Hey everyone,

In this update, I’ll reveal my progress with the Bonus Experience system as well as explain how it is going to differ from Fire Emblem 9/10’s system. I’ll also show the missing three class trees and explain the thought process behind the new stats I’m currently implementing in the game.

Bonus Experience

You earn it by completing the various side objectives for each chapters, for the most part (protecting NPC’s, visiting villages, triggering special events), while some conditions remain in most of the chapters (no casualties, efficiency, etc.).

When a chapter ends, you will have an overview screen that shows the BExp-related conditions fulfilled (if any) as well as the amount of points attributed for each of them, followed with a total amount of points to spend.

After the overview screen, you will be prompted to distribute your Bonus Experience between your units who participated in the last chapter. In Wicked Night, Bonus Experience is not cumulative, which means you will have to either spend it, or throw it away.

This is meant to better adjust the difficulty curve as we’ll assume the player is using most, if not all, of the experience thrown his way.

The following screen demonstrates the current interface for exp distribution.

New Class Trees

As I mentioned in the last update, the Fighter, Magical and Flier trees were in development. The biggest changes made to the previous version of the trees are as follows.

Fighter Tree

Some names were changed, in order to sound less generic (Brawler is now Marauder, Brute is now Raider)

Marauder has been reworked as a bulkier axeman while the Raider was reworked into a more offensive variant as their innate skills do not impact hit/avoid rates, but damage received and damage dealt, respectively.

Magical Tree

Some names were changed, still in order to feel less generic (Dark Protector is now Hollow)

Some skills were changed, most notably with the inclusion of the concept of Empowered magical attacks for the Hollow and the Illusionist)

Hollows now have access to Knives.

Scholars were reworked from Support units to fast magical dodge tanks with weak defenses.

Flier Tree

Reworked the concept for the Dragoon class, which went from being a bulky flier with access to Axes and Lances to a bulky flier with access to Axes and Elemental tomes, who can empower their weapons with fire.

Empowering a weapon only works with physical weapons and only applies to the Illusionist, Hollow and Dragoon classes, who can empower their weapons with Light, Dark and Elemental magic, respectively.

To empower an attack, the player will have the option to do so in the menu instead of doing a regular attack. What that does is that it adds 1/4 Mag to the damage output and adds the magical element to the weapon triangle, which can be a double edged blade in some cases. In most cases, however, this would mean added damage and a potential Weapon Triangle Advantage for better accuracy.

As always, you can find the updated class diagram in the top navigation.

New Stats : Mind and Fortitude

If you have a keen eye, you have most likely noticed the Mind (Mnd) and Fortitude (Ftd) stats in the screenshots above. I’ll explain what they do and what drove me to add them in the game.

Mind

What does it do?

The Mind stat will be used mostly by healers as it will replace the Magic stat used in most tactical RPGs. This stat will also be used (alongside with Skill) in the hit rate of Status Staves. Finally, this stat will also be used instead of Magic for some skills, such as Respite (which healed every turn for a portion of the Magic stat).

Why?

There are two main reasons that drove me to add the Mind stat.

First of all, I always found it weird that most frail healers, who usually have a high magic stat totally flip when they reach promotion. They go from the weak healer to an insane glass canon fast.

Secondly, I wanted to create a niche for prepromoted mages who have a higher focus on healing instead of fighting, which could be bypassed by trading a tome with the earlier system.

How does that translate to Gameplay?

For the most part, it should feel natural once the players get used to the new system. Some healers will still have a high magic stat, but others won’t. All in favor of a deeper system that allows for better unit balance when it comes to fine tuning.

Fortitude

What does it do?

The Fortitude stat will be used as a way to resist statuses, both incoming from status staves and from some weapons. Some skills will also interact with the Fortitude stat. This stat might also be used to trigger some of the more defensive active skills, such as Great Shield and Great Aegis.

Why?

After confirming that I wanted to add in status staves, I wanted to be sure that it wouldn’t completely destroy entire classes. In some games, Berserkers and Generals are completely countered by status staves as a result from low Resistance.

How does that translate to Gameplay?

Some units will naturally have low Fortitude, but it also allows for some Axemen and Armored units to have some means of protection against statuses. Just like the Mind stat, this further allows me to have some better control on unit balance overall. This also allows for some easier weapon variety as some Safeguard-like weapons can be created that boost Fortitude when equipped to allow for a counter to status staves.

These two stats aren’t completely added to the game engine yet, but will be by the next update.

Character Teaser

Last time, I revealed Maltroth, the Strider. Today, Juliet, the Elementalist, makes an appearance.

See you all next time!

Coco