Im 8 level and i got a meteor swarm as soon as i walked in...What the hell?

[perkyguy]

I consider myself a good player. I dont know the cheeses, i just pick pick whaevert seems like a sensible tactic for any battle. Enough to beat the game several times, as well as rogue rebalance's chosen of cyric, Ascension with all the "tougher" components and solaufein's eclipse fight. I even used a code to fight the eclipse party in SoA.

 

And yet NONE of that can prepare me for a walk-in blast with a 9 level spell, courtesy of the gnome in Valygar's second floor, when i went there to get the coordinates for umar hills.

 

I was attacked by a spell, whose level alone was higher than my character's

 

My mind - it is blown.

 

I did not install smarter mages, as reading through the readme, i found it ridicilous that all of the mages, would autmatically know to dispel you, renew their own buffs, and generally give you the finger..

 

The readme sold the SCS2 as "plays fair, doesnt cheat" but so many of the components betray that statement. Like casters starting buffed? All notable mage opponents already have scripted instant casts at start + a variety of sequencers. Also, everyone magically hanging on to just the right potions to drink as soon as you approach? I cant get around without keldorn, as any muppet with a backstab multiplier has more invisiblity potions, than the guys from Chosen of Cyric.

 

My beef here is that while i installed the tougher, vampires, mind flayers, githyanki, dragons, trolls, irenicus ETC, i Specifically did not install the smarter mages, because it seemed like an exercise in masochism, which i wanted to avoid, and apparently, I was unsuccessful.

 

So which component could it be that makes no-name-gnome fire off a meteor swarm and his chain contingencies as soon as i climb the stairs, before the dialog is initiated?

[polytope]

The gnome in Valygar's house is from Weimer's Tactics, not from SCS, he also doesn't fight very intelligently - he has Meteor Swarm but no resistance to fire, and if you interrupt him casting Black Blade of Disaster he will frequently stand around doing nothing. If you haven't installed SCS smarter mages I suppose any changes in default mage scripting are also from Tactics.

[DavidW]

If you didn't install Smarter Mages, nothing involving mages prebuffing, casting sequencers, etc is my fault! As polytope says, you're probably seeing Tactics in action here.

[perkyguy]

Err...I stand corrected then. But in my defence, I downloaded and installed around 40 mods, after spending 2 days hunting down said mods, tinkering with proper load order, skimming through readmies for compatibility, and finally installing them all with their hundreds of separate options.

 

So I kinda forgot, i also installed Tactics stuff.

 

Weimer is a sadist.

 

One question - does scs2 modify mod-induced encounters, which already have a scripted behavior and their own potions? i mean such as Solaufein's fights and cyric chosen and the like?

 

I also have the Questpack improved AI, but i think i remember reading that apart from umber hulks and mummies, SCS2 supercedes them with no trouble. Dont remember reading anything about if Tactics plays nice with QP. I probably have too many mods

[Shaitan]

The readme sold the SCS2 as "plays fair, doesnt cheat" but so many of the components betray that statement. Like casters starting buffed? All notable mage opponents already have scripted instant casts at start + a variety of sequencers

I'd consider a unbuffed mage a silly mage. I guess a mage don't get old in BG if he isn't careful ie has some basic buffs running. Soldiers don't run around without helmets until they see an enemy do they?

[Salk]

The readme sold the SCS2 as "plays fair, doesnt cheat" but so many of the components betray that statement. Like casters starting buffed? All notable mage opponents already have scripted instant casts at start + a variety of sequencers

I'd consider a unbuffed mage a silly mage. I guess a mage don't get old in BG if he isn't careful ie has some basic buffs running. Soldiers don't run around without helmets until they see an enemy do they?

 

I don't think that example fits.

 

Helmet and armors are passive protection. Spells are not. Your comparison would be right if you told me "Wizards don't go around without their robes of fire resistance, do they?"

[DavidW]

Helmet and armors are passive protection. Spells are not. Your comparison would be right if you told me "Wizards don't go around without their robes of fire resistance, do they?"

 

Casting Stoneskin first thing in the morning takes less effort than putting on a suit of armour.

[DavidW]

Sorry, I missed the fact that there's some comments here on SCS as well as on tactics.

 

I did not install smarter mages, as reading through the readme, i found it ridicilous that all of the mages, would autmatically know to dispel you, renew their own buffs, and generally give you the finger..

 

I'm not sure I follow this. Why is it ridiculous that mages renew their buffs? Wouldn't you recast Stoneskin if someone took it down?

 

The readme sold the SCS2 as "plays fair, doesnt cheat" but so many of the components betray that statement. Like casters starting buffed? All notable mage opponents already have scripted instant casts at start + a variety of sequencers.

Again, I'm not sure what your point is here. "Scripted instant cast" is just another word for "prebuff", and in any case buffing is optional.

 

Also, everyone magically hanging on to just the right potions to drink as soon as you approach?

They're not. The algorithm depends only on the character's class and level, and on whether you're in SoA or ToB. It's not otherwise sensitive to anything about the tactical specifics.

 

I cant get around without keldorn, as any muppet with a backstab multiplier has more invisiblity potions, than the guys from Chosen of Cyric.

The "guys from Chosen of Cyric" have five invisibility potions each. In SCS, thieves of level 4-5 get one potion, thieves of level 6-8 get two, thieves of level 9-13 get three, and thieves of level 14+ (of whom there are precious few, at least in SoA) get five. So this isn't factually correct.

[Salk]

Helmet and armors are passive protection. Spells are not. Your comparison would be right if you told me "Wizards don't go around without their robes of fire resistance, do they?"

 

Casting Stoneskin first thing in the morning takes less effort than putting on a suit of armour.

 

For one thing, that doesn't invalidate what I wrote above (not suitable example).

 

For another, Stoneskin lasts 8 hours. An armour does not expire as long as it is on. Of course it's okay to think that casting Stoneskin is a well estabilished daily triple routine for every mage (so that it covers the 24 hours), comparable to the afternoon tea.