I Am Setsuna

[SnowFire]

I Am Setsuna.  Did you like Chrono Trigger?  This is more Chrono Trigger, with more snow and more piano and more somberness, but not as good as Chrono Trigger.  But Chrono Trigger was really good, so that's okay.

Anyway, content for this game on the Internet is *miserable* since it apparently kind of flopped, so I just went ahead and uploaded the DL stat topic over to GameFAQs.  Here it is:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps4/168682-i-am-setsuna/faqs/73799

The battle system is 100% ripped off of Chrono Trigger, so.  If you know CT, you know most of what you need to in the quest to figure out who Setsuna is.  All the moves, the damage, etc. is on the GameFAQs site, and I won't repeat it here - just some DL-specific stats like PDurability.

Notable stuff for DL vs. in-game:

* Momentum.  In-game, you have an SP gauge, and it fills via both taking actions and getting attacked, and when it fills you get a shining momentum star and starts anew.  You can stock up to 3 Momentum.  You can then spend Momentum to make your attacks better - usually about +1 normal attack equivalent, sometimes a bit more for stronger attacks.  There's a variety of utility spells that get better in interesting ways as well mentioned above.  Anyway, in-game, the SP gauge is randomized as to how full it starts; when you get a preemptive strike on enemies, it often starts with 1 Momentum ready to go for every character.  it's also not uncommon to start with enough SP to get a Momentum by turn 2 or turn 3.  Unfortunately, this can wreck havoc with the averages, so similar to XS boost gauge, I'd probably assume everyone gets the worst possible luck.  So characters get a Momentum point on turn 4, maybe turn 3 if they're attacked every turn and also attacking, but regardless not have that go into the damage average; it can just be a little nasty surprise if the fight goes long.

* Singularities.  Basically, there's a random chance of some boost happening for the party for 20 seconds, which is basically ~4 turns.  The chance is not amazingly high, but if a battle drags, you'll get one - think FF7CC DMW.  Not all of the boosts are super-relevant in a duel, but some are like the uber-broken Guardian Goddess (HP can't be reduced below 1), so those can also break up a stalled fight.

* Weapons & Forging.  I have no idea how much forging hype should be allowed.  The good news about allowing forging is that it makes a lot of early & midgame weapons more viable; Setsuna likes having a speed-up weapon, a "has initiative" weapon, and an "immunes all status" weapon that wouldn't involve giving up lots of magic power.  The problem is that you can't really forge EVERYTHING without grinding up some cash, for all that you get a lot of Orichalcum from sealed chests.  So I might be tempted to force characters to pick two weapons max they want to forge up to speed.  Anyway, too lazy to retest with forging hype, so take these as a baseline, and note that some of the alternates mentioned above exist.

* Speed.  I put the percentage speeds vs. the unequipped average, since Kir does only get his speed boost in the very last dungeon.  (He's held vs. the equipped average, of course, though.)  Note that the raw speeds are "seconds until a turn", so lower is better, higher is slower and worse.  Percentage values are the usual higher is better deal.

Endir
HP: 450 (PCHP:108%) MP: 202 Spd: 5.2 (104%) PDur: 1.13 MDur:1.07

* Endir can switch to a shadow-elemental weapon and mildly better Shadow resistance at little stat cost.
* Endir can switch to a light-elemental weapon and mildly better Light resistance at huge stat cost (barring forging).

Setsuna
HP: 360 (PCHP:86%) MP: 252 Spd: 6.5 (83%) PDur: 0.75 MDur: 1.01

* Setsuna can get either better speed, initiative on round 1, or immunity to all status in exchange for a substantial stat cost, although much less of one if you allow forging.
* Setsuna can equip the Pengy Chakram for better magic damage & magic defense, at the cost of P Atk (who cares) and P Def.

Aeterna
HP: 405 (PCHP:97%) MP: 232 Spd: 4 (135%) PDur: 0.93 MDur: 0.97

* Aeterna can optimize for status-infliction rate with Wargod Dagger at the cost of damage & defense.

Nidr
HP: 540 (PCHP:129%) MP: 218 Spd: 6.5 (83%) PDur: 1.40 MDur: 1.12

* Nidr can optimize for non-critical damage a bit with the Master's Sword in exchange for a mild defense hit.

Kir
HP: 337 (PCHP:81%) MP: 242 Spd: 5.7 (93%) PDur: 0.74 MDur: 0.95

* Kir can equip a staff that ignores elemental resistance at the cost of being slower and losing a bit of damage.

Julienne
HP: 427 (PCHP:102%) MP: 182 Spd: 5.2 (1.04) PDur: 1.11 MDur: 0.91

Fides
HP: 410 (PCHP:98%) MP: 174 Spd: 4 (1.35) PDur: 1.01 MDur: 0.96

* Dhyer alert: While status is really good in Setsuna as it's very rarely immuned, even by bosses (who merely become "resistant" to a status for a time after you've inflicted it once), the final boss does seem to be perfectly status immune, possibly the only one in the game.  And Fides joins literally right before the final boss with the niche of master status inflicter (???), except lol it doesn't work.  Well, there are still sidequest bosses to status a bit, I suppose, but you figure out how much hype his status game is worth.  Really good at grinding the final dungeon if you want extra levels, at least?!

Averages:   
418 HP
215 MP
5.4 Spd (equipped: 5.3)
264 Damage (660 kill point).

Best damage chart (ignoring HP-cost moves like Doom & Dark Pact):
1. 350   Flare (Kir)
2. 275   Icicle Lance (Julienne)
3. 270   Meteo (Endir)
4. 260   Luminaire (Setsuna)
4. 260   Dark Matter (Fides)
6. 215   Frenzy (Aeterna)
6. 215   Whirlwind Blade (Nidr)

In a 3-turn damage average, Setsuna probably goes Luminaire - Luminaire - Holy Light and Aeterna does Oblivion - Oblivion - Gearadia.  Depending on your stance on such things, Kir might go Flare - Flare - Doom as well since he likes to finish with Doom just before he'd die anyway.  So the damage average for a 3x would probably be bumped a little higher, although not hugely so.

Endir's also a tad weird, since Battlecry speeds up his next turn so much that it should arguably count as 1/3 of a turn or the like, letting him get 4 actions in the 3 turn average.  [Battlecry - Meteo - Battlecry - Meteo] is ~960 damage, or 320 per turn, which is a pretty notable increase.

[SnowFire]

Reserved.

[SnowFire]

DL thoughts:

Endir can stall for a long while with Aura and mix in basic attacks vs. slower duelers without healing, or can go for some Battlecry - Meteo - Battlecry - Meteo action to dumpster someone as quickly as possible at the cost of his MP.  Or vs. a healer, perhaps Quick, although this is usually worse than Battlecrying it up.  Not too big a damage drop to go to Cleave a la Crono's Confuse.  Some sort of Middle, and a good one.

Setsuna reminds me a bit of FERD Micaiah; slow, but heals herself with draining.  Unfortunately, she will run out of MP reasonably fast by spamming Luminaire; 3x Luminaire -> Holy Light will kill a lot of Middle, but not Middles with healing, and fast Middles might be able to 2HKO her suspect PDur on a double-turn, since she's kinda slow.  Remedy's status immunity is kinda cute but doesn't last long, so it's only useful against status-slingers with truly incompetent damage who are either slower than Setsuna or whose status isn't turn 1, which isn't frequent in Middle.  Another Middle, but a pretty good one.  (Also gets better if you give her phantom allies to be healed by Luminaire, so that her finishing Holy Light is more impressive.)

Aeterna is a brutal status-slinger in the mold of Celia & Lede.  Very fast and proceeds to Stop you for a long time, then murder you dead.  If you somehow immune Stop (many IAS bosses don't!), there's also Confuse & Stun as backups.  If Stop/Stun are out, she still has Mirage->Guaranteed Evasion as a backup-game vs. those without multihits; spam it until it lasts or Aeterna gets a natural doubleturn, then throw out a Demi or Oblivion based on whether MDef or PDef is the target's weak stat (Frenzy costs too much MP for too little gain).  Her weak damage means that she'll run out of MP anyway sometimes, especially vs. those of similar speed, but it's pretty solid.  Low Godlike.

Nidr has got CTON Reynard's can't die game, except with a hole.  Depending on how you feel about counter-stances, Nidr also might auto-win vs. enemies with a single damage type if you force them to attack into Nidr.  Regardless, vs. enemies without fatal status, Nidr can get a draw if he survives to get a turn by using Tenacity then refusing to ever take his 3rd action.  And if he survives to turn 1 off his decent physical durability anyway, he can also throw out some high-percentage chance Stone & Paralysis.  And even if you force Nidr to not stall, he does guarantee 3 actions for himself if he survives turn 1, or 4 actions if he survives turn 2, so Tenacity -> 3x Whirlwind Blade is not a completely horrible strategy.  Finally, he's got a Chemist strategy vs. those who can't 2HKO him on a double turn of spamming Mid-Potions on himself (they're dirt cheap by endgame) whenever he needs healing; aside from his normal attacks, he can also unleash a deadly Rebellion eventually.  Some sort of goofy Heavy who gets rolled by status.

Kir is slower than average and also 2HKO'd by average!  That is not a good sign.  He does have good damage though, and surges his damage a bit on his final turn, and even has an answer to fire resistance.  Drain game will occasionally be helpful.  He'd *really* like some phantom dead allies, too.  Light/Middle borderline, there are perhaps too many Lights unable to take advantage of his flaws.

Julienne has an epic stall game with Chakra spam into lots of Momentum & perhaps even Singularities.  She can also turn you into an icy statue while also dealing damage to you.  Heavy.

Fides, see Aeterna.  Really fast, assassinates you with status.  His slugging game would be interesting in Middle, but not in Heavy/Godlike, so he's pretty dependent on Hellfire or Phantom wrecking, although I suppose his sheer speed will grant him some surprise 3HKOs when not OHKO'd and the like.    High Heavy, maybe down to Low Heavy if you don't respect the status.