SeeD mission in Dollet: This portion of the game seems well balanced, actually. I will say that running into double Red G-Army soldiers was actually quite threatening, they do a lot of hard damage and aren't pushovers. My characters without HP-Junction were actually killed a few times throughout the mission (importantly, this depleted my supply of Phoenix Down, more on that later). I didn't have any problems with Elvoret or Biggs and Wedge encounters, seemed solid. I tried to kill the X-ATM092 the traditional way, I had stocked up on Lightning Magic but it wasn't nearly enough to kill him.
It's good to hear that the Elite Soldiers provided a bit of a challenge to you. That's exactly what I had in mind for them: Noticably more robust over generic G-Soldiers while dealing good damage, without turning them into killing machines. The main reason for making them stronger is their interactions with other enemies, which were hardly ever seen in the base game, because pretty much all soldiers die after one or two hits. To beat the X-ATM092, it is important to always be prepared for an incoming Ray-Bomb (it is used like every 5th turn) and to damage it at the right time in order to make it go into repair mode again as soon as possible. The Double spells from Balamb Garden are also very helpful here, should there be some left.
Timber mission: An important thing I noticed is how few opportunities you have prior to this battle to stock up on items you need in Timber. I did not purchase any Phoenix Downs prior to leaving Balamb, and unless I am mistaken, there is no opportunity to purchase more from a vendor within the city. With two Phoenix Down left and with a party member dead, I had to force the story forward (instead of exploring the city's side quests) in order to use a one-time rest at the inn of the leader of the Forest Fox because the regular inn is not available while the town is under occupation. If I could give a suggestion, I think having the G-Soldiers you encounter while running around town drop Phoenix Downs may alleviate this issue.
There is a vendor in front of the pub entrance that can be accessed after completing the train mission. You probably just overlooked her. Still, it is indeed advisable to buy some items before leaving Balamb because of the Gerogero boss fight. While we are at it: Inside Timber pub, buying the man the right drink is now more worth it instead of just showing him the Buel card.
Battle vs. the President's body double: Probably the hardest battle I'd encountered so far. Again, I tried to kill him the traditional way a few times but ended up wiping and getting a game over. At this point I became very conscious of the changes you made to character's stats and strengths. I had already noticed that Selphie and Squall are much better at using magic then Zell, but after a few wipes I completely rebalanced my character's magic inventories and Battle abilities via Junction to maximize their effectiveness. I stopped equipping the Magic command and gave Zell the Item command instead; I'd given Selphie the exclusive job of casting our party's strongest heals at Gerogero. I have to say that I am very, VERY pleased with how this aspect of your rebalance is turning out.
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Likewise, I don't use Zell in my party any more because his potential damage is so much less than the GF attacks or casted magic that he's pretty useless. I'm not sure how to fix this issue other than maybe making him naturally more tanky than other characters?
Good you realized that Zell is not suited for taking the role of a mage at all. Even with Mag-J available, other characters will be noticably more proficient in spellcasting (the order is Rinoa > Selphie > Quistis > Squall > Irvine > Zell). As mentioned in the changes overview, his low Magic and Spirit stats are meant as a penalty for his high HP and Strength. The fact that physical attacks lack the solid raw power of spells might lead to the impression that having Zell in the party is not worth it. Keep it mind though that physical attacks rise with Strength exponentially, so Zell will become a valuable fighter as his Strength stat rises. If he gets Ifrit and his second weapon (the required Dragon Fins can be received from the Grendels in the forest before Galbadia Garden, or Card Mod), while having something like Aero junctioned to Strength, his Strength should be around 100 - which is pretty much the point where physical attacks start getting strong enough to rival the power of spells or GF.
About the Centra Excavation site: I rechecked the damage of Elastoid's Reflect Beam and 800 damage is indeed a bit much for this point in the game. Gespers have always been attacking allies and foes alike - a unique trait that I wanted to keep for the mod. It is correct that they are relatively weak compared to other enemies at the site, but keep in mind that they start using Degenerator from medium levels onwards. The final two Cyborgs will be nerfed with the next update coming later today:
- Boomerang Sword will deal 200-300 less damage
- The critical hit rate from Shotgun and their Punch attack will be reduced
- Their speed multiplier after throwing their weapon will be reduced from x2 to x1.5
If I may offer one more important bit of feedback, and this may be an extreme suggestion, but would you consider disabling the GF command in battle? There's not really a lot of strategy to them offensively, they do too much damage to regular monsters and the most efficient option to winning battles is just to cast one and kill everything at once.
I wouldn't really like to remove them altogether, but I'm considering lowering their base power a bit. For now, further increasing Zells base Strength as part the update should help with dealing some quick damage during battles. Which spells are you currently having junctioned to Strength by the way? After completing the Centra Excavation site, it should be at least Aero, which can be easily obtained from Thrust Aevis around Timber.
Again, thank you for your input. It is really interesting to discuss all these little details that hardly ever mattered in the original game. Feel free to share more impressions in the future.
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But given the circumstances (solo Squall, Lv. 1 Shiva likely being hit by Gastric Juice)... yeah, there is a chance she won't make it. Grats may catch the player off-guard at the beginning, but won't be a threat for long. They should be as tame as always after unlocking the first set of Junction abilities.