Aren't fireballs suppose to be line-of-sight? I know they are for the players and npcs, but I am battling the Noble Salamaders (I think that what they are) in the lower level 2 area of the temple, just to the east of where they spiral stair case ends. I two of my peoples (sorc and bard) like just get burnt to a crisp by those two big noble salamander that like to lob those fireballs at them every round, so I was trying to keep them out of sight by having them say behind the closed double doors and down the hallway a little. But their fireball spell just flies over everything on the map and still hits the hiding players. Seemingly no matter where I hide them the fireballs will find them. I was even thinking for having my two guys hide out with the water temple people, so the salamander bombs will kill off the water temple people, but then I will lose out on that XP. So why can their fireball spells fly across the map in an enclosed dungeon, but my fireball spells get blocked by a simple boulder when we are outside that I can't see around? Can't a spell caster launch a fireball over a cluster of rocks? But more importantly, why can they launch super fireballs?
NPCs cheat. Sorry. And it's hardcoded into the engine from what I recall of the last time this subject was brought up. :shrug:
Actually, the range for a Fireball is 400 feet + 40 feet per level of the caster. Of course you do have to see the area you're aiming at even at long range, and since you've lit up the area the Noble Salamanders can see it and therefore can aim at it. And they ALWAYS go for the Sorcerers and Wizards first. If you can't see beyond the cluster of rocks, then you can't cast a spell past it. And I can see that closed doors wouldn't block the powerful fireball. And they're 10d6 fireballs since they are considered 15th level casters (giving them a range of 1000 feet). What you need to do is have someone cast Protection from Energy - Fire or Resist Energy - Fire on them before you go into that battle. The Noble Salamanders will concentrate on them and the rest of the party can kill them. Fireballs are all well and good when you're the one sending them, but they really suck coming at you. Good luck.
the reason for your problem lies in the fact that enemy NPC spell casters don't really cast spells at you, they cast them from your position - only the eye candy heads in the right direction. this means that because your sorcerer amd bard can't hide from themselves they'll always be posible targets as long as some of your party is in combat with them (any enemy mage) which as you bloody well know, fucking sucks arse.
Sauce for the goose... Use an Invisible person as a forward observer for your ranged spell attacks. Your party will be able to do the same thing in reverse to their opponents. Just tuck them into a corner so they don't get caught in the area of effect. All the better if it's a rogue, so they can make a sneak attack now & again; but the fireball potential is way more punishing. :tombstone
The fact remains that if my sorc is in another room or around the wall in the hallway, he can't cast into that melee because he is not LOS to the melee, I have tried this with a few spells and I can't do it. But those Noble Salamanders can. That is cheating on the game's part. So I took the advise of casting the protection spells on them and was able to mop up those two Nobles in no time. After those were gone the smaller ones were a cake walk. Thanks.
Since they are cheating, you can always cheat back. I cast Silence on the buggers - it shouldn't work, but it does
On the plus side, there are two or three rings of minor fire resistance scattered throughout the level that you can gather up to at least partially offset the fireballs' damage if you don't invest in the protection spells. Between those rings and my ftr/rogue's Evasion feat (and boosted refex saves), I did pretty well the last time I was in there without any buffing at all.
I usually just end up having the targeted person hang out far away from the rest of the group, so they can absorb the fireballs and chuck a potion or two if needed to keep themselves alive. Speaking of this fight, the fellow that is guarding the chest -- what is he exactly? He buffs himself when I go in to fight him, but then instead of casting spells tries to smite me with the Flame Tongue. While I'm sure in the right hands such a thing would hurt, he doesn't seem to be very good at it. -Grey
I normaly use invisibility and flank the giant salamanders with people using the rings of fire resistance accumlated in the level.. I then use my thief (invisible and elven cloaked) sneak up behind the man by the chest and stab him in the back.. ususally prevents the superballs from happening.
