Combat questions

Caerulo

I have a bunch of combat-related questions:

1. What exactly does calcise and dedroxin afflict with? Both Xiel's site and the wiki says withered leg/arm, but there are no such afflictions.

2. Is there any other way of getting rid of Phantasms Wounds (and Stars as well I suppose) other than DISPEL ILLUSION <me>?

3a. When you have burst vessels and you sip healing/eat sparkleberry, does it only cure vitals, or it cure vitals + cure one vessel?

3b. Also, if Nature Crown is claimed, does the Major Blessing herb cure vessels too?

4. What can you do if you are off psionic balance other than weaving illusions?

5. What mental afflictions does Phantasms Phantom give?

6. Does locking LegLock mean that you will continually afflict leglock based on the superstratus channel timer or it reafflicts when cured by target?

Akyaevin

1. They're brokenarm and brokenleg. 

2. No. Well, critique, but not realistically. The stars can be gagged, and your system can account for the wounds (it just makes the displayed current value 2/3 of the real value).

3a. Vitals and vessel.

3b. Yes.

4. Dissolve. Dissolve only requires balance, illusion only requires equilibrium, so you can do both after a psionic combo.

5. Every eleven seconds, damage plus one of entanglement, paranoia, vestiphobia, confusion, hallucinations, claustrophobia. Each with a unique first-person line.

6. It passively applies leglock every ten or so seconds.

Llandros

Illusions were never a sure thing, as there are many ways to get or code around them.

Also, if you are using a basic illusion then you will be even more restricted. Most afflictions have two lines. 

X hits you with y

You struggle with y

Having one or the other is unlikely to set off well made triggers.

They take a little creativity and situational awareness to do well. However, if you have the free eq then there is no reason not to.

Also, keep in mind the illusion doesn't have to be against the target, you can use it to appear vulnerable or that you put up a defense your opponent will need to take down.

Talk to your guild mates and other combatants and see what they use/are annoyed by what other people use.

Akyaevin

Secondary messages (e.g. "You cannot move as both your legs are crippled.") do not cause an affmessage even if you have the config up, so you can still try those. They're unreliable, though (systems can have a "but I didn't try to!" check, especially for anorexia/etc.), and you're less likely to find one that implies multiple afflictions the way you used to be able to do with runes or colourmaelstrom. 

Yes, can also still try things that cause hidden afflictions, especially from a group, as they're all flagged "unknown" and I don't know how many people check for the "unknown affliction" message. They could, though.

Ssaliss

A nice way to learn about what you can do and how it works is to CONFIG MASOCHISM ON and then start hitting yourself with things. For afflictions, you can also use CONFIG AFFMESSAGES ON to see what you're afflicted with.

Caerulo

Thanks!

And ah, I didn't know they added a config option for masochism, that's handy.

Akyaevin

I should have mentioned this before. You shouldn't be using the Nature Crown herb as sparkleberry in combat, because eating any non-sparkle herb uses or extends your herb balance (eating a herb while off herb balance resets the timer). Sparkleberry is unique in that it does not.

Llandros

Regarding masochism, don't try testing damage on yourself. The formulas get all wonky and the numbers come out wrong for some reason.

You can check that something does damage but you need a buddy or an afk novice if you want to know anything exact.

Caerulo

So, now that there's affmessages, are illusions still effective? Do I still choose illusions that disrupt balances or go for masked affliction lines instead (e.g. telepathy/doublewhammy)?