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Your Favorite Underwhelming Spells

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  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975
    stone edge is a +3 battle axe that you can buy from bernard ( if you free hendak ) which deals +2 fire damage each hit

    after you save trademeet, there is a merchant that sells you blackblood which is a club that deals an extra +3 acid damage each hit ( a great weapon for jaheria especially if she has a belt/mits of strength )

    there is another +3 battle axe in the de arnise hold that deals +1 acid and cold damage on each hit

    annnnnnnnnnd good ol' firetooth which can be purchased in the underdark by one of the merchants dealing an extra fire damage per round

    well i guess there is also the blade of searing that you get from lasonar ( or how ever you spell his name) which also deals an extra fire damage per round

    and come to think of it, the +3 flail of the ages deals a whole bunch of wonderful elemental damage

    in short, when it comes to troll killin' i like using those innate weapon abilities to do that job :)
    tbone1Balrog99
  • recklessheartrecklessheart Member Posts: 692
    Grease - Recently I was using this spell even by the time I was battling the intermission enemies against the final boss in Throne of Bhaal. Fallen Solars were never so fallen from grace than when they failed to overcome a level 1 spell cast by a Bard, let me tell you that.

    Burning Hands - This goes up to a +20 damage bonus, can kill any Trolls you forget you were about to encounter, and is generally just too stylish as an iconic Mage spell to be discarded in the later game. Sure it doesn't take up many of my spell slots, but I don't like to altogether discard it.

    Shocking Grasp, Ghoul Touch, Phantom Blade - Alright, no, I never memorise these spells. However they remain some of my favourite spells. Some day I will have to create a Fighter/Mage that deals in these kinds of spells because they are worth so many style points, and Mages are all about killing things with a bit of pageantry, no?
    tbone1LadyEibhilinRhett
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    I end up using a lot of underrated spells, since I rp my spell choices and pick as many different spells as possible, rather than metagaming picks before hand.
  • Abi_DalzimAbi_Dalzim Member Posts: 1,428
    I almost always beeline to a weapon that does elemental damage, but seriously, guys, fire and even acid arrows aren't that expensive (and the De'Arnise quest drops bushels full of them into your lap for little effort), so don't go wasting spells on what are honestly quite weak monsters.
    tbone1Skatan
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975

    I almost always beeline to a weapon that does elemental damage, but seriously, guys, fire and even acid arrows aren't that expensive (and the De'Arnise quest drops bushels full of them into your lap for little effort), so don't go wasting spells on what are honestly quite weak monsters.

    there is a black market thief just outside of jan jansen's home who has x20 or x30 batches of 40 fire arrows, best of all, you can steal them from her ( although you need a crazy high pick pocket score to do so, 200 is a good start )

    so indeed, plenty of troll killin' ammunition out there
  • DevardKrownDevardKrown Member Posts: 421
    sarevok57 said:

    stone edge is a +3 battle axe that you can buy from bernard ( if you free hendak ) which deals +2 fire damage each hit

    after you save trademeet, there is a merchant that sells you blackblood which is a club that deals an extra +3 acid damage each hit ( a great weapon for jaheria especially if she has a belt/mits of strength )

    there is another +3 battle axe in the de arnise hold that deals +1 acid and cold damage on each hit

    annnnnnnnnnd good ol' firetooth which can be purchased in the underdark by one of the merchants dealing an extra fire damage per round

    well i guess there is also the blade of searing that you get from lasonar ( or how ever you spell his name) which also deals an extra fire damage per round

    and come to think of it, the +3 flail of the ages deals a whole bunch of wonderful elemental damage

    in short, when it comes to troll killin' i like using those innate weapon abilities to do that job :)

    yes but all these weapons are "Late" while the game throws you in Neeras face right away. and without meta knowledge all i had to go on was "i need money , she offers money , lets go" ... and the Frostreaver axe is in the golem room which is arguably almost the very end of the Map..if you even manage that golems this early and just not steal it running like a chicken.

    its just one underwhelming niche spell , what the thread is about. now can we stop bashing on 50 different ways to kill trolls and not derail the thread ^^
    ThacoBell
  • tbone1tbone1 Member Posts: 1,985
    Might I add Slow Poison to the list? I mean, it’s darn useful and only second level
    sarevok57ThacoBellSkatan
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975
    now that i think of it, one spell i thought i would never use because it seemed kind of useless is the level 3 mage spell hold undead

    although i never use it in BG2 in BG1 i found this spell to be quite effective, bg1 is sprawling with undead, and it takes quite a while before you get some good crowd control level 3 spells in bg1, but thanks to thalantyr you can get it right from the get go, quite nifty
    ThacoBell
  • DrakeICNDrakeICN Member Posts: 623

    Redrake said:

    -Identify, its "Just" 100 gold and a trip to the shop to get stuff ID'd but i want it naaaow...

    Use a bard...

    bards are xp leeches !
    Someone has never played a jester!
  • JumboWheat01JumboWheat01 Member Posts: 1,028
    DrakeICN said:

    Someone has never played a jester!

    Oh, there's just something so pleasing about singing along and suddenly the entire enemy force is attacking themselves. Brings a tear to the eye, you know? A tear of triumphant laughter.
    DrakeICN
  • tbone1tbone1 Member Posts: 1,985
    I think barkskin is underrated, or at least underappreciated, particularly for divine casters. It gets overshadowed by stoneskin and ironskin, but barkskin is available much earlier and there isn’t as much competition for those second level druid slots.
    SkatanThacoBellRaduziel
  • DevardKrownDevardKrown Member Posts: 421
    tbone1 said:

    I think barkskin is underrated, or at least underappreciated, particularly for divine casters. It gets overshadowed by stoneskin and ironskin, but barkskin is available much earlier and there isn’t as much competition for those second level druid slots.

    Thanks for mentioning it. never found any use for it with its base 6AC and low Duration.
    but now that i gonna play a shapeshifter it looks very delightful at -9 to AC and a 210 second Duration on max level. even makes my shapeshifter valid outside his fur.
    tbone1ThacoBell
  • DrakeICNDrakeICN Member Posts: 623

    While I'm on the Invisibility 10' Radius train, I should add that with a cleric in the party, it makes an excellent combo with Blade Barrier. Walk into a group of enemies, mulch them, and be able to recast additional Blade Barriers at leisure. Rest, fill all your level six slots with Blade Barrier, and repeat. Dungeons will be cleared at next to no risk.

    Blade barrier is lvl 6!!! The topic was underwhelming spells, no :p

    Anyway, it would be funny to play a party of 6 mage / clerics, and do this.
  • SkatanSkatan Member, Moderator Posts: 5,352
    edited November 2017
    Not sure if it qualifies, but in my ongoing solo run I just realized how great wraith form is. At level 8 mage it gives me 16 rounds of invulnerability to pretty much all enemies, 'cause few at that time hits with magical weapons. It's especially good in SoD on insane fighting all those spiders in the first area and trolls later on. Since you are immune you can dual weild and don't worry about wearing a sheild for faster killing. Works great on F/Ms and FMT, as in my case. It's level 3 so you get 4 uses early on, or 2 + 2 Haste for increased killing speed. It blocks other spells from being cast, but that matters little since you buff before and end with Wraith form last.

    Edit: Weird.. just realized that when enemies crit, both phase spiders and a golem nearby, they could damage me through my wraith form. I doubt their weapons are considered magical when critting. Anyone clever able to tell me why this happens?
    ThacoBelltbone1AerakarPantalion
  • ThacoBellThacoBell Member Posts: 12,235
    Wraithform is really good for Blades as well.
    Skatantbone1ArctodusAerakar
  • Abi_DalzimAbi_Dalzim Member Posts: 1,428
    DrakeICN said:


    Blade barrier is lvl 6!!! The topic was underwhelming spells, no :p

    Anyway, it would be funny to play a party of 6 mage / clerics, and do this.

    Yes, but the point was the combo that makes with the level 3 Invisibility 10' radius. So it counts.

    Anyways, Zone of Sweet Air is rather situational, but definitely worth preparing if you're facing Rakshasas, since they love spamming Cloudkill and other pesky cloud spells that they're immune to. Cast that, and they're stuck with their pathetic longswords, and not nearly as imposing.
    GrumBalrog99sarevok57StummvonBordwehr
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975
    i actually use glitterdust all the time, blindness with a radius? simply amazing, even with the 4 round duration it's still potent enough to be effective, plus it also dispels invisible opponents, simply top notch level 2 spell
    ThacoBellRaduzieltbone1
  • RaduzielRaduziel Member Posts: 4,714
    sarevok57 said:

    i actually use glitterdust all the time, blindness with a radius? simply amazing, even with the 4 round duration it's still potent enough to be effective, plus it also dispels invisible opponents, simply top notch level 2 spell

    I never, ever, had the dispel invisibility effect while using Glitterdust.
    sarevok57
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    I guess Strength of One.

    Its great for a lot of summons and in BG1 a lot of NPC's will also benefit from it (before you get any kind of strength boosting item its really just Minsc and Dorn that won't).
    Ardul
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975
    Raduziel said:

    sarevok57 said:

    i actually use glitterdust all the time, blindness with a radius? simply amazing, even with the 4 round duration it's still potent enough to be effective, plus it also dispels invisible opponents, simply top notch level 2 spell

    I never, ever, had the dispel invisibility effect while using Glitterdust.
    i want to say i had it work on sirines, cant recall though, its been awhile since i played bg1 ( and by a while i mean only months )

  • SilverstarSilverstar Member Posts: 2,207
    Goodberry in ToEE.

    Don't want a companion to steal all your loot and then sell it? Give them goodberries.
    Balrog99[Deleted User]
  • OlvynChuruOlvynChuru Member Posts: 3,075
    In Icewind Dale 2, my favorite underwhelming spell is Flaying, a level 8 spell that deals 1d4 slashing damage per level to one creature. I like it because you can cast it pretty much instantly, and it deals slashing damage, which allows it to chunk enemies. Think of it as like Power Word Kill except cooler. You just snap your fingers and the Ogre explodes.
    [Deleted User]
  • GundanRTOGundanRTO Member Posts: 81
    Find Trap. Even if you have a thief, having additional trap detection in BG isn't a bad thing- especially when that trap detection is passive and allows characters to do other things aside from detect traps.

    Larloch's Minor Drain. Decent little interrupt against spell casters at lower levels. The damage isn't all that much, but the associated health gain can be a life saver.
    [Deleted User]
  • Balrog99Balrog99 Member Posts: 7,367
    Minor Sequencer

    I always take it with my sorcerers but I have yet to see anybody else recommend it. I love how many simultaneous magic missiles you can send swarming at an enemy mage!
  • DJKajuruDJKajuru Member Posts: 3,300
    Blindness : At lower levels that's really one of the best offensive spells against enemy fighters !
    ZaghoulThacoBell
  • AmmarAmmar Member Posts: 1,295
    I think both Minor Sequencer and Blindness are hardly considered underwhelming...

    Personally, I like Fireball (underwhelming compared to Skull Trap), Clairvoyance and Stinking Cloud (compared to Web).
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    Fireball isn't treated nearly as well as it should be. It reaches farther and hits wider than Skull Trap, it can be learned by Illusionists (gnomes get +5 to saves vs. spell at 18 CON!), and while Skull Trap eventually outpaces it, it takes a long time for that to happen. By the time Skull Trap does more damage than Fireball, you're already going to have access to Sunfire, Cone of Cold, Death Fog, and eventually Delayed Blast Fireball and Horrid Wilting.

    Skull Trap is best used as a trap--stack a bunch of them on an area before the enemy enters it. For most other situations before Improved Alacrity, Fireball will be more convenient and also more party-friendly by virtue of the fact that your party members are more likely to be resistant to fire than the enemy is.

    In Icewind Dale, it's flat-out game-breaking, because the Protection from Fire cleric spell is so long-lasting and enemy groups are so large. By the time you hit the Severed Hand, you can wipe out entire groups of enemies just by dropping Fireballs on your own fire-immune party.
    StummvonBordwehrThacoBell
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