Nethgul+Crystal Matrix: Can Nethgul Be Trusted?

[PyroStock]

Two 2N1E Enchantresses each with a Crystal Matrix. With 5 Communion Slaves I script them for Strength of Gaia, Earth Power & 3 simple Charms. I also give one Nethgul as I'm curious to see if he would gain the communion master bonus and cast higher level spells. I have a 3rd communion master, a crystal mage (2E2S).
They go through their 5 script spells fine. The enchantresses cast their 2 last scripted charms and then the enemy casts their spells, only Falling Frost & Nether Darts. No enemies or danger near them. The 5 communion slaves are at 103&104 fatigue. My casting round begins with that rainbow "8" icon going over all communion slaves & the enchantress with Nethgul. This enchantress and the 5 communion slaves are blinked to different parts of the battlefield. The enchantress with Nethgul blinks into the middle of the enemy army where she is prompty killed. Two communion slaves are also killed from their new unfortunate positioning.

What happened? The crystal mage didn't cast blink and he never moved, but even if he did it shouldn't blink another communion master. There was no global spell up. The other enchantress didn't blink. It didn't say Nethgul casted blink, but he seems to be the prime suspect. Was this blink caused specifically by combining Nethgul with a Crystal Matrix or can Nethgul decide to quietly blink his holder in any situation?

[Folket]

What spells did Nethgul cast the first five times?

[PyroStock]

Before Communion Slave was up: Soul Slay & Mind Burn.
After Communion Slave was up: Mind Burns, Horror Mark & Body Ethereal. Nethgul also had 2 castings in a row each round, except immediately after this blink occurred it shows him only casting 1 Mind Burn.

[sum1lost]

Single target spells will affect all members of a communion. Blink is single target, I believe.

[llamabeast]

I think single target spells only normally affect the caster and all the communion slaves, but not the other masters.

sum1lost, is that sum1won under a different name?

[PyroStock]

sum1lost said:
Single target spells will affect all members of a communion. Blink is single target, I believe.



That's also why I had my enchantresses cast earth power. But why would Nethgul, or any mage, cast an unscripted blink, especially when they have Range:100 spells? I'm guessing this is just some fluke for combining Nethgul with a Crystal Matrix and is not typical of communes or astral mages, unlike Touch of Madness with nature mages.

[Jazzepi]

Nethgul isn't a mage. He's a brain in a jar. I've noticed his spell casting to be extremely random.

Jazzepi

[sum1lost]

llamabeast said:
I think single target spells only normally affect the caster and all the communion slaves, but not the other masters.

sum1lost, is that sum1won under a different name?



Yar.

I got whomped in chinchilla and jaguar, and will remain lost until I win one.

[PyroStock]

Jazzepi said:
Nethgul isn't a mage. He's a brain in a jar. I've noticed his spell casting to be extremely random.



I thought the matrix may have warped Nethgul's cast list, but if it's just Nethgul then I'm surprised Nethgul wouldn't just get the standard AI astral cast list. Still doesn't explain why it wouldn't show him casting blink in battle when he did.

Note to self: Don't trust brains in jars.

[Cor2]

sum1lost said:

Yar.

I got whomped in chinchilla and jaguar, and will remain lost until I win one.



No problem just play in in a game, autowin.

[NTJedi]

The Nethgul should definitely not be casting blink... since this spell can easily kill the wielder of the Nethgul, sounds like a bug or bad coding.

[Frostmourne27]

NTJedi said:
The Nethgul should definitely not be casting blink... since this spell can easily kill the wielder of the Nethgul, sounds like a bug or bad coding.



well, he does cast horror mark on the wielder from time to time, which can also be a large problem, so I actually have to be inclined more towards WAD. He's an ancient starspawn in a bottle - of course he's a little nuts.

[Valandil]

I've had random blinking with nethgul before too. Usually, it works out fine.

[lch]

NTJedi said:
The Nethgul should definitely not be casting blink... since this spell can easily kill the wielder of the Nethgul, sounds like a bug or bad coding.


Why the hell should he not cast it? There was already a thread about Nethgul and IIRC somebody (KO?) said that his grimoire is fairly limited, only half a dozen spells or so. I think Blink was on that list, even though what he casts is more or less random. He's nothing more than a fancy gimmick.

[Frostmourne27]

lch said:

Why the hell should he not cast it? There was already a thread about Nethgul and IIRC somebody (KO?) said that his grimoire is fairly limited, only half a dozen spells or so. I think Blink was on that list, even though what he casts is more or less random. He's nothing more than a fancy gimmick.



But he's a _fun_ gimmick. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/tongue.gif

[SelfishGene]

It would be nice if Nethgul acted as an astral caster for catching mind hunting astral mages.

[NTJedi]

lch said:

NTJedi said:
The Nethgul should definitely not be casting blink... since this spell can easily kill the wielder of the Nethgul, sounds like a bug or bad coding.


Why the hell should he not cast it? There was already a thread about Nethgul and IIRC somebody (KO?) said that his grimoire is fairly limited, only half a dozen spells or so. I think Blink was on that list, even though what he casts is more or less random. He's nothing more than a fancy gimmick.



??WHY ??!!? Well in battles where you have 50 mages/commanders with 500 troops verses 55 enemy mages/commanders with 580 troops you don't want blink to drop your single commander/mage next to the enemy dispossed spirits and banes where some nearby enemy necromancers will disintegrate you on the next round.
The spell blink does can drop you into dangerous locations.

[Meglobob]

Put blink on a thug/SC, its then fun if it casts blink into the middle of those enemy necromancers... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[NTJedi]

Meglobob said:
Put blink on a thug/SC, its then fun if it casts blink into the middle of those enemy necromancers... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif



As long as it's a fast moving thug/SC I've seen blink work good. For the slow moving thug/SC it means fewer kills.

[Meglobob]

NTJedi said:

Meglobob said:
Put blink on a thug/SC, its then fun if it casts blink into the middle of those enemy necromancers... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif



As long as it's a fast moving thug/SC I've seen blink work good. For the slow moving thug/SC it means fewer kills.



Flying + high MR.

[NTJedi]

Meglobob said:

NTJedi said:

Meglobob said:
Put blink on a thug/SC, its then fun if it casts blink into the middle of those enemy necromancers... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif



As long as it's a fast moving thug/SC I've seen blink work good. For the slow moving thug/SC it means fewer kills.



Flying + high MR.


Yes Flying can also work, but the Nethgul can be bad if the thug/SC casts buffs at the start of battle and the nethgul blinks him into danger before the buffs have finished.

[PyroStock]

Meglobob said:
Put blink on a thug/SC, its then fun if it casts blink into the middle of those enemy necromancers... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif



I was tempted to try that too, particularly for the ethereal body casts, until I saw the post of Nethgul casting horror mark on it's holder & a post of Nethgul casting soul slay on it's holder. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/Injured.gif

It's better to put Nethgul on the most useless commander to minimize the loss if/when he does go psycho on it's holder.