The Drunken Lizard Pub

So, the so-called "somatic requirement" for casting spells (i.e. how much weight you can hold in your hands while still being able to cast) was 'buggy' back in Book I as far as I ever saw - sometimes the requirement was assessed, and sometimes (esp. outside of combat) it wasn't.

Well I'm seeing exactly the same issue in Book II - sometimes my Fighter is able to cast Gravedigger's Flame or Cat's Eyes or Bless or whatnot while still holding his sword with gloves, but sometimes (esp. in combat) he can't and so I have to switch over to my second Weapons set (with just a pine Club) in order to spellcast.

Anyway, if that weren't bad enough, it would also seem that the "1/3 of strength = somatic weight" requirement is either buggy (or purposely rounds up!) - my Fighter is STR=20; the weight in my hands (i.e. gloves + sword) is, total, 6.5 pounds (or was up until about 5 minutes ago! ). Well 6.5*3=19.5lbs, so my STR=20 > 19.5 pounds, and I should be able to spellcast but I'm still wasn't able to (much of the time) - so the "somatic weight" must be being rounded up from 19.5 to 21 (i.e. 7*3)...

Anyway, anyone else seeing either of these issues?...

I haven't paid extremely close attention, but this somatic requirement only comes into effect when enemies are nearby.
To me this seems clever, because the idea of this somatic requirement is that whitout it would be like 'cheating' in combat; your hero would be doing all kinds of stuff without losing a round. Now if your hero is extremely physically capable, okay, but if he's not, he should be losing some time.
Now if he's not in combat, this requirement is irrelevant. I assume this has been done on purpose, and I find it good that it's done. I'm not sure you've seen it from that side?

Not having the requirement away from combat just speeds up play.

The other problem with round off error seems to be part of the way all calculations are done. Experience in hardcore mode also rounds down against players.

KillingMoon wrote:I haven't paid extremely close attention, but this somatic requirement only comes into effect when enemies are nearby.
...Now if he's not in combat, this requirement is irrelevant. I assume this has been done on purpose, and I find it good that it's done. I'm not sure you've seen it from that side?

Randomizer wrote:Not having the requirement away from combat just speeds up play.

Interesting - I've never explicitly tested if "somatic" is never enforced away from combat, but always enforced in combat. If I think of it, or have the time, I'll try to test this in both Book I and Book II.

Randomizer wrote:The other problem with round off error seems to be part of the way all calculations are done. Experience in hardcore mode also rounds down against players.

Bummer.

The requirement pops up whenever enemies are near, just like the quick travel being locked out if enemies are near. The weight issue being forced integer (despite weight being assessed with one decimal place otherwise) is a bit odd and annoying.

I've never had it not come up when there are enemies nearby so far (been SLOWLY going through Westwillow, so I'm casting Gravedigger's Flame a lot). It is, in fact, one of the ways I figure out when enemies are near, since I can't see a freaking thing even with the brightness adjusted all the way. Man is that a creepy place.

The rounding issue isn't new, book 1 was the same: take your strength, divide by 3 and round down - that's your limit.

There was a rather nice set of gauntlets in book 1 that I was partial to, Iron Gauntlets of the Warlord. Anyone remember those? Had +2 damage, +5 to hit, and weighed 3 point five pounds. You could even find it with a +4 armor bonus if you were really fortunate. Or determined.

Hey, I'd love to find some armor with bonus to hit and damage like that in book 2. No see so far.

Farwalker wrote:There was a rather nice set of gauntlets in book 1 that I was partial to, Iron Gauntlets of the Warlord. Anyone remember those? Had +2 damage, +5 to hit, and weighed 3 point five pounds. You could even find it with a +4 armor bonus if you were really fortunate. Or determined.

Hey, I'd love to find some armor with bonus to hit and damage like that in book 2. No see so far.

I fear that may be partly my fault...

But when I did my review of the five character classes in Book I, I made a point that having two Assassin's Rings and Ranger Gauntlets (or whatever) made you insanely (too) powerful in Book I.

I've noticed that Book II has been carefully balanced to knock all the bonuses on rings and weapons, etc. down a notch.

And that's mostly for the good.
Though I really do miss the +6 Rings of the Hawk and the +6 Loremaster Rings and the +3 Cloaks of the Shadow - those would have been really useful in Book II!!

And are there any Brewmaster Rings anywhere in Book II?! If so, I haven't run across one, and that's something that I really think Book II should have! (or something equivalent...)

There are Brewmaster Rings at +2 alchemy, and Elder's Rings at +2 Lore.

Randomizer wrote:There are Brewmaster Rings at +2 alchemy, and Elder's Rings at +2 Lore.

I've seen the +2 Lore and +2 Spot Hidden rings - in those cases, I just miss the higher bonuses you got out of Book I.

But I have yet to lay eyes on those Brewmaster Rings (and the old Book I icons for them have been used for some other ring...).

It's really weird that I haven't set eyes on a Brewmaster Ring yet. Does anyone permanently stock them, so that I can go take a look at one and see what it looks like?

Shops don't permanently stock anything; it's all random. That said, I have found plenty of +2 alchemy rings in my game. After having played Book I so many times I noticed that in some games I never did find some items I knew existed, so you may just be having that kind of game. In another game, you may find plenty of that item and few of another you want. It's really quite random. Makes for different challenges in different games. I like it.

IJBall wrote:But when I did my review of the five character classes in Book I, I made a point that having two Assassin's Rings and Ranger Gauntlets (or whatever) made you insanely (too) powerful in Book I.

Maybe this overpowerment is indeed the reason why they got knocked. But... I wonder whether BasiliskWrangler has thought about making items that have to be worn on a specific hand, like left handed items and right handed items. That way you can never wear two of the same kind.