Alright, I know this game has issues, so I'll explain
Stats are taken at level 40. That's a bit beyond End game, but as far as Ordinals are Concerned, its alright, so stats might seem a little high, but they will be the same proportionally. Just know for Bosses, the HP stats are higher than what you'd normally have against them, so take their damage with a grain of salt.
As far as AP goes, I consider them all to have 90 AP, which means 9 level 1 attacks, or 3 Level 2's and a level 3, etc. That's roughly end game AP for all 3 characters, its just easier that way.
Now, what equipment is best is hard to say exactly. Hence, I'll list their base stats, and equipment options I think they'd like given different situations, and list their stats. After discussing this a bit, I decided that I'm nixing Equipment with "+" values since each game, + values in shops raise one, hence, I just consider everything at their base (0), as well as the case with the Dragon Blade too.
As far as what's legal, I allow any non Fairy Store boughts. I'll deal with Chest items/monster drops later though, given that unlike FFX (a game with a similar aspect in Armor and Weapons), enemies have SET things to Steal/Drop, meaning that you'd always get the same equips each game. I also more or less allow any weapon, since weapons are COMPLETELY different for characters.
Finally, Shield Threading is ILLEGAL. Until I find a Shield thread that ryu can use that the others can't (or whatever), I am banning this. The closest I found were things like Counter attack which Ryu and Lin can use, but Nina can't. As far as I'm concerned, 2 out of 3 is TOO MUCH. So shield threading can bite me.
The other abilities are all unique, however, so they get all those. Well, ok, Ryu gets 2 abilities shared by someone else, namely with Bosch whose a temp PC with a Forced weapons that has locked Skills on, meaning Ryu shares Thrust and Fang (2 relatively worthless skills anyway) with him, but Temp PCs can burn, and Ryu is the only one who can learn it the "Normal" way, etc. so I let him have those (Why he'd use those is beyond me however)
Here are what each stat means:
HP: Durr...I'm still foggy on this one
Attack: Base for physical power (This + Weapon = Total Power)
Defense- Base for Physical defense (This + Shield + Armor
Magic- Base for Magical damage (only useful for NIna), and Magic Defense
Speed- The traditional meaning, the higher it is, the more turns you get on Dekar >.>
A few things to know:
BoF5 characters can "gather" AP by skipping thier turn, or cutting it short (using only some AP) Doing this lets their excess AP spill over into the next turn. However, they can only do as far as an amount equal to their 2x thier AP, meaning if they skip one turn entirely, skipping the next will not yield 3x AP, since having 2x AP is the Limit. Thus, in this case, the max they will have, before taking equipment into account, is 180, starting at 90. Should they use a level 1 attack (10 AP) and end their Turn, they get 170 AP to use on the next turn. End it there, they get 180, NOT 260 like you'd expect.
All attacks use AP, it is NOT "Ability Points" like in the previous BoF games, but rather, Action Points, similar to something like Chrono Cross' Stamina. Personally, I don't allow these to be hit attacks that drain AP, and conversly, moves that lower the enemies AP in BoF5 are worthless here unless they fight someone from the same game, or someone with just as compatible battle system (I might consider it Stamina Loss, for example, against a CC character but not sure even there)
Attacks use AP in the following Way:
Level 1s use 10 AP
Level 2s use 20 AP
Level 3s Use 30 AP
D-dive (Ryu's Special) uses No AP, nor does D-breath, Cool Down or D-charge (means they can be used indefinably each turn)
Nina's "remove Trap" ability doesn't require AP, why she'd want to use this is beyond me though, since in a duel setting, it serves no practical use
Lin has...no useful abilities outside of Write Up Fodder (if that) which don't cost AP, so no problems
BoF5 characters can Chain Attacks, meaning the follow up attack, if different from the Previous, will do more. Its better to show an example than explain:
Say Ryu uses slice (basic attack) which does 50 to an enemy. If he uses another Slice, its doing the same Damage. HOWEVER, if he uses Ogre Slice (Basic attack with lower Accuracy but Higher Critical hit rate), it gets a 10% damage increase, and becomes "Ogre Slice +10%" and anything different that follows up will get another 10% (So Side Slash used afterwords becomes Side Slash +20%, but if he uses Ogre Slice after the original, its still Ogre Slice +10%) Also, note that BoF5 characters can NOT back track abilities, meaning Ryu can't cheaply build up % by using Slice -> Ogre Slice +10% -> SLice +20%. Once he stops using Slice, he has to stop his attack sequence, and start over again (they can do this, ending their sequence and doing 2, obviously, why they would outside of Status combos is beyond me) Lin and Nina work the same way
NOTE: Nina can NOT combine Traps or "Charging" abilities (Lag Vallhalla and Ragnorak) with others. So no cheap Ragnorak +50%
Lastly about turns, BoF5 characters can go chain level 1's with other Level 1's, or go to the adjacent Level 2 or any other level 2 that had its corresponding Level 1 used before hand.
I know that sounds confusing, but meh, I suck at explaining, its easier to understand if you actually see the game itself. It sounds more confusing than it really is, trust me.
Finally, BoF5 characters can use certain number of attacks based on their Weapon, similar to how SaGa Frontier characters can only use a certain number of abilities in general. I'll list the slots available in their Weapons, so you know how many attacks they have.
Anyway, onto the characters!
NOTE: Equipment Weight subtracts from Speed, so the true Speed Stat is Speed - Equipment Weight. This is nothing new to the BoF series, obviously.
* = Locked ability, I'll mention what level it is later in the characters abilities section
Ryu: The first and only Ryu who can actually speak beyond a "..." consistently. Determined, and will hold nothing back to protect Nina, and even goes as far as hitting a guy with Glasses who bad mouths her to show that...
Stats:
HP- 445
Attack: 123
Defense- 118
Magic- 102
Speed- 73
Weapons:
Dragon Blade: +45 Attack, +50 Magic, +20% Accuracy, Weight 2
Abilities: *Side Slash, 2 Level 1's, 3 Level 2s, 3 level 3s
Legend Blade: +49 Attack, 15 Weight
Abilities: *Slice, *Great Smash, 2 Level 1s, 3 level 2s, 2 Level 3s
Shields:
Astral Guard: 0 Defense, 0 Weight, Reduces Magic Damage by 50%, lowers Max AP by 20 (meaning he has 70 instead of 90)
Solid Guard: 0 Defense, 0 Weight, Reduces Physical damage by 50%, Lowers Max AP by 20
Bari Shell: 0 Defense, 0 Weight, Reduces ALL damage by 25%, Lowers Max AP by 15
ChobohamPlate: 24 Defense, 1 Weight, no special aspects
Soul Shell: 0 Defense, 0 Weight, Reduces all damage based on Current HP, lower HP = Lower damage (I think its based off HP%, meaning at 1% HP, you take 1% Damage, and at full HP, you get no reduction), Reduces AP by 15% (NOT 15 Raw AP)
NOTE: For the damage reducers, they reduce ALL damage, including Defense ignoring stuff, by that amount.
Armors:
Protect Suit: 12 Defense, Immunity to all Status effects (this includes Instant Death)
Super Heavy: 34 Defense
Excel Suit: 14 Defense, Reduces likely hood of status effects by 75%
NOTE: I don't know their stats, but Ryu can opt for one of three Elemental reducing Armors for the Big 3 (Fire, Ice and Lighting) I'll get those stats later
Abilities:
To make things easier, I'm listing the base damage (a 100% multiplier), and just listing thier Multipliers, and what other things they do. You can make the adjustments.
Basic Damage: 50, 100% Accuracy
Level 1 Attacks:
Slice: 100% damage
Side Slash: 80% damage, (only listing cause its locked in the Draogn Blade)
Thrust: 40 damage, Ignores Defense
Third Eye: Boosts Accuracy to 255% (Perfect) for next ATTACK
Ogre Slice: 100%, Accuracy -50%, Causes Critical hit 75% of the time
NOTE: Critical Hits are 1.5x damage in BoF5
Dent Weapon: 80%, Lowers persons attack power by 5%, Stackable
Rust Armor: 80%, Lowers Persons defense by 5%, Stackable
Brainquake: 80%, Lowers persons Magic Power and Defense by 5%, Stackable
NOTE: I can't really test these well, since enemies in the end of the game have obnoxiously high resistance ratings, or are just plain immune. From when enemies used this on my PCs though, the success rate seems about 50%.
Level 2:
Vert Slash: 130%, -20% Accuracy
Fang: 65, Ignores Defense
Haze Cut: 120%, Accuracy +50%
Spirit Charge: Raises damage of next turn by 150%, not stackable
Wild Swing: Random Damage between 50% to 200%
Discharge: Records Damage done to Ryu, and hits them back with the damage he took over time. Should be noted that it records damage BEFORE the Damage Reduction via Shields, meaning if he uses one of those, he actually does 2x the damage he takes (noticed when Ryu only took 300 damage, he did over 600 to Elyon...)
Reversal: Varying Damage based on HP. Not sure how it works, but I don't think its a simple Max HP - Current HP attack *Shrugs* Probably is that, though, just not ITD...
Skullsplit: 125%, deals damage to enemies AP (NOTE: again, refer to what AP is when I say how this works. I don't consider this MP or equivalent there of Damage, but I might consider it CC Stamina damage)
Crimson Raid: 100%, Heals Ryu by amount equal to 10% damage (only thing close to a healing ability in BoF5, yay!)
Level 3:
Terabreak: 120 damage, Ignores Defense
Death Bringer: 125%, 100% chance of Critical if attack hits (Note that it has no Accuracy reduction, there's a reason this is a level 3 attack...)
Great Smash: INstant Death on success (about 50%), 100% damage on failure
Deathcleaver: 200%, deals 10% damage dealt to enemy back at Ryu
Wyrm Abilities (Prepare to be Awed):
Wyrm has about a 400% initial power increase, meaning his attacks do aobut 400% damage as is...
NOTE: None of Wyrm's attacks are Chainable
Vortex: 200% damage, Level 1 attack, +1.25% D-counter
Hurriance: 200% damage, level 2 attack, +1.5% D-counter
Twister: 600% Damage, Level 3 attack, +1.75% D-counter, hits 2x
NOTE: Twister only says it does 300% Damage, but what it doesn't tell you is it hits 2x, so its really 600% damage. No, its not 2x hits at weaker damage, since you'll notice a single Twister hit does about 1.5x damage of Vortex
D-breath: Does damage based on how long you hold the "X" button down, raises D-counter proportionately.
D-charge: Doubles Ryu's power, stackable 10x (o.o), each use increases D-counter by 2%
NOTE about Wyrm: there is NOTHING in the game that survives D-charge *4 + Twister, and only Elyon and D-bosch have a chance of surviving only D-charge * 3. Basically, Ryu5 takes the term "I win if I get a turn" to a new level, if you allow Wyrm. And some of you guys thought Wyrm was just hyped up
NOTE2: Wyrm is immune to ALL damage, status, etc. besides Dragon Slaying Moves/Weapons (like say Garr's Dragon Spaer in BoF3), or anything Dragon Based. Proof of this is Elyon's ubered Karma Circle, which does EBC Fate Storm level damage is reduced to 0 damage.
NOTE3: D-dive (the ability that turns him into Wyrm) does NOT take a turn, like Yuri's Fusions, Terra's Morph, or any Legend of Dragoon transformation, as opposed to his Brethren Ryu's who all need a turn to transform.
Evaluation: Alright, we already know what Ryu5 is like with Wyrm (Giving Him a turn makes giving Ryu3 a turn look almost plausible...), but what of his NON Ubered Wyrm abilities? He's got some weak parasitic healing, decent damage, Instant Death, and stat lowers. With his game best HP, and the Dragon Blade giving PHENOMONAL Magic Boosts, as well as the option of Complete Status immunity, he's a pretty durable character. While not as good as any of the other Ryu's (w/out Wyrm, obviously), he's not a bad dueler necessarily.
Nina: The 13 year old mute lab project that Ryu rescues after being separated from Bosch. On the verge of dying from the Atmosphere, she ends up being what drives Ryu to get to the Surface (go figure)...and is probably the only Nina to not actually fall in love with Ryu, but more so look up to him as an older brother >_>
Stats:
HP- 290
Attack- 94 (o_0)
Defense- 104 (0_0...same as Lin's)
Magic: 148
Speed: 92
Weapons:
Wizard Wand: Magic +60, Weight 5
Abilities: *Flare, 2 Level 1's, 3 Level 2's, 3 level 3s.
Slapper: Attack +45, Weight 2, -25% accuracy
Abilities: *Chop
Demon Scythe: Magic +32, Weight 15
Abilities: *Death, *Frost, 2 Level 1s, 2 Level 2s
Shields:
Astral Loop: 0 Defense, 0 Weight, Reduces Magic Damage by 50%, lowers Max AP by 20
Solid Loop: 0 Defense, 0 Weight, Reduces Physical damage by 50%, Lowers Max AP by 20
Bari Ring: 0 Defense, 0 Weight, Reduces ALL damage by 25%, Lowers Max AP by 15
Platinum Arc: Defense +24, Weight 1
Soul Ring: 0 Defense, 0 Weight, Reduces all damage based on Current HP, lower HP = Lower damage (I think its based off HP%, meaning at 1% HP, you take 1% Damage, and at full HP, you get no reduction), Reduces AP by 15% (NOT 15 Raw AP)
Armor:
Divine Coat: Defense +8, Immunity to all status (including Instant Death)
Heavy Robe: +30 Defense
Angel Coat: Defense +10, Lowers Status Effect changes by 75% (including Instant Death)
NOTE: Like Ryu, Nina can opt for the Elemental Protection stuff too.
Abilities:
NOTE: Personally, I'm not gonna bother with Traps. They are a pain to interpret exactly how they work, and probably not that worth it...
NOTE2: Like most games, magic doesn't miss in BoF5, at least damage ones. Take this as you will
Level 1s:
Chop: 25 damage, Physical (her only physical attack, the rest are Magical), Slapper only
Flare: 30 Fire elemental Damage
Frost: 30 Ice elemental Damage
Jolt: 30 Lightning Elemental Damage
Enfeeble: Lowers Magic Power/Defense by 10%, Stackable
Slow: Reduces speed by 10%, Stackable
Blunt: Reduces attack by 10%, stackable
Level 2s:
Fireblast: 80 Fire elemental damage
Lightning: 80 Lightning Elemental Damage
Iceblast: 80 Ice elemental damage
Level 3s:
Inferno: 110 Fire elemental damage
Vallhalla: 110 Lightning elemental damage
Blizzard: 110 Ice Elemental damage
Lag Vahalla: 220 Lightning Elemental Damage, used at end of turn (I consider this a charge time, one that works like FFTs (doesn't effect the actual CT gauge, IOWs, since Nina still goes the same time she normally would))
Death: Instant Death (guessing 50% Success Rate, its hard to find enemies NOT immune (no "Guard" symbol comes up))
Ragnarok: 1200 damage, 3 turns to Charge (including the first), used at end of the 3rd turn
NOTE: It works like this. She starts the spell, the Number "2" appears on the enemy. At the end of the turn, it goes down by 1. At the end of the turn AFTER it reaches 0 (So it'd be going to -1 IOW), the attack is pulled off. I call it a 3 turn charge time, but take this as you will
Evaluation: Contrary to belief, Nina is NOT OHKO fodder. At the beginning of the game, she feels it cause she starts at level 1, when Ryu is already level 10, and enemies in BoF5 have on crack damage (Ryu level 10 will struggle to take hits, mind you) Her base defense is equal to Lin's, and her armor isn't that much worse. Really, the only bad part of her defense is HP, which is no worse than a Typical Mage. All things considered Nina does not die to a Sneeze, and with her Magic stat, she laughs at Magical attacks too, albeit, she's no tank. Top that off with Passable damage, High Speed, and some instant Death, and Nina's set.
Lin: the Trinity member who meets Ryu by accident, causing some hostility, but ultimately settle their differences really early on when they discover both just want to protect Nina, and in the end, sticks with him in his quest to find "the Sky" She also carries a gun *rolls eyes*
Stats:
HP- 401
Attack- 111
Defense- 104
Magic- 129
Speed- 65
Weapons:
NOTE: Given Lin's weapon and her obscene Range (and all her attacks are classified as "Shot"), I consider her attacks Long Ranged, meaning they can hit things like Sephiroth while Flying and such. Disagree if you will, but that's just my oppinion.
Grenade: Attack +40, Weight 3, Accuraccy -10%
Abilities: *Hey, Hey!, 2 Level 1s, 3 Level 2s, 3 Level 3s
Sniper Scope: Attack +26, Accurracy +50%, Weight 13
Abilities: *There!, *That's it!, 3 Level 3's.
Shields:
Astral Bangle: 0 Defense, 0 Weight, Reduces Magic Damage by 50%, lowers Max AP by 20
Solid Bangle: 0 Defense, 0 Weight, Reduces Physical damage by 50%, Lowers Max AP by 20
Bari Ribbon: 0 Defense, 0 Weight, Reduces ALL damage by 25%, Lowers Max AP by 15
Lightwave: Defense +24, Weight 1
Soul Ribbon: 0 Defense, 0 Weight, Reduces all damage based on Current HP, lower HP = Lower damage, Reduces AP by 15% (NOT 15 Raw AP)
Armors:
Save the Queen: Defense +10, Immunity to all status effects (including Instant Death)
Heavy Garter: Defense +32
PrincessGuard: Defense +12, Reduces likely hood of Status effects by 75% (includes Instant Death)
Abilities:
NOTE: Lin is being done in the same way as Ryu. After I get her basics done though, I'm listing her "Combos" since that's one of Lin's main aspects.
Basic Damage: 40 (with Grenade. This should be lower with Sniper Scope)
Level 1s:
Hey, Hey!: 100%, adds effects to Successive Attacks
How's That!: 100%, lowers stat depending on preceding attack
There!: 70%, adds Weight into Critical Hit
Too Slow!: 70%, Adds Weight into Accuracy
Greetings: 75%, Feint Attack (Don't know what that means)
C'mere!: Pulls Enemy closer to her (there's a use for this later on)
Level 2s:
That's it!: 130%, Adds affects to successive attacks
Go On!: 100%, Can not kill user (Ryu's Blade smack does the same, but Lin's has use that will be mentioned Later)
Stay Here!: 110%, Reduces Enemies Move Power (I don't consider Move a factor, unless fighting smeone like an FFT Character w/ Move *Shrugs*)
Kidding!: Either Misses or has Reverse Effect (Don't know what this does since I never saw it succeed alone, but it has uses to be named later)
Outta My Way: 100%, "Hit Back" Shot (interpret that as you will)
Take this!: 60%, ignores enemies defense (Will list actual damage later)
Keep At It!: 120% damage, Penetrating
NOTE: Penetrating means it ignores Damage reduction, basically, BoF5's version of Piercing (FFX)
Level 3s:
Blow Up!: 150%, Hits a WIDE Area (meaning I consider it MT for RPGmon)
Shatter!: Closer you are, the more damage you deal
NOTE: At about "Point Blank" Range, it does 175 Damage to Elyon. If you consider someone "Always in range" then I can see letting that be the damage *shrugs*
Lets Dance!: 150%, hits a Wide Area (See Blow Up! Basically, this is good for making one stronger, since they are otherwise the same move, different area affects)
A present: Not sure what this does alone, so I'll assume its meant for combos and nothing else...In a combo, it mimics the last attack used, even Combo moves (Moves shown in "Blue" instead of White)
Drop Dead!: 60%, Ignores Defense (NOTE: This might be off, since I never got it, basing it off a FAQ)
Combos (listing AP needed to pull off attack afterwords):
Attack Down -- Hey hey! + How's that? (20 AP)
Defense Down -- There! + How's that? (20 AP)
Speed Down -- Too Slow! + How's that? (20 AP)
Draw in -- Hey hey! + C'mere! (20 AP)
Draw in (2) -- There! + C'mere! (20 AP)
Improved Draw in -- Outta my way! + Kidding! (40 AP)
NOTE: Not sure how to interpret "Drawing in" beynd Raising Shatter!'s damage *shrugs*
Null -- That's It! + Stay Here! (30 AP)
Death -- Go on! + Kidding! (40 AP)
NOTE: All those are Damage + Status, Death is basically Lin's version of Great Smash. Null Status is effectivly Stop.
Improved Take this! -- There! + Take this!
Improved Keep At It! -- That's it! + Keep at it! (40 AP)
Improved Shatter! -- That's it! + Shatter!! (50 AP)
Improved Drop Dead! -- That's it! + Drop dead! (50 AP)
NOTE: Beyond Shatter!, these damage combos are just for show. Improved Shatter does about 150% the damage it normally does, and its always at least Shatter +10%, so...yeah, it HURTS
Super Shatter -- Hey hey! + C'mere! + That's it! + Shatter!! + A present (100 AP)
NOTE: This full combo does somewhere around 700 damage.
Evaluation: Lin has decent staying Power outside of her suspect Magic Defense, having good HP, and alright Defense (Defense really doesn't show that much in game, for the record) Her damage is pretty decent as well. Her main greatness though comes from her status effects, having Instant Death and Stop (I could ahve sworn she had more though...), and she can Lower Stats as well, which is nice (not sure the Percentage. Game doesn't list what combos do, unfortunately) Her lowish Speed holds her back though, but to be honest, she's not a total slug, but she's still subpar.
Stat Comparisons:
HP:
Ryu (445) > Lin (401) > Nina (290)
Average: 378.6667
AP:
Ryu (90) = Lin (90) = Nina (90)
...ok, bad attempt at a joke, sorry >_>
Defense (before Equips):
Ryu (118) > Nina (104) = Lin (104)
Average: 108.6667
Defense (After equips)
W/ Status Protectioin Gear: Ryu (130) > Lin (114) > Nina (112)
W/ Defensive Gear: Ryu (152) > Lin (136) > Nina (134)
Average Status Defense: 118.6667
Average Defensive Defense: 140.6667
NOTE: Since Shields are all the same ni terms of stats, I just nixed them entirely, especially since most just give 0 to Defense anyway, being Damage Reducers.
Agility (before Equips):
Nina (92) > Ryu (73) > Lin (65)
Average: 76.7
Agility (after equips)
NOTE: Assume Ryu has dragon Blade, Nina Wizard Wand, and Lin Grenade
Nina (87) > Ryu (71) > Lin (62)
Average: 73.333...
Magic (before Equips):
Nina (148) > Lin (129) > Ryu (102)
Average: 126.3333...
Magic (After Equips)
NOTE: Assumed Weapons are Wizard Wand, Dragon Blade, and Grenade Respectivly
Nina (208) > Ryu (152) > Lin (129)
Average: 163
AVERAGE DAMAGE BASED ON OK'S NUMBERS A FEW POSTS DOWN: 499
I take these averages with a Grain of Salt. As you can see, BoF5 is living proof that just cause you are high enough to make the others in your cast unable to break Average, doesn't mean your godly in the stat. BoF5 is very specific on character use, so to speak. Basically, one character dominates in a stat (kind of) while the others are kind of close, that, or 2 characters do well in a stat while the 3rd just plain sucks royally at it to give you the hint that they aren't meant for that task (Nina's HP is a prime Example) yeah, BoF5 is a game where everyone has a defined use, the battle system makes that Clear (Ryu = Close Range Meat Shield Fighter, Lin = Long Range Fighter, Nina = Mage, right off the bat >_>)
With that, the first attempt at this topic is done. Boss stats coming in next post.
