[LE] Perks vs Spells (Abilities)

[clackie1996]

Hey there, this may be a very basic question, but I can't seem to find an answer.

 

What is the difference between a Perk, and a Spell marked as an ability?

 

I ask because I'm making some changes to a mod, and I noticed the author is adding a Spell to the player (XAbility), which uses a Magic Effect (XAbilityEffect) which only uses the "Perk to Apply" field to add a Perk (XPerk) to the player. I was playing about with Magic Effects, and it seems like I can achieve the same effect as the Perk directly in the Magic Effect, which would make the perk redundant.

 

My question is, am I missing something here? Is there a reason to go Spell > Magic Effect > Perk instead of Spell > Magic Effect that handles everything? Also, what would then be the difference between a Perk and a Spell marked as an Ability? Are perks specifically meant for Perk Tree stuff, and otherwise you should use Abilities?

 

Cheers!

[clackie1996]

Update: After digging around a bit, I noticed the author wasn't using perks for every single ability they were including - so it seems like for some effects (i.e. improving the armor rating of heavy armor) you need to use perks and for some other effects you can just use Abilities and magic effects. Is this right?

[foamyesque]

Update: After digging around a bit, I noticed the author wasn't using perks for every single ability they were including - so it seems like for some effects (i.e. improving the armor rating of heavy armor) you need to use perks and for some other effects you can just use Abilities and magic effects. Is this right?

 

Largely. There are a number of things that perks (and perks alone) can do, and a fair number of things that magic effects can do that perks cannot. Particularly, perks cannot be dynamically added via script or any other means to any actor other than the player.