**Minor FFXIII spoilers on card**
Welcome back!
Guess what I've been up to?
Yeah, I'm only 7 or so hours into FFXIII, but I figured I'd try the new template out on our new protagonist first!
I've tried to add a little detail to the template, but also tried to organize it better.
I thought the attack/defense on the top would be a better use of space.
I know it looks like I'm wasting space again with the side-bar, but think how many traits I need for a character with a complex class like Edge or something.
Anyway, there's attack and defense on the top, sandwiching the name and title...
-The left bar are descriptors, basically they're traits that don't do anything on their own right. But because Lightning has the Female trait, Edgar has a chance to woo her with his ability! Sabin might be upset with his brother for being such a floozy, so he can hit him over the head with Tiger Claws that are only equippable by those with the Monk trait!
-The tab above the left bar lists the character's core class. The core class can only be one of 3 things: Fighter/Rogue/Mage. These help you build your army, because the classes follow the hard rules of the game. (aka rules that can't be broken, that balance the game) It's pretty easy to say that a balanced deck should be made up of 1/3 fighters, 1/3 rogues, and 1/3 mages, for instance.
And then we have our original traits on the top of the main textbox, ranged, counter, leader, all sorts of stuff. The difference is, these traits have innate abilities of their own. Leader for example, is just an easier way to point out the character having a crazy leader only ability. Most like the other ones mentioned will be the same. However, "Thief" will become "Steal", and Thief will be a descriptor trait instead.
Don't worry, I'll find something to call them other than "traits", I'm aware it's a little vague.
All else is the same. But just this simple change will let me add tons more depth to the game.
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I guess we can talk about Lightning some.
For all you who haven't played FFXIII, Lightning is pretty much a female Cloud. Just more angry and solitary. She kicks ass just as well if not better.
I tried to show her combat prowess by giving her 1600/1600. She belongs on the front line for sure.
I tried to make her ability interesting. It's worded in a way that it has to go off. This attempts to represent how temperamental she is. Sure, she'll help out, but she has her own agenda at the same time.
A 1600/1600 is pretty buff, especially with counter. But I think her auto-run away offsets the strength some. You most likely wont be putting Relics on her, and she'll definitely set you back if she's the only character in play...
Of course, it's a bit weird to make judgments about a character so early in the game. But this is just a representation of her early character. So who knows what she'll throw at us later.
I've got a few more cards to show you guys. I'll post them soon.
So if I'm reading "Army Of One" correctly, as soon as Lightning finishes someone off she's gone and takes another Fighter from your group with her?
ReplyDeleteDespite high stats, I'm not sure I'd play someone with such a large drawback - I'd either have to have her as my only Fighter slot to lessen the impact or else make absolutely sure anyone she takes out is worth the lost card advantage (losing two characters from the field VS the opponent's one sounds like bad news).
Is counter an auto-fire ability, or can I control when it goes off? A savvy opponent could really turn Lightning into a liability by intentionally throwing an expendable character at her, removing potentially two of my members from the field.
I'm of course speaking without intimate knowledge of the mechanics, but I'm just not seeing Lightning's viability from what I know.
Hmmm, Lightning is designed to discard other players characters, but the ability text is a bit vague, so I see the confusion.
ReplyDeleteThough, you do bring up a good point. What happens when you're the only one with characters with the class of the defeated on the table? Lightning was never meant to work that way, she'll have to be worded to single out opponents characters.
Tremendous insight Matt, thanks!
As far as fighters go, her stats are average. 1600/1600 is the middle ground for the class.
ReplyDeleteGiving her Counter along with it makes her overpowered. But her going back to your deck, along with people baiting her with Porom or something to do it like you mentioned hopefully balances her out.
We'll see I guess.
Ahh, so it's meant that she takes a second character out when she cycles back into the deck? Given that fact, Lightning is better than I thought, and I could see her as a useful weapon against deck builds focusing on narrower class choices.
ReplyDelete