Malform Casting Spells at Odd Level

Reported by: Durim

My malform (Judicium) appears to be casting faerie fire at Level 49. I can tell because it modifies victim AC by 49.

DKs naturally cast at Level 48.

When I malformed Judicium, I was casting at Level 49 due to Fleshworks.

However, I now have Fleshworks and mask of evil and therefore cast Mals at Level 50.

Yet, somehow Judicium continues to cast at 49, neither the natural number nor the current number.

/-------------------\/------------------------------------------------\
| Durim             || Adjudicator of ADJUDICATOR                     |
\-------------------/\------------------------------------------------/
| Str: 21(21)^4     || Level 50 Sex M          Age   288(206h)        |
| Int: 18(18)^1     || Class dark-knight       Size  medium           |
| Wis: 20(20)^1     || Race  duergar           Align lawful evil      |
| Dex: 21(21)^3     || Hp    1137/1137  (105%) Exp   42078/549922     |
| Con: 23(23)^3     || Mana   899/899   (115%) +Hit  48 (75%)         |
\ Lck: [||||||]     \/ Move   457/517   (105%) +Dam  50               /
/-------------------/\--------------------/\--------------------------\
|      ARMOR        ||      SAVES         || Deity  Tempirion         |
| Slash  -355  85%  || Spell       -14    || Faith  Mystic            |
| Pierce -352  85%  || Afflictive  -3     || Weight 316/425           |
| Blunt  -355  85%  || Maledictive -3     || Items  33/42             |
| Magic  -312  90%  || Mental      -2     || Prac   9      Train 0    |
|                   || Breath       0     || RP     63                |
|                   ||                    || Gold   166K   CP 2.9K    |
\-------------------\/--------------------\/--------------------------/
/---------------------------------------------------------------------\
| CAST LEVELS  Affl: 51   Maled: 50   Mental: 52   Breath: 51         |
\---------------------------------------------------------------------/
/ You are in the prime of your health.                                \
| You are ready for a cabal promotion.                                |
\---------------------------------------------------------------------/

<1137h 899m 457v 166493g> 21:00 
k lab
Your disruption MANGLES a fire giant laborer!
Your disruption MANGLES a fire giant laborer!
Your disruption MANGLES a fire giant laborer!
'Judicium' the Shard of Wisdom emits a loud hum.
A fire giant laborer is surrounded by a pink outline.
'Judicium' the Shard of Wisdom glows with an evil aura.
A fire giant laborer looks tired and weak.
'Judicium' the Shard of Wisdom draws life from a fire giant laborer.
Your life drain injures a fire giant laborer.
A fire giant laborer has some big nasty wounds and scratches. 

<1144h 899m 483v 166493g>Durim: [100] 22:00 
l lab

You block a fire giant laborer's attack with your weapon.
Your disruption MASSACRES a fire giant laborer!
The Fleshworks squirm and zgrrt.
You feel better.
A fire giant laborer is in awful condition. 

<1137h 899m 483v 166493g>Durim: [100] 22:00 
With a mean look in his eye, he glares at you.  Hatred fills the air around
him as sniffs the air carefully, as if in search of something.  His brown 
leather armor is worn, but his bulging physique makes him an imposing
sight.
A fire giant laborer is in awful condition.
You sense following auras:
Spell: weaken         : modifies str by -6 for 16 hours
Spell: faerie fire    : modifies ac by 49 for 10 hours
A fire giant laborer is in awful condition. 

This isn't a bug, actually, and by design.

The level of the spell being cast by your malform is affected by the spell level of the affect on the object. I'm assuming you malformed this weapon at level 49, yes?

That's what level all of its spells will be cast at.

I was level 50 when I malformed the weapon.

The affect on that weapon is level 49. I'll look into this a bit deeper, but I don't suspect this is going to cause any 'anguish' or issues with spells landing. You're already casting at a much higher level than you should due to how the mechanic works.

Oh, you're saying the intent of malform is actually to cast at substantially lower level than 49?

I mean, all mals should be cast at a base of L47 by anyone except shamans (full marks) and a few other select classes (above base but below shamans).

For reference, dug much deeper into this. You'll be happy to know there's no bug here. There's a formula which determines casted level, and this looks to be by design.

Malform casts are still stronger than regular DK casts, by a long shot.

OK so are you saying the casted level has nothing to do with the Fleshworks I was wearing when I malformed the weapon originally?

I'm just asking because there's a potential for some pretty disgusting minmaxing here, unless it's independent of EQ.

For example, you could wait to malform until you're fully loaded up on +spelllvl EQ, and then (depending on race / cabal / etc.) end up with a malform that casts Lvl 53 dispel magic.

There's no way to min-max with +spellvl/+mallvl armor.

The highest a malform will ever cast is level 49.