Mage chess confusion - how do I install this mod to skip Spell Shield revision

[tmscr]

Hello guys,

first of all, thank you for working on game improvement. I like most of SCS content. However, I am extremely confused with some of the mage spells revisions and also install engine. I am trying to change one small thing, but every attempt of mine results in two hours of install process. I simply cant find where it is and already spend days trying to setup mod.

The one small thing I am trying to change is Spell shield.

I find wiki extremely confusing and also I cant figure if Spell shield revisions are actually part of SCS. Please help - what do I click to install everything except Spell shield revision? Honestly I believe game was meant to be played in original setup of this spell. I am running no-reload insane difficulty run and I just dont want to get deleted by beholders/be reliant only on Balduran shield.

I will also be happy for any hint as how to deal with beholders with this spell nerfed to ground. I really dont want to cheese prep for battles via Skull traps and Clouds and stuff like that. Is not how it was meant to be played. I didnt know that beholder was behind corner, he shoots, I cast defence. This revision deletes my defence, please help how to deal with beholders or what do I click to remove this from rest of content.

Thank you for your work,

T

[jmerry]

SCS does not alter Spell Shield.

The beholder interaction ... unmodded, Spell Shield blocks antimagic rays and doesn't get used up. Which makes it basically a perfect defense against those rays, and is completely unintuitive with how Spell Shield normally works. This is not a problem with Spell Shield; it's a problem with antimagic rays. (And when you fix it, you're changing the antimagic ray and leaving alone the spell shield)

I'm pretty sure I'm the first one that spotted the issue and designed a fix; it's still in my tweak mod. With the fix, Spell Shield blocks one antimagic ray, just like it works for spell attacks in general. And it got added to SCS in v35, as part of the "Improved Beholders" component. If you would rather preserve that bug and have a perfect defense for your mages, skip that component.

[tmscr]

Dear jmerry,

thank you for your reply. As I understood the mechanics, it is because beholder ray is spell power 0, which is kinda not considered spell, therefore does not deplete spell shield. The spell power 0 also aparently applies for dragon breath, ilithids, maybe Umber Hulks, am not really sure here. Thing is ray is rather native ability of beholder then spell. He does not cast it, he just shoots it like gatling. I am aware spell shield is supposed to defend you against spells, not native abilities, so is a bug. On the other hand there is no defence vs. spell power 0 native abilities and beholder gatling speed does not allow me to recast. Beholder also does not cast, he just goes ratatatata. He depletes my spell shield and half a second later am dead. I have two resist magic scrolls ingame which I might use for this, but am saving those for Lich fights. Since you see deep into the code, you might be aware of another option to use as defence. Could you please give me advice what are other options to defend vs. Beholders?

Kind regards,

T

[Incrementis]

2 hours ago, tmscr said:

Could you please give me advice what are other options to defend vs. Beholders?

There is a (maybe) useful link that might answer your question:

Better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick: a brief(?) list of anti-Beholder tactics (non-SCS edition)

 

[jmerry]

7 hours ago, tmscr said:

beholder ray is ... kinda not considered spell

...

I am aware spell shield is supposed to defend you against spells, not native abilities, so is a bug.

You may then prefer the other option I have in my tweak mod, making it so that the antimagic ray just passes through Spell Shield. Compatibility with SCS beholders ... not sure, I need to check.

As for some tactics ...

- Warriors without a primary spellcasting class (paladins and rangers OK, bards and fighter/clerics and fighter/mages not OK) can just drink magic resistance potions for >=100% and charge in against SCS beholders, as long as they don't apply other dispellable buffs. SCS beholders only target non-spellcasting classes with antimagic if they see a buff worth dispelling, and pure MR isn't on the list. That leaves them ... well, about the only thing they can do is attack you in melee. With the right party - my "Wee Cant Spell" party that banned all arcane and divine spellcasting tore through the Underdark lair, with everyone but the bard joining in (Does not work against vanilla beholders; they'll randomly use antimagic on any PC). Oh, and don't use the Whirlwind/Greater Whirlwind HLAs if you're running this tactic. Those haste the warrior, which flags them for the "must dispel" list.

- Long-range artillery. Blast the beholders with cloudkills and fire storms and incendiary clouds from outside sight range. Beholders don't have any resistance to magic or the elements, so this is very effective. An invisible scout to spot for your artillery is quite helpful, of course.

- For a close-range fight that you can't avoid, load up on buffs and go in hard. Beholders can only use antimagic once per round each, and the SCS version of that ray grants magic immunity to its target for a bit so they don't have to worry about a follow-up attack ray. So as long as your buffed characters are protected against the attack rays, you'll have enough time to kill the enemy before anyone becomes truly vulnerable.

[tmscr]

Thank you jmerry,

that is so cool. You have totally changed their behaviour. I would never even imagine entering Beholder lair unbuffed, as all I have ever seen is gatling. They always scared the shit out of me untill I figured Spell Shield trick. Thank you for mechanics description, I will leave mod in full run (with exception of dampened mage prebuff - bcoz is fair as I also most of time dont prebuff). Since I just started my first no-reload run, I believe I will die before I get there, but with your advice I should manage.

Thank you again for your work. I wish you good luck.

Regards,

T

Edited August 22 by tmscr