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[RELEASE] Golden Sun Reloaded

Started by Caledor, 22, December, 2016, 03:56:07 PM

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Caledor

:VenusDjinni:  :MarsDjinni: Intro :JupiterDjinni:  :MercuryDjinni:

Taking inspiration from the many great ideas I've read on this forum over the years, I managed to build up my personal collection of tweaks, hacks and changes in order to try to balance out this game. With "balance" i mean addressing all the things that make the game too straightforward (Megiddo and Summon Rush beat any other strategy by a landslide), by lowering the strength of the most effective options AND either increasing the usefulness of the weaker ones or outright replacing them.

Over time - since this mod has been in development for at least 5 years thanks to the continous feedback from its users - it eventually evolved into a full fledged gameplay overhaul that preserves the spirit of the original game while building up on its hidden potential.

The main goal of this mod is to increase the number of options available. This means that while you can play the game like you always did, since many popular classes, abilities and items are all still here mostly untouched (with the sole exception of the "summon rushing" strategy, which has been removed completely), you can also try all the strategies were simply too weak in the original game to be considered viable, cause they have now been improved. Tactics like unleashing with Sheba or Mia, using the item classes, using caster classes to attack and not only to heal or buff, using debuffs, using djinn to attack and revive, and many, many more, along with brand new classes, items, abilities and enemies.

The secondary goal is to increase the difficulty. This mod is aimed at players that are quite knowledgeable with the game mechanics, and tries to be an enjoyable challenge for them. I actually advise against using this mod on the very first playthrough. Moreover, the increase in difficulty is mainly here to encourage smarter plays... to give players an actual reason to try all the different strategies and combat tricks this game can offer. It not intended to be more difficult "just because".

Reloaded is a 100% Gameplay-oriented mod. Nothing story-wise, except for a few translation tweaks, has been altered. It affects both games and the two link up perfectly. It's best enjoyed as a new challenge on subsequent runs, starting back from GS1 and transfering data to TLA.


:save: Documentation :save:

Class doc: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1W9VJcbmV5l6wGSiDO4oM6IV566i7XvVFQs_5WT0ajN8
Class Setup doc: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1prjK1L0YpeKuadoy5A2liiAWm_m0yZ3oOc-FE5rGQKU
Equipment doc: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13eCQOiM5YsKmcBZKSlwW4-wExXtn8WZ4U46cL_hmRO8
Psynergy doc: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qVYsowdD3n_g3kjvdGl8UBryidcRU1rJaEebiDaPrlA
RNG Guide (GameFAQs, for drops): https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/gba/561356-golden-sun-the-lost-age/faqs/25734


:link: Download Links :link:

English Patches: HERE
Italian Patches: HERE

Current Version: v1.82a
Latest Update: 01 Mar 2024
Reason: Minor Angelic Ring Fix in TBS



:newquest: Mod Content :newquest:


:fight: Classes: New and revamped classes, new djinn progression for item classes, stat bonuses in 5% steps, partial classes removed from TLA, new magic resistance stat tied to classes.
Quote from: ClassesUse the Class Setup Doc linked above to see which class combinations are available among those that involve classes you like.

Felix's and Sheba's starting classes now are different from Isaac's and Ivan's respectively. Inspiration for their classes (both in names and spells) was taken from Rolina's Class Tweaks for TLA.
Jenna and Piers have a completely new set of classes made almost entirely from scratch: Jenna's classes are mostly mage-ish while Piers' are mostly warrior-ish.

Each class line has a Magic Resistance value (WRD in the class doc) that alters damage taken from Base Damage attacks. For example a 95% WRD means that a character in that class will take 5% more damage from Base Damage attacks.

A fourth three-elemental class has been added to EVERYONE, to fill the djinn combination gap left by the other three. So, Venus/Mars characters gain the 5 :VenusStar: 5 :MarsStar: 4 :MercuryStar: class and Jupiter/Mercury characters gain the 5 :JupiterStar: 5 :MercuryStar: 4 :MarsStar: class.

Item classes can be go up a tier by adding 3 djinn of a specific new element instead of keeping them balanced (full explanation here). The order for each class is:
Acrobat: Water - Earth - Fire - Wind
Dragontamer: Earth - Wind - Water - Fire
Necromancer: Wind - Fire - Earth - Water
Quote from: ReasoningJenna and Piers' classes needed a total revamp and they needed it badly. Classes in TLA were carbon copies of those in GS, which means that Jenna got the warrior-ish classes from Garet despite being a mage and Piers the mage-ish classes from Mia despite being a warrior.

Base classes were changed for flavor so each pair of characters of one element uses two different aspects of that element.

A magic resistance stat didn't exist in this game. Mages usually have lower HP and Defense than warriors, so they compensate with higher Magic Defense. It was needed for stats balance.

The fourth three-elemental class line was missing for no apparent reason, the new progression for item classes is just a bonus to make them easier to try/use.

Design choices for classes: Setting Jenna and Piers aside, everything you were familiar with in the vanilla game is still here. Names have been changed here and there either to get closer to the japanese ones or to avoid redundancy. Changes to psynergy sets are mostly to balance the power level among them or again, to avoid redundancy. For example, Guru Mia lost Wish because otherwise all her dual classes would've had it.

Warriors have usually access to weaker base damage psynergies than mages, with the exception of monoelemental warriors. Idea it is that even warriors can access strong psynergies by mastering one element instead of going wide, that's why they get it only after the third tier of their class progression (just like vanilla).

Biggest changes are to tri elemental classes, especially due to the 4th one I created from scratch for everyone: each character having now 4 lead me to center each class around a different main element, which can easily be guessed by looking at djinn requirements and psynergy sets. Also each group has a "hybrid" class (warrior going mage or mage going warrior), again each centered around a different element. They are Ninja, Valkyrie, Fury and General.

:Isaac: Characters: Characters' base stats and starting levels rearranged. Piers levels up faster. Stats gained at level up are fixed and unaffected by RNG.
Quote from: CharactersCharacters' base stats were rearranged to balance them out and at the same time make differences between them more striking, cause those changes are (for the most part) reflected by the stat multipliers of the base classes. For example: Sheba is now everything that Ivan was: best caster and frailest character. Ivan also gained more attack. Piers improved with more PP and HP at the expense of Felix. Piers is also a better caster than Isaac now. Mia has now second best PP but also second worst ATK.

Characters have more innate HP and gain less from Djinn. Luck grows with levels. Leveling up doesn't depend on RNG anymore.

In TLA, Jenna starts at 4 and Piers levels up faster (while still being the slowest).
Quote from: ReasoningMoving some HP from Djinn to characters is to make them more resilient to summoning and putting djinn on standby. End result when they're all set is the same, but as you use djinn you lose less HP than vanilla, cause part of the HP that were granted by djinn is now hardcoded into the characters' stat growth.

Luck growing with levels is part of a full overhaul of the debuff mechanic, which will be explained in its section.

:buy: Items & Equipment: Weapon categories system, new items added, tweaked MANY others. Some treasures have been rearranged in TLA. New attribute "Ailments" found on equipment.
Quote from: ItemsAlmost every piece of equipment has been tweaked.

The Golden Rule: Each piece of equipment found/bought in the game is stronger than anything (of the same type) you could find at an earlier point in the game and weaker than anything found later. Shops (and some chests) have been changed accordingly.

Weapon categories
  • Long Swords: standard weapon
  • Light Blades: -Atk, +Agility, +Defense
  • Axes: +Atk, -Def
  • Maces: -Atk, -5% Unleash Rate, +MaxHP/Power/Ailments
  • Staves: --Atk, +5% Unleash Rate, +MaxPP/Power
  • Ankhs: --Atk, +5% Unleash Rate, +Power/Luck/Ailments

Ailments boosts the chance to hit enemies with debuffs, negative statuses and anything else that requires a Luck check on the enemy. It directly increases the percentile chance by the amount shown on the item, just like how the Criticals attribute increases the chance to unleash.

Each forgeable material now has a "target level range" and the places where they can be found have been changed accordingly.
Tear stone: ~21. very early eastern sea.
Stardust: ~23. early to mid eastern sea. Taopo, aqua rock and early gaia rock.
Sylph feather: ~25. Mid to late e.sea. Ankhol to Lemuria.
Dragon Skin: ~28. early w.sea. From right after grind till shaman village.
Golem Core: ~30. Contigo till reunion. (new Gaia Staff replaces Gaia Axe)
Sala Tail: ~33. From reunion to Loho.
Mythril silver: ~35. Loho to Prox. (Myhril Blade is now a light sword)
Orichalcon & Dark Matter: After teleport.
Quote from: ReasoningIn vanilla weapons were different only in name. Graphics aside, there's nothing that makes an Axe different from a Long Sword since they can be equipped by the same characters. Now they have proper categories each with their own quirks and rules.

Ailment (the attribute) is part of the overhaul to the debuff mechanic, explained in detail later.

Every change to treasure, drops and shops (and forging) from vanilla is due to the Golden Rule, so I'm not doing a "reasoning" there.

:Attack: Unleashes: All attack based unleashes use multipliers. Unleashing mages are now a viable option.
Quote from: UnleashesThe standard unleash rate is now 30%.

Armageddon's (Megiddo) multiplier is now x2.4, Ceres' Legend and Heaven Vengeance had their added damage part reduced.

Some unleashes had their element changed. Among the most notable ones, Acheron's Grief is now non-elemental and High Vitals changed to Mercury.

Every unleash of non-staff weapons uses a multiplier to increase damage. Staves' unleashes are all base damage type.
Quote from: ReasoningMostly number tweaks for balance reason: nerfs and buffs where needed.
Element changes: IIRC like 80% of Axes unleashes were Fire or Earth for example. They're to spread things out more.

I ditched the "Added damage" formula completely in favor of multipliers (both from EPA and Unleashes) cause the former doesn't scale well. It's bonkers at the beginning cause the relative damage increase is huge but as your regular damage increases the relative bonus becomes lower and lower.

Staves unleashes becoming "base damage" type (= spells) is a great deal. It means that mages can now unleash effectively cause their usually low attack stat is completely ignored.

:psynergy: Psynergy, Healing & Reviving: New psynergies added. Max PP stat increases damage dealt by Base Damage psynergies. Reviving tweaked, group healing costs MUCH more. Healing mechanic tweaked. Power and Resistance cap raised to 255. Last psynergy is learnt at 42.
Quote from: Psynergy, Healing & RevivingNew psynergies: Tyrfing (Venus equivalent of Quick Strike), Meltdown (Mars equivalent of Quick Strike), Waterspout (Mercury equivalent of Quick Strike), Rolling Fire (Stronger mars Ghost Soldier), Sabre Rain (upgrade to Pierrot's Sabre Dance), Punishment series (Stronger Jupiter Fume), Boon series (from DD), Heal series (Group healing Venus psynergies), Bravery/Courage (Venus Impact/High Impact), Blessing (clone of DD's Weapon Grace), Raise (Mars equivalent of Revive), Remedy (a single target Tonic). Poison and Paralyze are available.

The new base damage formula is Damage = (Base Power + MaxPP/8) * Elemental_Factor * (1+(MaxPP/1024)).
PP cost for base damage psynergies recalculated from scratch with a custom made formula I wrote in order to make Power weight more than range.

Group healing and reviving psynergies cost MUCH more, as well as the strongest single target healing psynergies. Reviving effects now have ALL a 100% success rate BUT Revive, Raise, Lich and Phoenix revive only to 50% HP. Water of Life revives to 25% HP.

The Necromancer's Call Demon/Dullahan are base damage type spells. Call Dullahan is the strongest base damage psynergy in the game. The Pierrot's Card and Juggle series are also stronger. Frost Card is the strongest Mercury base damage psynergy in the game, Bramble Card and Thunder Card have a chance to debuff their targets, Fire Breath is a muti-target EPA like Shuriken.

Drain and Psy Drain are stronger and never miss. Psy Crystal restores 200 PP.

Endgame EPAs except Quick Strike, Tyrfing, Meltdown, Waterspout, Minotaur and Annihilation have a chance to debuff the target or to partially ignore defense.
All EPAs are multiplier based, endgame ones are now closer in power to unleashes.

Elemental Power doesn't affect healing spells as much as before (half of the original bonus/malus).
New formula: HP healed = Base_Power * [((Ele_Power-100)/2 + 100)/100]
Quote from: ReasoningGroup healing was massively undercosted in vanilla for how good it was (and still is).

The new base damage formula: good old PP Multiplier, the starting point of this mod back in 2015. The game lacks a "magic offense" stat that grows with levels and is higher for magic oriented characters than warriors. Elemental power was not good enough to differentiate. This implied that both mages and warriors were equally proficient at casting and that spells' growth (unlike physical attacks) resembled a step function: the only way to improve it was learning a new one with higher power. A big jump that eventually fades out. Old base damage formula was Damage = Base_Power * Elemental_Factor. Elemental_Factor is unchanged.

Having Max PP to serve as the missing "magic offense" stat addresses all of the above (mages are better than warriors at casting, smoother growth) and even more. Since both equipment for +MaxPP and +PPrecovery exist, characters have to choose: High PP cost of mass healing will move healers towards PP Recovery, losing out on damage, while offensive casters will aim for maxPP as high as possible cause that translates directly into damage.

Healing (reviving djinn) and offense (drain) should never miss, but reviving at 100% health is way too good cause at some point it's just better to have a character die and revive than try healing them.

Endgame EPAs: if they were all about power it meant some would overshadow others, so i added a chance to debuff to the weaker ones. Also part of the Ailment overhaul.

Elemental power in vanilla was literally twice as effective for healing than how it was for offensive spells. It made things harder to balance, cause power boosting equipment is used by casters and healers equally, and even worse for classes who can do both. So i halved it. Plain and simple. Now an elemental power boost grants the same percentile improvement to both offensive and healing spells.

:Revive: Buffs, Debuffs & Ailments: Debuffs are now useful against bosses. ST Buffs/Debuffs have lower duration. Defense buff/debuff are stronger, Resistance ones are weaker.
Quote from: Buffs, Debuffs & AilmentsHaunt triggering rate is 40%. Characters wrapped in Delusion can't unleash and regular attacks miss more often. Death Curse's countdown starts at 4 instead of 7.

Resistance buffs and debuffs increase and decrease resistance by 15/30 instead of 20/40, and they cap at +-60 instead of +-80.
Defense buffs and debuffs are stronger: buffs go from x1,1875 to x1,75 (in 4 steps as usual).
Similarily, debuffs go from x0,8125 to x0,25.

Stronger (djinn and single target) buffs/debuffs have lower duration (5 turns vs 7) and base infliction rate than weaker buffs/debuffs (usually found on MT psynergies). Ailment infliction rate and ailment recovery chance aren't dependant on elemental level anymore.

Luck equal or higher than 40 grants immunity to stun and sleep (in addition to the usual immunities, which are unchanged).

New formulas:
Ailment/Debuff Infliction chance: [(Caster's_Level/4 - Target's_Luck/2)*3 + Base_chance + Ailment_Bonuses + Vulnerability's_25]*Area_multiplier
Ailment Recovery Chance: Luck - Level/2 - Turns*5 + Base_chance
Quote from: Debuff Rates
Debuff              Base Activ. Chance        Base Recovery Chance

Drop attack         90%, 125%, 75%*         10%
Drop defense        90%, 125%, 75%*         5%
Drop resistance     90%, 125%, 75%*         5%
Poison              70%, 45%**             
Venom               65%, 40%**             
Delusion            70%, 50%**              30%
Stun                60%, 40%**              50%
Sleep               45%                     40%
Seal                55%, 100%***            30%
Haunt               60%, 40%**     
Death               20%, 5%**     
Death Curse         60%, 75%**     
HP to 1             30%         
Ignore Defense      85%     
Force target OOB    40%         
Skip a turn         115%, 130%****

*    = Single Target Psynergy (2 tiers), Multi Target Psynergy (1 tier), Damaging abilities (2 tiers)
**   = Non damaging move, Damaging move
***  = Psynergy, Djinn
**** = Djinn, Ulysses

Quote from: ReasoningBuffs were imbalanced, with defense being easily the worst. True, attack and defense buffs gave the same percentile increase but everyone's attack stat is usually around twice their defense if not higher. An attack buff and a defense buff will never cancel each other out cause the attack gained is much higher. So now defense buffs are stronger.

Resistance buffs were too good instead, especially when compared to defense buffs so they got lowered. Also remember that ele Res also reduces physical damage taken as long as it's elemental, while defense buffs will never reduce "magical" damage.

Ailment overhaul: Debuffs have various issues in vanilla that make them useless.
- Affliction and recovery rate being tied to elemental level and luck was a big downside. Neither grew with levels.
- They never worked on bosses due to high luck and high elemental levels and there was nothing you could do about it. Debuffs were simply a waste of slots on anyone's psynergy set.
- A mechanic being tied to stuff that doesn't change with levels greatly limits design space. If an enemy overpowers you offensively the usual counter is leveling up some more and tackle it again with better defenses or change strategy or gear. If the same enemy's main strategy was to put you to sleep constantly and then kill you, leveling up wouldn't solve anything. It will take longer cause your defenses are better due to leveling up, but it'll still put you to sleep as easily as before and kill you in the end.

Result: elemental level outright replaced with caster's level and luck grows with levels. Digression: In order to make this viable i had to remove RNG from level growth or people could've manipulated the RNG to always grant luck at level up, which is bonkers. Free immunity for everyone to most statuses due to 40 Luck being very easy to reach.

Ailment stat on equipment expands character's options greatly cause you can now build a dedicated debuffer. Also having weaker EPAs debuffs both avoids redundancy with stronger ones and makes warrior builds less one-dimensional, since they usually gear up for unleashes unlike mages, who get to pick element boosts (which ones), maxPP vs PP recovery, and now even unleashes themselves.

Stronger buff and debuffs last less: because they needed a downside or the multi target weaker ones, that also cost more, would be completely useless. For buffs, think of attack. Most likely scenario is that you have one or two warriors in the current party dedicated to attacking, so why cast an attack buff on everyone when 3/4 of the targets are never gonna use it instead of casting a stronger buff (again, that costs less) on the best available target? So High Impact's role now is to reset the turn counter with a longer duration, decreasing the times you need to recast the buff to keep it up. For enemies and debuffs it's even simpler: 95% of bosses are alone. so MT debuffs are weaker as usual, but have an higher infliction chance and last longer: remember that the recovery chance from a debuff is directly tied to the turns remaining for the debuff to disappear naturally.

I think that stunning or sleeping bosses can only be either OP or irrelevant in this game (no middle ground) so i'm getting rid of them. It's mainly debuffs that got in. Passive damage like Poison, Venom and Haunt also would be way too good and encourage a fully defensive playstyle or force me to waste attack slots on the boss for status healing, so those immunities remain as well.

:djinn: Djinn & Summons: Summon rushing isn't possible anymore, summons have been rebalanced. Most Djinn have improved, the strongest ones were nerfed. Djinn grant less HP. Chill and Mud's encounters swapped.
Quote from: Djinn & SummonsSummons' HP% Damage nerfed from 3% per Djinn to 2%~2.5% per Djinn. Ratio starts growing from 5+ Djinn summons onwards.

Summons Base power is 35-70-130-220 for the standard 4, Zagan 60, Megaera 65, Flora 120, Moloch 125, Ulysses 210, Eclipse 300, Haures 310, Coatlicue 400, Dedalus 140+340, Azul 500, Catastrophe 520, Charon 580, Iris 750.

Flora decreases Resistance instead of inflicting Sleep.

Summons that require more than 2 djinn won't appear right at the start of a battle. After the first turn, 3-djinn summons become available; after the second, 4-djinn summons become available and so on, with Iris available after the 6th turn has passed (6 and 7 djinn summons are unlocked in the same turn).

Catastrophe requires 7 djinn to be summoned (5 Ju, 2 Me), Charon 8 (6 Ve, 2 Ju) and Iris 10 (6 Ma, 4 Me).

Mud is now found in the wild south of Naribwe, where Chill used to be. Conversely, Chill is now in Gabomba Catacombs, in Mud's place.

HP gained from Djinn more or less halved (moved to characters as explained above).

Reflux is multi-target. Shade and Flash reduce damage respectively by 50% and 66% instead of 60% and 90%. Vine, Mud, Gasp and Fury deal base damage. Ember restores 10% of PP, Ether 35% and Aroma 12,5%. Balm and Spark revive to 50% HP instead of 60%. Crystal heals 60% of HP.
Quote from: ReasoningSummon rushing is what made every boss in the game a joke. A strategy that involves setting all of your djinn in standby before battle (thus ready to be summoned immediately), unleash a barrage of summons at turns 0 and 1 and win the battle on the spot, effectively nullifying the penalty from having djinn on standby and/or recovery, which is worse classes and stats.

By turn-gating the strongest summons I want to make this strategy completely unviable, cause you'll simply not live long enough to see them if the enemy has a few turns to attack your characters with much lower stats and without key psynergies for survival due to having most djinn on standby.

Lacked Res debuff on summons, Flora was the perfect candidate: only low tier summon that inflicted ailments instead of debuffs & -Res is a typical Jupiter effect.

Other changes are just to balance the power levels of summons and djinn. As usual, buffs to what was bad in vanilla (Reflux) and nerfs to what was too good instead (Flash being the greatest offender).

Chill and Mud's locations have been swapped because when Piers joins (which is after Chill and before Mud) you end up with 5 Mercury djinn and 2 Venus djinn. With this change you now end up with 4 Me and 3 Ve which is much more manageable.

:Alex: Enemies: Stronger in general. New enemies and new enemy abilities added. Full overhaul in TLA, with more enemies per battle on average.
Quote from: EnemiesEvery enemy has higher stats and those that uses psynergy have maxPP equal to their levelx5 (if it isn't already higher) so they can benefit from the PP Multiplier. For some enemies (especially in TLA), the element they're weak to got changed.

In TLA enemies and enemy groups have been completely revamped from start to end.

For some enemies (especially in TLA), the element they're weak to got changed.

Treasure Isle overworld area now has enemies from the Eastern Sea lands. The Northern Reaches overworld area has a completely new set of enemies.

Enemies use Break less frequently.
Quote from: ReasoningStat wise, the difficulty for both games is more or less vanilla TLA hard mode. Please note that vanilla TLA is MUCH easier than vanilla GS: many enemies were copy pasted from GS into an area in TLA where your characters have a higher level than they had in GS.

Changes to weaknesses: the numbers were unbalanced. Too many enemies weak to Jupiter and Mars and too few weak to Mercury and Venus.

Treasure Isle overworld had enemies from the western seas in vanilla despite being in the eastern sea. I simply dunno why it was like that, it didn't make sense to me to have a single area immediately accessible where enemies are 10 levels stronger than everywhere else.

Northern Reaches had the opposite issue instead: it's accessible only very late into the game but reuses enemies from an earlier portion of the game. So I made new stronger ones and confined them there.

Break's role is to punish those who go overboard with buffing. So it should still be used but not so much that it discourages buffing altogether.

:Sell: Drops: Notable drops that changed from the original version. Forgeable materials are dropped earlier. Remember to follow the RNG guide doc linked at the top instead of simply reusing move sequences tested for vanilla.
Quote from: Drops
Sea Dragon (Lv 24)       -> Tear Stone         1/64
Mad Plant (Lv 25)        -> Herbed Shirt       1/1
Living Armor (Lv 25)     -> Star Dust          1/64
Cerberus (Lv 26)         -> Virtuous Armlet*   1/64
Harridan (Lv 27)         -> Sylph Feather*     1/64
Minotaur (Lv 27)         -> Vial**             1/32
Chimera Mage (Lv 27)     -> Crystal Rod*       1/128
Magicore (Lv 28)         -> Mystery Gloves*    1/128

Turtle Dragon (Lv 28)    -> Storm Gear         1/128
Slayer (Lv 29)           -> Lucky Medal        1/64
Wyvern (Lv 31)           -> Dragon Scales      1/128
Blue Dragon (Lv 32)      -> Dragon Skin        1/64
Ghost Soldier (Lv 32)    -> Gloria Helm        1/64
Grand Golem (Lv 32)      -> Golem Core*        1/64
Wise Gryphon (Lv 33)     -> Aeolian Cassock    1/128
Hell Chimera (Lv 33)     -> Knight's Greaves   1/128
Karst                    -> Salamander Tail    1/1

Mini Death (Lv 34)       -> Salamander Tail    1/64
Minos Warrior (Lv 35)    -> Casual Shirt       1/128
Devil Frog (Lv 35)       -> Divine Camisole    1/128
Aka Manah (Lv 35)        -> Ninja Sandals      1/128

Gillman Lord (Lv 36)     -> Caladbolg          1/256
Ocean Dragon (Lv 36)     -> Clotho's Distaff   1/256
Pyrodra (Lv 36)          -> Triton Ward        1/128
Puppet Warrior (Lv 36)   -> Silver Greaves     1/128
Star Magician            -> Iridial Ring       1/1

Nue (Lv 37)              -> Alecto's Mace      1/128
Balrog                   -> Sol Ring           1/1

Bane Wight (Lv 38)       -> Dark Robe          1/256
Estre Baron (Lv 38)      -> Rising Mace        1/256
Sentinel                 -> Luna Ring          1/1

Mad Demon (Lv 40)        -> Ker's Weight       1/256
Aeshma (Lv 40)           -> Lachesis' Rule     1/256
Spirit Army (Lv 40)      -> Selene's Bracelet  1/256
Dullahan                 -> Mind Ribbon        1/1




*TLA Only. Also Earth Golems don't drop Giant Axe anymore in TLA.
**Removed Tartarus Axe cause it's now found in a chest, see Treasures section.

:Artifact:  Treasures & Shops: Items swapped for various reasons and notable shop changes (TLA Only)
Quote from: Treasures & ShopsKibombo
  Shop sells Staff of Anubis
  Removed from shop Frost Wand

Western Sea
  Rusty Mace (Hagbone Mace) -> Tear Stone

Champa
  Shop sells Cocktail Dress
  Removed from shop Demonic Staff, Blessed Robe

Izumo
  Shop sells Grievous Mace, Assassin Blade
  Removed from shop Shamshir, Ninja Blade

Apojii Islands
  Removed from shop Dragon Axe

Taopo Swamp
  Tear Stone -> Star Dust

Aqua Rock
  Tear Stone -> Star Dust
 
Ankhol Ruins
  Thanatos Mace -> Tartarus Axe
 
Lemuria
  Rusty Sword (Corsair's Edge) -> Rusty Sword (Pirate's Sabre)
  Star Dust -> Sylph Feather

Eastern Sea
  Rusty Sword (Pirate's Sabre) -> Lucky Medal

Gondowan Settlement
  Star Dust -> Dragon Skin

Shaman Village
  Shop sells Zodiac Wand
  Removed from shop Crystal Rod, Silver Blade, Magical Cassock
  (Crystal Rod can be dropped in TLA)

Atteka Inlet
  Vial -> Golem Core
  Orihalcon -> Mythril (Hammet reward)

Contigo
  Bramble Seed -> Golem Core
  Shops sell Kikuichimonji, Mythril Circlet
  Removed from shops Swift Sword, Righteous Mace, Mirrored Shield, Jeweled Crown
 
Jupiter Lighthouse
  Phaeton Blade -> Sidereal Edge

Loho
  Golem Core -> Mythril
 
Prox
  Dark Matter -> Mythril
  Shop sells Viking Axe
 
Trial Road
  Elixir -> Hagbone Mace

Treasure Isle
  Rusty Axe (Viking Axe) -> Thanatos Mace
  Star Dust -> Dragon Skin
  Firebrand -> Dark Matter
 
Yampi Desert Cave
  Myhtril -> Dark Matter
  Dark Matter -> Firebrand

Anemos Sanctum
  Dragon Skin -> Golem Core (before Teleport)
  Orihalcon -> Phaeton Blade


:speech: Tech Tips & FAQ :speech:

:!: Tech tips: What to do when experiencing a crash or a freeze
Quote from: TechIf you encounter freezes, crashes or other technical oddities, please try patching a different clean rom or try a different emulator before reporting.
The emulator I use is VBA-M 1.8.0 SVN1243.
Always include details about the emulator where you experienced the crash or freeze in reports and if the same happens in VBA as well.

:?: Frequently Asked Questions:
Quote from: FAQTBS = Golden Sun, TLA = Golden Sun: The Lost Age. TBS comes from "The Broken Seal", unofficial translation of the Japanese title of the first Golden Sun game.

Q: How do I apply the patches?
A: LunarIPS is the tool for the english versions. Italian patches come with their own tool instead. English patches must be patched to english roms and Italian ones to italian roms. Always patch only vanilla roms, even if you want to update your Reloaded rom with a newer release. Delete the current rom and patch again the vanilla one.

Q: How do I tell if the rom has been patched?
A: The psynergy Move is Earth instead of Fire.

Q: At which difficulty is you're supposed to do a TLA playthrough to enjoy the mod?
A: Normal. TLA's Hard mode multipliers would be applied ON TOP of the already higher stats. Do that at your own risk, if you're in for the challenge. I haven't tested that.

Q: Do i need to start a new game to play the mod?
A: If you're coming from vanilla, yes. You should start from TBS and move to TLA with data transfer, either password or link. Main reason is that i've changed stat growth for characters, especially the Luck stat, which doesn't grow at all in the vanilla game. Your characters need to level up in Reloaded all the way from Lv1.

Q: I am in the mid of my Reloaded playthrough and the mod got an update. Can I continue on the new version?
A: Unless the notes on a the new release states otherwise, yes, you can always switch to the newest release an continue as if nothing happened. Remember that you must always apply patches to a vanilla rom though.

Q: Does password transfer from TBS work?
A: Almost flawlessly. The only thing that isn't carried over is the amount of Mountain water. It will always transfer only 1 for each character that has it.

Q: Is there a faster method than typing a Gold Password by hand?
A: You bet there is. Download the Golden Sun Passwords tool. It can save your passwords in memory format, which can be imported into any emulator that has a "Memory Viewer/Editor" function. Read the txt that comes with the program for the actual method. Please DO NOT reply to this thread for issues with this method because it has nothing to do with the mod. Make a new thread or reply to an existing one about this specific matter.

Q: Which items should i transfer from TBS to TLA?
A: Setting the obvious Psynergy granting items aside, most endgame gear from TBS is on par with the stuff that the TLA team is wearing at the time they join (unlike vanilla), so definitively bring those. Also, here's a list of items that can't be obtained in TLA unless transferred (unique effects & missable endgame gear bolded):
Quote from: ItemsArctic Blade
Asura's Armor
Aura Gloves
Bandit's Sword
Blessed Mace
Cell Key
Cleric's Ring (Angel's Ring in Reloaded)
Demon Axe
Demon Mail

Dragon Shield
Elven Rapier
Elven Shirt
Fairy Ring
Feathered Robe
Fur Coat
Gaia Blade
Hermes Water/Empty Bottle
Lucky Cap
Lure Hat
Muramasa
Mystery Blade
Ninja Garb (Black Garb in Reloaded)
Oracle's Robe (Princess Robe in Reloaded)
China/Sanan Dress (Cheongsam in Reloaded)
Spiked Armor
Thunder Crown

Vambrace
Vulcan Axe
Warrior's Helm
Water Jacket
Wicked Mace

javi3

muchas gracias! con ganas de esta actualización. feliz navidad!

Caledor

First release of Golden Sun Reloaded IS UP!

Merry Christmas everyone!

VardenSalad

For the love of god, make a changelog. I know that like, everything is changed, but, I also have no real way of making sure that everything is changed the way you want it to be changed.

Like the time Sheba's psynergy hit for summon power. Or resistance power text changes. Or free high levels drops on birds.
Never forget why you started playing.

Caledor

Oops forgot to link it.

THIS is the most detailed list of changes from The Balance Age. It's a bit outdated though, so you have to include:


  • Light Blades boost Defense
  • Treasure rearrangement in TLA
  • Enemy changes in TLA

Sadly i don't think i kept a detailed list of treasures rearranged, but the "Equipment's Golden Rule" is enough to tell if something isn't where it should be.

VardenSalad

Lemme know whenever you've put out a version you think it's worth doing a full playtest of.
Never forget why you started playing.

Caledor

This one. Technically all that's left to do is to remove the RNG factor from leveling. Aside from that and bugfixes I can't really see myself making further improvements to this mod after 2 years

Also, happy new year :D

VardenSalad

Alright, that sounds like a green light for me and anyone else who was waiting to do a full feedback run-through. Look for the beginning of it in the next week or two, no promises.

If it's anything like the playthrough I did forever ago, expect complaints about sheba having the durability of wet napkins and djinn battles directly assaulting the well-being of the player with their difficulty and damage.
Never forget why you started playing.

Caledor

#8
I haven't tested anything myself but my opinion is that both issues are related only to the earliest part of the game... i'd say till level 10 at most. After that point you have already enough versatility to face almost anything that comes at you.

About Sheba, i don't remember when you did your last playthrough but since TBA's v1.34 she has the best "Magic Resistance" stat in her base class, reducing all base damage taken by 15%.

dive_darkness

I don't know if I'll play your hack. I'm getting tired of playing GS. I cleared the games a good 15 times now. Did you correct the Caladbolg ? I remember that it was a pretty bad weapon in Balance Age compared to when you could find it.

Caledor

@Caladbolg: I remember you telling me about it and i remember making some changes but not the details: it's been 6 months after all.

Seestern

#11
Im currently playing the updated mod and enjoy  it so far :)
Just got access to the ship and my first destination in the eastern sea is yallam.
The most notable experiences so far for me:
- the beginning of Osenia was hard. fast and hard hitting enemy encounters on the overwold and yampi desert were a little nightmarish to deal with. Even Felix just  barely survived 2 attacks. My paranoia to encounter 3 Emus was real xD
- the Kibombo mountains were intereting as i was not used to seeing  the pixie survive a turn of multitargeted psyenergy. There was always a chance to get wiped out because of the sleep spell(pixies)and sleep bomb(assasins) and not beeing able to deal with more than 1 pixie in a turn was problematic as i did not have mutltitarget healing availible yet and their multitarget psynergy drained more health than I can heal which woulldnt be such a problem if they didnt have resist. Oh boy the encounter with 3 pixies...
-The Gabomba Statue was less problematic  now that  I have a full party, but to be fair I didnt encouter a group with more than 1 demon
- love that the staff of anubis is now purchable in the shops in Kibombo
- now in Yallam with a full lvl 20 party and ready to explore the swamps, foolish enough to believe that the swamps were the easiest part of the eastern sea... and my first encounter after leaving Yallam was this group of enemys:
Gillmann
Nightmare
Sea turtle
Well wasnt expecting that! XD

Caledor

Glad you're enjoying it!

Also thanks a lot for your feedback, it will be useful for when i'll be doing my own playthrough. ;)


Seestern

Hmm I have trouble changing in Tri-elemental Classes. Felix with 3 :MarsStar: 3 :JupiterStar: should be a Shinobi right? But he stays as a Ruffian!?

Caledor

You are correct, and I already know why that happens, but sadly I can't work on a fix today. Thanks a lot for reporting and sorry about that, it's due to a very stupid mistake of mine.

Caledor

Class bug fixed, patches have been updated!
Again, sorry for the inconvenient.

Seestern


javi3

gracias caledor estoy jugando ahora mismo al 1 , afecta algo este parche?

Caledor

@Seestern: thank you for reporting!
@javi: both games were bugged so yeah, download the new patch, apply it on a clean rom, and keep playing as if nothing happened.

VardenSalad

The first post in a very long journey I'm sure, but I can say that Sol Sanctum proved exactly the amount of challenge it should. I can't tell if I rolled high with the number of enemies I faced, but they're simple and weak monsters, so area psynergy did its job just fine.

This start doesn't tell me anything about the patch but it feels good to be playing again.
Never forget why you started playing.