To clear up any confusion about Dynaheir / Invokers

Mungri

Theres a lot of misinformation being posted on this forum regarding Invokers restricted classes based on vanilla BG1. Originally in the first game, two specialist mages were barred from casting spells from two schools - Invokers had both Conjuration and Enchantment as opposition schools, and Transmuters had both abjuration and necromancy as their opposition schools. This unfortunately made Dynaheir one of the worst NPC mages in BG1 due to these restrictions.

HOWEVER, BG2 reduced the restrictions on both Invokers and Transmuters to a single school only, as you can see in this screenshot from an unmodded installation of BG2:



And Transmuters only have abjuration as their opposing school. These changes from the BG2 engine have long since carried over into BG Tutu, BGT, and now into BG:EE as well, in all of which Dynaheir can cast conjuration spells such as flame arrow and monster summoning.

Hopefully now people will realize that Dynaheir is not a crap mage. The only niche spells in Enchantment that are good are sleep, which is only useful in the early stages of BG1, and Greater Malision which is a very powerful spell, but is no worse than illusionists losing out on skull trap / horrid wilting.

Abel

It's not only Sleep but also Emotion which is also a very good spell. Still, you're right, Dynaheir is less crappy than in BG1.
Skull Trap can easily be replaced by Fireball so the comparison is not relevant as there's nothing to replace Sleep/Emotion. It's not relevant to mention Horrid Wilting either, since it's level 8. Illusionists are still better than Invokers in BG:EE.

Mungri

Emotion is a level 4 spell, theres too many better spells to take at level 4.

Abel

Well, unless you're meleeing with your Mage, there aren't so many better spells at this level. Maybe Improved Invisibility and might be Minor Sequencer but that's all. Then Greater Malison and Invokers lack it as you said.

Pantalion

Whilst true, it's worth recognising that Enchantment actually is pretty awesome. Sleep is one of, if not the best spells at low levels, and Greater Malison is one of the best spells at high levels, I'd rate it a tad worse than losing on two direct damage AOE spells, there are quite a few direct damage AOE spells out there you can replace them with after all.

You also miss out on Friends, one of the primary money-saver spells, and (Dire) Charm through Domination (though Al's Cloak mitigates the loss of charm, it's still a combat winning spell in its own right early-game) are extraordinary crowd control spells that you lose out on by focusing on Evocation.

AlexRmF

this is a useful bit of info... thanks for sharing, I think I'll have Minsc and Dynaheir in the party now

tyl998

It's great that Dynaheir is better now, but in this new environment she's also competing against Neera. I just don't have room for both XD

Mungri

Dynahair also has 16 CON which gives her more HP than Neera.

@Pantalion I wouldnt create an Invoker for my PC, but as an NPC mage they are fine. I've had little difficulty blasting through BG1 with Dynaheir as my only caster, enchantment spells arent needed once you can cast level 4-5 spells anyway.

Abel said:

Well, unless you're meleeing with your Mage, there aren't so many better spells at this level. Maybe Improved Invisibility and might be Minor Sequencer but that's all. Then Greater Malison and Invokers lack it as you said.

Thats true, but I've never struggled to complete BG1 with Dynaheir, I've simply never even needed greater malison in the first game unless soloing.

Lemernis

Don't forget Hold Person, which is also a very powerful Enchantment spell. Also Confusion and Chaos. (Ray of Enfeeblement looks promising too, although I confess I can't recall how well it works.)

Anyway, there's plenty of useful spells Dyna can cast. The Enchantment spells mentioned are all great to have, true.

But for disabling spells you've still got

Blindness at level 1
Horror, Glitterdust, Power Word: Sleep, and Stinking Cloud at level 2
Slow, Remove Magic, and Spell Thrust at level 3
Contagion, Secret Word, and Otiluke's* at level 4




* Useful in some cases when playing vanilla to make target's protective spells run out--and/or just make the target stop putting the hurt on you, so that you can recover and regroup.

Jaxsbudgie

She's also a good candidate for the gauntlets of dexterity. And with two wisdom tomes can dual to Cleric, which including her decent strength for equipping heavy armours and high constitution she won't be all bad! One day, I'm going to take both her and Xzar and dual them both into Clerics.

marfig

Of note also the fact that Dynaheir may not be necessarily the only mage in your party. If you are taking Imoen, it's likely you will want to dual her around the time Dynaheir gets rescued, or soon after. Imoen as a thief/mage will nicely complement Dynaheir powers. The two girls can put the hurt on any foe.

Mungri

Abel said:

Well, unless you're meleeing with your Mage, there aren't so many better spells at this level. Maybe Improved Invisibility and might be Minor Sequencer but that's all. Then Greater Malison and Invokers lack it as you said.

Stoneskin, Spirit Armor and Polymorph self (the most vastly underrated spell in the game) say hi.