Combat Rework part III – Magic

I am currently working on finishing up v2.2. The game is currently under testing. This is probably the last blog post content-wise about v2.2. I don’t dare to set a date for v2.2 yet but I aim to release it sometime in late April/early May 2017.

Introduction

You may want to read part I and part II before reading this. Earlier I talked about how melee and ranged combat had major rework and simplification. Magic has instead become slightly more complicated…

Range

Magic wands and monster spells that target a single actor now always have a maximum range (just like missile combat). This means that you can no longer hurl a fireball 20 squares across the dungeon just because you peek a goblin standing in the flickering light of a small brazier. On the flipside, the monsters can no longer do that to you either…

Having a maximum range on magic attacks also opens up for interesting trade-off spells. For example: there’s now a very short range, but powerful and mp-efficient fire spell. I plan to add more spells of that category as well.

Wand Identification

Examining a spell/wand

Examining a spell/wand

As you know, you can identify unknown wands for the cost of 5 Ep. In most cases it is better to identify it by aiming it at a monster and see what happens. This can be done relatively risk free even if you anticipate that the wand could turn out to be beneficial to the monster.

Now when wands have ranges, this kind of identification won’t work as intended any more: aiming at a monster would give away its range. It would also be tedious to learn that the monster have to be closer in order for you to reach it. The range and the mana cost could be used by an experienced player to determine what type of wand it is (buffwands always have range 0 now).

To force the player to invest in their gear toward a certain build/playstyle (which was the original purpose of Ep), wands can no longer be identified by experimentation: they must be identified by spending Ep before you can use them! In addition 5 Ep is quite a high cost for an identification. This causes Ep to be an even scarcer resource (a good thing in my opinion) and forces the player to invest if they want to play a magic user.

Wand Naming

Wands represent spells in TGGW. All wands have the somewhat redundant prefix “wand of…”. However, since wands are really spells, and you know it’s a wand both by the character and the category in the item window. In short, you really don’t need the reminder of that it is a wand. The prefix also limits the name of the function of the wand which is the important thing.

Identified spells in inventory

Identified spells in inventory

Identified wands will now just have the name of the spell they represent. I have renamed all the wands and given them a new, more descriptive name that represent the spell they cast. Examples:

I do think naming wands in this way increases the feeling that they are really magic spells and just represent the set of spells you have.
There are many new spells with the new system. Spells that are more Mp-efficient but that may have shorter range etc. There are also a new “school” of spells that can conjure up items.

Non-consuming Wands

Spells in the target window

Spells in the target window

Since Mp is a really scarce resource for pretty much any magic user, some spells might seem quite weak. There are now spells in the game that don’t consume Mp! This might sound ridiculously overpowered but they do have some limitations:

  • They still require you to have a certain amount of magic points available. They just don’t decrease them from your point total.
  • They are usually of lower quality and still requires a turn to use.
  • They can usually only be used at melee-range meaning that you are vulnerable to counter-attacks while using them.

Comments

  1. That 5 ep to identify them is quite a big change. This might be an interesting decision what to identify first. You might not be able to identify all your items instantly.

    1. Indeed! It makes Ep a very scarcy resource, it also makes use-identify more viable again for scrolls and potions.

    2. It’s like magicians have to use more mental energy (EP) than less cerebral classes. I like this change too. πŸ™‚

  2. just an idea: What about making glow wand into area based? It would be more interesting then. It could show the monsters in the dark. Or make it into a rod. Is there any function of this glow wand like this? If i see the monster to use the wand, then why would i use it? I don’t want you to spoiler its use if there is any though πŸ™‚

    An other idea: glow could give +1 vision too. So it would be an option to use it on yourself.

    1. Well, wand of glowing is to be used on monsters, to give them ‘in light’ status and be able to see them at any distance. I agree it would be cool as a rod.

      1. No, no, the glow rod already exists, under the name ‘blinding light’, though it also gives -2 vision. Almalam is referring to making the actual wand itself area based, so as to have more utility with it’s status effect. I don’t actually know if area effects hit enemies you can’t see though…

        1. > I don’t actually know if area effects hit enemies you can’t see though…

          They do. Rods works within your field of vision as if you had infinite vision.

    2. As Roneitis said, there is such a rod already πŸ™‚

      Glow will be one of the non-consuming wands in v2.2 which means that it will be more useful than it is now.

      The reason to use the wand is that you can still see it if it flees, and then you could potentially get a surprise attack on it on a distance. Highly situational (and a bit dangerous as it can keep you in combat mode), but won’t consume Mp.

      1. Oh, ok, I didn’t realize blinding light gives glow as well.

        One more question to here. What is the stronger invisibility or glow? πŸ˜€

          1. Good to know! This could be added to the reference. And also that, infravision can see the invisible.

      1. It is standing on that +1 vision item that the snakes drop πŸ˜€ Still looks like a bug.(I might not be clear on the image, but I can’t target it with the wands, i just see it)

        1. Aha! Yes, then that tile becomes visible (it is a glowing item) and the bat just happens to be on top of it. If it got the “in light” status it would have made sense. Thank you, will see what I can do then.

  3. This time: movement πŸ™‚ Is it possible to move a above a bookshelf if the creature has flying? It looks like this eagle moved above the dusty self or it moved diagonally.
    http://imgur.com/a/CxgEx
    It was under me, then started to flee.

    1. Oh sry. It is just the spider web πŸ˜€ I thought that it is a wall πŸ˜€

  4. hmm is it possible to take 2 damage from 1 point of poison in the same turn? It looks like this happened. There is a small chance I moved one after the poison, but I don’t think so.
    http://imgur.com/a/uoeIr

    1. Per player turn it is fully possible as you actually use up 4 game turns every player turn at speed 5 (20/speed turns in general).

      Poison <1> means that you have 1% chance of taking damage per (game) turn. You were unlucky enough that this 1% happened twice in four game turns…

      1. At least I understand It now. But I think it isn’t too intuitive for the player.

        Btw. It is so lol the price of peyote is 666 πŸ˜€

        1. Agreed, I don’t like how poison currently works and it’s likely to get reworked. At least the poison is slower now in v2.2 (released a few minutes ago…) due to changes to speed.

          Heh, happy to hear someone found peyote, it is quite rare πŸ™‚

          1. hmmmm, I’m wondering, if it is there because of personal experience πŸ™‚

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