Imoen as 13th level sorcerer Options

[Sikret]

The idea to randomise the innate ability and to experiment with it until you find out what it does is really innovative. It does spur a few questions though.

Does the innate have a name, and does that name change once you find out what it does?
Are there banters involved after a certain amount of failed experiments, or is there a banter after having found out what the innate does? I think something would be nice to have a banter discussing the progress if you keep failing and it would be good to have some concluding banter if you do finally figure it out.
I'm certain that you've already scripted such things, but now that you've excited my curiosity, I cannot help but ask.

Well, the difficult thing to implement banters about the new innate ability is how should the game realize that you have figured out what the ability does. You may discover what it does at some point but there is no way to check it to see whether you have discovered it or not.

As for the abilities name, I am thinking of giving it a vague name which suits well with all of its possible random forms (both before and after the discovery of what it does). Its name will be the same in all random forms. Something like: "From Deep Inside" or "Imoen's miraculous Endeavour" or something like that. Any suggestions for its name will be most appreciated.

Concerning the spell selection.

I think the debate concerning the high level spells is probably not very important. Once Imoen levels the player will be given the opportunity to pick whichever spell they prefer, and if your party level is much different from Imoen she will level up immediately allowing the player to immediately pick those spells they want.


Concerning the choices.
Lower Resistance is a spell that 90% of the player uses, even those people that prefer Spell Immunity. People who prefer Spell Immunity pick it before Lower Resistance, but they end up with both anyway. Lower Resistance is just a utility spell that is a waste 'not' to have.
I would therefore give Imoen Lower Resistance and let the player decide whether they want Spell Immunity or not (I am likely to pick Spell Immunity on the level up). This would probably allow more players to use tactics they are familiar with.

The 6th level spells are all very useful and I can think up tactics for all of those. It would not be a hamperment for me if two 6th level spells were pre-chosen for me (prot magic energy + 1 out of 3 listed above). Seeing as we get to choose 3 more 6th level spells after I think there is little to worry about and you can probably just go with that which is voted for the most.

The most important debates are the 2nd and 4th level spells. Whatever the final result may be, I would not go with both invisibility spells. There is just no need as a sorceress. Knock would make Imoen remain a little bit of a thief and allows players to take a lesser thief with them (for instance Nalia), but of course if her Innate ability were thieflike then maybe knock isn't necessary anymore. We still get a 4th level spell, but players probably all have their own preference for that last one, sooo..... chosing between spider spawn and improved invisibility is a tough one I guess.

I agree with everything you wrote.

BTW, Agannazar's Scorcher has also occured to me as a good 2nd level option.

[lroumen]

Well, the difficult thing to implement banters about the new innate ability is how should the game realize that you have figured out what the ability does. You may discover what it does at some point but there is no way to check it to see whether you have discovered it or not.

As for the abilities name, I am thinking of giving it a vague name which suits well with all of its possible random forms (both before and after the discovery of what it does). Its name will be the same in all random forms. Something like: "From Deep Inside" or "Imoen's miraculous Endeavour" or something like that. Any suggestions for its name will be most appreciated.

Ah yes, I thought that would be difficult indeed. I hadn't fully thought about it, not having delved into the deep shadows of modding business. Maybe a name like "Imoen's Intuition" would be suitable..... or no wait, I guess intuition means you already know what it does.

[rbeverjr]

I am quite certain that I haven't discovered how to optimize my arcane caster's offensive power.

Yes, I see that much by looking at your list of selected spells. Your list may be good for vanilla game but it's far from useful in IA.

Well don't throw rocks at me yet, as I have yet to complete my second complete run through of Improved Anvil. The spell list that I presented was useful in IA - even if it could be made more optimal. Incidentally, my list for the vanilla game is different from this list and concentrates much more on offensive spell power.

My kensai is quite effective against golems; so, I am anxious to try the drain spell on golems if that should work even better. In fact, I think I may take my ToB group and CLUA in some of the tougher monsters to try out Imoen's spell list. Even so, I must keep in mind that spells which do little damage may not be good enough in the late game and so not worth a spell slot. I'm sure Sikret has considered this, and no one should know which spells are more effective in this mod than him. So, I need to run my little experiment to explore these spell's utility.

[Sikret]

Well don't throw rocks at me yet,

I didn't mean to. I apologize if my tone sounded in that way. You (native English speakers) should put up with the rest of us as sometimes what we write may have implications we didn't mean to imply.

As for trying/testing the list of Imoen's spell in practice, my suggestion is to wait for v4.3 to be released as my list is optimized for IA considering the recent tweaks I have applied to spells.

[Clown]

Just a request, any chance at all that the Imoen sorcerer change could be an optional component. Personally always seen Immy as a rogue and would prefer to for go this particular change.

[Sikret]

@rbeverjr:

If you want to try/test Vampiric Touch on golems and compare it with your Kensai's physical attack, you can do it even now before the release of v4.3. To do so, use the following Console cheat and conjure an Admantite Golem:

CODE

  

CLUAConsole:CreateCreature:("GOLADA01")

In fact, the difference is so considerable that it has made me think to add some resistances to golems to help them withstand better.

[Sikret]

Maybe a name like "Imoen's Intuition" would be suitable..... or no wait, I guess intuition means you already know what it does.

What about having the term "Subconscious" in the ability's name: Imoen's Subconscious [something] or even "Subconscious [something]" (without having Imoen's name in it). But what term should be there instead of [something]?

PS: one more point which is worth mentioning is that if you don't start a new game after installing v4.3, Imoen will not gain this new ability in your current game (no matter if she is already in your party or not). If she is already in your party, you will need to return to a saved game before having here for the main feature to work and change her to a sorcerer properly, but even this will not help for having the new innate ability.