A question on AI and magic use (spell selection and gem usage)

Gandalf Parker · #1 January 17th, 2004, 04:02 PM

Partial help here. Some of the advanced players make a big habit of keeping scouts with their armys. The scouts can stay hidden thru battles and hold onto things that you dont want used quite yet. Gems, slaves that get in the way and get killed, items such as that big gate cleaver or the horn that bLasts walls. Things that you can switch to your mages and commanders just before the battle they REALLY need it for. Sneaky flyers are even better (use the boots if need be) since they can quickly go back and forth for reloads.

[ January 17, 2004, 14:03: Message edited by: Gandalf Parker ]

Raz 24 · #2 January 17th, 2004, 04:05 PM

Do not give your mages gems without special orders ( Storm + Wrathfull skies) They will use all gems like hungry pigs , and soon they will be well gone on something like howl. Only give them gems if you have scripted something special for some special battle , or something like that

onomastikon · #3 January 17th, 2004, 06:05 PM

Thanks very much!

Can I script priests and stuff to stop casting "Bless"?

#4 January 17th, 2004, 06:50 PM

Yes you can ono,

But depending on the strength of your preist (If they are normal 2 holy priests) they only have 2 options, Banishment or Blessing.

And if there are no undead around they cast Blessing.

It may seem useless but it doesn't actually do much harm.

If you get more powerful priests and they are casting blessing when they are supposed to be casting Sermon of Courage howerver, this can be a problem.

Gandalf Parker · #5 January 17th, 2004, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Zen:
But depending on the strength of your preist (If they are normal 2 holy priests) they only have 2 options, Banishment or Blessing. And if there are no undead around they cast Blessing.

It may seem useless but it doesn't actually do much harm.

I like to give the small priests things like the red wand that does fireball or that dragon helm. Something that counts as a cast. They seem to do a fair job of deciding. Bless. If undead, then banish. If not undead, then bLast.

#6 January 17th, 2004, 07:17 PM

Maybe they could give "Guilt" a single person spell that the target would lose morale or something

There has to be some representation classic religious guilt.

Taqwus · #7 January 17th, 2004, 09:09 PM

If you want to be able to cast more powerful spells in battle, there are few tactics more powerful than Communion abuse. However, Communion does require astral (or being a Pythium communicant, which auto-casts Communion Slave w/o knowing magic, or to be carrying the appropriate crystals created by astral/earth mages) or Sabbath (which requires the expenditure of blood slaves, if memory serves). Communion works best if at least one Master has Nature-1 as well and there are enough communicants to be able cast Relief as necessary. You can get to truly sick levels of magical power with enough communion slaves... an astrally powerful master with numerous communion slaves, a spell focus and a rune smasher can be incredibly effective at Master Enslave.

Storing stuff on scouts is a good idea, especially for things like supply generators which don't directly help in combat. You can also use them to store gem generators (notably astral clams, earthblood stones) and shift gems over to your casters as need be, and if you're concerned about blood slaves being wiped out in battle you can hide and ration those the same way.
Regarding priests, it can be a good idea to script Divine Blessing once. Most of their casting isn't damaging, however, unless they're mage-priests who could be casting something more worthwhile.

onomastikon · #8 January 18th, 2004, 02:42 AM

I have been playing Man to try to get my feet wet in magic, and although I am learning a lot and liking it too, much of what seemed a good idea in the planning ("on paper") turned out to be kind of mediocre in the making. Mostly because of the way the computer casts spells for me.

I notice it prefers summoning-type spells over other ones when given no preference. And it keeps using my gems! I dont have enough for Wind Guide, which is what I wanted it to cast, because it keeps making Phantasmal Army, even when combatting tiny little troops. (Also notice priests cast Blessing over and over, even when there are no sacred troops there.)
The manual says the AI will only select big spells with gem requirements if up against a worthwhile foe, but I think this needs more work -- what do the experience people think? Will there be any hope of an AI patch in general (better fortress building and planning by foes, better tactics), or is this low on the priority list / doability list?

Besides always selecting "cast specific spell", is there a way to get mages to avoid casting certain ones?
Also, in playing Man, I have a sneaky high-magic pretender, and when behind enemy lines, her gems go out so quickly -- when trying to send sneaky people out as gem carriers, they sometimes USE the gems all up by the time they get there -- any tips here?

But also what has looked good on paper but turned out to be so-so is that I rarely have enough gems, for casting, rituals, and forging. Also, only my Pretender can cast most of the goodies I thought were going to be so hot.

I am thinking about trying out Machaka, because I like the combo of earth and nature a lot, plus they have fire too -- but all low levels, and no air magic, which I also love. Would empowerment be worth it?

So this is many questions, sorry about that, but thanks in advance for suggestions.

[ January 17, 2004, 13:43: Message edited by: onomastikon ]

onomastikon · #9 January 18th, 2004, 10:01 AM

I like the idea of "guilt".

Joe Bedurndurn · #10 January 18th, 2004, 11:52 AM

On a sort of related note, what's the deal with mages not casting what you've scripted them to cast? I had set up a Nadja... er... (that 4 armed pretender god who's name start's with an N

) to cast flight, personal luck and then attack rear. The reqs for flight are I think Air2 and I'd set him up with Air4 so I figured he'd be all set. Four or five battles later, he had yet to cast Flight on himself or anyone else. On my latest game, I had empowered/itemed a druid up to Nature 6 or 7, given him several nature gems and scripted him to cast Growing Fury, then cast any old spell for 2 turns and then retreat. Instead he chose to do whatever he felt like for 3 rounds, then run away like I'd asked him. I know that mages are supposed to ignore orders if they don't have a valid target or if it'd over fatigue them or something, but in both of these cases I can't figure out why they chose to ignore me.