Well, I don't how you guys feel, but I don't even scared a bit of Magic Eaters. Actually, it came to scales that I don't even care of the Nightshade (although I do have it)

I feel Magic Eaters need to be more fearful (and on that light, the monsters in EFU in general)

It depends where you are I think and how careless you are with magic. If you've just had a magic eater pop up and your party killed it. expect bigger and bigger groups to come if you decide not to down some nightshade before you cast your magic. Their Onhit dispell magic is annoying enough though if you ask me.

Obviously, you never ran across a bunch of elders.

They're not intended to be terrifying.

And, even as they are, I have heard horror stories about entire groups being wiped out by them.

So -- I'm not really sure what to say!

They are seasonal, so, your mileage may vary.

I think that areas should vary in how often Mage Eaters can appear; I know that there are some outside the city that, supposedly, get more Mage Eater activity, but within the city there don't seem to be hotspots.

Perhaps an area can keep track of unwarded spellcasting, and if it's frequent enough, casting in that area has a greater risk?

I've also never seen a differentiation between spell/caster level and the power or frequency of mage eaters; a Light spell from a low-level mage can get groups of Medium Mage Eaters while a high-level cleric can cast a half-dozen spells and get, at worst, a single lesser mage eater. I don't know much about Mage Eaters, but it seems that they'd be attracted to more powerful casters more often.

exactly, what I mean...

and actually, i was referring to the general mosnters...

i remember being terrified from just any quest there, and now it became a routine =S (not as extreme as routine, and not as PG as it, but, more like, ah, another of this lovely quest)

Quests feel more routine after you've done them sixty times.

Mage Eaters bite the wahoozie. A lesser Mage Eater almost killed me just yesterday, and I've seen them nearly wipe out parties too. So they don't need to be made tougher.

They f*** over the people they're meant to. Mages.

I think mage eaters should scale to the number of persons in the party and the average level of the party also with a heavy leaning towards the highest level in the party.

And honestly the stories about the 'party wipes' have dealt with the fact that the mage eaters are not scaled and low level parties doing, say the brewery quest with only 3 folks, got mobbed by 4 mage eaters at once (hard luck)....yeah that's not right or normal.

The magic eaters AI should seek out mages, sorcerors and bards specifically as prime "eating". Or better yet if they initally target the one who caused the spawn.

I don't agree. Since they cast dispels, they should plainly go for the most heavily buffed person first, which is not always (in my case, rarely or never) the mage. And let's not forget these pesky clerics. I understand they do not exclusively care for arcane magic alone.

I wouldn't be against raising the chance to spawn a mage eater (or more) by perhaps 2 or 3 percent, but they most certainly shouldn't be made tougher. I've fled from a lesser mage eater with a cleric because I knew I wouldn't last against it, and even with a highly competent party, all it takes is a few bad rolls to make them a challenge.

Magic Eaters are made to kill wizards. Earlier in my current character's career, magic eaters nearly killed him on three instances. However, when accompanied by a fighting class they're nothing.

I think they're looking good right now.

Magic eaters are for wizards, sorcerors.. (and bards since they use arcane)

Though I think there could be something else flavour wise specifically for divine casters (rangers, clerics, paladins, druids)

Maybe it's shar who's objecting to it, because of her dominion over the shadow weave. you could work out a plot where it results in some shadowy things attacking divine casters in much the same way arcane casters get looked at when they're doing stuff directly with the weave if they arent protected by <insert protection item here>.

I think you may have misunderstood the concept of mage eaters. They can sense when the Weave is being tinkered with within a certain radius, and are able to teleport themselves there. They don't distinguish between the Power and the Art.

Having a magic eater strip your fighter of buffs is simply amazing!

I think they're fine for the time being. A single mage eater almost took out an entire party of Thayans when we were all lower level (well, more low). While it created a lot of great RP as we tried to figure out what just happened, I think it might be questionable to jack up the level. I think that most of the characters who get attacked by magic eaters are lower level characters who are either new to the server and don't know that it's going to happen or are RPing their character's ignorance about spellcasting.

Rather, perhaps we could script their power to be based on the level of the spell or caster that summoned them? It seems logical that a magic eater would be more attracted to a wizard raising the dead or blasting out cloudkill than some twerp who's shooting out rays of frost.

I'm glad to say that Delgado has not ONCE had to face a mage eater :D

I agree tuning them to the power of the spell or spell caster seems more appropriate.

Casting a cantrip or level 1 spell isnt likely to make much of a drop in the pond. But a level 10 caster firing off a magic missile (although level one) it's more likely to ripple the weave more.

Firing off a level 4 spell is also likely to do it , because the caster is level 7.

Also i'd like to see NPC's generate them too to their own woe, I dont like when players are subjected to extra heartache when npc's can cast without problem.

It'd make quite an interesting story when you get mobbed by a lizardfolk shaman, and he gets destroyed by magic eaters :)

Mage Eaters have a nasty tendancy to show up in the middle of a quest, and strip me of all the buffs I have up. I think the challenge they present is good enough as is.

Its even funnier if IC you don't know its magic they're after, I once had a cleric of mystra running around the mines convinced that an army of strange white balls where comming to destroy the city (the army idea came when he cast spells to take out the mage eaters already summoned, that was a mistake...)

Scalebane7676 Rather, perhaps we could script their power to be based on the level of the spell or caster that summoned them?

chaosprism I agree tuning them to the power of the spell or spell caster seems more appropriate.

Casting a cantrip or level 1 spell isnt likely to make much of a drop in the pond.

I dont think its to make it easier, but rather adjust the the difficulty, so it will match spell level and caster level.

It is less logical when a starter wizard casts a cantrip and an archmage casting a ninth level spell, with the same chance to find magic eaters... (In that example, I would say magic eaters will swarm the archmage, lol but n/m)

alogen I dont think its to make it easier, but rather adjust the the difficulty, so it will match spell level and caster level.

The lessers are underpowered. My group mannaged to kill three of the medium-difficulty ones, one lesser and i think it was about three hook horrors all in the same little fight.

Go us!

the problem is that consequences are a minor issue (and i do have nightshade on me all time)

A level 3 monk and a level 2 sorcerer were taking on the bark zombies last night and in the middle of fighting the boss, two Magic Eater, Lessers appeared and started chowing on the sorcerer. The monk had to turn around and go kick some incorporeal ass while the caster flailed around in fright. Sorcerer nearly died, and the monk just barely managed to bring him up to -2, stabilize him, then lead the baddies off to take them down with about 6 hp left. Magic Eaters are dangerous jerks and more than effective.

chaosprism Also i'd like to see NPC's generate them too to their own woe, I dont like when players are subjected to extra heartache when npc's can cast without problem.

It'd make quite an interesting story when you get mobbed by a lizardfolk shaman, and he gets destroyed by magic eaters :)

That is a quite valid point I would like to second. Some NPCs could be aware of the magic eater threat, and considered chewing nightshade. But in that case it would be logical to find some nightshade in their loot. Others are not, so they could threat themselves with magic eaters appearing.

Besides, magic eaters are not all bad. We did Hoar some day ago, and shadows drained the STR of one character. Later some magic eaters appeared, attacked that character, and with their dispell magic they removed the STR drain. Than the happy and re-energised character hacked the living daylights out from those balls. :)

I've a question concerning these;

If they're mage-eaters, and they're attracted to magic/the arcane then why do they spawn when a cleric casts a spell? Cleric spells are divine and not arcane/magical in nature, aren't they? So how is this explained?

Cleric spells are magic.

Inquisitor If they're mage-eaters...

Also:

Snoteye They don't distinguish between the Power and the Art.

As they say, food is food, no matter where it comes from.

my party was wiped considering that i was a lvl 4 sorceror and he didn't know about nightshade.

ALSO: i agree that they should be adapted to group sizes