classic BG2 MISLEAD invisibility behavior question

[Insomniator]

When enemy char under MISLEAD invisibility do melee(may be ranged too) attack on party member, engine shows enemy sprite for 1-2 animation frames, then char go instantly back to invisible. These frames show where char located on area -> player knows what kind and where enemy is.

Is it OK or misleaded enemy must be always invisible until illusion removing ?

[skellytz]

Personally, I think it's OK and seems to be an intentional workaround.

By design Mislead is supposed to cause the mage to be affected by Improved Invisibility. This means the mage should become partially visible and make their presence known when attacking.

The problem is that the image projected by Mislead is supposed to act as a decoy, ie the enemy AI shouldn't target the caster and should focus on the image instead. If it worked just like Improved Invisibility, the caster would still be too prone to AI targeting for Mislead to be useful enough in-game. The split-second visibility seems to be an attempt to stay true to Improved Invisibility design, while keeping the decoy image more useful:

Quote

Improved Invisibility:

This spell is similar to the invisibility spell, but the recipient is able to attack, either by missile discharge, melee combat, or spellcasting, and remain unseen. Note, however, that there are sometimes telltale traces, a shimmering, so that an observant opponent can attack the invisible spell recipient. These traces are only noticeable when specifically looked for (after the invisible character has made his presence known). Attacks against the invisible character suffer -4 penalties to the attack rolls, and the invisible character's saving throws are made with a +4 bonus.

Note: after making an attack the mage is no longer completely invisible.  Opponents can target the mage.

Of course, Mislead has traditionally been exploited by players. As the enemy AI doesn't have enough time to target the invisible caster, the player can simply hide the decoy image outside of the AI range and keep attacking with the caster for some cheesy backstabs.

So, I'd consider either keeping the original behavior or making the Mislead caster affected by the same mechanics as Improved Invisibility.

Edited June 10, 2022 by skellytz

[temnix]

Another thing that should be changed about Mislead and Shadow Door is the spell names. These spells are supposed to fool opponents into thinking something else has happened, but how is the player supposed to wonder if the AI has teleported away when the message window says "CASTS SHADOW DOOR"? Oh, thank you! Enemies should be patched to use a version of Shadow Door that is called Dimension Door, a Mislead that is called... something else, and these spells should include Teleport Field effects, lasting 1 second, at 300-400 range, as well as a 1-round-long disabler. That way enemies will not immediately attack the party from the very spot where they vanished but may actually deliver a surprise strike from an unexpected direction when the party marches off to search for them.

[DavidW]

SCS does something roughly like this, at least with Mislead. The teleport field is an interesting extra twist though.