Web and other AoE spells.
SionIV
Member Posts: 2,689
Would like to help some people along with tactics against big parties if they are having problem. Some of the parties in both BG1 and BG2 can be very tedious to fight as they have powerful fighters and mages to back them up. Almost every single mercenary party in BG1 can be hard if you're not prepared, the same goes for fights like the dwarfs in the sewer (Temple district) In Baldur's gate.
Let's take a look at some AoE spells.
Web : Fantastic spell that will stop most enemies in place and while they are stuck in a web they can't do anything. It's also incredible efficient and they are at -2 saving throw penalty against it.
Stinking cloud : It's a great spell to clear up enemies as if they fail their saving throw their going to be lying on the ground while not being able to react or move. It is save VS poison and not as reliable or strong as web.
Now you're probably thinking "Why use stinking cloud? When web is that much better" well the reason is... you're going to use both of them. If you have two mages in your party it's possible to throw both at once for even better effect, you're also able to throw a second web but i prefer one of each. When you have thrown a Stinking Cloud and a Web spell on the enemy party they are going to be having problems getting up from that.
But now you might ask yourself "What about my own characters?" This is where free action comes in. It's a level 4 divine spell and there are rings and other gear that already come equipped with it. It will let you wander into the middle of fight and not suffer from the spells.
[Ring location]
BG1 : Baldur's Gate (Iron Throne) - Loot from one of the baddies on the top floor
Steal from the halfling lady at Ulgoth's beard.
BG2 : Asylum (Dungeon Level 1) - Reward for completing the "Tome" puzzle just north of the Kurtulmak Crystal
Now we'll move on to the second phase of the fight. You have most of the enemy team shut down in your stinking cloud and web, and you're going to send in your two fighters to start dealing damage while the rest fire at range. There are many great spells that will clear an AoE for you that are very efficient, but even more so when the enemy can't move.
[Old good fireball]
This is probably the most used one. You get fireballs from the spell (Arcane level 3), arrows, potions, wands and even some gear pieces. It's very easy to get acces to fireballs and they can really destroy a party. But again with Fireball we have the problem that it might harm our own people, so let's look at how to prevent that.
BG 1 : In BG1 it's possible to get very good resistance from many items, i'm not going to talk about potions, scrolls or spells here as i prefer to have something permanent, so we'll go to the gear.
Cavalier : The cavalier start with 20% fire and acid resistance.
Ring of Fire resistance : 40% Fire resistance.
Outdoor Zone (AR5500) - Found within cliff wall at x=1955 y=2370
Candlekeep Catacombs - Found in one of the tombs
Helm of Defense : 20% Fire, elecrtical, cold resistance.
Outdoor Zone (AR3100) - Loot from Droth, the Ogre Mage that enslaves Shoal
So with the two rings of Fire Resistance and the Helm of Defense it's possible to get 100% fire resistance. You can also take the two rings and get 100% fire resistance if you're a cavalier and give the helm to someone else.
Now the problem would be that we can't use three rings at once, so what about the free action ring? It depends on your setup. If you're going to be using web you'll want to use the Free Action ring instead of one fire resistance ring and that would put you on 60% Fire (80% If cavalier) which is still more than enough to keep you safe from your own fireballs. It's also possible to just use the divine spell free action and keep your fire resistance rings for 100% fire resistance.
BG 2 : It's also very easy to get good fire resistance in BG2. I'll mention some gear pieces that will help you
Ring of Fire resistance : 40% Fire resistance.
Windspear Hills (Dungeon Level One) - Loot from Ruhk Transmuter Windspear Hills
Ring of Fire Control : 50% Fire resistance.
The Underdark (Mind Flayer Dungeon) - Found on the Insane Dwarf Warrior
Red Dragon Scale armor : 50% Fire Resistance.
Purchased from Cromwell for a red dragon scale and 5000 gp (Firekgraag drops the scale)
Aeger's Hide +3 : 15% Fire resistance
Waukeen's Promenade (Adventurer's Mart) - Purchased from Ribald Barterman
Dragon Helm : SET Fire,Cold, Electrical resistance to 25% (This means you'll have to put this on first, then the rest of the items after)
Windspear Hills (Dungeon Level Two) - Found when you bring up the bucket in the well.
Helm of Defense : 20% Fire, elecrtical, cold resistance.
Temple District (Guarded Compound) - Loot from Maferan
Planar Sphere - Found in the centerpiece of the frost chamber on level three
Helm of the Rock : 25% Fire,Cold,Poison,Acid and Electricity resistance.
[ToB] Watcher's Keep (Level Two) - Loot from Fire Giant
Dragon Scale Shield +2 : SET Fire,Cold, Electrical resistance to 25% (This means you'll have to put this on first, then the rest of the items after)
Windspear Hills (Dungeon Level Two) - Found in the tomb of King Strohm III
There are many more items in BG2 but these are some of the more popular ones.
[Cloudkill]
This spell is such an awesome spell, Let's look at it .
4 + 1 Hit die : Instantly slain
4 + 1 to 6 hit die : Roll saving throw vs poison (-4) or die.
1d10 points of poison damage each round.
So the low level creatures and enemies will die instantly, the ones with 4-6 HD will have a chanse to die every single round they are in the cloudkill and the rest will take 1d10 damage. There is no reliable way for you to protect yourself from this spell, but as long as you make sure you have more than 6 hit die you'll only take the damage, and the difference with you and the enemy is tha you can walk out of the web area while he will stay there and die.
Cloudkill is an amazing spell in itself, and the one major weakness it has is that the enemy can walk out of it. But if you start with throwing a web (Or two) and a stinking cloud in the area the enemy will be held or sleeping on the ground while the cloudkill ticks away at their health.
The difference with this tactic and the fireball one is that this tactic is very efficient in BG2 aswell, and can take care of almost every single hard party fight. You can also be "lame" and use meta game knowledge to drop a cloudkill in a room with people and lock the door.
You can get cloudkill in BG1 and BG2
BG1 : The mage in the firewind dungeon at the gullykin exit.
BG2 : Mage shop in waukeens promenade.
[Zone of Sweet Air]
I would like to mention this amazing little hidden spell. It's a divine spell (Lvl3) and it removes all fogs spells in the game. Why is it so great?
1.) The enemy party is dead and you got to wait forever to save your game as the spells got to run out, and the cloudkill can be frustrating and prevent you from looting? Use Zone of Sweet Air to remove the spells so you can move on to the next battle.
2.) Something went wrong, your free action got dispelled or someone in your party is stuck in there that shouldn't be there. Use Zone of Sweet Air as a way to remove cloudkill and stinking cloud to prevent more damage to your party.
3.) What is that? The enemy are using these spells? Well throw it in there to remove their spells.
It doesn't work on web but it's great to remove cloudkill as it's a very dangerous spell if something goes wrong.
[Minor Globe of Invulnerability]
This level 4 arcane spell makes you immune to all level 3 spells and under. So if you got a arcane caster of a F/M you can cast this and go through web and stinking cloud without problem. Just remember the duration as when it's over you're going to get stuck. It's big brother Globe of Invulnerability makes you immune to level 1-4 spells.
[Edited] Minor Globe of Invulnerability.
[Edited] : Ring of Free action doesn't protect against stinking cloud, but you should survive the saving throw fine with your fighters. Might be one reason for using two webs instead.
Let's take a look at some AoE spells.
Web : Fantastic spell that will stop most enemies in place and while they are stuck in a web they can't do anything. It's also incredible efficient and they are at -2 saving throw penalty against it.
Stinking cloud : It's a great spell to clear up enemies as if they fail their saving throw their going to be lying on the ground while not being able to react or move. It is save VS poison and not as reliable or strong as web.
Now you're probably thinking "Why use stinking cloud? When web is that much better" well the reason is... you're going to use both of them. If you have two mages in your party it's possible to throw both at once for even better effect, you're also able to throw a second web but i prefer one of each. When you have thrown a Stinking Cloud and a Web spell on the enemy party they are going to be having problems getting up from that.
But now you might ask yourself "What about my own characters?" This is where free action comes in. It's a level 4 divine spell and there are rings and other gear that already come equipped with it. It will let you wander into the middle of fight and not suffer from the spells.
[Ring location]
BG1 : Baldur's Gate (Iron Throne) - Loot from one of the baddies on the top floor
Steal from the halfling lady at Ulgoth's beard.
BG2 : Asylum (Dungeon Level 1) - Reward for completing the "Tome" puzzle just north of the Kurtulmak Crystal
Now we'll move on to the second phase of the fight. You have most of the enemy team shut down in your stinking cloud and web, and you're going to send in your two fighters to start dealing damage while the rest fire at range. There are many great spells that will clear an AoE for you that are very efficient, but even more so when the enemy can't move.
[Old good fireball]
This is probably the most used one. You get fireballs from the spell (Arcane level 3), arrows, potions, wands and even some gear pieces. It's very easy to get acces to fireballs and they can really destroy a party. But again with Fireball we have the problem that it might harm our own people, so let's look at how to prevent that.
BG 1 : In BG1 it's possible to get very good resistance from many items, i'm not going to talk about potions, scrolls or spells here as i prefer to have something permanent, so we'll go to the gear.
Cavalier : The cavalier start with 20% fire and acid resistance.
Ring of Fire resistance : 40% Fire resistance.
Outdoor Zone (AR5500) - Found within cliff wall at x=1955 y=2370
Candlekeep Catacombs - Found in one of the tombs
Helm of Defense : 20% Fire, elecrtical, cold resistance.
Outdoor Zone (AR3100) - Loot from Droth, the Ogre Mage that enslaves Shoal
So with the two rings of Fire Resistance and the Helm of Defense it's possible to get 100% fire resistance. You can also take the two rings and get 100% fire resistance if you're a cavalier and give the helm to someone else.
Now the problem would be that we can't use three rings at once, so what about the free action ring? It depends on your setup. If you're going to be using web you'll want to use the Free Action ring instead of one fire resistance ring and that would put you on 60% Fire (80% If cavalier) which is still more than enough to keep you safe from your own fireballs. It's also possible to just use the divine spell free action and keep your fire resistance rings for 100% fire resistance.
BG 2 : It's also very easy to get good fire resistance in BG2. I'll mention some gear pieces that will help you
Ring of Fire resistance : 40% Fire resistance.
Windspear Hills (Dungeon Level One) - Loot from Ruhk Transmuter Windspear Hills
Ring of Fire Control : 50% Fire resistance.
The Underdark (Mind Flayer Dungeon) - Found on the Insane Dwarf Warrior
Red Dragon Scale armor : 50% Fire Resistance.
Purchased from Cromwell for a red dragon scale and 5000 gp (Firekgraag drops the scale)
Aeger's Hide +3 : 15% Fire resistance
Waukeen's Promenade (Adventurer's Mart) - Purchased from Ribald Barterman
Dragon Helm : SET Fire,Cold, Electrical resistance to 25% (This means you'll have to put this on first, then the rest of the items after)
Windspear Hills (Dungeon Level Two) - Found when you bring up the bucket in the well.
Helm of Defense : 20% Fire, elecrtical, cold resistance.
Temple District (Guarded Compound) - Loot from Maferan
Planar Sphere - Found in the centerpiece of the frost chamber on level three
Helm of the Rock : 25% Fire,Cold,Poison,Acid and Electricity resistance.
[ToB] Watcher's Keep (Level Two) - Loot from Fire Giant
Dragon Scale Shield +2 : SET Fire,Cold, Electrical resistance to 25% (This means you'll have to put this on first, then the rest of the items after)
Windspear Hills (Dungeon Level Two) - Found in the tomb of King Strohm III
There are many more items in BG2 but these are some of the more popular ones.
[Cloudkill]
This spell is such an awesome spell, Let's look at it .
4 + 1 Hit die : Instantly slain
4 + 1 to 6 hit die : Roll saving throw vs poison (-4) or die.
1d10 points of poison damage each round.
So the low level creatures and enemies will die instantly, the ones with 4-6 HD will have a chanse to die every single round they are in the cloudkill and the rest will take 1d10 damage. There is no reliable way for you to protect yourself from this spell, but as long as you make sure you have more than 6 hit die you'll only take the damage, and the difference with you and the enemy is tha you can walk out of the web area while he will stay there and die.
Cloudkill is an amazing spell in itself, and the one major weakness it has is that the enemy can walk out of it. But if you start with throwing a web (Or two) and a stinking cloud in the area the enemy will be held or sleeping on the ground while the cloudkill ticks away at their health.
The difference with this tactic and the fireball one is that this tactic is very efficient in BG2 aswell, and can take care of almost every single hard party fight. You can also be "lame" and use meta game knowledge to drop a cloudkill in a room with people and lock the door.
You can get cloudkill in BG1 and BG2
BG1 : The mage in the firewind dungeon at the gullykin exit.
BG2 : Mage shop in waukeens promenade.
[Zone of Sweet Air]
I would like to mention this amazing little hidden spell. It's a divine spell (Lvl3) and it removes all fogs spells in the game. Why is it so great?
1.) The enemy party is dead and you got to wait forever to save your game as the spells got to run out, and the cloudkill can be frustrating and prevent you from looting? Use Zone of Sweet Air to remove the spells so you can move on to the next battle.
2.) Something went wrong, your free action got dispelled or someone in your party is stuck in there that shouldn't be there. Use Zone of Sweet Air as a way to remove cloudkill and stinking cloud to prevent more damage to your party.
3.) What is that? The enemy are using these spells? Well throw it in there to remove their spells.
It doesn't work on web but it's great to remove cloudkill as it's a very dangerous spell if something goes wrong.
[Minor Globe of Invulnerability]
This level 4 arcane spell makes you immune to all level 3 spells and under. So if you got a arcane caster of a F/M you can cast this and go through web and stinking cloud without problem. Just remember the duration as when it's over you're going to get stuck. It's big brother Globe of Invulnerability makes you immune to level 1-4 spells.
[Edited] Minor Globe of Invulnerability.
[Edited] : Ring of Free action doesn't protect against stinking cloud, but you should survive the saving throw fine with your fighters. Might be one reason for using two webs instead.
Post edited by SionIV on
2
Comments
I also suggest throwing an entangle, silence-15 radius and glitterdust at the same time as the other area disabling spells. Entangle is a druid spell, save vs spell at +4 bonus and the effect only hinders movement (range people can still attack). I have seen ToB WK Green Dragon got entangled by its own spell. It was hilarious.
Silence 15 radius is a one time cleric spell and save vs spell at -5 penalty. This spell works great against anyone who cant vocalize (divine spellcasters and some mages) and renders them harmless. It's funny to see a silence mage charge toward my melee with fists. Just like web, stinking cloud and entangle, another perk is that silence 15 radius does not turn neutral characters to hostile. With some foreknowledge, one can neutralize the foe before the fight begins.
Glitterdust is decent too. It is a mage level 2 spell and cause area blindness. A side-effect is that it may cause invisible creatures to become visible (though I havent experience w/ this before.) However, the duration is pretty short (4 rounds) and the spell range is smaller than the above mentioned spells. Blinded creatures suffer -4 thaco, -4 ac, and in this case -4 saves. One may follow up w/ a chromatic orb if the enemy is blinded by glitterdust.
I learned this lesson the hard way when I solo with a sorcerer. I pre-cast minor globe and cast Sequencer: 3x skull trap on a closeby enemy party. Not cool.
Stinking cloud can be a bit better because undead are immune. So Viconia can send in animated skeletons and they will bash the uncouncious enemies to death with impunity. Ofcourse, once a good melee char has ring of free action or Spider's bane sword, web is fun too!