Aces up you sleeves
Fighting_Ferret
Member Posts: 229
In a fight and you need to pull out the quick win? Then it's time to use one of the aces up your sleeve...
My favorite, the wand of paralysis. This item has single handedly, albeit sometimes with help from doom and greater malison, defeated almost every difficult encounter in the game, and there are quite a few of them out there, as well. Daevorn, check, Aec' Letec, check, Sarevok, check, Sarevok's cronies, check, anyway you get the picture...
My second favorite, level 1 spells: sleep and blind. Sleep is great when you come across almost any non-boss battle... cast and at least 50% of the enemies fall over waiting for you to kill them, they have to be under level 5... and blind... blind someone with the level 1 spell and they will stay put, unless you are in melee range, and stand there as a stationary target for your archers, it's scary how often this minor spell disables tough bosses.
Runner up, the Stupifier (mace); this item is too good to add to this game... 25% chance to stun anyone = lots of dead enemies. The too good part is unlike the wand(s) this doesn't have charges and works roughly 25% of the time, which in some cases is probably a better probability then the wand!
Second runner up, Web: cast 1 or 2 of these and stand back pull out your ranged weapons and even a blind mage can hit anything with a weapon, without proficiency. Better still if you have free action on a fighter.
Remember kiddos, if the enemy can't hit you back, or at all... you've already won.
My favorite, the wand of paralysis. This item has single handedly, albeit sometimes with help from doom and greater malison, defeated almost every difficult encounter in the game, and there are quite a few of them out there, as well. Daevorn, check, Aec' Letec, check, Sarevok, check, Sarevok's cronies, check, anyway you get the picture...
My second favorite, level 1 spells: sleep and blind. Sleep is great when you come across almost any non-boss battle... cast and at least 50% of the enemies fall over waiting for you to kill them, they have to be under level 5... and blind... blind someone with the level 1 spell and they will stay put, unless you are in melee range, and stand there as a stationary target for your archers, it's scary how often this minor spell disables tough bosses.
Runner up, the Stupifier (mace); this item is too good to add to this game... 25% chance to stun anyone = lots of dead enemies. The too good part is unlike the wand(s) this doesn't have charges and works roughly 25% of the time, which in some cases is probably a better probability then the wand!
Second runner up, Web: cast 1 or 2 of these and stand back pull out your ranged weapons and even a blind mage can hit anything with a weapon, without proficiency. Better still if you have free action on a fighter.
Remember kiddos, if the enemy can't hit you back, or at all... you've already won.
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After that it's usually just mopping up the remains.
I'm uh, not one for fancy tactics. Skulls for the Skull Throne!
For BG1, silence 15" radius, or if you want to be creative, xan with the ring of wizardry and about a dozen casts of charm person
In my current game with an all dual-classed party I'm recalling just how powerful clerics can be, especially in tandem with Thieves:
Berserker 3/Cleric
Xzar - Necromancer 4/Cleric
Shar-Teel - Fighter 3/Thief
Imoen - Thief 2/Mage
Branwen - Cleric 5/Thief
Safana - Thief 5/Mage
When clerics buff and enter Sanctuary and join stealthed Thieves in a surprise attack, the party is able to decimate enemy groups before they knew what hit them. (Moreso if the entire party is buffed and Hasted.) At the moment of attack Mages cast Sleep and Glitterdust, and if needed Blindness as well. Horror usually isn't needed, but that can follow also. Mages casting Hold Person is a little more convenient, since you don't have to chase after panicked enemies.
To make it a fairer fight, sometimes I just send buffed clerics in Sanctuary and position them right on top of enemy spellcasters, then launch the attack by having them cast Command and/or Hold Person. But even that is often enough to end the battle in just a couple rounds.
That's my silver bullet for most of the saga. There may be more effective spells of mass-incapacitation, but Emotion just seems to work for me. It never fails to take pressure off me when I'm surrounded, and once saved my ass in a desperate fight against the Pit Fiend you can encounter in the Underdark. I'm still amused by the image of a massive Fiend, on the verge of finishing my party off, falling to the ground and bawling like a baby while I recovered my strength to end him.