Dungeon Siege: Spell Problems from Full Version
Maendark
The following opinions are based on a retail version of the game
played through multiplayer to completion.
This is a general warning about Dungeon Siege spell casting from what
I've played as a pure combat mage through multiplayer.
Though the game *does* have a lot of spells, your biggest challenge
won't be getting them, but rather wanting to use them. The first
warning I give is that there is no way to hotkey a spell. I'm not
kidding. You choose 2 spells. You select one and you cast it. You
can manually change the spell, but otherwise it's a slow process of
either dragging your mouse to the spell you want (after a pause to
bring a list) or by cycling through them with keys.
More often then not, the game gives you upgraded spells that are
actually inferior to the spell you've been using. Tell me, if my new
spell which I got in my low 50's does just as much as the fireball
I've been using for 20 levels, and just as much but with no radius
damage, as the soul lance which I was using since the 2nd chapter of
the game, WHY was it put in?
WHY would I ever take up one of my precious spell slots with a spell
that gives ONE person *1* point of strength for roughly a minute? 1
point of strength is miniscule btw, and this spell comes LATE in the
game. This spell SHOULD be level 1, but it arrives late in the game.
You'd never use it.
WHY would you ever use the metal shards spell if the shards just fall
flat on the ground after moving roughly 10 feet? And, if you're NEXT
to a creature, it does as much damage as the spell you were already
using. Another redundant spell!
THEN they add in AE spells. Spells such as pestilence, acid cloud,
and fire rain are RIDICULOUS mana drains.
Get this. To do 140-180 damage with, say, a fireball it would cost
you around 45 mana. To do a PURPORTED 180 damage or so to a small
radius of creatures, it costs *450* mana. This is half your mana pool
at the level you get it at, the cloud is stationary, and your enemies
have roughly 800 hit points. To cast this twice and hope you kill 2
of anything but the weakest enemies is all you can hope for.
Pestilence and acid cloud end up using a ton of mana. In fact chain
casting the spells with a character with over 1200 mana either ends 2
ways: 1) you die, because they're killing you in a 10 hits, or, 2)
you throw down 2 1000 mana potions and kill them in the same time a
melee would have killed them all and *might* have had to use a potion.
After getting roughly 50 spells, I've found that only 4 or 5 spells
mean anything, with the rest being redundant or too flawed to be
useful.
For example, who's going to keep spirit armor in thier spellbook
taking up a slot so that you can give roughly 12 defense to a
character for a minute who already has 350 defense?
The summoning spells don't get any better as you level. A higher
level spell doesn't mean a more powerful creature. It just means that
you get a different creature with a differently tuned speed, hit
points, movement type, and summoning duration. I've used the level 20
summoning spell because it has more hit points and lasts longer than
the level 53 spell I just got. Each level I was hoping that I'd get
some great spell, and was let down and simply kept using my old stand
by. It was like I wasn't getting any spells at all really.
The Fire wall ripoff from diablo is useless. It uses a TON Of mana
and does roughly the equivelent of a sword swing from a melee class.
Spells like the life drain spell don't drain enough to ever be
regularly used, radius spells like fireball have their damage lowered
so much as you get away from the blast center that they might as well
be single target, and for some reason spell damage is so effected by
resistence, that in the time a melee gets in a few hits for 80 you've
gotten 1 hit in and its costing you mana and doing only 75 damage
(though the spell description shows 140-180).
I'm just hoping they balance these spells, but right now a pure combat
mage is a really really poor class. I didn't play with the other
magic, but from a quick glance over, they probably suffer from the
same misbalancing as the combat mage.
In general, the game has problems with giving you new spells, but
giving you no reason they actually exist. I found myself thinking,
ok, if this spell is single target, and my spell now is single target,
and this spell does 150 damage, and this new spell I got 30 levels
later is doing 150 damage, and they both cost as much mana, WHY is it
here? Or, if this spell does 2x as much damage as my previous spell,
why does it cost 5x as much mana?
No radius spells are properly tuned, buff spells don't last long
enough to EVER be useful, radius spells dont' do enough radius damage,
nor is the radius large enough, and even duration AE spells like
firewall, pestielence, acid cloud, etc, don't last long enough to
really matter. So you end up getting 50 spells, using 5 of them
because the rest are pointless, and dying a lot while your melee
partner cleans up.
Disappointing. Needs a patch. GL all, just an FYI on my frusration
with the game.
-maendark
Rod
one, so I tried it...
It's beautiful! but... hmm.... it does feel like a Diablo clone,
played it for about 2 hours then went back to HOMM 4. For those who
loved Diablo II, I guess it's just fine... (less clicking which is
good). Even though I haven't passed the first 'chapter' I do feel
your problem and I only have 4 spells. You can pause the game to
select spells, but in multiplayer don't know how this would go. Looks
like multiplayer is the land for archers and fighters since they
normally always use the same weapon. (all assumptions, as I said I
don't really like these types of games, could very easily be wrong)
Tina Fisher
"Maendark" <h...@hi.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:hosnausvplmop8jkc...@4ax.com...
>
> The following opinions are based on a retail version of the game
> played through multiplayer to completion.
>
blablah....]
i doubt many here will listen to a software thief with a fake name and email
address...
<<< Tini >>>
Thrasher
news:3cac8a5f$0$25866$5039...@newsreader01.highway.telekom.at...
> i doubt many here will listen to a software thief with a fake name and
email
> address...
As opposed to somebody new enough or foolish enough to use a real name and
e-mail address on usenet? To makes matters worse you appear to have
forgotten your caps lock key.
Jet Nebula
wrote:
To say nothing of using a fake email address "herself."
Tina Fisher
"Jet Nebula" <thi...@spamfreezone.com> wrote in message
news:e76pau8smk5d0c2l0...@4ax.com...
> >As opposed to somebody new enough or foolish enough to use a real name
and
> >e-mail address on usenet? To makes matters worse you appear to have
> >forgotten your caps lock key.
>
> To say nothing of using a fake email address "herself."
ok, here ist is: tini_...@hotmail.com
as for the other fellow - if you think i am foolish, this mail address is
only used to reply to usenet mails
as for new - check deja groups
i really dont know why thieves are being defended here, either you two are
thieves too or you dont mind the prices of software staying high, but i wont
say no more to that, since this is OT and software piracy has been talked
about 1000 times already
there are demos for every game, and stealing a pre-release "leaked" copy is
a very lame excuse....
CrippleJim
> a very lame excuse....
This statement is entirely false. Where is the demo for Might and
Magic 9? Many games are released without demos.
Tina Fisher
"CrippleJim" <fre...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:d302e00c.02040...@posting.google.com...
Jimbo
the warez DS since Monday, but at the same time I had it preordered at
EBGames. FedEx delivered it about an hour ago, so I now have the original
boxed copy in front of me. So am I evil for being unwilling to wait and
playing the warez copy in advance? Hummm.....
"Tina Fisher" <tini_...@ANTISPAMhotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3cadc681$0$27282$6e36...@newsreader02.highway.telekom.at...
Jimbo
about it until last week! I read that it went gold, then I started to look
into it. I was amazed at what I saw, and new I had to play it! I might not
have messed with the warez copy if I hadn't been on vacation this week. Get
it on Monday and be able to play all week while on vacation... or wait until
Friday and lose all that perfect gaming time? Hummm...
"jaeger" <jaeg...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.17178b7bc...@news.west.cox.net...
> In article <Jqkr8.5640$Rw2.4...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>,
> dontb...@aol.com says...
> > Is it OK for me to pirate because I'm impatient and can't wait? I've
had
> > the warez DS since Monday, but at the same time I had it preordered at
> > EBGames. FedEx delivered it about an hour ago, so I now have the
original
> > boxed copy in front of me. So am I evil for being unwilling to wait and
> > playing the warez copy in advance? Hummm.....
>
> You've waited 3 years and you can't wait 4 more days? Not evil, but
> certainly without a speck of discipline or self control.
Tina Fisher
"Jimbo" <dontb...@aol.com> wrote in msg
news:Jqkr8.5640$Rw2.4...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> Is it OK for me to pirate because I'm impatient and can't wait? I've had
> the warez DS since Monday, but at the same time I had it preordered at
> EBGames. FedEx delivered it about an hour ago, so I now have the original
> boxed copy in front of me. So am I evil for being unwilling to wait and
> playing the warez copy in advance? Hummm.....
oh come on, 99% of all pirates never buy the game, you know that and i know
that...
Knight37
> In article <Jqkr8.5640$Rw2.4...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>,
> dontb...@aol.com says...
>> Is it OK for me to pirate because I'm impatient and can't wait? I've
>> had the warez DS since Monday, but at the same time I had it
>> preordered at EBGames. FedEx delivered it about an hour ago, so I
>> now have the original boxed copy in front of me. So am I evil for
>> being unwilling to wait and playing the warez copy in advance?
>> Hummm.....
>
> You've waited 3 years and you can't wait 4 more days? Not evil, but
> certainly without a speck of discipline or self control.
I think he's evil, but it's because he top posts, not because of warez.
--
Knight37
"Oh, heh-heh, that's just, I-BOOM, BABY, BOOM! I'm the Evil Midnight Bomber
What Bombs at Midnight!"
Jimbo
Atari 800 days! I always buy my games and I normally don't mind waiting,
but I just couldn't wait for Dungeon Siege! I'm glad I didn't wait also...
because I've been having a blast this week! And Microsoft got their money,
so everyone is happy...
"Tina Fisher" <tini_...@ANTISPAMhotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3cade977$0$3698$6e36...@newsreader02.highway.telekom.at...
Jimbo
in during the day...
"jaeger" <jaeg...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.17179843...@news.west.cox.net...
> In article <LJlr8.5739$Rw2.4...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net>,
> dontb...@aol.com says...
> > Actually I was well behind the times on this title... I didn't know a
thing
> > about it until last week! I read that it went gold, then I started to
look
> > into it. I was amazed at what I saw, and new I had to play it! I might
not
> > have messed with the warez copy if I hadn't been on vacation this week.
Get
> > it on Monday and be able to play all week while on vacation... or wait
until
> > Friday and lose all that perfect gaming time? Hummm...
>
> You spent your vacation playing Dungeon Siege? You've really got the
> world on a string there.
James
"Knight37" <knig...@email.com> wrote in message
news:Xns91E77C4DC...@216.148.53.100...
Knight37
> Nothing wrong with topping posts. All you bottom posters are the same.
Is the top posting stronger?
No. Quicker. But not stronger.
Once you start down the dark path of top posting, forever will it dominate
your destiny.
--
Knight37
I tried diddling with the memory too....no effect.
-- freestone wilson in csipg.rpg
Scott Rutter
>No radius spells are properly tuned, buff spells don't last long
>enough to EVER be useful,
Buff spell durations stack, you don't like the 220 seconds from Magic
Armor, cast it 10 times in a row and get that up to around 2000.
EAC Folding Team is in #19th Place: http://www.distributedfolding.org/
EAC - Temporal Adjustments Division, Ordained Minister - Universal Life Church
"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability
of the human mind to correlate all its contents." - HP Lovecraft
Olaf
I put in about 8 hours this weekend, according to my save game anyway, and I
developed 2 NPC mages to about 10 in each magic skill. What a huge
disappointment. Looking back, I would only have made the Nature Mage, as
the healing spells are nice as you can restore HPs w/o having to stop
dealing damage by quaffing a potion.
Things that need to change:
First and foremost, there needs to be more active spell slots. 2 is
ridiculous, a joke. How that made it past beta...no idea. There needs to
be 4 at least, but I'd say 6 total would be more like it.
Buffs/Debuffs are ridiculously underpowered. A level 10 debuff might take
away 2 from the damage the monster is doing. A level 10 buff might add 2 to
your MAX damage, or 1 to your strength. Come on guys...
Damage dealing spells need to be totally reworked. The newbie spells you
get in nature and combat magic are zap and fireshot respectively. I am
still using them at level 10, having passed over at least 4 other higher
level damage dealing spells, double that in combat magic. The 'better'
spells are either 1) too costly 2) too slow (ie. the projectile moves dogass
slow to your target, which is usually dead by the time it would have been
hit by it) 3) too inefficient (DoT spells in this game have no purpose
except for fighting boss mobs) or some combination of the above 3 factors.
How lame.
The only 'good' spells I have come across outside of the newbie damage
spells, which are not even good at all compared to the damage your melee and
archery characters do, are the healing/res spells, and the summon spells.
Your magic characters also fall behind in levels because of the bigtime
damage disparity between melee/ranged and magic, and the way the game
distributes xp based on damage done. Bad call IMO. It makes leveling a
healer alongside your main party impossible.
Get to work on revising the magic system GPG.
olaf
Maendark
>Scott Rutter <n...@no.net> wrote:
>
>>>No radius spells are properly tuned, buff spells don't last long
>>>enough to EVER be useful,
>>
>> Buff spell durations stack, you don't like the 220 seconds from Magic
>>Armor, cast it 10 times in a row and get that up to around 2000.
>
>Unfortunately, it doesn't stack in the way that would matter--the effect.
>Having +12 buff to a 500+ armor stat is a waste of time. Casting it 10 times
>in a row only wastes 10 times more time. Uh, something like that.
That's the only spell that has enough of a duration time to matter.
Ever try stacking the other spells? I'm not blowing an entire bar of
mana and wasting 30 seconds of contiuous casting so 1 person can have
exploding enemies or somesuch for like 3 minutes. 3 minutes in this
game is just not worth it.
The spells need balancing very badly. And more spell slots.
But, beyond that, I'm just happy I got 1 nice reply to my thread out
of USENET. I was like, wow 20 replies! Wow 18 are a BS piracy flame
fest! YAY!
Maendark
wrote:
Ah I get it. So if I were to, say, take a book, and then write a
brilliant thesis, I'm a fool through-and-through regardless of my
thoughts?
David Perrault
> Your magic characters also fall behind in levels because of the bigtime
> damage disparity between melee/ranged and magic, and the way the game
> distributes xp based on damage done. Bad call IMO. It makes leveling a
> healer alongside your main party impossible.
>
I do agree. Magic system needs to be revsied it is nearly impossible
for a character specializing in combat or nature magic to keep up with
fighters or archers in terms of experiences and levels. I'm wondering
now if there is any use having any 'wizards' in your team unless for
healing.