Spellcasting Failure

Dragonfolk2000

If I am hit while casting a spell what is the chance that I successfully cast the spell? What sorts of things factor into this chance of success or failure (other than the common sense to stand waaaaaay back).

Wisp

Other than bugs, there is nothing that factors into it. If your character plays the damage animation (even if you take no actual damage), your spell fails. No ifs or buts. I don't know about BGEE, but at least in BG2, there is a hardcoded bug that would sometimes make spells impossible to interrupt. Subjectively, it's much more common with priests than with wizards.

ogreb

Doesn't constitution play a role in spell interruptions ? Higher constitution less chance of spell failure when hit.
Or am I thinking of another RPG ?

Wisp

No. Constitution has not effect. There is no chance whatsoever (outside of bugs) of not having your spell fail when you take damage (or resist taking actual damage).

However, I should also add that there are more than one spellcasting action available to scripted creatures, and some of them can't be interrupted.

Edit: also, if you really want concentration checks, there is an option for that in ToBEx.

zur312

scrolls can't be interrupted in scsii

Wisp

zur312 said:

scrolls can't be interrupted in scsii

That's vanilla (hardcoded) behaviour. (It also applies to any other spell cast from items, not just scrolls.)

zur312

i will need to test interrupting spells without scsii because i just got from few battles in ust natha and my scrolls didn't work it was really chaotic battle so i might be wrong

Noon

I remember clearly Branwen taking damage and still casting her spell in BGEE, so it is not a 100% fail. Also some enemies do it also but that may be coded.

zur312

i think i sometimes casted spells even when damaged

blackchimes

Wisp said:

Other than bugs, there is nothing that factors into it. If your character plays the damage animation (even if you take no actual damage), your spell fails.

This doesn't seem to apply to NPCs though. I've had them shrug off blows like it's nothing plenty of times, especially Druids and Clerics, but even pure(?) Mages like Silke.

Heindrich

blackchimes said:

Wisp said:

Other than bugs, there is nothing that factors into it. If your character plays the damage animation (even if you take no actual damage), your spell fails.

This doesn't seem to apply to NPCs though. I've had them shrug off blows like it's nothing plenty of times, especially Druids and Clerics, but even pure(?) Mages like Silke.

Yeah this is an interesting topic. I've noticed that the effectiveness of disruption often depends on the enemy involved. For example I've always been able to disrupt Sirines, when I first encountered them as a total noob, I didn't notice what the fuss was about cos I had 4 archers in my party and peppered them with arrows until they died. They were only a problem if there were more than one, and then I cudn't interrupt their cast. In BG 2, firing arrows at enemy mages/clerics rarely seem to prevent casts.

zur312

i am quite sure my cleric did finished his spells even after taking damage so it is possible but how and why?

ZanathKariashi

90% of the time you'll be interrupted when hit. 60% of the time an enemy won't be (100% for scripted spells). This coming from years of play this game. You have to hammer the $%#^ out of enemies to stand a chance at interrupting them, even when they're clearly just casting normally and not scripted. And they just have to sneeze in your direction to cause interruption.

zur312

yeah sometimes silke casted lighting even when i had 2 archers

CaptRory

That's why Command is so darned good! If you're unconscious you're not casting!

SCARY_WIZARD

CaptRory said:

That's why Command is so darned good! If you're unconscious you're not casting!

"Manos potentis paahhhzzzzzzzzzzzz."
SHK SHK SHK WHK SHK WHK WHK FSST
The party has gained experience.

ZanathKariashi

Yeah command is a MVP spell for the whole series. Some of the more fearsome enemies in SoA/ToB can be rendered effortless by popping them with command and then 40+ attacks during a round (assuming they don't die after the first 8).... (Looking at you Balthy).

zur312

look at my sanctuaried cleric! he got heal off even after 2 hits for 50 dmg!!!!
http://youtu.be/3DGD1t7LFBw

Nordom

Agreed. Currently it is totally not clear how this works exactly.
I have definitely seen it more than once..

But hitting an enemy spellcaster (especially a cleric, I think?) doesn't always disrupt their spells in Infinity Engine games. There's nothing I can do about this (it's a game engine issue) and I suspect it's deliberate on the part of the designers, to give spellcasters more chance of getting their spells off.

@Wisp perhaps there is some "affect" that is assigned to some creatures\bosses which grants them "uninterraptable spellcasting"?

zur312

Nordom said:

Agreed. Currently it is totally not clear how this works exactly.
I have definitely seen it more than once..

But hitting an enemy spellcaster (especially a cleric, I think?) doesn't always disrupt their spells in Infinity Engine games. There's nothing I can do about this (it's a game engine issue) and I suspect it's deliberate on the part of the designers, to give spellcasters more chance of getting their spells off.

@Wisp perhaps there is some "affect" that is assigned to some creatures\bosses which grants them "uninterraptable spellcasting"?

about bosses creatuers it is true and it is certainly true in moded tactics/scsii fights

but what is the mechanics of original baldur's gate because we know it could happen but how and why?

Archaos

ogreb said:

Doesn't constitution play a role in spell interruptions ? Higher constitution less chance of spell failure when hit.
Or am I thinking of another RPG ?

By the way, you're thinking of 3.0+ Edition of DnD such as Icewind Dale 2 or the Neverwinter Nights series.
There Concentration factors in the chances of being interrupted and you get a bonus from your Constitution score.

ZanathKariashi

2nd Edition actually does have a version of Concentration, but it's a General HLA. Requires a minimum level of 10+ to purchase (costs 2 NCP) and allows the character to make a Wis check at -4 to avoid interruption when damaged or due to other distractions while casting a spell or using a NCP or skill (such as a thief using their Climb Wall skill or disable a trap or open a lock while suffering from a debilitating injury (those actions take time in PnP and can be interrupted)) though intense focus and willpower.

Alsn

As far as I know, no proper arcane spells are ever not interrupted except a few hard coded monsters(demi-liches in bg2 being a prime example).

However, multiple priest spells regularly avoid being interrupted, notably Hold Person and other enchantment spells. This even happens for the player and his party members. I have no idea why this is even though I've probably played these two games for thousands of hours. The only pattern I've ever observed is that arcane spells under normal non-scripted conditions are always interrupted, while priest spells occasionally are not.

LordRumfish

It has certainly been my experience that clerics are more difficult to interrupt.

If monsters are more difficult to interrupt, then I don't appreciate the behavior they have of running halfway across the screen to go interrupt my spellcaster if we aren't on equal footing. The monsters are acting with a lot of metaknowledge (I've seen monsters start gunning towards a spellcaster even if they haven't actually started casting the spell yet and are waiting for their turn to come up, so how does the monster even know I intend to cast a spell? I even experimented by switching the NPC's command to throw a slingstone and the monster lost interest!).

nano

LordRumfish said:

If monsters are more difficult to interrupt, then I don't appreciate the behavior they have of running halfway across the screen to go interrupt my spellcaster if we aren't on equal footing. The monsters are acting with a lot of metaknowledge (I've seen monsters start gunning towards a spellcaster even if they haven't actually started casting the spell yet and are waiting for their turn to come up, so how does the monster even know I intend to cast a spell? I even experimented by switching the NPC's command to throw a slingstone and the monster lost interest!).

That's really weird... most monsters I've seen ignore spellcasting although they do prioritize squishy looking/unprotected targets.

Are you using mods? I'd actually prefer this sort of smart behavior from my enemies because I mercilessly target their casters.

Keep in mind that if you've only queued up the order but haven't started casting the spell yet, they can't interrupt you. If you have started, then they can see you casting so it's fair game.

ShadowTiger

I mostly play the original BG but I don't ever remember someone taking damage and still finishing their spell. I tend to pelt enemies with several missile attacks, including magic missile to interrupt them, so that may be a factor. I also seldom let my own casters take damage. I guess in BG 2 its harder to tell if they are getting interrupted because they have stone skin / protection from weapons up most of the time.

LordRumfish

@nano I do not use any mods. It's possible that some of this behavior may have only been happening in The Black Pits, I'd have to double check. The monster AI seems improved in some respect that I am not used to.

nano

Hm, could be.

I think the reason divine casters can shrug off damage is the same reason they can cast in armor. It's supposed to a more robust kind of magic you use while in the middle of a fight while beating people's heads in. Still they end up being much easier to interrupt than arcane casters because they can't really block Magic Missile while arcane casters start off the battle immune to everything and then some.

syllog

Is there a mod that will prevent interruption (only) when damage is <= 0?

(e.g. a fire resistant caster sitting in an incendiary cloud -- really annoyed that my dragon disciple can't utilize his resistance much )

velehal

syllog said:

Is there a mod that will prevent interruption (only) when damage is <= 0?

(e.g. a fire resistant caster sitting in an incendiary cloud -- really annoyed that my dragon disciple can't utilize his resistance much )</p>

ToBEx does it. But it isn´t compatible with EE.