Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster - Dualcast Stacking Bug
9Just demonstrating one bug from the hundreds encountered in this release. Before I get into the inevitable wall of text, I'll list the requirements and steps to replicate this.
1. Give the chosen character(s) !Dualcast, obtained from mastering Red Mage
1a. Pairing with !White, !Black, !Time or !Summon is optional, but allows for more options
2. Enter any battle and end it with Dualcast set as the chosen characters' next Auto-Battle command, then enter another battle
2a. Setting an Auto-Battle for Return is optional, as the glitch only requires one character, as long as they are able to cast Return
3. Activate Auto-Battle to have the character(s) Dualcast the two spells
4. Use Return or Wonder Wand to restart the battle
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 as needed, sufficient MP is required for spells to have effect
Here's a rough visual guide: https://imgur.com/a/Y8FctUL
The video doesn't go over all the things that happen with the bug, but I'll try to explain the stuff I know. No clue if there's a max amount of casts, but it doesn't stop even if you run out of MP, it just doesn't properly cast the spell. I tested all the way up to a x129 multicast of Remora before I got bored and gave up.
If you decide to give a character Return as one of the Auto-Battle commands, make sure they're positioned as the lowermost character in your party order (like Faris here) and make sure the ATB gauges fill for each Dualcaster before toggling Auto-Battle, in order to avoid Return being cast too early. If multiple characters have a full gauge, actions will always play out in descending order starting from the topmost character.
When casting Return, the game only clears the first of the two Dualcast spells, while adding both from the start of the battle. Every single cycle will leave you with one additional remnant cast per character, taking away the oldest spell in the sequence each time.
The Dualcast character is free to perform actions between Auto-Battle and Return if there is need to. Casting Return without performing the Auto-Battle Dualcast will result in no additional stacks. Manually Dualcasting with the character will make those spells the new defaults when casting Return, causing them to be added instead of the original spells (see above linked image for a visual).
If a character runs out of MP during the chain of casts, they will not stop until every cast has been performed. Lacking the MP, the game will simply say "Not enough MP!" and cancel out the spell. Tangentially related; this will happen earlier than you would expect as the Pixel Remaster also has a bug that makes Gold Hairpins require the full MP cost to successfully cast a spell, even if you have the MP for a half-cost one.
Casting Summons is significantly faster than any other magic, as another PR bug happens where only the final Summon in the chain will actually play the animation.
I haven't looked into this too much so some of the following info might be wrong. If the enemy has special behavior such as script triggers before dying, they will wait through all the preselected Auto-Battle turns to end before triggering (e.g. Exdeath). Enemies with counters will wait for the gap between characters to fire off all built up counterattacks (e.g. Omega).
Final tangentially related note, attempting to Mimic Dualcast Summons softlocks battles.
Chapters:
0:00 Setting up Auto-Battle commands
0:41 Normal Dualcast (x2)
1:07 Multicast bug x3
1:31 Multicast bug x7