Understanding Magic...

[zradick]

I typically play fighter/thief characters, but it looks like a full-on mix is called for with this game. To that end I've tried (rather unsuccessfully) to get a grip on how the magic system works...

For Arcane magic there are spellbooks, which have a certain number of charges. I'm not really sure what the idea with this... Are they essentially scrolls with more than one use or do the recharge over time? What is the blue (mana?) bar below the life bar used for?

For Nether magic, you apparently need to mix ingredients to create spells, which makes reasonable sense.

For Celestial magic you need star crystals, which have a certain number of charges as well (similar to the spell books?). Do these recharge over time? Does mana have anything to do with it?

And then there is rune magic, which I don't get at all...

Also, is there a quick way to switch between using weapons and magic?

Thanks for any info!

[Emulated]

1 yes basicaly scrolls blue bar is XP or avp
2 yea makes since
3 yes they have mana charges
4 you have to have the circle-spell and the square-mana to cast it
5 use the Q buttion also you can hot key them useing 1-8

[zradick]

Cool, thanks for the info! :)

If spell books are basically scrolls, how does a caster make a go of it? It would be simple to use up all of your magic in a single encounter and then what do you do? You certainly would not make enough money per encounter to be able to purchase back the spells from a shop... Is magic fundamentally nerfed?

BTW, can you recharge spellbooks and crystals? Do runes get used up or can you cast rune spells repeatedly? :confused:

[Xardus]

BTW, can you recharge spellbooks and crystals? Do runes get used up or can you cast rune spells repeatedly? :confused:Spellbooks and crystals recharge over time. Scrolls are gone on use. I have no idea about rune magic, as I haven't figured that out yet.

[Rogue42]

Each individual spell book has one charge. So if you buy twenty fireball spell books you can throw twenty fireballs. Once you have thrown those twenty, you need to switch to a different spell or to your melee weapon (bows and thrown weapons suck). As time goes by you will regain the charges in the spell books you used. The same goes for charges in the celestial star crystals and the rune stones. Nether magic is one and done, as are actual scrolls. You can recharge your spells faster by resting at a fire. There are skills that you can aquire, depending on what paths you follow, that will make your spells recharge faster.

[zarconww]

Use the Force...
Here is what I know about magic.
Arcane Magic uses spellbooks. Each spell is its own spell book and constitutes
a charge. Charges recharge over time. When you cast an Arcane Spell, it uses
some of your mana and the power of the spell is based on the skill you have
in Arcane Magic. When you cast a spell, there is a delay till you can cast again.
Scrolls are single spells that dont require your mana and dont have a delay
between casts. They are set as to what power they go off at and I "believe"
it is at a level of 7 in Arcane Magic.
Celestial Magic works similar to Arcane Magic but uses crystals for each spell/
charge.
Nether Magic uses Nether Katals mixing in combination to make the spells.
It is one of each of the required ingredient to make one charge. They dont
require mana and there is no delay between casts.
Rune Magic uses runestones that supply mana. If you have a Runespell, it
lists the type of mana required and the amount.
Example: RuneBlade to have one charge of this spell you need this mana
Aenir 200 Cythoen 100 and Feohn 100 so you will need 2 Aenir stones
and 1 each of Cythoen and Feohn. If you had say 11 Aenir stones , 9
Cythoen stones and 8 Feohn stoned , you would have 5 charges.

[Emulated]

you can cast everything more than 1s but not scrolls and nether they get used up and dont recharge - everything els gets recharged

[zarconww]

BTW Potions , scrolls and Nether Spells do not recharge over time.
They are one shot per charge.
All the others recharge over time.

[Rogue42]

Uh, there is no "mana" in this game, at least not for the character. The blue bar across the top is how far you have progressed to your next level. Spell power is determined by how many skill point you have dedicated to that magical practice. And there are many nether spells that you can't use if your skill points don't meet or excede the level of the spell.

[zarconww]

Yeah right. I knew that.

[zradick]

Ok, that really clears up some of my confusion! :)

I think I'm ready to begin using magic with gusto. I'm planning to have a Fighter / Thief / Knight / Enchantress / WarWitch when it's all said and done. I've started most of those classes, but haven't finished their quests all yet.

I thought "Q" just switched between bow/thrown and melee? Does it switch to magic as well? What about "F"?

[zarconww]

No , to switch to magic, you have to have a spell loaded into a quick key.
Open you inventory and then which ever you want, scroll, potion, Arcane,
Celestial etc. Point ant the spell you want to Hot Key and hit one of the
numbers... 1-8. Then to switch to a spell, just the the number you want.

[zarconww]

Oh... some spells go off when you hit the Key, while some become active in
the tray and you have to hit the left mouse button like an attack.

[zradick]

So once I have my spells loaded and can cast them using the quick-keys, how do I switch back to a weapon (assuming I want to cast something that goes into the tray to be activated when I left-click)? Do I have to go to Inventory?

[Rogue42]

F or one of your spell hotkeys will put you in magic mode and you will see your magic menu in the lower right hand corner. You have to hit Q to get back to your hand weapons.

[zradick]

Sounds simple enough. Now I'm all excited to get home and try it out. Dang work... ;)

[NightCreeper]

What is the blue (mana?) bar below the life bar used for?

Thanks for any info!

That's an experience bar, not a mana bar. When you fill it, you've gained a new level.

[Ankrist]

Zradick, I also usually play as a fighter/thief and had no trouble finishing
this game. I only used magic once or twice the whole game and that was just to try it out. I mainly used the Elven sword of speed until I got the Dwarven Ice Axe which froze the enemies for a few seconds. I really never had much trouble with anything that I needed magic for, I just relied on lots of potions. So if you don't want to mess around with magic its definately not a requirement to finish the game.

[weka]

Is there any recharge indicator for arcane spells? With celestial ones, you can see the mana filling up on the spell itself in the inventory, but nothing for arcane.