Aim: does it apply to javalins?

[Truper]

Having developed a fondness for the school of alteration, and continuing my love affair with Vanheim, I thought I'd test out whether Aim could be used with the initial army of Huskarls to help with initial expansion. I thought it might also be a good way to get some use out of the starting Vanherse. Anyway, I bought a Vanjarl and some Hirdmen, put the Hirdmen in the front, the Huskarls behind them, and my Vanjarl and Vanherse just behnd those scripted to cast Aim in the 1st round. The Vanherse cast it on a square of Huskarls like I was hoping, though the Jarl chose to cast his on the Herse (even though he knew no spells that could benefit). When I then examined the stats of the Huskarls that had Aim cast on them, there was no change to their precision stat, but the Herse had his precision increased by 5. Does this imply that Aim doesn't apply to javalins?

Aim increases the precision of the character it is on, regardless of weapons.

It's kind of hard to know where exactly the spell was cast and if you have them in a tight knit formation then you can accidentally hit the wrong one. Try clicking on almost your whole army or testing it with just 1 Huskarl and 1 Vanherse to see if it affects them.

[ January 08, 2004, 22:15: Message edited by: Zen ]

[Bowlingballhead]

Would the effect 'show' anyway? I've noticed that most spells affecting a unit don't make a visible change when you click on them. It seems inconsistent.

[Zapmeister]

I've been bothered by this as well. In the case of Aim, which I've been using a lot, I've yet to actually see a change in the precision of any unit. I've just been assuming that its benefit is invisible, because of a bug or something.

[Truper]

Zen: There's an animation that shows where it was cast (thats how I knew the Jarl cast on the Herse), and since it affects an entire square, clicking on any of the units there should show the effect, if it gets displayed. I'm wondering if javalin tossing isn't regarded technically as missle fire, and so doesn't actually use the precision stat, so the stat can't be increased by Aim.

Bowlingballhead: the effect did show on the Herse, which is what made me wonder about the Huskarls.

Zapmeister: I did see it on the Herse. Have you used the spell on archers, and not seen any effect on them? That's the next thing I need to test, I guess.

[apoger]

Archers benefit from increased precision. I must assume the javalins do as well.

The spell "aim" does raise the stat. If it wasn't showing then you clicked a unit that wasn't affected. Aim doesn't affect many units at all, it's easy to miss which one got tagged.

IMHO casting "aim" on javalin troops is a waste of mage time. Even phantasmal warriors is a better idea. Lightning or Orb Lightning much better. Vanjarls can "mistform" and head into combat with a good deal of confidence.


Note: Aim and eagle eye are considered the same effect. If you have one, the computer won't cast the other on you.


PS- Use Einheres, as they are the best standard troop for Vanheim. Beserk-5 is brutal!

[Truper]

I found after a little more checking that Aim does affect javalin troops and the effect is displayed - the spell animation doesn't align with the square on which the spell was actually cast, so I missed it first time around.

If I had Lightning or Orb Lighning I'd definately be using them - they rock with mages as precise as Vans - but I was only using Aim for the very first battles, where Alteration One is the only research I'd done. I hadn't been that impressed with the Phantasmal Warriors - perhaps because my mages are always behind the troops, and the Phantasmals rarely reach the battle in time to have much effect, so I was looking for an alternative.

[Saber Cherry]

You know what IS valuable... "Wind Guide". Like Aim, on all friendly units. And yes, you do see the +5 prec stat on affected units... head there ASAP for archers and javs.