What you were expecting to happen, and what actually happened:
"Deal [Magic + 1] splash damage to an Enemy and the Enemy below them. Stun and inflict Bleed on the targeted Enemies. "
The second splash damage doesn’t happen if the “enemy below” dies from the first splash damage.
For example selecting the 2nd enemy means the 3rd enemy troop will be the “enemy below”, but only if it survives. If the enemy on the 3rd place dies the second attack never happens.
I expected to the weapon select the next living enemy below. So if the enemy on the 3rd place dies it should select the 4th enemy.
How often does this happen? When did it begin happening?
Every time when the splash dmg kills the enemy below too
Steps to make it happen again
Use spiked manriki in fights where the splash dmg is strong enough to kill all 3 affected enemies. Target the 2nd enemy.
If the ENEMY BELOW THEM* IS DEAD, how is it supposed to hit THEM**?
*This is the enemy you targeted.
**This is the enemy below the enemy you targeted.
If the enemy below the enemy you targeted is dead when the weapon tries to target them, why would it re-target? It wouldn’t. That’s not how the game is programmed for that weapon. That would require more coding, because they would need to program the game to check for new targets in that instance.
The same thing happens with Infernus. See this thread:
There are a whole bunch of other troops/weapons that possibly act the same way or different, such as Sandrunner, The Deep King, Aquaticus, Mistralus, Frostfire King.
Anything that deals splash damage to multiple enemies. It entirely depends on if those targets are chosen when the ability is cast, or if they’re chosen as each instance casts.
@igniteice is on it, Splash damage will do damage to the above and below enemies of the one that has been targetted. If either is destroyed already, it does not continue to the next enemy troop.
Unlike Scatter damage which will go through the whole team, even if an enemy troop has already been destroyed.
There’s a serious consistency issue in Gems of War.
Some troops that are programmed to Target 2 troops (which this one essentially does) will Target 1 troop two times if it’s the only troop left.
Where as others (like this troop) that no where says in the text that it only applies if two troops are alive will the second cast work.
Meanwhile any reports of one or the other being bugged come back with “it’s working as intended”.
English is not my mother language but I think the OP interpretation is admissible. To clear up any doubts it should state something like “immediately below” or “directly below”.
That’s not the problem. The problem isn’t the description. When you use the weapon, the game looks for the enemy troops. First it identifies the enemy you targeted. This is the first target hit. Then it immediately says “Okay, we’re going to hit that one first, then we’re going to hit the enemy below it second.” Then it casts the first damage. Then it TRIES to cast the second damage. But if the second target is dead because of the splash damage from the first troop, it won’t have a target to cast on. It’s a coding problem. It doesn’t re-target the “next” enemy below.
Those are not bugs though. It seems you’re not understanding how the game is coded. When you perform an action with those troops/weapons, you are telling the game at that precise moment who your targets are. If those targets die before it can deal damage (or in the latter case, silence), it can’t do anything to the next target below, because those weren’t the targets.
Weapon upgrades are completely different, because those happen after the weapon’s spell takes place. That’s why Hex from Essence of Evil can transform the enemy AFTER you’ve applied all of the negative effects.
After the weapon has been cast and all the damage/abilities have gone through, the weapon’s affixes now ask “Alright, who’s the first enemy so I can silence them?” or “Who’s the first enemy so I can roll a 10% chance to transform them?”
I understand mechanics, about the code I wouldn’t say anything without reading it.
Spiked Manriki is one of a kind, it is the only weapon/troop which can kill the second target with the first half of the spell. The two attacks happen sequentially, so the second half could re-target instead of not happening. This why I think it is a bug.
I completely understand what you are saying, but the code should always match the description (or the other way around). Right now it seems that the description is not clear enough…
