Reflect Spell
by SiliconHero

Today, I'm going to show you how to make a Reflect technique. This attack will protect your
hero from physical attacks, and reflect damage upon the enemy! It's similar to the Reflect
Damage Battle Skill in Vagrant Story.

First, go to your Database and make a skill called "Reflect", setting its classification to
"Switch". Make sure that only the Battle animation is clicked under the "Available at" box,
since this is a combat-only skill. Now, under the ON Switch box, set it to a new switch called
"ReflectCast". Create a hero for your party, and give him/her this skill.

Second, make a party of monsters (it doesn't matter how many), and set it up in the Monster
Party part of the Database. Copy and create a new blank page, so that you have two pages to
work with. Now, on the SECOND page, set your trigger to activate when your hero uses the
Reflect Skill. Inside this page, create a new variable called "HPBefore". This will check
the HP when your hero casts the Reflect spell, and (hopefully) before your foes start
pounding on you. After this, turn on a new switch called "ReflectActive" and, if you want,
set a condition called "Reflect" (in the Conditions tab, just type in the word Reflect under
the new skill, and leave everything else alone). Now, set a limit to how long your Reflect
shield will stay active (three or four turns is sufficient), by making a new variable called
"ReflectTurns", and then turn the "ReflectCast" switch off. Your completed page will look
like this:

Trigger: Switch[0001:ReflectCast - ON]

<>Variable Ch. [0001:HPBefore] Set, Alex HP
<>Change Switch: [0002:ReflectActive] - ON Set
<>Condition: Alex -> Reflect Condition
<>Variable Ch. [0002:ReflectTurns] Set, 3 (this will be a new variable)
<>Change Switch: [0001:ReflectCast] - OFF Set

Now, let's jump to our first page. We'll set this one to activate at the beginning of
every turn by selecting Turn 1x as our trigger. Now, we'll make a big fork to see
whether or not the ReflectCast Switch has been turned on (that is, our hero has cast the
Reflect spell). After this, set a new variable called "HPAfter", to check what the hero's
HP are after the attack. Next, we'll calculate how much damage will be done (if any) to
the enemy by checking to see if HPAfter is lower than HPBefore. If so, then we can
calculate another new variable, "ReflectDamage" by subtracting HPAfter from HPBefore.
Once this is done, we can count down the number of turns that our Reflect spell will be
in effect by one, and cancel it altogether if ReflectTurns reads 0; otherwise, we can
set the HPBefore variable and start the counterattack process for the next turn. Your
first page will look like this:

Trigger: Turn[1x]

<>FORK Optn: Switch [0002:ReflectActive] - ON
 <>Variable Ch. [0003:HPAfter] Set, Alex HP
 <>FORK Optn: Varbl [0003:HPAfter]-V[0001]less than
  <>Variable Ch. [0004:ReflectDamage] Set, Var. [0001] val.
  <>Variable Ch. [0004:ReflectDamage] -, Var. [0003] val.
   (you can fill the next few spaces with a custom algorithm if you want)
  <>Show Battle Animation: (anything you want), Whole Group
  <>Messg: The Reflect Shield dealt \v[4] HP damage to the enemies!
  <>Change Enemy's HP: 1:Slime HP V[0004] Decr.
   (repeat only this step for each enemy in your group)
  <>
 :END Case
 <>Variable Ch. [0002:ReflectTurns] -, 1
 <>FORK Optn: Varbl [0002:ReflectTurns]-0
  <>Change Switch: [0002:ReflectActive] - OFF
  <>Condition: Alex Reflect Cancel
  <>Messg: Alex's Reflect magic has faded.
  <>
 :ELSE Case
  <>Variable Ch. [0001:HPBefore] Set, Alex HP
  <>
 :END Case
 <>
:END Case
<>

Now, when you go into combat, cast your Reflect spell. The hero's reflect barrier will absorb
damage, and bring it back at the enemy party. You should take note that when using healing
items, the effectiveness of the barrier may be reduced or nullified, depending on how high
your HP are at the end of the turn.

And that's the end of this tutorial. If you have any questions or comments, e-mail me at
mega_man_digger@msn.com or siliconhero@barrysworld.com.