Problem - Group spells not casting when not stacking on caster & possible fix

[DriveCrash]

So when using KissAssist (current 12.002) and using group buffs the following problems occur that do not happen using single target buffs.

1) If the group spell will not stack on the caster of the group spell it either does not fire off, or on emulator servers the casters will go into a infinite loop re-casting the spell.

2) If the group spell is blocked on the caster, the same non-cast or loop will happen.

3) When a member of the group gets dispelled or loses the group buff, the caster will not do a range check to verify the intended target is in range before casting. In the case of a puller, this often means the puller misses the buff and it's wasted mana. The group spell caster will repeatedly try to buff this toon that is frequently out of range.

IE: If a druid wants to cast Flight of Eagles or Pack Spirit for the group, but also wants to be in wolf form, the group will not get it's buff.
If a ranger wants to use Warder's Protection (self buff) for attack and give Call of the Predator to the group, it will not work.

The big question I have here, is how is it advantageous to target the caster and do .willland checks against the caster of the spell vs the target? It removes all the functions of |Class| or |Caster , |Melee etc. but seems to offer no benefit in return? Granted there could be an enormous elephant in the room I'm just not seeing, and if so please do point it out! I realize the spell lands on everyone regardless but the checks before casting do not.

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I attempted to move group buffing to the single target behavior, but then they keep casting the group spell on every reset and other strange behavior. My "fix" broke more than it fixed, so I removed it until I or someone else can come up with a real solution.

 

[ctaylor22]

1) If the group spell will not stack on the caster of the group spell it either does not fire off, or on emulator servers the casters will go into a infinite loop re-casting the spell.

Yes currently that is the case, but the current development version of kiss checks all group members for the buff, using DanNet and the Buffs.ini file. EMU does not have the same members to check for Stacking issues. This should be remedied when the MQ Next for EMU is released.

2) If the group spell is blocked on the caster, the same non-cast or loop will happen.

I think this has been fixed in the development copy of kiss.

3) When a member of the group gets dispelled or loses the group buff, the caster will not do a range check to verify the intended target is in range before casting. In the case of a puller, this often means the puller misses the buff and it's wasted mana. The group spell caster will repeatedly try to buff this toon that is frequently out of range.

Yes. When casting Group buffs Distance was not checked, but even if it was, the issue is the puller will run off and get out of range before the buff lands. Single target buff are an example, how casters check the distance first and then start casting because the puller is in range to get the buff. But before the buff can land the puller is OOR. In the development copy of kiss there is a range check of the group member distance.

IE: If a druid wants to cast Flight of Eagles or Pack Spirit for the group, but also wants to be in wolf form, the group will not get it's buff.
If a ranger wants to use Warder's Protection (self buff) for attack and give Call of the Predator to the group, it will not work.

Because that is just the way buffing the group was originally setup. There have been a lot of changes to the game, and situations that did not exist back when kiss was developed. For simplicity groups have always been dependent on the caster. If the caster had the buff, the assumption is the group does. When a buff would drop from another character, the Buff from the caster was /remove(d) from the caster to get the caster to re-buff. The development copy of kiss now checks each individual group member for the buff, and if the buff stacks with their current buffs before casting. Even if it the buff won't stack with the casters buffs they will cast it on the other group member.

You might want to check out the development copy before you get to deep into making changes.