Is there a way to buff out of combat while paused? Most games similar to ToEE allow issuing spells to multiple characters simultaneously during a pause, allowing for efficient pre-buffing. The closest thing I found in ToEE is to press 'C' out of combat to enter combat mode, then use the power wheel/hotkey to cast a spell, which immediately drops combat. Quickly select another character and repeat the drill to cast buffs repeatedly. This process has a couple of flaws. The first issue is that spells are cast sequentially for all characters, rather than concurrently, which wastes precious seconds and can significantly cut down on buff durations, a problem most noticeable for buffs with short duration at lower levels. Also, players with elite actions per minute (APM) have an advantage over those who fumble with the power wheel. It is not typical for a turn-based RPG to reward high APM players, so perhaps there is a better way. If ToEE doesn't provide a graceful way to handle the above issues, an AutoHotkey script or a hardware macro to quickly cycle through all characters and cast standard buffs might work - has anyone tried this in ToEE? This takes a lot of setup and maintenance, so I might use it as a last resort to rapidly cast buffs like a StarCraft pro...
Note that entering combat to cast is equivalent to passing a combat round for this prpose (i.e. 6 seconds). For your frequent buffs just use hotkeys.
Thank you, the 6 sec delay is unfortunate. Guess it's hotkeys + AutoHotkey for me. If all goes well, I should be able to issue events with minimal delay to all casters, though I'm liable to run out of hotkeys.
You can start casting the buff on the next character before the animation is done with the previous cast. I have gotten so accustomed to casting protection from evil on my party my poor cleric has to catch up with her animations.
Thank you, it gets a lot easier with hotkeys and practice, though AutoHotkey works to perfection. I'm able to push one button and watch my characters scramble to buff each other. The only nuisance is that the code needs constant maintenance; every time the party levels or new spells are found, I have to edit the code. I also have to maintain multiple versions of the script for different buffing situations. I find it worthwhile, though.
What new sorcery is this? One can set up hot keys that will cast multiple spells at the touch of a button?
What new sorcery is this? One can set up hot keys that will cast multiple spells at the touch of a button?
Pretty much: https://autohotkey.com/. AutoHotkey can send keys/mouse clicks to the game and move the mouse, so one can write a program to cast a series of buffs. I use a single command to trigger a buff sequence.
