Attitude adjustment.

[Ade]

Well, I get too upset in the game so from now on I'll try to keep my frustrations out of game, and I'll stick them in this little thread. I don't want them to be internal because heck, if something in the game is extremely unfair, maybe I'll get lucky and point out something the devs need to change. If not, then at least this pointless rambling can go in the forums and others can amuse themselves with it after the frustrating run is over.

I'm doing this for the sake of whatever parties I happen to join

Right now I don't have anything in particular to complain about, so I'll just think of the last time I got really upset:

Tiamat Blackguard did 1285 damage to me with his Smite Good. Now, I'm not sure what weapon he is using or what his Charisma Modifier is, but to me it seems that 1285 damage with Smite Good would require something like Great Smiting FIFTEEN or TWENTY, which is UNATTAINABLE by players.

Did the devs think that this enemy was supposed to be a legitimate challenge, or were they just going for humiliating overkill? There seems to be too many instances where "Good" characters get screwed and too few situations in which they excel. Just my 2 cents.

I know nothing will get changed because of this. I'm just doing this to feel better.

Oh, and the great developers of DnD and NWN, who are supposedly such lore masters, didn't bother to make the fact that you can save your skill points for future levels apparent anywhere in the game manual. Smart people, my butt. This did not affect my Paladin, but it would have saved me a lot of time when I was trying to build my next character and I didn't know what to do with all of his skill points at Lv. 1.

Or, if that fact IS somewhere in the game manual, it is not something that a normal player would ever think of on his own. In most other RPGs, gains in ability have to be distributed at the time of leveling up, and can't be saved for later. There should have been a note about this on the character generation interface.

And despite what others say, I will only be convinced that Paladin's "purge" ability is useful when I start killing things faster after using it on them. Whatever magical effects it is "stripping" from my targets isn't helping me very much. Until then I maintain that it is mostly useless. Also, an ability that you can use one time per day (then your target can simply recast whatever buff was purged while you wait for your melee swings to start up again) doesn't help much.

Alright, I feel better now.

Peace.

[LinuxPup]

Did the devs think that this enemy was supposed to be a legitimate challenge, or were they just going for humiliating overkill? There seems to be too many instances where "Good" characters get screwed and too few situations in which they excel. Just my 2 cents.

Humiliating overkill

[cely]

Did the devs think that this enemy was supposed to be a legitimate challenge, or were they just going for humiliating overkill? There seems to be too many instances where "Good" characters get screwed and too few situations in which they excel. Just my 2 cents.

To be fair, there are other mobs that smite Evil and Neutral as well as Chaotic characters too. So the "screwage" is spread equally. It just seems like you are unfairly targeted because you only play Paladins.

[Shhhhhhh]

I must admit its slightly funny to see a paladin complain about smiting

oh and isnt it fun to keep learning new things, instead of just reading everything ahead of time in the manual?

[Alkapwn]

I've been smited for way more than that by the White Lord.
And Ive seen a Player with Great Smite V do over 800 dmg on a smite

[Lorkar]

Wish I still had the SS, because DD had a Pally that was smiting for over 1500 right after NS4 left Beta.Talk about painful, try looking at your character login screen and seeing -1287 on the HP.

[Amoenotep]

bioware added the point keeping after lvls...because they are infinetely wise.

i've had CoT chars with smite X and 30 cha......he could put out 1600 damage on a crit smite. and he did

[diddy33]

Yeah, Sir Hert could smite the evil out of ya. at least with pally you get alot of pure bonuses that blackgaurds don't get.

[--Ashe--]

Knowing that there are blackguards in that area, because you have encountered them before... prudent logic dictates that you should not rush forward to engage them first being a 'goodly' paladin... but instead allow another character of less lofty scruples to be the first to take the smites, to no effect. Generally there will be one to three smites used then its all over, so by then you can then come in and smite on your own. This happens to EVERYONE... i've had a palemaster (which becomes evil aligned) eat plenty of smites from Paladins in Positive Plane or White Lord. It's funny as heck cause its my own fault for not waiting for them to use them up, which they generally do very quickly on just about anything that fights them. Plus its funny to watch a normally crit/sneak immune tank run away from them until it KNOWs they've used smites up lol. Practice more caution in unknown areas.

It isn't unfair for epic level creatures to have attacks which are not accessible to players. They are not meant to be soloable. That area is a group area, you are supposed to count upon your team to be able to compliment your attributes, and cover your mistakes... and raise you when you fall. Mass harm... not usable by players but darn interesting to have to deal with in combat. Pulse attacks from certain glowing entities of unnamed character... big pain in the posterior but forces you to adapt strategies to deal with them. I much prefer this game forcing me to think rather than just mindless hack-slash where you can presume an outcome.

Purge works well. You cannot expect any ability to be an "I Win" situation. The ability to strip spells from an opponent is a strong ability. Try using it in pvp against a character with 25 or less caster levels (of which there are plenty) and you will see just how strong that ability truly is. Part of the fun is figuring out when its affective and when its a waste of time.

All of the nuances of the game are not in the manual. The ability to 'save' skill points by level is something that wasn't necessarily meant to happen (in fact its largely been corrected in the new version NWNII). I believe a good degree of the issue lies in the fact that this game rests upon the shoulders of an established set of rules and gaming which a good many people already had access to (ie. DnD).

You are doing well in game by asking questions and discussing what you are confused about.

Try to approach the game for its own merits and not in comparison to what you are used to. These are different game mechanics, different rules, different universe entirely from WoW and other games.

[Chernobyl_Glow]

Ade,

Regarding attitude adjustment for me... I know when I first started with this game not long ago, ALL deaths of my character frustrated me. It didn't matter if I got smited for 500 or if I was just dumb. If my build or tactics were poor or if some party member pulled a leeroy jenkins, etc. It didn't matter. I'd find myself angry every single time. And yet later I'm thinking, "What the .. ? I'm a mature adult. I have 1300 employees. I'm not like this any other time. ?..?"

I think the turning point for me was when I learned to have fun dying. Go pick a fight that you know you can't win. Fight something that you know will kill you - just for fun. Try duelling with some players just for fun. Keep your cash semi low and go take a few respawn penalties just to see how far you get! Be your own Leeroy Jenkins! Eventually, you can get to a point where you embrace that attitude right when you log on. Then you approach every obstacle with a "no big deal" point of view. And if you die you just respawn or get a raise and move on even in the event of, "Holy CoW! I just got smited for 1440 by Lolth! Lol."

Best of luck in your search for inner peace. I appreciate that you're trying to find alternative outlets than suing in game chat. Its impressive that you respect the other players enough to do that. If you can manage to find some humor in all of your deaths then really the whole thing becomes a game (properly) and you'll likely find that you enjoy the whole experience more.

Best regards,

- Glow -

[Korr]

You should have seen D2 in celestia one of the first times we were there, an archangel smote him for 2767 damage!

Purge at level 40 will strip every spell of a caster up to 29 levels, thats automatic. The 40 +d20 can strip up to a 60 caster level, which means purge can dispell monsters that even a dispelling focused mage cant do.

The reason (I believe) that you can infiitely save skills is because you can take cross-class skills, they cost 2 points and not 1. This means if you get 3 skill points a level and want to raise 3 skill, 2 in-class and 1 cross-class, you can. Taking a level you drop 1 skill into the 2 in-class skills and have to save that 1 spare skill point so that next level you again drop 1 point into the 2 in-class abilities, and have the 2 skills needed to raise the cross-class skill by 1.

[MLoki]

Perhaps some of you will remember this...



http://www.nsrealm.com/public/ns/viewto ... =18&t=6152

Just be glad that the BG smite will never equal what a Paladin can do.

[disastro]

it's also important to note that stripping off all of an enemy's buffs is a strategic thing: dont expect to just run over to the person and gibletize them after hitting a dispel.

some builds are more buff dependent than others. there's a lot of value in forcing someone to take a few rounds to rebuff while you beat on them, or force them to run into battle without the buffs on which their effectiveness depends. perhaps they cant hit you as easily anymore, or you can hit them a little easier, etc. getting a big time dispel like that without having to invest in caster class levels is pretty sweet.

that being said, dropping a dispel on a pure barb will probably not do as much for you as dropping it on a high level caster. at the end of the day it will still have to be your sword in their gut that closes the deal.

[Ace-of-Spades]

I for one recall many games that allow you to save or dock skill points and ability points for multiple levels without being forced to use them. Diablo, Baldurs Gate, and WoW all come to mind. NWN might be the most enforced game I've played when it comes to choosing things at level up. You often have to choose spells, you have to choose feats, and you have to spend ability points. I think skill points are the only thing you can save, actually. I also think Korr made an excellent point about the cross-class skills that cost 2 points to increase.

. . .Just to clarify and all.

[Blystos Re]

Ade, all I can say is I am glad that you're in a guild now so you won't be so disappointed when your one-man-wrecking-ball plan doesn't pan out as you expected.

The AO epics are a pain, but with some epic DR and some type-specific damage resistance and immunity you should fare better. Are you using a shield? Bring a cleric along for some buffs and healing. Eventually you're going to have to come to the conclusion that you can't build something that will beat everything around it.

I hope that someday this game is actually fun for you.



...Glow, you are my new hero.