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Control wizard in BG (DnD in general)

Hey!

I was wondering about running the game with an enchanter. However, losing evocation sucks abit. I've the SCS installment, meaning I still get all the sequencers. I still have the conjuration spells and some of the necromancy spells capable of dealing out damage - not to mention summoning monsters.

However, I've encountered a roleplaying issue of which I thought to ask you guys.

Is a control wizard/specialist only into disabling spells/protection/crowd control and no damaging spells at all, or would it be possible to take some few damaging spells aswell? I mean, being a wizard/specialist, is also about utility and having some kind of flexibility. What do you think?

Have a good day!

Cheers,

monicoAerakar

Comments

  • Very_BigSwordVery_BigSword Member Posts: 222
    I would be inclined to role play as you described, with spellcasting focused on protection, buffs and crowd control. There will certainly be occasions when direct damage is needed, and that is where items come in. I would role play in such a way that scrolls, wands, charged items and potions are used for that purpose while memorised spells are all control types. This way you can gain deeper knowledge and strategies for both spell casting tactics and usable items.

    I tend to use the NPC Xan in this manner and it is quite enjoyable. I always play six person parties and it is usually nuke and shoot to decimate enemies quickly but without evocation spells you have to do things differently.
    monicoAerakar
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    I like the idea of being a total specialist , once I had an illusionist who would only focus on illusions, enchantment and air elementals. The concept was super cool, but in ToB he got a little rusty against most encounters.
    What I'm trying to say is : create your mage based on a clear concept, but allow yourself some versatility .
    monicoAerakar
  • Balrog99Balrog99 Member Posts: 7,367
    There are a bunch of awesome enchantment spells but none of them after spell level 5. To me that's the perfect opportunity to dual-class to cleric at level 11. Maximum benefit from your specialist boost and applied to both arcane and divine. You can't be an elf but that's about the only drawback. It's even more tempting considering you can't use the sequencers/contingencies. With the sheer amount of spells available though, that shouldn't be a problem...
  • VallmyrVallmyr Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 2,457
    You could play a "Master Manipulator" type if you want be evil and use Enchantment, Illusion, and Necromancy. Just because the enemy died doesn't mean they are beyond your influence!
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975
    i've played enchanters a million times here are some ideas;

    level1;

    larloch minor drain; damage isn't much, but damage i still damage, unless you like to get close and personal with your enemies you can always use burning hands

    blindness or charm person ( and especially sleep at lower levels ) there are absolute killer spells, best part about charm person, is that if they are a spell caster you can get them to cast all their good spells on your team before you "equip" their fist, and then pound them into pulp

    level 2;

    melf's acid arrow, not bad, and especially at higher levels, deals continuous damage, plus it stacks on itself, pretty solid

    glitterdust and ray of enfeeblement, glitterdust is a nice area blindness spell, plus it can dispel invisibility, but ray of enfeeblement, since you are an enchanter, it comes with a nifty -2 penalty, use this on strong warrior/ bad guy types and then they will start hitting you with the ferocity of new born baby's loving smile

    level 3;
    flame arrow, may not be radius, but deals more damage than fireball and lightning bolt to a single target once you hit level 15, plus that is the upside; you dont have to worry about hurting party members, so you can shoot this into the fray

    slow, this spell already comes with a brutally beautiful -4 penalty and effects all enemies and not team mates, absolutely wicked spell

    dire charm, for those with better saves, and can affect more monster types i believe

    level 4;

    this is where things start getting real good;

    greater malison, oh man, just more icing on the cake

    emotion hopelessness, mammoth radius, and when enemies fall down, its game over man, game over

    level 5;

    hold monster, gorgeous spell, comes with a -2 penalty which means when you cast it enemies get a -4, cast that with a greater malison and its -8, do you know what the best part of a held enemy is? a held enemy is a dead enemy :)

    level 6;

    pierce magic, now this may seem silly, but even if they don't have any spell protections on, this spell will still lower their MR, so cast this on a spell resistant enemy a couple of times, and give them a nifty MR penalty so your spells have a better chance of going through

    level 7;

    finger of death or power word stun, both are awesome, both can destroy worlds, best part of power word stun though; no save ( but has to be under 90 HP ) great for SoA

    level 8;

    horrid wilting ( no brainer ) or symbol stun with its amazing already -4 penalty, both amazing both get the job done nicely

    level 9;

    need damage? comet is great

    want to kill everything in a radius? wail of the banshee is awesome

    want to be invincible pratically? spell trap with an absolute immunity

    need to empty a spell book on to an enemy? time stops with some improved alacrities

    the choice is up to you
    AerakarVery_BigSword
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    edited February 2020
    From a RP point of view, you could restrict your enchanter to have a "main focus" on "spells manipulating the mind" (enchantment+illusion), and add a "minor focus" on another school/trend of spells, for example:
    - an affinity with an elemental plane (like fire to allow you some fire-damaging spells + summons) ;
    - an affinity to control over life & death (necromancy spells)
    - since your CHA is high already as an enchanter, your natural "charming" personality could extend to extraplanar summons (conjuration spells)
    - your studies in Candlekeep let you learn the importance of defense and barrier spells (abjuration)
    - etc.

    I would implement it this way:
    - 90% of my spellbook would be focused on mind-control spells (enchantment+illusion, stun/control spells)
    - 1 spell per day would be allowed for the "minor" sphere.

    I always felt that specialist mages were not specialized enough. I always play it that AT LEAST 1 spell per level is from the specialist school.
    Oftentimes, I play my specialist mages so that they can only learn spells from a maximum of 2 schools.
    AerakarVery_BigSword
  • Very_BigSwordVery_BigSword Member Posts: 222
    Also we could reference the more restrictive opposition schools from PnP (quick google search):
    Enchanter opposes Evocation and Necromancy
    Illusionist opposes Necromancy, Abjuration and Evocation (ouch!)
    Diviner opposes Conjuration only
    Conjurer opposes Divination and Evocation

    Focussing again on enchanters, the additional exclusion of necromancy greatly reduces direct damage/death dealing spell options. Further reinforcing that this is not the way of the enchanter. If you wanted to hard core role play the idea of an enchanter/cleric, you could exclude the use of all items and divine spells that replicate necromantic and evocation spell effects.

    Another rule from PnP is that the extra +1 spell memorisation slot is supposed to be from your specialist school. But in BG some schools have no spells at certain levels so I see why they did not force that mechanic.

    I like your highly restrictive concept @monico but that is probably most suitable for a 30th run through of the game!
  • monicomonico Member Posts: 571
    I like your highly restrictive concept @monico but that is probably most suitable for a 30th run through of the game!

    To be frank, I only do this "2 magic schools only" when I play with more than 1 arcane caster.

    I once planned to do a 4-mage-custom party with the following repartition of the 8 schools :
    - an enchanter also using conjuration (crowd control & summons specialist)
    - a transmuter/illusionist (self buffs & melee specialist)
    - an invoker + abjuration spells (focusing on single target damage spells & debuffs)
    - a necromancer aided by divination (when you dabble with death magic, it is important to know what's coming to you)

    In the end, I created the party but never played it.

    In retrospect, I feel that the following school-combinations fit a bit better:
    - enchantment + illusion: as stated above, playing with your opponent's mind & senses
    - evocation+alteration : channeling the very fabric of reality & elemental particles to "transmute" it into something else
    - conjuration + abjuration: the lore behind abjuration mentions banishing/communicating with other planes of existence, which synergize well with conjuration. In BG spellbooks, though, it doesn't fit so well, alas.
    - necromancy + divination: as stated above, I find there is a link between studying and trying to master life and death, and deciphering the past, present and future. In a sense, I think those two studies of magic are the most "fundamentalist" schools, almost philosophical, more than magical.

    I guess necro+conjuration / abjuration+divination also combine well, but in a gameplay perspective, I feel the abjurer would probably get bored during fights, whereas the necro-conjurer would be overwhelmed.

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