What are the best spells per level? (Baldur's Gate EE)
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I just started playing this game for the first time, and have reached level 4-6 with my party. I know this question will bring many different opinions, but I am struggling with spells. I have been mostly hack and slash so far, neglecting using spells that much (mostly generic through scripts - such as magic missile and fireball; or heal).
My party right now is Minsc, Ajantis, Jaheira, Imoen, and Edwin. My character is a multi-class Fighter, Mage and Thief (Half-Elf). I am now on chapter 3, and some of the enemies are difficult for me and I know that using spells correctly will help.
I would prefer if you would list spells in the format below, so I can have an easier time finding them. Advice on where I can get the good spells would be helpful also:
Mage:
Level 1 - spells
Level 2 - spells
Level 3 - spells
And so on.
Cleric:
Level 1 - spells
Level 2 - spells
Just like above.
My party right now is Minsc, Ajantis, Jaheira, Imoen, and Edwin. My character is a multi-class Fighter, Mage and Thief (Half-Elf). I am now on chapter 3, and some of the enemies are difficult for me and I know that using spells correctly will help.
I would prefer if you would list spells in the format below, so I can have an easier time finding them. Advice on where I can get the good spells would be helpful also:
Mage:
Level 1 - spells
Level 2 - spells
Level 3 - spells
And so on.
Cleric:
Level 1 - spells
Level 2 - spells
Just like above.
1
Comments
http://www.forgottenwars.com/oogi/index.htm
Cleric:
Level 1- spells:
Okay, here it's kinda simple.
Make sure you use bless. It's an area of effect spell that affects all your allies. It also gives you really good advantages, read the desc. of the spell.
Next, have simple heal spells. In reality, you can never have too much of those - they're always useful.
Level 1 command is an okay spell - stopping low level creatures from doing anything - but it can only be cast on one creature. It probably won't affect undead.
Magic stone is also a good option. It's like a magic missile. It's fairly standard, but be careful! It has a casting time of 9 - which means it takes like an entire AD&D round to cast.
Don't forget remove fear! Low level mages like to cast fear alllll the time.
Level 2 - spells:
Level 2 cleric spells have some nifty little effects. Aid is a cool spell. It gives a party member the effects of bless, and it raises your recipient's HP.
Barkskin is kinda a hidden gem. Most people disregard it because it might, at higher levels while wearing better armor, not have an effect on your armor class. However, it's duration is long, and it does give the benefit of increasing your saving throws vs. attack.
Chant is a great spell! When you use it right, you'll give yourself a great edge in a battle! Most people don't use it correctly, and they cast the spell BEFORE battle. This is not the way to use it because the effect cloaks enemies and your allies with effects. The enemies experience penalties, while you get buffs. But just remember the casting time is 9 and the duration for chant is short!
Flame blade is also a good spell. It has a short casting time, and it can do massive damage to undead - even at higher levels,
I don't use luck often, but it seems like a good spell. This will increase a party member's actions by +1. This includes , but isn't limited to, thieving skills, chances to hit, and saving throws ect...
Silence is also a good spell. There are quite a few fights in the game, some of which are the hardest in the game, where there are multiple spell casters. All you really gotta do is turn off your A.I, do some micromanagement with your party, and cast the silence on the spellcasters.
Slow poison: everything is going to poison you in BG1.
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/30792/top-tier-mid-tier-bottom-tier-level-1-9-arcane-spells-talking-about-7th-lvl-right-now
https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/30931/a-ranking-of-the-divine-spells-now-discussing-level-7-spells
- This is for a party starting out in BG1 and keeping on from there (so playing BGT in old game or EET today)
- It is based on uncountable playthroughs of the whole trilogy I made over the years
- I limit it to one or two spells per level since the rest depends on your party mixture and which kind of other classes/tactics the spellcasters are supposed to support
- it depends in the early levels on those spells most useful against those enemies/threats you normally encounter at that time
- variations depend on mods (spell adding or spell changing) you want to install
- sequence in same level means priority
- does not take into account different mage schools or clerics of specific deities
Cleric
1 - Cure Light wounds, remove fear (later on fill your level 1 slots with cures, that's what your cleric is for)
2 - Slow poison (in early game with your low HP every spider or ettercap can be deadly), charm person (works fine on those early creatures in the game)
3 - Animate Dead, Sweet Air
4 - Lesser restauration, Cure serious wounds
5 - Raise Dead, True Seeing
6 - Conjure Animals, Heal
7 - Creeping Doom, Ressurection
Mage
1 - Magic Missiles (it is the only level 1 spell I ever use and I fill all slots with it)
2 - Resist Fear (the early party needs every hand, no yellow runners), Web
3 - Haste, Fireball
4 - Confusion
5 - Monster II, Monster II (yes twice before considering;) Spell Immunity
6 - Invisible Stalker, Pierce Magic
7 - Stun, Mass Invisibility
8 - Horrid Wilting, Maze
9 - Freedom, Time Stop
Personally, my thoughts on the matter are that it's less about knowing what individual spells to memorize and more about knowing how to recognize situations where some spell or other could be useful and hopefully having a scroll tucked away for the occasion.
For example, everyone ignores detect invisibility/detect illusion because True Sight does it better later, but in regular old Baldur's Gate they're great for the occasional mages you come across, and you come across enough scrolls for them you don't even need to memorize them, generally speaking.
I've also grown quite fond of Strength of One lately. Works wonders with summoned monsters and characters with slings/darts suddenly getting huge boosts to damage.
However,
You can buy wands of sleep which are only slightly less effective than a mage-cast sleep.
Cleric:
Level 1.
Heals obvs, Sanctuary (invincibility for your cleric so long as they do nothing for a time), COMMAND: Die (it's basically single-target sleep for a round, it can save your bacon sometimes by forcing your enemies to make multiple saves). Bless and protection from evil are nice too. Armor of faith is really nice too if your cleric ever has to tank.
Level 2.
Basically everything has its uses it just depends on whether or not your cleric does much fighting - if they don't hold person is great - if they do DUHM is the best there is.
Level 3.
Animate dead, heals, dispell, and your area of effect (if good or neutral) Smite - are all great. Smite is mainly great for disrupting evil casters or laying out very mediocre AoE damage.
Mages:
1. Sleep is the best there is, the best there was, and the best there will be for *quite* some time - well into BG2. If you don't want sleep, Magic Missile is nice for disrupting casters. Blind is probably the next best spell to sleep however, as it can be a relatively hard save, and absolutely dooms your opponent to death more or less ESPECIALLY if they're a caster.
2. Mirror Image. Free damage basically. Glitterdust - it's AoE blindness and will be effective into ToB and also reveals invisible creatures (only really useful in a few scenarios in bg1 - but the AoE blindness is king).
3. Skull trap - lots of AoE damage, better than fireball due to it being magic damage. Haste - makes everybody attack faster. Slow - makes your enemies super slow (mix with haste for maximum pwnage). Invisibility 10 ft radius. The ultimate in "this doesn't look good" escape technology.
BTW - thank you for the *sleep* clarification. In old game I always used BGT which in a way required ToBex, I almost forgot about these facts as those were my standard settings for years. If sleep equals a death sentence, I don't know what to do with it - it should give you the chance of a sneak attack but if your victim is hit it should wake up and fight for its life.
protection from petrification (Oogi classification cheap beer) - a lifesaver and huge XP generator against basilisks
friends (Oogi classification horse dung) - the easiest way to minimise shop prices as well as improving rewards in some encounters
knock (Oogi classification cheap beer) - a great spell if you don't have a thief or your thief is specialising in other skills than open locks
sanctuary (Oogi classification cheap beer) - another wonderful spell that allows you to avoid encounters while looting chests under the noses of enemies
I could go on and on. The truth is that there are not many spells that are really useless and quite a few that are incredibly useful, although possibly only on rare occasions. It's fun to experiment and see how you can make good use of spells that others don't rate highly.
I do not agree with calling some other spells crap because of this. E.g. *Knock* can be an essential spell if you decide to play with no thief. *Protection from Petrification* perfectly does what it is supposed to do, but you rarely need it and you can use potions or the paladin ring etc in those situations.
So if you read (or write) such an assessment, you must make clear what your criteria are, like I tried to do in the list I provided. Thus the result only applies if you accept the criteria, if your preferences are different you come to other results - which by the way is what makes the Baldur's Gate Series such an enduring success, there is never just one truth/solution/best way/ultimate class or kit...
In the early stages (say, for roughly the first half) of BG1, Sleep is arguably the very best spell of all, not at all "horse dung" as Oogi's School suggests. Later in BG1 it is less useful because it only works against low-level enemies (and throughout BG2 it's true that it's useless), but it'll have saved your party's life many times (and perhaps especially in transition ambushes) before you get to that point.
an almostcomplete list of Arcane spells with commentaries.https://pihwiki.bgforge.net/Baldur's_Gate:_Arcane_Spells_List
Sadly no divine equivalent.
Xyx's BG2 Spells Reference:
http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/SpellsReference/Main.htm
For me though, 'best' is what fits my CHARNAME, my view of background, idea of class, deities, alignment, and personality. And that can vary, so it would hard for me to give 'one' answer. Looking at it this way has given me enjoyment with lesser used spells that did not rate high on the 'most beneficial' lists. Sure, may make the game harder sometimes, but it sure is darn fun, from the viewpoint of immersion (just my personal style though of course).