|
Okay, so since the demo is ALMOST done (just a few more scenarios to write, and I've gotten the hang of setting up battles to where the work almost perfectly the *FIRST* time) and because I want something posted here before the admins remove my forum, I'll post my FINALLY finalized playable character data:
Ivan
Height: 6ft, 1
Weight: 150 lbs
Hair: Reddish-brown
Eyes: Blue
Character Bio
Ivan is very much the nihilist--though he denies it, clinging instead to any last vestiges romanticism he may still possess (as only a true nihilist can).
Ivan is strong, handsome and intelligent, though only because he was designed that way. His genetic makeup is the coalescence of various genetic donors, and his level of genetic tampering is far greater than that of the average 'designer child'. This kind of genetic tampering, however, runs the risk of Cascading Pleiotropic Gene Syndrome (CPG) in which the different DNA's within the body of a designer child conflict, and the result is a nasty collapse of pleiotropic genes. It does seem, however, that Ivan has so far avoided such a catastrophe.
Ivan was 'whipped up' in a laboratory of the Veritas Research Group, a communistic networking of various scientists and engineers. Officially, he is the son of Kaiser Rosenguard, though only in name. It is rumored, however, that Kaiser may have been one of his primary genetic donors, but this is only speculation.
Though telekenetic power is not unheard of, Ivan seems to have an aptitude for it that is rarely seen. So much so that recently Veritas has poured much research money into discovering the source of Ivan's above-average mental power, but little has turned up, other than that many of his donors were psychic.
Ivan desperately searches for something to give some meaning to his life. There seemed no real purpose for his creation, and so after his own home colony is destroyed (the result of a military police action gone horribly wrong) he strikes out on his own to find meaning to his life, only to realize that there is only real meaning to your life when you are willing to give it up for something or someone else.
Combat Strengths
Ivan is, for the most part, both a leader and a fighter. His damage is not the best around, but his combination of slash and beam attacks help him face down a number of foes with efficiency. Add to that a number of all party member buffs and the ability to damage both Hp and Mp with his "Delay Sword" and "Delay Buster" which allow him to damage foes and delay the use of their next special attack, and you've got a character that is perfectly useful for almost all occasions (which is good, because as the main character, he's mandatory for most of the game).
Combat Weaknesses
Though his beam-based weapons and skills help to strengthen him against machines somewhat, Ivan's damage against heavily-armored foes (most of which are mechanical) is still pretty poor. He learns an attack to pierce through armored-type foes late in the game, but that will only help him to deal mostly normal damage to them instead of almost none.
Also, a glaring weakness is in Ivan's attack types: They're all slash and beam based. With no elemental skills, Ivan has a tough time with elemental spirits.
Ivan's stats are balanced by default, and though you can spend time training up his stats to have one area overtake the other, he'll need ALOT of training in order to have the same kind of proficiency that other characters have in their more specialized character stats. On top of that, low defense, magic defense, and Hp mean he doesn't stand up to damage real well, but as this game allows you to spend upgrade points as you please, overcoming any character's flaws is possible, though since the reason they have those flaws is because it takes more INT points to increase stats that characters are less proficient in, much training would be necessary for that.
Armor is another fatal flaw: Ivan's armor sucks. It affords hims little in the way of protection, and the kinds he can equip are few and far between.
Equipment
With Ivan's weapons mostly being beam-based (and all of his attacks dealing slash damage) deciding what weapon he should equip is easy: Whichever happens to be the strongest. Sometimes, however, its good to go with a weapon with an elemental effect (though those are rare) or one with a more obscure ability (even rarer).
As stated previously, Ivan's armor and clothing choices are limited, both in availability and functionality. It is best then to go with one that has some kind of extra protective effect whenever possible.
His left-hand weapon, the Prodigium X-700 (a shield with a concealed beam weapon) stays with him throughout the game and there are no upgrades for it, but as soon as you learn "X-700 Shot" you'll realize how trusty it is and why Ivan is reluctant to part with it.
Training
Make sure to keep Strength and Magic about even, as Ivan learns about an equal number of attacks from each category. Defense and Magic Defense upgrades are expensive, and aren't worth putting too many points into, however, you should definitely try and upgrade his expensive Hp value whenever you've got some extra INT lying around.
Combat
Ivan's use in combat varies from enemy to enemy. If you happen to be facing an enemy Ivan can take down easily in a short encounter, then attacking them with his various sword and beam skills is ideal; but if your enemy happens to be a heavily-armored machine or a spirit, then try and regulate Ivan to a supporting role--though even that can be difficult as MP gain from attacks is relative to damage dealt, and Ivan can do very little to those types of foes.
Against powerful enemies and bosses, use of his group buffers are almost mandatory. One should also be sure to use "Delay Sword" or "Delay Buster" to delay (and in some cases, negate) a foe's more apocalyptic attacks.
==============================================
Michael
Height: 6ft, 5
Weight: 175 lbs
Hair: Blond
Eyes: Blue
Character Bio
Michael has been around Ivan for as long as the hero of this story can remember. In fact, Ivan can't really remember a time when Michael WASN'T his best friend and companion. Throughout his life, Michael seemed to grow with him both in intelligence and in stature. Because of Michael's seemingly constant presence, Ivan has almost never had to face a challenge alone. Seemingly wise beyond his years, Michael is very practical, but he does have the odd comment once in a while, and sometimes he'll say things that Ivan does not want to hear. A fierce friend, Michael is very protective of Ivan, and can be insanely jealous of other people getting Ivan's attention. It is in those cases that Michael seems to abandon his usually calm and collected disposition, and often times some very bad things can happen.
Combat Strengths
Michael is a defender. Though he has a high damage rate, it is not the highest, and his HP and Physical Defense far outshine that of any of his allies. Even with his low Magic Defense, and weakness to Spirit, Beam, and certain elemental attacks, Michael's high HP means he can survive many powerful enemy attacks where other characters fall short. Michael's main draw is his debuffs, all of which cause a significant drop in an enemy's stats. With the ability to reduce Physical Attack, Magic, Defense, or Magic Defense, Michael can chop up an enemy's stats, making it easier for everyone else to chop up said enemy.
Still, Michael is irreplaceable as an attacker due to the properties of his weapon and special attacks. His physical attack deals piercing damage, and therefore negates the damage resistance of heavily armored and mechanical foes, while dealing extra damage to both. He also has two slash attacks that deal damage to all foes, and a couple of earth-based elemental attacks that work well against Air Elemental spirits (elemental weaknesses work on opposites, just like in Final Fantasy X).
Combat Weaknesses
Michael is slow. The slowest. Flying--or just very fast--enemies may just leave him in the dust, and attacks that reduce agility will make him even more vulnerable to multiple attacks before he can even get off one. In addition to that, Michael has lots of weaknesses which cause him to be damaged easily by spirits, machines, and characters with spiritual or psychic power.
Equipment
Michael has some of the most physically powerful weapons around. Most of his weapons are straight piercing/beam type weapons, but certain elemental effects can also be found. Some weapons increase his special attack power better than others, and usually at the cost of some Physical attack bonus or otherwise removing his ability to pierce armor as well as he does. This may sound better than you think, because the damage of his special attacks is high, but his magic stat is low, meaning that with an extra boost, his specials can deal incredible damage!
Michael's armor is pretty straight-forward: It blocks physical attacks very well, but specials not so much. There are variants, but most his armors are the same, and they can be found with some regularity, either by getting them off of the black market, or certain stores for military nuts will sell you heavy kevlar-based armor.
Training
Like with most characters, focusing mainly on Michael's strengths (that is those statistics that do not require as much INT to purchase upgrades for) is the way to go. Allocate most of your points towards Strength, Defense, and HP. Use any extra points you may have to power up his magic, as a better magic combined with the high base-damage of his attacks would turn Michael into a killing machine.
Combat
Just as with Ivan, Michael is fairly straight-forward when battling weaker enemies. Simply use the most effective technique in your arsenal, making sure to keep in mind the enemy's weakness, for Michael can easily take down foes weak to Earth or enemies with low Defense.
Against stronger foes, attention must be payed to their weakness, as well as his own. Michael's weak to some elements and attack types that are quite common with some very powerful foes. Watch out. It would be best also to use all four of Michael's debuff skills on strong bosses, as that will make it easier to take down, and in combination with Ivan's all-party buffs, make some battles a cinch.
==============================================
Rhannie
Height: 5ft 7in
Weight: 120 lbs
Hair: brown
Eyes: green
Character Bio
One would normally consider artists to be the non-violent type. Though many speak of revolution, one would be surprised to see an artistic type to put down the pen, the brush, or the microphone and pick up a gun: Not so with Rhannie and her companions, members of an anti-corporate terrorist group with an Fine Arts commune as its face. The group has no official name, and its top members insist on identifying it with certain call-signs that change regularly. The belief is that the corporately controlled government cannot defeat a faceless enemy, and that the idea is everything: Labeling their ideals with a name will only hurt the message. Or some nonsense like that. Rhannie herself doesn't care much for all of that mumbo-jumbo. She's in it strictly for the chance for revenge against the corporation that had caused her, her friends, and her family so much pain.
Rhannie is from a Martian colony--that is, she was born on Mars. Residents of Martian colony #77-17-349 (and many of the surrounding colonies) are poor. Rhannie and her family were no exception. Back when Mars was first being colonized, many Earth farmers were given free land, which they would in exchange irrigate, till, and aerate until the land was terraformed. Rhannie's was one such family, and for a several generations, the frontier life reminiscent of that of the Western frontier of early America was lived by many, and the once red planet became green in many places. Nowadays, however, with outsourced industry being the main money-maker, man farmer's daughters (such as Rhannie) are forced to leave home and find work in manufacturing in the city. It pays very little, and the workers (all mostly young women) are treated harshly. Rhannie escaped all that, eventually coming to Earth to find others just as full of anger as she. Indeed, she is a young woman full of an anger that drives her to join up with Ivan and his other companions.
Combat Strengths
While her damage is quite weak until late in the game (when her magic power far outstrips everyone else's) Rhannie has the distinct advantage of being able to fire at foes from a distance (thanks to her Fire-bolt, a plasma-bolt shooting device that resembles a bow-and arrow, only that the arrows are made of energy, and are generated out of the bow). This means she can attack far out of most enemy's physical attack reach, thus negating her low physical defense power.
Her use in combat cannot be denied, for though she lacks the power to heal all party members at once, her healing spells are potent (and fairly cheap MP-wise). A number of her special attacks deal adequate damage, and whats more they're quite varied. With a good mix of piercing, fire, and wind techniques, Rhannie can still prove herself as a decent damage dealer in the right situation. Her beam/piercing-based physical attack works somewhat well against machines, not nearly as effective as Number 12's, but effective nonetheless.
Rhannie is also the fastest of the playable characters, and will sometimes manage to pull of more than one turn before the enemy.
Combat Weaknesses
With low defense and HP, Rhannie can't take damage much. The is offset by her ability to attack from the back row, which means enemies will ignore her somewhat, but a big attack may still take her out quickly. Add to that a weakness to fire, slash, and piercing attacks, and Rhannie may end up being a hazard in some fights.
Equipment
Like most characters, the preference for beam-weapons persists. Unlike most of the other characters, however, Rhannie uses long-ranged beam and piercing weapons exclusively. There are no variations, and so there's not much of a worry about what to equip: just go with the best one you can get your hands on.
Training
Focus mainly on Magic, as almost all of her attacks are learned here (including the irreplaceable healing skills). She learns a number of skills from her Physical Attack power being upgraded, so allocate some points to that every now and then, increasing Magic Defense and HP whenever possible as well.
Combat
Even against weaker foes, Rhannie may just be regulated mostly to healing. This has to do with the way the game is played: You must attack to gain MP, and any MP used to attack, is MP that you won't have if you need to heal, so make sure you've got some in store just in case, only attacking with special attacks when you think you can afford it.
Against bosses, this is even more important, and one should make sure that Rhannie stays alive to heal others when needed. If you think you have MP to waste, however, let those plasma bolts fly with whatever attack effect the enemy is weak to (if applicable) and hope something unforseen doesn't come about to make you wish you hadn't wasted that MP.
_________________
Hello, pleased to meet you. Won't you guess my name? But what's puzzling you is the nature of my game.
[url=http://www.rpgmmag.com/forums/index.php?f=110&sid=3cb77eee111b3df99c739ea3d28819e4]Vick Bros. Game Forum
[/url]
Last edited by Ivan Rosenguard on May 17th, 2008, 7:18 pm, edited 6 times in total.
|
Register
Arcade
FAQ
Search
Chat
Rank 2: Eager White Mage
Rank 5: Nimble Thief
