Hindered, a most hidden status

[Rodmar18]

Hello, following a report in the Incorrect or imprecise descriptions thread, and before v1.3 of Balance mod is out, I think it's time for me to got to work. I post here for better visibility and I am waiting for any advice.

Hindered, Slightly Hindered and Totally Hindered are physical statuses that can be used when an ability or a skill is resisted by their target.

1) What we have in game:

Spoiler

• Warlords skills are a perfect proof they exist in game, and they can be part of the description:

Shout of Intimidation:
"If it fails, the unit is Hindered instead. Hindered units suffer -50% MP for 1 round."
Berserk:
"If it fails, the unit is Slightly Hindered instead. Slightly Hindered units suffer -25% MP for 1 round."

I don't remember if I already changed those lines, to be honest, but let's assume they could serve as a model.

• Some other hero's skills are more blunt:

Slayer's Doubt:
"If it fails the unit suffers -50% MP for 1 round."

We only can suspect that this is a hidden Hindered effect (or could a non-linux user peer at the editor to confirm?).
Perhaps, they were all like this, before I changed Warlord's?

• Units' abilities have imprecise description

Convert
Entangling Touch
...

None of them have descriptions that mention their effect on failure/resist, and only tactical tooltips and combat log inform the players about a hidden Hindered status.

• Unit's panel doesn't display any status

The player is informed because a 28/28 MP stat has changed into 14/28 MP. That's not a problem if descriptions are exhaustive.

• Usual status format:

Scorched (and the like):
"This unit suffers {...} for {...} rounds."

Hindered:
"This unit has -50% MP."

2) Proposals to be included in PBEM and Solo Player Balance Mod:

Proposal 1:

To correct all descriptions for relevant skills and abilities, using the following format:

"If it fails, the unit is Hindered instead. Hindered units suffer -50% MP for 1 round."


Proposal 2: (partly overrides Proposal 1)

If considered that Hindered status could be modded so that it last more than 1 round, or just because it's more pleasing to the eye, change previous format into:

"If it fails, the unit is Hindered for 1 round instead. Hindered units suffers -50% MP."


Proposal 3:

To be more informative for the beginner and the forgetful (and on the account Hindered is not Crippled) either format 1 or 2, plus:

", loosing possibilities of action accordingly"


I'm waiting for any feedback (even if you don't play with Balance Mod) before doing things my way.

 

[Hiliadan]

I don't really get your point. Not all -50% MP HAVE to be Hindered. I think it's totally fine as it is now, Convert gives -50% MP if failed and it's not Hindered. Just leave it as is.

 

[Rodmar18]

Come on, any effect got on failure/resist is a status. and both the tooltips and combat log present Convert, Shout of Intimidation, or Slayer's Doubt the same way. Yet we have three different (or absent) phrasings in descriptions. Preliminary pass shows that there are 5 or 6 heroes' spells, and I'm going on with abilities.

Spoiler: Slightly Hindered in heroes' skills

• Stiffen Limbs
• Berserk

Spoiler: Hindered in heroes' skills

• Curse
• Slayer's Doubt
• Shout of Intimidation
• Power of the Word ???
• Blind
• Root Spears
• ...

Spoiler: Totally Hindered in heroes' skills

• Root Spears (if pass)
• ...

Spoiler: Hindered in units' abilities

• Convert
• Entangling Touch
• Entangling Strike
• Stunning Touch
• Webbing Touch
• Greater Webbing Touch
• Throw net
• Hurl Net?
• Musket Fire (if pass)
• Throw Chicken (if pass)
• ...

Rest reassured I'm not proposing to make Hindered a visible status (in red) in a unit's panel, just to add a detail on descriptions. Also how many newcomers (well, I, always when I return to the game) confound Cripple or other -12 total MP loss with Hindered wich is -50% MP loss of current max MP. Just see how Crippled + Slayer's Doubt is rendered on screen: 28/28 -> 8/16. How intuitive!

You know too well that these secondary effects on failure are critical in combat, as they automatically apply provided the target is not immune to that element, and we even have a loading tooltip that "urges" the player to take care of them to save his ass. Yet, some abilities and some spells' descriptions are mute about them (when they are purely about MP loss). Please, don't say that a good player, such as one who uses the Balance mod, knows the wiki by heart! Ah no, wiki is mute about them as well...


[EDIT] An interesting one:
Root Spears:

Roots as sharp as spears burst from the ground below. Deals {rootspearsPhysicDamage} damage and attempts to hinder ({rootspearsHinderStrength}) enemy unit. Hindered units lose {hinderedMovementPenalty} of their [moveWalk/] points for {hinderedTime} .​

This one is not a on-resist effect, and I have to check if it got one.
Nonetheless, for consistency sake with Shout of Intimidation, I'd suggest to replace "Hindered units" by "Totally Hindered units", as those units loose 100% of their current total MP, not 50%.
[/EDIT]