I'm feeling much better after probably the worst illness I've had since 2011. I've been making a few adjustments since I've had time to reflect:

Encephalator Mechanics
1. Sunder now has a 100 percent success rate (up from 50), but requires 5 SP to activate (up from 3).
2. The Encephalator requires 1 SP to activate (down from 2).
3. The Encephalator takes one non-boss battle to recharge.
These changes reduce the amount of RNG but also force players to build up their SP gauge, potentially exposing them to some attacks in the meanwhile. I implemented a short cooldown to prevent players from cheesing every encounter via the Encephalator.

Character Progression
Adfer and two other characters encountered throughout the journey will grow stronger by (1) equipping powerful items, and (2) consuming HP/STR/MGK Seeds. Each character has a limit to the amount of Seeds they can consume per category; this cap may increase at endgame. Equipment hasn't changed much: some is high STR, some is high MGK, and some is balanced. Players will also find special necklaces that enhance the SP system, relics that aid in defense or utility, and weapons with special attributes.

Players can also "recruit" non-sentient monsters that start at level 1 and can be increased up to level 5 by consuming Orbs. Each level provides stat gains and (potentially) new skills. You can use pretty much any monster for the main quest, but some of the optional bosses will be tuned with specific monsters in mind.

Shop Mechanics
I'm including recovery items at the shops; initially the shops were going to be reserved for equipment only, but that's a little harsh. I want this to be enjoyable for its story as much as its gameplay, so I don't want to make it too hardcore or tedious for casuals. There will be plenty of treasure chests, so don't worry too much about having to buy EVERYTHING. I'm going to try and tune things so that the equipment will appear as treasure before it's added to the shops. There's nothing more annoying than buying gear and then finding it in a treasure chest.

Enrage Mechanics


Some bosses get really ticked off after a while and start unleashing powerful attacks. In other words, they have a turn limit - also known as an Enrage Timer for those familiar with the MMORPG genre. This mechanic prevents players from playing super defensively and effectively cheesing the system. In the main quest, these enrage timers will be very forgiving. Optional fights, however, will have enrage timers so tight that you will need to be min-maxed and have a plan going into the fight. This is how optional content should be.