The penalties of search mode

[Kakero]

but the game says hobbit is excellent for gadgeteer.

[Duneswalker]

Haven't played yet deciding weither to take a Ranger PC or not. I'm still a little (alot)confused, please clarify searching for me.

1) Is search mode as good as a rangers search ability?
2) If so why not just keep it in search, except for not being able to run it seems just as effective. (test party in first area)
3) Is this NPC Ranger of which you speak available thoughout the entire game? Is (s)he any good?
4) Those spells seem like they have a short duration and would be a pain to keep up. Are they?
5) Should I dual my fighter out to Ranger for a few levels to build up searching then dual him back?
6) Would this stategy work? (Does he retain his ability to search always or is it lost when he duals out of Ranger, being a special skill)

Many thanks for clearing this up for me.

[Rhea]

Originally posted by Duneswalker: Haven't played yet deciding weither to take a Ranger PC or not. I'm still a little (alot)confused, please clarify searching for me. 1) Is search mode as good as a rangers search ability? 2) If so why not just keep it in search, except for not being able to run it seems just as effective. (test party in first area) 3) Is this NPC Ranger of which you speak available thoughout the entire game? Is (s)he any good? 4) Those spells seem like they have a short duration and would be a pain to keep up. Are they? 5) Should I dual my fighter out to Ranger for a few levels to build up searching then dual him back? 6) Would this stategy work? (Does he retain his ability to search always or is it lost when he duals out of Ranger, being a special skill) Many thanks for clearing this up for me.

1) Yes and no. The ranger goes out of his way to point out objects to you. You have to look around more carefully when you're not running a ranger, and you have to be closer to them before you see them.
2)As far as I can tell, no problem with running search on (I'm doing that this game, because I have no ranger in my 4-person party).
3)The NPC ranger, Sparkle, is a Trynnie. She's fine as long as you ally with the Umpani. If you ally with the T'Rang she won't stay with you. She's kind of cute, though.
4)I assume you're referring to x-ray or divine secrets. I like x-ray, but I'm playing on a low end machine and find it slows down the game considerably (I know this because I've tested with all the buffing spells and no problem, but once I run x-ray, the game slows down).
5)Why dual a fighter to ranger, when you can run a ranger, who's another breed of fighter, anyway? I think this goes back to whether you feel the need for a ranger or not. Someone with more experience with Wiz games can correct me, but wouldn't you lose search if you dualed out of ranger to fighter? Not to mention the fact that rangers have some really good spells, which you'd lose. Doesn't seem like a very good tradeoff.

[Oruboris]

You can run with search on, but you won't find anything. Think [not sure] you may still with a ranger.

Turning off search will help you sneak up on monsters, which can be important. You get more chances to initiate combat, so your magic guys get an extra turn to put up soul sheild, haste, other in-combat- only buffs.

Frankly, all the turning off and on I've done has been boring: if I do another party, will have a ranger, and won't have to ever touch the search button again.

Love Xray not for finding hidden stuff {though it can show you what sort of item is in a given spot if you zoom in on the map-- very nice in retro dungeons], but to spot and anticipate enemies. Lasts quite a while at level 7, and if you have a few mana regen bonuses, you'll never notice the cost. Nice mental realm trainer, too-- no big if it backfires.

Detect secrets is useless to me, except for those spots where you know there is an item, but your characters lack the senses to find them. Very short duration.

What the ranger does is auto-search, which can be enhanced by adding points to his 'scouting' skill. Pretty sure if you switch him, he can't auto search any more, though NPCs like Madras [scouting 10, if memory serves] will spot more stuff [with search on] than your other characters with higher senses.

Oru

[fung]

My goodness...yeah in my new party I miss the ranger bad.

Like I said b4 I replaced the ranger with a gadgeteer for my latest party...I'm now in the mid-game and the gadgeteer is beginning to show some strengths. I love the omnigun's ability to inflict multiple ailments.

However I miss scouting badly.

DEtect secrets last too short even at lvl 7...to keep it going all the time my biships really run out of mana fast.

And search mode is really dangerous sometimes...for instance u often get ambushed and miss your first turn...the melee monsters come surround you while u stand useless. It is the spell casters at the back who die the most from this coz they don't last too long against melee monsters.

However, I'm hoping that I will get a detect secrets gadget that solves my problems...since stamina regens quite fast.

[Rhea]

Hmm...now y'all have got me wondering. This is the first game I've played with search on (no ranger). I can't say that I notice a huge difference, but maybe tonight I'll turn it off and see what happens.

I tend to run Chameleon constantly anyway, so it may be that it's offsetting search mode somewhat.

[Wereboar]

1) Is search mode as good as a rangers search ability? 2) If so why not just keep it in search, except for not being able to run it seems just as effective. (test party in first area) 3) Is this NPC Ranger of which you speak available thoughout the entire game? Is (s)he any good? 4) Those spells seem like they have a short duration and would be a pain to keep up. Are they? 5) Should I dual my fighter out to Ranger for a few levels to build up searching then dual him back? 6) Would this stategy work? (Does he retain his ability to search always or is it lost when he duals out of Ranger, being a special skill)

1. No. From a place in lower monastary, i know that a has a bigger detection range than normal searching.

2. I search mode, you might be surprised by monsters. Doesn't happen too often. And will be less a problem with x-ray (but then, i often forget to switch searching on and off)

3. She won't enter some areas if you don't force her. But at least rangers don't suffer that much from the hex effect as bard or gadgeteer.
Don't agree with Rhea in one point: I was double-agent, and it was ok with sparkle.

4. Detect secrets is ok for rooms, but not for big areas.
For example, it took me a long time and several casts to find that potion of holy water in A-T road, that my ranger spotted immediatly in another party.

5. Your fighter will be slightly better at searching than without, due to the scouting skill. But scouting won't improve anymore. I wouln't dual rangers, i think their critical ability is high level dependant.

[Rhea]

[quote]Originally posted by Wereboar:

3. She won't enter some areas if you don't force her. But at least rangers don't suffer that much from the hex effect as bard or gadgeteer. Don't agree with Rhea in one point: I was double-agent, and it was ok with sparkle.

The only time I added her I did *just* the T'Rang alliance, and she left.

[otter]

Did she leave because you entered a Zone she refused to enter? If so, you can "make" RPC's go where they don't want to; teleport/Portal, or overload them & run them unconscious, then cross the Zone.

[Oruboris]

Also, you can get an NPC to go where he doesn't normally if you allow him to die, then ressurect after reaching your destination.

Took madras to bayjin by not giving him any scuba gear. Think the principle could be more widely applied.

Oru