How does level drain show up?

[jelricle]

Does anybody know the message that shows up when level drain succeeds?  When I attack with Soul drinker's sire, I do not see and saving throws from monsters, nor have I ever seen any special animation of message to indicate that the have lost a hit dice or taken extra damage.

[Deleted]

If you don't see saving throws then it doesn't work on whatever the mobs are you're casting it on.

[simpetar]

The safest way to tell if a monster was level drained is to examine them. If they are vulnerable to level drain and failed their save (nearly all such effects force a fortitude save), it will show. Commonly used level drain effects, like Energy Drain, Enervation or shifter spectre Shadow Touch, have a quite distinct animation when the drain is successful (i.e. the monster failed save).

[jelricle]

Yeah, I never see a difference. I guess the monsters that can survive a blow from me have too high a save. (although I do not see the save roll, either)

My main reason was to know if the level drain ability was transfering to the shifted forms.

[simpetar]

If you wish to drain levels on a shifter, you might want to go with spectre Shadow Touch. That ability scales with form foci and wisdom. Weapons that have level drain on them are pretty much gimmicks (even those with DC 50), you will be fishing for 1s. Currently the best item a DC based shifter can equip in main hand is Staff of Emrys (UR druid staff) - it can be randomized and you can slap it with useful augments. Tanky shifters ofc go with regular weapons with favorable damage types that get transfered.

[jelricle]

BTW, I answered the question that originated this thread. It turns out that on-hit abilities of weapons do not transfer to the weapons of shifted forms.

I had been wielding Soul drinker's sire before shifting to an armed form and I wanted to know if the level drain was working. I have now found the pillow dagger, which does Bigby's grasping hand. That on-hit ability is very clear, and I do not see it when I shift.

[chainlink]

You wish......just watch a shifter form changed beating on a Mammon's Tear with a Mammon's Wrath and splitting them for fun

[jelricle]

:-D Maybe I will reach that someday. I am ever the newb (still working through the level 35 tags)


I only now realized that _none_ of the shifter forms update constitution! The dev's must have coded that way. :_(