The spells you've listed (other than infravision, color spray and know alignment) can all be very useful in particular circumstances - so I'm not sure that categorising them as the 'worst' makes much sense, except as a starter for a conversation of course .
I'll comment on a few that others haven't mentioned: Carrion Summons Your crawlers should not be acting as tanks, but in support of other characters or summons. That gives them a huge number of opportunities to paralyse opponents - making this an exceptionally strong spell for a party.
Energy Drain This shouldn't be thought of as a killing spell, but a way to reduce the power of opponents - it can be helpful against dragons for instance.
Animal Summoning 1 This is a perfectly decent spell and useful in lots of situations. While I agree nymphs are often preferable they come with big disadvantages - you only get 1 per spell, they move slowly, they are not fully controllable in a combat situation and their domination ability can get you into trouble (don't let them use it in the fight at the palace if you're playing no-reload!).
False Dawn In addition to the damage this spell offers a no-save confusion effect on undead, which can be very helpful in the midst of battle.
@Grond0 I'd agree with those, with the exception of Energy Drain. It's not that I don't appreciate the utility of weakening opponents, but that's still much too little to expect from a level 9 spell. Now, if there was a level 4 Enervation spell with a similar function, then that would be respectable, but otherwise, it doesn't drain enough levels to justify being so costly.
@Abi_Dalzim I agree it's far from a great spell, but it's by no means useless against a single dangerous opponent such as a dragon. In that situation draining a couple of levels can make a significant difference to a range of attributes, e.g. in a quick test with Firkraag a single energy drain reduced his THAC0 from -12 to -7. If you compare that for instance against the 4-40 damage done by meteor storm (some of which can be resisted) energy drain looks a long way from the 'worst' spell.
Abi_Dalzim I agree it's far from a great spell, but it's by no means useless against a single dangerous opponent such as a dragon. In that situation draining a couple of levels can make a significant difference to a range of attributes, e.g. in a quick test with Firkraag a single energy drain reduced his THAC0 from -12 to -7. If you compare that for instance against the 4-40 damage done by meteor storm (some of which can be resisted) energy drain looks a long way from the 'worst' spell.
Also, to prevent some high level mages (level 19, 18) from casting level 9 spells (but since you already have access to level 9 spells yourself you might not care much anyway about this particular one, but I swear it is useful against mages if you have this in mind).
I'll comment on a few that others haven't mentioned: Carrion Summons Your crawlers should not be acting as tanks, but in support of other characters or summons. That gives them a huge number of opportunities to paralyse opponents - making this an exceptionally strong spell for a party.
I think the issue with Mutated Crawlers is that for a summon the thing that they offer (paralysis) isn't distinctive enough for their level once you consider their other stats. They have poor health (40) and Thac0 (15) for their level (they have roughly the same Thac0 and health that a sword spider cast from the level 4 Spider Spawn spell has). They also do barely any damage (1d2), hit as if they were using normal weapons, have worse saving throws than the sword spider, have no immunities or resistances, and entirely rely on their paralyze effect to work (which is a save vs death with no bonus/penalty). The only other thing they have really going for them is their attacks per round (4) - which happens to I think 1 less than the sword spiders. Overall, I think it's fair to say that this spell is one of the worst when it comes to level 6 spells.
@Abi_Dalzim I agree it's far from a great spell, but it's by no means useless against a single dangerous opponent such as a dragon. In that situation draining a couple of levels can make a significant difference to a range of attributes, e.g. in a quick test with Firkraag a single energy drain reduced his THAC0 from -12 to -7. If you compare that for instance against the 4-40 damage done by meteor storm (some of which can be resisted) energy drain looks a long way from the 'worst' spell.
Well, I don't find Meteor Swarm a great comparison either, since I think that's also not too great a spell. Honestly, the OP has a point that there's a serious lack of quality control at level nine. Still, this is the same level as Time Stop and Shapechange and Wish (to say nothing of Summon Planetar or other HLA's you get at the same time), so I think those should be the yardsticks here. Time Stop would allow you to unload a Spell Trigger full of Lower Resistances, then Greater Malison, and then Finger of Death, potentially killing Firkraag then and there. Hard to match that.
Actually, I think it maks sense to have a few ''useless'' spells in the game. In a sense it's like having those empty treasure chests you find every now and then. When you play the game for the first times you explore everything, but it feels more real when not everything is useful to you.
^Yeah I agree there. I'm sure using Summon Nishruu/Summon Haskeashar isn't the most effective way of dealing with mages either, but it's a really interesting summon.
About Energy Drain: Bear in mind that enemies do not actually suffer any penalties to THAC0, HP, saving throws, or attacks per round if they get level drained. The only penalty is that their effective level and their caster level changes. This means they're more vulnerable to level-based effects like Death Spell, Color Spray, and Deathblow, and their spells are slightly weaker. They suffer no other disadvantages when level drained, unlike party members.
About Energy Drain: Bear in mind that enemies do not actually suffer any penalties to THAC0, HP, saving throws, or attacks per round if they get level drained. The only penalty is that their effective level and their caster level changes. This means they're more vulnerable to level-based effects like Death Spell, Color Spray, and Deathblow, and their spells are slightly weaker. They suffer no other disadvantages when level drained, unlike party members.
Are you sure about that @semiticgod? When I tested Firkraag yesterday I did so by ctrl-Qing him into the party, so I suppose his reduced THAC0 (and HPs) as a result of energy drain could only be due to being in the party there. However, I have nerfed dragons on quite a few occasions in no-reload runs by level draining them and observing how they are no longer able to hit a barn door (and have greatly reduced breath damage). Is this a recent change in the EE you are referring to?
Edit: just reloaded Firkraag again in BG2EE. Using ctrl-M I can confirm that the HP reduction occurs whether he is in the party or not. Ctrl-M doesn't show THAC0, but I would be amazed if that were not also reduced (I did note that energy drain destroyed all of his memorized spells and I'm sure it would have other effects as well).
@semiticgod level drain worked properly in BGT as well.
Saving throws are potentially affected by level drain, although they may not change from a single drain. The reason level drain is so nasty for characters (and especially the PC) is that it resets stats such as saving throws at the basic values for the level you've been drained to - irrespective of any bonuses you normally have, e.g. from equipment worn. I think the same applies to enemies, which is why draining Firkraag from level 23 to 21 was able to knock 5 off his THAC0. However, it had no effect on his saving throws as those are standard and there's no difference between level 23 and level 21. If you drain him to lower levels though you will see the saving throws change.
I don't like Larloch's Lesser Lifedrain very much. It does the same damage as Magic Missile, but does not improve over time. The HP it drains don't seem worthwile to me, because once your low-level wizard actually starts to take damage it's time to run anyways.
I don't like Larloch's Lesser Lifedrain very much. It does the same damage as Magic Missile, but does not improve over time. The HP it drains don't seem worthwile to me, because once your low-level wizard actually starts to take damage it's time to run anyways.
At low level Larloch's Minor Drain is better than Magic Missile because it's 4 guaranteed damage while MM deals 1d4+1 (2-5). The 4 bonus HP can also help against a stray arrow or something like this.
Goodberry has one of the best little item icons. I love the look of those purple/blue berries, so I used DLTCEP to make an override item that makes the berries heal 4 hp at a time, instead of the original 1 hp. Then it's a good 2nd level spell to have around, since the berries never expire.
You sir clearly never played a Fighter/Mage/Thief solo properly in BG1. That spell is wonderful. Instantly disable a small group of enemies instead of more Fireballs I won't even use in the fight? YES, please!
I mean, it's a party friendly spell you can use in close combat (no chances of it backfiring like Web or Stinking Cloud), besides it allows you to utterly destroy enemies with free DPS from your attacks instead of spending more spells. Of course it's not the best spell in the game, but it's actually very good.
Comments
I'll comment on a few that others haven't mentioned:
Carrion Summons
Your crawlers should not be acting as tanks, but in support of other characters or summons. That gives them a huge number of opportunities to paralyse opponents - making this an exceptionally strong spell for a party.
Energy Drain
This shouldn't be thought of as a killing spell, but a way to reduce the power of opponents - it can be helpful against dragons for instance.
Animal Summoning 1
This is a perfectly decent spell and useful in lots of situations. While I agree nymphs are often preferable they come with big disadvantages - you only get 1 per spell, they move slowly, they are not fully controllable in a combat situation and their domination ability can get you into trouble (don't let them use it in the fight at the palace if you're playing no-reload!).
False Dawn
In addition to the damage this spell offers a no-save confusion effect on undead, which can be very helpful in the midst of battle.
Carrion Summons and Champion's Strength.
Awesome.
Edit: just reloaded Firkraag again in BG2EE. Using ctrl-M I can confirm that the HP reduction occurs whether he is in the party or not. Ctrl-M doesn't show THAC0, but I would be amazed if that were not also reduced (I did note that energy drain destroyed all of his memorized spells and I'm sure it would have other effects as well).
Any summoned critter loses all its memorized spells when level drained. It's odd that it happened to Firkraag.
Saving throws are potentially affected by level drain, although they may not change from a single drain. The reason level drain is so nasty for characters (and especially the PC) is that it resets stats such as saving throws at the basic values for the level you've been drained to - irrespective of any bonuses you normally have, e.g. from equipment worn. I think the same applies to enemies, which is why draining Firkraag from level 23 to 21 was able to knock 5 off his THAC0. However, it had no effect on his saving throws as those are standard and there's no difference between level 23 and level 21. If you drain him to lower levels though you will see the saving throws change.
I mean, it's a party friendly spell you can use in close combat (no chances of it backfiring like Web or Stinking Cloud), besides it allows you to utterly destroy enemies with free DPS from your attacks instead of spending more spells. Of course it's not the best spell in the game, but it's actually very good.
Domination (Dire Charm/Charm Person) is always a nice way to have another pair of hands helping the party.
I don't like Chaos (Confusion) because I don't like to chase the enemies (but it is very useful if you have Kivan and/or Coran in your party).
Seriously, any Enchanter own BG1 without breaking a sweat. Specially with Greater Malison and Glitterdust.
I'll try an Enchanter -> Cleric someday. Just because Enchanter don't get awesome high level spells and would be awesome to add some Doom in this mix.
Protection from magical weapons: unbalanced and bad designed, makes the mantle spells obsolete and cheese with normal weapon immunity creatures.
Spell immunity: bad designed cheap spell for bloody powergamers.
Improved haste: there is no reason for this spell to exists, so much op.
Imprisonement: it works well in a pnp campaing but not in a single player video game, just not balanced or not well counterable.