Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising: Advance Wars 2 "Balance"

This is a CO "balance" hack in the vein of my Advance Wars 1 "balance" hack. Strong COs are made less extreme and weak COs are made more viable. CO dossiér descriptions are also more detailed. Boss and bonus characters are kept overpowered, Flak kept weak.

All COs are unlocked by default.

Uses Xenesis' Defense Display and Pointer Hack Ultra patches.

Check Changes.txt for all the changes.

The hack is contained in an .ips patch, for which LunarIPS is needed.

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Created by Kartal
[email protected]
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Detailed Stats
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*Everyone gets an additional +10 defense in either power mode. This isn't reflected in the CO stats below.
*Powers only indicate stats if there's a change, i.e. Max keeps his passive 125/100 in addition to the +1 movement from COP.

Nell
xxxXXX
Skill: Luck 20
COP: Luck 60
SCOP: Luck 100

Andy
xxxXXX
Skill: -
COP: Repair 3
SCOP: Repair 5, 110/110

Max
xxxXXX
Skill: Direct vehicle 125/100, indirect 90/90 -1 range
COP: Direct vehicle and transport +1 move
SCOP: Direct vehicle and transport 160/100 +1 move

Sami
xxxXXX
Skill: Foot 120/110, 130% capture rate, transport +1 move, direct 90/100
COP: Foot 140/110 +1 move and ignore terrain, 150% capture rate
SCOP: Foot 160/110 +2 move and ignore terrain, 160% capture rate

Hachi
XXXXX
Skill: 90% price
SCOP: 75% price, deploy from cities: Tank, Recon, APC, Artillery, Anti-Air, B Copter, T Copter

Olaf
xxxXXX
Skill: No snow movement penalty, rain has snow movement costs
COP: Cause snow, 100/110
SCOP: Cause snow, 1 HP damage, 100/115

Grit
xxxXXX
Skill: Indirect 110/100 +1 range. direct vehicle 80/100
COP: Indirect +2 range
SCOP: Indirect 160/100 +3 range

Colin
xxxxXXX
Skill: 80% price, 90/100
COP: Current funds x 1.5
SCOP: +1% firepower for every 300 current funds

Kanbei
xxxXXX
Skill: 120% price, 120/120
COP: 130/120, 120% counterattack
SCOP: 150/130, 150% counterattack

Sonja
xxxXX
Skill: Foot 95/105, non-foot 95/110, 150% counterattack, +1 vision, hidden HP
COP: +3 vision, see into woods and reefs
SCOP: +3 vision, see into woods and reefs, attacks first, 100% counterattack

Sensei
xxxXX
Skill: Infantry 140/100, Mech 110/100 +1 move, B Copter 150/100, T Copter 100/140, ground and naval 90/100
COP: B Copter 190/100, copters +2 move
SCOP: Infantry 190/100 +1 move, Mech 190/100 +2 move, B Copter 190/100, copters +1 move

Eagle
xxxXXXX
Skill: Air 115/110, naval 80/100, -2 air upkeep
COP: Air 130/130 +2 move
SCOP: Air 130/130, moved air units can move again

Drake
xxxxXXX
Skill: Naval 100/120 +1 move, air 80/100, no rain movement penalty, rain chance +7%
COP: 1 HP damage, halve fuel
SCOP: 2 HP damage, halve fuel, cause rain, +1 vision

Jess
xxxXXX
Skill: ground vehicle 110/100, air and naval 90/90
COP: ground vehicle 130/100 +1 move, supply
SCOP: ground vehicle 150/100 +2 move, supply

Sturm
XXXXXXX
Skill: 120/90, ignore terrain except in snow
SCOP: 150/100, campaign: 8 HP meteor, else: 4 HP meteor

Flak
xxxXXX
Skill: Luck 25, bad luck 10
COP: 120/100
SCOP: 140/100, luck 40, bad luck 20

Lash
xxxXXXX
Skill: Terrain offense
COP: Sturm movement
SCOP: Sturm movement, double terrain

Adder
xxXXX
Skill: Has the shortest power bar
COP: +1 move, direct 110/100
SCOP: +2 move, direct 120/100

Hawke
xxxxxXXXX
Skill: 110/100, has the longest power bar
COP: Repair 1 HP, 1 HP damage
SCOP: Repair 2 HP, 2 HP damage

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Changes
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Nell
No change.

Andy
COP repairs 2 -> 3 HP, SCOP stats: 120/100(+10) +1 move -> 110/110(+10)

Max
Direct combat vehicles 120/100 -> 125/100, indirects lose 10 defense too like in AW1.
COP only grants +1 movement, SCOP stats: 160/100(+10) +2 move -> 160/100(+10) +1 move.

Olaf
Power bar: xxxXXXX -> xxxXXX
COP grants an extra 10% defense, SCOP only deals 1 HP damage and grants +15% defense.

Sami
Power bar: xxxXXXXX -> xxxXXX
Foot soldier stats: 130/100 -> 120/110, capture rate: 150% -> 130%
COP sets foot soldiers to 140/110(+10) +1 move (with terrain ignore like in AW1) and capture rate to 150%.
SCOP is the same with 160/110(+10) +2 move foot soldiers and 160% capture rate.

Grit
Indirects 120/100 +1 range -> 110/100 +1 range
COP doesn't grant firepower, SCOP indirect stats: 150/100(+10) +3 range -> 160/100(+10) +3 range

Kanbei
Power bar: xxxxXXX -> XXXXX
130/130 -> 120/120 units, lost COP.
SCOP doesn't a grant counterattack bonus, stats: 150/150(+10) -> 140/130(+10)

Sonja
Same luck as other COs, units lose 5% offense for 10% extra defense (foot soldiers only get 5% extra defense).
COP, SCOP vision bonus: +2 -> +3 (restored to the AW1 value)

Eagle
Power bar: xxxXXXXXX -> xxxXXXX
Naval 70/100 -> 80/100
COP grants +2 movement to air units, SCOP's double turn is restricted to air units.

Drake
Naval stats: 100/110 +1 move -> 100/120 +1 move, air 70/100 -> 80/100
SCOP grants +1 vision to counteract rain.

Sturm
Power bar: XXXXXXXXXX -> XXXXXXX
120/120 -> 120/90 units
SCOP stats: 140/140(+10) -> 150/100(+10), meteor deals 4 HP damage outside campaign mode

Flak
Luck 15 -> 25 (to higher than Nell's)
COP grants 120/100(+10) units, but luck remains at 25 and bad luck at 10.
SCOP stats: 100/100(+10) -> 140/100(+10), luck 80 -> 40, bad luck 30 -> 20

Lash
Power bar: xxxxXXX -> xxxXXXX

Adder
COP grants +10% direct damage, SCOP grants +20%.

Hawke
No change.

Hachi
Power bar: xxxXX -> XXXXX
Lost COP.
SCOP price: 50% -> 75%, cities can only deploy low tier ground units and copters, but not foot soldiers: Tank, Recon, APC, Artillery, Anti-Air, B Copter, T Copter

Colin
Power bar: xxXXXX -> xxxxXXX

Jess
Foot soldiers are no longer penalized, air and naval units lose 10% defense instead.

Sensei
Complete rework.
Power bar: xxXXXX -> xxxXX
Powers no longer spawn units, Mechs have base 3 movement instead.
Mech stats: 140/100 -> 110/100 +1 move, T Copter +40% defense, transport units lost their movement bonus.
COP: Copters become AW1 Max COP Copters (190% offense instead of 187% though) and gain +2 movement. (B Copter stats: 175/100(+10) -> 190/100(+10) +2 move)
SCOP: Copters gain same offense but with only +1 movement. Foot soldiers gain +90% offense and +1 movement as well (Mechs get to 190% offense and 4 movement).

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Meteor Strike
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044A88 Meteor Strike (8 HP)
00 B5 01 1C 03 48 D7 F7 65 FF 64 30 50 21 01 80 01 BC 00 47 58 08 4A 08

044AA0 Meteor Strike (4 HP)
00 B5 01 1C 03 48 D7 F7 59 FF 64 30 28 21 01 80 01 BC 00 47 58 08 4A 08

-

044A88 Merged Meteor Strike (8 HP in campaign, 4 HP otherwise)
00 B5 01 1C 06 48 D7 F7 65 FF 64 30
05 49 09 78 01 29 01 D1
50 21
00 E0
28 21
01 80 01 BC 00 47
58 08 4A 08 C1 3F 00 03
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

first part 00 B5 01 1C 06 48 D7 F7 65 FF 64 30
compare r1 to game mode 1 05 49 09 78 01 29 01 D1
80 HP 50 21
b 00 E0
40 HP 28 21
last part 01 80 01 BC 00 47
addresses 58 08 4A 08 C1 3F 00 03
emptied space 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

03003FC1 game mode

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Xenesis Patches
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Defense Display Patch by Xenesis
reverting War Room music change:
085EC6 War Room Music ID
085EC8 to:
40 00

Pointer Hack Ultra by Xenesis
619750 New Unit Stat Change Tables per CO, 270 long entries (ends at 61C59F)
entries:
F6 FF 00 00 00 00 00 00
offense, defense, movement, range

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Unlock All COs by Ephraim225
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3CAD0
to:
00 FF 7F 08

Database match: Advance Wars 2 - Black Hole Rising (USA)
Database: No-Intro: Game Boy Advance (v. 20210227-023848)
File/ROM SHA-1: 14DD0B22C894865867AFF89E8116B2DFFAE25605
File/ROM CRC32: 5AD0E571