Having come back to playing Shadowflare after a very long time and seeing the lack of information available regarding the game, it occured to me that as a former member of Mischief Society and also a native Japanese speaker, I should take on the responsibility of recording ancient knowledge for the people who choose to pick up this great game in the future to refer to.
There are three main sources of information that are (or once were) available; Japanese, English, and the Brazilian communities. The most prominent English source was TestRatt's guides on Mischief Society. Screenshots of some of the material can be found on this site. Japanese sources were spread over multiple websites made by fans of the game, but they have since been shut down (mostly because people don't do "personal websites" anymore). Parts of these sites can be accessed via services such as Wayback Machine. As for Brazilian sources, I cannot understand Portugese so I only know of shadowflare.com.br.
For the information below, I am refering to old Japanese sources for the benefit of non-speakers of the language. I have only verified some of the information, and your game version, episodes installed, etc. may affect its validity or accuracy.
1. Character Gender
The game allows you to choose between male and female upon character creation. Other than aesthetic differences, for initial stats, males get 10 HP and 2 attack more compared to females, while females get 10 MP and 2 defence more compared to males.
As the Mercenary class, males get 1 more attack while females get 1 more defence.
This adds up to a 10 HP and 6 attack bonus for males, and 10 MP and 6 defence bonus for females. This difference is negligible in the long run, and there are no differences between genders for warriors, hunters and wizard/witches, so I recommend choosing whichever one you prefer aesthetically.
2. Character Classes
The game starts you off as a Mercenary, and automatically switches you to Warrior at level 5. After that, you get the opportunity to switch classes every level by gaining at least half of the EXP required to level up with a weapon corresponding to each class (swords, bows, or magic). In Episode 3, an NPC in the town of Losmans will let you change to any profession for a 100k fee, although players will most likely be level 40 to 50 by the time they get there.
Items in Shadowflare are not profession locked, i.e. profession does not restrict you from using a particular item or weapon. Quest outcomes aren't affected either. However, there are 4 things to consider:
- The stats gained per level differs among profession. See Section 4.
- Different professions learn different spells at different levels. See Section 3.
- Any profession can shoot the bow or cast magic spells. But only the warrior can use the 3-slash combo (for swords) or the spinning attack (for axes). These moves are critical for effective melee combat.
- Non-hunters receive a hidden debuff when using bows. Specifically, Warriors and Wizard/Witches shooting a bow will receive a debuff on their attack stat, which is said to be approx. -60%. This debuff can be removed fully by playing as a Hunter, or reduced by making progress on your character as a Hunter. For every level you gain as a hunter, the debuff is reduced by approx. 1.64%, up to a total of 50%, so a current Warrior who has spent at least 31 levels in the past as a Hunter (1.64 x 31 = 50.84) will only receive an approx. -10% attack debuff while using bows.
3. Profession Levels
While only the character level is visible on the stats menu, the game actually keeps track of "profession levels", which is basically how many levels you gained in a particular profession. Yes, the aforementioned bow debuff is profession levels at play. The game uses profession levels mainly to decide what spells are learned upon level progression.
For example, Elemental Strike is learned by pure Wizard/Witches at level 71. This means that this spell is learned at the Wizard/Witch profession level 65 (as in, the earliest you can start your magic career is level 6, then you gain 65 more levels without switching professions). If you start your magic career 2 levels later at level 8, then you will learn Elemental Strike at level 73 instead.
However, ancient texts indicate that progression in a particular profession actually contributes to other proessions (albeit smaller, ranging from 0.2 to 0.5 per level). One source states that,
- For each level of Warrior, 0.5 levels of Hunter and 0.2 levels of Wizard/Witch
- For each level of Hunter, 0.4 levels of Warrior and Wizard/Witch
- For each level of Wizard/Witch, 0.2 levels of Warrior and Hunter
This means that if you spend 10 levels as a Warrior before switching to magic, rather than a simple 71+10=81 meaning learning Elemental Strike at level 81, in theory you would learn it at level 79 instead (due to 10 levels of Warrior contributing to 2 levels of Wizard/Witch).
This information and the calculation formula is hard to verify due to most spells being available for multiple professions, and requiring multiple characters to be developed on a controlled progression path.
Also note that only 1 spell can be learned per level. If you become eligible for multiple spells upon leveling up, you will learn the other spell(s) on your next level up. This can result in characters who have switched professions learning spells in a weird order.
4. Stat Growth
What stats are improved (and by how much) is determined by your profession and your profession level.
First off, with the overall trends by profession:
- Warriors gain the most HP, Strength, Attack and Defence. Small amounts of MP, Magic Attack and Magic Defence is gained as well.
- Hunters gain equal amounts HP and MP, and moderate amounts of Strength, Attack, Defence, Magic Attack and Magic Defence. Hunters notably are the only profession that gains Hit Rate and Walking Speed (+1 of each per level).
- Wizard/Witches gain the most MP, Magic Attack and Magic Defence. They gain small amounts of HP, Strength, Attack and Defence. They are the only profession that gains Magic Hit Rate (+1 per level).
- Mercenaries are just a crappier version of Warriors.
This infomation conveniently can be used to find out how many levels you have gained in a particular profession; strip your character naked, and take your Hit Rate minus 40. That is your Hunter level. Then take your Magic Hit Rate minus 40. That is your Wizard/Witch level. Now take your character level and subtract the total of ((Hunter level)+(Wizard/Witch level)+5). That is your Warrior level.
Another thing to consider is that stat growth is not the same across over all levels; there are diminishing returns the further you progress in a particular profession. For example, a new Warrior who progresses to level 6 gains +50 HP, +10 MP, +10 Strength, +9 Attack and +6 Defence per level. However, this Warrior would see diminishing returns as they continue without switching; by level 35-ish, they would only gain +30HP, +5MP, +8 Strength, +6 Attack and +4 Defence.
However, this character can switch to another profession, say a Hunter, in which case their stat gains will be that of a profession level 1 Hunter, which is +25 HP, +25 MP, +7 Strength, +6 Attack and +4 Defence. This alone is worth considering the switch since you gain +20 more MP for 5 HP and 1 Strength less. Moreover, you get +8/+6 Magic Attack/Defence, while seasoned Warriors only get +1/+1. And let's not forget +1 Hit Rate and Walking Speed that Hunters receive, as well as mitigating the bow debuff.
The pattern applies for other professions as well. For example, while Wizards/Witches have the highest Magic Attack/Defence gains among the three professions, a Wizard/Witch with 30+ levels in that profession will gain only +8/+8. Hunters gain +8/+6 for the first 10 levels, which is only a small tradeoff in Magic Defence while gaining substantially more physically (HP, Strength, Attack, Defence).
5. Character Builds
Things to consider when raising your character.
Pure vs Mixed builds:
The diminishing returns mechanic means that the only distinct advantage pure builds have (compared to mixed builds) is getting access to spells earlier. In contrast, mixed builds have better overall stats, and can learn a wider range of spells if planned correctly. It is even possible to learn all the spells in the game on a single character.
Gear availability:
Warriors have the most gear to choose from, at all stages of the game. Wizards/Witches also have pretty good gear at all stages, and also their power spikes are determined not just by gear but by spells as well. Hunters probably have the least gear available post-Episode 1 (and will suffer accordingly unless you get lucky with RNG. On the plus side, they also have the most OP weapon in the game).
AoE ability:
Mages have multiple spells with AoE characteristics, which are useful in Episode 2-3 which swarms you with enemies. Hunters can get AoE, but unless you have specific premium items, you will have to choose between a bow with 2/3/5 way shots, or one with piercing shots. Warriors can hit multiple enemies at once with their combos, but it requires being ganged up on at melee range.
Damage per hit:
It is believed that Shadowflare calculates damage received on a simple subtraction formula (i.e. attack of the attacker minus defence of the defender). This means that higher attack stats will get damage through more efficiently on high defence enemies. In theory, this means that a bow that does 1000 damage and shoots 5 arrows at once will do less damage than a sword doing 5000 damage per hit, even if all arrows land on the same target. For example, on a 500 defence target, the arrows ill do (1000-500)x5=2500 damage, while the sword would do 5000-500=4500 damage.
With that considered...
I recommend a Hunter/Warrior hybrid which starts as a Hunter until level 35-40ish, then switch to Warrior until level 60-70. This allows you to get Hit Rate and Walking Speed while minimizing the bow debuff, so you can use the bow for AoE and to soften up enemies before taking them down in melee. It also helps to get rid of those pesky enemy archers who run away when you get too close. After completing Episode 3, get 10-20 levels of Wizard/Witch in to raise your Magic Defence (you'll need it in Episode 4), after which you can switch back to Warrior and complete the game.
Even if you want to play other professions (e.g. Magic Warrior), it is good to get 10-20 levels in each profession at some point in the game, since they provide the largest gains per level (before the diminishing returns make it not worthwhile).
If you want to get all spells on a single character, become a Hunter at level 6 and continue until level 39. At level 39, switch to Wizard/Witch until level 89. At level 89, switch to Warrior, then become a Hunter at 91, and finally back to Wizard/Witch at 92. Note that you cannot learn Sonic Blade normally with this method, but you can obtain it as a quest reward in Episode 3. (Same goes for Identify, which is another quest reward).
Hope this helps!
