Two Unique Ways of Making a Spell Not Affect Certain Units?

[Goober4473]

I've created a spell that targets only a specific group of units, which I've given a renamed Giant classification to, as well as the Ancient type, which a few need for morphing anyways. The spell actually only targets ancients, since you can't specify Giants only.

Now, I need to make another set of units that cannot be affected by most mana regeneration abilities (but not all). I had planned to make them all Ancients, and edit all mana-adding abilities to target non-ancients, but I don't want the first spell to target them.

So, I need a way to either target Giants only, or to find some other way to make a unit untargetable by specific spells. The AI will be controlling some of the Giant units, and things like Brilliance Aura are passive, so triggering the targeting isn't going to work.

 

[Bird]

Mechanical would be the next other common spell limitation - hopefully this doesn't conflict with *other* spells you use.

 

[Cheddar]

Checking if level of some inconsequential invisible ability named "THIS UNIT IS A GIANT" is 1 or higher?

 

[Weep]

Suicidal/Sapper is one fairly unused category that can be excluded from targets. If you're not planning on having any units with self-destruction/Kaboom! then it could work.

 

[Goober4473]

I can, with triggers (custom script/JASS anyways), detect if the unit is a Giant, but the problem is, the unit will still try to cast the spell and then be ordered to stop if controlled by AI, or if the spell were auta-cast, which I'd kind of like. So the unit would sit there trying and failing to cast the spell constantly, rather than say attacking.

I could also do detection stuff for the mana regen, and that probably won't ever be AI controlled, but like I said before, a lot of it is passive auras, which is much harder to stop from affecting a specific unit with triggers.

Mechanical could possibly work, but it also appears in-game under the name, which is weird, healing gets weirded up, and it lets them be repaired. So I think that would mess with too many things. This all needs to be compatible with normal melee races.

Suicidal is another option, since I can target "non-suicidal", but I believe that makes them unable to enter transports, which I need them to do.

[Edit]: If I shift+click the targets allowed field, I can enter text. Does anyone know if it's possible to put in the giant classification this way? Just putting in "giant" doesn't work, nor does "UNIT_TYPE_GIANT".

 

[Cheddar]

What was the issue with mine, again?

 

[Goober4473]

the unit will still try to cast the spell ... if controlled by AI

The unit will just keep trying and failing if I stop the casting with a trigger.

 

[Ashlebede]

Tauren classification? I know certain spells can target only taurens... maybe auras, too...

 

[Goober4473]

Tauren, like Undead, is a hard coded thing for spell targets. For example, Ancestral Spirit targets only Tauren, and Death Pact targets only Undead, but you can't change that, as it's not part of their targets data field.