Paralysis is overpowered.

[konming]

"paralysed until the end of the fight" is still way better than "killed in a single hit". Comparing paralyze to soul slay, which is one level higher and just as easily spammed, I do not see how paralyze can be overpowered. Unless you also mean soul slay is overpowered. Then isn't SC even more overpowered?

[Herode]

Originally Posted by konming

"paralysed until the end of the fight" is still way better than "killed in a single hit".

Not that much, since you'll loose your unit if you loose the battle.

Anyway, I agree on the fact that as an anti-SC weapon, paralyze & some other spells can be interesting. But I'm unable to clearly state how much interesting or spoiling it is. Still reading the discussion with attention, though

[krpeters]

I like the idea of shortening the duration too. Given the way the AI spams paralyze, any unit seriously susceptible to it will just get re-paralyzed anyway. But this way a high-MR SC can still be useful by tying down several mages casting. As it stands, it seems too easy for the mages to go after everyone else instead.

[konming]

A paralyzed charcoal shielded N9E9 nief jarl is still pretty sacry, to normal troops anyway. A soul slayed one, OTOH, is nothing. You see, SCs can still be somewhat effective even when paralyzed, but no way they can be when soul slayed. And if you bring several SCs, one paralyzed generally does not get killed if you win in the end. One soul slayed, well, you get the drill. Paralyze is mostly a problem when you send your SC soloing. I do not see having an effective counter for that is a problem.

[konming]

As I have stated above, base S2 mages casting paralyze has 0.7% of success agaisnt MR 25 SC. So it is less than 1-2%. You can do the math yourself to verify.

[K]

Originally Posted by konming

As I have stated above, base S2 mages casting paralyze has 0.7% of success against MR 25 SC. So it is less than 1-2%. You can do the math yourself to verify.

And that is the winning argument.

Considering that any nerf on the duration of the spell would make it useless against regular armies, and it can be easily countered anyway, any change might as well be a straight deletion of the spell. Simply put, not having a spell on the casting list is better than having a useless spell.

[Herode]

But are 25+ MR for SCs a common feature ?
I'm not a SC specialist, so I won't answer. I can just say that the few SCs I saw & the few SCs I built were often < 25MR, thus leading to a considerably more important exposure.

[Foodstamp]

Originally Posted by K

And that is the winning argument.

Considering that any nerf on the duration of the spell would make it useless against regular armies, and it can be easily countered anyway, any change might as well be a straight deletion of the spell. Simply put, not having a spell on the casting list is better than having a useless spell.

I have to agree with these two. After reading this thread I started a game with EA R'lyeh to do some paralysis testing. Against an MR 19 enemy, I had great difficulty getting the spell to land with over half a dozen mages (no boosters, the smaller aboleths) spamming it.

[Adept]

A change in the formula so that the size divides the damage instead of just giving a tiny minus would fix the spell. I'd still prefer just open ended d6 + extra caster power. The 15+ d6 is no fix, since it would result in the same durations anyway *eyeroll*

[Psycho]

Paralyze is not that scary. It will always target the highest hit point unit, so you just need to bring along another SC to be the target and give him lead shield, rainbow armor, astral cap and AMA for 31 MR.

What is more, the paralyze spammers will continue to cast paralyze on the already paralyzed unit if there are no more targets of his size. Bring one elephant with your army and you'll see that he continues to be targeted even when already paralyzed.