 3lric made more polished versions of these novels for "The Lion War of the Lions",
which I looked into including, but they didn't play nice with the Valhalla PSP hacking tool. They
may make their way into a future release.
15.) Improved Select-button character tips and quotes:
- Character select button tips and quotes (when you click on their name) have been updated for
accuracy based on changes in this mod. For example, "I so hate when the enemy finds an item before
I do!" was changed to "If you missed a rare item, you can always go back for it!".
- Vague character tips have been rewritten to give more useful and specific information. For example,
"I have heard there are shops that sell their wares at half price!" was changed to "Visit a
Poachers' Den to recover broken or stolen equipment!".
- Misleading character tips were corrected or replaced with new useful tips. For example, "Starve a
cold and feed a fever. Or was it the other way?" was changed to "Fell swords deal greater damage
when wielded by those of little Faith.".
- Duplicate character tips, especially the more useless ones, were replaced with more useful tips
often containing new information. For example, the duplicate "Ooh, my back itches!" was changed to
"Treants take extra damage when hit by an axe!".
- Sexist character tips were also replaced with new useful tips instead. For example, "Though I may be
a girl, I am not craven!" was changed to "Being Invisible increases your critical hit chance!".
16.) Units are allowed more Faith (or less Brave) before deserting the team:
The Faith/Brave thresholds for determining when a unit will desert the team have been made more
forgiving. Actual desertion values have only been modified by 1 point, but the threaten values
(when a unit warns you that they are considering leaving) have been modified by 6 points, so that
there isn't a super wide range of otherwise safe values that result in these annoying warnings after
every battle.
| Before: | After:
- Brave Threaten / Desert | < 16 / 06 | < 10 / 05
- Faith Threaten / Desert | > 84 / 94 | > 90 / 95
Opt5.) Optional Feature: Units NEVER desert the team (No Unit Desertion):
If you opt in to this feature, you can forget everything I just said about the new desertion
thresholds above, as units will no longer desert the team (or threaten to desert the team) based on
their Brave or Faith values. You can go ahead and pump that Faith rating up as high as you want it
on your spellcasters without worry.
If you want this feature, apply the wotltweakv2.52_opt5_no_unit_desertion.ppf optional patch file
(in the "Optional Patches" folder).
Opt6.) Optional Feature: Disable permanent Brave & Faith alterations (Static Brave & Faith):
If you opt in to this feature, Brave and Faith increases and decreases will apply only to the
current battle - after battle, they will always revert to their original values (for example, Ramza
will always have 70 Brave and 70 Faith). This makes Brave and Faith intrinsic, unchanging properties
of each character that must be planned around.
In addition, this feature increases the potency of Steel, Praise, and Preach, so that these skills
are still worth using in a world where they provide no permanent increase. They now provide
quadruple their original increase (Steel = Brave+20; Praise = Brave+16; Preach = Faith+16).
(Thanks ic1025 for this awesome idea!)
Personally, I'm not a fan of this feature because it limits the kinds of character builds you can
make (for example, I love Mustadio as support mage with a Magic Gun, but not if you can't raise his
Faith). Also, there are changes in this mod that don't make as much sense in a world where Brave and
Faith can't be changed (for example, Beowulf can now use a Katana, which has a lot of potential, but
not if he's stuck at 45 Brave). If you intend to make use of such builds, you'll want to buff their
Brave/Faith in battle often (hence the skill buffs).
In exchange, you get a little more challenge and your special characters have more meaningful
differences from each other. Choosing the "right" builds for each character becomes a more
important element of skill.
If you want this feature, apply the wotltweakv2.52_opt6_static_brave_faith.ppf optional patch file
(in the "Optional Patches" folder).
Note: You probably want to use the next optional patch alongside this one.
Note: The "No Unit Desertion" optional patch is compatible with this one, but I'm not sure it's
actually possible to trigger a desertion if your Brave and Faith can't change. Still, there's
no harm in applying it also if you want to be sure.
17.) Misc UI text improvements:
Minor text changes were done in various parts of the game for clarity or polish:
- When prompted to save between a sequence of battles, you will now be reminded to save on a separate
slot (so that you don't get stuck on an unwinnable battle).
- When inheriting abilities from a crystal, the text now makes it clear that you will gain ALL listed
abilities (not just the one you click on). Ideally the menu pointer wouldn't even appear here,
because being able to select an individual skill gives the mistaken impression that you are choosing
only one to inherit, but that change is beyond my ASM powers!
- Zodiac compatibility charts now show "!" instead of "?" for the best/worst compatibility. Hopefully
this helps it stick out more in the player's mind.
- Tutorial text now properly explains that opposite Zodiac signs between humans and monsters actually
results in Poor compatibility (not Best or Worst). I didn't even know this!
- Revised several job, ability, and skill descriptions for grammar, gravitas, or clarity.
- Select button help text on the various flavors of evasion will now specify which directions they
protect from (to recap: Weapon Evasion and Character Evasion = front only, Shield Evasion = front
and sides, Accessory Evasion = all directions).
- Innate abilities in job descriptions are specified with "Innate:" text instead of "Ability:" or
"Abilities:" text, which was often confusing.
- Job descriptions will no longer waste your time with "Prerequisites: None" text if they have no
prerequisites. This also fixes the oddity of seeing "Prerequisites: None" on special character jobs,
making it seem like becoming a Holy Knight must be the easiest thing in the world.
- Skillsets that require a sword to use (such as Agria's Holy Sword) will now say so in their
descriptions.
- The "Jump" skillset description now specifies that the damage is based on the unit's Power and that
Polearms increase that damage by 50%.
- The "Throw" skillset description now specifies that the throw range is based on the unit's Move and
the damage is based on the unit's Speed.
- The Samurai's "Shirahadori" ability description now correctly specifies that it blocks both melee
and ranged physical attacks (instead of incorrectly saying that it can't block ranged attacks).
- The Onion Knight's job description now makes it clear that the class does not gain EXP (by showing a
fake "No EXP" innate ability).
- Ability descriptions will now give you more hard numbers. For example, Martial Defense now specifies
that it reduces physical damage by 33% (instead of just vaguely saying it reduces damage). This also
helps to make the changes to abilities in this mod more discoverable.
- Skills with randomization involved (such as Rapha's spells, Marach's spells, and Reis's Holy Breath)
will now specify the number of random strikes it will attempt in their text descriptions.
- Arithmetician formula skills have been renamed to make it more clear to the player how they work.
See "Arithmetician: Arithmeticks nerfs + Stat buffs", above, for more on this.
- Odin's "Obliteration" has been renamed to "Zantetsuken", as that's its historic name in Final
Fantasy, and also because it's awesome.
- Orran's "Celestial Stasis" skill now specifies that it doesn't work against enemies of the same
zodiac sign as the caster.
- Rapha's "Ashura" skill has been renamed to "Sky Ashura" to differentiate it from the Samurai's
"Ashura" skill.
- Marach's "Nether Blade" skill has been renamed to "Obsidian Blade" to better mirror Rapha's
"Adamantine Blade" (which isn't called "Sky Blade").
- Zalbaag's "Mindsap" and "Magicksap" skill names have been swapped, and their descriptions have been
updated for clarity. In other words, Magicksap is now the one that reduces magic power, and Mindsap
is now the one that reduces MP.
- Reis's job description now correctly lists her innate abilities.
- Cloud's "Soldier" class has been renamed to "Ex-Soldier" to match FF7.
Also, his "Limit" skillset has been renamed to "Limit Break", again to match FF7.
Also, his "Brave Slash" Limit Break has been renamed to "Braver", again to match FF7.
- Automaton, Byblos, and Reaver monster descriptions now correctly list their weaknesses. Automaton
now correctly lists Martial Defense as an innate ability, and no longer lists Ignore Terrain and
Ignore Weather, because they are useless with Cannot Enter Water.
- Fixed a typo I happened to spot in an Errand description ("tha" -> "that").
- Fixed a typo I happened to spot in the Melee description ("that that" -> "that").
- The option that resumes a battle from pause is now called "Resume" instead of "Done".
- Tutorial text has been updated for accuracy (based on changes in this mod) and slightly re-written
for clarity in some cases.
- Weapon descriptions now have much more information, including which character stats are used for
determining damage (see "Improved equipment descriptions", below).
18.) Known issue: the Battle Tutorials don't work properly:
A side effect of using the Valhalla tool to edit text causes the Battle Tutorials to break in a few
places. I think there's a bug in the text pointer table ASM script that happens to affect the text
entries in the Battle Tutorials. What will happen is: the wrong text will appear in all text
windows, but only for some of the tutorials. I took a peek at the ASM script responsible, but fixing
it is beyond my powers!
Why didn't I use FFTactext then, like a regular person? Well, I tried, but it's very unstable for
the PSP version of FFT, even the 0.457 version that everyone recommends, and even after (and before)
removing all the Japanese text.
Whenever I used FFTactext to edit text, a figurative landmine was dropped in another text string
elsewhere in the game, causing a crash when it displays. At first it was the famous crystalization
crash, but upon fixing that, it'd crash after grabbing treasure. Upon fixing that, it'd crash when a
monster used a skill. Etc. It was like whack-a-mole, and I simply couldn't test every single text
string in the game every time I made a change.
Once the author of Valhalla or some other kind soul finds and fixes the problem, I'll do an update.
Until then, if you need to use the Battle Tutorials, do so in vanilla FFT!
EQUIPMENT IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Gender equality: female and male characters now have access to the same equipment:
In exchange for making female characters much worse at physical classes and slightly better at magic
classes, the vanilla game gave them access to female-only equipment. Now that the two genders have
equal stats (see "Gender equality: female and male characters now have the same base stats", above),
allowing only female characters access to this equipment would make them the superior gender. Thus,
the following changes have been made:
- Bags are now equippable by (almost) anyone*, not just women. In order to make it extra clear that
the design-intention for Bags is "swapping your weapon slot for another accessory slot", they have
been renamed to "Handbags". Note that their random damage-scaling has been improved but their attack
power has been nerfed - see "Handbags Revamp", below, for more on this.
* The only jobs that cannot equip Bags are the jobs that require certain weapon types for their
special abilities (for example, Agrias's Holy Knight job). If you really want to use a Bag with
Agrias, switch her job!
- Instruments and Cloths are still gender-exclusive, simply because they are still locked to their
respective classes: only Bards can use Instruments, and only Dancers can use Cloths. However, Rapha
can now use Instruments and Marach can now use Cloths, just for fun.
- Hair Adornments are now treated like a normal head slot item, like Helmets or Hats. They are
equippable by any class that doesn't wear heavy helmets (in other words, not the Knight, Dragoon,
Samurai, or Dark Knight). Yes, this means female characters of those classes can no longer equip
them (but the Knight's new Armor Lore ability enables them - see "Equip X ability improvements",
below). Also, this means male Monks _can_ equip them, giving them a proper head slot item after all.
- The Minerva Bustier remains Woman Only, but a new Men Only equivalent item has been added (called
the "Escort Guard"). Its stats are identical.
- Perfumes are exclusively equippable by the Dancer and Bard (as well as the special classes Princess,
Dragonkin, Ex-Soldier, and Divine Knight). These are much more powerful than Handbags and Hair
Adornments, and they threaten to dominate the game if everyone can equip them, which is why they are
so limited.
- The Tynar Rouge is exclusively equippable by the Dancer and Bard (as well as the special classes
Princess, Dragonkin, and Ex-Soldier). In addition, Agrias can equip it regardless of her class. This
item is game-breaking if it can be equipped to anyone (for example, Orlandeau), so it needed
restrictions.
2.) Weapon evasion (Parry Rate) always applies; the Parry ability now doubles it:
Previously a weapon's evasion rating only applied if you have the Parry ability equipped, but the
game did almost nothing to inform the player of this fact. Since the UI features this number so
prominently, it leaves the impression that it always applies, just like shield or accessory evasion.
So... now it does! No longer do you require the Parry ability to benefit from weapon evasion.
And the UI no longer lies to you. In addition:
- The Parry ability now doubles your weapon evasion rating instead, so that the ability still has a
purpose.
- Weapon evasion rates have been reduced slightly across the board. After making these changes,
suddenly every human enemy in the game became better at parrying attacks (except Monks). I actually
like this, because it encourages the player to attack from the sides or from behind more often, but
the effect was too extreme. Nerfing it all the way though (halving the base evade values so that
doubling with Parry gave the same rates as the vanilla game) left me with not enough incentive to
actually equip the Parry ability. So this slight nerf is the happy medium.
Note this is a buff disguised as a nerf, since the UI no longer lies to you. For example, the
Defender previously had a 60 Parry Rate, which meant 0% by default and 60% with Parry equipped. Now
the Defender has 45 Parry Rate, which means 45% by default and 90% with Parry equipped!
The following chart shows each previous weapon evade value and what it became. If you don't see your
favorite weapon on this chart, it's because it shares a value with something that IS on this chart:
Key: | Evade Rate:
- Weapon | - Display Value (Base / with Parry)
Weapon Type: | Before: | After:
- Knives, etc. | - 05% (00% / 05%) | - 04% (04% / 08%)
- Mythril Sword | - 08% (00% / 08%) | - 06% (06% / 12%)
- Polearms & Harps | - 10% (00% / 10%) | - 08% (08% / 16%)
- Katana, etc. | - 15% (00% / 15%) | - 12% (12% / 24%)
- Rods & Poles | - 20% (00% / 20%) | - 16% (16% / 32%)
- Save the Queen | - 30% (00% / 30%) | - 20% (20% / 40%)*
- Excalibur | - 35% (00% / 35%) | - 20% (20% / 40%)*
- Main Gauche | - 40% (00% / 40%) | - 30% (30% / 60%)
- Cloths | - 50% (00% / 50%) | - 40% (40% / 80%)
- Defender | - 60% (00% / 60%) | - 45% (45% / 90%)
* These two are also slight nerfs (well, they are buffed less than they "should" have been) in
order to keep them below 50% with Parry. This allows the "high evade" weapons (Main Gauche,
Nagnarok, Durandil, Defender, and all Cloths) to maintain their unique role.
3.) Equip X ability improvements (and renames):
The various Equip X abilities are supposed to encourage the player to create interesting and varied
character builds. However, because they took up the Support slot, using them was rarely worth it.
These changes improve these abilities so that they feel as beneficial as anything else in that slot,
increasing the viability of the varied character builds they were always intended to encourage.
- The various Equip X weapon abilities now also increase the damage dealt by their weapons. For
example, Equip Swords increases damage dealt with Swords; Equip Axes increases damage dealt with
Axes; etc. The damage increase is equal to the increase granted by Martial Strength (+20%).
- In addition, each has been expanded to allow for additional item types. For example, Equip Axes now
allows for Axes AND Flails. This also made room for additional Equip X abilities, so two new ones
have been added (see the chart below).
- Because these abilities are more powerful than they were before, some of them have been moved to
later classes. Equip Swords in particular was moved to the lategame because Swords are so common and
powerful that this ability became a no-brainer, which was counter to the goal of this change (to
encourage _more_ varied builds - not to encourage _less_ varied builds by giving everyone a Sword).
Note: In vanilla, Agrias relies on Equip Swords to use her special sword skills in the early game.
So that she isn't hosed by this change, she can now equip Swords regardless of her class as
long as she has her special sword skills assigned. See "Special Skillsets that require a Sword
now function as Equip Swords", below, for more on this.
- Finally, these abilities have been renamed to better reflect their new functionality. For example,
"Equip Swords" is now "Sword Lore" instead, which implies a deeper understanding of the Sword (also,
renaming the ability helps the player realize that something has changed).
The following chart compares the old set of Equip X abilities to the new set of X Lore abilities:
Ability: | Class: | Equipment Types: | Misc:
- OLD: Equip Swords | - Knight | - Swords |
- OLD: Equip Katana | - Samurai | - Katana |
+ NEW: Sword Lore | + Samurai | + Swords, Katana | +20% Damage
+ NEW: Greatsword Lore | + Dark Knight | + Knight Swords, Fell Swords | +20% Damage
+ NEW: Knife Lore | + Ninja | + Knives, Ninja Blades | +20% Damage
- OLD: Equip Axes | - Squire | - Axes |
+ NEW: Axe Lore | + Knight | + Axes, Flails | +20% Damage
- OLD: Equip Polearms | - Dragoon | - Polearms |
+ NEW: Polearm Lore | + Dragoon | + Polearms, Poles | +20% Damage
- OLD: Equip Crossbows | - Archer | - Crossbows |
+ NEW: Bow Lore | + Archer | + Bows, Crossbows | +20% Damage
- OLD: Equip Guns | - Orator | - Guns, Magic Guns |
+ NEW: Gun Lore | + Orator | + Guns, Magic Guns | +20% Damage
- OLD: Equip Shields | - Knight | - Shields
- OLD: Equip Heavy Armor | - Knight | - Helms, Armor
+ NEW: Armor Lore | + Knight | + Shields, Helms, Hats, Hair Adornments,
Armor, Clothes, Robes
I hit upon this idea when I was evaluating whether to add more weapon proficiencies to more classes.
I really wanted to add Crossbow proficiency to the Thief, but then I realized that the player can
already do this with the Equip Crossbows ability (since Archer is a prerequisite for Thief).
However, doing so makes the player a sad panda. Improving these abilities (instead of adding the new
proficiencies) gives the player the chance to feel badass and clever by allowing them to "make their
own" Thief who uses Crossbows without feeling like they are building a suboptimal character.
Note also that there's now a reason to equip these abilities even on a class that can already equip
the specified weapon type. For example, an Archer with Bow Lore still gains the extra damage with
Bows and Crossbows.
4.) Special Skillsets that require a Sword now function as "Equip Swords":
Certain characters have skillsets that won't function unless the character has a Sword equipped
(for example, Agrias's Holy Sword or Cloud's Limit Break). Thus, the player usually dips into
Knight, learns Equip Swords, then uses it on the character all the time so that they can take their
special skills with them when leveling in other jobs. Well, the changes to the Equip X abilities
above had sort of left these characters in a pickle, now that Sword Lore is unlocked so late in the
game. Hence, this change!
These skillsets will now function as the old Equip Swords ability did when equipped, allowing the
character to equip Swords even if their current job normally can't. For example, if you turn Agrias
into a White Mage, she normally can't use Swords, but if you equip Holy Sword to her secondary slot,
now she can! This change affects Agrias, Orlandeau, Beowulf, Cloud, and Meliadoul.
Note: This is Equip Swords, not Sword Lore, so they do not gain the bonus damage or the Katana
proficiency.
5.) Special Sword Skills can be used with a Katana equipped:
Skills that require a sword equipped to use (such as Agrias's Holy Sword skills) now consider
Katana to be valid weapons. In other words, the "sword required" list is now: Sword, Knight Sword,
Fell Sword, and Katana. This is for consistency with the "Lore" abilities (see above), in which
Equip Katana and Equip Swords were fused into one ability called "Sword Lore". And also because
everyone expected it to work this way anyhow.
6.) Knives, Bows, & Crossbows buffed (plus new endgame weapons):
Knives, Bows, and Crossbows are some of the weakest options in the game, and are essentially left
behind by the end of chapter 4. This is a bummer because there's potential there for more varied
gameplay, but it's squandered because these weapons are simply not competitive. For example, because
Bows are underpowered, the Archer just isn't worth using at the end of the game, even if you really
like the Archer's playstyle.
The following changes have been made to make these weapons viable at more parts of the game
(including the endgame):
- Attack power values have been slightly increased in proportion to how far in the game the weapon is
obtained (see the chart below), starting at +0 for the earliest weapons because they are fine as
they are.
However, note that endgame damage in general is nerfed across the board for all weapons, so you'll
start to see Bow attack power values going *down* near the end, but these new values are actually
competitive with the rest of the endgame weapons.
- Additional special properties were added to some of these weapons. These were taken from other games
set in Ivalice that had the same weapon (for example, Orichalcum Dirk gained a chance to inflict
Slow because that's what it does in Final Fantasy 12).
- In some cases, these (now more powerful) weapons were moved to later shops in order to smooth out
the progression. For example, the Windslash Bow used to be available in mid chapter 3 for 8 attack
power, but now it's available in chapter 4 for 10 attack power.
- Crossbows now deal damage based on Speed instead of Power. This is a minor buff for Crossbows in the
hands of classes that can use them, but it also matches the player's intuition a bit better.
+ Three new weapons were added in order to make these weapon types viable in the endgame. These are
Cinquedea (new endgame Knife), Dhanusha (new endgame Bow), and Arbalest (new endgame Crossbow).
Their item names (and their effects) were taken from other games set in Ivalice.
The following chart shows the list of affected weapons and comparisons between their old and new
attack powers, as well as their element/status/spellcast properties:
Key: | Attack Power:
- Weapon Name | - Value (Special)
Knives: | Before: | After:
- Dagger | - 03 | - 03
- Mythril Knife | - 04 | - 04
- Blind Knife | - 04 (Blind) | - 05 (Blind)
- Mage Masher | - 04 (Silence) | - 05 (Silence)
- Platinum Dagger | - 05 | - 06 (Immobilize)
- Main Gauche | - 06 (High Parry) | - 07 (High Parry)
- Orichalcum Dirk | - 07 | - 09 (Slow)
- Assassin's Dagger | - 07 (Doom) | - 10 (Doom)
- Air Knife | - 10 (Wind) | - 12 (Wind)
- Zwill Straightblade | - 12 (Sleep) | - 13 (Sleep)
+ Cinquedea | | - 16 (High Parry / Speed Bonus)
Bows: | Before: | After:
- Longbow | - 04 | - 04
- Silver Bow | - 05 | - 05 (Holy)
- Ice Bow | - 05 (Ice) | - 05 (Blizzard)
- Lightning Bow | - 06 (Thundara) | - 06 (Thundara)
- Mythril Bow | - 07 | - 08
- Windslash Bow | - 08 (Wind) | - 10 (Wind)
- Artemis Bow | - 10 | - 11 (Charm)
- Yoichi Bow | - 12 | - 13
- Perseus Bow | - 16 | - 15
- Sagittarius Bow | - 24 | - 18
+ Dhanusha | | - 20 (Holy / Slow)
Crossbows: | Before: | After:
- Bowgun | - 03 | - 03
- Knightslayer | - 03 (Blind) | - 05 (Blind)
- Recurve Crossbow | - 04 | - 06
- Poison Crossbow | - 04 (Poison) | - 07 (Poison)
- Hunting Crossbow | - 06 | - 09 (Sleep)
- Gastrophetes | - 10 | - 12
+ Arbalest | | - 16 (Tremor)
7.) Axe/Flail Improved random-scaling & Available earlier in shops; Axes are no longer two-handed:
In vanilla FFT, random damage scaling on these weapons does not work the way the player expects.
When the player sees an attack power of 12 listed, they tend to assume that 12 is the AVERAGE power,
and that randomness will either add or subtract from there. However, in vanilla FFT, 12 is actually
the MAXIMUM power, meaning randomness will ALWAYS reduce damage, setting up the player for
disappointment with every swing. This also causes the Optimum button to equip you with garbage
because it'd choose an axe with 12 attack power over a sword with 11, even though that sword is
almost twice as powerful on average. The following changes fix this situation!
- The scaling has been adjusted so that it works the way the player expects - an attack power of 12
means an AVERAGE of 12, with a random range of 6 to 18 (instead of 1 to 12).
- To compensate for this formula change, the attack power values of these weapons have been reduced so
that their maximum damage is about the same as it was before (but their minimum damage is much
higher).
For example, an axe with 12 attack power (previous range = 1 to 12) was adjusted to 8 attack power
(new range = 4 to 12). It *appears* to be a nerf, but it's actually a buff - it's just that the UI
no longer lies to you (and the Optimum button no longer trolls you).
- The final attack power value was then deliberately buffed (or the price was reduced) because the
randomness is still a drawback, and playtesting revealed that these weapons still needed help. So
that there were fewer overlaps, Flails were reduced in price and made available earlier, whereas
Axes were buffed in attack power. They were then staggered in shop availability to balance them
against each other and against Swords at each part of the game.
- Axes are now one-handed by default, and can be used with Doublehand or Dual Wield, just like Swords
and Flails can.
The following chart shows the list of affected weapons and comparisons between their old and new
attack powers, random ranges, and prices (note that some weapons that didn't have prices previously
now have them - this is to support buying them back from the Poachers' Den after they are stolen or
broken):
Key: | Attack Power:
- Weapon Name | - Display Value (Random: Min - Max) / Price
Axes: | Before: | After:
- Battle Axe | - 09 (01 - 09) / 1500 | - 08 (04 - 12) / 1200
- Francisca | - 12 (01 - 12) / 4000 | - 10 (05 - 15) / 4000 (was "Giant's Axe")
- Slasher | - 16 (01 - 16) / 12000 | - 13 (07 - 19) / 11000
- Giant's Axe | - 24 (01 - 24) / ----- | - 18 (09 - 27) / 30000 (was "Francisca")
- Golden Axe | - 30 (01 - 30) / ----- | - 21 (11 - 31) / 40000
Flails: | Before: | After:
- Iron Flail | - 09 (01 - 09) / 1200 | - 06 (03 - 09) / 400
- Flame Mace | - 11 (01 - 11) / 4000 | - 08 (04 - 12) / 2000
- Morning Star | - 16 (01 - 16) / 9000 | - 12 (06 - 18) / 7000
- Scorpion Tail | - 23 (01 - 23) / 40000 | - 15 (08 - 22) / 18000 (+ now inflicts Poison)
- Vesper | - 36 (01 - 36) / ----- | - 19 (10 - 28) / 36000
Note: "Giant's Axe" and "Francisca" have swapped names, so that now the "Francisca" is the small
throwing axe and "Giant's Axe" is the large, not-throwable axe.
Note: Vesper and Golden Axe have had their power levels swapped to better match the player's
expectations, and to ensure that Flails don't go a super long time without upgrading.
Note: Previous versions of this mod gave axes and flails a random chance to break enemy equipment as
a way to compensate for their terrible random scaling. Now that the scaling has been fixed,
this feature has been removed (and it was a bad idea anyway - it introduced new random
equipment breaks against the player, reduced incentive to purchase and use Knight skills,
and it was buggy).
8.) Knight Sword Improved Brave-scaling; Knight Swords are now two-handed:
The Brave scaling on Knight Swords was changed for similar reasons as the random scaling for axes
mentioned above - it didn't work the way the player expected, and it caused the Optimum button to
equip you incorrectly. The previous scaling meant that a Brave score of 95, by all accounts an
incredible score, resulted in a 5% REDUCTION compared to the displayed attack power. The player
expects high Brave to INCREASE their power - not simply reduce it less.
In addition, special sword skills like Hallowed Bolt *do not* incorporate this Brave scaling, which
accounts for the huge disparity in sword skill damage vs normal attack damage when using Knight
Swords. This is the opposite of what I want for this mod - sword skills need a nerf anyway, and it's
more interesting when normal attacks are actually powerful enough to be the correct choice every now
and then.
- So, like Axes, Knight Swords now scale differently. Instead of scaling 0%->100%, Brave now scales
damage 50%->150%. This is closer to what the player expects - high Brave now results in a damage
BONUS instead of less of a penalty (for example, 95 Brave now results in 145% damage instead of 95%
damage).
- Also like Axes, Knight Sword base attack power values have been reduced so that their maximum damage
is approximately the same as before (but their minimum damage is much higher). Note also, again,
that endgame weapons have been nerfed across the board, so you'll see those nerfs below.
- The new scaling nerfs sword skills like Hallowed Bolt - they now deal damage based on the AVERAGE
attack power instead of the maximum (meaning normal attacks will sometimes be the right choice).
- Knight Swords can now only be used two-handed. This nerf prevents Knight Swords from dominating the
endgame, and makes them more distinct from normal Swords.
- The earliest Knight Swords have slightly increased attack power, since playtesting revealed that
making them two-handed made them no longer competitive with the final normal Swords.
The following chart shows the list of affected weapons and comparisons between their old and new
attack powers and scaled ranges:
Key: | Attack Power:
- Weapon Name | - Display Value (Brave: Min - Max)
Knight Swords: | Before: | After:
- Defender | - 16 (01 - 16) | - 13 (07 - 19)
- Save the Queen | - 18 (01 - 18) | - 15 (08 - 22)
- Excalibur | - 21 (01 - 21) | - 14 (07 - 21)
- Ragnarok | - 24 (01 - 24) | - 16 (08 - 24)
- Durandal | - 26 (01 - 26) | - 18 (09 - 27)
- Valhalla | - 40 (01 - 40) | - 20 (10 - 30) (was "Chaos Blade")
Note: Save the Queen is now more powerful than Excalibur. This is because you get the sword *after*
you get Excalibur, and because Excalibur's other bonuses are superior.
Note: "Valhalla" and "Chaos Blade" have swapped names, so that now the holy-sounding name is the
final Knight Sword and the evil-sounding name is the final Fell Sword.
9.) Katana Improved Brave-scaling; Break chances INCREASED (but can be bought back from Poachers' Den):
- Katana Brave-scaling has been updated in the exact same way as Knight Swords (above). Instead of
scaling 0%->100%, Brave now scales damage 50%->150%.
- Also like Axes and Knight Swords, Katana base attack power values have been reduced so that their
maximum damage is approximately the same as before (but their minimum damage is much higher).
- Later game Katana were deliberately buffed to compete with other endgame weapons (they are stronger
even if their display power is lower, again due to the above).
- Katana break chances have been INCREASED! Yes, this is a QoL mod, so why am I INCREASING break
chances? Well, previously I had reduced them, but once I had made several other QoL changes,
playtesting revealed that super low break chances were actually less fun:
* The "Broken and Stolen equipment can be repurchased at the Poachers' Den" change (above) made it
so losing a Katana was no longer a catastrophic event. Instead, it introduced a gil upkeep cost to
this ability, similar to Throw. In theory that's always how it was intended to work, but the gil
upkeep was pretty high because you had to buy from regular shops (whereas the Poachers' Den sells
for half price), and there was no way at all to recover unique Katana like the Masamune.
* The "Physical/magic hybrid builds are more viable" change (below) increased the Samurai's magic
power, making Iaido abilities more powerful. These abilities are already extremely powerful, so
the minor inconvenience of having to rebuy them when they break is a balancing factor (and
temporarily losing access to its Iaido skill if it was a unique Katana forces you to switch up
your tactics, which is nice for gameplay variation).
The following chart shows the list of affected weapons and comparisons between their old and new
attack powers, scaled ranges, and break chances:
Key: | Attack Power:
- Weapon Name | - Display Value (Brave: Min - Max) / Break%
Katana: | Before: | After:
- Ashura | - 07 (01 - 07) / 07% | - 04 (02 - 06) / 08%
- Kotetsu | - 08 (01 - 08) / 08% | - 05 (03 - 07) / 10%
- Osafune | - 09 (01 - 09) / 09% | - 06 (03 - 09) / 12%
- Murasame | - 10 (01 - 10) / 10% | - 07 (04 - 10) / 14%
- Ama-no-Murakumo | - 11 (01 - 11) / 11% | - 08 (04 - 12) / 16%
- Kiyomori | - 12 (01 - 12) / 12% | - 09 (05 - 13) / 18%
- Muramasa | - 14 (01 - 14) / 14% | - 10 (05 - 15) / 20%
- Kiku-ichimoji | - 15 (01 - 15) / 15% | - 12 (06 - 18) / 24%
- Masamune | - 18 (01 - 18) / 18% | - 14 (07 - 21) / 28%
- Chirijiraden | - 25 (01 - 25) / 25% | - 16 (08 - 24) / 32%
10.) Fell Sword Improved AntiFaith-scaling:
Oh hey, another one of these. Fell Swords were changed in exactly the same way as Knight Swords: the
UI now shows the AVERAGE damage instead of the maximum, and the Faith-scaling does 150%->50% instead
of 100%->0% (the numbers are reversed here because lower Faith results in higher damage).
This also affected a few of the Dark Knight's skills, which needed to be nerfed anyway, in exactly
the same way as special sword skills like Hallowed Bolt (they are based on average damage instead of
maximum damage now).
Note also, again, that endgame weapons have been nerfed across the board, so you'll see those nerfs
below. And like Knight Swords, the earliest Fell Swords needed more attack power, so you'll see that
below as well.
The following chart shows the list of affected weapons and comparisons between their old and new
attack powers and scaled ranges:
Key: | Attack Power:
- Weapon Name | - Display Value (Atheism: Min - Max)
Fell Swords: | Before: | After:
- Nightmare | - 16 (01 - 16) | - 14 (07 - 20) (was "Chaosbringer")
- Deathbringer | - 20 (01 - 20) | - 15 (08 - 22)
- Arondight | - 24 (01 - 24) | - 16 (08 - 24)
- Balmung | - 32 (01 - 32) | - 18 (09 - 27)
- Chaos Blade | - 40 (01 - 40) | - 20 (10 - 30) (was "Valhalla")
Note: "Valhalla" and "Chaos Blade" have swapped names, so that now the holy-sounding name is the
final Knight Sword and the evil-sounding name is the final Fell Sword. "Chaosbringer" has been
renamed to "Nightmare" to differentiate it from "Chaos Blade".
11.) Magic Gun Improved Faith-scaling and random spell selection (now they are proper weapons):
In theory, firing a Magic Gun was the same as "casting a spell", replacing your own Magick stat with
the weapon's attack power. However, since the magic damage formula is vastly different from weapon
damage formulas, the results were always extremely lackluster. This caused a similar problem that
Axes had - the UI is misleading you by showing you a high attack power, then delivering very low
damage.
The Magic Gun damage formula has been changed to behave more like other weapons do, applying fixes
similar to the new Axe random-scaling and the new Katana Brave-scaling. Now you can be reasonably
confident that your damage will make sense based on the weapon's attack power.
- Magic Guns Faith-scaling now does 50%->150% instead of 0%->100%, just like Katana Brave-scaling. In
addition, they no longer scale based on the target's Faith as well - they only use the attacker's
stats (just like all other weapons).
- Magic Guns now default to their medium tier spell, with a random chance to cast their low tier or
high tier spells (instead of defaulting to their low tier spell).
- Instead of using the literal spell power rating of the selected spell, the new damage formula scales
the weapon power down by 25% if the low tier was selected or up by 25% if the high tier was
selected. In other words, damage is now based on the actual attack power of the weapon, and simply
scaled up or down from there.
- The new formula results in more damage per point of attack power, so Magic Gun attack power values
have been reduced to compensate. This is another buff disguised as a nerf, because the UI is no
longer misleading you about their power level.
- Finally, now that Magic Guns are proper weapons instead of "a weird way to cast a spell", they are
improved by Martial Strength (they are also still improved by Arcane Strength, but you can't stack
them).
The following chart shows the Magic Gun spell tier chances (before and after):
Spell Tier: | Chance Before: | Chance After:
- Tier1: Fire / Thunder / Blizzard | - 60% | - 25%
- Tier2: Fira / Thundara / Blizzara | - 30% | - 50%
- Tier3: Firaga / Thundaga / Blizzaga | - 10% | - 25%
12.) Handbags Revamp: Reduced attack power and prices; Enhanced "accessory effects":
- The "Bag" weapon category has been renamed to "Handbag" to make it more clear that they are intended
to be "extra accessories" that take up your weapon slot (rather than just crappy weapons).
- Handbag attack powers have been reduced to make this extra clear. Note also that their random damage
scaling has been fixed in exactly the same way as Axes and Flails, but they still aren't necessarily
made for attacking.
- Handbags can now be equipped by either gender, not just women. See "Gender equality: female and male
characters now have access to the same equipment", above, for more on this.
- Handbag prices have been approximately halved in order to compete with other accessories.
- Each Handbag's effects have been revised for balance and to better meet the player's expectations,
based on the name of the monster or environment the Handbag came from.
The following chart shows the list of affected weapons and comparisons between their old and new
attack powers, random ranges, and effects:
Key: | Attack Power:
- Weapon Name | - Display Value (Random: Min - Max) / Effect
Handbags: | Before: | After:
- Croakadile Bag | - 10 (01 - 10) / Magick +1 | - 05 (03 - 07) / Innate: Regen
- Pantherskin Bag | - 12 (01 - 12) / Innate: Regen | - 06 (03 - 09) / Move +1, Jump +1
- Hydrascale Bag | - 14 (01 - 14) / Speed +1 | - 07 (04 - 10) / Speed +1, Magick +1
- Fallingstar Bag | - 20 (01 - 20) / (None) | - 08 (04 - 12) / Innate: Protect, Shell
Specific Handbag notes:
- Croakadile Bag should have been the one that grants Regen, since the Croakadile monster in Final
Fantasy 12 uses the spell. It's been changed to green (instead of yellow) to match the Croakadile
color scheme.
- Pantherskin Bag now has an effect inspired by Panthers. It's been changed to yellow (instead of
blue) to match the Panther monster color scheme.
- Hydrascale Bag now has an effect inspired by Hydras, combining the effects of the old Croakadile
and Hydrascale bags for balance (+1 Magick or +1 Speed alone isn't enough incentive to give up
your weapon slot). It is now red (instead of dark blue) to feel more like it came from a Hydra.
- The Fallingstar Bag in particular didn't fit the "trade your weapon slot for another accessory"
design - it didn't have any special properties and it had a high attack power. Essentially, it
was an axe that women of any class could use. Now that this mod allows both men *and* women to
use Handbags, this is an obvious balance issue. So the Fallingstar Bag was changed to be more
like other Handbags - it's a psuedo accessory with low attack power and a strong passive effect.
Also, it is now purple (instead of green) to fit the "celestial" flavor better.
13.) Power/Speed and Power/Magick hybrid weapons round up when calculating damage:
Weapons that use the average of two stats in their damage formula will now round up instead of down
after dividing by 2 in the formula. For example, if you are wielding a Knife and you have 14 Power
and 11 Speed, previously your attack stat would be 12, but now it will be 13. It's just a bit of a
boost for weapons that are otherwise disadvantaged by their damage formulas.
14.) Rod damage uses magic instead of physical attack power:
Not much more to say about this change. Rods, which are weapons for spellcasters, will now behave
like Staves and use magic attack power instead of physical attack power for determining attack
damage, making the attack action slightly more attractive with a Rod equipped.
15.) Pole damage uses magic and physical attack power instead of just magic (nerf):
Poles are now a magic/physical hybrid weapon, like Tomes, Instruments, and Cloths. This is a nerf
because Poles are used exclusively by spellcasting classes, who have been buffed significantly in
this mod. Now that spellcasters have higher magick scores, suddenly Poles were the most damaging
weapons in the game! This nerf brings them back down from the stratosphere.
16.) Innate: Haste removed - replaced with flat Speed bonuses:
Equipment items that previously granted permanent Haste have been nerfed to provide a flat +2 Speed
bonus instead.
The problem with innate Haste is that it's a no-brainer. It's just too good to pass up, even for
more attack power. It's also a major contributer to why Orlandeau absolutely dominates after he
joins your team. And it's why the Tynar Rouge is so hilarious. Finally, because Haste applies a
multiplier, it grants more Speed to faster characters and less Speed to slower characters. Like in
capitalism, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Flat Speed bonuses do the opposite - they benefit slower characters more than faster ones. This
opens up more interesting choices to make, as "stack all the speed on my best character" is no
longer the obvious play. This also means that actually *casting* Haste during late game battles
becomes a useful move again, increasing incentive to keep Time Magic around (instead of shelving it
in favor of Haste equipment).
Note that +3 Speed would have been closer to the effects of Haste for most characters, but
playtesting revealed that these items were still no-brainers. Also, the fact that you could then
*cast Haste* on these super fast characters made the problem even worse. +2 Speed was the sweet spot
where they were still good and desirable items, but no longer the obvious choice in most situations.
The affected items are:
- Excalibur
- Moonblade
- Brigand's Glove*
- Septième
- Tynar Rouge
* Brigand's Glove previously gave +1 Speed in addition to Haste, so now they give +3 Speed
(+2 instead of Haste, and the +1 that was already there).
17.) Innate: Reraise removed - replaced with Initial: Reraise:
Items with Innate: Reraise will now grant Reraise only at the start of battle (instead of
permanently). Permanent Reraise was simply too strong. Sorry, no more reraising automatically all
the time, making you immune to death!
The affected items are:
- Brave Suit
- Grand Armor
- Onion Armor
- Chantage
Note also that Angel Ring already worked this way, and that this mod adds this property to the
Staff of the Magi (see below).
18.) Weapon buffs: Sasuke's Blade, Materia Blade, Dragon Rod, Staff of the Magi:
- Sasuke's Blade now has +2 attack power and a much higher parry rate.
This buff was needed because of the new item distribution that makes room for multiplayer items.
I wanted Sasuke's Blade to remain in one of its original locations, which meant it had to be
obtained _after_ the Koga Blade and Iga Blade. In order to ensure the weapon is still worth using
then, it has been buffed to be more powerful than the Koga Blade and Iga Blade.
- The Materia Blade now gives +3 magic power in order to support more hybrid physical/magic character
builds (for Cloud or for any other physical/magic hybrid characters).
In addition, Cloud no longer requires the Materia Blade to perform his Limit Breaks, freeing up this
weapon to be used by anyone who wants the extra magic power. Cloud also now starts with this weapon
equipped and no longer has to find it (there's now a different weapon in its original place).
- The Dragon Rod now has very high attack power and gives +1 magic power.
This rare weapon was a bummer because it's essentially a downgrade from the Wizard's Rod, which can
be bought as early as chapter 3. This buff makes it an exciting weapon for its rarity, and it also
gives it a niche (high physical attack power for a rod, but lower magic bonus than the Wizard Rod).
- The Staff of the Magi now Boosts Holy and starts you with Reraise status.
The Staff of the Magi was essentially a troll weapon. You got it super late in the postgame, but
it was terrible, and its description even acknowledged this by calling it an "ordinary" staff. This
buff makes it more consistent with its abilities in other Final Fantasy games, and makes it more
appropriate for the postgame. The description also no longer makes fun of the weapon.
19.) Genji equipment buffs:
Each piece of Genji equipment has received a buff. Similar to Sasuke's Blade, the addition of
multiplayer equipment made these items obsolete before you even got them. And since they are so
iconic in the Final Fantasy series, I would rather make them more powerful than award them too
early. Hence, the following buffs!
- The Genji Shield now has 50% physical evade and 25% magical evade (instead of just 43% physical),
and now grants +2 Power.
- The Genji Helm now has +150 HP (instead of +130) and now grants +2 Magick.
- The Genji Armor now has +170 HP (instead of +150) and now grants +1 Power and +1 Magick.
- The Genji Glove now quadruples your chance to score a critical hit (20% instead of 5%). This also
applies if your critical hit chance is 25% due to being invisible or near-fatal, for a total chance
of 100%! It also still increases Power and Magick by +2! Enjoy!
Note: The two bosses who wear the Genji equipment have had their base stats reduced to compensate.
They are still stronger than they were before, however, so watch out!
20.) Midgame light armor buffs: Adamant Vest, Sorcerer's Habit (Wizard Clothing), Brigandine, Jujitsu Gi:
The midgame suffers from too many light armor upgrades that happen too quickly, causing them to
become obsolete almost immediately. These changes differentiate these armors from each other so that
each has a reason for existing.
- The Adamant Vest now has Negates: Fire. This gives the armor a strategic purpose beyond the pathetic
6 HP increase over the previous armor.
- The Wizard Clothing has been renamed to Sorcerer's Habit to reduce the odds of confusing it with the
Wizard's Robe. It now has Innate: Shell to give it a strategic use over the Wizard's Robe. Also, AI
will no longer randomly choose this armor (though it has been hand-assigned in a few places) because
it was obnoxious having to deal with Innate: Shell on most enemies at the end of chapter 2.
- The Brigandine's HP bonus has been increased from +50 to +55, and it can now be bought earlier, so
that there's a brief period of the game where it might be an attractive choice.
- The Jujitsu Gi now gives +1 Speed instead of +1 Power, so that's a viable alternative to the Power
Garb (instead of being made immediately obsolete by it).
21.) Midgame light armor nerfs: Power Garb, Wizard's Robe:
- The Power Garb's bonus to Power has been reduced from +2 to +1, reducing the incentive to wear this
armor until the endgame.
- The Wizard's Robe's bonus to Magick has been reduced from +2 to +1, for the exact same reason!
These two armors were so powerful that all the rest of the armors around them may as well have never
existed. The incentive to keep the +2 attack bonus was just too high. These nerfs bring them down to
a more reasonable power level and allow other armors to shine.
22.) Accessory buffs: Battle Boots, Spiked Boots, Power Gauntlet; Red Shoes can be bought earlier:
These accessories have each gained something extra so that they aren't made completely obsolete by
later accessories.
- The Battle Boots and Spiked Boots are no longer made obsolete by the Germinas Boots. In addition to
their regular effects, the Battle Boots now has +5% physical evade and the Spiked Boots now has
resistance to Earth and Wind.
- The Power Gauntlet is no longer made completely obsolete by the Bracer. In addition to Power +1, it
now has Immune: Disable.
- The Red Shoes accessory is basically the magical counterpart to the Power Gauntlet. It will now
appear in shops earlier in the game, and at a reduced price, so that it has time to shine before the
Magepower Glove becomes available. It's now available at the same time (and for the same price) as
the Power Gauntlet.
23.) Accessory nerfs: Bracer, Tynar Rouge:
These two accessories have received nerfs so that they no longer dominate the game.
- The Bracer has been nerfed from +3 Power to +2 Power. It now matches the Magepower Glove's bonus.
This makes the item no longer the (second) best accessory in the game, outclassing even unique
items. Instead, it's just really good. Its price has been reduced accordingly.
- The Tynar Rouge has been nerfed from +3 Power and Magick to +2 Power and Magick (in addition to the
above nerf that swaps Haste for +2 Speed). It's still the best accessory in the game, but it no
longer turns the user into a god. Note also that fewer characters can now equip this item - it is
now exclusive to specific classes and to Agrias (regardless of her class). See "Gender equality:
female and male characters now have access to the same equipment", above, for more on this.
24.) Weapon & Shield battle sprites better match their UI icons + misc sprite changes:
- Several weapon and shield battle sprite assignments have been adjusted to better fit their UI icons.
For example, the Materia Blade now has a thick white blade in battle, matching its UI icon (instead
of a thin gold blade in battle, looking nothing like its icon). Every weapon and shield in the game
was reviewed and changes were made where necessary.
- In some cases, the icon was tweaked to fit the battle sprite instead, or both were tweaked to better
align. For example, the Francisca's brown and green icon didn't match its grey and red battle
sprite, but now its brown and blue icon matches its brown and blue battle sprite. This was only done
when there was no better way to match the battle sprite and UI icon.
- Almost every weapon in the base game used a blue tinted "swoosh" swing effect sprite when attacking.
Now there's more diversity in these swing effect colors. The blue tint is still the default, but
more weapons will deviate based on their blade color (ex: Golden Axe now has a gold swing effect),
element (ex: even though the Coral Sword has a blue blade, it now has a yellow swing effect to
indicate Thunder damage), or effect (ex: even though the Orochi has a black blade, it now has a red
swing effect to indicate "blood" for HP draining).
- Ranged weapon effects (muzzle flashes for guns and air poofs for bows and crossbows) also have new
colors to indicate elements or status effects.
- Fell Swords now use Knight Sword sprites instead of regular Sword sprites, since they are large,
two-handed weapons.
- The Hidden Blade (formerly Ninja Blade) sprite was changed to one with a shorter blade, since its
description says it has a shorter blade than the average sword.
- The Moonblade's description says it "glitters like a crescent moon", so its sprite and palette have
been changed to fit this better than its previous "all grey" boringness.
- The Masamune's colors were changed because it looked too similar to the Osafune. Now it better
matches its FF Record Keeper color scheme.
- The Scorpion Tail is now green instead of red, now that it inflicts Poison. This freed up red to use
for the Flame Mace, which believe it or not, was previously blue.
- The Zodiac Spear (formerly Javelin II) now looks more interesting than just "bigass grey spear". It
is now blue and gold, which seems to be the "zodiac" color scheme in Final Fantasy 12.
- The Gungnir has been adjusted to look more unique and badass (another "all grey" weapon). Though
it's thunder elemental, I opted for red instead of yellow to differentiate it from the Zodiac Spear
(also, it appears as a red spear in some Final Fantasy games). It still has a yellow swing effect to
indicate thunder.
- The Partisan and Dragon Whisker have swapped appearances so that the Partisan looks more like an
actual Partisan and the Dragon Whisker fits its name better (incorporating some green for "Dragon"
and using the thin spear sprite for "Whisker").
- The Javelin and Mythril Spear have swapped appearances so that the Javelin looks more like an actual
Javelin and the Mythril Spear looks like it's made of mythril.
- The Flame Rod no longer looks identical to the Poison Rod. I think this was a copy/paste error,
because the Thunder Rod and Ice Rod are color swaps of each other, but the Flame Rod was totally
different. Now it's a red color swap of the Thunder and Ice rods.
- The above change made the Flame Rod and the Rod of Faith look the same, so the Rod of Faith is now
gold and green instead of red (this is a better match for its effect anyway).
- Staff colors have all been tweaked so that there are fewer overlaps and so that their colors better
match their names, descriptions, or functions. For example, White Staff is actually white, Golden
Staff is actually gold, and Staff of the Magi is no longer the most boring brown in the game.
- The Golden Staff and Healing Staff have swapped graphics. Now Staves that "do something" use the
second graphic and Staves that just thunk people over the head use the first graphic.
- Bow colors were tweaked so that the Silver Bow is actually silver, the Lightning Bow is yellow, and
the starting Longbow is now a more typical brown color than its previous too-striking red.
- Fomalhaut is now grey and purple instead of grey and grey.
- Magic Gun sprite colors now better match their corresponding element (fire is red, thunder is
yellow, ice is blue).
- Handbag colors have been revised to better match the creature or environment they supposedly came
from. Croakadile Bag is now green (instead of yellow), Pantherskin Bag is now yellow (instead of
blue), Hydrascale Bag is now red (instead of dark blue), and Fallingstar Bag is now purple (instead
of green).
- The Buckler and Escutcheon have swapped appearances so that the Buckler looks more like an
actual Buckler (round) and the Escutcheon looks more like an Escutcheon (bearing a coat of arms).
- The Round Shield and Bronze Shield have swapped sprites (not colors) so that the Round Shield is
actually round. (The Bronze Shield had to change so that there weren't too many round-looking
shields in a row).
- The above change made the Bronze Shield identical to the Kaiser Shield, so the Kaiser Shield has
been changed to purple (because purple is a "royal" color, there were no purple shields already,
and because it's cool).
- The Platinum Shield and Mythril Shield have swapped colors so that the Platinum Shield is brighter
(it's description calls it a "brilliant" shield, but it actually appeared quite dull).
- The Diamond Shield's blue was shifted more towards teal in order to better match Diamond Armor.
- The Crystal Shield's two colors were swapped (it's now white on blue instead of blue on white) so
that it no longer looks nearly identical to the Diamond Shield in battle.
- The Flame Shield and Ice Shield now look hot and cool to the touch. Be careful!
- The Genji Shield now looks like it belongs with the rest of the Genji gear (instead of being a weird
outlier).
- The Zodiac Escutcheon (formerly Escutcheon II) now has the same blue and gold color scheme as the
Zodiac Spear. This also means it's no longer identical to the Golden Shield.
- The Onion gear now all looks like it goes together (instead of a bunch of random disparate pieces).
I went with a green and gold color scheme, because I didn't want to choose between matching the male
Onion Knight's blue look or the female Onion Knight's red look.
25.) Improved equipment descriptions:
- Description text for all weapons will now specify which attributes determine its damage. For
example, the Dagger will show "Attack: 3 (Phys., Speed)", since Knives use both physical attack
power and speed in their damage formula. Whereas the Oak Staff will show "Attack: 3 (Mag.)" because
Staff damage uses magical instead of physical attack power.
- Description text for Axes, Flails, Bags, and Magic Guns now specify that damage can vary due to
randomness. This is done by making "Random" one of their attack power factors. For example, Scorpion
Tail now shows "Attack: 14 (Phys., Random)".
- Description text for the Healing Staff is more clear that it heals instead of dealing damage. Its
attack power now shows as "Attack: 4 (Mag., Healing)".
- Additional screens were added to the Tutorial to explain the information in the three bullet points
above.
- Description text for all weapons will now specify how many hands are required to equip it
(previously only some weapons did this, believe it or not).
- A weapon's parry chance is now specified with "Parry:" instead of "Block:". This is to differentiate
it from shields and to make it more clear which evasion numbers are doubled by the Parry ability
(remember: Parry chance now always applies, and the Parry ability now doubles it).
- Equipment that boosts physical and magical attack power now present these boosts as "Power +X" and
"Magick +X" instead of "ATK (Phys.) +X, (Mag.) +X". For example, the Cursed Ring used to say
"ATK (Phys.) +1, (Mag.) +1 Speed +1", but now it says "Power +1 Magick +1 Speed +1".
- Description text for the Blood Sword, Orochi, and Bloodstring Harp now specifies that they absorb
the enemy's HP.
- "Equip:", which listed the innate statuses the item applies to the wearer, has been changed to
"Innate:" for clarity. "Equip" is vague - after all, ALL of an item's stats are applied only when
the thing is "equipped", not just status effects, you know?
- "Initial:" is now used instead of "Equip" or "Innate" for status effects that are granted only if
the item is equipped at the start of battle (used for Invisible, Reraise, and Stone).
- "Effect:", which listed the statuses the item inflicts upon the target, has been changed to
"Inflicts:" for harmful effects and "Bestows:" for beneficial effects, for similar reasons as the
above ("Effect" is vague). "Effect:" is now used only for misc effects that don't fit the rest of
the categories (for example, the HP draining effect on the three weapons mentioned above).
- Katana descriptions now list their Iaido skill and Iaido break chance. For example, Masamune now
shows "Iaido: Ethereal Embrace (24% break)". This should better help the player make the mental
connection between which Iaido belongs to which Katana, and help them realize ahead of time that the
weapon may break.
- Help text and Tutorial text for the Poachers' Den has been updated to explain that stolen and broken
items can also be purchased there.
- Description text for all equipment will now specify if the Dark Knight can use it. In other words,
the Dark Knight has been added to grid of classes that appears on the final page of all equipment
descriptions, filling in the ugly blank space that used to appear in the bottom-right.
- Description text for women's equipment (the one piece that remains) now says "Women Only" instead of
the out-of-favor "Females Only".
- "Women Only" and "Onion Knight Only" text now appears in red so that it's clear that it's a property
of the entire item, not an entry of the list that appears before it. "Dark Knight Only" text no
longer appears, now that the Dark Knight has an entry in the normal class grid.
- "Men Only" red text was added for the new Escort Guard item.
- The Tynar Rouge now has new "A Gift for Agrias" red text to help the player realize that Agrias can
equip it regardless of her class.
- The "Dark" element is now called "Darkness" (it just sounds better).
- The "Book" weapon category has been renamed to "Tome" to differentiate it from the "Book" terrain
type. Also, it's just a less goofy and more flavorful name.
- The "Bag" weapon category has been renamed to "Handbag" to make it more clear that they are intended
to be "extra accessories" that take up your weapon slot (rather than just crappy weapons).
- Weapons with names that are identical to their weapon category name have been renamed so that they
aren't confused with the weapon categories themselves. For example, the first Ninja Blade has been
renamed from "Ninja Blade" to "Hidden Blade" (which was its PS1 name).
- Weapons with names that suggest they belong to the wrong weapon category have been renamed for
clarity. For example, the "Hunting Bow" is actually a Crossbow, so now it's called "Hunting
Crossbow".
- The second "Javelin" and "Escutcheon" items (the ones that are super powerful but share names with
super weak items) have been renamed to "Zodiac Spear" and "Zodiac Escutcheon" so that it's clear
that these are different (and more powerful) items. These names are from the strongest spear and
shield in Final Fantasy 12.
- "Giant's Axe" and "Francisca" have swapped names, so that now the "Francisca" is the small throwing
axe and "Giant's Axe" is the large, not-throwable axe.
- "Valhalla" and "Chaos Blade" have swapped names, so that now the holy-sounding name is the final
Knight Sword and the evil-sounding name is the final Fell Sword.
- "Chaosbringer" has been renamed to "Nightmare" to differentiate it from "Chaos Blade".
- "Wizard Clothing" has been renamed to "Sorcerer's Habit" to differentiate it from "Wizard's Robe".
- "Yagyu Darkrood" has been renamed to "Yagyu Darkstar" because what the heck even is a "darkrood"?
- The game was inconsistent about naming glove Accessories "Glove" or "Gloves". The more iconic ones
used "Glove", so now they all do.
Here's the list of all equipment renames:
- Rod -> Wooden Rod
- Ninja Blade -> Hidden Blade
- Crossbow -> Recurve Crossbow
- Hunting Bow -> Hunting Crossbow
- Poison Bow -> Poison Crossbow
- Javelin (II) -> Zodiac Spear
- Escutcheon (II) -> Zodiac Escutcheon
- Giant's Axe -> Francisca
- Francisca -> Giant's Axe
- Chaos Blade -> Valhalla
- Valhalla -> Chaos Blade
- Chaosbringer -> Nightmare
- Wizard Clothing -> Sorcerer's Habit
- Yagyu Darkrood -> Yagyu Darkstar
- Brigand's Gloves -> Brigand's Glove
- Onion Gloves -> Onion Glove
26.) Item Attribute & Inflict Status slot consolidation (for modders):
This change is relevant for modders only, as it doesn't directly affect the game. Several redundant
Item Attribute slots and Inflict Status slots have been consolidated, freeing up a bunch of blank
slots that can be used for creating new attributes and effects (if desired).
Here's the list of Item Attribute slots that are now completely unused:
0C, 0D, 11, 16, 17, 19, 1F, 24, 26, 27, 28, 2F, 33, 34, 35, 3F, 4A,
4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, 54, 55, 59
Here's the list of Inflict Status slots that are now completely unused:
0F, 1B, 1D, 1E, 1F, 20, 27, 28, 2B, 2D, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 38, 39,
3A, 3D, 3E, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 4A, 4B, 4C, 5D,
61, 62, 63, 6C, 70, 72, 73, 77, 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, 7E, 7F
CLASS & ABILITY IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Squire: Basic ability list revision; Defend buff; Focus raises both physical & magic attack power:
- The Squire ability list should have been about the absolute basics, without weird off-concept
abilities like "Equip Axes" and "Beastmaster". Now it is!
Squire gains: | Squire loses:
- ReEquip (from Chemist) | - Equip Axes (to Knight; now called "Axe Lore")
- Jump+1 (from Archer) | - Beastmaster (to Orator; now called "Beast Tamer")
Note also that since Equip Axes (like all Equip X abilities) and Beastmaster have been buffed in
this mod, they needed to be moved to jobs that unlock later in the game anyhow.
- Defend now reduces the enemy hit rate even further than before, making it a bit more powerful of an
option. Note this also enhances the Thief's Vigilance ability.
- Defend and ReEquip now cost 30 and 10 JP (instead of 50 and 0). 50 is a pretty high price for such a
fundamental ability at the very beginning of the game, and ReEquip being free caused even more of a
disincentive to buy Defend. After this change, the player can at least make a choice, and one that
is not prohibitively expensive.
- To better support hybrid physical/magic character builds, the Squire's Focus ability will now
increase both physical and magic attack power (instead of just physical attack power). This allows
spellcasting classes to benefit from the ability as well (and allows the Squire to better utilize
spellcasting skillsets in their secondary slot).
2.) Chemist: Can now equip Crossbows; Reduced JP costs for Item skills:
- The Chemist can now equip Crossbows, which should make this class more playable earlier in the game,
before you can get Guns.
- The JP costs of all the Chemist's Item skills have been halved. The high JP cost *per item* was a
bummer and a disincentive for using items at all, especially when Esuna only costs 280 JP and
doesn't cost a consumable to use!
3.) Physical/magic hybrid builds are more viable:
Previously, if you equipped something like an Archer with Black Magic or a Black Mage with Equip
Swords, your character would absolutely suck and you'd wonder to yourself why you even wasted time
building such a dork. But you *did* spend the JP on this particular set of skills, so it's a bummer
that the game hoses you for it. Thus, this change increases magic power for physical jobs and
physical power for magic jobs in order to better support these "hybrid" character builds.
- Each magic class had its physical attack multiplier raised to a minimum of 80%, and each physical
class had its magic attack multiplier raised to a minimum of 100% (everyone is at least "medium" at
magic, since it costs MP to use no matter who you are). Now the Knight (for example) still has lower
magic power than any spellcaster class, but it's no longer low enough that magic is totally
unusable.
The following chart shows which classes had which multipliers increased, and by how much:
Classes with Physical Multipliers increased:
- Squire | 90% -> 100%*
- Chemist | 75% -> 80%
- Black Mage | 60% -> 80%
- Time Mage | 50% -> 80%
- Summoner | 50% -> 80%
- Orator | 75% -> 80%
- Mystic | 50% -> 80%
- Geomancer | 110% -> 115%***
- Arithmetician | 50% -> 80%
- Bard | 30% -> 95%**
Classes with Magic Multipliers increased:
- Squire | 80% -> 100%
- Chemist | 80% -> 100%
- Knight | 80% -> 100%
- Archer | 80% -> 100%
- Monk | 80% -> 100%
- Thief | 60% -> 100%
- White Mage | 110% -> 120%**
- Orator | 75% -> 100%
- Geomancer | 105% -> 110%***
- Dragoon | 50% -> 100%
- Samurai | 90% -> 100%
- Ninja | 75% -> 100%
- Arithmetician | 70% -> 100%****
- Dancer | 95% -> 100%
- Dark Knight | 80% -> 100%
* Squire PA was increased to 100% because it needed a bit of a boost to make sure it felt like
"a physical class" in a world where magic jobs have 80%. This boost gets rounded out at the very
beginning of the game, so it won't make the opening battles suddenly harder.
** The White Mage and Bard were buffed intentionally beyond the new minimums.
See "White Mage: Innate Arcane Defense + Magic Power buff" and "Bard & Dancer improvements",
below.
*** The Geomancer was already a hybrid character and was already paying a stats penalty for that
flexibility. Buffing the hybrid capabilities of all other classes was sort of a stealth nerf to
this job, and it's already a job people tend not to like. Hence, the slight boost to physical and
magic attack power to make sure this job is still "the best hybrid".
**** This is a mondo buff to the Arithmetician, but worry not, the class has been modified to be
balanced and playable. See "Arithmetician: Arithmeticks nerfs + Stat buffs" below.
Note: Other changes previously mentioned in this readme go further in supporting a hybrid playstyle:
- The Squire's Focus skill now increases both physical and magic attack power
- The Monk's magical skills now use the higher of physical or magic attack power
- The Mystic's new Combat Casting Support ability improves casting spells in melee
- The Materia Blade now gives +3 to magic power, making warriors better casters
- The improvements to the Equip X abilities make spellcasters better with weapons
- Rapha and Marach are tuned to function well as hybrid characters
4.) Knight: Reduced Rend JP costs + increased success rates; Can now equip Axes & Flails:
- The JP costs of all the Knight's Rend skills have been slightly reduced. The Knight is a bit of a
bummer to play in the beginning of the game because all of its Rend skills are pretty expensive. You
are stuck playing several battles without any skills to use as you save up for your first one. This
change helps you get into the fun of the class a bit faster.
- The success rate of all the Knight's Rend skills has been increased, resulting in fewer wasted
turns. Now that broken equipment can be recovered in the Poachers' Den, there's no reason for me to
be shy about the AI using these abilities against you!
- The Knight can now use Axes and Flails. This is the class that can break enemy equipment, yet they
could not equip the heaviest weapons that typically do this in other RPGs. That's weird. Also, it
was weird that the Squire and Dark Knight can use these weapons but the Knight cannot. Weirdness
corrected.
- The Knight gains the Axe Lore (formerly Equip Axes) ability, as it now makes more sense here than
on the Squire. However, the Knight loses Sword Lore (formerly Equip Swords) to the Samurai,
because the improvements to the Equip X abilities made Sword Lore a no-brainer for most of the game.
It had to be moved to a later class so that it wouldn't dominate the earlygame.
- Also, reminder that the Parry skill now doubles your weapon evasion rating (since weapon evasion now
applies at all times by default).
5.) Monk: Damage formula changes:
The barehanded damage formula has been adjusted to fix some gnarly balance issues. Instead of
Power x Power x Brave(0%->100%), it now uses Speed x Power x Brave(50%->100%). There are many
benefits to this change:
- Low Brave Monks no longer do hilariously pitiful damage. The new minimum damage is now 50%, rather
than 0%, of their maximum damage. In other words, Monks with Brave lower than 50 will deal damage as
if their Brave was 50.
- Raising a Monk's Power during battle (with skills like Focus) no longer causes damage to skyrocket
absurdly quickly. Instead, their damage increases at the same rate as all other physical classes.
- The Monk's damage progression now proceeds at roughly the same pace as the Knight and other physical
class damage progression after the Doublehand and Dual Wield nerfs (see "Less powerful melee Support
ability damage" above) and endgame equipment nerfs (see "Endgame weapon attack power values reduced
across the board", above). In other words, early game damage is about the same but endgame damage is
reduced (since the Monk's Speed grows at a slower rate than its Power).
- Endgame Monk builds have more interesting decisions to make. Balancing Speed and Power is more
important than stacking Power as high as you can make it. Monks no longer disproportionately benefit
from Power-increasing equipment such as the Bracer. Instead, they benefit equally as much as other
physical classes.
For example, suppose you have a Monk with 10 Power and Speed, and a Knight with 10 Power equipped
with a weapon with 10 attack (for simplicity, let's assume the Monk has about 66 Brave, so that the
Brave and Brawler multiplication cancel each other out). The following chart compares the effects of
equipping a (pre-nerf) Bracer on this Monk with the old formula, the new formula, and on this
example Knight:
Job: | Old Bracer Damage Increase:
- Knight | - 100 -> 130
- Monk (new) | - 100 -> 130
- Monk (old) | - 100 -> 169!
- The Monk attack skills Cyclone, Pummel, Aurablast, and Shockwave were updated to also use both Power
and Speed, for all the same reasons above. Power has a greater effect on the damage than Speed does.
Note that these changes apply to humans only. Monsters will still use the old formulas, because most
monsters have way more Power than Speed and the intent behind this change was not to nerf monsters.
- A few Monk skills were ambiguous as to whether they are based on Power or Magick (Chakra, Revive,
Doom Fist, and Purification). These skills now use whichever stat is higher, and both Martial
Strength and Arcane Strength will enhance them.
6.) Monk: Martial Defense; Cyclone, Pummel, & Doom Fist buffs; Chakra healing nerfs:
- The Monk now has Martial Defense (previously called "Defense Boost") available as a Support ability.
I actually moved it here to make room for a new ability on the Mystic (see "Mystic: New Support
ability", below), but this ability was always out of place on the Mystic anyway. It makes more sense
that the Monk would have the unarmored physical defense ability.
This ability gives Monks an interesting choice to make with their JP in the early game - a way to
prioritize defense without spending an action on it (like Chakra or Defend), but in exchange for not
purchasing Counter until later. This also makes Martial Defense itself available earlier in the
game, and on more characters, which is another way to sneakily address the fact that direct damage
is overpowered in this game.
- Pummel's funky random damage formula has been corrected. Previously it caused crazy results, and by
the end of the game it was never worth using because even its _maximum_ damage was lower than a
regular attack! Its damage formula has been rewritten to behave like a normal attack plus or minus
50% damage. In other words, its the same randomization fix that was applied to Axes and Flails.
- Doom Fist now costs slightly less JP and has a much higher success rate.
- Cyclone, Doom Fist, and Chakra now have more vertical tolerance, making it easier to hit targets on
rougher terrain.
- The amount of HP Chakra recovers has been slightly nerfed. It's now equal to four times the Monk's
Power or Magick (instead of five times the Monk's Power).
- The amount of MP Chakra recovers has been nerfed even further. It is now equal to 25% of the HP
recovered (instead of 50%). In other words, it's now equal to the Monk's Power or Magick instead of
2.5 times the Monk's Power.
7.) Geomancer: Increased vertical tolerance for Geomancy skills:
- The vertical tolerance on Geomancy skills has been increased from 0 to 1, increasing the odds that
they will hit multiple enemies on rougher terrain.
- This is also a buff to the Nature's Wrath reaction ability.
- Note also that the Geomancer's physical and magical attack power have been buffed ever so slightly
(see "Physical/magic hybrid builds are more viable" above).
8.) Archer: Slight Speed buff; Reduced JP costs for Aim+ skills:
- The Archer's Speed multiplier has been increased from 100% to 110%. It's now equal to the Monk's and
White Mage's Speed (instead of the Knight's and Squire's). This also slightly increases their damage
with a bow (since bow damage is based on Power and Speed).
- In addition, the JP costs of all the Archer's Aim+ skills have been halved. No one gets excited
about buying all of the Aim+ skills - once you have a few of them, that's all you'll ever need. Yet
it costs a massive amount of JP to buy the rest of them to master the job. Reducing their costs
mitigates this problem, making the Archer less annoying to master.
Note that due to "Quicker spell & skill casting speeds" (see above), the Aim+ skills also charge
faster, which also makes them a bit more attractive to purchase.
9.) Thief: Reduced Steal JP costs + increased success rates; Steal Heart JP cost increased:
- The Steal skills are slightly cheaper to buy and have higher success rates. These improvements
mirror the changes made to the Knight's Rend skills, for the exact same reasons - playing a Thief in
chapter 1 is boring because they take so long to get going, and we don't need to be shy about AI
stealing your equipment now that you can recover it in the Poachers' Den.
- Steal Heart now costs 50 more JP, and enemy AI are now less likely to have it. This skill was
incredibly powerful and overused by enemy Thieves in chapter 1. You feared being Charmed more than
you feared having your equipment stolen when you saw a Thief. Now you'll start seeing this skill
more often only later in the game.
Note that Balthier's Plunder skills, which were simply higher success rate versions of the Steal
skills, have been removed from the game - the Steal skills themselves replace them (see "Balthier
nerfs & changes", below, for more on this).
10.) Jump+X movement abilities are available earlier & have reduced JP costs:
The Jump+X movement abilities are not as broadly useful as the Move+X movement abilities, but the
game treats them as if they are with their high JP costs. This has been corrected by shifting each
Jump+X ability down "one step" in JP costs and in job assignments:
Before: | After:
| - Jump+1 = 100 JP Squire
- Jump+1 = 200 JP Archer | - Jump+2 = 200 JP Archer
- Jump+2 = 520 JP Thief | - Jump+3 = 520 JP Thief
- Jump+3 = 1000 JP Dancer | - (removed)*
* See "Bard & Dancer improvements", below, for more on this.
11.) Dragoon: Jump skills simplification:
- Redundant Jump skills are no longer necessary to purchase in order to Master the Dragoon job. The
Dragoon skill list has been simplified; now there are only two Jump levels, 3 and 8. Jump 3 is free,
and Jump 8 costs the same as it always had. These skills have been renamed to "Jump", "Enhanced
Horizontal", and "Enhanced Vertical".
This was another catch-22 situation, similar to JP Boost, where you felt bad no matter what you did.
Playing optimally - saving up to buy Jump 8 first - felt bad because your jump range sucked until
you could finally afford it. Buying the intermediate Jump skills felt bad because you were
ultimately "wasting" JP in the long run. Mastering the class felt bad because you had to waste JP on
Jump skills that do nothing (once you had Jump 8, all other Jump skills add nothing to your Jump
range).
This change fixes the above conundrum by allowing you to play optimally (purchase Jump 8 first)
while still enjoying the benefits of the class (the free Jump 3), and you won't be required to
purchase useless skills to Master it.
Note for modders: the rest of the (now unused) Jump skills are now open skill slots that can be used
for creating new skills, if desired. It'll require ASM to remove the Jump hardcoding, though.
12.) Samurai: Innate Doublehand + HP buff + Iaido buff:
- The Samurai class now has the Doublehand ability innate, in order to compete with the Ninja's innate
Dual Wield. Samurai and Ninja are both supposed to be the final physical jobs, but the Ninja's
damage is amazing right out the gate, whereas the Samurai's damage sucks until you can finally
afford Doublehand. This change puts the two on equal footing. This also makes enemy Samurai more
dangerous, so watch out!
- The Samurai's HP multiplier has been increased from 75% (less than a White Mage) to 100% (same as a
Squire). The Samurai's super low HP was always goofy, especially compared to Knight and Dragoon.
This gives them a bit more survivability and ensures they no longer violate the player's
expectations.
- Since the Samurai's magic power was increased (see "Physical/magic hybrid builds are more viable"
above), their Iaido skills are more powerful. As a balancing factor, Katana break chances are now
HIGHER than they were before (remember, if your Katana is broken, you can now buy it back at the
Poachers' Den). See "Katana Improved Brave-scaling; Break chances INCREASED" and "Broken and Stolen
equipment can be repurchased at the Poachers' Den" (both above) for more information on these
changes.
13.) Black Mage: Innate Arcane Strength + Nerfs to compensate; Improved Magick Counter:
- The Black Mage now has Arcane Strength as an innate ability. However...
- Arcane Strength has been nerfed from +33% damage to +20% damage. This change makes other Support
abilities more attractive to use (as Arcane Strength was the obvious choice almost every time).
And...
- The Black Mage's magic power multiplier has been reduced from 150% to 130%. It now has the same
magic power as the Time Mage.
Ultimately the Black Mage's damage output is about the same after the above three changes (it's
actually just slightly lower). "So Tzepish, if it's about the same, why make these changes at all?"
you might be asking. The main reason is to make other spellcasting builds balanced without affecting
the Black Mage's default power level.
Previously, if you wanted to use Black Magic, the Black Mage + Arcane Strength combo was miles ahead
of even the second most powerful option, so much so that you felt bad for using Black Magic in any
other way. After these changes, you can no longer stack Arcane Strength onto the Black Mage, so now
Black Magic is an attractive prospect on any spellcasting class (for example, a Time Mage with
Arcane Strength will match the Black Mage's damage output). And doing it this way also ensures that
the Black Mage is still "the best" at Black Magic by default (since they get essentially an extra
Support slot).
Note: The Black Mage was also effectively buffed by the "Quicker spell & skill casting speeds" and
"More powerful endgame magic damage" changes (see above).
- Magick Counter now has an expanded list of attacks it can counter. This ability was never worth its
huge JP cost because triggering it was so rare. To address this, Magick Counter can now counter
-ja spells, Summons, Geomancy, and demon magic (such as Ultima and its cousins). Note it still won't
counter Speechcraft, Iaido, Dances, Subdual Arts (Assassins), Rapha & Marach's mantras, or "magical"
physical abilities (such as Martial Arts or Holy Sword). Some monster abilities can now also be
countered - those that seem most like "casting a spell" (such as the elemental Anima abilities).
- Magick Counter can no longer "counter" Quick. As far as I can tell, this was a bug. I tried instead
to allow it to "counter" all beneficial magic as well, but during playtesting this became the
dominant strategy with this ability, to the point where it felt out of place on the Black Mage.
Ultimately the game is better if the default behavior for a "counter" ability is to actually counter
harmful attacks only.
- Thundara, for some reason, used to cost 2 MP less than Fira and Blizzara. This has been
corrected - Thundara now costs 12 MP instead of 10 MP. Previous versions of this mod opted to lower
Fira's and Blizzara's MP costs to match Thundara's instead. This was in keeping with the goals of
this mod - to make the game more fun and convenient. However, after increasing all the -ra
spellcasting speeds, they really needed that extra 2 MP cost for early game balance.
- Poison has a significantly higher hit rate. Also, the status itself now deals double damage (HP/4
per turn instead of HP/8).
14.) White Mage: Innate Arcane Defense + Magic Power buff:
- The White Mage now has Arcane Defense innate. This is mostly for symmetry with the Black Mage, but
it's also a welcome minor buff for a class that otherwise needs love.
- The White Mage's magic power multiplier has been increased from 110% to 120%. It now has the same
magic power as the Mystic.
The White Mage was always surprisingly bad at magic. Every time I play the game I forget this, until
the game "gotchas" me when I use an attack spell. The White Mage was also surprisingly *good* at
physical power - equal to the Squire - which balances their low magic power in theory, but I never
remember to take advantage of this because it's completely counter to the player's intuition. It's
also contrary to the rest of the Final Fantasy series, in which it's the hybrid red mages who are
good at physical attacks.
In my opinion, this buff could go even further and still be balanced, but the goal of this mod is to
make things more fun and convenient *without* taking things too far, so I'd rather err on the side
of this conservative fix.
- Protectja, Shellja, and Wall were all buffed to be actually useful.
See "More consistent status attacks; Status -ja spells buffed; Misc Status Effect buffs & nerfs",
above, for the details.
15.) Spellcasting classes can now all equip Tomes (Books):
- This was a change that just made too much sense not to do. All primarily spellcasting classes can
now equip Tomes (previously called Books). This is a nice alternative to a Staff or a Rod. Typically
a Tome will deal less damage but have a bit more range, which can make physical attacks a more
viable option in cases where you want to save MP. This affects White Mage, Black Mage, Time Mage,
Summoner, Orator, and Bard (Mystic and Arithmetician could already equip Tomes).
- Note also that the "Book" weapon category has been renamed to "Tome" to differentiate it from the
"Book" terrain type. Also, it's just a less goofy and more flavorful name.
16.) Time Mage, Summoner, & Mystic: Improved Gravity & Drain spells:
The Gravity spells should be powerful in theory, but by the time you can unlock them their damage is
not competitive for their cost. These changes make the Gravity spells worth buying earlier, and they
fix the fact that Lich is strictly better than Graviga:
- Gravity and Graviga have reduced JP costs (Gravity 250 -> 200, Graviga 550 -> 400).
- Gravity and Graviga have reduced MP costs (Gravity 24 -> 20, Graviga 50 -> 40).
- Gravity's hit rate has been slightly increased.
- Graviga's hit rate has been drastically increased. It now matches Gravity's.
- Gravity and Graviga have increased damage (Gravity 25% -> 33%, Graviga 50% -> 66%).
- Lich has increased damage (50% -> 66%).
Previous to these changes, Lich was either equal or superior to Graviga on every measure. Now they
are comparable - Lich hits a wider area and won't hit allies, but it has a lower hit rate.
- In addition, the Mystic's Invigoration spell has increased damage (25% -> 33%). Now it's no longer
strictly inferior to Beowulf's Drain - it has a casting time, but it absorbs more HP. (Empowerment
didn't need the same update - it already absorbs 33% MP compared to Beowulf's Syphon absorbing 25%.)
- The text descriptions of these spells have been updated to specify their damage percentages.
Note: These spells are now less effective against Lucavi and other super monsters with a ton of HP.
See "Monster bosses have more HP/Defense; take less damage from Gravity & Drain", above.
17.) Mystic: New Support ability: "Combat Casting" for casting in melee:
- To better support physical/magical hybrid characters, a new Support ability has been added to the
Mystic. It reduces incoming physical damage by 50% (instead of increasing it by 50%) while charging
a spell or a skill. This ability should help enable builds that are *encouraged* to cast spells
while in the thick of combat.
Mystic felt like the right home for this ability, being the class unlocked after White Mage. It has
nice symmetry with Time Mage's Swiftness (the class after Black Mage gets an offensive charging
ability; the class after White Mage gets a defensive charging ability). However, Mystic already had
Martial Defense, which has a similar role of protecting the unit from melee damage. So to address
the overlap, Martial Defense has been moved to the Monk, where it makes more sense anyway (see
"Monk: Martial Defense", above).
18.) Orator: Can now equip Crossbows; "Beast Tamer" = all beast abilities combined + no range requirement:
- The Orator can now equip Crossbows, which should make this class more playable earlier in the game,
before you can get Guns.
- Speechcraft now works on monsters by default, without need of the Beast Tongue ability (and the
actual Beast Tongue ability has been removed now that it is no longer needed). However, the success
rate is reduced compared to humans. (Note that Speechcraft success rates in general were increased
by the "More consistent status magic" change detailed above.)
- "Beast Tamer" is a new ability that combines the features of Beastmaster and Tame. Neither of these
abilities were worth the support slot, but combine the two of them (and throw in the additional
improvements below) and now we're getting somewhere! (Beastmaster and Tame have been removed from
the game as well).
- Beast Tamer does not have Beastmaster's range requirement (of 1 tile). Now allied monsters will gain
the extra skill regardless of their distance from the character with Beast Tamer. Note the character
with Beast Tamer still needs to be present in the battle and not disabled by status effects in order
for the extra monster skill to appear.
- Beast Tamer now doubles Speechcraft success rate against monsters, raising it to HIGHER than against
humans. In other words, it replaces Beast Tongue as well as Beastmaster and Tame, making it the
single "good at beasts" ability.
- Earplug now makes you immune to Speechcraft (instead of simply lowering its hit rate against you).
It now also applies only to enemy Speechcraft (allied Speechcraft is unaffected). This ability is
still terrible, but hey, now it's less terrible.
Here are some example Speechcraft success rates. Assuming the caster has 10 magic power, the
following chart shows the success rates against various targets for comparison:
Target: | Entice Success: | Stall Success: | Insult Success:
- Human | - 40% | - 50% | - 60%
- Monster (no Beast Tamer) | - 25% | - 30% | - 35%
- Monster (+ Beast Tamer) | - 50% | - 60% | - 70%
- Vanilla FFT | - 30% | - 40% | - 50%
19.) Endgame job prerequisite reductions (Bard, Dancer, Arithmetician, Onion Knight, Mime, & Dark Knight):
Endgame jobs have had their overly-strict prerequisites reduced. These reductions are AFTER the
prerequisite reductions from the US PS1 version of the game.
- Bard, Dancer, and Arithmetician level 4 prerequisites have been reduced to level 3.
- Mime level 5 prerequisites have been reduced to level 4.
- Onion Knight, Mime, and Dark Knight prerequisites higher than level 5 have been reduced to level 5.
- The Mime and the Dark Knight require fewer jobs.
- The Dark Knight no longer requires killing a requisite number of enemies, nor does it require
mastering the Knight and Black Mage jobs.
(Thanks Xjamxx for the "Unlocked jobs v2" ASM hack!)
Bard Before: | Bard After:
- Summoner Level 4 | - Summoner Level 3
- Orator Level 4 | - Orator Level 3
Dancer Before: | Dancer After:
- Geomancer Level 4 | - Geomancer Level 3
- Dragoon Level 4 | - Dragoon Level 3
Arithmetician Before: | Arithmetician After:
- White Mage Level 4 | - White Mage Level 3
- Black Mage Level 4 | - Black Mage Level 3
- Mystic Level 3 | - Mystic Level 3
- Time Mage Level 3 | - Time Mage Level 3
Onion Knight Before: | Onion Knight After:
- Squire Level 6 | - Squire Level 5
- Chemist Level 6 | - Chemist Level 5
Mime Before: | Mime After:
- Squire Level 8 | - Squire Level 5
- Chemist Level 8 | - Chemist Level 5
- Summoner Level 5 |
- Orator Level 5 | - Orator Level 4
- Geomancer Level 5 | - Geomancer Level 4
- Dragoon Level 5 |
Dark Knight Before: | Dark Knight After:
- Knight Master |
- Black Mage Master | - Black Mage Level 5
- Geomancer Level 8 |
- Dragoon Level 8 |
- Samurai Level 8 | - Samurai Level 5
- Ninja Level 8 |
- Kill 20 enemies |
20.) Bard & Dancer improvements + gender equality changes:
The Bard and Dancer have been buffed, and a few changes have been made to support gender equality:
- Bard physical attack power was increased to just under the Dancer's (PA Multiplier 30% -> 100%), and
Dancer magic attack power was increased to just under the Bard's (MA Multiplier 95% -> 100%). Now
they should be good at actually using their class-exclusive weapons (Instrument and Cloth), which
are physical/magic hybrid weapons.
- Instruments have reduced attack power and Cloths have increased attack power. Instrument attack
power values were already inflated because of the Bard's incredibly low base Power, so this nerf
lowers them back to reasonable levels. Both Bards and Dancers are better at attacking now, a reward
for unlocking these super late classes (Instruments are more powerful than Bows; Cloths are more
powerful than Spears).
- Both classes can now equip Robes. The Bard can now also equip Tomes.
- The formerly female-exclusive accessory types (Perfume and Lip Rouge) are now exclusive to Bards and
Dancers instead.
- The Dancer loses Jump+3 (which is now on the Thief) and gains Move+3, so now both Bard and Dancer
have this ability. Both Move+3 and Jump+3 have been removed from the Dark Knight (since they are no
longer necessary there).
- The four "Boost" abilities that these classes have access to have been shared with each other. In
other words, Power Boost and Bravery Boost have been added to the Bard, and Magick Boost and Faith
Boost have been added to the Dancer. These abilities are no longer gender-locked.
21.) Arithmetician: Arithmeticks nerfs + Stat buffs:
The following changes aim to make Arithmeticks a fun and powerful utility skillset, similar to red
magic in other Final Fantasy games, instead of the lolwin button:
- Arithmeticks can only cast the first tier of spells - no more -ra or -ga spells (it already couldn't
cast -ja spells). In addition, it can no longer cast the following spells: Arise, Reraise, Wall,
Holy, Toad, Death, Flare, Stop, Immobilize, Delirium, Repose, Corruption, Hesitation, and
Induration.
- The Arithmetician now has Instant Cast as an innate ability. In other words, whatever secondary
skillset you assign to them, as long as it's magic, can still be cast at instant speed. They just no
longer have access to FOUR sets of magic skillsets that can be cast ON THE ENTIRE BATTLEFIELD for
ZERO MP at instant speed. This change allows the class to still "feel" like it did in vanilla
without being crazy ridiculous.
(Thanks Nyzer for this "so crazy it just might work" idea!)
- Arithmeticks spells will now honor the Reflect status on their targets, rather than bypassing it in
all cases. This class was already overpowered enough without this weird, unadvertised benefit.
(Thanks Xjamxx for the "Abilities in Arith skillset can be reflected" ASM hack!)
- The Arithmetician's Speed has been BUFFED. You read that right. The biggest problem with this class
was not the class itself, but putting Arithmeticks on *other* classes. So their abysmal Speed was
not actually an effective balancing factor - it was just annoying. Now that the class benefits from
Instant Cast on their secondary skillset, the Speed nerf is more justified, but it was unplayable
bad. Now it's playable (but still bad).
- The Arithmetician's Power and Magick have been increased to the new minimums specified above under
"Physical/magic hybrid builds are more viable". Again, reducing their stats was never an effective
nerf to begin with, and now that they have a more limited spell list, they can have their stats
restored to within the range of other classes. Also, when using their secondary skillset, they will
now have enough power to actually benefit from their innate Instant Cast. Their Magick and Speed are
still low, though, so you'll need to decide what to prioritize when equipping them.
- The Arithmetician's prerequisite levels for White Mage and Black Mage have been reduced from 4 to 3.
Now that there are fewer spells available for Arithmeticks, it didn't make sense to require such a
high level.
- The JP costs of all the Arithmetician's formula skills have been halved. Now that each formula can
cast fewer spells, their previous JP costs weren't worth it.
- Arithmetician formula skills have been renamed to make it more clear to the player how they work
(see the chart below):
Old Name | New Name
"CT" | "Target CT"
"Level" | "Target Level"
"EXP" | "Target EXP"
"Height" | "Target Height"
"Prime" | "= Prime Number"
"Multiple of 5" | "= Multiple of 5"
"Multiple of 4" | "= Multiple of 4"
"Multiple of 3" | "= Multiple of 3"
In addition, the message at the top of the screen when casting in battle has been improved for
further clarity. For example, instead of showing "Height Prime Cure" at the top of the screen, now
it will show "Target Height = Prime Number: Cure".
For reference, here's the new Arithmeticks full spell list:
- White Magic: Cure, Esuna, Raise, Regen, Protect, Shell
- Black Magic: Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, Poison
- Time Magic: Haste, Slow, Float, Reflect, Gravity
- Mystic Arts: Trepidation, Belief, Disbelief, Umbra, Quiescence, Fervor, Harmony
These changes definitely risk going against the stated goal of this mod - not to alter the "feel"
of the game by making drastic changes. However, the Arithmetician, for most players, simply "doesn't
exist" - you either never used it (because it was a lolwin button that obviated the rest of the
game) or you *did* use it and... obviated the rest of the game. Turning this job into something fun
and useful that the first group of players may actually *use* and the second group of players may
actually *enjoy* was an opportunity I had to take. And giving them innate Instant Cast while keeping
their Speed low was the secret ingredient that made them "feel" mostly the same to play, even after
all these changes.
22.) Onion Knight improvements:
The Onion Knight has been buffed to the point of potential usefulness:
- The base version of the Onion Knight now has good stats and is usable (slightly higher stats than
the Knight).
- The master version has had its physical attack power buffed (and is still absurdly high in all other
stats).
- The Onion Glove now grants +3 Power (in addition to all its status immunities). It bothered me that
the best loadout for the Onion Knight was all Onion equipment and the Bracer instead of the Onion
Glove.
- The class gains Parry, ReEquip, and Safeguard as innate abilities.
- Added a fake "No EXP" ability to its description text to make it clear that it doesn't gain EXP.
23.) Dark Knight: Reduced JP costs; New "Greatsword Lore" Support ability; HP buffs; minor stat nerfs:
- The Dark Knight's first couple attacks have been reduced in JP Cost so that you can get going in the
class faster. You already did all the work unlocking the class - it only added insult to injury that
you then had to wait for 500 JP to even use anything.
- The Dark Knight's "Darkness" skillset no longer requires a Sword equipped to use. Instead, it can be
used as long as any weapon is equipped (in other words, it can't be used unarmed). It was lame that
the class can equip Flails and Axes, but then the game was like "just kidding - you can't use your
abilities, sucker!". This change also allows the Dark Knight to enjoy the new Equipment Lore
abilities (see "Equip X ability improvements", above). Note also that "Sanguine Sword" has been
renamed to "Sanguine Slash" so that the player isn't misled into thinking it requires a sword.
- Speaking of Equip X abilities, the Dark Knight also gains "Greatsword Lore", a new Equip X ability
for Knight Swords and Fell Swords.
- The Dark Knight's HP multiplier has been increased from 80% (same as Chemist and White Mage) to 100%
(same as Squire). To compensate, their MP multiplier has been reduced to match the Knight's (from
90% to 80%), and their Power multiplier has been decreased from 140% (the highest by far) to 130%
(the highest still, but only slightly higher than Monk and Samurai).
The Dark Knight's base HP was comically low, to the point where I was getting bug reports on it from
people playing the mod. Though players may expect the Dark Knight to have lower HP and higher Power
than a Knight, no one expects "glass cannon" from this concept by default. If you want to _opt in_
to "glass cannon", you can equip Vehemence (rather than being a glass cannon by default and
Vehemence making it even crazier). Note also that one of the balance goals of this mod is making
direct damage less OP, so reducing physical attack power while increasing HP fixes multiple problems
at once without changing this job's concept (100% is still "low" for a melee class).
- The Dark Knight's HP Boost ability now doubles your base HP (instead of increasing it by 20%) and
costs 400 JP (instead of 2000 JP). This ability was hilariously underpowered - note the bonus is
applied to *base* HP, not armor-modified HP. Changing it to double makes the ability competitive
with Martial Defense and Arcane Defense. Note also that it has been renamed to "Double HP" to make
this extra clear.
- The Dark Knight can no longer equip Clothing (light armor). Sorry. It was strange that they ever
could. Now it's consistent with Knights.
- Equipment descriptions will now specify whether the Dark Knight can equip the item, just like every
other class.
24.) AI Swiftness-related bugfixes:
This change fixes bugs that prevented the AI from taking full advantage of the Swiftness and Instant
Cast Support Abilities. Instead, the code was looking for the wrong ability IDs, causing funky
behavior.
- AI with Swiftness will now properly factor it into their CT calculations.
- AI with Beastmaster* will no longer behave as if they have Swiftness equipped.
- AI with Instant Cast will now properly factor it into their CT calculations.
- AI with Defend will no longer behave as if they have Instant Cast equipped.
* Beastmaster as we once knew it no longer exists anyhow, but the bug was fixed regardless.
25.) AI equipment selection improvements:
- AI characters are now better at choosing level-relevant equipment. For example, you will no longer
see most Knights running around with low level robes equipped. This is thanks to Glain's "Random
Unit Equipment is more selective" bugfix ASM hack, which I rewrote for PSP for this mod.
The bug would kick in if the AI character can use more than one item type for the current slot.
Knights were the most obvious case, so let's use them as an example. When a Knight is choosing an
equipment item for the body slot...
What's supposed to happen:
* Randomly choose between the highest level Armor and the highest level Robe that I qualify for.
* 50/50 chance of choosing Armor or Robe, and I'll always choose something relevant to my level.
^ This is now what happens in this mod, thanks to the bugfix.
What was actually happening in vanilla:
* Randomly choose between the highest level Armor or ANY Robe that I qualify for.
* Much higher chance for choosing a Robe because there's only one Armor in the list.
* Since every Robe is in the list, often a low level Robe is chosen.
There are also a few desireable side effects of this bug that have gone away with the fix. These
side effects have been reintroduced in this mod by manually assigning gear to story battle enemies
in a few places:
* Archers were more likely to choose a Bow than a Crossbow.
(Reintroduced by manually assigning Bows to some Archers in the campaign.)
* Ninjas were more likely to choose a Ninja Blade than a Knife.
(Reintroduced by manually assigning Ninja Blades to some Ninjas in the campaign.)
* Mage classes were more likely to choose a Robe than a Light Armor.
(Reintroduced by manually assigning Robes to some Mage characters in the campaign.)
* The bug accidentally created more equipment variety in battles, since often characters used lower
level gear than they qualified for.
(Reintroduced by manually assigning "one step lower" items on a few enemies in the campaign.)
- In addition to the above bugfix, several item level requirements have been tweaked to create a more
varied and interesting experience. In some cases you may see advanced items before they are
available in shops, giving you the opportunity to acquire them "early" via stealing.
- Also, the flag that prevents enemy characters from choosing an equipment item has been removed from
several items, increasing the variety of equipment enemy characters can choose from.
26.) AI ability selection improvements:
The following changes create more varied gameplay by changing how the game chooses abilities for AI
characters:
- When generating characters, the AI will now gain +1 additional job level to all job prerequisites.
For example, an AI Thief will have Archer level 3 instead of Archer level 2 (even though Archer
level 2 is the Thief's prerequisite). This increases the variety of skills and abilities at the AI
character's disposal.
- In addition, the starting JP formula for each of an AI's jobs has changed from JPRequirement +
Random(0->99) to JPRequirement x 1.25 + Random(0->49). Ultimately this boosts each job's starting JP
to almost the next level.
Note: Since the job level prerequisites and the JP requirements per job level were reduced to match
the US PS1 version's, this change only serves to ensure that enemy job levels remain roughly
the same as they are in the PSP version, so that no enemy variety is lost. For example,
previously an enemy Samurai would have level 4 Thief (Samurai prerequisite) and 700 - 799
Thief JP (requirement of 700, plus random up to 99). Now that same Samurai will have level 4
Thief (Samurai prerequisite of 3, plus 1) and 687 - 736 Thief JP (requirement of 550, times
1.25, plus random up to 49).
- When generating characters, the AI will now always purchase either the first, the cheapest, or the
most basic skill in their skill list if the character has enough JP to do so. For example, an AI
Squire will always purchase Rush. This is to prevent AI characters from being unable to use their
skillsets in battle (for example, this prevents an AI character from being created with the Aim
skillset equipped but with no Aim+ skills learned). There are a few exceptions to this - this wasn't
done where it would introduce an undesired bias (for example, I don't want enemy Black Mages using
Fire more often than Thunder and Ice).
These "signature" abilities have also been reduced in JP cost, which benefits the player but more
importantly benefits the AI, giving them a slight boost in JP to spend (or, to put it another way,
they are no longer penalized in JP just to get their job's foundational skills).
- Conversely, the AI will now NEVER purchase the following abilities:
Brawler, Dual Wield, Doublehand, Auto-Potion, Sticky Fingers, Gil Snapper, Poach, Accrue JP,
Faith Boost, Ignore Weather, Ignore Terrain, Swim, Waterwalking, Lavawalking, Throw Items, Beast
Tamer, ReEquip, and all the Equip X / X Lore abilities.
This change is to prevent AI characters from having abilities that don't make sense for an AI (like
Poach), or abilities that are super annoying (like Auto-Potion), or abilities that the AI doesn't
know how to make use of (like Brawler, which doesn't prevent the AI from ALSO equipping a weapon,
invalidating the ability). This frees up more JP for the AI to spend on actually relevant, useful
things. Note that this change does not prevent an AI character from being *preauthored* with one of
these abilities equipped (like those weird characters with Sword Lore in the Balthier battle).
- Safeguard will now also never be purchased by an AI character, so you won't randomly get hosed out
of stealing. If an AI character is *supposed* to have Safeguard, then it will always be visibly
equipped. For example, Elmdore used to have Brawler equipped and a sneaky, invisible Safeguard - now
he has Safeguard equipped with a sneaky, invisible Brawler instead.
- Learn percentages on long skill lists have been reduced so that the AI are more likely to purchase
Reaction, Support, and Movement abilities.
- AI Thieves are now less likely to purchase Steal Heart, which was overly dominant in chapter 1.
- Power Boost (formerly Fury), Magick Boost, Speed Boost (formerly Adrenaline Rush), and Vanish can
now be equipped by AI characters. Though they had greater than a 0% chance in vanilla, a bug in the
code prevented the AI from considering them. That bug has been fixed.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Ramza improvements:
- Ramza's base stats have been increased in order to compensate for "Gender equality: female and male
characters now have the same base stats" (see above). Previously Ramza had the best of both worlds:
male Power/HP and female Magick/MP. Now that all characters have these, Ramza's stats were no longer
special in any way. Thus, Ramza's base stats have been increased by the following:
* HP: +2
* MP: +1
* Power: +1
* Magick: +1
You may recognize these as the stat advantages Ramza _used_ to have over one or the other gender (he
had 2 more HP and 1 more Power than women, and 1 more MP and 1 more Magick than men). This
admittedly goes further than that - now he has these bonuses over _all_ characters, not half of
them - but other changes in this mod (such as smaller levelup Growth bonuses) cause these bonuses to
be ultimately smaller than they appear.
- Ramza starts with Squire level 2 and Chemist level 2, so that he has more classes available at the
start after the intro battles. In addition, he starts with several basic abilities unlocked: Rush,
Tailwind, Chant (which he had in vanilla), Potion, Phoenix Down, Cure, Raise, Fire, Thunder, and
Blizzard.
- Ramza's Focus skill transforms into Shout (instead of Shout being appended to the end of the skill
list) when the player reaches chapter 4. This saves the player some JP and gets an obsolete skill
off the list (since Shout is strictly better than Focus).
The actual super secret reason for this change is to maintain the "Consistent skill list ordering"
(see above), by putting the Shout buff in the proper slot on the list without screwing up Ramza's
learned skills.
- Ramza's chapter 1 base class's bonus HP has been reduced slightly. Sorry. It was a strange bummer
moment when the player upgrades to Knight only to see their HP go *down*. His base stat increases
make up the difference, so this change removes a disincentive to try other classes with Ramza
without affecting balance. Ramza's base class HP will increase in chapter 2, then again (back to
what it was) in chapter 4.
2.) Lavian, Alicia, & Ladd improvements & changes:
- All three of these characters start with a bit more JP.
- Lavian starts with White Mage and Mystic levels instead of Knight and Monk levels in order to
differentiate her from Alicia, and to provide the player with a wider selection of skills in the
early game. Her Faith has been increased from 61 to 68 to support this.
- Alicia's Brave has been increased from 61 to 68 so that she makes a decent Monk if that's the
direction you want to go (note also that female characters no longer suffer a Power penalty - see
"Gender equality: female and male characters now have the same base stats", above).
- Ladd starts with Thief levels instead of White Mage levels, since Lavian uses White Magic now. This
also improves Ladd a bit, but it sucked that he was behind Lavian and Alicia in JP anyway.
Ultimately these three characters are now varied and useful, rather than "two identical knights who
are behind my main team, and a squire who is waaaay behind my main team".
3.) Guest characters no longer reset their EXP and JP when they leave and rejoin the party:
- Guest party member EXP and JP will no longer be reset when they join your team "for real" (when they
upgrade from Guest to full party member). This affects Mustadio, Agrias, Rapha, Meliadoul, and Reis
(first form). In addition, Delita and Ovelia no longer *lose* JP later in the game.
Under the hood, instead of dismissing the Guest character and then adding the real one, there's new
ASM code that "transforms" the Guest character into the real one, so all stats and equipment are
maintained. This also fixes glitchy character bugs from previous versions of this mod that would
happen if you switch back and forth between the mod and vanilla at certain parts of the campaign
(I don't encourage that sort of behavior, but if you're gonna do it, at least you won't be hosed
anymore).
- Agrias and Rapha will now remain on the formation screen when they leave the team temporarily, even
though they won't participate in battles. This is so the player can't hose themselves by unequipping
them, only to be surprised by their return in a "Protect Agrias" / "Protect Rapha" battle that they
can't win with a naked character. Now the player can change their equipment in advance of these
battles if they are struggling.
- Reis's level still resets when she transforms. In order to reduce the odds that her level goes
*down* during this event, her second form's base level was increased.
4.) Lategame characters start with much more JP:
Characters who join the party later in the game (chapter 3+) will now start with much more JP. It
was always a bummer when a neat character joined your team and you were excited to use them, but
they were so behind on JP that they were unusable without grinding. After this change, these
characters will still be behind your main team, but not dramatically so.
See wotltweakv2.52_character_starting_jp.txt (in Spoilers) for the list of characters and their new
starting job levels.
5.) Mustadio can equip Guns regardless of his class + misc improvements:
Mustadio is a great character when he first joins, but eventually he's underpowered and by the end
of the game he's completely obsolete. These changes slightly buff Mustadio in order to make him a
more viable character for the duration of the game.
- Mustadio's Speed has been increased to almost match Balthier's.
- His Machinist class no longer loses its innate Safeguard ability when he joins your team "for real".
- His Machinist class can now equip Crossbows.
- Mustadio has a new character-specific property: He can now equip Guns regardless of his current job!
This change opens up additional character build options for him in the early game without the bummer
moment of having to set the (rare and special in chapter 2) Gun aside. Mustadio's Select-button
quote will remind you of this feature.
Note: Balthier has also been changed so that he's no longer "Mustadio, but better".
See "Balthier nerfs & changes", below, for more on this.
6.) Luso improvements & changes; differentiation from Ramza:
Luso is no longer a worse copy of Ramza. His stats, proficiencies, and abilities have been changed
to make him feel more like a "Game Hunter". He has a few unique tricks, but I didn't go as far as
other mods have (for example, I didn't turn him into a Blue Mage). Instead I borrowed a few things
from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance to make Luso just distinct enough from Ramza to be interesting
and useful. In other words, Luso is no longer obsolete the moment he joins the team.
- Luso's Speed multiplier has been increased from 100% to 110%. It's now equal to the Monk's and White
Mage's Speed (instead of the Knight's and Squire's). This is the same Speed buff that the Archer
received.
- His MP multiplier has been reduced from 105% to 65% (same as the Archer). He has a niche now.
- He starts with more JP in "hunter" type classes (Archer, Thief, Dragoon).
- His starting level has been reduced from 25 to 22. Sorry. It was kind of absurd that he joined the
team so far ahead (Rapha, who joins a couple battles after Luso, joins at level 23).
- Game Hunter proficiencies are now as follows: Knives, Bows, Crossbows, Polearms, Shields, and Light
Armor. This list makes Luso feel more like a "hunter" and makes him a bit more unique. His starting
equipment has been updated accordingly. Yes, his intro cutscene shows him using a sword, but maybe
it was just... a really long knife.
- His Game Hunter class gains Beast Tamer as an innate ability. Note that since Beast Tongue, Tame,
and Beastmaster have been combined into a single ability, Luso has all these powers innate as well.
- Huntcraft loses some of Ramza's skills and instead gains a few status-inflicting attacks that are
like alternate versions of Mustadio's Aimed Shot abilities: Poison Shot, Oil Shot, and Sleep Shot.
- In addition, he gains a new Support ability: Hunter's Mark. This ability increases Luso's weapon
damage by 40% when attacking monsters (not humans) with a Knife, Bow, Crossbow, or Polearm.
Luso gains: | Luso loses:
- Poison Shot (Poison) | - Rush
- Oil Shot (Oil & Slow) | - Stone
- Sleep Shot (Sleep) | - Chant
| - Shout
- Hunter's Mark (Support) | - Proficiency: Heavy Armor / Helmets
- Beast Tamer (Innate) | - Proficiency: Robes
- Proficiency: Bows / Crossbows | - Proficiency: Swords / Knight Swords
- Proficiency: Polearms | - Proficiency: Flails
- Note: The Zeklaus Desert world map dot will now appear in red when the Luso battle is available, so
that you aren't surprised by a story battle on a green dot. Also, the battle music for Luso's
battle is now the same as the music in his intro cutscene, so that this battle feels more
urgent and less like a random battle (especially now that Behemoths have been buffed)!
7.) Rapha & Marach improvements:
Rapha and Marach were notoriously underpowered characters, both because their randomized special
abilities were terrible, and because they had very low stats. Both problems have been addressed:
- Their Power and Magick multipliers have been increased to competitive levels. The player can build
them as physical/magical hybrid characters, if desired. In addition, they can now use more physical
weapons - Rapha can now equip Ninja Blades and Instruments; Marach can now equip Katana and Cloths.
Both characters can now also equip Rods and Tomes (in addition to Staves and Poles).
- Marach has a new character-specific property: Faith calculations are now reversed for _all_ his
magic, not just Nether Mantra! This makes him a good (though odd) spellcaster who specializes in
targeting characters with low Faith. In addition, the Faith/Atheist swap bug has been fixed. In
other words, the Atheist status effect will now properly BUFF Marach's spells, and the Faith status
effect will now properly nerf them. These features work regardless of Marach's current class.
Marach's Select-button quote will remind you of his Faith-reversing feature.
- Their randomized spells are more reliable. Rapha's spells will now always strike 7 times; Marach's
spells will now usually strike 6 times, with a slight random chance to strike more or fewer times
(with a minimum of 4 times). Also, both characters' spells will no longer target allies or
themselves, reducing the number of valid tiles to strike if allies are close by.
The following table shows the odds of each number of strikes when casting Marach's spells:
Number of Hits: | Chance Before: | Chance After:
- 1 Hit | - 5% | - 0%
- 2 Hits | - 5% | - 0%
- 3 Hits | - 10% | - 0%
- 4 Hits | - 10% | - 5%
- 5 Hits | - 20% | - 20%
- 6 Hits | - 20% | - 50%
- 7 Hits | - 10% | - 20%
- 8 Hits | - 10% | - 3%
- 9 Hits | - 5% | - 1%
- 10 Hits | - 5% | - 1%
- Their spells have been differentiated from each other. Each has gained a status effect, and not
always the same one for Rapha and Marach. For example, Rapha's Sky Ashura attacks with "blinding
white flame" (Fire element, chance to Blind), while Marach's Nether Ashura attacks with "choking
black flame" (Fire element, chance to Silence). Now there are interesting decisions to make when
choosing which spell to cast besides just more damage for more charge time.
- Rapha starts with more JP in white magic path spellcasting classes; Marach starts with more JP in
the black magic path. Previous versions of this mod gave Rapha _both_ magic paths and gave Marach
physical classes, due to his low Faith. However, this made Rapha overpowered and Marach too similar
to other characters. Now that Marach can cast effectively with low Faith, he can be the spellcaster
that the game always suggested he should be.
8.) Agrias/Meliadoul/Orlandeau nerfs & buffs; Orlandeau differentiation from Agrias & Meliadoul:
Orlandeau is no longer a strictly better version of Agrais and Meliadoul. All three characters now
have something unique about them. The power gap between them has been closed somewhat as well.
Note that the goal of this mod, though, is NOT to make drastic changes or change the feel of the
game. Orlandeau being overpowered is part of the character of Final Fantasy Tactics, so he's
deliberately still overpowered (just less so than before).
- Sword skills and Knight Swords in general have been nerfed, so that sword skills now deal less
damage than a normal melee attack with a Knight Sword (see "Less powerful special character skills
damage" and "Knight Sword Improved Brave-scaling", above).
- The bug that incorrectly flagged Agrias's sword skills as Holy elemental (and Hallowed Bolt as
Lightning elemental) has been fixed. These abilities never were elemental, but the AI would think
that they were, causing them to make poor decisions sometimes.
- Hallowed Bolt's range has been reduced to match Judgment Blade; Judgment Blade's vertical tolerance
has been increased to match Hallowed Bolt. This makes Judgment Blade no longer obsolete the moment
you get Hallowed Bolt (Judgment Blade deals less damage but has a better status effect). It also
nerfs Hallowed Bolt, arguably the most overpowered skill in the original game.
- Cleansing Strike and Northswain's Strike have increased vertical tolerance, making them easier to
target. They now have the same vertical tolerance as the various "Crush" attacks. Note that they
have better range than Judgment Blade and Hallowed Bolt, but they target only one tile.
The above two bullet points make all of Agrias's attacks useful in different situations. Previously
I'd exclusively use Hallowed Bolt, but in my last few playtests I used them all about equally.
- The various "Crush" attacks will only deal damage if the targeted equipment slot is empty (instead
of attempting to break the item AND dealing damage). Essentially, destroying the item first is the
"cost" you must pay before you can access the high damage these attacks inflict.
(Thanks Xjamxx for the "Mighty sword v2" ASM hack!)
- Agrias and Meliadoul have higher base Power, thanks to "Gender equality: female and male characters
now have the same base stats" (above).
- Agrias's Holy Knight class also has slightly higher base physical attack power. This closes some of
the damage gap between Agrias and Orlandeau while still keeping her special sword skills under
control.
- Agrias is now the only character who can equip the Tynar Rouge regardless of her class. Otherwise,
it's now exclusive to the Bard, Dancer, Princess, Dragonkin, and Ex-Soldier (see "Gender equality:
female and male characters now have access to the same equipment", above).
- Orlandeau's Swordplay skillset no longer has Divine Ruination and Crush Weapon. This makes Divine
Ruination unique to Agrias and Crush Weapon unique to Meliadoul. In other words, Orlandeau no longer
completely replaces these characters, because he no longer has their best skills (but he does still
have all the rest of them).
- Orlandeau's Swordplay skillset no longer has Shadowblade and Duskblade. Instead, he starts with Dark
Knight levels (see "Lategame characters start with more JP" above) that provide him with Sanguine
Slash and Infernal Strike, which do the same thing. In other words, he'll need to use his secondary
skillset slot to equip Darkness if he wants to use these skills, just like any other character.
- Orlandeau's physical attack power, speed, HP, and MP were all nerfed slightly (but they are still
higher than Agrias's... and anyone's).
- Orlandeau's Sword Saint class can no longer equip Ninja Blades. Kind of dumb that he _could_ to
begin with, but I also don't want the player thinking of Ninja Blades as "swords" instead of as
"knives" (since Knife Lore is their Equip X ability - see "Equip X ability improvements" above).
- Orlandeau no longer starts with a Bracer equipped. He now starts with the new Zodiac Glove instead.
The Bracer has not been replaced. Seeing as the game is so generous with items that I never once had
to spend any gil in a shop, especially in this mod which adds 40+ items to chapter 4... I don't feel
bad about this. If you want a Bracer, you'll have to buy one!
- Meliadoul's Divine Knight class can equip Perfumes. These items are now otherwise locked to Bards
and Dancers, so this is a benefit Meliadoul gets that Agrias and Orlandeau do not.
- Meliadoul's Divine Knight class can no longer equip Polearms or Crossbows. These weapons are just
"gotchas" that cause the player to be surprised in combat when they can't use her Crush abilities
(especially Polearms, which have a habit of being equipped with the Optimize button).
9.) Beowulf improvements:
- Beowulf gains a new Support ability: Censure. This ability increases Beowulf's physical attack
damage by 60% when attacking enemies with status effects (negative or beneficial). This gives
Beowulf incentive to actually physically attack sometimes, and gives him something special to set
him apart from generic Mystics.
- His Vengeance attack now deals damage equal to 150% of Beowulf's damage (instead of 100%). This
makes the skill actually worth using when Beowulf is at low HP.
- However, Vengeance's range has been decreased from 8 to 4 (same range as the rest of his spellblade
skills). Now it's higher risk / higher reward, rather than a "delete any enemy" button.
- His Templar class can now equip Katana. This is mostly for consistency with Alliste, an enemy
Templar who uses a Katana. Beowulf starts with 45 Brave, which makes a Katana not a particularly
strong choice when starting out. However, investing in raising his Brave can make a Katana + the
(newly buffed) Genji Shield + the Censure ability an incredible combo.
- His Templar class can no longer equip Knives. Knives were always a poor choice because they are not
valid weapons for Spellblade. They were removed for the same reason Meliadoul can no longer equip
Polearms - to avoid "gotcha"-ing the player.
- He starts with the new Rune Armlet accessory equipped (instead of a random accessory).
10.) Reis can use Dragon powers on non-Dragons at half effectiveness + misc improvements:
A widely requested feature for Reis is to make her dragon-only skills work on any unit. Well, now
they do... but only at half power. This ensures that the "allied dragon support" build for Reis is
still attractive in a world where she can support non-dragons too. More details on this, on a per
skill basis, below.
- Her Dragonkin class base stats have been increased, especially HP. Note this only partially makes up
for the huge nerf Reis got with the new Standardized Levelup Stat Growths (see above). In vanilla,
Reis had the best stat growths in the game, so she was nerfed the hardest when they were all
balanced.
- To further make up for her stat losses, she now starts equipped with the items that were previously
obtained at the end of the Lionel's New Liege Lord sidequest (and now that quest awards different
items - see wotltweakv2.52_unique_and_multiplayer_items.txt, in Spoilers, for the list).
- Her Dragonkin class can now equip any accessory (instead of just Rings and Armlets). This is the
only class in the game that had accessory type restrictions, and the game never warned you about it,
so it played like a "gotcha" when you couldn't find the accessory you were looking for, as if half
the accessories were "missing" for no discernable reason.
- Her skillset has been renamed from "Dragon" to "Dragonblood" to differentiate it from actual
dragons. In addition, her skill descriptions make it more clear that they are enhanced when used on
dragons and hydras.
- Holy Breath will now always strike 10 times (instead of choosing a random number from 1 to 11), and
it now has a chance to apply negative status effects. Each of its 10 strikes will still hit a random
tile though.
- Dragon's Gift now works on anyone, not just on dragons. It now heals for double what it used to when
used on dragons and hydras (in other words, it heals for x4 damage taken on dragons and hydras, and
x2 damage taken on anything else).
- Dragon's Might now works on anyone, not just on dragons. When used a dragon or hydra, it applies the
following: +10 Brave (buffed from +5), +2 Power, +2 Speed, and +2 Magick. When used on anything
else, it applies half: +5 Brave, +1 Power, +1 Speed, and +1 Magick.
Note that Reis cannot use this ability on herself, as playtesting revealed it to be more interesting
if it works only on others (like an inverse version of Ramza's Shout skill).
- Dragon's Speed has been renamed to "Dragon's Quickness" so that it's more clear that it doesn't
affect the target's Speed attribute (it actually applies Quick to the target). It now works on
anyone, not just dragons, but when used on a non-dragon it has a miss chance. This miss chance is
slightly worse than the Time Mage's Quick spell.
- Dragon's Charm now works on anyone, not just dragons, but when used on a non-dragon it has a miss
chance. This miss chance is slightly worse than the Orator's Entice skill. It also behaves like
other Speechcraft skills (it's blocked by Earplug).
- In addition, Reis gains Dragon Tamer, a lesser version of the support ability Beast Tamer (see
"Beast Tamer = all beast abilities combined" above). After buffing and combining Tame, Beastmaster,
and Beast Tongue into one mega ability (and removing the range requirement), it felt weird that Reis
had suddenly become the master of all monsters, not just dragons. So I made this special version of
the ability just for Reis that affects only dragons and hydras. It's innate to her Dragonkin class,
but she can also equip it as a support ability when using other classes.
Dragonblood: | Summary of changes:
- Fire Breath | - Unchanged
- Thunder Breath | - Unchanged
- Ice Breath | - Unchanged
- Holy Breath | - Always hits 10 times; + inflicts status effects
- Dragon's Gift | - Works on non-dragons; healing doubled on dragons
- Dragon's Might | - Works on non-dragons for half buffs
- Dragon's Quickness | - Works on non-dragons as "Quick" with lower success rate
- Dragon's Charm | - Works on non-dragons as "Entice" with lower success rate
- Dragon Tamer | - Lesser version of Beast Tamer that works only on dragons/hydras
11.) Cloud improvements:
Cloud was disappointingly underpowered in vanilla. He gains several improvements to increase his
power and to make him better match his FF7 counterpart:
- His Ex-Soldier class gains Doublehand as an innate ability (since he uses huge two-handed swords in
FF7) and can now equip Knight Swords (in addition to regular Swords).
- He starts at a reasonable level (instead of level 1), like all other optional characters. He also
starts with more JP in spellcasting classes (not physical classes - since materia is more associated
with magic in FF7).
- He gains the stat buffs he received in the US PS1 version of the game that weren't carried over to
the PSP version: Increased MP, Power, Magick, and Limit Break damage. However, base Limit Break
damage was slightly lowered from this level for balance (they are still stronger than they are in
vanilla PSP, though).
- As mentioned above, he no longer requires the Materia Blade to perform his Limit Breaks (he still
needs a sword equipped though). Also, he now starts with the Materia Blade equipped (there's a new
item in its previous location).
- His Limit Breaks are now based on physical attack power, including his equipped weapon, instead of
using magic power and *not* factoring in the weapon. They are more powerful than Agrias /
Orlandeau's special sword skills, but in exchange they have charge time.
- His area Limit Breaks now have increased vertical tolerance, allowing them to be used on rougher
terrain.
- Braver's range has been increased from 2 to 3, and its description makes it clear that it's a leap
attack (instead of a "swift" attack, which makes no sense because it has charge time).
- Blade Beam and Meteorain, the two Limit Breaks that were supposed to be ranged attacks, now have a
respectable range of 5.
- Blade Beam now deals damage equal to 200% of Cloud's damage (instead of 100%). Like Beowulf's
Vengeance skill, this one wasn't worth using at 100% (it's easy enough for Cloud to hit someone that
hard anyway). Cloud gets a bigger buff here than Beowulf's 150% because "boss killer" is Cloud's
special role in the party, and because Cloud's version has charge time.
- His Limit Breaks cost half the JP they used to, so that the cost to max him out is about the same as
maxing Agrias or Meliadoul.
- His Ex-Soldier class can now equip Perfume and Lip Rouge!
- His birthday has been corrected from January 31st (Aquarius) to the canon August 11th (Leo).
Incidentally, this is Balthier's birthday as well.
12.) Balthier nerfs & changes; differentiation from Mustadio; Barrage works with Doublehand & Dual Wield:
Balthier is no longer "Mustadio, but better" and "a Thief, but better" all at the same time. Now
he's more like "alternate Mustadio", so there are reasons for using both characters. In other words,
Mustadio is no longer obsolete the moment Balthier joins the team.
- Sky Pirate proficiencies are now as follows: Knives, Ninja Blades, Crossbows, Guns, Shields, and
Light Armor. This list makes Balthier feel more like a "pirate" and makes him better match his
gameplay in his other games.
- Since the default Steal skills have had their hit rates improved (see "Thief: Higher Steal success
rates" above), there was no longer any need for Balthier's "Plunder" skills, so they have been
removed. In exchange, Balthier starts with more Thief job levels, giving him a head start on
learning the *real* Steal skills.
- His skillset has been renamed from "Piracy" to "Special Shot", since this skillset no longer
duplicates the stealing skills (so it isn't really about "piracy" anymore).
- Special Shot contains alternate versions of Mustadio's Aimed Shot abilities, to differentiate the
two characters. Instead of Arm Shot, Leg Shot, and Seal Evil, Balthier has his own list of skills
that inflict different, but similar status effects: Blind Shot, Silent Shot, Stun Shot, Chaos Shot,
and Time Shot. These mimic the special ammo types available in Final Fantasy 12.
Balthier gains: | Balthier loses:
- Blind Shot (Blind) | - Arm Shot (Disable)
- Silent Shot (Silence) | - Leg Shot (Immobilize)
- Stun Shot (Stop) | - Seal Evil (Petrify Undead)
- Chaos Shot (Confuse) | - All "Plunder" skills
- Time Shot (Doom) | - Proficiency: Heavy Armor / Helmets
- Proficiency: Ninja Blades | - Proficiency: Robes
| - Proficiency: Swords / Knight Swords
| - Proficiency: Polearms
| - Proficiency: Bows
- Barrage will no longer ignore Doublehand or Dual Wield. Yes, this means you can attack eight times!
This change was done not to buff Barrage (which doesn't need it), but to enable more builds for
Balthier. If the player is clever and decides to combine Barrage with Dual Wield, the game shouldn't
punish them for it!
- This change is relevant for modders only, as it doesn't directly affect the game. Balthier's
equipment is no longer hardcoded - in other words, he will honor whatever he is assigned in ENTD.
His ENTD entry has been updated accordingly so that he still has his correct initial equipment.
(Thanks Xjamxx for the "Balthier gets no special ENTD items" ASM hack!)
- Note: The battle music for Balthier's battle is now the same as the music in his intro cutscene,
which is a better fit for a battle against bandits.
13.) Byblos improvements:
Yes, even Byblos gets a few improvements!
- Vengeance now deals damage equal to 150% of Byblos's damage (instead of 100%).
- Manaburn now deals damage equal to 200% of the target's MP (instead of 100%).
- Byblos's description now correctly specifies that he's weak to Fire.
**************************************************************************************************************
G.) Special Thanks
The following individuals helped to make this mod possible:
- Joe Davidson:
The creator of FFTPatcher, the latest and greatest Final Fantasy Tactics editor. Used for each and every
gameplay change in this mod that wasn't text, events, or ASM.
- Xjamxx:
The creator of Valhalla, the tool that WAS used for text, events, and ASM!
- Xifanie:
The author of Smart Encounters and a multitude of other awesome ASM hacks that are included in Valhalla
and were applied in this mod!
- Archaemic & Eternal248:
Created the spellcasting Slowdown Removal Fix, removing the final obstacle to declaring War of the Lions
version to be the definitive FFTactics experience. I know there are some modders out there who would hate
me for saying that.
- SecondAdvent:
Wrote the "Zodiac Rewrite" ASM hack, which I ported to PSP and modified for this mod.
Adding the Zodiac Glove to this ASM hack was how I learned PSP ASM!
- Glain:
Wrote the "Ignore Load Formation if unit is not in the party" and "Random Unit Equipment is more
selective" ASM hacks, which I ported to PSP and modified for this mod.
- Talcall:
Just a super helpful ASM guy all around!
- Akashachi:
Made a ton of great suggestions that I've incorporated into this mod!
- Nyzer:
"Jokingly" suggested a change that turned out to be a wonderful idea (giving the Arithmetician innate
Instant Cast).
- Mighty Zebra:
Made some balance suggestions that have been incorporated into the mod. Also, asked how hard it would be
to convert the "Start at 0 MP & recover 10% MP per turn" ASM hack from PS1 to PSP, which I misinterpreted
as a request to do the conversion, which led to the creation of the Rune Armlet. Whoops! And thanks!
- 3lric & Cheetah:
Did the ASM and writing for "unlock sound novels", which is included in this mod!
- Tuffy da Bubba & RafaGam:
The translators for the sound novels!
- Jay "Adilegian" Howell:
Helped me finesse many of the text changes in this mod!
- Qu Marsh, Brumbek, & STobias:
Authors of amazing FFTactics guides that were indispensable when planning out where each missable and
multiplayer item should drop!
- Roman217:
A reddit user who requested the no random battle scaling feature, which was the kick in the pants I
needed to start working on this mod again!
- salted_crackerz:
A reddit user who reported a rather nasty bug in v2.00, which is now fixed!
- Thirdtwin:
A romhacking.net user who reported the Slowja bug in v2.50, which is now fixed!
- Doomsday Forte:
A romhacking.net user who reported the bug that can cause Agrias/Mustadio/Rapha to join the team with the
wrong version of their skillset equipped in the secondary slot in v2.50, which is now fixed!
- Rythian:
The one who emailed me to report the Yardrow Treadure Hunter items bug in v2.50, which is now fixed!
- ic1025:
An ffhacktics.com user who gave me the idea for buffing temporary Brave/Faith boosts in the Static Brave
& Faith optional patch, which is now incorporated into that optional patch!
**************************************************************************************************************
H.) The End! (of the readme)
-- (C) 2008 - 2023 Tzepish (Blaine Higdon)
Now go enjoy the damn thing!
Use only on an unmodified US version ISO file!
Serial Number: ULUS-10297
MD5: 18d1169cefed2d5ed77a599694f2f871
SHA1: 5120ff66f78cfd31f6e90d8ef4be8200eca563f7
CRC32: 0d6a3d9f
Version 2.50 was the first release to embrace game balance as a goal itself, rather than as part of QoL. It added several ASM hacks in order to even further enhance the game. V2.52 is a balance and bugfix update that adds additional optional patches as well!
The full mod source is included in the archive for those who would like to mod the mod or just snoop the ASM code.
Major features include:
[li]PSP spell effects slowdown fix
[li]Controllable "Guest" characters
[li]JP Boost always in effect
[li]Treasure Hunter always in effect and always finds the rare item
[li]No missable items or spells
[li]Multiplayer items are obtainable in the campaign
[li]All rare (but not unique) items can be purchased at the end of the game
[li]Broken and Stolen equipment can be repurchased at the Poachers' Den
[li]Poachers' Den now opens earlier
[li]Special characters can go on Errands
[li]Balance pass across the game - reduced difficulty spikes, increased chapter 4 and postgame difficulty
[li]Gender equality - female and male characters have the same stats and equipment access
[li]ASM weapon formula improvements (axes are no longer terrible)
[li]Quicker spellcasting speeds
[li]Spellcasting quotes reimplemented
[li]Endgame job prerequisites reduced
[li]Optional Feature: Only fight random battles when you want to
[li]Optional Feature: No random battle level scaling
[li]...and much more!
Please consult the readme file for the details and reasoning for every change!
- War of the Lions Tweak v2.52 - Help support the anti-ASCII art
- By: Tzepish movement!
tzepish at gmail dot com
**************************************************************************************************************
Readme Contents
A.) Introduction
B.) How to Patch
C.) Optional Patches, Spoilers, & Source Folders
D.) Version Changelog
E.) Complete List of Changes - List Only
F.) Complete List of Changes - Details and Commentary (long!)
G.) Special Thanks
H.) The End! (of the readme)
**************************************************************************************************************
A.) Introduction
War of the Lions Tweak is a balance and quality-of-life improvement mod for Final Fantasy Tactics: War of
the Lions, designed to make the game more fun and less annoying to play. This mod is not intended to
create a wholly *new* experience - instead, its goal is an idealized version of the same game that we all
know and love. Play this mod if you intend to replay FFT or experience it for the first time.
Arguably the mod has outgrown its name. "Tweak" may be a bit of an understatement at this point, I admit.
However, the soul of the mod hasn't changed - this is Final Fantasy Tactics, but better. With every
release I find myself pushing further against the boundaries of what this mod should be "allowed" to do.
But also with every change I've asked myself whether the game is still "Final Fantasy Tactics", and
whether the game would have been better if it were released in this form back in 1997. If the answer was
ever "no", then I didn't make the change.
If I went too far in one or two places, I hope you won't hold it against me. Final Fantasy Tactics is my
my favorite videogame, despite its (many) flaws. I can't help but wish it was even more perfect. I started
modding the game mostly as an excuse to spend even more time in its world. Years later, the scope of this
mod has expanded beyond anything I could have predicted.
I've played through Final Fantasy Tactics maybe about 50 times now, and I still take something new from
it every time. This game from 1997 still has so much to show us. I hope I've done the game a service and
made its world more welcoming and fun for newcomers and oldtimers alike.
**************************************************************************************************************
B.) How to Patch
Before you can apply this patch, you will need the following:
1.) An unmodified ISO of Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions (USA version).
I can't help you find this!
2.) A program such as PPF-O-Matic or UMDGen that can apply PPF patches.
You can download PPF-O-Matic here: https://www.romhacking.net/utilities/356/
3.) An emulator such as PPSSPP or a modded PSP or PSVita to play it on!
You can download PPSSPP here: https://ppsspp.org/
Once you have gathered those three things, here's how you apply the patch:
- Step 1: Open PPF-O-Matic.
- Step 2: Click the disk icon next to "ISO File" and point it at your FFT ISO file.
- Step 3: Click the disk icon next to "Patch" and point it at the wotltweakv2.52.ppf file.
- Step 4: Click Apply!
That's it! Your ISO file should now be patched and ready to play.
If you want to quickly verify that the patch worked, run the game and check one of the following:
* Loading a save file will ask "Load this data?" instead of "Load game data?".
* If you're starting a new game, you will be able to control ALL allied characters in the intro battle!
* If the game crashes on startup, you probably had the Euro ISO instead of the USA version. Whoops!
Get your hands on the USA ISO (somehow) and try again!
You can quit the readme now and start playing, but if you are interested in applying the optional features
and/or reviewing the list of changes, read on!
**************************************************************************************************************
C.) Optional Patches, Spoilers, & Source Folders
In addition to the main patch and readme, the archive contains the following optional material:
- Optional Patches folder:
This folder contains six additional patch files that each enable an optional feature.
See wotltweakv2.52_optional_features.txt (inside the folder) for details on each feature.
To apply an optional patch, repeat steps 1 through 4 above (under "How to Patch") for each optional
feature desired. Apply them over the already-patched ISO (stack them all onto the same ISO file).
- Spoilers folder:
This folder contains five additional text files that go into more detail about certain changes made
in this mod (for example, the locations of all 40 multiplayer items).
Feel free to consult these if you want to be spoiled!
- Screenshots folder (inside Spoilers):
This folder contains screenshots that show a bunch of mod changes to items and abilities.
Again, skip these if you want to avoid spoilers!
- Source folder:
This folder contains the source files for the mod. This is only relevant to you if you intend to
reverse-engineer, modify, or build on top of my work. A readme file inside this folder will tell you
how. If you aren't interested in modding the mod, then you can ignore or delete this folder.
**************************************************************************************************************
D.) Version Changelog
Here's a brief changelog if all you need is to get caught up on what's changed in the latest version. If
you're new to the mod, or if you want additional details on the changes, then you can skip this section
for the much more detailed and complete lists below.
v2.52 - Balance and Bugfix update:
- Bugfix: Agrias/Mustadio/Rapha can no longer join the team with the wrong version of their skillset
equipped in the secondary slot. If your save file already has the wrong version, you can fix it
by simply unequipping and reequipping it.
- Bugfix: Fixed Yardrow's treasure hunter items.
- Balance: Minor nerfs to Cloud's Limit Break range and damage, but increased vertical tolerance.
- Balance: The "Static Brave & Faith" optional patch now also buffs Steel, Praise, and Preach.
v2.51 - Balance and Bugfix update:
- Equipment: Attack power buff to Axes and Flails; Katana prices slightly increased;
Rune Armlet regenerates more MP.
- Abilities: Buffs to Doom Fist, Earplug, Wall, and Poison (the status effect itself).
- Abilities: Buffed high level offensive magic damage even more!
- Jobs: Bard, Dancer, and Arithmetician job prerequisites slightly reduced.
- Jobs: Minor speed nerf to Arithmetician (previous speed buff went too far).
- Scenario: Agrias now stays on your formation screen when she leaves the team briefly (note that
Rapha already does this). This is to prevent getting stuck in a bad state when she returns for her
"Protect Agrias" battle.
- Scenario: Belius slightly buffed (previous nerfs went too far).
- Scenario: The final boss slightly buffed to mitigate a lockdown strategy.
- Characters: Starting job levels for Reis and Meliadoul slightly reduced.
- Feature: Units are allowed more Faith (or less Brave) before deserting the team.
- Feature: Added a bunch of optional feature patches. Enjoy!
- Bugfix: The improvements to Protectja and Slowja now properly apply in all patches.
v2.50 - Major release:
- This was the first release to really embrace game balance as a goal in itself, rather than just as
part of QoL.
- Restored the US PS1 balance updates that were lost when the game was ported to PSP.
- Gender equality: female and male characters now have the same base stats and equipment access.
- Endgame physical attack damage nerfed so that not everything goes down in one hit.
- Various changes to make physical/magic "hybrid" character builds more viable.
- Tweaks to characters who are just better or worse copies of other characters. Now no character is
obsolete - each character has something that makes them unique.
- Standardized "Growths" so you can't be hosed by leveling in the "wrong" jobs.
- Various equipment-related ASMs for better damage formulas. For example, Axes are good now.
- Nerfed Arithmeticks (but buffed Arithmetician). Believe it or not, the class should be fun AND
balanced while still maintaining the "feel" of the vanilla class.
- Updated the multiplayer item distribution for a more satisfying progression.
- Sidequests are easier to activate / harder to miss.
- Broken/Stolen equipment can be bought back at the Poachers' Den!
- Increased Midlight's Deep difficulty!
- Tons of additional tweaks, which is why the version number went up by so much!
v2.01 - Minor Bugfix update:
- Made Smart Encounters an optional feature.
- Poach-only items can now be purchased at the very end of the game.
- Onion Knight, Mime, and Dark Knight job prerequisites reduced.
- Status effect spells have more vertical tolerance.
- Bugfix: Fixed the sidequests dialogue choice bug introduced in v2.00.
v2.00 - Major release:
- Introduction of ASM hacks to the project, thanks to Valhalla!
- All 40 multiplayer items are obtainable in the campaign!
- No missable items!
- Treasure Hunter always applies and always finds the rare item!
- Optional Feature: "Smart Encounters" - Fight random battles only when you want to!
- Quicker spellcasting speeds!
- Buffed endgame magic; nerfed special sword skills.
- Buffed hit rates for revive and status magic.
- Lategame characters join with more JP!
- Reis can use all of her skills on any ally (instead of only Dragons). Note this was overpowered, so
as of v2.50 this has been scaled back (they now have half power when used on non-dragons).
- Reduced difficulty spikes; increased chapter 4 difficulty.
- Too many additional changes to list - almost everything else in the mod was added in this update!
- Note this version introduced a nasty bug that could sometimes lock you out of the certain sidequests
by automatically picking the incorrect dialogue choices. This bug is fixed as of v2.01 and above,
so please upgrade!
v1.07:
- Optional Feature: "Encounter Unscaling". This feature locks random encounter monster levels in place
instead of scaling them up along with the player.
v1.06:
- Spellcasting slowdown fix included.
v1.05:
- Certain important rare items will now always be found via Treasure Hunter.
Note that as of v2.00 this has been expanded include *all* Treasure Hunter rare items.
v1.00 - Initial release:
- Controllable Guest characters.
- JP Boost always in effect.
- No missable spells (can purchase Ultima and Zodiark).
**************************************************************************************************************
E.) Complete List of Changes - List Only
This section quickly lists all the changes done in this mod by name only. The section after this one
contains the same list with details and commentary for each change. Refer to this section if you're
looking for an overview of all changes. Refer to the next section if you're looking for the details and
reasoning!
GENERAL GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) PSP spell effects slowdown fix
2.) Controllable "Guest" characters
3.) Quicker spell & skill casting speeds
4.) JP Boost always in effect
5.) Treasure Hunter always in effect & always finds the better item
6.) No missable items or spells
7.) Multiplayer items are obtainable in the campaign
8.) All rare (but not unique) items can be purchased at the end of the game
9.) Broken and Stolen equipment can be repurchased at the Poachers' Den
10.) Poachers' Den now opens earlier + rare item chance raised to 50%
Opt1.) Optional Feature: Only fight random encounters when you want to (Smart Encounters)
Opt2.) Optional Feature: Enemies no longer scale to your level (Encounter Unscaling)
GLOBAL BALANCE IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) US PS1 Version balance updates restored
2.) Gender equality: female and male characters now have the same base stats
3.) Standardized levelup Stat Growths + initial randomization removed
4.) More consistent critical hits + chance increased while invisible or near-fatal
5.) Knockback can only happen on the last hit of a combo (critical hits no longer cause whiffs)
6.) More consistent reviving + JP costs reduced
7.) More consistent status attacks; Status -ja spells buffed; Misc Status Effect buffs & nerfs
8.) Slightly reduced Zodiac effects + new Zodiac protection accessory
9.) More consistent weather effects
10.) Perma-dead units on the player team always crystalize (and refund all equipment)
11.) More powerful endgame magic damage (but lower MP maximums) + new MP regeneration accessory
Opt3.) Optional Feature: Start at zero MP and gradually regenerate MP per turn (FFTA2 MP System)
12.) Less powerful special character skills damage
13.) Less powerful melee Support ability damage
14.) Endgame weapon attack power values reduced across the board
SCENARIO & RANDOM BATTLE IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Slightly easier/faster intro battles
2.) Your next world map objective now always shows as a red dot
3.) More varied monster innate abilities
4.) Monsters can now be weak to weapon types
Opt4.) Optional Feature: Undead Reanimation chance is 100% instead of 50% (Undead Always Reanimate)
5.) More relevant early and midgame Treasure Hunter items
6.) Random battles drop common items
7.) Slightly easier Golgollada Gallows battle (reduced difficulty spike)
8.) Human bosses are immune to fewer status effects
9.) Monster bosses have more HP/Defense; take less damage from Gravity & Drain; no longer have Swiftness
10.) Easier end of chapter 3 battles (reduced difficulty spikes)
11.) Rare battle friendlies can join your team
12.) Agrias's birthday sidequest is easier to activate
13.) Mustadio is no longer required to activate sidequests
14.) Removed "hose yourself" sidequest dialogue choices
15.) Chapter 4 sidequests are easier to find
16.) The Dark Dragon battle is less of a boring slog
17.) The Fort Besselat decision is less of a blind guess
18.) Harder end of chapter 4 battles
19.) Harder Midlight's Deep
UI & METAGAME IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Humans (in addition to monsters) can be renamed in the Warriors' Guild
2.) Recruit better generic units from the Warriors' Guild
3.) Special (non-generic) characters can be sent on Errands + Errands take half as many days
4.) Less confusing shop inventories
5.) More meaningful choices to make in shops (price and availability rebalances)
6.) Spellcasting quotes reimplemented
7.) Consistent skill list ordering
8.) Consistent status effects ordering
9.) Unique names for modified Squire classes
10.) Consistent "Boost" ability names
11.) Updated disallowed Support Ability equips for every job
12.) Additional Reaction Ability animations
13.) Earned JP/EXP is no longer shown for enemies; enemies no longer "celebrate" job levelups
14.) Readable sound novels in the Chronicle menu
15.) Improved Select-button character tips and quotes
16.) Units are allowed more Faith (or less Brave) before deserting the team
Opt5.) Optional Feature: Units NEVER desert the team (No Unit Desertion)
Opt6.) Optional Feature: Disable permanent Brave & Faith alterations (Static Brave & Faith)
17.) Misc UI text improvements
18.) Known issue: the Battle Tutorials don't work properly
EQUIPMENT IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Gender equality: female and male characters now have access to the same equipment
2.) Weapon evasion (Parry Rate) always applies; the Parry ability now doubles it
3.) Equip X ability improvements (and renames)
4.) Special Skillsets that require a Sword now function as "Equip Swords"
5.) Special Sword Skills can be used with a Katana equipped
6.) Knives, Bows, & Crossbows buffed (plus new endgame weapons)
7.) Axe/Flail Improved random-scaling & Available earlier in shops; Axes are no longer two-handed
8.) Knight Sword Improved Brave-scaling; Knight Swords are now two-handed
9.) Katana Improved Brave-scaling; Break chances INCREASED (but can be bought back from Poachers' Den)
10.) Fell Sword Improved AntiFaith-scaling
11.) Magic Gun Improved Faith-scaling and random spell selection (now they are proper weapons)
12.) Handbags Revamp: Reduced attack power and prices; Enhanced "accessory effects"
13.) Power/Speed and Power/Magick hybrid weapons round up when calculating damage
14.) Rod damage uses magic instead of physical attack power
15.) Pole damage uses magic and physical attack power instead of just magic (nerf)
16.) Innate: Haste removed - replaced with flat Speed bonuses
17.) Innate: Reraise removed - replaced with Initial: Reraise
18.) Weapon buffs: Sasuke's Blade, Materia Blade, Dragon Rod, Staff of the Magi
19.) Genji equipment buffs
20.) Midgame light armor buffs: Adamant Vest, Sorcerer's Habit (Wizard Clothing), Brigandine, Jujitsu Gi
21.) Midgame light armor nerfs: Power Garb, Wizard's Robe
22.) Accessory buffs: Battle Boots, Spiked Boots, Power Gauntlet; Red Shoes can be bought earlier
23.) Accessory nerfs: Bracer, Tynar Rouge
24.) Weapon & Shield battle sprites better match their UI icons + misc sprite changes
25.) Improved equipment descriptions
26.) Item Attribute & Inflict Status slot consolidation (for modders)
CLASS & ABILITY IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Squire: Basic ability list revision; Defend buff; Focus raises both physical & magic attack power
2.) Chemist: Can now equip Crossbows; Reduced JP costs for Item skills
3.) Physical/magic hybrid builds are more viable
4.) Knight: Reduced Rend JP costs + increased success rates; Can now equip Axes & Flails
5.) Monk: Damage formula changes
6.) Monk: Martial Defense; Cyclone, Pummel, & Doom Fist buffs; Chakra healing nerfs
7.) Geomancer: Increased vertical tolerance for Geomancy skills
8.) Archer: Slight Speed buff; Reduced JP costs for Aim+ skills
9.) Thief: Reduced Steal JP costs + increased success rates; Steal Heart JP cost increased
10.) Jump+X movement abilities are available earlier & have reduced JP costs
11.) Dragoon: Jump skills simplification
12.) Samurai: Innate Doublehand + HP buff + Iaido buff
13.) Black Mage: Innate Arcane Strength + Nerfs to compensate; Improved Magick Counter
14.) White Mage: Innate Arcane Defense + Magic Power buff
15.) Spellcasting classes can now all equip Tomes (Books)
16.) Time Mage, Summoner, & Mystic: Improved Gravity & Drain spells
17.) Mystic: New Support ability: "Combat Casting" for casting in melee
18.) Orator: Can now equip Crossbows; "Beast Tamer" = all beast abilities combined + no range requirement
19.) Endgame job prerequisite reductions (Bard, Dancer, Arithmetician, Onion Knight, Mime, & Dark Knight)
20.) Bard & Dancer improvements + gender equality changes
21.) Arithmetician: Arithmeticks nerfs + Stat buffs
22.) Onion Knight improvements
23.) Dark Knight: HP buffs; new "Greatsword Lore" Support ability; misc nerfs
24.) AI Swiftness-related bugfixes
25.) AI equipment selection improvements
26.) AI ability selection improvements
SPECIFIC CHARACTER IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Ramza improvements
2.) Lavian, Alicia, & Ladd improvements & changes
3.) Guest characters no longer reset their EXP and JP when they leave and rejoin the party
4.) Lategame characters start with much more JP
5.) Mustadio can equip Guns regardless of his class + misc improvements
6.) Luso improvements & changes; differentiation from Ramza
7.) Rapha & Marach improvements
8.) Agrias/Meliadoul/Orlandeau nerfs & buffs; Orlandeau differentiation from Agrias & Meliadoul
9.) Beowulf improvements
10.) Reis can use Dragon powers on non-Dragons at half effectiveness + misc improvements
11.) Cloud improvements
12.) Balthier nerfs & changes; differentiation from Mustadio; Barrage works with Doublehand & Dual Wield
13.) Byblos improvements
**************************************************************************************************************
F.) Complete List of Changes - Details and Commentary (long!)
This section lists all the changes done in this mod with details and commentary for each change. The
section before this one contains the same list, but with names only. Refer to the previous section if
you're looking for an overview of all changes. Refer to this section if you're looking for the details
and reasoning!
GENERAL GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) PSP spell effects slowdown fix:
- The PSP will no longer slowdown while spellcasting VFX are playing, so audio and visuals will
remain in sync!
(Thanks Archaemic and Eternal248!)
2.) Controllable "Guest" characters:
- "Guest" characters are now controllable by the player. No more AI allies ruining your strategies and
getting themselves killed!
In some cases Guest characters were left uncontrollable where it felt appropriate - for example,
when encountering friendly strangers and monsters in the wild who haven't "joined" you yet (such as
Boco). Also, characters you convince to join your team in the middle of battle (for example, with
the "Entice" skill) won't be immediately controllable.
3.) Quicker spell & skill casting speeds:
- Spell and skill casting speeds have been increased by "one step". For example, Curaja went from
Speed 10 to Speed 15. Anything that was already Speed 25 or faster was left unchanged (except in
cases where a speed up was needed to avoid a tie with a stronger skill).
This change is intended to make later game spells *actually usable* without having a large effect on
game balance. Personally, I almost never used anything slower than the -ra spells in vanilla FFT,
because the casting time just wasn't worth it. This change fixes that!
See wotltweakv2.52_skill_casting_speeds.txt (in Spoilers) for the complete list of casting
speed changes.
This change affects only player classes - not monsters or NPC classes (but enemies using player
classes benefit from it, too. So enemy Black Mages and Summoners are more dangerous than before).
4.) JP Boost always in effect:
- The "JP Boost" ability now applies at all times - you will always gain JP as if the ability were
equipped. I've also removed the actual ability from the game, since equipping it now would be
pointless.
JP Boost is one of those catch-22 abilities like Sprint Shoes from FF6 - you feel bad if you don't
equip it because you are leaving JP on the table, but you feel bad if you DO equip it because you
could have equipped something that makes you more powerful in battle instead. The game is grindy
enough already without inflicting this "no win" choice on the player!
5.) Treasure Hunter always in effect & always finds the better item:
- The "Treasure Hunter" ability now also applies at all times - you will always find the item when you
step on the item tile, as if the ability were equipped. And it will now always award the rare item
(instead of awarding you a garbage common item most of the time). In other words, there is no longer
a danger of getting a bad result on a unique item and having to reload your game!
(Thanks Xjamxx for the "Treasure Hunter rare minimum brave" ASM hack!)
Note that this applies only to human characters - monsters under your control still cannot find
items. Also, enemy characters will now never find these treasures (they will no longer rob you of
the chance to claim them yourself).
(Thanks Xifanie for the "Treasure Hunter is Player only" ASM hack!)
During playtesting, I found that making Treasure Hunter always find the rare item caused me to equip
it on all my characters at all times "just in case", so I ended up with the same catch-22 problem as
JP Boost. I felt bad for using the ability (because I could be using something cool that empowers or
differentiates my characters instead), but I also felt bad for NOT using the ability (because I'm
leaving items behind). It wasn't a fun situation, so it had to go!
Though it's no longer an ability you equip, the rest of this document will still use the term
"Treasure Hunter" (or "treasure hunting") to refer to finding items on the ground during battle.
6.) No missable items or spells:
- All the various missable items in the game are no longer missable*! You no longer have to remember
to use Steal or Treasure Hunter in specific, non-repeatable battles, or play the game with a
walkthrough handy just in case you miss something.
See wotltweakv2.52_unique_and_multiplayer_items.txt (in Spoilers) for the complete list of these
items and where they can now be found, if you want to be spoiled. Though these items are no longer
missable*, you will still have to go hunting for them, as they aren't on the critical path!
* Yes, you can still permanently miss items by dismissing Agrias, Beowulf, or Reis from your team.
You can also sell unique items, losing them forever. Don't do that!
- Oh yeah, the Ultima and Zodiark spells are no longer missable as well. They can now be purchased
with JP like any other skill (or you can still learn them the old way, if desired).
7.) Multiplayer items are obtainable in the campaign:
- All 40 items that were available exclusively in multiplayer can now be obtained in the campaign!
These items have been sprinkled across all the optional maps and quests in chapter 4. They are not
missable, but they ARE unique. In other words, there is exactly one copy of each of these items
obtainable in the campaign.
See wotltweakv2.52_unique_and_multiplayer_items.txt (in Spoilers) for the complete list of
multiplayer items and where they can now be found, if you want to be spoiled.
The short answer is: look for these items on optional, repeatable battle maps.
(Thanks Xjamxx for the "Treasure Hunter 9-bit rare items" and the "ENTD 9-bit equipment items" ASM
hacks!)
8.) All rare (but not unique) items can be purchased at the end of the game:
- You can now purchase items that were previously obtainable only with the Poach or Steal abilities.
These items appear at the end of the game, after the original final shop update (now there are two
more shop updates after it). They are distributed throughout the shops based on their item type (for
example, the Zwill Straightblade can be purchased anywhere other Knives can be). Also, their prices
have been reduced to be more balanced based on their power level (previously they were artificially
inflated since the player was only expected to buy them at half price from Poachers' Dens).
Of course, you can still get this stuff "early" by using Poach and Steal.
- The exception is the Defender, which was the only Knight Sword in this category. Knight Swords
aren't normally purchased in shops, so adding it felt like a super weird one-off. So instead, it
will drop as a war trophy after a particular chapter 4 story battle (against a foe who wields a
Defender). You will still need to use Poach if you want multiple copies.
In addition, some of these items will now randomly appear equipped on high level enemies at the end
of chapter 4 and in Midlight's Deep.
9.) Broken and Stolen equipment can be repurchased at the Poachers' Den:
- Equipment items that are stolen from you, thrown by you, or broken (either by enemy Knights or by
the Iaido skillset) will appear in the Poachers' Den, allowing them to be purchased back. Thus, you
no longer have to reset the game if you lose a unique item to an enemy Knight (such as my fricken
Genji Armor!!). As part of this change, all unique items have been given (super high) prices, so you
can't buy them back for 5 gil.
Note: Previous versions of this mod made AI Knights less likely to purchase the various Rend
equipment skills (such as Rend Weapon) so that the player would be less likely to be hosed by
them. This change has been removed now that equipment breaking only hoses you for the battle,
not permanently. Enjoy!
10.) Poachers' Den now opens earlier + rare item chance raised to 50%:
- The Poachers' Den now opens up in chapter 2 instead of chapter 3. Playtesting revealed that waiting
until chapter 3 was simply too long now that jobs open up faster (allowing you to unlock Poach
earlier - see "US PS1 Version balance updates restored", below), and now that broken and stolen
equipment items are added to the Poachers' Den (making you *want* access earlier).
- Also, the Poach ability will now give you the rare drop just as often as the common drop, so that
you'll get interesting and useful items more often throughout the game with this ability. Enjoy!
Opt1.) Optional Feature: Only fight random encounters when you want to (Smart Encounters):
If you opt in to this feature, you will fight random encounters only when you want to! Walking past
green dots on the map will never trigger a random battle, but stopping ON a green dot always will.
So if you want to fight a battle, click ON the green dot; if you don't want to fight a battle, then
click on a dot BEYOND the green dot to pass through it safely!
(Thanks Xifanie for the "Smart Encounters" ASM hack!)
The benefits of this feature are:
- It's entirely up to you when you want to grind vs when you want to advance in the story.
- You have more control over the difficulty. Story battles will be more difficult if you fight fewer
random battles (gaining less EXP).
If you want this feature, apply the wotltweakv2.52_opt1_smart_encounters.ppf optional patch file
(in the "Optional Patches" folder).
Yes, this means that they are technically no longer "random" battles, but the rest of this document
will still use that term.
Opt2.) Optional Feature: Enemies no longer scale to your level (Encounter Unscaling):
If you opt in to this feature, enemies will no longer scale to your party level in random battles.
Instead, they will have preauthored levels based on their monster type and the location of the
battle. For example, Chocobos in Mandalia Plains random battles will always be level 3.
The benefits of this feature are:
- If you are looking to grind, you can choose the level of your opponents.
- Random battles won't become harder than story battles, so story battles will feel more significant.
Note this does not affect multiplayer battles. This also doesn't affect "rare" random battles (such
as the all ninjas battle at Araguay Woods), which no longer felt special or interesting when I tried
them without scaling.
If you want this feature, apply the wotltweakv2.52_opt2_encounter_unscaling.ppf optional patch file
(in the "Optional Patches" folder).
See wotltweakv2.52_encounter_unscaling.txt (in Spoilers) for details on how levels were determined
for each monster type in each location.
GLOBAL BALANCE IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) US PS1 Version balance updates restored:
The US PS1 version of the game had additional balance updates added to it that, for whatever reason,
were forgotten about for the PSP version. If you originally played the PS1 version (which is
probably most of us), then these adjustments restore the game you're more familiar with. If you
didn't, then these adjustments make the game more playable and fair than you remember.
Below is a quick summary of the adjustments. Some of these will be repeated elsewhere in the readme
wherever they are relevant:
- Ramza, Delita, and Orran are slightly buffed
- Cloud is significantly buffed!
- Summon spells have much quicker casting times and deal more damage!
- Induration, Graviga, and Meteor have quicker casting times (and Meteor deals more damage)
- A few of the more infamous bosses are slightly nerfed; others are slightly buffed
- The final boss has slightly higher speed and slightly lower physical attack power
- Lower JP costs for several skills and abilities
- Lower JP requirements for job levels
- Lower job level requirements for job unlocks
(however, in this mod, the PSP version's higher enemy Job and JP levels are maintained)*
* Note: Reducing job requirements normally has the side effect of reducing AI character job levels,
because the game uses those prerequisites to determine job levels when generating characters.
However, one of the other goals of this mod is to increase the variety of AI skill and ability
use. Thus, an ASM edit has been added that causes the game to add +1 job level to each job
prerequisite and more JP on top of that when generating AI characters, in order to maintain
the PSP version's enemy job levels and skill variety.
There's one US PS1 change that was NOT implemented: the ability to steal Elmdore's Genji equipment.
Instead, the Genji equipment is a guaranteed reward elsewhere in the game (like all unique items,
they can no longer be permanently missed).
2.) Gender equality: female and male characters now have the same base stats:
The base game infamously made female characters much worse at physical classes and male characters
slightly worse at magic classes. This was theoretically "balanced" by giving Dancers exclusive
physical-enhancing abilities and giving Bards exclusive magic-enhancing abilities, but in practice
this was not enough of an incentive to "switch sides". In other words, if you had a female character
as a physical class like Knight, it was _always_ a better choice to have a male character there
instead.
This has been corrected by making the following adjustments:
- Female base stats gain +1 Power and +2 HP (to match male characters).
- Male base stats gain +1 Magick and +1 MP (to match female characters).
- Bards and Dancers now have access to both sets of stat-boosting support abilities.
- Female-only equipment is gone. Bags, Hair Adornments, Perfume, and Lip Rouge can now be equipped by
specific classes, like all other equipment (see "Gender equality: female and male characters now
have access to the same equipment", below, for more details).
The last bit of inequality has to do with the Steal Heart ability, which only works on opposite
gender characters. Since there were more male enemies in the base game than female enemies, female
characters could make better use of this ability. Thus, a few generic male enemies have been changed
to female in several battles to balance the gender ratio.
Note: Ramza previously had the best of both worlds (male Power and HP, female Magick and MP), but
now everyone has that. In order to ensure Ramza is a bit more special, his base stats have
been boosted. See "Ramza improvements", below.
3.) Standardized levelup Stat Growths + initial randomization removed:
FFTactics has a stat "Growth" system that is never explained to the player. Whenever you gain a
level, you gain permanent increases to your base stats based on the job you were using when the
level was gained. So far so good, but the problem is these bonuses are not intuitive (for example,
the Bard has terrible MP Growth, despite being a capstone magic class) and not balanced (for
example, it is strictly better to levelup as a White Mage than as a Chemist). Thus, if you weren't
paying attention, you could hose yourself and end up with a weaker character because you leveled up
in the "wrong" jobs.
This change fixes the above issues in the following ways:
- The very worst Growths have been eliminated. All Stat Growths for all classes have been raised to a
reasonable minimum value (except Onion Knight - more on that below).
- Each class has a set of three "Levelup Bonuses". These bonuses represent the stats that have better
Growths than the new base minimums when gaining a level as that class. A class may have multiple
bonuses to the same stat for an even better Growth value.
For example, Knight has the following three Levelup Bonuses: +HP, ++Power. In other words, gaining a
level as a Knight results in a higher HP increase and a much higher Power increase. (The rest of the
Knight's stats will increase by the new base minimum amount.)
Thus, every class is "balanced" in that they all have exactly three bonuses. If you are lower in one
stat, it's because you are higher in another - there are no longer any "strictly better" choices.
(There are still "better" choices if you are going for particular builds, though - for example, a
full physical build cares less about MP.)
- The specific Growth bonuses assigned to each class roughly match the base game and the player's
expectations, but since some classes had more than three good Growths and others had fewer, some
changes had to be made in order to balance them. For example, to balance the White Mage and the
Chemist, the White Mage no longer has good HP growth and the Chemist now has good MP growth. Since
most players paid no attention to this system or didn't even notice it, these changes are unlikely
to cause any surprises, but each character's stats *will* be slightly different.
- The new Growth bonuses have been biased towards higher HP, lower MP, higher Magick, and lower Power
when compared with the vanilla game. This is a sneaky way to help address other imbalances in the
game.
- The randomization that applied to character HP and MP has been removed. Now it will always pick the
highest result.
- The Select button help text for each class now tells you its three Levelup Bonuses, finally exposing
this system to the player and letting them plan ahead.
- The above changes do not apply to monsters or NPC classes.
- For those of you who like to use the "level down" trick/exploit to maximize your stats, this is
still possible. The Onion Knight's Growths are now all equal to the worst of all vanilla classes
(for example, it still has its original bad Power Growth, but now it also has the Bard's original
bad HP Growth, the Mime's bad MP Growth, etc. for all stats). So now you only need to use the Onion
Knight for the level down trick. Note also that the Master Onion Knight now retains the same
terrible Growths, so the trick doesn't go away if you master the class.
4.) More consistent critical hits + chance increased while invisible or near-fatal:
- Critical hits will now always add +50% damage (instead of randomly adding something between 0% and
100% damage). This ensures that critical hits are always substantial while also making them easier
to plan around during battle.
- The default critical hit chance has been increased from 4% to 5%, just to make things a bit extra
spicy.
- In addition, the critical hit chance increases from 5% to 25% if the attacker is invisible or
near-fatal (also called "Critical", but this is a coincidence).
5.) Knockback can only happen on the last hit of a combo (critical hits no longer cause whiffs):
This fixes an annoying and goofy thing from the vanilla game - since critical hits knock the target
backward, getting a critical hit on a multi-hit attack (such as Barrage or a Dual Wield attack) can
result in whiffing the rest of your attacks, because you knocked the target out of reach! In other
words, you were punished for scoring a critical hit.
So now the game checks if the current attack is the last one before it will allow knockback. You can
still score critical hits anywhere in the combo, but the knockback will only activate if it's the
last hit. Single hit attacks (like most in the game) are unchanged - their only hit is still "the
last hit", so they can still knock targets back.
6.) More consistent reviving + JP costs reduced:
Reviving downed party members is less annoying and "swingy", due to the following changes:
- Phoenix Down now restores 20 HP on average instead of 11. This is to prevent annoying (and
expensive) "revive -> death -> revive" loops early in the game.
- Raise, Arise, and Revive have a higher (but not 100%) success rate, and Arise now has the same
success rate as Raise. Is there anything more annoying than missing multiple times in a row with
these skills? No, there isn't. Hence, this change.
- Revive can now target tiles that are within 1 height from the caster (instead of being limited to
the exact same height). This allows the skill to be used on rougher terrain while still preserving
its "height matters" restriction that differentiates it from Raise and Arise.
- In addition, all the skills mentioned above except Arise have had their JP costs halved. This makes
chapter 1 far less annoying, as these reviving skills are now affordable.
7.) More consistent status attacks; Status -ja spells buffed; Misc Status Effect buffs & nerfs:
- The default status activation rate on weapon attacks (for weapons like Blind Knife) has been
increased from 19% to 25%. It now matches the random spellcast chance on weapons like Icebrand,
which is probably what the player always expected. This will make battles a bit more dynamic
throughout the game.
- Like Revive, spells that apply beneficial status (such as Haste) with "height matters" can now
target tiles that are within 1 height from the caster (instead of being limited to the exact same
height), allowing their use on rougher terrain.
- Spells that apply beneficial or harmful status effects, including transformation and instant death
spells, have slightly higher hit chances.
- Poison and Doom in particular have much higher hit rates. Poison needs it to compete with damaging
fire/thunder/ice black magic; Doom needs it to compete with the buffed Poison.
- Protect, Shell, and Quiescence have had their casting speeds improved even further than other spells
did (see "Quicker spell & skill casting speeds", above). This gives you a chance to land a Shell or
Quiescence spell quickly enough to stop an enemy's casting of a huge spell.
- Protectja, Shellja, Hasteja, and Slowja have been buffed significantly. Playtesting revealed that
these spells were unnecessary after improving the vertical tolerance on their base forms, so they
have received the following changes to give them some new uses:
* They have a much better hit rate than their base forms.
* They now hit a wider area.
* They discern from friend and foe. So now they can be cast over a group that's already in the thick
of battle, mixed in with the other team's units!
* Their casting speeds have been increased (even more than "Quicker spell & skill casting speeds").
* Their MP costs have been reduced. They are now only triple their base forms' costs.
- Wall's hit rate has been buffed to match Protect and Shell. It's JP and MP costs have been reduced
(but it still targets only one tile).
In addition, individual Status Effects were given buffs and nerfs:
- The Blind hit rate penalty has been increased, and targets that are Blind are now easier to hit as
well. This status effect is actually worth using now!
- Invisible now grants a critical hit bonus (as mentioned above) and an evasion bonus. Enemy AI will
already not attack you if you are invisible, but now the AI will benefit from this status effect as
well.
- The Confused hit penalty has been increased (so that confused units are less likely to hurt their
allies). This is a nerf, since this status effect is extremely powerful.
- Poison damage has been doubled. Watch out!
- Haste and Stop now cancel each other. In other words, you can caste Haste to cure Stop (and being
Stopped while Hasted will remove Haste).
- Charm can now be cured by Esuna, Purification and Dragon's Gift. It felt like a weird ripoff that it
couldn't be, since these spells work perfectly well against Confuse.
8.) Slightly reduced Zodiac effects + new Zodiac protection accessory:
- The Zodiac multipliers have been reduced from 25% to 15% for good/poor compatibility and from 50% to
30% for best/worst compatibility. In addition, the rounding has been tweaked so that it will never
round the effect down to zero.
The Zodiac system mostly serves as an unpleasant "gotcha" in this game. You'll plan out your turn,
spend your move to approach the enemy, and then see a completely unexpected damage value in the
preview window that throws all your planning out the window. The UI doesn't help you account for
Zodiac effects ahead of time very easily, and your other option is to memorize the various Zodiac
compatibilities or keep a Zodiac chart handy while playing the game. What sort of nerd keeps a
Zodiac chart handy while playing this game?
(Full disclosure: I kept a Zodiac chart handy while playing this game back in 1997.)
This change doesn't completely solve the problem, but it does mitigate much of the damage (see what
I did there). At reduced strength, Zodiac effects are enough to add a little spice and
unpredictability to combat without randomly hosing you as often.
(Thanks SecondAdvent for the Zodiac Rewrite ASM, which made nerfing the effects much easier!)
- A new accessory was added that allows you to bypass the Zodiac system, at least for one character.
It's called "Zodiac Glove", and it reverses harmful Zodiac effects (Poor becomes Good and Worst
becomes Best when attacking; Good becomes Poor and Best becomes Worst when defending). Basically,
it's another tool that can mitigate the annoyance of the Zodiac system. You will automatically
receive it at a certain point in chapter 4.
9.) More consistent weather effects:
What? Maybe not the most exciting fix in this mod, but it *was* annoying when a character tip said
"Ice-based magicks grow stronger when it snows", then you tried it at Ziekden Fortress and it was
all a lie.
It turns out the game only applied rain and snow weather effects for _heavy_ rain and _heavy_ snow.
The game doesn't use weather effects often enough to justify this nuance, so it was just a weird
gotcha when "sometimes" it didn't work. Now it works the way the player expects - if there's snow
_at all_, ice magic will be enhanced, and if there's rain _at all_, lightning magic will be enhanced
(and fire will be reduced).
In addition, the first battle at Dorter was bugged to specify no weather, even though it was
visually raining. This has been fixed so that lightning magic will be properly enhanced in that
battle.
10.) Perma-dead units on the player team always crystalize (and refund all equipment):
Most of us just reset when one of our units perma-dies, but for the 1% of you that accept the death,
this change makes it so your units will always turn into crystals. This not only allows you to
recover some of their learned abilities, but it also refunds you all their equipment (whether you
collect the crystal or not). Thus, you cannot lose access to an important or unique item if a unit
perma-dies with it equipped.
11.) More powerful endgame magic damage (but lower MP maximums) + new MP regeneration accessory:
In the base game, attack magic is very strong in the early game, but eventually it's completely
outclassed by special character skills (such as Orlandeau's sword skills) and even normal attacks.
These changes aim to address this imbalance by buffing endgame attack magic.
- The -ra spells and early summons are slightly buffed (+2 to their damage ratings).
- The -ga spells and midgame summons are buffed more (+8 to their damage ratings).
- The -ja spells and endgame summons are buffed even more (+10 to their damage ratings).
- Flare, Holy, Meteor, and Ultima are similarly buffed (+10 to their damage ratings).*
* Consensus on previous versions of this mod was that Flare and Holy didn't need these buffs,
because they were basically always the right answer anyway. I reverted them, but then found that
I needed them again during playtesting because of two other global balance changes that came in
v2.50 - higher HP totals and lower MP totals. Suddenly, casting these guys wasn't worth their
huge MP costs. So the buffs are back!
Note also that the "Quicker spell & skill casting speeds" change (see above) also improves attack
magic. Alongside these buffs (and the nerfs to melee below), magic should now be viable during the
whole game.
- However, MP maximums are now lower than they were before. In the vanilla game, I almost never had to
worry about running out of MP. This was a missed opportunity to introduce additional tactical
decision-making in the game. Now you'll need to be more conscious of your MP and prepare accordingly
(either with MP-boosting gear, MP recovery items, or by being MP efficient during battle).
- A new MP regenerating accessory was added to mitigate the above. It's called "Rune Armlet", and it
causes the wearer to recover 1/8th of their MaxMP at the end of each turn (when Poison and Regen
effects take place). You can find it during one of the chapter 4 sidequests.
Opt3.) Optional Feature: Start at zero MP and gradually regenerate MP per turn (FFTA2 MP System):
If you opt in to this feature, all characters will start with 0 MP at the beginning of battle and
will regenerate 1/8th MaxMP after every turn (this is the MP system from Final Fantasy Tactics A2).
This requires spellcasters to "build up" to their most powerful spells by conserving MP on each
turn. This also increases the value of MP-increasing equipment, since the amount of MP regenerated
each turn is based on the unit's MP maximum.
If you want this feature, apply the wotltweakv2.52_opt3_ffta2_mp_system.ppf optional patch file
(in the "Optional Patches" folder).
Note: The Rune Armlet (the new MP regenerating accessory) will still function if you apply this
optional patch. It will cause the equipped character to regenerate MP twice as fast
(1/4th MaxMP per turn instead of 1/8th MaxMP per turn).
12.) Less powerful special character skills damage:
Special character skills are completely overpowered in the base game, to the point where they make
attack magic obsolete (why spend MP and wait a charge time for an attack that's inferior in every
way to Hallowed Bolt?). These changes reduce the power and utility of these skills so that they no
longer completely dominate the game. Note that they are still the best thing in the game, though.
- Swords skills no longer achieve absurd damage with a Knight Sword equipped. Knight Swords now assume
50 Brave as a baseline (instead of 100) when calculating damage, and their attack power values have
been reduced to compensate. More on this below under "Knight Sword Improved Brave-scaling".
- The Sword skills themselves are further nerfed slightly (-2 to their damage ratings). Now regular
attacks (with Knight Swords) will hit for more damage than sword skills (which, remember, have no
charge time or MP cost).
- Reis's breath attacks are nerfed slightly (-2 to their damage ratings) in order to be balanced with
attack magic.
- Rapha and Marach's randomized skills have had their damage nerfed significantly, because these
skills have been buffed in other ways. Their randomization is much more reliable now - see "Rapha
& Marach improvements", below.
The above nerfs are intended to keep these skills under control in the endgame, but they had the
unintended side effect of increasing the difficulty of the beginning of chapter 2 (since you rely on
Agrias a lot during those battles), so the following was done to compensate:
- Agrias starts +1 level higher and starts with a Diamond Bracelet equipped (instead of no accessory).
- Gaffgarion starts +1 level higher as well (since his sword skills were also nerfed).
- The first battle of the chapter 2 was made just slightly easier. Boco now starts +1 level higher
and two Goblins are -1 level.
13.) Less powerful melee Support ability damage:
First of all, the Support Abilities that increase physical attack power and defense have been
renamed to match their magical counterparts:
- Attack Boost -> Martial Strength (for consistency with Arcane Strength)
- Defense Boost -> Martial Defense (for consistency with Arcane Defense)
(See "Consistent "Boost" ability names", below, for the reasons for the renames.)
Now let's talk about the nerfs. Raw melee damage is overpowered in FFT. By the end of the game,
generally you can one-shot everything with a melee attack if your character is well-built. Thus,
damage-enhancing Support abilities have been nerfed to try to rein this in. Most of these abilities
were the obvious choice most of the time (and to be honest, they still are, but the problem is
less egregious). The following chart shows how their damage bonuses have been reduced:
Ability: | Before: | After: | Note:
- Martial Strength | + 33% | + 20% | Previously called "Attack Boost"
- Doublehand | + 100% | + 60% |
- Dual Wield | | - 30% | 30% less damage on each hand
Note that Dual Wield was nerfed harder than Doublehand. This is because Dual Wield allows you to
benefit from the stat bonuses of both equipped weapons, so Doublehand needed more damage to
compensate.
Finally, JP costs have been adjusted to make damage-increasing Supports 100 JP more expensive and
defense-increasing Supports 100 JP less expensive.
14.) Endgame weapon attack power values reduced across the board:
The biggest balance problem in this game is that nothing can survive the ridiculously powerful hits
that endgame characters can inflict. The nuances that differentiate monster types and different
classes - maximum HP, abilities, status effects - it all goes out at the window at the end of the
game.
Everything is fine and dandy up until the second half of chapter 4, when suddenly equipment attack
power explodes upward at an extremely rapid pace. The following changes address this situation:
- Now that Poaching rare equipment is easier and Poachers' Dens are opened earlier, the Poach-only
rare weapons have less drastic attack power upgrades compared to weapons that can be bought in
chapter 4. Note that it's now relatively easy to get some of these as early as chapter 3 or
even chapter 2, so it's still quite a treat when it happens.
- The first set of unique weapons that are obtained before Midlight's Deep have been scaled down in
attack power. They are now closer to the Poach-only equipment's old values.
- The second set of unique weapons that are obtained inside Midlight's Deep (including multiplayer
items) are now a reasonable increase from the first set of unique items (instead of a dramatic one).
Note: Other changes mentioned elsewhere in this readme go further in nerfing endgame damage:
- The damage-increasing Support abilities (like Doublehand) have been nerfed
- The new unarmed damage formula nerfs Monks about as much as weapon-using classes
- The standardized levelup growths slightly favor HP and disfavor physical attack power
- Monster bosses and large monsters (like behemoths) have more HP and/or defense
SCENARIO & RANDOM BATTLE IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Slightly easier/faster intro battles:
The very beginning of the base game hasn't aged well. Spending the first three battles with a set of
identical Squires making identical melee attacks the entire time just doesn't fly nowadays. Not only
that, but it turns out making the Guest characters controllable actually makes the earliest battles
*harder* for new players, because they don't know what they are doing yet. So the following changes
help new players get their feet wet while helping experienced players get into the meat of the game
faster:
- The starting roster of generic characters start on level 2 instead of level 1, and each has a single
piece of equipment that's better than the rest:
- Squire 1 (male): Longsword
- Squire 2 (female): Leather Clothing
- Chemist 1 (male): Plumed Hat
- Squire 3 (female): Spiked Boots
- Squire 4 (male): Shoulder Cape
- Chemist 2 (female): Bowgun (btw, Chemists can use Crossbows now)
- Also, each starts with either level 2 Squire or level 2 Chemist, allowing you to unlock the next
batch of jobs faster (so you can start actually having fun a little bit earlier). They are
deliberately "mix and match" to create more varied characters:
- Squire 1 (male): Level 2 Squire
- Squire 2 (female): Level 2 Squire
- Chemist 1 (male): Level 2 Chemist
- Squire 3 (female): Level 2 Squire
- Squire 4 (male): Level 2 Chemist
- Chemist 2 (female): Level 2 Squire
- Ramza starts with BOTH level 2 Squire and level 2 Chemist, so that you can start him on whatever
progression path you desire right after the intro battles.
- Ramza starts with a few more JP and a few more abilities unlocked: Rush, Potion, Phoenix Down,
Tailwind, Chant (which he starts with in vanilla also), Aim+1, Cure, Raise, Fire, Thunder, and
Blizzard. Again, this allows you to use him however you like right out of the box.
- The first three battles (including the prologue tutorial battle) have been made a bit easier by
reducing enemy levels. Argath also starts with slightly better armor so that he's easier to protect.
- The first three battles have more generous item drops (including an early Longbow and an early
Leather Armor, so that the Archer and Knight classes can be equipped before reaching Eagrose).
- New hires (from the Warrior's Guild) have been enhanced in similar ways.
See "Recruit better generic units from the Warriors' Guild", below, for more on this.
2.) Your next world map objective now always shows as a red dot:
- The rule for showing a red dot has changed from "this is a new location" to "this has new story
content" (including some sidequests).
The vanilla game was sometimes ambiguous as to where to go next. It would show a red dot on "new"
locations, which was _usually_ your next objective location, but not always. If your next objective
was on a blue dot, then the game gave you no help or reminders. And worse - sometimes story battles
would surprise you on blue or green dots.
Thus, the rule has been changed to be more helpful to the player. Your next story objective will now
always appear as a red dot, even if it's a repeat location. For example, a couple times in chapter 1
you need to return to Eagrose Castle to advance the story - previously it remained a blue dot, but
now it will turn red in these cases.
- Red dots have also been added in cases where you would be surprised by a story battle. For example,
the Luso battle (previously a green dot) now shows as a red dot. However, non-battle story events on
a mandatory path on the way to a red dot (such as the grass whistles scene on Mandalia Plains) will
*not* be colored red. These events are still allowed to surprise you.
- There were a few cases where the next story battle is surprise-triggered by _leaving_ your current
blue dot. These cases have been removed - the game no longer puts you back on the world map and
instead proceeds to the next event automatically. These cases were "gotchas", in that the player
would think all is well and would save their game, only to discover that they were actually trapped.
Cases where the surprising event isn't a battle, however, are unchanged - these events are still
allowed to surprise you. If you happen to have a save file that is already "in between", the game
will proceed as normal (exiting the node triggers the next battle).
- Finally, red dots have been added for your next destination in some sidequest chains. For example,
you no longer need to consult a walkthrough to know all the various times you can (or cannot) return
to Goug for the next cutscene. In order to still support the thrill of "discovering" these, however,
some red dots will appear "on a delay" so that the player is only prompted if they may have missed
it. See "Chapter 4 sidequests are easier to find", below, for more on this.
In short, the game now behaves a lot more like modern games - there will always be an objective
indicator (red dot) reminding you of where to go to advance the story.
3.) More varied monster innate abilities:
Previously every monster in the game had Counter in their reaction ability slot. This change adds a
bit more gameplay variation by changing up the reaction abilities for some of the monster types:
Monster Type | Reaction Ability (instead of Counter)
- Goblin | - Counter Tackle
- Pig | - Counter Tackle
- Aevis | - Critical: Quick
- Mind Flayer | - Magick Counter
- Minotaur | - Bonecrusher
- Bomb | - Critical: Quick
In addition, Behemoths, Dragons, and Hydras now have increased physical defense, making them tougher
to take down. They don't have increased magic defense though, so have at it, mages!
I stole this idea from the excellent "FFT: WOTL - Valeria" mod, but in keeping with the philosophy
of this mod, I didn't go quite as far. I experimented with different sets of abilities on different
monsters, and these were the ones I landed on that enhanced the flavor of the monster without
drastically changing the gameplay. For example, you already want to hit the Bomb hard enough to skip
the critical state or kill it fast if it's already critical. Giving it Critical: Quick makes the
Bomb feel even more like a Bomb.
The changes to Behemoths, Dragons, and Hydras, on the other hand, were intentionally done to make
them more fearsome foes as part of making chapter 4 more difficult (see "Harder end of chapter 4
battles", below, for more on this). But I didn't increase their magic defense because another goal
of this mod is to buff endgame magic (see "More powerful endgame magic damage", above).
4.) Monsters can now be weak to weapon types:
Another tweak to monsters to increase variety, though this change is much smaller than the above.
Monsters can now be weak to weapon types (such as Axes) in addition to elements. They take only 1.5x
as much damage from weapon weaknesses (as opposed to the 2x damage they take from elemental
weaknesses). This tech is used exactly twice - Treants are now weak to Axes and Floating Eyes are
now weak to Bows. Their monster descriptions have been updated accordingly.
Opt4.) Optional Feature: Undead Reanimation chance is 100% instead of 50% (Undead Always Reanimate):
If you opt in to this feature, undead monsters will ALWAYS revive at the end of their death
countdown (instead of having a 50% chance). This makes battles against undead foes a bit trickier,
as you need to make sure they are all down at the same time in order to win the battle.
If you want this feature, apply the wotltweakv2.52_opt4_undead_always_reanimate.ppf optional patch
file (in the "Optional Patches" folder).
5.) More relevant early and midgame Treasure Hunter items:
Most of the Treasure Hunter items in the vanilla game were junk that simply backfilled your
inventory with obsolete equipment. For example, finding a Spear in a story battle in chapter 3, even
though you can already buy the next best Polearm (Mythril Spear) at that point. This is a missed
opportunity to make the player feel surprised and excited about finding something that will actually
be useful. Thus, these changes!
- Each map now has at least two items that are ahead of the current shop progression when first played
in the story, so that the player can get the excitement of finding something cool "early". Usually
these items are simply one-step upgrades from what was there before. For example, if previously
there was an armor item in that location, then the next-best armor is in that location now instead.
- Story battle maps that cannot be returned to (such as Brigand's Den) have even more "early" items,
letting the player feel like they found something "exclusive" or "missable" (without *actually*
being missable, because the player will eventually be able to buy whatever was missed).
- Some obsolete items remained if they made sense in the story (like finding Clothing in the Dorter
Slums).
- These upgrades start to taper off once you get to chapter 4, because eventually the best items (that
are non-unique) are already being awarded.
See wotltweakv2.52_treasure_hunter_items.txt (in Spoilers) for the complete list of all Treasure
Hunter items, if you want to be spoiled!
6.) Random battles drop common items:
Because I felt bad that the "Treasure Hunter always finds the rare item" change removes a source of
common items for the player, random battles will now randomly award common items after the battle as
war trophies. Each monster type has a specific item that they have a chance of dropping:
- Goblin | Potion
- Chocobo | Phoenix Down
- Mindflayer | Echo Herbs
- Floating Eye | Eye Drops
- Treant | Golden Needle
Human enemies also have a chance to drop common items (again, only in random battles):
- Squire | Potion - Mystic | Ether
- Chemist | Remedy - Time Mage | Ether
- Knight | Hi-Potion - Geomancer | Antidote
- Archer | Antidote - Dragoon | Hi-Potion
- White Mage | Holy Water - Orator | Echo Herbs
- Black Mage | Maiden's Kiss - Summoner | Hi-Ether
- Monk | Golden Needle - Samurai | X-Potion
- Thief | 500 Gil - Ninja | Shuriken
7.) Slightly easier Golgollada Gallows battle (reduced difficulty spike):
This battle is infamous for being a huge spike in difficulty. Though I didn't originally intend for
this to be a "balance mod", this case was severe enough for me to take action even in the earlier
releases (before I started doing other balance tweaks). I reduced the level of a few enemies by 1 or
2 each. The battle is still hard for this part of the game, but no longer insanely so.
8.) Human bosses are immune to fewer status effects:
Human bosses throughout the game can now be affected by more status effects. You spent your
hard-earned JP on these status effect skills - you deserve to be able to use them! After this
change, human bosses are generally only immune to instant death and transformation status effects.
If they are ever immune to anything else, it's because they have equipment that grants them the
immunity (equipment that can be broken or stolen).
In addition, bosses will no longer be inexplicably immune to having their equipment broken or
stolen. If the boss IS immune, it's because they have Safeguard equipped (which will be visible on
their status screen).
9.) Monster bosses have more HP/Defense; take less damage from Gravity & Drain; no longer have Swiftness:
- Lucavi and other super monsters with hidden stats (showing "???" for their HP) now also have a
slight HP boost and take less physical (but not magical) damage. These fights, like most "defeat the
single target" type fights, weren't quite as epic as they should have been. This slight boost helps
with that problem.
- Drain, Gravity, Graviga, and Lich were broken options against boss monsters, who have huge HP pools
but no special protection against damage based on maximum HP. Now these spells will deal half their
regular damage against any monster with hidden stats. This makes them still strong, but not
ridiculous.
- MP draining is also halved, even though these bosses don't typically have quite as gigantic MP
pools. They do still have more than any normal monster though, so halving MP drain means you can no
longer top off from one casting.
- Swiftness has been removed from these creatures (except the final boss). Now that spells are cast
quicker in general, and now that the AI bugs around Swiftness have been fixed, some of these Lucavi
attacks became extra ridiculous (like Belias casting Cyclops and wiping out the entire team before
the player can react). This is a slight nerf because they now cast a bit slower than in the vanilla
game, but the buffs above make up for it.
10.) Easier end of chapter 3 battles (reduced difficulty spikes):
The other infamous difficulty spikes occur at the end of chapter 3, and these cases are even worse
because the game prompts you to save before locking you into these three battles, causing several
players to have to restart the entire campaign!
First, a UI change: When prompted to save between a sequence of battles, you will now be reminded to
save on a separate slot, specifically to help avoid situations like getting stuck on battles like
these. Now, onto the battles themselves:
FIRST BATTLE:
- A few enemies were reduced in level by 1 or 2 each. This battle got a little bit harder because
Archers are stronger in this mod, so this is just a minor correction.
- This battle now drops a Jade Armlet and Rubber Boots as war trophies - items that may come in handy
in the next two battles (hint hint).
SECOND BATTLE (first boss):
- The first boss (human boss) has nerfed armor and a reduced level.
However, the biggest problem with the first boss isn't how *hard* he is - it's that very few
strategies will actually work against him. And depending on how you developed Ramza, you might be
locked out of *all* of them, even if your Ramza is a badass otherwise!
Thus, in addition to the nerfs above, the following changes were applied to the first boss in order
to allow for more strategies:
- His weapon deals lightning elemental damage (instead of non-elemental damage).
- He no longer has the Safeguard ability equipped.
- He is immune to fewer status effects (like all human bosses).
SECOND BATTLE (second boss):
This battle was nerfed more drastically, but it's still the hardest fight in the campaign.
- All enemy levels in this fight were reduced by 2 or 3 each.
- The second boss's HP has been reduced slightly (but note that he still gains Martial Defense, like
all other Lucavi).
- The second boss no longer has Swiftness (like all Lucavi), allowing you to actually scatter or drop
a Shell when you see him casting a party-killing Cyclops summon.
THIRD BATTLE:
The changes to this battle make it less likely that the battle ends in game over before your first
turn (yes, something that is very much a possibility here).
- Enemy levels have been reduced by 1.
- The two Assassins have slightly less speed.
- The Ark Knight's AI no longer prioritizes Rapha (but be careful, the Assassins still do).
- Rapha herself has more Speed, making it more likely that she'll get a turn. She also joined the
party (a few fights ago) at +1 level in order to make this fight a bit more survivable.
- Rapha will no longer vanish from your formation screen when she temporarily leaves the team. This
allows you to equip her specifically for this fight. This change prevents the player from hosing
themselves by not equipping Rapha with enough HP before she leaves the party, giving her no way to
survive this battle.
11.) Rare battle friendlies can join your team:
Random friendly characters encountered in rare random battles will now ask to join your party after
the battle. This doesn't apply to all cases in all rare battles, so it's just a nice bonus when it
happens.
Also, a few more of these characters have been added, and they have been given more JP and rare (but
not unique) equipment, just to make these rare events a bit more interesting and rewarding.
12.) Agrias's birthday sidequest is easier to activate:
This quest is normally a nightmare to activate and almost impossible to discover on your own. These
changes mitigate both problems:
- Lavian, Alicia, and Mustadio no longer need to be in your party. Feel free to dismiss them if you
want to!
- You now only need the 50,000 Gil to spend in order to trigger the quest (instead of requiring an
additional 450,000 Gil in your wallet).
(Thanks Xjamxx for the "Fix gil amount needed for the lip rouge quest" ASM hack!)
- You can now trigger the quest a day early or a day late. Agrias won't mind.
13.) Mustadio is no longer required to activate sidequests:
Scenes that require Mustadio to activate will automatically proceed as long as he isn't out on an
Errand (spoiler alert, special characters can now go on Errands). Mustadio will happily help you
from the sidelines, even if he is no longer in your team (if Mustadio "dies" in battle, he suffers
a career-ending injury instead).
This change makes several (but not all) sidequests non-missable, and allows their world map dots to
turn red at the proper times (because I can guarantee that the player can trigger them).
14.) Removed "hose yourself" sidequest dialogue choices:
Two dialogue choices have been removed. These dialogue choices had no purpose other than to hose the
player if they chose wrong (by permanently locking out some sidequests and items). The removed
dialogue choices are:
- The player can no longer turn down Beowulf from joining the team after meeting him in the tavern.
- The player can no longer turn down purchasing Aerith's flower (even if they have 0 gil).
Note that you can still hose yourself by dismissing Agrias, Beowulf, or Reis from your team.
Don't do that!
15.) Chapter 4 sidequests are easier to find:
In vanilla, a bunch of sidequests required reading specific Rumors or visiting unlikely places in
order to unlock them. This made these sidequests hard to discover (and hard to remember for
replays). So the following changes make these quests more discoverable:
- Some sidequest chains now have red dots on the world map to inform the player that there's something
there. Usually these appear on a delay so that the player still has the opportunity to "discover"
the quest on their own.
- Sidequest Rumors now open up earlier in the campaign and will appear in more towns, giving the
player more opportunity to discover them. If the player hasn't discovered the quest by a certain
point in the campaign, the Rumor requirement will be dropped, making them even easier to find.
The following is a list of changes done for each sidequest's requirements.
Skip this part if you want to avoid spoilers!
CLOCKWORK CITY GOUG SCENES:
- Goug will now appear as a red dot when there's a new scene available.
- Mustadio is no longer required to trigger these scenes.
THE HAUNTED MINE:
- The rumor appears in more towns.
- The rumor requirement will be dropped after Zeltennia if this quest isn't done yet.
- Lesalia will appear as a red dot after Zeltennia if the prerequisite Goug scene is done and the
quest still isn't complete.
- The player cannot turn down Beowulf.
- The rumor will now disappear after this sidequest is cleared.
RASH OF THEFTS:
- The quest is available earlier, right at the start of chapter 4.
- The second rumor appears in more towns (everywhere the first rumor does).
- The second rumor no longer appears in Dorter (so the user can't get "stuck" there).
- The first rumor requirement will be dropped after Zeltennia if this quest isn't done yet. (The
second rumor is _not_ dropped though. Doing so would have made this quest mandatory instead of
optional, because there's no way to avoid the Dorter world map dot).
- Reading the second rumor will cause Dorter to turn into a red dot one scenario later if the
quest isn't complete yet.
THE CURSED ISLE OF NELVESKA:
- Nelveska Temple will no longer appear as a red dot until there's a battle ready for you there.
- The world map transition is now a battle swirl instead of a fade in (bugfix).
A MYSTERIOUS OTHERWORLDLY TRAVELER:
- You can no longer turn down buying the flower (even if you have 0 gil).
- Sal Ghidos will appear as a red dot after the prerequisite Goug scene is complete.
LIONEL'S NEW LIEGE LORD:
- The quest is available earlier, after Limberry (instead of after Mullonde).
- The rumor no longer appears until the quest is ready.
- The rumor appears in more towns.
- The rumor no longer appears in Goug (so the user can't get "stuck" there).
- The rumor requirement is *not* dropped though (doing so would have made this quest mandatory if
you want to enter Midlight's Deep).
- The Dark Dragon battle is less of a boring slog (see below).
- The rumor will now disappear after this sidequest is cleared.
MELIADOUL'S BONUS BATTLE:
- This battle is still missable, but less so. It disappears later - after Mullonde instead of
after Eagrose (it simply doesn't make sense if fought after Mullonde).
- Meliadoul now hits the boss with Crush Armor during the cutscene instead of Crush Helm, because
Crush Helm may not have been learned yet.
- The boss now starts with no armor equipped (because Meliadoul crushed it in the cutscene).
DISORDER IN THE ORDER:
- The quest is available earlier, after Eagrose (instead of after Mullonde).
- The rumor appears in more towns.
- The rumor requirement will be dropped after Mullonde if this quest isn't done yet.
- The extra scene in Zeltennia is no longer required before fighting the battle at Brigands' Den.
In other words, the Zeltennia scene and the Brigands' Den battle can now be done in any order.
- Now that the enemies in this battle no longer carry missable equipment, they are no longer
flagged as immortal (so that you can snag their crystals).
16.) The Dark Dragon battle is less of a boring slog:
The Dark Dragon battle is particularly poorly designed. He is practically immune to magic, he has
absurd HP, and he has boring attacks. The result is a fight where nothing interesting happens - both
sides just smash each other with attacks for a very long time until the end. These changes add some
strategy to the fight:
- Dark Dragon's Faith has been increased from 10 to 30, and he no longer has Arcane Defense. This
makes magic actually _work_ on him, even if it isn't particularly strong. This also makes Marach's
anti-Faith magic merely "very strong" as opposed to "the win button" against him.
- Also, he can now be hit with status effects. In other words, the boss of Beowulf's questline is now
fun to fight against with Beowulf (instead of being a spectacularly poor matchup for him).
- He now has Martial Defense (previously called Defense Boost), like all large monsters do in this
mod. This reduces the bias towards physical attacks that this boss previously had. (Also, he now has
resistance to Gravity and Drain attacks, like all monster bosses.)
- His HP has been reduced so that the fight doesn't go on longer than it needs to - especially now
that he has physical damage resistance (and his magic damage resistance, while lower than before, is
still very good).
- His Speed has been increased so that he gets more turns, reducing the chance that the player will
"lock him down", repeating a loop of actions each round until he's dead.
- He can now summon Bahamut. If you see him start to cast, scatter!
17.) The Fort Besselat decision is less of a blind guess:
When you reach Fort Besselat, the vanilla game asks if you want to attack the North Wall or the
South Wall, but gives you no context whatsoever that you can use to actually make the decision.
It's just a blind guess (unless you look it up online).
- Now the text reads "Assault (North Wall)" or "Sneak in (South Wall)". This seems to fit the dialogue
and unit makeup of each of these battles, where the North Wall has heavily armored defending units
who say stuff like "a frontal assault?", and the South Wall has fast units who say stuff like "how
did you get in here?".
- The battles have also been modified so that the North Wall battle is more about HP and damage,
and the South Wall battle is more about speed and status effects.
- Also, the menu has been reordered so that the North Wall choice appears *above* the South Wall
choice.
18.) Harder end of chapter 4 battles:
The end of the game is infamous for being way too easy. And it certainly didn't help that this mod
awards more JP and guarantees access to 40 new powerful multiplayer items. So, to increase the
enjoyment of chapter 4, and to make up for the extra power awarded in this mod, the final several
battles were made more difficult.
- Enemy levels in the second half of chapter 4 are increased, starting with the battles at Limberry.
At first I thought I'd only need to raise their levels by 1 to 3 each, but upon further playtesting,
I actually had to scale each enemy up higher and higher based on how far into chapter 4 they appear.
So the battles at Limberry are +1 to +3 levels, the battles after that are +2 to +4, etc. all the
way up to a whopping +20 levels for the final boss!
- Enemies at the end of chapter 4 can now be randomly assigned more powerful equipment, including
items that were previously available only through Poaching.
- In addition to the level increases, the human bosses in the final dungeon all have innate abilities
that increase their physical and magical attack power and defense, as well as upgraded equipment
(including multiplayer items. Yes, this means you can get additional copies by stealing, but there's
no way to exit the final dungeon anyway, so they don't really "count").
- Finally, endgame monsters now have more powerful innate abilities that make them a greater threat on
the battlefield. These were already mentioned above under "More varied monster innate abilities",
but here they are again for reference:
Enemy Type | New Innate Abilities
- Final Human Bosses | - Martial & Arcane Defense, Martial & Arcane Strength
- Behemoth | - Martial Defense
- Dragon | - Martial Defense
- Hydra | - Martial Defense
As drastic as this all sounds, this part of the game is still too easy. To go any further would be
too drastic of a change for this mod. The end result of these changes is that the final battles are
just a bit easy rather than laughably so.
19.) Harder Midlight's Deep:
The Midlight's Deep (the postgame dungeon) was also too easy - I could clear it no sweat at the end
of my "no grinding, no random battles" playtests. So the following changes were made to increase the
challenge:
- Each floor has had its enemy levels increased by about 2 levels per floor. For example, the enemies
on Floor 1 are +2 levels, on Floor 2 are +4 levels, etc. up to +20 levels for the final floor!
- Human enemies in Midlight's Deep can now be randomly assigned more powerful equipment, including
items that were previously available only through Poaching.
- Note also that since endgame weapons have been nerfed (see "Endgame weapon attack power values
reduced across the board", above), the monsters of the lower floors are also harder.
UI & METAGAME IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Humans (in addition to monsters) can be renamed in the Warriors' Guild:
In addition to monsters, you can now rename human characters. You can now proceed to name all your
starting characters after your friends without having to boot them all from the party first!
Name changes for generic characters and Ramza work perfectly; name changes for special characters
(such as Agrias) will work in all gameplay-related text, but will not be reflected in story dialogue
(characters will still call her Agrias). Thus, the rename option is now called "Give Nickname", to
hint to the player that it won't change the name in all cases.
2.) Recruit better generic units from the Warriors' Guild:
- Units recruited from the Warriors' Guild will now start with additional job levels. Instead of
choosing between hiring a Male Squire and Female Squire, you now choose between hiring a fighter
class (randomly a Knight or an Archer) or a Mage class (randomly a White Mage or a Black Mage).
- In addition, all units recruited from the Warriors' Guild will start with the following abilities
already unlocked: Rush, Potion, and Phoenix Down. Fighter types will also start with Aim+1, and mage
types will start with Cure, Raise, Fire, Thunder, and Blizzard.
- Gender is now randomized, rather than explicitly selected, since it no longer has an effect on game
balance (see "Gender equality: female and male characters now have the same base stats"). If you are
aiming for a specific gender, just reroll!
These changes give these units a slight head start so that you don't need to grind them in Squire or
Chemist before they really get going.
3.) Special (non-generic) characters can be sent on Errands + Errands take half as many days:
- Special characters can now be sent on "Errands" in taverns. No longer will you have to hold onto
three generic characters just for this purpose (after a certain point in the story, anyhow).
The rest of the original restrictions still apply:
You still can't send Ramza, monsters, or Guests on Errands.
- All Errands now take half as many days as they did before, and extra days now give double the
rewards (for example, spending 2 extra days will now give you the rewards that 4 extra days used
to).
Let's be honest, we all just walked back and forth between two safe spots in order to pass all the
days anyhow. Maybe more players will now play it legit if they can use Errands to grow their whole
roster and the time requirements aren't so ridiculous.
4.) Less confusing shop inventories:
Usually when I'm shopping in vanilla FFT, I often don't understand why a particular item is missing
from the shop I'm in, so I just keep guessing shops until I find the item. Thinking on this problem,
I landed on a "brilliant" idea to divide the item types consistently across the shops based on the
"category" of the town - but when I sat down to do the work, I discovered that the game already does
this! It just does a poor job of it.
The shop inventories were already determined by the town's "category" (the four of which I'm calling
"Martial", "Magick", "Trade", and "Tech"). However, there were many exceptions to the category rules
littered about in individual towns, and the categories themselves had several overlapping item
types, so ultimately the player couldn't perceive them through the noise. Instead, it felt like the
shop inventories were arbitrary, and it was a common "gotcha" when your desired item was missing in
the current town.
So in this mod, those "exceptions" disappear, and there are fewer overlapping item types between the
categories. Yes, a "better" fix may have been to add every buyable item type to every shop, rather
than removing some types from some shops, but I thought what they were trying to do here was neat
for flavor, giving the towns a bit of personality. Also, breaking up the shops to reinforce that
flavor saves the player from having to scroll super long lists every time they visit a shop.
Here are the revised shop inventories:
Martial: | Magick: | Trade: | Tech:
- Knives | - Rods | - Ninja Blades | - Guns
- Swords | - Staves | - Katana | - Crossbows
- Axes | - Poles | - Bows | - Accessories
- Flails | - Tomes | - Handbags | - Bombs
- Crossbows | - Hats | - Instruments | - Items
- Bows | - Clothes | - Cloth |
- Polearms | - Robes | - Hats |
- Shields | - Accessories | - Clothes |
- Helmets | - Shuriken | - Robes |
- Armor | - Bombs | - Accessories |
- Accessories | - Items | - Shuriken |
- Items | | - Bombs |
| | - Items |
| | - Poachers' Den |
Martial Towns: | Magick Towns: | Trade Towns: | Tech Towns:
- Lesalia | - Gariland | - Dorter | - Goug
- Riovanes Castle | - Yardrow | - Warjilis |
- Eagrose Castle | - Gollund | - Sal Ghidos |
- Lionel Castle | - Zaland | |
- Limberry Castle | - Bervenia | |
- Zeltennia Castle | | |
In addition, the Select button help text for each town now tells you its shop category!
Note: Removing the "exceptions" means the player can no longer purchase Broadswords or Daggers at
the the very first shop of the game (in vanilla FFT, it's a Magick type that still sold Knives and
the Broadsword as exceptions). To make up for this, an extra Dagger and an extra Broadsword will
drop as war trophies in the earliest battles of the game.
5.) More meaningful choices to make in shops (price and availability rebalances):
Several equipment items have revised prices and availability timing in order to give the player more
interesting decisions to make while shopping.
- Shop progression compared to attack power has been smoothed out in general. No longer is there a
super long gap in the second half of chapter 2 with barely any upgrades, followed by a super rapid
period of upgrades in the first half of chapter 3, for example.
- Item types that are similar to each other have had their updates "staggered". For example, Bows and
Crossbows used to update at the same time, making it very unlikely that you'd ever buy a Crossbow.
Now they alternate updates instead.
- Axes and Flails are now available in shops slightly earlier, so that you can effectively choose them
over Swords if you want to. Note that these weapons have been improved to be viable alternatives to
Swords - see "Axe/Flail Improved random-scaling", below.
- Polearms appear in shops earlier in the game, so that Dragoon is more likely to be actually usable
when you unlock it. Early Polearm prices have been increased (they were a steal of a deal) and late
Polearm prices have been reduced (they were ridiculous).
- Rare items that were previously Poach-only have had their prices reduced to be more balanced based
on their power level. Previously they were artificially inflated since the player was only expected
to buy them at half price in Poacher's Dens.
6.) Spellcasting quotes reimplemented:
Inexplicably, the cool quotes that characters would sometimes say when casting spells were removed
for the English version of War of the Lions, despite their presence in the Japanese version and in
the PS1 versions of the game. They have been restored for WOTL Tweak (and the dummied quotes for
Beowulf's skills and the enemy skill Dispelna have been enabled).
(Thanks Xjamxx for the "Add spell quotes back to the game" ASM hack!)
(Thanks Daykeras for implementing the FF Record Keeper quotes and translating the rest of them!)
(Thanks to The Lion War team for the trimmed versions of Daykeras's quotes!)
Since these quotes weren't originally in WOTL, they don't have official translations. I started from
the quotes used in "The Lion War of the Lions", which are trimmed versions of the quotes that
Daykeras put together, which _themselves_ are based on the quotes from Final Fantasy Record Keeper.
Then, I trimmed them even further and increased the text delay on them so that you actually have
time to read them. Enjoy!
7.) Consistent skill list ordering:
Several skill lists have been rearranged in order to make them more consistent and/or intuitive. For
example, "Arm Shot" now always appears *above* "Leg Shot", and skills that reference equipment slots
(such as Crush, Rend, and Steal) now match the Equip screen slot order.
Elemental Order: | Equipment Slot Order: | Stats Order: | Healing Order:
- Fire | - Weapon | - HP | - Hit Points
- Thunder | - Shield | - Power | - Status Effects
- Ice | - Helm | - Speed | - Revival
- Wind | - Armor | - Magic |
- Earth | - Accessory | - MP | Attack Order:
- Water | | | - Direct Damage
- Holy | Body Parts Order: | | - Status Effects
- Darkness | - Arms | |
| - Legs | |
There are some exceptions to the above. For example, the Time Mage specializes in status effects, so
its direct damage spells are at the bottom of its list instead of the top. And several skill lists
are ordered by power before taking their elements or status effects into account (for example,
Rapha's and Marach's skill lists).
In addition, the Mystic, Geomancer, Orator, and Templar skill lists were rearranged in order to make
them more logical and less of a confusing mess (see below).
8.) Consistent status effects ordering:
Status effects are now listed in a more intuitive order in spell/item descriptions and in skill
lists. This new order attempts to balance severity (they get roughly more severe as you move down
the list) vs expectations (classics like Poison and Blind should be near the top) vs clarity
(keeping related status effects next to each other).
Status Effect Order: | Status Category:
- Poison | - Body
- Oil | - Body
- Blind | - Body / Actions
- Silence | - Body / Actions
- Slow | - Actions
- Stop | - Actions
- Disable | - Actions
- Immobilize | - Actions
- Berserk | - Mind
- Confuse | - Mind
- Charm | - Mind
- Traitor | - Mind
- Sleep | - Mind
- Doom | - Mind / Transformation
- Undead | - Transformation
- Vampire | - Transformation
- Chicken | - Transformation
- Toad | - Transformation
- Stone | - Transformation
- KO | - (the most "severe")
The Mystic, Geomancer, Orator, and Templar skill lists were rearranged to mostly follow the new
status effect order, which makes them much easier to understand. Though in some cases the order is
violated if there were good reasons for doing so - for example, the Orator's list starts with Entice
(Traitor) because that's the Orator's signature skill.
Known issue: The status effects are still listed in the old order on the "View List" equipment
screen. I don't know how to edit the order on that screen!
9.) Unique names for modified Squire classes:
Modified versions of the "Squire" class now have separate names and text descriptions. In other
words, this fixes the weird "it's a Squire, but not" situation for some special characters.
I've gotten criticism for this change because it's adjacent to changing the narrative, but I still
believe in it for gameplay reasons. These classes have different skills, stats, levelup bonuses,
and equipment proficiencies, so they never should have shared names with base classes to begin with.
I tried to pick new names for them that didn't mess with the story or "change" anything!
- Ramza and Delita begin with the "Cadet" class. For consistency with Ramza's version of the class,
Delita gains the Tailwind skill.
- Argath remains a Squire, but his version of the class has changed to be consistent with "normal"
Squires. In other words, he can now equip Axes, he can no longer equip Robes, and he no longer has
weird copies of the Rend Helm and Rend Armor skills. In exchange, Argath starts the game with a few
levels of Knight so that he's more likely to have these skills legit.
- Ramza in chapter 2 upgrades to the "Sellsword" class. Upgrading the class name helps new players
realize that something has changed - in this case, that he has new abilities available to purchase.
- Ramza in chapter 4 upgrades to the "Heretic" class (for the same reasons as above).
10.) Consistent "Boost" ability names:
Vanilla FFT had inconsistent ideas for when something should be called "Boost". For example,
"Attack Boost" is a support ability that always increases physical attack power, but "Magick Boost"
is a reaction ability that increases magic power when hit. Also, "Fury" is a reaction ability that
increases physical attack power when hit... so clearly "Attack Boost" would have been a better name
for the one called "Fury", but "Power Boost" would have been even better, because "Attack Boost"
doesn't tell you *which* attack (physical or magic) it's increasing!
Anyway, to solve all this mess, these abilities were renamed for consistency. The new rule of thumb
regarding the word "Boost" is: "Boost" is only used as *verb*, when something *happens*.
Hence, the following ability name changes:
- Attack Boost (support) -> Martial Strength (for consistency with Arcane Strength)
- Defense Boost (support) -> Martial Defense (for consistency with Arcane Defense)
- HP Boost (support) -> Double HP (Note: it's also been buffed from +20% to +100%)
- EXP Boost (support) -> Double EXP (for consistency with Double HP, and for clarity)
- Fury (reaction) -> Power Boost (for consistency with Magick Boost, etc.)
- Adrenaline Rush (reaction) -> Speed Boost (for consistency with Magick Boost, etc.)
It's a bit of a bummer losing the flavorful "Adrenaline Rush" name, but I think it's worth it for
the extra clarity. I tried going in the other direction - giving *everything* flavorful names like
Adrenaline Rush and Fury - but the change felt too drastic for this mod.
11.) Updated disallowed Support Ability equips for every job:
When equipping Support Abilities, the game is supposed to grey out the ability if it's already
innate to your current job, so that you don't equip something you don't need to. However, the
original game only did this for a hardcoded list of jobs and supports, and special characters like
Luso and Reis weren't on the list (so the game would allow you to equip Poach onto Luso, for
example, even though you don't need to because Poach is innate). This also prevented FFTPatcher
changes from benefiting from this behavior, so additional innates added to other classes in this mod
previously didn't gain this functionality (for example: Doublehand on Samurai).
This change removes the hardcoding and instead checks the current job's innate abilities before
deciding which ones to grey out. This means not only does it work for special characters and for
jobs that were changed in this mod, but it's now future-proof for any other job changes that may
occur (either by me or by anyone else who wants to use this mod as a base for their own).
12.) Additional Reaction Ability animations:
A few Reaction abilities that had no animation assigned to them will now play an animation when they
trigger. These animations were borrowed from other skills that have the same or a similar effect.
For example, Speed Boost now uses the animation from Tailwind (which also raises Speed). Note that
no new animations were authored for this change - I'm simply using existing animations in more
places.
Reaction Ability | ...uses the animation from:
- Power Boost | - Praise
- Speed Boost | - Tailwind
- Magick Boost | - Preach
13.) Earned JP/EXP is no longer shown for enemies; enemies no longer "celebrate" job levelups:
If you have "Display Earned JP/EXP" turned on, it will now only show for units on your own team.
Since this display wastes about a second or two per action, it's simply not worth showing for enemy
units. They're gonna die anyway.
For similar reasons, enemies will no longer celebrate (with the "jump up and down" animation) when
they gain a job level, as it's a waste of time and completely irrelevant in the current battle. Note
however that they will still celebrate gaining EXP levels, as these _are_ relevant in the current
battle.
14.) Readable sound novels in the Chronicle menu:
You can now read the in-game sound novels, just like you can in the Japanese versions of the game!
(Thanks 3lric and Cheetah for the "Unlock novels" ASM hack!)
(Thanks Tuffy da Bubba & RafaGam for translating these!)
These novels can be found under Chronicle, Artefacts after you discover them by completing enough
Errands. They are:
- Enavia Chronicles
- Mesa's Musings
- Nanai's Histories
- Veil of Wiyu
Note the Scriptures of Germonique are also readable (as they were in vanilla). They have been
renamed to "Germonique Scriptures" in the Artefacts menu (instead of "The Scriptures") so that the
player can find them easier.
Note also that 3lric made more polished versions of these novels for "The Lion War of the Lions",
which I looked into including, but they didn't play nice with the Valhalla PSP hacking tool. They
may make their way into a future release.
15.) Improved Select-button character tips and quotes:
- Character select button tips and quotes (when you click on their name) have been updated for
accuracy based on changes in this mod. For example, "I so hate when the enemy finds an item before
I do!" was changed to "If you missed a rare item, you can always go back for it!".
- Vague character tips have been rewritten to give more useful and specific information. For example,
"I have heard there are shops that sell their wares at half price!" was changed to "Visit a
Poachers' Den to recover broken or stolen equipment!".
- Misleading character tips were corrected or replaced with new useful tips. For example, "Starve a
cold and feed a fever. Or was it the other way?" was changed to "Fell swords deal greater damage
when wielded by those of little Faith.".
- Duplicate character tips, especially the more useless ones, were replaced with more useful tips
often containing new information. For example, the duplicate "Ooh, my back itches!" was changed to
"Treants take extra damage when hit by an axe!".
- Sexist character tips were also replaced with new useful tips instead. For example, "Though I may be
a girl, I am not craven!" was changed to "Being Invisible increases your critical hit chance!".
16.) Units are allowed more Faith (or less Brave) before deserting the team:
The Faith/Brave thresholds for determining when a unit will desert the team have been made more
forgiving. Actual desertion values have only been modified by 1 point, but the threaten values
(when a unit warns you that they are considering leaving) have been modified by 6 points, so that
there isn't a super wide range of otherwise safe values that result in these annoying warnings after
every battle.
| Before: | After:
- Brave Threaten / Desert | < 16 / 06 | < 10 / 05
- Faith Threaten / Desert | > 84 / 94 | > 90 / 95
Opt5.) Optional Feature: Units NEVER desert the team (No Unit Desertion):
If you opt in to this feature, you can forget everything I just said about the new desertion
thresholds above, as units will no longer desert the team (or threaten to desert the team) based on
their Brave or Faith values. You can go ahead and pump that Faith rating up as high as you want it
on your spellcasters without worry.
If you want this feature, apply the wotltweakv2.52_opt5_no_unit_desertion.ppf optional patch file
(in the "Optional Patches" folder).
Opt6.) Optional Feature: Disable permanent Brave & Faith alterations (Static Brave & Faith):
If you opt in to this feature, Brave and Faith increases and decreases will apply only to the
current battle - after battle, they will always revert to their original values (for example, Ramza
will always have 70 Brave and 70 Faith). This makes Brave and Faith intrinsic, unchanging properties
of each character that must be planned around.
In addition, this feature increases the potency of Steel, Praise, and Preach, so that these skills
are still worth using in a world where they provide no permanent increase. They now provide
quadruple their original increase (Steel = Brave+20; Praise = Brave+16; Preach = Faith+16).
(Thanks ic1025 for this awesome idea!)
Personally, I'm not a fan of this feature because it limits the kinds of character builds you can
make (for example, I love Mustadio as support mage with a Magic Gun, but not if you can't raise his
Faith). Also, there are changes in this mod that don't make as much sense in a world where Brave and
Faith can't be changed (for example, Beowulf can now use a Katana, which has a lot of potential, but
not if he's stuck at 45 Brave). If you intend to make use of such builds, you'll want to buff their
Brave/Faith in battle often (hence the skill buffs).
In exchange, you get a little more challenge and your special characters have more meaningful
differences from each other. Choosing the "right" builds for each character becomes a more
important element of skill.
If you want this feature, apply the wotltweakv2.52_opt6_static_brave_faith.ppf optional patch file
(in the "Optional Patches" folder).
Note: You probably want to use the next optional patch alongside this one.
Note: The "No Unit Desertion" optional patch is compatible with this one, but I'm not sure it's
actually possible to trigger a desertion if your Brave and Faith can't change. Still, there's
no harm in applying it also if you want to be sure.
17.) Misc UI text improvements:
Minor text changes were done in various parts of the game for clarity or polish:
- When prompted to save between a sequence of battles, you will now be reminded to save on a separate
slot (so that you don't get stuck on an unwinnable battle).
- When inheriting abilities from a crystal, the text now makes it clear that you will gain ALL listed
abilities (not just the one you click on). Ideally the menu pointer wouldn't even appear here,
because being able to select an individual skill gives the mistaken impression that you are choosing
only one to inherit, but that change is beyond my ASM powers!
- Zodiac compatibility charts now show "!" instead of "?" for the best/worst compatibility. Hopefully
this helps it stick out more in the player's mind.
- Tutorial text now properly explains that opposite Zodiac signs between humans and monsters actually
results in Poor compatibility (not Best or Worst). I didn't even know this!
- Revised several job, ability, and skill descriptions for grammar, gravitas, or clarity.
- Select button help text on the various flavors of evasion will now specify which directions they
protect from (to recap: Weapon Evasion and Character Evasion = front only, Shield Evasion = front
and sides, Accessory Evasion = all directions).
- Innate abilities in job descriptions are specified with "Innate:" text instead of "Ability:" or
"Abilities:" text, which was often confusing.
- Job descriptions will no longer waste your time with "Prerequisites: None" text if they have no
prerequisites. This also fixes the oddity of seeing "Prerequisites: None" on special character jobs,
making it seem like becoming a Holy Knight must be the easiest thing in the world.
- Skillsets that require a sword to use (such as Agria's Holy Sword) will now say so in their
descriptions.
- The "Jump" skillset description now specifies that the damage is based on the unit's Power and that
Polearms increase that damage by 50%.
- The "Throw" skillset description now specifies that the throw range is based on the unit's Move and
the damage is based on the unit's Speed.
- The Samurai's "Shirahadori" ability description now correctly specifies that it blocks both melee
and ranged physical attacks (instead of incorrectly saying that it can't block ranged attacks).
- The Onion Knight's job description now makes it clear that the class does not gain EXP (by showing a
fake "No EXP" innate ability).
- Ability descriptions will now give you more hard numbers. For example, Martial Defense now specifies
that it reduces physical damage by 33% (instead of just vaguely saying it reduces damage). This also
helps to make the changes to abilities in this mod more discoverable.
- Skills with randomization involved (such as Rapha's spells, Marach's spells, and Reis's Holy Breath)
will now specify the number of random strikes it will attempt in their text descriptions.
- Arithmetician formula skills have been renamed to make it more clear to the player how they work.
See "Arithmetician: Arithmeticks nerfs + Stat buffs", above, for more on this.
- Odin's "Obliteration" has been renamed to "Zantetsuken", as that's its historic name in Final
Fantasy, and also because it's awesome.
- Orran's "Celestial Stasis" skill now specifies that it doesn't work against enemies of the same
zodiac sign as the caster.
- Rapha's "Ashura" skill has been renamed to "Sky Ashura" to differentiate it from the Samurai's
"Ashura" skill.
- Marach's "Nether Blade" skill has been renamed to "Obsidian Blade" to better mirror Rapha's
"Adamantine Blade" (which isn't called "Sky Blade").
- Zalbaag's "Mindsap" and "Magicksap" skill names have been swapped, and their descriptions have been
updated for clarity. In other words, Magicksap is now the one that reduces magic power, and Mindsap
is now the one that reduces MP.
- Reis's job description now correctly lists her innate abilities.
- Cloud's "Soldier" class has been renamed to "Ex-Soldier" to match FF7.
Also, his "Limit" skillset has been renamed to "Limit Break", again to match FF7.
Also, his "Brave Slash" Limit Break has been renamed to "Braver", again to match FF7.
- Automaton, Byblos, and Reaver monster descriptions now correctly list their weaknesses. Automaton
now correctly lists Martial Defense as an innate ability, and no longer lists Ignore Terrain and
Ignore Weather, because they are useless with Cannot Enter Water.
- Fixed a typo I happened to spot in an Errand description ("tha" -> "that").
- Fixed a typo I happened to spot in the Melee description ("that that" -> "that").
- The option that resumes a battle from pause is now called "Resume" instead of "Done".
- Tutorial text has been updated for accuracy (based on changes in this mod) and slightly re-written
for clarity in some cases.
- Weapon descriptions now have much more information, including which character stats are used for
determining damage (see "Improved equipment descriptions", below).
18.) Known issue: the Battle Tutorials don't work properly:
A side effect of using the Valhalla tool to edit text causes the Battle Tutorials to break in a few
places. I think there's a bug in the text pointer table ASM script that happens to affect the text
entries in the Battle Tutorials. What will happen is: the wrong text will appear in all text
windows, but only for some of the tutorials. I took a peek at the ASM script responsible, but fixing
it is beyond my powers!
Why didn't I use FFTactext then, like a regular person? Well, I tried, but it's very unstable for
the PSP version of FFT, even the 0.457 version that everyone recommends, and even after (and before)
removing all the Japanese text.
Whenever I used FFTactext to edit text, a figurative landmine was dropped in another text string
elsewhere in the game, causing a crash when it displays. At first it was the famous crystalization
crash, but upon fixing that, it'd crash after grabbing treasure. Upon fixing that, it'd crash when a
monster used a skill. Etc. It was like whack-a-mole, and I simply couldn't test every single text
string in the game every time I made a change.
Once the author of Valhalla or some other kind soul finds and fixes the problem, I'll do an update.
Until then, if you need to use the Battle Tutorials, do so in vanilla FFT!
EQUIPMENT IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Gender equality: female and male characters now have access to the same equipment:
In exchange for making female characters much worse at physical classes and slightly better at magic
classes, the vanilla game gave them access to female-only equipment. Now that the two genders have
equal stats (see "Gender equality: female and male characters now have the same base stats", above),
allowing only female characters access to this equipment would make them the superior gender. Thus,
the following changes have been made:
- Bags are now equippable by (almost) anyone*, not just women. In order to make it extra clear that
the design-intention for Bags is "swapping your weapon slot for another accessory slot", they have
been renamed to "Handbags". Note that their random damage-scaling has been improved but their attack
power has been nerfed - see "Handbags Revamp", below, for more on this.
* The only jobs that cannot equip Bags are the jobs that require certain weapon types for their
special abilities (for example, Agrias's Holy Knight job). If you really want to use a Bag with
Agrias, switch her job!
- Instruments and Cloths are still gender-exclusive, simply because they are still locked to their
respective classes: only Bards can use Instruments, and only Dancers can use Cloths. However, Rapha
can now use Instruments and Marach can now use Cloths, just for fun.
- Hair Adornments are now treated like a normal head slot item, like Helmets or Hats. They are
equippable by any class that doesn't wear heavy helmets (in other words, not the Knight, Dragoon,
Samurai, or Dark Knight). Yes, this means female characters of those classes can no longer equip
them (but the Knight's new Armor Lore ability enables them - see "Equip X ability improvements",
below). Also, this means male Monks _can_ equip them, giving them a proper head slot item after all.
- The Minerva Bustier remains Woman Only, but a new Men Only equivalent item has been added (called
the "Escort Guard"). Its stats are identical.
- Perfumes are exclusively equippable by the Dancer and Bard (as well as the special classes Princess,
Dragonkin, Ex-Soldier, and Divine Knight). These are much more powerful than Handbags and Hair
Adornments, and they threaten to dominate the game if everyone can equip them, which is why they are
so limited.
- The Tynar Rouge is exclusively equippable by the Dancer and Bard (as well as the special classes
Princess, Dragonkin, and Ex-Soldier). In addition, Agrias can equip it regardless of her class. This
item is game-breaking if it can be equipped to anyone (for example, Orlandeau), so it needed
restrictions.
2.) Weapon evasion (Parry Rate) always applies; the Parry ability now doubles it:
Previously a weapon's evasion rating only applied if you have the Parry ability equipped, but the
game did almost nothing to inform the player of this fact. Since the UI features this number so
prominently, it leaves the impression that it always applies, just like shield or accessory evasion.
So... now it does! No longer do you require the Parry ability to benefit from weapon evasion.
And the UI no longer lies to you. In addition:
- The Parry ability now doubles your weapon evasion rating instead, so that the ability still has a
purpose.
- Weapon evasion rates have been reduced slightly across the board. After making these changes,
suddenly every human enemy in the game became better at parrying attacks (except Monks). I actually
like this, because it encourages the player to attack from the sides or from behind more often, but
the effect was too extreme. Nerfing it all the way though (halving the base evade values so that
doubling with Parry gave the same rates as the vanilla game) left me with not enough incentive to
actually equip the Parry ability. So this slight nerf is the happy medium.
Note this is a buff disguised as a nerf, since the UI no longer lies to you. For example, the
Defender previously had a 60 Parry Rate, which meant 0% by default and 60% with Parry equipped. Now
the Defender has 45 Parry Rate, which means 45% by default and 90% with Parry equipped!
The following chart shows each previous weapon evade value and what it became. If you don't see your
favorite weapon on this chart, it's because it shares a value with something that IS on this chart:
Key: | Evade Rate:
- Weapon | - Display Value (Base / with Parry)
Weapon Type: | Before: | After:
- Knives, etc. | - 05% (00% / 05%) | - 04% (04% / 08%)
- Mythril Sword | - 08% (00% / 08%) | - 06% (06% / 12%)
- Polearms & Harps | - 10% (00% / 10%) | - 08% (08% / 16%)
- Katana, etc. | - 15% (00% / 15%) | - 12% (12% / 24%)
- Rods & Poles | - 20% (00% / 20%) | - 16% (16% / 32%)
- Save the Queen | - 30% (00% / 30%) | - 20% (20% / 40%)*
- Excalibur | - 35% (00% / 35%) | - 20% (20% / 40%)*
- Main Gauche | - 40% (00% / 40%) | - 30% (30% / 60%)
- Cloths | - 50% (00% / 50%) | - 40% (40% / 80%)
- Defender | - 60% (00% / 60%) | - 45% (45% / 90%)
* These two are also slight nerfs (well, they are buffed less than they "should" have been) in
order to keep them below 50% with Parry. This allows the "high evade" weapons (Main Gauche,
Nagnarok, Durandil, Defender, and all Cloths) to maintain their unique role.
3.) Equip X ability improvements (and renames):
The various Equip X abilities are supposed to encourage the player to create interesting and varied
character builds. However, because they took up the Support slot, using them was rarely worth it.
These changes improve these abilities so that they feel as beneficial as anything else in that slot,
increasing the viability of the varied character builds they were always intended to encourage.
- The various Equip X weapon abilities now also increase the damage dealt by their weapons. For
example, Equip Swords increases damage dealt with Swords; Equip Axes increases damage dealt with
Axes; etc. The damage increase is equal to the increase granted by Martial Strength (+20%).
- In addition, each has been expanded to allow for additional item types. For example, Equip Axes now
allows for Axes AND Flails. This also made room for additional Equip X abilities, so two new ones
have been added (see the chart below).
- Because these abilities are more powerful than they were before, some of them have been moved to
later classes. Equip Swords in particular was moved to the lategame because Swords are so common and
powerful that this ability became a no-brainer, which was counter to the goal of this change (to
encourage _more_ varied builds - not to encourage _less_ varied builds by giving everyone a Sword).
Note: In vanilla, Agrias relies on Equip Swords to use her special sword skills in the early game.
So that she isn't hosed by this change, she can now equip Swords regardless of her class as
long as she has her special sword skills assigned. See "Special Skillsets that require a Sword
now function as Equip Swords", below, for more on this.
- Finally, these abilities have been renamed to better reflect their new functionality. For example,
"Equip Swords" is now "Sword Lore" instead, which implies a deeper understanding of the Sword (also,
renaming the ability helps the player realize that something has changed).
The following chart compares the old set of Equip X abilities to the new set of X Lore abilities:
Ability: | Class: | Equipment Types: | Misc:
- OLD: Equip Swords | - Knight | - Swords |
- OLD: Equip Katana | - Samurai | - Katana |
+ NEW: Sword Lore | + Samurai | + Swords, Katana | +20% Damage
+ NEW: Greatsword Lore | + Dark Knight | + Knight Swords, Fell Swords | +20% Damage
+ NEW: Knife Lore | + Ninja | + Knives, Ninja Blades | +20% Damage
- OLD: Equip Axes | - Squire | - Axes |
+ NEW: Axe Lore | + Knight | + Axes, Flails | +20% Damage
- OLD: Equip Polearms | - Dragoon | - Polearms |
+ NEW: Polearm Lore | + Dragoon | + Polearms, Poles | +20% Damage
- OLD: Equip Crossbows | - Archer | - Crossbows |
+ NEW: Bow Lore | + Archer | + Bows, Crossbows | +20% Damage
- OLD: Equip Guns | - Orator | - Guns, Magic Guns |
+ NEW: Gun Lore | + Orator | + Guns, Magic Guns | +20% Damage
- OLD: Equip Shields | - Knight | - Shields
- OLD: Equip Heavy Armor | - Knight | - Helms, Armor
+ NEW: Armor Lore | + Knight | + Shields, Helms, Hats, Hair Adornments,
Armor, Clothes, Robes
I hit upon this idea when I was evaluating whether to add more weapon proficiencies to more classes.
I really wanted to add Crossbow proficiency to the Thief, but then I realized that the player can
already do this with the Equip Crossbows ability (since Archer is a prerequisite for Thief).
However, doing so makes the player a sad panda. Improving these abilities (instead of adding the new
proficiencies) gives the player the chance to feel badass and clever by allowing them to "make their
own" Thief who uses Crossbows without feeling like they are building a suboptimal character.
Note also that there's now a reason to equip these abilities even on a class that can already equip
the specified weapon type. For example, an Archer with Bow Lore still gains the extra damage with
Bows and Crossbows.
4.) Special Skillsets that require a Sword now function as "Equip Swords":
Certain characters have skillsets that won't function unless the character has a Sword equipped
(for example, Agrias's Holy Sword or Cloud's Limit Break). Thus, the player usually dips into
Knight, learns Equip Swords, then uses it on the character all the time so that they can take their
special skills with them when leveling in other jobs. Well, the changes to the Equip X abilities
above had sort of left these characters in a pickle, now that Sword Lore is unlocked so late in the
game. Hence, this change!
These skillsets will now function as the old Equip Swords ability did when equipped, allowing the
character to equip Swords even if their current job normally can't. For example, if you turn Agrias
into a White Mage, she normally can't use Swords, but if you equip Holy Sword to her secondary slot,
now she can! This change affects Agrias, Orlandeau, Beowulf, Cloud, and Meliadoul.
Note: This is Equip Swords, not Sword Lore, so they do not gain the bonus damage or the Katana
proficiency.
5.) Special Sword Skills can be used with a Katana equipped:
Skills that require a sword equipped to use (such as Agrias's Holy Sword skills) now consider
Katana to be valid weapons. In other words, the "sword required" list is now: Sword, Knight Sword,
Fell Sword, and Katana. This is for consistency with the "Lore" abilities (see above), in which
Equip Katana and Equip Swords were fused into one ability called "Sword Lore". And also because
everyone expected it to work this way anyhow.
6.) Knives, Bows, & Crossbows buffed (plus new endgame weapons):
Knives, Bows, and Crossbows are some of the weakest options in the game, and are essentially left
behind by the end of chapter 4. This is a bummer because there's potential there for more varied
gameplay, but it's squandered because these weapons are simply not competitive. For example, because
Bows are underpowered, the Archer just isn't worth using at the end of the game, even if you really
like the Archer's playstyle.
The following changes have been made to make these weapons viable at more parts of the game
(including the endgame):
- Attack power values have been slightly increased in proportion to how far in the game the weapon is
obtained (see the chart below), starting at +0 for the earliest weapons because they are fine as
they are.
However, note that endgame damage in general is nerfed across the board for all weapons, so you'll
start to see Bow attack power values going *down* near the end, but these new values are actually
competitive with the rest of the endgame weapons.
- Additional special properties were added to some of these weapons. These were taken from other games
set in Ivalice that had the same weapon (for example, Orichalcum Dirk gained a chance to inflict
Slow because that's what it does in Final Fantasy 12).
- In some cases, these (now more powerful) weapons were moved to later shops in order to smooth out
the progression. For example, the Windslash Bow used to be available in mid chapter 3 for 8 attack
power, but now it's available in chapter 4 for 10 attack power.
- Crossbows now deal damage based on Speed instead of Power. This is a minor buff for Crossbows in the
hands of classes that can use them, but it also matches the player's intuition a bit better.
+ Three new weapons were added in order to make these weapon types viable in the endgame. These are
Cinquedea (new endgame Knife), Dhanusha (new endgame Bow), and Arbalest (new endgame Crossbow).
Their item names (and their effects) were taken from other games set in Ivalice.
The following chart shows the list of affected weapons and comparisons between their old and new
attack powers, as well as their element/status/spellcast properties:
Key: | Attack Power:
- Weapon Name | - Value (Special)
Knives: | Before: | After:
- Dagger | - 03 | - 03
- Mythril Knife | - 04 | - 04
- Blind Knife | - 04 (Blind) | - 05 (Blind)
- Mage Masher | - 04 (Silence) | - 05 (Silence)
- Platinum Dagger | - 05 | - 06 (Immobilize)
- Main Gauche | - 06 (High Parry) | - 07 (High Parry)
- Orichalcum Dirk | - 07 | - 09 (Slow)
- Assassin's Dagger | - 07 (Doom) | - 10 (Doom)
- Air Knife | - 10 (Wind) | - 12 (Wind)
- Zwill Straightblade | - 12 (Sleep) | - 13 (Sleep)
+ Cinquedea | | - 16 (High Parry / Speed Bonus)
Bows: | Before: | After:
- Longbow | - 04 | - 04
- Silver Bow | - 05 | - 05 (Holy)
- Ice Bow | - 05 (Ice) | - 05 (Blizzard)
- Lightning Bow | - 06 (Thundara) | - 06 (Thundara)
- Mythril Bow | - 07 | - 08
- Windslash Bow | - 08 (Wind) | - 10 (Wind)
- Artemis Bow | - 10 | - 11 (Charm)
- Yoichi Bow | - 12 | - 13
- Perseus Bow | - 16 | - 15
- Sagittarius Bow | - 24 | - 18
+ Dhanusha | | - 20 (Holy / Slow)
Crossbows: | Before: | After:
- Bowgun | - 03 | - 03
- Knightslayer | - 03 (Blind) | - 05 (Blind)
- Recurve Crossbow | - 04 | - 06
- Poison Crossbow | - 04 (Poison) | - 07 (Poison)
- Hunting Crossbow | - 06 | - 09 (Sleep)
- Gastrophetes | - 10 | - 12
+ Arbalest | | - 16 (Tremor)
7.) Axe/Flail Improved random-scaling & Available earlier in shops; Axes are no longer two-handed:
In vanilla FFT, random damage scaling on these weapons does not work the way the player expects.
When the player sees an attack power of 12 listed, they tend to assume that 12 is the AVERAGE power,
and that randomness will either add or subtract from there. However, in vanilla FFT, 12 is actually
the MAXIMUM power, meaning randomness will ALWAYS reduce damage, setting up the player for
disappointment with every swing. This also causes the Optimum button to equip you with garbage
because it'd choose an axe with 12 attack power over a sword with 11, even though that sword is
almost twice as powerful on average. The following changes fix this situation!
- The scaling has been adjusted so that it works the way the player expects - an attack power of 12
means an AVERAGE of 12, with a random range of 6 to 18 (instead of 1 to 12).
- To compensate for this formula change, the attack power values of these weapons have been reduced so
that their maximum damage is about the same as it was before (but their minimum damage is much
higher).
For example, an axe with 12 attack power (previous range = 1 to 12) was adjusted to 8 attack power
(new range = 4 to 12). It *appears* to be a nerf, but it's actually a buff - it's just that the UI
no longer lies to you (and the Optimum button no longer trolls you).
- The final attack power value was then deliberately buffed (or the price was reduced) because the
randomness is still a drawback, and playtesting revealed that these weapons still needed help. So
that there were fewer overlaps, Flails were reduced in price and made available earlier, whereas
Axes were buffed in attack power. They were then staggered in shop availability to balance them
against each other and against Swords at each part of the game.
- Axes are now one-handed by default, and can be used with Doublehand or Dual Wield, just like Swords
and Flails can.
The following chart shows the list of affected weapons and comparisons between their old and new
attack powers, random ranges, and prices (note that some weapons that didn't have prices previously
now have them - this is to support buying them back from the Poachers' Den after they are stolen or
broken):
Key: | Attack Power:
- Weapon Name | - Display Value (Random: Min - Max) / Price
Axes: | Before: | After:
- Battle Axe | - 09 (01 - 09) / 1500 | - 08 (04 - 12) / 1200
- Francisca | - 12 (01 - 12) / 4000 | - 10 (05 - 15) / 4000 (was "Giant's Axe")
- Slasher | - 16 (01 - 16) / 12000 | - 13 (07 - 19) / 11000
- Giant's Axe | - 24 (01 - 24) / ----- | - 18 (09 - 27) / 30000 (was "Francisca")
- Golden Axe | - 30 (01 - 30) / ----- | - 21 (11 - 31) / 40000
Flails: | Before: | After:
- Iron Flail | - 09 (01 - 09) / 1200 | - 06 (03 - 09) / 400
- Flame Mace | - 11 (01 - 11) / 4000 | - 08 (04 - 12) / 2000
- Morning Star | - 16 (01 - 16) / 9000 | - 12 (06 - 18) / 7000
- Scorpion Tail | - 23 (01 - 23) / 40000 | - 15 (08 - 22) / 18000 (+ now inflicts Poison)
- Vesper | - 36 (01 - 36) / ----- | - 19 (10 - 28) / 36000
Note: "Giant's Axe" and "Francisca" have swapped names, so that now the "Francisca" is the small
throwing axe and "Giant's Axe" is the large, not-throwable axe.
Note: Vesper and Golden Axe have had their power levels swapped to better match the player's
expectations, and to ensure that Flails don't go a super long time without upgrading.
Note: Previous versions of this mod gave axes and flails a random chance to break enemy equipment as
a way to compensate for their terrible random scaling. Now that the scaling has been fixed,
this feature has been removed (and it was a bad idea anyway - it introduced new random
equipment breaks against the player, reduced incentive to purchase and use Knight skills,
and it was buggy).
8.) Knight Sword Improved Brave-scaling; Knight Swords are now two-handed:
The Brave scaling on Knight Swords was changed for similar reasons as the random scaling for axes
mentioned above - it didn't work the way the player expected, and it caused the Optimum button to
equip you incorrectly. The previous scaling meant that a Brave score of 95, by all accounts an
incredible score, resulted in a 5% REDUCTION compared to the displayed attack power. The player
expects high Brave to INCREASE their power - not simply reduce it less.
In addition, special sword skills like Hallowed Bolt *do not* incorporate this Brave scaling, which
accounts for the huge disparity in sword skill damage vs normal attack damage when using Knight
Swords. This is the opposite of what I want for this mod - sword skills need a nerf anyway, and it's
more interesting when normal attacks are actually powerful enough to be the correct choice every now
and then.
- So, like Axes, Knight Swords now scale differently. Instead of scaling 0%->100%, Brave now scales
damage 50%->150%. This is closer to what the player expects - high Brave now results in a damage
BONUS instead of less of a penalty (for example, 95 Brave now results in 145% damage instead of 95%
damage).
- Also like Axes, Knight Sword base attack power values have been reduced so that their maximum damage
is approximately the same as before (but their minimum damage is much higher). Note also, again,
that endgame weapons have been nerfed across the board, so you'll see those nerfs below.
- The new scaling nerfs sword skills like Hallowed Bolt - they now deal damage based on the AVERAGE
attack power instead of the maximum (meaning normal attacks will sometimes be the right choice).
- Knight Swords can now only be used two-handed. This nerf prevents Knight Swords from dominating the
endgame, and makes them more distinct from normal Swords.
- The earliest Knight Swords have slightly increased attack power, since playtesting revealed that
making them two-handed made them no longer competitive with the final normal Swords.
The following chart shows the list of affected weapons and comparisons between their old and new
attack powers and scaled ranges:
Key: | Attack Power:
- Weapon Name | - Display Value (Brave: Min - Max)
Knight Swords: | Before: | After:
- Defender | - 16 (01 - 16) | - 13 (07 - 19)
- Save the Queen | - 18 (01 - 18) | - 15 (08 - 22)
- Excalibur | - 21 (01 - 21) | - 14 (07 - 21)
- Ragnarok | - 24 (01 - 24) | - 16 (08 - 24)
- Durandal | - 26 (01 - 26) | - 18 (09 - 27)
- Valhalla | - 40 (01 - 40) | - 20 (10 - 30) (was "Chaos Blade")
Note: Save the Queen is now more powerful than Excalibur. This is because you get the sword *after*
you get Excalibur, and because Excalibur's other bonuses are superior.
Note: "Valhalla" and "Chaos Blade" have swapped names, so that now the holy-sounding name is the
final Knight Sword and the evil-sounding name is the final Fell Sword.
9.) Katana Improved Brave-scaling; Break chances INCREASED (but can be bought back from Poachers' Den):
- Katana Brave-scaling has been updated in the exact same way as Knight Swords (above). Instead of
scaling 0%->100%, Brave now scales damage 50%->150%.
- Also like Axes and Knight Swords, Katana base attack power values have been reduced so that their
maximum damage is approximately the same as before (but their minimum damage is much higher).
- Later game Katana were deliberately buffed to compete with other endgame weapons (they are stronger
even if their display power is lower, again due to the above).
- Katana break chances have been INCREASED! Yes, this is a QoL mod, so why am I INCREASING break
chances? Well, previously I had reduced them, but once I had made several other QoL changes,
playtesting revealed that super low break chances were actually less fun:
* The "Broken and Stolen equipment can be repurchased at the Poachers' Den" change (above) made it
so losing a Katana was no longer a catastrophic event. Instead, it introduced a gil upkeep cost to
this ability, similar to Throw. In theory that's always how it was intended to work, but the gil
upkeep was pretty high because you had to buy from regular shops (whereas the Poachers' Den sells
for half price), and there was no way at all to recover unique Katana like the Masamune.
* The "Physical/magic hybrid builds are more viable" change (below) increased the Samurai's magic
power, making Iaido abilities more powerful. These abilities are already extremely powerful, so
the minor inconvenience of having to rebuy them when they break is a balancing factor (and
temporarily losing access to its Iaido skill if it was a unique Katana forces you to switch up
your tactics, which is nice for gameplay variation).
The following chart shows the list of affected weapons and comparisons between their old and new
attack powers, scaled ranges, and break chances:
Key: | Attack Power:
- Weapon Name | - Display Value (Brave: Min - Max) / Break%
Katana: | Before: | After:
- Ashura | - 07 (01 - 07) / 07% | - 04 (02 - 06) / 08%
- Kotetsu | - 08 (01 - 08) / 08% | - 05 (03 - 07) / 10%
- Osafune | - 09 (01 - 09) / 09% | - 06 (03 - 09) / 12%
- Murasame | - 10 (01 - 10) / 10% | - 07 (04 - 10) / 14%
- Ama-no-Murakumo | - 11 (01 - 11) / 11% | - 08 (04 - 12) / 16%
- Kiyomori | - 12 (01 - 12) / 12% | - 09 (05 - 13) / 18%
- Muramasa | - 14 (01 - 14) / 14% | - 10 (05 - 15) / 20%
- Kiku-ichimoji | - 15 (01 - 15) / 15% | - 12 (06 - 18) / 24%
- Masamune | - 18 (01 - 18) / 18% | - 14 (07 - 21) / 28%
- Chirijiraden | - 25 (01 - 25) / 25% | - 16 (08 - 24) / 32%
10.) Fell Sword Improved AntiFaith-scaling:
Oh hey, another one of these. Fell Swords were changed in exactly the same way as Knight Swords: the
UI now shows the AVERAGE damage instead of the maximum, and the Faith-scaling does 150%->50% instead
of 100%->0% (the numbers are reversed here because lower Faith results in higher damage).
This also affected a few of the Dark Knight's skills, which needed to be nerfed anyway, in exactly
the same way as special sword skills like Hallowed Bolt (they are based on average damage instead of
maximum damage now).
Note also, again, that endgame weapons have been nerfed across the board, so you'll see those nerfs
below. And like Knight Swords, the earliest Fell Swords needed more attack power, so you'll see that
below as well.
The following chart shows the list of affected weapons and comparisons between their old and new
attack powers and scaled ranges:
Key: | Attack Power:
- Weapon Name | - Display Value (Atheism: Min - Max)
Fell Swords: | Before: | After:
- Nightmare | - 16 (01 - 16) | - 14 (07 - 20) (was "Chaosbringer")
- Deathbringer | - 20 (01 - 20) | - 15 (08 - 22)
- Arondight | - 24 (01 - 24) | - 16 (08 - 24)
- Balmung | - 32 (01 - 32) | - 18 (09 - 27)
- Chaos Blade | - 40 (01 - 40) | - 20 (10 - 30) (was "Valhalla")
Note: "Valhalla" and "Chaos Blade" have swapped names, so that now the holy-sounding name is the
final Knight Sword and the evil-sounding name is the final Fell Sword. "Chaosbringer" has been
renamed to "Nightmare" to differentiate it from "Chaos Blade".
11.) Magic Gun Improved Faith-scaling and random spell selection (now they are proper weapons):
In theory, firing a Magic Gun was the same as "casting a spell", replacing your own Magick stat with
the weapon's attack power. However, since the magic damage formula is vastly different from weapon
damage formulas, the results were always extremely lackluster. This caused a similar problem that
Axes had - the UI is misleading you by showing you a high attack power, then delivering very low
damage.
The Magic Gun damage formula has been changed to behave more like other weapons do, applying fixes
similar to the new Axe random-scaling and the new Katana Brave-scaling. Now you can be reasonably
confident that your damage will make sense based on the weapon's attack power.
- Magic Guns Faith-scaling now does 50%->150% instead of 0%->100%, just like Katana Brave-scaling. In
addition, they no longer scale based on the target's Faith as well - they only use the attacker's
stats (just like all other weapons).
- Magic Guns now default to their medium tier spell, with a random chance to cast their low tier or
high tier spells (instead of defaulting to their low tier spell).
- Instead of using the literal spell power rating of the selected spell, the new damage formula scales
the weapon power down by 25% if the low tier was selected or up by 25% if the high tier was
selected. In other words, damage is now based on the actual attack power of the weapon, and simply
scaled up or down from there.
- The new formula results in more damage per point of attack power, so Magic Gun attack power values
have been reduced to compensate. This is another buff disguised as a nerf, because the UI is no
longer misleading you about their power level.
- Finally, now that Magic Guns are proper weapons instead of "a weird way to cast a spell", they are
improved by Martial Strength (they are also still improved by Arcane Strength, but you can't stack
them).
The following chart shows the Magic Gun spell tier chances (before and after):
Spell Tier: | Chance Before: | Chance After:
- Tier1: Fire / Thunder / Blizzard | - 60% | - 25%
- Tier2: Fira / Thundara / Blizzara | - 30% | - 50%
- Tier3: Firaga / Thundaga / Blizzaga | - 10% | - 25%
12.) Handbags Revamp: Reduced attack power and prices; Enhanced "accessory effects":
- The "Bag" weapon category has been renamed to "Handbag" to make it more clear that they are intended
to be "extra accessories" that take up your weapon slot (rather than just crappy weapons).
- Handbag attack powers have been reduced to make this extra clear. Note also that their random damage
scaling has been fixed in exactly the same way as Axes and Flails, but they still aren't necessarily
made for attacking.
- Handbags can now be equipped by either gender, not just women. See "Gender equality: female and male
characters now have access to the same equipment", above, for more on this.
- Handbag prices have been approximately halved in order to compete with other accessories.
- Each Handbag's effects have been revised for balance and to better meet the player's expectations,
based on the name of the monster or environment the Handbag came from.
The following chart shows the list of affected weapons and comparisons between their old and new
attack powers, random ranges, and effects:
Key: | Attack Power:
- Weapon Name | - Display Value (Random: Min - Max) / Effect
Handbags: | Before: | After:
- Croakadile Bag | - 10 (01 - 10) / Magick +1 | - 05 (03 - 07) / Innate: Regen
- Pantherskin Bag | - 12 (01 - 12) / Innate: Regen | - 06 (03 - 09) / Move +1, Jump +1
- Hydrascale Bag | - 14 (01 - 14) / Speed +1 | - 07 (04 - 10) / Speed +1, Magick +1
- Fallingstar Bag | - 20 (01 - 20) / (None) | - 08 (04 - 12) / Innate: Protect, Shell
Specific Handbag notes:
- Croakadile Bag should have been the one that grants Regen, since the Croakadile monster in Final
Fantasy 12 uses the spell. It's been changed to green (instead of yellow) to match the Croakadile
color scheme.
- Pantherskin Bag now has an effect inspired by Panthers. It's been changed to yellow (instead of
blue) to match the Panther monster color scheme.
- Hydrascale Bag now has an effect inspired by Hydras, combining the effects of the old Croakadile
and Hydrascale bags for balance (+1 Magick or +1 Speed alone isn't enough incentive to give up
your weapon slot). It is now red (instead of dark blue) to feel more like it came from a Hydra.
- The Fallingstar Bag in particular didn't fit the "trade your weapon slot for another accessory"
design - it didn't have any special properties and it had a high attack power. Essentially, it
was an axe that women of any class could use. Now that this mod allows both men *and* women to
use Handbags, this is an obvious balance issue. So the Fallingstar Bag was changed to be more
like other Handbags - it's a psuedo accessory with low attack power and a strong passive effect.
Also, it is now purple (instead of green) to fit the "celestial" flavor better.
13.) Power/Speed and Power/Magick hybrid weapons round up when calculating damage:
Weapons that use the average of two stats in their damage formula will now round up instead of down
after dividing by 2 in the formula. For example, if you are wielding a Knife and you have 14 Power
and 11 Speed, previously your attack stat would be 12, but now it will be 13. It's just a bit of a
boost for weapons that are otherwise disadvantaged by their damage formulas.
14.) Rod damage uses magic instead of physical attack power:
Not much more to say about this change. Rods, which are weapons for spellcasters, will now behave
like Staves and use magic attack power instead of physical attack power for determining attack
damage, making the attack action slightly more attractive with a Rod equipped.
15.) Pole damage uses magic and physical attack power instead of just magic (nerf):
Poles are now a magic/physical hybrid weapon, like Tomes, Instruments, and Cloths. This is a nerf
because Poles are used exclusively by spellcasting classes, who have been buffed significantly in
this mod. Now that spellcasters have higher magick scores, suddenly Poles were the most damaging
weapons in the game! This nerf brings them back down from the stratosphere.
16.) Innate: Haste removed - replaced with flat Speed bonuses:
Equipment items that previously granted permanent Haste have been nerfed to provide a flat +2 Speed
bonus instead.
The problem with innate Haste is that it's a no-brainer. It's just too good to pass up, even for
more attack power. It's also a major contributer to why Orlandeau absolutely dominates after he
joins your team. And it's why the Tynar Rouge is so hilarious. Finally, because Haste applies a
multiplier, it grants more Speed to faster characters and less Speed to slower characters. Like in
capitalism, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
Flat Speed bonuses do the opposite - they benefit slower characters more than faster ones. This
opens up more interesting choices to make, as "stack all the speed on my best character" is no
longer the obvious play. This also means that actually *casting* Haste during late game battles
becomes a useful move again, increasing incentive to keep Time Magic around (instead of shelving it
in favor of Haste equipment).
Note that +3 Speed would have been closer to the effects of Haste for most characters, but
playtesting revealed that these items were still no-brainers. Also, the fact that you could then
*cast Haste* on these super fast characters made the problem even worse. +2 Speed was the sweet spot
where they were still good and desirable items, but no longer the obvious choice in most situations.
The affected items are:
- Excalibur
- Moonblade
- Brigand's Glove*
- Septième
- Tynar Rouge
* Brigand's Glove previously gave +1 Speed in addition to Haste, so now they give +3 Speed
(+2 instead of Haste, and the +1 that was already there).
17.) Innate: Reraise removed - replaced with Initial: Reraise:
Items with Innate: Reraise will now grant Reraise only at the start of battle (instead of
permanently). Permanent Reraise was simply too strong. Sorry, no more reraising automatically all
the time, making you immune to death!
The affected items are:
- Brave Suit
- Grand Armor
- Onion Armor
- Chantage
Note also that Angel Ring already worked this way, and that this mod adds this property to the
Staff of the Magi (see below).
18.) Weapon buffs: Sasuke's Blade, Materia Blade, Dragon Rod, Staff of the Magi:
- Sasuke's Blade now has +2 attack power and a much higher parry rate.
This buff was needed because of the new item distribution that makes room for multiplayer items.
I wanted Sasuke's Blade to remain in one of its original locations, which meant it had to be
obtained _after_ the Koga Blade and Iga Blade. In order to ensure the weapon is still worth using
then, it has been buffed to be more powerful than the Koga Blade and Iga Blade.
- The Materia Blade now gives +3 magic power in order to support more hybrid physical/magic character
builds (for Cloud or for any other physical/magic hybrid characters).
In addition, Cloud no longer requires the Materia Blade to perform his Limit Breaks, freeing up this
weapon to be used by anyone who wants the extra magic power. Cloud also now starts with this weapon
equipped and no longer has to find it (there's now a different weapon in its original place).
- The Dragon Rod now has very high attack power and gives +1 magic power.
This rare weapon was a bummer because it's essentially a downgrade from the Wizard's Rod, which can
be bought as early as chapter 3. This buff makes it an exciting weapon for its rarity, and it also
gives it a niche (high physical attack power for a rod, but lower magic bonus than the Wizard Rod).
- The Staff of the Magi now Boosts Holy and starts you with Reraise status.
The Staff of the Magi was essentially a troll weapon. You got it super late in the postgame, but
it was terrible, and its description even acknowledged this by calling it an "ordinary" staff. This
buff makes it more consistent with its abilities in other Final Fantasy games, and makes it more
appropriate for the postgame. The description also no longer makes fun of the weapon.
19.) Genji equipment buffs:
Each piece of Genji equipment has received a buff. Similar to Sasuke's Blade, the addition of
multiplayer equipment made these items obsolete before you even got them. And since they are so
iconic in the Final Fantasy series, I would rather make them more powerful than award them too
early. Hence, the following buffs!
- The Genji Shield now has 50% physical evade and 25% magical evade (instead of just 43% physical),
and now grants +2 Power.
- The Genji Helm now has +150 HP (instead of +130) and now grants +2 Magick.
- The Genji Armor now has +170 HP (instead of +150) and now grants +1 Power and +1 Magick.
- The Genji Glove now quadruples your chance to score a critical hit (20% instead of 5%). This also
applies if your critical hit chance is 25% due to being invisible or near-fatal, for a total chance
of 100%! It also still increases Power and Magick by +2! Enjoy!
Note: The two bosses who wear the Genji equipment have had their base stats reduced to compensate.
They are still stronger than they were before, however, so watch out!
20.) Midgame light armor buffs: Adamant Vest, Sorcerer's Habit (Wizard Clothing), Brigandine, Jujitsu Gi:
The midgame suffers from too many light armor upgrades that happen too quickly, causing them to
become obsolete almost immediately. These changes differentiate these armors from each other so that
each has a reason for existing.
- The Adamant Vest now has Negates: Fire. This gives the armor a strategic purpose beyond the pathetic
6 HP increase over the previous armor.
- The Wizard Clothing has been renamed to Sorcerer's Habit to reduce the odds of confusing it with the
Wizard's Robe. It now has Innate: Shell to give it a strategic use over the Wizard's Robe. Also, AI
will no longer randomly choose this armor (though it has been hand-assigned in a few places) because
it was obnoxious having to deal with Innate: Shell on most enemies at the end of chapter 2.
- The Brigandine's HP bonus has been increased from +50 to +55, and it can now be bought earlier, so
that there's a brief period of the game where it might be an attractive choice.
- The Jujitsu Gi now gives +1 Speed instead of +1 Power, so that's a viable alternative to the Power
Garb (instead of being made immediately obsolete by it).
21.) Midgame light armor nerfs: Power Garb, Wizard's Robe:
- The Power Garb's bonus to Power has been reduced from +2 to +1, reducing the incentive to wear this
armor until the endgame.
- The Wizard's Robe's bonus to Magick has been reduced from +2 to +1, for the exact same reason!
These two armors were so powerful that all the rest of the armors around them may as well have never
existed. The incentive to keep the +2 attack bonus was just too high. These nerfs bring them down to
a more reasonable power level and allow other armors to shine.
22.) Accessory buffs: Battle Boots, Spiked Boots, Power Gauntlet; Red Shoes can be bought earlier:
These accessories have each gained something extra so that they aren't made completely obsolete by
later accessories.
- The Battle Boots and Spiked Boots are no longer made obsolete by the Germinas Boots. In addition to
their regular effects, the Battle Boots now has +5% physical evade and the Spiked Boots now has
resistance to Earth and Wind.
- The Power Gauntlet is no longer made completely obsolete by the Bracer. In addition to Power +1, it
now has Immune: Disable.
- The Red Shoes accessory is basically the magical counterpart to the Power Gauntlet. It will now
appear in shops earlier in the game, and at a reduced price, so that it has time to shine before the
Magepower Glove becomes available. It's now available at the same time (and for the same price) as
the Power Gauntlet.
23.) Accessory nerfs: Bracer, Tynar Rouge:
These two accessories have received nerfs so that they no longer dominate the game.
- The Bracer has been nerfed from +3 Power to +2 Power. It now matches the Magepower Glove's bonus.
This makes the item no longer the (second) best accessory in the game, outclassing even unique
items. Instead, it's just really good. Its price has been reduced accordingly.
- The Tynar Rouge has been nerfed from +3 Power and Magick to +2 Power and Magick (in addition to the
above nerf that swaps Haste for +2 Speed). It's still the best accessory in the game, but it no
longer turns the user into a god. Note also that fewer characters can now equip this item - it is
now exclusive to specific classes and to Agrias (regardless of her class). See "Gender equality:
female and male characters now have access to the same equipment", above, for more on this.
24.) Weapon & Shield battle sprites better match their UI icons + misc sprite changes:
- Several weapon and shield battle sprite assignments have been adjusted to better fit their UI icons.
For example, the Materia Blade now has a thick white blade in battle, matching its UI icon (instead
of a thin gold blade in battle, looking nothing like its icon). Every weapon and shield in the game
was reviewed and changes were made where necessary.
- In some cases, the icon was tweaked to fit the battle sprite instead, or both were tweaked to better
align. For example, the Francisca's brown and green icon didn't match its grey and red battle
sprite, but now its brown and blue icon matches its brown and blue battle sprite. This was only done
when there was no better way to match the battle sprite and UI icon.
- Almost every weapon in the base game used a blue tinted "swoosh" swing effect sprite when attacking.
Now there's more diversity in these swing effect colors. The blue tint is still the default, but
more weapons will deviate based on their blade color (ex: Golden Axe now has a gold swing effect),
element (ex: even though the Coral Sword has a blue blade, it now has a yellow swing effect to
indicate Thunder damage), or effect (ex: even though the Orochi has a black blade, it now has a red
swing effect to indicate "blood" for HP draining).
- Ranged weapon effects (muzzle flashes for guns and air poofs for bows and crossbows) also have new
colors to indicate elements or status effects.
- Fell Swords now use Knight Sword sprites instead of regular Sword sprites, since they are large,
two-handed weapons.
- The Hidden Blade (formerly Ninja Blade) sprite was changed to one with a shorter blade, since its
description says it has a shorter blade than the average sword.
- The Moonblade's description says it "glitters like a crescent moon", so its sprite and palette have
been changed to fit this better than its previous "all grey" boringness.
- The Masamune's colors were changed because it looked too similar to the Osafune. Now it better
matches its FF Record Keeper color scheme.
- The Scorpion Tail is now green instead of red, now that it inflicts Poison. This freed up red to use
for the Flame Mace, which believe it or not, was previously blue.
- The Zodiac Spear (formerly Javelin II) now looks more interesting than just "bigass grey spear". It
is now blue and gold, which seems to be the "zodiac" color scheme in Final Fantasy 12.
- The Gungnir has been adjusted to look more unique and badass (another "all grey" weapon). Though
it's thunder elemental, I opted for red instead of yellow to differentiate it from the Zodiac Spear
(also, it appears as a red spear in some Final Fantasy games). It still has a yellow swing effect to
indicate thunder.
- The Partisan and Dragon Whisker have swapped appearances so that the Partisan looks more like an
actual Partisan and the Dragon Whisker fits its name better (incorporating some green for "Dragon"
and using the thin spear sprite for "Whisker").
- The Javelin and Mythril Spear have swapped appearances so that the Javelin looks more like an actual
Javelin and the Mythril Spear looks like it's made of mythril.
- The Flame Rod no longer looks identical to the Poison Rod. I think this was a copy/paste error,
because the Thunder Rod and Ice Rod are color swaps of each other, but the Flame Rod was totally
different. Now it's a red color swap of the Thunder and Ice rods.
- The above change made the Flame Rod and the Rod of Faith look the same, so the Rod of Faith is now
gold and green instead of red (this is a better match for its effect anyway).
- Staff colors have all been tweaked so that there are fewer overlaps and so that their colors better
match their names, descriptions, or functions. For example, White Staff is actually white, Golden
Staff is actually gold, and Staff of the Magi is no longer the most boring brown in the game.
- The Golden Staff and Healing Staff have swapped graphics. Now Staves that "do something" use the
second graphic and Staves that just thunk people over the head use the first graphic.
- Bow colors were tweaked so that the Silver Bow is actually silver, the Lightning Bow is yellow, and
the starting Longbow is now a more typical brown color than its previous too-striking red.
- Fomalhaut is now grey and purple instead of grey and grey.
- Magic Gun sprite colors now better match their corresponding element (fire is red, thunder is
yellow, ice is blue).
- Handbag colors have been revised to better match the creature or environment they supposedly came
from. Croakadile Bag is now green (instead of yellow), Pantherskin Bag is now yellow (instead of
blue), Hydrascale Bag is now red (instead of dark blue), and Fallingstar Bag is now purple (instead
of green).
- The Buckler and Escutcheon have swapped appearances so that the Buckler looks more like an
actual Buckler (round) and the Escutcheon looks more like an Escutcheon (bearing a coat of arms).
- The Round Shield and Bronze Shield have swapped sprites (not colors) so that the Round Shield is
actually round. (The Bronze Shield had to change so that there weren't too many round-looking
shields in a row).
- The above change made the Bronze Shield identical to the Kaiser Shield, so the Kaiser Shield has
been changed to purple (because purple is a "royal" color, there were no purple shields already,
and because it's cool).
- The Platinum Shield and Mythril Shield have swapped colors so that the Platinum Shield is brighter
(it's description calls it a "brilliant" shield, but it actually appeared quite dull).
- The Diamond Shield's blue was shifted more towards teal in order to better match Diamond Armor.
- The Crystal Shield's two colors were swapped (it's now white on blue instead of blue on white) so
that it no longer looks nearly identical to the Diamond Shield in battle.
- The Flame Shield and Ice Shield now look hot and cool to the touch. Be careful!
- The Genji Shield now looks like it belongs with the rest of the Genji gear (instead of being a weird
outlier).
- The Zodiac Escutcheon (formerly Escutcheon II) now has the same blue and gold color scheme as the
Zodiac Spear. This also means it's no longer identical to the Golden Shield.
- The Onion gear now all looks like it goes together (instead of a bunch of random disparate pieces).
I went with a green and gold color scheme, because I didn't want to choose between matching the male
Onion Knight's blue look or the female Onion Knight's red look.
25.) Improved equipment descriptions:
- Description text for all weapons will now specify which attributes determine its damage. For
example, the Dagger will show "Attack: 3 (Phys., Speed)", since Knives use both physical attack
power and speed in their damage formula. Whereas the Oak Staff will show "Attack: 3 (Mag.)" because
Staff damage uses magical instead of physical attack power.
- Description text for Axes, Flails, Bags, and Magic Guns now specify that damage can vary due to
randomness. This is done by making "Random" one of their attack power factors. For example, Scorpion
Tail now shows "Attack: 14 (Phys., Random)".
- Description text for the Healing Staff is more clear that it heals instead of dealing damage. Its
attack power now shows as "Attack: 4 (Mag., Healing)".
- Additional screens were added to the Tutorial to explain the information in the three bullet points
above.
- Description text for all weapons will now specify how many hands are required to equip it
(previously only some weapons did this, believe it or not).
- A weapon's parry chance is now specified with "Parry:" instead of "Block:". This is to differentiate
it from shields and to make it more clear which evasion numbers are doubled by the Parry ability
(remember: Parry chance now always applies, and the Parry ability now doubles it).
- Equipment that boosts physical and magical attack power now present these boosts as "Power +X" and
"Magick +X" instead of "ATK (Phys.) +X, (Mag.) +X". For example, the Cursed Ring used to say
"ATK (Phys.) +1, (Mag.) +1 Speed +1", but now it says "Power +1 Magick +1 Speed +1".
- Description text for the Blood Sword, Orochi, and Bloodstring Harp now specifies that they absorb
the enemy's HP.
- "Equip:", which listed the innate statuses the item applies to the wearer, has been changed to
"Innate:" for clarity. "Equip" is vague - after all, ALL of an item's stats are applied only when
the thing is "equipped", not just status effects, you know?
- "Initial:" is now used instead of "Equip" or "Innate" for status effects that are granted only if
the item is equipped at the start of battle (used for Invisible, Reraise, and Stone).
- "Effect:", which listed the statuses the item inflicts upon the target, has been changed to
"Inflicts:" for harmful effects and "Bestows:" for beneficial effects, for similar reasons as the
above ("Effect" is vague). "Effect:" is now used only for misc effects that don't fit the rest of
the categories (for example, the HP draining effect on the three weapons mentioned above).
- Katana descriptions now list their Iaido skill and Iaido break chance. For example, Masamune now
shows "Iaido: Ethereal Embrace (24% break)". This should better help the player make the mental
connection between which Iaido belongs to which Katana, and help them realize ahead of time that the
weapon may break.
- Help text and Tutorial text for the Poachers' Den has been updated to explain that stolen and broken
items can also be purchased there.
- Description text for all equipment will now specify if the Dark Knight can use it. In other words,
the Dark Knight has been added to grid of classes that appears on the final page of all equipment
descriptions, filling in the ugly blank space that used to appear in the bottom-right.
- Description text for women's equipment (the one piece that remains) now says "Women Only" instead of
the out-of-favor "Females Only".
- "Women Only" and "Onion Knight Only" text now appears in red so that it's clear that it's a property
of the entire item, not an entry of the list that appears before it. "Dark Knight Only" text no
longer appears, now that the Dark Knight has an entry in the normal class grid.
- "Men Only" red text was added for the new Escort Guard item.
- The Tynar Rouge now has new "A Gift for Agrias" red text to help the player realize that Agrias can
equip it regardless of her class.
- The "Dark" element is now called "Darkness" (it just sounds better).
- The "Book" weapon category has been renamed to "Tome" to differentiate it from the "Book" terrain
type. Also, it's just a less goofy and more flavorful name.
- The "Bag" weapon category has been renamed to "Handbag" to make it more clear that they are intended
to be "extra accessories" that take up your weapon slot (rather than just crappy weapons).
- Weapons with names that are identical to their weapon category name have been renamed so that they
aren't confused with the weapon categories themselves. For example, the first Ninja Blade has been
renamed from "Ninja Blade" to "Hidden Blade" (which was its PS1 name).
- Weapons with names that suggest they belong to the wrong weapon category have been renamed for
clarity. For example, the "Hunting Bow" is actually a Crossbow, so now it's called "Hunting
Crossbow".
- The second "Javelin" and "Escutcheon" items (the ones that are super powerful but share names with
super weak items) have been renamed to "Zodiac Spear" and "Zodiac Escutcheon" so that it's clear
that these are different (and more powerful) items. These names are from the strongest spear and
shield in Final Fantasy 12.
- "Giant's Axe" and "Francisca" have swapped names, so that now the "Francisca" is the small throwing
axe and "Giant's Axe" is the large, not-throwable axe.
- "Valhalla" and "Chaos Blade" have swapped names, so that now the holy-sounding name is the final
Knight Sword and the evil-sounding name is the final Fell Sword.
- "Chaosbringer" has been renamed to "Nightmare" to differentiate it from "Chaos Blade".
- "Wizard Clothing" has been renamed to "Sorcerer's Habit" to differentiate it from "Wizard's Robe".
- "Yagyu Darkrood" has been renamed to "Yagyu Darkstar" because what the heck even is a "darkrood"?
- The game was inconsistent about naming glove Accessories "Glove" or "Gloves". The more iconic ones
used "Glove", so now they all do.
Here's the list of all equipment renames:
- Rod -> Wooden Rod
- Ninja Blade -> Hidden Blade
- Crossbow -> Recurve Crossbow
- Hunting Bow -> Hunting Crossbow
- Poison Bow -> Poison Crossbow
- Javelin (II) -> Zodiac Spear
- Escutcheon (II) -> Zodiac Escutcheon
- Giant's Axe -> Francisca
- Francisca -> Giant's Axe
- Chaos Blade -> Valhalla
- Valhalla -> Chaos Blade
- Chaosbringer -> Nightmare
- Wizard Clothing -> Sorcerer's Habit
- Yagyu Darkrood -> Yagyu Darkstar
- Brigand's Gloves -> Brigand's Glove
- Onion Gloves -> Onion Glove
26.) Item Attribute & Inflict Status slot consolidation (for modders):
This change is relevant for modders only, as it doesn't directly affect the game. Several redundant
Item Attribute slots and Inflict Status slots have been consolidated, freeing up a bunch of blank
slots that can be used for creating new attributes and effects (if desired).
Here's the list of Item Attribute slots that are now completely unused:
0C, 0D, 11, 16, 17, 19, 1F, 24, 26, 27, 28, 2F, 33, 34, 35, 3F, 4A,
4B, 4C, 4D, 4E, 4F, 54, 55, 59
Here's the list of Inflict Status slots that are now completely unused:
0F, 1B, 1D, 1E, 1F, 20, 27, 28, 2B, 2D, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 38, 39,
3A, 3D, 3E, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 4A, 4B, 4C, 5D,
61, 62, 63, 6C, 70, 72, 73, 77, 7A, 7B, 7C, 7D, 7E, 7F
CLASS & ABILITY IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Squire: Basic ability list revision; Defend buff; Focus raises both physical & magic attack power:
- The Squire ability list should have been about the absolute basics, without weird off-concept
abilities like "Equip Axes" and "Beastmaster". Now it is!
Squire gains: | Squire loses:
- ReEquip (from Chemist) | - Equip Axes (to Knight; now called "Axe Lore")
- Jump+1 (from Archer) | - Beastmaster (to Orator; now called "Beast Tamer")
Note also that since Equip Axes (like all Equip X abilities) and Beastmaster have been buffed in
this mod, they needed to be moved to jobs that unlock later in the game anyhow.
- Defend now reduces the enemy hit rate even further than before, making it a bit more powerful of an
option. Note this also enhances the Thief's Vigilance ability.
- Defend and ReEquip now cost 30 and 10 JP (instead of 50 and 0). 50 is a pretty high price for such a
fundamental ability at the very beginning of the game, and ReEquip being free caused even more of a
disincentive to buy Defend. After this change, the player can at least make a choice, and one that
is not prohibitively expensive.
- To better support hybrid physical/magic character builds, the Squire's Focus ability will now
increase both physical and magic attack power (instead of just physical attack power). This allows
spellcasting classes to benefit from the ability as well (and allows the Squire to better utilize
spellcasting skillsets in their secondary slot).
2.) Chemist: Can now equip Crossbows; Reduced JP costs for Item skills:
- The Chemist can now equip Crossbows, which should make this class more playable earlier in the game,
before you can get Guns.
- The JP costs of all the Chemist's Item skills have been halved. The high JP cost *per item* was a
bummer and a disincentive for using items at all, especially when Esuna only costs 280 JP and
doesn't cost a consumable to use!
3.) Physical/magic hybrid builds are more viable:
Previously, if you equipped something like an Archer with Black Magic or a Black Mage with Equip
Swords, your character would absolutely suck and you'd wonder to yourself why you even wasted time
building such a dork. But you *did* spend the JP on this particular set of skills, so it's a bummer
that the game hoses you for it. Thus, this change increases magic power for physical jobs and
physical power for magic jobs in order to better support these "hybrid" character builds.
- Each magic class had its physical attack multiplier raised to a minimum of 80%, and each physical
class had its magic attack multiplier raised to a minimum of 100% (everyone is at least "medium" at
magic, since it costs MP to use no matter who you are). Now the Knight (for example) still has lower
magic power than any spellcaster class, but it's no longer low enough that magic is totally
unusable.
The following chart shows which classes had which multipliers increased, and by how much:
Classes with Physical Multipliers increased:
- Squire | 90% -> 100%*
- Chemist | 75% -> 80%
- Black Mage | 60% -> 80%
- Time Mage | 50% -> 80%
- Summoner | 50% -> 80%
- Orator | 75% -> 80%
- Mystic | 50% -> 80%
- Geomancer | 110% -> 115%***
- Arithmetician | 50% -> 80%
- Bard | 30% -> 95%**
Classes with Magic Multipliers increased:
- Squire | 80% -> 100%
- Chemist | 80% -> 100%
- Knight | 80% -> 100%
- Archer | 80% -> 100%
- Monk | 80% -> 100%
- Thief | 60% -> 100%
- White Mage | 110% -> 120%**
- Orator | 75% -> 100%
- Geomancer | 105% -> 110%***
- Dragoon | 50% -> 100%
- Samurai | 90% -> 100%
- Ninja | 75% -> 100%
- Arithmetician | 70% -> 100%****
- Dancer | 95% -> 100%
- Dark Knight | 80% -> 100%
* Squire PA was increased to 100% because it needed a bit of a boost to make sure it felt like
"a physical class" in a world where magic jobs have 80%. This boost gets rounded out at the very
beginning of the game, so it won't make the opening battles suddenly harder.
** The White Mage and Bard were buffed intentionally beyond the new minimums.
See "White Mage: Innate Arcane Defense + Magic Power buff" and "Bard & Dancer improvements",
below.
*** The Geomancer was already a hybrid character and was already paying a stats penalty for that
flexibility. Buffing the hybrid capabilities of all other classes was sort of a stealth nerf to
this job, and it's already a job people tend not to like. Hence, the slight boost to physical and
magic attack power to make sure this job is still "the best hybrid".
**** This is a mondo buff to the Arithmetician, but worry not, the class has been modified to be
balanced and playable. See "Arithmetician: Arithmeticks nerfs + Stat buffs" below.
Note: Other changes previously mentioned in this readme go further in supporting a hybrid playstyle:
- The Squire's Focus skill now increases both physical and magic attack power
- The Monk's magical skills now use the higher of physical or magic attack power
- The Mystic's new Combat Casting Support ability improves casting spells in melee
- The Materia Blade now gives +3 to magic power, making warriors better casters
- The improvements to the Equip X abilities make spellcasters better with weapons
- Rapha and Marach are tuned to function well as hybrid characters
4.) Knight: Reduced Rend JP costs + increased success rates; Can now equip Axes & Flails:
- The JP costs of all the Knight's Rend skills have been slightly reduced. The Knight is a bit of a
bummer to play in the beginning of the game because all of its Rend skills are pretty expensive. You
are stuck playing several battles without any skills to use as you save up for your first one. This
change helps you get into the fun of the class a bit faster.
- The success rate of all the Knight's Rend skills has been increased, resulting in fewer wasted
turns. Now that broken equipment can be recovered in the Poachers' Den, there's no reason for me to
be shy about the AI using these abilities against you!
- The Knight can now use Axes and Flails. This is the class that can break enemy equipment, yet they
could not equip the heaviest weapons that typically do this in other RPGs. That's weird. Also, it
was weird that the Squire and Dark Knight can use these weapons but the Knight cannot. Weirdness
corrected.
- The Knight gains the Axe Lore (formerly Equip Axes) ability, as it now makes more sense here than
on the Squire. However, the Knight loses Sword Lore (formerly Equip Swords) to the Samurai,
because the improvements to the Equip X abilities made Sword Lore a no-brainer for most of the game.
It had to be moved to a later class so that it wouldn't dominate the earlygame.
- Also, reminder that the Parry skill now doubles your weapon evasion rating (since weapon evasion now
applies at all times by default).
5.) Monk: Damage formula changes:
The barehanded damage formula has been adjusted to fix some gnarly balance issues. Instead of
Power x Power x Brave(0%->100%), it now uses Speed x Power x Brave(50%->100%). There are many
benefits to this change:
- Low Brave Monks no longer do hilariously pitiful damage. The new minimum damage is now 50%, rather
than 0%, of their maximum damage. In other words, Monks with Brave lower than 50 will deal damage as
if their Brave was 50.
- Raising a Monk's Power during battle (with skills like Focus) no longer causes damage to skyrocket
absurdly quickly. Instead, their damage increases at the same rate as all other physical classes.
- The Monk's damage progression now proceeds at roughly the same pace as the Knight and other physical
class damage progression after the Doublehand and Dual Wield nerfs (see "Less powerful melee Support
ability damage" above) and endgame equipment nerfs (see "Endgame weapon attack power values reduced
across the board", above). In other words, early game damage is about the same but endgame damage is
reduced (since the Monk's Speed grows at a slower rate than its Power).
- Endgame Monk builds have more interesting decisions to make. Balancing Speed and Power is more
important than stacking Power as high as you can make it. Monks no longer disproportionately benefit
from Power-increasing equipment such as the Bracer. Instead, they benefit equally as much as other
physical classes.
For example, suppose you have a Monk with 10 Power and Speed, and a Knight with 10 Power equipped
with a weapon with 10 attack (for simplicity, let's assume the Monk has about 66 Brave, so that the
Brave and Brawler multiplication cancel each other out). The following chart compares the effects of
equipping a (pre-nerf) Bracer on this Monk with the old formula, the new formula, and on this
example Knight:
Job: | Old Bracer Damage Increase:
- Knight | - 100 -> 130
- Monk (new) | - 100 -> 130
- Monk (old) | - 100 -> 169!
- The Monk attack skills Cyclone, Pummel, Aurablast, and Shockwave were updated to also use both Power
and Speed, for all the same reasons above. Power has a greater effect on the damage than Speed does.
Note that these changes apply to humans only. Monsters will still use the old formulas, because most
monsters have way more Power than Speed and the intent behind this change was not to nerf monsters.
- A few Monk skills were ambiguous as to whether they are based on Power or Magick (Chakra, Revive,
Doom Fist, and Purification). These skills now use whichever stat is higher, and both Martial
Strength and Arcane Strength will enhance them.
6.) Monk: Martial Defense; Cyclone, Pummel, & Doom Fist buffs; Chakra healing nerfs:
- The Monk now has Martial Defense (previously called "Defense Boost") available as a Support ability.
I actually moved it here to make room for a new ability on the Mystic (see "Mystic: New Support
ability", below), but this ability was always out of place on the Mystic anyway. It makes more sense
that the Monk would have the unarmored physical defense ability.
This ability gives Monks an interesting choice to make with their JP in the early game - a way to
prioritize defense without spending an action on it (like Chakra or Defend), but in exchange for not
purchasing Counter until later. This also makes Martial Defense itself available earlier in the
game, and on more characters, which is another way to sneakily address the fact that direct damage
is overpowered in this game.
- Pummel's funky random damage formula has been corrected. Previously it caused crazy results, and by
the end of the game it was never worth using because even its _maximum_ damage was lower than a
regular attack! Its damage formula has been rewritten to behave like a normal attack plus or minus
50% damage. In other words, its the same randomization fix that was applied to Axes and Flails.
- Doom Fist now costs slightly less JP and has a much higher success rate.
- Cyclone, Doom Fist, and Chakra now have more vertical tolerance, making it easier to hit targets on
rougher terrain.
- The amount of HP Chakra recovers has been slightly nerfed. It's now equal to four times the Monk's
Power or Magick (instead of five times the Monk's Power).
- The amount of MP Chakra recovers has been nerfed even further. It is now equal to 25% of the HP
recovered (instead of 50%). In other words, it's now equal to the Monk's Power or Magick instead of
2.5 times the Monk's Power.
7.) Geomancer: Increased vertical tolerance for Geomancy skills:
- The vertical tolerance on Geomancy skills has been increased from 0 to 1, increasing the odds that
they will hit multiple enemies on rougher terrain.
- This is also a buff to the Nature's Wrath reaction ability.
- Note also that the Geomancer's physical and magical attack power have been buffed ever so slightly
(see "Physical/magic hybrid builds are more viable" above).
8.) Archer: Slight Speed buff; Reduced JP costs for Aim+ skills:
- The Archer's Speed multiplier has been increased from 100% to 110%. It's now equal to the Monk's and
White Mage's Speed (instead of the Knight's and Squire's). This also slightly increases their damage
with a bow (since bow damage is based on Power and Speed).
- In addition, the JP costs of all the Archer's Aim+ skills have been halved. No one gets excited
about buying all of the Aim+ skills - once you have a few of them, that's all you'll ever need. Yet
it costs a massive amount of JP to buy the rest of them to master the job. Reducing their costs
mitigates this problem, making the Archer less annoying to master.
Note that due to "Quicker spell & skill casting speeds" (see above), the Aim+ skills also charge
faster, which also makes them a bit more attractive to purchase.
9.) Thief: Reduced Steal JP costs + increased success rates; Steal Heart JP cost increased:
- The Steal skills are slightly cheaper to buy and have higher success rates. These improvements
mirror the changes made to the Knight's Rend skills, for the exact same reasons - playing a Thief in
chapter 1 is boring because they take so long to get going, and we don't need to be shy about AI
stealing your equipment now that you can recover it in the Poachers' Den.
- Steal Heart now costs 50 more JP, and enemy AI are now less likely to have it. This skill was
incredibly powerful and overused by enemy Thieves in chapter 1. You feared being Charmed more than
you feared having your equipment stolen when you saw a Thief. Now you'll start seeing this skill
more often only later in the game.
Note that Balthier's Plunder skills, which were simply higher success rate versions of the Steal
skills, have been removed from the game - the Steal skills themselves replace them (see "Balthier
nerfs & changes", below, for more on this).
10.) Jump+X movement abilities are available earlier & have reduced JP costs:
The Jump+X movement abilities are not as broadly useful as the Move+X movement abilities, but the
game treats them as if they are with their high JP costs. This has been corrected by shifting each
Jump+X ability down "one step" in JP costs and in job assignments:
Before: | After:
| - Jump+1 = 100 JP Squire
- Jump+1 = 200 JP Archer | - Jump+2 = 200 JP Archer
- Jump+2 = 520 JP Thief | - Jump+3 = 520 JP Thief
- Jump+3 = 1000 JP Dancer | - (removed)*
* See "Bard & Dancer improvements", below, for more on this.
11.) Dragoon: Jump skills simplification:
- Redundant Jump skills are no longer necessary to purchase in order to Master the Dragoon job. The
Dragoon skill list has been simplified; now there are only two Jump levels, 3 and 8. Jump 3 is free,
and Jump 8 costs the same as it always had. These skills have been renamed to "Jump", "Enhanced
Horizontal", and "Enhanced Vertical".
This was another catch-22 situation, similar to JP Boost, where you felt bad no matter what you did.
Playing optimally - saving up to buy Jump 8 first - felt bad because your jump range sucked until
you could finally afford it. Buying the intermediate Jump skills felt bad because you were
ultimately "wasting" JP in the long run. Mastering the class felt bad because you had to waste JP on
Jump skills that do nothing (once you had Jump 8, all other Jump skills add nothing to your Jump
range).
This change fixes the above conundrum by allowing you to play optimally (purchase Jump 8 first)
while still enjoying the benefits of the class (the free Jump 3), and you won't be required to
purchase useless skills to Master it.
Note for modders: the rest of the (now unused) Jump skills are now open skill slots that can be used
for creating new skills, if desired. It'll require ASM to remove the Jump hardcoding, though.
12.) Samurai: Innate Doublehand + HP buff + Iaido buff:
- The Samurai class now has the Doublehand ability innate, in order to compete with the Ninja's innate
Dual Wield. Samurai and Ninja are both supposed to be the final physical jobs, but the Ninja's
damage is amazing right out the gate, whereas the Samurai's damage sucks until you can finally
afford Doublehand. This change puts the two on equal footing. This also makes enemy Samurai more
dangerous, so watch out!
- The Samurai's HP multiplier has been increased from 75% (less than a White Mage) to 100% (same as a
Squire). The Samurai's super low HP was always goofy, especially compared to Knight and Dragoon.
This gives them a bit more survivability and ensures they no longer violate the player's
expectations.
- Since the Samurai's magic power was increased (see "Physical/magic hybrid builds are more viable"
above), their Iaido skills are more powerful. As a balancing factor, Katana break chances are now
HIGHER than they were before (remember, if your Katana is broken, you can now buy it back at the
Poachers' Den). See "Katana Improved Brave-scaling; Break chances INCREASED" and "Broken and Stolen
equipment can be repurchased at the Poachers' Den" (both above) for more information on these
changes.
13.) Black Mage: Innate Arcane Strength + Nerfs to compensate; Improved Magick Counter:
- The Black Mage now has Arcane Strength as an innate ability. However...
- Arcane Strength has been nerfed from +33% damage to +20% damage. This change makes other Support
abilities more attractive to use (as Arcane Strength was the obvious choice almost every time).
And...
- The Black Mage's magic power multiplier has been reduced from 150% to 130%. It now has the same
magic power as the Time Mage.
Ultimately the Black Mage's damage output is about the same after the above three changes (it's
actually just slightly lower). "So Tzepish, if it's about the same, why make these changes at all?"
you might be asking. The main reason is to make other spellcasting builds balanced without affecting
the Black Mage's default power level.
Previously, if you wanted to use Black Magic, the Black Mage + Arcane Strength combo was miles ahead
of even the second most powerful option, so much so that you felt bad for using Black Magic in any
other way. After these changes, you can no longer stack Arcane Strength onto the Black Mage, so now
Black Magic is an attractive prospect on any spellcasting class (for example, a Time Mage with
Arcane Strength will match the Black Mage's damage output). And doing it this way also ensures that
the Black Mage is still "the best" at Black Magic by default (since they get essentially an extra
Support slot).
Note: The Black Mage was also effectively buffed by the "Quicker spell & skill casting speeds" and
"More powerful endgame magic damage" changes (see above).
- Magick Counter now has an expanded list of attacks it can counter. This ability was never worth its
huge JP cost because triggering it was so rare. To address this, Magick Counter can now counter
-ja spells, Summons, Geomancy, and demon magic (such as Ultima and its cousins). Note it still won't
counter Speechcraft, Iaido, Dances, Subdual Arts (Assassins), Rapha & Marach's mantras, or "magical"
physical abilities (such as Martial Arts or Holy Sword). Some monster abilities can now also be
countered - those that seem most like "casting a spell" (such as the elemental Anima abilities).
- Magick Counter can no longer "counter" Quick. As far as I can tell, this was a bug. I tried instead
to allow it to "counter" all beneficial magic as well, but during playtesting this became the
dominant strategy with this ability, to the point where it felt out of place on the Black Mage.
Ultimately the game is better if the default behavior for a "counter" ability is to actually counter
harmful attacks only.
- Thundara, for some reason, used to cost 2 MP less than Fira and Blizzara. This has been
corrected - Thundara now costs 12 MP instead of 10 MP. Previous versions of this mod opted to lower
Fira's and Blizzara's MP costs to match Thundara's instead. This was in keeping with the goals of
this mod - to make the game more fun and convenient. However, after increasing all the -ra
spellcasting speeds, they really needed that extra 2 MP cost for early game balance.
- Poison has a significantly higher hit rate. Also, the status itself now deals double damage (HP/4
per turn instead of HP/8).
14.) White Mage: Innate Arcane Defense + Magic Power buff:
- The White Mage now has Arcane Defense innate. This is mostly for symmetry with the Black Mage, but
it's also a welcome minor buff for a class that otherwise needs love.
- The White Mage's magic power multiplier has been increased from 110% to 120%. It now has the same
magic power as the Mystic.
The White Mage was always surprisingly bad at magic. Every time I play the game I forget this, until
the game "gotchas" me when I use an attack spell. The White Mage was also surprisingly *good* at
physical power - equal to the Squire - which balances their low magic power in theory, but I never
remember to take advantage of this because it's completely counter to the player's intuition. It's
also contrary to the rest of the Final Fantasy series, in which it's the hybrid red mages who are
good at physical attacks.
In my opinion, this buff could go even further and still be balanced, but the goal of this mod is to
make things more fun and convenient *without* taking things too far, so I'd rather err on the side
of this conservative fix.
- Protectja, Shellja, and Wall were all buffed to be actually useful.
See "More consistent status attacks; Status -ja spells buffed; Misc Status Effect buffs & nerfs",
above, for the details.
15.) Spellcasting classes can now all equip Tomes (Books):
- This was a change that just made too much sense not to do. All primarily spellcasting classes can
now equip Tomes (previously called Books). This is a nice alternative to a Staff or a Rod. Typically
a Tome will deal less damage but have a bit more range, which can make physical attacks a more
viable option in cases where you want to save MP. This affects White Mage, Black Mage, Time Mage,
Summoner, Orator, and Bard (Mystic and Arithmetician could already equip Tomes).
- Note also that the "Book" weapon category has been renamed to "Tome" to differentiate it from the
"Book" terrain type. Also, it's just a less goofy and more flavorful name.
16.) Time Mage, Summoner, & Mystic: Improved Gravity & Drain spells:
The Gravity spells should be powerful in theory, but by the time you can unlock them their damage is
not competitive for their cost. These changes make the Gravity spells worth buying earlier, and they
fix the fact that Lich is strictly better than Graviga:
- Gravity and Graviga have reduced JP costs (Gravity 250 -> 200, Graviga 550 -> 400).
- Gravity and Graviga have reduced MP costs (Gravity 24 -> 20, Graviga 50 -> 40).
- Gravity's hit rate has been slightly increased.
- Graviga's hit rate has been drastically increased. It now matches Gravity's.
- Gravity and Graviga have increased damage (Gravity 25% -> 33%, Graviga 50% -> 66%).
- Lich has increased damage (50% -> 66%).
Previous to these changes, Lich was either equal or superior to Graviga on every measure. Now they
are comparable - Lich hits a wider area and won't hit allies, but it has a lower hit rate.
- In addition, the Mystic's Invigoration spell has increased damage (25% -> 33%). Now it's no longer
strictly inferior to Beowulf's Drain - it has a casting time, but it absorbs more HP. (Empowerment
didn't need the same update - it already absorbs 33% MP compared to Beowulf's Syphon absorbing 25%.)
- The text descriptions of these spells have been updated to specify their damage percentages.
Note: These spells are now less effective against Lucavi and other super monsters with a ton of HP.
See "Monster bosses have more HP/Defense; take less damage from Gravity & Drain", above.
17.) Mystic: New Support ability: "Combat Casting" for casting in melee:
- To better support physical/magical hybrid characters, a new Support ability has been added to the
Mystic. It reduces incoming physical damage by 50% (instead of increasing it by 50%) while charging
a spell or a skill. This ability should help enable builds that are *encouraged* to cast spells
while in the thick of combat.
Mystic felt like the right home for this ability, being the class unlocked after White Mage. It has
nice symmetry with Time Mage's Swiftness (the class after Black Mage gets an offensive charging
ability; the class after White Mage gets a defensive charging ability). However, Mystic already had
Martial Defense, which has a similar role of protecting the unit from melee damage. So to address
the overlap, Martial Defense has been moved to the Monk, where it makes more sense anyway (see
"Monk: Martial Defense", above).
18.) Orator: Can now equip Crossbows; "Beast Tamer" = all beast abilities combined + no range requirement:
- The Orator can now equip Crossbows, which should make this class more playable earlier in the game,
before you can get Guns.
- Speechcraft now works on monsters by default, without need of the Beast Tongue ability (and the
actual Beast Tongue ability has been removed now that it is no longer needed). However, the success
rate is reduced compared to humans. (Note that Speechcraft success rates in general were increased
by the "More consistent status magic" change detailed above.)
- "Beast Tamer" is a new ability that combines the features of Beastmaster and Tame. Neither of these
abilities were worth the support slot, but combine the two of them (and throw in the additional
improvements below) and now we're getting somewhere! (Beastmaster and Tame have been removed from
the game as well).
- Beast Tamer does not have Beastmaster's range requirement (of 1 tile). Now allied monsters will gain
the extra skill regardless of their distance from the character with Beast Tamer. Note the character
with Beast Tamer still needs to be present in the battle and not disabled by status effects in order
for the extra monster skill to appear.
- Beast Tamer now doubles Speechcraft success rate against monsters, raising it to HIGHER than against
humans. In other words, it replaces Beast Tongue as well as Beastmaster and Tame, making it the
single "good at beasts" ability.
- Earplug now makes you immune to Speechcraft (instead of simply lowering its hit rate against you).
It now also applies only to enemy Speechcraft (allied Speechcraft is unaffected). This ability is
still terrible, but hey, now it's less terrible.
Here are some example Speechcraft success rates. Assuming the caster has 10 magic power, the
following chart shows the success rates against various targets for comparison:
Target: | Entice Success: | Stall Success: | Insult Success:
- Human | - 40% | - 50% | - 60%
- Monster (no Beast Tamer) | - 25% | - 30% | - 35%
- Monster (+ Beast Tamer) | - 50% | - 60% | - 70%
- Vanilla FFT | - 30% | - 40% | - 50%
19.) Endgame job prerequisite reductions (Bard, Dancer, Arithmetician, Onion Knight, Mime, & Dark Knight):
Endgame jobs have had their overly-strict prerequisites reduced. These reductions are AFTER the
prerequisite reductions from the US PS1 version of the game.
- Bard, Dancer, and Arithmetician level 4 prerequisites have been reduced to level 3.
- Mime level 5 prerequisites have been reduced to level 4.
- Onion Knight, Mime, and Dark Knight prerequisites higher than level 5 have been reduced to level 5.
- The Mime and the Dark Knight require fewer jobs.
- The Dark Knight no longer requires killing a requisite number of enemies, nor does it require
mastering the Knight and Black Mage jobs.
(Thanks Xjamxx for the "Unlocked jobs v2" ASM hack!)
Bard Before: | Bard After:
- Summoner Level 4 | - Summoner Level 3
- Orator Level 4 | - Orator Level 3
Dancer Before: | Dancer After:
- Geomancer Level 4 | - Geomancer Level 3
- Dragoon Level 4 | - Dragoon Level 3
Arithmetician Before: | Arithmetician After:
- White Mage Level 4 | - White Mage Level 3
- Black Mage Level 4 | - Black Mage Level 3
- Mystic Level 3 | - Mystic Level 3
- Time Mage Level 3 | - Time Mage Level 3
Onion Knight Before: | Onion Knight After:
- Squire Level 6 | - Squire Level 5
- Chemist Level 6 | - Chemist Level 5
Mime Before: | Mime After:
- Squire Level 8 | - Squire Level 5
- Chemist Level 8 | - Chemist Level 5
- Summoner Level 5 |
- Orator Level 5 | - Orator Level 4
- Geomancer Level 5 | - Geomancer Level 4
- Dragoon Level 5 |
Dark Knight Before: | Dark Knight After:
- Knight Master |
- Black Mage Master | - Black Mage Level 5
- Geomancer Level 8 |
- Dragoon Level 8 |
- Samurai Level 8 | - Samurai Level 5
- Ninja Level 8 |
- Kill 20 enemies |
20.) Bard & Dancer improvements + gender equality changes:
The Bard and Dancer have been buffed, and a few changes have been made to support gender equality:
- Bard physical attack power was increased to just under the Dancer's (PA Multiplier 30% -> 100%), and
Dancer magic attack power was increased to just under the Bard's (MA Multiplier 95% -> 100%). Now
they should be good at actually using their class-exclusive weapons (Instrument and Cloth), which
are physical/magic hybrid weapons.
- Instruments have reduced attack power and Cloths have increased attack power. Instrument attack
power values were already inflated because of the Bard's incredibly low base Power, so this nerf
lowers them back to reasonable levels. Both Bards and Dancers are better at attacking now, a reward
for unlocking these super late classes (Instruments are more powerful than Bows; Cloths are more
powerful than Spears).
- Both classes can now equip Robes. The Bard can now also equip Tomes.
- The formerly female-exclusive accessory types (Perfume and Lip Rouge) are now exclusive to Bards and
Dancers instead.
- The Dancer loses Jump+3 (which is now on the Thief) and gains Move+3, so now both Bard and Dancer
have this ability. Both Move+3 and Jump+3 have been removed from the Dark Knight (since they are no
longer necessary there).
- The four "Boost" abilities that these classes have access to have been shared with each other. In
other words, Power Boost and Bravery Boost have been added to the Bard, and Magick Boost and Faith
Boost have been added to the Dancer. These abilities are no longer gender-locked.
21.) Arithmetician: Arithmeticks nerfs + Stat buffs:
The following changes aim to make Arithmeticks a fun and powerful utility skillset, similar to red
magic in other Final Fantasy games, instead of the lolwin button:
- Arithmeticks can only cast the first tier of spells - no more -ra or -ga spells (it already couldn't
cast -ja spells). In addition, it can no longer cast the following spells: Arise, Reraise, Wall,
Holy, Toad, Death, Flare, Stop, Immobilize, Delirium, Repose, Corruption, Hesitation, and
Induration.
- The Arithmetician now has Instant Cast as an innate ability. In other words, whatever secondary
skillset you assign to them, as long as it's magic, can still be cast at instant speed. They just no
longer have access to FOUR sets of magic skillsets that can be cast ON THE ENTIRE BATTLEFIELD for
ZERO MP at instant speed. This change allows the class to still "feel" like it did in vanilla
without being crazy ridiculous.
(Thanks Nyzer for this "so crazy it just might work" idea!)
- Arithmeticks spells will now honor the Reflect status on their targets, rather than bypassing it in
all cases. This class was already overpowered enough without this weird, unadvertised benefit.
(Thanks Xjamxx for the "Abilities in Arith skillset can be reflected" ASM hack!)
- The Arithmetician's Speed has been BUFFED. You read that right. The biggest problem with this class
was not the class itself, but putting Arithmeticks on *other* classes. So their abysmal Speed was
not actually an effective balancing factor - it was just annoying. Now that the class benefits from
Instant Cast on their secondary skillset, the Speed nerf is more justified, but it was unplayable
bad. Now it's playable (but still bad).
- The Arithmetician's Power and Magick have been increased to the new minimums specified above under
"Physical/magic hybrid builds are more viable". Again, reducing their stats was never an effective
nerf to begin with, and now that they have a more limited spell list, they can have their stats
restored to within the range of other classes. Also, when using their secondary skillset, they will
now have enough power to actually benefit from their innate Instant Cast. Their Magick and Speed are
still low, though, so you'll need to decide what to prioritize when equipping them.
- The Arithmetician's prerequisite levels for White Mage and Black Mage have been reduced from 4 to 3.
Now that there are fewer spells available for Arithmeticks, it didn't make sense to require such a
high level.
- The JP costs of all the Arithmetician's formula skills have been halved. Now that each formula can
cast fewer spells, their previous JP costs weren't worth it.
- Arithmetician formula skills have been renamed to make it more clear to the player how they work
(see the chart below):
Old Name | New Name
"CT" | "Target CT"
"Level" | "Target Level"
"EXP" | "Target EXP"
"Height" | "Target Height"
"Prime" | "= Prime Number"
"Multiple of 5" | "= Multiple of 5"
"Multiple of 4" | "= Multiple of 4"
"Multiple of 3" | "= Multiple of 3"
In addition, the message at the top of the screen when casting in battle has been improved for
further clarity. For example, instead of showing "Height Prime Cure" at the top of the screen, now
it will show "Target Height = Prime Number: Cure".
For reference, here's the new Arithmeticks full spell list:
- White Magic: Cure, Esuna, Raise, Regen, Protect, Shell
- Black Magic: Fire, Thunder, Blizzard, Poison
- Time Magic: Haste, Slow, Float, Reflect, Gravity
- Mystic Arts: Trepidation, Belief, Disbelief, Umbra, Quiescence, Fervor, Harmony
These changes definitely risk going against the stated goal of this mod - not to alter the "feel"
of the game by making drastic changes. However, the Arithmetician, for most players, simply "doesn't
exist" - you either never used it (because it was a lolwin button that obviated the rest of the
game) or you *did* use it and... obviated the rest of the game. Turning this job into something fun
and useful that the first group of players may actually *use* and the second group of players may
actually *enjoy* was an opportunity I had to take. And giving them innate Instant Cast while keeping
their Speed low was the secret ingredient that made them "feel" mostly the same to play, even after
all these changes.
22.) Onion Knight improvements:
The Onion Knight has been buffed to the point of potential usefulness:
- The base version of the Onion Knight now has good stats and is usable (slightly higher stats than
the Knight).
- The master version has had its physical attack power buffed (and is still absurdly high in all other
stats).
- The Onion Glove now grants +3 Power (in addition to all its status immunities). It bothered me that
the best loadout for the Onion Knight was all Onion equipment and the Bracer instead of the Onion
Glove.
- The class gains Parry, ReEquip, and Safeguard as innate abilities.
- Added a fake "No EXP" ability to its description text to make it clear that it doesn't gain EXP.
23.) Dark Knight: Reduced JP costs; New "Greatsword Lore" Support ability; HP buffs; minor stat nerfs:
- The Dark Knight's first couple attacks have been reduced in JP Cost so that you can get going in the
class faster. You already did all the work unlocking the class - it only added insult to injury that
you then had to wait for 500 JP to even use anything.
- The Dark Knight's "Darkness" skillset no longer requires a Sword equipped to use. Instead, it can be
used as long as any weapon is equipped (in other words, it can't be used unarmed). It was lame that
the class can equip Flails and Axes, but then the game was like "just kidding - you can't use your
abilities, sucker!". This change also allows the Dark Knight to enjoy the new Equipment Lore
abilities (see "Equip X ability improvements", above). Note also that "Sanguine Sword" has been
renamed to "Sanguine Slash" so that the player isn't misled into thinking it requires a sword.
- Speaking of Equip X abilities, the Dark Knight also gains "Greatsword Lore", a new Equip X ability
for Knight Swords and Fell Swords.
- The Dark Knight's HP multiplier has been increased from 80% (same as Chemist and White Mage) to 100%
(same as Squire). To compensate, their MP multiplier has been reduced to match the Knight's (from
90% to 80%), and their Power multiplier has been decreased from 140% (the highest by far) to 130%
(the highest still, but only slightly higher than Monk and Samurai).
The Dark Knight's base HP was comically low, to the point where I was getting bug reports on it from
people playing the mod. Though players may expect the Dark Knight to have lower HP and higher Power
than a Knight, no one expects "glass cannon" from this concept by default. If you want to _opt in_
to "glass cannon", you can equip Vehemence (rather than being a glass cannon by default and
Vehemence making it even crazier). Note also that one of the balance goals of this mod is making
direct damage less OP, so reducing physical attack power while increasing HP fixes multiple problems
at once without changing this job's concept (100% is still "low" for a melee class).
- The Dark Knight's HP Boost ability now doubles your base HP (instead of increasing it by 20%) and
costs 400 JP (instead of 2000 JP). This ability was hilariously underpowered - note the bonus is
applied to *base* HP, not armor-modified HP. Changing it to double makes the ability competitive
with Martial Defense and Arcane Defense. Note also that it has been renamed to "Double HP" to make
this extra clear.
- The Dark Knight can no longer equip Clothing (light armor). Sorry. It was strange that they ever
could. Now it's consistent with Knights.
- Equipment descriptions will now specify whether the Dark Knight can equip the item, just like every
other class.
24.) AI Swiftness-related bugfixes:
This change fixes bugs that prevented the AI from taking full advantage of the Swiftness and Instant
Cast Support Abilities. Instead, the code was looking for the wrong ability IDs, causing funky
behavior.
- AI with Swiftness will now properly factor it into their CT calculations.
- AI with Beastmaster* will no longer behave as if they have Swiftness equipped.
- AI with Instant Cast will now properly factor it into their CT calculations.
- AI with Defend will no longer behave as if they have Instant Cast equipped.
* Beastmaster as we once knew it no longer exists anyhow, but the bug was fixed regardless.
25.) AI equipment selection improvements:
- AI characters are now better at choosing level-relevant equipment. For example, you will no longer
see most Knights running around with low level robes equipped. This is thanks to Glain's "Random
Unit Equipment is more selective" bugfix ASM hack, which I rewrote for PSP for this mod.
The bug would kick in if the AI character can use more than one item type for the current slot.
Knights were the most obvious case, so let's use them as an example. When a Knight is choosing an
equipment item for the body slot...
What's supposed to happen:
* Randomly choose between the highest level Armor and the highest level Robe that I qualify for.
* 50/50 chance of choosing Armor or Robe, and I'll always choose something relevant to my level.
^ This is now what happens in this mod, thanks to the bugfix.
What was actually happening in vanilla:
* Randomly choose between the highest level Armor or ANY Robe that I qualify for.
* Much higher chance for choosing a Robe because there's only one Armor in the list.
* Since every Robe is in the list, often a low level Robe is chosen.
There are also a few desireable side effects of this bug that have gone away with the fix. These
side effects have been reintroduced in this mod by manually assigning gear to story battle enemies
in a few places:
* Archers were more likely to choose a Bow than a Crossbow.
(Reintroduced by manually assigning Bows to some Archers in the campaign.)
* Ninjas were more likely to choose a Ninja Blade than a Knife.
(Reintroduced by manually assigning Ninja Blades to some Ninjas in the campaign.)
* Mage classes were more likely to choose a Robe than a Light Armor.
(Reintroduced by manually assigning Robes to some Mage characters in the campaign.)
* The bug accidentally created more equipment variety in battles, since often characters used lower
level gear than they qualified for.
(Reintroduced by manually assigning "one step lower" items on a few enemies in the campaign.)
- In addition to the above bugfix, several item level requirements have been tweaked to create a more
varied and interesting experience. In some cases you may see advanced items before they are
available in shops, giving you the opportunity to acquire them "early" via stealing.
- Also, the flag that prevents enemy characters from choosing an equipment item has been removed from
several items, increasing the variety of equipment enemy characters can choose from.
26.) AI ability selection improvements:
The following changes create more varied gameplay by changing how the game chooses abilities for AI
characters:
- When generating characters, the AI will now gain +1 additional job level to all job prerequisites.
For example, an AI Thief will have Archer level 3 instead of Archer level 2 (even though Archer
level 2 is the Thief's prerequisite). This increases the variety of skills and abilities at the AI
character's disposal.
- In addition, the starting JP formula for each of an AI's jobs has changed from JPRequirement +
Random(0->99) to JPRequirement x 1.25 + Random(0->49). Ultimately this boosts each job's starting JP
to almost the next level.
Note: Since the job level prerequisites and the JP requirements per job level were reduced to match
the US PS1 version's, this change only serves to ensure that enemy job levels remain roughly
the same as they are in the PSP version, so that no enemy variety is lost. For example,
previously an enemy Samurai would have level 4 Thief (Samurai prerequisite) and 700 - 799
Thief JP (requirement of 700, plus random up to 99). Now that same Samurai will have level 4
Thief (Samurai prerequisite of 3, plus 1) and 687 - 736 Thief JP (requirement of 550, times
1.25, plus random up to 49).
- When generating characters, the AI will now always purchase either the first, the cheapest, or the
most basic skill in their skill list if the character has enough JP to do so. For example, an AI
Squire will always purchase Rush. This is to prevent AI characters from being unable to use their
skillsets in battle (for example, this prevents an AI character from being created with the Aim
skillset equipped but with no Aim+ skills learned). There are a few exceptions to this - this wasn't
done where it would introduce an undesired bias (for example, I don't want enemy Black Mages using
Fire more often than Thunder and Ice).
These "signature" abilities have also been reduced in JP cost, which benefits the player but more
importantly benefits the AI, giving them a slight boost in JP to spend (or, to put it another way,
they are no longer penalized in JP just to get their job's foundational skills).
- Conversely, the AI will now NEVER purchase the following abilities:
Brawler, Dual Wield, Doublehand, Auto-Potion, Sticky Fingers, Gil Snapper, Poach, Accrue JP,
Faith Boost, Ignore Weather, Ignore Terrain, Swim, Waterwalking, Lavawalking, Throw Items, Beast
Tamer, ReEquip, and all the Equip X / X Lore abilities.
This change is to prevent AI characters from having abilities that don't make sense for an AI (like
Poach), or abilities that are super annoying (like Auto-Potion), or abilities that the AI doesn't
know how to make use of (like Brawler, which doesn't prevent the AI from ALSO equipping a weapon,
invalidating the ability). This frees up more JP for the AI to spend on actually relevant, useful
things. Note that this change does not prevent an AI character from being *preauthored* with one of
these abilities equipped (like those weird characters with Sword Lore in the Balthier battle).
- Safeguard will now also never be purchased by an AI character, so you won't randomly get hosed out
of stealing. If an AI character is *supposed* to have Safeguard, then it will always be visibly
equipped. For example, Elmdore used to have Brawler equipped and a sneaky, invisible Safeguard - now
he has Safeguard equipped with a sneaky, invisible Brawler instead.
- Learn percentages on long skill lists have been reduced so that the AI are more likely to purchase
Reaction, Support, and Movement abilities.
- AI Thieves are now less likely to purchase Steal Heart, which was overly dominant in chapter 1.
- Power Boost (formerly Fury), Magick Boost, Speed Boost (formerly Adrenaline Rush), and Vanish can
now be equipped by AI characters. Though they had greater than a 0% chance in vanilla, a bug in the
code prevented the AI from considering them. That bug has been fixed.
SPECIFIC CHARACTER IMPROVEMENTS:
1.) Ramza improvements:
- Ramza's base stats have been increased in order to compensate for "Gender equality: female and male
characters now have the same base stats" (see above). Previously Ramza had the best of both worlds:
male Power/HP and female Magick/MP. Now that all characters have these, Ramza's stats were no longer
special in any way. Thus, Ramza's base stats have been increased by the following:
* HP: +2
* MP: +1
* Power: +1
* Magick: +1
You may recognize these as the stat advantages Ramza _used_ to have over one or the other gender (he
had 2 more HP and 1 more Power than women, and 1 more MP and 1 more Magick than men). This
admittedly goes further than that - now he has these bonuses over _all_ characters, not half of
them - but other changes in this mod (such as smaller levelup Growth bonuses) cause these bonuses to
be ultimately smaller than they appear.
- Ramza starts with Squire level 2 and Chemist level 2, so that he has more classes available at the
start after the intro battles. In addition, he starts with several basic abilities unlocked: Rush,
Tailwind, Chant (which he had in vanilla), Potion, Phoenix Down, Cure, Raise, Fire, Thunder, and
Blizzard.
- Ramza's Focus skill transforms into Shout (instead of Shout being appended to the end of the skill
list) when the player reaches chapter 4. This saves the player some JP and gets an obsolete skill
off the list (since Shout is strictly better than Focus).
The actual super secret reason for this change is to maintain the "Consistent skill list ordering"
(see above), by putting the Shout buff in the proper slot on the list without screwing up Ramza's
learned skills.
- Ramza's chapter 1 base class's bonus HP has been reduced slightly. Sorry. It was a strange bummer
moment when the player upgrades to Knight only to see their HP go *down*. His base stat increases
make up the difference, so this change removes a disincentive to try other classes with Ramza
without affecting balance. Ramza's base class HP will increase in chapter 2, then again (back to
what it was) in chapter 4.
2.) Lavian, Alicia, & Ladd improvements & changes:
- All three of these characters start with a bit more JP.
- Lavian starts with White Mage and Mystic levels instead of Knight and Monk levels in order to
differentiate her from Alicia, and to provide the player with a wider selection of skills in the
early game. Her Faith has been increased from 61 to 68 to support this.
- Alicia's Brave has been increased from 61 to 68 so that she makes a decent Monk if that's the
direction you want to go (note also that female characters no longer suffer a Power penalty - see
"Gender equality: female and male characters now have the same base stats", above).
- Ladd starts with Thief levels instead of White Mage levels, since Lavian uses White Magic now. This
also improves Ladd a bit, but it sucked that he was behind Lavian and Alicia in JP anyway.
Ultimately these three characters are now varied and useful, rather than "two identical knights who
are behind my main team, and a squire who is waaaay behind my main team".
3.) Guest characters no longer reset their EXP and JP when they leave and rejoin the party:
- Guest party member EXP and JP will no longer be reset when they join your team "for real" (when they
upgrade from Guest to full party member). This affects Mustadio, Agrias, Rapha, Meliadoul, and Reis
(first form). In addition, Delita and Ovelia no longer *lose* JP later in the game.
Under the hood, instead of dismissing the Guest character and then adding the real one, there's new
ASM code that "transforms" the Guest character into the real one, so all stats and equipment are
maintained. This also fixes glitchy character bugs from previous versions of this mod that would
happen if you switch back and forth between the mod and vanilla at certain parts of the campaign
(I don't encourage that sort of behavior, but if you're gonna do it, at least you won't be hosed
anymore).
- Agrias and Rapha will now remain on the formation screen when they leave the team temporarily, even
though they won't participate in battles. This is so the player can't hose themselves by unequipping
them, only to be surprised by their return in a "Protect Agrias" / "Protect Rapha" battle that they
can't win with a naked character. Now the player can change their equipment in advance of these
battles if they are struggling.
- Reis's level still resets when she transforms. In order to reduce the odds that her level goes
*down* during this event, her second form's base level was increased.
4.) Lategame characters start with much more JP:
Characters who join the party later in the game (chapter 3+) will now start with much more JP. It
was always a bummer when a neat character joined your team and you were excited to use them, but
they were so behind on JP that they were unusable without grinding. After this change, these
characters will still be behind your main team, but not dramatically so.
See wotltweakv2.52_character_starting_jp.txt (in Spoilers) for the list of characters and their new
starting job levels.
5.) Mustadio can equip Guns regardless of his class + misc improvements:
Mustadio is a great character when he first joins, but eventually he's underpowered and by the end
of the game he's completely obsolete. These changes slightly buff Mustadio in order to make him a
more viable character for the duration of the game.
- Mustadio's Speed has been increased to almost match Balthier's.
- His Machinist class no longer loses its innate Safeguard ability when he joins your team "for real".
- His Machinist class can now equip Crossbows.
- Mustadio has a new character-specific property: He can now equip Guns regardless of his current job!
This change opens up additional character build options for him in the early game without the bummer
moment of having to set the (rare and special in chapter 2) Gun aside. Mustadio's Select-button
quote will remind you of this feature.
Note: Balthier has also been changed so that he's no longer "Mustadio, but better".
See "Balthier nerfs & changes", below, for more on this.
6.) Luso improvements & changes; differentiation from Ramza:
Luso is no longer a worse copy of Ramza. His stats, proficiencies, and abilities have been changed
to make him feel more like a "Game Hunter". He has a few unique tricks, but I didn't go as far as
other mods have (for example, I didn't turn him into a Blue Mage). Instead I borrowed a few things
from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance to make Luso just distinct enough from Ramza to be interesting
and useful. In other words, Luso is no longer obsolete the moment he joins the team.
- Luso's Speed multiplier has been increased from 100% to 110%. It's now equal to the Monk's and White
Mage's Speed (instead of the Knight's and Squire's). This is the same Speed buff that the Archer
received.
- His MP multiplier has been reduced from 105% to 65% (same as the Archer). He has a niche now.
- He starts with more JP in "hunter" type classes (Archer, Thief, Dragoon).
- His starting level has been reduced from 25 to 22. Sorry. It was kind of absurd that he joined the
team so far ahead (Rapha, who joins a couple battles after Luso, joins at level 23).
- Game Hunter proficiencies are now as follows: Knives, Bows, Crossbows, Polearms, Shields, and Light
Armor. This list makes Luso feel more like a "hunter" and makes him a bit more unique. His starting
equipment has been updated accordingly. Yes, his intro cutscene shows him using a sword, but maybe
it was just... a really long knife.
- His Game Hunter class gains Beast Tamer as an innate ability. Note that since Beast Tongue, Tame,
and Beastmaster have been combined into a single ability, Luso has all these powers innate as well.
- Huntcraft loses some of Ramza's skills and instead gains a few status-inflicting attacks that are
like alternate versions of Mustadio's Aimed Shot abilities: Poison Shot, Oil Shot, and Sleep Shot.
- In addition, he gains a new Support ability: Hunter's Mark. This ability increases Luso's weapon
damage by 40% when attacking monsters (not humans) with a Knife, Bow, Crossbow, or Polearm.
Luso gains: | Luso loses:
- Poison Shot (Poison) | - Rush
- Oil Shot (Oil & Slow) | - Stone
- Sleep Shot (Sleep) | - Chant
| - Shout
- Hunter's Mark (Support) | - Proficiency: Heavy Armor / Helmets
- Beast Tamer (Innate) | - Proficiency: Robes
- Proficiency: Bows / Crossbows | - Proficiency: Swords / Knight Swords
- Proficiency: Polearms | - Proficiency: Flails
- Note: The Zeklaus Desert world map dot will now appear in red when the Luso battle is available, so
that you aren't surprised by a story battle on a green dot. Also, the battle music for Luso's
battle is now the same as the music in his intro cutscene, so that this battle feels more
urgent and less like a random battle (especially now that Behemoths have been buffed)!
7.) Rapha & Marach improvements:
Rapha and Marach were notoriously underpowered characters, both because their randomized special
abilities were terrible, and because they had very low stats. Both problems have been addressed:
- Their Power and Magick multipliers have been increased to competitive levels. The player can build
them as physical/magical hybrid characters, if desired. In addition, they can now use more physical
weapons - Rapha can now equip Ninja Blades and Instruments; Marach can now equip Katana and Cloths.
Both characters can now also equip Rods and Tomes (in addition to Staves and Poles).
- Marach has a new character-specific property: Faith calculations are now reversed for _all_ his
magic, not just Nether Mantra! This makes him a good (though odd) spellcaster who specializes in
targeting characters with low Faith. In addition, the Faith/Atheist swap bug has been fixed. In
other words, the Atheist status effect will now properly BUFF Marach's spells, and the Faith status
effect will now properly nerf them. These features work regardless of Marach's current class.
Marach's Select-button quote will remind you of his Faith-reversing feature.
- Their randomized spells are more reliable. Rapha's spells will now always strike 7 times; Marach's
spells will now usually strike 6 times, with a slight random chance to strike more or fewer times
(with a minimum of 4 times). Also, both characters' spells will no longer target allies or
themselves, reducing the number of valid tiles to strike if allies are close by.
The following table shows the odds of each number of strikes when casting Marach's spells:
Number of Hits: | Chance Before: | Chance After:
- 1 Hit | - 5% | - 0%
- 2 Hits | - 5% | - 0%
- 3 Hits | - 10% | - 0%
- 4 Hits | - 10% | - 5%
- 5 Hits | - 20% | - 20%
- 6 Hits | - 20% | - 50%
- 7 Hits | - 10% | - 20%
- 8 Hits | - 10% | - 3%
- 9 Hits | - 5% | - 1%
- 10 Hits | - 5% | - 1%
- Their spells have been differentiated from each other. Each has gained a status effect, and not
always the same one for Rapha and Marach. For example, Rapha's Sky Ashura attacks with "blinding
white flame" (Fire element, chance to Blind), while Marach's Nether Ashura attacks with "choking
black flame" (Fire element, chance to Silence). Now there are interesting decisions to make when
choosing which spell to cast besides just more damage for more charge time.
- Rapha starts with more JP in white magic path spellcasting classes; Marach starts with more JP in
the black magic path. Previous versions of this mod gave Rapha _both_ magic paths and gave Marach
physical classes, due to his low Faith. However, this made Rapha overpowered and Marach too similar
to other characters. Now that Marach can cast effectively with low Faith, he can be the spellcaster
that the game always suggested he should be.
8.) Agrias/Meliadoul/Orlandeau nerfs & buffs; Orlandeau differentiation from Agrias & Meliadoul:
Orlandeau is no longer a strictly better version of Agrais and Meliadoul. All three characters now
have something unique about them. The power gap between them has been closed somewhat as well.
Note that the goal of this mod, though, is NOT to make drastic changes or change the feel of the
game. Orlandeau being overpowered is part of the character of Final Fantasy Tactics, so he's
deliberately still overpowered (just less so than before).
- Sword skills and Knight Swords in general have been nerfed, so that sword skills now deal less
damage than a normal melee attack with a Knight Sword (see "Less powerful special character skills
damage" and "Knight Sword Improved Brave-scaling", above).
- The bug that incorrectly flagged Agrias's sword skills as Holy elemental (and Hallowed Bolt as
Lightning elemental) has been fixed. These abilities never were elemental, but the AI would think
that they were, causing them to make poor decisions sometimes.
- Hallowed Bolt's range has been reduced to match Judgment Blade; Judgment Blade's vertical tolerance
has been increased to match Hallowed Bolt. This makes Judgment Blade no longer obsolete the moment
you get Hallowed Bolt (Judgment Blade deals less damage but has a better status effect). It also
nerfs Hallowed Bolt, arguably the most overpowered skill in the original game.
- Cleansing Strike and Northswain's Strike have increased vertical tolerance, making them easier to
target. They now have the same vertical tolerance as the various "Crush" attacks. Note that they
have better range than Judgment Blade and Hallowed Bolt, but they target only one tile.
The above two bullet points make all of Agrias's attacks useful in different situations. Previously
I'd exclusively use Hallowed Bolt, but in my last few playtests I used them all about equally.
- The various "Crush" attacks will only deal damage if the targeted equipment slot is empty (instead
of attempting to break the item AND dealing damage). Essentially, destroying the item first is the
"cost" you must pay before you can access the high damage these attacks inflict.
(Thanks Xjamxx for the "Mighty sword v2" ASM hack!)
- Agrias and Meliadoul have higher base Power, thanks to "Gender equality: female and male characters
now have the same base stats" (above).
- Agrias's Holy Knight class also has slightly higher base physical attack power. This closes some of
the damage gap between Agrias and Orlandeau while still keeping her special sword skills under
control.
- Agrias is now the only character who can equip the Tynar Rouge regardless of her class. Otherwise,
it's now exclusive to the Bard, Dancer, Princess, Dragonkin, and Ex-Soldier (see "Gender equality:
female and male characters now have access to the same equipment", above).
- Orlandeau's Swordplay skillset no longer has Divine Ruination and Crush Weapon. This makes Divine
Ruination unique to Agrias and Crush Weapon unique to Meliadoul. In other words, Orlandeau no longer
completely replaces these characters, because he no longer has their best skills (but he does still
have all the rest of them).
- Orlandeau's Swordplay skillset no longer has Shadowblade and Duskblade. Instead, he starts with Dark
Knight levels (see "Lategame characters start with more JP" above) that provide him with Sanguine
Slash and Infernal Strike, which do the same thing. In other words, he'll need to use his secondary
skillset slot to equip Darkness if he wants to use these skills, just like any other character.
- Orlandeau's physical attack power, speed, HP, and MP were all nerfed slightly (but they are still
higher than Agrias's... and anyone's).
- Orlandeau's Sword Saint class can no longer equip Ninja Blades. Kind of dumb that he _could_ to
begin with, but I also don't want the player thinking of Ninja Blades as "swords" instead of as
"knives" (since Knife Lore is their Equip X ability - see "Equip X ability improvements" above).
- Orlandeau no longer starts with a Bracer equipped. He now starts with the new Zodiac Glove instead.
The Bracer has not been replaced. Seeing as the game is so generous with items that I never once had
to spend any gil in a shop, especially in this mod which adds 40+ items to chapter 4... I don't feel
bad about this. If you want a Bracer, you'll have to buy one!
- Meliadoul's Divine Knight class can equip Perfumes. These items are now otherwise locked to Bards
and Dancers, so this is a benefit Meliadoul gets that Agrias and Orlandeau do not.
- Meliadoul's Divine Knight class can no longer equip Polearms or Crossbows. These weapons are just
"gotchas" that cause the player to be surprised in combat when they can't use her Crush abilities
(especially Polearms, which have a habit of being equipped with the Optimize button).
9.) Beowulf improvements:
- Beowulf gains a new Support ability: Censure. This ability increases Beowulf's physical attack
damage by 60% when attacking enemies with status effects (negative or beneficial). This gives
Beowulf incentive to actually physically attack sometimes, and gives him something special to set
him apart from generic Mystics.
- His Vengeance attack now deals damage equal to 150% of Beowulf's damage (instead of 100%). This
makes the skill actually worth using when Beowulf is at low HP.
- However, Vengeance's range has been decreased from 8 to 4 (same range as the rest of his spellblade
skills). Now it's higher risk / higher reward, rather than a "delete any enemy" button.
- His Templar class can now equip Katana. This is mostly for consistency with Alliste, an enemy
Templar who uses a Katana. Beowulf starts with 45 Brave, which makes a Katana not a particularly
strong choice when starting out. However, investing in raising his Brave can make a Katana + the
(newly buffed) Genji Shield + the Censure ability an incredible combo.
- His Templar class can no longer equip Knives. Knives were always a poor choice because they are not
valid weapons for Spellblade. They were removed for the same reason Meliadoul can no longer equip
Polearms - to avoid "gotcha"-ing the player.
- He starts with the new Rune Armlet accessory equipped (instead of a random accessory).
10.) Reis can use Dragon powers on non-Dragons at half effectiveness + misc improvements:
A widely requested feature for Reis is to make her dragon-only skills work on any unit. Well, now
they do... but only at half power. This ensures that the "allied dragon support" build for Reis is
still attractive in a world where she can support non-dragons too. More details on this, on a per
skill basis, below.
- Her Dragonkin class base stats have been increased, especially HP. Note this only partially makes up
for the huge nerf Reis got with the new Standardized Levelup Stat Growths (see above). In vanilla,
Reis had the best stat growths in the game, so she was nerfed the hardest when they were all
balanced.
- To further make up for her stat losses, she now starts equipped with the items that were previously
obtained at the end of the Lionel's New Liege Lord sidequest (and now that quest awards different
items - see wotltweakv2.52_unique_and_multiplayer_items.txt, in Spoilers, for the list).
- Her Dragonkin class can now equip any accessory (instead of just Rings and Armlets). This is the
only class in the game that had accessory type restrictions, and the game never warned you about it,
so it played like a "gotcha" when you couldn't find the accessory you were looking for, as if half
the accessories were "missing" for no discernable reason.
- Her skillset has been renamed from "Dragon" to "Dragonblood" to differentiate it from actual
dragons. In addition, her skill descriptions make it more clear that they are enhanced when used on
dragons and hydras.
- Holy Breath will now always strike 10 times (instead of choosing a random number from 1 to 11), and
it now has a chance to apply negative status effects. Each of its 10 strikes will still hit a random
tile though.
- Dragon's Gift now works on anyone, not just on dragons. It now heals for double what it used to when
used on dragons and hydras (in other words, it heals for x4 damage taken on dragons and hydras, and
x2 damage taken on anything else).
- Dragon's Might now works on anyone, not just on dragons. When used a dragon or hydra, it applies the
following: +10 Brave (buffed from +5), +2 Power, +2 Speed, and +2 Magick. When used on anything
else, it applies half: +5 Brave, +1 Power, +1 Speed, and +1 Magick.
Note that Reis cannot use this ability on herself, as playtesting revealed it to be more interesting
if it works only on others (like an inverse version of Ramza's Shout skill).
- Dragon's Speed has been renamed to "Dragon's Quickness" so that it's more clear that it doesn't
affect the target's Speed attribute (it actually applies Quick to the target). It now works on
anyone, not just dragons, but when used on a non-dragon it has a miss chance. This miss chance is
slightly worse than the Time Mage's Quick spell.
- Dragon's Charm now works on anyone, not just dragons, but when used on a non-dragon it has a miss
chance. This miss chance is slightly worse than the Orator's Entice skill. It also behaves like
other Speechcraft skills (it's blocked by Earplug).
- In addition, Reis gains Dragon Tamer, a lesser version of the support ability Beast Tamer (see
"Beast Tamer = all beast abilities combined" above). After buffing and combining Tame, Beastmaster,
and Beast Tongue into one mega ability (and removing the range requirement), it felt weird that Reis
had suddenly become the master of all monsters, not just dragons. So I made this special version of
the ability just for Reis that affects only dragons and hydras. It's innate to her Dragonkin class,
but she can also equip it as a support ability when using other classes.
Dragonblood: | Summary of changes:
- Fire Breath | - Unchanged
- Thunder Breath | - Unchanged
- Ice Breath | - Unchanged
- Holy Breath | - Always hits 10 times; + inflicts status effects
- Dragon's Gift | - Works on non-dragons; healing doubled on dragons
- Dragon's Might | - Works on non-dragons for half buffs
- Dragon's Quickness | - Works on non-dragons as "Quick" with lower success rate
- Dragon's Charm | - Works on non-dragons as "Entice" with lower success rate
- Dragon Tamer | - Lesser version of Beast Tamer that works only on dragons/hydras
11.) Cloud improvements:
Cloud was disappointingly underpowered in vanilla. He gains several improvements to increase his
power and to make him better match his FF7 counterpart:
- His Ex-Soldier class gains Doublehand as an innate ability (since he uses huge two-handed swords in
FF7) and can now equip Knight Swords (in addition to regular Swords).
- He starts at a reasonable level (instead of level 1), like all other optional characters. He also
starts with more JP in spellcasting classes (not physical classes - since materia is more associated
with magic in FF7).
- He gains the stat buffs he received in the US PS1 version of the game that weren't carried over to
the PSP version: Increased MP, Power, Magick, and Limit Break damage. However, base Limit Break
damage was slightly lowered from this level for balance (they are still stronger than they are in
vanilla PSP, though).
- As mentioned above, he no longer requires the Materia Blade to perform his Limit Breaks (he still
needs a sword equipped though). Also, he now starts with the Materia Blade equipped (there's a new
item in its previous location).
- His Limit Breaks are now based on physical attack power, including his equipped weapon, instead of
using magic power and *not* factoring in the weapon. They are more powerful than Agrias /
Orlandeau's special sword skills, but in exchange they have charge time.
- His area Limit Breaks now have increased vertical tolerance, allowing them to be used on rougher
terrain.
- Braver's range has been increased from 2 to 3, and its description makes it clear that it's a leap
attack (instead of a "swift" attack, which makes no sense because it has charge time).
- Blade Beam and Meteorain, the two Limit Breaks that were supposed to be ranged attacks, now have a
respectable range of 5.
- Blade Beam now deals damage equal to 200% of Cloud's damage (instead of 100%). Like Beowulf's
Vengeance skill, this one wasn't worth using at 100% (it's easy enough for Cloud to hit someone that
hard anyway). Cloud gets a bigger buff here than Beowulf's 150% because "boss killer" is Cloud's
special role in the party, and because Cloud's version has charge time.
- His Limit Breaks cost half the JP they used to, so that the cost to max him out is about the same as
maxing Agrias or Meliadoul.
- His Ex-Soldier class can now equip Perfume and Lip Rouge!
- His birthday has been corrected from January 31st (Aquarius) to the canon August 11th (Leo).
Incidentally, this is Balthier's birthday as well.
12.) Balthier nerfs & changes; differentiation from Mustadio; Barrage works with Doublehand & Dual Wield:
Balthier is no longer "Mustadio, but better" and "a Thief, but better" all at the same time. Now
he's more like "alternate Mustadio", so there are reasons for using both characters. In other words,
Mustadio is no longer obsolete the moment Balthier joins the team.
- Sky Pirate proficiencies are now as follows: Knives, Ninja Blades, Crossbows, Guns, Shields, and
Light Armor. This list makes Balthier feel more like a "pirate" and makes him better match his
gameplay in his other games.
- Since the default Steal skills have had their hit rates improved (see "Thief: Higher Steal success
rates" above), there was no longer any need for Balthier's "Plunder" skills, so they have been
removed. In exchange, Balthier starts with more Thief job levels, giving him a head start on
learning the *real* Steal skills.
- His skillset has been renamed from "Piracy" to "Special Shot", since this skillset no longer
duplicates the stealing skills (so it isn't really about "piracy" anymore).
- Special Shot contains alternate versions of Mustadio's Aimed Shot abilities, to differentiate the
two characters. Instead of Arm Shot, Leg Shot, and Seal Evil, Balthier has his own list of skills
that inflict different, but similar status effects: Blind Shot, Silent Shot, Stun Shot, Chaos Shot,
and Time Shot. These mimic the special ammo types available in Final Fantasy 12.
Balthier gains: | Balthier loses:
- Blind Shot (Blind) | - Arm Shot (Disable)
- Silent Shot (Silence) | - Leg Shot (Immobilize)
- Stun Shot (Stop) | - Seal Evil (Petrify Undead)
- Chaos Shot (Confuse) | - All "Plunder" skills
- Time Shot (Doom) | - Proficiency: Heavy Armor / Helmets
- Proficiency: Ninja Blades | - Proficiency: Robes
| - Proficiency: Swords / Knight Swords
| - Proficiency: Polearms
| - Proficiency: Bows
- Barrage will no longer ignore Doublehand or Dual Wield. Yes, this means you can attack eight times!
This change was done not to buff Barrage (which doesn't need it), but to enable more builds for
Balthier. If the player is clever and decides to combine Barrage with Dual Wield, the game shouldn't
punish them for it!
- This change is relevant for modders only, as it doesn't directly affect the game. Balthier's
equipment is no longer hardcoded - in other words, he will honor whatever he is assigned in ENTD.
His ENTD entry has been updated accordingly so that he still has his correct initial equipment.
(Thanks Xjamxx for the "Balthier gets no special ENTD items" ASM hack!)
- Note: The battle music for Balthier's battle is now the same as the music in his intro cutscene,
which is a better fit for a battle against bandits.
13.) Byblos improvements:
Yes, even Byblos gets a few improvements!
- Vengeance now deals damage equal to 150% of Byblos's damage (instead of 100%).
- Manaburn now deals damage equal to 200% of the target's MP (instead of 100%).
- Byblos's description now correctly specifies that he's weak to Fire.
**************************************************************************************************************
G.) Special Thanks
The following individuals helped to make this mod possible:
- Joe Davidson:
The creator of FFTPatcher, the latest and greatest Final Fantasy Tactics editor. Used for each and every
gameplay change in this mod that wasn't text, events, or ASM.
- Xjamxx:
The creator of Valhalla, the tool that WAS used for text, events, and ASM!
- Xifanie:
The author of Smart Encounters and a multitude of other awesome ASM hacks that are included in Valhalla
and were applied in this mod!
- Archaemic & Eternal248:
Created the spellcasting Slowdown Removal Fix, removing the final obstacle to declaring War of the Lions
version to be the definitive FFTactics experience. I know there are some modders out there who would hate
me for saying that.
- SecondAdvent:
Wrote the "Zodiac Rewrite" ASM hack, which I ported to PSP and modified for this mod.
Adding the Zodiac Glove to this ASM hack was how I learned PSP ASM!
- Glain:
Wrote the "Ignore Load Formation if unit is not in the party" and "Random Unit Equipment is more
selective" ASM hacks, which I ported to PSP and modified for this mod.
- Talcall:
Just a super helpful ASM guy all around!
- Akashachi:
Made a ton of great suggestions that I've incorporated into this mod!
- Nyzer:
"Jokingly" suggested a change that turned out to be a wonderful idea (giving the Arithmetician innate
Instant Cast).
- Mighty Zebra:
Made some balance suggestions that have been incorporated into the mod. Also, asked how hard it would be
to convert the "Start at 0 MP & recover 10% MP per turn" ASM hack from PS1 to PSP, which I misinterpreted
as a request to do the conversion, which led to the creation of the Rune Armlet. Whoops! And thanks!
- 3lric & Cheetah:
Did the ASM and writing for "unlock sound novels", which is included in this mod!
- Tuffy da Bubba & RafaGam:
The translators for the sound novels!
- Jay "Adilegian" Howell:
Helped me finesse many of the text changes in this mod!
- Qu Marsh, Brumbek, & STobias:
Authors of amazing FFTactics guides that were indispensable when planning out where each missable and
multiplayer item should drop!
- Roman217:
A reddit user who requested the no random battle scaling feature, which was the kick in the pants I
needed to start working on this mod again!
- salted_crackerz:
A reddit user who reported a rather nasty bug in v2.00, which is now fixed!
- Thirdtwin:
A romhacking.net user who reported the Slowja bug in v2.50, which is now fixed!
- Doomsday Forte:
A romhacking.net user who reported the bug that can cause Agrias/Mustadio/Rapha to join the team with the
wrong version of their skillset equipped in the secondary slot in v2.50, which is now fixed!
- Rythian:
The one who emailed me to report the Yardrow Treadure Hunter items bug in v2.50, which is now fixed!
- ic1025:
An ffhacktics.com user who gave me the idea for buffing temporary Brave/Faith boosts in the Static Brave
& Faith optional patch, which is now incorporated into that optional patch!
**************************************************************************************************************
H.) The End! (of the readme)
-- (C) 2008 - 2023 Tzepish (Blaine Higdon)
Now go enjoy the damn thing!
Use only on an unmodified US version ISO file!
Serial Number: ULUS-10297
MD5: 18d1169cefed2d5ed77a599694f2f871
SHA1: 5120ff66f78cfd31f6e90d8ef4be8200eca563f7
CRC32: 0d6a3d9f
PSP Emulator Required
Time to Beat
Main Story 41h 19m
Main + Extras 57h 30m
ttb_all 50h 1m
Speedrun Avg 26h 33m
Release Date
Jan 1, 2023
1 years ago
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