Everlong

Apparently there is another RPG maker 2003 game that I been playing in which your character can do at least 999,999 damage; which has this game beet with the cap at 99,999 :-P.

Nevermind - I upgraded RPG_RT.exe to 109a and all works !!

Thanks - just as you were answering - I figured it out that they were scrolls ! Thanks Again !

How do you activate skills like Ensuna ? Thanks anyone !!

Ok, so I just went and checked their strength levels in the profiles section so I could answer you precisely. Vixen´s number is astronomically high compared to my other physical attackers. She has 7520, whereas all my other physical fighters are between 2500 and 3500 (with equipment). And honestly, I don´t understand why. I removed her equipment to see how much it boosted her, and without it, she still was at 5895. I haven´t been feeding her power sources either, I practically haven´t touched those. It´s also not the main level, I always keep the characters as close as I can (right now, they´re all between 150 and 155). A glitch somehow?
Before seeing those numbers, I would have indeed just suggested lowering the odds of a critical hit, but now it looks like my Vixen is just an outlier, so maybe it´s only my game that has this problem.

Thank you very much for answering my plot and character-related questions. The backstory you´re describing here about Azrael, Altair and Expirius is fascinating. Having Expirius guide Azrael so he can get out of a time loop is an incredible idea rife with emotional and world-building potential. It would be believable, because there are hints in the story about this as is, such as when the 4 heroes mention that they balked at eliminating Expirius´s soul forever because he had undertaken his plan "out of desperation and not malice". Desperation for his kingdom, it turns out, according to what you wrote here. And we´ve seen that Altair is emotionally devoted to Expirius, so him trying to save his former master from suffering by (if I´m following your idea well) becoming a Cirigon high official, engineering the Blackguard program and finally launching an all-out war fits into the mythos and what we´ve seen of him.
I really like that gist, it gives the story a lot more additional depth. It also would have been very interesting to see the backstory between the 4 heroes and Expirius to understand their motivations, why the latter thought he had to make a deal with a fallen god to save his kingdom and what exactly constituted the former´s "betrayal" you speak of.

As for the romantic interactions, the option you´re delineating here, that of simply showing additional bonding scenes between Glen and Meredith, would have worked better, in my opinion. Concerning Justin and Vixen, there are hints of this in the game already, since at one point Justin mentions how loathe he is to see another "princess of great beauty" endangered in their quest. Given Vixen´s political importance (Revirdok being a major world power), however, I personally don´t think it makes sense for her to have a romantic plot at all, besides the fact that Justin had just lost his fiancee, so it would feel very rushed if he were to embark on another courtship in the span of the story. After all, it´s been years and years since Glen´s previous heartbreak.

All in all, when it comes to all the plot changes and rewrites you´ve done, and where you intended to take the story, it feels like the current game is almost stuck in-between, with a bit of a hodge-podge of discordant elements, like the Invincible Four´s identity carrousel you just cleared up for me (you not wanting to have to recalibrate 4 battles makes sense, of course, so I understand why you didn´t modify the sequence). Without having to invest a lot of time, maybe there are some simple changes that could streamline the story a little (for instance a line of dialog here and there)?

But really, you have my thanks for the amount of effort you continue to put into the game, and since you´re encouraging me with my questions (dangerous endeavor, that, although I am truly grateful), I´m curious as to whether it was always intended that we wouldn´t be able to set foot in Revirdok. There are a few other places we can´t access at any point in the game (the dwarf king´s private chambers behind his throne, or the royal chambers in Alveus, if I´m remembering correctly), but those are just rooms, whereas Revirdok is a big city with huge relevance to the plot (at one point Altair mentions that the Eastern kingdoms haven´t been attacked because the archmage of Revirdok has unimaginable powers, clearly singling that individual out as the biggest threat to the Cirigon). Or was there another version of the game in which we could explore the city? Actually, I wondered the same thing about the silver mines in Seraphia (where the guards tell you that only registered workers can go inside, and given that one of the villagers says they´re looking for more workers...), were they meant to be explored in some version?
And another thing, if I may ask, was the Captain Diego who is constantly mentioned in Bridelweld meant to be encountered at some point? Also, does the modern technology we see at different points in the story (Peregrine´s memory beacons, Atlantis, Prodigium Nidus and the mechs) mean that Everlong´s world is linked to ours, happening in the indeterminate future maybe?

Thanks as always, DJC.

Just read your reply, DJC. So critical hits amount to triple damage? Wow, that puts things in perspective. As I said, knowing that balance in battle is a really difficult objective, I understand you deciding not to overhaul the system and instead going for careful tinkering here and there.
Your reasoning about not displaying the total number of treasures and preserving fun for all players is very interesting, besides the fact that the amount of chests varies each time as you stated. Thank you for explaining.

I had a few questions about plot points, if that´s okay. First, about the Invincible Four aka the 4 heroes of old. From what we´re told at different points, it´s clear that Laverna (the one with the wings)=Seraph=founder of Seraphia=we fight her at Vanguard, it all checks. Idem with Marowit (the enchantress)=Welana Eridwell=founder of Eridwell=we fight her at the East Tower.
But I´m a bit confused about the other two, Valkyrie and Nergal, because we´re told that Val Veritas (the hero with a beard) founded the North Kingdom near Occultus Gaza, and yet at that location, we fight Nergal, who is entirely clad in armor, which looks more like the one we´re told founded Tyr-Anon? So is Valkyrie meant to be Val Veritas, or is it Nergal?

Also, now that I´m replaying the game, it´s not quite clear to me what´s the deal with the voice that helps Azrael break out of his cell at the beginning of the story. We know that Altair engineers his escape from the Tyr-Anox, so does that mean the voice is Entropy´s? Is it Expirius´s? Given that they´re both sealed in the Void at first, how are they intervening if it´s them, and for that matter, how did they make Azrael a conduit for the Abyss lords, why him, and why wait 1000 years later if Altair´s been around all that time (since we know he was a fool at Expirius´s court)?

Sorry if that seems like a lot of questions, but I´m always interested in understanding the intricacies of a plot! You wrote in other comments that due to time constraints, you had had to cut a lot of moments linked to that and also character development, so I thought I´d ask you here.

When it comes to character development, precisely, I wanted to tell you that I have to say that some of Glen´s interactions with Meredith and Vixen bothered me, because some of his answers are really awful (at one point he derogatorily goes on about Vixen "spreading her legs", quote), and between that, her frequently being insulted as a "harlot", and also the several mentions of rape, it´s relatively offputting.

So, just a quick technical note on battle balance. I´m now doing Khaer Magnus, and have encountered those Adamant Golems, and Katana Souls, Quetzals, Gnolls, anyway, the normal enemies. I´m still in Auto mode, and now have the weapons that give you 500 damage (Murasame, Crystal, etc). None of my characters are equipped with the Genji rings that suppress the dual wield penalty. Well, with most of my characters, the physical damage levels are reasonable (Drakeor with Vanir: 5000). But Vixen (and Willis to a minor degree) is just completely overpowered.

To give you an idea, two of her normal hits (non-critical, non-Might, no Fragile inflicted): 14 000 + 18 000. Two of her critical hits (non-Might, no Fragile): 28 000 + 28 000. With Might and Fragile, 99 999 (crit) + 50 000 (non-crit), all approximately of course.
In comparison, using Kurgalaxes: 30 000 for every enemy. Using Beomaust also causes 30 000 damage a piece.
I´ve tried giving her and Drakeor approximately the same equipment with very good strength and magic (I can tell you what, if that would help), and I just find her attacks stunningly powerful in comparison to everything else (Willis with Might, Fragile reaches 60 000 + 30 000).
ETA: even Khaer Magnus himself could not represent much of a challenge for Vixen and her huge amounts of damage.