Enemy Ideas

[Rolina]

Enemy ideas for coders to come up with.

[Rolina]

Tell me if you like this idea:

Enemies will still have rare drops, including equipment drops unique to that enemy... HOWEVER...

There will be 'area bosses' as well.  Assuming we can alter the rarity and music of battles, I'd like to have area bosses in many areas.  These would be noticably stronger than anything else in the area - not story boss hard, or uber boss - but would basically be the strongest mook in the area.  Now, what do they drop?  Well, they drop the rarest/most valueable drop in the area dropped by other mooks - just at a much higher rate.  Rather than having an ICC9 rate, for instance, they'd have ICC6 of said item - significantly more common for it to drop.

Also, speaking of uber bosses in the form of guardians, I think that we should do them like in GS1's Talos/Deadbeard.  That is, they guard uber equipment - which you can ACTUALLY MAKE USE OF.  For the uber summons, rather than guardians, let's go with the traditional 'test of power', and have you fight the summons themselves.

And finally... uber bosses I feel should be re-fightable.  That is, when you leave the dungeon, they respawn.  Like the Tempest Lizard in GS1.  That way, if they want to refight them, they can.  They may not get the treasure behind them again - since they already got it - but I see no reason not to fight the boss again for fun if they wish.

Your thoughts?

[leaf]

@Bosses: Sure. Why not?

For the item drops... What is ICC6? 1/32? I actually think that'd be a more fair drop rate for the regular enemies... the area bosses should drop 100% of the time imo.

[Rolina]

Ah, I had assumed that they were in the editor... lemme look it up real quick.  I think the term came from people figuring out the 100% enemy drop sequence...

ICC1 = 1/1
ICC2 = 1/2
ICC3 = 1/4
ICC4 = 1/8
ICC5 = 1/16
ICC6 = 1/32
ICC7 = 1/64
ICC8 = 1/128
ICC9 = 1/256

Now, simple things, like herbs, antidotes, nuts, vials, and attack items (oil drop, etc...) I don't think should go past ICC6, ever.  They're really common to get, but aren't sure-fire.  The stronger the enemy, the easier it is to get the common drops, to a maximum drop rate for common enemies of being ICC3 (djinn kill for 100% chance to drop).  For the rare drops in the area, I don't think that they should be 100% drops.  Not without djinn killing.  ICC3 on area bosses is the highest chance I'm willing to go, but that'd be if there was a ICC5 on normal enemies...

Djinn killing gives you a 4x drop rate, and I think that area bosses should have another 4x beyond that.  That's a 16x chance if you djinn kill the boss compared to the common mook in the area.

Remember, the 'uber equipment' isn't going to be dropped.  It's going to be guarded by the uber bosses.

[leaf]

It's kind of impractical to djinn kill though when you're dealing with something that has gobs of HP. When you just have the option of running away, I think you should have a guaranteed chance to drop if you beat one of these things.

And actually, when I think about it some more, I think it would be good for area bosses with 100% drop rates to be the only foes in the field that drop equipment at all. Every other enemy that drops anything would just drop something that can stack in your inventory.

[Rolina]

Tell that to me.  I always do that.

However, I do not like the idea of guaranteed drops against anything other than storyline bosses.  I'm sorry, it just rubs me the wrong way.

Most area bosses just have stackable items anyways, just the one that's worth the most in the area.  The drop chance is really good then, about ICC3. It's when you're in an area with one of those rare enemies that drop equipment that they'll drop it... it's more common to get from them, to make up for their rarity, but the point is that you can still get it from something else.  That way, people won't go around hunting for the area boss just for equipment, but rather, someone who's hunting for the equipment gets a better chance when facing the boss.

I mean... even if you've got a 100% drop rate, these things need to be RARE to find.  Like, very, VERY rare.  If they're too common, we'll wipe out the party, especially because these things are designed to be much stronger than anything else in the area.  Think Crossbone Isle foes, only fought randomly on the world map or some other place.  You don't want to run into them too often, or too soon.

NOBODY likes hunting down an enemy.  I'd rather try to farm equipment from a common foe, thus getting XP and the like, and once I get the loot, I leave.  IF I find the boss, we'll go at it, but the point of an area boss is that they're REALLY rare, and notably harder than everything else in the area.

I will give you this, though - there should be some with guaranteed drop rates, but for things like lucky medals and stuff.  But not equipment.

[Rolina]

Okay, here's a sample idea for how I want to do area bosses.  This should be in the area outside the starting town(s), so it's fairly weak, but still stronger than anything else around.
Enemy Group:


Fairy (Pixie variant #4), Bug (Grub variant #2), Sparrow (Dirge variant #2), Ghast (Will Head variant #3)




Name: Fairy
Species: Pixie, color variant 4

Level: 9
Turns: 1
Attribute:  

HP: 99
PP: 9
Attack: 99
Defense: 9
Agility: 9
Luck: 9
HP Regen: 9
PP Regen: 9

Item 1: N/A
Item 2: N/A
Item 3: N/A
Item 4: N/A

AI Setting: 0
Ability 1: Boast
Ability 2: Boast
Ability 3: Boast
Ability 4: Frost
Ability 5: Frost
Ability 6: Ice
Ability 7: Cool
Ability 8: Prism
Non-Standard: N/A

Coins: 9
Item Drop: Crystal Powder
Item Drop Rarity: 1/1
EXP reward: 9

POW: 95
RES: 100
POW: 115
RES: 175
POW: 85
RES: 25
POW: 95
RES: 100

Location: Outside starting town
Enemy Type: Area Boss
Music Type: Area Boss

Boast:  Non-elemental, base damage: 9, may induce sleep (Med-low probability).  Affects all foes.  Message display: "[caster] boasts about its power!"



Name: Bug
Species: Grub, color variant 2

Level: 9
Turns: 1
Attribute:  

HP: 99
PP: 9
Attack: 81
Defense: 99
Agility: 9
Luck: 9
HP Regen: 9
PP Regen: 9

Item 1: N/A
Item 2: N/A
Item 3: N/A
Item 4: N/A

AI Setting: 0
Ability 1: Attack
Ability 2: Attack
Ability 3: Growth
Ability 4: Angle Spike
Ability 5: Numbing Sting
Ability 6: Numbing Sting
Ability 7: Poisonous Bite
Ability 8: Poisonous Bite
Non-Standard: N/A

Coins: 9
Item Drop: Bramble Seed
Item Drop Rarity: 1/1
EXP reward: 9

POW: 95
RES: 48
POW: 85
RES: 48
POW: 90
RES: 25
POW: 85
RES: 48

Location: Outside starting town
Enemy Type:  Area boss
Music Type:  Area boss



Name: Sparrow
Species: Dirge, color variant 2

Level: 9
Turns: 1
Attribute:  

HP: 99
PP: 9
Attack: 81
Defense: 9
Agility: 99
Luck: 9
HP Regen: 0
PP Regen: 0

Item 1: N/A
Item 2: N/A
Item 3: N/A
Item 4: N/A

AI Setting: 0
Ability 1: Attack
Ability 2: Attack
Ability 3: Flying Attack
Ability 4: Flying attack
Ability 5: Wing Beat
Ability 6: Wing Beat
Ability 7: Slash
Ability 8: Whirlwind
Non-Standard: N/A

Coins: 9
Item Drop: Weasel's Claw
Item Drop Rarity: 1/1
EXP reward: 9

POW: 95
RES: 127
POW: 95
RES: 75
POW: 95
RES: 48
POW: 110
RES: 9

Location: Outside starting town
Enemy Type: Area Boss
Music Type: Area Boss



Name: Ghast
Species: Will Head, color variant 3

Level: 9
Turns: 1
Attribute:  

HP: 99
PP: 9
Attack: 81
Defense: 9
Agility: 9
Luck: 99
HP Regen: 9
PP Regen: 9

Item 1: N/A
Item 2: N/A
Item 3: N/A
Item 4: N/A

AI Setting: 0
Ability 1: Attack
Ability 2: Attack
Ability 3: Attack
Ability 4: Attack
Ability 5: Sleep
Ability 6: Bind
Ability 7: Delude
Ability 8: Force Seal
Non-Standard: N/A

Coins: 9
Item Drop: Sealing Stone
Item Drop Rarity: 1/1
EXP reward: 9

POW: 25
RES: 175
POW: 25
RES: 175
POW: 25
RES: 175
POW: 25
RES: 175

Location: Outside staring town
Enemy Type: Area Boss
Music Type: Area Boss

Force Seal:  Multiplier 0.3x.  100 chance to inflict High Seal (seal Psy, Djinn, and Summon).  Single Target.

Sealing Stone:  A psynergy stone that's power has somehow been reversed.  Deals 200 PP damage to single target, inflicts High Seal (seal Psy, Djinn, and Summon) with very high probability.



...okay, so this is clearly a thematic proof of concept, and will most likely never really see the light of day in the hack, but it's an example of what we'd be seeing.  This early, it'd be really weak, even for an area boss.  After all, you've not gotten a full party together.  Because everything nearby simply drops herbs, elixirs, etc..., they'll drop something actually a bit more useful - in fact, these are QUITE strong for the point of time you get it.  But, even then, they're single use items you will be able to buy later (at Psynergy Shops).  Well, save the Sealing Stone.  That's pretty powerful in single player, but I thought you'd love the strategic use it can bring in multiplayer.  Of course, High Seal lasts half as long as other Seals, and on bosses with High enough luck, if it hits, it'll poof away in one turn anyways (not 100%, but there's always a chance up 'til maybe 70 or 80 luck).


Now, because of how common these are (Sealing stones will count as artifact purchases due to rarity, and will be treated as such) later in the game, I'm cool with a 1/1 or 1/2 drop rate.  I'd prefer 1/4, but if you know what I'm referencing, you'd know they're too stupid to know not to have a very high drop rate. XD

Do note, though, that it's not a givaway, either.  Look at the Ghast's Force Seal.  That can be crippling if you get hit by that.  And if a certain fairy's boast puts you to sleep, what was once a joke attack now really brings in some pain...

So easier than most, but not a flat out givaway.

[Charon]

I like these ideas so far - I'm kinda in a hurry so I can't provide any of my own at the moment.

However... I think we should allow for making our own sprites for the game. I mean, sparrows usually don't have huge bunny ears after all o.o

[Rolina]

...I'm guessing you didn't get the reference I used in the sample group?  Anywho, I used just generic sprites on purpose.  Perhaps if we made a small-sized bird type monster I could use that instead, but the whole point is that they're not supposed to stand out, other than to be a 'hidden reference' in how they were made.  I've still gotta go in and tweak them a bit, though, since when looking at the stats on early game monsters... they out-damage these four.  Oops.  These are supposed to be bosses!

[leaf]

Man, I really need to stop putting off responding to this. I'll have some sort of actual response at least within the week and probably within the next couple days... been a bit distracted by other things lately.

[Rolina]

Well, when you come up with a response, let me know.  This is only an example, I don't expect to use it (unless y'all want to or something), but I think it makes a decent proof of concept.

[JamietheFlameUser]

Out of boredom, I'd like to suggest that Salanewt be the strongest bonus boss in the game. No numerical values on actual stats just yet (instead I'm going to use letter rankings), but I have several ideas regarding moveset:

Name: Salanewt
Sprite: a dude in a Yoshi costume
Level: probably 80-99
Turns: probably 3
Attribute:
HP: B
PP: SS
Attack: B
Defence: C
Agility: A
Luck: SS
HP regen: 0
PP regen: 0

Moveset 1 (first action of round)
Move 1: Break (only if player party has used status boosts)
Move 2: Stampede
Move 3: Egg Guard
Move 4: Egg Morph
Move 5: Taint
Move 6: Pure Ply (only if at less than full HP)
Move 7: Poison
Move 8: Attack

Moveset 2 (second action of round)
Move 1: Egg Morph
Move 2: Egg Charge
Move 3: Egg Roll (only if he has an ally Egg Cage)
Move 4: Big Bang
Move 5: Poison
Move 6: Pure Ply (only if at less than full HP)
Move 7: Stampede
Move 8: Attack

Moveset 3: (third action of round)
Move 1: Big Bang
Move 2: Stampede
Move 3: Egg Roll (only if he has an ally Egg Cage)
Move 4: Egg Charge
Move 5: Egg Roll (only if he has an ally Egg Cage)
Move 6: Pure Ply (only if at less than full HP)
Move 7: Big Bang
Move 8: Attack
Non-Standard: automatically counters any Summon used against him with Dummy Out.

Item drop: nothing

  Level: 99
  Pow: S
  Res: SS
  Level: A
  Pow: C
  Res: A
  Level: F
  Pow: B
  Res: D
  Level: B
  Pow: B
  Res: B

Vulnerable: User May Recover Damage to HP, User May Recover Damage to PP

Moveset explanation:

Stampede: A vast number of Yoshis cover the entire field, dealing high damage with a range of All. Costs PP.
Egg Guard: Salanewt is sealed inside a giant Yoshi egg, giving him a 90% damage reduction barrier. Costs PP.
Egg Charge: Salanewt seals himself inside a giant egg and rolls towards a target, dealing high Added Damage to a single target. Monster Skill.
Egg Morph: Semi-permanently removes a party member from battle, and spawns an Egg Cage on his side of the battlefield. As long as the Egg Cage spawned by this instance of the move is alive, this move causes him to use the single highest PP cost Psynergy known by that character, with no PP cost and not counting as a Psynergy. If the Egg Cage is defeated, the ally removed by this move is returns to battle at the state in which they left. As he has two instances of this move in his moveset, he can have up to two Egg Cages on the field at one time. Monster Skill.
Egg Roll: If Salanewt has an ally Egg Cage, he picks it up and rolls it along the ground at a party member. This move destroys the Egg Cage, and the character trapped by it is returned to battle at 1 HP. This move deals very high Multiplier Damage, in practice this move is so strong as to be guaranteed to KO the target unless a powerful Barrier Djinni is active. Costs PP.
Big Bang: This move deals very high Focused Power damage to a single target, Salanewt's absurdly high PP making this move so strong that it instantly KOs whoever it hits, regardless of whether or not a Barrier Djinni is active. In terms of animation, the camera zooms out as the background changes to a scene of space with numerous, multicoloured stars. Streams of sparkling blue energy spiral into the target, resembling the arms of a spiral galaxy as the target shines with a white light. Then the "galaxy" explodes with a brilliant white burst, which expands until it fills the entire screen as the target takes millions of damage. When the light fades, the battlefield and camera are back to normal. Costs PP.
Dummy Out: This move is triggered only when a character uses a Summon against Salanewt. It forces the target to have the NPC class for the rest of the battle, putting the character's Djinn into permanent recovery for the rest of the battle, as well. Monster Skill.

Yup, I think he's sufficiently overpowered, what about you guys?

[leaf]

Dummy out is just stupid, big bang sounds too much like a multi-target move, and the elemental levels are totally whack. Other than that, I am intrigued. The no-PP cost psynergy involved the egg cage sounds like more hassle than it would be worth to code, as well.

edit: I see you changed most of the elemental levels/powers/resists to rankings, but a 99 elemental level is still totally whack.

[JamietheFlameUser]

The reason for Dummy Out is because Salanewt is the project leader. Thus, he gets to decide mid-battle that you no longer exist in the game's storyline and gameplay. As such, your class reverts to NPC, similar to what happens in GS1 when you use hacks to put Felix or Sheba in the party.

And you're right, the free Psynergy thing with Egg Morph doesn't sound like it would be worth fighting with the code over.

And the reason I gave him Big Bang is because his custom title is "Stat Yoshi", implying an astral theme. And while I agree that it sounds multitarget, I thought that a full-party KO move would be just too overpowered even for this, and I couldn't think of a better name.

[leaf]

Well then don't make it a full party kill. Make it a summon-type attack. I think you're missing one of those anyway.

And dummy out is still stupid. I refuse to allow something as dumb as that to make it into this game.

[Today]

Today at 18:00:23

Teawater: By the way, I was wondering, did anyone else notice the ".gba" ROM in the Downloads section?

[Today]

Today at 16:54:26

JamietheFlameUser: Well, that particular Briggs fight was from a long time ago. I haven't been working on my current hack the past few days because of other stuff.

[Today]

Today at 16:40:10

Luna_blade: @Saturos: Your english exams?

[Today]

Today at 16:33:40

Teawater: Can't remember exactly what shae of yellow it was, so not sure it would be too close or not.

[Today]

Today at 16:30:58

Teawater: @KoP: Wouldn't Shiny Gold be for the Sol Clan?

[Today]

Today at 15:37:37

Salanewt: Oh wait, tag doesn't work down here. But yeah, how is your hack going Jamie?

[Today]

Today at 15:37:00

Salanewt: [me] considers giving him the Sol Blade...

[Today]

Today at 15:36:00

Salanewt: Oh my. To be honest though, I'd be more likely to give Briggs stuff from later regions; him being a pirate from another continent and all.

[Today]

Today at 09:36:58

JamietheFlameUser: How not to design boss fights: give human-type bosses stats and equipment on par for what the Editor says their level is and what equipment is available where they're from. You get stuff like an actually scaled to level 21 Briggs with a Great Sword, Silver Plate, Silver Helm, Vambrace, and Leather Boots. God, that was BS.

[Today]

Today at 09:09:49

Saturos: Wow first part of exam is ower (in english) tomorow speaking part.

[Today]

Today at 07:11:35

JamietheFlameUser: Eh, I didn't know the exact chance of Curse screwing you over. Still, that 6% chance to fail to act at all could screw you over when it matters most. The obvious solution, of course, is to stick that armour on a character who doesn't do anything but spam attack moves anyway.

[Today]

Today at 07:10:52

leaf: ...assuming I'm remembering the chance of curse taking effect correctly as 25%

[Today]

Today at 07:09:50

leaf: in fact, you get two turns the majority of the time (~56%), and only completely fail to act ~6%, the remainder of the time getting one action

[Today]

Today at 07:07:49

leaf: I like that stealth armor buff. it wouldn't make sense to do that with the clerics ring available, but if you remove that, it's actually an interesting item. On average, you get ~1.5 turns per round. it's potentially very strong, but carries risks

[Today]

Today at 07:04:59

leaf: lol

[Today]

Today at 06:39:21

JamietheFlameUser: Reading the Venus Psynergy topic and 'lol'ing at Role's reaction to a very simple spell idea I'd had (and still think is awesome), where rock explodes out of the ground from a single point in a focused, cone-shaped burst. Role read me the riot act about not combining elements again. lol.

[Today]

Today at 06:17:58

JamietheFlameUser: Well, one thing I came up with that was actually potentially cool is a modification to the Stealth Armour. I gave it +1 turns, under the assumption that the Cleric's Ring would be removed. You might get 2 actions that round, or 1 action, or maybe no actions at all! RNG at its finest.

[Today]

Today at 06:15:32

Knight of Purgatory: Nice orange text kain. Maybe it should be a shiny gold

[Today]

Today at 06:03:40

leaf: I concur. There isn't much I'd consider worth salvaging from dc in terms of work done, but reading the old threads can be quite amusing

[Today]

Today at 06:01:48

JamietheFlameUser: LOL I'm looking at the DCrisis Items/Equipment section. Role and I were both so immature about it (me especially) that it's hilarious in hindsight.

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