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talbot_mage [2023/12/07 13:28] – [Miscellaneous Tips and Thoughts] khai | talbot_mage [2024/04/26 17:06] (current) – [Talbot's Musings on Hermetic Magic] Auto-combat clarification khai | ||
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===== Talbot' | ===== Talbot' | ||
- | There are a lot of reasons for the non-awakened to be leery of magic. Perhaps the biggest one is that spellcasting is not obvious, especially when the spellcaster is invisible. A perceptive runner will notice when a potential adversary aims a firearm or baton at you, but your first indication of offensive magic may be when you start bleeding out of your ears. | + | There are a lot of reasons for the non-awakened to be leery of magic. Perhaps the biggest one is that spells like stunbolt and manabolt are not obvious. A perceptive runner will notice when a potential adversary aims a firearm or baton at you, but your first indication of offensive magic may be when you start bleeding out of your ears. |
- | Flipping the roles around, what this means for the spellcasting runner is that in cases where adversaries are not aware that they are in fact adversaries, | + | Flipping the roles around, what this means for the spellcasting runner is that in cases where adversaries are not aware that they are in fact adversaries, |
NOTE: Spellcasting alone does not initiate combat, meaning it does not put you in initiative rounds. Outside of initiative, you have a half second delay (IRL time) between spells.\\ | NOTE: Spellcasting alone does not initiate combat, meaning it does not put you in initiative rounds. Outside of initiative, you have a half second delay (IRL time) between spells.\\ | ||
- | NOTE: Technically, | + | NOTE: If you deal damage, |
- | NOTE: This page presents opinions from a mechanical optimization point of view | + | NOTE: Mobs can become alarmed if they notice your spellcasting. A higher magic rating and a lower spell force makes the spellcasting harder |
+ | NOTE: In combat, spell casting is queued. Each time you send a CAST command, your spell is added to the queue. On your action in the combat loop, if there' | ||
==== Attack Spells & Drain ==== | ==== Attack Spells & Drain ==== | ||
- | While manabolt and powerbolt deal physical damage, stunbolt deals mental. This means that using stunbolts, a spellcaster needs to deal twice as many boxes to mortally wound a target, | + | While manabolt and powerbolt deal physical damage, stunbolt deals mental. This means that using stunbolts, a spellcaster needs to deal twice as many boxes to mortally wound a target, |
^Spell | ^Spell | ||
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^Spell | ^Spell | ||
|Stunbolt | |Stunbolt | ||
- | |Powerbolt/Waterbolt | + | |Waterbolt |
|Decrease Intelligence | |Decrease Intelligence | ||
|Heal |as with all other spells, wound penalties apply | | |Heal |as with all other spells, wound penalties apply | | ||
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* It is perfectly ok to use elementals (and thus sustained spells) at less than maximum force. Summoning force 5 elementals instead of force 8 will increase number of services by a factor of 2.4 on average. Force 5 elementals also require fewer conjuring materials, so in total, you'll be able to support 3.8x as many spells for the same amount of nuyen. Just force 5 combat sense (with 10 spellcasting successes) and force 5 armor are enough to put your combat pool and armor ratings on-par with or better than most street samurai. | * It is perfectly ok to use elementals (and thus sustained spells) at less than maximum force. Summoning force 5 elementals instead of force 8 will increase number of services by a factor of 2.4 on average. Force 5 elementals also require fewer conjuring materials, so in total, you'll be able to support 3.8x as many spells for the same amount of nuyen. Just force 5 combat sense (with 10 spellcasting successes) and force 5 armor are enough to put your combat pool and armor ratings on-par with or better than most street samurai. | ||
- | * The odds of a mundane elite guard beating the spell resistance check vs a force 5 imp invis (with 5 spellcasting successes) is 9%. This means if you know you're walking into a fight, go ahead and cast that (and sustain with a water elemental) because it means at least 9 out of 10 will suffer | + | * The odds of a mundane elite guard with 8 dice beating the spell resistance check vs a force 5 imp invis (with 5 spellcasting successes) is 9%. Against force 6 (with 6 successes), their odds are 0.04%. This means if you know you're walking into a fight, go ahead and cast that (and sustain with a water elemental) because it means everybody (except for dual-natured creatures) suffers |
* Autorun Johnsons ignore stealth spells (as well as invis spells). The stealth spell also does not cause guards to aggro, so it's perfectly ok to keep it active at all times. If you use the stealth skill, the spell makes it much less likely for opponents to beat the perception check. NOTE: sneaking works when moving between rooms; stand in a room long enough and opponents will spot you without needing a perception check. | * Autorun Johnsons ignore stealth spells (as well as invis spells). The stealth spell also does not cause guards to aggro, so it's perfectly ok to keep it active at all times. If you use the stealth skill, the spell makes it much less likely for opponents to beat the perception check. NOTE: sneaking works when moving between rooms; stand in a room long enough and opponents will spot you without needing a perception check. | ||
- | * When fighting against high force spirits, allocate your spool to defense/ | + | * When fighting against |
- | * For dangerous | + | * Against particularly strong critters with particularly |