Reveal Map spell-suggestion to change it.

[tungprc]

Alright, I've read a few suggestions about how reveal map can replace the cartography skill, but unless I'm missing something it's a completely useless spell. Your character isn't smart enough to write down what the spell reveals! Duh! The spell cast at level 3 lasts 30 seconds and does a good enough job, BUT as soon as the spell wears off the map disappears. Does the cartographer's map disappear when he takes the quill off the map? I didn't think so.

Reveal map should act like a magic quill and write down what is revealed. It could be changed so that it doesn't reveal all details unless cast at level 6. Power level 1 would be the same as Cart 1, Power 2 would be Cart 3, Power3/Cart5 etc. The durations should be changed too, so that the spell lasts a long time. It could just be a constant mana drain to keep it running also. Say it lasts for 360 seconds and slows regeneration down by 1/4 your current mana regen rate.

[Drixx]

Alright, I've read a few suggestions about how reveal map can replace the cartography skill, but unless I'm missing something it's a completely useless spell. Your character isn't smart enough to write down what the spell reveals! Duh! The spell cast at level 3 lasts 30 seconds and does a good enough job, BUT as soon as the spell wears off the map disappears. Does the cartographer's map disappear when he takes the quill off the map? I didn't think so.

Reveal map should act like a magic quill and write down what is revealed. It could be changed so that it doesn't reveal all details unless cast at level 6. Power level 1 would be the same as Cart 1, Power 2 would be Cart 3, Power3/Cart5 etc. The durations should be changed too, so that the spell lasts a long time. It could just be a constant mana drain to keep it running also. Say it lasts for 360 seconds and slows regeneration down by 1/4 your current mana regen rate.

Every spell has a duration in rounds, not seconds. If you were to cast Reveal Map level 6 and then walk away from your computer for 3 days, you would come back and it would still be going.

Reveal map at level 6 provides great detail, as well as an indication of other npc's, which is helpful when you need to track down something to kill, and lasts enough rounds that it isn't too terribly annoying.

You have a choice ... buy Cartography up to level 8, then read a book for 2 more points, and be happy with that ... or do that and spend a few skill points in it (I believe 14 or 15 and you see everything) ... or you can avoid that cost by using the spell ... and re-casting it as needed.

FWIW, your map does "remember" what you saw before ... it's just that when the spell goes away you no longer have a cartography skill so the map disappears. Just cast the spell again and you've lost nothing.

[Oshkell]

I like the idea about toggling spells and having them drain mana while in use. Would that be hard to implement?

[tungprc]

@Drixx, wow thanks! The spell is much more usefull if it remembers what you've seen when it was on. If I have a low level cart skill, then will it just revert to my poorly drawn map when the spell wears off? If that's the case I'd still like some changes to the spell, but I can see it's still more useful than I at first supposed.

[Turtle]

That is the case.

Like you, I used to think that Reveal Map was pointless, but in playing Book II I realized that it's actually mind-bogglingly useful. The best part is that you can detect NPCs and monsters before they're in your field of view--and before you're in theirs.

It's also really good for spotting chests, levers, loot bags and even powderkegs that would otherwise be hidden behind a wall, say, or trees.

It's cheap to cast, and by the time you can cast it at level six, you'll probably be regenerating a point per round, so it's nothing to keep it on all the time.

[SpottedShroom]

The issues with Reveal Map are really just a special case of a more general quirk in the game with the Cartography skill. Whenever you explore an area with a higher Cartography skill, and then later visit the same area with a lower skill, your higher detail map gets overwritten with a lower detail version. This behavior has been reported as a bug numerous times, but is evidently so entrenched in the architecture of the game that BW has taken to calling it a feature.

With Reveal Map, it's not so bad as long as you don't have any ranks in Cartography. That way when the spell wears off, your automap doesn't get drawn at all, so nothing gets written over. The same thing can happen with the Compass and other items (?) that give bonuses to Cartography. Take them off at your own risk!

It's a bit annoying having to recast Reveal Map frequently even at level 6, but I think it's well worth it. I did suggest elsewhere the mechanic of auto-recasting spells, or spells that have maintenance costs. Maybe it'll make it into Book III, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

[tungprc]

I've found that if I keep cartography at exactly level 1, then my revealed map doesn't get overwritten even if I let the spell lapse. It stays fully explored. If I raise my skill to level 2 or higher, then all of a sudden it starts remapping at the lower level. For me, just keeping a basic cartography has done the trick.

[Turtle]

This works. The downside is that you no longer see the moving red dots that indicate creatures. It's much easier to tell when your spell expires if you don't have any Cartography, because the map disappears.