Is the REAL problem with VQs...Norfleet?

[Chris Byler]

Originally posted by Norfleet:

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Originally posted by Chris Byler:
IMO, most corporeal undead should have no more than 50% cold and 75% poison resistance inherently. Maybe 100% poison for things with no flesh at all (longdeads). But hardly anything with a body should be completely immune to cold. Although it may not affect them as much as it would a living being, it still can damage them.

Undead are immune to cold because they don't suffer from the effects associated with it, such as frostbite and hypothermia. If you were to say they shouldn't be immune to cold, then neither should Jotuns, or Caelumians. Since cold attacks in the game tend to be around the level of "normal" cold, as opposed to liquid nitrogen cold, it's reasonable to expect them to be unaffected.

They're immune to poison because they have no metabolism and thus are not affected by poisoning of any kind. If you were to say they shouldn't be immune to poison, then nothing ELSE would be immune to poison either.

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Undead aren't all the same. It's one thing to say that longdead, or even soulless/corpse men, have no metabolism; but vampires clearly must have some sort of metabolism or they couldn't drink blood and derive benefit from doing so. And the spell that creates ghouls is called Arouse Hunger - a pretty strong implication that ghouls have a metabolism, even if it is an unnatural one.

I also don't think it's unreasonable for Jotun or Caelum cold resistance to be reduced to 50%. From a balance perspective, both of those nations are very strong already, and frankly, water magic is weak even against things that aren't immune to it. And from a realism perspective - no corporeal, non-magic being should be 100% immune to cold to begin with.

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A Greater Banishment with high precision, AOE 1 square, and a high magic penetration bonus (or no MR save) would help here.

It's called "Solar Rays", Chief. Dust to Dust is a little less precise, but also has the same effect: Both deal unresistable damage to undeads. Wither Bones does this over an area.

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All the spells you mention (and a few you didn't, such as Holy Pyre) are *magic* spells: they require research and specific paths of magic. I propose a *priest* spell that is useful against small numbers of high MR "elite" undeads - or, if enough priests are casting it, against undead supercombatants not supported by an army.