Shadow summons aggroing on wall of fire (Shadow evocation)

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zeroth
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Shadow summons aggroing on wall of fire (Shadow evocation)

Post by zeroth » Fri Aug 05, 2022 8:31 pm

1. Prepare Summons shadows spell (shadow conjuration) and Shadow Evocation

2. Summon shadows.

3. Cast shadow evocation (Firewall) on group of enemies.

4. Shadows takes no damage but aggro on summoner.

5. Summoner get strength drained.

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Aren
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Re: Shadow summons aggroing on wall of fire (Shadow evocation)

Post by Aren » Sat Aug 06, 2022 7:33 pm

This happens with any summon, henchman, dominated npc or familiar that has the sneak attack feat. It's been that way since forever - and it's likely not something that's an easy fix.

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Re: Shadow summons aggroing on wall of fire (Shadow evocation)

Post by Kalopsia » Sat Aug 06, 2022 8:55 pm

I've just looked at the spell script and got an idea. Would you mind listing all spells you know to cause this issue?

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Re: Shadow summons aggroing on wall of fire (Shadow evocation)

Post by MRFTW » Sat Aug 06, 2022 9:29 pm

Kalopsia wrote:
Sat Aug 06, 2022 8:55 pm
I've just looked at the spell script and got an idea. Would you mind listing all spells you know to cause this issue?
I've seen it happen with a Ranger / Druid pet from Stinking Cloud.

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WanderingPoet
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Re: Shadow summons aggroing on wall of fire (Shadow evocation)

Post by WanderingPoet » Sun Aug 07, 2022 6:44 am

Darkness
Gust of Wind
Stinking Cloud
Entangle
Grease
Stonehold
Fire Wall
Ice Wall
Blade Barrier
Incendiary Cloud
Acid Fog
Spiked Growth
All the Tentacle Spells
Fireball
Delayed Blastfireball
Burning Hands
Colour Spray

Basically anything that can -affect- the summon will trigger murder mode (often even if party friendly, or the summon is immune to them). I've even had my own animal companion murder me over hitting it with a gust of wind as a druid.

Also Shadowdancer summon tends to just try to murder people for no reason at all.
Path_of_Play wrote:Fear, intimidation, anger - All these, the tyrant's tools.
Laughter, encouragement, play - not simply just for fools.
These tools reveal,
More is learned,
From another in an hour of play,
Than in a year of contention.

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Re: Shadow summons aggroing on wall of fire (Shadow evocation)

Post by Kalopsia » Mon Aug 08, 2022 10:16 am

Sadly my idea didn't work. The culprit is buried somewhere in 20-year-old AI scripts.

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Re: Shadow summons aggroing on wall of fire (Shadow evocation)

Post by Kalopsia » Mon Aug 08, 2022 8:39 pm

So, KenC just gave me another idea and I've managed to find and fix the culprit.
Within a reset or two, this long-standing issue should finally be a thing of the past.

At least if BioWare hasn't hidden any more surprises in this ancient AI code base :D

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