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Best Level 4 Mage Spells

It's basically in the title- my Mage has just gained access to 3 level 4 spell slots and I'm wondering which spells are the most useful. Thanks :)

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  • Stoneskin is generally considered a staple, as it helps keep your Mage from getting interrupted/hurt. Greater Malison is great for ensuring that your debilitating spells hit, and Emotion is a pretty good debilitator (not as good as it used to be, depending on which version you're on). Minor Sequencer is also handy for rapidly firing low level spells. Those ones are my bread and butter.

    Beyond that, Spirit Armor is handy not just for the AC, but also for the +3 bonus to saves vs. spells it grants. Improved Invisibility also grants a sizable bonus to saving throws and keeps the target from being directly targeted by spells until it is dispelled. Polymorph Self can be a surprisingly powerful and versatile effect, especially in conjunction with Minor Sequencer.

    Spider Spawn is useful with the right setup, but only once your level is high enough to get sword spiders.
    GallowglassJuliusBorisov
  • xPersonOfChaosxxPersonOfChaosx Member Posts: 21
    Where can you get hold of Stoneskin and Emotion? I've tried both High Hedge and Sorcerous Sundries, so are they scrolls you can only acquire from killing someone?
  • TressetTresset Member, Moderator Posts: 8,262
    Stoneskin is a rare scroll in BG1:EE. There are only two of them available. I would recommend exploring Ulgoth's beard if you want Stoneskin. You may be able to find Emotion there too!
    JuliusBorisov
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    edited December 2015

    Where can you get hold of Stoneskin and Emotion? I've tried both High Hedge and Sorcerous Sundries, so are they scrolls you can only acquire from killing someone?

    Ulgoth's Beard's Inn sells Emotion. You can get a Stoneskin scroll during Neera's questline and on the body of one of Dezkiel during the Ice Island quest (which is started from Ulgoth's Beard).
    sarevok57
  • MathsorcererMathsorcerer Member Posts: 3,037
    Stoneskin, Minor Sequencer, and Minor Globe of Invulnerability. Dimension Door also goes on this short list if you are able to acquire it. I really like Secret Word but without mods the mages in BGEE don't rely on spell protections that require you to have it.
  • xPersonOfChaosxxPersonOfChaosx Member Posts: 21
    Tresset said:

    Stoneskin is a rare scroll in BG1:EE. There are only two of them available. I would recommend exploring Ulgoth's beard if you want Stoneskin. You may be able to find Emotion there too!

    Oh- that explains why I haven't found those scrolls! I'm still on Chapter 6, so I haven't been there yet.
  • SirBatinceSirBatince Member Posts: 882
    edited December 2015
    literally 100% of the rare situations where I get a genius idea about using otiluke's sphere ends up in a automatic save vs spell, be it enemy or ally, ruining my plans.

    I'm pretty bitter about that spell
  • GallowglassGallowglass Member Posts: 3,356

    Oh- that explains why I haven't found those scrolls! I'm still on Chapter 6, so I haven't been there yet.

    Er ... well, no, not really. You could have had both those Stoneskin scrolls before Chapter 6.

    I usually visit Ulgoth's Beard early in Chapter 5 (and do the Ice Island quest immediately, although I usually leave the other quests there until later). And Neera's quest I usually do before Chapter 5, quite often in Chapter 3, but in any case no later than Chapter 5.
    JuliusBorisov
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975
    emotion I would say by far is the best level 4 spell in bgee, luckily it isn't broken like it is in bg2ee ( where they made it more like IWD for some weird reason), so basically its like a huge radius hold monster spell, that has a pretty decent duration, and plus, they are SO many scrolls of greater malison I don't even memorize greater malison in my spell book, I just keep a pile of 20 or so scrolls of it in my quick item slot, so blast off with a greater malison from a scroll and then let lose some emotion spells, unlike in bg2ee where if you hit someone who is emotioned they will get back up, but in bgee they at least had the sense to keep them laying down for the duration of the spell regardless if they get hit or not, best part is, it doesn't affect team mates so you can let 'em lose, definitely my favourite level 4 bgee spell ( hold monster being my favourite since it has a -2 penalty to the save, simply wicked)
    JuliusBorisovGallowglassMortianna
  • GrumGrum Member, Mobile Tester Posts: 2,100
    Stoneskin all the way. Mages die way too fast. Bandit ambush? You need an instant cast spell to absorb the arrows. The other spells are great, but if you are dead you can't cast them.
    JuliusBorisovGallowglass
  • lunarlunar Member Posts: 3,460
    Improved invisibility is also a very solid buff: +4 to ac and saves, and can not be targeted by spells. So enemy mages and sirines can not cast at you!
    JuliusBorisovGallowglass
  • xPersonOfChaosxxPersonOfChaosx Member Posts: 21

    Oh- that explains why I haven't found those scrolls! I'm still on Chapter 6, so I haven't been there yet.

    Er ... well, no, not really. You could have had both those Stoneskin scrolls before Chapter 6.

    I usually visit Ulgoth's Beard early in Chapter 5 (and do the Ice Island quest immediately, although I usually leave the other quests there until later). And Neera's quest I usually do before Chapter 5, quite often in Chapter 3, but in any case no later than Chapter 5.
    No I can't visit those places. I'm not allowed access to them.
  • sarevok57sarevok57 Member Posts: 5,975
    edited December 2015

    Oh- that explains why I haven't found those scrolls! I'm still on Chapter 6, so I haven't been there yet.

    Er ... well, no, not really. You could have had both those Stoneskin scrolls before Chapter 6.

    I usually visit Ulgoth's Beard early in Chapter 5 (and do the Ice Island quest immediately, although I usually leave the other quests there until later). And Neera's quest I usually do before Chapter 5, quite often in Chapter 3, but in any case no later than Chapter 5.
    No I can't visit those places. I'm not allowed access to them.
    are you playing vanilla bg without tales of the sword coast? if so your choices on level 4 spells are going to be very very limited, pretty much minor globe of invulnerability and confusion ( from iron throne tower, plus dimension door is there as well in the vanilla bg) and monster summoning II from underneath candlekeep, and I believe that's about it for vanilla bg, unless you do some importing ( if im not mistaken vanilla bg only had 8 level 4 spells where only half of them were actually placed in game) and for level 3 spells, you are definitely going to want haste, haste is SO good you will still be using it in ToB, then beyond that, whatever tickles your fancy for your level 3 spells ( I usually like to go with fireballs because with the aid of spells, they can become easy to resist so you can fling them into your party and not hurt anyone)

  • GoturalGotural Member Posts: 1,229
    I don't get what's so good about Emotion, to me it looks like a copy of Horror but 4th level instead of 2th.
    The fact that there is no penalty on the save makes it a bit lackluster to my mind.

    I think Web (2th level), Slow (3th level) and Chaos (5th level) are far, far better options to control the battlefield.

    In my opinion, the best level 4 spells are Stoneskin and Greater Malison.
    JuliusBorisovArdul
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,714
    @Gotural The reason why I like the Emotion spell is that it works like Sleep (but without enemy level restrictions), not Horror,

    The creatures lie down, so every attack rolls become automatic hits. Yes, Chaos has a penalty to saving throws, but a confused enemy still wonders around, so sometimes he's hard to hit. Web is an awesome spell but some enemies are resistant to its effect and if you don't have Free Action and mismanage your path, you could fell under its effect too. Slow is a wonderful spell, and has a penalty to saving throws, I agree.

    Anyway, for me Stoneskin is an automatic choice on the 4th level. The second spell differs because of the character or the party setup: if it's a solo play, nothing is better than Improved Invisibility. If I use Web, Spiders can be a good choice. But if I need a disabling spell (and maybe haven't reached the 5th spell level yet) I choose Emotion.
    Goturalsarevok57
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,315
    edited December 2015
    Level 4 is my favourite spell level. Nobody has mentioned Polymorph Other yet, so I'll mention that. Turn enemies into squirrels at your finger tips :)

    Edit: Looks like its only available for sorcerers in the non-black pits portion of BGEE. There is also a wand that does the same thing. Its something to consider for BG2EE I guess.
    sarevok57
  • GallowglassGallowglass Member Posts: 3,356

    No I can't visit those places. I'm not allowed access to them.

    If you're playing EE, that's not true ... but it might look as if it's true, since you can only open them for first-time access (even after they're already visible on the map) by walking off the edge of a neighbouring map, not merely by walking off the edge of any map anywhere.

    In other words, if you walk off the edge of some non-adjacent map, then you'll see Ulgoth's Beard (and might also see Adoy's Enclave) shown on the map, but you can't click on them to travel there if they haven't yet been activated for travel. However, if you go to the Wyrm's Crossing map and walk off the north edge behind Tenya's cottage, then Ulgoth's Beard will be activated and you can travel there, either immediately or now from any other map-edge too. (And similarly for Adoy's Encave, IIRC.)

    This is not a bug, by the way. It is by design that you must "explore your way towards" a new area to activate it, but the difference is that most other areas don't even show on the map at all until you have activated them by stepping off the appropriate edge of an adjacent map, whereas Ulgoth's Beard (and the areas added in EE, after the story tells you about them) show on the map even before activation.
  • sluckerssluckers Member Posts: 280
    edited December 2015

    It's basically in the title- my Mage has just gained access to 3 level 4 spell slots and I'm wondering which spells are the most useful. Thanks :)

    One of my fave lvl 4 spells is Minor Globe of Invulnerability.

    I enjoy casting it, then minor sequencing web/stinking cloud or web/grease on myself and challenging fighters to hand-to-hand combat.

    Provided they come over to me, of course.

    I really like the Globe Spells. They let you do a lot of things in terms of controlling the battlefield. You can turn the area around your mage into a stinky, icy, flaming zone of falling and choking death, while you walk around inside of it bobbing people with your quarterstaff of flinging darts at their eyes. That's more for novelty, I suppose. You'll find most of the damage comes from fireballing someone at point blank range.

    sarevok57GoturalOlvynChuru
  • xPersonOfChaosxxPersonOfChaosx Member Posts: 21

    No I can't visit those places. I'm not allowed access to them.

    If you're playing EE, that's not true ... but it might look as if it's true, since you can only open them for first-time access (even after they're already visible on the map) by walking off the edge of a neighbouring map, not merely by walking off the edge of any map anywhere.

    In other words, if you walk off the edge of some non-adjacent map, then you'll see Ulgoth's Beard (and might also see Adoy's Enclave) shown on the map, but you can't click on them to travel there if they haven't yet been activated for travel. However, if you go to the Wyrm's Crossing map and walk off the north edge behind Tenya's cottage, then Ulgoth's Beard will be activated and you can travel there, either immediately or now from any other map-edge too. (And similarly for Adoy's Encave, IIRC.)

    This is not a bug, by the way. It is by design that you must "explore your way towards" a new area to activate it, but the difference is that most other areas don't even show on the map at all until you have activated them by stepping off the appropriate edge of an adjacent map, whereas Ulgoth's Beard (and the areas added in EE, after the story tells you about them) show on the map even before activation.
    I am now on Chapter 7 and I have repeatedly tried to access this area by walking off the edges of pretty much every area even vaguely close to where it should be, but to no avail. It just won't appear!!! Why is this?
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    There is only one path to access Ulgoth's Beard, as was mentioned. You have to walk past the bridge to Baldur's Gate City, to the north edge of that map, past Tenya's cottage. You will fight an ankheg right in front of the access point.
    GallowglassHudzyelminsterJuliusBorisov
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