ATTN: User - Spellcasting Enhancements

Ven · Post by **Ven** » Wed Sep 25, 2002 10:08 am

I've heard about the whole "magical residue" concept. Do you know a way to permanently remove this from a mage as well as immunity to disruption in spellcasting - I know it's possible because Irenicus's spells never failed during out battle in Suldanessellar no matter how many times or how hard he was hit.

Alson · Post by **Alson** » Wed Sep 25, 2002 11:03 am

Originally posted by Ven
I've heard about the whole "magical residue" concept. Do you know a way to permanently remove this from a mage as well as immunity to disruption in spellcasting - I know it's possible because Irenicus's spells never failed during out battle in Suldanessellar no matter how many times or how hard he was hit.

That is because Jonny cheats.
*gasp*

Don't be surprised, many of the enemy magic users cheat.

They cast their spell using a script, but instead of using the Spell() command, which is similar to the PC's spellcasting, they cast spells using the ForceSpell() command, which is just like it sounds - it forces the spell to be cast, meaning - uninterruptable.
Very annoying. BioWare didn't wanted to "waste" time giving the enemies good AI, so they used shortcuts like using ForceSpell in the enemies scripts on a REGULAR base...

Kaitsuburi · Post by **Kaitsuburi** » Wed Sep 25, 2002 4:01 pm

Originally posted by Alson
They cast their spell using a script, but instead of using the Spell() command, which is similar to the PC's spellcasting, they cast spells using the ForceSpell() command, which is just like it sounds - it forces the spell to be cast, meaning - uninterruptable.
Very annoying.

Hmm... Very interesting... @Ven, you can always stick to the better ways to disrupt spellcasting: Nature's Beauty, Creeping Doom, Insect Plague, Power Word: Blind. A successfully blinded enemy will just go around mutterring "Damn! Where are they?" and won't be able to cast spells directly at you. And I think if you can get a swarm of insects onto them, their ForceSpell() will be overridden

Alson · Post by **Alson** » Wed Sep 25, 2002 4:19 pm

Originally posted by Kaitsuburi
Hmm... Very interesting... @Ven, you can always stick to the better ways to disrupt spellcasting: Nature's Beauty, Creeping Doom, Insect Plague, Power Word: Blind. A successfully blinded enemy will just go around mutterring "Damn! Where are they?" and won't be able to cast spells directly at you. And I think if you can get a swarm of insects onto them, their ForceSpell() will be overridden

Kaitsuburi, are you playing with Wes' Smarter Mages patch?
Because as far as i know, the "Damn! Where are they?" shout is a part of it....

Anyway, all of the spells you mentioned are excellent spells, especially Vs. spellcasters.
My approach toward a ForceSpell() spellcaster is:

If they can't see you, they can't cast spells at you. Either be invisible yourself and protect yourself from true sight, or pick the easier way - blind them!
If they're dead, they can't cast spells at you.
Not too complicated... Just blast through their spell protections with area-of-effect spells.

Kaitsuburi · Post by **Kaitsuburi** » Wed Sep 25, 2002 7:58 pm

Originally posted by Alson
Kaitsuburi, are you playing with Wes' Smarter Mages patch?
Because as far as i know, the "Damn! Where are they?" shout is a part of it....

Yep, I sure am! I think the new AI adds a much needed sting to those enemy spellcasters.

@Alson, on the matter of area damage, do you know why Horrid Wilting doesn't seem to work on liches, even after you've cast ruby ray and khelben's at them?? It sure disrupts some spells, but they have an immunity maybe??

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Thu Sep 26, 2002 2:43 am

i got codes so bun bun 7 is immune to miscast magic, spell disruption and so forth.....

will post when i finish immie mod....

its well written, quite disturbing in spots, and engrossing...

Ven · Post by **Ven** » Thu Sep 26, 2002 10:24 am

Yay!

I'll be looking forward to that!

Leonardo · Post by **Leonardo** » Thu Sep 26, 2002 11:01 am

And I think if you can get a swarm of insects onto them, their ForceSpell() will be overridden

I don't think it works. 2x Insect Plague did not prevent Fierkaag from healing himself. He took the damage but it did not disrupt his spellcasting

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Thu Sep 26, 2002 11:23 am

leo, enemy spell casters use a force spell script that makes certain spells they cast impossible to interrupt....

for a good example, try ANY of wes's creations...

when you interrupt a enemy mage ai, you can only interrupt a certain number of its spells, not all of them...

for example, even if you dont have magic missile memorized by immie, in chapter 1 she casts them at jon,,,,,

so typically if you swarm a enemy, you can force them from casting the really nasty stuff, like tolgeras in the planar sphere, you can keep him from casting abu dahzim....and liches timestop....

also devices cannot be interrupted, nor chain contingency...it works like a force spell script...sola mod, the lich in the docks, near the thief guild uses timestop scrolls, so her casting of timestop cannot be interrupted....kurosian casts spell immunity and prot magic weps via scroll, so cant be stopped....

this is why prebuffing is so important, and of course the best way to deal with them is to kill them so fast and so quickly their scripts dont have time to kick in....

Alson · Post by **Alson** » Thu Sep 26, 2002 11:35 am

Another fun way to cope with ForceSpell() is using script-breaking spells.
Warding Whip will do sometimes, but most of the GOOD AI scripts, like Wes', are too smart to fall for that...
There is a better alternative.

It's very little known knowledge, but confusing or feebleminding an enemy breaks his script!

So, stick 3 Chaos in a Sequencer (Chaos has -4 penalty to the save), and the mage will almost always be confused, thus disabling his scripted actions!

Littiz · Post by **Littiz** » Thu Sep 26, 2002 1:21 pm

@Alson, on the matter of area damage, do you know why Horrid Wilting doesn't seem to work on liches, even after you've cast ruby ray and khelben's at them?? It sure disrupts some spells, but they have an immunity maybe??

Abi DOES work on liches (unless they have Mirror Image or something)
We're speaking about the new lich at the docks, I assume?
She's the only Lich (IIRC) with 100% Resistance to magic damage.
That's why Abi's won't work.
And she has standard magic resistance too (25% not by accident, eh eh! )
You CAN'T use Lower Resistance, 'cause it's only a 5th level spell, you'll need at least Pierce Magic.

But she has also a lot of Protection from Magical Weapons, and being
a Lich, she's already immune to NORMAL weapons...
Very hard...
The first time I thought to be close to win, she had exhausted almost
all of her spells..
She used Tenser and Improved Haste and killed my main char in melee!!!

But the loot.....

Ven · Post by **Ven** » Thu Sep 26, 2002 3:27 pm

I just wanna be able to cast spells like the enemy mages then. I can remember a battle incident where my Necromancer was level 19 going against Irenicus the first time (not to mention with the 4 other peeps with me at the time) and he nearly mopped the grassy tree branches with us. Lightning bolt after lightning bolt, none of his spells were disrupted. Why can't regular players cast like that when they get to high levels ... *sigh*

Kaitsuburi · Post by **Kaitsuburi** » Thu Sep 26, 2002 7:07 pm

The new lich in the Docks district... I assume it's in the building Kangaxx is in?? IIRC, I encountered two, not one lich when I went in, together with some annoying fighters... Or is it somewhere I haven't tried looking yet -- where could that be though??

Please spoil me...

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Thu Sep 26, 2002 7:57 pm

hmmm...a new mission objective for bun bun8...sorry, i released 7 while back....

i am still fooling around with immie romance mod, very buggy, and it messes up the globals anyway with immieromanceactive....

anyway, i actually can create a bun bun with many of the same attributes as force spell...

first, ven, as of bun bun 5 the bunny from hell has perminent acuity on....you can cast multiple spells per round, and a bunch of great immunites, like timestop and imprison....

but if you guys, alson and littiz want a bun bun almost immune to spell disruption, i have the codes to immune to miscast magic and insect swarm and such....

anyway, 7 was buggy...i posted with typo in the perminent spell turning...

i did not know about chaos....makes me seriously rethink that spell....

i thought only khelbens breaks scripts....

thank you alson...

will post in less well used spells thread...

now even if a rakasha is immune to chaos, the effect should break his scripts...

little known thing...even if you are immune to something, you will still sometimes get the icon if the save is failed, so you can break rakasha (immune to level 7 and below...) spell casting...

wow.,.,,

best thing for wes improved mages...

good going alson...

Littiz · Post by **Littiz** » Fri Sep 27, 2002 3:10 am

Or is it somewhere I haven't tried looking yet -- where could that be though??

Yes, new lich. I don't have a save, can't point the exact location,
but it is IIRC (highlight) in the upper left side of the Docks,
group of buildings surrounded by a wall. Save before entering...

Alson · Post by **Alson** » Fri Sep 27, 2002 4:49 am

Originally posted by UserUnfriendly
i did not know about chaos....makes me seriously rethink that spell....

i thought only khelbens breaks scripts....

thank you alson...

will post in less well used spells thread...

No problem...
Xyx, Littiz and I are working on the Spell Reference ToB spells, and working with them really enriches my knowledge about spells!

Looking forward for this thread!

Ven · Post by **Ven** » Fri Sep 27, 2002 10:11 am

Patches that bring these yummie little immunities and enhancements would be greatly appreciated - if you ever get the time to attach ...

Either/or a simple breakdown of the concept for modifying it would be almost just as good. Just a lil more tedious. x_x

And bun bun owns j00 all.

ARcheR_S_ · Post by **ARcheR_S_** » Fri Sep 27, 2002 11:55 am

The new linch in the docks district is (seen from above), in the "room" attached to the Shadow Thieves Hall at the right.

U know, when u walk down the stairs the door directly at the right of it.

Xyx · Post by **Xyx** » Fri Sep 27, 2002 6:10 pm

That's GB's lich, isn't it? Woman with a line of dialogue and a portrait? She's cool.

Hard to cheese, too (though I still went ahead and did it anyway, of course

).

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Fri Sep 27, 2002 11:57 pm

i loaded up everyone with prot from elements and energy, and had every mage cast chain with triple inc cloud....

inc cloud can break most lich spell casting, i have seen only force spell succeed...mostly with mislead...triggers true sight...

ok, how did you cheese her????

inquiring minds want to know...