Garrulous Glaahk S M Adventurer Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Okay, here's something I just noticed while playing A4 again. I was fighting the Chitrach Swarmers on my way into Khoth's Ruins. While my warriors were barely taking any damage due to high Parry, the Chitrachs were still hitting and doing quite a lot of damage to my spellcasters. However, when I cast Arcane Shield on my party, the damage my spellcasters take seem to decrease slightly, like normal. Here's where it gets wierd. I cast Arcane Shield multiple times, and after around three or four castings none of the Chitrachs were able to hit me at all, including my spellcasters. Their hit chance was 1%, and they never managed to hit me once after that. Mind you, though I was playing on Hard (Tricky) difficulty and they still couldn't hit me at all. None of the Chitrachs' attacks ever connected. I may have discovered something. Perhaps while the effects of War Blessing and Protection don't stack, the buffs from Arcane Shield do stack. It seems odd that this would happen, especially on Hard difficulty. My party wasn't off the level curve for that part of the game either, my party was roughly Level 29 or so. Apparently casting it enough times makes monsters in melee unable to hit your party, in a similar way Bless does the same in Exile. This whole thing apparently blows my mind, but maybe Arcane Shield in A4 is a bit broken because of this. One casting does a little, but several does a lot more. If the buffs from Arcane Shield do stack, maybe multiple castings will also greatly increase your resistances to things like freezing and mental effects, as well as normal magic damage. I'll have to test that. I can confirm though, that it works on monsters who use melee attacks. Archers, not so sure, but I'll test that too. This might make Torment playthroughs much easier as well, but I'll have to check that too. I also wonder if it will do the same thing in A5. Anyway, it seems Arcane Shield in A4 is a bit overpowered with multiple castings. Overall, just a little discovery I made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ineffable Wingbolt Upon Mars. Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 I wasn't aware that Arcane sheild could stack up. War blessing and protection did in the early games of A1-A3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Randomizer Posted December 12, 2013 Share Posted December 12, 2013 Jeff may have missed it since most players only use the lower level spells. I know that in Avernum 5 there was still a slight bonus for stacking protection, but it was only a few percent for each additional casting, so nothing as dramatic as you've seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Earth Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 he should have missed haste too, A5 and later would been much nicer if player's party and enemies (with naurural or demonic 2 attacks per turn) would been equal level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchling Cockatrice Slarti Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Yeah, this is a known effect. IIRC, the amount added per extra cast is very small though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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