Formulaic approach to enemy stats?

[WilsonE7]

So, I'm a bit of a math nerd, so as I'm designing enemies for my first game, I'm looking for a formulaic approach to minimize trial-and-error. I've tested RPG Maker MZ's default enemies (specifically, the Goblins) with the default starting party (Reid et al.) and they're pretty easy.

I wanted to see the mathematical relationship between the default actors' and enemies' stats, so I tried taking the average of the 8 classes' HP parameter and comparing that with each enemy's HP. The default database enemies (excluding the Hi-monster, which I presume is meant as a boss) had between 44% and 55% of the average of the 8 classes' HP. I did this because I wanted to see if I could just "scale up" the enemies' stats at higher levels relative to the party's stats.

Anyway, all this to say: Was there any actual mathematical consideration when designing the database enemies, or am I reading way too into this? Also, what methods (besides the time-consuming trial and error) have you found for designing and balancing enemy stats? I'm going to use trial-and-error until I find a quicker, more consistent method.

Thanks for your patience and your assistance!

 

[Cyberhawk]

Basic Enemies



Normal Enemy

MHP: Double the player's health.
MMP: Depends on the skills the enemy has. If it's a magic user, like a mage, give the same amount or double the enemies health. If it isn't a magic user, I recommend either none, or half of the enemies health.
ATK: Around 30% less than the player's attack if you are using low health and such as I am. (Using 15 health at level one.) If you are using stuff like 250 health at level one, keep it the same as the player's. If it is a magic user, I recommend half the player's attack.
DEF: Same as the player.
MAT: If it's a magic user, Around 30% less than the player's attack, or magic attack. (Which one is higher.) If it isn't, either none or half of the player's.
MDF: Same as the player.
AGI: I would recommend around one or two points higher than the player's agility.
LUK: Same as players.

Dungeon Enemy

MHP: Triple the player's Health.
MMP: Depends on the skills the enemy has. If it's a magic user, like a mage, give the same amount or double the enemies health. If it isn't a magic user, I recommend either none, or half of the enemies health.
ATK: Same as the player, or one point higher. If it is a magic user, around 30% higher than the player's attack.
DEF: Around 10% higher.
MAT: If it's a magic user, the same as the player's attack, or magic attack. (Which one is higher.) If it isn't, either none or half of the player's.
MDF: Around 10% higher.
AGI: Same as the player's or one point less if you use certain scripts.
LUK: Same or two points higher than the player's.

Bosses



For bosses it is pretty much the same as basic enemies, but with higher stats. For the experience, I give them a lot. Use the same technique as the one for basic enemies, but double the value of the experience. Then for the gold, give half of the amount from the experience.

MHP: 5 times higher than the player's.
For All the Rest: Times it by 1.5 higher (Or 150%) than the player's.

You can read this here. for more
This is an OLD guide from like VX iirc.
but I've been using it for the longest of times now. It still works for me in the long run.
Even in MZ this is how i balance it.

 

[Andar]

the default database isn't balanced in any way, it just gives enemies as examples and to test fights.

the problem with balancing here is that there is no way to know what level the party will have when approaching any enemy, because that depends on how the game's maps are filled - how many enemies there are before the player gets to any specific map will determine how many levels they have gained, and that will make any fight easier or more difficult.

As such balancing can't be done without having the specific game available, including maps, equipment gain and more.

that said, you can use something like excel or calc with formulae to test through different levels and enemy values to get a better starting point for balancing. You just have to get the variable level in somewhere and then decide how many xp which enemy is giving to get to those levels by which time.

 

[Cyberhawk]

I found EXP to be easy, It goes into the fundies of design, I will set a specific level you want to reach by the end of the dungeon.
(tends to be one or two levels)
If your a level above the boss is going to use a stronger skill to keep you on your toes.

As for counting how much per enemy
Normal (trash) mobs give out about 1/32nd of the player's level after the previous dungeon.
Dungeon enemies get 1/8th to 1/16th of the xp to the next level.
Mini Bosses:
I usually give them 1/2 or 1/8th of the xp to next level (Depending on the enemy(ies) used.)
Bosses
Guaranteed level up

FOr gold
I made it half of the Xp enemies give out.

 

[WilsonE7]

@Cyberhawk Thanks for the quick response! Thing is, I was hoping to use as many premade weapons, armors, skills, classes, etc. as possible, including using the default EXP curve. Not a big deal to change up the numbers. My game is meant to be pretty simple and linear. No shops, the player gets a new set of equipment at certain points in the story. That's why I was hoping to use the premade equipment. I'll give your method a try, maybe combine it with the defaults into something new that works.

 

[Frostorm]

Anyway, all this to say: Was there any actual mathematical consideration when designing the database enemies, or am I reading way too into this?

Honestly, I dont think ur overthinking things at all. However, you need to standardize your damage formulas and determine exactly what each stat does in your game. Only then should u start looking into mathematical proportions/relationships.

But to answer your question, yes there is a methodology (or at least I do) to determine unit stats. I can go into detail once I get home to my desktop cuz I'm on my cell rn...

Edit: As far as enemy units go, 1st I assign an arbitrary value for the unit's level, which will also be a general indication of the unit's difficulty. So let's say we have a lv10 Goblin Fighter, it'll have 100 points to distribute among the 6 primary stats (10pts per level). Base HP & MP are 100 & 60 respectively (level x 10 & MP is weighted 60% of HP in my project). Then I adjust & fine tune those values. For example, I will increase HP by 5 for every 3 MP reduced. Since this is a melee unit, we'll give this guy extra HP at the cost of MP. So we end up w/ 120HP & 48MP. Next, we'll distribute 100 pts among the 6 stats according to the role this unit will fulfill.
E.g.
ATK 22
DEF 20
MAT 10
MDF 14
AGI 18
LUK 16