Ragnarok Battle Offline

Infobox VG
title = Ragnarok Battle Offline


developer = French-Bread
publisher = flagicon|Japan French-Bread
flagicon|South KoreaGravity Corp.
distributor = flagicon|Japan French-Bread
flagicon|South Korea GRAVITY Co., Ltd.
flagicon|Philippines Level Up! Games
flagicon|Malaysia Game Flier flagicon|UK Atari
designer =
engine =
version =
released =
genre = Beat 'em up
modes = Single Player, Multiplayer (Not Online)
ratings = Not Rated
platforms = Windows
media = Download/CD
requirements = Windows 2000/XP, DirectX 9, 1GHz Pentium III or higher, Video card with VRAM 64MB or above, 2GB of hard disk space, 256MB or more of system RAM
input = keyboard, mouse, 4 button gamepads recommended.

"Ragnarok Battle Offline", or "RBO", is a beat 'em up game for Microsoft Windows created by dōjin soft developer French-Bread. The soundtrack is composed by Raito of Lisa-Rec. It is a homage and a spoof of the MMORPG "Ragnarok Online" created by Korean developer Gravity Corporation.

"RBO" impressed Gravity Corporation so much that it has been given an official release outside of Japan. Released as "Ragnarok Battle", the game has been distributed in Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand and a deluxe package in Korea which comes with its own gamepad. Level Up! Games also released an English version of "RBO" available in the Philippines. However, this release is based only on the initial version of "RBO", which does not include the expansions released by French-Bread. There is also an unofficial, fan-made English translation patch available for the Japanese version.

Though primarily a beat 'em up game, "RBO" also contains some RPG elements. The player creates a character from one of six basic classes and one unlockable class, allocate points to the character's stats and skills, and then enter one of the stages. Up to 3 people can play at once, using the keyboard, joysticks or gamepads.

The game had three expansion packs, called "Extra Scenarios". French Bread possibly planned to have more (since there are unused map icons), but no announcement has been made about another expansion pack for more than two years.

Ragnarok Battle Offline has very little plot, although some background characters in the game "speak" through text, sometimes mimicking actual player interaction in Ragnarok Online.

Character classes

* Acolyte - Acolytes are supporting characters. They may not be very powerful, but their heal skill and other support skills are useful in party situations. While slow at first, their "Increase Agility" skill can speed up the walking and attack speed of any character. Their only magic attack is "Holy Light", which can be launched with a special move, but they also gain special moves with stats.
* Archer - Archers use bows and arrows as their main weapon, but they have a maximum arrow capacity with a skill to create more arrows. Their skills do not consume arrows but SP, which Archers tend to lack. By adding points to DEX to raise the attack power of their arrows, they leave themselves weaker in melee battle. They also receive the special move "Backstep" to get themselves out of melee range. Their "Charge Arrow" skill is useful against large groups of enemies, and their "Arrow Shower" skill has four forms, depending on the gender of the archer as well as whether the character activates it on the ground or in the air. If an Archer is teamed up with a Merchant that has any level of Increase Weight Limit, the maximum arrow capacity is raised from 50 to 80 arrows.
* Magician - Magicians rely on magic attacks to damage enemies. Their normal attacks are slow and weak, but their magic is strong enough to overcompensate. Some spells are very hard to aim, but are unmatched in damage per second. Their low HP is offset by the two defensive skills "Energy Coat" and "Safety Wall", with a third skill "Fire Wall" keeping enemies from passing while doing damage.
* Merchant - Merchants have unique skills; their normal abilities allow them to mug monsters or create money out of enemy attacks. The coins can then be used for their other skills. They are slow with high firepower, relying on the strong attacks to get them by. Their most powerful skill, "Mammonite", is limited in use as a result of its slow speed and high coin cost.
* Swordman - Swordmen are close and mid-ranged fighters with skills such as "Endure" and "Moving HP Recovery" that help them survive. Swordsman are balanced in terms of power and speed. They are not that quick but are also capable of doing quick combos although its not that fast compared to thieves. They have strong attack skills such as "Bash" and "Magnum Break". Swordsman's "Magnum Break" is the best mob destroying melee skill in the game.
* Thief - Thieves rely on speed and evasion to fight. They are not as strong as other characters in attack strength, but they are capable of fast combos and fast special move chains. Their skills and special moves concentrate on status effects ("Envenom", "Throw Sand") and evading attacks ("Hiding", "Improve Dodge"). The "Envenom" skill for female characters and the "Steal" skill for the male characters can be combined with "Hiding" to increase damage greatly.
* Novice - Novice is a hidden class obtained by beating the game with each of the other six classes. They are the slowest of all characters and extremely weak. Upon reaching certain stat requirements, they gain powerful attacks, which consume HP as well as SP to execute.

Each class has a male and female version which has slightly different attacks. Male characters tend to be stronger and have more HP, while the female characters tend to have more useful supporting moves and more SP. For example, only the female Thieves have the "Ninja Rope" air dash technique compared to the males' regular air dash, and only the female version of the Acolytes can earn the powerful "Luna Buster Lariat".

Character stats

Character stats play an important role in the game. Each stat is a little different than the MMORPG version.

* Strength (STR) - The Strength stat increases the maximum physical damage that characters can deal with basic physical attacks and combos. At 30 STR, a character will do twice as much damage than at 1 STR. Strength plays a predominant role in the Swordsman and Merchant classes. It also helps Acolytes who use special moves and normal attacks as their main offense, as well as allows thieves to do more damage per hits. Arrow damage, however, is not affected by STR.
* Agility (AGI) - The Agility stat increases the character's evasion and speed, including cast speed for Magicians and Acolytes (as opposed to Ragnarok Online, in which DEX determined casting speed). Many of the classes require 10 to 20 AGI to gain an A-button combo move. AGI is an important stat for Magicians due to their low HP, but is not useless even for Novices and Merchants, who are the slowest classes in the game.
* Vitality (VIT) - Vitality increases the character's hit points (HP), defense against physical damage, resistance against status ailments such as Poison, and hit stun. The Swordsman has skills which are augmented by VIT, such as HP Recovery, Endure, and Moving HP Recovery. Any character who receives damage can make use of this stat.
* Intelligence (INT) - Intelligence raises the maximum SP, the damage dealt with spells by Magicians and Acolytes, and spell defense. Also, every 16 points of INT raises the potency of the Acolyte's "Heal" spell. Intelligence also affects the rate at which SP recovers, which is useful for any class who's going to rely on spamming skills as often as possible.
* Dexterity (DEX) - Dexterity increases the minimum damage dealt by the character. For Archers, DEX determines the maximum damage dealt by their arrow attacks as well. For every 10 points of DEX, the character can also chain another heavy attack into a combo.
* Luck (LUK) - Luck increases the critical hit rate by 2% for every 3 LUK. The game manual also says that LUK raises "lucky", which is short for the term "lucky dodge", much like the one on Ragnarok Online. With the exception of the female Merchant who needs 10 LUK to gain an A-button combo move, the LUK stat is not required for any special moves.

Another role of character stats is that each class has moves with stat requirements. These stat requirements must be fulfilled before the characters gain certain moves.

External links

* [http://www13.plala.or.jp/french/ French-Bread's Official Website] jp icon
* [http://rbo.ragnarok.co.kr/ Ragnarok Battle Official Website (Korean)] ko icon
* [http://www.ragnarokbattle.com/ Ragnarok Battle Offline - An English RBO fan forum]
* [http://www.kommunauty.fr/article.php?id=38 Ragnarok Battle Offline, French Help] fr_icon