hey guys,

there sounds like there are many solo magic users in this forum and i'd like to know what are some of the most valuable, powerful spells in the game? maybe break your answer into two sections (for low level and high level mages)

also, what are some great spell tactics that can be used with spells and how they can be combined or used in combos.

Thanks :D

Well now, low-level mages are not complete without Chromatic Orb. Next comes the Skull Trap as it has the same radius as a fireball, but almost nobody in the game has slashing resistance over 5%, while fire resistance is very often found. And it doesn't have a maximum danage, as opposed to the Fireball's 10d6. Next to all the sequencers and contingencies, we have the one and only Abi Dalzim's Horrid Wilting, which has a potential to do more damage than a Meteor Strike or a Red Dragon's Breath. Timestop is a must have, and Improved Alacrity really helps in Timestops(imagine bombarding an area with 9 Skull Traps in 1 second). Banshee's Wail is also cool :D .
Other effect spells include the Dispell, Spell Thrust, Magic Resistance(with which you only need to cast one Lower Resistance), Lower Resistance, Greater Malison(one of the most usefull spells in the game) and the Symbol/Power Word: Stun. Summons are rarely usefull for anything but drawing fire, and I almost never invest in those.
Also mind that this is only the arcane list of spells, the divine also has some nicities. Not as near as mages, but some are nice(like the amazing no-save Implosion).

From my experience with the spells of the game, I'd rank the following as crucial (mage spells, since I don't know much about priest spells):


Lvl 1 - The only absolute-must spell is Magic Missile. It deals about as much damage as a solid hit from Minsc with a Two-Handed Sword would do, and it has a really fast casting time. Other spells that are good are Spook (to scare enemies) and Chromatic Orb (can instant kill, does elemental damage, etc). Identify is also important.


Lvl 2 - Detect Invisibility is important, because you can't target enemy casters with spells if they are invisible, and this gets really annoying. If you are soloing a caster, get Invisibility--- if you are in a group, don't, and get the level 3 spell Invisibility 10 Radius. Melf's Acid Arrow is a good offensive spell. Mirror Image is an excellent defensive spell. Web is good in conjunction with Area-of-Effect spells (like Fireball and Cloudkill), and Strength is good for buffing up party members.

Lvl 3 - Dispel Magic is crucial. It can remove negative magical effects on party members, and remove positive effects on enemies. It is a lot more versitile than Remove Magic, but Remove Magic has the advantage of you not risking dispelling all the beneficial buffs on your party. Fireball is a powerful offensive damaging spell. Flame Arrow is highly damaging as well, but doesnt affect an area. Haste is an absolute MUST if you are in a group--- the benefits are too numerous to mention.

Lvl 4 - GREATER MALISON! Reducing your enemies saves is such a great advantage! Minor Sequencer is very good as well, as it lets to basically get a few extra spell slots. But perhaps the best spell this level is Stoneskin. No mage should be without it.

Lvl 5 - Animate Dead. It isn't so great to begin with, but at Level 15, you can summon a very powerful skeleton warrior. Breach cancels defensive magics like Stoneskin and Protection from Normal Weapons, which can get really annoying. Cloudkill is an extremely powerful offensive spell. You should get Lower Resistance, for fights with powerful enemies with resistances to different types of damage---it will be almost impossible to kill any Dragon without this spell. Sunfire is a better Fireball.

Lvl 6 - Chain Lightning is a much better version of Lightning. Contingency is an absolute MUST. True Sight is excellent as well.

Lvl 7 - Finger of Death in conjunction with a Greater Malison is an almost guarenteed instant kill...even if it doesn't, it will deal a good bit of damage. Limited Wish is so versatile, it is really worth getting. Mordenkainen's Sword is undeniably useful. Spell Sequencer gives extra spell slots.

Lvl 8 - Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting is an incredibly good area-of-effect offensive spell. Pierce Shield is a must as well, as it combines Lower Resistence with other dispelling effects. Spell Trigger can be the coolest spell in the game, as it allows you to mix-and-match so many different combinations of spells...

Lvl 9 - Imprisonment is excellent. But is isn't recommended to be used to defeat powerful enemies, because it gets rid of all of their loot, so you won't get all of the fancy equipment. Shapechange allows you to assume many interesting forms (it is a lot better than Polymorph Self). Spell Trap is a life-saver. Wish is really neat but not needed. But the most important spell in this level is TIME STOP. You must get that spell, as it virtually stops time for a duration, allowing you to do as you please while everyone else is frozen still!


~

I haven't gotten to Throne of Bhaal yet, so I can't comment on any of the Level 10 spells.

That should be Magic Damage Resistance.

It does. 20d6.

Hmm... this is subjective. In some cases, summons can actually do all the work for you. The Skeleton Warrior for example, is an excellent summon against foes that only use unenchanted weapons( and this is often the case in SoA), lasts for over 8 hours, has many immunities and extremely high Magic Resistance.

The Mordenkanein Sword has a maximum duration of 2 turns, but during those 2 turns, 95% of your enemies will be hardpressed to even scratch it. Illithids will be sliced sushi if you unleash some hasted MSwords on them.

Early in the game, the Spawn Spider + Web combo is gold.

Come ToB, we have the Planetar. Immunity to unenchanted and +1 weapons, an impressive spell-list, a vorpal weapon, etc... ...

Finally, we have the most powerful summon of them all.
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
The Bunny Nuke combo. Assuming only 20 bunnies( it can be much, much more), you can deal at least 480-3840 Magic Damage in a targeted area, with assorted 20-160 Magic Damage around the map in AREAXXXX. Cast this spell ONLY if you want everybody to die in AREAXXXX. http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmili...evillaugh2.gif

Just a note that Magic Resistance is a Divine spell then, as you mentioned it above.

Melf Minute meators, or somthing like that is a must have spell..

I'm amazed no one has mentioned it, a bunch of stones that do elemental damage that strikes though stoneskins..

The use of Melf's Minute Meteors and Flame Arrow are virtually interchangeable... I guess its just a matter of preference.

Simply because this spell almost always gets ignored in "What Spells Must I Have?" kind of threads.

I present to you, <span style="color:#FF0000">Emotion:Hopelessness( level 4 arcane spell, School of Enchantment). Many a battle can be won instantly by the quick usage of this spell.

It is party-friendly, area-of-effect and knocks most living things unconsicious. Strangely though, it is probably one of the most underrated( and underused) spells in the history of BG2.

Fights like the Guarded Compound will turn into a walkover if you use this spell. Koshi will be dreaming in la-la land along with his comrades as you stab them to death while they slumber.

Also, it is not only humans that are affected by this spell. Giants are affected too... creating some pretty funny scenerios in ToB. The actual list of affected creatures is quite huge. Some creatures who are immuned to Emotion are the Undead, Dragons , Golems, and Bosses.

To aid Emotion, which depends on saving throws, Greater Malison can be used. My favourite Spell Sequencer is a Greater Malison + Emotion + Slow combo. Very nasty.

Ah, but you can go to sleep with some Meteors equipped, and wake up the next morning ready to go, Meteors and Stoneskins in place.

Not quite.

MMM: Creates a stack of +6 enchanted minute meteors in your weapon slot. You get 1 meteor per level of your caster, up to a maximum of 20 meteors. Each meteor weighs 1 pound, so be careful not to accidentally burden your Mage. Having MMM active also means that your Mage's Attacks per Round(ApR) is set to 5. This is much faster than your base ApR of 1.

As it is a weapon, MMM will ignore Magic Resistance. The damage of MMM is spilt into two. One physical, one fire. This is handy against enemy Mages as the physical damage removes stoneskins, while the fire damage bypasses it to disrupt their spellcasting. Only Protection from Magical Weapons will throughly protect an enemy Mage, as MMM can even bypass Absolute Immunity.

Be warned though, the fire damage of MMM can bounce off an enemy Mage's Spell Turning. Not the physical damage though.

FArrow: Magically creates one or more arrows( depending on your caster's level) which deals both physical and fire damage. At the maximum of 4 bolts, you can potentially deal 20-120dmg per shot, assuming that the enemy fails its' save and has no fire resistance. This makes FArrow as an useful instant assassination skill, as you can load up a Spell Sequencer with 3 of these babies.

FArrow however, can be blocked by the following,

Magic Resistance
(Minor) Globe of Invulnerability
(Minor) Spell Deflection
(Minor) Spell Turning
Spell Trap
Spell Immunity:Conjuration

Not to mention that certain creatures are just simply immuned to level 3 spells.

Shhh, don't tell everyone about emtion..

I first found out about it when playing an enchanter for the first time..

other highly underated spell's are grease, and to a much lesser degree sleep..

Another powerfull if very cheesy spell is freedom, coupled with imprisonment you can start raking in the xp.. but that's kinda cheating..

Meh... If you're strong enough to cast Imprisonment, I doubt you need help racking up experience.

I make a lot of use of fireball and cloudkill, mainly because these are spells that you don't need to learn or allocate slots to. Wands are very readily available for both. As soon as I have the money I sell and buy back the wands, fully charged. In the course of playing through SOA I've never had to repeat this more than once.

Emotion is an awesomely useful spell. Any battle that has a mob of humanoid foes can be made instantly easier with an Emotion spell. In many ways, Emotion is much better than damaging spells. Emotion knocks the affected enemies unconscious and not able to attack *you*. Damaging spells that fail to kill the enemy leave that enemy still attacking you. And Emotion is particularly good when the battle is one of those ambushes that start with the enemy surrounding you up close and personal and too close for a Fireball, etc.

What? [img]redface.gif[/img]


There are some great summons in BG2. Mord's Sword and Animate Dead (once you get Skeletal Warriors) are two. Any of the elementals (summoned by clerics and druids, but not mages) are solid.

Don't dismiss the "drawing fire" aspect of summons. In many of the tougher battles, letting a summons draw the attention of a nasty enemy is *VERY* valuable. This can let you either focus your own attention on the more dangerous enemy or attack the "nasty enemy" without getting any return fire.

Also, there are some enemies that are very dangerous in a specific way that makes using certain summons that are immune to that certain attack. Mindflayers, for example. Mord's Sword and Animate Dead skellies are immune to psionic damage and are GREAT summons against mindflayers. (BTW, elementals really stink against mindflayers. One psionic hit and they're dead. Do NOT use elementals against MF's.)

Also, I've found that a good supply of summons, particularly elementals, are useful against dragons. 2-4 elementals can be incredibly useful against dragons, since they provide more damage potential and more "fire drawing" tanks in melee.

I don't count Mord's Sword as a summons, it's a weapon. I see summons as any creatures. Don't get me wrong, I always have a few Animate Dead and maybe a Monster Summons... and those Fiend spells are awesome too, but I only carry one at a time, usually the lvl 7 one, as I want to have as much ADHWs as I can get. I just like all the other spells better.
AT DUNDEE
I know that Magic Resistance is a divine spell, I just stated a neat combination.
Magic damage, that, yeah... I meant that [img]tongue.gif[/img]

just thought of something..

We've all forgot the most powerfull spell in the game, and it's used so often it's silly not to make metion of it..

Power word, Reload..

heheh, just had to be done, though it's done so often it's not funny, except for me, but I find stupid things funny somtimes..


Also a pretty good spell, if you don't care about the level is shield, 5 whole turns of immunity to everyones (well nearly everyones) favorite level 1 damaging spell..

That's spell ineffective whenever you get magic missiles chucked at ya, it also give a boost to AC vs missile weapons both mundane and magical, and it improves your base AC, great for before you get a good set of bracers, or want to use somthing other than bracers of AC2..

It's got to be one of the most underated spell's, but it's very very usefull when you know your going to be fighting mages that like to use magic missiles (use of the above power word can help predict these events)

The one problem with that is that I can count on one hand the number of times I've had magic missiles chucked at me. And all of them are from traps I didn't bother disarming. It would be a great spell against another player, but I've never had a fight last so long that I've had an enemy mage cast Magic Missile at me.

For sheer yuks value, I frequently beat the battle after killing the 3 parasites simply by sending one character's Magic Resistance through the roof, and sending him/her in to giggle. Now that the Tactics mod includes a couple of Shatter Magics in that fight, a Shield spell would come in handy for when the boss runs out of everything except Magic Missiles, as he has an infinite amount of them and casts them roughly 5 times per round. And your giggling can go uninterrupted. :D

As someone who generally prefers to slash/bash/shoot my way through the game, I'm surprised no one has mentioned perhaps the best single buff spell a Mage can grant a Fighter:

Improved Haste: Level 6. Double # of attacks and movement rate to a single target for 3 (might be 2 or 4) rounds + 1 round/level.

Jaheira + Club/Scimitar of choice + Belm in offhand + Fighter level 13 + Improved Haste = 9 attacks per round, one shy of the game maximum allowed of 10. Add your favorite Girdle/Potion of xxx Giant Strength and an Ironskin of her own for defense, and stand back and watch the carnage. For 10-20+ rounds depending on your Mage's level.

For sheer yuks value, I frequently beat the battle after killing the 3 parasites simply by sending one character's Magic Resistance through the roof, and sending him/her in to giggle. Now that the Tactics mod includes a couple of Shatter Magics in that fight, a Shield spell would come in handy for when the boss runs out of everything except Magic Missiles, as he has an infinite amount of them and casts them roughly 5 times per round. And your giggling can go uninterrupted. :D </font>[/QUOTE]If that happens, be a sadist and make a tank wear the Belt of Inertial Barrier while under the effect of Protection from Magical Energy.

"Yes, Jon! Hurt me, hurt me!"

Bonus points for using a female CHARNAME. [img]tongue.gif[/img]