Larian Studios Forums Beyond Divinity (English) General Riftrunner peek #12

I love this idea. Way to go larians <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" />

I agree. Although I wonder how you can determine who is suseptible. You can predict what armour they are wearing by it's visual design and hence work out it's requirements, but how do you work out what Strength/Agility/etc. they have? Unless you just cumulatively Disease them like we've done with the Curse before. It'll be interesting to see...

"I wonder how you can determine who is suseptible"

Trial and error. It should at least have a noticeable effect for every opponent (neglecting resistances), and occasionally a significant effect if it disables a weapon or armour.
Perhaps the weak versions of monsters use basic weapons, the moderately strong versions are just able to use higher level equipment and are vulnerable to Disease, while the strong version can easily use powerful equipment.

Desease looks to be a good skill to have. I bet there will be higher lvl monsters that it will not touch though. I wonder if the green cloud hangs over them the whole time they are deseased? Or if it is just a 1 shot deal? Does the skill last untill the monster is eliminated, or is it on a timer, per skill points, ala Diablo? MMM... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" />

I wonder if it can be resisted with Poison Resintance?

Is Disease contagious? That would be good especially if it was slow. I say slow because if it was fast, then it would make to too easy. You could disease one Orc in an army, wait a for it to spread to three others before taking on the first and by that time hopefully the disease would be out of control and they will all be weakened by the time it's their turn to die.

Would a diseased creature forced to drop armour or weapons flee when attacked given that it knows that it is significantly weakened?

Very cool idea! Ya got my vote!

yep, handefood's idea is really nice. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" />

i think disease is not about inflicting damage as would other spells. it's about lowering stats/attributes that will be detrimental to your character's well-being @ combat-readiness. as for the contagious factor, maybe only for high level disease infliction/spell.

it'll be nice if the spell is intelligent enough to affect the enemy's primary stat, say for an orc warrior strength will be the primary stat so disease whould affect his/her strength. if the same spell is cast again on the same victim, another stat should drop, then another if the spell's re-casted. & on & on .... . anyway, such spell exists in lionheart.

enemies knowing that they're owned & scrammed means they have AI that is realistic. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/up.gif" alt="" />

Having Diseased creatures run away may be realistic, but it would also be a pain (like those little things in Diablo that would run away for a short while whenever they saw you kill something; it took twice as long to take them out).
Also, unless there are a lot of other potential targets around, on loosing a weapon I think I'd prefer fighting tooth and nail to turning my back and trying to outrun an arrow or lightning bolt.

True. The Carvers in Diablo were a pain to kill unless you had a bow or magic. Same with polymorphed creatures in Divine Divinity. A Wizard or Ranger would have the ability to hit them from a distance, though.

Try putting yourself in the mind of the creature. If you were feeling ill enough that you couldn't equip yourself for battle, and a party of two - one Warrior, one Wizard - came in and started combating your comrades, would you turn and flee deeper into the cave or join the battle none-the-less? This isn't a loaded quesiton - I'm curious at what people-orcs would do. And I'll ask the same question a second time, only this time you're all alone.

If I couldn't equip good weapons or armour and there was cover (either my 'friends' or caves / rocks) to allow a fair chance of escape, I would try that. If there were no allies or other cover, I would attack with whatever I could manage.
In the game, that is. In RL I would drop to the ground, curl up in a fetal position and cry like a baby. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

maybe both ways can be implemented in the game but not at the same time.

say AI stupidity/bravery:

'drop to the ground, curl up in a fetal position and cry like a baby' mode
- this is more to real-life had the enemy known that he/she/it will fail in a battle with u.

'prefer fighting tooth and nail' mode
- do or die is the only way the enemy knows & he/she/it will fall by it.

well it can be a pain in the butt for the lone creature to run off & then back tracks just to tease u. maybe larian can have that creature to totally disappear (that is, run like hell) or call upon other comrades to meet u.

Why do I have the feeling, this involves a "Sonic wave/Sound wave" combined with "feign death" skill/spell? Lowers the enemies resistance and makes her/him run away at high speed?
Kiya

Another nice option would be that escaping creatures would try to form groups. Maybe a skeleton will try to run from u, but if he's in a group he should feel more confident...

All this should depend on the race. Undead fight blindly to, em, death, orcs stubbornly yet with courage, elfs with pride, humans vary...