ADC and Necromancer Staff

[DeathByRabbit]

So this post concerns two different questions.

1) Is there any way on my side to fix the insanity that is the after death camera? Moving the mouse after death causes it to go in random directions and sometimes frantically mashing the keyboard keys will get it to work properly, other times not so much. It's becoming a pretty big annoyance in my Let's Play simply because I do tend to die to mages and archers still.

2) What effect does the Necromancer Staff actually have on necromancy? So far I haven't noticed any difference in keeping Shadow Knights/Wizards under control even when starting combat with it and using it the entire time. I usually lose one to three units regardless of whether or not I have the staff as my main weapon. Even if I manage to get in range to hit them for a charm, they usually die to the hit anyway if my troops haven't already killed them.

Any replies are appreciated, especially if you help me fix the ADC.

 

[kevinflemming]

Ugh, the spectator camera. I've taken to not even trying to move the damn thing. It's so uncontrollable.

Yet my housemate can move his perfectly practically all of the time, with only the extremely-rare hissy-fit. So I can only assume it might have something to do with the difference in our computers. His is far more powerful than mine, with a better graphics card (two actually). I'm wondering if that has some effect on how well the camera performs?

 

[DeathByRabbit]

I wouldn't think so. I don't get frame loss or anything unless I'm rendering a video while playing. The insanity from the camera isn't due to frame hits either, it just simply refuses to do what you ask it to at times.

I've played native and other mods where the camera does just fine so I had assumed it was just a bug somewhere. I would think it would be more software related than hardware at least. Considering that my PC is pretty good as well only reinforces the idea.

But your guess is just as good as mine.

 

[Morrowind Mod Man]

The staff is redundant now because your undead can't break free from you at 10 necromancy. It's a leftover from before that so it's not as good now. It's better to just buy archmage gear.

 

[DeathByRabbit]

That's basically what I figured. My character is more of a dark priestess type or dark Knight type of character so what I was hoping is that I could get to 9 in necromancy, use the staff to stop my undead from turning, and point those points elsewhere. I suppose ten in necromancy is a necessity though.

That's a little unfortunate but glad to know nonetheless. Thank you.

 

[Morrowind Mod Man]

Yeah, you have to commit totally when using necromancy. Your character is probably already a mage so I doubt you'll mind having to get to 30 INT. If I remember correctly, you need also need around 50 health to be able to summon shadows.

Suppose you could make the suggestion that the staff of necromancy gives you a 1 point bonus in necromancy while equipped.

 

[DeathByRabbit]

Character is more of a battle mage. No spells or magic power, just high Magic Def, high HP pool, and high necromancy. The only issue I'm having is not having 10 Necromancy. I have around 25 Shadow Knights and 12 Shadow wizards but I tend to lose 1 to 3 of those units every battle which is very taxing.

I have come up with a work around to getting more but watching them kill each other before the enemy even gets near is a sad sight. Still, I own most of the Delthasum  Empires fiefs currently so I have the time, money, and place to build them up. I'm just trying to minimize my loses as I am wanting to expand my territory which is becoming a large task with my soldiers killing each other.

 

[Morrowind Mod Man]

Have you invested in the trainer skill? If that's the case, keep your undead in fortresses and start building up Orc soldiers while you wait to cap necromancy. They're really easily to train up and the top tier units sometimes wield legendary Butcher swords. Which is made even better by the fact that they can be saved with the surgery skill.

Here's a great idea if you're sticking with a full undead army. When your necromancy is fairly high you can raise shadows from dead enemies. If you own a town, I'd suggest you put 1 point into the entertain skill, then grab an instrument and start making speeches, after depositing all of your troops.

A critical failure on the speech roll (which will happen a lot with low skill) will spawn a lynch mob that you can easily kill. You farm them for easy undead and your only losses will be a negligible amount of renown that you'll probably earn back when the mob attacks you. No chasing bandits, no issues with faction relations, and no needing to leave home.

 

[DeathByRabbit]

That's a pretty solid idea. My character has almost capped trainer skill. 8 from levels plus 1 from the book so leveling troops is definitely a breeze.

What I had been doing was capping myself out on shadows as it only takes a day to fully heal after summoning. Then taking those out to kill bandits or weakened vassals to get the knights and wizards.

My only problem with Orcs is that mages wreck them. Ridas Magocracy is at war with us right now and their vassals almost steam roll my army of 115. I rolled with orcs when I first fought them but with nearly no Mag Def they get wrecked as soon as their mages are within range. This is what got me started on shadow troops to start with actually.

Shadow Knights and Wizards have around 6 in mag def and good general stats as well so this is what my army to consist mostly of; that being said, I'm wondering if the lynch mobs would be enough to level them passed greater warrior?

My trainer alone doesn't seem to be enough to get them over that hump so your solution may be what I end up doing. I was thinking of just rolling with a smaller shadow party but not having to chase bandits at all sounds like a better idea.

 

[warakornmk]

From what you are saying. Bandit not attack your undead party? That is strange. In my save, enemy always attack me no matter how many troop they have. I can't go anywhere without have to kill some looter along the way. It is a bug that keep me from playing this mod. So if you know some workaround, tell me please.

 

[DeathByRabbit]

Unless I am extremely outnumbered bandits usually run from me. The only troops that will almost always attack are Wandering Demons or Death Knights.

Were looters attacking you even when they were outnumbered? If so that is very strange but it's basically free rewards from looters.

Skeleton and Zombie parties will also attack if they aren't out numbered but they are pretty easy to take out as well if you have decent troops. Those are usually what I level my low tier units on.

Are you using TweakMB or make any modification to the mod files?

 

[CHIMouttathisplane]

Won't the necromancer staff cap your necromancy skill OVER 10 when you already have it at 10?

 

[DeathByRabbit]

I'm not sure how the Necromancer staff actually works, which is essentially the basis of the post. If it adds a flat out number to necromancy then yes it would. But as it stands right now I have no idea what it does to make the undead easier to control.

If it did add straight to Necromancy that would be awesome though.

 

[Morrowind Mod Man]

That is strange. In my save, enemy always attack me no matter how many troop they have.

I made another topic about that.

I'm wondering if the lynch mobs would be enough to level them passed greater warrior?

Lynch mobs are all total fodder. But the trainer skill stacks for every companion you have who also has it. You only add EXP to a unit if your character's level is higher than it's, so that might be the issue. I'd suggest you stash all your units and hunt bandits with your friends for a while. It will get easier once they're strong enough to equip Four Way Inn weapons.

Unrelated, but dwarf armor offers basically the same protection as Blazing Hand Plate for half the price...but half the sex appeal. Ditto on the helmets too. You're looking at something like 15000 I think for the armor and 4000 for the helmet. Once they meet the STR requirements you can get everyone kitted up in great armor for really cheap, considering how much you get from tournaments.

 

[DeathByRabbit]

Most of my companions are hovering around level 20 right now lol. My character is level 24. I have a couple who have high level trainer as well, so I know that it works well. Most of my companions also have gear that doesn't get replaced by loot so they are in fairly good shape. My only annoyance is Lezalit who is decked out as heavy Calvary but is almost always the first to get taken out in the initial charge.

That being said, Greater Shadow Warriors need to be in combat to level into Knights/Wizards because their level is 25, so my main character isn't giving them any exp at all through trainer (yet). I think once I have the ability to cap necromancy (which will be close to level 30) I'll be able to level shadows into Knights/Wizards through trainer as well (theoretically). My current strategy has been making Greater Shadow Warriors (from now on referred to as GSW) and then leading them into combat against undead parties, bandits, enemy vassals, etc. Once they level into my desired unit I stash them in my town for safe keeping until I have them in bulk. It's working out ok for now but each time I lose one I cringe just a little because of the time investment needed to get them. But hey, I do it for my YouTube people!

The episode I am going to be recording shortly will be our (hopefully) final attack on the Delthasum Empire and having our first faction elimination. My army has around 20 Shadow Knights and Wizards each, with an assortment of Undead Priests and GSWs for infantry. I think it will go well despite it just being me and Lord Plias with our 200 troops against the enemy 700. Matheld decided she didn't want to follow us into this battle and Lord Tribidu is off doing whatever it is he does.

I got a little off topic, but my point is I understand what you're saying about Trainer and the tips you're giving are very appreciated. I've definitely gone to the Dwarven empire just to get better shields for my companions as that was really the only thing they were lacking. I think once my bank savings gets up to around 1mil (700k+ atm) I'll begin buying them top tier armor, but I've held off on it for now because the upgrades are so minuscule.

 

[Suminagashi]

1) Is there any way on my side to fix the insanity that is the after death camera? Moving the mouse after death causes it to go in random directions and sometimes frantically mashing the keyboard keys will get it to work properly, other times not so much. It's becoming a pretty big annoyance in my Let's Play simply because I do tend to die to mages and archers still.

The spectator view can be pretty wonky. If it starts spinning around when you're trying to look with your mouse, try to "normalize" it by getting things to basically not be upside-down, then pan the camera in a direction. I don't recall if panning is done from movement keys or arrow keys, but try one of those once you aren't upside-down anymore. After that, you should be able to look around a bit easier. If you open a window, though, such as by pressing L to view the combat log, the camera will likely mess up again when you try to look with the mouse afterwards.

 

[DeathByRabbit]

That's usually what I do. I'll spam my movement keys to make the camera move and eventually it'll stable out but sometimes it takes longer than usual.

I'm wondering if maybe opening the quest page or something will stabilize it faster?

 

[Morrowind Mod Man]

Never really got it to work in this mod. I was completely shocked when it worked in other mods. A Gathering Storm, to name one. No clue what's different or why it works for me there but not here.

 

[Xzayler]

Its very messed up for me as well. I also played PoP recently and the after death cam is EXACTLY the same. If you press backspace, move your mouse in the direction you want the camera to turn, then leave it there and press backspace again. The camera will turn a bit towards were the mouse was. Juts repeat this process and you might be able to move the camera into a better aerial position so you can see the battle a bit better.
However, its nothing close to a workaround.

 

[DeathByRabbit]

I've been tinkering with Perisno as well and that camera works smooth as silk.

I have no idea what causes it. When I made the post I was hoping it was just a minor coding issue that I could change but unfortunately no one knows what causes it.