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What is the default casting speed?

Without factoring in any items, I was just curious.

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  • jmerryjmerry Member Posts: 3,822
    All spells have a "casting time" value, generally ranging from 0 to 9. For example, this is 1 for Armor of Faith, 5 for Cure Light Wounds, and 9 for Doom. I believe this is in the same units as initiative values, although I'm not sure how many time units a round is. Mage and Priest spells have their casting time shown in the spellbook, while spells cast from items and innate spells may not have any easy way to see how fast they cast.

    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.
  • lunarlunar Member Posts: 3,460
    With default fps and ai update settings, casting time of a spell is approximately in seconds of real time. A magic missile is cast in 1 second. A fireball in 3 seconds. Etc. Each spell has its casting time in its description. If fps/ai update speed is improved to make the game faster, casting times are also decreased accordingly.

    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.
  • BrecherBrecher Member Posts: 47
    lunar wrote: »
    With default fps and ai update settings, casting time of a spell is approximately in seconds of real time. A magic missile is cast in 1 second. A fireball in 3 seconds. Etc. Each spell has its casting time in its description.

    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.
    gorgonzola
  • gorgonzolagorgonzola Member Posts: 3,864
    @Brecher is correct.
    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.
  • gorgonzolagorgonzola Member Posts: 3,864
    Autopause on end of round is really helpful to maximize in round efficiency. Probably is worth only in the hardest battles and with tactics that require timing, precise placement of the characters, ie to avoid to have many toons kicked away by a wing buffet, and in similar situations.
    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.
  • BrecherBrecher Member Posts: 47
    Bubb wrote: »
    Ok, I spent way too much time today doing this, (look at the casting button):
    6nqo7wbecwrj.gif

    I'm no longer rendering a color fill, but instead using a custom BAM that fits the underlying button. It took all of my GIMP-fu, and I had to write some helper programs to get it to do the animation - but I think it was worth it. How do you guys like it?

    I still have hope that this feature will be usable in a mod.
    Poking @Bubb
    Daevelongorgonzolaleeux
  • gorgonzolagorgonzola Member Posts: 3,864
    It would be great, but i am not sure that it would work if an other magic action then casting from spell book is used.
    If so a bard would be able to sing and attack in the same round in EE and other advanced tactics would be possible.
  • lunarlunar Member Posts: 3,460
    edited September 2019
    Brecher wrote: »
    lunar wrote: »
    With default fps and ai update settings, casting time of a spell is approximately in seconds of real time. A magic missile is cast in 1 second. A fireball in 3 seconds. Etc. Each spell has its casting time in its description.

    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.

    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.
  • gorgonzolagorgonzola Member Posts: 3,864
    i can not test on my pc now, but it should not be so.
    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.
  • BrecherBrecher Member Posts: 47
    edited September 2019
    Some time ago i did some testing on BG2/TOB running 'Improved Anvil'.
    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.
    gorgonzola
  • gorgonzolagorgonzola Member Posts: 3,864
    Having access to the game, but i am not at home and i will not also the next few days, it is quite easy to load a save, have a caster, even a divine one should work, cast a long casting spell, something that has 9 as casting time, starting from an idle situation, so the action begins almost instantaneously, and without using items that affect the casting, so no rovamd aop.
    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.
  • BrecherBrecher Member Posts: 47
    edited September 2019
    Did some testing with a stopwatch and Auto Pause: Spell Cast:
    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!
    gorgonzola
  • gorgonzolagorgonzola Member Posts: 3,864
    nice, thank you! :)
    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).
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975
    its also useful for it you use improved alacrity, since that spell erases the wait between casting spells, you need to know exactly when the spell finishes so you can cast your next spell without wasting precious time

    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 )
    gorgonzola
  • gorgonzolagorgonzola Member Posts: 3,864
    true, even if i would never use improved alacrity without enabling before the auto pause on spell cast, only that way you can make a 100% effective use of it. no finger is fast enough hitting the space key.

    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... :)
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