06. SWORD ARTS

>> the e-level creation.

This next guide was written by our very own Kurome, who has graciously given her permission to use it to help you.

Part 1, Description.

First you need a description for your Sword Art. Start by using the template.

SKILL NAME HERE. offensive skill here 1 Strikes, 0 Special, ?% Power, ?% Speed Description here.

In place of (offensive skill here), you stick the name of your Offensive Skill, such as throwing weapon, or polearm. Offensive skills only. Even if your skill can otherwise be aided by something like acrobatics, keep that out of there.

Start off by plugging in numbers so that Power+Speed add up to 250%. Let me start by saying to not get so caught up on %. Consider it like a unit. You have 250%, thus 250 points to spend in the skill.

Finally, stick in a description in place of (description here). So you should get something like the following:

JAGGED IMPACT. polearm 1 Strikes, 0 Special, 125% Power, 125% Speed To activate the Sword Art, the user must hold their polearm horizontally, the butt end facing their target. Once used, the user swings at their foe with the polearm's blade. If parried, this attack can cause the user to be disarmed.

Notice the following in the Sword Art description:
- Activation Stance = How do you activate this Sword Art? Do you point the tip toward the sky and wait a few seconds? Do you swing it once in the air and hold a pose? Try to be sure the Sword Art isn't an action you would normally do when not in combat, though. You don't want to be accidentally activating your ability just for having the weapon in your hand as you walk forward a few steps, for example.
- Attack Description = It doesn't have to be very descriptive, simply describe how your attack would look like if you saw someone using it. Try to keep from situational conditions. For example, a Sword Art that requires you to jump and perform five backflips and ten cartwheels would be an impractical one.
- Sword Art Aesthetics = Sword Arts generally are supposed to glow when you activate them, so mention it somewhere in your description. You should describe the color of the glow. However, if your Sword Art also does something else aesthetically, such as releasing sparks upon activation, then say it here too.




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Part 2, Strikes.

So you're thinking, as long as you get 250% total in Power and Speed, that should be fine, right?

LEGENDARY EXAMPLE SKILL: INFINITE FINAL HIT. polearms 999 Strikes, 0 Special, 100% Power, 150% Speed The user stands in place and waits for activation. They then use the polearm and pokes more holes in the opponent than a slice of swiss cheese.

Unfortunately, this sword art doesn't quite cut the cheese. Next, there's this rule:

In order to increase the amount of strikes or special abilities, the player must spend 50% from the Sword Art's total pool per point used.

The first strike is free, by the way. Otherwise a 0-hit Sword Art isn't going to do you much good. So, if you want to add an additional strike, you will then have to pay 50% from your total. In the case of E-Ranks, that leaves 200% left to distribute in power and speed. Also note that since you now have 2 Strikes, your Speed has to be at least 50%. Why? Because if you're trying to attack multiple times, it'll be pretty hard if all your hits take an hour to strike the opponent. Here are a few example stat distributions:

1 Strikes, 0 Special, 100% Power, 150% Speed - 250% total, no stat penalties needed.
1 Strikes, 0 Special, 225% Power, 25% Speed - Likewise.
1 Strikes, 0 Special, 43% Power, 207% Speed - Odd stat distribution, but it works.
2 Strikes, 0 Special, 50% Power, 150% Speed - You have a total of 200% in Power+Speed. Your Speed is at least 50% (25% times 2 strikes). However, you also paid 50% to add an additional strike, so it works.
3 Strikes, 0 Special, 75% Power, 75% Speed - You have a total of 150% in Power+Speed. Your Speed is at least 75% (25% times 3 strikes). However, you also paid 100% to add 2 additional strikes, so it works.
3 Strikes, 0 Special, 100% Power, 50% Speed - Does not work. While you may have a total of 150% in Power+Speed and paid 100% to add 2 additional strikes, your Speed is too low for this Sword Art to be valid. You need at least 75% Speed for a 3-strike Sword Art.

Just in advance, it's impossible to have an E-Rank Sword Art with 4 Strikes or more. You'd need to first pay 150%, leaving you with 100% to distribute. You must then have a minimum of 100% in Speed, so there goes all your points. But what about Power? It has to be at least 25%! Unfortunately, you have no more points to spend.




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Part 3, Specials.

Let's explain the Special stat. It works the same way as adding an additional strike, so you follow the same rules by subtracting 50% from your total. Here's a few examples.

1 Strikes, 1 Special, 100% Power, 100% Speed
2 Strikes, 2 Special, 50% Power, 50% Speed
1 Strikes, 3 Special, 25% Power, 75% Speed
1 Strikes, 4 Special, 25% Power, 25% Speed

Having Special at 5 or above would be too much for an E-Rank Sword Art. Even having 4 Special forces you to have 25% Power and 25% Speed, so it's a fairly impractical setup. So, let's go over what points in Special do for you:

- Augments: Effects that boosts your own performance. It's pretty pointless to spend it on Power and Speed, as you can just do it by allocating points normally. The more points you spend in a particular augment, the stronger the effect, generally. Here are a few examples.
Range Extension: Increase your weapon's range. It costs a Special point to raise the range by 2 feet. However, you cannot fire projectiles with your Sword Art. Sorry, Tales fans who want to spam Demon Fang. The range increase merely means that your weapon itself becomes longer during the duration of the Sword Art. Naturally there's good and bad points to this. You may have a harder time handling an 8-foot long weapon compared to a 2-foot weapon, for example.
Area of Effect / Mobbing: Increase the number of targets you can hit with a single Sword Art activation. For each point in Special spent here, you may hit 2 more targets. Of course, this requires the targets to be relatively close to each other due to your limited range, unless you also spend points in range extension to give yourself an easier time.

- Debuffs: Effects that reduce enemy performance. Examples include attacks that stun an opponent, weaken their armor upon contact, or maybe damage after time effects. The more points you spend in a particular debuff, the stronger the effect, generally. The list of debuffs that you can utilize can be found here.
DURATION:
In order to increase the duration, you need to double the amount of special used to to create the effect for each additional post length.

For example, a one post arm freezing ability would use 3 points in special. A two post arm freezing ability would use 6 points in special. A three post arm freezing ability would use 12 points in special.

EFFECT:
1 Inconvenience or minor slow
3 Slow or single limb lock
4 Major slow or two limb lock
6 Paralyze or complete immobilization

More on the potency of the effect for each debuff can be found here.

You do want to make it clear that you're picking a particular augment or debuff in your Sword Art's description. Each unique effect costs a point in Special. So a Sword Art that raises your range by 2 feet AND lets you hit 2 additional enemies will cost you 2 Special points, thus lowering your stat allocation by 100%.

This should be decent enough help if you're confused about how to make Sword Arts. Otherwise, ask in the C-Box or ask a mod!