Solution for Magic Duel

[Ironhawk]

B0rsuk said:
Yes, it's fully fictional. But assuming that modding commands get a little extended (it's already possible to mod spells somewhat) it could be possible to make the spell give negative astral bonus.



I would be pretty surprised if you could mod a spell of this type into existance. Mods generally allow you to change the behavior of existing game functionality. I know of no functionality that does this.

[Endoperez]

Actually, a spell that boosts Astral by -9 would work.

[B0rsuk]

I just noticed something interesting while browsing spell list.

Mental Seal
Evocation 3
Fatigue cost: -20
Area of effect: caster
Range: -

By using this spell, the caster locks his mind from all forms of mental intrusion. This results in immunity to Magic Duel for duration of the combat. As a side effect, the caster temporarily loses all ability to cast spells from Astral path, and all Astral enchantments currently affecting him dissipate.

------------

Sounds like a great workaround for Magic Duel, eh ? A Celestial Master can choose to cast Mental Seal on first round of combat, and still be able to use his remaining paths.

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Pendant of Ignorance
Misc item
Magical trinket
5S gems to construct.

An astral mage equipped with this item can't use his Astral path during combat, but also can't be targeted with magic duel.

[Endoperez]

Err... What spell list? Does this exist? I don't remember seeing this spell, or this item.

[Nerfix]

Me neither. o_O

[B0rsuk]

Did you try after or before patching ?

[Nerfix]

Before...but...they didn't say this in the patch list! OMU, must check the patch.

[B0rsuk]

Ok, assume it exists. Do you like it ?

[Nerfix]

I don't see anything like that in the game, even after patching. Playing EA Tien.

[Endoperez]

There are few weird things with that. First, it'd cancel any possible negative Astral effects as well as good.

It'd cancel out Luck and Body Ethereal cast from AoE 1 spells.

I'm not sure how it would work. Perhaps negative Astral bonus. Then Pendant of Ignorance would make them lose Astral magic in strategic map as well. That would mean that they can be Mind Hunted. Mental Seal shouldn't make astral mages suspectible to Mind Hunt.

[B0rsuk]

Endoperez said:
There are few weird things with that. First, it'd cancel any possible negative Astral effects as well as good.

It'd cancel out Luck and Body Ethereal cast from AoE 1 spells.



And that's the point. Otherwise SC's would use Mental Seal. Magic Duel was designed to keep SC's in check. But it doesn't discriminate. Magic Duel is carpet bombing in vague direction of astral mages. I made up Mental Seal to make it possible for weak astral mages who are NOT SC's to survive battles.

[dirtywick]

Mental Seal seems OK for mages that have paths other than Astral as you don't have to use it all the time, just when you're fighting S1 or higher mages.

The item, I don't know, probably wouldn't use it as you can just cast Mental Seal instead and save gems.

Is this a hypothetical? I don't see it anywhere before or after the patch either.

[B0rsuk]

dirtywick said:
Is this a hypothetical? I don't see it anywhere before or after the patch either.



Yes, it's fully fictional. But assuming that modding commands get a little extended (it's already possible to mod spells somewhat) it could be possible to make the spell give negative astral bonus.

Potential problems:
- how to prevent combat AI from casting it without permission ?
- it can easily fail if enemy mages go first.

[dirtywick]

B0rsuk said:
Potential problems:
- how to prevent combat AI from casting it without permission ?
- it can easily fail if enemy mages go first.



Also, I really have no idea what orders a mage defaults to when it can't cast spells anymore. Does it go forward to melee? Wouldn't want that to happen either.

[thejeff]

dirtywick said:
Mental Seal seems OK for mages that have paths other than Astral as you don't have to use it all the time, just when you're fighting S1 or higher mages.



But Magic Duel isn't really a problem for mages with only (or mostly Astral). Sure they can be killed by it, but either they've got enough astral the chances are low (or the other duelist also expensive) or they're cheap enough that it's no great loss.

It's only expensive mages with low astral that are really crippled by Magic Duel.

It would also be possible to have the item simple autocast Magic Seal at the beginning of combat. That would avoid the overland issues.