What is the default casting speed?
2088432
Member Posts: 229
Without factoring in any items, I was just curious.
0
Comments
Then equipment or theoretically other effects may modify this casting time; the Amulet of Power subtracts 1 from all casting times, for example.
A player or other creature who is dealt damage during the casting of a spell can be interrupted and lose the spell. This is not just mage and cleric spells, by the way; I've had it happen to a monk's Lay On Hands self-heal. Thus, reducing casting times reduces the chance of being interrupted. If a spell's casting time is reduced to zero (or below), it casts instantly and can't be interrupted by damage.
Generally, low level mage spells are fast, while high level mage spells are slower; though there are exceptions. (Power word spells always have casting time of 1, while an armor spell has a full round of casting, approx. 9 seconds, etc.) Priest spells have longer casting times most of the time. If damage is taken during the casting, there is a good chance the spell will be disrupted and wasted.
You need to multiply the tick value given in the spell description with 0.6 (= 6 seconds per round / 10 ticks per round) to get duration in seconds.
every round last 6 seconds and is divided in 10 fractions that are used for casting time and speed of the attack.
10 rounds make a turn, that last 60 seconds, and it is useful to know for the duration of some spells that is expressed in turns.
note that for the speed of the attacks only the first one is affected, so a thief that stab a good speed helps in not having the target moving away, but it does not affect the attacks/round. a character that has 3 apr will do 3 attacks every round, does not matter if he uses a fast weapon with 1 speed or a 2Hsword with 8 as speed factor.
the duration of the round, speed factor and casting time are also important as a character can do 3 kind of things in the round: attack, a magic action (casting, drinking a potion, using a scroll or activating am item special ability) and move around. and he can do only a magic action/round, exception is to cast under improved alacrity, but even then he can not cast with alacrity and drink a potion in the same round, he can only cast many spells as a single magic action.
so he, if cast a fast spell and uses a fast weapon, can do both things in the round and have still some 0.6 sec ticks spare to move around.
it is more complicated then that, the engine can decide to start a new round even if the 6 seconds are not expired in some conditions and all the attacks has to be done in one time, having 4 apr you can not do 2 of them, cast and then do the remaining 2. is not completely clear to me how it works, but the given information is enough to maximize the efficiency in most of the cases.
ie a fighter that drink a healing potion should then make his attacks/round and only then try to drink a second potion as the magic action/round has already been used and trying to drink immediately he would remain idle for the rest of the round.
Or to have a caster ready to cast a key spell faster as he can at the right moment, as as long as the round is ended the next one begins only if the toon make one of those 3 things, keeping him idle you are sure that he begin to cast that breach spell right after you order him to do it.
By the way rounds are individual, not party related.
I still have hope that this feature will be usable in a mod.
Poking @Bubb
If so a bard would be able to sing and attack in the same round in EE and other advanced tactics would be possible.
I know in ad&d rules, a round is one minute (60 seconds) simplified to 6 seconds in infinity engine. 3rd edition just made a round 6 seconds. But when I use a timer and cast a spell with a speed of 8, I have 8 seconds of casting, not 8/10 of 6 seconds. Which should be 4,8 seconds. Maybe my pc is slow I don't know.
i am pretty sure that even having autopause on end on round enabled and casting long spells with casters without speed cast items i never have a round end before the character ends the casting animation and the spell is cast. so i assume that the 10 ticks/round thing is correctly implemented.
i can not tell now if a round actually lasts 10 seconds, so each tick is a second long, or 6 seconds as it is supposed to last, so the tick lasts 0.6 seconds.
I was casting Improved Alacrity which is active for 2rounds=12secs and counted the number of casts for a certain spell.
For example (testing char had -3 casting speed, Globe of Inv casting speed = 6):
Math: GoI: (6-3)*6/10 = 9/5 seconds per spell -> 12 / (9/5) = 20/3 spells per IA -> round = 7 / int = 6
Ingame: 6 counted
So when using the int(20/3), there was a good fit.
Without the multiplication with 0.6 it should have been 3secs per spell and only 4 per IA.
Edit:
Hmm...thinking about it the result would have been the same if one round would take 10secs...confused now.
As the time is 0.9 round to see if it takes little less of 10 sec or little less then 6 sec is easy to see.
The test is quick and easy. I hope that someone does it and reports here the results.
Spells with casting time of 9 take around 6 secs.
Spells with casting time of 6 around 4 secs.
So 1round=6secs and you have to apply the factor of 0.6!
probably it is really only useful for some special tactics where you have to time exactly a spell or the moment an enemy will cast a certain spell, like in the ascension last tob battle to use the special immunity from time stop right before TS is cast by the enemy boss.
but it is good to know it for sure (i was convinced of it also before, but what @lunar posted brought me some doubts, as it happened in the past that things i was regarding as true, like move silently being different and better then hide in shadows, have been proved false beliefs).
for example; if you have the amulet of power and robe of vecna, all spells will have their casting time reduced by 5, so abi-dalzim's horrid wilting will have a casting time of 3 now, and if your casting time is reduced to 0, the spell will cast automatically ( even faster than stoneskin )
so with the above items you can cast a time stop, then improved alacrity then cast x3 abi-dalzim's horrid wilting, and if you have been timing it right you cast another time stop and then improved alacrity again, and while you are casting that 2nd improved alacrity your first one will run out just in time for your second one to kick in, but this time you will basically have most of your time stop left to empty your spell book if you can time in your spells while hitting pause at the right times ( or if you have good offensive AI scripts you caster will immediately start casting spells by themselves )
and i can not remember a single instance when i did need a second improved alacrity, as usually if the enemies are not already dead my caster, or more likely his PI, has run out of useful memorized spells, as all the low level instant cast ones has been used, after the ones that lower resistance and saving throws and take down protections, the party fighters are improved hasted, and i had spare time to throw in some dragon breath and ADHW.
it can happen, in very few battles like the tactics mod irenicus in hell or fire giants, that my main caster has to cast 2 PI in a row, but never that the PI has to use a second IA.
different styles i suppose...