Darkness denies AoE targeting

[Mystler]

AoE spells should still be able to target into or out of Darkness and a prevention should only apply to spells that aim at specific targets.
Not sure if this is an engine limitation that cannot be worked around but I figured it should probably be tracked.

As an additional note, it looks like there is no distinction between 2nd level and 4th level darkness, the former should still be able to be seen through by Darkvision whereas the latter would require Greater Darkvision.

[Mystler]

Peeking into this, the root template for SurfaceDarknessCloud can be overridden to set both Shoot Through and Doesn't block Vision to true, which would allow targeting inside and then ideally triggering hidden flat checks as normal, with the special darkness processing moved into statuses and scripts. People inside the cloud would still be limited due to blinded. This is probably part of a bigger discussion on how to handle Darkness though and idk what the vision on it is. You could certainly also treat it all as stricter and keep things the way they are. Only downside is that darkness can be quite janky to deal with in gameplay as a result. (Viconia de vir fight is a great testing case.)

Currently, it also seems to only apply Concealed Flat Checks instead of Hidden in my quick testing.

[Saishy]

Also keep in mind the Halsin Portal fight if you do any change to Darkness, that is another one that is almost only currently possible due to it.

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On Wed, Feb 25, 2026 at 2:06 PM Mystler ***@***.***> wrote: *Mystler* left a comment (InstantMirage/Pathfinder2eModBG3#295) <#295 (comment)> Peeking into this, the root template for SurfaceDarknessCloud can be overridden to set both Shoot Through and Doesn't block Vision to true, which would allow targeting inside and then ideally triggering hidden flat checks as normal, with the special darkness processing moved into statuses and scripts. People inside the cloud would still be limited due to blinded. This is probably part of a bigger discussion on how to handle Darkness though and idk what the vision on it is. You could certainly also treat it all as stricter and keep things the way they are. Only downside is that darkness can be quite janky to deal with in gameplay as a result. (Viconia de vir fight is a great testing case.) Currently, it also seems to only apply Concealed Flat Checks instead of Hidden in my quick testing. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#295 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAPLHTH7NMWKDVOVZAZIUPT4NXJAFAVCNFSM6AAAAACV6P3PH2VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTSNRQGY4DOOBRGQ> . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[Mystler]

I don't think the Portal fight would be affected since it's not using the SurfaceDarknessCloud effect from the Darkness spell. I believe you're just talking about regular Darkness as the absence of light in this case? I don't remember having any issues with that fight and was just blasting some AoEs.

[Saishy]

Oh. I mean just casting darkness on the portal was my go-to, since having multiple archers with 3 actions was very hard to defend agaisnt.

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On Wed, Feb 25, 2026, 14:38 Mystler ***@***.***> wrote: *Mystler* left a comment (InstantMirage/Pathfinder2eModBG3#295) <#295 (comment)> I don't think the Portal fight would be affected since it's not using the SurfaceDarknessCloud effect from the Darkness spell. I believe you're just talking about regular Darkness as the absence of light in this case? I don't remember having any issues with that fight and was just blasting some AoEs. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#295 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAPLHTEJP4CBK7YS5RXZRGL4NXMXTAVCNFSM6AAAAACV6P3PH2VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZTSNRQHA3DMNRQGM> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>