.:: How to make a balanced character and other helpful tips, by lder ::.

lder Rank: member Forum Rank: Sannin Posts: 4055 Joined on: August 1, 2007

#1 Hi, and welcome to my "How to make a balanced character and some other helpful tips" guide. If you don't know what a custom character is, or you want to do a character then read these tutorials: ComedyKid's , Sauke1616's , Yudai's and Mik's. And, before commenting on any character, read this and try to learn some things about CnC: Kiba2Shika. And now, let's begin this guide. Feel free to post any question. I'll be glad to answer all of them when I have the time. If you have any doubt or you think that is something missing, feel free to post. DON'T SPAM. Introduction - Before making any balance adjustment, make sure your character is complete. One very important thing when you make a character, is to make it appealing to the "audience", make it creative and original, make it useful. Making a character that uses only 1 random chakra for each attack + making the skills worth the cost, doesn't mean you have a balanced character. To be balanced, make sure your character is useful on a match. Try to imagine situations where the character would be needed and see if there's no character that does exactly the same but more efficiently, because if this happens, then you need to re-think on your skills and on how to make them more useful on a match situation. - Then, see what type of character did you make. Is it a spiker, a tanker, a waller, an AoEr, a supporter, etc... (clik here to know more about this). This is really important when balancing characters, because each type of character "has a limit to the skill cost-damage ratio". - Don't make your character boring. Add something unique to your character, something that makes people say "wow". - Also, remember this: The skills are taken from the anime, but they don't need to follow the anime at 100%. Balancing Part First of all, forget all those things of "1 specific chakra can deal 20-25 damage or xxx". Forget all that, because that's not the way for balancing character. In fact, balancing characters is the hardest thing to do when making a character because you need to be creative/original, but you can't exaggerate on the skills. So, I'll give you some advices on how to balance characters, and hopefully, you'll be making good characters with almost no difficulty. Overall Characters - A skill can't be balanced all alone. To determine whether the skill is overpowered or not, you must look at the entire skill set and see if the skill is abusable or not; - Don't make a character that uses 3 chakra (2 specific + 1 random, or 1 specific + 2 random) on each skill. This makes the character really hard to use, therefore making him unbalanced; - The more offensive attacks a character has, the less damage they will deal (Kisame for example. He has 3 offensive skills, therefore they must deal less damage than a "normal" skill); - Usually, preparation skills cost 1 random chakra, but some cost no chakra at all. This is because these skills (the ones that cost nothing) are beneficial skills that improve the character's skills not in damage, but in effects (usually, because sometimes, even these skills must cost at least 1 random chakra due to the improvements they make); - Other type of preparation skills are the ones that cost 1 specific chakra. These ones are very powerful, however they can make the character less flexible. These skills are often "preparations" to much larger skills or effects (Sasuke's Sharingan makes him able to use Chidori, a powerful spiker move, while Hinata's Byakugan improves her skills with powerful effects); - A skill with a piercing effect deals less damage than that same skill if it wasn't piercing; - A skill with an effect deals less damage than the same skill with no effect; - A skill with a powerful skill deals less damage than a skill with a not so powerful effect (Kabuto (S) can deal 35 piercing damage because the effect of his skill is too situational, therefore, the skill can deal a bit more damage); - Don't make skills deal a lot of damage and make them have a large C/D. That's not balance; - Don't make skills cost 3-4 chakra and have a C/D: 0, because that's not balance; - Invisible skills are really powerful. As you may know, the game involves a lot of strategy (and luck), and predicting the enemy's moves is very important. Therefore, invisible skills, which make the opponent unable to predict your moves, can't deal too much damage or deal a lot of damage + having a lot of effects. These skills usually have a C/D: 2-3 (1 in some particular cases) just to prevent their abuse; - Skills which make the user take some damage are stronger than skills which don't deal any self-damage, but don't abuse of them of course (Kyuubi Naruto can deal 40 damage + stun, while Naruto needs to use a preparation skill to do the same. This is because Kyuubi Naruto loses some health when performing his skill). Spikers When making a spiker, remember this: - Don't make him have 3 offensive skills, because that, usually, is just uncreative and bad (in my opinion and everyone else's); - When you create your spike skill (usually a character only has 1 spiker skill, due to balance), make it hard to pull off (2 specific for example, or 1 specific + 2 random). But note that, a 2 specific chakra skill is harder to pull off than a skill that costs 1 specific + 2 random, so its C/D needs to be inferior to the latter (a 1 specific + 2 random skill can have a low C/D, IF the damage [+ the effects it may have] aren't too strong/powerful); - Try to not abuse when making your spiking skill. Don't make it exceed 50-55 damage, because more than 55 damage is just too much and sometimes it makes the character look bad/unbalanced. Only make a skill that deals more than 55 damage, IF it requires 1-2 preparations or if it has a large C/D (but also don't make stupid skills like: 75 damage, C/D:3. Even though this skill has a pretty large C/D, it's a skill that looks really bad in a character); - The other skills a spiker might have are usually a normal damaging skill (1 specific or 1 specific + 1 random, but it also can have a 1 random chakra cost skill) and a skill with some sort of effect (look at Cursed Seal Sasuke for example): - The damaging skill is usually a 30 damage skill (1 specific + 1 random), or a skill that deals less damage (10-20 damage [1 specific, or 1 random, it depends on the damage the skill deals]). These skills may have small effects or they may be boosted when a preparation skill is used (for example, look at Kiba and Sasuke's 30s damaging skill which receives a boost after a certain skill is used); - The other skill with some sort of effect is really up to you. Try to be creative with this, but don't forget: Don't exaggerate on the effect you give to the skill. AoE AoE characters are usually the most annoying ones, so they can't be abusable. - AoE skills with a C/D: 0, can't deal too much damage. Usually, a AoE skill with a C/D: 0 costs 1 specific + 1 random, and it deals 15 damage with some sort of beneficial effect to the user or the user allies (if it costs 1 specific chakra, then try to make it deal very little damage or a different damage to each character [Jiraiya and Tenten(S) for example]). These AoE skills deal more damage if they C/D is larger. For example, if the skill I just used for example, had a C/D: 1, then it could deal 20 damage with some sort of effect; - Since AoE skills are annoying (and you know they are), try to not use those powerful effects on these skills (piercing, ignore invulnerability, affecting the chakra pool, making the enemy deal/take less/more damage, etc.. you know which skills I'm talking about). You can, but since they are powerful, make sure the chakra cost is high enough to make the skill balanced; - Think of the C/D of your skill before finishing it. Make it large enough so that it doesn't turn out abusable, but small enough to prevent it from being underpowered. Chakra Removers/Drainers As you may know, chakra is very important. Without it, you can't do anything, so you must be careful when making characters with this ability. - These skills must have a cost-damage ratio inferior to any other skill due to their amazing power. The damage these skills do can't be too much, they can't be spiker skills or else the skill will be way overpowered; - These skills' C/D are very important. If the draining/removing skill is really powerful, then add a C/D that makes the skill balanced, without the chance of being too abused (like Kin's Bell. The skill doesn't deal any damage. However, it has a C/D: 1 just to prevent it from being abused/spammable); - Note that draining is more powerful than removing. So, making a draining skill is different from making a removing skill. Take that in mind when making the characters. So, when making a character with this type of skills, make sure they aren't spammable and very easy to use. Afflictions These are the skills that destroy a team slowly, but effectively. They can pass through anything, so don't abuse. Afflictions can be and often are uneven numbers but try to avoid uneven numbers as much possible or else you would need a calculator to play the game - They can last several turns or the entire match. So, make them deal low damage because, as the turns go by, the damage will begin to make a notice and it will help you finish off some characters with very low chakra. - The cost of these skills must be suitable to their "power" (Look at Sasori (S) and you may understand this: His skills cost 2 random chakra, but only deal 10 damage. However, they have an afflcition effect which lasts the whole match. So, you used 2 random to deal 10 initial damage, but the secondary effect can deal much more damage, and that's why he's balanced). Affliction skills must be analyzed carefully, and they can't deal too much damage or else, balance is ruined. Think before adding crazy affliction effects to the character. The character can deal very little damage but still be powerful. That's the amazing power of afflictions. Stunners You know them, Gaara, Ino, Sakura, and some others. You probably already face a team with stunners, so you know they are powerful. Stun skills should deal low damage unless they require preps or make the user take affliction damage. use this effect wisely. - A complete stun is different from a specific stun effect. A specific stun effect only affects some types of skills, so, these skills can deal more damage than an entire stun skill. However, don't abuse on the damage these two types of skill deal; - A character shouldn't have a lot of stunning effects, so don't make them with 3 stun skills. Even 2 skills with stun effects may be too much, but if they are really balanced with each other, then there's no problem on having a character with 2 stun skills. However, think before making them too powerful; - A skill that can stun the entire enemy team, must have a large C/D, because it makes you have 1 more turn that the enemy, so it's a pretty good advantage to you. At least a C/D: 4-5 is necessary. - These skills should have a C/D (with the exceptions of some type of characters, aka, low damage supporters), just to prevent them from being abused, and therefore, overpowered; - Stunners often have the ability to make the opponent unable to reduce damage as well. It's a powerful effect that should be added carefully and never abused, because it's a great advatange to you since the enemy will be vulnerable to your attacks. Hyuuga <3 || Miltam <3 || Bhavik <3 Songz <3 Wanna be a CC Maker? Read! The Holy Book of Chars! -Passes out from excitement- -retired

lder Rank: member Forum Rank: Sannin Posts: 4055 Joined on: August 1, 2007

#2 Supporters Many of you may think these types of character suck, but you are wrong. Even though they deal very little damage, they are capable of dealing things others can't. - These characters skills can be a little boosted when compared with spiker ones (For example, Sakura(S) can deal 25 piercing damage for 1 tai, but Chouji can't deal 25 piercing damage for 1 tai, because Chouji is a character that can spike while Sakura (S) is a supporter); - Healing skills are powerful, so think wisely before making it heal everything. Make the skill heal almost as much as the damage a skill with the same cost does. Of course, this has exceptions. The C/D can affect these skills, where skills with larger C/D can heal more than skills with less C/D; - Boosting skills: Yeah, you know the Kabuto-Sakon combo. Try to not abuse on these types of skills. They usually deal little damage but have that effect which makes other skills deal way more damage. Don't abuse on how much the other skills are improved. 50% is too much, imo. So, don't make them increase more than 33% the other skill, or else it would be too much and be abused as Kabuto is now. Wallers These skills are one of the easiest to balance. They cost a lot, but they make you invulnerable during 2 turns (or maybe more if they only make you invulnerable to a certain type of skill). - HOWEVER, don't go crazy. They are easy to balance if you don't go crazy. Always remember to be decent when making this type of skills. Counters (and Reflection skills) As you may know, and as I said above, chakra is very important. And you just hate when you spend 2 chakra on a move which gets countered. That's why counter skills are powerful since they make the enemy think a lot and pray for luck. - There are various types of counter skills: - Counter skills which cost 1 random chakra usually are those skills which only counter a certain type of skills, since they are "cheap" (Tenten (S) for example, only counters ranged physical skills that target her); - Counter skills which cost 1 specific chakra are the most common, so you can look at Gai, Itachi Body Double (S), Kurenai for examples. You'll notice each one of them has different types of effects. Kurenai's counter for example, that skill would be overpowered if it was from Gai or Lee(S). That skill was specially made for her. Since she deals little damage, the skill, even though it's very powerful, it's effects are perfect for her (and the C/D of the skill is high, so if you miss, you need a lot of time to do it again). So think on your character, and if you add a counter which costs 1 specific chakra, think on an effect which doesn't make him overpowered; - Counter skills which cost 1 specific chakra + 1 random aren't so common. Take a look at Shino (S). His counter brought something new to the game, a counter skill which drains chakra. That's really powerful, but yet, the skill is balanced when compared with his whole skill set. The skill has a high C/D, and his other skills don't deal too much damage, so the counter skill is really powerful, yet balanced. You need to think wisely, and see if they are too powerful or they can be too abused, because if they do, then you need to nerf the skill somehow; - Counter skills which cost 2 specific chakra are usually simple counter that give some kind of extra defense to the ally where the skill was put (Yamato (S) for example), but they can have different effects. Just think on something you want to add to the skill, whether it's an offensive or a defensive effect. The skill just can't be too powerful, as the other counters. - Counter skills usually have a high C/D (2-3). That's because of their incredible power. So, when making counter skills, be careful to not abuse from its effects. Skills with the ability to reflect attacks are pretty strong, so the cost-C/D-reflecting type ration must be good, or else the skill would be balanced. - These skills can last 1 or 2 turns, according to it's cost. These types of skills can't last more than 2 turns because that would almost mean a 3 turn invisible invulnerability with the ability to deal massive damage to the enemy; - These skills usually have some weakness. For example, Kakashi can't reflect unique skills, while Itachi Body Double is weak against physical users. So, make sure your skill is powerful, yet, with some sort of weakness. - These skills have high C/D because of their amazing power. So, make the C/D high enough in order to prevent it from being spammable. Tankers They act as a strong shield that absorbs a lot of damage. They provide a great solid defense that can only be defeated by skills with piercing effects or affliction skills. - Some preparation skills act as a tank (Naruto for example), so you can't abuse on these skills effects. They already give the character better skills, so making his tank skill with a lot of effects or with a high defense it's just too unbalanced; - Some damaging skills act as a tank itself (Lee for example, who can deal DoT while having 50% DR to protect him). These skills are great because they have both offensive and defensive abilities, so think wise when making them. Don't make them deal too much damage, or give too much DR to the user, or else the skill could be abused; - Other tank skills give destructible defense to the user. Destructible defense is the best defense there is (only afflictions can pass trough), so these skills can't give too much DD to the character. (For example, Gaara gains 40 DD for 1 random chakra while Chouji (S) gains 35 DD for 2 random chakra. This is because Gaara can't deal any damage [his stun deals 5 damage, but it's almost nothing] and only serves to instantly kill, so he needs something to protect him, while Chouji (S) can deal serious damage, and his tank skill improves his skills. That's why, you need to look at the whole skill set of a character to see if the skill is balanced or not.); - Characters with tank abilities can't be too powerful or else they will have an amazingly great offense and defense. So, since these skills are powerful because they can make the enemy almost unable to attack (a normal 30 damage attack would only deal 15 damage to a character that has 50% DR, which is almost nothing for a skill that cost the opponent that much), so try to not abuse. Make sure the chakra cost (1-2 random, 1 specific, or whatever you think its' the better option) is perfectly fine with the protection the skill gives. Most Important Tip, imo - When you have finished your character, try to imagine him in-game. Imagine him against you, and see if he would be really powerful or not. Then just nerf/boost him depending on how strong he was in-game (you need to use your imagination, so think wisely xD ). --------------------------------------- Always try to make a mix of several types of characters and make sure they follow some of the rules I posted above. Some of them are really important and usually those rules are the ones some character makers don't know that exist. Be creative and original. Your character can only be good if you would be capable of using it in-game or if it isn't useless. Accept all constructive comments and improve with them. With the experience you'll be able to balance chars more easily. Feel free to post any question. I'll be glad to answer all of them when I have the time. If you have any doubt or you think that is something missing, feel free to post. --------------------------------------- Credits - Me (lder with a small L, not an i); - Abeed (helped me in some things); - To all "bad" character makers. Your lack of knowledge was one of the principal reasons I made this ; - To all mods/GM/admins of this game. Without them, this forum would be ruined. Hyuuga <3 || Miltam <3 || Bhavik <3 Songz <3 Wanna be a CC Maker? Read! The Holy Book of Chars! -Passes out from excitement- -retired

lder Rank: member Forum Rank: Sannin Posts: 4055 Joined on: August 1, 2007

#3 ~reserved , just in case I need it. Hyuuga <3 || Miltam <3 || Bhavik <3 Songz <3 Wanna be a CC Maker? Read! The Holy Book of Chars! -Passes out from excitement- -retired

Trepadora-Two Rank: member Forum Rank: Jounin Posts: 2524 Joined on: September 6, 2009

#4 Reserved to see this. ..... EDIT : NICE guide, You've out done yourself :s ..... //•T r e p a d o r a ? •Ulquiorra_san & Avy by Akatsunara //• Ugh, Gtfo of my face. iTrepa™ <----Kyuubi rage.

Lazy_Genius_13 Rank: member Forum Rank: Akatsuki Posts: 17427 Joined on: October 4, 2007

#5 quite good lder i might have to talk to some friends perhaps get it on a sticky list...this is certainly helpful ¦¦ ℓαzу© ¦¦ Would you accompany me, to the edge of the sea... ¦¦ ¦¦Teams ¦ Etre le coup de foudre ¦ Foundations ¦¦

CHABLAND Rank: member Forum Rank: Sannin Posts: 4448 Joined on: July 15, 2007

#6 Reserved Wow Awesome very helpful Release Yo Delf ~~~~Acres Caelestes - ReUnited _______________________ "My devastatin hot '90 Mentality Keep me on point for my four-digit salary Heavyweight lyric never lost one calorie"

iGreatNess Rank: member Forum Rank: Chuunin Posts: 493 Joined on: July 27, 2009

#7 ~Reserved -iGN Very Useful Hopefully A Mod Will Stick This

-KageBoy- Rank: member Forum Rank: Sannin Posts: 4954 Joined on: June 11, 2009

#8 Really Helpful guide, I'll try this guide when I get my GIMP back, Thanks for the help.. Nui made this. You can't have it.

Zero-sama Rank: member Forum Rank: Jounin Posts: 1914 Joined on: September 2, 2007

#9 Edit: It's too much for read, but its a nice help for people who made retarded characters. 8/10 for dedication:amused . Sigless atm Davido wrote: Behind any problem in life there is one or more sins that caused it.

yutozayne Rank: member Forum Rank: Jounin Posts: 2256 Joined on: October 24, 2007

#10 reserved

hwdphg Rank: member Forum Rank: Jounin Posts: 2964 Joined on: January 8, 2007

#11 Great Guide:amused Spoiler haven't read the whole thing acutally but this will come in handy when i make a character. *favorites*

g00dtim3s Rank: member Forum Rank: Jounin Posts: 1783 Joined on: July 2, 2008

#12 wow this info is of the chart 10/10 on the info but u forgot AOE i think (SMIRK) http://naruto-boards.com/743846/official-retirement-of-nol-and-my-farewell/ RETIRED br0s

experiment18 Rank: member Forum Rank: Jounin Posts: 1701 Joined on: July 15, 2008

#13 reserved...thanks~ Hoppy<3

bogdanonyx Rank: member Forum Rank: Jounin Posts: 1045 Joined on: May 10, 2008

#14 Very helpfull. Good work. It's pretty hard to do a nice guide. So good job and keep this updated. I hope it gets sticky.

lder Rank: member Forum Rank: Sannin Posts: 4055 Joined on: August 1, 2007

#15 Really thankies too all ^^ Trepadora-Two wrote: Reserved to see this. ..... EDIT : NICE guide, You've out done yourself :s ..... Thankies Lazy_Genius_13 wrote: quite good lder i might have to talk to some friends perhaps get it on a sticky list...this is certainly helpful Thanks ^^ That's what I want, to get it sticked so people could finally have something to guide them. Hyuuga <3 || Miltam <3 || Bhavik <3 Songz <3 Wanna be a CC Maker? Read! The Holy Book of Chars! -Passes out from excitement- -retired

!!!ASH!!!, -EmOVsMaKABayAN, -Ice, ahmad624, aleichans1, anbu*itachi, bambam1992, Baraha0506, barteks123, Cloud-Chan, Cynark, DasakeUchiha, demonron, Dragonxt, Es_Shinigamis, FlaminAxel, Georgia_Man, Ghoster01, goldwolf04, HappyDemon, Jonke, kakashialisson, KEL-vin, kylerocks1994, Lhagvasuren, littlehinata, LoGoSSaMa22, Luxvan, Lynank, madravsmaxata, master1995, meshaal, mikrent, miltam, MORG, nagaara25, Nike-Whore, niksancheto, pierreminato, Ramkec, rao2121, sahilss, sahrana, sakura_150, sicario100, skillet101, susanos_mangekyo, TediMoci, The_Great_Leader, Tobi92, tzica_la_francai, warbanator, __miss*fail__.