620 [Archive] - The Gemstone IV Players' Corner

poloneus

02-19-2011, 09:29 AM

CC's (620) Resist Nature Spell Guide
03/31/04

• Introduction •
The Ranger spell 620, Resist Nature, was introduced to GemStone in August of 2003 by GM Cyr. It allows Rangers who can cast it the ability to imbue leather armors (from light leather, ASG 5, to brigandine armor, ASG 12) with the power to resist one of a few energy types (fire, nature, cold, or steam). The strength of this resistance, as well as its duration, is dependant on the skills of the Ranger.

The procedure has a few steps, each with multiple conditions, outcomes, and requirements. The purpose of this document is to provide the guidance necessary to make these steps more apparent. Extensive testing has been done on the spell, but there are holes to be filled, and may be incorrect information. Please make use of the address at the end of the document if you are aware of any such occurances.

• The Process •
In addition to the ASG requirement, the armor to be affected cannot be scripted, padded against critical blows, padded against damage, or currently tempered by a Wizard for enchanting. Furthermore, the spell can only be used on five armors in a given week.

The first step in the spell's process is to cast 620 on the armor that meets the above requirements. The higher the enchant on a set of armor, the more likely it is to fail. The message received is indicative of eligibility and success.

Initial Cast:
Success, ready for the next step:
You gesture at some brigandine armor.
A white aura surrounds the brigandine armor, pulsing softly in time with each beat of your heart. The armor seems to soften in your hands and you can sense rather than see a change in its organic material, as if thousands of tiny hands have opened and await something to grasp.

Failure, chance (try again):
You gesture at some vultite cuirbouilli leather.
The magic of your spell unravels and dissipates!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

Failure, armor not in hand (hold it and try again):
You gesture at some light leather.
The magic of your spell dissipates before it can reach the light leather.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

Failure, exceeded five per week limit:
You gesture at some cuirbouilli leather.
You strain to cast the spell, but your spirit hasn't yet recovered from your recent channeling of this type of magic. Your spell's energy dissipates.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

Failure, incompatible (armor is padded, scripted, or being tempered):
You gesture at a set of darkly etched Sylvan scalemail.
Your spell's magic cannot permeate the material of the etched Sylvan scalemail.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

Failure, incompatible (armor does not fall in the proper ASG range):
You gesture at some chain mail.
The magic of your spell fizzles against the surface of the chain mail.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

Failure, armor is already resistant (allow it to wear out before attempting again):
You gesture at some leaf-etched dark armor with polished vultite skulls on the shoulders.
The magic of your spell wavers and lashes back at you!
... 1 point of damage!
Your wrist is twisted slightly.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

After a successful initial cast, ASSESSing the armor should yield a message similar to the following:

Careful examination indicates the armor has a base strength of 49 and a base durability of 325. You also determine the current integrity of the armor to be at 100.0%.
You examine the armor closely, lightly running your fingers over the material.
You sense that the armor is imbued with the magic of nature, but the magic is pourous and holds no hint as to its purpose. An emptiness permeates the material of the armor.

Potion Preparation:
The next step is to acquire the appropriate potions for the resistance to be imbued. The table below lists the various desired resistances, their respective necessary plants, and the location(s) in which each plant can be foraged.
Type Plant Location
Fire Drakefern Kharam-Dzu (Teras Isle)
Nature Murkweed Wehnimer's Landing, River's Rest, Ta'Illistim
Cold Frostflower Icemule Trace, Pinefar Trading Post
Steam Mistweed River's Rest, Ta'Vaalor

Each potion requires five pieces of the designated plant; multiple pours from a number of the single-dosed potions will be necessary to imbue the armor with resistance, depending on its Armor Sub-Group. Something as light as full leather (ASG 6) only requires three pours, while brigandine armor (ASG 12) requires eight.
Armor Armor Sub-Group Number of Potions
Light Leather 5 2
Full Leather 6 3
Reinforced Leather 7 4
Double Leather 8 5
Leather Breastplate 9 4
Cuirbouilli Leather 10 5
Studded Leather 11 6
Brigandine Armor 12 8

Once all of the plants have been gathered, they must be processed and refined by a local herbalist, who can be found in weathered shacks in the following locations:
Town General Location
Wehnimer's Landing Lower Dragonsclaw, Wooded Hills
Icemule Trace Icemule Trace, Forest
Kharam-Dzu Teras Isle, River's Edge
River's Rest Shady Trail
Solhaven Vornavis Cliffs, River Trail
Ta'Illistim Whistler's Pass, Forest

Each potion will take one hour to finish, and costs 3000 silver each, payable upon the herbalist's delivery. Only one potion of a given type can be made at a time. For instance, one drakefern and one frostflower potion may be made in a single shack at once, but not two drakefern potions.

Potion Application:
When at least one potion has been readied, it can be poured upon the prepared armor from the first step. Keep in mind that only the original caster can successfully apply a potion. Though the potions do not have to be used immediately, they do expire after about a week's time. Pouring the potion on the armor can result in one of a few outcomes, depending on chance and circumstance.

Success, ready for next pour or sealing cast:
You pour the frostflower potion over the leather of the cuirbouilli leather, working it into the material with your hands. After some time, the liquid is completely absorbed by the leather, leaving it feeling a bit more solid than before. You set the empty potion bottle aside.
Roundtime: 17 sec.

Failure, chance (try another potion), wrong potion type (use same potion type as previous pour), or the armor is ready for its sealing cast:
Your pour your potion onto the brigandine armor. The liquid simply rolls off the surface and falls to the ground as the empty bottle shatters in your hand.

Failure, potion has expired (get a fresh potion):
As you pour the potion onto the soft black cuirass, the liquid seems very thin and has a pungent odor. It rolls off the surface of the cuirass and onto the ground. The empty bottle shatters in your hand.

Failure, incorrect pourer (only the original caster can pour):
As you pour the potion onto the light leather, the liquid beads up and appears to be repelled from the surface of the leather. The empty bottle shatters in your hand.

Between each pour, it is important to ASSESS the armor to check its progress. In addition to the standard breakage numbers, a general progress of the armor should be determinable. The "holds no hint as to its purpose" should be replaced by one of the following, depending on the resistance type:

Type Messaging
Fire slightest presence of warmth
Nature slightest presence of grit
Cold slightest presence of cool air
Steam slightest presence of warm moisture

Final Cast:
If "an emptiness permeates the material of the armor," it requires at least another potion pour. However, if "the aura of magic does not feel complete," the armor is ready for the final sealing cast. At this point, hold it in hand and cast the spell at it one final time.

Success, process complete:
You gesture at some ora brigandine armor.
A white aura surrounds the ora brigandine armor, pulsing softly in time with each beat of your heart. The armor seems to grow more rigid in your hands and you can sense rather than see a change in its organic material. The armor begins to feel as solid as it did before you began this process and soon the aura subsides.
Roundtime: 7 secs.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

Failure, chance (try again):
You gesture at some shiny blue leather.
The magic of your spell unravels and dissipates!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

Failure, armor not in hand (hold it and try again):
You gesture at some light leather.
The magic of your spell dissipates before it can reach the light leather.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

Failure, exceeded five per week limit (if working with more than one project at a time):
You gesture at some leaf-etched dark armor with polished vultite skulls on the shoulders.
You strain to cast the spell, but your spirit hasn't yet recovered from your recent channeling of this type of magic. Your spell's energy dissipates.
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.

Failure, not enough potions poured (start the entire process over):
You gesture at some brass brigandine armor.
A white aura surrounds the brigandine armor, pulsing softly in time with each beat of your heart. Suddenly, the aura wavers and flickers. The material of the armor begins to slowly undulate in your hands as if trying to balance itself somehow. With a sharp crack the aura explodes outward, spraying you with the liquid it once held!
... 45 points of damage!
Right eye evaporates in a burst of flame. Death from shock follows.

Note that throughout this process, regardless of success or failure, the armor will not be harmed. However, the caster is susceptible to damage if they prematurely attempt a sealing cast.

• The Factors •
Once a set of armor has been successfully infused with resistance, a Ranger can ASSESS it once more to determine its Resistance Strength (RS), Resistance Life (RL), and the caster of the spell. The RS determines the magnitude of protection from the targeted element, while the RL dictates the number of strikes that it will last before wearing out.

You examine the ora brigandine armor closely, lightly running your fingers over the material.
You sense that the armor is imbued with the magic of nature, and your fingertips detect the slightest presence of cool air along the surface of the armor. The imbued magic in the armor seems to offer a very good amount of resistance to its targeted element. The strength of the magic's aura suggests that the resistance could falter after a great number of strikes. You also sense that this armor was imbued with this resistance by Cappurnicus.

The ability to accurately determine these three characteristics is tied to Ranger spell ranks known.

Resistance Strength is augmented by Ranger spell ranks known and knowledge of certain lores (Spiritual: Blessings for Nature, Elemental: Fire for fire, Elemental: Water for cold, and Elemental: Air for steam).

Resistance Life is augmented by Ranger spell ranks known and Spiritual Mana Control.

Additionally, Aura, Discipline, and Wisdom stat bonuses factor into the success of casts attempted.

Degrees of RS:
slight, some, moderate, very good, ...

Degrees of RL:
under ten strikes, under thirty strikes, under fifty strikes, under one hundred strikes, under one hundred fifty strikes, after a great number of strikes (150+).

• The Benefits •
The immediate benefit of successfully completing a project is experience. The final cast yields experience roughly equivalent to a like-level kill (~100).

Resistant armor will protect against damage caused by attacks based upon its attuned element. A partial list of spells and circumstances that are dampened for each type is listed below:

Fire:
111 - Fire Spirit (splash damage only)
435 - Major Elemental Wave (fire-based)
519 - Immolation
525 - Meteor Swarm
908 - Major Fire (splash damage only)
915 - Weapon Fire (fire-based)
917 - Boil Earth (every strike after the first)
Fire mage death throes
...

Nature:
610 - Tangle Weed
615 - Call Swarm
616 - Spike Thorn
914 - Sandstorm
...

Cold:
435 - Major Elemental Wave (cold-based)
907 - Major Cold (splash damage only)
915 - Weapon Fire (cold-based)
Inclement weather (cold)
...

Steam:
435 - Major Elemental Wave (steam-based)
915 - Weapon Fire (steam-based)
...

A fire sprite hurls a roaring ball of fire at you!
AS: +307 vs DS: +270 with AvD: +44 + d100 roll: +74 = +155
... and hits for 14 points of damage!
Minor burns to right arm. That hurts a bit.
The roaring ball of fire strikes you, blossoming into a much larger sphere of flame upon impact.
Your armor seems to resist some of the heat.
... 10 points of damage!
Burst of flames to back toasts skin nicely.

• Advice and Conclusions •
Though only Rangers can effectively cast the spell and make use of the potions, they are not the only ones who can have the potions made. It would be wise to have friends submit plants for potion-creation whenever possible, in order to expediate the process.

One of the restrictions for 620 is that armor currently tempered by a Wizard for enchanting cannot be imbued with resistance. The converse is not true - armor that has been made resistant via the Resist Nature spell is still temperable and enchantable. Since armors of lower enchants are easier to successfully imbue with resistance, it is generally a good idea to do so before starting an enchanting project.

Furthermore, it is possible to submit plants for refinement at more than one shack at a time. Especially convenient near the Wehnimer's Landing, Icemule Trace, and Solhaven area, this strategy can triple one's potion preparation productivity.

When gathering the reagents for a long-term project, it is also prudent to save up foraged plants. Though potions will expire over time, the stalks, flowers, and weeds will not. A trip to Kharam-Dzu can be made more efficient by stocking up a cache of drakefern before returning to the mainland.

The Resist Nature spell allows a Ranger to provide individuals having foresight of their environment with an extra edge. Proper training and specialization, coupled with the above tactics, allow for more effective assistance to those willing to wait through the process.

Please e-mail any additions, corrections, or suggestions for this guide to cc@manatree.com.

• Acknowledgments •
Thanks to Saberwolv for additional research on Meteor Swarm, enchantment testing, and general non-Ranger viewpoints.