Ensorcell (735)
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Ensorcell allows sorcerers to enhance weapons, runestaves, shields, and armor by infusing necrotic energy into them. Items may be either temporarily or permanently ensorcelled, with varying benefits depending on the nature of the item and the strength of the ensorcellment. Most weapons, runestaves, shields, and armor are able to accept an ensorcellment (provided they do not resist magic in general), though the difficulty of the skill check increases based on the item's exact properties.
Temporary Ensorcellment
Temporary ensorcellment allows sorcerers (and sorcerers only) to gain temporary necrotic (life channeling) flares on their weapons and runestaves. There is no skill check or necrotic energy requirement for adding a temporary ensorcellment, though an item's properties may prevent it. The flares from temporary and permanent ensorcelled items are exactly the same (see table below).
According to the official spell description, non-sorcerers may benefit from temporarily ensorcelled gear to perform certain combat and shield maneuvers that require an ensorcelled or anti magic weapon or shield. Temporarily ensorcelling armor has no current benefit to any profession.
In order to temporarily ensorcell an item, simply PREPARE 735 and CAST it at the item while holding it. Higher level sorcerers can temporarily ensorcell a weapon/runestaff for lower level sorcerers who cannot yet cast the spell.
Duration
A temporary ensorcell lasts four real time hours. Should the player log off with an active temporary ensorcell and return more than four hours later, the ensorcell will dispel after the first cast/attack. Temporary ensorcellment can be refreshed without dispelling first.
Flare Rate
Magical attack flares from temporary ensorcellment occur randomly and have an average rate of 1 flare per 7 attacks. Physical attack flares from temporary ensorcellment occur randomly and have an average rate of 1 flare per 5 attacks. This is the same rate as an ebladed weapon.
Permanent Ensorcellment
Permanent ensorcellment can be put on a weapon, armor, shield, or runestaff with the benefits depending on the type of item ensorcelled and can be used by members of any profession. Permanently ensorcelling an item requires necrotic energy, which is gained by killing like level creatures.
In order to permanently ensorcell an item, PREPARE 735 and CHANNEL it at the item while holding it. This will give you a message telling you how difficult it will be to place a permanent ensorcellment on the item as well as the current tier of ensorcellment already on that item. If you still wish to add a tier of ensorcellment to the item, CHANNEL 735 at it again within 30 seconds to make the attempt. Enhancive and holy items require the use of a special potion prior to the attempt. See below for a more detailed process.
An item that has been permanently ensorcelled will have a strange necrotic haze radiating from it when you LOOK at it. The level of ensorcellment can be detected with a cast of Elemental Detection (405). No condition of ensorcellment will be revealed by a Loresong.
Weapons and Runestaves
Weapons and runestaves that have been permanently ensorcelled gain permanent necrotic (life channeling) flares which can be used by members of any profession (unlike temporary ensorcellment, which can, for the most part, only be used by sorcerers). The strength of these flares is based on the tier of ensorcellment.
There is no increase in flare frequency with higher tiers as had been previously described in the official spell documentation.
Ensorcelled weapons are infused with necrotic energy that will flare and affect the wielder in one of four ways: attack/casting strength increase (+5/+3 per tier, respectively - acuity), health, mana (runestaves) or stamina (weapons), or spirit, based mostly on random chance. However, health flares will have a much higher chance of flaring than the others when the wielder is missing health points. If the wielder is full on health, mana, stamina or spirit, it will not flare for that feature. Runestaves also gain 2 lower CvA per tier of ensorcellment.
Ensorcelled weapons will trigger flares when the weapon is swung at an enemy while ensorcelled runestaves will flare when attack spells are cast (successful hits required).
| Flare | Message |
|---|---|
| Health | You feel healed! |
| Mana | You feel empowered! |
| Spirit | You feel rejuvenated! |
| Stamina | You feel reinvigorated! |
| Acuity | You feel energized! |
Shields and Armor
Shields and armor that are permanently ensorcelled provide the bearer with 2 lower CvA per tier of ensorcellment. This bonus is permanent and no flare is required to activate. Armor accessories can be permanently ensorcelled for no benefit, similar to their capability to receive an enchant.
Combat and Shield Maneuvers
Shield Maneuvers requiring an ensorcelled shield are Spell Block and Shield Mind.
Combat Maneuvers requiring an ensorcelled weapon are Spell Cleaving, Spell Thieve, and Spell Parry. Tainted Bond does not require one, but users of ensorcelled weapons receive the benefit of one extra attack before expending the periodic attack boost.
Tiers
There are 5 permanent ensorcellment tiers with each tier requiring a separate CHANNEL of 735. Both the necrotic energy cost and ensorcell benefits increase incrementally with each higher tier. Sorcerers (only) wielding permanently ensorcelled weapons or runestaves also receive a phantom 'bonus' tier (for purposes of calculating the flare strength only). For example, a sorcerer with a Tier 5 weapon or runestaff will have an effective tier 6 flare strength (+30 AS/+18 CS).
Success Factors
Primary:
Secondary:
- Elemental Mana Control Ranks
- Spiritual Mana Control Ranks
- Arcane Symbols Ranks
- Magic Item Use Ranks
Other:
- Magical workshop (helps)
- Wounds (hinders)
- Spirit (having less then full spirit hinders)
- Applicable skill and stat enhancives (helps)
- Properties of the item (including the item's enchant, whether it is enhancive, sanctified, padded/weighted, what material it is, etc.)
- Voln armor, ebows, krodera, coraesine and veil iron cannot be ensorcelled
- Unless an item script rejects ensorcell (see above), it should play no factor in difficulty level unless the script adds to enchant or weighting
- Armor resistance does not appear to add to difficulty
- Forged weapons do not seem to be any more difficult than regular weapons when everything else is equal
Paladin bonded weapons
Sanctify (1625), the spell that bonds a weapon to a Paladin, can make a weapon extremely difficult to ensorcell since the spell adds sanctification and maybe flaring and enhancive properties to weapons. Depending on the properties of the weapon, the spell might take the weapon from possible to ensorcell to beyond the capabilities of even the most experienced sorcerer. Should the weapon become very difficult or impossible to ensorcell, it is recommended that the Paladin remove the bond from the weapon, especially at higher tiers. Bonded weapons always require the use of an inky black potion before an ensorcell difficulty test or channel attempt.
Failure
- A failed attempt costs 5% of the amount of necrotic energy that would have been required for a successful attempt
- There is no chance of losing or damaging an item due to a failed attempt
- A sorcerer may make another attempt immediately after a failed attempt, provided they still have the required amount of necrotic energy
Necrotic Energy
Necrotic energy is the fuel source used to permanently ensorcell an item. All sorcerers with knowledge of Ensorcell (735) acquire energy by killing like-level creatures. The amount of energy required to successfully ensorcell an item depends on the tier being attempted.
Note: In this context a like-level creature is any creature that, when killed, confers experience on the sorcerer. There is no energy gain with creatures 10 or more levels below the sorcerer's level.
Necrotic Energy Limits
The limit for how much necrotic energy can be gathered per week is capped at 10,000 units. This is equal to the energy needed for a successful Tier 1 ensorcellment. The energy required for Tiers 2 to 5 increases in increments of 5,000 units. The maximum amount of energy a sorcerer can store at any given time is capped at 35,000 units. After gathering this amount, a sorcerer must attempt an ensorcellment to accumulate energy again.
While there is a cap on both weekly and total necrotic energy gained, a sorcerer will only lose necrotic energy if they attempt to permanently ensorcell an item.
Gaining Necrotic Energy
The amount of necrotic energy gained from a creature depends on the creature's level in relation to the sorcerer. No necrotic energy is gained from creatures a sorcerer cannot learn from. Additionally, training in Sorcerous Lore, Necromancy provides a bonus to the per kill units of energy earned (see table).
Each same-level kill (SLK) will earn 10 energy units, with a + or - 1 unit per level difference up to -10 or +10. So, 0 to 20 base units is the range for each kill, not including lore bonus.
Note: Same-level kill (SLK) refers to killing a creature whose level is equal to the sorcerer's level.
Necrotic Energy Formula (per kill)
Notes:
- Energy gained from the creature is capped at +20 (10 base + 10 level difference).
- Energy gained from the lore bonus cannot exceed energy gained from killing the creature.
- Total energy gained including lore bonus is capped at +30.
Group Hunting
When group hunting, sorcerers will earn the full amount of necrotic energy they qualify for from that creature, or close to it, as long as they land a successful hit.
Evil Eye (717)
Sorcerers hunting with Evil Eye (717) must kill the creature outright on a death roll (199+) in order to receive necrotic energy from that creature. Creatures "killed" via fleeing (175-198) will not provide any necrotic energy.
Checking Stored Energy
Sorcerers may check their level of necrotic energy stored by self-casting ensorcell. When a sorcerer has reached his/her maximum for the week, the following message will appear below the accumulated amount:
Your rapid build up of necrotic energy has left you feeling overwhelmed and temporarily unable to absorb any new necrotic power.
The weekly cap resets when the first 'necrotic energy-giving' creature is killed after the Triple X bonus has begun. The above maximum weekly message will only disappear once that first creature has been killed irrespective of any other type of experience gained.
To put creature kills in the same perspective as weeks, the amount of necrotic energy required for each successive tier is increased by 500 SLKs from the previous tier. Example: 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, and 3000 SLKs from tier 1-5, respectively. A complete ensorcellment from Tier 0 to Tier 5 requires the energy equivalent of 10,000 SLKs (100,000 energy units).
Energy Cost per Tier
The table below details the energy requirement for each ensorcellment tier.
| Tier | Energy Units |
|---|---|
| 1 | 10,000 |
| 2 | 15,000 |
| 3 | 20,000 |
| 4 | 25,000 |
| 5 | 30,000 |
To permanently ensorcell an item from Tier 0 to Tier 5 requires 100,000 energy units, barring any failed casts, and takes a minimum of 9+ weeks to gain that amount.
Necromancy Lore
Sorcerers training in Sorcerous Lore, Necromancy receive two benefits from Ensorcell:[1]
- Sorcerers will retain attack flare bonuses for one extra attack at 90 ranks or two extra attacks at 180 ranks.
- With a minimum of 3 lore ranks a bonus is added to the necrotic energy gained for each like-level creature killed. This bonus increases with additional lore training (see table below).
Necromancy Lore And Necrotic Energy
Sorcerous Lore, Necromancy provides a flat modifier (using seed 1 summation ÷ 2) with bonuses occuring at discrete rank thresholds as shown in the lore bonus table. Lore ranks between these thresholds provide no added ensorcell benefits. For example, a sorcerer will receive the same bonus (6) with 78 or 104 lore ranks. The next bonus (7) is obtained at 105 ranks.
Necromancy Lore Bonus Table
| Lore Ranks |
Per Kill Bonus |
Lore Ranks |
Per Kill Bonus | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1 | 78 | 6 | |
| 10 | 2 | 105 | 7 | |
| 21 | 3 | 136 | 8 | |
| 36 | 4 | 171 | 9 | |
| 55 | 5 | 210 | 10 |
Note: Bonus is capped at [10 + (creature level - character level)]
Example I
- A level 60 sorcerer with 55 Sorcerous Lore, Necromancy ranks (max bonus 5) would only gain a total 4 energy units (including the lore bonus) killing a level 52 creature. Two units from the level difference and two units from the capped lore bonus.
Example II
- A level 75 sorcerer with 55 lore ranks will gain 20 energy units when killing a level 80 creature. 15 units from the level difference and 5 units from the lore bonus.
Process
The ensorcelling process is very straight forward.
- Gather energy (hunt) until a self-cast of Ensorcell (735) gives you the message that you have reached the point necessary to permanently ensorcell an item for whichever tier you are casting.
- Do a preliminary 735 channel on the item to check for difficulty. If you (a) get a reading, (b) get the easiest difficulty message of you can only fail if you are horribly unlucky, and (c) are outside of a workshop, skip to the last step.
- If you do not get a reading (the item resists), or if you know the item is enhanced or sanctified, you will need to pour an inky black potion on it. Repeat preliminary channel to get a reading. Potion pours last approximately 30 minutes.
- If the item is at all difficult, wear as many applicable skill and stat enhancives that you have available to you.
- Go to a magical workshop (use the SENSE verb to check).
- Prep and channel at the item again. You may have to repeat if you did any of steps 3-5 above.
Sorcerers successfully completing an ensorcell receive experience and fame.
Difficulties
Sorcerers doing an initial channel on an item will get a reading for one of the following levels of difficulty (from easiest to hardest):
Tables provided by GM Estild
| Roll Needed Description | % Chance |
|---|---|
| you can only fail if you are horribly unlucky | 99% (will only fail on a fumble) |
| you should be able to ensorcell it easily enough, barring bad luck | 90+% |
| the odds are on your side to successfully complete the ensorcellment | 75+% |
| you are more likely than not to succeed on your cast, but you will need some luck | 55+% |
| this ensorcellment will be difficult, but possible | 35+% |
| this ensorcellment will be very difficult | 15+% |
| that this ensorcellment will be nearly impossible | 1+% |
| you will likely need a miracle to complete this ensorcellment | Need an open roll |
| this ensorcellment is completely beyond your abilities | 0% |
When an item needs a miracle, the sorcerer must roll a 100 on the attempt, after which another d100 roll is made to add to the first result. The chance of successfully ensorcelling a miracle item is between approximately .01-.99%.
Attempts
From best to worst, here are the rolls possible on any permanent ensorcell attempt:
| Roll Result Description | Result |
|---|---|
| You make an astoundingly good attempt! | High open roll |
| You make an outstanding attempt! | 90+ |
| You make an excellent attempt! | 80+ |
| You make a good attempt! | 70+ |
| You make a decent attempt. | 60+ |
| You make an okay attempt. | 50+ |
| You make a passable attempt. | 40+ |
| You make a questionable attempt. | 30+ |
| You make a poor attempt! | 20+ |
| You make a very poor attempt! | 10+ |
| You make a horribly poor attempt! | 1+ |
| You make an astoundingly inept attempt! | Low open roll |
| You make the most horribly incompetent attempt possible! | Fumble |
Ensorcell Pricing
Because of the weekly time increments, many sorcerers price their ensorcell casts by the week, instead of by the tier, not knowing what tier the next customer might need. Below is a table showing the costs for sorcerers charging 1 million, 2 million and 3 million silvers per week:
| Weeks | Tier | Cost: 1m/wk | Cost: 2m/wk | Cost: 3m/wk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1m | 2m | 3m |
| 2 | 2 3 |
1.5m T2 2m T3 |
3m T2 4m T3 |
4.5m T2 6m T3 |
| 3 | 4 5 |
2.5m T4 3m T5 |
5m T4 6m T5 |
7.5m T4 9m T5 |
| Total for 5 casts (10 weeks) |
1-5 | 10m | 20m | 30m |
Sorcerers charging around 1 million per week might be just starting out with the spell, working on easier items. Sorcerers charging 2 million per week will be working on mid range items. Sorcerers charging 3 million per week and more might have full enhancive sets and/or use Strong Potions of Accelerated Unlearning (fixskills), and only work on the most difficult items.
Messaging
Bonuses
- The flares appear basically similar, besides their respective messages of feeling. For example, an acuity flare
** Necrotic energy from your <weapon> overflows into you! **
You feel energized!
- Acuity is the only flare which also wears off (whether used or unused)
You feel the unnatural surge of necrotic power wane away.
Status
- Casting Ensorcell at one's self yields information on the present necrotic power.
- Empty
You sense no build up of necrotic energy within you.
- Lowest tier
You sense a weak build up of necrotic energy within you.
- Second tier
You sense the build up of necrotic energy within you approaching the amount needed to permanently ensorcell an item for the first time.
- Ready for the first permanent attempt (at tier 1)
You sense the build up of necrotic energy within you has reached the point necessary to permanently ensorcell an item for the first time.
Usage
- Success for a temporary item (note usage of CAST)
>cast at my staff
You gesture at a drakar-runed ebonwood staff.
Necrotic energy materializes around your ebonwood staff and sinks onto it like an ethereal film.
- Probable success for a Tier 1 permanent item (CHANNEL)
You sense that the rune-carved crosier has not yet been permanently ensorcelled and that you should be able to ensorcell it easily enough, barring bad luck.
- Success for a Tier 1 permanent item (CHANNEL)
>channel my crosier
You channel at a tiny rune-carved crosier.
Having probed the rune-carved crosier already, you begin to channel your stored necrotic energy at it. You carefully regulate the flow of energy in order to attempt to overcome its natural resistance while not simultaneously overwhelming yourself...
You make an outstanding attempt!
Success! You manage to breach the rune-carved crosier's defenses and pour in enough of your stored necrotic energy to permanently fuse it to the rune-carved crosier's very structure.
Wearing Off
- Temporary item ensorcellment wearing off.
The ethereal necrotic film covering your hoarbeam runestaff shrivels away.
Failures
- Failure message for testing a permanent item (7x @ lvl 36)
You channel at an ice blue tapered faewood runestaff tipped with a smooth bone wand.
You sense that the tapered faewood runestaff has not yet been permanently ensorcelled and that this ensorcellment will be nearly impossible.
- Possible failure for testing (5x @ lvl 37)
You sense that the faewood runestaff has not yet been permanently ensorcelled and that you are more likely than not to succeed on your cast, but you will need some luck.
- Failure message for permanent item
You make an excellent attempt!
Failure! You are unable to overcome the tapered faewood runestaff's defenses, wasting some of your stored necrotic energy in the fruitless attempt.
Alchemy Recipe
An inky black potion is used to prepare both enhancive and holy gear for ensorcelling. It is also used to prepare ensorcelled gear for sanctification. A pour will last 10 minutes before wearing off. As of July 2018, potions are no longer required for difficulty testing.
5 pours
| An inky black potion |
|---|
|
Purchasers should buy these potions from a reputable alchemist. At one point an identical looking potion was sold off-the-shelf at a merchant event that has nothing to do with ensorcell.
References
- ↑ Baswab, a non-sorcerer, tested 90 ranks of necromancy in Shattered and it did not work to give him multiple strikes.