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[WGCorndog]

Character of the Week


Iana the Ranger:
Green and armed with a bow, Iana can turn her enemies into pin cushions.

Sample Skills
Iana comes with multitude of ranged attack skills,
but she also has the ability to use special arrows for added effects.

Split Arrow Deals Physical damage to up to three enemies.	Eagle Eye Your next attack cannot miss and deals extra damage.
Poison Arrows Physical attacks also deal Poison damage over time.	Fire Arrows Physical attacks also deal Fire damage to enemies.

Iana's Bow (Relic) - Increases Power when you hit an enemy. Grants Eagle Eye skill.

[WGCorndog]

Character of the Week


Jackson the Juggernaut:
Armed with the largest in high-tech armor and weaponry, Jackson shields his allies to amp his damage.

Sample Skills
While not strong at the beginning of a battle, Jackson can build up
both his offense and defense to become a force to be reckoned with.

Ion Blast Deals Arcane damage to enemies in an area.	Adaptive Armor Passive: Taking damage reduces further damage of that type.
Barrier      Absorb damage taken by an ally.	Kinetic Battery     Passive: Damage absorbed by    Barrier increases your damage.

Juggernaut's Shield (Relic) - After every turn, convert some taken damage to Arcane damage.

[WGCorndog]

Character of the Week


Rock the Golem:
Rocky and emotionless, Rock crushes his enemies with shear force.

Sample Skills
Featuring very high base attributes, even with his limited skill set, Rock is devastating in battle.

Bash Deals high Physical and Stun damage to an enemy	Mindless Passive: Attacks randomly, but immune to Stun and Taunt effects
Inorganic      Passive: Immune to Poison damage, but cannot be healed normally	Resistant     Passive: Greatly reduces damage taken from damage over time effects

Stoneheart (Relic) - Greatly increases Toughness, but nullifies Speed and Agility.

[JamesRossi]

When I read in the title that there would be over 100 classes, I assumed it would be in the "we randomize 5 variables across 5 states and count every permutation" kind of way, (like how they advertised Borderlands 1). I am super glad I was wrong.

One thing I am curious about is character synergies. It appears that most of the abilities your potential characters have affect mostly themselves, and that there aren't any passive group effects? It would be interesting if while building a party to enter a rift, you would take into account things like "This Golem boosts defense, which will allow me to take a weaker character who boosts speed" or "This Space Marine increases other projectile weapons output by 1, which will work great with all these WW1 and WW2 dudes I have" etc.

I know that makes things a heck of a lot deeper and hard to manage testing wise, but it's one of the things I find I like about Binding of Isaac is working the systems, even if it means in some edge cases things start to break down. Which in itself is often amusing if nothing else.

[WGCorndog]

When I read in the title that there would be over 100 classes, I assumed it would be in the "we randomize 5 variables across 5 states and count every permutation" kind of way, (like how they advertised Borderlands 1). I am super glad I was wrong.

One thing I am curious about is character synergies. It appears that most of the abilities your potential characters have affect mostly themselves, and that there aren't any passive group effects? It would be interesting if while building a party to enter a rift, you would take into account things like "This Golem boosts defense, which will allow me to take a weaker character who boosts speed" or "This Space Marine increases other projectile weapons output by 1, which will work great with all these WW1 and WW2 dudes I have" etc.

I know that makes things a heck of a lot deeper and hard to manage testing wise, but it's one of the things I find I like about Binding of Isaac is working the systems, even if it means in some edge cases things start to break down. Which in itself is often amusing if nothing else.

Oh, there's definitely synergies, that's one of my biggest goals. I love synergy and theorycrafting.

For example, with the Golem, the tradeoff for him having absurd attributes is he can't be healed. While that itself is not a synergy, it DOES add value to characters that can keep allies alive without healing. That's actually why I posted him after the Juggernaut. The synergy between the Juggernaut's barrier and the Golem is amazing.

Another skill that I really like is "Electrify", which causes an ally to deal additional lightning damage after a physical attack. While it works well for normal attackers, it works incredibly well for various characters that are built around attacking multiple times. The Ice Mage also has a skill that lowers a target's Toughness (making them take more physical damage), as well as causing additional ice damage whenever they are attacked. It has a lot of synergy in the same way Electrify does.

I've kind of been straying away from posting a lot of the random attribute buffs, as I didn't figure they would be overly interesting (and not make much since as we haven't detailed the attributes, yet). A few characters have "songs" that they use for several turns to buff give all allies various buffs. Also, though it hasn't been talked about much, most "support" classes come with "Support" skill, which can boost an ally's attributes based on the support character's attributes. This works really well to have a caster type support character to help amp up a fighter's MP and magic defense, for example.

I think the relic system also does a very good job of adding theorycrafting and synergy as well. It's not as much of an "in battle" decision, but there's definitely a lot of room to use specific characters to synergize with specific relics. With each character always coming with their specific relics, it creates a situation where it's definitely worth considering how a character's relic could be used to synergize with the rest of your team.

[WGCorndog]

We also haven't talked as much about the difficulty of the game, which makes a lot of the skills more relevant.

Instead of battles being incredibly numerous but relatively simple, we are aiming for fewer, but more difficult battles. Whereas in a normal Final Fantasy game (or the Bravely series), you'd fight dozens and dozens of battles on the way to the boss, we are aiming for about 4-6. And, unlike other games, the regular enemies come with a bite.

I dislike how in most of those game, debilitating status effects have no real purpose. It's easier to outright kill regular enemies, and bosses are usually immune. My goal for our encounters, is to have them more or less on your level, along with synergy between enemies and full team composition. Encounters will come with healers, tanks, debuffers, DPS, and everything inbetween.

A skill like Disarm that can disable enemy attacks for a turn would be relatively useless in a standard JRPG, where you'd be better off just killing them in one turn instead. However, with a tank using Protect to mitigate his damage, and a healer to heal him up, being able to take a highly damaging character out of commission for a turn or two while you deal with the healer can be very beneficial.

Likewise, skills like Wound on the Assassin, that lowers healing received, can be greatly beneficial for dispatching important targets, even if they have a healer.

Edit: Sorry if I'm sounding ranty or defensive. I'm very passionate about the battle system, and could talk about it way longer than anyone would want to hear/read

[sbeast]

Hey I hope this game is still being updated, because I was following it for a while and it looks promising. Also, I wouldn't mind helping out with the music side of things. You can check out my portfolio here: http://sbeastmusic.com/portfolio/

[WGCorndog]

Hey I hope this game is still being updated, because I was following it for a while and it looks promising. Also, I wouldn't mind helping out with the music side of things. You can check out my portfolio here: http://sbeastmusic.com/portfolio/

Oh yes, it is definitely still being worked on. We haven't been as prudent at posting devlog updates as we should be. I'll try to rectify that by getting back into posting characters more frequently.

[WGCorndog]

Character of the Week


Viper the Wraith:
Armed with an invisibility suit, Viper terminates her targets swiftly and effectively.

Sample Skills
Viper is a high tech assassin, featuring multiple ways of dealing
various types of damage, as well as incapacitating foes.

Cloaking Device Prevents being targeted, and increases damage dealt. Recharges over time.	Wound Deals Physical damage and halves healing received.
Stasis Net     Deals Electric and Stun damage over time. One use per battle.	Laser     Deals Fire damage to a target Recharges over time.

Wraithblade (Relic) - Adds Arcane damage to Physical Attacks and lowers Toughness on hit.

[Myrik_Justiciar]

Hey, C-Dog! 

I followed you from GLB2... Love the game so far, just one suggestion... 

Add in a Pro Wrestler character based off my in-ring character/gimmick  :

http://wrestlingdata.com/index.php?befehl=bios&wrestler=23329

(though I do wear a full beard now for current look )

[WGCorndog]

Character of the Week


Slade the Rocker:
Always ready to rock out on his guitar, Slade shreds his enemies with the power of sound.

Sample Skills
With his guitar, Slade can deal consistent damage while debilitating his foes.

Rock Out Passive. Deals Physical damage to enemies at the beginning of every turn.	Power Chord Deals Physical damage and lowers Toughness.
Guitar Smash     Deals Physical and Stun damage to an enemy.	Erratic     Passive. Gain random bonuses and penalties to all attributes every turn.

Slade's Guitar(Relic) - Increases damage of Sonic abilities. Grants Power Chord skill.

[ahmio]

Reminds me of Live-a-Live. Digging the style.

[WGCorndog]

Character of the Week


Javed the Immortal:
A proud Persian warrior of the ancient world, Javed defies death while protecting allies.

Sample Skills
Javed is a defensive warrior with abilities that allow him to have a continued presence on the battlefield.

Guard Strike Deals Physical damage and lowers damage taken.	Bulwark Protects all allies until your next turn.
Block     Passive. Occasionally mitigates damage from attacks.	Immortal     Passive. Upon death, is replaced by another.

Javed's Spear (Relic) - Increases Technique. Grants Guard Strike skill.

[WGCorndog]

Character of the Week


Kiara the Banshee:
Shrieking and wailing from the shadows, Kiara hurts body and mind with her voice.

Sample Skills
Kiara is largely based around Sonic abilities, usually coupled with a debuff or two.

Screech Deals Physical damage and increases MP cost of Spells.	Shriek Passive. When an ally falls, deal Physical damage to all enemies.
Wail     Randomly deals Physical damage  to all enemies and lowers Technique.	Incorporeal     Passive. Takes extra damage from Spells, reduced damage from other sources.

Banshee's Wail (Relic) - Sonic abilities pierce additional resistances. Grants Wail skill.

[WGCorndog]

System Change: Leveling

Recently, we have agreed to change one of the core aspects of the game. Previously, like most JRPGs, we had a level system. Kill enemies, gain XP, level up. However, with the format of the game, this felt relatively...inconsequential. There is a fixed number of enemies per dungeon floor, so you'd always be more or less the same level at the same floor every dungeon run. On top of that, with each dungeon run only being a couple hours long, losing those levels every time didn't have the same rewarding feel that you'd expect from other JRPGs. We debated being able to keep your levels between runs, but that would have unwanted side effects like "locking" you into your high level characters, making new characters relatively useless, and trivializing more and more content as you level.

With all that said, we decided instead to you a sort of...inverse leveling system. Now, all characters start at what was previously the max level of 20. Instead of going up from there, every character as a stamina bar, and as you battle, your characters start losing stamina. The lower a character's stamina, the lower his attributes and fighting potential. This ended up fitting like a glove for emphasizing things we wanted to emphasize. This makes your party a revolving door of characters in each dungeon run, new characters you find will inevitably have more stamina than characters you've been using. Maybe the Chef, in a straight up comparison, is a bit weaker than a Barbarian. However, a full stamina Chef compared to a half stamina Barbarian...kind of blurs the lines a little bit. The system makes decisions on who to keep and who to send back all the more meaningful.

The change has also had many positive effects that we didn't foresee at first. Previously, we were going to only let you hand pick three of the six characters in your party for each dungeon run, because otherwise you could pick the best six and never care about anything else. However, with the "best six" losing stamina, a few floors in and they probably won't be the best picks anymore. You'll always need to care about getting new characters and replacing worn out ones.

It's also opened the door for new skill effects and new relics. For example, I've added the Sleeping Bag, a relic that you get from the Inn building, once you've unlocked it. The Sleeping Bag lowers the amount of stamina lost when a character has it equipped, letting you squeeze a bit more out of that character before needing to change them out. I've also tweaked some of the Chef skills, instead of standard attribute increases, his food items now temporarily increase stamina...which in effect increases attributes, but kind of adds a unique flair to it.

[JWK5]

[WGCorndog]

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Oh wow, I quite like all of those ideas.

[WGCorndog]

Character of the Week


Rafael the Sentinel:
Ready to stand tall in defense of his allies, Rafael controls energy and force.

Sample Skills
Rafael comes with strong, but costly defensive abilities. He is also able to amplify his attacks with Discipline (the attribute governing MP and resistances)

Forcefield Prevents Ranged skills from hitting allies for three turns, at expense of MP.	Power Armor Passive. After every turn, gain a shield that absorbs damage.
Force Staff     Passive. Attacks gain damage from Discipline. Every successful attack restores MP.	Shockwave Deals Physical damage to enemies in the front row.

Inertial Stone (Relic) - Gain MP every time you are hit with an Attack.

[WGCorndog]

Character of the Week


Seb the Bard:
Always jovial and ready with a song, Seb supports allies with music.

Sample Skills
While not particularly strong on his own, Seb can choose between potent Songs that grant buffs and heal allies.

Ballad Increases Power and Toughness, based on your Technique.	Melody Increases Focus and Discipline, based on your Technique.
Hide     Become untargetable and take reduced damage for a turn.	Stumble     Costs MP and does nothing.

Seb's Lute (Relic) - Increases Technique. Grants Ballad skill.

[Josh Bossie]

Interesting concept and very cool art - would look right at home on the SNES. Gave you a follow on Twitter, too.

In my head this is sort of a Suikoden meets Chrono Trigger with Roguelike mechanics - does that jive with your own vision?