Community Question: No Death Run Flop or Not?

Noloir

Hi Beamdog Community,

Recently I've been trying to complete a run on insane mode with a dual classed Fighter/Thief (Assassin/Fighter) with maxed out PIPs for crossbow, fashioned as a pseudo Blackguard/Archer. The campaign was more or less successful until I reached a staged ambush battle, the one that drops arbane's sword. Being of a Lawful Evil alignment my character could cast Horror, Larloch's Drain and, Vampiric Touch. Casted a horror that hit every foe except the enemy mage. The mage casted blur through a sequencer. Took a shot or two with a crossbow then the mage started casting. Upon reflecting I anticipated that the attack would be a lighting bolt and hit with a quick Larloch's drain to disrupt the spell. It hit, however, the mage CONTINUED CASTING one-hitting my Fighter/Thief.

Incensed I replayed the battle instead immediately deleting the file. Using the same tactics and this go around the enemy mage was affected by horror. While running frantically it managed to cast a lighting bolt hitting my Fighter/Thief once again when it should've been incapacitated for all intents and purposes. My question to the community, was my character's defeat legitimate or should it be overlooked on account of faulty mechanics in that given sequence?

JuliusBorisov

There is a suggestion that there's always a chance of completing the spell even taking damage, both for your character and for an enemy.

https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/15730/why-does-damage-seem-to-only-sometimes-disrupt-spellcasting

I would consider that you have to end a no-reload run in that situation.

Arunsun

Damage does not systematically disrupt spellcasting, and this is true for both player and enemies. I believe this is an intended game mechanic, though I am not sure how it works exactly. It appears that, most of the time, the spell will be disrupted by any damage, but occasionnaly, no matter how many time you take damage during the cast, as long as you survive them, you will complete the casting.
So your first fight was legit IMO and would thus be the end of a no reload run.
The second, however, is a bug. An enemy affected by horror should not be able to cast any spell or attack, simply because you cannot to it either as a player.

deltago

In the first fight, you mis-timed your crossbow shots and should have waited before the mage started casting again to disrupt the spell (If the attack hits).

Round 1
You: horror
Mage: blur
Round 2
You: Crossbow
Mage: Lightning
Round 3
You: LMD


For purposes of disruption, the mage had finished casting lightning bolt before the LMD, the animation for it just hadn't triggered. Your no-reload game should have ended there.

The second one seems to be a bug, which I have noticed with fighter types as well (they'll take a swing before retreating again if you are close enough). I would probably allow myself to reload if a creature got a spell off in that case.

But it is your game. Play how you like. If you felt cheated by the encounter and have no issues starting over, then do so.

Noloir

Got it. Thanks for the input everyone. On account of the game bugging and failing to load Watcher's Keep for SoA it's best to reset and try again. Firetooth seems like a must have for this character but without WK there's no way to attain one legitimately.

matrice

The 2nd isn't a bug. As long as horror didn't forced any movement, even a player can continue casting his spell.
It's just that the "fear didn't forced me to run away immediately" happen a bit more often on enemy, than on you, so you most likely never experienced it before.