[Technique]

Apparently a bug appeared at some point following the introduction of channeling AAs causing them to actually decrease channeling chance, which was fixed in this patch:

June 13, 2006

Corrected a problem with channeling that was causing you to channel through damage (not bash, kick, stun, or movement) 100% of the time if you didn't have any channeling AAs. Interrupts from damage are now back to working how they did previously and your chance to channel through damage is based on your channeling skill.

http://www.tski.co.jp/baldio/patch/20060613.html

Following are comments on channeling by lead designer Rashere post-patch:

Originally Posted by Rashere

Let me see if I can clear it up. Answers to your questions below.

trop78 wrote:
Change alway confuses me. Let me see if I understand this then.
If I get kicked and no movement take place by an even con mob your saying that I have some flat chance at interupt and no channeling check take place?

• For the purposes of channeling, kick is basically a bash. It just has a flat (high) chance to interrupt casting. Channeling doesn't get used when kicked. No change here.

If I get bashed and no movement takes place by an even con mob I have a chance to get stunned and if I am not stuned then I get interupted?

• If you get bashed, your casting is basically interrupted at that point unless you're an Ogre (which are immune to bash). A bash that doesn't stun has a flat chance (a very high one) to interrupt spell casting. Channeling isn't used at all for a bash. You may also get stunned by a bash, which strangely enough can actually be beneficial for continuing to cast spells since stun resist gear will make the stun fail, but a non-stunning bash can't be mitigated. Again, this is unchanged from how it has worked in the past.

If I get hit by bash/kick and I am not stuned/interupted by the bash/kick I still have to make an interupted check based on the damage/movement?

• If you get bashed, whether you are stunned or not, you're probably going to be interrupted. Channeling does nothing on a bash. It's a straight chance to interrupt even if it doesn't stun you. No change here.

If I get hit by a normal swing and no movement take place then I make a channeling check to see if I am interputed.

• This is where the bug was. Before the patch, you always succeeded in your channeling check if you didn't have any channeling AAs. Now its back to working how it used to, which is based on your skill, but caps at 90%. One thing to note here is that your chance to channel is better if you are casting spells lower level than yourself, which is generally when you'd hit that cap. This is just going back to the way things were before the bug was introduced, not changing the system to something else.

If I get hit by a normal swing and movement takes place I have to make 2 channeling checks one for the hit and one for the movement it generates?

• Not quite. If you move more than what is allowed, you just fail the cast. No channeling check takes place there. Moving too much during the casting process simply interrupts your spell unless you're a bard. If you didn't move far enough for it to matter, then you'd make the channeling roll to see if you continue casting. Again, no change here.

Not totally sure I understand the change, I kind of knew what it use to do before this fix anyway.

• The only difference from now to before the patch is that your channeling roll no longer automatically succeeds if you don't have any channeling AAs, but instead works as it did previously and your chance to channel is based on your skill. It's basically just back to the way it was before the bug was introduced.

I also have another question each hit generates a channeling check so if a mob quads on me and hits me 4 times. I know make 4 channeling check vs each hit and a channeling check vs the movement they generated? So my chance of passing any one check is 90%, but the chance of passing all 4 is what 64% or something. Going to be hard to channel spell if 2 or 3 mobs hit you that for sure.

• Correct, for each hit you take, you make the roll. The more you're getting hit, the harder it is to continue casting a spell. Nothing changed here either except that your channeling check no longer automatically succeeds.

Does the cap of 90% apply to green mobs also, if I have 4 or 5 level 40 mob hitting my level 70 chanter your almost saying I have no chance to cast on them.

• The only way that the level of the NPC hitting you gets factored in is that lower con NPCs have a harder time hitting you in the first place. But if you take damage while casting a spell, you have to make a channeling roll to continue casting regardless of what it was that hit you. At that point, it doesn't care where the damage came from. The only "level" that factors into the equation at all is a bonus that gets applied if you are casting spells whose required level to cast them is lower than what you are currently. This is how the system was originally built.

http://wayback.archive.org/web/20061...cending&page=3

Also, a comment on the movement threshold below which it was still possible to channel a spell:

Originally Posted by Rashere

Redi_Wolf wrote:
I also trust Prathun's description of movement interrupts; I'm surprised, though, because it's inconsistent with my anecdotal experience of a more probabilistic thing. That is, he says it's "X distance = interrupt," whereas my experience has seemed... softer. You move a little, maybe you get interrupted, maybe not. You move a lot, odds are, interrupt. You run in a big circle and come right back, and if you're close enough, you just might channel. How big is X distance, anyway?

You're right. I just took another look at it and there is some wiggle room in there. If you move more than a few inches, but less than what it takes to automatically break the spell (which is about 1 foot), you get a channeling check to keep the spell. So to answer the other person's question, if you moved a little, but not enough to automatically lose the spell, and got hit at the same time, that would be two channeling checks you'd have to succeed to keep the spell. That'd be why sticking your back up against a wall helps you get spells off easier.

http://wayback.archive.org/web/20061...cending&page=3