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[v2.21] Shadow Magic

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  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    Isn't putting the ring in Irenicus area a bit generous given the ring addresses one of the limiting items for the SA? It would seem to me that it should be a reward from a good fight. My opinion.
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277

    Isn't putting the ring in Irenicus area a bit generous given the ring addresses one of the limiting items for the SA? It would seem to me that it should be a reward from a good fight. My opinion.

    What I found was that providing it too late causes far too much opportunity cost in BG2, where there are dozens of good rings you'd rather use. It's supposed to be a crutch that you can substitute out once you get something better. When I had it in its original place my shadow adept was already wearing two rings that I liked better so the thing sat in my inventory not being used until I eventually sold it. I might put it somewhere else but it'll still probably be somewhere you could easily reach as soon as you exit the dungeon.
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    Previews! Currently working on that quest/encounter for acquiring the shadow orb (as well as some of the new items):

    Shadow Screen is a new 5th spell that will be added in the next update - it protects from one cast of Dispel/Remove Magic, Spell Thrust, Secret Word, Breach, Lower Resistance, Pierce Magic, Ruby Ray, Khelben's Warding Whip, Pierce Shield, or Spellstrike.
    Additionally, made a few consumable items as well:


    Three new items that were 'designed' by my friend, @LavaDelVortel, who is a lot more creative when it comes to items than I am :p



  • bob_vengbob_veng Member Posts: 2,308
    amazing items, very slick

    hey...would you consider adding some more serious disadvantages to the kits, especially the shadow adept?
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    edited July 2017
    @bob_veng

    Call me crazy, but I actually think the kits are fine as they are. I believe adding more penalties would cripple the shadow adept because as it gains higher level spells it has to flirt with death due to the potential loss of constitution from using them which a regular mage doesn't need to deal with. The shadow adept also has to deal with a lower variety in spells (more so as I'm reducing the number of spells learned by level in the next update) which is lacking in some mage staples like Project Image and Wish.

    The shadow adept does have the advantage of having superior spells but that's not strictly the case. The spells range from being much better than their mage alternatives to being mostly equal to actually being worse in some cases (cold-based spells in particular being ineffective against undead).

    The shadow monk is more likely to be rebalanced, but it's not as big of a priority for me and the existing disadvantages already hurt quite a lot.
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    Can't wait for all the great stuff you are working on! Thank you!
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    edited July 2017
    I wanted to note that I think the Shadow Adept is well balanced.

    Pros -
    Special mage spell memorize (+1 spell slot per spell level)
    Can select spells to learn from list (no scroll searches)
    Has 6hp per level.
    3 special abilities.
    Some powerful spells
    Can get bonus know spells, spell duration, spell caster level and speed bonuses for high abilities

    At this point it sound pretty over strong, but...

    Cons -
    No XP from scroll memorization
    Can't use mage scrolls to cast from
    Has limited amount of known spells (like sorcerer)
    Missing several good mage spells
    Must memorize spells
    Spell casting can take CON away for 3 rounds lowering HP and killing PC if not careful
    Negatives to some saves
    Needs to have high attributes in 4 of 6 categories to leverage some bonuses in pros above.
    Has very few options against undead


    Given that you need a REALLY high stat roll to max out abilities on a SA, you can be made to suffer in the DEX and Strength department pretty hard to get decent values in the other 4 stats. Sure there are ways to counter act this, but you can't have the bracers of DEX and the bracers of AC3 on at the same time. You can't have the belt of strength with the belt of Inertia on at the same time (or the belt of CON if you use a mod to give the belt 18 CON at all times). So I see this class as very good at inflicting pain on living (non-cold resistant) enemies, but requires quite a bit of sacrifice (may only be able to cast 1 or 2 spells per 3 rounds depending on your CON + luck, limited spell selection, need high stats in allot of places to get max effects, etc) to use.

    I tip my hat to you Artemius_I for your creativity in putting this kit together!
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    On the next update: a few spells will be tweaked, Summon Shadow is being massively nerfed, two new Abjuration spells, maybe that quest I mentioned before, and a new component: NPC Reactions.

    A few NPCs both in and out of party will comment on a shadow adept PC. There won't be a whole lot of game-affecting consequences though as most won't recognize just what the PC's magic really is. I'll just say right now that among the party members, only Viconia and Edwin actually know the magic the PC is using, while others suspect something but won't know unless the PC is willing to explain to them.

    I'm also planning on making a shadow adept exclusive stronghold for BG2 in place of the planar sphere, but, well... that won't be for a while yet.
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    For Summon Shadow, can this be split into 4 spells? One to summon shadows. One to summon Shadow Fiends, One to Summon Shadow Wraiths, and one to summon Devil Shades. This will allow for higher level slots to be used and it nerfs the original spell while providing options for better summons using higher spell slots.
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277

    For Summon Shadow, can this be split into 4 spells? One to summon shadows. One to summon Shadow Fiends, One to Summon Shadow Wraiths, and one to summon Devil Shades. This will allow for higher level slots to be used and it nerfs the original spell while providing options for better summons using higher spell slots.

    Could be a good change in the future. There were reasons why the spell was overpowered and needed to be needed though. The duration of the spell will be changed to 1 hour and the stats of the summons are significantly lower so they're not as durable or as fast hitting.
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    I just hope I have summons that are close to the effect of Animate Dead. So the duration lowering worries me as does any significant weakening of the higher level summons as they were not as good as the 15th level skeletal warrior in some cases as is (their numbers were needed to hang in there).
  • ZaghoulZaghoul Member, Moderator Posts: 3,938
    When the next update arrives I'll let ya know if Tome n Blood works with it for their tweaks. It would also give the SA an innate Find Familiar ability (maybe, unless it is tied to the ability to cast it, but as it takes the spell out of the game it might work.) Also crafting potions and recharging wands. Maybe not, as the Palemaster recognized isn't either. I think you would have to let @Aquadrizzt know to add both for TnB to recognize them. The ability to scribe SW spells would be nice, although I think the CDtweaks or aTweaks will let me do that as well (cant remember which at the moment).

    The regular shadows n fiends in the game are not to bad as far as nerfing these. Main difference I thought was the SA's versions have spells and strike more. I do like the lvl up version as opposed to splitting them off, personally.
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  • ZaghoulZaghoul Member, Moderator Posts: 3,938
    edited July 2017
    Hmm, it might at that. As TnB adds bonus spells for Int for mages, and the SA get extra for chr, it might give quite a few extra.

    EDIT:I just tested this and TnB did not seem to affect spells any. I just got the 2 extra from an 18chr, did not get 2 more from int as in the TnB tweak . It must not read the class apparently, other wise he would have an addition 2 spells.
    Might warrant further testing however.
    Post edited by Zaghoul on
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    edited July 2017
    @Artemius_I, I just noticed that since you added items (3rd option to install) to the mod, special items in stores for BGEE restock after being bought (maybe even normal, but I haven't verified). So at Thunderhammer smithy for example, if I buy the +1 sling or shadow armor (one item in inventory at the smithy) and get out of conversation and then go back into conversation (buy/sell screen) they are back in the inventory of the smithy. So you can buy as many of an item as you want. Not game breaking, but not desired.

    NOTE: Am using 0.82. And I only install options 1 & 3 (no shadow monk installed).
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    @Necromanx2

    I cannot reproduce this with my save. The item pack component only touches a couple of specific stores so there should be no reason why that would happen.
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    edited July 2017
    Familiars will be added as an optional component in the next update. The shadow adept has three familiars available to them, depending on their lawful/chaotic alignment. The ability to summon them will be gained at 6th level, as they are significantly more powerful than mage familiars.

    There are also consequences to summoning these creatures, however. Unlike regular familiars which provide extra hit points, the shadow adept must permanently sacrifice 10% of their maximum hit points to summon their familiar. However, these creatures do not die permanently and reform after 24 hours if killed.

    Lawful shadow adepts get the shade wolf, Yin'rou:

    Gender: Male
    Alignment: Lawful Neutral
    Base Class: Ranger
    Hit Points: 65
    STR: 17 DEX: 18 CON: 17 INT: 15 WIS: 10 CHA: 12
    Spells: Shadow Veil, Shadow Rope, Ghostly Visage, Night Terrors
    Other abilities: Stealth, regenerates 1 hp/3 seconds (other familiars regenerate 1 hp/round)

    Neutral shadow adepts get the shadow, Ka'Shai:

    Gender: None
    Alignment: True Neutral
    Base Class: Bard
    Hit Points: 30
    STR: 14 DEX: 16 CON: 12 INT: 14 WIS: 14 CHA: 19
    Spells: Curse, Mesmerize, Power Word: Sleep, Black Mist
    Other abilities: Bardsong reduces enemies' luck, cannot Pick Pockets, can attack with either ranged or melee

    Chaotic shadow adepts get the mephit, Nyx:

    Gender: Female
    Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
    Base Class: Shadowdancer
    Hit Points: 38
    STR: 10 DEX: 19 CON: 16 INT: 16 WIS: 12 CHA: 16
    Spells: Blinding Darkness, Decoy, Dark Mirage, Dark Fortune
    Other abilities: Shadowstep, Hide in Plain Sight, can use thieving skills
    Post edited by TheArtisan on
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    Thanks for checking. It is not a big deal so I can live with it (must be something else I added then).

    The next update looks to have some great things. Really looking forward to it!
  • ZaghoulZaghoul Member, Moderator Posts: 3,938
    I had a slight glitch with the Night Cutter. not sure if it is just on my end or not. When unidentified it reads as an Invalid Entry 46681in the description or something, can't remember the exact number. When Identified, however, all is as it should be.
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    @Zaghoul

    Eh, I probably forgot to delete the unidentified description from the item so it's looking for a text string that doesn't exist for your game. I'll have it fixed.
  • RaduzielRaduziel Member Posts: 4,714
    This mod only gets better and better, I'm waiting for a "final" version before installing it.

    But I'm curious: would a SA be protected from the Constitution drain if under the effect of a Potion of Fortitude or the Girdle of Fortitude?
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    Raduziel said:

    This mod only gets better and better, I'm waiting for a "final" version before installing it.

    But I'm curious: would a SA be protected from the Constitution drain if under the effect of a Potion of Fortitude or the Girdle of Fortitude?

    Not protected - any existing constitution penalties would carry over, so if the PC lost 4 CON then drank a Potion of Fortitude then they'd end up with 14 CON.
  • RaduzielRaduziel Member Posts: 4,714
    So no Rod-of-Terror-Ring-of-Human-Influence workaround.

    Good job!
  • ZaghoulZaghoul Member, Moderator Posts: 3,938
    Raduziel said:

    So no Rod-of-Terror-Ring-of-Human-Influence workaround.

    Good job!

    Hehheh, yup. I got into the habit of checking CON quite often while casting. It gives a new feel and respect to spellcasting. B)
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    edited July 2017
    Zaghoul said:

    I got into the habit of checking CON quite often while casting.

    Coming soon...



    :wink:
  • ZaghoulZaghoul Member, Moderator Posts: 3,938
    Nice, very nice. :) That will be extremely beneficial I think.
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    edited July 2017
    Update on familiars: the cost of summoning a familiar has been changed to permanent -1 to constitution. A harsh cost, but fair considering (changed to temporary loss of -4 constitution which gradually recovers over several weeks, reasoning below) the familiars are rather powerful and actually usable since there's no lasting harm from using them in battle (they respawn after 24 hours have passed).

    Reason why constitution loss is temporary: Transition between BG1 to BG2. Because importing carries no end of issues for mod kits, the PC would have to suffer -2 constitution from summoning their familiar once in BG1 and once in BG2. That's a little too harsh. This change will make the loss still affect gameplay but carry no negative effects into BG2.

    Each familiar also has their own distinct personality and background. They also do not enter your inventory (can you imagine trying to fit a fully grown wolf into your backpack?) but instead can be dismissed to their home plane, giving a special ability which can be used to recall them at will.

    Previews:


    Post edited by TheArtisan on
  •  TheArtisan TheArtisan Member Posts: 3,277
    edited July 2017
    Updated to v0.9:
    • Two new spells: Expunge Magic (3rd level) and Shadow Screen (5th level)
    • A few new items added to item pack component
    • Several spell icons altered
    • Added text for remaining constitution after spell cast
    • Summon Shadow duration and statistics reduced greatly
    • NPC Reaction component added - currently only Edwin
    • Drain Vitality spell mechanics altered slightly - the caster may gain an unlimited amount of constitution from multiple spell casts on different targets, but a single target's constitution may still only be drained once per turn
    • Familiars added - tentative, dialogue is unfinished, may still be buggy
    • And various undocumented bugfixes...
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    edited July 2017
    Thanks Artemius_I!!

    Very excited to get home from work to try this!
    Post edited by Necromanx2 on
  • Necromanx2Necromanx2 Member Posts: 1,246
    Do familiar's improve with levels? In particular, I was wondering if the Mephit thieving abilities improve or if they are fixed?
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