Best Arcane Spells for each level?

booinyoureyes

Sup fools!

Playing a sorcerer and I need to choose level 2 spells... and I'm already lost! On level 2!

There was a thread before that ranked each spell by level (with a score out of 5) that split them into top tier, second tier and third tier spells, but it got closed.

I was hoping to pick your minds for some wisdom on spell selection. I have an avenger who will be taking care of my web duties, and a bard as well as my sorcerer. My bard will do mostly buffs and direct damage, while my sorcerer will do a lot of crowd control.

Lets begin with the first two levels. Appreciate all the help!

Belanos

Well the best first level spell by far would be Magic Missile IMO, followed by Grease. Reflective Image would be a good defensive spell to take at that level, and Identify is something that might come in handy if your Bard can't figure out what something is. Shocking Grasp is a fairly decent spell as well. I'd avoid the AC boosting spells if I were you, they will quickly become obsolete as you find items that boost AC, like Bracers etc. Another decent first level spell is Chromatic Orb.

As for second level, Mirror Image is another good defensive spell, which is similar to Reflective Image though a bit more powerful. Melf's Acid Arrow is a decent offensive spell, and Web is a fairly good AoE spell. I haven't actually used it yet, but Glitterdust seems like it would be a good spell to use. It's basically a mass Blindness spell according to the description. Stinking Cloud is a pretty good AoE spell, but it has limitations as far as the kinds of enemies it can be used against. Undead are immune for one thing, and a few others as well. Another one I haven't used, but that looks good on paper, would be Snilloc's Snowball Swarm. It's more or less a reduced Ice Storm, which is a pretty good spell. And I had good results in the BG games with Horror, though again, some creatures like Undead are immune.

lunar

Magic missile is bread and butter damage spell. Chromatic orb can paralyse enemies if they fail a save, essentially a low lvl save or die spell. Shield is quick buff for ac and renders you immune to magic missiles which a lot of enemies use. Burning hands has area effect action and can dispose of trolls easily/cheaply. Grease has its uses in crowd control and you can cast it multiple times to cover the whole area.

Mirror image is the best low level defense spell. Glitterdust can blind the whole bunch of enemies and a sorc can cast it repeatedly to ensure everyone stays blind each four rounds. Invisibility is a life saver and has excellent uses.

Here are a few threads about the matter which I talked about with more detail:

http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/37282/sorcerer-spellpick-iwd-vs-bg#latest

http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/37365/solo-sorcerer-and-how-to-heal-an-imp#latest

supposedly

Belanos

lunar said:

Shield is quick buff for ac and renders you immune to magic missiles which a lot of enemies use.

The problem with Shield is that it doesn't take long before the AC buff part of it is obsolete. An AC of 4 is not that hard to get once you come across some Bracers, and maybe a Ring of Protection. So all you're left with is the defence against Magic Missiles. For that kind of protection, you're better off with Minor Globe of Invulnerability, which protects you against a number of different spells. While it would be a good spell for a regular Wizard to use, since they can swap it out later on, I don't feel it's a good choice for a Sorcerer.

wubble

I'm doing a solo scs run with a dragon disciple in bg at the moment (reload allowed, i'm not good enough to go no reload) I'm currently level 8. I went for mirror image as my first level 2, mirror image and shield give you a lot of time to cast spells before the enemy can hit you with the added bonus of being immune to magic missile. melf's acid arrow is good for damage and can interrupt enemy mages over a decent period of time(also it's another spell for trolls). Glitterdust is supposed to be good (i'm thinking of picking it for my next slot). Web is great and will paralyze enemies over a large area, just be careful not to hit your party members unless you have rings of free action,

Wowo

Belanos said:

lunar said:

Shield is quick buff for ac and renders you immune to magic missiles which a lot of enemies use.

The problem with Shield is that it doesn't take long before the AC buff part of it is obsolete. An AC of 4 is not that hard to get once you come across some Bracers, and maybe a Ring of Protection. So all you're left with is the defence against Magic Missiles. For that kind of protection, you're better off with Minor Globe of Invulnerability, which protects you against a number of different spells. While it would be a good spell for a regular Wizard to use, since they can swap it out later on, I don't feel it's a good choice for a Sorcerer.

I'm pretty sure that Shield is actually the best AC that a Mage can get in IWD unless you're casting other spells like Spirit Armor or a high level Barkskin. Bracers only go to AC 6 and rings of protection stack with the shield spell. There are a couple of robes that give comparable AC but low level magic missile immunity is pretty worthwhile for a first level slot I think.

Color Spray, Burning Hands, Chromatic Orb, Shield, Magic Missile would be my first level picks I guess. Not sure on the exact order.

Web, Mirror Image, Glitterdust I'd say are the must haves for level 2.

Belanos

Wowo said:

Bracers only go to AC 6 and rings of protection stack with the shield spell. There are a couple of robes that give comparable AC but low level magic missile immunity is pretty worthwhile for a first level slot I think.

Yes, Persio's Robe will bring you down to at least AC 4, along with some Bracers. So as soon as you get that, the spell is pretty much obsolete. There's other items as well that will lower your AC. It's useful in the early part of the game, but it doesn't have the longevity that a Sorcerer needs. In time you'll end up with a useless spell. As I mentioned, it would be good for a regular Wizard to have, but not a Sorcerer. And if you're playing as a Dragon Disciple, it's most definitely a useless spell as you get all those AC bonuses from the kit.

Wowo

Belanos said:

Wowo said:

Bracers only go to AC 6 and rings of protection stack with the shield spell. There are a couple of robes that give comparable AC but low level magic missile immunity is pretty worthwhile for a first level slot I think.

Yes, Persio's Robe will bring you down to at least AC 4, along with some Bracers. So as soon as you get that, the spell is pretty much obsolete. There's other items as well that will lower your AC. It's useful in the early part of the game, but it doesn't have the longevity that a Sorcerer needs. In time you'll end up with a useless spell. As I mentioned, it would be good for a regular Wizard to have, but not a Sorcerer. And if you're playing as a Dragon Disciple, it's most definitely a useless spell as you get all those AC bonuses from the kit.

Dragon Disciple AC stacks with shield which actually increases it's value compared to a normal sorcerer.

Persio? You mean the a Necromancers Robe from Presio which has an AC of 8? That's 4 worse than the shield spell.

In fact, I can only find 1 robe that has better AC than the shield spell which is the robe of the watcher. Are there any others available to a sorcerer?

If the Robe of the Watcher is the only one then it seems worthwhile to have shield for the good AC for such a big portion of the game.

Minor Globe is a great spell but sorcerers have other priorities in level 4 slots especially in IWD with a distinct lack of threatening casters so it'll come late if at all and any cast of minor globe are stone skins that can't be cast.

I stand by my suggestion that shield is a good choice at level 1 along with another spell (color spray probably).

Pecker

If you aren't playing with maxed out stats, then cat's grace and strength are amazing. They give essential stats for your frontliners, they last all day, and they're useful all game.

I also like knock since I usually go thiefless, ha.

Wowo

Pecker said:

If you aren't playing with maxed out stats, then cat's grace and strength are amazing. They give essential stats for your frontliners, they last all day, and they're useful all game.

I also like knock since I usually go thiefless, ha.

But traps?!

I never really got the incentive to play with non-maxed stats. Really seems that a sorcerer would be more fun to play if he wasn't spending all his slots buffing some weak and agileless companions.

That said, I do like cats grace and strength anyway as they can round out some strength percentiles or give a thief a slight buff to his skills, just not on a sorcerer.

Pecker

Meh, there's only one area where traps are much more than just a slight annoyance.

And yeah, I agree. I found that once you get level 2 wizard spells there isn't a huge difference between a non-maxed and a maxed run. You just have to cast a bunch of spells after every rest which gets annoying.

kensai

Heh, I know how to play this game!
Best 1lvl spell is Identify

lunar

kensai said:

Heh, I know how to play this game!
Best 1lvl spell is Identify

Oh yes if you don't have a bard (and you should have an unkitted bard in iwd they are awesome!) identify on a sorcerer can save you a lot of trouble of identifying many magical items you will find. However if you have a bard he can ID most things with her lore.

Fandraxx

I use like 3 spells in this game.... magic missile fireball and haste, i call it the holy trinity.

the_spyder

Not sure if it is worth anything, but in my current play through, I accidentally used the one and only Identify scroll that i've come across thus far. Even with a bard in the group, at level 5 there are still things that I can't identify. Later on it may not be such a big deal, but that means that there are low level items that are unusable till i either find another scroll or get higher level. That "To me" boosts the relative value of Identify.

Belanos

the_spyder said:

Not sure if it is worth anything, but in my current play through, I accidentally used the one and only Identify scroll that i've come across thus far.

Orric has two of them for sale at his shop in Kuldahar.

the_spyder

@Belanos - thanks very much for that, and I will make sure to go pick them up the next time I am in town. :-)

My point was that the lack of readily available identification was felt very keenly when I didn't have it to hand. Thus I feel it has some value and relevance as an important 1st level spell.

Wowo

Can pay for individual identifies anyway for crucial activated items.

Redrake

Identify? Don't people learn that in IWD1 bards are paramount?

jackjack

Redrake said:

Identify? Don't people learn that in IWD1 bards are paramount?

Is that why you keep me around?
:P

kensai

Redrake said:

Identify? Don't people learn that in IWD1 bards are paramount?

boxman

I'd say at some point a sorcerer should expend a 2nd level slot for Melf's Acid arrow. Very few monsters have resistance to acid, making it a good choice against most anything. In my opinion, it is the best choice for an offensive spell from lvl 2 and it might be the only one you need from that level.

wubble

boxman said:

I'd say at some point a sorcerer should expend a 2nd level slot for Melf's Acid arrow. Very few monsters have resistance to acid, making it a good choice against most anything. In my opinion, it is the best choice for an offensive spell from lvl 2 and it might be the only one you need from that level.

It's also great for disrupting enemy mages, and if you play SCS most enemy mages cast shield so they're immune to magic missile which means you either need to hit them (with terrible thac0) or cast another damage spell at them.

lunar

boxman said:

I'd say at some point a sorcerer should expend a 2nd level slot for Melf's Acid arrow. Very few monsters have resistance to acid, making it a good choice against most anything. In my opinion, it is the best choice for an offensive spell from lvl 2 and it might be the only one you need from that level.

Vitriolic sphere is bigger and better. Then again Mordenkainen's force missile is absolutely brutal at high levels too. Damn IWD has way too many cool attack spells. By contrast, Bg2 used to have tons of spell protections/removals stuff but now they are in iwd too, thanks to enhanced edition.

boxman

Vitriolic sphere is better, but that's a level 4 spell. By the time you are choosing level 4 spells for a sorcerer choices get real tough, because there are so many awesome spells to choose from.

the_spyder

Redrake said:

Identify? Don't people learn that in IWD1 bards are paramount?

I've got a bard. There are still items that she can't readily identify at level 5. Just sayin... It's easy to be trite and say "Pay for it". The fact that everyone uses it in one form or another speaks to value.

In a Sorcerer build? Maybe not. But on the whole, I think it is functional and one of the most useful spells in the game, at least at lower levels (and yes, even if you have a bard in your group).

FinneousPJ

@the_spyder Thankfully you can teach your bard identify.