Dance and Move, Move and Dance! - How to MOVE around during Shamanic Dance
Rik_Kirtaniya
Member Posts: 1,742
I found out this tactic just now during my solo Shaman play-through of IWDEE (latest v.2.5.16.3, clean install, NO MODS of any kind). I don't know if it has already been said anywhere, but I never found this documented before. So, here you go. 
Most people find the Shaman's dance ability pretty disappointing because not only does it prevent you from attacking, casting spells or using any items, but also cripples you to a single spot. This last thing is the most annoying feature, because it makes you very, very vulnerable to enemy attacks and prevents kiting tactics. But, with a little skill and proper timing, you can actually move during a shamanic dance without the spirits getting unsummoned. Yes, you heard it right!
This method is based on the "Ticking Effect" that works for many abilities like Turn Undead, Detect Traps, Bard Song and Hide in Shadows. Most people probably know about the Shadowdancer's cheesy continuous stealth exploit. While the process I'm about to describe is quite similar, I would not consider it an exploit at all. It's just dancing to the beats (or rather, to the "ticks")!
Here's the step-wise procedure:
1. When you activate Shamanic Dance, every 6 seconds (1 round, or you can say 1 tick), you can see a message in the text box "CHARNAME: Dancing Shamanic Dance".
2. Keep on dancing for some time till one or more spirits appear.
3. Now wait for the next time the message "CHARNAME: Dancing Shamanic Dance" appears.
4. At this moment, PAUSE the game, AND DEACTIVATE Shamanic Dance (this deactivation is very important), and then, keeping the game still paused, issue an order to the Shaman to move to another place. (Please keep in mind that the place should not be too far.)
5. Now quickly un-pause the game for a moment, and then quickly re-pause. (I'll explain later why this is necessary)
6. Now, in the paused state, REACTIVATE Shamanic Dance.
7. Now when you un-pause, the Shaman will move to the directed place, but he will still be dancing, and the spirits will still be there! You can repeat this process after the next "CHARNAME: Dancing Shamanic Dance" message shows, but not before (due to the "Ticking Effect").
A few points to keep in mind: You still cannot attack or cast spells (if you could, this would have been dangerously overpowering), but still, being able to move, is in itself, good enough and is often a life-saver in many, many situations. I've tested this tactic many times in my current playthrough, and it works consistently and reliably (provided, of course, that the steps given above are followed precisely).
So then, "dance and move, move and dance"!
Most people find the Shaman's dance ability pretty disappointing because not only does it prevent you from attacking, casting spells or using any items, but also cripples you to a single spot. This last thing is the most annoying feature, because it makes you very, very vulnerable to enemy attacks and prevents kiting tactics. But, with a little skill and proper timing, you can actually move during a shamanic dance without the spirits getting unsummoned. Yes, you heard it right!
This method is based on the "Ticking Effect" that works for many abilities like Turn Undead, Detect Traps, Bard Song and Hide in Shadows. Most people probably know about the Shadowdancer's cheesy continuous stealth exploit. While the process I'm about to describe is quite similar, I would not consider it an exploit at all. It's just dancing to the beats (or rather, to the "ticks")!
Here's the step-wise procedure:
1. When you activate Shamanic Dance, every 6 seconds (1 round, or you can say 1 tick), you can see a message in the text box "CHARNAME: Dancing Shamanic Dance".
2. Keep on dancing for some time till one or more spirits appear.
3. Now wait for the next time the message "CHARNAME: Dancing Shamanic Dance" appears.
4. At this moment, PAUSE the game, AND DEACTIVATE Shamanic Dance (this deactivation is very important), and then, keeping the game still paused, issue an order to the Shaman to move to another place. (Please keep in mind that the place should not be too far.)
5. Now quickly un-pause the game for a moment, and then quickly re-pause. (I'll explain later why this is necessary)
6. Now, in the paused state, REACTIVATE Shamanic Dance.
7. Now when you un-pause, the Shaman will move to the directed place, but he will still be dancing, and the spirits will still be there! You can repeat this process after the next "CHARNAME: Dancing Shamanic Dance" message shows, but not before (due to the "Ticking Effect").
A few points to keep in mind:
- The point where you order the Shaman to move to should not be very far away. To be precise, it should be such that the Shaman can move to there within (or ideally less than) 6 seconds, which is still a decent distance, and which can be increased by any movement speed increasing effects (like Haste).
- DO NOT order the shaman to move without deactivating the dance first, otherwise it won't work.
- Step 5 is essential because if you order the shaman to move, then un-pause the game, and then without pausing reactivate the dance, the shaman will simply stop moving. Pausing, then reactivating the dance, and then un-pausing prevents the shaman from stopping on reactivation, and allows him to move to the directed place.
You still cannot attack or cast spells (if you could, this would have been dangerously overpowering), but still, being able to move, is in itself, good enough and is often a life-saver in many, many situations. I've tested this tactic many times in my current playthrough, and it works consistently and reliably (provided, of course, that the steps given above are followed precisely).So then, "dance and move, move and dance"!
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Edit: Thanks!