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Old 11-27-2006, 07:51 PM   #1
Lepus Timidus
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Join Date: September 25, 2006
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Hi all.

Veterans have always been ambivalent towards the 'Polymorph Self' spell. The forms you can morph into raise an eyebrow, especially the Spider (Five attacks per round, innate haste, and poison strike) and the Mustard Jelly (Complete Immunity).

Let us focus on the Spider. He has 5 attacks per round, each strike inflicting poison damage. On the downside, the THACO isn't so hot, and the 9 Constitution is a bit of a bummer.

How does one rectify these weaknesses inherent in the Spider Form? After some consideration, I realized that Tensor's Tranformation would both give a significant boost to the Spider's HP, and also significantly decrease its THACO.

Yet there is a problem. You can't cast 'Tensor's Transformation' so that it applies to spider form, due to the following catch 22:

1. You can't cast Tensor's Transformation prior to Polymorph, and Tensor's Transformation prohibits Polymorphing.

2. You can't cast Polymorph prior to Tensor's Transformation, as a polymorphed form cannot cast the Tensor Spell.

Sort of sucks. But surely there must be a way to get around this?

There is. Both Contigency and Spell Triggers still operate on a polymorphed form (note that Spell Triggers do not operate on a Tensored Character, though). So, quite simply, one can Tensor themselves in polymorphed form by first morphing into the chosen form, and then either triggering their contingency (which should be set to activate on sight of enemy), or using their spell trigger.

*BAM* Tensored Spider.

Not bad. Still, due to the 9 Constitution, the hit points are a little low.

To remedy the low consitution, merely use the Girdle of Fortitude AFTER Polymorphing (using the GoF prior to polymorphing will result in your 18 Constitution dropping to 9). You will receive a significant rise in health. Cast stoneskin, mirror image and Improved Haste (for 8 attacks per round) prior to polymorphing, and your spider can adequately penetrate the opponents recesses.

After getting a rather beefed up, adorable little arachnid, I thought "Can I use any casted magical weapons (eg. Melf's Minor Meteor, Phantom Blade, Black Blade of Disaster) more suited for a Spider's stats? Poison strike is great, but perhaps something else is superior (or would compliment poison)."

Casted magical weapons suffer from a Catch 22, just like Tensor's. If you cast 'Melf's MM' or any other sort of magical weapon (Phantom Blade) prior to polymorphing, you will lose that weapon when you polymorph into your chosen form. And, as we already know, you can't cast spells in Polymorphed form.

The solution to this dilemma is the same as Tensor's. You merely stick the casted weapon spell in the same contigency/trigger as the Tensor's.

What casted magical weapon may be good for a Spider with 8 attacks per round, and conveniently ties in with the nature of a spider?

Ghoul Touch!

With 8 attacks per round, the Spidey is bound to paralyze his prey.

So, I whacked Tensor's, Improved Haste and Ghoul Touch into a spell trigger, Polymorphed into a Spider, activated the Girdle of Fortitude and then the spell trigger.

BAM. Spider with 8 attacks per round, with each attack having a chance to paralyze its prey. With its low THACO, the opponent is quite likely to be hit (and fail its save). Once paralyzed, the opponent is a dead man. It's that simple. Any paralyzed creature who is suffering 8 ghoul attacks per round from a low THACO spider can't retaliate, is finished.

What's even better is that when your ghoul touch wears off, your spidey reverts back to his generic weapon, which does poison damage. So you can do tremendous damage to your paralyzed prey (8 attacks per round, each with poison damage, each of which will hit your paralyzed foe for the 5 rounds he has been paralyzed. You work it out...). The Spider isn't known for hitting like a golem, but the damage sure racks up. Very few creatures in the game can resist the effect of spider venom.

One final thought. I happened to stumble across a bug for Polymorph. When under the effect of Tensor, you can't polymorph into other forms, which means that you are stuck with your ghoul touch/spidey fang. Sort of annoying if you bump into a jerk immune to your brand of weapon (Clay Golem?).

However, there is a peculiar bug. If you wear the Cloak of Sewers, you can PARTIALLY polymorph back into your human form while under the effect of Tensor's. By partially, I mean that you retain all the stats of the Spider (including the attacks per round) but regain the weapons usually carried by your normal form. For example, if you are wielding a Staff of the Magi and are wearing a Cloak of the Sewers, polymorph into a Spider (via the spell, not the cloak), Tensor, and then attempt to polymorph back into human form, you will regain your Staff of the Magi, but retain the stats of the spider.
Hence, you are prepared for every eventuality.

So, all in all, you can have a kickass spider with a nice THAC0, and which can paralyze 8 times a round. If your enemy isn't dead after you lose the ghoul touch weapon, he will be after receiving the 40 poison strikes he is bound to receive (due to paralyzed foes always being hit) I find it fun to choose the imp familiar, and polymorph it into a Spider as well. While I am paralyzing my foe, my Imp familiar complements me by poisoning their immobilized carcasses. Summon 5 Sword Spiders (and Kitthix) beforehand to give this tactic a role playing feel.

And yes, the spell trigger (Tensors + Ghoul touch) cheese can be applied in any polymorphed form, from the Troll form acquired from the Cloak of Sewers (although I tend to prefer the spider due to its poison attack and 2 extra attacks per round), and the forms obtained from Shapechange. But that's really irrelevant. The purpose of this post was to show that with a little careful thought and the combination of some low and middle level spells, Polymorph Self actually has some merit as a spell.

[ 11-28-2006, 06:30 PM: Message edited by: Lepus Timidus ]
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Old 11-27-2006, 09:39 PM   #2
Kyrvias
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Wow. That is one damn good explanation. Opens up even more roleplaying options than you think,; such as Drow.

It's also extremely interesting given strategic options.

Though, I have a question. I know that the Sword Spider form of the avenger druid doesn't have immunity to web; does the wizard polymorphed form? Because that could increase strategic options even more.
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Old 11-27-2006, 11:42 PM   #3
Lepus Timidus
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Kyrvias:
Quote:
I know that the Sword Spider form of the avenger druid doesn't have immunity to web; does the wizard polymorphed form?
Sadly not. I don't know why.

It's a pity, since you can't even protect your sorc. from Web using Spell Immunity.
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Old 11-28-2006, 02:57 PM   #4
Kyrvias
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Bummer. Still, a Ring of Free Action would help out there. Let loose either a contingency, or a different trigger/sequencer full of web and let the fun begin!
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Old 11-28-2006, 06:59 PM   #5
Lepus Timidus
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Kyrvias:
Quote:
Still, a Ring of Free Action would help out there.
That's what summoned Sword Spiders wear. An unremovable Ring of Free Action

It's interesting, but when you summon the Polymorph Spider, it also wears the ring. Hmmm.
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Old 11-28-2006, 07:58 PM   #6
Neomi
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That was a really nice treatise on a strategy that I don't recall being discussed on the board (could be wrong). It does make for a nice role-playing opportunity.

Presumably the Tenser contingency approach could also be used later with higher level polymorph-type spells?

Any other nifty little tactics you'd like to share?
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Old 11-28-2006, 08:34 PM   #7
Lepus Timidus
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Neomi:
Quote:
Presumably the Tenser contingency approach could also be used later with higher level polymorph-type spells?
Yes. I mentioned it could be applied to ShapeChange forms as well. Although I don't know why you'd bother.
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Old 11-29-2006, 03:32 PM   #8
SixOfSpades
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Because a Tensered Iron Golem (preferably under Mirror Image, FireShield & Improved Haste) could be all kinds of fun?
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Old 11-29-2006, 05:16 PM   #9
Kyrvias
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And thus, new strategies for the solo sorcerer arise...
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Old 11-29-2006, 07:46 PM   #10
Illumina Drathiran'ar
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kyrvias:
And thus, new strategies for the solo sorcerer arise...
Thank God. There are so few...
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