Is this a balanced stat distribution?

[GoodSelf]

So, I was going to design a game using a 50 point system, meaning that I can assign 50 points on a blank slate to create a character;
Here are the values each point represents:


HP / 1Point = 10 HP
MP, and all Paramaters / 1Point = 2

In this system, a perfectly balanced character would have 100 HP, 20MP, and 10 across the board on stats.
Enemies would be designed the same way, but the players equipment would give them an edge.

Is this a reasonable way to handle balancing my battles? Or am I going about this wrong? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
The damage formula for a basic attack would be: 5 + a.atk - b.def

 

[bgillisp]

You really won't know until you test it. Plus, what stats you give the enemy can determine this as well.

 

[Milennin]

I use a similar system, and I think it works well, for the player characters at least. For monsters, I just give them the number of stats that they need to put up a fight against the player party.

 

[ShadowHawkDragon]

I too use a similar method as I tend to craft my classes/enemies in a spreadsheet outside of the database.


I personally prefer to use percentages over flat values (easier to work with stat scaling and levels). Usually I pick a middle value (3 or 5) to start all the stats at, each point above that number is +10% and each below is -10%.


Ultimately this is no more than a guide, numbers will still need fine tuning by play test but at the very least it helps with getting that basic spread of stats to start with.

 

[Frozen_Phoenix]

Watch out for abuse cases. Check if, for example, putting all points into attack let you 1shot everything on your way. You can either limit the amount of points per attribute or balance the game around those edge cases. 

The formula you're using will allow no damage if the defender's def is at least 5 points higher than the attacker's atk, this might make the game unplayable if the player put low points into attack and they don't have other means of offense (magic spells). I think it's better if you use something like: 5 + a.atk*2 - b.def  

 

[bgillisp]

Right. One way to test out abuse cases I found is to make a monster with those stats and see if it is still beatable. If so, then probably nothing to worry about.


Also, if someone does dump all points in one stat, but in return is hideously weak in all others, I'd not even worry about it. Shin Megami IV did something like this, and it was possible to dump all points into Magic and one shot all regular enemies, and I haven't heard anyone complaining about how that worked out.

 

[Wavelength]

While some people do use mathematical analysis to figure out a baseline balance for their battles (and such analysis usually requires detailed spreadsheet-based analysis of how much damage characters and enemies can deal over time in battle), I have personally found the best method of battle balance to be straight-up trial and error.


There are several reasons I don't like the kind of "points" system you are describing as a design/balance tool.  Among them are:

• Stats in RPG Maker's default system are very unequal in utility (for example, LUK is nearly useless unless included in skill formulas - which it usually isn't).
  
• The "worth" of each stat depends heavily on your skill design (damage formulas, MP costs, power of skills vs. basic attacks, types of disables, etc.).
  
• Usually one out of ATK or MAG will be very useful to a specific character/monster, and the other will be seldom used by that character/monster.
  
• Dungeon design and availability of healing influence how important large HP and MP stores are.
  
• Some stats synergize with each other better than others - for example high DEF/MDF will allow each point of HP to be more useful.
  
• Even if all of the above were accounted for, such a system does not indicate what kind of total "power budget" of points you should give to small enemies in big groups, large normal enemies, boss battles, etc.
  

For characters' balance (against other characters), create an entire sample dungeon with generic battles, and see which characters thrive and which struggle, taking note of exactly why (for example - too much damage, too hard to keep alive, disables are too abusable, or runs out of mana too quickly).  Then apply smart adjustments based on what you find (for example, if a character is too hard to keep alive, give them a skill that renders them invincible for a couple turns but can only be used once per battle, or simply increase their HP/DEF/MDF).


For enemies' balance (against the party), plug in reasonable levels for your characters and test test test away!  See what the pace of the battle is like (too fast, too slow?), and how easy it is for your party to wipe out the monsters.  If it's too easy or too difficult, figure out why and make appropriate adjustments (for example, if the enemies sometimes disable your party before your party can act, lower the enemies' AGI).  If your game doesn't offer full heals after each battle, also try starting some battles at half HP and low mana and see how your party fares.

 

[Dr. Delibird]

I entirely agree with @Wavelength. There are far too many variables (pun not intended) not accounted for in the design process for point buying to be a viable tool for most designers. If you are really into your spreedsheets and numbers and leave no stone unturned in that department then I am sure it will work out will. I wouldn't go as far as to say that you can do this and do zero trial and error based balancing.

 

[Tai_MT]

I started with a "point buy" for my base characters. I then split that up into "Tiers" so that I could add more utility in as you got more party members. I didn't have some kind of "hard limit" for my stats either. Okay, it's starting to sound complicated. Here's how I did it:

Every 10 HP or MP counted as 1 point. Every 5 points in Attack, Defense, Magic, etcetera counted as 1 point. My baseline points had to land somewhere between 18 and 20. Since I'm dealing with very small numbers and very simplistic damage formulas (as well as using all the stats inside of combat equally), it made the system a little easier to manage. However, I proceeded to have "exceptions" to the baseline as mandated by my storyline and the power meant to be had by the characters involved.

The "hard stop" on either end of that spectrum was a 15 to 22 stat spread. Hard stop on actual stats was no higher than 20 with a single exception that one character has a stat of 30 MP. The final rule was every character had to have at least one weakness.

However, this is not something I transferred over to my monsters. For balancing monsters I relied on a simple method (along with playtesting). How many hits do I want this monster to die in? How many hits do I want this monster to kill my characters in? It became fairly simple at that point. Balancing the equipment became much harder for me. But, the main character has 20 HP and 10 Defense. So, I want that character to die in 10 hits... So, starting enemies have 12 Attack Power. I also want those starting enemies to die in something like 4 or 5 hits, so their HP is 10 while their defense is 8 (the main character has 10 Attack Power). So, unarmed, it takes 5 hits to kill the basic enemy. Pick up the first starting gear and it bumps to 13 Attack power, which results in you killing the basic enemy in two hits instead of 5.

But, I have the luxury of using small numbers and simple formulas (almost no multiplication or division, almost entirely additive and subtractive). After knowing what my players will do without equipment, it's just a matter of playtesting for each piece of equipment and knowing the formulas for damage by heart to make this process a bit faster.

I think you can most certainly use a "point buy" system for your characters and have some well-rounded stats if you're the one controlling who gets which stats (as long as the player isn't determining this... it's pretty easy to break a game if you give the player too much control over stat distribution... even D&D wants you to try to randomize this to prevent game breakages). I'm not sure that would really work all that well for your enemies though. That might depend on what kind of game you're trying to make and how it's meant to work.