This question is probably at least somewhat dependent on personal taste, but I hope nevertheless to toss it out: what kinds of offensive spells are better for your spellcasters - those that deal raw damage (fireball, crush, make wounds) or those that hinder the enemy with status changes (terror, paralyze, etc.) I believe Guiler's faq on gamefaqs says status changes are infinitely more valuable because they make the enemy much easier to slash with fighters on the front line. But I believe that's just his opinion and I can't count how many times a good fireball has made a battle easier. It's just so nice to be able to toss out 3/4 fireballs at the beginning of a battle; the first few kills are harder since the enemies are near full health, but once the fireballs hit, your last few kills can't be any easier. However, I can also say that I *hate* being bogged down with status changes. I guess Wizardry puts more emphasis on these status effects than many other games. Which type of offensive spells is more valuable?

I couldn't imagine the game without ripping fireballs down their alley. But hinderance/immob spells are a key part of my strategy too. Some seem way more effective in combat than others. Blind I find damn near useless, the just run away then come back. Irritation/itching skin/nausea doesn't seem to slow em down much. Terror is a little better, because it will render em unconsious sometimes. Sleep, web, and paralyze are the keeys for me. I try to have multiple casters that can fire these, I don't LIKE to fight fair. Typical combat will have (assuming your buff spell are already cast) Mage and Priest open with web, Bard open with sleep. 2nd round, depending on the number that missed web the first time, either two webs again, or if most of them got caught, then fireball, whirlwind, piercing pipes. Leaves the mobs soft and immobile, my fighter types just waltz right through them. (of course, that's on a GOOD day. [img]tongue.gif[/img] )

Fireball is a fantastic offensive spell early in the game. Further on though I am finding that a lot of monsters have high resistance to fire spells and its use is rather limited.
IMHO I definately agree that status change spells are more useful than offensive spells (I am only about half way in the game though). Its such a cackle to paralise a monster an then just have my front line guys hack them to pieces :D


Knip

Spells that hinder the enemy are more important, IMO, because they whittle down your foes like a narrow pass in a mountain. Makes it much easier for you to pick 'em off one at a time, or even to turn 'em against one another using Insanity and Turncoat.

Both spell-types are helpful depending on the situation. It also can heavily revolve around your party makeup. An extremely magic-heavy party can do very well, because you have a lot more characters available to cast spells like hex and take full advantage of the effects...

i notice that the mob spellcasters like to incapacitate my spellcasters with silence, sleep, etc. i think the best strategy is to fight spell caster against spellcaster and beat them to the punch. that means that i always have good dext and speed for my mage and priest so they get to go first. also i find that protection spells can be cast at any time (before my PCs get to combat mode) so that i dont spend my first turn casting these and can go immediately after the spellcasters.

Blizzard spell is extreamely powerful against Savant trooper and wery good agains all monster and also Freeze flesh!!

I hate to be different (ok, not really [img]smile.gif[/img] ) but I choose neither of those. If you take a look at the whole game I would have to say spells that improve your characters are the best. Just think about it, soul shield, hast, superman, x-ray etc. don't affect monsters whatsoever but are indespensible. When fighting monsters like Nessie and those with high magic resistance you can cast fireball or hex all day and not get anywhere. But a fighter with haste and superman is really going to kick ass.

Just my 2 cents

Howdy there, RadeonX;

I was just thinking to myself last night that one of the most enjoyable parts of the game is how your fighting strategies are constantly evolving as both you and the enemy learn new spells.

When I first learned spells like Fireball, they were difficult to cast, but terribly useful in a fight. Now that I'm level 15 and tromping around the Rapax Castle, I can cast Fireball at the highest level, but it isn't much use at all currently. I instead am helped most by casting more of my newer spells, which, of course, I can't cast at quite as high a level - so I'm constantly pushing my best to get better. At least, that's the way it's worked out for me, and I am really enjoying it that way!

I have a Mook Bard, a Rawulf Priest and a Faerie Bishop as my magic users. In my recent fights with the Rapax Samurai/Warmages/Archers I've had the Priest cast Gaurdian Angel on the Faerie Bishop, the Faerie Bishop cast Summon Elemental, and the Bard play the Chaos Pipes. I never walk or run in this first round, because even though I'd love to get closer so my fighters can get in some nice hits on the enemy, the Chaos Pipes are absoutely crucial to my survival. Otherwise the Samurai and Warmages will each cast a spell, and there are usually at least 10 of them put together.

Sorry, rambled on a bit there. My point is that for me, status spells like insanity and fear are my favorite over brute force spells like fireball for most encounters my own level or higher. However, the Summon Elemental is an exception to this general rule because it's lovely strong (75 damage a punch, usually 3 punches per round) and it absorbs damage for me. If my Bishop had a fireball-type spell that did 75 damage I'd certainly be casting it, but instead her spells like fireball and iceball do a lot less, and have often been impossible to target on the enemy because the targeting mechanism requires you to drag the targeting staff around on the ground to reach your foe - no casting fireballs up at a catwalk. The enemies, on the other hand, seem to have no trouble doing this :( Am I missing something?

- Parrp

Oh-I think it's absolutely necessary to keep armorplate, enchanted blade, magic screen, MISSiLE SHIELD, light and now x-ray.....running at all times when out adventuring. Don't waste precious rounds casting these during battle! Missile shield proctects you from those *!@#* Tanto wasps throwing their stingers, too.

However, I'm finding fireball to be a big disapointment. My level 12 Fairy Mage is casting at level 6 or 7 but only getting ABOUT 20-30 points of damage the first round.........this is not too helpful when surrounded in the swamp by 4-flesh-eating slimes, 8-blooddrinkers, and 7-(whatever) wasps. I lost 3 party members to that battle alone. And you should have heard the language I was using when my Alchemist/Bishop FIZZLED the first FOUR rounds of healing/stamina spells! I couldn't believe it. .......what's up with that???

I go with both offensive spells and defensive spells, as well as those that protect my party. I'm right about at the Mines now and this has been my strategy so far:

Alchemist casts Summon Elemental
Bishop casts Summon Elemental
Bard uses Rousing Drums (Haste)
Psionic casts Insanity

Others attack using range weapons

2nd round:

Alchemist casts Ring of Fire (if it looks as though combat will get to close fighting), then Whipping Rocks (or Crush for one enemy)
Bishop casts Shrill Sound or Magic Missiles
Bard uses Piercing Pipes
Psyionic casts Psionic Fire or many multiple offensive spells

After this, magic users check on Stamina levels during attacks

After looking this over, I realise I rely far more on offensive spells, but every battle is different.

Dan

Both.

Damage (Area of Effect (AOE) & Singular Creture (SC)) thoughts:

AOE - damage spells work wonders against nuciense enemies. Also there are a few encounters than many have had trouble with, yet I've breezed through, even on the first game, because a few rocks coming at a crowd of ants, etc., will wipe out a lot of them quickly. Individually, ants are weak. But they have a real tendency to go for the lightly armored bards, thieves and mages.

AOE spells take planning and a fast party. Call-up walk mode, based on your *slowest* PC, and target the incoming creatures at range. Unless they're really, really fast, you'll get in at least one good volley.


Singluar creature damage spells are good when fighting a strong enemy that is few in number. I don't care how much work you put into combat skills for a mage, he/she just isn't going to be that effective with melee weapons. In these cases, a few energy blasts or mind blasts will help you achieve your ends in an efficient method.


Enemy Effecting (AOE & SC) thoughts:

Paralyze is a darn good SC spell. If it works, you'll chop big chunks off of a tough enemy with your melee guys. There are others, like mind blast, energy blast, acid spash, that do good damage against certain creatures. This is mostly because they are weak against that magic realm.

A couple of good AOE's are sleep and terror. A nice 7 man Higardi patrol throwing death stars at you can easily be handled with those spells.


Party Effecting spells:

These are great and it's tough to succeed without them. Bless and enchanted blade are a must in the early game. Stamina is a great SC spell that really helps keep your Bard playing at full efficiency.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>...and have often been impossible to target on the enemy because the targeting mechanism requires you to drag the targeting staff around on the ground to reach your foe - no casting fireballs up at a catwalk. The enemies, on the other hand, seem to have no trouble doing this Am I missing something?
<hr></blockquote>



The manual says to hold down the right mouse button if you want the 3D targeting staff to move up or down. I have not tried this myself,
but the next time I have problems on the catwalks in Trynton it may be useful

thanks for the suggestions! the general consensus seems to be that status spells are more effective and useful than damage spells. damage spells seem to lose a lot of their effectiveness as the game progresses since we encounter an ever-increasing number of magic-casting enemies. incidentally, i'm still in the earliest stages of the game and thus have had remarkable success with damage spells (besides, the majority of the spells offered to my casters are damage spells). thanks to all of you for your experiences in later parts of the game. i'll be sure to buff up my status spells. btw, Kinfyr, your style seems really interesting and i'm beginning to see how it can work wonders. for example, i fought a hogar by casting guardian angel on my front line and lo and behold no one died (my party's still pretty weak)! my question is, how do you balance your tactic with the consideration that the spells you throw out affect 1 person instead of 6 and the fact that meanwhile you're buffing up 1 guy, your enemies are shooting spells affecting your entire group? if only 1 of your guys is functioning, you probably can't win anyway

you should try out Noxious Fumes, at lower levels the dmg is good, but at higher levels the diabling effect is very useful.

My favorite mage spells are

low level party (up to 15)
Noxious Fumes, Magic Missles, Shrill Sound

higer level party
Insantity, freeze flesh, and Summon Elemental

power casting which you get when your intelligence hits 100 is useful. You also have to use your mythology to check the resistances of the creatures you are fighting. If the creature has a 100 resistance of water, don't cast iceball at it.

The damage spells are suitable for taking out large group of irritating and weaker creatures. Like if you get surrounded by those wasps, flying snakes, or ants, or millipedes ... And if you have 2 or more castors that can all do heavy damage spell, so much the better.

Take millipedes ... low fire resist. stay at thrown range and split out stuff. You do the status spells, you still have to walk up and kill them one by one, very long and irritating. I got 2 bishops, one cast fireball, the other go firebomb ... no more millipedes. : )

The trick is to plan your spells according to what you are fighting. There are spells like crush, dehydrate, boiling blood and concussion for the single big nasty monsters. If they are high in resist, hex them first. If its a bunch of big nasty close range crocs that you don't want near your party, insane them first before you do anything.

There is no rule to say that using status spells first before you slower blast them to bits is cheap. Whatever gets the job done! [img]smile.gif[/img]