LFT: An FFT mod (The final release is a lie. Download here!)

[DjinnAndTonic]

Will the Chemist in Gariland work?

Or is his name preset as well?

-Djinn

[metroid composite]

Will the Chemist in Gariland work?

Or is his name preset as well?

-Djinn

Totally guessing here, but Gariland is a crazily pre-set battle on the whole, including a bunch of pre-set names already.

[Grefter]

Sand Rat Cellar is in Zeklaus Desert isn't it?  Yeah that would be cool.  I mostly just wanted to make ze jokes about the Death Corp and their (horrible) socialism.

[Cotigo]

Can I request a cameo by nullifying Ephraim's cameo so that a little piece of me is in the hack because Eph isn't?

[Lord Ephraim]

If you're reaching the limit on name changing, I don't require one.  I just want Screaming squires with axes and throwing stones (make throw stone stronger yesssssssssssss).

Also, this needs to be hacked for the PSP version too, since even with the slowdowns it plays much better than emulating PSX FFT (on my machine >.> <.<)

[Laggy]

[link removed]

Feedback is not necessary but very much welcomed. If you're testing specifically, the following is what I'm looking for:

1) General thoughts on the changes and how they pan out both on the PC and enemy side.
2) Feedback on specific missions that seem to have changed in difficulty or mechanics.
3) Verifying the listed changes on the changelog (on the first post). If something is listed there that doesn't seem to be working, it should be noted. Note that in-game documentation is NOT updated and does not reflect the new changes (what you see when you hit Select on items and skills, etc.)

[metroid composite]

Current thoughts on class balance.

EDIT: to clarify: when I say Teleport and Math Skill are "gone" throughout this post, I mean "gone until very very lategame".

-Squire-
(The following changes apply only to the base Squire.)
* MP Growth increased from 15 to 11
* MP Multiplier increased from 75 to 100
* Speed Multiplier increased from 100 to 110
* PA Growth increased from 60 to 50
* PA Multiplier increased from 90 to 100
* MA Multiplier increased from 80 to 100
* Acquired innate [Monster Skill]
* Can equip Robes and Crossbows

(The following changes apply to all base Jobs, including base Squires.)
* [Defend] removed from ability list
* [Gained JP Up] removed from ability list
* [Gained Exp Up] added to ability list
* [Move-Get Exp] added to ability ilst
* JP Cost Changes
  ... Move +1: 200 -> 300 JP
  ... Move-Get Exp: 400 -> 200 JP

Stats/Equips: Average
(Move 5, 110 speed, and...average.  Has uses, but not that exciting).

Skillset: Awful.

R/S/M: ???
Gained Exp Up is one to watch.  Notably, Laggy wanted to remove JP-gain stuff, but Gained Exp Up actually provides a small amount of that (your actual level factors in to how much JP you gain per action).  Also, it treads on Mime a little--Mime in theory has good growths, but gaining twice as many levels tends to be more valuable than gaining a few more stats per level.  If it causes a unit to reach a speed point their teammates haven't hit, then that's enormous--speed+1 is certainly worth an accessory slot.  It's more that Gained EXP Up didn't excite me or Laggy at all.
(None of Squire's other R/S/M are anything to worry about.)

-Chemist-
* JP Cost Changes
  ... Ether: 300 -> 100 JP
  ... Hi-Ether: 400 -> 200 JP
  ... Elixir: 900 -> 250 JP
  ... Eye Drop: 80 -> 70 JP
  ... Echo Grass: 120 -> 70 JP
  ... Maiden's Kiss: 200 -> 70 JP
  ... Soft: 250 -> 70 JP
  ... Holy Water: 400 -> 70 JP
  ... Remedy: 700 -> 200 JP
  ... Phoenix Down: 90 -> 250 JP
  ... Auto Potion: 400 -> 700 JP

Stats/Equips: Niche
(guns are guns, Throw Item is cool, otherwise eww)

Skillset: ???
The danger of Item is that at the old JP costs everyone set Item very frequently--you were guaranteed to know Phoenix Down.  Is 250 JP enough to bump that off?
On the other hand, Chemist's competition has gotten a lot better.  Is Item still as viable as it was?

R/S/M: Overpowered
700 JP helps reign in Auto-Potion a little.  However, with Teleport and Math Skill basically gone, it's probably now the go-to break the game ability.

-Knight-
* Move increased from 3 to 4
* Acquired innate [Defense UP] and [Magic Defense UP]
* [Defend] added to ability list
* All "Break" skill accuracies increased to 100% (still subject to evade)
* JP Cost Changes
  ... Head Break: 300 -> 150 JP
  ... Armor Break: 400 -> 250 JP
  ... Shield Break: 300 -> 150 JP
  ... Weapon Break: 400 -> 250 JP
  ... Magic Break: 250 -> 250 JP
  ... Speed Break: 250 -> 250 JP
  ... Power Break: 250 -> 150 JP
  ... Mind Break: 250 -> 150 JP
  ... Weapon Guard: 200 -> 300 JP
  ... Equip Armor: 500 -> 300 JP
  ... Equip Sword: 400 -> 250 JP

Stats/equips: Possibly overpowered (needs testing)
DU/MDU are really good.  To put things into perspective, when we removed the Chameleon Robe trick against Wiegraf, and started talking about how much to nerf his stats...I realized that a skill-less level 15 Knight can win a slugfest against him without any Wiegraf nerfs.  (Granted, takes proper equipment/zodiac and some luck with accuracy/counters).

Potentially beastly carrier.  Still needs testing, though--one thing that I keep finding from experience is that FFT is very offence oriented.  Might not be as good as it looks on paper.

Skillset: Niche

R/S/M: Underpowered/Niche
Just noticed that Weapon Guard went from 200 to 300 JP; yeah, not excited anymore.  Without Math Skill I care about Equip Shield a lot less (not to mention every shield using class got upgraded).

-Archer-
* Acquired innate [Ignore Height]
* [Jump +1] removed from ability list
* [Ignore Height] added to ability list
* [Charge +1] changed from +4 CT to +1 CT
* [Charge +2] changed from +5 CT to +2 CT
* [Charge +3] changed from +6 CT to +3 CT
* [Charge +4] changed from +8 CT to +5 CT
* [Charge +5] changed from +10 CT to +7 CT
* [Charge +7] changed from +14 CT to +9 CT
* [Charge +10] changed from +20 CT to +11 CT
* [Charge +20] changed from +35 CT to +15 CT
* Can equip Robes
* JP Cost Changes
  ... Charge +10: 600 -> 500 JP
  ... Charge +20: 1000 -> 700 JP
  ... Speed Save: 800 -> 400 JP
  ... Equip Crossbow: 350 -> 250 JP
  ... Ignore Height: 700 -> 400 JP

Stats/equips: Niche
Innate ignore height is kinda neat, as are bows.

Skillset: ??? (check for overpowered)
Charge might be overpowered now (mostly in the earlygame, of course).  Some testing needed.  There's also a chance it will still go largely unused.

R/S/M: Average
Concentrate was already part of a pretty standard game plan (Move+2 Ninja with Concentrate).  Additional stuff looks useable now.

-Monk-
* [Spin Fist] and [Revive] vertical tolerance increased from 0 to 1
* JP Cost Changes
  ... Spin Fist: 150 -> 100 JP
  ... Repeating Fist: 300 -> 200 JP
  ... Secret Fist: 300 -> 150 JP
  ... Earth Slash: 600 -> 450 JP
  ... Revive: 500 -> 400 JP

Stats/Equips: Niche

Skillset: ???
Monks are generally average in everything (which isn't good).  Still not much of an earlygame skillset (especially with new crowding from Dance).  Still doesn't have the raw power of some lategame skillsets.  This would peg them as Niche, except...

Except earlygame Mime stat growth is taylor-made for Monks, and Gained EXP Up is also very good for them (+1 PA can be better than Attack Up for them).  This merits some testing.

They're also still a good class to throw at newbies, because they do everything from offence to healing to revival.

R/S/M: Average
Some decent stuff here.

-Priest-
* [Cure 4] effect area increased from 2 to 3
* [Raise 2] hit rate increased from +160 to +250, CT decreased from 10 to 6
* [Reraise] hit rate increased from +140 to +170, CT decreased from 7 to 4
* [Regen] hit rate increased from +170 to +200, MP cost decreased from 8 to 4
* [Protect 2] and [Shell 2] hit rate increased from +120 to +250, CT decreased from 7 to 1, MP cost decreased from 24/20 to 15
* [Wall] hit rate increased from +140 to +190, MP cost decreased from 24 to 18
* [Esuna] MP cost decreased from 18 to 8
* [Holy] MP cost increased from 56 to 60, CT increased from 6 to 7
* JP Cost Changes
  ... Cure 2: 180 -> 200 JP
  ... Cure 3: 400 -> 300 JP
  ... Cure 4: 700 -> 600 JP
  ... Raise: 180 -> 100 JP
  ... Raise 2: 500 -> 380 JP
  ... Reraise: 800 -> 350 JP
  ... Regen: 300 -> 70 JP
  ... Protect 2: 500 -> 250 JP
  ... Shell 2: 500 -> 250 JP
  ... Wall: 380 -> 280 JP
  ... Esuna: 280 -> 180 JP
  ... Holy: 600 -> 900 JP
  ... Regenerator: 400 -> 200 JP

Stats/Equips: Niche
Fastest Robe-wearing class...although actually they're tied with Squires now....

Skillset: ??? (Needs testing, possibly overpowered)
Raise is the new cheapest revival.  Raise 2 is now o_O.
Nothing else is all that gamebreaking.  (Holy looks kinda bad to me now, on paper; still fine for assassinations, of course).

R/S/M: Average
200 JP?  Regenerator is the new Weapon Guard.

-Wizard-
* [Bolt 2] MP cost increased from 10 to 12
* [Fire 2] MP cost decreased from 12 to 10
* [Fire 3], [Bolt 3], and [Ice 3] CT decreased from 7 to 6
* [Fire 4], [Bolt 4], and [Ice 4] CT decreased from 10 to 8
* [Poison] hit rate increased from +160 to +210, effect area increased from 2 to 4, vertical tolerance increased from 2 to 3, CT decreased from 3 to 2
* [Death] hit rate increased from +100 to +160, range increased from 4 to 8, CT increased from 10 to 18
* JP Cost Changes
  ... Fire 3: 480 -> 300 JP
  ... Fire 4: 850 -> 600 JP
  ... Bolt 3: 480 -> 300 JP
  ... Bolt 4: 850 -> 600 JP
  ... Ice 3: 480 -> 300 JP
  ... Ice 4: 850 -> 600 JP
  ... Frog: 500 -> 250 JP
  ... Death: 600 -> 450 JP
  ... Counter Magic: 800 -> 300 JP
  ... Magic Attack UP: 400 -> 600 JP

Stats/equips: Overpowered
Probably still the best in the game.

Skillset: Overpowered
Was already overpowered in Chapter 1/2 beforehand.  Has gotten across-the-board buffs (mostly to the later-game stuff) and a lot of later-game competition has been nerfed (notably Shiva/Ramuh/Ifrit aren't what they used to be).

R/S/M: Overpowered
MAU is still MAU--not much can stop it from being gamebest.

-Time Mage-
* [Teleport] removed from ability list
* [Haste] CT increased from 2 to 4
* [Haste 2] CT decreased from 7 to 1, MP cost decreased from 30 to 20
* [Slow] CT increased from 2 to 4, MP cost decreased from 8 to 4
* [Slow 2] CT decreased from 7 to 1, MP cost decreased from 30 to 10
* [Stop] hit rate increased from +110 to +160
* [Float] range decreased from 4 to 3, hit rate increased from +140 to +200
* [Demi] MP cost decreased from 24 to 16, added dark-elemental attribute
* [Demi 2] hit rate increased from +120 to +170, MP cost decreased from 50 to 36, added dark-elemental attribute
* JP Cost Changes
  ... Haste: 100 -> 120 JP
  ... Haste 2: 550 -> 360 JP
  ... Slow 2: 520 -> 240 JP
  ... Stop: 330 -> 170 JP
  ... Float (spell): 200 -> 50 JP
  ... Reflect: 300 -> 100 JP
  ... Float (movement): 540 -> 200 JP

Stats/equips: Average
Wizard overshadows them.  But otherwise they enjoy second-best land.

Skillset: Average
Haste is good.  Lots of little statuses are worthwhile now.  With very heavy investment you can do cool stuff with Meteor or Quick.

R/S/M: Average
Short Charge isn't that good, but it's not bad.

-Summoner-
* [Shiva], [Ramuh], and [Ifrit] CT increased from 4 to 7
* [Titan] CT increased to 8
* JP Cost Changes
  ... Shiva: 200 -> 240 JP
  ... Ramuh: 200 -> 240 JP
  ... Ifrit: 200 -> 240 JP
  ... Titan: 220 -> 280 JP
  ... Carbunkle: 350 -> 150 JP
  ... Salamander: 820 -> 480 JP
  ... Silf: 400 -> 150 JP

stats/equips: Average
Overshadowed by Wizard, etc.

Skillset: Overpowered? (not sure)
Hit with a massive nerfstick, yes.  That said, from playing the PSP version, 7 CTR doesn't start being a problem until Chapter 3, and even there only in select fights until Chapter 4.  Also, in the absence of Math Skill, SC Summon may become the best setup.

R/S/M: Underpowered
Half of MP...yeah.

-Thief-
* Acquired innate [Two Swords]
* [Jump +2] removed from ability list
* JP Cost Changes
  ... Steal Heart: 150 -> 200 JP
  ... Steal Helmet: 350 -> 200 JP
  ... Steal Armor: 450 -> 300 JP
  ... Steal Shield: 350 -> 200 JP
  ... Steal Weapon: 600 -> 300 JP
  ... Steal Accessory: 500 -> 300 JP
  ... Gilgame Heart: 200 -> 30 JP

stats/equips: Average
Two Swords makes them hit hard.  Excellent speed.  Daggers don't suck now.
That said, they're not Ninjas, and otherwise their stats kinda blow.

Skillset: Awful

R/S/M: Average
Move+2 is good, but reasonably priced.

-Mediator-
* [Praise] and [Preach] hit rate increased from +50 to +80
* [Death Sentence] hit rate increased from +30 to +40
* JP Cost Changes
  ... Death Sentence: 500 -> 250 JP
  ... Insult: 300 -> 100 JP
  ... Finger Guard: 300 -> 100 JP
  ... Mimic Daravon: 300 -> 200 JP
  ... Equip Gun: 700 -> 500 JP

Stats/equips: Niche
(Monster Talk, Guns and Robes.  Otherwise...eww)

Skillset: Niche
(Used when trying to accomplish something specific)

R/S/M: suck
(Nothing really new).

-Oracle-
* [Defense UP] removed from ability list
* [Blind] effect area increased from 1 to 3, vertical tolerance increased from 2 to 4
* [life Drain] range decreased from 4 to 1
* [Zombie] hit rate increased from +100 to +180
* [Blind Rage] hit rate increased from +120 to +160
* [Confusion Song] hit rate increased from +130 to +170
* JP Cost Changes
  ... Life Drain: 350 -> 500 JP
  ... Pray Faith: 400 -> 300 JP
  ... Doubt Faith: 400 -> 300 JP
  ... Zombie: 300 -> 100 JP
  ... Blind Rage: 400 -> 150 JP
  ... Confusion Song: 400 -> 150 JP
  ... Dispel Magic: 700 -> 200 JP
  ... Petrify: 580 -> 280 JP
  ... Any Weather: 200 -> 30 JP

Stats/Equips: Average
Outclassed by Wizard.  Sticks are kinda neat.

Skillset: Average
Lots of good stuff here without anything being really broken.

R/S/M: Average
Move-MP-Up starts looking pretty generally attractive for mages--can't get Teleport now, mages may not want to spend time as Thief, and Move MP Up should be able to muscle out Move+1.

-Geomancer-
* Class prerequisites changed to: Squire 2, Knight 2, Monk 2
* PA Multiplier increased from 110 to 120
* MA Multiplier increased from 105 to 120
* JP Cost Changes
  ... All "Elemental" abilities: 150 -> 100 JP
  ... Counter Flood: 300 -> 200 JP
  ... Attack UP: 400 -> 600 JP
  ... Any Ground: 220 -> 30 JP
  ... Move on Lava: 150 -> 100 JP

Stats/Equips: Average +Niches
On the whole, nothing that can't individually be had in other classes.  Well...highest MA move 4 class, highest MA shield class.  120 PA and clothes without being fast (matters for Jump where you want to be slower than your opponent).  Decent durability (just...Knights smoke them so bad now).  Good physical (though now behind Thieves as well as Ninjas).
Kinda like Time Mage's #2 in everything, except with clearer niches.

Skillset: Underpowered
As always, most of their skillset's use comes from being "you use it while you're taking advantage of Geomancer stats".

R/S/M: Niche
Unfortunate that Attack Up doesn't boost Jump or Throw or Dance, and is worse than Martial Arts for Punch Art.

-Lancer-
* Class prerequisites changed to: Squire 2, Archer 2, Thief 2
* [Level Jump3] removed from ability list
* [Level Jump5] removed from ability list
* [Vertical Jump3] removed from ability list
* [Vertical Jump5] removed from ability list
* [Vertical Jump6] removed from ability list
* [Vertical Jump7] removed from ability list
* [Ignore Height] removed from ability list
* [Defense UP] added to ability list
* JP Cost Changes
  ... Level Jump4: 450 -> 300 JP
  ... Vertical Jump4: 300 -> 200 JP
  ... Vertical Jump8: 900 -> 700 JP
  ... Dragon Spirit: 560 -> 300 JP

stats/equips: mediocre
(They have spears, and...yeah.  Granted, sexy until Power Sleeve shows up in...Chapter 2 now >_>).

skillset: ??? (potentially overpowered)
Jump was always a bit of a write-off for me.  Yeah, you could head to Lancer, but you can have Ramuh first.  Yeah, you could get Level Jump 8, Vertical Jump 8, but you could have Math Skill first.  Math Skill's all but gone, and Level Jump 4 takes about as much time to get as Ramuh now.

R/S/M: Average
Defence Up is good.  Dragon Spirit is good.  Equip Spear is useful.  None wave overbearing "use me" flags.

-Samurai-
* Acquired innate [Two Hands]
* [Bizen Boat] multiplier increased from 4 to 8
* [Heaven's Cloud] multiplier increased from 14 to 15
* JP Cost Changes
  ... Two Hands: 900 -> 300 JP
  ... Equip Katana: 400 -> 250 JP
  ... Walk on Water: 400 -> 100 JP

stats/equips: bad
(Innate Two Hands is cute.  Doesn't save them).

skillset: average (maybe overpowered? but...probably not).
Seems like there's too many limitations (on cash and storebought Katana sequence).  Great in the aftergame when everything's in the store and cash is limitless.
The counteragument is that Mathskill is all but gone, and Summon Magic has been nerfsticked.

R/S/M: Average
Blade Grasp is good.  Worse than Auto Potion, and harder to get.  No real problems here.

-Ninja-
* JP Cost Changes
  ... Move in Water: 400 -> 100 JP

stats/equips: Overpowered
120 speed, 120 PA, innate two hands.  Yep.

skillset: underpowered
Throw won't be set outside of Ninja.  Sees more than enough use in that role, though.

R/S/M: Niche
(Abandon and Sunken State both technically have uses; not seen that often on final parties, though, and with good reason).

-Bard-
* Class prerequisites changed to: Chemist 2, Priest 2, Wizard 2, Time Mage 2, Summoner 2, Oracle 2, Mediator 2
* Acquired innate [Magic Attack UP]
* [life Song] HP restored increased from 10 to 30
* [Cheer Song] hit rate increased from 50% to 100%
* [Battle Song] hit rate increased from 50% to 100%
* [Magic Song] hit rate increased from 50% to 100%
* [Nameless Song] hit rate increased from 50% to 100%
* JP Cost Changes
  ... MA Save: 450 -> 300 JP
  ... Face Up: 500 -> 300 JP
  ... Fly: 1200 -> 500 JP

Stats/equips: Average
Innate MAU doesn't save their bad multipliers, male requirement, and lack of robes (and doesn't boost sing, BTW).
That said, Harps.  Doubling their WP and giving them speed+2 makes Bards sorta like what was done to Thieves.

skillset: Average
Speculation but...it's got clear uses (Cheer Song >>> Yell, Angel Song is crazy as always, Battle Song >>> Accumulate, Life Song trances etc).  At the same time there's better options for breaking the earlygame (ahem: Dance).

R/S/M: Average
They have Move+3, and don't have to compete with Teleport now.

-Dancer-
* Class prerequisites changed to: Squire 2, Knight 2, Archer 2, Monk 2, Thief 2, Geomancer 2, Lancer 2
* Acquired innate [Attack UP]
* [Jump +3] removed from ability list
* [Move +3] added to ability list
* [Polka Polka] hit rate increased from 50% to 100%
* [Disillusion] hit rate increased from 50% to 100%
* [Last Dance] hit rate increased from 34% to 50%
* JP Cost Changes
  ... A Save: 550 -> 300 JP
  ... Brave Up: 500 -> 300 JP
  ... Fly: 1200 -> 500 JP

Stats/equips: Below average (Niche?)
Innate Attack Up is...cool, but I can't see how it would be used.  Agrias would be better-off as a Geomancer with AU than a Dancer with Equip Sword, for instance (well...ignoring that Dance >>> Geomancy).

skillset: Overpowered?
Can easily have Dance mid Chapter 1 now....

R/S/M: Average
Move+3.

-Mime-
* Class prerequisites changed to: Squire 3, Chemist 3
* Acquired innate [Maintenance]
* Can equip Hair Ornaments and Perfumes (regardless of gender)
* Acquired innate Immune: Dead, Undead, Petrify, Invite, Darkness, Confusion, Silence, Blood Suck, Berserk, Chicken, Frog, Poison, Slow, Stop, Faith, Innocent, Charm, Sleep, Don't Move, Don't Act, Death Sentence

stats/equips: Average??
Kinda cool in Chapter 1-2 when you don't have R/S/M abilities anyway (where presumably innate mimic is good enough).  Gives neat stat growth.

skillset: none

R/S/M: none

-Calculator-
* Class prerequisites changed to: All classes Lv4 (except Samurai/Ninja)
* [Gained Exp Up] removed from ability list
* [Move-Get Exp] removed from ability ilst
* [Move-Get JP] removed from ability list
* [Teleport] added to ability list
* The following abilities have been removed from [Math Skill]:
  ... Raise 2, Holy, Death, Flare

I shouldn't need to go into detail here; one question though: does JL4 of every class besides Ninja/Samurai include Mime/Bard/Dancer?  (Bard/Dancer should presumably never be prerequisites due to the gender issue.  Mime...what are you going to do with that 550 JP that you can't spend on anything?)

[Laggy]

I shouldn't need to go into detail here; one question though: does JL4 of every class besides Ninja/Samurai include Mime/Bard/Dancer?  (Bard/Dancer should presumably never be prerequisites due to the gender issue.  Mime...what are you going to do with that 550 JP that you can't spend on anything?)

No.

[superaielman]

Just got through Igros. Nothing changed in the first fight. The save Algus fight's  much harder, though I won (saved Algus too) the first time due to a bit of luck- namely, he managed to survive round 1 in spite of the thief and squire with a crossbow. He even used an ether on my Squire who had black magic, making sure I toasted the thief but good.  Definitely gave the fight a much different feel. Everything works as is far as I can tell. You did mean to give Delita's version of Squire gained jp UP and not Algus's, right?

Going to hopefully play a bit tomorrow (who knows how much, it's an update night) but at least some.

[Laggy]

Everyone you can see as a Guest should have the Gained EXP Up/Move EXP Up abilities rather than Gained JP Up, so that's a bug. I'll correct it (for all that in Delita's case it totally doesn't matter).

mc and I just blew pretty much the whole day finishing chapters 1 and 2. Knights are infinitely more scary (Move 4 + obscene durability changes things a LOT) as a general rule of thumb. Zeakden was our most troublesome fight by far.

[Excal]

Yeah, I can definately see how Zeakden would be the hard fight.  I had to reset once because I tried an Archer run, and well, the knights and Algus are way too tanky, not to mention my real Archer had worst compatability with Algus, leading to his doing about 10 damage with a Charge +2.

That said, it was interesting to have all of that mobility that Ignore Height gives.  Especially when I had all four archers where the knights couldn't reach them.  If I had bothered to get anything besides MP Break for my knight, then that match would have been easy.

As is, yeah.  Knight durability is subtle, but noticable, and certainly does a good job of discouraging blitz tactics.  As well, the cheapness of Raise means it's more likely for the CPU to have it, which means that mages are now a far higher priority.  Especially when they use it on the thieves you prioritize because of the fact that they have actual offense now.

Sand Rat Celler also deserves notice now.  The Knights do a good job of sweeping with their added durability, so half your party is unlikely to take them, and the Archer can jump up to a high point in the middle of the map, giving him effective melee immunity and making him impossible to escape from.  Well, not impossible, there are ways around it, but not many that also let you really deal with the oncoming Knight swarm.  So, Sand Rat feels like the most improved fight thus far.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

I'm just kind of curious, what was the idea behind removing the different levels of Vertical and Horizontal Jump for the Lancer? The skill never struck me as super OP or anything.

[Yakumo]

Probably just that they're redundant?  Once you have 8 in both you hit everything in between, even if you didn't bother with the other levels.

[Excal]

Yakumo actually did hit the reasoning bang on.  If you have Jump 8, the rest don't matter.  So, cut it down from seven different options to three, all of which offer differing costs and benefits, just in case you do want to go for something middling but much faster.

[Dark Holy Elf]

The one thing I don't approve of about the change is there is no longer a 600 JP "yay I'm done!" option for Vertical Jump, which Vertical Jump 7 used to offer. Now I either settle for Vertical Jump 4, which is clearly inferior, or save for 8, which costs 700 - in other words, the Vertical Jump skill list was actually somewhat nerfed as far as I'm concerned.

That said, overall accession of the job is faster so it is improved overall, and the options of stopping at 4 are both much more appealing.

[AndrewRogue]

Brief thoughts thus far. I'll post more detailed things later.

Prologue Battle: Showcases things pretty well, I think. Battle takes longer and let's the knight really wreck some stuff.

Magic City: Nammuch to say here. Pretty standard.

Mandalia Plains: Going to go out on a limb and say something needs to be done here? Maybe it was a unique experience for me, but the Save Algus option pretty much requires you to save state to get through in a reasonable time, which is sad times. Nevertheless, beat it under the save Algus option. Thieves are mean now.

Sweegy: Blargh, monsters. They all die. Yay.

Dorter: Knight Delita slaughters all.

Cellar of Sand Mouse: Knight durability is proving a relative bitch. But you know what solves issues of them not dying fast enough? Power Break, so I don't care about their existence anymore and can deal with them later. Archer ignore height is funny.

[Excal]

Delita was useful in Dorter?  I know he was humourously not terribly useful for the first little bit as both he and Algus ran up the building after that Archer who proceeded to...  hop down where they couldn't reach him.  I could see that pattern repeating itself in lovely fashion if I didn't have my own archers.

As for Algus, it can be done...  I know he lived on my first try.  But yeah, does seem horribly unreasonable to expect.

[metroid composite]

Laggy and I completed a playthrough during the past two days, changing things/fixing bungs as we went.

*Mime:
Notably on the PC side, we were entertained by Mimes, but they were still crappy even in Chapter 1 so...

HP mult from 140 -> 200
PA from 120 -> 140
MA from 115 -> 140
move/jump from 4 -> 5
Front evade from 5% to 50%

Surprisingly this stayed reasonable stat-wise with the rest of the party for as long as we used the Mime.


*Archer:
Charge saw heavy use--lots of physical characters didn't have 200 Chemist JP to unlock Priest early, and Charge+3 pre-empts Bolt 1, so it's nasty against mages.  Laggy actually talked me into using Charge in one of my final setups, and it worked fairly well.
Nerfed first crossbow (bowgun) as it was better than the Broadsword, which was o_O

Monk was making me cry.

*Monk:
Move: 3->4 (we couldn't think of anyone this steps on, really, and the move was a big part of my problem).
JP costs -100 across the board from defaults (-200 for Repeating Fist and Secret Fist because they're so niche, but rather cool in their niche).

*Bard:
Rules.  I think I may upgrade their stats/equips into the mildly overpowered column.  In chapter 2 tends to be faster than Ninjas (at lowish levels) and hits hard throughout the game.  At the same time, gameworst HP, gameworst growths, Ninjas definitely beat them for physical damage in the long run (and about tie for speed).  They're fine.  Oh except:

Life Song 30+MA -> 20+MA
Seriously, two Life Songs in Chapter 2 meant full healing every turn.  At 20 I was still using it a fair bit even at endgame when we didn't have a Mime in the party.

*Dancer:
We unlocked in early Chapter 2.  Slow Dance and Wiznaibus were hardy broken by the time we got it.  Nameless Dance was good the entire game.

*Wizard:
Death is fine.  We're thinking we will up Death accuracy, to be honest.

*Geo
We upped Geo a bit more, and still didn't use it much.

*Samurai
Fixed Kiyomori glitch.

*Malak
Became awesome.

*Fights
Nerfed Fort Zeakden (brought Algus down to the damage he's supposed to do).
Un-ubered: Wiegraf 2, Elmdor, Kletian
Improved: Queklain
Altima: changed a bunch again.

[metroid composite]

Some surprises I missed:

Equip Sword is good now.  Unlocked Samurai, and realized that I could do Ice Brand Black Robe with their innate two-hands (while I trained the skillset).  Not to mention Rune Blade once that showed up in stores (better than Magic Attack Up while in the Samurai job).

A notable observation:

If you're a female going for Samurai/Ninja, you unlock Dancer basically for free.  (Hax).  This is reasonable I guess; Ninjas are better male, and Samurai are better as Ramza, both of them benefit from help unlocking via Dance.

HP totals seemed really low when we played through--we had quite a few people with Power Sleeve, which is -20 HP from its old version--there's actually more incentive not to auto-use Power Sleeve now, which strikes me as good.  Also good: Power Sleeve doesn't cost much now and you can buy lots of them.

Wizard was slightly nerfed: 140 MA instead of 150 MA.  They still seemed to be fine.

[superaielman]

LFT: Just finished C1. Zeakden was a lot of fun. Algus is not easy to take down now, the innate defense/Mdefup means y ou can't just shrug off autopotion, and his support's good. I got elemental'3ed (ow) and the Knights were throwing breaks around like crazy. Status is the only semi quick way to win this fight, assuming you don't try to just rush Algus anyway.  Edit: I bet zombie+X-potion would OHKO him. I ought to try that. Beat the chapter at level 10.

Thoughts: Stick Delita in Knight for Sweegy. He should get enough JP For break weapon. Making him an archer with that helped me in a few places. Fight by fight stuff:

Dorter: Knight was a pain in the ass to kill (Took me like 20 turns due to really bad sign alignment+no MP), Archer on top needs to be killed quick. Nothing too different.

Sand rat: No real change. The Knights's tougher of course and so is the thief, but it's too easy to control the fight with a couple spells. 

Thieves fort: The thieves were improved which is good, but.. mmm. Nothing here is very durable at all, and a thief with a couple of daggers can pretty much put paid to a priest by himself.

Miluda 2: Holy crap Bard. I unlocked it with Ramza before the fight. Really helped control things some. Charge being awesome now really helps with sniping mags, and they're the big targets on the map. The Knights get statused out, because fuck me if I'm going to bother hacking through their HP/defenses otherwise. Miluda got weapon broken by Delita and was not a factor. My Thief really helped here, his ability to get up the map quick along with having charge let him pretty much OHKO mages at will.

Wiegraf: Did he have defense up Laggy? Definitely seemed a bit tougher.  It's an Assassination mission on a small map, only so much you can do here. I blasted him with an elemental 3 and sent my thief to clean up. Got half my team wiped out, but no matter.

Zeakden:  You're faced with two problems here- the lower JP curve means that you're facing at least elemental 2 spells (I saw Fire 3 both times I did this fight), and the Knights are a pain in the fucking ass to kill thanks to defenses, Algus included.  You can beat down his HP, or beat him indirectly.

Status works fine here- Algus only blocks a couple, his support blocks none. Don't move alone makes the Knights a non factor. The wizards can be silenced but probably should be killed. Brave lowering/equip breaks can also get his HP down if you're really struggling.

[Dark Holy Elf]

This hack sounds really cool. Awesome work, Laggy.

[metroid composite]

Wiegraf: Did he have defense up Laggy? Definitely seemed a bit tougher.  It's an Assassination mission on a small map, only so much you can do here. I blasted him with an elemental 3 and sent my thief to clean up. Got half my team wiped out, but no matter.

Just about every boss has Def Up/MDef Up now.  Exceptions include fights that didn't need the help like Golgorand, Lionel, Zodiacs, Assassins, (we had it on Elmdor, but removed it because Blade Grasp was enough).


Random observation: With Wizard nerfed to 140 MAM, and Geos at 125 MAM, Geos actually match Wizards for MA in Chapter 4 (with Rune Blade Ageis Shield).  Laggy and I thought about this, and are okay with it for two reasons:
1. In Chapter 1-3 Wizards have more MA stacked with Thunder Rod while Geos have nothing.
2. I've seen lots of Golden Hairpin use in Chapter 4--mages sometimes really want MP, and Wizards have a noticeably higher mult (120 instead of 95).


On another note, lots of people have been saying "I can think of situations where I'd use Squire now".  However, Laggy and I weren't using it much.  Changed the HP/MP/PA/MA mult to 110 (from 100), to match their speed 110.  Now they have just better stats than Priest, but that's fine--not being Priest means you lose Raise.  Also changed Heal to cure every damn status, including stuff that nobody else cured like Stop.

[superaielman]

Maybe have throw stone/dash add some status? That'd be pretty cool actually.

Just beat Zierkile falls. I actually nearly died on Dorter 2- Gaf and my archer just won the fight in time. Thief+Good sign compat=my mage dies fast, and Ramza got nuked by the archers. Definitely improved.

The Boco fight was pathetic, but I don't see a way to save that one ever, three guests+bad monsters. Same with the falls. Looking forward to the Musty battle, that's always a fun one.

[Taishyr]

THROW STONE MUST ADD STONE.

COUNTER TACKLE/DASH MUST ADD CONFUSION TO DEMONSTRATE HOW MAD IT IS TO USE THEM.

This is the way. I approve, Super.

[Dunefar]

You don't need to make Squire THAT good. It's the starter class for a reason, it shouldn't be buffed up enough to compete. Maybe Uber Squire maybe?