Messages

1

Tournaments / Re: Shift Tourney 2: Week 1

« on: September 16, 2014, 05:14:40 AM »

Divinities

Yuna (Final Fantasy X) vs. GenocideHeart (Saga Frontier)

Demigods

Ness (Earthbound) vs. Kary (Final Fantasy) - Kary needs a 2HKO, which isn't unreasonable since Ness has to lower his defense to block paralysis. Ness needs Kary to 3HKO, or HP to roll, or Power Shields to count Kary's attack sequence as one attack, or Flash to status her on turn one (she's weak against Mind status; high Mdef, granted). Or even for us to allow EB PSI to be usable normally under FF1 Paralyze, as it is under EB Paralyze. I buy at least two of those. Kid's got this.

Heroes

Rune Walsh (Phantasy Star 4) vs. Gen (Saga Frontier) - The stat topic doesn't list any QUI modifier on the BloodChalice, and as an accessory it won't crowd out a PoweredSuit. If the idea is that it costs so much that he'd have to ditch the PoweredSuit, Gen has the option of dropping the ZeroSword instead and going with his unique event-given CometBlade. Or BabelCrumble, even. What am I missing here?

Basilio (Fire Emblem Awakening) vs. Ashley Winchester (Wild Arms 2)

2

Tournaments / Re: RPGDL 2014 Season 2 Finals

« on: July 15, 2014, 02:41:48 AM »

Data Mining

Bravely Default - Not played
Sands of Destruction - Not played
Luminous Arc - Not played
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII - Not played
Final Fantasy Dimensions - Not played
Romancing SaGa - Not played
Child of Light - Not played
Sword of Vermillion - Not played
Last Scenario - Played
Exit Fate - Played
Diablo II - Not played

Regrettably, I suspect that strict DL interpretations will essentially lock ninety percent of the LS/EF casts to "Attack". With that said, many FE characters aren't a whole lot better and I'm OK with them, so I don't think this calls for a pre-emptive rejection.

3

General Chat / Re: Random final fantasy poll!

« on: June 30, 2014, 01:00:18 AM »

Favorite FF game: FF6, probably
Least favorite FF game: FF2j, definitely
Favorite FF dungeon: Hrm. I guess I'll say the Imperial Magitek Research Facility.
Favorite main character: Zidane? I'm a sucker for comic relief, and will overlook his brief emo period due to the incredible music.
Least favorite FF dungeon: FF12's lighthouse. Just went on too long.
Favorite final boss: I guess Neo Exdeath. The individual, exploitable vulnerabilities for each part (and the dummy targets) are nifty.
Favorite FF game plot: Going with FF7. I like how it has multiple "factions" (party, Planet, Shinra, Sephiroth) that never simplify into two clear sides.
Favorite weapon (Can list more than one): FF5 Chain Whip. You'd think that whipping bosses like Omniscient to death is impractical, and you'd be wrong.
Game you use the most status in: Despite the above, FF8. Set Pain to Status Attack and suddenly every attack is a status attack. Also, Doomtrain.
Game you use the least status in: FF2j. I know it can theoretically be useful, but damned if I'm going to bother.
Game with the best challenge: FF5. Job system means easy challenge tweaking.
Game you've replayed the most: FF6
Game that has aged the best: FF6
Game that has aged the worst: FF4

Favorite summon: Doomtrain. Ding ding toot toot chugga chugga ALL THE STATUSES.

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Discussion / Re: Rank Characters based on In Game Use: Reboot!

« on: June 29, 2014, 07:17:41 PM »

X-Com: Enemy Unknown:
Assault: 7.5/10 The best offense and defense on the team. Pity about the high turnover...
Heavy: 4/10 It's a pity the upgraded rockets are so obscure, Heavies could use a lategame buff.
Sniper: 7/10 When the stars are aligned, they're amazing, but the effort required is non-trivial.
Support: 4.5/10 Exactly what it says on the tin.
SHIV: 2/10 Skill-less Heavies. With benefits (immunity to mind control!) but their main asset is being better filler than rookies.

5

Tournaments / Re: RPGDL 2014 Season 2, Week 3: Phenomenal Cosmic Power in Godlike

« on: June 28, 2014, 04:07:28 AM »

Godlike

Rika (Phantasy Star IV) vs Ted (Suikoden IV)

Heavy

Demi (Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millenium) vs Emelia(SaGa Frontier) - If normal + critical BoundShot is a KO, then TrickShot + critical BoundShot is a KO, and at only 2 WP TrickShot can outlast Recover. I do not see how Demi's going to get the three Phononmenzers she needs to win without allowing Emelia at least two 55% rolls for a lethal BoundShot.

Middle

Brad Evans (Wild ARMs 2) vs Bronzong (Pokémon) - All of Bronzong's status trickery cannot prevent Brad from hitting Condition Green and throwing out a Boost Railgun. However, Bronzong takes half damage from generic physicals before considering its above-average bulk (and potential access to Iron Defense) so one is not enough.

Light

Melody Vilente (Wild ARMs 3) vs Archer (Final Fantasy Tactics) - Looks like Archer requires too many judgment calls (and/or coinflips) in his favor.

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Tournaments / Re: RPGDL 2014 Season 2, Week 2

« on: June 24, 2014, 02:51:54 AM »

For the record, Cthulhu can get MT insanity with Nightfall, the alternative to Curse (which is, barring wacky cases like this one, flat-out better in a duel). Not allowing characters to reselect their skill list from their "DL default" is of course entirely understandable. Since I wouldn't allow a turn-based character to double turn another turn-based character regardless of their relative speed stats, I do not see Cthulhu as needing Nightfall here, but I realize that isn't how everyone rolls.

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Tournaments / Re: RPGDL 2014 Season 2, Week 2

« on: June 22, 2014, 06:35:22 AM »

Heavy

Demi (Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millenium) vs Rose (Legend of Dragoon)
Emelia (SaGa Frontier) vs Alex (Lunar: Silver Star)
Cthulhu (Cthulhu Saves the World) vs Mesarthim (SaGa Frontier) - DL Cthulhu does have a way to cheat around Hide stalling: the Cursed Sword. Mesarthim now starts the battle insane, and due to Insane Death, may randomly die on any given turn. I have no idea what the activation rate of Insane Death is (pretty low, one assumes) but compared to "stall for an indefinite period of time" I'm willing to give it some credit. Even with his now-lowered stats, Cthulhu can handily outslug, so with stalling ruled out...

Middle

Yulie Ahtreide (Wild ARMs 4) vs Bronzong (Pokémon)

Light

Mist (Fire Emblem Series) vs Serra (Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword)
Rufus Shinra (Final Fantasy VII) vs Melody Vilente (Wild ARMs 3)
Archer (Final Fantasy Tactics) vs Innes (Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones) - Arguably, Arrow Guard trumps even Sure Shot, the same way that it mocks Concentrate and similar effects in FFT. This match is glorious.

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Tournaments / Re: RPGDL 2014 Season 2, Week 1

« on: June 13, 2014, 03:15:41 AM »

Godlike

Belial (Wild ARMs 4) vs Spectral Keeper (Final Fantasy X)

Middle

Boyd (Fire Emblem Series) vs Mystic Knight (Final Fantasy V)
Jet Enduro (Wild ARMs 3) vs The King of Awesome (Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars)

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Tournaments / Re: RPGDL 2014 Season 2 Noms

« on: June 04, 2014, 03:46:37 AM »

Godlike
Leonard (SaGa), Time Mage (FFV), Ted (Suikos), Rika (PS4), Yunalesca (FFX)
Heavy
Zed (WAs), Jeff (EB) Freya (FF9), Strago (FF6), Hector (FE7), Gilgamesh (FFV)
Middle
Tony (WA4), FuSoYa (FF4), Paws (CSTW), Boyd (FEs), Bowser (SMRPG)
Light
Liz (WA2), Leon (SO2), Black Wizard (FF1), Dunsparce (PKMN), Archer (FFT)

Edit: Replaced Jeff with Freya.

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Tournaments / Re: Puny cup winners semifinals: Can no one stop Mad Dog Renault?

« on: December 29, 2013, 08:20:22 AM »

Renault (FE7) vs Randolph (Lufia 3)
Whelk (FF6) vs Paula (EB) - I'm inclined to agree that Psi Thunder dispelling Psi Shield is a bonus feature on the Thunder (the silver lining to to its random targeting) and not an Achilles' heel on the Shield.

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Tournaments / Re: FEDL 2, Week F

« on: December 29, 2013, 07:46:58 AM »

Godlike

Athos (7) vs Dheginsea (10) - Luna gets another chance to shine here. Forblaze and, arguably, Thunder are also options if you see Athos needing lighter weapons to avoid being doubled.

Heavy

Zephiel (6) vs Rutger (6) - ITD Light Brand off excellent Skill is probably good enough to take out Zephiel.

Middle

Tiki (11) vs Vanessa (8) - Surprisingly, FE11's Divinestone isn't effective against Dracoknights, just Manaketes and Final Bosses. However, it's still a 2HKO off above-average accuracy, versus Vanessa's 6HKO and double. I'll take two hits out of three over one Pierce out of four or five, sure.

Light

Lucius (7) vs Heather (10) - Both 3HKO, but Heather doubles.

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Tournaments / Re: FEDL 2, Week 3

« on: December 19, 2013, 06:40:39 AM »

Godlike

Dragon (7) vs Athos (7)

Heavy

Ike (9) vs Zephiel (6) - Both 3HKO, but Ike doubles and has Aether. Zephiel has... a FE6 Throne. Sure, I'll buy it. FE6 needs to tone down the furniture a tad.
Hector (7) vs Rutger (6) - Armads Hector misses the 2HKO. I do see Rutger's Light Brand melee as tinking, but FE6 also has buyable Armorslayers. Granted, FE7 has buyable Swordreavers, but Armorslayers are notably less offensive. So it goes.
 
Middle

Henry (13) vs Tiki (11) - Silly Henry, you need Luna for dragons.
Chrom (13) vs Vanessa (8) - In the war of Killer crits and Pierce versus spammable healing and Aether counters, I know which tactic I'm willing to coast on in-game.

Light

Serra (7) vs Lucius (7)
Heather (10) vs Innes (8) - Innes can use a Longbow to get first strike and bypass counters. Pity he has no hope of using it to, you know, win. 

13

Tournaments / Re: FEDL 2, Week 2

« on: December 15, 2013, 09:34:54 AM »

Godlike

Dragon (7) vs Giffca (9) - Giffca's Attack is high enough to 3HKO through the Dragon's absurd Defense, and that's what he needs.
Lucina (13) vs Athos (7) - Athos gets a solid 2HKO with Aureola (Luna risks being tripped up by the healing from Javelin Aether) and goes first due to range. That'll do it.

Heavy

Cordelia (13) vs Ike (9) - Cordelia 10HKOs and can't counter range. No way this ends well for her.
Gangrel (13) vs Zephiel (6)
Tana (8) vs Hector (7) - Effective Armads says "Splat".
Rutger (6) vs Gaius (13)

Middle

Henry (13) vs Oswin (7)
Jaffar (7) vs Tiki (11)
Jill (9) vs Chrom (13) - Not an OHKO, but still more than Jill can deal with. Plus, infinite healing!
Oscar (9) vs Vanessa (8) - Bow Oscar technically has above average accuracy here, as he can use Iron and still 2HKO, but that's not enough.

Light

Garcia (8) vs Serra (7)
Lucius (7) vs Sanaki (10)
Heather (10) vs Maribelle (13) - Heather, mage slayer.
Bartre (7) vs Innes (8) - Bartre 2HKOs with Killer Bow (opening counter) + Hand Axe, and he needs at least two hits of three. Definite accuracy issues, though. Ehh.

Edit: Whoops! Bolding corrected. Good catch, thanks.

14

Tournaments / Re: Puny cup losers round 2: The hero Midgar deserves.

« on: December 06, 2013, 07:18:01 AM »

Gato (CT) vs Cindy (FF4)
Cathe (FE6) vs Edward (FF4o) So close, Edward. So close.

15

Tournaments / Re: Puny Cup Winners, round 2: Can no one stop :-*?

« on: December 06, 2013, 07:08:47 AM »

Nicolas (SO2) vs Whelk (FF6)

Seifer Almasy [Boss 1] (FF8) vs Paula (EB)
Frederick (FE13) vs Pidgey (RBY)

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Tournaments / Re: FEDL 2, Week 1

« on: December 06, 2013, 05:34:38 AM »

I stand corrected on Vanessa's max Speed, forgot WK had a higher cap than FK, but the point remains that the same calculation method that gives Vanessa 29.0 Speed at her stat topic levels would give Raven 26.0 Speed at his topic levels. Equal EXP or not has nothing to do with it; the distinction is that the FE7 topics are using mean values, presumably from the old RPGDL FE stat charts, and the FE8 topics are using median values. (AS average is also higher in FE8 20/15 than FE7 Equal XP... although by an astounding 0.8.)

Reckon I see Raven as winning if doubled, too (2HKO vs 4HKO-and-double, his second attack will always precede her fourth) but there's no arguing that it substantially improves her case.

Edit: Which does raise the question, "does Assassin Gaius still double Lyn?" (if she has median 28.4 Spd instead of mean 27.6 Spd.) He's +11.6, she's now +7.8, and as his game requires 5 AS to double I would rule that he cannot. However, he gets first crack at dealing lethal damage thanks to Move +1, so I'm still leaning Gaius there. And obviously it doesn't matter for Trickster.

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Tournaments / Re: FEDL 2, Week 1

« on: December 05, 2013, 01:21:34 PM »

Grima's terrain works normally in my game as well. If there's a version difference, might it be between cartridge and download? (Download over here.)

Godlike

Fomortiis(8) vs Dragon (7)
Elincia (10) vs Giffca (9)
Lucina (13) vs Grima (13) - By my scaling, Lucina 2HKOs and doubles. Pavise % > Aether but not by enough.
Naesala (9 (Boss)) vs Athos (7) - Can tank one round of beaking, which earns him two chances at an OHKO Luna off amazing accuracy. Naesala's not dodging both.

Nailah (10) vs Caineghis (FE10) - Glare stalling seems workable.

Heavy

Limstella (7) vs Cordelia (13) - Surprisingly close; boss-level Def is a problem for FE13's multihitters.
Lundgren (7)  vs Ike (9)
The Vaike (13) vs Gangrel (13)
Nephenee (10) vs Zephiel (6)

Tana (8) vs Cherche (13) - Wyvern Lord seems like a given, it looks better both in general (spoils swords) and in particular (essentially forces WTA, which both games agree is +/- 1 dmg and 15 Hit here.) Tana 5HKOs and doubles, but Cherche 3HKOs and strikes consecutively. Evasion's not gonna save Tana, because after Hot Start and triangle effects, I reckon she'll actually have more trouble hitting than Cherche will. I don't think I allow Vidofnir, but if present it'd push Cherche to 4HKO and give +10 Hit to Tana; 4HKO and brave-double still beats 5HKO and normal double. Respect for Pierce: insufficient to compensate. Side note, hah to A-rank swords on initial-E Falcoknights.
Sumia (13) vs Hector (7) - Hector gets three Hand Axe attacks off against DF Sumia and only needs two to hit, but he's about 20 below average on Hit and she's about 15 above on Avoid. That's not good for him.
Rutger (6) vs Lyon (8) - I don't even have to do math for Lyon's Def. Hooray, FE6 Light Brand!
Gaius (13) vs Lyndis (7) - Either version of Gaius is just plain better than Lyn at her own schtick. (I do see Trickster as 4HKOing and thus 2RKOing, thanks to subtractive Def.)

Middle

Brom (9) vs Henry (13) - Knight versus mage.
Nergal (7) vs Oswin (7) - Knight versus... hold on. Oswin 2HKOs after scaling, is certainly not OHKOed, and gets his second hit sooner by exploiting immobile boss AI. Nergal, you make me sad.
Jaffar (7)  vs Lucia (10) - Silver Sword Jaffar (barely) 2HKOs, which trumps a 3HKO off better activation rates.
Tiki (11) vs Gregor (13) - The handful of FE11 characters with actual stats make effective duelers.

Titania (9) vs Jill (9)
Valter (8) vs Chrom (13)
Oscar (9) vs Eliwood (7)
Raven (7) vs Vanessa (8) - Iron Axe Raven 2HKOs, is 4HKOed back and not doubled, doesn't lose accuracy by much due to WTA. Pierce respect: still not found.

Light

Garcia (8) vs Marcus (7)
Ilyana (9) vs Serra (7) - Ilyana struggles to deal significant damage, but Serra struggles to deal damage period, soooo.
Lucius (7) vs Morph Jerme (7)
Minerva (11) vs Sanaki (10) - Minerva really needs to OHKO here... off her below average damage. So, not happening.

Miriel (13) vs Heather (10)
Maribelle (13) vs Excellus (13)
Lyre (10) vs Bartre (7)
Innes (8) vs Mist (9)

Edit: Note that the same calculation method which gives Vanessa 28 Spd at level 20/11 and up would give Raven 26 Spd at level 20/11 and up. Can't picture her doubling him when he's at -1 AS, let alone unencumbered.

18

Tournaments / Re: Puny Cup: Winners, Round 1

« on: December 01, 2013, 07:32:05 AM »

Renault (FE7) vs Jake (FE11) - What happens when the incredibly resistible force meets the trivially movable object? Apparently, one of them explodes.

Sothe (FE9) vs Garland (FF1)
Randolph (Lufia 3) vs Ramus Farmain (Lunar:SSSC)

19

Tournaments / Re: FEDL Mk.2- Noms!

« on: November 26, 2013, 05:23:21 AM »

Godlike:
Fire Dragon (FE7)
Naesala (FE10)
Caineghis (FE10)
Lucina (FE13)

Heavy:
Roy (FE6)
Hector (FE7)
Ephraim (FE8)
Gangrel (FE13)

Middle:
Canas (FE7)
Nergal (FE7)
Henry (FE13)
Validar (FE13)

Light:
Bartre (FE7)
Innes (FE8)
Janaff (FE9)
Minerva (FE11)

20

Tournaments / Re: Futurama 2013 Season 2 Finals

« on: November 26, 2013, 04:50:38 AM »

Middle
Lute (SaGa Frontier) vs Dei (Lufia: The Legend Returns) - I guess it's plausible for Sleep to tip this.

21

Tournaments / Re: Puny cup Losers round 1: Adam rules apply.

« on: November 26, 2013, 02:39:24 AM »

Piplup (Diamond/Pearl) vs Sandy (FF4) - I'm guessing FF4 Confuse checks some kind of stat for hit rate, and Piplup's stats are generally terrible compared to the endgame average, so a confuse lock isn't hard to buy.

Pichu (GSC) vs Leon Felpool (SO2) - Cat versus mouse. Easy-peasy.

22

Tournaments / Re: Futurama 2013 Season 2, Week 4

« on: November 24, 2013, 05:06:47 AM »

Heavy
Hiro (Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete) vs Arnaud G. Vasquez (Wild ARMs 4)

Middle
Sara (Breath of Death VII: The Beginning) vs Dei (Lufia: The Legend Returns)

23

Tournaments / Re: Puny cup round 2: Save us, mighty Jegan.

« on: November 18, 2013, 05:48:20 AM »

Cinna (FF9) vs Sothe (FE9)

Randolph (Lufia 3) vs Pichu (GSC)
Ramus Farmain (Lunar:SSSC) vs Leon Felpool (SO2)
Jagen (FE11) vs Siegfried [Ghost Train] (FF6) - Siegfried draws someone who can counterattack? Magnificent.

24

Tournaments / Re: Puny cup, Round 1: The best of the worst.

« on: November 13, 2013, 08:59:16 PM »

If Slime used a 100% accuracy initiative Spoil, Musty would need four consecutive Arm Aims (~13%) to allow his 5HKO. On average he will fail this sequence at some point about 7 times before he succeeds, which means he'll probably still be above 50% when he brings Slime down. The real Spoil is significantly worse than that.

Malcolm: I assume you doublechecked that Cotton didn't have a PearlHeart or similar accessory?

Affirmative, stripped accessories before testing.

"Virus-spam Mindy isn't really Puny" is fair.

25

Tournaments / Re: Puny cup, Round 1: The best of the worst.

« on: November 12, 2013, 01:18:10 PM »

Technically it's Shrieker that nulls water; I'm testing with Cotton. (Strangely enough, I have no save files with Red Turnip). But Shrieker for Red Turnip is basically as fair a claim as SaGa monsters can stake.

I'm well aware that FFT measures durations in ticks; at endgame, 24 ticks is generally gonna get ya 2 turns. This will vary depending on CT specifics and exactly how you translate Slime's speed; my own angle is that Musty can lock Slime down for 3 turns when the stars are right (i.e. when his Arm Aim resolves shortly before Slime's turn would happen), which is icing on the cake. As for "hype"... sure, 60% to deny your opponent 2 turns is trashy in a duel, but Slime makes trash look good. And isn't "this pathetic option is, somehow, actually relevant here" what Puny Cup is all about?

(Musty's punches hit significantly harder than his fists, despite Slime's marginally less terrible blunt durability. I did run the numbers on this grotesque parody of competence.)