This mod is a BepInEx plugin. To install it, first install BepInEx: https://docs.bepinex.dev/articles/user_guide/installation/index.html
Make sure you install BepInEx 5 and not the BepInEx 6 pre-release.
Then after installing BepInEx, extract the mod zip to "Lunacid/BepInEx/Plugins" to install the mod (create the directory if it does not exist).

This mod makes several changes to spellcasting in an attempt to even out the distribution of power between spells, to attempt to give the game a more meaningful progression in gaining new magic spells, make previously very weak spells more impactful and useful, and reduce the overbearing presence of some particularly overpowered options (I'm looking at you, Ice Tear...)

The first change is to minimum cast times. Now rather than being able to cast some spells instantly, those spells have a minimum cast time of 0.3 seconds. Spells that previously had a minimum cast time of 0.5s now have 0.8s instead. Spells with a minimum cast time of 1s are unchanged.
In exchange, the "Cast Cost Buildup"* mechanic has been removed, as it no longer serves any purpose**.

There is also a new system for Mana regeneration. Now every 15 points in RES gives you 1 point of Mana regeneration per second. This scales smoothly with RES but requires a minimum of 10 RES to activate. Reaching 100 points in RES disables the mod's Mana regeneration as the vanilla regeneration kicks in at that point.

Many spells have had their damage values adjusted, as well as some having new costs. A full list (with reasoning) is as follows (do not forget the above mentioned cast time changes!):

(To see all the original values for the spells, see: https://lunacid.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Spells)
(And of course if anyone has any thoughts or feedback, please don't hesitate to share them with me)

Flame Spear:

• Damage: 10 -> 16
• Reasoning: Flame Spear was very low damage, having a lower base damage than the Heritage Sword while costing a significant portion of your early-game Mana supply. It also has terrible mana efficiency compared to other options (Flame Flare, Earth Strike, Summon Fairy, Ice Tear). However it is still able to set enemies aflame, which is why its damage is not so greatly increased.
  

Ice Spear:

• Damage: 10 -> 20
• Reasoning: Ice Spear is much the same as Flame Spear, with the added caveat that very few enemies are outright weak to it. However, no enemy is immune to it, and its ability to slow enemies is quite handy. Given Flame Spear's potential to burn, Ice Spear has been given higher damage to help give it a niche.
  

Blood Strike:

• Damage: 30 -> 20
• Reasoning: A spell that deals three times the damage of Flame Spear, uses a regenerating resource, and is effective against enemies from both the Temple of Silence and Yosei Forest?! This spell is decent in some areas beyond that but by then other OP spells surpass it. Reducing its damage serves to lessen its impact on the early game while keeping it useful in niche cases of enemies who are weak to poison.
  

Flame Flare:

• Damage: 20 -> 5
• Reasoning: For only 50% more mana than a Flame Spear, here's a spell that can deal some 20 to 40 base Fire damage to an enemy who so much as touches it. And because a single flare lasts a whole 45 seconds, a single casting of Flame Flare can be used to take out several enemies. Though it is somewhat more dangerous to use, that doesn't really reduce its power in any significant way.
  

Earth Strike:

• Minimum Cast Time: Instant -> 0.80
• Reasoning: The concept behind this spell was likely to create a powerful spell balanced by a long cast time. However, its lack of a minimum cast time really ruined that in the later portions of the game, which left this spell unreasonably powerful against a wide variety of enemies.
  

Wind Dash:

• Minimum Cast Time: 0.50 -> 0.30
• Reasoning: I just think that 0.5s is a bit too long for the spell to be that useful in a fight.
  

Wind Slicer:

• Cost: 15 -> 12
• Damage: 10 -> 25
• Reasoning: This spell has the same problems that Flame Spear had while: 1. Being a less useful element. 2. Not being able to set enemies on fire for DoT. 3. Costing 50% more.
  Increasing its damage and slightly reducing its cost gives it a role as a basic but versatile attack spell, in line with its description.

Poison Mist:

• Damage: 12 -> 16
• Reasoning: Not many enemies are very vulnerable to poison and this spell was just a bit weak besides.
  

Lightning:

• Actually unchanged. It's powerful against many enemies due to the propensity of monsters in a dark fantasy underground dungeon to be weak to light magic, sure, but it's still less mana efficient than other options in many of those cases. Also being so bright and loud is already basically a downside to me, it almost hurts me to cast it!
  

Summon Fairy:

• Also unchanged. It can't all be balanced. It's fine.
  

Earth Thorn:

• Damage: 30 -> 45
• Damage Over Time: 25 (not scaled by INT) over 3 seconds -> 25 (scaled by INT) over 3 seconds.
• Reasoning: This was just a worse Earth Strike. Now it's a better Earth Strike with a short range.
  

Fire Worm:

• Damage: 18 -> 50
• Reasoning: This spell's gimmick is that it can hit several enemies in a row. However the projectile has a 0.5s cooldown after hitting an enemy before it can hit another one, meaning it cannot hit enemies who are too close together. This makes the gimmick practically useless. Increasing its damage significantly gives it a use besides this, as it is now a much stronger but less Mana-efficient Flame Spear.
  

Ice Tear:

• Damage: 45 -> 60
• Damage Over Time: 855 (scaled by INT) over 6 seconds -> 60 (scaled by INT) instantly.
• Reasoning: 855 damage at 0 INT for 35 Mana is actually real. The spell has a base power of 45, lasts 6 seconds, can deal damage every 0.3 seconds, and has a delay of 0.2 seconds after spawning before it can deal damage. (6 - 0.2)/0.3 = 19.33, so it can deal damage to an enemy 19 times over its lifespan, and 19*45 = 855. The rebalanced Ice Tear deals no damage over time, instead dealing a base damage value of 60 instantly, like a projectile. This still makes it quite powerful and reasonably efficient, just no longer overpowered.
  

Lava Chasm:

• Minimum Cast Time: Instant -> 2s
  
  

• Damage: "60" -> 18
• Damage Over Time: 1680 (not scaled by INT) over 14 seconds -> 504 (scaled by INT) over 14 seconds
• Object Blocks NPC Pathfinding?: Yes -> No
• Reasoning: Original Lava Chasm has a navmesh obstacle over its area of effect, which meant enemies would treat it as a wall. While realistic for some, this meant enemies would be teleported out of the chasm if you cast it on them, which is annoying and limits its usefulness. Its damage also didn't scale with INT, and now it does. It reaches its original power at around 55 INT.
  

Tornado:

• Minimum Cast Time: Instant -> 2s
• Damage: 40 -> 30
• Damage Over Time: 800 (scaled by INT) over 6.25 seconds -> 600 (scaled by INT) over 6.25 seconds
• Reasoning: With a high cost and it being a very lategame spell, it (like Lava Chasm) can stay quite powerful. However, it shouldn't have an instant cast time. I think that's an oversight even in vanilla.
  

Moon Beam:

• Minimum Cast Time: Instant -> 2s
• Damage: 1440 (not scaled by INT) over 6 seconds -> 432 (scaled by INT) over 6 seconds
• Reasoning: Like Lava Chasm and Tornado, this spell should be powerful. Again like Tornado, its cast time being instant minimum is odd. Like Lava Chasm, this spell will reach vanilla effectiveness at about 55 INT.
  

*A mechanic which causes the cost of casting a spell to vastly increase if the spell was cast within about two seconds of a previous casting of that spell.
**Its purpose was to reduce the power granted by being able to cast offensive spells very rapidly. As this is no longer possible this purpose is pointless, but the mechanic would nonetheless serve to inflate cast times with repeated castings, which would mess with my decisions regarding how to price spells in a way that is difficult to account for and gives no benefit if kept.