Spell Placement

[Timber]

I was wondering if there is an easier way to place spells like firewall, solid fog etc in the right place. To many times I have miss placed a firewall and my spell points have gone to waste. These are methods I use to try to prevent it, target a player and use them for placement, aim it at a wall/door, or have mob targeted and use them to place the spells.

But players move and it seems strange to ask them to stay where they are because I'm using them to target a spell, sometimes there are no doors or physical obstacles to use to place them and mobs can die before I can place them. Are there better ways to place my spells or do I just need a truck load of practice?

Thanks.

[Darth_Sizzle]

Don't target anything, just aim (and make sure you have a clear shot).

Edit: Where did my flipping sig image thingy go?

[Timber]

Ah okay, thanks Darth. Gonna have to practice my aiming then.

[Galapas]

Ah okay, thanks Darth. Gonna have to practice my aiming then.


You have to remember, while your aiming, if anything walks in front of you (the targetting circle is on them) while you're casting, the spell will be cast on them.

I have cast many a firewall on the back of a warforged's head. I think it is just instinct in tanks. They see the wizard start casting and they take 2 steps forward.

[dunklezhan]

its an old thread, but its all I could find that seemed on topic... and I'm afraid it wasn't helpful for me, possibly I'm being stupid or missing something obvious, but.. I just don't get it! Single target spells, no problem. Hard target, get in range, click spell or press relevant key combination. Great. With you. AOE spells? I don't get it.

How do I know how *far* away I am aiming? How do I actually put the spell just ... *there*? Lets say I want to land a hypnotic pattern in the middle of a bunch of mobs straight ahead of me battling our party's fighter.How do I know I'm not aiming right in front of my own feet, or alternatively 20 feet behind the mobs?

I just popped out to searing heights to throw a few of these randomly on the nice clear white marble flat bit by the gates, and it either seemed to go off at maximum range, or at my own feet. Once I looked straight down and it centered on me, which is at least something I've been able to figure out for myself. Can't seem to get the knack of anything except that though.

Any hints and tips? Do I need mouselook turned on? Grateful for an experienced hand to throw a newb a few tips.

thanks

[gothpixel]

I always cast from mouse look. I put the reticule on the floor where I want the spell to go off. But, it's kind of hard to cast into the center of a swarm that way. I suppose tabbing until something in the center is hard targeted would work, but if it's a moving battle, that's hard.

Here's one that irritates the heck out of me, and I have no solution for. I cast acid blast into a cluster of creatures, and a friendly gets in the way. Most of the time, no problem. Goes off centered on them and everyone gets splashed. But about 1 in 6 or 8 times, the acid ball seems to ricochet off of my ally and go straight up, bursting on the ceiling if there is one. If I'm in tight spaces, no worries, everything is still hit. But in large caverns or outdoors, the acid ball just ricochets off into the distance, doing no damage to anything.

Anyone else seen this? Any way to stop it from happening?

[nelyn]

I have seen that happen with fireball even when no friendly players are present. I have no idea why it does that.

[RTN]

Things go straight up most often when whatever you are targetting dies when you're using something like scorching ray. As in, you have something targetted, but between targetting and casting, something else kills the mob. At least that has been my experience.

I don't use mouseview typically, but you can activate it by holding down the interact button on your mouse (left click for me). You should almost always use it when casting AOE, unless the mobs aren't moving. This way you can manually target where you want the spell to land. You still have to watch out for terrain issues (seen and unseen), but you'll do much better with it. btw, all casters should also turn off the auto targeting system. It can be good for melee, but it is terrible for casters.