improved alacrity coupled with vecna++, pretty much lets us cast spells instantly and uninterrupted already, seriously decreasing TS's value. Not to count some enemies who are just plain cheesily immune to it.
improved alacrity coupled with vecna++, pretty much lets us cast spells instantly and uninterrupted already, seriously decreasing TS's value. Not to count some enemies who are just plain cheesily immune to it.
That's fair. I agree with you. I feel like the TS immunity increases with ascension mod as well.
For pure magic dmg... BG1=cloudkill. mostly instant death BG2=sunray always very useful and quick cast IWD/IWD2=horrid wilting. saved my 455 many times when surrounded
Wish(for double length Time Stop + Improved Alacrity), Time Stop. There are enemies immune to Time Stop, so it all depends. Other powerful offensive spells are Inprisonment, Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting, Finger of Death... ok, you know what I'm talking about.
Wait, the planetars don't have a party stack limit? I thought they did, projected image or not...
No summon limit for planetars, their "gender" isn't "summoned"
No, it's because of that. Planetars and Devas have a limit of 1, the point is that those limits do not apply to the Project Image.
Btw, the most offensive/useful spell in BG1 was probably Magic Missile, followed by Fireball. In BG2 the most damaging combos come from Chain Contingency: try to protect yourself from fire then load it with 3 Incendiary Clouds centered on yourself (so they will ignore magic resistance), or protect from magic energy and do the same with 3 Skull Traps... You can also load 3 ADHW, but they will work great only vs enemies w/o magic resistance.
Ps. Vampiric Touch and Sleep will work differently in BG:EE: you wont be allowed to cast other Vampiric Touch if the effect of the first is still active, and creatures affected by Sleep will wake up when hit.
You might get your entire party killed, but they are both capable of creating an infinite spell loop and allowing you to cast anything as many times as you want.
The most absurd wild surge I got involved a chain-casting of high-level magic missiles onto an enemy which ended up being cast twice and area-effect. The result was the screen filling with about 140 magic missiles, bringing my brand-new-as-of-2010 computer to a slideshow.
Command Word: Die, at least in bg1. You get it right off the bat, it is quick to cast (compared to hold person), you can keep an enemy down with it and it works on a lot of enemies. Haste is also very powerful in that game.
In BG2 probably Horrid Wilting and dispel/remove magic.
Command Word: Die? Power Word: Kill was like a level 8 arcane (or something). The only thing close to what you're describing is 'Command', the level 1 priest spell.
The command spell would simply put the target to sleep for a single round, amongst the most useless spells in the world. Even more useless than the sleep spell, which at least had the benefit of affecting more than one target.
Technically speaking, I would say chromatic sphere would be the most powerful spell, since it's one of the few that helpfully scales with level. At something around level 7 it had a save vs. spell or be petrified or instantly killed or something crazy like that. This is a level 1 spell, so really it's hard to beat the power ratio there.
The only problem was that everything in BG1 has absurd saving throws, except for your characters, who have shitty saving throws. The most irritating enemies in the world would be the Sirens with the Dire Charm. If I didn't have something of charm protection - or was too stingy to use it - I would just send Minsc in there solo to soak up all the charm spells while I made a sandwich.
Charm spells were probably the worst part of the game, to be honest.
Anyway, I think there was a mod that changed the command spell to not be so unspeakably useless (it's a hard sell, trading CLW spells to put a monster to sleep for ONE round. And he wakes up if he takes damage. And only affects things with less than 5HD or something. And doesn't work against things immune to sleep. And there's a save. Probably.)
At least in IWD1 which I'm playing atm. What makes Command useful is that it has no saving throw and a cast time of 1. Thus you can use it as a counter spell or quickly cast it when someone gets close to you and then run back to kite them some more after the round ends. I think its one of those undervalued treasures that having at least 1 of can never really be seen as a bad thing.
Command Word: Die, at least in bg1. You get it right off the bat, it is quick to cast (compared to hold person), you can keep an enemy down with it and it works on a lot of enemies. Haste is also very powerful in that game.
In BG2 probably Horrid Wilting and dispel/remove magic.
Command Word: Die? Power Word: Kill was like a level 8 arcane (or something). The only thing close to what you're describing is 'Command', the level 1 priest spell.
The command spell would simply put the target to sleep for a single round, amongst the most useless spells in the world. Even more useless than the sleep spell, which at least had the benefit of affecting more than one target.
Command, Command Word: Die, same thing. If you read page 115 in your Baldur's Gate 1 Manual. "Command" is called Command Word: Die there rather than just the shortened "Command" featured in the game.
It is not a useless spell. It stops the target for only a round true, but in Baldur's Gate 1 one round is all you need for a lot of the game to take out the more pesky enemies. Since it is quick casting you can keep one enemy down very easily, and the only cost is level one spells. It also has no saving throw as Dragonspear noted, and it is something that you can get not that long into the game thanks to Viconia.
Now granted looking back when I made that post almost two months ago to the day I probably should have read "arcane" rather than just spells in general in the headline. There were other threads from around that time that asked similar questions and it was an oversight on my part to include a priest spell in an arcane thread. I still stand by my statement that it is a powerful spell in BG1 simply because throughout the game it can be an effective means of countering an enemies spellcasting, or causing an enemy fighter (or some of the earlier assassins) to be open to attack. But if I had to specifcally rechoose the most powerful offensive arcane spells for BG1 I would say sleep for the first half of the game (because you can get it right off the bat, but the save throw limits its usefulness later to swarms of weaker enemies) and cloudkill once you get access to the wands/level 5 arcane spells. Then again haste is still very useful. So I can't decide on just two
When those two lovey-dovey assassins in the Undercellar started flirting with each other I just went Invisibility Purge + Dire Charm and made them fight it out.
Best spell: Butt-Kicking III, Improved Hamster Summoning, or Dispel Enemies.
I have a fondness for the time stop-energy blade combo : Cast Energy Blade, Time Stop and then throw all those nice blades at the ennemy. It almost always kill them when the time unfreezes
3 high-level wizards casting Spell Sequencer, each spell sequencer being 3 Fireballs... the wizards center their casting on the point man as he charges blindly into combat; everything around him is pretty much toast
Not the most powerful overall, but fireball is probably my most used spell (along with Haste). It's great for dealing with mobs, especially since once you have the Robe of Vecna it's basically insta-cast. You can throw one out at the beginning of battle to soften up the enemies, and unlike cloudkill it doesn't linger so your own melee fighters can charge in and mop up without taking damage.
@Kaxon I agree, not the most powerful overall...against mind flayers this tactic would be pointless... but, if you are dealing w/ say 8 enemies, it's amazing how many times this tactic results in an "is that it?" combat... @Cheesebelly...it may taste like chicken, but at least the chicken has been cooked to a proper temperature
3 high-level wizards casting Spell Sequencer, each spell sequencer being 3 Fireballs... the wizards center their casting on the point man as he charges blindly into combat; everything around him is pretty much toast
That's brilliant. Ever tried the Bunnies of Doom? Requires Wish or Limited Wish, ask to 'Overrun my enemies' then charm/befriend the rabbits and chuck in a Fireball or Sunfire OR just light them on fire. If memory serves (and this worked for me) it created a horde of flaming missiles that not only kept the foes from being able to bypass the flaming wall of fur and squealing, but also gave me time to sit back and vaporize them further.
Comments
... but what gear makes time stop useless?
Combine with ToB critical strike... ouch.
Playing on hardcore, its pretty much the bread and butter of killing stuff.
It's even comparable to horrid wilting
Ok now that is out of the way
Spell Sequencer Magic Missile and Web Fireball.
That said I've really come to love spells like sleep =/ But come on Fireball goes boom and makes shinies for a second
BG1=cloudkill. mostly instant death
BG2=sunray always very useful and quick cast
IWD/IWD2=horrid wilting. saved my 455 many times when surrounded
Btw, the most offensive/useful spell in BG1 was probably Magic Missile, followed by Fireball.
In BG2 the most damaging combos come from Chain Contingency: try to protect yourself from fire then load it with 3 Incendiary Clouds centered on yourself (so they will ignore magic resistance), or protect from magic energy and do the same with 3 Skull Traps... You can also load 3 ADHW, but they will work great only vs enemies w/o magic resistance.
Ps. Vampiric Touch and Sleep will work differently in BG:EE: you wont be allowed to cast other Vampiric Touch if the effect of the first is still active, and creatures affected by Sleep will wake up when hit.
You might get your entire party killed, but they are both capable of creating an infinite spell loop and allowing you to cast anything as many times as you want.
Examples.
Cast NRD: Limited Wish, restore 4 NRD.
Cast Wish: restore all spells.
Time Stop + Shapechange: Mindflayer.
Project Image + Wizard Eye.
Chain Contingency (Project Image x3; status=helpless) + Project Image. That means 4 clones of yourself!
Time Stop + Improved Alacrity.
Project Image -> Shapechange: Mindflayer. Your clone will be able to attack!
Nahal's Reckless Dweomer -> Wish (Rememorize all spells). Infinite spells; only reliable at higher levels and with good luck.
Chain Contingency (Lower Resistance x3; status=enemy sighted) + Spellstrike.
With -75% to lightning, the character took 92 damage, after making a successful save on a lot of the hits.
Literally 130d6 (130-780) damage lol.
Most of the time you're lucky to get two hits with one cast though.
By the way, I think Melf's Acid Arrow and Flame Arrow are nice spells.
The command spell would simply put the target to sleep for a single round, amongst the most useless spells in the world. Even more useless than the sleep spell, which at least had the benefit of affecting more than one target.
Technically speaking, I would say chromatic sphere would be the most powerful spell, since it's one of the few that helpfully scales with level. At something around level 7 it had a save vs. spell or be petrified or instantly killed or something crazy like that. This is a level 1 spell, so really it's hard to beat the power ratio there.
The only problem was that everything in BG1 has absurd saving throws, except for your characters, who have shitty saving throws. The most irritating enemies in the world would be the Sirens with the Dire Charm. If I didn't have something of charm protection - or was too stingy to use it - I would just send Minsc in there solo to soak up all the charm spells while I made a sandwich.
Charm spells were probably the worst part of the game, to be honest.
Anyway, I think there was a mod that changed the command spell to not be so unspeakably useless (it's a hard sell, trading CLW spells to put a monster to sleep for ONE round. And he wakes up if he takes damage. And only affects things with less than 5HD or something. And doesn't work against things immune to sleep. And there's a save. Probably.)
At least in IWD1 which I'm playing atm. What makes Command useful is that it has no saving throw and a cast time of 1. Thus you can use it as a counter spell or quickly cast it when someone gets close to you and then run back to kite them some more after the round ends. I think its one of those undervalued treasures that having at least 1 of can never really be seen as a bad thing.
It is not a useless spell. It stops the target for only a round true, but in Baldur's Gate 1 one round is all you need for a lot of the game to take out the more pesky enemies. Since it is quick casting you can keep one enemy down very easily, and the only cost is level one spells. It also has no saving throw as Dragonspear noted, and it is something that you can get not that long into the game thanks to Viconia.
Now granted looking back when I made that post almost two months ago to the day I probably should have read "arcane" rather than just spells in general in the headline. There were other threads from around that time that asked similar questions and it was an oversight on my part to include a priest spell in an arcane thread. I still stand by my statement that it is a powerful spell in BG1 simply because throughout the game it can be an effective means of countering an enemies spellcasting, or causing an enemy fighter (or some of the earlier assassins) to be open to attack. But if I had to specifcally rechoose the most powerful offensive arcane spells for BG1 I would say sleep for the first half of the game (because you can get it right off the bat, but the save throw limits its usefulness later to swarms of weaker enemies) and cloudkill once you get access to the wands/level 5 arcane spells. Then again haste is still very useful. So I can't decide on just two
Best spell: Butt-Kicking III, Improved Hamster Summoning, or Dispel Enemies.
my point man has fire resistance of over 100%
3 high-level wizards casting Spell Sequencer, each spell sequencer being 3 Fireballs...
the wizards center their casting on the point man as he charges blindly into combat; everything around him is pretty much toast
Then he gets back to camp and promptly grumbles at the wizards for stealing all his fun
/LeeroyJenkins
I agree, not the most powerful overall...against mind flayers this tactic would be pointless...
but, if you are dealing w/ say 8 enemies, it's amazing how many times this tactic results in an "is that it?" combat...
@Cheesebelly...it may taste like chicken, but at least the chicken has been cooked to a proper temperature