Shattered Kingdoms

This is an honest question: why is this spell in the game?

So I could own most of you.

Voodoo is not bad as a spell, the concept behind it is great, it just needs wimped so double or more voodoos can be avoided. Then it will be a powerful spell, but not a cheat spell as it is now(especially how people abuse it lately).

I wish it would give shaman 'far sight' instead.

It would still do maledictions to the target from anywhere, but instead of doing massive damage (ie. enough to kill most casters and even certain adventure classes), it gives a snap shot of the target's location.

And yes, as suggested many times over, please, consider giving the victim a 'debuff' so that one cannot be chain voodooed til death.

Ask yourselves these questions: Do you still want players in SK? How would you feel if your lives was at the whim of others, and they can take it any time, anywhere?

How inclined would you be to play the game if that is the case?

Perhaps voodoo should inflict a huge deal of maledictions and a scy vision of the target rather than a straight huge amount of damage.

As everyone said Voodoo's can be avoided easily, Too bad I didn't know that but you need HP, or a sanctuary up at all times.

Maybe the voodoo spell should stack over time. So the shaman starts the voodoo rite and the victim begins taking damage and maledictions. The shaman is lagged anyway for a while. Just spread the damage out over the same duration of the shaman's lag and give the glimpse of your torturer at the beginning of the rite. That way its a race, if you can get there, you can kill them and interrupt the spell. Of course the greatest part of the damage would be at the very final aspect of the rite. I'd even be fine if it took longer for the shaman to cast and be paralyzed in order to allow it to build up over a couple ticks. Perhaps the overall damage would be more, but you'd have a few moments to prevent the most of it.

A

I can see that happening, but I would also like to see the "messages" regarding voodoo changed as well. IE: The shaman should not be "paralyzed" but taken over in a trance as he has entered the voodoo ritual. The maledictions, though, should all be cast at the first strike of the spirits and the shaman should not be turned open to all gates as it is now, since it would now be a hell lot easier to reach the shaman BEFORE he even deals any serious damage to you.

Voodoo is fine. Chain voodoos are fine. Want to avoid getting voodoo'd or chain voodoo'd? Don't [REDACTED] off a shaman/shamans. Quaff 'spirit aura' will completely negate chain voodoos. Unless you did something monumentally stupid (like, for example, screwing with a hero tournament for SHAMAN), you should be able to get a few spirit aura vials brewed.

There are in-game solutions to protecting yourself from this spell. These in-game solutions already exist. There does not need to be any hardcoded changes to this spell.

Though, A's idea does sound good, especially if the gate weakness is removed so that it really is a race to the shaman and not just a race to the nearest sorc/priest/necro or warlock with a wand.

Chars in religions have almost no defense vs voodoo. Only real defense is being with a sanc 24/7 every time an enemy shaman is online. I remember there were times Zavier was with a GM priest all the time to keep him sancted when I was online, or just logout to avoid death. And if I had an average shaman's assistance I could probably chain voodoo anyone to death, save for a few exceptions. So chain voodoos should be avoided in some way.

And seriously, if anyone really pisses off shamans by destroying their tournament for example, it still only takes one shaman to wtfpwn him. Do not tell me that it takes more than 1 shaman to instantly drop 75% of the playerbase(w/out a doll of course) if he knows what he is doing, perhaps more considering I have dropped GM mercs at 2% HP. But shamans nowadays are noobs I guess who don't want to put up any effort to build up a deadly voodoo, they just resort in just chain voodooing enemies like pussies.

Finally Achernar's idea makes voodoo completely useless, considering the spell's level and cost. All it takes is someone getting a sanctuary after the warning that he expects serious voodoo damage, as well as healing himself slowly before the main HP drain so he won't die. Or just dart in a no magic area and avoid voodoo and laugh. It's like giving charge or cleave some serious lag with a warning message in front for everyone to avoid them.

It's not that it's impossible to avoid or stop a voodoo, or even a chain voodoo - I don't think anyone has ever argued that to be the case. It's simply not a fun mechanic, it adds very little to the game for either party. You might argue that it provides something to fear about a shaman, but why does it need to be the way it is? Much more could be done with any of the suggestions provided - I think giving shamans a method for scrying is a great idea, and altering voodoo to be a DoT would be an excellent tweak, allowing at least some kind of strategy. As is, keeping spells up 24/7 and carrying SA vials is not strategy, it's just mandated paranoia.