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Dispelling magic *Not an issue*

carugacaruga Member Posts: 375
edited November 2012 in Fixed
What happened: I had a party member cast haste on party, then had another cast dispel magic on the party. It didn't remove the haste from any of the members except for the one member that had magic resistance.

What should happen: I personally would like to see 'friendly fire' possible again in regard to dispel magic (and maybe even the haste spell, hastening enemies). But barring that, it should interact with magic resistance correctly, not inverting the effect.
Post edited by Tanthalas on

Comments

  • TanthalasTanthalas Member Posts: 6,738
    I can't remember how dispelled work in BG1, but in BG2 Dispel hits friend and foe alike.

    On the other hand, I have no idea if the semi-random chance of Dispel working is calculated independently for each target (which could mean that your situation was just a case of luck) or if its calculated against the level of the caster for all NPCs that were hasted (in which case the effect should be the same for everyone and that really is a bug).
  • carugacaruga Member Posts: 375
    I can't remember how dispelled work in BG1, but in BG2 Dispel hits friend and foe alike.
    Oh, oops. Sometimes I get wires crossed with my memory of the game mechanics, I've not played for a few years (saving my next playthrough for when EE comes out).

  • carugacaruga Member Posts: 375
    edited June 2012
    I can't remember how dispelled work in BG1, but in BG2 Dispel hits friend and foe alike.

    On the other hand, I have no idea if the semi-random chance of Dispel working is calculated independently for each target (which could mean that your situation was just a case of luck)
    Every member that had _no_ magic resistance didn't get dispelled. Does it have a saving roll?

    I also tested it twice. :)
  • TanthalasTanthalas Member Posts: 6,738
    Its not a saving roll, its something like:

    - Base chance for Dispel to succeed is 50%.
    - For every level of the caster above the original caster you get 5% more chance to succeed.
    - For every level of the caster below the original caster you get 10% less chance to succeed.
  • Daedalus87mDaedalus87m Member Posts: 92
    edited June 2012
    I remember "Dispel Magic" dispelling friend and foe (given that you succeed) in both BG1 & BG2.
    That's why there's "Remove Magic" in BG2, which only works on enemies.

    Also, I remember that Magic Resistance in BG1 prevented all types of spells, like Cure Light Wounds, Bless and also Dispel Magic! Maybe that's confusing you.
    In BG2 Magic Resistance only prevented harmful spells.
  • carugacaruga Member Posts: 375

    In BG2 Magic Resistance only prevented harmful spells.
    I think that should revert back as well. I think there's a thread on that somewhere...
  • TanthalasTanthalas Member Posts: 6,738
    edited June 2012
    I actually don't agree with that. I never encountered a case reading novels where helpful magic didn't work on Drow (though on the other hand I also don't remember a case where harmful magic didn't work either).

    Likewise, I think there's actually an item description in IWD2 (might have been IWD1) where it mentions how a Drow used an amulet with beneficial magic to kill his brother, and the item description itself says that magic considered benign is not affected by a Drow's magic resistance.
  • AndreaColomboAndreaColombo Member Posts: 5,533
    According to AD&D Player's Handbook, as well as the AD&D Dungeon Master Guide, creatures with innate magic resistance can suppress it at will. It ensues that all creatures with innate magic resistance (like drows) can fully benefit from friendly spells while being resilient to harmful ones. The AD&D Monster Manual entry for drow elves states:

    "Perhaps it is the common use of magic in drow society that has given the dark elves their incredible resistance. Drow have a base resistance to magic of 50%, which increases by 2% for each level of experience. (Multi-classed drow gain the bonus from only the class in which they have the highest level.) All dark elves save vs. all forms of magical attack (including devices) with a +2 bonus. Thus, a 5th-level drow has a 60% base magic resistance and a +2 bonus to her saving throws vs. spells that get past her magic resistance."

    and that is all it has to say about their magic resistance.
  • carugacaruga Member Posts: 375
    edited June 2012
    According to AD&D Player's Handbook, as well as the AD&D Dungeon Master Guide, creatures with innate magic resistance can suppress it at will. It ensues that all creatures with innate magic resistance (like drows) can fully benefit from friendly spells while being resilient to harmful ones. The AD&D Monster Manual entry for drow elves states:

    "Perhaps it is the common use of magic in drow society that has given the dark elves their incredible resistance. Drow have a base resistance to magic of 50%, which increases by 2% for each level of experience. (Multi-classed drow gain the bonus from only the class in which they have the highest level.) All dark elves save vs. all forms of magical attack (including devices) with a +2 bonus. Thus, a 5th-level drow has a 60% base magic resistance and a +2 bonus to her saving throws vs. spells that get past her magic resistance."

    and that is all it has to say about their magic resistance.
    I like it.

    I'm wondering if Viconia's MR was removed for storyline or for technical reasons (there's one line at the end of her bio talking about losing her natural abilities due to lack of contact with her people or something--does the manual describe this happening to drows?). I would like to see her have it back in BG2 without requiring a mod (and that mod is glitched I think, giving her 65% instead of 50%), but it may trespass into forbidden territory regarding modifications to the existing recruitable characters.

    She's already sweet cleric in BG2 with her 18 wis... that's one reason I think returning her MR would only be balanced if it deflected both positive and negative status effects. But I can't endorse it if the BG1 behaviour was merely an oversight or engine limitation in the first place!
  • Daedalus87mDaedalus87m Member Posts: 92
    @caruga - You know... she also has MR in BG2 :)
  • carugacaruga Member Posts: 375
    @caruga - You know... she also has MR in BG2 :)
    I thought that was just with fixpack installed, hmm...
  • BalquoBalquo Member, Developer Posts: 2,746
    @Tanthalas No action then?
  • TanthalasTanthalas Member Posts: 6,738
    @Balquo

    Yeah, this isn't being changed.
  • DarkcloudDarkcloud Member Posts: 302
    Tanthalas said:

    Its not a saving roll, its something like:

    - Base chance for Dispel to succeed is 50%.
    - For every level of the caster above the original caster you get 5% more chance to succeed.
    - For every level of the caster below the original caster you get 10% less chance to succeed.

    I wonder if they fixed the bug with that. In vanilla BG2 it actually was:
    target is above caster level: 0% chance
    Target is below caster level: 100% chance
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