the curious case of Xavier Woo

[Legacy_jadedjim]

               after a long lay off, started playing NWN platinum edition, version 1.69.

using the lawful evil gnome wizard Xavier Woo. (premade)

He's got greater spell focus illusion, & spell focus of both necromancy & evocation. the necromancy was not default. I adjusted him to this feat, upon character creation. 

since his school of magic is illusion (according to the game manual) his opposite school of magic would be enchantment. ok. probably not going to be able to cast enchantments.

problem is, I have all these other non enchantment spells (some learned from scrolls, others through leveling) which I simply cannot cast, even though they're in my spell book. (magic missle, burning hands, melfs acid arrow, ray of frost, combust, various other assorted spells, etc.)

its deceiving too. after resting, they are highlighted in the spell book, but only when I bring up the radial menu do I notice they are uncast-able.

at first I thought maybe it was an intelligence thing. he's got 17 intel. that means he should be able to cast pretty much all spells in the game, no matter their level. 

so then I think perhaps its the spellcraft skill. he's a 14 in this regard. that shouldn't be a factor either way or the other, this only effects identifying & counter spelling, yes?

is it a race restriction? alignment? spell failure % & armor check penalties are both 0. a glitch?

don't typically play wizards so i'm not very familiar with the class.

why cant I cast these spells?

lastly, I took the feat craft wand (game recommended craft potion) in the hopes that I could make some wands that will allow me to cast spells I wouldn't ordinarily be able to.

was this a smart choice or no?

thanks.
               
               

               

                     Modifié par jadedjim, 29 novembre 2013 - 01:18 .
                     
                  

            

[Legacy_Gruftlord]

               you mainly list direct, single enemy destruction spells that are supposed to harm enemies.
iirc you need to hover your mouse pointer over the enemy (or objects like doors and chests) before bringing up the radial, before those spells become available. or put them in your quickbar.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MrZork]

               I agree with Gruftlord: Make sure you are testing those spells on creatures who make sense as targets or the game may grey them out. For instance, you can cast Bull's Strength on anyone you can see, but you won't be able to cast Magic Missile on yourself. An easy test is to cast Flaming Hands at a spot on the ground. That spell doesn't require an object as a target, so it should cast.

Regarding Craft Wand: It is a great feat in many environments. But, it's value is not as high in modules like the OC where there are no rest restrictions and there is (mostly) a limit on your toon's total earnable XP in the campaign. In that sort of environment, crafting wands can negatively impact what level your toon can achieve by the end of the game because of the XP cost of the crafting. And, the feat is less valuable in terms of giving you extra spell power (e.g. helping to reduce the problem of running out of memorized spells) because you can always stop and rest after a given battle, if you are running low.

On the other hand, wizards have plenty of feats, so if you want to experiment with mage crafting, wands are the only way to do it in the OC or SoU. (You can craft bone wands from skeleton bones that drop and use them with the Craft Wand feat, but OC and SoU stores have no blank scrolls for Scribe Scroll or potion bottles for Brew Potion.)
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Westan Willows]

               Have you tried putting spells into the 'quickslot'?
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Westan Willows]

               Did you select the spell to memorize and then rest? A Wiz must select spells to use then rest. A Sorc only needs to rest.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_jadedjim]

               thanks for the replies.

nice tip on saving the bones for crafting components b.t.w. I would've only been looking for bone wands otherwise. do you have to use blank scrolls & then cast the spell, or could you use scrolls that contain spells already?

all spells are in my book yes. I do know the difference between a sorcerer vs. a wiz. '> if I set them to quickslots, they're just as "greyed out" as they would otherwise be on the radial menu.

the targeting (or lack thereof; for spells that would typically harm enemies) could very well be a factor.

meaning they appear to be "spent" ("greyed out")  simply because i'm not currently targeting anything at the time.

then again, im playing OC /w hardcore rules, so spells that aren't even intended to injure my retainers could very well end up doing exactly that . '>

I just find it odd that memorized spells in the spell book don't appear to be "lit up" in the radial menu; as if they had already been cast, even though they hadn't.

one last thing.

phantasmal killer will only harm reasoning creatures; as in animals / undead are unaffected, yes?

its still a great spell otherwise. I mean it'll still do 3d6 damage, even IF they actually manage to make both saving throws. (fortitude & willpower)
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MagicalMaster]

               

if I set them to quickslots, they're just as "greyed out" as they would otherwise be on the radial menu.

If they're greyed out on the quickbar then you haven't actually memorized them.  You either need to rest or you have the wrong spells on your quickbar.

It's not like Dragon Age where you use mana that regenerates and dragging a spell to your quickbar lets you cast it-- you only get a certain number of spells per day (meaning between rests) and you have to memorize each one specifically as a wizard.

You ARE dragging the spells to the RIGHT side of the screen, right?  There's two halves of the spellbook -- the left half is what you CAN choose to memorize and the right half is what you actually HAVE memorized (once you rest).
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Westan Willows]

               Either you did not memorize the spells or you have a corrupt game
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_jadedjim]

               game works fine & was a clean install.

very familiar with both dragon age & D&D.

can say without question that spells are being memorized properly. I never drag, only hit the arrow.i realize there's probably a couple of ways to do this, which brings me to the main reason I was having trouble, targeting.

with other classes I would bring up the radial menu (from my character to the target) & then left click to cast spells directly on a target. never had problems.

after experimenting & trying different targeting techniques, right clicking & calling up the radial menu (directly on a target) seems to work.

the game is now letting me memorize (& therefore cast) a myriad of different spells, from different schools all of a sudden. (sans enchantments)

they are even showing up in the quick bar slots I have designated.

it was merely an issue of targeting, although spells being greyed out on the radial menu made it hella confusing.

id pretty much have to sit there & swap out spells in my book (resting each time) until I found spells that would actually stick in the quickbar, even though they'd still be greyed out in the radial, because there wasn't anything hostile around @ the time to target.

burning hands was a great example of this. as you do not need a target to cast, as mentioned a few replies above.

not topic related at all, but I also found my familiar had a mind of their own when it came to opening locked doors / chests.

they default-ly want to bash the locked object, even though there's no way to tell them to "not help when an object is locked" in dialogue, like a henchman.

anyway, using the command "guard me" as you open the lock gets them to stop bashing things, immediately.

sometimes things inside a locked container can get damaged as a result of bashing. I suppose un- summoning familiars is also an option.

thanks. we're good here. pay no mind to the gnome behind the beaker. '>
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MagicalMaster]

               

id pretty much have to sit there & swap out spells in my book (resting each time) until I found spells that would actually stick in the quickbar

Every spell you actually memorize (meaning move it to the right hand side and then rest) will stick in the quickbar.  Every single one.  There is not a single default spell that CANNOT be cast with the quickbar.

To avoid the familiar from bashing it...don't click on locked doors/chests (you can tell whether it's locked with the radial menu).  If you need to click on it (due to having a rogue henchmen) then yes, tell them to follow or guard should work.

By default nothing gets damaged as a result of bashing unless a module author makes it otherwise.

A further option is to simply possess the familiar.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Westan Willows]

               I like the Pixie. She always has been able to disarm a trap and unlock a lock unlike some npcs who go "No can do"
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_jadedjim]

               spells would appear in the quickbar, but weren't always " lit up" as though they were cast-able. that's what I should have said.

must be getting the damaged bashed goods confused with another D&D game, if not another mod besides the OC or xpans.

ill have to try the pixie.

was using the beholder. kinda fun. switched to the hellhound instead. seems like a better melee backup choice, extra burning hands is cool too.

tommy undergallows is an alright rogue, but his intelligence isn't the greatest for intricate rogue theatrics. "no can do-s" a lot more then "hokey dokey-s."

got the ring of the rogue from his story quest. Xavier's intel. is good enough to multi class rogue I suppose.

still I think i'll just keep him as specialized as possible however, even though his race's favored class (wiz.) wouldn't count towards incurring an xp penalty, as a result of multi classing, if that's indeed how that works.


running the quests in the docks, there's a lot of traps. i'll wait before I head back to the trade of blades & swap him back to the evil dwarf monk. (grimgnaw)

Xavier & he are birds of a feather. heh, heh. otherwise, (w/o tommy & encountering traps) i'll just possess the familiar & have him set it off. if it dies, can always just re-summon them.

or I could just try the pixie. lol.

thanks for the help. casting the spells I want to memorize makes the game a lot more enjoyable.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_MagicalMaster]

               

spells would appear in the quickbar, but weren't always " lit up" as though they were cast-able. that's what I should have said.

Except they always should be.  Give me an example of a spell (or more than one spell) which you couldn't get to "light up" on the quickbar.

tommy undergallows is an alright rogue, but his intelligence isn't the greatest for intricate rogue theatrics. "no can do-s" a lot more then "hokey dokey-s."

Did he ever say "No can do" when you were able to bash the door/chest?  He can't unlock doors which require a specific key -- which there are many of.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Westan Willows]

               He has a couple times with me. This being a 'no spoilers allowed' form I can't say more.
               
               

               
            

[Legacy_Westan Willows]

               

jadedjim wrote...


still I think i'll just keep him as specialized as possible however, even though his race's favored class (wiz.) wouldn't count towards incurring an xp penalty, as a result of multi classing, if that's indeed how that works.

thanks for the help. casting the spells I want to memorize makes the game a lot more enjoyable.

It is. I have a Elf Fighter/Wiz/AA. I started him as A Fighter. I don't like Wiz but could not wse Sorc because of XP penalty.
Wiz being Elf favored clase. BTW Prestige Class don't have the XP pently. Just meat the requirements. '>
               
               

               

                     Modifié par Westan Willows, 02 décembre 2013 - 07:39 .