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Bloodstained Hands v5.9.7 launch!

  • Strak
  • 09/17/2022 07:49 PM
  • 216 views
That's right, I've got one more update for you. What's new? Here's a brief list.

- Spells have lower usage requirements to level up
- Spells that inflict or restore status ailments now have 100% accuracy
- Spells that inflict or restore status ailments now have an increased charge time, which gets faster at higher levels
- Cauterize restores more HP
- Venom and Miasma deal more damage
- Shroud, Horrify, Sleep, Insanity, and Disorientation will last slightly longer
- Minor bug fixes and typo fixes

So, over the last several months, a streamer by the username of KingKobora has been doing a let's play of this game. This has given me the opportunity to see how other players respond to certain mechanics of the game, and has given me some insight regarding certain mechanics. The main point of feedback that I've gotten from several players, as well as from this stream, is the fact that Shroud has a hit rate.

Let me explain the thought process behind this first.

So when I first started making the magic leveling system for this game, I needed to come up with some way of leveling up spells that don't damage or restore HP. Basically, if a spell inflicts or restores a status ailment, but doesn't have a variable that I can increase with each successive level, then the spells would arguably become WORSE at higher levels, as they would simply cost more MP to do the same effect. My solution? Hit rates.

Initially, spells such as Shroud, Sleep, or Cure would start with a 50% hit rate, which would increase by 5% per level. At max level, they'd have near perfect accuracy, giving incentive to level them up. While this worked from a technical standpoint, the main feedback I've gotten is that this.

Sucked.

It essentially made some of the most useful spells in the game too unreliable to make them worth using. But I also couldn't simply have these spells be as strong as they are right at level 1. So I've been working on other solutions for a while, and I finally hit on something that seems to work. Charge rates.

Every spell takes a little extra time to fire off. Most spells have a charge rate of around 500% - 600%, which means you can charge a spell five to six times faster than it would take to fill your wait gauge. But, with this solution, status inflicting spells will start with a charge rate of only around 100%, but will increase by about 10% - 20% per level. At max level, they'll fire off very quickly, but at low levels they'll require quite a bit more time. The tradeoff is, now they all have perfect accuracy. If you're willing to take the time to charge the spell, it will be completely reliable. When inflicting a status ailment on an enemy, their resistances will still come into play, but you won't ever have to worry about the spells missing.

With this mechanic, Shroud becomes incredibly useful, as does the late game party member addition who focuses almost exclusively on status inflicting spells. Keep in mind, however, that enemies will also benefit from this. If an enemy casts a Sleep spell, it will definitely hit, but will take longer to charge. Fortunately, your party members do have natural resistances to these status ailments, so it balances out.

But that's not all that's new! I've also increased the duration of status ailments that last a set number of turns per enemy on the field. These include Shroud, Sleep, Insanity, Horrified, and Disoriented. They will all last one extra turn per enemy.

I also increased the spirit force of Cauterize, Venom, and Miasma to 100%, as opposed to the prior 50%. Basically this means the spells will deal more damage or restore more HP. Not by an enormous amount, mind you, but it does make a nice difference.

And finally, after several playthroughs, I realized that spells are taking way too long to level up. I can't tell you how many hours I've spent at a training dummy while watching anime or something to pass the time. I don't know how many times I've tried reducing the grind on leveling spells, but I think I've finally found a nice balance. With this update, each spell will take 100 less uses to reach max level from level 1, and some spells that don't get used very often will have even more uses taken away. Cure and Life especially have had their usage requirements reduced by more than half.

With all these updates, grinding has been noticeably reduced, spells are far more reliable, and the overall frustrations that most players experience should be severely mitigated. I hope you all enjoy this update, and happy playing!