Feeblemind is as good as finger of death:same save penalty and if it sticks the victim is doomed.
Cone of cold is an underwhelming spell, very difficult to use effectively without hurting your own party, etc. But it does very high amount of damage. And, in the ascension mod Yaga Shura battle this spell is extremely useful as big Y has every resistance set to %99 but cold. Spamming cone of colds under improved alacrity, and even blasting 3 of them via trigger really hurts him a lot. In this battle I came to like the awesomeness of Cone of Cold. And frankly, the damage it does to regular enemies is quite high, too. Much higher than its fiery counterpart Sunfire. At caster level 20, Sunfire does 15-90 damage, while CoC blasts for 40-120 points. It also freezes and shatters enemies for extra 'cool' points. :-)
I've found stacking Melf's Acid Arrows on any caster can put them out of commission fast, especially if you 'stagger' them so they apply damage at different times. Even if they hit a Mirror Image the acid damage still eats away at the target every round, so you're not helpless against those damn mirrored mages who actually use Shield to counter your Magic Missiles! It's a bad damage spell but great for utility.
I am finding that ghoul touch can be pretty handy for my charname necromancer. he gets in and paralyzes the enemy and then steps back while Dorn and Shar Teel and Kagain take him down. With the extra hit points and some well placed protection, he is good for some limited engagements in front ranks. I suspect this will change when I reach later stages and BG2.
I've found stacking Melf's Acid Arrows on any caster can put them out of commission fast, especially if you 'stagger' them so they apply damage at different times. Even if they hit a Mirror Image the acid damage still eats away at the target every round, so you're not helpless against those damn mirrored mages who actually use Shield to counter your Magic Missiles! It's a bad damage spell but great for utility.
Putting two in a sequencer is a nice spell to have against enemy mages as well if you can hit them before they cast protections.
I don't know how underrated this spell is, but recently I discovered the joy of Chaos. I hadn't been impressed by it before since it seemed like melee enemies still ended up attacking me too much for my liking, but then I discovered how great it is against spellcasters. Being a 5th level AoE, it gets around minor globe of invulnerability and minor spell deflection, and a confused mage can't cast spells.
I know this thread has mostly focused on arcane spells, but are there any underrated cleric/druid spells people want to point out? I feel like I'm not getting full value from my divine casters' spell slots.
In BG1 i love Sleep. With Sleep you can knock down whole groups of easy/medium encounters and kill them one at one with Dynaheir's bare hands auto-attack. Hehehe. :P
Wail of the banshee is very weak against most enemies. But it is a mage killer. You see, mages have weak save vs death magic which this spell forces. Cast it against a lvl 32 mage and he will drop dead approx. %50 of the time. Instantly. Nothing can protect the mage from this. No stoneskin, pro from energy, pro from weapons, absolute immunity, mirror image, mislead, no spell deflection, turning, no not even Spell trap. You don't ned to apply true sight, ruby rayx3, dispel/remove magic, breach and then hack the mage repeatedly to kill him. One spell will do. The horrible wail will cut right through the many layered defenses of the mage and chill his heart to a stop. (Death ward of spell immunity:necromancy are the only ways, but no vanilla mage uses these)
I don't know how underrated this spell is, but recently I discovered the joy of Chaos. I hadn't been impressed by it before since it seemed like melee enemies still ended up attacking me too much for my liking, but then I discovered how great it is against spellcasters. Being a 5th level AoE, it gets around minor globe of invulnerability and minor spell deflection, and a confused mage can't cast spells. blockquote>
Chaos is probably the best 5th level mage spell in the game. It has a large area of effect, doesn't affect allies, just about completely shuts down anyone it affects, and is so hard to resist that it is really good even in ToB.
Shocking Grasp is awesome. In ToB it can actually do more damage than Magic Missle. I believe its level-damage cap is at level 20, so if your mage has a fire giant strength belt, it will deal 1d8 + 20 electricity damage and 1d2 + 10 crushing. With no save.
You don't use Magic Missile for damage. You use it because it hits the target five times without fail so it has a very high chance of interrupting spells mid-cast.
It was only multiplying the 1d2 fist damage (and the +1 bonus from my Assassin) but it was still pretty cool in early BG2 when you don't have good gear anymore. The problem is that I can't reproduce it (I started a Black Pits 2 game and I can't backstab with it).
I'm pretty sure it worked, alas BG2 didn't get updated in a long time so my memory is probably failling me.
Wail of the banshee is very weak against most enemies. But it is a mage killer. You see, mages have weak save vs death magic which this spell forces. Cast it against a lvl 32 mage and he will drop dead approx. %50 of the time. Instantly. Nothing can protect the mage from this. No stoneskin, pro from energy, pro from weapons, absolute immunity, mirror image, mislead, no spell deflection, turning, no not even Spell trap. You don't ned to apply true sight, ruby rayx3, dispel/remove magic, breach and then hack the mage repeatedly to kill him. One spell will do. The horrible wail will cut right through the many layered defenses of the mage and chill his heart to a stop. (Death ward of spell immunity:necromancy are the only ways, but no vanilla mage uses these)
Why not just cast Symbol, Death? It does the same thing since you aren't going to find a mage in the game (Elminster being a rare example) that has both 60 health and isn't already immune to killing spells (like a lich).
I reallly like Bigby's Clenched Fist, since it lets you stun for a round with no saving throw. It's the main reason why Shocking Grasp is great in ToB, since you don't have to worry about wasting Shocking Grasp if you attack someone who's stunned.
Wail of the banshee is very weak against most enemies. But it is a mage killer. You see, mages have weak save vs death magic which this spell forces. Cast it against a lvl 32 mage and he will drop dead approx. %50 of the time. Instantly. Nothing can protect the mage from this. No stoneskin, pro from energy, pro from weapons, absolute immunity, mirror image, mislead, no spell deflection, turning, no not even Spell trap. You don't ned to apply true sight, ruby rayx3, dispel/remove magic, breach and then hack the mage repeatedly to kill him. One spell will do. The horrible wail will cut right through the many layered defenses of the mage and chill his heart to a stop. (Death ward of spell immunity:necromancy are the only ways, but no vanilla mage uses these)
Why not just cast Symbol, Death? It does the same thing since you aren't going to find a mage in the game (Elminster being a rare example) that has both 60 health and isn't already immune to killing spells (like a lich).
You may be right, but there may be mages with 61 hp to thwart symbol:death and pw:kill type of effects. Also IIRC symbol spells are not party friendly so you can end up affecting your own party members or yourself when you cast it. Also, wail of the banshee has a cool sound effect, so it has bonus points for style, :-)
I second the motion for low-levels Spook, Bless, and Aid.
As for Chromatic Orb - I almost always take one, but when it comes down to using it, I find I opt for the rather greater guaranteed damage of Magic Missile over the highly saveable special effects potential of the Orb almost every time. Of course, if a 7th level or higher Orb DOES take full effect, it is pretty much a combat ender. It IS a great way to open against a high level opponent that is going to be a handful for the whole party. Who knows? You might paralyze the b..er..lich.
I think Spook is pretty underrated. It's inly a single-target fear effect, but the save penalty goes up as you level. It was pretty useful for my bard when I fought Firkraag and the shadow Dragon recently. 1 lower resistance, 1 greater malison and spook really sets those 2 dragons a-runnin.
I discovered that Spook was a great tool for low-level party wyvern hunting/defense in the passages between the Cloakwood zones. Even just spooking 1 of the two so the party can quickly focus & shoot down one at a time is terrific. Spooking both is like shooting fish in a barrel. (If only I could find an equivalent tactic for ettercaps - maybe Blindness?)
Let's not forget Nahal's Reckless Dewomer. Once a Wild Mage reaches about 6th level, it's actually worth calling up NRD a lot, as long as you get Chaos Shield up first. The 21 number bump to the Wild surge table makes a BIG difference in how dangerous the random effects are...to the good guys.
In BG1 i love Sleep. With Sleep you can knock down whole groups of easy/medium encounters and kill them one at one with Dynaheir's bare hands auto-attack. Hehehe. :P
It's even more fun if you give dualed Imoen, junior mage, the Dagger of Venom +2. She will hit the down evil doer in one or two swings...at which point you stop her and send he on to the next hapless victim, since the after effects of the Dagger strike will finish off each target. Kinda cool to watch Imoen plow through a whole ambush party of bandits or gnolls with one Sleep (or a Color Spray) and the DoV, while the rest of the party stands around, tightening bowstrings, counting gold pieces, etc.
In BG1 i love Sleep. With Sleep you can knock down whole groups of easy/medium encounters and kill them one at one with Dynaheir's bare hands auto-attack. Hehehe. :P
It's even more fun if you give dualed Imoen, junior mage, the Dagger of Venom +2. She will hit the down evil doer in one or two swings...at which point you stop her and send he on to the next hapless victim, since the after effects of the Dagger strike will finish off each target. Kinda cool to watch Imoen plow through a whole ambush party of bandits or gnolls with one Sleep (or a Color Spray) and the DoV, while the rest of the party stands around, tightening bowstrings, counting gold pieces, etc.
That's also one of the best strategies I found for early game BG1 fights as a Kensai/Conjurer/Assassin. None cpuld touch my PC, and I killed my enemies very easily (gotta mention I used throwing daggers to do this, even if my character was un-proficient with them by that moment, not melee daggers).
In BG1 i love Sleep. With Sleep you can knock down whole groups of easy/medium encounters and kill them one at one with Dynaheir's bare hands auto-attack. Hehehe. :P
It's even more fun if you give dualed Imoen, junior mage, the Dagger of Venom +2. She will hit the down evil doer in one or two swings...at which point you stop her and send he on to the next hapless victim, since the after effects of the Dagger strike will finish off each target. Kinda cool to watch Imoen plow through a whole ambush party of bandits or gnolls with one Sleep (or a Color Spray) and the DoV, while the rest of the party stands around, tightening bowstrings, counting gold pieces, etc.
I also think that, as Baalspawn, it is only fitting for Imoen to have some awesome weapons such as Whistling Sword and Dagger of Venom. Besides, with her irritating tendency to rush forward without instructions, precisely when you are trying to delicately pick apart a cohort of threats, she might as well pack-a-punch and I can resurrect her at leisure.
I think it's kind of a kinky pleasure of hers, the whole Resurrection thing...
Wail of the banshee is very weak against most enemies. But it is a mage killer. You see, mages have weak save vs death magic which this spell forces. Cast it against a lvl 32 mage and he will drop dead approx. %50 of the time. Instantly. Nothing can protect the mage from this. No stoneskin, pro from energy, pro from weapons, absolute immunity, mirror image, mislead, no spell deflection, turning, no not even Spell trap. You don't ned to apply true sight, ruby rayx3, dispel/remove magic, breach and then hack the mage repeatedly to kill him. One spell will do. The horrible wail will cut right through the many layered defenses of the mage and chill his heart to a stop. (Death ward of spell immunity:necromancy are the only ways, but no vanilla mage uses these)
Why not just cast Symbol, Death? It does the same thing since you aren't going to find a mage in the game (Elminster being a rare example) that has both 60 health and isn't already immune to killing spells (like a lich).
You may be right, but there may be mages with 61 hp to thwart symbol:death and pw:kill type of effects. Also IIRC symbol spells are not party friendly so you can end up affecting your own party members or yourself when you cast it. Also, wail of the banshee has a cool sound effect, so it has bonus points for style, :-)
There are probably a few mages over 60 health (specific Cowled Enforcers have 67 health) but the vast majority of the mages you encounter in the game won't. Even Lycanth the Mad only has 50 health and he's a level 20 mage found deep in Abazigal's lair.
Yea them getting killed is a risk but since its a spell that you actually get to send towards a particular target/area (rather than it being a spell that you cast in an AoE around you like Wail of the Banshee) its still probably a safer spell to use than Wail of the Banshee.
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Cone of cold is an underwhelming spell, very difficult to use effectively without hurting your own party, etc. But it does very high amount of damage. And, in the ascension mod Yaga Shura battle this spell is extremely useful as big Y has every resistance set to %99 but cold. Spamming cone of colds under improved alacrity, and even blasting 3 of them via trigger really hurts him a lot. In this battle I came to like the awesomeness of Cone of Cold. And frankly, the damage it does to regular enemies is quite high, too. Much higher than its fiery counterpart Sunfire. At caster level 20, Sunfire does 15-90 damage, while CoC blasts for 40-120 points. It also freezes and shatters enemies for extra 'cool' points. :-)
I know this thread has mostly focused on arcane spells, but are there any underrated cleric/druid spells people want to point out? I feel like I'm not getting full value from my divine casters' spell slots.
With Sleep you can knock down whole groups of easy/medium encounters and kill them one at one with Dynaheir's bare hands auto-attack. Hehehe. :P
I'm pretty sure it worked, alas BG2 didn't get updated in a long time so my memory is probably failling me.
As for Chromatic Orb - I almost always take one, but when it comes down to using it, I find I opt for the rather greater guaranteed damage of Magic Missile over the highly saveable special effects potential of the Orb almost every time. Of course, if a 7th level or higher Orb DOES take full effect, it is pretty much a combat ender. It IS a great way to open against a high level opponent that is going to be a handful for the whole party. Who knows? You might paralyze the b..er..lich.
I think it's kind of a kinky pleasure of hers, the whole Resurrection thing...
Yea them getting killed is a risk but since its a spell that you actually get to send towards a particular target/area (rather than it being a spell that you cast in an AoE around you like Wail of the Banshee) its still probably a safer spell to use than Wail of the Banshee.