Author Topic: Summons don't last their stated time  (Read 535 times)

sotbiii

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Summons don't last their stated time
« on: December 04, 2021, 04:11:40 PM »
Summons are stated lasting 1 turn + 1 round / level.
But they don't.

With no enemies in the area, I cast AoE spell and have the summon stand on it:
At caster level 5, they don't even last one minute. Its something like 30-40 seconds.

At caster level 12, they last about 1 minute 10 seconds.

Extended summon at caster level 12 lasts about 1 minute 40 seconds.

Interestingly, if I have the summon bash a door they last longer:

At CL 5 about one minute and at CL 12 about two, CL 12 extended, three.

So longer than in AoE but still far less than they should.


I don't know how the scripts work but IMO it would be better if "friendly fire" wouldn't count against the duration at all.
If I cast mind affecting spell few times in a row on an undead summon who is just standing still, it will unsummon.
And summoned succubus often casts AoE spell on its self, causing it to time out even if there are no enemies left.

zDark Shadowz

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Re: Summons don't last their stated time
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2021, 05:47:41 PM »
You may have to list your class as well as spell school for this bug report.

Some classes like Voodan will have a reduced duration due to the -3 Caster Level they suffer alongside their -3 DC. This would reduce the duration if they are a part of the Conjuration school.

I'd also recommend using a stop watch for your duration counts, to get more exact numbers for each test, or if you had used a stop watch, list the exact seconds for each test rather than a vague rounding off.

If a spell has a duration that activates at round intervals and lasts for longer than the summon itself, a combat log screenshot would serve as well since each tick would be one round.

If you're using a new casting class then perhaps the duration isn't being calculated properly.

sotbiii

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Re: Summons don't last their stated time
« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2021, 08:39:48 AM »
This has been tested with sorcerer, cleric, wizard, ranger and blackguard.
My seconds are exact enough to testify that its not working as intended, give or take one round. When I say 1 minute 10 seconds, that means its either 1m 6s or 1m 12s.
I don't know when a round and the timer is exactly iniated. Is it the summoning round or does it wait for the next one? It doesn't really matter for this at all since the duration far less than it should be.

Anyone can easily replicate these results. You don't even need AoE spells.
Another way is to attack the summon your self, or have it attack you.

In the first case, it will unsummon as fast as if it was in an AoE.
In the former, it will unsummon at the same rate as if it was bashing a door.
Both times far bellow of what it should be.

My impression is also that summon times out faster when there are several enemies attacking it at once, but I haven't timed it to confirm.

ZanathKariashi

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Re: Summons don't last their stated time
« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2021, 03:06:28 AM »
I've noticed this as well.

It feels like if you cast a summon right before the hour tick happens, you only get 1 minute of summon time.

Since I cast my badger on my level 2 mage (which should be about ~7 minutes of summon time RT), in the Grisnikia cave at the starter area, and it despawned by the time I walked from the entrance to the Grishinkia door (the hour ticked over right after i cast it). (literally walking right next to me the whole way and not taking any damage or anything of that sort). All i did was stop to gather a few herbs on the way over, taking approximiately 1 minute to reach the door from the time I cast the spell (and I always do the summon last since it has the shortest duration out of my personal buffs).

normally I could clear the whole cave and then walk north 2 screens before it despawns.