Well, my life is incredibly busy now. I have a son on the way, I work long hours at a factory, and I try to squeeze in time to write D&D 5e books on the side. I really don't know, sir.
I'll post my own list here.
I've soloed BG1+SoA with shaman can say that shaman is a very solid class. As for the spell selection it mostly depends on wether you play solo or in a party, and on that party composition.
I currently play EET+SCS+RR with Dragon Disciple and Ilusionist-Thief and have done BG1. In SoD and later in BG2 I want to add a shaman and Dorn. My DrD is a tanky sorc who relies on defence, debuffs, CC, fire resistance and mass fire damage.
Hence this selection is suitable for any party with a rogue and a mage.
On the spell selection format:
<Spell level>. [char levels when spells of this level are acquired]
<Spells in order of picking>
// comments
I. [1, 1, 3, 5, 7]
Cure LW, Bless, Doom, Entangle, Armor of Faith
II. [4, 5, 7, 9, 11]
Charm PoM, Slow Poison, Prot. from F&C, Flameblade, Barskin
// Don't need #2 and #4 much, but there's nothing more to take.
#3 is an essential elemental resistance spell, should be combined with potions, rings , etc for full immunity.
#5 is good to use on poorly defended party members and summons. In my case, on levels 20+ it will replace Spirit Armor for my DrD and summons. You can also use it for a minor s/t boost.
III. [6, 7, 9, 11, 22]
Call Lightning, Cure Disease, Prot. from Fire, Dispel Magic, Cure MW.
// #1 is an incredible spell through the whole saga. Though most of BG2 are dungeons and other indoors, CL has its uses and does massive damage.
#2 cures disease as well as blindness, deafness and feeblemind - frequent effects in SCS. Shaman's Spiritual Clarity counters charm, fear, confusion and rigid thinking. This two spells take care of most disabling effects at shaman's will.
I'm not taking Insects because any mage who is not protected from direct spells is as good as dead anyway by means of arcane magic. In solo adventure Insects is the 1st or 2nd pick.
IV. [8, 9, 11, 13, 23]
Call WB, Defensive Harmony, Prot. from Lightning, Neg. Plane Prot., Death Ward
// #3 is said to be worse than its arcane counterpart, but mages' 5th spell level slots are too valuable for this. Nevertheless the duration of 5r/lvl is more than enough.
#3 is to be used in combination with lightning spells/wands against fire-resistant creatures.
I'd prefer to have #5 before #4, but the latter is rather useless on levels 23+ as most vampires live in Athkatla. On the contrary, death-like effects become more frequent later on.
On the other hand I can tank vampires with Dorn, who is immune, and give Amulet of Power to one of my casters, DrD most likely, and my I-T is going to steal a dagger (added by RR) that has 3 cats of PfNE 3t/day.
Should I decide against PfNE, Poison is a good alternative here. It is a vicious spell for 4th spell level and is potentially lethal for any creature who fails its s/t. It is also doubly deadly for hasted enemies.
V. [10, 11, 13, 15, 28]
Iron Skins, Insect Plague, Chaotic Commands, Resist Magic,
(?) Mass Cure/True Seeing/Pixie Dust
// TS is not that valuable for me as both shaman and illusionist-thief have detect illusion skill, which is much better than divination spells for several reasons. First, enemy mages and thieves very seldom use invisibility spell/potion only once. So spells like Invis. Purge or Oracle are rather useless. Second, DI skill is always "at hand", you don't need to plan your mages' spell slots ahead, and you free them for other spells. Third, SCS mages like to use SI: Divination, and DI skill bypasses this protection.
Mass Cure is nice, but our Nymph can cast it as well, though high level char will be more efficient with it. I'll also think about Pixie Dust as it gives good tactical advantages: you can place your group and summons before a fight better, and you can decide, who will aggro enemies first.
VI. [12, 13, 15, 21, 30]
Fire Elemental, Heal, Harm, Fire Seeds,
Wondrous Recall
// Fire Elemental, being immune to nonmagical weapons, is an outstanding summon. My DrD took Wraith Form and tanked 80% of BG1 battles with no hit taken. And will continue doing so together with the Elemental. Furthermore SCS replaces many +1 weapons with "excellent" ones, which makes this strategy even more efficient. Later in SoA and ToB they are going to lure enemies into deadly flames of Firestorm and Incendiary Cloud.
#3 is believed to be rather useless because of bad druid's/shaman's thac0 but! In my solo Avenger playthrough Resist Magic on Iron/Adamantite Golems + Harm on 19 str was successful 3 out of 4 times.
#4 is quite weak spell by itself, but in hands of Dorn, combined with Poison Weapon or Deathblow, become quite decent.
The last spell is acquired very late, when Conjure Animals, Animal Summoning and Dolorous Decay are useless. So I take #5 as a balancing spell which trades 1 offensive spell for 2 defensive.
VII. [14, 15, 17, 22, 31]
Fire Storm, Creeping Doom, Shield of Archons, Nature's Beauty, Regeneration.
// #2 isn't much better than Insect Plague except it can affect creatures, immune to 5th level spells like lichens. There are also nasty Rakshasas, immune to some spell levels.
I'll perhaps switch order of #3 and #4, depending on how my shaman will handle tough mages battles.
#5 is a great survival spell. Shaman protected with Spirit Form, Favored of the Spirits and #5 is very hard to kill.
Earth Elemental is not as good as a Fire one, and we don't get access to its greater brothers. Earthquake is OK when used wisely, but doesn't fit good enough to my strategy. Confusion is a nice choice for solo Shaman, but not in party with mages and their 5th level analogue.
Conclusion: my party mostly relies on magics, and I want them to be highly versatile. That's why I chose shaman over druid or fighter-druid. Though the latter is overall stronger, his spell progression is much slower than that of pure druid or shaman. Another thing to mention is that shaman's level progression from 14 to 18 is more consistent. Bonus slots from druid's high wisdom mostly affects spell levels 1-4, the least useful ones, while shaman will get strong high level spells earlier. At the same time shaman is sturdier than single class druids, both in terms of health and physical damage output.
@monico sure!
Shaman Solo
I haven't played solo with SCS though I believe that should I try the list would be the same.
I. [1, 1, 3, 5, 7]
Cure LW, Entangle, Doom, Bless, Armor of Faith
// Here I switch order because Entangle and Doom are needed on first levels and Bless - only later on to buff summons.
II. [4, 5, 7, 9, 11]
Charm PoM, Flameblade, Find Traps, Prot. from F&C, Barskin
// There's no use for Slow Poison (you have potions and bhaalspawn abilities) so change it for Find Traps - to buff yourself before setting them off.
Flameblade offers acceptable damage only before you get more damaging weapon so I take it earlier.
One more thing to mention here - the Writhing Fog spell. By gods it's awesome! Shaman is immune to it, as well as his spirits. So you throw it at feet in every single battle (unless there are neutrals around) until mid SoA. The casting is very fast (2), duration is decent (1 turn), enemies can get slowed, casters get interrupted - what else is needed? It's perfect for 2nd spell lvl.
III. [6, 7, 9, 11, 22]
Summon Insects, Call Lightning, Dispel Magic, Cure Disease, Prot. from Fire
// When soloing Summon Insects is used not only for interrupting casters, but is more considered as a damaging spell. Because of constantly ticking damage it effectively slows foes' movement so that it is easier to kite them. I also used it against trolls and werewolves to counter their regeneration. Hence it's the #1 pick.
All deseases you might meet in BG1 are cured with Potion of Health, no blindness there. So you can take it on 11th in BG2.
Dispel Magic for solo adventure is an offensive spell and you will need it in mid and late BG1.
Before PfF you have to combine either 2 of ring, potion and PfF&C. Ring slots are valuable, time for buffs is limited, so I prefer to have 1 spell for full immunity. Despite its description the spell provides 100% fire res.
IV. [8, 9, 11, 13, 23]
Call WB, Defensive Harmony, Prot. from Lightning, Neg. Plane Prot., Death Ward
// #1 and #2 are essential hands down.
Prot. from Lightning is nice to have against traps but you can use potions in that cases. Other sources of lightning damage are also very rare.
Neg. Plane Prot. isn't needed for yourself (Amulet of Power) but is highly desired for your tanking summons as they have bad AC and are susceptible to energy drain. On the other hand you can tank vampires yourself and let your summons act as damage dealers only. And of course you might want to side with Bodhi after all.
There are two other spells worth taking at this lvl. The first is Poison, see my previous post. Another one is Farsight which allows some tactics inaccessible otherwise.
V. [10, 11, 13, 15, 28]
Iron Skins, Insect Plague, Chaotic Commands, Pixie Dust, Magic Resistance.
// The first 3 spells are must have. Following my discourse on the last spell choice it is obvious that TS isn't needed much.
If you want to use MR spell as a debuff, take it on 15lvl. The easiest way to kill Iron and Adamantite golems: buff Iron Skins, cast MR on a golem, Harm it and land a final hit. Repeat if Harm resisted or if you miss. SCS golems cast poisonous clouds and will unlikely let you do that. So better safely kill them with Sling of Everard as they are usually stuck in an aperture. If you happen to deal with them in an open space, Boots of Speed + Potion of Speed + Energy Blades will do the work.
Back to MR: if you want to use it for its intended purpose, it doesn't stack (at least in my current setup) with bonuses from items, but does stack with Potion of Magic Protection.
Mass Cure is not very useful. It heals too little and doesn't help much in the midst of battle. Even if you heal 30 hp per summon, in later game it is one or two hits for most enemies. By that time I usually use summons as meatshields to save time for myself to eliminate enemies. If I really want to save my summon, I just Heal it via spell or a wand. On the other hand, you may want to walk around surrounded with 5 summons, buffing and healing them.
VI. [12, 13, 15, 21, 30]
Fire Elemental, Heal, Conjure Animals, Harm, Wondrous Recall.
// Fire Seeds changed to Conjure Animals. I favor it over Animal Summoning III because the latter is weaker as it can summon lions and winter wolves along with bears. CA calls forth 1 to 3 (usually 2) mountain bears. They are not very tanky but are good damage dealers. So I usually tank with Elemental and back him up with bears.
VII. [14, 15, 17, 22, 31]
Shield of Archons, Fire Storm, Creeping Doom, Nature's Beauty, Regeneration.
// On this level the order mostly depends on what threats you find most dangerous.
Confusion is a decent spell, but our Nymph can cast so why bother. Nature's Beauty is a legal cheat.
Spirit Form
It's not a spell but an innate ability. It can (and should) be taken multiple times because the duration is rather short (5r).
One of the main problems for solo shaman is lack of AC. Though you can boost it to average negatives, it won't be enough in some battles. In this cases Spirit Form comes in. You can stack it with Armor of Faith to get up to 70% physical damage resistance. This allows you to sustain significant amount of damage. Combine with regeneration from different sources and a handful of healing potions for incredible durability.
Improved invisibility effect gives bonus -4 AC as usual, as well as immunity to direct spells. Though I'm not sure how it interacts with TS or similar innate abilities.
Favored of the Spirits - this innate ability can be taken only once, so only one use per rest.
Another cool ability that further enhances shaman's survivability, especially when combined with the previous one. It's not totally reliable though as you can be killed without reaching 10% of your health (e.g. you have 15hp and receive 20dmg). Another issue is that just like with contingencies it doesn't trigger right away when hp drops below 10%. I suppose it is a per round check thus sometimes it takes several seconds. So be careful.
There's also a matter to investigate wether Death Ward prevents FotS from dissipation when you are targeted with a death effect.
Aura of Flaming Death
Double-purpose spell. Further boost of AC, offensive fire shield and 90% fire resistance oblige you to use it under Fire Storm. The duration is good (1r/2lvls) hence it can be buffed beforehand. I used it many times.
Globe of Blades
Another perfect spell. Huge damage for just being close to enemies and doing nothing. Just stand surrounded by enemies, buff up with the previous 3 HLAs and renew your Iron Skins and other defences. Long duration (1t). As usual, you can cheese with it going invisible.
Energy Blades
Nothing much to comment here - it's almost the only way to deal damage to many strong enemies like dragons, liches and bosses. The best defence is offence - it's you or them.
Implosion
A very strong single-target spell. It's better to be used on non fire resistant enemies and is very useful agains magic resistant ones. No save stun for 1 round supported with a group of summons is a nice addition to already significant damage. Use it on mages carefully since Stoneskin protects from crushing damage.
Ethereal Retribution
This one is quite weak: 3d8 damage per round for 3 rounds is very low for 7th spell. Strength reduction sounds nice but those enemies whose strength you want to be lowered either immune (golems) or will usually save. You may experiment with it since it's party friendly but usually there are better ways. Casting time is 8.
Storm of Vengeance
Even worse that the previos one. 3d6 of different elemental damage per round with a save for half. I haven't found any sane use of this spell.
Mass Raise Dead
One good thing about this spell is that after resurrecting it heals 3d10+1 (why in the world smn added this +1 Oo). Anyway I don't remember any situation when I raised anyone until a battle is over. Once raised a chatacter has to pick up all equipment, heal, buff - it takes a lot of time. Unless I play hardcore there's no need for this spell.
Elemental Summoning
While druid takes this one only as a bridge to Greater ES, shaman doesn't get the latter and can make some use of this one.
Summons two 16HD earth/air/fire elementals, 10% chance to get one of Elemental Princes that are way more powerful than common elementals. Meanwhile Conjure Fire Elemental has the following chances: 60% for 12HD, 35% for 16HD, 5% for 24HD. Long story short Elemental Princes are overall better than even 24HD elementals, except for that their attacks are treated as of +2 enchantment while all others - as of +4.
Since there's no need to memorise and occupy a slot you might need for sth else, it is worth taking.
The pick order completely depends on your needs.
Care about being vulnerable to attacks - take Spirit Form, Aura of Flaming Death and Favored of the Spirits.
Need more offence? - Energy Blades and Implosion are way to go.
Not satisfied with your summons? - conjure more with Elemental Summoning.
There's no ultimate or universal advice, just take what you need.
@Hempz I have started playing a shaman. Nice class, I like it very much.
I just wondered if with SPS IWD divine spells add in BG, you would change your spell list or you would stick with the original BG spells ?
BTW, HNY to everyone !
I suppose that the list would have to be changed significantly. There si no way that conjure animal would be there instead of Entropy Shield. This should be the first pick as level six spell. Other spells to consider are Sunscorch, Alicron Lance, Spike Growth, Static Charge, Impervious Sanctity of Mind.
I would take it. It has chance to blind opponent. Duration is short but blindness is so strong effect that it is worth. What else is there to pick? Armor of Faith and Doom are almost mandatory, then there is Bless, Curse and Entangle. Bless and Curse can be cast be clerics and Entangle is quickly overshadowed by Web (if you play with party which includes arcane caster.) .
I have read that people do not consider highly the 1st level spell spirit ward. I play with SCS where every wizard uses liberally the Sleep spell, and spirit ward has already saved my life two times, first one being the encounter with bloody Tarnesh at the FAI...
I suppose that the list would have to be changed significantly. There si no way that conjure animal would be there instead of Entropy Shield. This should be the first pick as level six spell. Other spells to consider are Sunscorch, Alicron Lance, Spike Growth, Static Charge, Impervious Sanctity of Mind.
Sunscorch is really good even at first level, the blind is so useful, and the damages are OK and great against undeads.
Alicorn Lance is also a very nice debuffer.
Spike Growth combined with Web and Withering Fog is an easy win against most groups. Mold Touch is also a nice alternative to Call Lightning for single foe indoor.
Level 4 spells are hard to choose because they are many good ones : Static Charge is indeed a very powerful damage dealer, but Moonwall is nice against evil undead, Smashing Wave can stun, the SCS version of Thorn Spray is also OK.
I have read that people do not consider highly the 1st level spell spirit ward. I play with SCS where every wizard uses liberally the Sleep spell, and spirit ward has already saved my life two times, first one being the encounter with bloody Tarnesh at the FAI...
It's mostly a matter of "how useful will this spell be across the entire saga" since the Shaman can't change their picks mid-game like Bards/Wizards can. On the arcane side, Sleep has the same problem: it is an excellent spell at level 1 that should never be in a Sorceror's spellbook.
If you started your sorcerer at level 1 ... of course Sleep should be in the spellbook. I just finished a run with a sorcerer (dragon disciple) protagonist, and the only level spell he used at all in the late game was Shield. And that was rare, since he had Spirit Armor and PfME up full-time. Shield was only cast on those rare occasions when he wanted missile AC.
Meanwhile, having Sleep was fantastic for the first part of BG1, until he could throw fireballs around instead to just kill those packs of low-level enemies.
(Final list of level 1 spells for that character: (L1) Sleep, Burning Hands, (L3) Blindness, (L5) Magic Missile, (L7) Shield.)
Since basically all of your level 1 spells are going to go obsolete anyway, why not pick something that dominates early?
As for Spirit Ward on a Shaman ... you don't have to pick it. It's in your spellbook automatically.
Mass Raise Dead
One good thing about this spell is that after resurrecting it heals 3d10+1 (why in the world smn added this +1 Oo). Anyway I don't remember any situation when I raised anyone until a battle is over. Once raised a chatacter has to pick up all equipment, heal, buff - it takes a lot of time. Unless I play hardcore there's no need for this spell.
Actually, it's better than you might think. Mass Raise Dead has a much faster casting time than other resurrection spells, making it practical for use in battle. And in 2.5, it's bugged to apply its healing once for each member of the party. In a full party, everyone gets 18d10+6*level healing. Most likely, that will heal everyone to full.
Casting speed 2, raise all dead party members and heal all party members to full? Absolutely, sign me up.
The drawback is another bug ... the sequencer bug. Casting this spell, in 2.5, will remove the activation ability for any creature-targeted sequencers, while leaving the effect that marks which spells are in the sequencer so you can't cast a new one. Only killing and raising that character or editing the save can fix this.
2.6 fixes the sequencer bug and apparently does something to the healing; I'm not sure of the details since I don't have the beta myself.
If you started your sorcerer at level 1 ... of course Sleep should be in the spellbook. I just finished a run with a sorcerer (dragon disciple) protagonist, and the only level spell he used at all in the late game was Shield. And that was rare, since he had Spirit Armor and PfME up full-time. Shield was only cast on those rare occasions when he wanted missile AC.
Meanwhile, having Sleep was fantastic for the first part of BG1, until he could throw fireballs around instead to just kill those packs of low-level enemies.
(Final list of level 1 spells for that character: (L1) Sleep, Burning Hands, (L3) Blindness, (L5) Magic Missile, (L7) Shield.)
Since basically all of your level 1 spells are going to go obsolete anyway, why not pick something that dominates early?
I Don't know if it is because I play with SCS but I disagree on Sleep. In SCS BG1 this spell is soon obsolete with most foes being level 5 or more.
Beside, there is some wands of sleep available early on to do the job.
Some level 1 spells remain useful during the entire saga : Magic Missile, Shield (for its protection against Magic Missile and Mordenkainen's Force Missiles), Spook (thanks to its increasing saving throws penalty), Grease (still can be used to slow enemies), Identify...
I Don't know if it is because I play with SCS but I disagree on Sleep. In SCS BG1 this spell is soon obsolete with most foes being level 5 or more.
Beside, there is some wands of sleep available early on to do the job.
Some level 1 spells remain useful during the entire saga : Magic Missile, Shield (for its protection against Magic Missile and Mordenkainen's Force Missiles), Spook (thanks to its increasing saving throws penalty), Grease (still can be used to slow enemies), Identify...
I play with SCS too. There are enemies that are too high a level for Sleep, or protected, even early in the game - but there are also large packs of enemies that are vulnerable. Kobolds, hobgoblins, bandits. Especially against the archers, having an AoE answer to take them out of the fight is very useful.
A wand of Sleep is not an adequate substitute for arcane Sleep. It doesn't have a save penalty, so enemies make their saves significantly more often. I tried that out in my no-spellcasting party ... once or twice, before giving it up as useless. Even a party that wasn't allowed to memorize and cast Sleep decided not to use the wand.
Shield? I already noted how that spell played for me. Worth having, not something I cast often.
Grease? The description is a lie. It doesn't slow at all unless a save is failed. Still an AoE debuff at spell level 1 that isn't level-capped, but the save bonus limits its usefulness.
Spook? Would have been useful. Not in line with the run's fire theme, but I did resort to fear effects in order to take out Firkraag before Spellhold. I probably should have taken it in place of Burning Hands despite the theme, and shuffled the order I took spells in.
Identify? Between lore identification (sometimes boosted by Int potions) and the glasses, you don't need the spell at all in BG2. Even if Nalia with her 9 wisdom is the only character that gets more than one point of lore per level.
Hi - I come back to Shaman spells. I wonder - if I get Sanctuary (thanks to Tweaks Anthology) woiuld my shaman be able to dance and be protected during 1 turn? WOuld the dance break the sanctuary ?
OK I have tried, and the good news is that it doesn't break the sanctuary. So with SCS, it should help, because the archers will not aim their arrows at the dancing shaman !
But there are bad news as well ... You can invoke spirits, but they will just stay there and will not do anything. So it is sure cannon fodder but I guess that because you are invisible in the sanctuary they will not attack your opponents ...so I am a bit disappointed ...should I still chose Sanctuary as Shaman spell ? Perhaps with the detection illusion ability it may be intereting ?
Late to this thread, but I've made a Shaman and wanted to share my thoughts. I've done a no-reload evil party of BG1 and been successful with a shaman. In fact, it's a great addition to an evil party as it allows druid spells but doesn't have some of the party issues you'd get with a druid companion. I have played SoA with it too, but not deep into ToB, so I can't comment on higher level abilities.
Just on the abilities real quick before I get to the spells:
Shamanic dance is terrible. Avoid using it. You can't control the summons, you freeze your protagonist which is never good. You have access to controllable summons with your spells! And because of sorcerer-style system, spellcasts are not as precious as they are on a regular caster.
Detect illusion is outstanding. Unlike the illusion fighting spells, there's no casting time and thus interrupt chance. It levels slowly but it comes online at just the right time. Another reason shamanic dance is crap. You can conceivably squeeze in attacks, a spellcast and an activation of this spell all in one round. Just like you might with a bard and bardsong. Quite an efficient use of a caster!
Shortbow is good. Axe is good. Dagger and Qstaff are also viable with the class. Aeger's hide early in BG2.
The spells
1. Cure Light Wounds, Doom, Armor of Faith, maybe Bless. Nothing else worth discussing. There is a strategic reason to pick healing spells early on at every level btw, even if they are not the "best" spell available. The flexible casting coupled with healing will help your party over the long haul. Doom is your only offensive spell of note here. Bless scales poorly, whereas AoF is weak early on but scales well. Entangle simply has too long of a cast time and too low of a saving throw threshold.
2. Charm P/A, Slow Poison, Resist Fire/Cold. Writhing fog is outstanding for level 2. Combines well with another caster using web or grease. I disagree with the OP about the resist spells. Yes, it's situational. But broadly speaking resistances in the BG series are insanely good. Monsters really have zero counter to them, and resistances to fire and electricity can eliminate a significant chunk of the things that will kill you or your companions. Again it's situational, but there aren't a ton of mage fights in BG1, and you can pre-buff for just these fights while not really losing much by taking this pick. Still a notoriously crummy spell level.
3. Dispel magic, Call lightning, Cure Medium Wounds (yes!). The first level where there are more spell options than you can probably take, but I would for sure take these three. Unlike what the OP said, the cure spells are helpful for saving yourself from bad outcomes in a fight, and potentially during a disaster of a combat into something you win. Even when they are not technically "efficient" or whatever. Because of the spell/potion timer, characters can only heal themselves so much in a single round. It's only via other members of the party and healing spells that you can pump a whole bunch more HP into your frontline when you tactically need it. If you don't have a dedicated healer in your party, you will be reduced to dangerous, tedious tactics like kiting some of the time. At some point your frontline tank will suffer some bad rolls. Better to take advantage of a sorcerer-style healer. Spiritual clarity is very very good mainly for removing the effects of chaos/confuse. Beyond those top three summon insects is okay, but it's long cast time isn't great. Dispel is clutch on a single-class caster and will serve you well, even if you get Keldorn later. Always good to have a second option in your party on a key spell/ability.
4. Woodland beings, Cure Serious Wounds, Defensive harmony, Protection from lightning. Woodland beings is obvious. CSW is good for the reasons I stated above. Trust me, you will not regret picking it early. You will end up in combats where this saves one of your characters. I repeat that resistances are overpowered in the BG series. Spell ones can be removed by some enemies, but nonetheless, they are good. Especially clutch for one particular fight in Throne of Bhaal, fwiw. Fire and lightning are the overwhelming majority of non-physical damage in the saga. Defensive harmony has a great cast time. Other protection spells are good too, like death ward, neutralize poison, but I simply do not think most players will find them as consistently useful as the ones I've mentioned. Spirit fire negates the need to pick an offensive spell here imo, it's also excellent just like Fog was.
5. Iron skins, insect plague, cure critical wounds, true seeing. I put iron skins at the top mainly thinking of protecting the protagonist here. This spell can allow you transition from a backline member of the party to one of its stronger tanks. Combine it with firing off a high-scaled armor of faith when its protection wears off, and you can comfortably dip into melee combat regularly, if you like. Insect plague is OP. Yes, true seeing kind of redundant with detect illusions, but the fact that it works like a buff makes it strong. It is ALWAYS useful from late BG1 all the way to the end of the saga to have multiple things that dispel illusions activating in your party. The one thing the base enemy AI is quite good at is using and re-using invisibility against you. Won't matter in every fight but will negate high damage capabilities.
6. Fire elemental, Heal. Then the rest to taste. Heal is outstanding save yourself or a companion in a jam. Fire elemental of course one of the best summons. The gifted Recall Spirit spell is great too. Folks can debate the other options here, but I think these three spells are what you'll end up casting most of the time.
7. Creeping doom. A ton of the spells here are indeed quite powerful. But creeping doom is the only spell that truly gives you something a wizard or cleric won't have. And that's why you picked shaman isn't it? Insect plague is OP. So is this souped-up version. The key really is that so few enemies have a resistance to the insect spells.
Comments
I've soloed BG1+SoA with shaman can say that shaman is a very solid class. As for the spell selection it mostly depends on wether you play solo or in a party, and on that party composition.
I currently play EET+SCS+RR with Dragon Disciple and Ilusionist-Thief and have done BG1. In SoD and later in BG2 I want to add a shaman and Dorn. My DrD is a tanky sorc who relies on defence, debuffs, CC, fire resistance and mass fire damage.
Hence this selection is suitable for any party with a rogue and a mage.
On the spell selection format:
<Spell level>. [char levels when spells of this level are acquired]
<Spells in order of picking>
// comments
I. [1, 1, 3, 5, 7]
Cure LW, Bless, Doom, Entangle, Armor of Faith
II. [4, 5, 7, 9, 11]
Charm PoM, Slow Poison, Prot. from F&C, Flameblade, Barskin
// Don't need #2 and #4 much, but there's nothing more to take.
#3 is an essential elemental resistance spell, should be combined with potions, rings , etc for full immunity.
#5 is good to use on poorly defended party members and summons. In my case, on levels 20+ it will replace Spirit Armor for my DrD and summons. You can also use it for a minor s/t boost.
III. [6, 7, 9, 11, 22]
Call Lightning, Cure Disease, Prot. from Fire, Dispel Magic, Cure MW.
// #1 is an incredible spell through the whole saga. Though most of BG2 are dungeons and other indoors, CL has its uses and does massive damage.
#2 cures disease as well as blindness, deafness and feeblemind - frequent effects in SCS. Shaman's Spiritual Clarity counters charm, fear, confusion and rigid thinking. This two spells take care of most disabling effects at shaman's will.
I'm not taking Insects because any mage who is not protected from direct spells is as good as dead anyway by means of arcane magic. In solo adventure Insects is the 1st or 2nd pick.
IV. [8, 9, 11, 13, 23]
Call WB, Defensive Harmony, Prot. from Lightning, Neg. Plane Prot., Death Ward
// #3 is said to be worse than its arcane counterpart, but mages' 5th spell level slots are too valuable for this. Nevertheless the duration of 5r/lvl is more than enough.
#3 is to be used in combination with lightning spells/wands against fire-resistant creatures.
I'd prefer to have #5 before #4, but the latter is rather useless on levels 23+ as most vampires live in Athkatla. On the contrary, death-like effects become more frequent later on.
On the other hand I can tank vampires with Dorn, who is immune, and give Amulet of Power to one of my casters, DrD most likely, and my I-T is going to steal a dagger (added by RR) that has 3 cats of PfNE 3t/day.
Should I decide against PfNE, Poison is a good alternative here. It is a vicious spell for 4th spell level and is potentially lethal for any creature who fails its s/t. It is also doubly deadly for hasted enemies.
V. [10, 11, 13, 15, 28]
Iron Skins, Insect Plague, Chaotic Commands, Resist Magic,
(?) Mass Cure/True Seeing/Pixie Dust
// TS is not that valuable for me as both shaman and illusionist-thief have detect illusion skill, which is much better than divination spells for several reasons. First, enemy mages and thieves very seldom use invisibility spell/potion only once. So spells like Invis. Purge or Oracle are rather useless. Second, DI skill is always "at hand", you don't need to plan your mages' spell slots ahead, and you free them for other spells. Third, SCS mages like to use SI: Divination, and DI skill bypasses this protection.
Mass Cure is nice, but our Nymph can cast it as well, though high level char will be more efficient with it. I'll also think about Pixie Dust as it gives good tactical advantages: you can place your group and summons before a fight better, and you can decide, who will aggro enemies first.
VI. [12, 13, 15, 21, 30]
Fire Elemental, Heal, Harm, Fire Seeds,
Wondrous Recall
// Fire Elemental, being immune to nonmagical weapons, is an outstanding summon. My DrD took Wraith Form and tanked 80% of BG1 battles with no hit taken. And will continue doing so together with the Elemental. Furthermore SCS replaces many +1 weapons with "excellent" ones, which makes this strategy even more efficient. Later in SoA and ToB they are going to lure enemies into deadly flames of Firestorm and Incendiary Cloud.
#3 is believed to be rather useless because of bad druid's/shaman's thac0 but! In my solo Avenger playthrough Resist Magic on Iron/Adamantite Golems + Harm on 19 str was successful 3 out of 4 times.
#4 is quite weak spell by itself, but in hands of Dorn, combined with Poison Weapon or Deathblow, become quite decent.
The last spell is acquired very late, when Conjure Animals, Animal Summoning and Dolorous Decay are useless. So I take #5 as a balancing spell which trades 1 offensive spell for 2 defensive.
VII. [14, 15, 17, 22, 31]
Fire Storm, Creeping Doom, Shield of Archons, Nature's Beauty, Regeneration.
// #2 isn't much better than Insect Plague except it can affect creatures, immune to 5th level spells like lichens. There are also nasty Rakshasas, immune to some spell levels.
I'll perhaps switch order of #3 and #4, depending on how my shaman will handle tough mages battles.
#5 is a great survival spell. Shaman protected with Spirit Form, Favored of the Spirits and #5 is very hard to kill.
Earth Elemental is not as good as a Fire one, and we don't get access to its greater brothers. Earthquake is OK when used wisely, but doesn't fit good enough to my strategy. Confusion is a nice choice for solo Shaman, but not in party with mages and their 5th level analogue.
Conclusion: my party mostly relies on magics, and I want them to be highly versatile. That's why I chose shaman over druid or fighter-druid. Though the latter is overall stronger, his spell progression is much slower than that of pure druid or shaman. Another thing to mention is that shaman's level progression from 14 to 18 is more consistent. Bonus slots from druid's high wisdom mostly affects spell levels 1-4, the least useful ones, while shaman will get strong high level spells earlier. At the same time shaman is sturdier than single class druids, both in terms of health and physical damage output.
Shaman Solo
I haven't played solo with SCS though I believe that should I try the list would be the same.
I. [1, 1, 3, 5, 7]
Cure LW, Entangle, Doom, Bless, Armor of Faith
// Here I switch order because Entangle and Doom are needed on first levels and Bless - only later on to buff summons.
II. [4, 5, 7, 9, 11]
Charm PoM, Flameblade, Find Traps, Prot. from F&C, Barskin
// There's no use for Slow Poison (you have potions and bhaalspawn abilities) so change it for Find Traps - to buff yourself before setting them off.
Flameblade offers acceptable damage only before you get more damaging weapon so I take it earlier.
One more thing to mention here - the Writhing Fog spell. By gods it's awesome! Shaman is immune to it, as well as his spirits. So you throw it at feet in every single battle (unless there are neutrals around) until mid SoA. The casting is very fast (2), duration is decent (1 turn), enemies can get slowed, casters get interrupted - what else is needed? It's perfect for 2nd spell lvl.
III. [6, 7, 9, 11, 22]
Summon Insects, Call Lightning, Dispel Magic, Cure Disease, Prot. from Fire
// When soloing Summon Insects is used not only for interrupting casters, but is more considered as a damaging spell. Because of constantly ticking damage it effectively slows foes' movement so that it is easier to kite them. I also used it against trolls and werewolves to counter their regeneration. Hence it's the #1 pick.
All deseases you might meet in BG1 are cured with Potion of Health, no blindness there. So you can take it on 11th in BG2.
Dispel Magic for solo adventure is an offensive spell and you will need it in mid and late BG1.
Before PfF you have to combine either 2 of ring, potion and PfF&C. Ring slots are valuable, time for buffs is limited, so I prefer to have 1 spell for full immunity. Despite its description the spell provides 100% fire res.
IV. [8, 9, 11, 13, 23]
Call WB, Defensive Harmony, Prot. from Lightning, Neg. Plane Prot., Death Ward
// #1 and #2 are essential hands down.
Prot. from Lightning is nice to have against traps but you can use potions in that cases. Other sources of lightning damage are also very rare.
Neg. Plane Prot. isn't needed for yourself (Amulet of Power) but is highly desired for your tanking summons as they have bad AC and are susceptible to energy drain. On the other hand you can tank vampires yourself and let your summons act as damage dealers only. And of course you might want to side with Bodhi after all.
There are two other spells worth taking at this lvl. The first is Poison, see my previous post. Another one is Farsight which allows some tactics inaccessible otherwise.
V. [10, 11, 13, 15, 28]
Iron Skins, Insect Plague, Chaotic Commands, Pixie Dust, Magic Resistance.
// The first 3 spells are must have. Following my discourse on the last spell choice it is obvious that TS isn't needed much.
If you want to use MR spell as a debuff, take it on 15lvl. The easiest way to kill Iron and Adamantite golems: buff Iron Skins, cast MR on a golem, Harm it and land a final hit. Repeat if Harm resisted or if you miss. SCS golems cast poisonous clouds and will unlikely let you do that. So better safely kill them with Sling of Everard as they are usually stuck in an aperture. If you happen to deal with them in an open space, Boots of Speed + Potion of Speed + Energy Blades will do the work.
Back to MR: if you want to use it for its intended purpose, it doesn't stack (at least in my current setup) with bonuses from items, but does stack with Potion of Magic Protection.
Mass Cure is not very useful. It heals too little and doesn't help much in the midst of battle. Even if you heal 30 hp per summon, in later game it is one or two hits for most enemies. By that time I usually use summons as meatshields to save time for myself to eliminate enemies. If I really want to save my summon, I just Heal it via spell or a wand. On the other hand, you may want to walk around surrounded with 5 summons, buffing and healing them.
VI. [12, 13, 15, 21, 30]
Fire Elemental, Heal, Conjure Animals, Harm, Wondrous Recall.
// Fire Seeds changed to Conjure Animals. I favor it over Animal Summoning III because the latter is weaker as it can summon lions and winter wolves along with bears. CA calls forth 1 to 3 (usually 2) mountain bears. They are not very tanky but are good damage dealers. So I usually tank with Elemental and back him up with bears.
VII. [14, 15, 17, 22, 31]
Shield of Archons, Fire Storm, Creeping Doom, Nature's Beauty, Regeneration.
// On this level the order mostly depends on what threats you find most dangerous.
Confusion is a decent spell, but our Nymph can cast so why bother. Nature's Beauty is a legal cheat.
Spirit Form
It's not a spell but an innate ability. It can (and should) be taken multiple times because the duration is rather short (5r).
One of the main problems for solo shaman is lack of AC. Though you can boost it to average negatives, it won't be enough in some battles. In this cases Spirit Form comes in. You can stack it with Armor of Faith to get up to 70% physical damage resistance. This allows you to sustain significant amount of damage. Combine with regeneration from different sources and a handful of healing potions for incredible durability.
Improved invisibility effect gives bonus -4 AC as usual, as well as immunity to direct spells. Though I'm not sure how it interacts with TS or similar innate abilities.
Favored of the Spirits - this innate ability can be taken only once, so only one use per rest.
Another cool ability that further enhances shaman's survivability, especially when combined with the previous one. It's not totally reliable though as you can be killed without reaching 10% of your health (e.g. you have 15hp and receive 20dmg). Another issue is that just like with contingencies it doesn't trigger right away when hp drops below 10%. I suppose it is a per round check thus sometimes it takes several seconds. So be careful.
There's also a matter to investigate wether Death Ward prevents FotS from dissipation when you are targeted with a death effect.
Aura of Flaming Death
Double-purpose spell. Further boost of AC, offensive fire shield and 90% fire resistance oblige you to use it under Fire Storm. The duration is good (1r/2lvls) hence it can be buffed beforehand. I used it many times.
Globe of Blades
Another perfect spell. Huge damage for just being close to enemies and doing nothing. Just stand surrounded by enemies, buff up with the previous 3 HLAs and renew your Iron Skins and other defences. Long duration (1t). As usual, you can cheese with it going invisible.
Energy Blades
Nothing much to comment here - it's almost the only way to deal damage to many strong enemies like dragons, liches and bosses. The best defence is offence - it's you or them.
Implosion
A very strong single-target spell. It's better to be used on non fire resistant enemies and is very useful agains magic resistant ones. No save stun for 1 round supported with a group of summons is a nice addition to already significant damage. Use it on mages carefully since Stoneskin protects from crushing damage.
Ethereal Retribution
This one is quite weak: 3d8 damage per round for 3 rounds is very low for 7th spell. Strength reduction sounds nice but those enemies whose strength you want to be lowered either immune (golems) or will usually save. You may experiment with it since it's party friendly but usually there are better ways. Casting time is 8.
Storm of Vengeance
Even worse that the previos one. 3d6 of different elemental damage per round with a save for half. I haven't found any sane use of this spell.
Mass Raise Dead
One good thing about this spell is that after resurrecting it heals 3d10+1 (why in the world smn added this +1 Oo). Anyway I don't remember any situation when I raised anyone until a battle is over. Once raised a chatacter has to pick up all equipment, heal, buff - it takes a lot of time. Unless I play hardcore there's no need for this spell.
Elemental Summoning
While druid takes this one only as a bridge to Greater ES, shaman doesn't get the latter and can make some use of this one.
Summons two 16HD earth/air/fire elementals, 10% chance to get one of Elemental Princes that are way more powerful than common elementals. Meanwhile Conjure Fire Elemental has the following chances: 60% for 12HD, 35% for 16HD, 5% for 24HD. Long story short Elemental Princes are overall better than even 24HD elementals, except for that their attacks are treated as of +2 enchantment while all others - as of +4.
Since there's no need to memorise and occupy a slot you might need for sth else, it is worth taking.
The pick order completely depends on your needs.
Care about being vulnerable to attacks - take Spirit Form, Aura of Flaming Death and Favored of the Spirits.
Need more offence? - Energy Blades and Implosion are way to go.
Not satisfied with your summons? - conjure more with Elemental Summoning.
There's no ultimate or universal advice, just take what you need.
I just wondered if with SPS IWD divine spells add in BG, you would change your spell list or you would stick with the original BG spells ?
BTW, HNY to everyone !
Alicorn Lance is also a very nice debuffer.
Spike Growth combined with Web and Withering Fog is an easy win against most groups. Mold Touch is also a nice alternative to Call Lightning for single foe indoor.
Level 4 spells are hard to choose because they are many good ones : Static Charge is indeed a very powerful damage dealer, but Moonwall is nice against evil undead, Smashing Wave can stun, the SCS version of Thorn Spray is also OK.
It's mostly a matter of "how useful will this spell be across the entire saga" since the Shaman can't change their picks mid-game like Bards/Wizards can. On the arcane side, Sleep has the same problem: it is an excellent spell at level 1 that should never be in a Sorceror's spellbook.
Meanwhile, having Sleep was fantastic for the first part of BG1, until he could throw fireballs around instead to just kill those packs of low-level enemies.
(Final list of level 1 spells for that character: (L1) Sleep, Burning Hands, (L3) Blindness, (L5) Magic Missile, (L7) Shield.)
Since basically all of your level 1 spells are going to go obsolete anyway, why not pick something that dominates early?
As for Spirit Ward on a Shaman ... you don't have to pick it. It's in your spellbook automatically.
Actually, it's better than you might think. Mass Raise Dead has a much faster casting time than other resurrection spells, making it practical for use in battle. And in 2.5, it's bugged to apply its healing once for each member of the party. In a full party, everyone gets 18d10+6*level healing. Most likely, that will heal everyone to full.
Casting speed 2, raise all dead party members and heal all party members to full? Absolutely, sign me up.
The drawback is another bug ... the sequencer bug. Casting this spell, in 2.5, will remove the activation ability for any creature-targeted sequencers, while leaving the effect that marks which spells are in the sequencer so you can't cast a new one. Only killing and raising that character or editing the save can fix this.
2.6 fixes the sequencer bug and apparently does something to the healing; I'm not sure of the details since I don't have the beta myself.
Beside, there is some wands of sleep available early on to do the job.
Some level 1 spells remain useful during the entire saga : Magic Missile, Shield (for its protection against Magic Missile and Mordenkainen's Force Missiles), Spook (thanks to its increasing saving throws penalty), Grease (still can be used to slow enemies), Identify...
I play with SCS too. There are enemies that are too high a level for Sleep, or protected, even early in the game - but there are also large packs of enemies that are vulnerable. Kobolds, hobgoblins, bandits. Especially against the archers, having an AoE answer to take them out of the fight is very useful.
A wand of Sleep is not an adequate substitute for arcane Sleep. It doesn't have a save penalty, so enemies make their saves significantly more often. I tried that out in my no-spellcasting party ... once or twice, before giving it up as useless. Even a party that wasn't allowed to memorize and cast Sleep decided not to use the wand.
Shield? I already noted how that spell played for me. Worth having, not something I cast often.
Grease? The description is a lie. It doesn't slow at all unless a save is failed. Still an AoE debuff at spell level 1 that isn't level-capped, but the save bonus limits its usefulness.
Spook? Would have been useful. Not in line with the run's fire theme, but I did resort to fear effects in order to take out Firkraag before Spellhold. I probably should have taken it in place of Burning Hands despite the theme, and shuffled the order I took spells in.
Identify? Between lore identification (sometimes boosted by Int potions) and the glasses, you don't need the spell at all in BG2. Even if Nalia with her 9 wisdom is the only character that gets more than one point of lore per level.
Just on the abilities real quick before I get to the spells:
Shamanic dance is terrible. Avoid using it. You can't control the summons, you freeze your protagonist which is never good. You have access to controllable summons with your spells! And because of sorcerer-style system, spellcasts are not as precious as they are on a regular caster.
Detect illusion is outstanding. Unlike the illusion fighting spells, there's no casting time and thus interrupt chance. It levels slowly but it comes online at just the right time. Another reason shamanic dance is crap. You can conceivably squeeze in attacks, a spellcast and an activation of this spell all in one round. Just like you might with a bard and bardsong. Quite an efficient use of a caster!
Shortbow is good. Axe is good. Dagger and Qstaff are also viable with the class. Aeger's hide early in BG2.
The spells
1. Cure Light Wounds, Doom, Armor of Faith, maybe Bless. Nothing else worth discussing. There is a strategic reason to pick healing spells early on at every level btw, even if they are not the "best" spell available. The flexible casting coupled with healing will help your party over the long haul. Doom is your only offensive spell of note here. Bless scales poorly, whereas AoF is weak early on but scales well. Entangle simply has too long of a cast time and too low of a saving throw threshold.
2. Charm P/A, Slow Poison, Resist Fire/Cold. Writhing fog is outstanding for level 2. Combines well with another caster using web or grease. I disagree with the OP about the resist spells. Yes, it's situational. But broadly speaking resistances in the BG series are insanely good. Monsters really have zero counter to them, and resistances to fire and electricity can eliminate a significant chunk of the things that will kill you or your companions. Again it's situational, but there aren't a ton of mage fights in BG1, and you can pre-buff for just these fights while not really losing much by taking this pick. Still a notoriously crummy spell level.
3. Dispel magic, Call lightning, Cure Medium Wounds (yes!). The first level where there are more spell options than you can probably take, but I would for sure take these three. Unlike what the OP said, the cure spells are helpful for saving yourself from bad outcomes in a fight, and potentially during a disaster of a combat into something you win. Even when they are not technically "efficient" or whatever. Because of the spell/potion timer, characters can only heal themselves so much in a single round. It's only via other members of the party and healing spells that you can pump a whole bunch more HP into your frontline when you tactically need it. If you don't have a dedicated healer in your party, you will be reduced to dangerous, tedious tactics like kiting some of the time. At some point your frontline tank will suffer some bad rolls. Better to take advantage of a sorcerer-style healer. Spiritual clarity is very very good mainly for removing the effects of chaos/confuse. Beyond those top three summon insects is okay, but it's long cast time isn't great. Dispel is clutch on a single-class caster and will serve you well, even if you get Keldorn later. Always good to have a second option in your party on a key spell/ability.
4. Woodland beings, Cure Serious Wounds, Defensive harmony, Protection from lightning. Woodland beings is obvious. CSW is good for the reasons I stated above. Trust me, you will not regret picking it early. You will end up in combats where this saves one of your characters. I repeat that resistances are overpowered in the BG series. Spell ones can be removed by some enemies, but nonetheless, they are good. Especially clutch for one particular fight in Throne of Bhaal, fwiw. Fire and lightning are the overwhelming majority of non-physical damage in the saga. Defensive harmony has a great cast time. Other protection spells are good too, like death ward, neutralize poison, but I simply do not think most players will find them as consistently useful as the ones I've mentioned. Spirit fire negates the need to pick an offensive spell here imo, it's also excellent just like Fog was.
5. Iron skins, insect plague, cure critical wounds, true seeing. I put iron skins at the top mainly thinking of protecting the protagonist here. This spell can allow you transition from a backline member of the party to one of its stronger tanks. Combine it with firing off a high-scaled armor of faith when its protection wears off, and you can comfortably dip into melee combat regularly, if you like. Insect plague is OP. Yes, true seeing kind of redundant with detect illusions, but the fact that it works like a buff makes it strong. It is ALWAYS useful from late BG1 all the way to the end of the saga to have multiple things that dispel illusions activating in your party. The one thing the base enemy AI is quite good at is using and re-using invisibility against you. Won't matter in every fight but will negate high damage capabilities.
6. Fire elemental, Heal. Then the rest to taste. Heal is outstanding save yourself or a companion in a jam. Fire elemental of course one of the best summons. The gifted Recall Spirit spell is great too. Folks can debate the other options here, but I think these three spells are what you'll end up casting most of the time.
7. Creeping doom. A ton of the spells here are indeed quite powerful. But creeping doom is the only spell that truly gives you something a wizard or cleric won't have. And that's why you picked shaman isn't it? Insect plague is OP. So is this souped-up version. The key really is that so few enemies have a resistance to the insect spells.