Best Level 4 Mage Spells
xPersonOfChaosx
Member Posts: 21
It's basically in the title- my Mage has just gained access to 3 level 4 spell slots and I'm wondering which spells are the most useful. Thanks 
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Beyond that, Spirit Armor is handy not just for the AC, but also for the +3 bonus to saves vs. spells it grants. Improved Invisibility also grants a sizable bonus to saving throws and keeps the target from being directly targeted by spells until it is dispelled. Polymorph Self can be a surprisingly powerful and versatile effect, especially in conjunction with Minor Sequencer.
Spider Spawn is useful with the right setup, but only once your level is high enough to get sword spiders.
I'm pretty bitter about that spell
I usually visit Ulgoth's Beard early in Chapter 5 (and do the Ice Island quest immediately, although I usually leave the other quests there until later). And Neera's quest I usually do before Chapter 5, quite often in Chapter 3, but in any case no later than Chapter 5.
The fact that there is no penalty on the save makes it a bit lackluster to my mind.
I think Web (2th level), Slow (3th level) and Chaos (5th level) are far, far better options to control the battlefield.
In my opinion, the best level 4 spells are Stoneskin and Greater Malison.
The creatures lie down, so every attack rolls become automatic hits. Yes, Chaos has a penalty to saving throws, but a confused enemy still wonders around, so sometimes he's hard to hit. Web is an awesome spell but some enemies are resistant to its effect and if you don't have Free Action and mismanage your path, you could fell under its effect too. Slow is a wonderful spell, and has a penalty to saving throws, I agree.
Anyway, for me Stoneskin is an automatic choice on the 4th level. The second spell differs because of the character or the party setup: if it's a solo play, nothing is better than Improved Invisibility. If I use Web, Spiders can be a good choice. But if I need a disabling spell (and maybe haven't reached the 5th spell level yet) I choose Emotion.
Edit: Looks like its only available for sorcerers in the non-black pits portion of BGEE. There is also a wand that does the same thing. Its something to consider for BG2EE I guess.
In other words, if you walk off the edge of some non-adjacent map, then you'll see Ulgoth's Beard (and might also see Adoy's Enclave) shown on the map, but you can't click on them to travel there if they haven't yet been activated for travel. However, if you go to the Wyrm's Crossing map and walk off the north edge behind Tenya's cottage, then Ulgoth's Beard will be activated and you can travel there, either immediately or now from any other map-edge too. (And similarly for Adoy's Encave, IIRC.)
This is not a bug, by the way. It is by design that you must "explore your way towards" a new area to activate it, but the difference is that most other areas don't even show on the map at all until you have activated them by stepping off the appropriate edge of an adjacent map, whereas Ulgoth's Beard (and the areas added in EE, after the story tells you about them) show on the map even before activation.
I enjoy casting it, then minor sequencing web/stinking cloud or web/grease on myself and challenging fighters to hand-to-hand combat.
Provided they come over to me, of course.
I really like the Globe Spells. They let you do a lot of things in terms of controlling the battlefield. You can turn the area around your mage into a stinky, icy, flaming zone of falling and choking death, while you walk around inside of it bobbing people with your quarterstaff of flinging darts at their eyes. That's more for novelty, I suppose. You'll find most of the damage comes from fireballing someone at point blank range.