SORCERY Realm

[teelaurila]

Speaking of low-power ranged attacks (focus magic): It seems a unit with a low-power ranged attack can start to attack a flyer in melee (like it would have thrown/breath/gaze). The attack animates, but curiously the attack will not do any damage. It will not use ranged ammo either.

[Bahgtru]

Strange, my bard seems to prefer to do the FM attack despite having a decent sword.

Anyway, is there any reason not to give a breath attack? The strength 3 attack seems really pointless, a breath attack would let the unit perform its physical attack too I think right?

[Nelphine]

It allows for specials, such as poison, at range. It also matches the fact it enhances ranged attacks instead of giving completely different effects.

[Seravy]

Units using melee instead of ranged is an automatic mechanism - it only requires the distance to be 1 and ranged to be less than melee/2.  You get the same outcome if you try to use a ranged attack against a missile/magic immune unit which would deal no damage - the attack automatically gets turned into melee, then fail to connect. Same if you try to shoot at an invisible unit from melee range. These are features that were added to help the player, but they weren't all that elaborate, and as the unit is already attacking the target, there is no additional target legality check and even if there was one, the unit would pass it : It does have a ranged attack which is enough to qualify and target a flying unit. Actually using that attack is only required for dealing the damage. So this is both an inconsistency between targeting and damage dealing rules, and a timing problem for the "auto-melee" features.

I'm kinda unsure what would be the best design but as i can't add new buttons and such, it's not really worth thinking about whether a dedicated "melee/ranged" button would be better than the automatic choice anyway.

[Bahgtru]

It allows for specials, such as poison, at range. It also matches the fact it enhances ranged attacks instead of giving completely different effects.

Yeah I said when there are no specials. The spell enhances breath attacks too, if there's one, so there'd be some matching anyhow - it already gives that different effect.

Are items calculated by the automatic choice?

[teelaurila]

The ability to attack flyers would actually be strong. So that FM would often be worthwhile to cast on melee heroes, and sometimes even on other melee units, just for that.

[Seravy]

Yes, the automatic melee/ranged decision looks at the current stat of the unit : if melee/2>=ranged then melee is used.

[teelaurila]

Perhaps we can change that 2 there to 1? Given other benefits of melee (primarily can attack 2 times per turn), it could help with the likes of giants, heroes with similar both attacks, and dark elves?

If the AI backpedals anyway to perform an intended ranged, it should not have drawbacks? There is the chance that heroes and giants (with simiilar melee and ranged) would then perform melee that does not connect against flyers? So just maybe mud+"ranged attack flyers with poor melee" could be abused against giants and heroes and dark elves? Though category "ranged attack flyers with poor melee" seems to include only draconian magicians and sprites, neither of which have staying power and/or speed to make this relevant. Djinni and efreet maybe?

[Nelphine]

Can we teach the AI not to summon earth elementals, when against all invisible units, with no illusion immunity or call lightning in effect, and the AI is the aggressor? 
Or is that too specific?

Mono nature just declared war on me, doesn't know call lightning, and is attacking my nodes - I generally have one Spearman guarding the node, and the AI is burning through 400+ skill summoning earth elementals that can't hope to find invisible units. Generally, the AI is attacking with only 1 or sometimes 2 units (due to the ridiculously low strength of 1 Spearman), so I'm wiping the actual unit out in 1 or 2 turns, and then my invisible spearmen just run circles around 3-7 earth elementals , which is burning through huge amounts of mana for the ai. (Each node is being attacked up to 3 times per turn, again due to the low strength)


In general: invisibility seems to destroy chaos and nature, if they lack call lightning and flame strike. It seems somewhat too powerful unfortunately. As in, normal invisibility feels like a very rare spell, let alone mass invisibility.

On a slightly related note: phantom warriors are stupidly powerful with the right buffs. Wow. Why did I never think of this? (1 unit of phantom warriors is taking out multiple earth elementals) Answer: it's strong (rare or better) buffs from 3 different realms, so you can't really plan on it.

[Seravy]

Summoning is kinda the counter to Invisibility. If your unit is on the AI's half of the field, the elemental will appear next to it and kill it/reveal it. If you keep your unit away, there is nothing they can do though. Even if I tell them not to use Earth Elemental, they will spend that 400 skill on something.