priests and bard quality of life improvement

trinit

@Tris made an excellent suggestion for revising the engine for the thieves ability (http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/2562/thieves-quality-of-life-improvements#latest).

it goes something like this-

Hide in the shadows :

- first and foremost, please, make it so that you leave the shadows only when you actually try to do something. Just checking how many traps you have left, or your remaining spells for dual/multiclasses shouldn't force you out of stealth.

- Second, but it might be harder to implement : the hide in shadows switch should work on an on/off mode, rather than a single activation button (your character constantly tries to hide in the shadows without the need to manually reactivate it every single time you get revealed). This reduces the need to rely on of the thieves scripts, that are not that easy to find and can be tricky to use.


i suggest this handling gets applied to clerics "turn undead" ability and bards "plays song" ability. removes the frustration of endless clicking in the battle, trying to maintain the mode on.

Beridel

I wholeheartedly agree. However for the bard's song, that would make the bard's song slightly better than it's supposed to be. I mentioned it in a thread I made a week or so ago: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/comment/22441

IMO though, I would MUCH prefer a quality of life improvement over being as strict as possible while following AD&D 2E rules.

Moomintroll

I'd rather there were just more instruments, we were spoiled in IWD. I found those harps in BG2 and horn of blasting (useable by anyone) a little uninspiring.

trinit

yap, more class specific items is always a welcome addition IMO. but i think modifying a mechanic of the skills would be better.

Moomintroll

When I think about it, I just love how they did bards in IWD:HoW, I'd be a happy bunny if they just removed all the bard kits and made them like IWD bards. I'd probably be on my own there though!

Space_hamster

There are many variables for hiding in shadows such as - stepping into the light, enemy detection, fail dice roll, wearing items that reduce stealth. Putting in a switch would in fact degrade playability and imbalance the game from its original design.

Stepping out of shadows when doing other tasks is another important game play element, meant to make it more challenging to actually stay in shadows, akin to unpausing the game when checking inventory. There are D&D rule and playability considerations. In summary, there is a reason why the designers made these choices, and hopefully they'll leave it that way.

trinit

@Space_hamster in my understanding, those variables would not be ignored, you would still fail your check, but instead of manually clicking all the time, "mode" option would enable characters to automatically try enter stealth/turn/play mode every turn, focusing on that ability with various degree of success. they would not, (like now) fail for whatever reason and just stand around (AI off), or exit and attack (AI on).

as post states, checking spells or equipment is more of a player deciding on strategy, rather than direct, invasive action.

pacek

Yes! In fact I've already requested something similar here.