Top three spells?
I found these three spells the best/most useful in the game
1. Stone-skin: I found this to be absolutely the best spell in the game, its low lever, instant cast, and makes you ultimatly impervious to any blow taken! By far my favorite and has no downsides!
2. Skull-trap: I find this spell second best due to its major group damage tolls and gets even stronger the more you level up. I makes packs of anything non magic resistant easy kills. Its only downside is it can really hurt your party so you must be careful!
3. Summon plantar/fallen plantar: This spell rocks! Its so good, your basically summoning a goddess to kill everything in her path while you sit back and watch. She also has a chance to steal the soals of victims each hit instantly killing them. Only reason its not number one is its a level 9 spell so you gotta wait up until tob almost to even use it.
Id love to hear any other top three you may have in mind, thank you(:
1. Stone-skin: I found this to be absolutely the best spell in the game, its low lever, instant cast, and makes you ultimatly impervious to any blow taken! By far my favorite and has no downsides!
2. Skull-trap: I find this spell second best due to its major group damage tolls and gets even stronger the more you level up. I makes packs of anything non magic resistant easy kills. Its only downside is it can really hurt your party so you must be careful!
3. Summon plantar/fallen plantar: This spell rocks! Its so good, your basically summoning a goddess to kill everything in her path while you sit back and watch. She also has a chance to steal the soals of victims each hit instantly killing them. Only reason its not number one is its a level 9 spell so you gotta wait up until tob almost to even use it.
Id love to hear any other top three you may have in mind, thank you(:
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Comments
2 : Spell Immunity. Unique spell with many uses, can completly negate some encounters.
3 : Mislead. Insane cheese potential.
For other spells, I'd definitely have to go with Improved Haste. Nothing cranks up your damage output like double APR, particularly with the right fighter classes, particularly with enough +APR mods to reach 10 APR. Bye-bye... anything!
Sadly spells can't usually match attacks in damage output (see above) - EXCEPT when it comes to large numbers of enemies. For that, Skull Trap is definitely a great choice (so great it's even nerfed by SCS), but there's also Abi-Dhalzim's Horrid Wilting for more party-friendly bombing, and Dragon's Breath for the really pesky enemies (it ignores magic resistance).
But yeah, I think Stoneskin and Improved Haste cover about 80% of my spell usage. The rest is mostly dispels (Breach in particular) and the odd situational tool.
While we're at it: most overrated spell imo is Time Stop. Don't get me wrong, it can be great in some scenarios, but very often it just reduces your damage output by sooo much...
1) Melf's Minute Meteors
A low level spell that remains useful for the entire game. Crucially it counts as a +5 weapon and allows you to hit all sorts of nasty stuff with nasty immunities.
2) Stoneskin
I hate how it looks (I love my robes red!) but it makes such a huge difference to a mage's survivability. I pretty much have it constantly active from the moment I got. In fact does anyone know of any mods to change how it looks? Or an alternative spell that does the same thing without turning all my wizards brown?
3) Web
Many will probably not agree with me, but I love Web. In BG1 it works in most battles to completely shut down entire groups of enemies, allowing you to pick them off with bows or blast them away with AoE spells. In BG2 it works relatively well in SoA, especially if you combine it with a Greater Mallison. Admittedly it becomes increasingly unreliable in ToB, but even here, I find it is still effective in arguably the toughest battle of the game (the final group of guardians before Demogorgon).
Call Woodland Being
Summon Planar
Honorable mention goes to Limited Wish and Wish spells.
2. Improved Haste. Turn your fighter into an unstoppable killing machine. The extra speed also allows them to pull off other tactical chicanery, especially with Boots of Speed.
3. Death Spell. Sooo many encounters are instantly trivialized by this one, I just love it. Especially since I hate Umber Hulks as much as I do. Clear them off the board immediately, I say!
It somehow feels wrong that you didn't pick Horrid Wilting, especially as it's actually a very strong spell. :P
2) Nature's Beauty
3) Time Stop.
Hell, I could take issue with your pick of Melf's Meteors. They're nice in theory, but they do so little damage that it just isn't worth it at high levels, with a few situational exceptions. Plus, all that time your mage spends attacking with them, they could be casting more spells. Opportunity cost is a consideration here.
I actually have never tried Nature's Beauty, for some reason. Good thing I'm running with a Druid right now, so I'll get to see it soon enough.
I wouldn't dream of imposing my favourite spells on others...
I meant that given your name... u'd have picked your signature spell. :P
I do like Horrid Wilting a lot, it's just I wanted something original to top my list. Plus, I've been using more divine casters than arcane these days...at this point, I feel like bonus spells from Wisdom negates a lot of the mage's advantages.
Even if you were soloing, you could combo it with Pixie Dust. Hmm...
Arcane spells
1. Stoneskin
2. fire ball
3. Summon Planetar
If it Priest / druid spells (beside cure ofc )
1. Summon Insects
2. Defensive Harmony
3. Summon Deva
1) Breach
2) Improved Haste
3) Pierce Shield (there are other spells that basically have the same function, but I like this one best)
These choices are influenced by role of course. I usually play in a party, with a non-multi/dual class.
I agree that True Sight is also very useful. But, since some classes have it as an innate ability, I figured I could go without it on the list.
Project Image is a major convenience and I considered choosing it. However, it wouldn't be worth very much without the others.
Enjoyed reading people's responses
Horrid wilting:Cruel, cruel damage. In a chain contingency triple wiltings obliterate anything not immune to magic.
Summon Planetar: Holy! They are overpowered to the max, cast improved haste on it and it will kill most anything. Immune to most everything, has swords that dispel and vorpal, and has spells to put many clerics to shame.
Melf's minute meteors IS overpowered. It hits as +5, has +5 to hit, does absurd damage per hit:1d4+3 missile plus 3 fire? and its fire damage ignores magic resistance. Helloo, even energy blades spell (high level ability) has lightning damage that does not ignore magic resistance. My fix:only +3 enchanted, +2 to hit as per pnp, does 1 missile damage and plus 1d3 fire damage (that is subject to magic resistance) (pnp version does flat 1d4 damage:I guess it only does fire damage but the text is unclear. So 1 piercing plus 1d3 fire is closer) It should not be able to hit a demilich nor its fire damage should bypass a golem's magic resistance IMHO.
1) Sleep. The spell of BGEE, as it turns difficult packs of monsters, that can ravage your low level party into easily managable dog stew.
2) Skull Trap. The best damaging area effect spell for a long time until horrid wilting.
3) Stoneskin. I agree with the first post is a non-brainer.
I have to say though, these are the actual spells I cast the most.
1) Cure minor wounds.
2) Fireball. (It just feels so good watching monsters burn!)
3) Agnazzers scorcher (I cast it on one flame resistant party member and then we close line monsters to oblivion...)
Mirror Image
Haste
Blur
All at once.
Chant - useful at all points in the game +1 for 5 rounds. Hell to the yes!
Insect Plague - So damn OPOP. Makes getting celestial fury easy and completely ignoring Mid-High Level spell-casters for 6 rounds is very useful in those particularly difficult battles. Almost always is in my spellbook as a 1 or 2 of whenever I have a Druid with me.
2) Chain Contingency
3) Spell Shield
I've been known to download SCS to install that one component only.
Gotta look fabulous in those robes and silks while casting all those spells.