Spell selection for a ninja
Vakarian
Member Posts: 94
So, I'm thinking about rolling an elven FMT that I'm going to play with a sort of mystical ninja bent. Start with specialization in scimitars (for wakizashis and ninja-tos, mostly) and darts (as a stand-in for shurikens), get two-weapon profs at 3 and 6. Thief skills focusing on Hide/MS initially, picking up detect illusions, set traps, and maybe find traps later (will likely have another thief in the party most of the time for traps/locks)
For the mage levels, I'd like to limit her to roughly the spell selection available to sorcerers (give or take a spell or two here and there) and to spells that make sense from a flavor standpoint. I'm thinking mostly illusion spells, with some buff/debuff spells and maybe a few others that fit the character. Not completely ruling out direct damage spells, but they shouldn't be her forte. I'm not looking for the most powerful spells, but I'd rather not have ones that have extremely limited utility either. (Also, I don't have much experience with higher level spells, so I'm just guessing from level 6 on up.)
Here is what I've come up with so far [updated from suggestions below]:
Level 1 - blindness, sleep, spook, grease, shield, friends
Level 2 - blur, glitterdust, mirror image, knock, invisibility, stinking cloud
Level 3 - haste, slow, minor spell deflection, wraithform, skull trap, MMM
Level 4 - confusion, improved invisibility, greater malison, wizard eye, spirit armor
Level 5 - shadow door, spell immunity (divination only), cloudkill, chaos
Level 6 - improved haste, mislead, contingency, death fog, PW: silence, invisible stalker
Level 7 - Mass invisibility, project image, PW:stun
Level 8 - Incendiary cloud, PW:blind, maze, simulacrum
Note that this character will not be the only mage in the party, so the job of spell protection removal can be elsewhere. Any spell suggestions (or suggestions about thief skill progression or weapon proficiencies) are welcome.
For the mage levels, I'd like to limit her to roughly the spell selection available to sorcerers (give or take a spell or two here and there) and to spells that make sense from a flavor standpoint. I'm thinking mostly illusion spells, with some buff/debuff spells and maybe a few others that fit the character. Not completely ruling out direct damage spells, but they shouldn't be her forte. I'm not looking for the most powerful spells, but I'd rather not have ones that have extremely limited utility either. (Also, I don't have much experience with higher level spells, so I'm just guessing from level 6 on up.)
Here is what I've come up with so far [updated from suggestions below]:
Level 1 - blindness, sleep, spook, grease, shield, friends
Level 2 - blur, glitterdust, mirror image, knock, invisibility, stinking cloud
Level 3 - haste, slow, minor spell deflection, wraithform, skull trap, MMM
Level 4 - confusion, improved invisibility, greater malison, wizard eye, spirit armor
Level 5 - shadow door, spell immunity (divination only), cloudkill, chaos
Level 6 - improved haste, mislead, contingency, death fog, PW: silence, invisible stalker
Level 7 - Mass invisibility, project image, PW:stun
Level 8 - Incendiary cloud, PW:blind, maze, simulacrum
Note that this character will not be the only mage in the party, so the job of spell protection removal can be elsewhere. Any spell suggestions (or suggestions about thief skill progression or weapon proficiencies) are welcome.
Post edited by Vakarian on
6
Comments
Lvl9-time stop and black blade of the disaster backstabs for the win!!! You might not be able to reach these high lvls as a mage, however there are always scrolls and simulacrum tricks.
@elminster - I like minor spell deflection at 3, but I think that non-detection might be in the "extremely limited utility" category.
Could use a few more to fill out lvls 3-6...
Rolled the character and started playing yesterday - just hit lvls 3/3/4, and she's just getting to the point where she's starting to feel ninja-like.
[updated list above]
For L6, if you're going the cloud spell route, Death Fog is also an option. It's gassy and feels like something from a trap. Other candidates are Contingency (a cunning ninja will have escape hatches) and Power Word Silence (for someone whose job involves silence and silencing people).
If it's not too on the nose, I would agree with main-handing a wakizashi and build toward dual-wielding with a ninjatō in your offhand. For ranged attacks, darts make a lot of sense here.
Edit: of course, you can always be that guy and wield a katana :P
@jackjack - not sure what all the options are for late SoA into ToB, but I was thinking of main-handing that wisdom-draining wakizashi and off-handing the scarlet ninjato after getting UAI. Definitely going with darts for ranged. Not sure what to do with the leftover profs - either 3 or 4 left depending on if I put 2 or 3 pips in two-weapon style.
@CrevsDaak - yeah, I saw that about wraithform, but @Dee put up a fix to include it at http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/23821/7007-core-no-wraithform
[updated spell list]
Also, just want to note that this has probably been the most enjoyable character I've played (and probably my best chance of making it to the end of the game before my restartitis kicks in.) A strong sense of character has made it much easier to roleplay (rather than metagame) my way through in terms of selecting companions, choosing which quests to go on/how to complete them, and even how to approach battles. It's been a lot of fun.
However, as @jackjack rightly pointed out, a third pip in dualwielding doesn't make a huge difference, especially at higher levels. Besides, in your specific case, I imagine your ninja to be creative and very versatile, always looking for ways to take optimal advantage of a given situation. So all in all, your first option, two pips in staves and two in daggers (both very fitting weapons for a ninja), makes the most sense to me.
Anyway, a Fighter with Long Swords +++++ and TWS +++ was a beast through all SoA, normal number of attacks is 9/2 for the build I was using, so... I don't see what's wrong with the third proficiency point, I like my off-hand and main-hand THAC0 to be the same (so many thanks for the EE for adding the Cloak of Unerring Strike or however it's called).