Lunar: ASF2 uses the tried and true "Hahnian" system (also known as MGS) for combat. There are a few, very minor, changes, however, and this document runs down the basic system for those of you new to it as well as the changes.
Lunar: A Destiny Lost's battle and magic system based on the Hahnian system that has become the staple of nearly all IRC GMs that I know of. All the modifications are just minor tweaks, with a couple of additions.
"Combos" are back and with a vengeance! Not only can the party cast combos, but enemies can cast combos, and even "summons" (yes, summons, ASF2 does have a summons system of sorts) can combo. Much like in ASF1, you won't find out what a combo is until you stumble upon it in combat, and combos will automatically be delayed until the slowest participant's turn comes up. Basically, if you see "Hero pauses" in combat, that means he or she is getting set to cast a combo. Cool, huh?
If you're worried about enemies using combos, don't worry, methods will be provided to cope with them, if you can discover them...
Oh, and one more thing, some of the ASF1 combos may be returning, so don't be afraid of experimenting with them to see if they exist.
Crests will be appearing all over the place in ASF2. Players will have separate slots to equip them ala Lunar: EBS. There will be several kinds of crests -- ones that enable spells that players may not normally have access to (such as other elements, etc.), ones that increase certain stats, and well, some others that work a bit differently and I'll leave it up to you to figure out. :)
Battles are battles. You wait your turn in each round. You get bapped. You cast a spell, or attack. You live or die. Case closed.
After you win, you get Silver, XP, and MXP. Just like the old system. What are you going to do now? (If you say, "Go to Disneyworld," may you be mistaken for a barf bag by a bulemic camel). XP and money are straight forward. You gain levels and buy stuff.
I essentially use the 8 basic Hahnian elements in ASF2, however it's been expanded to include 4 "extended" elements. Not only that, but Ice is treated as a special case of Water instead of being equivilent to water.
Here you go, in tabular form! Enjoy!
| Thunder | Critically strong against Water/Ice and Mecha (short circuits machines). Critically weak against Earth (you can ground electricity). |
| Water | Critically strong against Fire. Useless against Ice. Immune to Ice. Critically weak against Thunder. |
| Fire | Critically strong against Air. Critically weak against Water. Critically strong attacking Ice (melts it), weak defening Ice (extinguishes it like Water). |
| Air | Critically strong against Earth. Critically weak against Fire. |
| Earth | Critically strong against Thunder. Critically weak against Air. |
| Light | Critically strong against Darkness. Critically weak against Plant (photosynthesis, etc). |
| Darkness | Critically strong against Plant. Critically weak against Light. |
| Plant | Critically strong against Light. Critically weak against Darkness. |
| Ice | Critically strong attacking Fire. Critically weak against Thunder (always). Critically weak defending Fire. |
As you can see, Ice is a special case of Water. However, if you're just tossing up Ice spells and aren't concerned with using Ice defenses, you can treat it just like Water.
Okay, now that we've seen the basic elements, I now present my extended
elements. These elements don't follow the same rules of balance as the basic
ones, hence they are classified separately. Also, you can't use any of these
elements (with the exception of Gravity) as any of your main spell groups -
you'll have to find Crests or Combos to use them. Still, you should know what
you're dealing with and how to cope with it whether or not it follows the
rules:
| Holy | Critically strong against Unholy. No weaknesses, but may be expensive to cast. |
| Unholy | Critically weak against Holy. Fairly inexpensive to cast (compared to Holy), but the caster has to be prepared to accept the consequences of dealing with the Unholy. |
| Gravity | Critically strong against Mecha (machines are heavy). Neutral against everything else and does not provide any elemental shielding. |
| Mecha | Mecha-aligned beings are critically weak against Thunder and Gravity, although some forms of Mecha skills are able to shield. Can generally only be cast by machines and mechanical beings. Can also by cast via mechanical devices. |
The last thing in this guide is a list of all the possible status effects you may suffer, and the items you need to cure them. Also included are the HP and MP restoring items. Other accessories are not listed - you'll have to find them on your own.
| Poison | Slow drain of HP, increasing every round. Can be cured by appropriate magic, Purity Herb, or Holy Water. |
| Daze | Attack random target with random action, including usage of magic. Can be cured by being hit, Holy Water, or magic. |
| Dead | Duh. Can be restored via appropriate magic or by Angel Tears. |
| Sleep | Unable to perform any actions and take double damage on hits. Can be cured by being hit, Holy Water, or appropriate magic. |
| Mute | Cannot use any magic. Can be cured by appropriate magic or Holy Water. |
| Blind | Hit% and Dod% are reduced in half. Can be cured by Holy Water or appropriate magic. |
| Stone | Character is turned to stone. Similar to being dead, however it can be cured in more ways. Can be cured by appropriate magic or Holy Water |
| Paralyze | Character is unable to act. Can be cured by appropriate magic, Vitality Vial, or Holy Water. |
-Purity Herb - 1A: Cures POISON
-Angel Tears - 1A: Cures DEAD
-Vitality Vial - 1A: Cures PARALYZE
-Holy Water - 1A: Cures all status effects except for DEAD
-Starlight - 1A: Restores 30 MP
-Silver Light - 1A: Restores full MP
-Sapphire Light - AA: Restores full MP
-Herb - 1A: Restores 50 HP
-Healing Nut - 1A: Restores 250 HP
-Passion Fruit - 1A: Restores full HP
-Life Jewel - AA: Restores 200 HP
-Herb of Althena - AA: Restores full HP
Questions? Mail Dragonmaster Lou