Balance Machaka

[kianduatha]

First thoughts: Spider Turn is waaaay too good: you don't pay upkeep anymore!

Also the PD totem seems just about right: you're still a pushover, but anyone attacking's gonna regret it.

[rtyffg]

Originally Posted by kianduatha

First thoughts: Spider Turn is waaaay too good: you don't pay upkeep anymore!

Also the PD totem seems just about right: you're still a pushover, but anyone attacking's gonna regret it.

About Spider Turn - you don't pay upkeep, but you also lose most slots, and have to cast it in combat. It might need to cost at least 1n gem through, to avoid unecesary ai casting.
Does not this ward's damage of 1 is too much? Maybe it should turned to fatigue damage - not sure about it.

[Burnsaber]

Originally Posted by rtyffg

It might need to cost at least 1n gem through, to avoid unecesary ai casting.

Just in case Chris would like to keep the spell gem-less..

It's pretty easy to mod a spell to be only casted in when scripted, especially this type "only affects self" spell. I did a similiar thing in my "Alugra, City of Wonders" mod, which has a spell that heals 100 fatique damage but blinks you around the battlefield (meant to be used to clear thug buffing fatigue). You can likely see what this spell would do if the AI casted it all the time (it's not pretty).

So here is what you do:

You just mod the mainspell into a mr-negates-easily, only targets self spell that gives haste + twist fate and have the all that spider turning as nextspell. In the eyes of the AI (which cannot 'see' nextspell effects), that spell blows and it just will simply refuse to cast it unscripted. There are 'downsides' thought.

1) If the caster has haste and twist fate already, the AI won't cast the spell. (for the same reason it won't cast 'fire shield' if you have one already.)

2) If you cast this spell in a communion, it will affect the slaves too. (since, technically, it's a buffing spell)

[chrispedersen]

Oooooooh!

Interesting concept in conjunction with a communion Burn!

By the way - I have national spell for EA-rlyeh called blink bolt - essentially I chain a blink onto a cold bolt. Breaks up formations awesomely.

Burn, but here's a thing I was trying to do- an earthwalk spell.
I wanted everyone to be able to one time move throught the earth (as a group).

First thought: Flight. Downside: Can't get rid of it.
Second thought: Blink. Problem: units don't move together - they scatter. Any possible ideas, Burn?

[Burnsaber]

Originally Posted by chrispedersen

Oooooooh!
Interesting concept in conjunction with a communion Burn!

Yeah, I know. It was purely accidental too, noticed the 'mechanic' while playtesting. I was pretty amazed, "Where did my slaves go!". You could a lot of intresting stuff with that mechanic, like a spell that summoned something centered on each slave, or a battlefield wide buffing spell (mr-negates-easily) that'd be casted once for each slave. However, the fact is that communions are already quite powerful, so there really isn't any reason to make any better.

Originally Posted by chrispedersen

Burn, but here's a thing I was trying to do- an earthwalk spell.
I wanted everyone to be able to one time move throught the earth (as a group).

First thought: Flight. Downside: Can't get rid of it.
Second thought: Blink. Problem: units don't move together - they scatter. Any possible ideas, Burn?

I don't think that there is any perfect solution. The best I can come up with is to chain blink and range 0 summoning spell to make the caster appear at a new point in the battlefield (with friends).

[rtyffg]

Tried to make some changes and additions:
- fever fetish should cost 100 gp/turn now (that should make them not too powerful in case of cbm1.6).
- sorcerer can summon 1 disease ward/turn (not autosummon, they were supposed to be makers of these).
- place poisonous and weakening ward spells - to see if these fit tematically.
- ward's needles changed to stun damage - seems to much fatigue from them.
- spider nest2 - just summons some spiders nearby.
- spider nest - launches aoe5 slime and summons spiders at hit location (just seemed tematically fitting like spider ambush).


An another idea - do "risky" spell fit tematically to machaka? Examples: cheap power of the spheres effect with a nextspell of mr negates feeblemind/disease/death or aoe berserking/strentgh of giants followed by mrnegating disease/poison/kill.

[rtyffg]

Got some spare time and decided to tweak this into a more usable form.
What it does include now:
- 3 types of immobile constructs (for enhansing defensive options, all look as machaka bowmen with recolored bows(not too good at drawing)). First type causes fear and disease, created by sorcerers. Second caused poison and decay, const 1. Third causes curse and weakness, const 5;
- wards 1 and 2 included into PD as before.
- Great spiders are not kept after rider's death (and are slightly cheaper)
- Hunter Spider finds another rider after previuous die (returns to first shape, and costs little more)
- Firegem generating summon at ench5 50f, unique, immobile (instead of previuous multiple gem generators)
- Great spider generating summon at const6 30e, unique, immobile
(as a twisted way summoning spiders)
- Low damage evo3 spell which battlesummons spiders
- Turning into spider at alt3
- 2f2n aoe25 version of flaming arrows at ench4

It still seems overpovered, through, and gemgen might not be fitting in case of cbm1.6 (through it is limited to 1 summon this time)