AI for Mages Using Gems
 

I am trying to figure out how many gems I need to give a mage who is going to cast 2 low level buffs for which he has the skill and then a big spell that costs 3 gems and will need 1 gem to give him the skill necessary to cast (buffs and big spell are all in the same school).

So if I give the mage 4 gems, will that be enough? My fear is that the AI sees he has the relevant gems in his inventory and uses them to reduce the fatigue cost of the 2 buffs he is casting so when it comes time for the big spell he won't have enough gems.

In that case, I guess I would need 6 gems - 2 that the AI will burn on his buffs (even though that is not what I would want), 1 to boost him so he can cast the big spell, and 3 for the big spell itself.

Thanks

Re: AI for Mages Using Gems
 

If the important spell is the first one scripted, you can go with just the base gem requirement. In your example and otherwise, it's generally a good idea to give extra.

IIRC, it's also an important thing to consider that mages won't use more gems than their level for certain purposes.

AI gem use is a tricky subject, and mostly receives complaints when it does something you didn't want, but nobody considers it when it does what you do want.

Re: AI for Mages Using Gems
 

I need the buffs to protect me from the big spell so I may not be able to do it given the gem shortage.

Thanks.

Re: AI for Mages Using Gems
 

Which are the minor buffs you want to cast? If they are in the 20/30 fatigue region my experience is that they won't use extra gems most of the time. If it's going towards 50, they will almost certainly use a gem for it.

Re: AI for Mages Using Gems
 

The bad thing is that they get gems left they can cast some really ugly spells, like mass protection against abysia http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif So better script them some gem-using spell after the one that you want to cast. So if they have gems cast they waste it on that, not something dangerous. And if not - at least they will pick instead another spell that does not require gems.

Re: AI for Mages Using Gems
 

I have always been amazed how the AI has no concept of harming its own men.
I have had an Arco human mage in a huge human army cast rain of stones against
enemies that were absolutely no match for my guys, killing some mages and about
a hundred of my archers. Yes, he also wiped out the Maverni opposition, but
who cares? They would have been dead anyway.

Re: AI for Mages Using Gems
 

Must have gone something like this: Snakebite leader, Bravo Six, for the record, it's my call. Dump everything you got left ON MY POS. I say again, I want all you're holding INSIDE the perimeter. It's a lovely war. Bravo Six Actual and Out.

Re: AI for Mages Using Gems
 

Would be interesting if commanders/mages had an intelligence attribute (with all the potential implications). Low value IQ commanders would be prone to instigate "friendly fire" and general gem abuse. Smart ones would take advantage of knowing likely battle outcomes (each battle might be run internally with multiple passes, first pass with no magic either side, second as scripted, etc....?). These outcomes would be weighed by each side's mages per each IQ attribute with smart mages pulling up a lawn chair and watching if they deem there is no need to risk unleashing death from above on the entire battlefield. Of course there are way too many permutations and randomness for perfection but might be useful for obvious ones like you've cited. Dom4?

-SSJ

Re: AI for Mages Using Gems
 

> Dom4?

Dom4 on a Cray supercomputer, maybe... Naah, no way.

There are so many possible actions a mage can take that if you were to have even
one percent of the possible 50 round battles generated, you will not host the
turn on Cray in a day.

Re: AI for Mages Using Gems
 

So we all chip in.... http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

I was wondering what % of a turn's cycles are spent on animation creation. If that was surpressed... For your specific scenario I wonder if even a single iteration might be useful. Just a thought.

-SSJ