Best spell combos for the mage and priest

brus

What sequence of spells do you find usefull in different and the most challenging situations?
For example, combo like Breach/Malision/Lower resistance/magic missile works wonders.

Lower resistance lowers magic resistance. Does this include fire, frost and lightning?

Dragonspear

@brus
Are you looking for Cleric/Mage or Mage and Cleric separately.

Lower resistance only applies to magic resistance.

Breach, lower resistance, greater malision would be a good sequencer. Just remember, at higher levels you can achieve the same thing with 1 spell (Pierce magic).

I like blur/mirror image in a defensive sequencer.

I'll try to write more ideas after work tomorrow

Flashburn

Greater Malison + Silence. Good luck resisting that with a -9 penalty.

Improved Haste + Black Blade of Disaster on a Fighter/Mage. Seriously, the blade is extremely lethal because it hits harder than any greatsword, not to mention several of its on-hit effects.

Project Image + Wizard Eye. Summon a remote-controlled version of you that has all the spells you've got memorized at the time of casting at the cost of one level 7 spell, and use the eye to guide it.

Regeneration + Haste. Haste causes regeneration to happen at double speed!

Greater Malison + Chaos. Another combination with a stiff -8 penalty.

brus

Dragonspear said:

@brus
Are you looking for Cleric/Mage or Mage and Cleric separately?

Both if you now some. For example, how can a mage benefit with cleric spells and vice versa?
And what spell combos can a cleric class cast as damage output. On lower levels I can't remember some.

Flashburn said:

Greater Malison + Silence. Good luck resisting that with a -9 penalty.

Can this be blocked be with spell shield or cloak of mirroring?

semiticgoddess

brus said:

Flashburn said:

Greater Malison + Silence. Good luck resisting that with a -9 penalty.

Can this be blocked be with spell shield or cloak of mirroring?

It can be blocked by Minor Globe of Invulnerability or countered with Vocalize.

JuliusBorisov

@brus I recommend to check this thread for spell combinations: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/44257/7-3x4-8-3x6-9-3x8-do-unto-the-ai-as-you-would-have-the-ai-do-unto-you#latest

DragonKing

@brus
Wild surge is the answer to all life's problems.

Gallowglass

brus said:

... how can a mage benefit with cleric spells and vice versa?

There are many options, as other posters and threads have illustrated. However, I've found that the particular unique advantage of Cleric/Mages is being able to put Cleric buffs into a Mage Contingency or Sequencer; this is something that neither a Cleric nor a Mage can do, only a Cleric/Mage.

semiticgoddess

There's much synergy in the classes as well. Cleric buffs are fantastic against disablers, while mage buffs are fantastic against weapons and debuffers. Cleric/Mages can set up an impenetrable wall behind which they cannot be harmed, though they can't maintain it forever.

@Gallowglass: There's also a glitch, pre-EE, that allows you to cast Contingency and Chain Contingency even if you aren't a mage. You just map it to a hotkey and press the hotkey. That way, even a single-classed cleric or druid can use contingencies.

Whether such a thing is cheating is another question entirely.

Gallowglass

@semiticgod - interesting, I'd never been aware of that pre-EE glitch. However, these days I play only the EEs, so (to me) the interest is only historical. But come on, exploiting a bug like that is obviously a cheat, it can't remotely have been intended for such a trick to be possible.

Indeed Cleric/Mage has good synergy. Very powerful class once you've figured out how to use it, although inherently rather complex to use well.

Abi_Dalzim

A Cleric/Mage can use Contingency - Remove Paralysis or Contingency-Heal to get out of situations that would mean the death of most any other character.

brus

Which spell combos works best for (demi)lich? Can we trick him somehow when he casts timestop?
When in timestop, state of the player is not paralyzed so Contingency when paralyzed doesn't work.

Neverused

Spell Immunity: Abjuration stops (And is the only thing that stops outside a couple green scrolls, like Pro. undead or Pro. Magic) Trap the Soul. Unless you're playing with SCS, the demilich shouldn't be casting any spells.
Liches... are just kind of nasty in general. There's no really amazing spell combo to deal with them that I know of, though the general anti-mage spells work well here. Spell-protection removers, Breach, Lower Resistance and then go to town with whatever else you want.

semiticgoddess

@Neverused: Spell Deflection, Spell Turning, Spell Trap, and Shield of the Archons also block Trap the Soul, but for a shorter period of time.

Gallowglass

brus said:

Which spell combos works best for (demi)lich? Can we trick him somehow when he casts timestop?

If he gets off his Time Stop, then no, the field is his for the duration of the Time Stop, and you've just got to be tough enough to ride it out - being well-buffed beforehand is important. However, only the ordinary lich form should be casting Time Stop, not the subsequent demi-lich form. His casting is interruptible, like most other casters, so it's often effective simply to attack and hope that a hit interrupts the cast of Time Stop. But anyway, kill the lich the same way you'd kill any ordinary lich, which triggers the demi-lich to appear.

Once he's in demi-lich form, the dangers are Demi-Lich Howl (equivalent to a Mage's Wail of the Banshee spell) and Trap the Soul (equivalent to a Mage's Imprisonment spell). Death Ward (a Cleric spell) blocks Demi-Lich Howl, and Spell Immunity: Abjuration (a Mage spell) blocks Trap the Soul, so that's your key spell combo.

If you have a Berserker, then his Rage ability is an alternative way of blocking Trap the Soul, instead of needing Spell Immunity: Abjuration. [Edit: note that this applies only for a Berserker's Rage; a Barbarian's Rage is different and doesn't block Trap the Soul.]

A Cleric can cast Death Ward on anyone, but a Mage can cast Spell Immunity only on himself, which is an important restriction. This restriction means that the best character to fight the demi-lich would be a Berserker (e.g. Korgan) or a Fighter/Mage, or if you don't have either of those then a Cleric/Mage (e.g. Aerie) can do it, or as a last resort any other sort of Mage. Hide everyone else in a corner (preferably invisible), and send in the protected character alone (unless you've got more than one who can do it, of course!), armed with something which can hit the demi-lich. The Improved Mace of Disruption is ideal, but Daystar will also work, or Carsomyr, or the Staff of Rhynn, or (IIRC) the Burning Earth, or ... er ... some other possibilities if you're doing this fairly late in the game. If you're using a Mage, it's handy to know that Melf's Magic Meteors will hit him. Also the Ring of the Ram hurts the demi-lich considerably, use it if you've got it, but point it away from where your companions are hiding (because it'll blow the demi-lich across the room, and you probably don't want him blown towards your party!)

semiticgoddess

The War Hammer +1, +4 vs. Giantkin (or the Kneecapper in EE) also strikes as a +4 weapon and can hit Kangaxx, much like the Burning Earth, which in vanilla is just called Flame Tongue. The hammer is with the golems in the De'Arnise Hold; the sword is on Dalok in the Druid Grove (not to be confused with a similar item sold by Bernard at the Copper Coronet, which strikes as +1). They're not the strongest weapons you can use to kill Kangaxx, but they're much easier to obtain.

JuliusBorisov

Also, remember that with the latest patch you can import the Burning Earth sword from BGEE to BG2EE so you can have a sword striking as a +4 weapon for free right from the start!

Abi_Dalzim

The demilich only has so many ways he can be beaten, but for general lich-smashing, I'd say a Cleric/Mage should simply use Protection From Fire, lay down a Firestorm on the lich, and then start whacking away at him with the Mace of Disruption until they die. For most of them, that should be more than good enough. Just remember to use the Mage's True Seeing, because I'm pretty sure they're immune to 5th level spells, which includes the Cleric version.

Oh, and there's always Sunray, of course. I can only imagine how dead a TOB lich would be if you used Chain Contingency plus three of those.

[Deleted User]

Since sequencers and the like cast instantly, it can be fun to use them to speed up some of the really slow Cleric spells. Chant becomes a lot more useful as an in-combat buff/debuff if you can fire it off instantly, and piling cure spells into a sequencer can be a good source of emergency healing for characters prevented from chugging potions.

(Incidentally, as far as I'm concerned, the best way to take out a demilich is a Protection from Undead Scroll and a +4 striking weapon. There's somewhere in the neighborhood of a dozen guaranteed PfU scrolls in Athkatla, they only cost a pittance, and there are only two demiliches in the game anyway.)

squiros

not sure if this works in EE.
magic resistance and lower resists. magic resistance will set a target's resist to 25. lower resist will lower it by 25.

spell trap + project image + power word kill = infinite spells

imprisonment + traps + freedom. either a thief's spike traps or skull traps/delayed blast
double the experience, none of the risk!

shapechange bear + dispel magic
equip the best sling you have and watch a bear. . . scoop a rock at enemies 4 times a round.

teleportation field + entangle + grease. equip all party members with ranged weapons.

protection from fire, sanctuary, sequencer of fireballs/sunfires

sanctuary + blade barrier.

invisibility + spell immunity: divination.

Dragonspear

@squiros

According to beamdog's spell manual:

Magic Resist confers 2%/lvl of the caster (so 20% at level 10 to a max of 40% at level 20).

Lower resist is 10%+1%/caster level (so 20% at level 10, but only 30% reduction at level 20)