Ghosts of the Arcanum

It's been awhile since I've made an update, so here's some battle system news for you all. For the most part the battle system is complete. Everything that needs to be implemented has been implemented, or what hasn't been implemented will be implemented, and it is all set in stone. As it is now, the combat system is playable and functions as it should. I've completely turned my focus to finishing the combat system, but because of how it is designed once it is fully completed only minor tinkering with variables will be necessary for each and every battle. To go even further - if I wanted to go even further with this - I could designate each and every battle to just one battle template.. but that's unnecessarily time-consuming.

Anyway, for as long as I've been working on this project, this is the very first battle system I've created that I'm COMPLETELY satisfied with. While there are a few concepts that deviate from the norm, I'm designing so that any player could easily adapt to those concepts. For example, battles involved a lot of additional button inputs, however, there's an option that the player can turn on to do that for them. That would make combat more "traditionally" stat-driven. The only thing about all of this is I hope I don't make a game where combat outshines everything else. Well, here's a good bit of info on what's going on with the battle system right now..



Battle Flow

- Combat is designed so that each encounter may force the player to rethink their initial strategies, even for minor enemies.

- Enemies will have an intelligence value that effects their combat efficiency. For example, while two of the same enemies may share the same skill set that includes abilities such as healing, the enemy with a lower intelligence score may or may not use the healing ability when necessary.

- Certain enemy information will be displayed upon targeting it. The enemy's Boost Count, Enhancement Ability, and current aggro-target will be displayed. However, some enemies require that you use an analyze ability to reveal some of this information. (The Aggro display is there to help the player prepare allies before the enemy unleashes certain attacks.)

- Player characters cannot be "one-shotted" by the enemy, meaning you will always be left in Critical Condition (1 HP) before being KO'd.

- It is possible to instantly kill each and every enemy in the game. In order to do this the Chain Count must be raised significantly.

- Player actions build enmity, and also have a cool-down effect. The enmity determines how aggressive the enemy is towards a particular player character. For example, healing abilities typically draw a lot of enmity, so the enemy will usually target the designated healer. Cool-down determines how quickly the action time gauge recharges. For example, a powerful attack may cause the gauge to recharge at a MUCH slower rate than it would if a weaker attack was used.

- Adjustments to battle difficulty can be made via Hard Mode and Auto-Action options. If Hard Mode is turned on then level difference is factored into damage. If the enemy is of a higher level than the player then they will inflict much more damage. Also, additional enemy actions may become active, as well. If Auto-Action is turned on (still a W.I.P.) then all actions requiring additional button inputs will occur automatically based on the player character's Combat Knowledge value. Combat Knowledge can be raised or lowered depending on how efficiently that character performs in battle.

Player Temporal Abilities
Temporal Abilities are passive abilities that can be activated for a number of player character turns based on how many are in your current battle inventory, which is limited to 9. The abilities each player character has access to is based on their current Logic. Once the player character's Excession Gauge completely fills then they can share the effects of their currently active Temporal Ability with any other party members' who's Excession Gauges are filled completely. Here are a few of the Temporal Abilities you will utilize in the game:

Aggressor- Offense Logic ability. Adds 1 additional Chain to each attack.
Counter- Offense Logic ability. Counter attack after being attacked by the enemy.
Blitz- Damage output increases the lower HP becomes.
Long Range- Negates enemy Spike Enhancement damage.
Persevere- Defense Logic ability. MP-based chance of negating Critical Condition damage.
Spiked Guard- Defense Logic ability. Inflicts 10% HP damage upon the enemy before it initiates an attack targeting the player character.
Safeguard- Defense Logic ability. Negates enemy Ravager Enhancement damage.
Fervor- Support Logic ability. Prevents cool-down from Ability usage.
Field- Support Logic ability. Evenly distribute area-of-effect output of abilities.

Some Awesome Temporal Ability Combinations:
Persevere + Blitz + Bypass- Allows the player to inflict a massive amount of damage while staying alive and bypassing enemy damage resistance.
Aggressor + Vigor- Constantly use Chain Breakers without resetting Chain Count.
Counter + Spiked Guard + Bypass- When attacked by the enemy, inflict Spike Damage, then perform a counter attack which bypasses enemy damage resistance.

Enemy Enhancement Abilities
Like the player, the enemy has passive abilities as well that are activated temporarily during battle. Unlike Temporal Abilities, these abilities only diminish once the enemy's Boost Count is reduced to 0. This is done by using abilities that target specific enhancements. Some of the more significant Enhancement Abilities are:

Spike- Any actions, with the exception of Relent that target the enemy will automatically inflict 10% of the player character's maximum health in damage upon that player character.
Shield- Sends all Synergy Abilities cast at the enemy back at the player character.
Ravager- All damage can bypass Critical Condition.

Field Polarity Effects
Field Polarity Effects effect every combatant in a battle. Each Field Polarity has a positive and negative effect. The strength of the effect is either increased or decreased based on the current Momentum. This means at higher Momentum levels they are more effective. Here are a few of the Field Polarities you will encounter:

Regenerate/Degenerate- Recovers or lowers HP so long as it isn't 1.
Replinish/Diminish- Recovers or lowers MP so long as it isn't 0.
Amplify/Deamplify- Increases or reduces Synergy effects.
Infinite/Anti- Prevents Temporal Abilities and Enemy Enhancements from being removed or nullifies their effects.