What Druid/Cleric spells do you actually use?
pvddr
Member Posts: 38
I've been playing bg2 for a long time, but I always find myself using the exact same Cleric/Druid spells. For Mage I diversify, but for divine casters there are some levels of spells I actually never even use, so I was wondering if there's something I'm missing.
For reference, here is what I usually use:
lvl 1: Cure Light Wounds. I always memorize a Sanctuary and never use it.
lvl 2: Draw Upon Holy Might, though it's best on Anomen. I never use any level 2 Druid spells
lvl 3: Holy Smite. I'll often have one Dispel, and sometimes an Animate Dead, but that's about it. What do Druids use on lvl 3? What does Viconia use, since she doesn't get Holy Smite?
Lvl 4: Mass Pro-Evil, Call Woodland Being, Restoration, Defensive Harmony
lvl 5: True Sight, Iron Skins, Insect Plague, Chaotic Commands (the only level I actually wish I had more spell slots for)
Lvl 6: Heal, Globe of Blades, the summons (Fire Elementa / Servant)
lvl 7: Nature's Beauty, Sunray
And that's about it - I never memorize anything else and, even with those spells, I often never cast them. Most of my cleric action consists in prebuffing a small amount, throwing a Holy Smite, and then just leaving them there auto-attacking. Level 7 is particularly disappointing to me because it feels like it should be great but, well, just isn't - I get the highest spell level I can with my cleric and I select something that only works against 10% of the enemies. Is there something I'm missing? What spells do your clerics memorize that I didn't mention? What do you do with all the spell slots?
FWIW, I play SCS
For reference, here is what I usually use:
lvl 1: Cure Light Wounds. I always memorize a Sanctuary and never use it.
lvl 2: Draw Upon Holy Might, though it's best on Anomen. I never use any level 2 Druid spells
lvl 3: Holy Smite. I'll often have one Dispel, and sometimes an Animate Dead, but that's about it. What do Druids use on lvl 3? What does Viconia use, since she doesn't get Holy Smite?
Lvl 4: Mass Pro-Evil, Call Woodland Being, Restoration, Defensive Harmony
lvl 5: True Sight, Iron Skins, Insect Plague, Chaotic Commands (the only level I actually wish I had more spell slots for)
Lvl 6: Heal, Globe of Blades, the summons (Fire Elementa / Servant)
lvl 7: Nature's Beauty, Sunray
And that's about it - I never memorize anything else and, even with those spells, I often never cast them. Most of my cleric action consists in prebuffing a small amount, throwing a Holy Smite, and then just leaving them there auto-attacking. Level 7 is particularly disappointing to me because it feels like it should be great but, well, just isn't - I get the highest spell level I can with my cleric and I select something that only works against 10% of the enemies. Is there something I'm missing? What spells do your clerics memorize that I didn't mention? What do you do with all the spell slots?
FWIW, I play SCS
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Comments
Call lightning for druids (level 3 spell) also is effective in outdoor situations (it can do lots of damage at higher levels).
Insect plague also has its uses (disables enemy spell casters).
But the only druid kit I've used for my PC is the avenger, precisely because of the additional mage spells (chromatic orb, web, chain lightning, improved invisibility...).
(It's a pity that BG druids don't have access to the IWD druid spells. Ah well...)
Armor of Faith isn't bad at all - I always carry at least one UNLESS your cleric already has damage resistance (IIRC it doesn't stack in EE - RAW - although in the original iteration of BG2 it stacks with itself). That is if you have a cleric that fights in melee instead of slinging.
Doom is pretty good too - as long as you're not fighting something with high magic resistance - if you can start off a combat round by DESTROYING the saves of an enemy (great malison and doom) and then casting a save or else spell... it can wrap things up nicely - especially if you have a specialist mage doing the save or elsing (as they get a +2 difficulty modifier applied to the save).
Remove fear is VITAL in bg1, but it's still very handy in BG2 given the huge number of times you'll run into mages who cast fear inducing spells OR monsters who do it on their own (dragons/demons).
at level 2
Barkskin provides a small amount of AC (negligible in BG2) BUT it does provide a bonus to saving throws as well, so if you're against enemies that put you in the position of needing to make lots of saves on a fairly large scale (beholders) barkskin can actually be moderately helpful
Chant is really really good - especially for when you get surprised since it gives you a bonus to hit, damage, and saving throws, and penalizes your opponents in the same areas (again save or else spells lol)
Hold person isn't *that* bad - memorizing one isn't a terrible idea - particular because it's a small area of effect spell - granted "person" is hard to define, and immunity to hold is the most common form of immunity BUT because it's an area spell it bypasses a *lot* of spell protections which can be pretty interesting
For level 3
if you know you're going to be outdoors (not so handy really) call lightning is AMAZING - it does quite a lot of damage - but can't be used indoors, granted lots of BG2 is indoors, making the spell far better in bg1 - or ToB, but if you *know* you're going to be outdoors, why not?
Miscast magic isn't *terrible* if you have several divine spellcasters (so your healing needs are met already).
Summon insects isn't as good as its later iterations but it's basically a druid's best bet at 3rd level
Third level is pretty crap for Vicy - dispell and cure medium *maybe* a zone of sweet air if you cast a lot of area spells and don't want to have to wait on them lol. Animate dead is without a doubt one of the best summons in the game - so if you've got vicy that could be her job, because those skeletons are WONDERFUL - they're great for just about everything.
for level 4
I would nix defensive harmony because chant is generally better and you get lots of second level spell slots that aren't that useful to you whereas 4th level has much better spells - but it's not bad if you've got other divine casters in the party - the duration makes it hard to use so I don't often use it unless I know I've got a BIG fight in the future
Death ward isn't bad - it's duration is pretty solid at this level too - so if you know you're in an area where you're going to get a lot of save or elsing going on (much of the late game of bg2 lol) it's good to have 1-2 on your forward most party members
Far sight isn't bad if you like getting a jump on your enemies
Holy power THEN Draw upon holy might is AMAZING turns any cleric into a beast
Mental domination is a good spell - the nymph casts it too, so if you're already going to be summoning a nymph you can pass here - or if you have an enchanter in the party who will be slinging charms and dominations on their own. Especially if you drop a doom, greater malison, or chant during a fight makes it even easier to use
Poison isn't bad if you don't know what else to do and get up in somebody's face a lot (front-liner cleric). Especially if you're harming your opposition's saves at the start of the fight or can do it regularly (or just get lucky!) - particularly if it's an enemy caster, and you've harmed their saves, and they fail - it's an instant win, and pretty funny to watch overall lol.
Level 5 is great
Mass Cure also gets *better* at higher levels so it's not useless - particularly if your party needs a burst of healing.
Righteous magic for the melee cleric - like an anomen of course.
Mostly agree with level 6
Level seven has a *few* interesting choices other than what you've named above - mainly firestorm. Why firestorm? Why it ignores magic resistance
Level 2: Chant, DUHM, Barkskin, Goodberry, Hold Person (BG1)
Level 3: Holy Smite, Animate Dead, Remove Paralysis, Zone of Sweet Air
Level 4: Prot. Evil 10" Radius, Call Woodland Beings, Defensive Harmony, Free Action, Death Ward, Holy Power
Level 5: Flame Strike, Mass Cure, Insect Plague, True Sight, Righteous Magic, Chaotic Commands, Iron Skins, Slay Living, Magic Resistance
Level 6: Heal, Blade Barrier, False Dawn, Harm, Physical Mirror
Level 7: Finger of Death, Greater Restoration, Holy Word, Nature's Beauty, Regeneration, Resurrection, Creeping Doom
I understand that sometimes a cleric has dozens of spells memorized but doesn't necessarily use all of them in a dungeon. Divine magic is most of the time situational, so here's my list of spells I always memorize and why (I won't include cure wounds spells because we all use them for obvious reasons).Also, keep in mind that clerics are serve as backup and have few "dramatic" spells. Don
1- Command (having the enemy helpless for one round helps a lot when you've got your other companions attacking it).
2- Hold person (like command, it doesn't offer bonuses to saving throws, so it 's doable throughout SoA , specially in Athkatla where you find lots of human enemies).
Silence- it's not gonna work with powerful spellcasters, but it works well on greater mummies and enemy priests.
These 1st and 2nd spells are quite useful at nearly all chapter 2 quests. Later in the game they become less useful, but so most arcane spells.
3- Holy smite and animate dead are always useful.
I always memorize invisibility purge because there are plenty of backstabbers in athkatla, specially with ScsII.
4- my favorite ones.
Protection from evil x radius is excellent because it lasts for many turns (I don't like short duration buffs), and protection from negative energy will help you in a lot of quests. Another one which I enjoy is holy power , since it gives your cleric good thac0 and strength. Good for most fights.
5- There are many powerful spells, but I avoid those that last felasounds or require a save. Chaotic commands and flame strike are always useful, and at high levels mass healing does wonders.
6- aerial servant- it's strong, immune to +1 weapons and doesn't turn against you.
7- I don't really bother with those much, but earthquake bypasses magic resistance or spell protections, so it can be used against drow and enemy spellcasters .In ToB you'll get high level abilities and these will practically cover your 7th level slots.
As I said before, very few cleric spells are awesome by themselves, but they make fights easier for your fighters . Also, I avoid resting inside dungeons, so healings and ressurections really come in handy.
I did not mention druid spells because theirs are are way more offensive (elemental summons, lightning, fire...)
Level 1:
Armor of Faith - Scales with level. Makes your Cleric a real tank late game -25% magic and melee damage taken at level 20
Doom - Weaker Greater Malison, but often enough to completely destroy their saves, Doom+Spook is really good early game and can make a tough fight really easy.
Remove Fear - Duh, never not useful
Level 2:
Silence '15 radius - At -5 the saving throw is really hard, it works really often. If you greater malison before it's guaranteed.
Level 3:
Animate Dead - Scales with level , at level 15 skeleton warriors are no joke, tough and super high magic res.
Call Lightning - My favourite nuke, holy shit it hits so hard. Scales both with damage and duration.
Level 4:
Holy Power - Hey your Cleric can actually fight now for real
Level 5:
Flamestrike - Scales with level. If you Doom/Greater Malison before it hits super hard.
Level 6:
Bolt of Glory - Ignore magic res, no save, only really great against demons though.
Level 7:
Symbol Stun - With -4 saving throw it's good, Greater Malison before and u're gonna land 30-yard radius AOE stun.
I presume you use Devas and Greater Elementals, they're as good as your own party member.
Also some Chaotic Commands every now and then, Righteous Magic for the peskiest packs, and any lonely lich I come across may just get himself a Holy Word.
As for Druids... two words: Iron Skins. Another two words: nothing else.
Like, say I have Neera Chaos and Aerie casting Doom, isn't it better to just have Neera cast Chaos and Aerie another Chaos? Even in a sequencer, isn't it better to put Chaos + Emotion:Hopelessness, for example, instead of Doom + Chaos? It seems to me like forcing them to save twice is much better than forcing them to save once at -2, and it's also single target. Why is it so good?
I never leave home without bless, chant, slow poison, cure disease (blind sucks), remove paralysis, animate dead, holy smite, free action (although to be fair there are a lot of potions for that), prot from evil 10' radius, call woodland beings (huge spell early game), chaotic commands, death ward, conjure fire elementals and insect plague.
The cleric and druid spell lists contains lots of vital tools for me.
Jaheiras level 2 picks are pretty much useless though, at least it frees up a few more chants for Aerie!
I usually never memorize any healing spells, except for heal... not enough room even with two divine casters.
I feel the same.
Level 1: Bless, Cure Light Wounds, Remove Fear
Level 2: Chant, Draw Upon Holy Might, Hold Person, Silence 15' Radius, Slow Poison
Level 3: Animate Dead, Call Lightning, Cure Disease, Dispel Magic, Invisibility Purge, Remove Paralysis
Level 4: Cure Serious Wounds, Lesser Restoration, Negative Plane Protection, Neutralize Poison, Protection From Evil 10' Radius
Level 5: Insect Plague, Iron Skins, Mass Cure, True Seeing
Level 6: Conjure Fire Elemental, Heal
Level 7: Greater Elemental Summoning, Sunray
Group buffs are nice with a full party, while most single-character buffs are too tedious to use. Healing spells are essential to avoid resting in a dungeon, which just feels way too silly. Level 2 spells are probably the least useful. Levels 3 and 4 have a lot of spells you need to memorize once or twice to deal with unexpected situations, while level 5 spells are straightforward and widely useful. Levels 6 and 7 have a couple of spells that are powerful but rarely necessary.
Clerics are a bit worse, yet remove fear, hold person, silence, resist cold/fire, animate dead, holy smite, remove paralysis (a life saver!) pro from evil 10', neutralise poison (it also cures disease and blindness plus instant ten hp!) death ward are staple buffs. Greater command may beseful, I never bother with flame strike as it is too slow casting. At high lvls Aerie can cook an enemy with triple flame strike spell trigger, then it packs an instant, heavy punch. Aerial servant hits very hard. As for lvl 7, most cleric spells are not that great, really. Fire storm bypasses mr in the game but I don't like that and fix it in my game to not to do so, I fixed storm of vengeance to bypass mr instead:it makes more sense to me so I use sov when I can.
The only spell that I think you missed and I think is really useful is Greater command. It's very quick to cast and can often immobilize at least two or three enemies from a large group. If any of them are mages, so much the better.
But hey, let us not forget that of all the 9th level mage spells, only Spellstrike is something you actually need, and even that you need very rarely. (I agree that Improved alacrity is wonderful, and I do use it, but it's more like an HLA than a 9th level spell.)
And you don't NEED any spell, technically. You can do without just about anything in this game in some way or another. It's only about how easy (or hard) you want to make things for yourself.
Personally, I don't find druids to have things I find useful for my style of play; but that's not to say you can't make them work in some way. All personal preference, in the end.
The problem is obviously in the fact that this is a computer game and as such, possibilities are so much more limited than in PnP.
Protection from Fire can be useful at third level. Viconia is a powerhouse healer in a lot of respects for what bits she loses in offense. Unholy Blight would be a strong single target if it were only more predictable in it's effectiveness.
First level:
Armor of faith for melee clerics/druids. I changed doom to 1 casting time so it is useful for me as a quick debuff. Remove fear is always handy. Ditto for cure light wounds.
2nd level:
Slow poison and resist cold/fire are always useful. Hold person and silence can be used at low levels.
3rd level:
Call lightning is superb when fighting outdoors. Remove paralysis is a life saver in many occasions. Pro from fire can prove to be useful, too. Animate dead is a very good summon after level 15.
4th level:
Call woodland beings is amazing. Death ward and free action are life savers. Lesser restoration is not memorised daily, but can be when needed to save gold.
5th level:
Chaotic commands is a must in some encounters. Insect plague is devastating to mages. Raise dead has its use as restoration, to save gold. Iron skin is a staple for melee druids. True sight is a must if the party lacks other abilities to deal with illusions. (with a thief of good enough Detect illusion skill, I don't need this spell much.) Mass cure can be cast from call woodland beings. Potions of extra healing are too numerous to ever bother with cure critical.
6th level:
Fire elementals and Aeriel Servants are amazing summons. I don't bother with heal/harm often.
7th level:
Honestly, I don't use 7th lvl cleric/druid spells much. They are not game changers like high level mage spells are, and at high levels mage spells are of utmost importance to win some battles, while priest spells are rather...niceties to have, but not essential. Just give energy blades to Viconia so she can contribute from afar.
call woodland beings
resist fear
animate dead
negative plane protection
conjure animals (the mountain bears are better than skeletons at killing golems)
cure light wounds
energy blades
greater elemental summoning
sometimes I use:
Insect plague. The seventh level version does double damage but only has half the duration, and the low level version is not worth it.
iron skin
fire storm (damage is not bad but area coverage is huge)I'm confusing the old fire storm with some modified version I remembered using last time. Might have been the spell revisions mod.elemental protections