We have HOW MANY slots? Lets Play the Final Fantasy V Advance Custom Classes Mod!

So, Final Fantasy V. I don't really feel I need to describe it.

After all, you guys seem to really like it.

That said, all told it's an amazing game and truly one of the best (at least one of my favorites, for sure) of its time. Its a game known for an excellent story, engaging characters and, most importantly, a customizable job system that allows tons of customization in the form of customizing each character in a custom manner.

Sadly, this may be my first and only LP post on Talking Time, as the Redundancy Police are on the hunt for me now. And those bastards are out for blood.

So yeah. Custom. The problem is that for much, and in some ways all, of the game 'custom' was noticeably limited. Namely, other than the Freelancer and, MUCH later in the game, the Mime, each job only had one open ability slot, with a job-specific command, !Attack and !Item taking up the other 3. Additionally, each character DID have slightly different stats, but the difference was minute at best. As a result, no one was really different from one another and, ultimately, 2 people in the same job would play very, very similarly. Even in endgame your options were limited, as the Freelancer would always outshine a Mime physically due to its equipment options while a Mime's versatility would be more worthwhile for magic. And, realistically, no other job was viable in endgame.

And that's where Jeff Ludwig comes in. He saw the potential in the system and, as any socially responsible person would, he fucked with it. Specifically, he created the Custom Classes mod which, among a number of other things, unlocks all 3 ability slots for each job and rebalances the game around this idea. Every job now has a job-specific ability or passive as its main skill, and you set the other 3 for all of them. So end game, a Knight can run around with !Attack/!Rapid Fire/!Ianuki/!Jump set-up, giving it a versatile physical skill set that can stand up to any challenge. Alternatively, one could have a Black Mage with !Black/!Sing/!Geomancy/!Time, providing an offensive and support mage with MP based options as well no-MP options for the slog through the dungeon. Additionally, instead of abilities setting jobs to certain stats (White lvl. 1 giving an automatic minimum of 39 Magic, for example), they now have certain stat bonuses tied to them (+5 Magic, in this case), and each character's natural stats in each job have been retooled juuuuust enough to give each character more identity without nerfing them in any given role. Additionally, jobs have been restructured as far as what abilities they give, making various jobs more or less useful, and many of them have new passive and almost all of them have new gear options (Thief is now one of the best early game classes, for example), with new gear at earlier shops to compensate. Lastly, you gain the jobs in new order, gaining some earlier and some later, and gaining all of the advance jobs before the end of the first leg of the game, leaving only mime in the last leg.

Of course, this will make you stupid powerful, so enemies were accordingly retooled: more hp pretty much as a rule, and retooled attack patterns. Getting KO'd early on can and will happen, but the flipside is you are equipped to deal with this.

Ultimately, it provides a fun, fresh experience. I've played as far as Hiryu, so I've gotten a feel for things, but a bunch of it is new for me too. This will provide a new experience for all of us. As a result, I'll be asking for class/ability suggestions between updates, in one of two forms:
1) Suggest just a class and skills. Simple, easy.
B- Suggest a learning path. Example: Bartz as a Black Mage til he gains a level in it, then white mage for a level, then time mage for a level, then make him a Knight with !Attack/!Black/!White/!Time to act as an early Red Mage, but with more power than magic.

I have played this game more times than I can count, so I'll be posting some basic and some unorthodox suggestions at each vote in, and you can always vote' Anoriand's choice' for a character, but I feel it will be fun if we all take part. My only other notes are that I WILL give a storyline breakdown and various thought/jokes/comments, but more because this is my first LP than anything. For a detailed LP focused less on changed mechanics and more on story, SkyRenders LP is one I highly doubt I can match out the gate. I'll just try and add my own flava is all. And that should do it...

Oh! And one last thing before we start!



Who, exactly, is this delightful fellow?

(This post reserved, will be formatted with class and character info later)

Pants Butts

It is only proper

The one on the left, if we get that choice.

And Butz.

I prefer the pixelated version.

(Also: Pants.)

I want 4 characters: Ifs, Ands, Or & Buts.

HE NAME GUTS

GUTS IS STRONGEST!

Pants

Pantz.

HA!

I suppose I should rephrase that. I did mean optimal, yes. I guess my problem is, given my optimization/perfectionist nature, if I have subpar teams, my soul cringes.

Butz, please.

I think the point was that Freelancers/Mimes are strictly superior to the other options.

I mean, if there's one thing FFV gets right it's making every job viable. Not optimal, sure, but viable? Hell yes.

Gonna throw some support to ol' GUTS.

Butts sounds good to me.

I think this is an amusing reference to both the original poorly-translated name and a running forum joke, making it the best possible choice.

Given that this is a game that's quite literally easiest to win by making it rain like you're a mid-90s Atlanta rapper in the Gold Club, I find that hard to believe.

Let's just name him "Asses" and get it over with.

Butts

Did they fix the problem with Red Mages - that they are good from when they show up until you get to the first town that offers level 4 magic, and then they are not?

Also the example for a ghetto Red Mage includes Time Mage in the build. In the original game Time Mage and Red Mage are both water crystal jobs.

Working As Intended.

Seriously. I'm not sure what you think would constitute a fix, because this is exactly how the job is designed to work.

I wanted to suggest something too, like "Ztub" but(z)...

I feel this is the ideal name.

Make them a bit better on the combat side - more akin to the RMs from FF1, who could use heavier armor out of the gate. I know it trips over Mystic Knight a bit then.

But with FF5's magic levels... yeah, I don't know how you'd increase their power on the magic side of things without making them REALLY overpowered.

I feel like this is kind of a misconception. FF1 Red Mages can use about the same armor as Thieves -- in other words, not very good. They don't get shields, and by the end of the game, their armor options are no better than a White Wizard's.

In FF5, Red Mage gets the same equipment options as the Blue Mage. During the period in which Red Mage is a competitive option, you usually want to use rods anyway for the elemental boost.

Do you nerds want wimp or muscle champion for hero?

Vote Guts!

Pantz.

Our hero will be a Berserker with Artful Dodger, Dual Wield, and whatever increases Strength most in this version.

Does FF5A still have the Thornlet bug (Magic Attack underflow)?

Nope. Earth Hammer shenannagins only work on the SNES version.

Guts give best strength bonus in all versions.

I don't understand how the name is up for debate. The objectively best answer has already been stated.

Pantz.

I disagree, Red Mages are significantly tougher than the other jobs in FF1 besides Fighter. It's a distant second place, but enough to secure them the Best Loser award. And it's part of the reason why Fighters and Red Mages are the only good jobs in that game. Come to think of it, why are we looking to FF1 for precedents when it comes to balance? Anyways, you're totally right about Red Mages in FF5. Their purpose is to be good early on, which is no bad thing. Monks are the most overpowered job in the game and you don't use them at the end, either.