Might and Magic , well , magic sucks.

[slowtrain]

Blinding flash is great though when you just want clear the area and get the heck out of Dodge. My ninja is the master of the blinding flash. With his high initiative, he can set that off at the start of the round and lessen the odds considerably. My Ranger also uses it. Two blinding flashes in a round, then we're running for shelter. Saved my party many times.

[Jem]

quote:

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Originally posted by aun1:
i didnt clarify my choice of magic user that i stated were not good , i was just pointing the mages

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Even using mage spells alone, you've got quite a number that I've had no problems with getting lots of effect out of.

In addition to the buff/protection spells, there's Web, Shrill Sound, Fireball, Freeze Flesh/All, Whipping Rocks, Noxious Fumes (I got a -lot- of use out of this one), Iceball, Blizzard, Firestorm, Banish and Turncoat, not to mention Asphixiation and Nuclear Blast (I had those thru gadgets/instruments).

Most of the time it's just a matter of judicious use of the correct spells vs. the correct enemies. In my biggest battle (against the Rapax on Ascension Peak), I used Asphxiation via the NegatAir gadget to clear out about 1/4 of the enemies against me in the first round and that was with a Lvl 5 version of the spell. Without that spell, I would have been toast. As it was, I still had to resurrect 3 characters, one twice. I also used Freeze All and Noxious Fumes in that first round to incapacitate quite a few others and those three spells alone gave me a big boost towards winning. In the 2nd-10th rounds I cast some AoE and cone damage spells to soften up the opponents while my ranged fighters took out a few opponents with arrows and then in the 11th round I started wading into melee with what was left. It took me a combination of meleeing and a few more AoE/cone damage spells alternating with heal all/rest all to whittle them down to something where I didn't need the spells any more (about round 18 as I recall) and I finished the fight in 23 rounds (it took about 90 minutes because of all of the opponents' movements, especially at the beginning).

[ 02-01-2002: Message edited by: Jem ]

[DraconisRex]

Hmmmmmm... Sounds like you didn't develop your spellcasters properly and attack enemies where they are the strongest, not weakest. I guess the game sucks because we all know that a player wouldn't do anything wrong... [img]tongue.gif[/img]

In fact, right now I'll dump both of my Level 13 Bishops and replace them with Level 1 fighters. Thank you so much for saving me.

[K T Ong]

My main complaint is about the durational defensive spells, such as magic screen and armorplate. I think it just sucks that casting these spells at higher power levels doesn't make them more effective, it only makes them last longer.

[Imrahil]

I tend to agree with the Pro-Magic camp. The buffs alone are worth it, but the mass damage & more importantly, mass incapacitation, are crucial at certain points.

Also, piling on multiple cloud-type spells gives a deceptive amount of help to your front line, IMO.

My biggest complaint is the lack of a Dispel Magic type spell. I understand that you run the risk of it being cast (& often, as seen in other games) against your party, but there's nothing more frustrating to me than watching one little caster-type cast Soul Shield or Element Shield on the 20 enemies in front of me & not being able to do a thing about it, for all practical purposes reducing my spell-casters to slingers.

- Imrahil

[MornD]

Lower Resist = Hex
Unfortunately Hex can also be resisted.

To put into perspective:

High lv Melee PC: Insane Dmg, Short/Extended Range, 1 Target
High lv Spellcaster: Low Dmg, Long/Thrown Range, Multiple Targets
High Lv Ranged PC: Med Dmg, Long/Thrown Range, 1 Target

Warriors rule with dmg as mentioned but a magor disadvantage is that they have to waste numerous turns and attacks moving to the enemies. That is why people whose party style is melee oriented will have long battles lasting a lot of rounds. Magic heavy parties finish the battles in minimum time with minimum rounds.

A so called "balanced" party equally mixed with melee and magic will be at a disadvantage. When you have to move to melee range to utilise the dmg of warriors, you waste the spell casting turns of your spellcasters. So, in the end, you are forced to use your casters for defense...as in....combat starts...cast defensive spells.....move to engage enemies. In this case, you do not have enough offensive magic power to finish off the enemies so you must rely on melee.

What i am saying is that in party creation, you have to be aware. To be efficient:
For a melee heavy party, include just enough casters for defensive bluffs. The offensive is provided by moving the party to melee range.
For a magic heavy party, include just enough warriors for frontline defense. No movement, offense is provided by the combined effort of maybe 5 casters (include rpcs). Imagine 5 x lv6/lv7 spell.....HI combined dmg to ALL enemies in range. If the rite spell school is used, 40 dmg/enemy/spell is common.

[ 02-02-2002: Message edited by: MornD ]