Need a shapeshifter fix...

[Jim]

I've come across this bug before in the past, but in my most recent game, I want to address it but cannot find a suitable fix anywhere!

The problem lies with the spell "dispel magic", in that whevever it is cast on my shifter, his claws are dispelled allowing him to attack with whatever weapon he likes (at the same APR of the werewolf/greater werewolf) - normally, weapons can't be equipped/unequipped when in shapeshifted form. In the case of a Greater Werewolf, the standard 1D6 claw, 3 APR can be dispelled, and then say, the Staff of Rhynn +4 can be equipped for 1D6+4 damage, whilst retaining the 3 APR. This is massively annoying, although this is an advantageous bug, and I need a fix. Can anyone point me in the direction of one please? BaldurDash has not addressed this AFAIK.

[shamrock_uk]

Weimer's Ease of Use should do the trick, you can install components singly so you can avoid the stuff you don't want.

The shapeshifter rebalancing section http://weidu.org/ease.html fixes the dispelling problem but also adds some other effects.

From the readme:

Shapeshifter Rebalancing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This makes Shapeshifters less of a joke. You might even be tempted to have Cernd in your party now. Well, let's not go overboard. Anyway, this fixes the bug where the Shapeshifter's paws could be dispelled and then any weapon could be put in their place. That exploit essentially gave you 2 extra attacks with whatever you wanted, plus all the werewolf powers. Shapeshifter abilities now create "symbolic paws". When you wield one you turn into a Werewolf, when you remove it you're human again. No possible exploits, and you may choose whether to put the paw in your on-hand or off-hand. Since your off-hand THAC0 as a pure druid is, shall we say, sub-optimal, I recommend the on-hand. This also fixes a "bug" where attributes of the CRE file for "PC polymorphed into a Werewolf" were not actually given to the PC by the Polymorph opcode. Normal Werewolf: You Were Supposed To Get You Actually Got ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Base Magic Res 20% Magic Res *LOCKED AT* 20% Immunity to Normal Weapons Nothing Paw = 1d12 slashing Paw = 1d6 piercing For the Greater Werewolf ... You Were Supposed To Get You Actually Got ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THAC0 6 Nothing Saves 1/1/1/2/1 Nothing Base Elemental Res 50% Elemental Res *LOCKED AT* 50% Base Magic Res 40% Magic Res *LOCKED AT* 40% Immunity to Normal Weapons Nothing Paw = +3 Weapon Paw = +2 Weapon Paw = 2d8 slashing Paw = 1d6 piercing Regeneration 3 HP / second Nothing To see this for yourself, check out werewodr.cre, weregrdr.cre, brbrp.itm, etc. The "Rebalancing" gives a Greater Werewolf Shapeshifter the +7 HP per Level due to a fighter with 25 CON (before you just got +2). Most importantly, Shapeshifters may now cast spells while in Wolf form. Hey, they're supposed to have dedicated their lives to controlling lycanthropy. I'm sure a little fur won't mess up their communion with nature. Yuan Ti, Githyanki, Sahuagin, they can all cast spells. Why not wolfmen? In addition, the Druid spell choices were a bit weak in some areas, so some Priest-only spells were made Priest-Druid: Sanctuary (sylvan sanctuaries abound), Chant (they got Bless, why not Chant?), Zone of Sweet Air (sounds nature-y to me!), Glyph of Warding (no excuse, but they need a damaging spell here that isn't Call Lightning), Righteous Magic (listen to Jaheira for a while and tell me she's not Righteous ... more importantly, if they're going to tank around they need some extra help). Finally, 99% of all sixth-level druid spell slots go to "Summon Fire Elemental". You can get a 24 hit dice monster with +4 claws that lasts for hours with that spell. It's so much better than the 7th level "Summon Earth Elemental" that it isn't funny. The other 6th-level summons just don't come close. To give you some actual choices, "Conjure Animals" has been changed to summon two 20 HD Greater Bearweres (they're like Greater Wolfweres). However, the duration remains 4 turns. Do you want Fire Elementals forever, or Mighty Big Tanks for a short time? You decide. By the way, I initially coded up a version of the Shapeshifter paws that would not be useable even by Thieves with UAI (this is the intended spirit of the power). However, I'm not the police, so I removed it. If you want to cheat, go for it.

EDIT - the comparison table really didn't work in this post, view it here: http://weidu.org/ease/README-Ease.txt

[ 02-21-2004, 11:38 AM: Message edited by: shamrock_uk ]

[Jim]

Thanks Shamrock, but I'm not touching that mod with a 50 ft pole. Personally, I don't feel that the shapeshifter needed rebalancing at all, since if used properly it is a very potent class as it stands. That mod makes something that's alredy very powerful into something rediculously over-powerful.

What I really need is the sole fix to nullify being able to dispel the paws to use any weapon.

[shamrock_uk]

Hmm..this thread might offer some inspiration in that case

http://forums.fwstudios.net/index.php?showtopic=2679

It seems to imply it's an engine limitation, and the only way to get round the problem is to do what Westley did in EoU. Perhaps it would be possible to take just the paw components from the mod, leaving the restistances etc as they are in the unmodded game? (and as a slight aside, is the shapeshifter rebalance overpowered if the original didn't receive intended benefits due to mis-implementation?)

EDIT and this one:

http://forums.fwstudios.net/index.php?showtopic=3294

Not sure how helpful it will be in terms of a solution, but will help you understand what other people have tried in order to workaround

[ 02-21-2004, 01:56 PM: Message edited by: shamrock_uk ]

[shamrock_uk]

To expand slightly on what I meant and make it clearer...could you not install the Ease of Use mod, copy the item files for the claws somewhere else, them uninstall the mod, importing just the claws back into the game? You could then ShadowKeeper them into your inventory and equip them when your claws are dispelled? It's not elegant, but it might work?

[Jim]

Great links Shamrock! [img]smile.gif[/img]

It does indeed appear to be a BG2 engine limitation in that "Dispel Effects" will always remove a magical weapon

I quite like your idea too of:

...install the Ease of Use mod, copy the item files for the claws somewhere else, them uninstall the mod, importing just the claws back into the game?

Instead of using the EoU paws as they stand, I could tone them down to how they were originally and use them as equippable weapons if the magical variant is dispelled. I'll look into this.

Thanks!