God I HATE going through it every time. You sit there and go through all your characters one at a time five or six times throwing spells 80% of wich are same ones over and over. Since I try to keep cheese to a minimum I guess at which ones I'll need then go in and find out I should have used this instead of that so it's reload and start over again. Maybe some body could figure out a mod that lets you queu your most commonly used buffs or something.

I spent about four hours playing today and I swear I must have spent three hrs preparing for battles. And it just gets worse as you progress. I'm surprised I haven't seen anything about this in the forums.

A new challenge: prepare when within the fights, should make things more challenging :D

i know what you mean - buffing the party seems to be the 'worst' thing - individual buffs, group buffs, summons etc. etc.

its a good discipline to cast them on the fly i reckon when it looks like things are going against you - you've usually got enough slack with a party and it adds to the excitement when you have to balance doing damage against buffing (i'll always cast haste but doubt i'd take out a round to cast bless) - i've ended up with clerical summons appearing just as the last bad guy drops a few times which is quite annoying - fast casting speed helps

solo buffing is a bit more essential but less of an overhead of course

try getting into the character of the buffing - you know the sequence they always have in films when the last big battle is going to happen? (loading and checking swords/guns/lasers or whatever while the dramatic music is playing) buffing is like that - they're not sat around yawning while the woman in the robe waves her arms around - they're preparing themselves - they might die - they look around - they're ready now - one last check as the thief surveys the enemy lifts one hand above his head . . . and drops it

one small trick to reduce your buffingtime is to make TWO saves
One hardsave before buffing (or after the essential buffs like Stoneskin or Bless) and a quicksave afterwards (i.e. before Buffs you're not sure will work). That way if the battle is going awry and it is not to blame on the wrong buffs you can just quickload and have your completely buffed paty at hand.
The only legit way for fast buffing however is Contingencies and Spell Triggers.

Or you just walk in the fight unbuffed, as was suggested ;) I did that my first game through (only used offensive spells such as Fireball, ADHW etc.) and made it through the entire game that way :D

links suggestion is hard, but alot more satisfying.....

but i wouldn't try it if you have any mods installed....

actually Defensive Harmony is best used this way, it has a low casting time and low duration, but the -4AC boost is very nice. in my Icewind Dale game it's my most frequently used cleric spell, outside of healing spells.

i wouldn't got quite that far, but yeah.

look at the spell books, find buffs that last a long time, (armour, stone / iron skin, protection from evil 10' ect) and stick w/ those.

they can be cast upon entering a dangerous area and should last for almost all of it, you may need to rest before they run out.

rinse and repeat.

Ummmm.......

Buffing before a known fight isn't good playing unless you're on a reload and just want to get it over with. It takes the fun out of things. Think about if you were the character. What would you do in the daily routine? Certain spells like stoneskin should be kept on at all times when wandering. They last a long time. Cleric, druid, and ranger summons last a while. Simply have one follow you around to scout ahead. I used to keep a fire elemental on hand all the time for this reason. Bless, defensive harmony, etc. should all be cast in the fight to simulate real combat.

I too went through the game like that my first 2 times through. I pretty much only used offensive spells, no buff spells or such. I didn't learn the true use of spells until I ran my PC as a sorceror. If you were doing things like I was, I suggest making your PC a sorceror, mage, or cleric to see how spells should truely be used.