Circle Kick Target Fix

[Gunthrek]

First off, is this game still being maintained?

Second, I picked the Circle Kick feat because it seems like a welcome addition to my combat package, and it is mostly, but it's not switching back to my primary target after using it. After some research, I found that this bug was fixed in the Diamond Edition of the game, but still appears to be present here in the Enhanced Edition.

Is this likely to be fixed? It's quite annoying to have to manually switch back to my primary target in the middle of a fight.

[Lady MacBeth]

Probably not since its a 20 year old bug, I would imagine its a problem with the combat engine itself. Also be aware that manually selecting a new target in the middle of a combat round will lose you the rest of your attacks for that 6 second round. As is always the case in nwn when changing targets.

[Tesseract]

There hasn't been a patch in a while, so I guess the devs are busy with other things lately. Hopefully they'll get back to it at some point.

I don't see a report specifically about circle kick targeting on the technical bug tracker (closest thing is one about attack bonus progression), so it may be worth reporting at https://github.com/Beamdog/nwn-issues. A side by side comparison video of EE and Diamond would be ideal to demonstrate the issue.

[Lady MacBeth]

Pretty sure the bug still exists in teh 1.69 version of the game. I don't have it installed atm, but I recall avoiding the feat on druid/monk/shifters because of the bug.

[Prince Raymond]

Originally posted by Tesseract:

There hasn't been a patch in a while, so I guess the devs are busy with other things lately. Hopefully they'll get back to it at some point.

I don't see a report specifically about circle kick targeting on the technical bug tracker (closest thing is one about attack bonus progression), so it may be worth reporting at https://github.com/Beamdog/nwn-issues. A side by side comparison video of EE and Diamond would be ideal to demonstrate the issue.

Is this[github.com]the one about attack bonus progression you are referring to, Mr. Tesseract?

Ming is 100% correct. Manually switching targets will cost your characters their remaining attacks for the round. Don't do that. It looks like yet another bug that was supposedly fixed in the EE has regressed its way back into the game. If you think that's annoying, you should take a look at the Github issue I have linked to my comment. As if there wasn't enough reason to avoid Circle Kick, now it seems there is sufficient reason to avoid gaining any free attacks after the first one for the round.

Ever since BioWare released Patch 1.68 for Neverwinter Nights on August 30, 2006, the combat UI has seemingly been applying an off-hand attack progression to free attacks done by a character attacking with neither two weapons nor a double weapon. Even a monk striking unarmed is not safe from this false progression. The point of the -2 penalty applied to all the monk's unarmed attacks by Flurry of Blows is the monk is sacrificing accuracy for an extra opportunity to score damage for the round. It defeats the purpose of having that ability, let alone using it in combat, when the combat UI stacks an additional -5 attack progression with the -2 penalty already applied by FoB. IMHO, that (for lack of a better word) mechanic is FUBAR.

To the developers @Aspyr Media/Beamdog,

This is NWN, not the NHL. There is no reason why a character's base attack bonus should be stuck in a perpetual penalty box. What is so balanced about a single-digit bonus becoming a double-digit penalty round, after round, after round, after round? If numbers truly translate to power, then why must a character specially optimized for melee combat be rendered nearly powerless in every round of melee combat the more attacks that character gains? Please, stop the combat UI from applying an off-hand attack progression to what are clearly not off-hand attacks. I don't mind my character's free attacks switching targets or even attacking the same target twice, so long as they have an impartial and unbiased chance to hit their targets. Fair enough?

Thank you for reading. Happy, healthy (both mentally and physically) gaming to all.

[Prince Raymond]

In case you didn't receive one, this is a notification informing you that I have updated my above comment.

[Prince Raymond]

Originally posted by Ming:

Pretty sure the bug still exists in teh 1.69 version of the game. I don't have it installed atm, but I recall avoiding the feat on druid/monk/shifters because of the bug.

@Ming

I wasn't sure if you were already aware of this, but the issue with the additional attack progression also affects druids in their Wildshape forms, especially those with the Circle Kick/Cleave combo. Watch the combat log very closely after gaining an "Attack of Opportunity", and you will see what I mean.

[Lady MacBeth]

Originally posted by Prince Raymond:

Originally posted by Ming:

Pretty sure the bug still exists in teh 1.69 version of the game. I don't have it installed atm, but I recall avoiding the feat on druid/monk/shifters because of the bug.

@Ming

I wasn't sure if you were already aware of this, but the issue with the additional attack progression also affects druids in their Wildshape forms, especially those with the Circle Kick/Cleave combo. Watch the combat log very closely after gaining an "Attack of Opportunity", and you will see what I mean.

Thusly why I said I avoided the feat. The bug happens to any of the unarmed forms when it performs circle kick. Since its best to take one enemy out at a time, the feat is useless unless its ever addressed.

[Prince Raymond]

Originally posted by Ming:

Originally posted by Prince Raymond:

@Ming

I wasn't sure if you were already aware of this, but the issue with the additional attack progression also affects druids in their Wildshape forms, especially those with the Circle Kick/Cleave combo. Watch the combat log very closely after gaining an "Attack of Opportunity", and you will see what I mean.

Thusly why I said I avoided the feat. The bug happens to any of the unarmed forms when it performs circle kick. Since its best to take one enemy out at a time, the feat is useless unless its ever addressed.

Not just Circle Kick, but any class ability, feat or spell (e.g. Divine Power and Haste) that grants your character a free attack will most likely have a cumulative -5 penalty applied to each free attack gained. This obscene mechanic will render a character's base attack bonus a base attack penalty before the end of the combat round. The downward spiral of negative modifiers is more evident after an Attack of Opportunity is awarded. I have actually witnessed and taken a screenshot of a -5 penalty applied to an unarmed attack of opportunity, which to me was weird as The Nine Hells. By the way, hope you are having a happy, healthy and safe 4th of July.