90 replies to this topic

[Nebukad]

Heh, if everything would have such an easy solution..!   Please pay a visit and take a look at the new Mage HLa tables in the Refinements mod (if you haven't already done so for some unknown reason...). They are fine for him (just as for any other mages of course). I say either leave his HLA table as it is, or directly add him the Refinements table.

Yes, I've seen the new tables in Refinements, even though I haven't actually had time to play through the game using them. I usually prefer to use a pretty 'pure' game to avoid accidentally using something from another mod and realizing it later on, when wondering why something doesn't work.. or why some modder has appeared in the neighbourhood carrying a shotgun and asking people where I live..

Also, I already sent Dorotea the Shatter Magic innate for him. It will be a most fitting and unique addition to his character (and he also uses it in the weimeric Improved Irenicus encounter).
As for HLAs, the fact that he doesn't have any at 30th level is enough for balancing, there is no need for keepin him away from powerful magics available for every high-level mage - and it would be completely without logic too.

I just thought that with his spell selection the extra spell HLA's might not be all that noticeable, but removing them would still appear to make some difference. That is, no one would actually notice that they aren't there, but every time someone complains about Irenicus being unbalanced, the fact that he doesn't have access to 3 HLA's could be pointed out.

I wonder why you don't start with the most obvious choice: if you intend to add him some special high-level powers, well, he ALREADY HAS SOME. Simply think of Clone Spawn and Rapture of the Father for example.. but one can easily create nice special spells based on his cutscenes. The opportunity is there, it would be a great waste to drop these while working on something comlpetey unknown.
BTW, if you 2 need help with this part, I'd gladly help you out . (If I find some time, of course )

Well, one the one under development is actually the clone spawn. The trouble is, however, that the game only uses CreateCreatureObjectCopy() , IIRC, to create the clones and while replicating this might be possible, it wouldn't be a great solution as it only copies their appearance, not their abilities. There are ways to give the creature the wanted abilities, but mostly these seem to be somewhat unsophisticated and time consuming to implement. Not to mention that I'm not too sure that they'll work at all.

I also tried using Simulacrum for that, but the clone had a nasty tendency to think that it belongs to the target of the spell, not the caster, meaning that it only works if used on party members. Limiting the number of clones only worked when the caster tried to use the spell on himself.

I'll try to come up with a more working solution, once I have some time for it.

I suppose Rupture of the Father would be nice.. it could kill any enemy in a glass tube within the caster's line of sight.

[T.G.Maestro]

I usually prefer to use a pretty 'pure' game to avoid accidentally using something from another mod and realizing it later on, when wondering why something doesn't work

...and you miss the best game enhancements.

every time someone complains about Irenicus being unbalanced, the fact that he doesn't have access to 3 HLA's could be pointed out.

Indeed. But hey, only 3? At which level gains mages access to HLAs, 27???
I thought it was around 20 or so.

Well, one the one under development is actually the clone spawn. The trouble is, however, that the game only uses CreateCreatureObjectCopy() , IIRC, to create the clones and while replicating this might be possible, it wouldn't be a great solution as it only copies their appearance, not their abilities

Which is no problem at all. You wouldn't expect a freshly spawned clone to have access to all of his/her special powers from start? No, and to be honest, the fact they can be used for fight is a remarkable feat in itself. Simply think on the Asylum fight with Jonny - none of the clones have access to any of the NPCs abilities, they act as mindless zombies. Still, this ability is good to create a bunch of non-summoned cannon fodders.

I suppose Rupture of the Father would be nice.. it could kill any enemy in a glass tube within the caster's line of sight

With ome fantasy, it can easily be turned into an impressive and USEABLE 9th level spell.

[T.G.Maestro]

Also, he casts spells fast, and I must say too fast. If something, that could (and should) be nerfed in order to make him balanced compared to the other NPCs.

-2 to spellcasting speed should be more than enough.

[Nebukad]

Which is no problem at all. You wouldn't expect a freshly spawned clone to have access to all of his/her special powers from start? No, and to be honest, the fact they can be used for fight is a remarkable feat in itself. Simply think on the Asylum fight with Jonny - none of the clones have access to any of the NPCs abilities, they act as mindless zombies. Still, this ability is good to create a bunch of non-summoned cannon fodders.

The trouble is that, in order to justify the spell being an 8th level one, it should be at least remotely usefull. I suppose it might be possible to make a few alternate creatures of different classes that polymorph to the target creature to make them atleast slightly resemble the original creature. This is, of course, assuming that it was possible to target a class when using the Use Eff file. I'm too tired to check right now, but I presume this to be the case.

With ome fantasy, it can easily be turned into an impressive and USEABLE 9th level spell.

The Difficult part is making it distinguishable from the Wail of Banshee, while making sure that it isn't overpowered.

[T.G.Maestro]

The Difficult part is making it distinguishable from the Wail of Banshee, while making sure that it isn't overpowered

Not that difficult, trust me. As I said, I gladly do it as soon as I find the time.

[T.G.Maestro]

QUOTE 
-2 to spellcasting speed should be more than enough. 



Over my cold dead body guys.  Anything but that.

And may I ask why not? Why is that so important? (to be precise, how much faster does he cast his spells?)

[T.G.Maestro]

Check his cre file -- I would rather not post it here. I will also send you the password to Workroom as soon as I get home so we can discuss it there.

Aye, captain!

[Feanor]

QUOTE 
-2 to spellcasting speed should be more than enough.  



Over my cold dead body guys.  Anything but that.

And may I ask why not? Why is that so important? (to be precise, how much faster does he cast his spells?)

TG, I want to remind you that Jon should be a faster spellcaster than anyone else.

[T.G.Maestro]

I agree. We already discussed that in the workroom, and I guess the modifiers on his spellcasting speed are acceptable. It is his bonus spells/level feat what seems to be completely unbalanced.