Question: Gift of Reason to cure Feeblemind?

[Baalz]

Also boosting your astral level helps, though not as much as boosting penetration. The best of both worlds is (if you can afford it) to use a ring of wizardry/sorcery to boost both.

[Micah]

2 casters with eyes of the void and skullcaps are going to be cheaper and more effective than 1 with an eye and a ring though, 40 pearls for 1.5 penetration is not a good deal.

Does anyone know if the penetration boost is calculated from soul slay (S3) or Mind Hunt (S4)? Needing S5 or S6 for the extra +1 is a pretty significant difference.

[Saint_Dude]

I think the penetration boost is calculated for the soul slay, after all that is the real attack.

The curious thing is that when I have run simulations to test various mind hunt configurations, it appeared as though there was a built in 3 points of penetration for mind hunt (possibly all remote spells). That is to say that the soul slay associated with a mind hunt is much more potent than a soul slay on the battlefield.

[Xietor]

Astral races have far too many advantages as is, and in a perfect world, I would like to see the gem cost raised for mind hunts to at least 5 astral gems, and when the cord is severed have the "backlash" subject the caster to the soul slay.

Then the penalty for failure could be the loss of the offending mage, and any items he is using to boost the penetration bonus.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

Wouldn't that make your standard-issue S1 way too powerful? Maybe change to:
S-any still causes feeblemind (or maybe insanity instead), but an S2 or higher instigates a remote Magic Duel or similar, with the proviso that if the caster wins, his own mind is still toast and he will never cast again.

[Xietor]

An s1 mage has a 40 percent chance to severe the cord. I do not feel it makes the s1 mage too powerful, because the player casting mind hunt gets to select the province in which to mind hunt.

Obviously if there is no real risk attached to casting, as with chalice, gift of health, or units that heal afflictions, then you can cast mind hunt without fear.

But if having the cord severed had REAL consequences, then the nation casting mind hunt would have to use spies/scouts
or battle replays to choose wisely where to mind hunt.

[Micah]

Given how easy it is to counter mind hunting with a single astral mage I don't see it as being a problem. Mind hunts are one of the main strengths of astral magic, and causing them to implode a 40-gem mage would make them completely worthless, especially considering that astral mages can teleport in to protect leaders.

Even if the caster doesn't stay feebleminded for long it's a couple of gems and at least 1 mage-turn gone if you cut their cord, and since mind hunts are best done in volleys against high-priority targets one mage can get lucky and take down 3-4 enemies in a turn if he's positioned correctly. It's a damn good spell to be sure, but Vengeance of the Dead annoys me a lot more due to there being no way to counter it outside of high MR (which isn't reliable due to the open-ended rolls, and fills up vital slots with MR gear, and works just as well against mind hunts)