Mages, item bonuses

[JoeSlow]

I'm playing a pure mage.

Does a mage when never using a weapon has advantages from items with "+3 ToHit" or "+1 Damage"?
Or are these type of items only made for physical combat?

[Painted Lady]

I'm not an expert on this, but it is my impression that Hit and Damage points only apply to actual weapons (this includes Unarmed Combat).

I was told that spells which are cast always "strike" everything in their path. The amount of damage done is determined by the target's ability to resist that magic.

[JoeSlow]

Yes, that's how I thought it would be.

Another thing that seems also to be rather useless for a non combat mage is the spell "bless":

Bless:
You have been blessed by divinity and temporarily possess heighten combative skills

[IJBall]

Yes, that's how I thought it would be.

Another thing that seems also to be rather useless for a non combat mage is the spell "bless":

Bless:
You have been blessed by divinity and temporarily possess heighten combative skills

Yeah, Bless is pretty much a melee-only modifier, so it doesn't help magic-users.

And that does bring up one issue I had with Book I - that spells always hit. That's one big difference between Eschalon and, say, Avernum (where spells have to make a ToHit roll first, before even getting to the Save-vs-Magic/Elements roll). I think it might be better if Eschalon did what Avernum does re: offensive spells. Then casting something like Bless would actually aid spellcasters as well as melee-fighters.

It'll be interesting to see if this is handled in any way differently in Book II...

[MyGameCompany]

And that does bring up one issue I had with Book I - that spells always hit. That's one big difference between Eschalon and, say, Avernum (where spells have to make a ToHit roll first, before even getting to the Save-vs-Magic/Elements roll). I think it might be better if Eschalon did what Avernum does re: offensive spells.

If they do that, then they would definitely need to make the mana points go further than they do now, since you now have the possibility of wasted shots.

[Randomizer]

You get wasted shots with monster resistances to the spell type. After watching something shrug off 6 fire darts in a row before taking damage.

[IJBall]

And that does bring up one issue I had with Book I - that spells always hit. That's one big difference between Eschalon and, say, Avernum (where spells have to make a ToHit roll first, before even getting to the Save-vs-Magic/Elements roll). I think it might be better if Eschalon did what Avernum does re: offensive spells.

If they do that, then they would definitely need to make the mana points go further than they do now, since you now have the possibility of wasted shots.

This is a good point I hadn't considered, now that you mention it...

(Though, I always figured that the ToHit for spells could be something relatively large, like >90% chance ToHit, so I never imagined that you'd miss all that often, even if such a system was implemented.)

You get wasted shots with monster resistances to the spell type. After watching something shrug off 6 fire darts in a row before taking damage.

Yes, true. (Though aren't there 'saving throw' rolls like this in Avernum too?)

Anyway, I think my main issue is really that spells "always hit" even in the dark! With Fire Dart, that might be somewhat forgivable. But having having Fleshboil hit even in the dark has always bothered me. So I kind of think that casting offensive spells in the dark should really have some kind of 'chance of missing' penalty assessed on them.

But, really, this is not that big an issue for me, if it stays the same as it is in Book I - I'm sure I'll be OK with it.

[CrazyBernie]

Ok, say it with me people...

"It's magick."

It's a fantastical, mystical energy. It doesn't have to obey any laws of physics, light/dark, time of day, the weather, the color of your knickers, etc. Why? Because it's magick!

[BasiliskWrangler]

Re: Spells always hit.. this is a Dungeons & Dragons concept. Magic Missiles were a guaranteed hit. Always. The target can make a save against magic to reduce damage, but the magic of Magic Missiles could not be evaded.

In Eschalon, magick targets by way of "conscious will". Just by thinking of a target, magick will reach it's intended destination without further effort from the caster. However, as many have seen, the target may be resistant to the effects of the spell.