Casting "greyed" out spells

[quantum_mechani]

Shmonk said:
Question - in an SP game I had my Pretender enter the water to take a water province, and I thought I scripted him to cast Water Shield and 1 or 2 other buffs before going to attack closest. Now when the turn started, he cast no spells, just ran over and died after taking on 25+ ichtyids.

Now I thought if I had the ability to select a greyed out spell like Water Shield (I was on land at the time), it would still work as I moved to attack a water province. Is this not true?

It's possible I canceled the scripted orders somehow, but wanted to know in general if this was the case.

If you script a spell that is meant to be cast underwater, and he goes into battle underwater, he should cast it. The scripts are not evaluated until the battle starts.

[Shmonk]

Okay, thanks. I must have somehow canceled my scripted orders then. Darn, I hate losing a Pretender that way.

[En Forcer]

You may have also needed some water gems to cast it. No gems, no dice.

[Oversway]

You may have also needed some water gems to cast it. No gems, no dice.

Having made this mistake before, I find that the AI will usually cast some other spell (usually detrimental if not useless), not just skip the script altogether.

[Shmonk]

Yes, I've noticed this in other combats. I'll script the mage to cast Air Shield then 4 Fire Darts, then Cast Spells. But when I see the battle, they cast Air Shield, then Fire Shield, then some other buff, then the Fire Darts. And here I am attacking a province with maybe 10 other units, taking on a group of 40, and I want the fire darts to soften them up. But it didn't happen.

So I guess the AI modified my script to account for the "overwhelming" force of the AI? hehehe

It's good to hear that about the underwater attack. I do remember going back in to check his scripted orders, and I must have blanked them out by accident and forgot to redo them.

Now, I have to Call God with my 1 priest (as I recruit 2 or 3 more to help out). -sigh-

[Cainehill]

Generally in such a case ( the mage not casting spells like Fire Darts ) it's because the enemy was out of range for the spell. Happens all the time with spells like Sulphur Haze and the like, especially if you position your mages at the back of the field.

[Shmonk]

That's what it was, I forgot about being in range, and they were too far back to have the "interest" to cast it. So they did other stuff for 2 turns until the enemy creeped in range.

Stupid mages, for all that "brain" power you'd think they'd move closer a step or two.