You guys gotta understand it’s 6am over here so there are going to be a bunch of errors. Otherwise enjoy :3
So based on ShadowXemnas' critique, I've come up with some ideas and possible tweaks to my first draft.
Both the Mechanics and the abilities have been changed. I’ve also added a few more notes; I’ve mixed and matched a bunch of abilities that work well together and possible suitable Traits based on the Drives. Any major changes I made or something I want to draw attention to I bolded. Anything bolded is not concrete and can be changed. Also, I'll provide reasoning for my madness, and the aesthetic part of each Drive Form while trying not to go overboard.
Kingdom Hearts Cross – Drive Forms
Mechanics:
1. The following Keyblades to activate Drive Forms must be +25 (+30? +35?).
2. Each Drive Form has / can have a number of Traits equipped.
3. (IF POSSIBLE) Deactivate all Keyblade Traits.
4. Instant max HP and SP Restoration upon Drive Form activation
5. You can only use one type of Drive Form every mission. Your designated Drive Form corresponds with your currently equipped Keyblade.
6. Drive Forms can be activated or deactivated at any point during your turn. HP and SP remain the same when deactivated.
7. While in Drive Form, Friend Medals are taken away, but restored upon deactivation of Drive Form.
8. You can only use the original 5 Medals equipped on currently held Keyblade (whichever Keyblade you were holding at the start of the mission).
9. To maintain, each Drive Form costs a certain amount of SP at the beginning of your turn.
10. Drive Forms can only be activated once per mission.
#1 I wanted it to be a reward for the player once they reach one of those certain levels. I think +30 is good enough because it shows you’ve been around long enough to possibly meet the standards of each Drive Form, but +25 is easier for the casual players to get to. But also, the +35 lets your Keyblade glow, and for some reason gaining Drive Forms along with that/those glowing Keyblade(s)
#2 I kind of wanted to experiment and see which Traits might best suit each Drive Form. Also, I kind of wanted to just explode their power and see them OP as shit on paper! XD
#3 This way Traits aren't coming out the wazoo and it seems a bit more fair, so you can't stock up on Max Gauge +2 on your other Medals.
#4 Is just to imitate the real Drive Forms, restoring HP. I only added SP because it becomes pertinent to the maintain of the Form.
#5 For obvious reasons, you can only have one Keyblade equipped, and we can’t expect developers to just give us all the options (WAY too much coding (be cool though))
#6 That’s also copying the Drive Form power to turn off and on whenever the Player chooses, giving the Player the ability to to deactivate right away and get a fresh start.
#7 The Friend Medal being taken away is symbolic to the Drive Forms’ cost in KH II when your Party member is taken away to activate that certain Drive Form.
#8 This way we don’t get like 10 medals or the confusion of mixing up our medals (again, programmers, give ‘em a break), so you’re stuck with whatever Keyblade’s Medals you came in with. They’re obviously restored upon deactivation, just as your Party members would.
#9 As to not completely obliterate this game, I made it so that it costs you a certain amount of SP at the beginning of each of your turns to maintain the Drive Form (basically whatever that Form cost in KH II X2). Sure, you could stock up on Gauge restorers, but those aren’t very strong yet, and the purpose of these Drive Forms to kick ass and take names (jk). Also, since it’s at the beginning, it’ll take a lot out of your line up if they’re all higher end ones.
#10 Again, didn’t want to destroy this game, so I made it only be able to activate once per mission, as to not allow it in every battle.
Valor (SP: 6) – Treasure Trove + Fenrir:
#1 All Power Medals gain an additional +1000 Strength. Can only use Power Medal Special Attacks.
Traits: Strength +1000 (AND/OR) Ground Enemy DEF -60%.
#2 All Power Medals gain an additional +1000 Strength. Can only use “Single Target†Special Attacks.
Traits: Strength +1000 (AND/OR) Ground Enemy DEF -60%.
#3 All Power Medals gain an additional +1000 Strength. Cannot use Special Attacks
Traits: Strength +1000 (AND/OR) Ground Enemy DEF -60% (AND/OR) Random - Extra Attack: 40% Power
Aesthetics: Glowing red. Wielding both Keyblades as Sora does in Valor form. (IF POSSIBLE) Electricity emits from the secondary Keyblade. Whenever doing a normal attack - both Keyblades visibly hit target.
#1. Instead of only “Single Targets†I just made it Power Medals. Then I started thinking about Traits, and about what ShadowXemnas’ said and added an extra +1000 to make hit a little harder (So in actuality it’s +2000). I also added Ground Enemy DEF -60% because while I read up on Valor Form, apparently Sora can counter enemy attacks while in mid combo and damage them. So the only Trait that fit was the Ground Enemy DEF -60%.
#2. This was my original idea; I just kind of wanted to see Valor as more of a on-on-one thing, so that’s why “Single Target†Special Attacks only. I still kept the Strength +1000 and Ground Enemy DEF -60% because I still thought they seemed appropriate.
#3 For this one I thought “It’s Valor, it’s all about POWER! And you can’t use magic in Valor (Special Attacks are the closest we got to using magic, so…). I did however add an extra Trait along with the other two; at random points, one or more medals gain the Extra Attack: 40% Power. I think that’s enough for compensation.
Wisdom (SP: 6) – Three Wishes (or) Counterpoint:
#1 All Magic Medals Ability multiplier gains +0.5 (OR) Increase all Magic Medal Special Attack Bonuses by +25%. Cannot make a normal attack (OR) Can only use Magic Medal Special Attacks.
Traits: Random One Medal – No Cost (AND/OR) Max Gauges +2 (AND/OR) Extra Attack: 40% Power
#2 All Magic Medals Ability multiplier gains +0.5 (OR) Increase all Magic Medal Special Attack Bonuses by +25%. Can only use Magic Medal Special Attacks.
Traits: Random One Medal – No Cost (AND/OR) Extra Attack: 40% Power
Aesthetics: Glowing blue. Feet are sparkling. (IF POSSIBLE) Normal attacks come out as laser shots. AoE normal attacks shoot multiple shots in a 360-degree manner.
So, first off, I kind of thought that the whole “Multiplier†thing would be difficult and unrealistic they were to actually develop this, so I added the choice of either the multiplier or Special Attack Bonus increases (depends on what you guys think).
#1 So when I was thinking about Wisdom Form, I thought about Sora shooting with his Keyblade and how Magic was the primary weapon in that Form. Then I thought, “What if the Player couldn’t attack normally, but could only use Special Attacks?†That’s when I added a No Cost Trait that potentially activates on one random medal. And for obvious reasons, if Wisdom Form only hits in Special Attacks, it’s going to need a little extra help. Finally, the Extra Attack: 40% Power comes from the detail that Sora’s Wisdom Form adds hits to his combos.
#2 So instead of taking away normal attacks altogether, I just made it so only Magic Medals could be activated, because who knows? Maybe that one Player doesn’t have any good Guilted Magic Medals; also, I think it’d be passing up a sweet opportunity to see our Avatar shoot lasers!
Limit (SP: 8) – Olympia (or) Divine Rose (or) Moogle O’ Glory: The higher your HP, the higher percentage chance Medal Skills will activate (HP: 1%~20% = +5%, HP: 21% = +10%, HP: 41%-60% = +15%, HP: 61%-80% = +20%, HP: 81%-100% = +25%). Increase Nova Level +50 (OR) +100.
Traits: Max HP +800 (AND/OR) Max HP +800 (OR) Max Gauges
Aesthetics: Glowing red, blue and yellow (NOT QUITE SURE). Every normal or normal AoE hit
I think I hit Limit Form on the head. The only thing I changed was the possibility of the Nova Level of the Form. I wasn’t sure which seemed more appropriate. +50 is not way above there, so it can be seen as fair, however, +100 might be helpful to a Form that is solely based on Skills activating. Also, I chose potentially 2 Max HP +800 because Sora gains HP back when he uses his Limits, so I thought I’d mirror that to an extent. Max Gauges +2 is also meant to mirror the importance of magic i.e. when Sora is using his Limits while in Limit Form.
Master (SP: 8) – Lady Luck + Sleeping Lion:
#1 All Speed Medals gain +500 Strength and Defense. All “Target All†Speed Medal Ability multipliers gain +0.25 (OR) Increase all Speed Medal Special Attack Bonuses by 25%. Can only use Speed Medal Special Attacks. Can only do Normal AoE attacks.
Traits: Random - Extra Attack: 40% Power (AND/OR) Aerial Enemy DEF -60%
#2 All Speed Medals gain +500 Strength and Defense. All Speed Medal Ability multipliers gain +0.15 (OR) Increase all Speed Medal Special Attack Bonuses by 15%. Can only use Speed Medal Special Attacks. Can only do Normal AoE attacks.
Traits: Random - Extra Attack: 40% Power (AND/OR) Aerial Enemy DEF -60%
Aesthetics: Glowing yellow. Wielding both Keyblades as Sora does in Master Form. Secondary Keyblade is spinning on the left side of Avatar while right one is emitting electricity (Possibly?). Whenever doing a normal attack, both Keyblades visibly hit target. Whenever doing a normal AoE hit, the reach looks wider than normal.
#1 I gave both branches the +500 Strength and +500 Defense because I wanted it to be evened out but also not to make it as strong as Valor; it’s more so to set up Final Form as some sort of upgrade when it gets +1000 Strength and +1000 Defense. Because Master Form usually deals with wide combos, I thought increasing only “Target All†abilities would even the playing field with Wisdom, seeing as Wisdom can add its bonus to any of it’s Magic Medals, but Master Form still gets a good boost. The “Can only use Speed Medal Special Attacks†is for symmetry’s sake; Valor=Power Medal Special Attacks only, Wisdom=Magic Medal Special Attacks only. The “Can only do AoE attacks†is just another restriction I put on in case Master was getting too OP. I chose Extra Attack: 40% Power mostly because it seemed appropriate with two Keyblades. Finally, Aerial Enemy DEF -60% also seemed appropriate, considering Master Form does it’s work best in the air.
#2 The second one is more so me taking ShadowXemnas’ advice into consideration and thinking “Maybe just lower the Special Attack Bonus by 10% and just add it to all Speed Medals?†so…there you go.
Anti-Form (SP: ALL REMAINING) – Darkgnaw (or) Missing Ache:
#1 Activates only when HP is reduced to 0; fully restores HP. Cannot use Special Attacks. Medals cannot activate their Skills. Nova cannot be used. (IF POSSIBLE) All Medal Traits Deactivated. Cannot collect Lux / Receive SP Orbs. Anti-Form lasts until the end of the battle. At the end of the battle, Player’s Avatar’s SP Gauge becomes 0.
Traits: None (OR) All Medals - Strength +1000 + Defense +2000 (AND/OR) Ground Enemy DEF -60% + Aerial Enemy DEF -60% (AND/OR) Damage in Raids +40%
#2 Activates only when HP is reduced to 0; fully restores HP and SP. All Medal damage ignores target’s attributes. All Medal damage ignores target’s attributes. Medals cannot activate their Skills. Nova cannot be used. (IF POSSIBLE) All Medal Traits Deactivated. Cannot collect Lux / Receive SP Orbs. Anti-Form lasts until the end of the battle. At the end of the battle, Player’s Avatar’s SP Gauge becomes 0.
Traits: Damage in Raids +40% (AND/OR) Ground Enemy DEF -60% + Aerial Enemy DEF -60%
#3 Activates only when HP is reduced to 0; fully restores HP and SP. All Medal damage ignores target’s attributes. Can only use Reverse Medal Special Attacks. Only Skills equipped to Reverse Medals will activate. Only Reverse Medal Traits remain active. Nova cannot be used. Cannot collect Lux / Receive SP Orbs. Anti-Form lasts until the end of the battle. At the end of the battle, Player’s Avatar’s SP Gauge becomes 0.
Traits: None
Aesthetics: Glowing black (possibly with yellow eyes?). (IF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING IS POSSIBLE): Keyblade disappears. Whenever doing a normal attack, the Avatar scratches the target. Whenever doing an AoE attack, the Avatar circles around its enemies (refer to Sora Anti-Form).
#1 In this branch, all remaining SP is used (mostly because it’ll be useless). So I obviously kept the auto “Second Chance†in Anti-Form because I wasn’t quite sure how to implement a Drive transformation gone wrong while still adding a Keyblade into the mixture. Then I thought “What’s one thing we can’t control? Dying.†But I didn’t want the battle to end too quickly, so I added the detail of fully restoring the Avatar’s HP, as well as a SHIT ton of buffs. In Anti-Form, it’s really quite inconvenient; you can’t use any Medal Special Attacks, Skills, Nova, collect any Lux or receive any SP Orbs (thanks again ShadowXemnas), or even get out of the Form until the fight’s over. I took out the “Ignore attributes†ability mostly because having that with an added +1000 Strength and +2000 Defense Trait seemed too OP. Also, too further increase the Anti-Form’s ability to stay alive, I also gave it the Ground and Aerial -60% Trait. Finally, the Damage in Raids +40% thing is for my personal amusement, seeing as how you can’t collect Lux or SP while in this form. Finally, the “At the end of the battle, Player’s Avatar’s SP Gauge becomes 0†is emulating the Anti-Form in Kingdom Hearts II when it took all of your Drive Counts.
#2 Almost exactly the same as the first one except this time I took away the +1000 Strength and +2000 Defense because I wanted to add the “ignore target attributesâ€. I get the feeling that the Anti-Form’s claws just rip through anything regardless of what it is, however adding another +1000 Strength seems a bit much. I still kept the remaining Traits though, just to give it something to buffer it.
#3 Pretty much the same scheme, except this time only Reverse Medals can work. I haven’t seen the setup for Darkgnaw or Missing Ache, but I think I can assume they’re both chock full of Reverse spaces. I took away the Traits in this one because I wanted to make it that much more frustrating and nerve racking. I know Anti-Form increases a lot of stats, but that’s what the first branch was meant for. I was trying to focus mostly on darkness. I thought about adding a Strength +1000, but that would apply to Uprights as well.
Just to warn you Final Form is obviously OP.
Final (SP: 10) – Starlight + Stroke of Midnight:
#1 All Medals gain +1000 Strength and +1000 Defense. All Medal multipliers gain +0.5 (OR) Increase all Medal Special Attack Bonuses by 25%. (AND) Increase Nova Level +50 (OR) +100.
Traits: Extra Attack: 40% (AND/OR) Poison Resist 20% + Paralysis Resist 20% + Sleep Resist 20% (AND/OR) Ground Enemy DEF -60% + Aerial Enemy DEF -60%.
#2 All Medals gain +1000 Strength. All Medal multipliers gain +0.5 (OR) Increase all Medal Special Attack Bonuses by 25%. (AND) Increase Nova Level +50 (OR) +100.
Traits: Strength +1000 + Defense +2000 (AND/OR) Extra Attack: 40% (AND/OR) Poison Resist 20% + Paralysis Resist 20% + Sleep Resist 20% (AND/OR) Ground Enemy DEF -60% + Aerial Enemy DEF -60%
Aesthetics: Glowing white. Avatar is floating. Wielding both Keyblades as Sora does in Final Form (Maybe they’re just kind of floating behind the Avatar). Whenever doing a normal attack, both Keybaldes will fling forward towards the target. Whenever doing a normal AoE hit, both Keyblades disappear from the avatar and come out from the corners of the screen making an “X†(refer to Sora Final form for reference).
Anyhow, I want your guys’ input, which of them do you prefer? I’d really like some feedback (even on little things like the Nova Level)