[FF8PC-Steam] Ragnarok Rebalancing Mod (v1.2.3 & v1.1b)

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Hi.
I ran into a problem in the Cerberus battle. It hits Selphie with a move called Autodefense and then the battle stops (atb freezes). This has occurred four times now. Any way to work around it?
 
Hey is there any way to update to the newest version of the mid mid way through a play through?
 
Yes, you could update to the latest version by redownloading the mod package from the opening post, and go through all the steps again, as if the mod was installed for the first time.

There would be only a few things to take care of in regards to compatibility with saves from older versions:

- if Odin was already unlocked in one of the previous versions, he would still randomly appear at the beginning of battles. If that's the case, I would recommend disabling Odin by using Hyne Save editor to prevent him from appearing, as in the newest version, Odin is summoned by using an item instead.

- there might be something strange in GF Ability lists, like "Tool-RF, required AP: 53/30". This is because some of the Abilities have been changed or swapped around in the latest version and can be easily fixed by selecting the Ability, then doing a battle. The issue will auto-correct itself afterwards, and the Ability in question will be fully learned.

You could also just send me your save game and I would adjust it for you, but I think it's better to wait until the next version of this mod releases within the next couple of days.
 
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I just downloaded the Mod and verified it was installed correctly (I started out with magic on Squall and was able to draw Double in the library). The issue I'm having is that the game freezes once I try to enter the world map. I can play up until I meet up with Quistis at the front gate and when I try to zone into the world map to make my way to the fire cavern the game freezes and then crashes. Any ideas on how to fix this issue would be greatly appreciated. If this has been mentioned already I apologize; I don't know how to navigate through these posts very well.

UPDATE:
Just realized I made a mistake by replacing the Lang-en folder entirely so I was missing the world files (including some "magic" documents). So now I'm able to load the world map.
 
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Hey, Callisto. I heard about Ragnarok from XeroKynos, and knew I had to download it right away and try it out. I am thoroughly enjoying the mod, and I'll probably post the majority of my thoughts after I'm done my playthrough. While I'm here, though:

  • I love the fact that Intruders (Deling City sewers theme) continues to play when you fight the new optional boss in Dollet. I'm fairly sure this was intentional, but if it was a bug/oversight, please do not fix it; it's subtle and quite humorous. :P

Oh, and good to hear that a new version is coming out soon! Keep up the good work.
 
Yes, you could update to the latest version by redownloading the mod package from the opening post, and go through all the steps again, as if the mod was installed for the first time.

There would be only a few things to take care of in regards to compatibility with saves from older versions:

- if Odin was already unlocked in one of the previous versions, he would still randomly appear at the beginning of battles. If that's the case, I would recommend disabling Odin by using Hyne Save editor to prevent him from appearing, as in the newest version, Odin is summoned by using an item instead.

- there might be something strange in GF Ability lists, like "Tool-RF, required AP: 53/30". This is because some of the Abilities have been changed or swapped around in the latest version and can be easily fixed by selecting the Ability, then doing a battle. The issue will auto-correct itself afterwards, and the Ability in question will be fully learned.

You could also just send me your save game and I would adjust it for you, but I think it's better to wait until the next version of this mod releases within the next couple of days.
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I appreciate the offer, I won't trouble you though. I'll just go ahead and download the current one now and get the newer version when it's out. Glad to know there won't be any trouble though. Thank you!

Loving the mod by the way. I’ve hit a few walls against bosses (I’m doing a semi- selfish magic run in combination with the play through) and I’m loving the challenge.
 
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Version 1.1.4 now available


Changes Overview

New spell: Renew

The Aura spell has been replaced with a new spell called Renew that casts Protect, Shell and Regen on one character. It can be drawn from a boss at the end of disc 3 and can be refined from Barriers and Shaman Stones using Supt-Mag RF.  As for junctions, it works very well on HP, Vitality, Spirit and Elem-Def and is generally a good substitute for Holy, which doesn't necessarily needs to be junctioned anymore, and therefore can now be used more freely in battles. Having a spell that combines the effects of Protect, Shell and Regen also helps with freeing up space in the spell inventory, as these 3 spells now become pretty redundant once Renew has been obtained. To avoid confusion, Alexander's Renew Ability has been renamed to its default name, Revive. Note that Aura Stones are still available, but as rare as usual.


Boss changes

Several bosses have had their AI changed, use new attacks or have their stats altered to avoid Darkside inflicting too much damage on them:


  • Biggs and Wedge (1st) and X-ATM092 have some more HP.
  • Raldo's Breath attack now causes Blind instead of Slow.
  • Diablos uses an additional attack, and a slightly different AI.
  • Sacred uses a new attack, in addition to his physical attack.
  • Edea (1st) has a different opener.
  • The G-Soldiers that appear alongside Raijin (1st) have been made more robust.
  • Fujin (1st) says "ELLONE, WHERE?" only once per battle, can use Mega-Potion.
  • Jumbo Cactuar's weakness against Water has been reduced.
  • Mobile Type 8 generally received some major changes to its attack pattern.
  • Catoblepas' Deadly Horn hits more often, Thunder Summon has been renamed and is now non-elemental.
  • Tri-Point got some adjustments in regards to Darkside usefulness.
  • Final boss (3rd phase) got some Darkside related adjustments as well.

Other changes

  • An optional boss battle against a unique Ruby Dragon is now available at Trabia Canyon.
  • PuPu now goes into rage mode after being attacked a few times.
  • The game can be saved right after the boss battle against the 3 soldiers at Missile Base.
  • A save opportunity has been added right before the new optional boss battle inside Fire Cavern.
  • Base power for Water and Meltdown spells has been slightly increased.
  • Base power for all GF up to Brothers have been slightly reduced.
  • Zell's Ehrgeiz weapon has a higher base power (not to be confused with Strength bonus).
  • Natural base growth for Spirit has been increased for some characters.
  • Elemental spells are now being used less frequently under Angel Wing.
  • Protect Stone and Shell Stone have been added to the new shop in Timber train.
  • Includes the recent bugfixes for Cerberus and Tiamat.


@Binnon: Glad you figured out what was going on. You are not the first one who accidentally did this. I'll update the installation instructions to prevent this from happening in the future.

@DiscoCokkroach: Yes, the music change was intentional as I thought "Never Look Back" plays one screen too early on the way to the new boss encounter. Good to hear you are enjoying the mod overall. I hope XeroKynos' latest video won't discourage you from playing, because of his rough battle against the soldiers at Missile Base. Maybe I should emphasize more clearly that leveling up is actually helpful in this mod (besides looking for new spells every now and then) - it would have definitely helped.

@Murasame: Thank you. Whenever you are of the impression that certain battles are too tough or unfair, let me know.
 
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Great mod so far! Congrats for trying to rebalance this flawed game! Just checking your mod, and I found some things that need rebalancing.

I am currently in DISC 2, in D-District Prison. So far:


  • Gerogero was the first fight that was unbeatable by junctioning alone. He kept spamming his attacks, making the fight very difficult. Won by some lucky Limit breaks
  • The fight with the Brothers was also very tiresome. The kept mauling the (overleveled) party, which kept trying to Protect and Haste everyone. On top of that, the Confusion stat was a pain.
  • Currently, fighting Elite Soldier and GIM52As, who are using OP magic, like Aura Stones and Meltdown. This fight is unfair on so many levels. I don't know if you did it on purpose or an accident.
 
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Thanks for your input. I will probably do some smaller adjustments to the bosses you mentioned. Here are some tips against them:

Gerogero: Yes, I know he can hit hard, especially if the player missed drawing Protect and Shell from Granaldo, which is why Protect and Shell Stones have been recently added to the Forest Owls shop that can be accessed right before heading to the boss (Rinoa will mention it). If you use these Stones moments before the start of the second phase, cast Cure on Gerogero repeatedly (preferably with Selphie, who has the highest base Mag stat out of the three; if you have some Doubles left, that helps too), and remove Gerogeros status effects, you should be in a reasonable spot, even with less ideal junctions and rather low levels.

Brothers: They have been made that strong as they are optional, but it's actually a pretty manageable fight, depending on which spells the party has received up until that point. Zombie should do for HP, which can be refined from the Zombie Powders Gerogero dropped, and can be also drawn from Blood Souls near Galbadia Garden or near the Tomb in night-time areas on the world map. Aero is a good spell on Str and Mag at this point and can be drawn from Thrust Aevis that appears almost everywhere near Timber and Deling City. The player should also have Protect by now (if not, it can be drawn from Armadodo inside the Tomb), which helps mitigating most of the Brothers' attacks, and if junctioned to Vit, Sacred's Confuse shouldn't proc all that often. A newly added secondary attack for Sacred further alleviates the issue of falling victim to Confuse. In battle, it is highly advisable to defeat Sacred (the bigger one) first, as he has less HP than Minotaur and their Mad Cow Special attack will no longer be used after one of them has been defeated. As for own damage output, Aero, Bio or Demi should all do good damage on the Brothers, especially when used with high Mag characters. Haste is actually not all that useful for this battle, as Protect wears off faster then. I would limit positive status effects to Protect and Float for this battle, as anything else just takes too much time to maintain.

Prison boss battle: It's mostly all about taking out the Elite Soldier as fast as possible, as the fight becomes noticably easier once he is gone (the GIM52As will stop using Ray-Bomb and no longer counter with it occasionally, and can no longer be healed or buffed). Using Bio in conjunction with Double is probably the most reliable way to do so. Slow on the Elite Solider is very useful as well and should work most of the time (use your highest Mag character for this task). If he uses an Aura Stone on one of the GIM52As (he would do that in the original game too, as well as casting Meltdown), the status can be removed conveniently with their own Dispel spells. Vit 0 can be nasty, but it should be ok to just ignore the status as long as Protect and Shell are up. If your junctions aren't that great, get Water and Bio from Chimera, Regen from the Guards, Berserk from the Wendigos and Life from the GIM47Ns. Levels should be around 20-25 for this boss battle.
 
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Question about updating the mod: Do I need to run Roses and Wine again after putting the files into the lang-en folder, or can I just move on to putting the Ragnarok_mod.txt into the Hext folder?
 
There's no need to set up Roses and Wine again, as long as you are on W07. So it's enough to just swap the old text file with the latest one and update your lang-en folder.
 
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How do you changed the AI without messing the game graphics? (sorry i dont remember if i asked you this)
 
Small update to v1.1.4:

  • Gerogero's Magic stat has been reduced; inflicts ~200 HP less damage with its "Brrawghh!" and Poison Mist attacks.
  • Sacred's chance to inflict Confuse on-hit has been reduced.
  • The Elite Soldier from the Prison boss fight has slightly lower Speed, and reduced protection against the Poison status.
  • Diablos now has HP-J already learned by default.
  • Slight changes to normal enemy stats, especially Speed, have been made.
  • The description for Quistis' Blue Mage spells are now more detailed in her status menu screen and in battle.

Thanks to Kael for bringing up the first 3 points. I especially agree in the case of Gerogero's general damage output, which was a little too high if the party has nothing better than Cure on HP (which is perfectly normal at this point). As for the other two bosses, the changes probably don't change all that much, but in combination with up-to-date spells and prioritizing targets, it should go well.


@ Divatox: I have sent you a PM and listed some enemies that should be safe to edit using the Ifrit tool, as they mostly appear alone (exceptions in brackets), without the need of manual hex editing, which can be complicated indeed if you have never hex-edited something before. In case you missed this list, here it is again:


- Behemoth (can appear together with an Imp in Esthar City)
- Chimera (can appear alongside Fastitocalon-F in Ultimecia's Castle)
- Ruby Dragon (with the exception of a Forest encounter on the Centra continent with an additional Blitz, and one at Deep Sea Research Center where the pillar is)
- Elnoyle
- Slapper
- Hexadragon (with the exception of one encounter in Ultimecia's Castle)
- Malboro
- Tri-Face
- Cactuar (with the exception of two encounters in Ultimecia's Castle)
- Tonberry
 
Have you considered making some spells such as Holy or GF like Bahamut multi-hit?
 
Yes, I've tried increasing the number of hits for several spell besides Meteor - it didn't work, though.

But even without that change, spells and GF can be quite useful even as single-hit, as there is no 9,999 HP damage limit in this mod. Holy, for example, can inflict more than 9,999 HP easily on enemies that are weak to it (like Tri-Face, or Griever) and Bahamut can do up to ~35,000 HP on any enemy, depending on Bahamut's level and Abilities learned.
 
Yes, I've tried increasing the number of hits for several spell besides Meteor - it didn't work, though.

But even without that change, spells and GF can be quite useful even as single-hit, as there is no 9,999 HP damage limit in this mod. Holy, for example, can inflict more than 9,999 HP easily on enemies that are weak to it (like Tri-Face, or Griever) and Bahamut can do up to ~35,000 HP on any enemy, depending on Bahamut's level and Abilities learned.
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Sad :( I wonder why it didn't work?
 
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