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A-EftP - Spell-acquisition mechanics.


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My priest knows Mass Curing (Level 1). I don't recall how she came about this knowledge; whether she learned it through purchase or learned it through a spell tome.

 

We found a spell tome in the Slith Fort on an island west of Fort Dranlon. We looked at the tome and it helped us improve our Mass Curing. Now my priest's Mass Curing is at level 2.

 

We travel to the Tower of Magi and find a healer who also teaches Mass Curing.

 

The spell-purchase window says, "Can only buy two levels in shops.".

 

This text leads me to believe that a given spell can only be improved twice via the spell-purchase screen, regardless of the level being learned.

 

However, the "Buy" button is greyed out, indicating it cannot be bought. (Yes, we have the cash.)

 

This leads me to believe that the spell-acquisition mechanics are such that: the first two (lower) levels of a spell can be bought, but the third must be found.

 

However, my priest also has Ward of Steel, level 2. I don't recall how she learned each level, but I assume at least one was purchased. In any event, despite having two levels of Ward of Steel, the third level can indeed be bought from this same healer.

 

So now I am very confused.

 

Are the spell-acquisition mechanics intended to be consistent? If that is the case, is it a mistake that they are not?

 

Whether they were or were not intended to be consistent, the way they actually work means that it is in one's best interest to avoid learning spells from tomes until one has purchased the first two levels of a spell.

 

Can anyone verify what I have said, or possibly correct my interpretation of all this?

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Originally Posted By: HOUSE of S
Yes, the mechanics should all be consistent. It sounds like you bought 2 levels of both spells already.


Nay. I saved the game into a fresh slot specifically to test this. I saved right before reading the spell tome.

Before reading the tome, Mass Curing was at level 1. When I advanced Mass Curing to level 2 from the spell tome I was later unable to upgrade it to level 3 at the Tower of Magi.

I reloaded the game. Left the fort without reading the tome. Went to the Tower of Magi. Paid to have it upgraded to level 2. Went back to the fort. Read the tome and upgraded it to level 3. With respect to Ward of Steel, had I bought two levels of it I would not have been able to buy the third from a vendor. Something is amiss.

I suspect there is a convention in place with respect to how certain things were coded, and that convention was not thoroughly followed.

It's not a huge deal; there are many smaller inconsistencies I see that lead me to believe a lot of what is seen is convention rather than protocol. Little things like, some tool-tips having a horizontal bar that separates details about an ability and the flavor text for that ability. Some have it and some don't. Convention rather than protocol.
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If the behaviour is as you describe, it sounds like you just might have found an actual bug, although it's surprising that nobody noticed it before. I guess before reporting it we could check the scripts and see if that spellbook works any differently from any other level-3 spellbooks.

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Oh, jeez. I wonder if this broke in the process of reducing trainer prices.

 

In the Mac version, the third level of a spell (which must be found) is tracked 100% separately from the two levels you can buy. If you find the third level first, you can still buy both levels from the spell trainer.

 

Can anyone else confirm that they have had this experience, and if so, what platform are you on?

 

EDIT: Lilith, unfortunately, spellbooks are not dealt with via conversation nodes in this game. I suspect this has to do with preserving the method A1 used simply to avoid reinventing the wheel.

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> I bet nobody's noticed because you really, really don't need multiple levels of Mass Curing.

 

Funny. wink

 

I've had anxiety about spell tomes from the beginning. Without reading anything authoritative on it, I figured that the spell tomes would teach you level 3 only. And that vendors would only teach levels 1 and 2.

 

After reading the in-game text:

 

"Can only buy two levels in shops."

 

I was mildly relieved, hoping that the game would "do the right thing". But it was always nagging.

 

This morning when I found myself in a situation where I could test whether this was true (with Mass Curing), I was pleasantly surprised. So I tested it. And then a wave of horror washed over me as I thought to myself, I should have bought all level 1 and 2 spells first!

 

But then I test it with Ward of Steel (also in the fortunate circumstance to test that) and it "did the right thing". So I was confused and posted this.

 

So... in summary, I should feel confident that I don't have to purchase levels 1 and 2 before jumping for joy that I've found a spell tome. Correct?

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Take a look at Spellls/Abilities for all your characters. If you learned it from a spell book, then all your characters that were alive will have level 1 of the spell. It doesn't matter if they have the skill to cast the spell since spell books don't check the ability to use it, but only arcane lore level.

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