Well, I always go for Algernon's Cloak and Dushai's ring anyway, even if you fail this isn't a run ender. I also steal from the underdark wizard with the elemental portals quest, because I want his high level scrolls (and there's no rep loss here, though potentially a tough battle if you fail). Ribald's ring is imo the most risky, because if you want it, you propably want it early, and turning the shop hostile can preclude you from some pretty important items. Sometimes I'm feeling lucky and I go for it, other times the risk just seems too great and I skip it.
I've reached the Lum level of Watcher's Keep but am already dreading the Spirit Warrior mini-game due to the risk of dying if I fail, which I know to be present even if I do it perfectly. Is there any way to protect against the effect that kills your main if the Spirit Warrior dies?
Couldn't find any info as to what exactly it does.
I don't think so. However, if you don't drink from the poisoned fountain, don't try to open the poisoned drawer and don't fight the ghost, your chances of dying are very, very minimal (I rarely skip Watcher's Keep, and since I stopped fighting the ghost/open the drawer, I've never died there in a no-reload game. My only death during the maze has been when getting very bad rolls against the ghost and getting the poison damage from the drawer).
@Enuhal
Thanks for the info. I've made throwaway charnames to do some tests and your tip seemed to work, so I'll smoke on it.
Still I wanted to try a few protections:
-On a Throwaway Mage: tried to cast every Spell Immunity except illusion and divination before making the Spirit Warrior drink from the fountain till death, and my throwaway charname still died
-Throwaway Cleric: cast Death Ward, Shield of the Archons, Sanctity of Mind, Shar's embrace, Physical Mirror, Enthropy Shield all the other big cleric buffs. Still died.
-Thowaway Thief: Avoid Death didn't work either
So indeed, it doesn't seem anything can be done. Maybe I've missed the one buff that'd work, but I doubt it.
The effect that kills you? It's a script action, "Kill(Player1)". And indeed, no protections work against that. All the protections in the world against opcodes that cause death won't help you against something that isn't an opcode at all.
The whole scenario is resolved with actual fights in the game engine. Stats below:
Spirit Warrior: 50 HP, chain mail with no DEX bonus, long sword for 1d8+2 slashing damage at THAC0 9, 3 APR.
Goblin: 15 HP, AC 14, "axe" for 1d8 damage at THAC0 20, 1 APR.
Skeleton: 20 HP and 50% slashing resist, AC 14, 1d6 crushing damage at THAC0 19, 1 APR.
Wand of missiles: earned by killing skeleton. Two charges, each fires two magic missiles for a total of (1d4+1)x2 magic damage. 50% more effective in the final fight with three missiles, and that fight will spend both charges at once (6 missiles) if you have them.
Fountain: Deals 5 damage to the warrior.
Gibberling Scroll: Found by searching an empty room, later scares off the gibberling without a fight.
War Dog: 30 HP, AC 10, 1d6 piercing damage at THAC0 19, 1 APR.
Iron Key: Earned by beating the dog, later opens iron chest.
Blue potion #1: Earned by beating the dog, immediately casts Cure Medium Wounds (14 HP in standard rules).
Ghost: 60 HP, AC 10, 1d10 crushing damage at THAC0 8, 1 APR. HP reduced to 45 if you have the bracers.
Helm: Earned by beating ghost, casts GAIN_ONE_AC to improve warrior's AC by 5 permanently.
Desk drawer: One-third chance of taking 25 damage, two-thirds chance of getting the bracers.
Bracers: Found in the poisoned drawer, casts GAIN_ONE_THAC0 to improve warrior's THAC0 by 7 permanently.
Gibberling: 35 HP, AC 10, 1d8 slashing damage at THAC0 20, 1 APR. Can be beaten without a fight by using the scroll.
Iron chest: Can only be opened with the iron key, contains a stronger blue potion.
Blue potion #2: Found in iron chest, immediately casts Cure Serious Wounds (17 HP in standard rules).
Mummy: 50 HP, AC 10, 20% slashing resist, 1d8+5 crushing damage at THAC0 8, 1 APR. (No helm)
Mummy: 35 HP, AC 10, 20% slashing resist, 1d8+5 crushing damage at THAC0 12, 1 APR. (Helm, no bracers)
Mummy: 30 HP, AC 10, 20% slashing resist, 1d8+5 crushing damage at THAC0 15, 1 APR. (Helm and bracers)
The more stuff you have, the easier that final fight is, and not just because the items grant bonuses directly. The helm's 5 AC is a big combat boost, but the bracers' 7 THAC0 don't matter at all because you hit everything on a 2 already. The only meaningful effect the bracers have is to weaken the ghost and mummy.
Honestly, I'm not sure what gives optimal chances here. There's a lot of complexity to work through. Though the poisoned drawer with the bracers in it probably isn't worth the risk in a no-reload run, and the fountain is pure schmuck bait.
Just looking at the numbers I think it confirms the wand is important, given the 6d4+6 burst damage against the mummy, given it means 12 to 30 (average of 21), so more than the helmet+bracers combined more often than not - and even if it isn't, it's not that much bellow. And the skeletton isn't that scary, and there is healing on the way.
It also confirms the drawer is too risky to open on no reload, given it's a lot of potential damage for a potential marginal gain.
I also think it confirms the ghost to be risky, since we only have 50 hp and the ghost deals 1d10, meaning with just 5 hits we can die. I also distinctly remember having been killed by the ghost at least once and never the other critters (beside the mummy) in previous runs. Granted the odds aren't horrible, but I still think it's not worth the shot, since it only needs to excede 17 hp (what the last heal heals) to be a detriment, and that can be exceeded in just 2 hits. Assuming, for the sake of simplicity that shaving 15 hp from the mummy with the helm is the same as us having 15 more HP, we could say if it rises above 32 it's definetly not worth it, which can be done in only 4 hits from the ghost. It's tempting to use the average of the d10 to make predictions, as it would typically how we do at this level, but given how little the HP pools are for this mini-game, and how it's a one time thing, rather than evaluating the long term usage of a spell, so it can wildly swing from one playthrough to the other on a d10.
Of course the Ghost fight can be eased by the wand, but then we're using a very useful item on a non critical target, which for 2d4+2 (4 to 10, average of 7) to gain essentially 15 HP less on the mummy, when we could have had 3d4+3 (5-15, average of 10,5) without that high RNG risky fight. And then it doesn't even kill the ghost, just shaves a little more than 10% of it's HP on average. Doesn't seem worth it.
If I decide to try, I'll skip both the drawers and the ghost. The Ghost is more debatable than the drawer, but it might be a run ender, for substantial but not critical gain, which ultimately cuts against it. The mummy can definetly be killed with just the wand at 50 HP.
Assuming, for the sake of simplicity that shaving 15 hp from the mummy with the helm is the same as us having 15 more HP...
This is absolutely not true. Without the helm, the mummy hits the warrior on a 2 (effective THAC0 8 vs crushing AC 7). With the helm, the mummy hits the warrior on a 10 (effective THAC0 12 vs crushing AC 2). Having the helm reduces the average damage the warrior takes by 40%, in addition to reducing the mummy's hit points by 30%. You're more than twice as effective against it.
Oh, and on the swinginess of the minigame? Nothing has crit protection, not even the warrior post-helm. Critical hits can make a very big difference.
@jmerry
I thought the AC bonus was calculated as the drop in Mummy THAC0 for some reason (and thus would be a less than 25% more landing attacks) but if both add up, then indeed it is much more substantial than I thought. Thanks for the clarification.
Though, if the Spirit Warrior can be critted it makes the Ghost that much more swingy it means it can kill us in only 3 very un/lucky hits. Esp assuming we do not take the bracers, as reducing Ghost HP by 25% is solid, but doing the Ghost with half hp at best (from the 25 poison damage) is ultra risky (can be killed in 2 hits if one is a crit).
I still think the risk is too great given that RNG should favor 1d8+1 3APR vs 1d8+5 1 APR IF the warrior starts with full HP, even if both hit each other 90% of the time, esp if the wand still shaves solid damage first.
Assuming no bracers. Given those stats, the base Mummy and the Ghost have about the same base HP (60 vs 50 with a 20% res to your attacks being roughly equal), same AC, same THAC0 (8). The only difference is damage with it being 6-13 (avg 9,5) for Mummy and 1-10 (avg 5) for Ghost. So the Mummy is clearly stronger, but I think it more or less averages given you can easily count on taking off 15-20 HP from the mummy with the wand.
In effect
wand + no bracers->Ghost->lesser Mummy means fighting an enemy about as strong as the base Mummy to further reduce the last fight.
More math:
if we assume avg damage from the spirit warrior no helm, we deal 14,9 (vs Ghost) 11,9 (vs base Mummy) dmg/round (1d8+1, avg 5,5, which become 4,4 against the Mummy, x3 APR , x90% chance to hit) not counting crits.
So the Ghost will, on average live for 4.04 rounds, letting it do 4 attacks (assuming Spirit Warrior will hit first with his 3 APR on the begining of the 5th round), dealing an average of
19,8 damage (Average 5,5 dmg/attack, 90% chance to hit, 4 attacks total)
The Mummy will, on average live for 4.2 rounds, letting it do 4 attacks (assuming Spirit Warrior will hit first with his 3 APR on the begining of the 5th round), dealing an average of
35 damage (Average 9,5 dmg/attack, 90% chance to hit, 4 attacks total).
If we do not fight the Ghost and the Wand is reserved for the Mummyand does min/avg/max damage then
The Mummy (reduced to 38/29/20 HP) lasts for 3,2/2,4/1,6 rounds. Reducing it to 27/21/14 damage on average and 3/2/2 (assuming it hits midround) attacks total.
So in total we exposed Spirit Warrior to 14-27 dmg (avg 21) and 2-3 attacks for a total of 2-3 round of combat.
If we fight the Ghost and the Wand is used on both
Ghost (reduced to 56/53/50 HP) lasts for 3,7/3,6/3,4 rounds. Reducing it to 18/18/17 damage on average and 3/3/2 (assuming it hits midround) attacks total.
The Mummy (reduced to 29/24/20 HP, incuding Helmet malus) lasts for 2,4/2/1,7 rounds. Reducing it to 11/10/8 damage (including chance to hit reduced to 50%) on average and 2/2/2 (assuming it hits midround) attacks total.
So in total we exposed Spirit Warrior to 25-29 dmg (avg 28) and 4-5 attacks for a total of 4-5 rounds of combat.
If we fight the Ghost and the Wand is used on the Mummy only
Ghost still lasts 4,04 rounds. Does 20 damage with 4 attacks.
The Mummy (reduced to 23/14/5 HP, incuding Helmet malus) lasts for 1,9/1,2/0,4 rounds. Reducing it to 9/6/2 damage (including chance to hit reduced to 50%) on average and 2/1/0 (assuming it hits midround) attacks total.
So in total we exposed Spirit Warrior to 22-29 dmg (avg 26) and 4-6 attacks for a total of 4-6 rounds of combat.
It does seem to me that skipping the Helmet is the less risky route, mathematically, given it reduces total damage intake but more so rounds spent in combat/number of attacks made, which means less chances of Spirit Warrior getting critted.
Hi, all! I just encountered an issue that I'm having trouble working around. Teleport Without Error allows enemies to land atop a player character. In the past the enemy would immediately bounce to a position adjacent to the player character, but now the player character can get trapped within the enemy's selection circle. That's a problem.
@Alesia_BH : I believe this is EE issue (alone with when Abazigal transforms from human to dragon form he also could trap the character within new huge selection circle - @Enuhal has quite a number of experience with that behaviour). I'm not using EE and never experienced this in original game. Unfortunately I'm not aware if there is a workaround or fix for that.
Makes sense. I hadn't experienced it in the original game either. I noticed comments about the dragon form transformation instances in Enuhal's runs and assumed the TWE behavior was related. Sadly this is game breaking, given my playing style. If there isn't a fix I'll need to revert.
Yes, it's an EE problem, introduced with an earlier patch. Sadly, as far as I know, there are no fixes in sight, and it's been the bug most annoying to me in the EE for quite a while.
This certainly happens more often with a party, where it's possible for your characters to get stuck in each other's selection circles. Rarely in combat, though, usually upon area transition.
When it comes to enemies, it is quite rare. Abazigal is actually not usually guilty of this, because he kicks everyone away from him upon transformation. Draconis, however, is the troublemaker here - for him, to avoid this, I always move to range when his human form is about to expire (before I started going this, I pretty much always had some melee characters getting stuck). The other problematic creatures are the "Vigilants" in Abazigal's Lair, neutral floating eyes in the eye dungeon, and they will float on your characters and get stuck, making them unable to move. They have to be targeted and killed to avoid this.
I can't remember an enemy ever actually teleporting in my selection circle, so that seems to be quite a rare occassion, but, evidently, it can happen. Pretty awful.
They reduce hitbox size for all characters for whatever good reason they had at the time.
The only solution is ctrl-J one of the clashing characters. I think that is acceptabele in my own noreloads. I have been suffering from it a lot in my current run. It was even soo bad that I made in some days no progress at all. Originally I reloaded fights but since that felt like cheating even more I resorted recently to the Ctrl action instead.
It seems more of a probleem in bg2 in my experience.
I can't remember an enemy ever actually teleporting in my selection circle, so that seems to be quite a rare occassion, but, evidently, it can happen. Pretty awful.
You're more likely to encounter that solo. Enemies will TWE if there are no player characters in sight, and that'll happen more often in solo runs, especially with warriors and thieves.
Amara did not run into issues with this agains the balors and glabrezus in the Irenicus in hell fight but it completely messed up my kensai's passage through Warrior's Keep, via the Chromatic Demon. Perhaps the size of the selection circle is the distinguishing factor here? I'm not sure. And what about Mel? IIRC, her selection circle is around the same size as the Chromatic Demon. I can skip Watcher's Keep but I can't skip Mel.
The only solution is ctrl-J one of the clashing characters. I think that is acceptabele in my own noreloads. I have been suffering from it a lot in my current run. It was even soo bad that I made in some days no progress at all. Originally I reloaded fights but since that felt like cheating even more I resorted recently to the Ctrl action instead.
Noted. I don't believe I've ever used ctrl-j. How does it work, exactly?
It just teleports the selected character(s) to the position of your mouse courser (provided debug mode is active). So, you could teleport the affected character directly outside of the selection circle if needed.
Enable the console/cheat keys by adding the line
SetPrivateProfileString('Program Options','Debug Mode','1')
to the LUA file (in the folder above screenshots, characters, save games etc)
And so everyone knows, in the case of the Chromatic Demon you can work around the problem by staying within sight range, and thus preventing TWE casts.
I can confirm again that the problem does not arise in the Irenicus in hell battle even if you elicit TWE.
The open question is whether it'll happen in the AMel fight. I'll have an answer to that soon.
Does anyone know of a mod that reverts the spell animations to those of the original game? The new ones are great for, the most part, but I find a couple of them problematic, specifically Stinking Cloud and Maze.
If there isn't such a mod, can the animation be changed in Near Infinity?
@Alesia_BH : I'm not sure if such mod exist (quite a number do change spell animations among other things but none do solely that) but maybe this or this will help?
Also if you'll let me know a list of spells you want to change/revert I could try to check'em myself (since I'm a distinct visual, such things do matter for me too and so I'm interested to check them up).
Got it! Your assistance would be appreciated, since the hardest part for me would be accessing the old files. I don't have a classic install on my HD right now. You do, obviously.
Maze and Stinking Cloud are my main concerns.
The new Maze animation makes it harder to counter Maze, due to the subtler, shorter animation, easily lost in the action, and the lack of auditory cues.
(I lost my swashbuckler, Amara, to that in Suldannessellar. She had countered Maze correctly, equipping Carsomyr and drinking a potion of magic protection, but I unequipped Carsomyr too soon because I couldn't see what was happening.)
As for the Stinking Cloud animation, it's too busy, and can easily obscure a character, hostile or friendly.
(That'll be a concern if my kensai makes it to the throne, since she'll need to track Illasera's position at all times, and the Stinking Clouds cast by Abazigal's efreeti could make that more difficult.)
@Alesia_BH : OK, here is what I've found so far with Near Infinity in clean unmodded SoA/ToB setup - there are 3 variations of Stinking Cloud spell (SPIN940.SPL, SPWI004.SPL, SPWI213.SPL) and 2 for Maze spell (SPWI813.SPL, SPIN774.SPL) with animation (SPCAGEMZ.BAM). Could you, please, extract those SPL files from your setup with NI and send them to me so I could check them side-by-side? Look for them in SPL folder.
And while I'm here: What's up with the Wave Blade?
The description says it slays salamanders, and it used to slay them all, including the frost salamanders in Abazigal's lair. Presumably this was implemented with a slay effect targeting the race salamander, consistent with the description.
Now it only slays fire salamanders. I see how this works mechanically. The current Wave has an effect that slays fire elemental creatures and fire salamanders have the fire elemental class, whereas frost salamanders have the water elemental class.
My question is whether this was an intentional change. Did someone editing the file accidentally leave off the slay salamander effect, and fire salamanders are still being slayed due to the fire elemental slay effect, which needs to be there in any case for other creatures, or did someone decide that the Wave should now only slay a subset of salamanders, specifically those in the elemental fire category?
EDIT: I think I found my answer. It must have been intentional. From the Forgotten Realms fandom Wiki.
Salamanders were large elemental, reptilian humanoids. They were counted as serpentfolk by other Scaled Ones. Despite the names, salamanders were not related to frost salamanders
Comments
Couldn't find any info as to what exactly it does.
Thanks for the info. I've made throwaway charnames to do some tests and your tip seemed to work, so I'll smoke on it.
Still I wanted to try a few protections:
-On a Throwaway Mage: tried to cast every Spell Immunity except illusion and divination before making the Spirit Warrior drink from the fountain till death, and my throwaway charname still died
-Throwaway Cleric: cast Death Ward, Shield of the Archons, Sanctity of Mind, Shar's embrace, Physical Mirror, Enthropy Shield all the other big cleric buffs. Still died.
-Thowaway Thief: Avoid Death didn't work either
So indeed, it doesn't seem anything can be done. Maybe I've missed the one buff that'd work, but I doubt it.
The whole scenario is resolved with actual fights in the game engine. Stats below:
Goblin: 15 HP, AC 14, "axe" for 1d8 damage at THAC0 20, 1 APR.
Skeleton: 20 HP and 50% slashing resist, AC 14, 1d6 crushing damage at THAC0 19, 1 APR.
Wand of missiles: earned by killing skeleton. Two charges, each fires two magic missiles for a total of (1d4+1)x2 magic damage. 50% more effective in the final fight with three missiles, and that fight will spend both charges at once (6 missiles) if you have them.
Fountain: Deals 5 damage to the warrior.
Gibberling Scroll: Found by searching an empty room, later scares off the gibberling without a fight.
War Dog: 30 HP, AC 10, 1d6 piercing damage at THAC0 19, 1 APR.
Iron Key: Earned by beating the dog, later opens iron chest.
Blue potion #1: Earned by beating the dog, immediately casts Cure Medium Wounds (14 HP in standard rules).
Ghost: 60 HP, AC 10, 1d10 crushing damage at THAC0 8, 1 APR. HP reduced to 45 if you have the bracers.
Helm: Earned by beating ghost, casts GAIN_ONE_AC to improve warrior's AC by 5 permanently.
Desk drawer: One-third chance of taking 25 damage, two-thirds chance of getting the bracers.
Bracers: Found in the poisoned drawer, casts GAIN_ONE_THAC0 to improve warrior's THAC0 by 7 permanently.
Gibberling: 35 HP, AC 10, 1d8 slashing damage at THAC0 20, 1 APR. Can be beaten without a fight by using the scroll.
Iron chest: Can only be opened with the iron key, contains a stronger blue potion.
Blue potion #2: Found in iron chest, immediately casts Cure Serious Wounds (17 HP in standard rules).
Mummy: 50 HP, AC 10, 20% slashing resist, 1d8+5 crushing damage at THAC0 8, 1 APR. (No helm)
Mummy: 35 HP, AC 10, 20% slashing resist, 1d8+5 crushing damage at THAC0 12, 1 APR. (Helm, no bracers)
Mummy: 30 HP, AC 10, 20% slashing resist, 1d8+5 crushing damage at THAC0 15, 1 APR. (Helm and bracers)
The more stuff you have, the easier that final fight is, and not just because the items grant bonuses directly. The helm's 5 AC is a big combat boost, but the bracers' 7 THAC0 don't matter at all because you hit everything on a 2 already. The only meaningful effect the bracers have is to weaken the ghost and mummy.
Honestly, I'm not sure what gives optimal chances here. There's a lot of complexity to work through. Though the poisoned drawer with the bracers in it probably isn't worth the risk in a no-reload run, and the fountain is pure schmuck bait.
Just looking at the numbers I think it confirms the wand is important, given the 6d4+6 burst damage against the mummy, given it means 12 to 30 (average of 21), so more than the helmet+bracers combined more often than not - and even if it isn't, it's not that much bellow. And the skeletton isn't that scary, and there is healing on the way.
It also confirms the drawer is too risky to open on no reload, given it's a lot of potential damage for a potential marginal gain.
I also think it confirms the ghost to be risky, since we only have 50 hp and the ghost deals 1d10, meaning with just 5 hits we can die. I also distinctly remember having been killed by the ghost at least once and never the other critters (beside the mummy) in previous runs. Granted the odds aren't horrible, but I still think it's not worth the shot, since it only needs to excede 17 hp (what the last heal heals) to be a detriment, and that can be exceeded in just 2 hits. Assuming, for the sake of simplicity that shaving 15 hp from the mummy with the helm is the same as us having 15 more HP, we could say if it rises above 32 it's definetly not worth it, which can be done in only 4 hits from the ghost. It's tempting to use the average of the d10 to make predictions, as it would typically how we do at this level, but given how little the HP pools are for this mini-game, and how it's a one time thing, rather than evaluating the long term usage of a spell, so it can wildly swing from one playthrough to the other on a d10.
Of course the Ghost fight can be eased by the wand, but then we're using a very useful item on a non critical target, which for 2d4+2 (4 to 10, average of 7) to gain essentially 15 HP less on the mummy, when we could have had 3d4+3 (5-15, average of 10,5) without that high RNG risky fight. And then it doesn't even kill the ghost, just shaves a little more than 10% of it's HP on average. Doesn't seem worth it.
If I decide to try, I'll skip both the drawers and the ghost. The Ghost is more debatable than the drawer, but it might be a run ender, for substantial but not critical gain, which ultimately cuts against it. The mummy can definetly be killed with just the wand at 50 HP.
Oh, and on the swinginess of the minigame? Nothing has crit protection, not even the warrior post-helm. Critical hits can make a very big difference.
I thought the AC bonus was calculated as the drop in Mummy THAC0 for some reason (and thus would be a less than 25% more landing attacks) but if both add up, then indeed it is much more substantial than I thought. Thanks for the clarification.
Though, if the Spirit Warrior can be critted it makes the Ghost that much more swingy it means it can kill us in only 3 very un/lucky hits. Esp assuming we do not take the bracers, as reducing Ghost HP by 25% is solid, but doing the Ghost with half hp at best (from the 25 poison damage) is ultra risky (can be killed in 2 hits if one is a crit).
I still think the risk is too great given that RNG should favor 1d8+1 3APR vs 1d8+5 1 APR IF the warrior starts with full HP, even if both hit each other 90% of the time, esp if the wand still shaves solid damage first.
Assuming no bracers. Given those stats, the base Mummy and the Ghost have about the same base HP (60 vs 50 with a 20% res to your attacks being roughly equal), same AC, same THAC0 (8). The only difference is damage with it being 6-13 (avg 9,5) for Mummy and 1-10 (avg 5) for Ghost. So the Mummy is clearly stronger, but I think it more or less averages given you can easily count on taking off 15-20 HP from the mummy with the wand.
In effect
wand + no bracers->Ghost->lesser Mummy means fighting an enemy about as strong as the base Mummy to further reduce the last fight.
More math:
So the Ghost will, on average live for 4.04 rounds, letting it do 4 attacks (assuming Spirit Warrior will hit first with his 3 APR on the begining of the 5th round), dealing an average of
19,8 damage (Average 5,5 dmg/attack, 90% chance to hit, 4 attacks total)
The Mummy will, on average live for 4.2 rounds, letting it do 4 attacks (assuming Spirit Warrior will hit first with his 3 APR on the begining of the 5th round), dealing an average of
35 damage (Average 9,5 dmg/attack, 90% chance to hit, 4 attacks total).
If we do not fight the Ghost and the Wand is reserved for the Mummyand does min/avg/max damage then
The Mummy (reduced to 38/29/20 HP) lasts for 3,2/2,4/1,6 rounds. Reducing it to 27/21/14 damage on average and 3/2/2 (assuming it hits midround) attacks total.
So in total we exposed Spirit Warrior to 14-27 dmg (avg 21) and 2-3 attacks for a total of 2-3 round of combat.
If we fight the Ghost and the Wand is used on both
Ghost (reduced to 56/53/50 HP) lasts for 3,7/3,6/3,4 rounds. Reducing it to 18/18/17 damage on average and 3/3/2 (assuming it hits midround) attacks total.
The Mummy (reduced to 29/24/20 HP, incuding Helmet malus) lasts for 2,4/2/1,7 rounds. Reducing it to 11/10/8 damage (including chance to hit reduced to 50%) on average and 2/2/2 (assuming it hits midround) attacks total.
So in total we exposed Spirit Warrior to 25-29 dmg (avg 28) and 4-5 attacks for a total of 4-5 rounds of combat.
If we fight the Ghost and the Wand is used on the Mummy only
Ghost still lasts 4,04 rounds. Does 20 damage with 4 attacks.
The Mummy (reduced to 23/14/5 HP, incuding Helmet malus) lasts for 1,9/1,2/0,4 rounds. Reducing it to 9/6/2 damage (including chance to hit reduced to 50%) on average and 2/1/0 (assuming it hits midround) attacks total.
So in total we exposed Spirit Warrior to 22-29 dmg (avg 26) and 4-6 attacks for a total of 4-6 rounds of combat.
It does seem to me that skipping the Helmet is the less risky route, mathematically, given it reduces total damage intake but more so rounds spent in combat/number of attacks made, which means less chances of Spirit Warrior getting critted.
Has anyone else seen this? Is there are fix?
Best,
A.
This certainly happens more often with a party, where it's possible for your characters to get stuck in each other's selection circles. Rarely in combat, though, usually upon area transition.
When it comes to enemies, it is quite rare. Abazigal is actually not usually guilty of this, because he kicks everyone away from him upon transformation. Draconis, however, is the troublemaker here - for him, to avoid this, I always move to range when his human form is about to expire (before I started going this, I pretty much always had some melee characters getting stuck). The other problematic creatures are the "Vigilants" in Abazigal's Lair, neutral floating eyes in the eye dungeon, and they will float on your characters and get stuck, making them unable to move. They have to be targeted and killed to avoid this.
I can't remember an enemy ever actually teleporting in my selection circle, so that seems to be quite a rare occassion, but, evidently, it can happen. Pretty awful.
The only solution is ctrl-J one of the clashing characters. I think that is acceptabele in my own noreloads. I have been suffering from it a lot in my current run. It was even soo bad that I made in some days no progress at all. Originally I reloaded fights but since that felt like cheating even more I resorted recently to the Ctrl action instead.
It seems more of a probleem in bg2 in my experience.
You're more likely to encounter that solo. Enemies will TWE if there are no player characters in sight, and that'll happen more often in solo runs, especially with warriors and thieves.
Amara did not run into issues with this agains the balors and glabrezus in the Irenicus in hell fight but it completely messed up my kensai's passage through Warrior's Keep, via the Chromatic Demon. Perhaps the size of the selection circle is the distinguishing factor here? I'm not sure. And what about Mel? IIRC, her selection circle is around the same size as the Chromatic Demon. I can skip Watcher's Keep but I can't skip Mel.
Noted. I don't believe I've ever used ctrl-j. How does it work, exactly?
SetPrivateProfileString('Program Options','Debug Mode','1')
to the LUA file (in the folder above screenshots, characters, save games etc)
That teleport effect is only one of many changes you can make using cheat keys or the console - see https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Console#Activating_the_Console_2
@Grond0 Lol. I'm familiar with the console, ofc. I just hadn't used the ctrl- j command specifically. I never had a need to.
In any case, I'll give that approach a try, and if I'm not satisfied with it I'll just revert for the time being.
Hopefully a fix is forthcoming
It is the commando I use regularly.
I also use commands to check global variables in case a quest bugs out.
And so everyone knows, in the case of the Chromatic Demon you can work around the problem by staying within sight range, and thus preventing TWE casts.
I can confirm again that the problem does not arise in the Irenicus in hell battle even if you elicit TWE.
The open question is whether it'll happen in the AMel fight. I'll have an answer to that soon.
Further, TWE isn't an aura limited action so it can happen more than once per round.
As with the Chromatic Demon, the best way to manage the risk is to stay close. Sadly, that does limit tactics, to an extent.
Iroumen's solution, ctrl-j, is an option too.
If there isn't such a mod, can the animation be changed in Near Infinity?
Maze and Stinking Cloud are my main concerns.
The new Maze animation makes it harder to counter Maze, due to the subtler, shorter animation, easily lost in the action, and the lack of auditory cues.
(I lost my swashbuckler, Amara, to that in Suldannessellar. She had countered Maze correctly, equipping Carsomyr and drinking a potion of magic protection, but I unequipped Carsomyr too soon because I couldn't see what was happening.)
As for the Stinking Cloud animation, it's too busy, and can easily obscure a character, hostile or friendly.
(That'll be a concern if my kensai makes it to the throne, since she'll need to track Illasera's position at all times, and the Stinking Clouds cast by Abazigal's efreeti could make that more difficult.)
Thanks for looking into this!
Cheers,
A.
And while I'm here: What's up with the Wave Blade?
The description says it slays salamanders, and it used to slay them all, including the frost salamanders in Abazigal's lair. Presumably this was implemented with a slay effect targeting the race salamander, consistent with the description.
Now it only slays fire salamanders. I see how this works mechanically. The current Wave has an effect that slays fire elemental creatures and fire salamanders have the fire elemental class, whereas frost salamanders have the water elemental class.
My question is whether this was an intentional change. Did someone editing the file accidentally leave off the slay salamander effect, and fire salamanders are still being slayed due to the fire elemental slay effect, which needs to be there in any case for other creatures, or did someone decide that the Wave should now only slay a subset of salamanders, specifically those in the elemental fire category?
EDIT: I think I found my answer. It must have been intentional. From the Forgotten Realms fandom Wiki.
Salamanders were large elemental, reptilian humanoids. They were counted as serpentfolk by other Scaled Ones. Despite the names, salamanders were not related to frost salamanders