At first I was going to put this in Suggestions but the more I thought about it the more it belongs into  Balance Fu. The more that I play on Korvara the stranger the mechanics of Sl2 get. This time it has to do with the Stamina cost of certain activities. Which seem really all over the place with no rhyme or reason. 

   Example

• Wood Chopping - Let's start this list off by asking yourself why cutting a tree is only 3 Stamina per chop with no minigame. (1 If you use Artic Woodchopping Axes) for 1-2 logs. (2-4 if Rockdirt Axe) that's a total of 4-8 Logs (8-16 with Rock Dirt) for 12 Stamina (4 if Artic) and with the chance of addition items, such as Apples, Lemons or Mixed Nuts. 
  
  
• Basic Gatherings (Butchering, Mining, Scavenging) - Then you get the basic gathering in dungeons such as Mining, Scavenging & Butchering. Which all cost 1 Stamina with the exception of butchering which can cost multiple instances to get 1 single item. This is actually more efficacy to Scavenge old camp site then chop woods with an Wood chopping axe. (Unless you use Artic Axes for 1 Stamina).
  
  
• Butchering (Expanded) - Speaking of Butchering as another odd member out of the three from the previous statement. Why does it have to be the odd one out and not work unlike Scavenging and Mining which have 100% Success-rate (Which to make it more effective  you need a talent, which none others have). I've burned 2-5 Physical Stamina on bad R RNG.
  
  
• Harvesting - Harvesting is another task which uses another crazy amount of Physical stamina. It uses 10 per plant you pull up which makes no sense as seen from above, you go from either 1-3 (On Average) stamina costs to have the next bunch of tasks jump to 10/15/20 physical stamina usage. Sure you get multiple items but does it justify the huge stamina sync and time you put in. We're not even talking about getting the wood and cotton for Scarecrows then crafting them which also uses more Physical Stamina. Then you also got to buy or crafting a hoe and a shovel which also uses Stamina then a Empty Bucket which uses stamina again, so that 10 innitial stamina cost has now been inflated. Why is clearing a dead plant ALSO 10 Physical Stamina, it should be reduced considering you get nothing out of it. (Apparently this was added as an anti-theft system) But I will admit that harvesting withered plants should be free or reduced cost of Stamina.
  
  
• Farm (Expanded) - In fact let me stop my rant about other tasks and go onto the task of Farming. In order to start farming you will need to get the following items, 1 hoe, 1 shovel, 1 empty bucket, 1 scarecrow, 1 seed, minimal. Which lets see, in order to craft this stuff you need 3 physical stamina, 1 mental stamina then you need to shovel the earth 2 physical stamina and then hoe the hole, 2 physical stamina. That means to even begin to start farming it took 7 (or 4 if you bought all the items from a shop for 66 Murai) which already 4 stamina is higher then chopping a tree or gathering using one of the above basic methods. 
  
  
• Butter/Cheese Making - Then we get to the two tasks which take some of the most physical stamina I've seenl.  Chunning butter and Cheese pressing. Not only do you need to play a Minigame but you require 15 stamina per attempt and sure you can earn 1-2 units per run but explain to me why it is so expensive? No other tas for so little seems to involved at both a minigame and paying so much physical Stamina. Not only that but you also need to buy the milk to use in the items (Which is another cost sink but that's another post in the future)
  
  
• Placables - Then we get to the 20 Physical Stamina task. Dismantling field objects. Why is it so expensive to break out items you placed for anyways. Is it really necessary for it to be so expensive? What purpose is this suppose to be for? 
  
  
• Fishing - Then you got fishing, the most free stuff you can possibly do on SL2. The only thing it costs is some Stamina to make worm bait or more to make specialized bait.
  
  TL/DR (Stamina Costs are whacky)
  0 Stamina - Breaking items down, Fishing
  1 Stamina (100% per 1 unit) - Crafting, Junk Collecting, Mining, Scavenging
  1 Stamina (100% per 1-2 units + Extra loot) - Wood-Chopping (Artic Axe)
  1 Stamina (Not 100% per 1 unit) - Butchering
  3 Stamina (100% per 1-2 Units + Extra Loot) - Woodchopping (None Artic/Rockdirt Axe)
  3 Stamina (100% per 2-4 Units + Extra Loot) - Woodchopping (Rockdirt Axe)
  4 Stamina - Preparing farm land
  10 Stamina - Clearing Withered Plants (Not owned by you)
  15 Stamina (100% per 1-2 Units) - Butter/Cheese Making
  20 Stamina - Removing your own map items.
  
  In hindsight I forgot about harvesting plants but it's a minor thing when you look at this and ask yourself why is Butter and Cheese so expensive stamina wise? This makes no sense why come things are free, like fishing but to make cheese it's 15 whole physical stamina. Then you get to the point where using none Artic or Rockdirt woodchopping axes are just silly, since Scavenging from old campfires gives you 1:1 Ratio of Wood to Stamina while Iron/Galdric gives a Ration of  1-2:3 Ration which seems odd, Rockdirt is 2-4:3 and Artic is 1-2:1.... Can we make some of the more expensive Stamina taxes cheaper?
  

Being reduced to 1 HP from Ghost's Last Chance effect still causes spirits to stop possessing you. 

This is a very personal suggestion so much of how I explain it will be from my own perspective on a recent bug fix, I used to be able to communicate through the "Divine Sign" talent that my character could threaten possessed people very well, and with that having been bug fixed recently and with the Holy enchant only applying to basic attacks, I have been left with a mere 7% damage bonus if I decided to use curate as my only option.

Blessed serves as a rather good substitute but I don't think thats very obvious, its also very common and I believe that there could be an alternative to be offered, so here is my suggestion.

I think that the Exorcism enchantment should apply to skills and spells as a "Power Bonus" and I use that wording very specifically, it would mean that it applies in the same way that Kingslayer, Coastal Squall and Desert Wind do, and only apply to the Scaled Weapon Attack portion of an attack.

This would mean you would have a 30% (15% vs players) power bonus to all of the affected races, if this sounds like a little much I'd be pretty alright with it turning into a FAI based damage increase instead.

I just think its a little bit difficult to achieve an exorcist caster in vibes currently, as doing so in a threatening and unique manner requires being possessed yourself, and that's very obviously out of the picture for some characters.

Widespin doesn't function when used from the action bar, defaulting to a basic attack instead.

My turns take 2 seconds longer. Literally unplayable.

I should just make one big thread for these huh?

Seeker Flame (Skill)

Creates a Seeker Flame in the tile you're facing. The Seeker Flame will slowly seek out an enemy, homing in and detonating once close enough to its target, dealing fire damage to all enemies within 1+charge weapon range equal to it's level. Summoning a Seeker Flame passes all charge weapon levels from its summoner to the Seeker Flame. The seeker Flame gets additional bonuses depending on charge level, and only one can be active at a time. The owner of this skill also gets access to charge weapon.

Firefall

Tiles the owner of this skill walks on are covered in cinders, which deal damage to enemies who walk on them (LV = 10+10% of Fire ATK). The cinders created by this skill last for two rounds.

If the owner of this skill is Firefox, their Fire ATK increases by 10 per stack of charge weapon.

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Seeker Flame (Unit)

1. Elemental resistance is replaced by the ooze protection that puts skills on cooldown and high magic/physical damage reduction. This keeps the niche of denying the spam of aoe moves for one or two attacks while not giving the enemy a penalty on momentum.

Stoking Flame

The properties of this unit's Kamikaze change depending on Charge Weapon LVs

0 - No change
1 - +30 damage to Kamikaze, +1 range to Kamikaze's detonation, and +25 hit per charge (up to 3)
2 - Before detonating, the Seeker Flame pings between enemies in 5 range of each other, detonating once it reaches the end of it's chain (much like the vect wasp chakram), dealing damage that ignores evasion equal to LV.
3 - Applies Denile to all hit by the final explosion (3 rounds), becomes greater accuracy.


Kamikaze

3M, single target in 4 range.

This unit flies towards its target before detonating, destroying itself to deal LV Fire damage to enemies in 1 range.


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Firefox is weird, isn't it? It's a summoner within a summoner. My idea for a buff to it incorperates charge weapon into it, a fun mechanic to introduce to youkai imo! 

First of all, this would have some SAUCE with shapeshifters. Having a youkai build charge weapon for you before meld forming to perform a tri charge attack would be really interesting (think of the blowback cannons....) alongside the ability to split form to double charges and have it be meaningful! Charge also increasing its fire attack also makes it a prime base youkai for chimera installing other fire youkai onto.

The firefox doesn't do much besides sit around and make flames, so spending that wasted time charging weapon could be a good boon for a summoner!

As for the seeker flame, Denile rocks yo, giving players the ability to turn off enchants for a short bit would be interesting! Turning Seeker Flames into actual problems makes them not ignored, but rather focused! I chose denile because they kinda look like purging flames ngl, and we already have a handful of buff removers.

In current-day Sigrogana legends 2, there are three ways to play:
- Casual RP
- Producing Content
- Consuming Content

Those who are content with everyday slice-of-life discussion and minor interactions may enjoy some casual RP in the various public hubs of Korvara, or perhaps by meeting up with people in a private group, or by joining an LFG. This is a core part of the SL2 experience, but it's very rare for anything interesting to happen during this, except perhaps relationship RP and all related activities.

However, if one wants something of substance in this game, they need to participate in the content-based economy that permeates the game. Either by waiting for something to happen, or by making something happen themselves.

What is Content?
You may have noticed that Events are the lifeblood of this game. However, there's much more I consider "Content".
- Eventmin Events
- Player-ran national events such as festivals.
- Player-ran storylines, such as personal stories, which might involve EM Events but don't fully rely on them.
- Player Antagonists
- Disruptive characters (soft antags). Characters that cause issues and destabilize things without causing high-stake conflict.
- Player groups that band together to roleplay in a specific context. Like the Azai slavery or Crow's nest.
- Other various things that make people RP.

As you can see, it's a very vague definition. And we've seen posts in the past discussing this at length. However, I don't just want to define Content. I also want to point out why this is a huge issue at the core of SL2. But first let's talk about what isn't considered Content.

The Core SL2 Experience: Grinding
Sigrogana Legends 2 is a video game. In most games, the players are able to enjoy playing the game in some way without needing the input of other players. This is true in SL2, you can just focus on grinding ad infinitam, however you won't really get much out of it. In order to gain something meaningful, you must interact with other people. In fact, the PvE of SL2 is essentially completely separate from the roleplay. There's almost nothing you can do with the game systems that will affect the RP in any way, except for PvP.

PvP
A long-hated part of SL2, the PvP system is nonetheless quite enjoyable in many cases. In any game with conflict, having a strong PvP system is necessary. However, many people dislike it for various reasons, mainly that there's a huge divide between the "good" PvPers and the general populace. This is even more true when evade is involved, creating "feast or famine" gameplay. Without PvP, we wouldn't have any way to determine the outcome of minor conflicts, and we'd be truly fucked if that was the case. Let's take a moment to appreciate that we actually do have a solid system to fight on a small scale. Though some may bemoan the fact "sweatlords" can theoretically impose their will on others using this, in reality thanks to the consent-based system, PvP victory or defeat is not that important, and it's only possible on a tiny scale with consenting parties. For these reasons, I think this system is doing its job just fine.

What's Left?
Now we arrive to the crux of the matter. Aside from Grinding and PvE, there are no systems in place in SL2. Everything else is either external or player-ran. Eventmins are not part of the game; those are also players believe it or not. They have great tools to do that, yes, but just because they've got more power and are willing to help, it doesn't change the core dynamic: people creating content for other people. In many cases, EM powers aren't necessary, except to instantiate a map (something that we had in G6 without needing EMs by the way), and creating battles against custom monsters.

Point is, almost everything else is created by people in the community. We're talking lore, we're talking nations, politics, conflicts, crime and suffering, etc etc. Everything exciting that people are enthusiastic about is made by players. You could say that's simply the nature of RP, and you'd be somewhat correct. However, this creates a problem.

The Problem
Each day, I log onto SL2 and wonder what I should do. How can I have fun with this game? Perhaps I can check the ping channels to see if something's happening. Perhaps I can look if there's any events going on today. Perhaps I can log on with one of my favorite characters and seek out LFGs or public areas, to see if anyone's there. Perhaps I'm going to get into a conversation, or afk for a long time while tabbed out. Perhaps I'll do some meaningless spars to have a bit of fun, or go do some grinding to kill time and progress.

But unless I happen to hop into an exciting thing such as a player-ran event, or get attacked by an antag, nothing among those options is particularly interesting. What about the fun stuff? The blood-pumping action, the tear-jerking stories, the heart-wrenching conflict? In order to participate in any of those things, unless I happen to be extremely lucky, I need to make it happen myself. Oh boy, here we go again...

Making Content
So I don't feel like being bored today. I want to truly enjoy playing SL2. To do this, I need to start something of my own. Now the world is truly my oyster, right? I could play a bad guy, and attack people. I could start a storyline, get people involved. Maybe start a group, and ping my group, and show up to do an activity that I planned out. Maybe I can even start some larger scale conflict and get many people involved.

The Content Planning
I first need to put out the bait, and for people to take it. I put up a post, in the LFG, in game and discord, I put up a big "looking for players" post in the discord forum, and talk to people giving them more details. I wait for people to join. Perhaps I DM some friends and get them to join. Okay, maybe after all this effort I only got like 2 people in. We can do something with just 2, but it's also not really enough. We wait and wait, maybe one drops out when another joins in. The project is forgotten, effort wasted. Or maybe not! Maybe we actually get like 4+ people.

Alright, well, I need to start dealing with scheduling first. Make a discord group, or a new server. Okay, I also need to make sure everyone is on the same page. Write rules etc. If I'm some kind of aggressor, I need to walk on eggshells and make sure everyone involved is perfectly ok with what's going on. If I'm interacting with a nation, or any group, I need to DM people to make sure they're ok with me doing the thing. I also need to make sure there's no disagreements, or perhaps even secret disagreement and resentment.

Even if we're not doing conflict, everyone comes in with their own expectations and things they want out of it. They expect me, the Content Creator, to give them content that suits their taste. It's only fair, I asked them to join me, right? I, the organizer, am here to please. Time and time again, I've accepted this responsibility, and I will continue to do so. This is how it works.

The Content
Now that everything is ready, perhaps we'll do something. I finally scheduled something so that we got like 3 people able to join in. Perhaps it's one-on-one as well, and we can just meet. I kidnap them, I get killed by them, I cut their hair, I mow their lawn. Anything's good, anything's content. We have a wonderful interaction, a proper scene with a context. A real moment of RP where there's a clear goal, parties with their own goals and motivations, perhaps even a clash and a great conflict of both steel and ideals.

Or maybe it sucks, and we all wasted our time. But that doesn't matter, it's important to keep trying to get those great moments. If we stop trying, we'll never get the Good RP™.

The Resolution
If I'm lucky enough for it to go well, then it's over as soon as it started. Any problem in SL2 is, of course, made to be resolved. We soon enough will return to the status Quo where everything is perfect. If there is a bad guy, they must be removed. If a character has a personal problem, it must be solved. These things not happening may make people lose interest over time, fall off the content, because like I mentioned earlier, everyone has their own expectations when going into something. If you dangle meat before the player, and then you tell them they can't eat it, they may mentally disengage from your content. Thus, you need to satisfy everyone. And people in this game love for everything to be ok. I do too, because of course. We're so starved for content that we'll immediately devour any morsel. We'll push and push and roleplay our heart out, seeking the right path that will let us see a Good End.

The Burn-Out
Well, it's all over now... What did I get out of this? Really, as the event runner, the content maker, I can't help but shake this feeling... That all I got from this whole experience is that other people have enjoyed it. In some cases, I was so busy making sure everyone was happy and that it went smoothly, that I barely got to enjoy it myself. But that's fine, it's my responsibility... Well, what about the times it didn't go so well? Everyone blames me, or others, or has bitter memories of the thing I've built due to drama or something they didn't like happening IC.

If I ran this as an Eventmin, it's an even stronger feeling. It's like playing chess with myself. Everything I planned, happened. I wrote a book, and people read it front to back...

The Slums
It's a story I've been through countless times. The Marauders, The Greilland homonculi, The Dead Drop Punks. When the slums dropped, I was so excited. I created like 7 characters, some lore, and a whole gangster group. I gathered my people, wrote the things on discord, organized it, and then I roleplayed. I created events, and interacted with people in the world too. I invited people and they came to join me.

And I continued to ask; who wants to do something with me? People propped up occasionally, but then I realized something. When someone answers the call for Content, they have the mindset of a participant. This is the missing link in my enjoyment of SL2.

I made a group, and ran events. I had my people do things with my NPCs, crimes or conflicts. I had people interact with my other, more evil gang, I even kidnapped people to establish them in the greater picture.

But after everything is all said and done... Why am I left with a desert? I intended to plant seeds, to create a movement, and interact with people. But in the end, I only made people interact with me. Because there's nobody else to interact with. All the leads dried up, all the other groups, the gangs and NPCs, everything was lost.

I realized that I was the only person who created content. This is why I gave up yet again, like I've done countless times in the past.

The Conclusion
And despite this, I'll keep going. For some reason, I always seem to come back to SL2 despite my innumerable failures. Although many people seem to appreciate what I've done, I can't shake the feeling like I don't have a true belonging. Every time I try to start something, it takes so much effort, unless I'm doing it all on my own. And if I am, like making a bandit and just ganking people, it's easier sure, but it's even more random and ephemeral. And if I use my eventmin powers to make events, it's even more impersonal, even though it's often fun.

The more I play this god-forsaken beloved game of mine, the more I understand why people just retreat to their cliques and rp with their friends. Shit, I wish I had one of those so I could have some fun. Or better yet, why so many people I love have left the game for good. I feel so isolated playing this game sometimes. But then what do I do with the friends I do have? It's the same charade of having to create something... I sometimes feel like everyone is in some kind of bubble, either with friends or of their own making.

The Way Forward
To bring it back, I want to say there is hope for SL2. I believe that to make this game better, we need our beloved Dev, Nef Miyama, to make some real decisions and improve the core experience to involve more roleplay and opportunities for conflict and problems to happen organically in the world. SL2 Korvara is a woefully stagnant world, where each attempt to shake things up is punished. I believe the only way to move forward is not to blame players, leaders, and EMs, but rather to enjoy what we have, and ask for some real change. We have enough items, dungeons, and mobs. Shit, bring back player housing. What good has this done? We need to look at what Korvara failed to accomplish, and revisit it.

We need Dev to make this game into a roleplaying game. I am done blaming the community. Having fun playing a game shouldn't be the player's responsibility. It shouldn't be a job.

I will also say that Content isn't bad in itself. It's the over-reliance on it that has sucked the life out of this game for me. In fact, this wasn't a problem 5 years ago. But perhaps I was naive then. Or perhaps things have changed.

Thanks for reading.

Alright this ones gonna be a bit fun! I'm tackling them all at once here so lesgo

Elemental Scales

Scales born in (element), 50% resistance (or damage res, NOT elem res) to (element) damage. but has a 25% weakness to (weak element) damage.

Furthermore, if the user is within 2 tiles of a daisaigen trio dragon unit, give the user a temporary jet invoke, a stronger variant combining the two or three dragons elements. This effect also activates if the user has been damaged by an element correlating to a daisaigen dragon this round.

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First of all, I think immunities and resistances aren't a healthy thing for youkai to have. I suggest damage reduction as it provides the utility of mitigating some damage without proccing resistance or flat out walling the element. Youkai should stand on their own two feet without needing to just ignore an element to be picked up.

Secondly, the plan here is essentially have the dragons be able to create combo moves!  You know those pledge moves in pokemon? It's sort of like those! I feel that really makes them feel like a connected trio, to have interconnected special attacks!

Elemental Jets

All of these jets share similar properties, so I'll list them all firstly

The duo jets cost 18fp, and 3m from each dragon. Their damage scaling is 300%/300% of the elements that make up the combo, and their range is a 6 long steep cone (like hyattrs flame breath).

Burnblight Jet

Acid/fire. Can inflict Acidity (lvl10) on the acid damage proc and burn (lvl15) on the fire damage proc. Creates a mix of cinder and acid pool tiles at random in the aoe.

Frostburn Jet

Fire/ice. Can inflict frostbite (lvl20) on the ice proc and burn (lvl15) on the fire proc. Creates a mix of ice and cinder tiles at random in the aoe.

Blightfrost Jet

Ice/acid. Can inflict frostbite (lvl20) on the ice proc and acidity (lvl10) on the acid proc. Creates a mix of ice and acid pool tiles at random in the aoe.

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Scourge Jet

27 fp, 3m (for all 3 dragons.), 3 turn cd (for all 3 dragons)

7 tile cone shape (like firthrowers)

300/300/300% elemental damage (ice, acid, fire)

Inflicts the enemy with elemental resist down (ice, acid fire) (lvl30) for 4 rounds. If enemies are defeated with this move, inflict them with certain defeat (3 rounds).

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Of course, the effects and triggers for these jets don't have to be exactly like this, I feel like this would make the dragons a pretty good pick for defense shredding loadouts, which fits the destructive power of dragons pretty well! The scourge jet, the power of all three dragons being a finisher move fits. (it should totally have the fenrirberus ice tornado type graphic alongside it).

To continue my ideas for youkai reworks, here's an idea for Orbello!

Deathtouch and Nightshade remain the same, it's chain cast that changes


After casting a spell while Orbello is Installed, you gain a status that increases your Spell Power by 1 and Spell Costs by 10% for 2 rounds. Additional spell casts increase the effect and duration by 1 (as well as the cost reduction by 10%), to a maximum of 3+(Orbello's Level/10), and a maximum duration of 2 rounds.

Additionally, if the user is Orbello, grants the youkai the skill "Focus Link". Spells cast by the summoner while this Youkai has Attuned Focus also gives the Owner the status.


Focus Link

3M, 20fp, 2 round cooldown.

Utilize the connection between summoner and Youkai to allow for the owner to cast through this mystical plant. Gives the Orbello the "Attuned Focus" Status (2 Rounds).


Attuned Focus (Status)

Spells cast by the summoner of the afflicted use this units position as an origin point for the spell, much like a stave focus.


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Generally, the idea here is that the Orbello can be used as a walking, mid hp multi elemental casting stave, giving summoners utility in ranged casting. This has potential for a LOT of fun combos and makes Orbello more desirable as a pick, as currently its niche isn't even present with the fact that liches simply don't exist on korv.

Imagine the shenanigans...split form into domino resonate, ranged buffing, it's perfect...

Of course, the downsides to this are twofold, one in the fact that once Orbello is down you lose a really strong tool, and two, you can't cast to yourself if attuned focus is active, leaving you open to rush downs and close ranged attacks if you even think about skip turn shenanigans or spaced incorrectly, I think it's decently balanced personally!


I'm all for the retrofitting of old youkai babyyy, expect more ideas for more youkai soon!

The skills provided by the Magical Metallic Gauntlet (Magic Shield, Metallic Aegis, Magical Aegis) count as 'offensive' class, which is not normally something you'll notice, but means that a Firebird using them does not get a blue Apus Boon pip as they would logically expect, but a red one.
It likely also means they proc EBV's damage.

Cyclone spear and heaven's kick are really slow to activate. I think they would be a lot more fun if they were faster!