Improved Alacrity
Moradin
Member Posts: 372
Hi guys,
I am currently playing the game again after having finished it with the same party (i.e., I exported the characters and created a new game with the same group on Heart of Fury difficulty).
I have a skald lev 30 and an Invoker lev 23. My skald has Improved Alacrity in her lev 9 spells, but I think it might be an HLA because my invoker doesn't have it. Am I correct in assuming it's an HLA? Is there any way I could get the spell on my mage?
I use EEKeeper, but mostly to tweak proficiencies and stats. I generally do not mess around with other variables, although I am open to the possibility.
Any ideas?
I am currently playing the game again after having finished it with the same party (i.e., I exported the characters and created a new game with the same group on Heart of Fury difficulty).
I have a skald lev 30 and an Invoker lev 23. My skald has Improved Alacrity in her lev 9 spells, but I think it might be an HLA because my invoker doesn't have it. Am I correct in assuming it's an HLA? Is there any way I could get the spell on my mage?
I use EEKeeper, but mostly to tweak proficiencies and stats. I generally do not mess around with other variables, although I am open to the possibility.
Any ideas?
0
Comments
No HLAs in IWD. Your Skald shouldn't have level 9 spells or Improved Alacrity so you may have cheated somehow?
Level: 10
Range: 0
Duration: 2 rounds
Casting Time: 9
only 2 rounds? meh (
About tweaking (cheating is such a... crude word), I did it on the skald to improve her weapon proficiencies, but to the best of my knowledge I didn't add Alacrity to her spell book (little sense in that, she wouldn't have been able to cast it anyway).
All things together, I followed @Lord_Tansheron 's advice, removed the spell from my skald and passed it to my invoker (along with other "minor" modifications, which include but are not limited to Wail of the Banshee and Comet).
About the mechanics of the spell. I feel it was much more powerful in ToB. In IWD:EE I do not feel it is that much of a help, based on the number of spells I can spill out before a Time Stop runs out. Without Alacrity, I can get 2 Abi-Dalzim's out and the third is about to finish when Time stop runs out. With Alacrity, I get the 3 castings well within the time stop, but then I only have time to move, or send out a very quick spell (MM, horror, something fast). All in all, I don't think it's extremely valuable in the dale, especially considering the long casting time it has.
Your impressions?
Fighters eventually get around 4-5 attacks per round with GM and items, and with improved hasted or GWW they hit 10.
Mages, can never cast more than 1 spell per round without improved Alacrity. Now this may have been done because spells are "Godlike" in IE games. However, I disagree with this notion. I've played pure casters often, and their extremely low hp gains, terrible THAC0, no access to armor or helmets, and lack of any weapon proficiencies are quite large disadvantages already. Add to this the absurdly tedious memorization system, and massively limited spell selection (max of 5 per level regardless of level for a non-kit mage), and you run into serious issues. Oh, and let's not forget saving throws! All these epic spells mean nothing if an enemy makes a save, which higher level enemies do on most occasions. Yes, some level 8-9 spells ignore saves, but they are few and require extremely high levels.
Why are enemy mages so godlike in BG2? Because they make ample use of Chain Contingency, Spell Trigger, and Spell Tattoo to throw up their defenses, and then unleash their offensive spells. This works because they only have 1 fight to worry about...you! The player on the other hand, has to go through an entire dungeon. And if you are an RP'er like me, there's no way to justify resting after every fight.
This is made MUCH worse in a game like IWD, which is a non-stop dungeon crawl. I run out of spells usually after the first 4-5 fights, and have to go outside and rest. This is not a well thought out mechanic for these types of encounters.
As such, I've begun adding in items which increase spells cast by 2-5, and give permanent improved alacrity. Yes, if I have all my spells ready and do everything right, I will win. However, if I get dispelled, held, or attacked by means that go through my combat protections, then the battle gets far more difficult.
In conclusion, IE engine rules are far too restrictive when it comes to spells in IWD and BG2.
FYI everything I've said here regards my solo run through heart of fury mode. On normal mode, I think the system is more balanced as damage spells can actually kill monsters. In HoF, damage spells are absolute garbage as they do between 5-10% of a goblin's health.
Considering how easy a solo Sorcerer or Cleric is in BG1, I have to strongly disagree that magic isn't badly unbalanced in the players favour. A single casting of Sleep can eliminate quite a few pure warriors at low levels, and arcane casters in particular get steadily better. Lvl 1 warrior with the best rolls possible will get killed 100% of the time by a lvl 1 wizard that can cast sleep. The only hope for the warrior is hitting with ranged. Vs a lvl 1 Cleric, he WILL NEVER get a swing in, Command will shut him down without a save.
Improved Alacrity benefits immensely from items that reduce casting time, hence it not being a huge deal if the computer casts it, unless they have a casting time bonus.
Anyway, as I said I now removed Alacrity from the bard and added it to the invoker.
In particular, find the necklace in the Remorhaz cave that reduces casting time on all your spells.
Then, you can empty good portions of your spell book during a timestop/improved alacrity combo if you focus on spells with 2 or less casting time as they will be cast instantaneously with the necklace plus improved alacrity combo.
imo this would be balanced out if ther was a reliable source of low lvl spells scrolls or more wands.
A shop that sold many copies of say lvl 1-3 scrolls[cast from quick item slot], would enable a more efficient passage through waves and waves of foes. HOF mode makes the pre-designed limit on spell scrolls, too limiting.
Qute honestly when playing on HOf, I allow myself to EEkeeper in a wand of summoning, to rduce down time. Like the poster above, i just hate repeatd 8hr sleeps.....although the game doesnt have a time limit. The RPG part of me says that speed is of the essence; to thwart the evil plans of the adversary!
I'll stick to core rules with minimum/no reload and realistic resting. More enjoyable that way.
As for the 1st level spells, again I kindly disagree. Some spell might be so so at low level, but they are great at high levels. Two of the best offensive spells at higher levels are Horror and Chromatic Orb. One of the best defensive spell is Mirror image. Some of these spells do not have a higher level counterpart and if they do, these usually have longer casting time to trade for a usually limited gain. All in all, my mage is casting more chromatic orbs and horrors than say, DB Fireballs and Abi Dalzim's. Also, with core rules, I have the option of throwing fireballs with my players in melee and they'll take a hit, but shrug it off with no effort. The pain meets the gain. In HoF, if you're not careful, DBF, HW and especially Chain Lightning can be so powerful as to kill your own party members. You might think about it twice before dropping a bomb where your paladin is standing.
Then of course anyone is free to play however they want.
Unfortunately, for those things to actually happen the game would need to be smarter. Enormous HP pools are great and all, but if they're on monsters that will do nothing but stand there and clobber whatever they see first, then that's where things go out of whack. The extra XP only compounds this issue, really, as it's not offset by an increase in difficulty through smarter AI etc. in the style of, say, SCS.
The state HoF is currently in is mildly entertaining for about two playthroughs, then you realize that whether it's 20 HP or 500, a stupid zombie is still a stupid zombie, and will still just stand there trying to hit your super-buffed tank for all eternity. Things quickly spiral downwards from there, turning into an extra-XP-fueled max-damage slaughterfest. Fun to watch once, then very boring