Hello! This patch is a change-up to the game's meta in an attempt to create a less dominant (but still applicable) playstyle!
IRATE
As of V1.1, the most prominent strategy for most of AWD's life has been getting high agility and stunlocking bosses with interrupting skills. This is fun, sure, but it does result in most fights having a similar "winning strategy."
This update introduces a new game mechanic related to interrupting enemies: Irate.
Every single skill that either fully interrupts or delays a foe's cast now has a 5% chance to inflict them with Irate.
Irate will increase the foe's agility by 50% and attack by 10%, lasting for two attacks. Each tier of boss has a higher chance of being inflicted by this status when hit, final bosses having a 100% chance of infliction.
This change is meant to suppress mass interrupting during late-game boss fights by making it have a consequence that you need to deal with. If you're going to try and stunlock the boss, you better have a plan on how to deal with the storm afterwards.
Of course, this couldn't be the only thing done, as most of the major interrupt methods are far too strong.
INTERRUPT NERFS:
-Flyswatter is no longer is a full interrupt but rather a cast delay.
-Super Flyswatter's turn cooldown is now 20 instead of 10.
-CofCheChi's Jab turn cooldown is now 3 instead of 1.
-Banana is no longer an instant move.
Interrupting should still be viable as a strategy throughout most of the early-middle game, only getting truly risky as you start to enter into the super/final boss territory.
GENERAL BALANCES:
-HP Boost has been HEAVILY buffed: +50% max HP -> +100% max HP and doubled recovery. It has gone from a 10 turn effect to a 5 turn effect. These changes are so it can better compete with Resist as a defensive status.
-Potions now give HP Boost. Hopefully this will make them a tad higher priority.
-Jr Soup IV now gives HP boost instead of Resist. It now has a 33% chance to apply Resist. 20 turn cooldown -> 40 turn cooldown.
-Jeorge's Glove has a unique item now! It can be used in battle to have a chance of obtaining Survival and Wall.
-John's Spellbook has a unique item now! It can be used to gain 10% MP and has a chance of applying Agnosia.
-CofCheChi's Shifty now is removed on hit and caps defense to 10. This change was made to push him back into the role of "glass cannon" rather than "unhittable jack-of-all-trades". (Highly recommend setting him up with either countering or miss chance items.)
-John's Spellbook can now start teaching him spells once he's reached 50 max MP instead of the previous 100 max MP.
-Natural element weakness icons now have red cracks to further set them apart from the normal elemental weakness icons.
-Audience Pot's base defense lowered down from 10 to 8.
BUG FIXES:
-way, way too many typo fixes. i'm embarrassed.
-Clover and Spell: Magnifico items now display their correct icons.
-Elemental Books' charms now apply over the whole party properly now.
-Fixed the Chompling turning into a second Evil Empress. No, I don't want to talk about it.
Don't forget to join the Discord and follow the Twitter if you're enjoying the game and want to submit bugs/give feedback! Thank you for playing!