Invisibility 10' radius: What is it Good For?
Alonso
Member Posts: 806
The usefulness of plain invisibility is discussed in this thread. Many good uses are mentioned there, but most of them require only one character to be invisible. From that thread I've selected the cases in which it seems to make sense to make several characters invisible at the same time:
1) Avoiding entire fights. This includes avoiding area transition ambushes and interruptions while you rest.
2) Gaining advantage in a combat by positioning your characters freely.
3) Waiting out an enemy mage's defenses so you can strike when their best buffs are down.
None of these seem very attractive to me, so I'm struggling to find a reason to use this spell. What do you think? Is there any other use that I have missed?
1) Avoiding entire fights. This includes avoiding area transition ambushes and interruptions while you rest.
2) Gaining advantage in a combat by positioning your characters freely.
3) Waiting out an enemy mage's defenses so you can strike when their best buffs are down.
None of these seem very attractive to me, so I'm struggling to find a reason to use this spell. What do you think? Is there any other use that I have missed?
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An invisible Cleric and Thief can solve 80% of the threats proposed in HoW and ToLM.
How so, if you don't mind my asking for more specifics? You can put your answer in spoilers if you think it's too much of a reveal...
I've never thought about using that spell 'defensively'. There is so much to learn about this game!
Actually, a good portion of IWD main campaign can be handled that way too.
Let's say you have a party of 5 mages and one fighter. The mages can memorize as many Invisibility spells as they want, but even in a party that dense with spellcasters, the party still needs two whole rounds to escape, because any mage who casts Invisibility on the fighter will lose their own Invisibility. The fact that casting Invisibility breaks invisibility means that you can only hide another character by exposing yourself--and if the caster isn't strong enough to stand up to enemy pressure for another 6 seconds without party assistance, they're going to die before the party can escape.
Invisibility 10' Radius avoids that problem, both because it can cover multiple characters and because it doesn't break invisibility on the caster, which means you don't have to put the caster in danger, either. The casting time is very long, but you can actually guarantee a successful casting of Invisibility 10' Radius by having another mage cover him or her with the faster-casting Invisibility spell.
I've gotten out of numerous bad situations by relying on Invisibility 10' Radius. In my current run, I have two different characters who have a casting memorized! Being able to maintain and regain party-wide invisibility gives you immense freedom in how you react to threats.
Invisibility 10' Radius also works great with auto-pause on spell cast. You can enter a room under invisibility, cast Invisibility 10' Radius, and then, when the auto-pause triggers, order your other casters to summon monsters and throw out disablers and junk. As long as their aura is clear and they're facing the right direction (that is, they don't have to turn around to face their intended target), the other spellcasters will break invisibility right before Invisibility 10' Radius hides them again.
I'm guessing it's not as awesome on HoF mode though? How high of a level does your cleric need to be in that case to blow up the undead?
IDK, I've tried HoF for like 5 minutes but every battle was absolutely boring.
For the cleric's level, depends on the undead. I think the IE respects the PnP table for this aspect of TU.
works especially well on werewolf island, since i always go there with max XP per character, might as well just trapeze through the rest of the island invisible once the island goes hostile
also works swell in LoB mode for bg1, i imported an already sarevok ready team to start ToB, and even with that level 7/8 team, LoB was becoming tedious as hell, but then i discovered i had invisibility 10' radius and it worked wonders, it was the only spell i cast throughout the whole game basically ( except for the odd haste for the odd baddie i had to fight against )
ironically in LoB mode, with a max level team pacifist runs are the best, because killing baddies is such a chore
but other than that, i never use that spell, and in bg2 mass invisibility is just a million times better since it casts improved invisibility on everyone in a huge radius, giving the enemy a nifty -4 to hit, and yer guys a nice +4 to all saves bonus, shazam
Edit: Maybe I should have phrased "squishiest member" differently.
In BG1 I remember the moment you arrive from Durlag's to Ulgoth's Beard . The cultists will surprise you right at the entrance and you have no time to buff, not to mention that theyre also backstabbers so being invisible really protects you.
Its also useful to avoid Beholders (or at least to gain advantage) and vampires. Anyway, its good to have your party invisible against any monster who has smart targeting.
But what's the point of making your casters invisible again? If you're in the middle of a tough fight, you will want them to keep casting or attacking, and that will remove their invisibility almost immediately, right?
A good example would be using it to cast Animate Dead, Greater Malison, and Chaos. If the enemy fails its saves against Chaos, you can break invisibility and attack, since you know it's safe to engage the enemy. If the enemy resists Chaos, you can wait for a moment while the enemy uses its better spells to kill your skeleton(s). With Invisibility 10' Radius, you don't have to commit to either option until you know which one is superior.
Even if you only remain invisible for a few more seconds, you can use that time to study the situation, adjust your plans, and then engage the enemy on your own terms.
I am always very happen when I stumble across it in BG 1, since it is only available as a random drop until SoD.
RP paladin is especially pain in BG1 - so many talks with npc with great loot can be resolved peacefully. Amnian noble, greatest swordsman on SC, party on basilisk map... pain indeed.