Saturday, March 11, 2017

TLS 0.25.1 Released

New update for patrons, including $1 patrons this time! Version history updated, you know what to do, etc.

Version 0.25.1
 - New synergy skill system introduced!
 - The bug with restarting the game via F12 has been fixed.
 - Assorted bugfixes and polishing.

The release schedule is unusual because I wanted to take the time to implement a new system: synergy skills. These allow party members to use new skills when another character is in the party. For example, if Robin is in the same party, Aka will gain a fire elemental stabbing skill. I think this is a fun way to expand the game mechanically and build on the relationships between party members.

Expect more of these as the game goes on! We're currently brainstorming the whole system's balance and many specific skills in a special Patreon thread, so feel free to stop by there if you're on the right tier.

Next public release is on Friday, see you then!

42 comments:

  1. This sounds awesome and might make me rethink my party a bit.

    I have been barely active on the wiki forums but i have expressed how useless i find healing characters in battle especially carina with only defensive skills

    While the buffs are nice you can only spend so many turns putting them up

    And giving Simon synergy skills will allow me to be less upset hes always mandatory in your party because most of his current skills suck.

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  2. I can see the building blocks on this. Simon had a party heal and buff skill from his time in the Empress's abode, which is kind of a group synergy, or close to one. Can't wait to try this own on future updates.

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  3. Ï mean it sounds cool on paper, BUT... the combat difficulty is already a cakewalk as it is (no I'm not counting the Infested house, because let's be real, there aren't gonna be any more areas like that in the game). You can already finish everything up to this point without even buying any item in the first place, so now, when the characters become even stronger, the combat becomes an actual joke. Oh, should I remind you, that there are also consumables in the game? I know right, I've used 1 potion throughout the whole game (because it is mandatory for Orcent to use it to beat those orcs he can beat), but basically, except for Orcent fight, they are just means to gain more money, when you sell them. Admittedly, I do buy equipment for my characters, because I like that part of the game, even though it means, I will face very little resistance on my way... Which is kinda counter-productive in a RPG... I mean this is an RPG, the equipment part of the game is supposed to be meaningful decision making on the player part and when you make the combat even easier, it litteraly loses any meaningful sense.
    Now I understand, I am in the minority, some people find the combat hard. Dare I say, I don't know how, some fights you litteraly just spam attack throughout the whole fight and you can't lose, but hey, I get it, casual players and what not... Eh, I'll just have to get used to it I guess.

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    1. Well the last time you can talk to the old guy that evaluates your strength in the Outskirts he calls you the stuff of Legends so there isn't exactly that many people who can give you a real fight out there so its normal that many of the fights become easier as the game goes on against fodder type enemies which is everything but bosses I think its normal that now just attack would be enough against average enemies. Besides maybe they will use this to bring Nalili and Varia up to the other characters strength because currently they are lacking.

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    2. I disagree with your comment on Varia. She is by far one of the strongest party member by far, when used correctly. Ive had her murder bosses in one attack. I think to improve boss fights and such further, each boss should have one specific way to weaken them first then kill them. Similar to resistances, but a bit more depth.

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    3. It seems to me that Sierra's plan is to ensure that the plot battles are not too difficult for players who haven't made the most optimal choices, whilst also providing optional, challenging battles for those players who like to maximise everything. On top of fully clearing the Infested House, there's also clearing the Devil's Pass dungeon at the first opportunity, fully clearing the Unperson manor, the optional Order trial, the Hidden Port, the second optional Goddess of Magic ritual, and so on. Even with maximised XP and equipment, I wouldn't call any of those battles routine.

      Oh, and I also don't ever bother with potions, but given the comments in the general store in Stineford or in the rat cellar, I reckon thatsthejoke.jpg...

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    4. I'm pretty sure that Liam is right.

      I'm really surprised that any of you don't need any potions. At least in the Hidden Port I have more than one character with their MP absolutely depleted. But that dungeon has suffered enough changes that it's possible...

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    5. I confess there's a certain bloody-minded element to it - I like the challenge of getting through without them, and the extra Sx is really useful in the early game. In the Hidden Port I do it by using Qum's Arousing Aura to nullify the debuffs from the snails so I don't need to spam them with lightning attacks.

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    6. I haven't used a single potion either. But then again, I played the heavily nerfed version of the Hidden Port.

      I'm really excited to see what these synergy attacks do. At least, there is the possibility it means Simon won't just be using Stunning/Unified Strike all the time, for me at least.

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    7. @Lord Gid they are fine... you just have to realize the fact that Varia is a glass cannon, accept it, embrace it and go full glass cannon equip... I'm not gonna argue she is the strongest character, but she is fine... also Nalili with her attacks replenishing SP is also fine... keep her buffs up (via masturbate) all the time (yes, she has to use it every 4 turns or what, but hey, it's not that bad) and prioritize Cleavage/Orgy of Blows, while also trying to buy her as much ATK buffing items as you can. Also helps if you choose Hilstara to train her, gives her most exp.

      @Lostone2 You do realize you have more than 4 characters to fight with, right? I mean sure, Simon can't be swapped, but others can... so there's plenty of mana to be used throughout the port fights. Also helps if you actually prioritize killing the guys that drain mana first. Also I'm really unaware of any major changes there, as I fought through w/o using any potions as Ardford part was released, and it still seems pretty much the same to me, but hey, maybe I just don't remember exactly the differences. But seeing as another guy mentions it, I guess I really just don't remember anymore (I still did it w/o potions the first time though, of that I'm certain)...

      Now I admit, sometimes I just repeated a fight a few times before I got through it, but is it really that much to go through to do a few fights up to like 5 times or something (again, not talking about Infested house here)? Not for me, it isn't. The only time I actually tried using potions was, yes you guessed it, in the Infested house. Sadly there, the spiders do so much damage and you don't have access to any of the better potions, that using potions there is basically a trap to fall into, before you realize that all the potions are worthless for those fights.

      Also I just wanna say that I understand why things are the way they are, I just wished to express my sadness about that.

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    8. Nether Varia or Nalili are fine Varia can be killed first round and it happens a lot which makes her more of a liability then an asset. Nalili has low attack and zero versatility as the other characters can ether debuff enemies easily or buff/heal allies, better to just place any other character in Nalili's place as everything but the dedicated support characters can out damage her. They both fall far behind the rest of team I have tried every set up possible and fact is they both fall behind the others.

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    9. You do realize you have more than 4 characters to fight with, right? I mean sure, Simon can't be swapped, but others can... so there's plenty of mana to be used throughout the port fights. Also helps if you actually prioritize killing the guys that drain mana first. Also I'm really unaware of any major changes there, as I fought through w/o using any potions as Ardford part was released, and it still seems pretty much the same to me, but hey, maybe I just don't remember exactly the differences. But seeing as another guy mentions it, I guess I really just don't remember anymore (I still did it w/o potions the first time though, of that I'm certain)...

      Well, there where a lot tweaks between versions 0.17.0 and 0.17.3 versions, but my basic strategy it was always to use both Yarra and Namili for most of the fights (that way the 50% of the active party is not vulnerable to the Mana steal).

      In any case, I hope you guys enjoy the extra harem member that you will get (I'm sure of that) for not using potions in the whole game :-P...

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    10. For the record, I'm also the type of player who ends RPGs with every single item unused in my inventory. The lines in the game about using restorative items are speaking as much to myself as anyone. =P

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    11. @Lord Gid - Well and I say it is fine to have stronger and weaker characters. Now which one of us is right? I'll tell you who: Sierra Lee. Why? Because as far as this game's universe is concerned, she is the Godess and her word is the law. If you don't like the fact, that those two perhaps are weaker characters (debatable, you have no actual proof of that), I understand, but I guess you'll just have to deal with it. They are not unusable and that is good enough.

      @Lostone2 - Really now... Seems a bit childish reaction from you, but OK, let me explain it to you. Why do I try not to use any potions? Well because, I actually like a challenge in my games. I am the type of person, who doesn't like it, when there is no challenge, because I percieve it as a waste of time. Why do I have to fight a fight, that I can win just by pressing enter and not thinking about it what so ever? Surely, such a fight was not necessary to be there in the first place. Now I can understand, that not everyone percieves it the same way (some might find that sufficient), but ultimately my own opinion matters to me the most. So if a boring fight can be made at least a tiny little bit challenging by not actually using any potions (or really, any meaningful way), I'll go for it any time of the day. How is not using any potions meaningful? Well in theory, having more Sx (by let's just say selling those potions you haven't used) means having more options, better equipment or so you would hope. Now of course, as I complained, that kinda stopped being the case in this game, because since you can actually not buy anything for Sx at all and still do fine in combat, Sx then becomes kinda useless. So while yes, I do spend it on equipment and that is kinda fun figuring out what to buy for whom, it is ultimately pointless, because you stomp every fight anyway, almost regardless of what you buy. So again, in theory, I do that to make the fights not boring... except that's not really working, because even without using any potions at all, I am still lacking to find yet one challenging fight throughout the whole game (except for Infested house, which is not really challenging, more like frustrating, but there you go). I vaguely remember, that going through the port without using any potions was an actual challenge, alas it was nerfed to the ground so not anymore. But what can you do...

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    12. Uh, let me step in to say a word here. While I do make the final decisions about the game, I want to be completely open to all feedback. So I'd rather my word not be law, and I don't want to be on any kind of pedestal. I make mistakes and I'm happy for people to point them out so I can keep improving the game.

      Having said that: Lord Gid, I welcome your opinions, but please understand how much feedback I receive. Not everyone feels Varia or Nalili are as useless as you do - for example, the change to Nalili's multi-hit skill occurred because I found myself agreeing with the general consensus that it was too strong.

      The balance of TLS is far from perfect, but I do my best to navigate between all the feedback I receive. There are hardcore players like Firehelp who feel the combat is trivially easy, and others who tell me they stopped playing because it was too difficult. Not all characters are equally useful, but I'm pleased that players report a decent variety in their best parties. I try to balance things so that the largest number of people can have fun playing the game and so that a variety of party members are valid choices. I'll keep trying to improve, and feedback is an important part of that, but can we try to keep disagreement civil?

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    13. Look, I just wanna say that I exaggerated, obviously, but he seemed a bit too stubborn for my taste, so by my exaggeration I wanted to point out, that it is ultimately your call and not his. Also, as far as I can tell, this was civilized... I mean, no one offended anyone directly, no strong words used... seems civilized to me. Just wanted to point that out.

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    14. I tested all the characters with all possible equipment outfits and found Varia and Nalili both lacking. I even bothered to learn how to use cheatengine just so I could thoroughly test them both if you call that being stubborn go ahead I learned a long time ago that caring about what others say about me it's a waste of time and energy. Varia is rng based if you use her against strong enemies you have to pray they don't target her and as I said in my other comments I don't use characters where you have to pray to rng I will always choose versatility and reliability over a one trick pony. Nalili really doesn't have much going for her as she can nether support the team or debuff the enemies sure you can use her combat masturbation to bring her stats up but it is basically required in order to use her, you are better off using a character that can buff the whole team or doesn't need the buffs to be effective.

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    15. See, NOW you make some reasonable argument. Is the game a freaking RNG-fest from time to time, where (Infested house f.e.) most of your characters can get one-shotted, if by RNG only one character gets targeted with every attack? Yes. But that is a fundamental flaw in the RPG Maker combat. Basically, I understand you don't like it, I also wish we had some better combat (Witcher 2 anyone?) as an option, but to be fair, the game really is lacking in difficulty as it is, if there was no RNG and f.e. Hilstara got attacked everytime with Shieldwall on, you would pretty much only care about AOE attacks, as you would just stack DEF/MDF on Hilstara and be invincible in most fights... Anyway, unless Sierra gets recruited into some big company, get used to the combat as it is (and trust me, IF she did, there would be other problems, maybe even worse ones).

      Also, your view is quite limited. Nalili f.e. isn't all that strong, when you CAN have Carina/Hilstara/Qum in your party, as they provide to the whole party, what little benefit she has from combat masturbation (basically her only real strength becomes irrelevant). But, see, you don't always have those to buff your whole group, and WHEN you don't, then Nalili is quite good (she might be the strongest character on her own, meaning if you for some reason had to fight with just 1 character in your party). Is that situation quite rare? Yes, but hell, you have other characters to choose from... Be happy that there are actual meaningful choices and that it is not all mindless.

      Also Varia has the strongest skill damage-wise (Blade Dance) from all 12 characters, if that doesn't mean anything to you, then you should seriously reconsider, what you think you know about the strength of the characters... Is she a one trick pony? Well as I have said before, she is the definition of a glass cannon. If you understand, what that means, yea that means she is a one trick pony. Again, having one of those in your group is good for variability amongst your party members. If you don't agree, that's your right, but that's about all you can do about it.

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    16. I don't think Nalili would be the strongest on her own that would probably would go to Simon for obvious reasons followed by Aka who has well rounded stats and has multiple debuff attacks. We probably won't run into many situations where we will be forced to use only her maybe one or two at max, my problem is that in a game that is focused on making a team that works well her and Varia fall short when compared to everyone else.

      Yea Varia is a glass cannon but unlike most other characters in rpgs that are glass cannons she doesn't have a high evasion to make up for the seriously lacking defense. In most games such characters have one of the highest evasion usually only beaten by characters where evasion is their specialty sure its still luck based but that added ability usually makes them fun to use while Varia currently sits at aggravating to use.

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  4. Varia is awful though sure she has good attack but her Def and MDF are both very low for a fighter its not uncommon for her to be nuked first round especially by magic as she has the lowest MDF of the entire party by a wide margin, so until that gets fixed she is in the same spot as Nalili of never being used except for when the game forces us. Only reason I have the best equipment I can buy on them is for when I am forced to use them.

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    1. If her Def and MDF will become high then she will too strong.
      Varia+Robin\Qum\Carina = solution for her low defence

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    2. That doesn't help when she gets killed first round.

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    3. I have never had her killed in the first round. And it's not like I equip her to the max, I think she's still in steel gear.

      Don't know what to tell you, Gid.

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    4. I have never had her killed in the first round. And it's not like I equip her to the max, I think she's still in steel gear.

      Don't know what to tell you, Gid.

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    5. To be honest, I rarely use Varia in the harder combats, but even in Megail's Path against the Magekillers I don't think that she has been killed in one turn...

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    6. I had to do the Magekillers fight multiple times the first time I played through even though I had the best equipment I could buy on her if rng decides to be silly and they go for her she dies really quick especially against magic users. So against any enemies that have strong attacks I use someone else and when its my first time against new enemies because of an update I put her in the back and keep her there she isn't worth the headache. I prefer characters that are reliable rather then ones that rely on rng.

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  5. You know, I was just going to say that you made a mistake and made the new release public instead of just 1 dollar.

    Also, synergy skills: HNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGH

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  6. Wow, I'm surprised so many people have problems using Varia. I really liked her skill and yes she is a bit of a glass cannon but I haven't had her one shotted yet. I do try and outfit the weaker characters with better gear and i don't use potions much since i use my healers for that when they aren't active. (pocket Medics for the win) To be fair Varia is a bit weak on the def side but that's because she is fast and strong. Anyway there my two cents on the matter. (though then again I've played this game way to many times and i tend to min max stuff so maybe I've just gotten proficient at the combat.)

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  7. I'm still catching up on the last release, and I was wondering: is it intentional that Carina doesn't have any anti-undead skills? Are the Inquisition/Ivala strictly anti-sexual rather than something more like D&D where healing spells hurt negative energy beings like undead?

    Maybe there's other clerics who focus more on that kind of thing... the Mother's faithful, maybe, since they get a lot of use out of living things like their forests.

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    1. Also of note, the same thing happens before fighting the Divine Claw guy as did with the save before Orcent's fight: you can save before the fight, but then if you reload that save you go right into battle without being able to change equipment or party members.

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  8. Without hyperoptimizing for acceptance is is even possible to get 40 or 50 acceptance?

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  9. I use Varia in the tougher combat all the time now. She doesn't have Aka's utility but has plenty of ways to dish damage (admittedly with an RNG component to her more powerful moves). I find her damage in a single turn to be more consistently high since she isn't crit-based and two of her big moves hit multiple times. Yeah, you have to play around some of her downsides, but you are rewarded with a much higher damage return.

    I've done all the side stuff so she isn't remotely close to getting two-shotted, much less one-shotted. Maybe that's too "min/max"-y but I've enjoyed all the content so far and want to do everything.

    Nalili has a harder time fitting in my lineup. She's kind of middle of the road in terms of defense and damage at the moment and I would rather just have Aka for the damage and utility, Hilstara for the defense and utility, or Varia for all the different ways to do high damage. I don't think I skimped on her content or equipment but she's mostly just okay at the moment. Doesn't really stand out in any direction.

    Granted, this seems intentional since those three fighters that I compared her to are literally the three people that she could train with. Maybe there will be more training options in the future and she can specialize more or something.

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    1. I did all the side stuff and have the best equipment you can buy if the enemies all target Varia she dies while most the other characters can actually take a bit of a beating. Its better for the battle to be a little longer but a guaranteed win rather then a battle where you bet on rng so you can get it over faster but risk losing.

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    2. What a ridiculous argument. Switching to she's bad because if every single enemy hits her at the same time, then she might die.

      The problem is you. You have a preference that Varia doesn't match and have decided that your preference is a fact that everyone should agree with. I have a feeling that the game won't be changed to match your preference.

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    3. Look at the above argument about Varia it explains things much better.

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  10. AS someone who used Varia since i got her. her skills completely murder bosses. and can one shot grunts just support her a bit and shes easily the most broken character in the game

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    1. for the record I DID shell out for two durge swords for her so she has the highest attack stat i could give her at the time.

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    2. heh. With the amount of sx you have floating around by that point, I doubt it was too much for the returns you get.

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  11. What's this synergy skill all about?

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    1. "For example, if Robin is in the same party, Aka will gain a fire elemental stabbing skill."

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    2. I see. So when you have a member of the party and their synergy is compatible, they have a specific buff... That's cool.

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