Resume reading from this reblog
Ok so to begin it would be best to start with the basics, take a pause to explain skills and then get to the more advanced stuff.
The basics for battle are simple: at the start of the player's turn they will be given three turn icons (or as many turn icons as they do party members in the currently deployed party. Maximum being three party members currently deployed)
They will select which turn icon they want to use up before slotting it into the health tracker system (this is the bar that keeps track of a unit's Max cor and Hrt) in which begins that unit's action phase which they can do a few things during that phase.
Standard melee: dealing basic physical attack damage equal to the unit's STR
Standard magic: dealing basic magic damage equal to the units MAG with the type being based upon what cor type a unit has.
Guard: if the unit guarding is attacked they will subtract the damage based on either their STR if the attack was physical, or MAG if the attack was magic. This also has a parrying system that is only active when guarding. The parry system will be explained in the advanced mechanics section.
Skill: uses a skill that is in the character's skill list.
Item: uses an item that is currently in the player's possession.
Focus: this is one of the two ways a unit can recharge their cor, however it does consume a turn. The amount of cor that is recharged is usually 10% of the unit's Max cor (rounded down).
And that's really it for the basics, defense, magic, melee, skills, item, and a recharge if you're running low on cor.
Once all available turn icons are used up for that turn that ends the player's side on turn and then onto the enemies (or if you get ambushed it's the enemies phase first then the players phase.)
Ok so skills are… weird. They have a few mechanics to them.
First and obvious are the skill types. These are divided into.
Cast skills which have a cor cost that will deplete a character's spendable cor, these are healing and attack skills mostly as well as debuffs and buffs.
Counter skills which are technically automatic but have a very specific requirement to be achieved, and they also use for when their requirements are met.
Passives are skills that are always active and require no cor whatsoever however in exchange the effects are somewhat underwhelming.
Now when it comes to cast skills and counter skills that deal damage they are divided into two sections: physical and magic.
This is more just to show which stat is going to be used when it comes to amplifying the base power.
However when it comes to the skills-based power that's where it gets interesting. For in other regular RPGs magic and attack skills have a set amount of damage that's already applied. But in this case the damage that's being dealt is the character's base damage start given a multiplier based on the skills tier which also dictates how many skill slots it has.
there are four tiers to skills
Base tier are the starting tier of skills and use up one skill slot, however in exchange they only give a ×1.5 multiplier (rounding down)
Boost tier are the second tier of skills, using up tier skill slots. And the boost given is a ×2 multiplier.
Advanced tier is the third tier, using up 3 skill slots but with a ×3 multiplier.
Absolute tier is the final tier using 5 skill slots; however its boost is a ×5.5 multiplier (rounding down) making it the strongest and rarest tier.
The more advanced mechanics
Ok before we begin! We need to talk about monsters.
More accurately enemy units.
Ok so enemy's much like ally units have Hrt as well as levels, now all enemy unit types have a base Hrt which is then multiplied by their level (however there is a max Hrt pool for certain enemies that aren't bosses)
So let's say we have a wolf who has a set base Hrt of 150 now let's say it's level 10 that means it now has 1500 hrt however it's max Hrt is 14,850 which is not common considering wolves only appear in low level dungeons at levels 1 to 15 so usually they are capping out at 2,250
(this is to ensure people understand why damage can get so fucking ridiculous because later enemy's will have MASSIVE health pools, bosses even having a later modifier that is applied after, which increases their health by 10)
Skills as explained are more complex in this game, the cheaper skills take up less skill slots but have a lot less power versus the more powerful skills which take up a lot of skill slots in exchange for huge damage.
However they aren't cut and dry though. As skills after they are used require a recharge in which they will charge up based on their percentage rate which is usually some multiple of 100 (the exact way the charge required to refill the is 100 × the amount of skill slots they take up)
This means more costly skills will have longer recharges while shorter ones are much faster but how is the recharge going to occur?
Well at the start of each unit's action phase they will regain 10% to all skills in recharge, performing a basic melee/magic will add an additional 5% to the meter.
But then there's also the characters speed, which adds the current value of the units speed stat to skills with the higher recharge percentage required (if there are multiple skills with a recharge required then they all get the boost) but this only occurs if you have 3 or more skills that are recharging. So once you're at 2 or less you really should not expect a boost to those skills getting recharged.
This is to ensure two things.
Spamming skills is discouraged.
Planning of a character's skill list.
But that's just the recharge system for skills, let's talk-
<Zen>, the way to recharge a character's cor-
You see the battle system specifically uses turn icons via having each character have a supply of icons that being 5.
Now normally after a turn ends the icons are redeemed which means they are constantly able to be used.
However if a character is low on cor they can choose to focus, in which they pass their turn and create one focus icon.
REAL QUICK! Before I elaborate further, if you create a focus icon that means you sacrifice a turn icon, meaning it won't be redeemed after a turn ends.
This is important because these icons are cycled, with each turn being connected to a different cycle and if a turn icon is not redeemed then that means on that next cycle the unit who has a focus icon via spending a turn icon will not get an action phase.
Ok that's explained, back to what I was saying. When a character gains a focus icon they can choose to spend it on their following action phase. If they do, they will gain back 10 Cor to their meter (and if you choose to spend a focus icon while you have multiple, it spends all of them and the amount of cor regained is multiplied by the amount of focus icons that got spent).
And after a focus icon is spent it will be treated as a turn that will eventually be redeemed.
However if you turn all five turn icons of that unit into a focus icon then instead when the next turn begins that unit will automatically spend all five focus icons, but this doesn't give back 50 cor, instead that unit enters the <Zen>.
When a unit enters <Zen> they will naturally recharge 15 cor at the start of their action phase and this will last until they lose at least 50% of their max hrt. However if they choose to enter focus it won't have the intended result.
Entering <Zen> also increases the percentage of recharge skills gain at the start of that units action phase going from 10% to a whopping 25%.
<Zen> also ties into another mechanic. Karma.
Karma and how to achieve it-
You see there are four karma states a character can enter. However they all require a character to be in <Zen> in which they will then need to meet the specific requirements for them to enter that state.
Unit must be in <Zen>. If the unit attacks with an advanced or higher tier physical skill they will enter “Ignis karma”
(+) Units in this state naturally inflict {Burn} onto the target they are attacking with a melee type skill or using basic melee. If the target already has {Burn} inflicted, the multiplier will receive an additional +0.5 it.
(-) This unit cannot guard nor can they use healing skills on themselves (nor can they be targeted by healing skills)
Unit must be in <Zen>. If the unit chooses to focus they will enter “Aqua karma”.
(+) All attack that this unit lands will deal an additional 10 damage and inflict {Freeze}.
(+) All healing skills used by this unit will have their modifiers gaining an additional +0.5 to their multiplier.
(-) However all damage taken will have an 10 extra damage, with any hit taken inflicting {Stun}.
Unit must be in <Zen>. If the unit chooses to guard they will enter “Lapis Karma”.
(+) This unit if guarding will have the damage they take be reduced by double their attack stat based upon the skill type of the attack.
(=) This unit can only be targeted. All other units cannot be targeted while this unit is in “Lapis Karma”
(-) This unit cannot use attacks whether they are melee or magic they cannot attack unless it is a >CRITICAL<.
Unit must be in <Zen>. If the unit attacks with an advanced or higher tier magic skill they will enter “Procella Karma”.
(+) All magic attacks done by this unit naturally inflict “Float” onto the target. if the target already has float the next attack done will have the modifier increased by +0.5.
(-) This unit takes double damage when attacked and cannot use physical type skills.
Now when a character enters a Karma state they will keep the same buffs as <Zen> however they are much easier to be knocked out of.
If a character enters a Karma state and takes at least 15% of their max HRT as damage they will be knocked out of both the karma state and <Zen>.
Something to aswell, characters in a karma state do have access to focus as originally intended.
Normally >CRITICAL< hits are luck based, but not in this case, you see, to score a >CRITICAL< hit it requires a focus icon (once again tying into <Zen> and giving focus more usage).
By spending a focus icon you land a >CRITICAL< hit which does two things.
It returns the turn icon spent to turn it into a focus icon but also continues that unit's action phase as well as automatically putting them into <Zen> if they already aren't in it or in a karma state (however no Cor is gained at the spending of a <Zen> icon if used for a >CRITICAL< hit).
However a >CRITICAL< hit can only occur if the target being attacked does not have their guard up.
If it does however get a >CRITICAL< hit it will cause your multiplier to be doubled (however that comes before any additions to the modifier occur)
Say you're standing against a Gobu which has {Burn} and you have three units one of them being in it is karma having a <Zen> icon which they spend to deal a >CRITICAL< hit
Now let's say the damage is an advanced tier physical skill and their STR is 35
So in terms of calculations that would be
Which simplified to include all modifications to the multiplier that
35 × 6.5 = 227 points of physical damage to the enemy and lets the Gobu has 300 Hrt and since it isn't guarding that means it goes down to 73 Hrt.
As mentioned prior there is a parrying mechanic and it's not really like the counter skills as counter skills are more like traps that require energy vs the parrying system which only occurs when guarding.
Now parrying like in many games such as ultrakill and dark souls is an active that needs to be made. So here's how it works.
If a unit you control has a Focus icon and chooses to guard because you know a hit is going to come then when that unit is hit they will automatically spend the focus icon, which causes a PARRY which does two things.
One It completely skips the next enemy units action phase meaning you will have one less enemy trying to make attacks.
Two you gain half the amount you have if you spent the icon as well as heal equal to the damage you would have taken (VERY much pulling from ultrakill and it's parry system because it's awesome and the idea of healing while saying “how about no” to an enemies attack is always going to be EXTREMELY satisfying)
How you have to have a focus icon and then guard to actually achieve, you can't just spam it, but if the unit doesn't get attacked that's fine, the focus icon won't leave and you won't get punished for being cautious. Losing a turn is already enough of a punishment.
Also yes I'm aware it makes no sense to have a parry system in a jrpg inspired game, but if Clair obscura expedition 33 can achieve a parry system that actually requires the player to make an input, then by HEAVEN I'M GOING TO TRY.
Ok so previously I mentioned “There's also technically a units cor type which is just their magical alignment it will be developed on in the complex battle mechanics.”
Well later becomes now because there's something to note.
Now instead of regular weakness and resistance cor is split into five categories and each unit has a cor type.
Brek or destroyer: this usually focuses on attacks that deal heavy damage.
Revv or Speedster: this focuses on quick weak strikes that can hit multiple times as well as buffs to a unit's speed.
Gohs or Guardian: this is the major defense type with with its damage types being weak and having its own tier. Miniscule which is ×0.5 (rounding down) modifier, however this also focuses more on defense as it has passives that increase parrying damage.
Hala or Trickster: this is the most debuffs centric however they also have attack skills that are… unconventional. There are barely attack skills, only having standard tier skills that attack, however they do also have skills which increases your actions available on the selected units phase of the turn.
Puri or Purify: this is where a lot of near-instant kills can be found (which are attacks that would completely KO a selected opponent, however their TEN stops it from being guaranteed.) as well as the majority of healing skills. Like the rest they have attack type skills but in this case they are rare and EXTREMELY powerful.
When a unit has a Cor type skills they use of that type will have a boosted effect, for instance the standard Brek skill “Brek blade” will obviously be the units strength stat plus the multiplier given but if the caster of the skill has the brek cor type it will actually give a +2 to the base damage before multiplication.
Or if a unit uses the standard trickster debuff skill “Hala tak” which simply decrease the targets strength by -5 for three turns (which can stack though it does not add more turns) the caster if they have the trickster cor type will boost it to -8 to str for 4 turns (however the buffs do not stack so if you cast the skill again onto the same it will simply subtract 5 from their STR which will turn the -8 into a -13 which is still good but not that big of a difference.)
(There's also technically the weapons cor type but if a unit has that then it only affects the basic magic)
Cor sync: hey remember how I brought up bonds but never elaborated? Well here's why because a characters bond ties into cor sync.
Now what is cor sync? Well you see the starting unit (and the players avatar through the game) is Johan who has the unique ability to swap between cor types as he unlocks them through the narrative.
Now when Johan switches into a cor type it will swap the current skills of the previous type with the new skills that are chosen by the player (this is a mechanic unique to Johan and basically you chose certain skills that you want to have on that Cor type when you change into it, but this does not affect all skills, some skills stay as you level up and don't get swapped out when changing cor types.
Now when Johan changes types he has the ability to sync up to another deployed units cor type and what it does is boost the damage dealt by units whose cor type are synced up with the base being +1 and then increasing using the Golden ratio. However the increase is based upon the bond rank of the unit and so if you want to hit hard when synced up then you gotta connect with allys.
Other than that, that's it, not really much else except for the dungeon layout and how traversing them works.
How are these battle mechanics going to be introduced?
This is the most common question game makes asks themselves and especially in this case its imperative I ask this.
Because no good game just throws all the mechanics at the player and say “figure that shit out or die”... Well unless you're from software because those mother fuckers just manage to make make that shit work but that's because their gameplay loop is intuitive, it's simple and the learning curve comes from players having to handle the mechanics, and the part about from software and their games is, you are meant to fail again and again, dying each time and learning how the enemy moves.
But I'm not as good at game development as they are, and I take a whole lot more cues from atlus and their rpg games.
So how am I gonna introduce these mechanics? Simple, I break em up between dungeons.
So for instance the first battle is going to introduce the basic mechanics, basic melee, magic, and have low cost low skill slot consuming skills.
However the first dungeon is then going to introduce-
And getting a critical hit + parrying as those are the main bread and butter you are going to use focus icons for.
The second dungeon is going to introduce-
Skill slots and how they function
aswell as Havens getting introduced which act as safe rooms and allow to do the obvious with attunement and reallocate skills for later.
And when a character has maxed a bond and/or a characters attunement, only then will they be explained. Otherwise that's kinda it.
It looks like a lot and it is to an extent but when you break it down the system is pretty easy to understand as long as you let the players get the handle of the basics before teaching the cool stuff they can do.
It's just good game design to let people get accustomed to the basics before teaching them the fun stuff, like teaching a kid how to make a peanut butter jelly sandwich before introducing him to toasting the bread to make the sandwich better. (<= Says the guy with no game development experience)
