Subscribe to download
ShininGeek's SFI MOD V. 2.3

So after a few years of not really touching this, I figured I'd take a look back at it again and make some changes to what my mod previously was. Below is most of my original post from the old topic, but with additions based on the ver. 2.0 changes.

Mod Info:

Major Gameplay:
(Almost) all characters are available to be used in the force at level 1
Exceptions:
Domingo
Jogurt
Hanzou
Musashi

Domingo and Jogurt are left out because they are, in my opinion, truly "secret" characters. Hanzou and Musashi are left out because they come promoted, and that really messes with EXP early game.

Battles:
All battles allow you to bring a full force of 12 with you, and have had increased enemy numbers to compensate. Several battle maps have undergone significant changes (I went a bit map crazy in chapter 1...)

Spells:
Elemental Spells:
Blast: Scaling AOE damage, but requires you to be right next to the enemy to cast.
Blaze: Medium-sized AOE at short range.
Freeze: High single-target damage at increasing range.
Bolt: Medium-large sized AOE damage at massive range.

Summon Spells:
Summoning spells have been added! Summon spells now are 4 level single target spells with a pattern similar to freeze, starting as a low range damager and growing into a massive 10 range nuke of mass destruction, but having a significant mana cost attributed to them.

Healing Spells:
Healing spells have been buffed slightly; heal has had its range increased at all levels to 2/3/4/4 and mana cost rescaled to 3/6/9/12, with each level healing for 15/30/45/60 (heal 2 is no longer just a range increase). Aura retains the same cast range and AOE as Vanilla, but has rebalanced mana costs of 4/12/18/24 level and has had its healing reduced to 10/20/30/40.

Status Spells:
Status spells (boost, attack, detox, shield, etc.) have all received more levels, with each buffing spell reaching party range at level 4, and debuffing spells reaching bolt 2/3 range at level 4.

Classes/Characters:
Birdman/Skywarrior:
Amon and Balbaroy have been outfitted with bows and fire arrows from afar! Both have received a bit of attack power at the cost of defences, so keep them safe!

Hero:
The Hero class has been renamed and features a... transformation for Max. I don't want to spoil it before you promote Max yourself, so I won't say here and NO PEEKING AT THE ROM.

Yogurt:
Jogurt can now gain levels! He gains stats fast, and hits hard if you feel like grinding him.

Guntz/Kokichi:
Guntz and Kokichi can no longer use ranged weapons. They stick to being in the fray, and have received defense boosts to allow them to fight it out. Guntz should still end up as a massive wall, but won't hit back hard.

Adam:
Adam has received large boosts to his stats, and should end up as a heavy hitting tank. Early game, he won't be able to hit hard, but will soak up attacks very well. Once he is promoted, his attacks become ranged and his attack begins to grow.

Bleu:
Bleu has been hit hard early game. He has late growth on both his attack and defense, so be careful early. He should still be a powerhouse late game, if he survives that long.

Knights:
Knights are now focused on specialization in one stat. Ken is HP, Mae is defense, Arthur is Magic, Pelle is attack, Earnest is crit, and Vankar is agility... because... that was the last stat and... he just never did well anywhere...

Gort/Luke:
Gort and Luke are rather similar: strong front liners. Luke grows a bit more defensive and Gort shifts to his offense, but they are not very different in the end.

Tao/Anri/Alef:
The mages are more defined by their spells. Tao learns cheap blaze magic fast and gains a fire-based summon, does not have the most mana, but has balanced stats all around. Anri gains Freeze magic more slowly and an ice-based summon and gains a lot of defense, but not much attack. She has more mana than Tao, but when it runs out she won't do much. Alef is all about offense. She gains powerful bolt magic, a lightning-based summon, the largest mana pool of all the mages, and fairly decent attack, but is quite frail and will fall fast is she is out of position. The spell changes for ver. 2.0 were made to diversify the mages. Tao should be a bit more like her vanilla self, scorching a small cluster of enemies; Anri now gains an ever-increasing range, allowing her to freeze targets instantly from far away; Alef has become the force's artillery, capable of blasting large groups of enemies from far away.

Healers:
Lowe, Khris, and Torasu have their own specialties. Lowe will gain a large mana pool fast to sustain his team with Heal, but he does not learn aura to heal more than one person at a time. Torasu will have a small mana pool early, but he gains aura before any other healer and gains the most mana late. Khris focuses less on healing and more on offense. She gains heal and aura, but only up to level 3. In return, she has blast magic and a fairy summon, as well as a decent attack. she does, however, have a small mana pool, so siphon her spells wisely. Gong is more fighter than healer, coming with a tiny mana pool but high attack and defense. He has buffing spells to support himself and his team, but don't rely on him to save anyone in a pinch.

Archers:
Diane, Hans, and Lyle have different strengths and weaknesses. Hans has the lowest attack, but the highest crit chance. Diane has a bit more attack, but less crit. Lyle has the highest attack, but the lowest crit. Diane and hans are swift and frail, while Lyle is slower but able to take a hit.

Zylo:
Zylo is designed to be a swift killing machine. He has high attack and agility early, but is quite frail. Use him to assassinate targets that stray from their comrades.

Items:
Not much has changed with items. Rings will look dull when they are about to break, the Sugoi Mizugi and Kitui Fuku are now equippable armor for mages and give different stats, and the chrome lance is now the chrome spear, giving knights a ranged attack before the valkyrie. The biggest changes are in the extended items, with a new staff for vicars, a new halberd for knights, and three new charms for the mages (I am currently working on making them give special outfits to each mage, but I have not finished yet.

Major Changes for Ver. 2.0:
Increased Mae's base attack, attack growth, and changed her attack growth type to help her out early.
Buffed Jogurt. Just 'cause.
Increased most early game enemies' levels to give more xp to help with levelling.
Nerfed Giant Bats' attack.
Nerfed Dark Elves' attack.
Nerfed Ghouls' attack, defense,and evasion.
Buffed Silver Knights' attack and HP.
Buffed Hellhounds' attack, defense, agility, and HP.
Increased Bishop level.
Removed several bosses HP regeneration. Their battles have been reworked so that their "little helpers" now have healing spells rather than shield to allow them to have sustain (if they stay in one spot) and allow your mages to damage them.
Rings no longer lose stats when they crack.
Reworked chapter 1 world map slightly to remove some pointless roads, add some trees, and add more land to walk on.
Adjusted Shade Abbey so that balbaroy isn't saving himself.
Adjusted Quarry battle to make the Dark Elves not respawn.
Widened choke points in the Balbazak battle.
Added a new lance to drop in the Ramladu fight.
Sugoi Mizugi and Kitui Fuku no longer change Tao and Anri's map sprites.
New mage weapon for each mage that changes their map sprite.
Adjusted some battle backgrounds to their SFCD backgrounds because they are a bit cleaner.
Adjusted AI to prioritize healers over Max.

Please, please, please let me know if you come across any bugs. Have fun!