Daystar

FredN

I have daystar; very useful vs undead. However, I cannot get it to create a Sunray. When I click on that icon, I just run forward to perform a standard melee attack. Is this a bug, or are there some conditions that have to be met first?

FredN

More weirdness. I tried firing off a Sunray when no enemies were in sight, and this time it actually worked. But it didn't work as advertised. I had 2 of my own skeletal warriors and neither they nor the rest of my party were affected. Now, it's possible that the Sunray doesn't hurt allies, just enemies. However that's not specified in the description.

jmerry

Sunray, as a spell, has ability target "Caster". You hit the spell button, and it just casts the spell (centered on you); no second targeting click required. Similarly, Daystar's ability has target "Caster". You click the ability button, and that just casts Sunray. No second click required, and if you do click again that will be interpreted as "cancel what I just tried, go attack that creature/move to that point".

Sunray is indeed a party-friendly spell. None of the effects will hit anyone friendly.

FredN

OK, good enough. So why can't I cast it against an enemy?

Yigor

FredN wrote: »

OK, good enough. So why can't I cast it against an enemy?

Self-targeted spell, as explained by @jmerry . Go in the middle of undead and cast it by exploding enemies around U. 💥

FredN

Oh! Well hell! Nowhere is that even suggested as the proper aiming mechanism! I would never have gussed. Especially since activating it produces a targetting marker. OK, thanks. I'll try it next time I play.

FredN

OK, targetting myself actually worked. As I said, that is rather counterintuitive. There is no way I woukd have guess that was the mechanic needed. Thanks guys!

Yigor

FredN wrote: »

OK, targetting myself actually worked. As I said, that is rather counterintuitive. There is no way I woukd have guess that was the mechanic needed. Thanks guys!

Good, at least, it works! 😉 Normally, the self-targeting of Sunray should be automatic. So, apparently, there is a little issue with its attachment to Daystar.

There is also a similar wizard spell Sunfire of level 5. 😎

FredN

>There is also a similar wizard spell Sunfire of level 5. 😎<
Sunray is also a 7th level clerical spell. The description of that spell does indeed say that it is centered on the casting priest. However, in that instance the spell level is that of the caster, while using Daystar caps the casting level at 10.

jmerry

Caster level 10, which counts as 14 for all of Sunray's level-dependent effects. Spells cast below the minimum level a full casting class could normally have work like that.

The tricky part here is that the item ability is "cast normally", like how scrolls work. Which means your character has to go through the animation. If you issue another order, like clicking anywhere, before that animation is done, you cancel the ability. No Sunray, then. And because of the self-targeting, one click on the ability's icon was all you needed to start using the ability.