Magicka Recovery, it regenerates? Options

[RobRendell]

I was re-watching the video footage of the X05 guy failing to fireball rats at

http://rmjv.net/vi/oblivionx05gp1.wmv

and I suddenly noticed that his magicka was constantly regenerating. He'd fire off a fireball, and the blue bar would drop, but then it would creep up again as he continued along.

Has anything been announced about this? Do people think it was a feature that they just added for X05 to allow people to blaze away with spells, or is it part of their changes to meet their stated strategy of making playing a pure magic character more feasible?

It would certainly change things compared to Morrowind, where you only recovered magicka (naturally) through sleeping. It would also make the "Atronach" star-sign more balanced... missing out on constantly regenerating magicka is a rather more significant penalty than missing out on the ability to recover it during down-time.

(I would have searched these forums to see if this had come up before, but the search function still isn't working, whinge whinge. Although, instead of saying it's been disabled, it now says I don't have permission)

This post has been edited by RobRendell: Oct 15 2005, 11:14 AM

[RobRendell]

No replies? A subject not comment-worthy to anyone but me, apparently.

Well, I've seen confirmation that magicka does indeed regenerate constantly. This translation of the review from the Russian site that had the screenshots posted in another thread mentions that:

Magic has improved thanks to the impressive visuals and the wide fantasy of Bethesda's art team. Now it has finally become dangerous even in the hands of a novice mage, wince mana reserves are regenerated all the time - even a simple fireball can wreck havoc.

(I'm presuming the translator meant "since mana reserves are regenerated", and that "a simple fireball can wreak havoc"... I'm hoping they weren't saying that fireball spells wreck the physics engine )

So, there you go. Constantly regenerating Magicka, as if you were wearing a constant-effect "restore magicka" item in Morrowind. I think that's worth raising an eyebrow over... it'll certainly improve the viability of pure-magic characters.

[Neela]

This is good news for xbox fans, I agree. I guess this wasnt one of my big concerns because I think this was the first mod for the PC I had with Morrowind. A birthsign that gave a tiny bit of magic regen over time. I just assumed I would remake this mod if it didnt appear in Oblivion.

[RobRendell]

this was the first mod for the PC I had with Morrowind.  A birthsign that gave a tiny bit of magic regen over time.

Really? I must have missed that mod. I must say, I was severely tempted at various points with my first Morrowind character to go into the CS and make myself a constant-effect item that just did a 1-point restore magicka, but resisted the temptation as cheating.

All my subsequent Morrowind characters have been born under the sign of the Atronach, so they had to rely on their spell absorption to recover magicka anyway.

But if magicka recovers constantly naturally, and assuming the Atronach works like it did in Morrowind (no natural magicka recovery, larger magicka pool, spell absorption), I think I'll be expanding my horizons, birthsign-wise.

[DoomedOne]

Yeah I always try to stay pure of mods my first play through but if I want the character I'm making then it wouldn't have worked in morrowind, I'd be using a sword by the end of the day. This is one of the things they bea the modders to the punch on.

[Deathbane27]

A comment on this that MSFD made here:
http://www.rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=157197#157197

I guess I can mention magicka regeneration now, anyway The rate of return is based on your willpower, though "stunted magicka" still exists and will prevent auto-regeneration. Drain Willpower is suddenly a very powerful spell.

Glad they finally added a decent use for that stat.