Least liked spells
elminster
Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
I'm just curious what people's least like spells are. I'm just going to bring one up that rarely is probably even considered and that is Fire Seeds. 1 APR default, only 2d8 fire damage (save for half-damage and no damage bonuses with level), and you only get 4 of them with each casting. Plus its a level 6 spell. You can switch it between characters but its still not really much of a saving grace.
I just brought up one druid spell but feel free to bring up as many as you want from any class.
I just brought up one druid spell but feel free to bring up as many as you want from any class.
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The cloak of non-detection however does work against even the illusion killers to some extent and is still a cool item.
Non-detection isn't useless, it just requires an inordinate amount of knowledge to be used effectively. The matter is confounded by spells like True Sight dispelling illusion spells, which completely bypasses the protection offered by non-detection. However, if your invisibility isn't an illusion spell, or if the detection magic does not dispel illusion spells, non-detection does what it claims to do. Edit: True Sight also dispels by secondary type, so contrary to what I originally stated, it's not quite as straightforward as whether it's an illusion spell or not.
Also...non-detection was a bad choice to add....it's main purpose is to prevent scrying-type spells (up to 4th level), mind-reading and detecting alignments and stuff.....it only technically blocks detect invisibility, the other illusion dispellers are not included.
As for spells I hate....
Hmmmmm........aside from truly useless ones, probably Chromatic Orb....that +6 save bonus is ridiculous. Requires 2 other spells just to break even, and even low HD enemies with bad saves, save more then half the time.
And Friends is disappointing......I know they pretty much cribbed the description straight of the handbook...but it flat out lies......it's just a charisma booster...everything else it says is a complete lie, without how limited BG's implementation is.
Well, to be honest it wasn't that helpful but every little bit helps I guess...
"Good Berries" - too little healing, other spells at same level are better
"Chill Touch" - maybe for a fighter/wizard, but I've never used it. A monk with access to a few touch spells would be so cool.
No, seriously, I dislike infravision. I can otherwise make use of most other spells! Infravision, ugh..."I have rings for that!". Give us permanency or a reason to have it, and I'm cool...
I hate blindness spell because it is so powerful, the duration is huge, it is a save or die spell. I would reduce the duration to 1rnd/lvl.
Aid and barkskin could be good buffs but their durations are too short too, and they are not practical to cast in combat.
Fire seeds can be of use since you can give them to other characters, they can finish off trolls with fire damage. But then again at those lvls even pure warriors have a means of doing fire/acid damage via weapons/arrows, so..
Color spray is the most useless spell ever, its area of effect cone shaped projectile is bugged, but sleep is so much superiour in duration it is a joke. I would have it additional blindness/stun abilities according to the hitdice of the creature.
I tried the greater deathblow trick with the arrow of detonation before. It works well in Sendai's enclave fighting those wave of slaves in one swoop. Too bad the arrow of detonation is such a rare drop. I only found one or two arrows in the entire game.
disclaimer: I'm aware that druids hold dominion over the elements, but we can't have druid/mages because reasons.
The BG2 versions at least gave these spells to-hit bonuses (+4 and +3, respectively) and they both caused damage even if it the target made a successful save. The incidental 1d2 fist damage in BGEE is laughable for a touch-based spell. Why not just call it "Chill Punch" and "Ghoul Punch?" Sounds like something served on Halloween ^.^
Thanks to modding tools, I've altered these spells in my own game and have created "Improved" versions at one level higher, which allow the caster to use them from a distance (as if a Spectral Hand spell had been cast).
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I rather have enemy mages do real dps or at most slow you down, then just confusing your enemy. It's a cheap tactic which force you to bring dispel magic, and then with it, turns every mage battle into super easy.
I mean, for god sake, the first mage you meet at FAI cast fear on you - 8/10 times my whole party keeps running in circles and I can't do a damn thing.
Great gameplay. Lets make the first mage cast a spell, and if it hits, which its likely will - then it makes you not able to play the game and die.
Luckily in games such as Dragon Age they stopped this ridiculous amount of fear/charm/hold spells from mages.
Persona 4 had a similiar dumb thing, seeing how in one dungeon there is an enemy who suddenly cast "death" and if your MC falls in combat its Game Over.
So I was, hmm, maybe 2-3 hour into the dungeon and suddenly this enemy "death" my MC and hit...
How certain spells arnt taken out during Q&A with testers are beyond me.
Wouldn't mind seeing Animate Dead animals (Complete Necromancer) added at some point. (First level spell, animates 1 1/4 HD (2 hp) skeletal animal per caster level)
so everything else outside of those is what i like the least.
and yeah, infravision...
I don't like having it cast on me because I have to wait for ages after the combat has finished for it to wear off, and I don't like casting it because it either causes the enemies to keep fighting, and thus is not helpful, or to run away, which is just frustrating.
Energy drain: Sux. 2 levels is hardly going to do anything to most enemies. Make it like 5 or more levels and THEN you have a worthy level 9 spell.
Mantles and Absolute immunity: Now how many enemies that pose any real threat use normal weapons? Just use prot. from magic weapons which costs a much lower level spell slot anyway.
Gate: If you must cast this, get a priest to do it. No sense wasting a level 9 slot for it.
Symbol, Death: Just use symbol stun.
Protection from elements/energy: Hmm, I guess these are ok if you want to resist stuff... but you can also cast a bunch of lower level spells to be completely immune to all of the same stuff only for a longer period of time. Also, though powerful, these seem to be a poor choice compared to the competition.
Honorable mention:
Simulacrum: Almost always outclassed by project image which is one level lower. It does have its advantages though.
Next up: High level priest spells.
But the one spell I active dislike is Lightning Bolt. On average I'm pretty sure it's cost my party more hp than my enemies, and made me scared to use all sorts of other spells that weren't single target.
I am starting to get the hang of BG magic better now, but I still sell any Lightning scrolls or wands I come across. I want my wands to be a nice backup option when I run out of memorised spells... not a gamble that can cause a party-wipe lol.
Confusion: Bad enough on its own. Now it is a level 7 spell.
Creeping doom: Since the damage is pretty much negligible anyway, Insect plague is almost always better with 100% spell failure lasting much longer.
Symbol, Death: Again with this?
Bolt of Glory: Flamestrike>>>Bolt of Glory
Fireseeds: As above.
Honorable mention:
Animal Summoning 3 and Conjure animals: Unless you want your summons to be primarily meat shields, then just go with the fire elemental/aerial servant.
Holy/Unholy Word: Seems like there are better things you could be doing with level 7, but it may have some use.