TAG-TEAM BATTLING I

You all know who this is, so I'm not even going to explain.

Now, you have all probably heard of Pokemon, and you all have your own personal opinions on it. Some of you might say it's a good game, some of you might say it's bad, some of you might not like the newer designs that are coming out. However, there's one thing that I personally would like to talk about regarding Pokemon: its battle system.

Now, while all of you know about the series, I'm just going to go out on a limb and say not too many of you actually play the game professionally. You might know about they myriads of types and combinations of types possible in the game, and many of you know that you have to build your team up with certain types to properly bulldoze your way through the game, but I'm almost certain only half of you have even heard of EV training. I can ramble on and on about this, but I'm going to get straight to the point here.

No matter your thoughts on the series or the games in general, Pokemon has an incredibly diverse battle system.

This is where professional battling comes in. I can try to explain everything about the game and its mechanics, but I think it would just be easier if I just linked you to Smogon for you to explore for yourself.









What I am about to discuss is a particular style of battle system, and I'm going to be using Pokemon as a reference because, while not perfect, it's the best example of the way I will be discussing on this particular system. Without further ado, off we go!








To give it a name, the type of battling I will be discussing is the Tag-Team. As seen in the picture, only two party members are ever allowed on the screen, and they usually fight against two or three enemies at a time. There can be thousands of varieties of battle that can be added onto this, but no matter what it's a Tag-Team battle system if only two playable characters are battling at a time. Everything you decide to add to the system is an add-on. The reason this battle system works well for balancing is because it LIMITS the things possible to do. If everything is available to the player at all times, there is little room to experiment or think, since no matter what, the perfect move/character will always be available. With limits, you have to seriously think about the types of skills you might need for battle and what works out the best for the character you're fighting as. For the purposes of this explanation/guide, here are the features of the system that we will be using.



While probably not the only way, the easiest way to make this system is to use a script that limits the amount of party members in battle while still leaving room for others. Additionally, these two battlers must have a way to switch out at any time, preferrably at the cost of a turn. The best example of such a script would be KGC's Large Party script, Which can be found here. This is an RPG Maker VX script only, however there are probably many other scripts that do the same thing. Just search around and find what works for you!

When using this style of battle, you have to remember that the focus of your fighting will be on team dynamics. Each character you use will have to support each other in some way. The nice thing about a system like this is that you can mix-and-match different character types together during a battle and create different combinations to suit whatever need you have based on the enemies you're facing.












The first thing to do in determining what to do with a battle system is to create the characters you will be fighting as. The heroes, the allies, the antihero that joins you later, whatever the case is, they have to be set up well so that each character has a specific role to take up so they don't get overshadowed.

Now, just because this system is focused on team dynamics doesn't mean that you should completely forget individual dynamics. If you have a character with good stat builds and good skill combinations, a single character can take up a variety of different roles depending on what you personally would like to play as, or what would work best with another character. This is one of the reasons why I'm using Pokemon as an example. With the sheer variety of types, states, and effects found within the skills/moves and Pokemon, you can run at least five different spreads, depending on what you want from it.



Now, let's get into actually building a character! To start it all off, you need to determine the stats of the character. While not the only way, here's a process that I use for determining the stats of my characters.

In this method, all stats are distributed based on a single base total. This value will be the amount of points available to assign to all of the stats. For sake of ease on you, make it divisible by the total stat types available (if you have seven different stats, the total number will be divisible by seven). From that number, each stat will be assigned values that, when added all together, will equal the base total.

Atk: 17

Def: 14

S.Atk: 16

S.Def: 15

Agi: 18

Here's an example of a spread I have made for a character in my game. I removed HP since its value is based on a different process for me, but you can still see the basic idea I'm trying to convey. I assigned a base total of 80, and if you add all the values for the stats the total will be 80. Pretty simple process! For the values at the final level, it's easiest just to multiply them all by ten and use those, but you can edit the values if you so choose.

As I said, this is only one way of balancing out stats. If you have any other way of going about it, just talk about it!




Before I start, I HIGHLY recommend you check out this article here. It's highly informative, and will help explain the 'roles' players and enemies will have in battle.

The important thing about skills is that they have to match the stats and character of the battler using it. For example, an Electric-type in Pokemon wouldn't go around using Poison-type moves unless there's an explanation for it. If there was an explanation, say the Pokemon generates electricity by mixing chemicals in its body, it would make sense. Similarly, the skills of the character you're building have to make sense.

Let's take the example I used in the stat-building. The character we're building will be named Cedric. He's a mischievious person, always trying to annoy people and get a rise out of them. He's a rather show-offy person, and wouldn't second-guess doing something completely ridiculous if it made him look good. He fights primarily with a crossbow, but he can also use daggers if in any case he has to fight close-range. He has great speed with good attack and special attack, but his defenses are terrible.



Now, by looking at Cedric we can see that he would be a good mixed attacker. With his speed, he can easily outspeed most of the competition and with his attack and special attack he can pack a good punch as well. However, with good speed and with a bit of a boost in HP he could also work as a lead, with the ability to cripple opponents with damaging states or boost his teammates. What does this mean for skills? It means that the skills have to cater to his specialties. And, quite obviously, the skills have to match his description. No sword moves for a crossbow user!

When it comes to making skills, it's important to know your limits. If you give every possible skill to a single battler, there are going to be skills that will probably never be used. If this happens, you have the choice to either mess around with the skill effects to make them better, combine effects, or remove some of the lesser-used ones. In terms of numbers, its best to have 4-6 basic skills, 4-6 advanced skills, and 4-6 special skills.

For basic skills, let's take advantage of his good attack stats. We'll have a powerful dart attack (Critical Strike), an all-hitting dart attack (Arrow Rain) , a status-inflicting dart attack (Burning Arrow), an attack buff at the cost of lowered speed (Quick Feet), and a less-powerful dagger attack with a chance to buff attack (Swift Slash). Critical Strike and Arrow Rain both take advantage of his high attack and speed, and Swift Slash can help improve his already good attack. Burning Arrow provides coverage by both being an elemental attack while also having a chance to cripple opponents through a Burn state. Quick Feet will be helpful in combatting tougher enemies while sacrificing a stat that is already tremendous. These are going to be the skills used most often during the beginning, and thus need to have practical uses. You wouldn't want to give a move that increases defense to a character whose prime focus is attacking instead of defending, right? Remember, basic skills have to be basic. With a system like this, it's best to have all the basic skills available from the beginning, with the advanced/special skills being unlocked through sidequests or through story progression.

Advanced skills are, in general, more powerful versions of the basic attacks, yet they can also have effects all their own. For example, say Cedric learns Hyper Blast and Rattlesnake Bite . Hyper Blast deals fire-based damage while having a chance to boost attack, while Rattlesnake Bite is a dagger attack that always has a chance of dealing a Poison state. Hyper Blast is a synthesis of Quick Launch and Burning Arrow with a power boost, while Rattlesnake Bite is a move all of its own. For skills like this, the MP cost is obviously going to be higher to compensate for power/effect boosts. What's important to know is that these skills must NOT replace the basic skills once learned. As said in the beginning, all skills need to have their own little niche to fill in the character builds, and thus the costs of using them must compensate for the higher power (higher MP costs, higher AP requirement, etc.)

Special skills fill the role of providing coverage that will allow for different spreads to be created. At some point in the story, Cedric will learn String Tighten and Dagger Barrage . String Tighten is a move that will boost the power of all dart-based moves, while Dagger Barrage is a close-range dagger-based move that has a high chance to inflict critical hits. Depending on what moves you plan on using, String Tighten and Dagger Barrage each have their own role to play in the moveset. If you're running an all-dart set, String Tighten will help in packing an extra punch with them, while Dagger Barrage provides a powerful attack that focuses on his Attack stat instead of his Special Attack stat like the darts do.

Right now, with nine different attacks, there are already three different sets he can run. He could go for an all-dart attack spread, with String Tighten as his buff, or he could go for a mix of dart and dagger attacks, OR he could attach all elemental/boost moves. Deciding which spread to use will depend on who your partner is or what kind of strategy you plan on using, which sadly will have to be covered in another article.











- It's best not to go over 20-25 skills per character. Having variety is nice, but too much variety is going a bit overboard.

- This is just one way of doing things! If you find your way works best for you, then voice it in the comments.

- Feel free to provide suggestions on improving this article! I am only one person, and having multiple opinions/options would be wonderful and incredibly helpful.

- I am not always right. If you have any sort of conflict with this, voice it in the comments, or PM me if you want to have a private discussion.