Balancing Classes

Marioman13

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Darn. I thought I wouldn't have to bug you guys again, but unfortunately, I have another question. 
I've been using the default classes for some time, and I'n wondering how they balanced the classes (stats).
I found an article about balancing a game, but it gives no help on classes.
Can anyone help?
 

Tai_MT

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Unfortunately for you...  There's no clear cut way to balance anything.  Not classes, not skills, not weapons, not anything.  Balance is what you want it to be within your own game.  Balance is usually determined by how quickly you want enemies slain in combat and how quickly you want your characters to attain power.

If you're using any of the defaults with the program...  You're going to notice one thing quite quickly.  That is, the defaults aren't really designed to make a game that lasts more than 5 hours max.  Default character stats can plow through the first dozen or so monsters without issue, and the rate at level up means they'll be gaining many more very quickly.  Likewise, the formulas on the skills render any kind of hit of "Attack" meaningless because of how much damage they'll do to most anything.

If you want to balance classes specifically, you need to decide what the roles of each class is meant to do.  How useful it is to a player (not yourself, to an actual player... you'll have to get outside help in playtesting in order to properly determine whether or not your classes are going to be used by players)?  How useful is it in combat?  How about outside of combat?  What would make the player want to take one class over another?  Are all classes equally viable in an RPG situation so you aren't running into "the holy trinity"?

A lot of balance is determined by the creator.  There isn't some guide to help you figure it out.  Often, it's just asking, "is this too powerful?".  It's a lot of trial and error to get the vision of the game you want to make.
 

Marioman13

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Ah, I see.
Thanks for the advice! It's quite helpful.
 
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Warpmind

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Another thing to keep in mind - do all the classes *need* to be balanced? This isn't some MMORPG, where all the classes need to fill various roles as needed by the group and the specific raid/event/dungeon they're plowing through - it is, in fact, perfectly fine for a party to have immense disparities in a JRPG, so long as there's no "choose your party" deal going on. The big, burly knight in full armor can very well physically outshine the entire rest of the party, so long as the rest of the party have something useful they can do.

The frail sorcerer who can barely cast a single spell before succumbing to asthma can stand perfectly fine next to the daring rogue who flips a pair of daggers into the nearby monster's kidneys while the knight basically stands there and takes everything the monster can dish out; how well they fill their own roles and enjoy synergies with each other is far more important than whether the fighter's physical stats and the mage's mental stats are mathematically in perfect balance.
 

EliteZeon

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In terms of stats, I think I made the stat curves via, almost a point buy system...

Hrm, more like:

A = 1 Stat

B = 2 Stats

C = 3 Stats

D = 1 Stat

E = 1 Stat

Add in some variation, like if there are 3 stats that = B, then there must be more D stats at the cost of a C stat.

Then  I would generate a curve from there... not sure it is the best system to be perfectly honest...
 
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Marioman13

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Another thing to keep in mind - do all the classes *need* to be balanced? This isn't some MMORPG, where all the classes need to fill various roles as needed by the group and the specific raid/event/dungeon they're plowing through - it is, in fact, perfectly fine for a party to have immense disparities in a JRPG, so long as there's no "choose your party" deal going on. The big, burly knight in full armor can very well physically outshine the entire rest of the party, so long as the rest of the party have something useful they can do.

The frail sorcerer who can barely cast a single spell before succumbing to asthma can stand perfectly fine next to the daring rogue who flips a pair of daggers into the nearby monster's kidneys while the knight basically stands there and takes everything the monster can dish out; how well they fill their own roles and enjoy synergies with each other is far more important than whether the fighter's physical stats and the mage's mental stats are mathematically in perfect balance.
You're right, balance isn't absolutely necessary. Thanks for the advice!

In terms of stats, I think I made the stat curves via, almost a point buy system...

Hrm, more like:

A = 1 Stat

B = 2 Stats

C = 3 Stats

D = 1 Stat

E = 1 Stat

Add in some variation, like if there are 3 stats that = B, then there must be more D stats at the cost of a C stat.

Then  I would generate a curve from there... not sure it is the best system to be perfectly honest...
That's an interesting system! I'll bookmark this page so I can refer to later.
 
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bgillisp

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You could also do what I did. I set the average value for each stat for level 1 (so for instance, maybe you decide that an ATK of 50 is average). Then, I set the other classes as follows: Each class has x number of points to distribute in the 6 stats at level 1. From there I distributed for all of my classes, based on who was high or low in what stat.

Then I did the same thing for lvl 99. From there I set the curve.

HP and MP was tricker though. For that I just set a base (average) value for each, and then set each class based on if they were to have high HP (and/or MP) or not.

If for some reason I made a class with less than x total points, they were given special abilities to balance that out. Maybe one gets 5% HP regen, but has 5 less stat points at level 1?

Hopefully that gives you a nudge to get started.
 

Marioman13

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You could also do what I did. I set the average value for each stat for level 1 (so for instance, maybe you decide that an ATK of 50 is average). Then, I set the other classes as follows: Each class has x number of points to distribute in the 6 stats at level 1. From there I distributed for all of my classes, based on who was high or low in what stat.

Then I did the same thing for lvl 99. From there I set the curve.

HP and MP was tricker though. For that I just set a base (average) value for each, and then set each class based on if they were to have high HP (and/or MP) or not.

If for some reason I made a class with less than x total points, they were given special abilities to balance that out. Maybe one gets 5% HP regen, but has 5 less stat points at level 1?

Hopefully that gives you a nudge to get started.
I'll give it a go, thanks!

Edit: Tried it out, going smoothly so far! I'll ask to reopen if I have anymore problems about classes. Thanks guys!

Solved!
 
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