bret Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Acid and poison damage appear to happen the first thing when a new round begins. Given that, is it advantageous for a priest character to take the sluggish disadvantage and no ranks in Quick Action? The reason I ask is there have been many times when I wish I could have removed the poison/acid/other malevolent effect from a character caused by one of the monsters. If the priest were always the last to act in a round, they could use curing/mass curing/etc to help those characters. I have also had everyone carry curing potions, but that can get expensive quickly and they loose the action points for quaffing the potion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilith Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Losing action points is never a good thing. I don't think it'd be worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taliesin Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 It's an interesting thought, but if you just put points into Dexterity and Quick Action for everyone except the priest it would have the same effect, without losing AP. That said, Sluggish really isn't that bad for a priest, compared to other characters. Of course, that depends how you designed the priest. But if he/she is 100% devoted to priestly abilities, I'd say go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sudanna Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Not really, it depends on when the monsters act. If all the players go before the monsters, but the priest is the last out of them, there is no difference. And it's not like you really need copious amount of action points for a healing-oriented priest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilith Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Quote: Originally written by Agrajag:And it's not like you really need copious amount of action points for a healing-oriented priest. What, you never need to heal two characters in a round when one is out of range for Mass Healing? Really? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VCH Posted February 7, 2008 Share Posted February 7, 2008 Normally only one character absolutely needs healing most rounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bret Posted February 7, 2008 Author Share Posted February 7, 2008 Quote: Originally written by Agrajag: And it's not like you really need copious amount of action points for a healing-oriented priest. I didn't realize that Quick Action could get you to the point of being able to cast two spells in a round. I thought it was only supposed to help with Melee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emmisary of Immanence Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Quick Action only helps with melee. The point is that priests only need to cast one spell per turn, but I don't agree. With two priests in my party I frequently find myself using both, and sometimes using them more than once. With two mage-priests I consider their speed essential. —Alorael, who doesn't think making your other characters very fast really helps. The point is to get the priest to cure after the monsters have inflicted their poison or acid. That's solely based on the relative speed of monsters, which you can't affect, and your character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Sluggish is always useful for spell casters I think. They don't need to move around much, and I haven't noticed any considerable disadvantage caused by their lack of speed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucidus Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 I had the same idea (although I was thinking more about mind control than acid or poison, which are rarely lethal): making my priest Sluggish would ensure that he was always last to act, and also offset some of the XP penalty from Pure Spirit. Well, the theory may have made some sense, but in practice it just sucked - I mean, it really sucked. I found the movement limitation extremely aggravating, even when it was not causing specific tactical problems, which it frequently did. Worse, because he lagged so far behind, and because in Avernum 5 Unshackle Mind only affects nearby party members, he was almost never close enough to help when characters did become charmed (or terrified, or whatever). It was bad right from the beginning, but I stuck with that party through the demo area and a ways into the Northern Isles before deciding it was worth it to start over. I did keep my Nephil priest/archer in the fourth slot, and I didn't ever buy him any Quick Strike or Gymnastics, so while he was certainly never slow, at least in major fights he generally acted after the bosses. He was a little less useful as an archer, but overall more effective as a priest. For what it's worth, my second party consisted of a Slith polearm warrior (just because I like them) and three Nephillim - melee fighter (with tool use), mage, and priest - in that order. It was a little bit tricky getting the Slith to where he consistently had precedence in battle, but once I had given him several levels of Gymnastics (which I found more effective than Quick Action or Quick Strike for that purpose), he started first and stayed in front, and did a gratifying amount of damage. With all the changes in the game mechanics between the five installments of the Avernum series, I know it's not really meaningful to make comparisons. Nevertheless, this was clearly the best party I have ever saved Avernum with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bret Posted February 8, 2008 Author Share Posted February 8, 2008 Quote: Originally written by Lucidus:Well, the theory may have made some sense, but in practice it just sucked - I mean, it really sucked. I found the movement limitation extremely aggravating, even when it was not causing specific tactical problems, which it frequently did. Worse, because he lagged so far behind, and because in Avernum 5 Unshackle Mind only affects nearby party members, he was almost never close enough to help when characters did become charmed (or terrified, or whatever). Thanks, that was really helpful! I didn't list the Unshackle Mind because it is much more rare (but definitely more deadly) than acid and poison. I'll just continue keeping my priest's Dex and Quick Action low instead of trying sluggish. He usually acts last as it is, so that shouldn't be a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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