Building a better staff

[danscott84]

After playing ME2 for a while, decided to return to playing DAO. I have started a mage character, but the staff is generally an almost useless weapon. I know there are several staff mods out here, but a lot tend to be almost god-like items. What I want to do is a simple upgrade possiblity on staffs similar to other non-specialized weapons in DA. IE can be upgraded to different tiers instead of stuck at iron or grey iron. I am thinking changing the utc file should do the trick, but are there any other files that would need to be changed as well. (not concerned with tinting of the staff)

[DarkeWolf]

First we'll need some material, probly a saw, some carving tools... oh wait!

 

.utc= character

uti= item

I tend to mix those two up myself. Just remember that C is for character and I is for item. ;)

 

Editing a uti file will only affect the particular weapon for the uti that you're editing. So if you're looking to upgrade ALL the staves in the game, then no... this method wouldnt be what you're wanting to achieve. And... unfortunately, I've no idea which file that would be that you need to change, since it's not a file in the toolset.

If you're wanting to modify an existing weapon, then yes, all you would need to do is edit and save the uti file. Keep in mind that it won't change stats in the game if it's already been spawned, unless you sell it to a merchant, leave the area, and then come back.

If you're wanting to create a weapon from scratch, you'd need to create a module, create the weapon, and make a script to put it wherever or on whoever, you choose to place it to.

[danscott84]

First we'll need some material, probly a saw, some carving tools... oh wait!

 

.utc= character

uti= item

I tend to mix those two up myself. Just remember that C is for character and I is for item. ;)

 

Editing a uti file will only affect the particular weapon for the uti that you're editing. So if you're looking to upgrade ALL the staves in the game, then no... this method wouldnt be what you're wanting to achieve. And... unfortunately, I've no idea which file that would be that you need to change, since it's not a file in the toolset.

If you're wanting to modify an existing weapon, then yes, all you would need to do is edit and save the uti file. Keep in mind that it won't change stats in the game if it's already been spawned, unless you sell it to a merchant, leave the area, and then come back.

If you're wanting to create a weapon from scratch, you'd need to create a module, create the weapon, and make a script to put it wherever or on whoever, you choose to place it to.

 

Nothing too fancy. :biggrin: And I mixed them up too. They are uti files. I was just wanting to make the existing mage, acolite, and enchanter staves upgradable by selling to merchant, leave area, etc like normal swords, daggers, etc. I have already changed the material progression from iron to iron/grey iron/silverite/dragonbone. However, I am wondering if I also need to change the material from iron as well.

[DarkeWolf]

hahaha yeah, I know what you mean. There's sooo many new extensions in this game, and so many of them are so closely named that I often confuse them :laugh:

Ok, I see where you're going with it. Yeah, all you'd need to do is edit the uti files and drop them in the override.

 

Myself, if it was me, I'd leave the base material alone. Just because so many of the npc mages use these. Dont want those newbie mages overpowering your new party ;)

That and for some reason the idea of some 125 pound level 5 mage toting around a 20 pound silverite staff just irks me, lol.

There's also that your player-run npc's also would be using these, so if you made the base something like silverite, or heaven forbid, DB, then they wouldnt be able to equip them for a while. Something like Steel might be ok tho.

[danscott84]

hahaha yeah, I know what you mean. There's sooo many new extensions in this game, and so many of them are so closely named that I often confuse them :laugh:

Ok, I see where you're going with it. Yeah, all you'd need to do is edit the uti files and drop them in the override.

 

Myself, if it was me, I'd leave the base material alone. Just because so many of the npc mages use these. Dont want those newbie mages overpowering your new party ;)

That and for some reason the idea of some 125 pound level 5 mage toting around a 20 pound silverite staff just irks me, lol.

There's also that your player-run npc's also would be using these, so if you made the base something like silverite, or heaven forbid, DB, then they wouldnt be able to equip them for a while. Something like Steel might be ok tho.

 

Hey, my little elf mage , Alora, is not that big. :biggrin: I see what you mean by the base. I wasn't sure if I should change it to all metals, or leave as it was. Forgot about the npc mages upgrading as well. It's bad enough they slap me in crushing prisons as it is. o_O

[DarkeWolf]

I actually had a male human in mind when I said that.... My brain didnt even consider the possibility of elves at the moment. LOL I guess I shoulda tho, since my elven femage isnt very big either :laugh:

Heh I probly wouldnt have thought of it right away if it hadn't been for some level 8-10 basterd in the Circle Tower throwing Chain Lightning (Chain lightning against level 9's?? C'mon!!) on me last night. :mad:

 

The all metals would be cool, since it would let ya upgrade them at merchants. (or hit camp and start using TWF :biggrin: ) But you could upgrade it at like, the merchant in Ostagar, and then try again to see if it would bump in Lothering.