[Aerich]

@ SLC

[Shocking Grasp is just as dumb as Chill Touch.]

I agree. Those touch spells are dangerous for mages, and Shocking Grasp only does about as much damage as MM anyways.

[Aid is pretty useless. 1-8 extra hitpoints, woohoo!]

I couldn't agree more. Why not take Cure Moderate Wounds, which heals 11 HP? As for the Bless effect, why not just cast Bless and get the benefit for the entire party?

[Spiritual Hammer sucks.]

I'm not sure I totally agree with this. It works from a distance, so it's not all bad, especially if you've run out of slingstones. Also, there's a few maces and hammers that give extra spell slots and even a +1 to Wisdom, indirectly granting even more spell slots. The problem with those weapons is that you lose those benefits (the spell slots AND the spells memorized in them) unless the weapon is equipped *at all times.* Once I get those special clerical weapons, I tend to burn a second level slot or two on Magical Hammer for minor battles and ignore my sling. I figure the extra 3rd and 4th level slots are worth the inconvenience. But I suppose I could just run my cleric into melee in all the minor battles instead.

@ Mellagar - I assume you are talking about Command? I agree, it is weak. The only use I ever found for it was when I soloed a cleric (partway). It allowed me to use that round to get close to various archers that could out-missile me. The (admittedly minor) advantage to the spell is that it is one of only a handful of clerical spells with a casting time of 1 (others are Defensive Harmony and Slow Poison, iirc), and probably the only one that is offensive in nature. It helps to disrupt spellcasters, but in any party that includes Magic Missile and Chromatic Orb (e.g. 99.8% of them), Command comes out a distant third. The duration of one round is ridiculous; it doesn't give much of an edge to the caster.

Another thing that annoys me (it annoyed me more before I got HOW and the accompanying scroll cases) is why the Protection from Petrification scoll is in the first mini-dungeon. I've never found a use for it in IWD proper. So why can't they leave a good scroll in that dungeon for us to use? It's a real pain for solo/small parties (whose mages level up quickly) to pound through to Kuldahar without any 2nd level spells but Horror (and Blur, I guess).