Spells not landing.

[zurcon]

Against a barb in full hit-dam gear at low levels I failed 5 sleeps. I have 25 intelligence. What gives? (level 19)


How are mages and maladictive / afflictive classes supposed to fight if their shit doesn't land against someone completely unprotected from mental?

[zurcon]

Psionics also don't have anything that acutally does damage at level 19. If it weren't for an OOC person I know who plays a fire giant berserker I wouldn't have anyone to grup with. In many days of asking around, I've never gotten myself into a group by myself. Me and my friend get other people in our group.. but if I play alone no one will group with me.. because I can't even contribute damage

My role in a group is to remain invisible, not get attacked by mobs.. and to watch where for PK ppl.

I know that "psionic blast" is supposed to be good, but that's high level. Why are there a progression of shitty-as hell (injures) (wounds) (scratches) type psionic spells??? They're completely worthless, and I'm sorry I put the practice into them. IF there's a progressoin, they should all be useful at the levels they're given out.

Meanwhile, healers get disrupt undead which (for some fucking reason) works on living targets and does *** DEVASTATES *** at my level??? Wtf kids?

The best way to handle a spell progression is to get rid of all the various "lesser" versions, and stick with one version that gets better as you level.

[zurcon]

You might also want to seriously consider dam-caps for levels. Guys doing 60-80 damage per hit at level 20 is not right (and that's not even through vuln).

[Davairus]

The guy that coded psis gave little thought to the classes skill progression, incidentally thats why they're so powerful in the low levels compared to stock mages like invokers for example. Isn't psi blast level 26? Hardly high. They do have a lot of useless spells, but the best picks of what they have more than make up for that, assuming you can pick them out. Its a huge turd, plain and simple. There is probably one or two posts that already state that floating around.

As for healers, the spell you're referring to is nowhere near capable of that amount of damage at your rank.. it'll do a mutilate, not a devastate..

As for level 20 damage, yes, its a tough range, probably the toughest. Some guys are dealing out over 25% of other players hp in damage, in single hits. But you stated that you have an OOC fire berserker levelling you, so you have an easy ride through there - psionicst or not. Ranking past it is the sensible option. The MUD was set up like that before my time so I can't really offer any explanation why it is, but I can tell you those warriors aren't half so dangerous once they hit the higher levels.

[zurcon]

Thanks for the positive and informative reply. Could you comment on how
spells and maladies land at later levels.. when people start gearing for
saves? I've yet to find a mud where mages could land maladictive spells
through saving throws.. because the damn area builders make -10 saves
crap!

I am really concerned that an unprotected berserker made his saving
throw 5 times in a row against my sleep... what happens as soon as he
starts wearing saves gear?

[zurcon]

[marsd]

hmm, the fact that savings are there just to give protection against spells that kill you within five rounds will tell you that they aren't your sole battle strategy..

[Burzuk]

[Mendek]

The saves system here is definately not like stock ROM, especially after you can see your saves at higher levels. Read help saving throw before you try tying it all to stock ROM. Also, the choice between doing damage and landing some decisivly devious malediction depends on the race and class of your opponent, what they're wearing, etc. If your opponent obviously has poor saves then it's definately worth hitting him with dysentry, curse, etc. before you try to roundhouse him.

[zurcon]

[Quiet Wanderer]

Faerie fire needs no work. It works quite well, trust me. Try having a healer chasing down your thief and being faerie fired. Faerie fired owns when used correctly. Any of those spells do. Psions need work, but only a little. I don't think they're quite as bad as you seem to think. Play a few differetn races with them, and rank them up into forties or fifty. I think you'll see that mostly your problems with the spells are just not using them wisely. Psions coudl use some work though, just not as much as what you're wanting.

[Davairus]

Well let me present an oversimplified look at several classes to help illustrate this.

Invoker

Offence

1- hellstream, fireball (situational), or chain lightning (situational)
2- enchanting their weapon
3- some form of elemental shield
4- second attack
5- faerie fire
6- dispel magic

Its pretty much ruined by wearing some save aff.

Defence

1- sanc
2- parry
3- enchanting armor, and a few ac spells
4- word of recall & teleport

Warrior

Offence

1. several extra weapon attacks, and a wide weapon range - all eq dependent
2. dirt kicking, negated by water
3. bash and trip, also negatable by those who really need it
4. disarming, also negatable thanks to certain spells/eq
5. kick? this skill has a good chance of missing mastered, by the way
6. a warcry and a berserk that costs you 1/2 mv

Defence

1. shield blocking, parry, dodging, dual parry
2. some curing from berserk that costs you 1/2 mv
3. some magical protection from warcry
4. blind fighting (its not perfect and it don't help you run away)

Psionicist

Offence

1- psis can purge their victim's mental save which helps their psi spells
2- psis can "telelock" people to prevent them from teleport and recall
3- psis can "clairvoyance" people to see exactly where they are
4- psis can bio manipulation and often blind the victim by 3rd try
5- psi blast is one of the most efficient damage spells in the game
6- psis get telekinesis kicking in as their health gets low (unblockable damage)
7- obviously psis get faerie fire and dispel magic
8- psis can hypnotize some lowbie trip/dirting mob to aid.
9- psis also get tons of "useless" shit that they can use if they want (which includes AC spells)

The only "downside" is that most their stuff checks mental save. But you have purge to fix that.

Defence

1- psis get pyramid which is their version of sanc
2- psis get bio feedback which is pretty much 'protection ALL'
3- psis get displacement, which has a chance to completely avoid ANY form of damage (e.g. heavenly wrath)
4- psis get iron will, their renamed prot shield
5- psis get fly, avoiding the supposed "burden" of mages needing scrolls
6- psis get phase shift, which takes them to a hiding spot wherever they like, or to their temple
7- psis get their own form of heals
8- psis get to be illithids so if all this fails they will just go into shock and get a chance to cheat death


Does anyone still think psis need toning up? Go ahead and post if you think so, nobodys going to mind.

Are you thinking I have compared them with weak classes? How about I compare them with a "powerful" class then.

Shaman

Offense

1- lots of maledictions, most of which will be useless in a given fight
2- harm
3- second attack
4- warcry and frenzy
5- summon
6- faerie and dispel magic

Defence

1- parry and shield block, but limited weapons
2- cure
3- sanc, & protection from lightwalkers
4- word
5- prot shield for defending from bash


Shaman's have quite a bit going for them, but its nowhere near as plentiful as the vast array of goodies a psionicist has.

[zurcon]

Here's my trouble. How am I supposed to last long enough to do anything when hitters have me almost dead in 2-3 rounds solo?

(all spells are up, and they're not even using slashing weapons.)

[Sebryn]

Here's a thought:

If you're fighting against a class that's going to kill you in 2-3 rounds of straight up toe-to-toe combat, FLEE. A dead <insert class here> is a worthless <insert class here>. Whether you're a psionicist, invoker, dark knight, vampire, circus clown, whatever, once you die you can't do squat... so if you're getting eaten up like a teenage cheerleader at a Rosie O'Donnell sleepover, you need to get the hell out.

Mages aren't meant to go head-to-head with warrior classes. Get in, cast, get out, repeat. If you've got pets or some other way of getting around taking damage, then great... otherwise, flee is your best friend until you get up around 50 (or learn how your mage class best operates).

[TheOneAndOnly]

What is your current rank? From what I can gather all you need to do is gain ranks. Equip yourself to pad your physical health. And maybe scroll your spells a bit to get them to a reliable range. Mages are cannon fodder until a bit higher up. A skilled player can "survive" at the lower ranks maybe landing a pk or so on an attacker with the proper preparation. Most important rule to learn is not to stay in a fight you did not start. And if you are able to survive long enough take notice to you how your opponent fights, if he is a rookie they will tend to be straight forward..meaning they have a one sided assault-learn to counteract it and you will win, and if not win you will be able to predict his actions and be able to survive at least. Good luck.

[Addreodyn]

Dav, I hate to say this but your comparisons are wrong.

Psionicist

Offence

[Burzuk]

[Burzuk]

[Louis]

people must play classes that are tailored to their pk style or learn to adapt to the class. you cannot play a psi like a warrior or invoker and hope to win against an outdamaging invoker or shaman. look at the psi. he simply cannot be killed. he is a RUNNING MACHINE. now, given the fact that you cannot be lagged not even by warlord lash, air thrash, throw shield.. (cone of force, i'm not so sure) how do you expect to win in a straight up purge/psi blast fight? what you are asking for is a class that cannot be killed ever, and has the offensive power of an offensive class that does not have the defensive capabilities of a psi. people say its hard to kill with a healer but guess what? its damn hard to kill a healer too who knows what he's doing.

how do you win as a psi? simple.

1) use the element of surprise (works for all classes).
2) use clair to enter the fight knowing what eq your enemy wears and where he is.
3) when outdamaged, run and come back.
4) use sleep.
5) tele lock works great at 50 and forces your enemy to have to run on foot when hurt, though you can release the lock at any time if you need to gate away.
6) track your enemy once you've hurt him after landing sleep or hurt him while you dispelled him and blasted him a few times.
7) if he manages to get away, clair him and you're instantly on his tracks again.
8 ) take your time, do not try to go for the quick kill and get angry if you can't. play another class if you want the massive straight up damage without the running around. Why do you think warriors dont' have as many moves as a psi and cannot cast fly on themselves? Because when played right, they don't have to move as much as psis do.

i don't see what the problem is. rank 30 psis even while flagged are ridiculously slippery. i could say "i think my warrior should have more defensive abilities to help me run away" but that wouldn't make much sense, would it?

[Flumm]

In my experience with my Psi, some things became more and more important as I got higher in ranks. Against most classes I had to wear them down slowly with many flees to keep healing and using up all their purples. The other great thing about them is they are so unkillable. I'm not that good at pking, but since my Psi was an abyssal, I was usually fighting two or three people at once. Still hard to kill them with so much defense and phase shift. All but one of my deaths was me being really stupid. Also, some skills got more useful as a messed around a lot. While frustrating as hell at first, Psis aren't too bad when you get higher up.