[1.0] A RimWorld of Magic

[Torann]

Thank you, will try.
If a magically gifted pawn finishes an unfinished arcane book, it gives a random power, right? I'm searching for a priest for a long time now and couldn't find any. Is it possible to get it this way?

It's possible, yes.  The '' book will assign a random class with random abilities for that class.

[TheAzn123]

Will there be a way to resign a trait/class for a new one?

Also, will there be a possibility that two classes can work at the same time but using different panels. Like a panel for an ice mage and, another for a lightning mage. Though there's the issue of it being too overpowered and difficult to implement, it would be neat if it was implemented.

Finally, was it your intention that a colonist/pawn can have two different classes at the same time (one magic, one physical.) Using the dev option, I added a magic and physical trait to a colonist and it worked perfectly with no issues. (If this was the case and was mentioned, I apologize. I have not read the update changes through as I recently re-downloaded rimworld.)

Thanks for your hard work.

[Torann]

Will there be a way to resign a trait/class for a new one?

No plans to add a way to reclass, but you will see a gemstone able to respec (reassign all ability points) in the next update.

Also, will there be a possibility that two classes can work at the same time but using different panels. Like a panel for an ice mage and, another for a lightning mage. Though there's the issue of it being too overpowered and difficult to implement, it would be neat if it was implemented.

No, dual classing mage/mage or fighter/fighter is too messy both in managing and balance.

Finally, was it your intention that a colonist/pawn can have two different classes at the same time (one magic, one physical.) Using the dev option, I added a magic and physical trait to a colonist and it worked perfectly with no issues. (If this was the case and was mentioned, I apologize. I have not read the update changes through as I recently re-downloaded rimworld.)

While the mages and fighters code structure is mostly separate, there are some snippets/minor functionality that won't work correctly or at all or can cause errors during gameplay; and as stated above, the mod is not balanced for dual classes.  Bottom line - dual classing is not supported, use at your own risk.

That being said, I have settled on a method of implementing advanced classes that will allow more customization and advancement to standard classes.  Advanced classes will have unique stat or skill criteria that must be met, a level requirement, and some form of monetary or itemized component.  Each advanced class will have multiple paths, but each pawn will be able to master only one path of an advanced class.  Advanced class skills will, initially, offer spell variety to a pawn, but will have many more skill levels that will improve advanced skills past the capacity of standard spells.

[SergeshD123]

Can I create a new magic element by adding a new xml to the AbilityDefs folder? To clarify, I'm not creating any new spells in this new element, just mixing the ones we already have together.

[amaxster]

First of all, I love this mod! I am playing the Swords and Sorcery b19 mod collection from steam and this mod, alongside lord of the rims, are the corner-stones that make it an absolute (psionic) blast to play.

However, I have a problem with the Portal structure. I have 2 colonies on opposite sides of the world, with a portal built at the first colony that I 'Activated' using my Arcane mage, selecting an empty dirt spot on my 2nd colony map to link to.

That seemed to work. My options now when i right-click the portal are to deactivate or charge it. If i select any mage and choose the charge portal action the mage walks over to the portal - then immediately walks away again, job finished. However the portal is still at 0% energy and the mage is still at 100% mana.

I saw a page or two back that there was a conflict with teleporters and lord of the rims (I had that issue to), is it possible there is also a conflict with portals? Or maybe I'm just doing something wrong?

[cortanakya]

Hey. I've been playing this mod, and I love it. Seriously, it's easily one of the best mods anywhere - it works really well, the content is varied and interesting and there's a bunch of super fun spells. I was wondering, though, if you'd be interested in some suggestions? I have a pretty huge list of things that I think would bring this mod from "awesome" to "beyond incredible". If you'd consider any of them I'd be more than happy to help out with artwork and balancing, the only thing I'm bad at is coding. I've been working on this list for a week or so, but I completely understand if you want to keep it as your project or if you just aren't interested. Let me know!

[TheAzn123]

Thank you for replying to my last message!

I've played with most of the classes before and I find geomancer kind of lacking compared to the other classes. It doesn't have attacking capability as the meteor is, at times, slow to cast and fall on impact while the earthen hammer is inaccurate and barely does any damage. Not to mention that these two spells take quite a lot of mana and have really long cooldowns. I can understand why the meteor has a long cooldown, due to the precious ores it can drop, but the earthen hammer being it's only real attacking capability at a 120-second cooldown rate makes it hard to choose geomancer for other classes.   t's defensive capabilities are rather poor as encase is easy to escape from due to them mining out (Especially with mechanoids) as well as ruining synergy as you can't cast spells in areas that you can't see. (For ex: Casting encase then meteor for a guaranteed hit, but I would need to blink into the encasement for that to happen which would end up killing my caster.) Sentinels is my favorite spell of the class. Having sentries that can protect storages, prison areas, and edges of your base is cool. I have no complaints about the skill other than the hard limit of five. Maybe a skill that would increase this limit? I scarcely use earth sprites so I don't use them (Also because I don't know how to. How do you?) Lastly, Stoneskin is heavy on its mana maintenance making it hard to use other spells. This is only a small complaint of mine as it is a powerful spell that can negate any damage regardless of how high it is. Though, I still prefer mana shield of the skill. Overall, I don't really see why anyone would choose geomancer over any other class due to its poor offensive and defensive capabilities as well as it's high mana cost and cooldown.  The aesthetics of the class and the overall idea is powerful and amazing, I just feel that it has a higher potential and power than is shown.

[Torann]

Can I create a new magic element by adding a new xml to the AbilityDefs folder? To clarify, I'm not creating any new spells in this new element, just mixing the ones we already have together.

To some extent probably, just realize most spells were designed for specific classes and have code links to support their use; so they might function, but probably not fully.

I saw a page or two back that there was a conflict with teleporters and lord of the rims (I had that issue to), is it possible there is also a conflict with portals? Or maybe I'm just doing something wrong?

Sounds like you're doing everything right.  The mage should only 'step away' if they're out of mana or the portal is fully charged.  I'll definitely take a look at this while updating the mod to 1.0.

I was wondering, though, if you'd be interested in some suggestions?

I'm always open to suggestions - lot of the content in the mod is from suggestions (or derived from suggestions).  There's also quite a bit of content from outside contributors.  Feel free to post your thoughts on this forum, or if you prefer, you can always send me a PM with your thoughts.

[Torann]

I appreciate the feedback, TheAzn123.  The geomancer is the newest mage class and I suspect it still needs some tweaking.  I've been using a geomancer in my latest playthrough and can honestly say I find it to be one of the strongest classes with one of the most diverse skillsets that maxes out at a higher potential than maybe any other class and gains significant benefits from enchantments and skill improvements.

The geomancer is designed as an "area defense" class - its offensive capabilities (earthern hammer, meteor, and to some extent sentinel) are minimal and come with several restrictions. It's like comparing a cleric to a fighter though, the geomancer doesn't really stand toe to toe with offensive classes in this area, but then, the offensive classes don't have the defensive capabilities the geomancer has.

Earthern Hammer is, conceptually, like a catapult.  While it's not quite as direct or devastating as some offensive mage spells, it's still more effective (imo) than a mortar system.  The spell becomes significantly easier to use with higher arcane power (psychic sensitivity, enchantments etc) since the stone's flight speed depends on arcane power.  You also throw nearly 3 times the stones when the geomancer is standing near rock stockpiles.  Maybe the biggest shortfall is that I haven't done a great job describing how to use this spell...

Meteor has a lot of creative uses, like being used to improve your bases fortifications, splitting a raid in half by cutting off a route, or just plain burying your foes under a mountain.  This master spell is up there with resurrection and regrow limbs as a must have master spell for me.  The precious ores in the center are just a cherry on top.

Encase is all about timing and location.  Similar to meteor, you can shape the ingress route or use it to split a raid in half.  The obvious use is to trap a group of enemies, but this option never seems like the best one in the situations I've had.  I've also used it to isolate small groups of ranged attackers then have a bladedancer phase into the encasement to quickly take out the ranged group without being exposed.  My favorite way to use it is to wait until a heavy (with a doomsday or missiles) starts warming up a shot and then just put the outer wall of encase several spaces in front of the heavy for instant feedback to every enemy in the area.

Earth Sprites can be used on the ground to improve the fertility, or on a rock wall to mine for you.  They appear as motes of light at the spot they're working.  Transforming the ground takes some time (about 6 game hours for a single conversion) but they're constantly active regardless of what the pawn is doing.  Give the sprites a season and they'll change a field from a mud pit into fertile ground.  Sprites more likely to find magicyte when mining than a normal pawn and they have a good chance of finding magicyte each time they convert terrain so they're a pretty good source of magicyte.  I constantly run earth sprites, even at a -60% mana regen, they're well worth it.

[TheAzn123]

Ah, thank you very much for the response. I've gotten new ideas on how to play geomancer now. 'Designated Meteor spots' near key points, I should also make some room for stockpiles of rock around my base and use the meteor aftermath to get more stones. Same with the designated Meteor spots, I can have the caster cast encase at the end of a choke point causing a fairly sized portion of raiders that enter my base to be slaughtered by sentinels, elementals, and some turrets. I've got to experiment with sprites now that I know their function (especially the fertile part.)

I kinda suck at the game (at times I just let it run, and don't really pursue massive changes. Kinda like watching a small autonomous village function and go through adversaries from time to time on it's own.) so I haven't been able to get to enchantments and such, so I can't really say much about it other than I'm excited!

[crusader2010]

Update for the mana potions issue: if setting a stock rule for the pawns to have 3 potions in their inventory then it works fine. Could the issue have been a bad interaction with the mod PawnRules in the first place?

[Canute]

Earth Sprites can be used on the ground to improve the fertility, or on a rock wall to mine for you.  They appear as motes of light at the spot they're working.  Transforming the ground takes some time (about 6 game hours for a single conversion) but they're constantly active regardless of what the pawn is doing.  Give the sprites a season and they'll change a field from a mud pit into fertile ground.  Sprites more likely to find magicyte when mining than a normal pawn and they have a good chance of finding magicyte each time they convert terrain so they're a pretty good source of magicyte.  I constantly run earth sprites, even at a -60% mana regen, they're well worth it.

Spites on ground ? Didn't think about that, i allways used them to mine.
More usefule thing.
To bad it don't work on rough stone.

Geomancer isn't a combat class, it is more a utility class like druid,bard,priest and fill this role pretty well.

But like the spites i would like to have an easy way to remove Sentinels.
And maybe set an aggression range of them. They engage to early for my feelings.

[Jan2607]

What do you do with mages that have a severe arcane weakness and can only work/move very limited?
I often forget about them, and suddenly they are on the other end of the map and need a long time to get home - meanwhile I get raided...
I can't send them in my hospital, because they are not sick. But I don't want them to run around.

[henk]

And I didn't know Earth sprites could be used on mountain walls. Perhaps the description needs updating...

Jan, the arcane mage's blink-summon is a life saver for pawns in dangerous positions. The demonologists have a similar skill with their bonded partner.

Maybe the geomancer needs something to summon stone blocks, so they have a ready supply of projectiles? Other than summoning a meteor and mining it, which tends to ruin the soil...

[Canute]

What do you do with mages that have a severe arcane weakness and can only work/move very limited?
I often forget about them, and suddenly they are on the other end of the map and need a long time to get home - meanwhile I get raided...
I can't send them in my hospital, because they are not sick. But I don't want them to run around.

Sorry i don't know a cure about the arcane sickness.
But i allways have my arcane mage at home (research or cooking) so i can summon on emergency.
Or give made these people with the weakness  into a warlock/succubus. Then create a soulbond with someone who is mosttimes at home, so you can use the call to feature of the soulbond.