Order of effect application

[Nythrun]

Okay, this is esoterica for sure and tentative to boot, but I think this is the default order from first batch of effects applied to last.

 

Helm slot

Armor slot

Left Hand (Shield or second weapon) slot

Bracer slot

Right Hand Ring slot

Left Hand Ring slot

Amulet slot

Belt slot

Boot slot

Cloak slot

Right Hand (primary or two-handed weapon) slot

Magical Weapon (harm, meteors, etc) slot

Spell Effect (first active spell cast)

Spell Effect (second active spell cast)

Et cetera undsoweiter for any further spells

 

Now of course the order in which you put on your clothes matters but after a saved game load, an area change, certain scripting actions, and probably lots of other things, equipment reverts to this order and forgets the order in which it was donned.

 

Spell power, level, and duration made no difference in the limited testing I did.

 

Of course, there's a complication. In one test out of thirteen the Left Hand slot usurped the Magical Weapon slot as the last piece of equipment to be processed. Considering that I was doing nothing except loading the same saved game over and over again, and that nothing else changed, er, well....

 

Edited because I forgot the amulet slot, and because I can't replicate the off-hand last anomoly.

[Nythrun]

For a practical example of how this malarkey works, you can take a look at Carsomyr, which in the unmodded game sets magic resistance to 50%. If you equip Carsomyr, and then add, let's say the Amulet of Seldarine (which grants +10% magic resistance), you'll end up with 60% magic resistance total. Whereas if you wear the necklace first and heft the sword second, you'll end up with 50% magic resistance (because Carsomyr sets rather than adds). So what happens when you walk out of a doorway? The game rebuilds you, beginning with your hat, works through the list to your necklace (adding +10% to your magic resistance) and ends in the right-hand/two-hand/magical weapon slot, setting magic resistance to 50% and cheerily discarding what your other clothes have to say about magic resistance.

 

Here's the important part that I omitted in the first post: spells are treated a bit differently than the equipped effects of items and they always get the last word. So if Viconia casts Magic Resistance (the cleric spell) on her pal Keldorn while he's toting the aforementioned kit, his magic resistance will be set to twice her cleric level and no amount of holy stripteasing or sword juggling will change it.

 

Magic Resistance, and Acid Resistance(27), and quite a few others stack as described above in predictable ways. To much bemusement, though, not all opcodes work differently when multiple values using both fixed and cumulative modifiers are stacked: Attacks per Round Modifier(1), Strength Bonus(44), etc instead work something like this:

 

1) Scan through all active fixed modifiers and apply the last as the new base.

2) Append all cumulative modifiers to the new base.

 

Why? I have no idea I'll work on getting a more complete list one of these days when the OCD kicks in in full.