"Odyssey of The Summoner" is OUT!! Find it here...

[nekarcos]

@Toles of Maine Exits
Doing that is a bit messy, simply put... Not to mention it freaks the hell out of the AI (because it thinks something is there... When "nothing" is)



Update on Fire Drake bubble!

Last I left off, I had a lot of optional, "challenge" areas to do-- The kind of places that are normally death traps for players, and should just be COMPLETELY avoided if you haven't found absolutely wonderful gear... But, alas-- To prove the "versitility" of Avatars, I must go through every zone and every side bit and CONQUER it.

- Activated the pedestals. Wasn't really a problem, it turns out...

- Entered space-time vortex...
~ As usual, these elementals are being a pain. Brought to 50% a few times via shenanigans, ugh...
~ The forest was easy (though, the mechanics of "Cursed" always perplex me, hahaha...)
~ Daikara was pretty easy. However, once again, the outcome was mostly determined by a point-blank, mind-crit Torrential Blaze for about 1159 damage... HMMMMMMMMMM... SUSPECT.
~ Temporal Twins were easy-- By making clever use of "Spotting" (Talent Level 4 of "Parental Bond"), I allowed my Drakelings to do most of the fighting while I simply sat back and healed them. These two have a tendency to stun-lock, cooldown-reset, and sustain-break the HECK out of players... So I wasn't about to fight them head on.

... Alright, I've delayed long enough. It's time to enter "that" death trap-- For I am so obligated to do so...

~ Entered the Giant's village and are about to enter the front door. As preparation, I used "Backdraft" to knock my Drakelings AWAY from me-- And thus, not be in any of the Giants' line of sight when I (quite cowardly) run away after opening the door! Fortunately, the geography generated a VERY nice corner for me to hide in! It looked something like this:
------------------------------------------------------------

Code: Select all

_____XXX
@____X_X
XXX____X
**XXXX_X
*****X_X
*****X_X
*****X_X
XXXXXXXX

Edit: This ASCII map was almost unreadable!

@ ~ Me
X ~ Solid
_ ~ Free
* ~ Enemies
------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks to this layout, I was able to make the Giants come out in trickles-- And the rest should be evident enough!

~ One of those giants dropped a HEALING amulet!! SCOOOORE!!!


- Headed to the Ruined Halfling complex as my first destination. Might as well pick up that free Mental Save and Confusion immunity (if I could keep the Yeek alive...)

*** (Lots of clicking later...)

~ Encounter with Subject Z! WHOAAA!! Only BARELY do I manage to pry him off of the Yeek! It was only through AMPLE usage of "Mighty Wings" talents that I was able to keep him in check (-- And OFF my very mind-wealthy friend here!). The yeek only survived with 15HP!


- I am now Level 23... And the "looming threat" of "THAT place" is approaching... Reactively, I dump 2 points into "Scale Potential" to beef up me and my Drakelings' Blight resistance, preparing for the worst... *siiigh*
- ALSO quite useful-- I happened upon a "Quiet Shield Torque"!! This combined with "Growing Bones" is going to allow me to completely TANK the onslaught of blight attacks I'm going to be blasted with in the crypt... Not to mention, that "TL2 Silence" is going to be absolutely lovely~~

*** BUGS encountered:
- Strangely, "Jogging Memories 3" says that I've already told The Summoner about the Sher'Tul Fortress... Which ISN'T true...!
- "Fire Cloak" does not correctly damage actors if they are blocked by a wall. This is due to the way "Projections" work...


*** But that's enough adventure for one day. We'll see what happens... Next time.

playerlll-20160901-054943.txt

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I suppose you could call this a "textual" walkthrough, haha... But don't worry-- Once I start getting my butt kicked, I'll be using my developerly powers of time-reversal-- Which will make that point moot. After all, this is just play-testing. I feel there's no point in starting from the beginning of the game again if I die-- And frankly, reviving via "Exploration" mode and resuming a fight is FAR too cheaty!
Simply put: I'm going to start from the beginning of the dungeon whenever I die. If a DRAKELING dies (and I will try not to exploit this loophole by sacrificing myself), I can't restart-- I have to continue.

[Arsonius]

Blighting was an interesting change from normal Drake gameplay. First two talents are great, lots of burst damage and disabling. Third talent seems rather weak considering you have to wait several turns for that damage and it being very expensive.
I found myself relying on first talent and mostly not even touching others. I don't see the point of high cooldowns on last two talents, they're already greatly restricted by your mana.

Unusual talents from Idealists are interesting even though I've seen only a two. Also it is very useful to give drakelings items with active abilities, such as wands of conjuration, torques of mindblast and even Umbraphage.
Overall, to me there is a real struggle with generic points as Fire Drake. I simply can't imagine myself getting one of the locked generic trees since you have a lot to max already.


I couldn't leave drakelings at Lake of Nur for some reason. Maybe it's because I entered location, but didn't take the lore and just rod of recalled? When I came back upon picking lore there was no dialogue. Or maybe it's just thanks to changing versions mid-game.
I think Idealists should mention that it still considers maximum from Role Model. I guess it may be obvious, but since it says "always" I still maxed it before Role Model just to check.
Bleak Outcome doesn't get removed from drakelings at all.


Also, about Growing Bones active - it is still useless. Compare to Gunslingers who get 20+ all damage reduction (also scaling with Steampower) by lvl 5 as an almost free sustain which also reflects projectiles as a side effect. Bulwark and some other shield-users at lvl 30 can block 150+ damage from every attack of certain element (Eternal Guard allows for unlimited rotation). And any vanilla non-antimagic class also has shield runes to block hundreds of damage.
So I'd say -15 damage for 6 turns at the cost of also losing passive effect is negligible at level 27 and even as first discipline compared to others.

[Almonihah]

Honestly I'm not sure the Growing Bones active will ever see use--if you're getting Growing Bones, you want the size change, and you probably don't want to turn the size change off. I suppose a sufficiently useful active could change that, but it seems unlikely.

[cybaster]

I keep getting stunned with feral heads alive and well. Is that intended at the moment? I thought they were supposed to negate a stun and die off.

Edit: And sleep effects.

http://puu.sh/qWSeO/b697ece0f6.png

[nekarcos]

@Arsonius
RE: Can't decide how to spend generics on Fire Drake!
I was quite aware of this! I promise you that you won't regret unlocking any of the generics (well, maybe "Dissension" if you have "happy" Drakelings)-- Especially with the buff that's coming to "Dragon Army" in the next update, hehehe...

RE: Lake Nur reflection event
That event only triggers if you have 3 Drakelings. However, a flaw at current is that you can't "re-trigger" the event (since it fires by picking up the note). In the future, I'll have to figure out how I could make this repeatable in the future WITHOUT being abusable...

RE: Idealists
Good point. I'll clarify that bit.

RE: Bleak Outcome
... I know, right? That status effect is... Weird... It clears from you, the player character-- But your party members never get it removed. I presume Alchemist's Golem has the same problem too. Otherwise, the effect is harmless (even if it looks sorta annoying).

RE: Growing Bones
It adds up-- Especially against large amounts of small damage. I wouldn't underestimate its effectiveness at all-- ESPECIALLY when paired with a psionic shield charm-- They will merge together and create an even larger barrier of protection!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@Almonihah
To be honest, I use it entirely like a damage-reduction torque. I don't know if it's amazing on Hydra (it doesn't need it thanks to "Tolerance"), but Fire Drake doesn't mind having it at all, and Ritch was just recently buffed such that using it as your First Discipline is pretty great. I say give it a chance-- But don't treat it like utter protection-- It's mainly useful for tiny pokes like Acid/Frost/Blade Storm talents, or damage-over-time terrains and such.

... Besides, if it's your First Discipline, you're only losing 10 Maximum Life and GAINING 1 Size Category... Not too shabby, hm?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@cybaster
For various reasons, heads don't always block effects. This is mainly to protect the player from sources of "rapid" ailments (such as "Pacification Hex", "Bane of Darkness" and whatnot).

I'll rewrite the text though-- So that there isn't too much further confusion about this. I've been asked this same question a few times in the past, and it's definitely the wording causing this mix-up.

For clarification, this is how it works: We treat the chance of hitting you (instead of a head) as though you were an "extra" head being targetted.
- 4 heads = 20%
- 3 heads = 25%
- 2 heads = 33%
- 1 head = 50%
- no heads = 100%

For FURTHER clarification, "Decoy" heads only kick in if they hit a head (they don't protect YOU from getting a status effect!)

[cybaster]

Ah, thank you! That makes sense.

[Toles of Maine Exits]

@Toles of Maine Exits
Doing that is a bit messy, simply put... Not to mention it freaks the hell out of the AI (because it thinks something is there... When "nothing" is)
[/b]

Could it act like a summon, in that when you enter a new level, your drakelings aren't spawned immediately? Instead, you summon your drakelings one at a time in the spot you just moved from, if empty. If a drakeling has already been spawned it checks the space that one just left, and so on for each subsequent drakeling. I don't see the A.I. getting affected by that, simply because the drakelings don't exist until the space for them exists.

[nekarcos]

Could it act like a summon, in that when you enter a new level, your drakelings aren't spawned immediately? Instead, you summon your drakelings one at a time in the spot you just moved from, if empty. If a drakeling has already been spawned it checks the space that one just left, and so on for each subsequent drakeling. I don't see the A.I. getting affected by that, simply because the drakelings don't exist until the space for them exists.

Drakelings and "Summons" are the same thing: "Party Members"-- Only one is A LOT less temporary than the other, heh...
But yeah, the Fire Drake player might want the Drakelings to help them with this HUGE blockade of enemies in front of them, but they won't "spawn in" until everything has been cleared out (putting the Fire Drake between a rock and a hard place). Not to mention the ways the player might abuse this... For example, the player may purposely force Drakelings to remain despawned simply by not moving-- Allowing them to bypass the danger of Drakelings getting caught in the crossfire (which I ALWAYS want to be a constant danger for Fire Drake).
There are also VARIOUS things that "can't happen" if the Drakeling doesn't exist-- It doesn't get EXP... It doesn't get inspired... And a lot of "Emotional" parameters don't update if they're not there.

In general, it's hard to produce an "elegant" solution for this-- That is to say: An implementation that won't create further problems-- Or to use one of my favorite phrases: Quelling this "hydra" of a problem, heh...
Enemies spawning so damn close to the player that party members can't even correctly fill all of the spots next to them... Is a HUGE issue... However, at the end of the day, it's not my responsibility to come up with a solution for this. This is a "base engine" issue that needs to be fixed by the REAL developers-- Or another add-on developer who has become fed up enough to do it themself!

... But if you want MY advice on the matter: I find the easiest way to deal with this situation is "stair-scumming". Like... Honestly-- If the game is gonna jerk you... Then jerk the game right back! That's my philosophy when it comes to ToME, hahaha...

[nekarcos]

Random note: Looks like someone else thought of this as well!

... Or maybe I should be taking notes? Hehehe...

[Almonihah]

I was realizing how long it's been since I played vanilla ToME (The last time I played ToME at all before seeing this addon was back when Embers of Rage came out...), so I've actually been doing a Wyrmic run to re-baseline myself. So if I'm quiet for a while here, that's why.

[nekarcos]

Update on Fire Drake bubble:

~ Upon starting this session-- I realized I completely forgot (and missed) the Thief's Hideout... Oops.

~ Went to Hidden Compound. Trivial.

~ Found the Thief's hideout! Conveniently, this zone scales up with my level, so everything was about 18-ish.
As usual, Drakelings friendly-fired the merchant-- But leaving before he dies counts too.

*** I'm at 93% EXP and the next level will force me to do "The Crypt". I'll need to pick my next place wisely!

~ I decide to go to Angolwen and confront Urkis. After all, I might as well get used to fighting horribly-spammy mages.
*** During my first few test runs, Urkis was the MAIN source of what lead to A LOT of "Fiery Breath" healing buffs. Originally, "Parental Bond" didn't provide a healing-fire effect, so fighting him was nigh impossible because he simply placed a "Hurricane" on me and my Drakelings, and I was powerless to stop him from utterly obliterating me.

- A "Blight" resistance ring in the shop. Good fortune!

~ Off to Tempest Peak I go.

%%% And, but of course. Urkis is this run's first death. Being stuck in an iceblock for 7 turns is sort of ridiculous...

- THIS time, I use Predation and creep up on HIM.

%%% STILL goes awful... Oh boy.
%%% Try again-- Nope. That "Hurricane" is FAR too killer with Drakelings!

*** To describe PRECISELY what makes this fight so hard for "Fire Drake"... Is that "Hurricane" ADDITIVELY stacks with targets-- So the fact that there is me and THREE Drakelings... Causes him to deal... Well, FOUR times his usual damage-- Making him UNUSUALLY powerful. There's only one reliable way to answer this...

- No more nice guy; I cheese him out.
- I use that Category point and learn "Tyrant". I only need one talent: "Aura of Silence".
- I sneak up on Urkis and use my "Silence" torque-- He's done for 8 turns! Afterwards, Urkis does his usual nonsense-- He freezes me-- He dazes me-- Then, he places Hurricanes on everyone. However, I simply use "Aura of Silence", and his "Hurricane" sustain breaks-- As well as dispelling all the hurricanes on me and my Drakelings. TAKE THAT! Trivial fight afterwards-- No fatalities at all.

*** I honestly don't like how much of a "thing" Urkis is for Fire Drake... But, honestly, he's optional, and his mechanics have nothing to do with my add-on. The VERY same thing would happen to a Summoner or a Necromancer who tries to fight him-- The Hurricanes would simply obliterate the player and all of the party members. This is simply how Urkis (and "Lightning Archmage") is designed, so I'm completely unconcerned about this "OPness".

- Hello "Harkor'Zun"!


~ Alright, it's time for "The Crypt", dun dun dun... To be honest, I've made so many preparations-- PLUS, I have "Tyrant" now, so this SHOULD be a cinch.
- ACK! It appeared before I could return to The Summoner for cleansing. This is going to be interesting, heheheh...

- After about a half hour of VERY meticulous gameplay-- I reach the bottom and RESCUE Melinda! Welp... It's time to do the typical "get lost" strategy, hahaha...
- We dig a bunch of zig-zagging, diagonal pathes in the walls-- And Melinda simply does not know how to follow me.
- And so, the last floor continues... More of the same. Crypt was QUITE trivial compared to Urkis himself... *sigh*

*** BUGS: Drakelings are rude, and constantly shove Melinda away when you're trying to leave the Dark Crypt. They need to be taught some manners!

playerlll-20160903-032235.txt

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Conclusions... Urkis is a meanie and a jerk and a meanie.

PS: The "Times Died" thing is going to be incorrect due to me reloading the whole zone upon death... Pay no mind to that.

[jenx]

Just max spell save and urkis is a breeze

[tabs]

Something I think would be very nice is changing the clasp dialogues to indicate if you're swapping out an already clasped item. As it is I constantly swap into and out of the inventory menu to doublecheck which clasp slot I'm going to use.

[nekarcos]

@jenx
It's not the debuffs... It's the sheer damage output he causes via those Drakeling-Hurricanes. He, alone, is good justification for Storm Drake Scales, really...!

@tabs
I've wanted to do that for AGES... But, simply put: It's "awkward" to do it... Doable, but awkward. I'll consider working on that for this next update.

[tabs]

The "(your name) is voracious, but (target) knows no fear!" message can get seriously spammy. I'm getting about 30 per round against some bosses with my hydra.