Reagent Ring

[Beldavid]

How about making a reagent ring for U7?

[cyberfugue]

That's would be a cool thing to see as an option for BG.

[Gruck]

Can't you just use arch-wizard mode? Or is that only infinite mana?

[Ezric]

Arch-Wizard mode is both infinite mana and reagents.

[Philipp]

I'd rather have an improved reagent system. Possibly the only feature of U8 that could impress me, apart from some of the graphics.

[Adora]

Sure, you can use Arch Wizard mode. But that defeats the point of having another cool quest item added to the BG side of the game that you can use without technically 'cheating' as was possible in SI.

[EarthquakeDamage]

I can clearly see the allure of a reagent ring. Archwizard mode negates the need for mana. Some of us dislike excessive inventory management (i.e. reagents) but find limited spellcasting (via mana) perfectly acceptable and, in fact, desireable.

Also, regarding the U8 spellcasting system, it would be truly awesome if someone actually duplicated U8's spellcasting in U7. Unfortunately, it'll probably never happen.

[Dominus]

I think something like the SI keyring would be much nicer, a reagent pouch. Has fixed weight and you can store as much reagent inside it as you want but it would still require you to actually collect/buy all your reagents. The SI ring is very unbalanced IMO

[Donfrow]

I loved the reagent ring just because I didn't have to figure out how many reagents I had of each type. I know the book shows the number of casts you can do with your existing reagents, but I still hated going through bags to see if I had x number of mandrake roots. Though, in the little mod I'm making I ended up just making a reagent abacus to avoid that.

[EarthquakeDamage]

Dominus, that's a pretty good idea. I wouldn't mind that at all, given fixed weight and bulk.

[Tobyn]

Reagent Pouch is a great idea, although with the party member spellcasting from Keyring mod it would be nice to just give them a reagent ring or at least let Archwizard mode apply to them as well.
BTW: any chance to get spellbook style casting instead of it being dialog based? Anyhow, great work!

[EarthquakeDamage]

For party members, it would be best to either remove the need for reagents or let them access the bag regardless of who carries it. You could give them rings, but those rings would also have to work for the Avatar. A ring that works for everyone but the Avatar is a pretty pathetic idea. I'd rather either the entire party share The Bag (TM) or only requiring reagents for the Avatar. The latter, while potentially unbalanced, wouldn't feel nearly so contrived as a non-Avatar reagent ring, given that NPC spellcasters can cast spells without limit while not carrying (m)any reagents.

[Tobyn]

A shared Reagent Pouch with fixed weight/bulk and some means to check how many reagents are inside (e.g. display like abacus, pocketwatch or sextant) would indeed be great and a good solution to the above.

About NPC mock-spellcasting: do they still have their "spell weapons" in Exult? Or more general, do these exist in Exult so that Avatar can make use of them via cheat? In the original, you could (pickpocket? or) vibrate those to the floor, but you needed Hackmover to pick it up.

My favourite was Paralyze, which shot the pink bolts in extremely fast succession, first disabling and very quickly also killing opponents *g*

BTW: Paralyze did damage in the original, but I don't think it currently does in Exult. Am I wrong?

OK, I better stop here before going further off-topic :p

[EarthquakeDamage]

The party NPCs do not have the standard spell weapons. They each have one spellbook item (Mariah and Julia have books, Iolo has a lute, Shamino has an amulet, etc). Using that item calls up a spell list via conversation. You get to select spell targets and everything. Also, while the books (maybe the lute as well?) can be equipped as weapons, I suspect they don't do anything. If they did, then why would Shamino and Dupre have amulets (i.e. not weapons)?

Also, I don't think the Paralyze spell deals damage. There seem to be two variants of every spell. One is the projectile you can cast, which does exactly what it says on the cover. The other is the weapons grade version that deals damage and may or may not do what you expect. I think I recall seeing an item that looks like Telekinesis but inflicts damage plus quite a few harmful effects (poison, curse, etc). I think the weapons grade versions are all limitless while the standard ones have charges and thus, when created using Exult's (or U7's) cheat system, will expire after several shots.

[Tobyn]

ahem, sorry, I shouldn't post while sleeping :-p here are several corrections to my above statements:

- about party member spellcasting (which is now integrated in keyring)
I know they have their unique items and their dialog-based spellcasting system (as I wrote above), which is absolutely great. I have proposed the spellbook interface if possible instead of the dialog-based one just for the sake of knowing how many reagents they have. Would be obsolete with the shared Reagent Pouch.

I didn't want to confuse that with the non-party NPC "spell weapons".

- about Paralyze:
The "spell weapon" didn't damage in the original (at least not noticeable, because it fired at normal rate - I suppose according to the combat rating of the wielder). Can't remember the paperdoll equipped bolt in SI, but it certainly looks awe-inspiring to have a glowing purple bolt in your hand
The real spell, when marked and Avatar has spellbook in weapon's hand, must have done damage, because the rapid fire happened in combat mode with active HackMover (which also acted as Archwizard mode in the original and obviously ignored the Avatar's combat rating), and it killed off enemies faster than even the Death Scythe

[EarthquakeDamage]

I found one Paralyze projectile for SI. There may be a second one with different abilities (zero damage, maybe) with limited charges, but I didn't see it. What I saw inflicts Paralysis plus 3 damage. So yes, it appears Paralyze does hurt things in SI.

I'm under the impression that all weapons benefit from the attacker's Strength. If so, I'm sure your Avatar did kill things rapidly despite the weak weapon.