News:

The forum has been updated to SMF (2.1.3)!
Please be patient as we work to polish up the place and update features as we can.

Main Menu

Suggested Weapon Variabilities

Started by Rolina, 30, January, 2010, 01:27:06 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Rolina

Of Weapons and Weapon Variability

Weapons should be more than just something with an attack stat that you use to hit things with.  Rather, they need to be varied and have pros and cons.  This post is in an attempt to not only add variety between the weapon categories (such as Blades vs Axes), but within the weapon sub-types as well (such as Blades vs Katanas).  This includes things such as statistical variances, as well as differences in terms of unleashes.

In all, there are 3 Sub-Types for every Main Type - The Primary, Secondary, and Cursed subtype varieties.

Also note that I've tweaked the names of some of the builds.  The list of which build has access to which weapons is as follows:

Warrior: Axes, Swords, Maces, Blades
Fighter: Spears, Swords, Blades, Bows
Striker: Scythes, Swords, Blades, Maces
Spellsword: Blades, Bows, Staffs
Hexer: Maces, Scythes, Staffs
Magus: Maces, Ankhs, Staffs



Axes
Axes are the signature weapon of the brutish warrior.  They specialize in raw brute strength, and their unleashes tend to cripple enemy stats.  Axes are the strongest of all weapons, and the most damage will be done with him in hand.  However, swinging an axe tends to leave the user open to attack, and as a result axe users have lower defense.  All axes can only strike a single target with their unleash, regardless of whether the unleash is in it's Howling or Bestowed Form.  Axes are unique to Warriors.

Primary:  Single Bladed Axe (Axe)
Attack:  120% Base Attack
Defense: -20% Base Attack
Warding: -10% Base Attack
100 Check:  120 Attack, -20 Defense, -10 Warding
Base Unleash Rate: 10
Unleashes:  Unleashes for Axes tend to lower the enemy's offensive stats - crushing a single target's Attack, Spellcasting, or Agility stats by 25%.

Secondary:  Double Bladed Axe (Broad Axe)
Attack:  120% Base Attack
Defense: -30% Base Attack
100 Check:  120 Attack, -30 Defense
Base Unleash Rate: 10
Unleashes:  Unleashes for Broad Axes tend to lower the enemy's defensive stats - crushing a single target's Defense, Warding, or Agility stats by 25%

Cursed:  Cursed Axe
Attack:  120% Base Attack
Defense:  -15% Base Attack
Warding:  -15% Base Attack
Cursed Power:  Positive Stat Gains +15%
Cursed Resilience:  Negative Stat Gains -25%
100 Check:  138 Attack, -11 Defense, -11 Warding
Base Unleash Rate: 10
Unleashes:  Cursed Axes have powerful unleash effects, and either attempt to drop one stat twice, or try to drop two stats.  A foe's Attack, Defense, Spellcasting, Warding, or Agility can be crushed to 25%.  (example:  Black Crusher has a chance to drop a foe's Attack and Defense by 25%.  Both drops are checked separately.  Frightful Axe has a chance to drop a foe's Warding by 25% two times, therefore possibly dropping it by 50% in one unleash)



Pole Arms
One of the most common weapon types seen on the battle field, pole arms offer both range and attack power to their wielder.  The length of the weapon allows for its user to strike multiple foes, and the piercing nature of the weapons are able to strike through enemy defenses with ease.  All Pole Arm unleashes have extended range in their bestowed variation, and they all involve some type of piercing nature to them.  Pole Arms are unique to the Fighter build.

Primary:  Piercing Weapons (Spears)
Attack:  110% Base Attack
Defense:  -5% Base Attack
Agility:  -10% Base Attack
100 Check:  110 Attack, -5 Defense, -10 Agility
Base Unleash Rate: 10
Unleashes:  Spears tend to pierce through an enemy's defense in addition to the additional damage it'd deal.  This defense piercing can range from as low as ignoring 10% of an enemy's defense, to as high as 60%.

Secondary:  Discharge Weapons (Lances)
Attack:  110% Base Attack
Warding:  -5% Base Attack
Agility:  -10% Base Attack
100 Check:  110 Attack, -5 Warding, -10 Agility
Base Unleash Rate: 10
Unleashes:  Lances discharge elemental energy at the foe, dealing physical damage with the chance of inflicting an ailment.  The most common ailments include Stun, Poison, Sap, though rarely one might find instant death.  They still pierce defense, but only with about 60% the efficiency of a Spear (if a spear would have pierced 60% defense, then a comparable lance would pierce ~35% defense and have a chance for an ailment).

Cursed:  Cursed Poles
Attack:  110% Base Attack
Warding:  -5% Base Attack
Defense:  -5% Base Attack
Agility:  -5% Base Attack
Cursed Power:  Positive Stat Gains +15%
Cursed Resilience:  Negative Stat Gains -25%
100 Check:  126 Attack, -4 Defense, -4 Warding, -4 Agility
Base Unleash Rate: 10
Unleashes:  Depending on if the cursed weapon is a spear or a lance in design, it can have either a defense piercing attack, or an ailment inducing attack.  However, the piercing range for cursed weapons ranges from 20% at the low end, to 75% at the high end.  For discharge types, ailments such as stun will have a higher rate of infliction, while poison and sap will instead be upgraded to their stronger forms of Venom and Blight.  If it inflict death, it also has a chance to inflict countdown as well.



Swords
Swords are the most iconic of all weapons.  While they may not be the most powerful, they are the standard by which all other weapons are judged.  This is mainly due to their nature as highly versatile weapons.  They have the greatest variety in terms of unleashes, and also have a slightly higher rate of unleashing as well.  It is not uncommon for a Sword's Howling Unleash to be notably different than it's Bestowed Unleash.  They are usable by Warriors, Fighters, and Strikers alike.

Primary:  Straight Sword (Longsword)
Attack:  100% Base Attack
100 Check:  100 Attack
Base Unleash Rate: 15
Unleashes:  Longswords tend to have the following types in their unleash pools - seal, sleep, sap, spellcasting reduction, warding reduction, agility reduction, psy drain, raw damage, priority attack.

Secondary:  Curved Sword (Scimitar)
Attack:  100% Base Attack
100 Check:  100 Attack
Base Unleash Rate: 15
Unleashes:  Scimitars tend to have the following types in their unleash pools - stun, delude, poison, attack reduction, defense reduction, agility reduction, health drain, raw damage, priority attack.

Cursed:  Cursed Swords
Attack:  100% Base Attack
Cursed Power:  Positive Stat Gains +15%
Cursed Resilience:  Negative Stat Gains -25%
100 Check:  115 Attack
Base Unleash Rate: 15
Unleashes:  Cursed Swords tend to have the following types in their unleash pools - countdown, haunt, venom, blight, all statistical debuffs, raw damage, priority attack.  As usual, cursed weapons that inflict debuffs either have a chance to debuff two stats, or a chance to debuff one stat twice.



Blades
Light and easy to use, blades are made for quick strikes and the ability to get in and out when needed.  Blades tend to emphasize speed, even when it comes to their unleashes.  They're the only weapons to have unleashes with a higher priority than barrier moves, thus being able to strike before a barrier is raised.  However, due to their need for precise strikes, unleashes only ever strike a single foe.  Blades can be used by Fighters, Strikers, and Spellswords.

Primary:  Light Blades
Attack:  90% Base Attack
Agility: 20% Base Attack
100 Check:  90 Attack, 20 Agility
Base Unleash Rate: 10
Unleashes:  Light Blades tend to have skills designed around hitting quickly.  This includes strikes that hit multiple times (May deal 1.25x damage, may deal 1x, 1.3x, or 1.7x damage, etc), attacks which lower agility, as well as attacks with a slightly higher priority.

Secondary:  Katanas
Attack:  90% Base Attack
Agility: 20% Base Attack
100 Check:  90 Attack, 20 Agility
Base Unleash Rate: 10
Unleashes:  Katana unleashes are lightning quick and are designed to overcome defenses.  They have skills such as perfect priority, defense piercing (from 10%-40%, usually accompanied by a slight increase in priority), as well as barrier subverting (if the foe has a barrier up, damage is increased by half of the barrier's protective power, rather than reduced).

Cursed:  Fell Blades
Attack:  90% Base Attack
Agility: 20% Base Attack
Cursed Power:  Positive Stat Gains +15%
Cursed Resilience:  Negative Stat Gains -25%
100 Check:  103 Attack, 23 Agility
Base Unleash Rate: 10
Unleashes:  Fell Blades may have either of the unleash styles of the light blades or katanas.  However, the following is different - rather than inflict agility down twice, an additional chance of the countown ailment is added.  Furthermore, some Fell Blades may be able to inflict instant KO with a higher priority.



Maces
Maces are designed to have a great impact as well as being able to support spell casting.  In addition, the power of their unleashes tends to be proportionally higher than that of other weapons.  It is common to see them with unleashes designed either to assist in ally spellcasting, or to weaken the spellcasting ability of the enemy.  Maces can be used by Warriors, Strikers, Hexers, and Magi.

Primary:  Maces
Attack:  90% Base Attack
Max PP:  15% Base Attack
Warding:  5% Base Attack
100 Check:  90 Attack, +15 Max PP, 5 Warding
Base Unleash Rate:  10
Unleashes:  Maces tend to go after caster defense, lowering Elemental Resistance, Warding, absorbing damage as PP, and inflict psy seal.  Also, rather than the usual 35% added damage/base attack ratio, maces have a 45% added damage/base attack ratio.

Secondary:  Hammers
Attack:  90% Base Attack
Max PP:  5% Base Attack
Warding:  15% Base Attack
100 Check:  90 Attack, +5 Max PP, 15 Warding
Base Unleash Rate:  10
Unleashes:  Hammers tend to go after caster offense, lowering Elemental Power, Spellcasting, damage target PP, and inflict psy seal.  Also, rather than the usual 35% added damage/base attack ratio, maces have a 45% added damage/base attack ratio.

Cursed: Cursed Maces
Attack:  90% Base Attack
Max PP:  10% Base Attack
Warding:  10% Base Attack
Cursed Power:  Positive Stat Gains +15%
Cursed Resilience:  Negative Stat Gains -25%
100 Check:  103 Attack, +11 Max PP, 11 Warding
Base Unleash Rate:  10
Unleashes:  Cursed Maces can lower Elemental Resistance, Elemental Power, Spellcasting Warding, damage target PP, and inflict guaranteed seal.  Also, rather than the usual 45% added damage/base attack ratio for cursed weapons, cursed maces have a 55% added damage/base attack ratio.



Scythes
Scythes are among the most intimidating of weapons, as they are iconic of the grim reaper.  While they may be unorthodox, scythes are also among the best weapons by which to inflict ailments, given their longer then usual blades and greater reach.  Scythes are also one of the rare weapon types able to unleash in either a physical or spellcasting style of attack.  Most scythe unleashes have extended range when the Bestowed Unleash is used.  They also have the distinction of being the only weapon type with access to every ailment and debuff in the game.  Scythes are only usable by Strikers and Hexers.

Primary:  Physical Unleashes (War Scythes)
Attack:  80% Base Attack
Defense:  20% Base Attack
Warding:  10% Base Attack
100 Check:  80 Attack, 20 Defense, 10 Warding
Base Unleash Rate:  10
Unleashes:  War Scythes deal physical damage with their unleashes (EPAs).  They can inflict any ailment or debuff, with the sole exception of ailments unique to djinn (such as Ground's effect).  In addition, they can inflict it with an increased chance of success compared to a standard added effect.

Secondary:  Spell Type Unleashes (Hex Scythes)
Attack:  80% Base Attack
Spellcasting:  20% Base Attack
Warding:  10% Base Attack
100 Check:  80 Attack, 20 Spellcasting, 10 Warding
Base Unleash Rate:  10
Unleashes:  Hex Scythes deal raw elemental damage with their unleashes (FPAs).  They can inflict any ailment or debuff, with the sole exception of ailments unique to djinn (such as Ground's effect).  In addition, they can inflict it with an increased chance of success compared to a standard added effect.

Cursed:  Reaper Scythes
Attack:  80% Base Attack
Defense:  10% Base Attack
Spellcasting: 10% Base Attack
Warding:  10% Base Attack
Cursed Power:  Positive Stat Gains +15%
Cursed Resilience:  Negative Stat Gains -25%
100 Check:  92 Attack, 11 Defense, 11 Spellcasting, 11 Warding
Base Unleash Rate:  10
Unleashes:  Reaper Scythes can dish out either EPAs or FPAs.  They can inflict any ailment or debuff, with the sole exception of ailments unique to djinn (such as Ground's effect).  In addition, they can inflict it with the same chance of success that effect-only type spells have.  Unlike most cursed weapons, though, Reaper Scythes do not get two checks for debuffs.



Bows
Bows are feared for their great range, and with good reason.  Bows are the only weapons that can strike a range of 3 with their Howling Unleash, and a range of 5 with their Bestowed Unleash.  Furthermore, they're the only weapon types that have a Moderate AoE instead of a Weak AoE.  This makes them quite the formidable weapon, even though they have lower attack power compared to other weapons.  In addition, they're one of the only two weapon types that can inflict either physical or spell-type damage with their unleash.  Bows can be used by Fighters and Spellswords.

Primary:  Physical Unleash (Great Bow)
Attack:  70% Base Attack
Spellcasting: 40% Base Attack
Agility:  20% Base Attack
100 Check:  70 Attack, 40 Spellcasting, 20 Agility
Base Unleash Rate:  10
Unleashes:  Unleashes are Physical (EPAs).  Unleashes benefit from a great range and AoE strength, able to strike in a range greater than any learnable EPA.  In addition, Great Bows are able to reduce the Attack, Defense, or Agility of their targets.

Secondary:  Spell-Type Unleash (Magic Bow)
Attack:  70% Base Attack
Spellcasting: 40% Base Attack
Agility:  20% Base Attack
100 Check:  70 Attack, 40 Spellcasting, 20 Agility
Base Unleash Rate:  10
Unleashes:  Unleashes are Raw Elemental (FPAs).  Unleashes benefit from a great range and AoE strength, able to strike in a range greater than any learnable EPA.  In addition, Magic Bows are able to reduce the Spellcasting, Warding, or Elemental Resist of their targets.

Cursed:  Cursed Bow
Attack:  70% Base Attack
Spellcasting: 40% Base Attack
Agility:  20% Base Attack
Cursed Power:  Positive Stat Gains +15%
Cursed Resilience:  Negative Stat Gains -25%
100 Check:  80 Attack, 46 Spellcasting, 23 Agility
Base Unleash Rate:  10
Unleashes:  Unleashes are either EPAs or FPAs.  Unleashes benefit from a great range and AoE strength, able to strike in a range greater than any learnable EPA.  In addition, Great Bows may be able to induce Poison, Sap, or lower the elemental power of their targets.  Unlike most cursed weapons, Cursed Bows do not inflict Venom or Blight over their lesser counterparts, and do not have to chances to lower elemental power.



Staves
Staves (also spelled Staffs) are the iconic weapon of spellcasters.  They're also the only weapon type to have 4 sub-types instead of the usual 3.  Staves are designed to empower the wielder's spells rather than for attacking, giving little in the way of attack power and instead providing a nice boost to spellcasting instead.  Staves can be used by Spellswords, Hexers, and Magi.

Primary:  Staff
Attack:  50% Base Attack
Spellcasting: 70% Base Attack
100 Check:  50 Attack, 70 Spellcasting
Base Unleash Rate:  10
Unleashes:  All unleashes are FPAs.  Staves can inflict debuffs for Attack, Defense, Spellcasting, Warding, or Agility, or be focused on raw damage.

Secondary:  Rod
Attack:  50% Base Attack
Spellcasting: 60% Base Attack
Elemental Power:  +10 Power to unleash's element
100 Check:  50 Attack, 60 Spellcasting, +10 Power
Base Unleash Rate:  10
Unleashes:  All unleashes are FPAs.  Rods can inflict debuffs for Elemental Power or Elemental Resist, can inflict Psy Seal, can drain health or psynergy, or be focused on raw damage.

Tertiary:  Wand
Attack:  50% Base Attack
Spellcasting: 65% Base Attack
Agility: 10% Base Attack
100 Check:  50 Attack, 65 Spellcasting, 10 Agility
Base Unleash Rate:  10
Unleashes:  All unleashes are FPAs.  Wands can inflict most status ailments not associated with other staff types.

Cursed:  Cursed Staff
Attack:  50% Base Attack
Spellcasting: 65% Base Attack
Elemental Power: +5 to unleash's element (not affected by Cursed Power)
Agility: 5% Base Attack
Cursed Power:  Positive Stat Gains +15%
Cursed Resilience:  Negative Stat Gains -25%
100 Check:  57 Attack, 74 Spellcasting, 5 Agility,
Base Unleash Rate:  10
Unleashes:  All unleashes are FPAs.  Cursed Staves can do any of the above staff type unleashes.  Usual rules apply for cursed weapons (venom and blight instead of poison and sap, two checks for debuffs, etc).



Ankhs
Often overlooked, though often saught by healers, are Ankhs.  Ankhs are the only weapon type with a primary focus of defense and support rather than offense.  While most other weapons are made to do damage, Ankhs are made to reduce it.  They're the only weapon type to only have 2 sub-types as opposed to the usual 3, and can only be used by Magi.

Primary:  Ankh
Attack:  50% Base Attack
Spellcasting: 45% Base Attack
Warding:  30% Base Attack
Elemental Resist: +10 of unleash's element
100 Check:  50 Attack, 45 Spellcasting, 30 Warding, +10 Resist
Base Unleash Rate:  10
Unleashes:  All unleashes are FPAs.  Ankhs are able to absorb damage as health, absorb damage as psynergy, inflict psynergy seal, damage PP, and reduce spellcasting.

Cursed:  Heretical Ankh
Attack:  50% Base Attack
Spellcasting: 45% Base Attack
Warding:  30% Base Attack
Elemental Resist: +10 of unleash's element (unaffected by cursed power)
Cursed Power:  Positive Stat Gains +15%
Cursed Resilience:  Negative Stat Gains -25%
100 Check:  57 Attack, 51 Spellcasting, 34 Warding, +10 Resist
Base Unleash Rate:  10
Unleashes:  All unleashes are FPAs.  Ankhs are able to absorb damage as health, absorb damage as psynergy, inflict psynergy seal, damage PP, and reduce spellcasting.







Universal Notes
There are some things which apply to nearly all weapons, unless specific excpetions have been made. Here's a list of various things to keep in mind.
  • The rate at which unleashes (and all other EPAs and FPAs, for that matter) inflict debuffs is 50% of the rate that an effect only spell would (example:  If the chance to lower defense when casting Impair is 70%, then a Damage with a chance to lower defense on the same target would be 35%).
    • For Scythes, the chance to inflict debuffs is 75% the rate of an effect only spell instead.
  • The rate at which unleashes (and all other EPAs and FPAs) inflict ailments is 50% of the rate of an effect only spell (example:  If Paralyze has a 50% chance of working, then a damage with a chance for stun attack would have a 25% chance).
    • For Cursed Weapons and Scythes, the chance to inflict ailments is 75% the rate of an effect only spell instead.
    • For Cursed Scythes, the chance to inflict ailments is equal to that of an effect only spell.
  • The standard added damage that a weapon has is 35% of the weapon's base power.  So if the base power was 100, then the power of the unleash is Attack +35.
  • The standard added damage that a cursed weapon has is 45% of the weapon's base power.  So if the base power was 100, then the power of the unleash is Attack +45.
  • The effects of Cursed Power and Resilience are basically just additional statistical modifiers for the base power of a cursed weapon, raising positive stats higher and helping to negate the statistical drop of Axes and Pole Arms a bit.
  • The idea behind the higher stats and unleash power for cursed weapons is to make the 25% no action effect from a curse, as well as the bonded nature of the weapon, actually worth it.
  • Without the best ring for unleash rates, the max unleash rate is only 45% (50% for swords).  As such, those who choose to use a Cleric's Ring will have to also deal with a lower max unleash rate.
  • Sap and Blight are basically Poison and Venom, but for PP instead of HP.
  • Delusion is to be buffed so that it's a 33% reduction in the chance to hit for ALL abilities targeting an enemy- including psynergy, djinn, and summons.  Still does not affect skills that target the party.
  • Countdown is to be buffed so that the inflicted is KOed in 3 turns, rather than the original 7.
  • Haunt is to be buffed so that the effect triggers 50% of the time instead of 25%
  • Unleash Rates have been nerfed down to 10% as opposed to the original 35%
    • In addition, the max possible unleash rate, after building for unleashes, is 55 (60 for swords).
  • All artifact weapons have unleashes.  Weapons that do not have a "use as item" effect instead bestow either that unleash, a tweaked version of that unleash (ex:  Wider range), or an entirely different unleash to the user.  The unleash that is used when attacking is called the "Howling Unleash".  The unleash that is bestowed is called the "Bestowed Unleash".
    • Weapons that bestow different unleashes than that of their Howling Unleash tend to bestow weaker abilities, leaving the more powerful ones (such as Megiddo) to be Howling-only.  Such weapons are more common at end- and post-game levels.
  • These are GUIDELINES, not strict rules.  The only thing that should ever follow these strictly are generic weapons.  Artifacts are special, and unique.  They have additional quirks that help them to stand out a bit.  For example, a weapon called the "Defender Sword" could also have an additional boost to defense.  These extra boosts are not modified by a weapon's statistical trends at all.
    • The later in the game you get, the more varied weapons should be.  While they should still follow the general trend, they almost must be able to keep up with Tier 3 Added Damage at post game.  As such, it should be common to see things like the 70% power efficiency of the Fate Staves for special end-game weapons.
    • That being said, that does not mean weapons should be made with unleash styles that completely buck the trend of their weapon type.  Maces should always be more efficient than staves for example (Vajra Mace's Final Nemesis would be boosted to power +145 in this system)
  • As a whole, multiplier unleashes are to be nerfed to hell.  There should never be any unleash ever with a power of greater than 210%.  "May do double damage" is now "May do 150% damage", "May do 3x damage" is now "May do 175% damage", "May do 1x, 2x, or 3x damage" is now "May do 100%, 135%, or 170% damage", etc.
    • Note that you're still doing obscene amounts of damage with such attacks.  The difference here being that in conjunction with the nerfed unleash rate, at least this way you'll actually consider using the psynergy command.
  • For weapons that have a different Bestowed Unleash from their Howling Unleash, both unleashes are always the same element.  No exceptions.
  • For obvious reasons, Staffs and Ankhs cannot have non-elemental unleashes.
  • The "100 Check" you see is basically the stats of a weapon of this type with a Base Attack Strength of 100.  If it would have been attack +100 in the canon games, this is what it would be here.
    • Again, remember that this is before special artifact effects are added.  While most artifacts don't actually deviate, you will find the occasional one that does (ex:  the Gaia Blade, the Fate Staves, etc)


    "But Role!  There is no such thing as Spellcasting and Warding!"

    Wait, you actually saw this update?  Bah.  I'll get to fixing it to work with the original stats eventually... I guess.  If I have to am bugged about it by enough people.  Still, this gives you a ton of suggestions by which to mix things up.  You don't have to use them all, but you can most certainly try out and tweak a few of them.

    "But Role!  The formatting has big sizes!"

    Because I copypasted this from where it's actually being used, duh.

    "Where is that?"

    Not telling.  Find it on your own.

Rolina

Accidentally clicked the 'lock topic' option upon posting without realizing... no wonder I didn't get any replies.

Feel free to comment and suggest changes to the point distribution or descriptions, but if you're going to suggest a new weapon, you need to PM it to me.  We don't want to clutter this thread up, so to make sure I don't miss your weapon suggestion, PM it to me.  If I think it's good, I'll put it up on the first post so everyone can see it.  Also, armor will not be dealt with in this thread, nor will unleashes, so don't bother talking about it here.

Aile~♥

I personally gave Axes 140% Attack, -40% Defence. This results in axes doing MASSIVE DAMAGE! Sorry I couldn't resist.

As for Pole-Arms, I'd give them 120% Attack, -20% Agility. I personally prefer to only have one penalty/secondary stat, but that's just me I guess.

Actually, also what I did with Staves and Ankhs is gave the 40% to Elemental Power (for staves)/Elemental Resist (for Ankhs). Even with an endgame Base value of 200, you end up with only +80 to Power/Resist, making it possible, even easy, to cap if you use only base classes as well boosting armor, but if you use multi-elemental classes, you don't have that problem.
[sprite=16, 6, 0]:P[/sprite]

Lloyd: Easy as pie.
Genis: Sweet!
Presea: ...Sweetie pie...
Zelos: Let's not start on this again...

[spoiler=epic mindscrew][/spoiler]

Rolina

Well, the problem with elemental power is that it maxes out easy, and if it's overall elemental power, you'll have no room for artifact boosts outside of unleashes.  That's why I came up with spell power and resist.  That way, you'll be able to not have to worry about that.

Actually, that's close to my original version of axes and spears.  I separated Pole Arms to have a separate class of weapon for things like Pole Axes and Halberds.  However, when I speak of elemental power up above, I mean for a specific element.  So Mars Power is separate from Venus Power, for instance.  This is basically  for the same reason I don't want anything more than tertiary stats - the more boosts an item has, the less you can do with an artifact.

Aile~♥

For an artifact, here's what I usually give them: A nice, fancy, generally gimmicky Psynergy.

And for Staves and Ankhs, you have a few options: Higher Attack than most, a Defence boost, or higher Elemental Power for a specific element.
[sprite=16, 6, 0]:P[/sprite]

Lloyd: Easy as pie.
Genis: Sweet!
Presea: ...Sweetie pie...
Zelos: Let's not start on this again...

[spoiler=epic mindscrew][/spoiler]

Rolina

Well, artifact boots have to make sense.  For example, a Sword called 'Defender' could have an unleash that also lowers the enemy's attack, but this thread doesn't care about that.  It's all about the stats - and when you look at this Defender Sword, the stats have an additional Defense boost.  You have the Sylph Rapier, which, IIRC, boosts Jupiter power.  The Gaia Blade boosts Venus power.

Things like that make sense.  And that's what the free slots are for.

Aile~♥

Sylph Rapier does not boost wind power, but yes, they do have to make sense.
[sprite=16, 6, 0]:P[/sprite]

Lloyd: Easy as pie.
Genis: Sweet!
Presea: ...Sweetie pie...
Zelos: Let's not start on this again...

[spoiler=epic mindscrew][/spoiler]

Rolina

It doesn't?  *checks*

Huh, you're right... I could have sworn it did... but yeah, artifact boosts have to make sense, but you need room for them, too.

leaf

#8
Spell damage is broken, probably. The way it's implemented will probably end up being a percentage boost to the actual damage, as opposed to attack boosts which are basically just added damage. A boost that would cause them to balance out probably isn't exactly equal to 40% or 60% or whatever of the intended attack value, so you more or less need to leave it up in the air until we know how it will be implemented. If implemented well, it should end up evening out as long as it doesn't impact summons. What I really think will end up happening is that these weapons won't receive exactly "100%." Say... 60% Atk/20-30% spell power, or something like that, if spell power ends up being too good, although for now just leave it as is, since we don't even really know exactly how it's gonna be implemented yet.

And certain weapons could have more than 100%, such as hammers being 80% attack/30% PP, and maces being 70% attack/45% PP. Since maces/hammers are imo underpowered as they are, actually. The agility boosting equipment also seems underpowered. In general, if the stats aren't going directly toward boosting damage dealt or decreasing damage received, they should have a positive trade-off. I'd probably go with 90% attack/20% agility for light blades and 75% attack/40% agility for daggers.

edit: yay balance discussion something's actually happening here
[spoiler=quotes]
[9:00:50 PM] Randel Peltier: Ok...what did I do last night?
[9:01:19 PM] Kain: Something boring, repetitive, and lasted for about sixty seconds.
---
[10:45:08 AM] Salanewt: But yeah, the elemental phalluses are being... Stroked up by Saturos and co., and the energy will go towards... Mt. Muffin, where the Golden Climax will arise.
[7:28:42 PM] Salanewt: An added bonus is that Isaac and co. were trying to stop Saturos and co. because their beliefs state that Mt. Muffin should remain a virgin.
---
[9:54:21 PM] Randel Peltier: Guess the number in my head an you get to pick what I say. Number between 1-10
[9:54:28 PM] leaf: 11
[9:54:36 PM] Randel Peltier: @#$%!
---
[8:38:13 PM] Randel Peltier: Shes like this queen up on a pedastal that I have yet to court.
[8:38:29 PM] Kain: You've tried courting her.
[8:38:43 PM] leaf: and failed spectacularly
[8:38:44 PM] Randel Peltier: Ive tried...shes the best dating game ever.
---
[12:24:35 AM] Salanewt: I need to find a picture of a naked person to put on the Christmas tree next year.
---
[2:19:06 PM] Zeadra: wait... Rief's a guy???
---
[1:09:57 PM] Zeadra: well if you want to know if its a new effect or something weird, just check GS1, if side step is there maby it is the nimble dodge thing
[1:10:35 PM] Kioll: For once, you've contributed something useful.  o.O[/spoiler]

Rolina

Actually, go to the Formulas thread, making the Fulminous Spark series gave me an idea.

Rolina

Holy fhqwhgads, this is ooooold crap.  Anyone interested in me going over my current ideas for this?