MV - Titans of Illumia (15+hrs Non-Linear RPG)

Loving this game now. I went along with the story line it seems too soon and was getting my a$$ kicked. So I decided to go back, and there was SO MUCH stuff to do!!!! Typically with non-linear, you have to give a little bit of a warning (like: now would be a great time to explore). Otherwise, people will naturally just follow along the story and be under prepared. I was struggling a lot because I didnt have the right type of weapons. I just recently made a venom blade though and I am feeling much cockier now

- The mining cart in the dwarfes cave is not in line with the rail in the final part of the puzzle for the pickaxe.
- When pick up the second Jacob's diary, the event remain as "same as character".

I like the game but the bosses are too overpower, i can't go on. Jacob with Doomsday, kills the entire party with
full HP; same for the demon in the forest of elves with Sandstorm (more or less), he cast the spell 2 times one
behind the other when he goes out of HP. Oceana have a regen of 1400 HP each turn!!!
Or perhaps is there a strategy in all this?
Where is the Imp of the bounty hunter quests?

The route for the mine carts has a very tricky route.Took me quite a while to figure it out.

I have the same trouble with the bosses and even some regular randoms where you are immediately dead because the enemies seem to almost always go first. You don't even have time to use War Cry.
As for the mine cart route:

@dnel57
I think he's talking about a section where the cart literally goes off the rails in a bugged part. Theres 2 ways to get the cart over to the left and I assumed you've each gone a different way. This has been fixed and an upload will be up fairly soon.
As for the enemies which have you been having trouble with?
I'm open to balance changes where needed or providing players the tools to deal with an enemy that seems unfair.
I'd also try prioritising speed stat if the equipment is available and let me know how you get on. The more I know about how people play the more I can create a well balanced game.

@Gianmher
Didn't realise trickster was quite that bad. Lowered his speed stat a tad so turns shouldn't stack like that. Unfortunately this can happen with fast enemies rarely. Bows and boots can give you a considerable advantage speed wise though.
Sorry about the minecart will get a fix up soon.
Also the imp is just east of Galadria and requires a bomb to get in if I'm remembering correctly.

I got the pickaxe by doing what I said. I switched to v1.09 so I could take the axe.
It seems you get a message that the cart derailed, and, I thought that was because the cart
couldn't progress the way the switches/tracks were set. After which, the cart would reset.

@dnel57
I believe we may be talking about different minecarts lol. The new puzzle is in the cave with the dwarves just above the mine filled with bandits. Said new puzzle won't derail a cart but there's an issue where the minecart pathing is a bit fudged. Wouldn't recommend trying it until I get a new version up tbh.

Sorry 'bout that.
I was referring to the pickaxe cave.

Since I'm seeing a lot of people talking about having their butts being handed to them on a silver platter, imma give some really helpful tips on strengthening your party. Crafting or "synthesizing" is the way to get the best armor and charms in the game, crystal, which you can get by talking to the crystal smithy and completing his requests in every town, which shouldn't be too difficult. Some really essentials items to have on hand during boss fights or hard enemies is a "Black Flower". This applies the sleep status effect on an enemy of your choosing, some enemies are immune though. This can allow for setups and getting your team back up again. A "Dark Wing" is pretty nifty as well since it resists status ailments. The item also grants immunity to the move "Death" which instantly kills a target, SUPER useful against "Fear" and "Jacob". Once you find the cave of the Spellsword, try to find the "Dark Mirror", this grants a way of fast traveling to towns via churches. You can also grind previously defeated bosses for "Shards" which can be used to buy stones that increase a stat by ten, as well as the Heart Containers and Lucky Stars which is STUPIDLY helpful. Also if you're feeling pretty ballsy, you can try to lurk around the Dark Depths and look for loot rooms. For early game grinding, once you acquire the pickaxe, go down the well in the Rose District, and keep on smashing the rocks until you feel like you've got enough elixirs, potions, and gems. Hopefully, these tips are useful for anyone bothering to read this block of text.

The 3 rocks at the entrance of the sewers are crossable.
This rock in the image don't disappear after break it

Sometimes this happen when I cut a bush

The windows of the church in the volcano are crossable.
The entire kitchen in the image is crossable

These rocks are above player.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/bpt523fqjej8tr7/Snow area cave.png

@Gianmher,
Thanks for letting me know about the above issues. I think the bush thing is isolated to a few areas, was it just that map? If not could you remember where else it occurred? I've gone over each of the maps I could think of that use those bushes but couldn't find any others that produce that error. The one's outside Gulliber's shop will be fixed in next update though.
Surprised about the passability of those locations... those will be fixed too!

@dnel57,
Thanks for letting me know, I've not long found them as was looking for breakable rocks.

I AM UTTERLY CONFUSED.

First run of Water Temple and I could not beat Oceana. So I went back, learned to craft stuff, explored optional dungeons, got the Spellsword contract.... but even with everything, I just cannot beat her. I don't understand the mechanics. I can kill the veteran with magic to prevent counter, but the elemental always heals itself, but if you just focus on Oceana, she starts attacking 3-4 times a turn...... are you not supposed to hit her AT ALL when she has the counter icon? If that is what that icon even means.... is there some way to kill the elemental? Everyone on my team has some water reducing equipment AND I use water veil... but she still manages to keep KOing the guardian every round. Am I supposed to equip my entire team from head to toe in water equipment? Doesn't that seem a little excessive just to win a single fight?


I am going to echo others on this thread: the bosses and even some regular enemies are just too powerful for balance. I think you are really forcing your players to use buffs and debuffs, but honestly, that makes this feel more like a puzzle than a fight. The big, hulking things, for instance, basically REQUIRE you to use power break and/or shield spells because its attack is massive. Typically buff/debuff is meant to give you a slight edge, not be a critical tool for surviving common encounters. Just my two cents

@gvduck10,
I think the problem for this encounter is the speed gap created by the frost state she inflicts (halves speed) and haste (the arrow icon) on herself. The haste is meant to compensate for her lack of allies 5 turns and is effectively a second phase. Her speed stat is certainly too high though upon reflection as is the magic defence of the veteran. His counter attacks also trigger too often which should be just something it does as a trait rather than a puzzle like you said. That's just a blind example though as I think I can see where you're coming from.

Admittedly I have tried to create a challenge, especially with major storyline bosses and later enemies but it certainly seems I've gone too far. I'm very open to balance changes and I'll certainly be tweaking this encounter next update.

In the meantime if you're still set on beating oceana I'd recommend the Winter Scarf accessory from Brehzel in the top right hand corner of the map. It boosts speed by 15 and grants frost immunity. You can also find one in a chest by climbing the vines near the farm house on the way.

Sorry about any frustration created here and any feedback I receive will go towards making this game a better product overall!

-HD

Personally, I have played enough of this game to appreciate how ambitious it is with all its elements. Although it would require starting over, I wonder if increasing character stats or having an exp/level function would be easier than tweeking all the enemies. You could set a max level to give characters enough stats to better handle random encounters (in less than 8 rounds), yet still provide strong enough challenge for bosses, Elites, etc. Other rpg I've played have had alchemy and crafting, but, they were optional. This game, they seem to be required. Randoms, even where you have room to dodge them, they chase you down, anyway. Just some of my observations of this great game.Are you SURE you don't work for squaresoft???

100% THIS. No experience from enemies and no leveling up sucks. Instead of level cap you could just make enemy experience awards very small. With the natural exp curve built into the game, it would become totally unreasonable to level grind after a couple level ups but would give characters a significant overall stat boost to make regular enemies easier and Bosses more manageable

Only that area. I noticed even the icon of the gold looted in that area is missing.
By the way, I have to admit that I was unprepared when I told you the bosses are too OP. Now I reach the last titan. So, I'm enjoying it, great work and Merry Christmas!