Character Notes

Here are some of my notes and thoughts about the "new" cast.  For those of you who have opinions about how you would like to see characters implemented, I welcome all opinions.

Terra
    Uses Morph.
    from the original game.
    I intend to make little change to this character, but the change to damage formula might not make this possible.
    Do I want Terra to use Fight when tanking, and Magic when DPSing?
Arvis
    Uses Control.
    He salvaged Terra's Slave Crown from the mines, and uses it to take control of enemies.
    I'll have to make sure bosses have minions that he can mind control.
    If his Control targets are always better than his normal Fight damage, then there's no point.
    If he's always superior, then just fight.
    Promising ability, potential for catastrophe.
Leo
    Uses Shock.
    I'm not sure how to treat Shock, since it might get really boring.
    All other special abilities either open a menu (think SwdTech, Blitz, Tools, where there are 8 attacks to choose from).
    But, Shock does only one thing: damage.
    Should I just rewrite SwdTech to be a Shock that increases in damage while it's charged?
    This could eliminate the feeling of "waiting" for that one SwdTech, since they all just kill enemies.
Shadow
    For now, I'm going to give him GP Rain.
    I could keep him with Throw, but I don't really want to; I want to make a Relic that replaces Item with Throw.
    This suffers from the same problem as Leo's Shock: he's a one-trick pony.
    If the damage output from GP Rain > Fight damage, then GP Rain else Fight.  It makes him too mechanical.
    Should GP Rain charge up like SwdTech? Like spending 1-8 gold per level for (whatever) damage?
    Only one of these could possibly be a charging-type ability that replaces SwdTech.
    Which one?  And what to do with the other?
Ensign
    Temporary name.  What do I actually name him?
    Uses Jump.
    The Jump ability gives the tradeoff I'm looking for.
    If he's tanking, then he's using Fight.
    If he's DPSing, then he's using Jump.
    Should I prohibit a Shield with a Spear equipped, just to reinforce the decision?
Vargas
    Uses Blitz.
    Just needs different Blitzes.
    For story reasons, the first one should inflict Condemned.
    For story reasons, the last one should be vanilla Pummel.
    What about the other 6?
    Do I want Vargas' Blitz set to just inflict statuses so he should attack when he wants to do damage?
Shiva
    Uses Summon.
    This has potential to be overpowered, but also to be underpowered late game
    when summons are inferior to normal magic.
    The ability changes based on equipment, and does give Shiva the opportunity
    to be a weird tank character if she has Golem.
    Otherwise, she's meant to be a good healer/DPS.
    She presents good opportunities.  I should change the Espers as little as possible.
Gungho
    Uses Lore.
    Some new Lores are in order, but GrandTrain should still be there.
    It doesn't make much story sense for Dark Force to have all of Strago's Lores.
    I want Hidon to have all of Gungho's Lores.  Though, that falls under Hidon AI changes, not Gungho.
    Change some, but not all of the Lores?
    Which Lores need to be replaced?
Vicks
    Uses Runic.
    Storywise, he's like a non-magic infused, and lower-ranked Celes.  He's also afraid of Terra.
    Runic gives him the ability to be a magic tank.
    Primarily a Tank character, possibly with DPS when not Runic'ing.
    Do I make his Tanking weapons non-runic so reinforce the choice?
    Just needs good equipment options and average stats.
Maria
    Uses Dance. Rename to Sing?
    I should probably make the different dances fulfill different roles. Like, Wind Song for healing.
    Which songs to do what?
    Can I attach a slightly more intelligent AI to the dance?  Should I?
Guard
    Temporary name.  What do I actually name him?
    Uses Tools, Rename to Magitek?
    There are 8 Tools available, and few of them could make the transition.
    This will require some work.
    Air Anchor, Debilitator, are unique enough to be unchanged.
    What of the other 6?  What new Magitek?
Gau
    Uses Rage.
    From the original game.
    I intend to make little change to this character.
    But, I do want to let him use Claw-type weapons like Vargas.
Gogo
    Who do I replace Gogo with?
    I don't know.  Anything that's not Gogo?
Umaro
    Still not controllable.
    I intend to make little change to this character.
    Let's make him equippable.
    Let's make him available in the WoB.

Remember, it's still a work in progress.  So, all of this may change.