Signature Attack Q&A

From a creative standpoint, they might permit you to make a sort of reverse-barrier in which instead of protecting yourself you automatically block everything he does with the barrier until it is destroyed.

It isn't explicitly allowed, but I have trouble thinking of how that is better than a normal barrier.

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If the Break Attack would destroy the shield, it will break through and hit the Navi as well, guaranteed.
All right, let's consider a 40 damage break attack.

It completely destroys an 80 damage shield and deals no damage. It destroys a 40 damage shield and deals 40 damage. What about a 10 damage shield? I believe it would deal 35 damage. Right?

Also, it would destroy a 1-hit shield and deal 40 damage. Would it also deal 40 damage after breaking a 2-hit shield?

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(Jan 08-07:01) Tom: And we really can't have Break as a passive effect? Gross.
(Jan 08-07:01) Tom: I wanted to be extra breaky
(Jan 08-07:01) Knight: He did say that
(Jan 08-07:01) Tom: Sniff
(Jan 08-07:02) Knight: Hell, my signature bends the rules by endowing break >.>
(Jan 08-07:02) Tom: I just assumed the break would affect one attack extra per turn, not all of 'em. Hmmm
(Jan 08-07:02) Knight: Yeah, logical
(Jan 08-07:02) Knight: I can't remember why pally shot it down.
(Jan 08-07:02) Tom: I must discuss this. I want to be extra breaky, damn it!
(Jan 08-07:04) Knight: Well, it would be alright with me. Just needs to be put it inside the burst effect 
(Jan 08-07:04) Tom: Yeah, I figure that's not too game breaking, especially for the cost. 80 points just to get an extra break effect per turn? Jeez, why am I going to need that many breaks anyway, unless it's some weird fight. I just want the fluff of being, well, y'know.
(Jan 08-07:04) Tom: Breaky
(Jan 08-07:05) Knight: yeah yeah...
(Jan 08-07:05) Knight: I'd do the passive swordify in a heartbeat
(Jan 08-07:05) Tom: Well yeah, it's free. And it reduces accuracy of everything, so I don't see too much of a problem there either. Hmm
(Jan 08-07:06) Tom: Well, maybe, since it's passive. But I'd change it so that even then, it costs something like, 20 points total to passive slash
(Jan 08-07:06) Tom: Cheap stuff
(Jan 08-07:07) Knight: Personally, I'd make it a seperate effect, and simply make it cost as much as a self accuracy lowering nerf >.>;
(Jan 08-07:07) Tom: Well, I dunno. I do like the idea. It makes a fluffy character. Hmm
(Jan 08-07:07) Tom: If it was free, and had it premanantly, that's a big penalty. What if you run into an enemy who is immune to sword attacks?
(Jan 08-07:07) Knight: because I don't get why it has to be... compounded
(Jan 08-07:07) Knight: ...
(Jan 08-07:07) Tom: And it's passive, so no turning it off. Ouch
(Jan 08-07:08) Tom: THE SOUL OF THE SWORD BURNS WITHIN ME!
(Jan 08-07:08) Knight: Which brings me to the "WHY THE HELL I CAN'T TURN OFF A PASSIVE?" debate.
(Jan 08-07:08) Tom: "SWORDS?! I HATE SWORDS. HATE WITH SO MUCH."
(Jan 08-07:08) Tom: And then the battle was over
(Jan 08-07:09) Knight: ....
(Jan 08-07:09) Tom: Eh, well, I can see the point there. I mean, there's gotta be some kind of penalty. A passive thing isn't something you turn off. Like a leader, he's charismatic without trying. You could say he's passively charismatic. He couldn't really turn it off... Well, okay, so maybe he could, by acting like a dick. But that might be a bad example of things
(Jan 08-07:10) Knight: ....
(Jan 08-07:10) Knight: no seriously, think about it.
(Jan 08-07:10) Tom: Perma Hard Body, I can definitely see. I mean, if you're just a big dude made out of rock, you can't turn that off
(Jan 08-07:10) Knight: You make a passive poison aura.
(Jan 08-07:10) Knight: You just killed his social life.
(Jan 08-07:10) Tom: Eh, have it only affect viruses
(Jan 08-07:10) Tom: Special... Poison... Thing
(Jan 08-07:10) Knight: ....
(Jan 08-07:10) Knight: So, no use in pvp?
(Jan 08-07:11) Tom: Sure
(Jan 08-07:11) Tom: Take what you get. Do you want fluff or affect? That's what it comes down to sometimes
(Jan 08-07:11) Knight: eh >.>
(Jan 08-07:11) Tom: Or you could limit the aura to a certain range. Then he can talk to people. Just from far away.
(Jan 08-07:11) Knight: Well... then there is still the no drawback on passives...
(Jan 08-07:11) Tom: Far away.
(Jan 08-07:11) Knight: ....
(Jan 08-07:12) Knight: Reminds me of the dude in fallout who was glowing in the dark.
(Jan 08-07:12) Knight: You know, the guys who settled down next to the reactor.
(Jan 08-07:12) Tom: If you have hard body, and get hit by a breaking drill, bad things happen. A Navi with a passive Hard Body effect encounters an angry man with a drill. He cannot turn off Hard Body. I call that a drawback.
(Jan 08-07:12) Tom: Hmm
(Jan 08-07:13) Knight: And thats all right.
(Jan 08-07:13) Tom: Can you make multiple hit X barriers? Hmm
(Jan 08-07:13) Knight: Thats a passive defensive effect
(Jan 08-07:13) Knight: My problem is not being able to turn off the offensive ones.
(Jan 08-07:14) Tom: Hmm
(Jan 08-07:14) Tom: Well, if it was something like, "I'm made of fire, I burn things when I get close," I'd say, "Tough luck buddy." If you're a flower Navi that constantly gives off poisonous fumes, again, tough luck, you chose your fluff, stick with it. But there are certainly other cases where I suppose passives could be turned off
(Jan 08-07:16) Tom: For example, I've got one Navi who I had planned, give him LOTS of passive 5 damage attacks that are basically fluffy. The passives represent attacks, since he's faster than most Navi. He tosses a dagger, end of story. But that could be easy to turn off. The thing n that instance, I suppose, is would it ever get approved, as it's not very passive and more like active.
(Jan 08-07:16) Knight: if it requires a target it should be possible to turn it off.
(Jan 08-07:16) Tom: Hmm
(Jan 08-07:17) Knight: the examples you gave were all AOE around the guy
(Jan 08-07:17) Tom: But if it requires a target beyond personal or all, is it really passive or is it active?
(Jan 08-07:17) Knight: or stonebody which is self only.
(Jan 08-07:17) Knight: yeah, tough question...
(Jan 08-07:17) Tom: Of course, this might be cutting hairs.
(Jan 08-07:17) Tom: But by passsive, I generally tend to think that's it's something done without thinking about. Thus why it costs no actions.
(Jan 08-07:18) Tom: If you're actively seeking out a target and attacking it, that seems more like an active thought. So, in that case, it's a passive attack only in respect to the rules and an attempt to get a free attack in. Wouldn't that be a fast attack instead? But then again, we don't have rules for that kind of thing.
(Jan 08-07:19) Knight: yeah, but you kind of walk without thinking about it... you don't think "now, I'll lift my left leg...."
(Jan 08-07:19) Tom: Granted. But does it take time to do that?
(Jan 08-07:19) Knight: For me a passive is what takes no effort of the navi to do... hence, no action.
(Jan 08-07:19) Tom: Walking is not a free action, heh.
(Jan 08-07:19) Tom: Time and concentration are the key things for me. If it requires neither, then it's passive.
(Jan 08-07:21) Tom: Damn, now I want to get this shown to Paly so we can get some rules done on fast attacks, attacks we want to require no actions but aren't passive. BLARG.
(Jan 08-07:21) Tom: >.>
(Jan 08-07:21) Tom: Copy paste time
(Jan 08-07:21) Knight: heh...
(Jan 08-07:21) Knight: if it was me...
(Jan 08-07:21) Knight: we were discussing with pally a 20 point effect that lowers the cooldown  by 1
(Jan 08-07:21) Tom: Hmm
(Jan 08-07:21) Tom: I thought that's already up?
(Jan 08-07:21) Tom: And legal?
(Jan 08-07:22) Knight: nah, thats the effect that coolsdown another sig and it costs 40
(Jan 08-07:22) Tom: Ah
(Jan 08-07:22) Knight: anyway, logically, this means that for a zero cooldown you need to double the cost of the effect
(Jan 08-07:22) Tom: Yeah. That sounds fair to me
(Jan 08-07:23) Knight: okay... so how about for no action you also have to double the whole thing?
(Jan 08-07:23) Knight: so no action+ no cooldown would leave you at x4 = passive
(Jan 08-07:23) Tom: Hmm
(Jan 08-07:23) Tom: Also, copy pasted our discussion.
(Jan 08-07:24) Tom: http://z10.invisionfree.com/RockmanChaosNe...&#entry12931335
(Jan 08-07:24) Tom: I was far to lazy to edit it, heh.
(Jan 08-07:25) Tom: I kind of like the 4x idea, but we'd have to see how Pally thinks of it


Thoughts?
New Signature Move Option

Break Specialization (Guard, Shield, Barrier, Body Tree, Etcetera) - When this option is chosen, the Navi must pick a type of defense, such as Guard chips. The option would appear as Break Specialization (Guard) in the signature. When used against enemies attempting to defend with the listed defense, in this case guard, the defense is destroyed and bypassed, with the defender taking triple the normal damage they would normally take from the attack. The Break Specialization Signature Effect has no effect on defenses other than the kind listed. So, while a Navi using HardBody normally takes double damage from a Break attack, a Navi using HardBody struck by a Break Specialization Guard effect will instead take the damage as normal (which, since it's Hard Body, would halve the damage).

40 Points





I like it. If we made it a Break only ability, that'd be doubly cool. Heck, imagine a Break type making an entire Sig list specifically to counter every defense? That'd be pretty impressive to see. Or is this the kind of thing we're trying to avoid, I wonder? Regardless, I like it. Tell me what you think, Paly, when you get the chance.
new sig idea/comment:

summon(object)

base cost: 30 points + another point for each hp
creates an object that doesn't move, but it can look like whatever the player wants, starts with 30 Hp.

new rule(?):

attach passive

you can attach a passive to an SP or object, but the point's come out of your pool, and if it isn't around, the effect doesn't work.

the cap for this is the same as your passive cap, you can only attach 2-3 to any thing.
@ Tom & Knight: Believe it or not, it is already being taken care of. What you seek in having extra abilities is already in the works, but not as a signature effect.

And Knight...


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Power Burst: Add 20 Damage per 15 Cap conversion ratio (per instance) [This ability allows you to add 20 damage to a single Chip or Charged Buster attack. The damage does not stack over multiple hits or multiple targets and does not duplicate itself for multiple targets, or multiple hits, but the damage is splittable. [b]This ability cannot be used to imbue Effects, only damage.[/b]]


Just in case you missed it. =P

@ Naix: We're working on objects now.

I'll get with Twi on junctioning sig abilities to an SP.


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If the Break Attack would destroy the shield, it will break through and hit the Navi as well, guaranteed.


All right, let's consider a 40 damage break attack.

It completely destroys an 80 damage shield and deals no damage. It destroys a 40 damage shield and deals 40 damage. What about a 10 damage shield? I believe it would deal 35 damage. Right?

Also, it would destroy a 1-hit shield and deal 40 damage. Would it also deal 40 damage after breaking a 2-hit shield?


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It completely destroys an 80 damage shield and deals no damage.


Nope.

Break attacks deal double damage to Shields. So 40 breaking damage equals 80 damage against the shield. This will break the 80 HP shield. If the shield breaks, the character defending with it will take the damage...

Thus the victim of this attack will take 40 damage, and lose their 80 HP shield. (Poor guy...)


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It destroys a 40 damage shield and deals 40 damage.


Yep.

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What about a 10 damage shield? I believe it would deal 35 damage. Right?


Since it is a shield, it takes 80 damage from the 40 damage break attack. This is 8 times what is needed to break this 10 HP shield. The target in this example loses his shield, and eats 40 damage, like all the others. (No mercy.)

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Also, it would destroy a 1-hit shield and deal 40 damage.


Yep. Break's not a joke.

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Would it also deal 40 damage after breaking a 2-hit shield?


Yep.

Since Break deals double damage to Shields, an X-Hit shield will lose 2 points of durability against a break attack instead of 1. This guy loses his 2-hit shield, and eats 40 damage.

For those of you that suddenly think Break is godlike from these examples, keep in mind this type of defense is what Break was made to decimate, and the defenses presented as examples here were not strong enough to withstand a Break attack.

Rock, paper, scizzors.

Break's Rock.

Shields are Scizzors.

You might want to find some paper...

I hope this helps. Take it easy.
Awesome updates to the sig rules Paly, whole lot of interesting new stuff in there. You should totally make an announcement or something when you do this, man.

So, yeah, the new Zombie stuff is awesome. As is Damage Reduction. Quick questions for both of them.

With damage reduction, it says per instance per turn, right? So that means that each time you get hit, that requires a use of damage reduction? That limits it a lot, which is good, makes it pretty much a passive only thing (again, awesome). Now, if I'm not mistaken, there's no way to get above that -1 damage per 3 thing, right? Don't get me wrong, reducing the amount of damage my Navi takes by one third from everything for a measly 20 points seems pretty killer to me, that's all good and fine. Although saying it like that, the ability does seem really strong. And I don't see any fall backs? Hmm. Alright, is there anyway to bypass the damage reduction then? Or do we have to assign a specific type of damage to reduce, ala DnD?

Next, Zombie. And this one is kind of silly. If someone has the zombie status and we use Ressurection (For just a measly 1000 Sig Points) on them, would that delete them?

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Next, Zombie. And this one is kind of silly. If someone has the zombie status and we use Ressurection (For just a measly 1000 Sig Points) on them, would that delete them?

Phoenix Down!

PWNT!

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Or do we have to assign a specific type of damage to reduce, ala DnD?

*Uses his +5 Spear of Navi Slaying*


Seriously though...I think I need to reread what Pally came up with for the DMG Reduc....I wasn't aware it was that strong.
Is it possible to build a sig-attack from nothing but nerfs?

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Next, Zombie. And this one is kind of silly. If someone has the zombie status and we use Ressurection (For just a measly 1000 Sig Points) on them, would that delete them?

Phoenix Down!

PWNT!

I think you mean X-Potion

And yes, I'm guilty of that one on several counts <<

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I think you mean X-Potion

I don't believe he did....'Cause X-Potion would just deal 9999 DMG while, in most games, Phoenix Down would just right out kill the zombie bastard. Plus, resurrection and Phoenix Down are more congruous than resurrection and X-Potion.

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With damage reduction, it says per instance per turn, right?


Yeah. Each instance of DR stacks to increase the range it will reduce damage for. More instances of DR means more damage can be reduced. And DR is a turn-based / turn-length ability: ergo, once someone turns it on, it lasts until the beginning of their next turn, like Slow, Poison, Regen, or Haste.

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So that means that each time you get hit, that requires a use of damage reduction?


Damage reduction lasts in terms of turns, not hits. Once DR is active, it triggers every time you're hit, until the effect wears off. It's quite powerful as a passive ability, if you buy enough of it that is.

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Now, if I'm not mistaken, there's no way to get above that -1 damage per 3 thing, right?


Correct. DR will always be 1 reduction for 3 points of damage. You can't change it.

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Don't get me wrong, reducing the amount of damage my Navi takes by one third from everything for a measly 20 points seems pretty killer to me, that's all good and fine. Although saying it like that, the ability does seem really strong.


I guess I need to word the sig effect better... Forgive me, I'm not the best writer around for explaining things clearly, so bear with me...

------------------------------------
Instances: Max Damage Scope
------------------------------------
DR 1 : 3
DR 2 : 6
DR 3 : 9
DR 4 : 12
DR 5 : 15
DR 6 : 18
DR 7 : 21
DR 8 : 24
DR 9 : 27
DR 10 : 30
......
DR 50 : 150
......
DR 100 : 300
------------------------------------

You see, DR doesn't flat out reduce ALL damage you take by 1/3. That would be ridiculously imba. Instead, the more DR you buy, the more damage the effect will account for when you take a hit. For every instance of DR you buy, the range of the damage it accounts for increases by 3 points. 1 out of every 3 points is then reduced within the range it is allowed to look at. Every point of damage above the maximum range your level of damage reduction can account for is treated normally.

So, lets be generous and say your character has DR 20. At level 20 damage reduction, the maximum scope for the effect is 60 points of damage, and the maximum damage you can expect to nullify with it is 20 points.

So, lets say you have been hit numerous times.

The first time, you were hit for 10 damage. The damage you take is reduced by 3 (round down, always), leaving you with 7 damage to your HP. So much for their 10 damage buster shot.

The second hit was decent, dishing out 60 points of Breaking damage before DR kicks in. When the DR kicked in, however, the damage was reduced by 20, leaving you with 40 damage to deal with. You lost your guard, but DR laughs at Break.

The third hit was heavy, as Tank Cannons generally are... You're staring 120 points of damage in the face. Well, your DR 20 looks at the first 60 points of that damage, and reduces that 60 by 1/3, but leaves the last 60 points untouched. So, you take 100 points of damage, instead of 120, thanks to your DR.

The enemy's last action was used firing a Super Vulcan at you for another 120 damage... Well, sorry to say but his parade is about to get rained on. his 12 hits of 10 damage each get reduced by 3 damage, reducing another 120 point attack to a less impressive 84 damage total. The other 36 damage was stopped cold by the DR, since it was multiple hits, instead of a single massive one.

...And that is how DR works.


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And I don't see any fall backs? Hmm. Alright, is there anyway to bypass the damage reduction then? Or do we have to assign a specific type of damage to reduce, ala DnD?


There is no way to bypass DR, at this time. It's recommended that you try to crash and burn their DR signatures before attempting to deal them damage, or simply hit them with a single massive blast of ownage, and watch their DR fail to stop more than a nibble.

Multihit attacks are seriously blunted by DR, but single massive hit attacks are almost untouched, unless their DR level is absolutely absurd. DR is powerful, but it's not godlike.


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Next, Zombie. And this one is kind of silly. If someone has the zombie status and we use Ressurection (For just a measly 1000 Sig Points) on them, would that delete them?


You can't target active characters with Resurrection. They have to be down first. So, no pheonix down KO's.

You can still heal them for damage.
Hmm, now that I think about it, Ressurection is a 1,000 point effect, right? Well, uh...

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55+ = 500 (750) / 70 (MAXED)


So now my question is, how do we get the effect if the current max points you can throw into something is 750 anyway?

Also, quick confirmation, Regeneration regenerates 5 (x level of intensity) hit points per action for the turn it's active, right? Looks like that's how it's worded.

Ahah, thanks again Paly, looks like I'm causing a bit a trouble for you. Thanks for clearing up that business with Damage Reduction, very cool. I'll have to pick that up.
Ah, yes, Tom, but does the combination signature attack rule for a level 5 cross not have an 1000 point cap? So, two people combining their power would be able to use Ressurect.
I have an idea for a sig, but I have no idea how the points would stack...

say you have an attack that could be used as a barrier OR an attack, if the attack does 20 points of damage, and the shield costs 20 points...

would the who sig cost 20 point, since you have the same cost? or would it be 40?
No Multi-use sigs.

You could make two separate sigs, one that did 20 damage for 20 points, and one that gives you a 20hp barrier for 20 points.
awww...

I'll just have to tweak "call of the damned" then....
Hmmm.... looking up damage resistance I just wanted to check a few things about it's balance against healing, anyone feel free to correct me where my math is wrong.

Ok, so for every 5 Points of cap You are able to resist/ignore 1 point of damage per attack up to 1/3 the total attack power. Therefore you are able to in a turn resist a maximum for Points Spent*Number of attacks/5 damage and a maximum damage and 3/5 Points Spent*Number of Attacks damage up to which this is effective.

In a given turn, assuming the damage is spread out over 3 attacks, One would be able to 'resist' 21 points of damage if they spent 35 Points on the sig. Meanwhile they would be taking at least 39 damage the same turn, assuming average damage attacks. They would be able to properly block only attacks dealing up to 21 damage, afterwards they lose their advantage. Therefore this situation is functionally as ideal as possible.

In comparison healing heals 15 points for every 20 spent. Spending an equivalent amount of points nets about 25 points of healing every turn. This is more than the above situation and requires neither a consistency in attack strength nor multiple attacks in order to gain it's advantage. Functionally this makes the above resist damage only useful in one of two specific situations. When healing causes you damage (anti-heal, zombie, ect.) or when the attack would have killed you anyway but would not when reduced in damage slightly. This is extremely rare because of undershirt.

Functionally this leaves damage reduction an interesting ability only mathematically advantageous for those who wish to delve excessively into zombie.

If anyone could correct me that would be appreciated.

Also, could a sig be designed to transform willing barriers into attacks? This is a gray area in the multi-purpose sig zone, where the whole concept of the sig is to turn your barriers or those of willing allies into lethal weapons.
My head hurts from reading so much, so if this has been answered already in another topic, forgive me.

My questions are as follows:

* When can signature attacks be used?

* Does CD refer to the amount of turns you must wait before you can use that attack again, or how many turns this attack requires to execute? In both examples, can the attack be used again in the same battle?

* Does the CD rule apply to passive signature attacks, and what battles do they apply to?