Not a new cheese, but and adaptation of an old one to go with your new HLA.

Cast Chain Contengency - Sunfire + Delay Blst Fireball X2, on self when helpless.

Then use Energy Storm.

Energy Storm makes you helpless. Lots of damage.

Why not reanme that Fireflower Pollen Extract or somesuch?

Happy Birthday to you...
Happy Birthday to you...
You look like a zoo,
and you smell like one too!

    

That's what I get for having a 4 year old in the house.   All my carefully built up maturity is slowly draining away....

Anyway I do hope you have b-day fun!

Final Build:
I've made some clean up to the installing procedures, fixed the last reported issues and a couple of new ones, and neutralized the Balthazar's component.
I consider the current one the FINAL build, Version 1 is ready to be released.
Just wait a day or two for TGM to return

That's a pretty big announcement.

Anyway, yet another bug report:

Channel Magic
This high level ability allows a sorcerer to completely protect himself from all damaging magical effects and devour spells centered on him. For a short time the sorcerer will become immune to magical damage and certain death effects.

Does not protect against the damage done by Incendiary Cloud.

Grabbed one of my few old savegames that made it to the new PC.

In one Jan was at around 6.5 mil XP. CLUAed him to 7.5. The Death Field HLA was not greyed out and I was able to pick it for him. The spell did not appear in his spell book.

Jan also alreay had Dragon's Breath from the orginal HLA however he was able to pick it again from your ToBR HLA table. The spell now appears twice in his spellbook.

Not really a bug per-se but probably more of an implementation issue.

When using one of the 4, become one with magic aura abilities, i.e. Aqua Mortis, Idol of Frost, etc. it is possible to select a second one from the special ability bar. The character goes through the motions of ?casting? and burns the use of the second ability but does not manifest it.

I?m pretty sure that only one ?aura? at a time should be active, but it?s a bit deceptive that you can still appear to select a second one. Any way to disable this or have the first one canceled and the second one activated when this situation arises?

Does not protect against the damage done by Incendiary Cloud.

Which happens to be fire damage, not magic damage...

I figgured that this was the case & that's why I included the HLA quote. It seems to imply that *all* spell damage is protected against. I suspected the the language could be 'refined' a bit in the readme.

Grabbed one of my few old savegames that made it to the new PC.

In one Jan was at around 6.5 mil XP. CLUAed him to 7.5. The Death Field HLA was not greyed out and I was able to pick it for him. The spell did not appear in his spell book.

Jan also alreay had Dragon's Breath from the orginal HLA however he was able to pick it again from your ToBR HLA table. The spell now appears twice in his spellbook.

Please, let's try to do some more serious reports...
How can you expect our new HLA system to work with savegames that already have messed with the old system?
The Jan's problem should be solved with a new game as well.

I strongly suspected that this was the case as well based on the general readme ... but again it's not really spelled out. I just *know* that folks are going to install the mod and ask about this very thing. And since the mod is called ToB Refinements what about the folks who start a 'new' ToB game using an SoA Final Save? In my last two SoA games my PCs topped out at between 4 & 5 mil XP.

The character goes through the motions of ?casting? and burns the use of the second ability but does not manifest it.

You should get a feedback message like that:
"You cannot use this ability while Idol of Frost is active."
Hasn't it appeared?
This is the only possible solution (the other option is to disable all innate spellcasting).
This is also the solution used for many of the original BG2 spells to prevent unlegal stacking. It's not an issue for me, that's the way the game works...

Nope, I didn't see the feedback. That would have made things clear.

In any case, Version 1 is closed by now

Famous last words!


Anyway saw another potential bug last night.... EDIT nevermind. Sigh. Sorry.

I seem to be having a bug with Magic Flute via Haer Dalis.

What I think I'm suppose to get:

This ability creates a magic flute made of pure magical energy. When played, the flute can produce enchanting notes that quickly affect the target creature, emulating the effects of one of the following spells:

Power Word, Sleep - 3 charges
Power Word, Silence - 2 charges
Power Word, Blind - 1 charge

What I am getting:

Power Word, Sleep - 1 charge
Power Word, Silence - 1 charge
Power Word, Blind - 3 charges

I also don't seem to be able to target anyone with these 'power words' the way I can with a normal PW spell. I click on the item spell icon & I hear a 'playing' noise while a charge is used but I don't get to pick a target. Is this also a bug or does the MF power word affect everyone in an area?

I'm still having problems with the short duration of Channel Magic.

Could we see this HLA last for 3 rounds or even 4 instead of just 2?

Caedwyr that would be cool & very logical for this effect. I would really like that for this ability ... but the main thing for me is that 2 rounds is just way to short.

Had some more fun with Energy Storm today. With Ring of Free Action the caster is able to ignore the 'stun' side effect, though they do eventually fall asleep. If a friendly cleric casts regeneration before the spell then it's side effect damage is healed almost as fast as it is dished out.

After testing this a bit more I found that the 'power words' seem to work on hostile creatures nearby. The mechanic is very different from a normal power word, so it might be a good idea to note this in the readme & HLA description ... as if anyone really reads these, I know.

I also want to note that *all* of the power words show 'magic flute' for the description so that it's a bit hard to tell what 'power word' you are using ... though text feedback shows exactly what ability is used after the fact.

Just tried out a Totemic Druid ... you guys did a fantastic job on this one! Worked well & looks good to me.

So TG we?ve established that you are the cleric.

How about classes for the rest of the group?

    B)

Yes, but it was just the default opening ToB battle without Ascension.

It worked well. Summoned Spirit Animals, cast Call Lightning, etc.

My only suggestion for improvement would be to build a nice script for it kind of like what has been done elsewhere for Nymphs.

I tried out some of the other Druid HLA spells too & the visuals were nice!

I tired out a Skald & I was just wondering why your HLAs for weapons were all limited to 1 handed ones? I ask because I tend to go for two handed swords, spears, bows and the like with Skalds.

How about a Two Handed Weapon Specialization choice to go with the two existing ones? Maybe a Missile Weapon Specialization as well. I'm most interested in the TH one though.

It depends. With near max HP my Sorcerers survived most of the time. With lower HP though you are correct.

Caedwyr, what can I say except that I agree with you again.

What I *think* that the guys were trying to do here was a ?last strike? kind of effect & weren?t nearly as concerned about usability on this one as on others. This idea sounded neat & ?made sense? to them in a theoretical way.

Personally I?m more of a ?rubber meets the road? kind of guy. I like neat ideas when it comes to BG ... but I like them a lot better when I can actually use them. As is, Energy Storm is neat looking in use and has a cool description, but the odds of me actually using it outside of testing are pretty much zero.

The negative effects of this spell are so severe and the range and area are so limited that these factors alone pretty much make it a last choice spell. If I have *any* other sort of damaging spell I?ll use those first ... only if those all fail & my PCs spellbook is empty would I actually be tempted to use this ability ... and in all honesty if I?m that desperate I would probably be more tempted to just use power word ?reload? instead.

I think that it is possible to preserve the original concept while making it more likely to actually see use. Were it up to me I would make the following changes to Energy Storm, pretty much in order of importance:

1. Make it a party friendly spell/innate. The Sorcerer is already loosing Dragon?s Breath & Comet. I don?t see why the Sorc couldn?t direct Energy Storm just enough to avoid damaging his friends. Hey we are talking 10th level ability here....

2. Either increase the area of effect *or* give this ability a range other than self. Though I?m much more prone to the former given what Energy Strom is suppose to be.

3. Have the ability protect the user like a no-save Otiluke's Resilient Sphere at the same time it is draining his life, spells, and other magic protections. The intense outpouring of energy at the ?heart? of the storm protects the Sorcerer even as it destroys him. This is a two edged sword. This protection should both prevent foes from harming him but should also prevent cheesy help from the party by doing things like having another party member using the Rod of Resurrection to heal him back up in the middle of the storm.

4. The unconsciousness at the end is cool, but it seems to have problems, witness my bug report when I used it in Slayer form. So instead have this spell apply temporary level drain to the Sorcerer at the end instead. If possible make it so that the Amulet of Power does not protect against the Energy Storm level drain.

5. Have Energy Storm randomly alternate between draining spells and draining HP. Have it so that at the end the Sorcerer might have lost all spells but few HP, vice versa, or somewhere in the middle. Or drop the spell loss alltogether in favor of the temporary level drain from above. Level draining + damage should be enough IMO.

The Palladium game Rifts has some stuff like this. Mystical Herbalism for both 'common' herbs and magic plants. The stuff made from the latter is far more powerful than most of the stuff from the former.

I also have a fairly old real life Herbal remedy book.

Please, this is a joke, isn't it? ES is not something that can be controlled - once activated, the sorcerer loses control over his magical energies, his mind and his body as well - he lets loose a storm of destruction, and that won't be party friendly at all costs.

TGM, actually I wasn?t joking at all about making Energy Storm party friendly. I had three thoughts that lead me to think this.

First, it?s logical. Even if the Sorcerer can?t fully control this spell ability subconsciously, if nothing else, he will probably not want to hurt his allies and struggle to direct his magic accordingly. More than anything this was the logic behind my thinking about how I personally would like to see Energy Storm.

Secondly, Energy Storm is the closest thing to a replacement for Dragon?s Breath & Comet that the Sorcerer gets with Refinements. Just reading the description of these spells would not lead one to thing that they should be party friendly, yet they are. We are talking about magic here after all & more than that, we are talking about the absolute pinnacle of magic. These are the ultimate abilities. The Bioware 10th level spells are more powerful & better directed than the Wish spell or Time Stop. I?m not saying that just because it was so in an ummoded game that it should be so here, but I am saying that the precedent has been set & that it?s possible to go this way.

Third, in a similar vein to #2, balance wise Mages still get Dragon?s Breath and Comet. Sure Sorcerers are powerful but not having access to these two spells is still a pretty big hit. Making Energy Storm more useable would go a long way towards balancing this in my mind. I?m not thinking that Energy Storm should be something that should be tossed around at will, it *should* have side effects to prevent that, but it would be nice if the main PC Sorcerer could pull this out of his tail in a battle like Ascension and I don?t think that this is possible as the HLA is currently constructed.

I think that even a compromise would help this spell. Maybe if some of the damage was party friendly and some was not....

2. Either increase the area of effect

A much better idea. I will think about it, but I could live with an area increased by 50% in size. Also, I will try to reduce the casting time so it can be activated faster in combat (a casting time of 2 or 3 should suffice).

These would be good changes. Thanks for considering them.

What I could add is a short range Wing Buffet effect combined with an uncounsciousness effect on opponents who get close to the caster.

As for the wing buffet, that?s not a bad idea. The thing that I would worry about the most is that someone could get knocked out of the damage radius, but if you keep the buffet short enough and expand the radius that should be fine.

I liked the sphere effect because it could protect from both good & bad stuff. I was envisioning the Energy Storm as a literal storm of energy that explodes from the Sorcerer. His body floats in the middle of the effect in a cocoon of cascading energy, like the eye of a hurricane, that both protects him to an extent and drains him. I?m picturing an outflow of magic energy so intense that other spell energy (good or bad) and combat attacks literally cannot penetrate it. In this sense you could make Channel Magic a pre-req.

I was also thinking usability. Alone Energy Storm may kill the caster. If he takes damage in the middle of the effect it surely will. That?s a reload situation if your Sorcerer is the PC. Having the Energy Cocoon protecting from foes damaging spells would take this spell from suicidal to merely very risky. Having altered the probabilities this way it only made sense to me that there be a downside as well: no more party help.

No, a Level Drain wouldn't be fitting, ES has nothing to do with Negative Energy.

I was thinking more along the lines of ?draining the Sorcerer?s life? after it drains his spells. HP damage is one way to represent that. Level Drain and Con drains are another way. What I liked about level drain is that it can simulate draining spells as well as life energy (hp) at the same time. It just seems tailor made to do what the text description of Energy Storm says it does.

In my mind level drain does not equate to negative / undead energy.

Well, thats all, I hope you understand the motives and can live with the current effects. Personally, I find this a most fitting ability, one that should be used by the greatest caution - again, we shouldn't really talk about how to save the sorcerer from dying, since this is a kamikaze ability.

Where I?m coming from is usability. I, well my sorcerer PCs actually, *can?t* live with the current effects & that?s the problem. As this HLA stands I might select it for flavor much like I do with a ranger?s Tracking HLA, but I would never *use* it. And if I can?t use it then why is it in the game?

I think that the board updates may also have a bit to do with that. I had the same cookie problem & it turned out that I was using shortcuts to old board links. Re-did the shortcuts & all was well.

As for why anyone should wait for RtW ... well it has something for everyone. The role-players will get fantastic new content. The battle mongers will get to try their wits against new AI. The folks looking for new high quality content will get their wishes in spades.

I like the idea, but would it tread on the Beastmaster kit at all?

Sounds good! Can't wait to see it.

Edit: changes makes it sound a lot more like a 'storm' too!

Hmm. I like some of the changes but that does sound like a lot.

Why is slow in there? IMO you could get rid of that. It?s not bad but this may be one extra effect that you don?t need. If you do keep slow IMO the radius should be no greater than 30'.

IMO the ?knockback? effect radius could be a bit smaller. 30? is OK, but what about 20?, 15?, or even 10??

If it?s still too much you could just drop the stun and have unconsciousness from the start of the spell.

I also liked the original damage better:

4D10 magic, 1D10 electrical, 1D10 fire and 1D10 cold damage (no save) to any creature in its area of effect (be it friend or foe) every 3 seconds after casting

Hmm. 50' for damage is good. Very good in fact.

As for the other effects ... given the limitations you mention why not just drop the spell failure? Keep the slow. And the damage and wind buffet alone ought to cause spell failure for most foes.

You could slow down the wind stuff too if it's still too powerful. Once every 5 or 7 seconds would work for me.

And no you can't quote me on that...

Oh, and TGM, thank you for considering our suggestions.

It is appricated even if you stick with the orginal.


...You too Littiz even if you want to smack me for trying to make things 'more powerful'.