Super Laggy RPG: *Laggy* Seal of Approval (an SMRPG mod)

[Laggy]

Last updated: 4/27/2015
WHAT IS IT: An SMRPG hack made by the Lazy Shell editor.
WHERE TO DOWNLOAD: Right here! This is an .ips patch, so you need to use Lunar IPS to apply it. Also, if you need an SNES emulator, snes9x can be downloaded here and ZSNES 1.42 can be downloaded here.
PROGRESS: It's pretty much done.
GOAL: Just a general rebalance and difficulty tweak. Meant for players who have beaten SMRPG at least once and know the game pretty well. Kind of slammed this one out quickly for Tide and lulz.

STUFF THAT GOT CHANGED:
- Timed blocking is considerably harder. Most attacks will have be re-learned, though the sweet spot of timing for all attacks is the same (roughly where perfect blocking was before).
- Perfect blocking removed.
- Level up bonuses changed to require some actual thought and preference instead of autopilot to the best number. Details further below.
- Character changes:
... Mario - Mostly unchanged, emphasis on being well-rounded in stats, cost effective, gets some unique equips. Still a bland skillset but hits some weaknesses no one else can.
... Mallow - Stick-type weapons now boost M.Def. Glove-type weapons raised in Atk noticeably. Instruments now boost M.Atk. HP Rain now cures status. Snowy and Star Rain now do lots more damage.
... Geno - Geno Boost can no longer self-target. Geno Blast is learned before Geno Whirl. Geno Flash now dispels.
... Bowser - Armor is now no longer totally outclassed by Work Pants. Emphasis placed on tanking ability. Specials are quite good but FP intensive.
... Toadstool - Glove-type weapons now boost Def. Prop-type weapons now raise M.Atk and/or Speed. Healing abilities no longer cure status. Group Hug lowered in power and raised in FP cost.
- Pick Me Ups are no longer storebought (can be purchased for Frog Coins, dropped by many bosses in the game).
- Maple Syrups now cure 30 FP instead of 40. Royal Syrups now cure 50 FP instead of full.
- KeroKeroColas now fully heal the party and cure all status, but no longer restore FP.
- Mid Mushrooms and Max Mushrooms (ST healing consumables) now cost 8 and 16 coins.
- Freshen Ups now only cure Poison, Sleep, and Fear.
- FroggieDrinks, Elixirs, and Megalixirs (MT healing consumables) available at the Juice Bar now heal 20/40/70 HP, and cost 24/36/48 coins respectively.
- Frog Coin costs at the Frog Emporium and Frog Disciple Shop have been overhauled, primarily reduced.
- Equipment documentation added. No more guessing what the hidden properties of stuff are.
- General weapon and armor rebalancing to cut down on useless sidegrades (i.e. Super Hammer vs Masher, Work Pants vs too many things).
- Accessory/unique armor tweaking (nerfs got handed out to the egregious stuff like Lazy Shell and Safety Ring. Stuff like the Attack Scarf and Super Suit got downtoned, though are still quite obviously some of the best equips in the game. Other stuff that was passed over got looked at and tweaked.)
- Randoms generally just improved all around (more damage, more durability, sometimes a few more tricks).
- Pretty much all bosses now multiact and were improved.
- Lightning Orb and Storm were renamed to Dispelling Orb and Disjunction, respectively, to clearly denote that these moves now dispel their targets.

KNOWN ISSUES
- NOTE: This is an emulator issue. Try using snes9x 1.53 or ZSNES 1.42. Random freezeups involving the inventory screen. I have no idea what causes this and have not seen it myself throughout all testing but several players have reported it. Suggest liberal use of savestating before venturing into your inventory/equips.
- If you die in the middle of an enemy's multiact, they will continue to attempt to finish their multiacting without going to the Game over... prompt. Sometimes this results in just weird/glitched animations, sometimes this will cause the game to lock up. It doesn't terribly matter other than forcing you to reset/load from savestate (which the game over would have done anyway), but it's a bit of a nuisance. This may be addressed eventually if I have the time to go through every monster script in the game and modify them to check for valid targets (unlikely).

SPECIAL ABILITY DOCUMENTATION
Psychopath - 1FP, scans HP
Therapy - 1FP, power 40, heals
Thunderbolt - 2FP, power 15, thunder-elemental, MT
HP Rain - 2FP, power 10, heals, cures status
Mute - 2FP, inflicts Mute, max rotates 16
Jump - 3FP, power 20, powers up with more uses
Geno Beam - 3FP, power 45
Fire Orb - 4FP, power 30, fire-elemental, max hits 16
Shocker - 5FP, power 60, thunder-elemental
Geno Boost - 6FP, boosts stats, can't self-target
Sleepy Time - 6FP, inflicts Sleep, MT, max rotates 16
Super Jump - 7FP, power 45, jump-elemental, max hits 100
Geno Blast - 7FP, power 50, MT
Super Flame - 8FP, power 45, fire-elemental, max 24 hits
Terrorize - 8FP, power 10, inflicts Fear, MT, max rotates 16
Geno Whirl - 8FP, power 95, inflicts ID
Come Back - 8FP, revives
Poison Gas - 9FP, power 20, inflicts Poison, powers up with more uses, MT, max rotates 16
Group Hug - 10FP, power 5, heals, MT
Ultra Jump - 11FP, power 75, jump-elemental, split targets, max hits 100
Ultra Flame - 12FP, power 75, fire-elemental, split targets, max hits 32
Psych Bomb - 12FP, power 60, MT, max hits 16
Crusher - 13FP, power 120
Geno Flash - 14FP, power 75, dispels, MT
Snowy - 15FP, ice-elemental, power 70, MT, max rotates 16
Bowser Crush - 16FP, power 48, ITD, max hits 16
Star Rain - 18FP, power 100, max hits 16

ENEMY SPELL DOCUMENTATION
Arrow Rain - 64 power, MT
Aurora Flash - 50 power, MT, inflicts Sleep
Big Bang - 100 power, MT
Blast - 89 power
Blizzard - 32 power, ice-elemental, MT
Bolt - 1 power, thunder-elemental, ITD
Boulder - 72 power, MT
Breaker Beam - 80 power, MT
Corona - 88 power, fire-elemental, MT
Crystal - 25 power, ice-elemental
Dark Star - 160 power
Diamond Saw - 60 power
Disjunction - 108 power, dispels
Dispelling Orb - 20 power, thunder-elemental, dispels
Drain - 4 power, fire-elemental
Drain Beam - 26 power, MT
Electroshock - 72 power, thunder-elemental
Flame - 12 power, fire-elemental
Flame Stone - 32 power, fire-elemental
Flame Wall - 8 power, fire-elemental, MT
Ice Rock - 130 power, ice-elemental
Knock Out - inflicts ID
Light Beam - 24 power, inflicts Sleep, MT
Mega Drain - 12 power, fire-elemental, ITD
Mega Recover - 255 power, heals
Meteor Blast - 34 power, MT
Meteor Swarm - 90 power, MT
Petal Blast - 40 power, inflicts Mushroom, MT
Recover - 125 power, heals
Sand Storm - 16 power, inflicts Fear, MT
Shredder - dispels, MT
Sledge - 10 power, ITD, MT
Solidify - 47 power, ice-elemental, MT
Spear Rain - 60 power, MT
Static E! - 12 power, thunder-elemental, MT
Sword Rain - 80 power, MT
Water Blast - 39 power, MT
Weird Mushroom - 60 power, heals
Willy Wisp - 24 power, ITD

EQUIPMENT DOCUMENTATION
Amulet - Speed -5, Attack/Defense/M.Attack/M.Defense +7, halves fire/ice
Antidote Pin - Defense/M.Defense +4, immunes Mute & Poison
Attack Scarf - Attack/M.Attack +30, Mario only
B'tub Ring - M.Attack +20, halves ice, nulls fire, Toadstool only
Chomp - Attack +10, variance 4, Bowser weapon
Chomp Shell - Attack +12, variance 3, Bowser weapon
Coin Trick - doubles coins won, immunes ID, Mario only
Courage Shell - Defense +32, M.Defense +14, immunes Fear, Bowser armor
Double Punch - Attack +35, variance 5, Geno weapon
Drill Claw - Attack +65, variance 25, Bowser weapon
Exp. Booster - doubles Exp earned
Fearless Pin - Defense/M.Defense +5, immunes Fear
Feather - Speed +20, Attack/M.Attack +15, Defense/M.Defense -5
Finger Shot - Attack +12, variance 3, Geno weapon
Fire Cape - Defense +30, M.Defense +15, halves fire, Geno armor
Fire Dress - Defense +42, M.Defense +21, halves fire, Toadstool armor
Fire Pants - Defense +42, M.Defense +21, halves fire, Mallow armor
Fire Shell - Defense +46, M.Defense +24, halves fire, Bowser armor
Fire Shirt - Defense +42, M.Defense +21, halves fire, Mario armor
FroggieStick - Attack +20, M.Defense +10, variance 2, Mallow weapon
Frying Pan - Attack +90, variance 20, Toadstool weapon
Fuzzy Cape - Defense +24, M.Defense +12, Geno armor
Fuzzy Dress - Defense +36, M.Defense +18, Toadstool armor
Fuzzy Pants - Defense +36, M.Defense +18, Mallow armor
Fuzzy Shirt - Defense +36, M.Defense +18, Mario armor
Ghost Medal - auto-boosts Defense
Hammer (Hammer Bros) - Attack +10, variance 1, Mario weapon
Hammer (Seaside) - M.Attack -50, variance 100, inflicts Lucky status, immunes all status, Mario weapon
Hand Cannon - Attack +45, variance 6, Geno weapon
Hand Gun - Attack +24, variance 4, Geno weapon
Happy Cape - Defense +12, M.Defense +6, Geno armor
Happy Pants - Defense +24, M.Defense +12, Mallow armor
Happy Shell - Defense +16, M.Defense +10, Bowser armor
Happy Shirt - Defense +24, M.Defense +12, Mario armor
Heal Shell - Defense +60, M.Defense +30, Bowser armor
Hero Shirt - Defense +48, M.Defense +24, Mario armor
Hurly Gloves - Attack +20, variance 5, Bowser weapon
Jinx Belt - Attack/Defense +30, immunes Fear
Jump Shoes - Speed +2, Defense/M.Defense +1, M.Attack +5, bypasses Jump immunity, Mario only
Lazy Shell (weapon) - Attack +90, variance 40, Mario weapon
Lazy Shell (armor) - Speed/Attack/M.Attack -20, Defense/M.Defense +75, halves all elements, universal armor
Masher - Attack +50, variance 30, Mario weapon
Mega Cape - Defense +12, M.Defense +3, Geno armor
Mega Glove - Attack +64, variance 6, Mario weapon
Mega Pants - Defense +18, M.Defense +9, Mallow armor
Mega Shirt - Defense +18, M.Defense +10, Mario armor
NauticaDress - Defense +30, M.Defense +15, Toadstool armor
NokNok Shell - Attack +20, variance 2, Mario weapon
Pants - Defense +6, M.Defense +3, Mallow armor
Parasol - Attack +50, M.Attack +10, Speed +5, variance 4, Toadstool weapon
Polka Dress - Defense +24, M.Defense +12, Toadstool armor
Prince Pants - Defense +48, M.Defense +24, Mallow armor
Punch Gloves - Attack +30, variance 3, Mario weapon
Quartz Charm - auto-boosts Attack and Defense
Rare Scarf - Defense/M.Defense +20
Ribbit Stick - Attack +50, M.Defense +25, variance 5, Mallow weapon
Royal Dress - Defense +48, M.Defense +24, Toadstool armor
Safety Badge - Defense/M.Defense +10, immunes Mushroom/Sleep
Safety Ring - Halves ice/thunder, immunes ID
Sailor Cape - Defense +18, M.Defense +9, Geno armor
Sailor Pants - Defense +30, M.Defense +15, Mallow armor
Sailor Shirt - Defense +30, M.Defense +15, Mario armor
Scrooge Ring - cuts FP use in half during battle
Shirt - Defense +6, M.Defense +6, Mario armor
Signal Ring - Speed +30, nulls thunder, noise indicates hidden chest
Slap Glove - Attack +40, Defense +4, variance 4, Toadstool weapon
Sonic Cymbal - Attack +70, M.Attack +35, variance 7, Mallow weapon
Spiked Link - Attack +30, variance 6, Bowser weapon
Star Cape - Defense +36, M.Defense +18, Geno armor
Star Gun - Attack +60, Defense/M.Attack/M.Defense +3, variance 6, Geno weapon
Sticky Glove - Attack +90, variance 15, Mallow weapon
Super Hammer - Attack +48, Defense +8, variance 4, Mario weapon
Super Slap - Attack +80, Defense +8, variance 8, Toadstool weapon
Super Suit - Speed/Attack/Defense/M.Attack/M.Defense +15, nulls all elements
Thick Pants - Defense +12, M.Defense +6, Mallow armor
Thick Shirt - Defense +12, M.Defense +8, Mario armor
Troopa Pin - M.Attack/M.Defense +5, auto-boosts Attack
Troopa Shell - Attack +56, variance 5, Mario weapon
Trueform Pin - Defense/M.Defense +4, immunes Mushroom/Scarecrow
Ultra Hammer - Attack +100, variance 7, Mario weapon
Wake Up Pin - Defense/M.Defense +3, immunes Sleep
War Fan - Attack +70, M.Attack +15, variance 16, Toadstool weapon
Whomp Glove - Attack +60, variance 20, Mallow weapon
Work Pants - Speed -3, Attack/M.Attack +10, Defense/M.Defense +5, immunes ID, universal armor
Zoom Shoes - Speed/Defense +10, M.Defense +5

LEVEL UP BONUS MECHANICS
All level up bonuses rotate through the following bonuses.

Phase 1: Attack +1/Defense +2, HP +3, M.Attack +1/M.Defense +2
Phase 2: Attack +1/Defense +1, HP +2, M.Attack +1/M.Defense +1
Phase 3 is char-dependent.

Mario: Attack +2/Defense +2, HP +5, M.Attack +2/M.Defense +2
Toadstool: Attack +1/Defense +2, HP +4, M.Attack +2/M.Defense +1
Bowser: Attack +3/Defense +2, HP +5, M.Attack +4/M.Defense +1
Geno: Attack +2/Defense +1, HP +4, M.Attack +2/M.Defense +1
Mallow: Attack +2/Defense +2, HP +4, M.Attack +2/M.Defense +1

RECOMMENDED LEVELS FOR BOSSES
Hammer Bros: L2
Croco 1: L3
Mack: L4-5
Belome 1: L5
Bowyer: L6
Croco 2/Punchinello: L7
Guys/Bundt: L8-9
King Calamari: L10
Johnny/Yaridovich: L11
Belome 2: L13-14
Megasmilax: L14-15
Birdo: L15-L16
Valentina & Dodo: L16-17
Czar Dragon/Axems: L17-18
Magikoopa/Boomer/Exor: L18-20
Count Down/Domino & Cloaker: L19-21
Gunyolk & Factory Chief: L20-L22
Smithy: L21+

Booster: L8-9
Jinx 1: L13
Jinx 2: L14-15
Jinx 3: L16-18
Culex: L20+

Spoilers! Boss stat topic.

[dude789]

I think the equipment screen freeze is a problem with the SMRPG rom and not the hack itself. I've had the same problem in my playthrough of the game. I'll definitely try the hack though. It sounds very cool.

[TigerKnee]

I'll play this if I have time... and if Bowser doesn't suck anymore.

[Lord Ephraim]

The equipment freeze bug is a emulation problem, not the rom. Tide should stop using ZSNES 1.51.  I haven't countered it at all and I'm on 1.42.

[Tide]

bumping this up so it's easier to find.

[Laggy]

Completed all the way to Smithy and including Culex.

Not ready to call this final yet, but it's getting pretty close; will edit on feedback (mainly that Smithy is completely untested and I'll still probably want to alter things here and there).

[Laggy]

Oh yeah, it kind of goes without saying but any and all kind of playtesting and feedback's appreciated.

This was a very quick dirty project and I had plenty of rough patches to smooth over, so if you find some hilariously imbalanced things be sure to speak up. Even minor things!

[Nitori]

TIMED BLOCKING

Hammer Bros: Well I can't block anything but Jump still 2HKOs and L2 Mario gets at best 3HKOed with no blocking, so I can kill one and tank the other. Still L2 Mario is inferior easy mode

0 resets

Croco: Goddamned miss keeps me from doing it on superior Fire Orb-less hard mode, I can't block the 2HKOing rush. If I could then I take Phys bonuses on both Mario and Mallow on the way and just have Mallow defend the whole time, but I have to do it on inferior Fire Orb easy mode

2 resets

Mack: I have to use Pick Me Up due to unblockable Bodyguard Drain spam, the evils that Laggy brings. However I can actually block Mack's physical and Mallow can do damage without dying instantly, so I do it on L4 w/ WakeUp Pin normal mode, except I took Magic bonuses so it's easy mode again dammit

4 resets

Cool hack bro

[Laggy]

Added in special ability documentation and updated again to fix issues with Culex.

EDIT: okay added in enemy spells and equipment as well.

[Random Consonant]

Oh hey in ur threads commentin on ur romhacks.  Might as well since I lack superior streaming abilities.

Bowser's Castle:
2 wipes, one because I can't timeblock Bowser's hits to save my life and he can 3HKO now and the other because I thought it would be a good idea to use Jump on the Klinklink.  Laggy you whore.

Hammer Bros:

Well I can't block anything but Jump still 2HKOs and L2 Mario gets at best 3HKOed with no blocking, so I can kill one and tank the other. Still L2 Mario is inferior easy mode

Bandit's Way:
While wiping to dogs would've been hilarious it didn't actually happen, for all that they start off by 2HKOing Mallow.  Croco wasn't much of a problem since I'm pretty thorough about fighting randoms, for all that I still fail at blocking.

Mack:
Thunderbolt owns pogodudes that randomly decide to tank physicals.  Mack apparently randomly tripleacts apropos of nothing but he only does the whole multiacting thing when the bodyguards are dead and his damage isn't really scary at Lv5 so it's all good.  Got lucky on the Drain spam, but being Lv5 helped a bit there.  Ran out of mushrooms because I forgot to stock up but I have a bunch of syrups so it's all good.

Kero Sewers:
Well Pandorite packs some pretty high damage with Carni-kiss but is otherwise pretty manageable.  Belome sucked pretty badly though.  Maybe if he used sleep more he might have been a bit scarier?  I dunno.

Bowyer:
Hey you 2HKO Geno good for you.  The magic damage kinda failed it up against Lv7 Mario/Geno (well Mario did have that Trueform Pin equipped still but) and Geno Boost is one of the few timed things I don't completely fail at so yeah.

Mines:
Well Geno dies like a million times to randoms, Croco catches me off guard but I clutch through thanks to Geno Boost, Punchinello has tripleacting physicals which is kinda scary because I still fail at blocking but only uses them on the Mezzo Bomb phase and I manage.

[Tide]

Kero Sewers:
Well Pandorite packs some pretty high damage with Carni-kiss but is otherwise pretty manageable.  Belome sucked pretty badly though.  Maybe if he used sleep more he might have been a bit scarier?  I dunno.

Get Aurora Flash version. Uber profit

[dude789]

I just got the second star. Here's my thoughts so far.

Bosses are excellent. Mack and especially Bowyer are a lot of fun to fight and are much more challenging than the original. Only thing I would change is maybe up the power on Belome's physical a bit. Great job overall.

Randoms have been pretty fun as well, but the Rose Way and Forest Maze ones aren't as interesting as some of the earlier fights. The main problem is that right now there's only two types of randoms, status whores with no damage and die easily (the bees, mushrooms and snap dragons) and heavy hitters who can a few hits (the spiders, Donkey Kongs, and weird squid things with the eyes on sticks.)

As for the party members, despite the hp difference Mario and Mallow have pretty similar durabilities because Mallow has better defenses. FP costs for Mario are a bit restrictive right now. It might be a good idea to reduce Jumps FP cost to 2 so it can compete with Thunderbolt and HP Rain which are much more useful at the moment. It might be worth it to consider lowering Fire Orb and Super Jumps to 4 and 6 respectively as well. Haven't gotten the chance to mess around with Geno yet, but initial thoughts are that Geno Boost seems to be really expensive. If its possible you could give Geno a Truform Pin or something in his initial equipment. It might help him to not get blown up by Bowyer.

[Laggy]

Yay, feedback.

Re: Mario's stuff, he isn't supposed to have better or comparable FP skills to Mallow since he has a good physical and Mallow does not. Jump also has that quirk where it powers up and Fire Orb is by far your best source of damage versus some bosses, so I don't think he's in any danger of not having his specials used.

He does end up having some of the cheapest FP costs in the game later, where he shines a lot less otherwise.

Re: Geno Boost, yes, but it is just that good.

[dude789]

Just got through the mine. First really moment of LAGGGGGGGYYY so far because Randoms are nasty. Main problem is the Clustars. Clustars do not need Diamond Saw. It one shots everyone until Mario got to level 8 where he could then survive it with 2 hp if he was at max. This was with the best defensive set up I had. They are also faster than Mallow and Mario and some of the random sets have two of them. They use Diamond Saw frequently enough that I can easily see someone having 2/3 of their party killed before anyone but Geno can do anything. Crystal and Psyche would make them still dangerous without Diamond Saw.

Magmites or whatever they're called are more annoying than anything. 100 or so hp and physical attacks do at most 12 to them. Also, they counter all attacks after they're hit with a spell. They don't do a ton of damage but it adds up. They were less threatening when I realized that the game throws Flower Tabs at you with Croco's thieves so I was more liberal with my spells. Might want to make it so they only counter magic or lower their defense a bit so physical attacks can finish them after a spell. As it is now they're a massive FP drain, but it's manageable if you get all the Flower Tabs.

Fireball enemies are also nasty but are being compared to Clustars which makes them seem a lot less threatening. They have good physicals (26 or so unblocked) and Flame Wall hurts Mario and Geno decently. 

Echindas are another enemy that has great potential for nastiness. Double Echofinder could hurt (not as bad as Diamond Saw), but they never did it. I can see them causing a lot of trouble if they manage to Echofinder Mallow early in a fight.

Croco was pretty easy. His damage is really manageable compared to the rest of the enemies. Mallow can easily keep up with it and the only way I can see losing is if he catches you with your pants down FP wise when he steals the items or if he double Chomps Mallow and you don't block it.

Punchinello one the other hand is a tough fight. I had one reset where Geno died early on and Mario died when I reached the Mezzo Bomb phase. He has a lot of damage there. Mezzo Bombs deal 30ish damage unblocked and Punchinello's physical attacks do about the same after Valor Up and he triple acts. Mario and Mallow got overwhelmed. The good news is that Geno Boosted Mallow OHKOs the small and regular Bombs (Rather comically I think the smaller bombs do more damage than the regular ones.) Second time I Geno Boosted both Mallow and Mario. When I got to the Mezzo Bomb phase Punchinello focused more on Mario and the Bombs blew up less often. This combined with me getting the Timed Blocking down on Punchinello helped me win with everyone alive.

[Laggy]

Went ahead and replaced Diamond Saw with Static E! on Clusters (2/3 chance of Crystal, 1/3 chance of Static E!). Also after watching Archmage play some toned down SQUID (King Kalamari) just a tad.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

<Laggy> BUT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE BROKEN

[Laggy]

They had Ice Rock originally.

[Random Consonant]

Whee coming back from hiatus~

Booster's Tower:
I try to take on Booster.  First attempt does not go well and I go back to the pond to get a Crystalline and a Power Blast, which makes things go smoothly.  Booster hurts but Super Jump kinda badly trivialized him.  Knife/Grate Guy were kinda decent but then I remembered hearing they were vulnerable to Fear (like moments before it came up in chat) and they became less so.

Bundt:
Didn't really do anything nasty to me other than Sand Storm.  In fairness to Laggy, I did fail at avoiding enemies going back up Booster's Tower so I was a level higher than I should have been and as such kinda trivialized the fight with Super Flame.

[Nitori]

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[Fuzzypickles]

Grate Guy has completely wiped me twice.

First time I was Mario/Geno/Bowser. Enemies terrorized and Mario/Bowser Geno Boost'd. Things looked pretty good. Geno gets KOed by Meteor Blast I think and I decide to just leave him dead.  Knife Guy went down without too much trouble. Then Grate Guy Light Beams and gets about 5-6 actions without me being able to do anything, and the party is wiped.

I swap in Mallow for Geno. The early fight goes even faster since I realize that Fire Orb tears through Knife Guy like no other. After he falls, Grate Guy remains. Soon after... Knock Out'd Mallow (who has my only Wake Up Pin), followed by Light Beam into chained attacks that KO Mario, followed up by another Knock Out on Bowser. Gah.

I was hoping to clear this without having to run and buy more status protection.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Grate Guy/Knife Guy were kinda terrible for me, on the other hand. Mage setups completely destroy them, come to think of it - the epic MDef means that mage Mallow 3HKOs Knife Guy with -Thunderbolt- after Geno Boost. Then, mage Mario pulled off 672 damage on Grate Guy with a single post-Geno Boost Super Jump and that was that.

Booster was completely nuts with the nearly 200 damage Loco Expresses, though. I'm just glad he's weak to Jump element, so a Geno Boost'ed Mario 2HKOs him with a decent Super Jump.

Also, for the Laggys: this Booster run was done sans Bowser. As was the Grate/Knife Guy run. No resets, but I nearly died to Booster, at least, who mulched through Geno and Mallow very fast once he got going.

[Fuzzypickles]

Yeah, I avoided the Booster fight for the Amulet, so no comments on that one.

Knife/Grate Guy went much better when I killed Grate Guy first. By the time that Grate Guy fell, Knife Guy was nearly dead from collateral damage from Mallow's Thunderbolts.

Were you using Jump Shoes? I never realize who's immune to Jump and who isn't, so I ended up wasting a Super Jump on Knife Guy my first try against him. I'm also not very good at getting past 13-14 Jumps, so maybe I'm not getting the most out of it.

I didn't realize Geno Boost boosted magic damage... good to know. Either way, I'm surprised I ended up using Bowser. Terrorize is so much better than I remember it as a kid, and Geno not being able to target himself is a real turnoff (I can't keep him alive). I didn't think Bowser's durability would be a huge advantage since you can't pick who gets hit, but since I don't really have much multi-target healing this early (I'm stingy with FroggieDrinks) it's really helpful to have a character that can last for more than two-three hits before yelling for HP Rain.

I dunno where Toadstool is gonna fit into this. It's nice that there's decision making in terms of who I want to use, rather than the previous default of Mario/Geno/Toadstool.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Since I'm gearing Mario to be a pure magic glass cannon, yeah, Jump Shoes are pretty paramount to my game there (boosts M.Atk in addition to ignoring Jump immunity), especially considering Mario gets his best mults on Jump attacks.

Also, yes, Geno Boost is just that damn good. Terrorize probably will wane a bit once bosses start immuning it, and while it is neat on randoms, I'd rather spend those turns using Bowser's straight offense often, given how much ahead of the curve he is at that point for physicals. Do keep in mind that my Mario's physicals suck, having gotten only M.Attack buffs for the whole game, though. >_> Also has the funny side effect of making Geno my SECOND-MOST DURABLE PC TO PHYSICALS YESZ not that he doesn't utterly suck against magic anyway. But I've been finding Geno just crucial -anyway- despite the nerfs. Geno Boost is just sick, and SLRPG makes the boosts matter more, while Geno's been my second-best offense on randoms because Mario/Mallow as mages just have terrible physical offense (Mario's improved notably due to Masher, but is unreliable. Geno's is just shy of Bowser-level and that is important). Mallow I use a lot on bosses for the healing, but he's not pulling offensive weight on things outside of hitting awful MDef or weakness or general crowd control (GUESS WHAT HAPPENED AGAINST THE CLOWNS THERE) until Shocker.

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

Oh yeah: Laggy, I really like the handling of Pick Me Ups here. They were brutal, brutal overkill in the original, and while dying matters, the game doesn't punish you for dying badly, so the balance just feels very right.

One other thing: was I supposed to get so damned many Freshen Ups? I'm not complaining (SPAMMABLE MT STATUS HEALING FUCK YES), but.

[Fuzzypickles]

Gah, I'm getting frustrated at the Pirate Ship. So many things are OHKOing Mallow.

Dry Bones seems weird now too.