Mordenkainen Force Missile buggy?

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Hello,

I'm finding Mord's Force Missiles to be too buggy to use, which is strange seeing as how its one of the most popular offensive spells (at least according to the archives of SP). Which is the main reason I'm posting this thread - wondering what people saw in that spell!

The "bug" I'm referring to is the fact that it does not appear to calculate the DC for the reflex save correctly. My mage has an INT of 20 (+5) and Greater Spell Focus in Evo (+4), and it's a level 4 spell. That means the reflex save should be 10 + 5 + 4 + 4 = 23.

However, in chap. 5 I noticed a particular Cleric of Bane (plot character) made his save when I fired the spell at him, simply by rolling a 16. That's dice roll plus modifiers. I thought that was odd, so I tested the spell by firing it on my compadres.

Presto, they're all making the save simply by rolling such low numbers as 16,17,18! As a result I'm doing a ridiculously low amount of damage for a level 4 offensive spell cast by a 13th level wizard.

If anyone still plays this game, did they have a similar experience?

 

16, 17 and 18 are NOT low rolls. Take into account their reflex saves and add those 16, 17, 18s to their save and you'll find it's higher than 23 often, especially in chapter 5.

 

Excuse me,

Please note that I said "That's dice roll plus modifiers" above.

The 16, for example, would be a 10 rolled on the d20 with +6 on the reflex save, as per my cleric.

Similarly, for the Priest of Bane, he "rolled" a 16 for the first missile and a 17 for the second one. Meaning he got x + a = 16 and then y + b = 17. Comprendez-vous?

I'm pretty sure its a bug.

 

I can't say as I've noticed any specific instances of this happening but I *have* noticed that the spell seems considerably less effective than it should do. Quite a few enemies made their saving throws which reduced the damage it inflicted so much that in the end I just went for Magic Missle instead.

 

If Hojo Jojo is still reading these boards then he should be able to answer this one. Like David W, I too have noticed that the spell does not seem to be very useful. Plus I have not noticed people on these boards mentioning this as being particularly popular. More like Mordenkainen's Sword - everyone loves that one.

 

Hi and thanks for the responses,

Certainly this spell might not be on the top of everyone's list but doing a search of the archives reveals that it is viewed favorably by more than just a trivial amount of people. On paper, it is indeed a nice spell especially at higher levels. Like Skull Trap, it does not have a cap so it keeps getting more powerful.

Although I wonder what's the point with such a low spell save DC; that's not something that scales with experience, unless you keep getting INT power-ups. Most wizards should have Greater Spell Focus Evo. by halfway through the game anyways...

I'll just go back to Vitriolic Sphere for now. Too bad its capped at level 12.

BTW the most under-rated spell in the game has GOT to be Smashing Wave. It's bloody fantastic!

 

Ya smashing is very powerful i tried it in the ice temple and now i always have lots of them memorised.

With the Mordenkainens force missiles doesnt the patch say something about fixing a problem with spell DC not being calculated properly maybe this is what it was talking about. Or have you already installed the patch because if you havent i suggest you try it.

From Patch read me

Did you manage to fix your problem

[ April 25, 2004, 08:58: Message edited by: Goon66 ]

 

Hi,

No, there is no way to fix it. Of course I have the most recent patch (doesn't everyone?) and that's what I was using since I got this game. The DCs are definitely wacked, and its up to a fan-patch to fix it (doubtful at this point).

I tried using Near Infinity and DLTCEP to look at the spells (modding tools) but couldn't figure out how to modify the "splash" effect as that is what is bugged

Oh well, I'll just use my 4th level spell slots for something else...