Mage scrolls:

[Lord Brass]

Can't live with 'em. Can't bl**dy find 'em!

I know I've said this often enough, but I thought I'd get a collective view on this topic. In anyone's opinion, do you find that certain scrolls only appear once throughout the entire game? (Answers from those that have HoW/TotL installed preferably.) I was wondering if it's a matter of having the difficulty set up high enough; this is true of certain items, but what of spells? My thoughts are no, so where have all the little spell scrolls gone?

[Morgeruat]

my first time through i didn't find any of the conjure elemental scrolls, alot of them are random though, resting where random enemies spawn tends to make them appear more often, also turning up the difficulty in thoes areas helps, as the more dangerous they are, the better the loot they drop (or so it seems), places like the severed hand, and dragons eye drop decent enough spells, but you can always buy mage scrolls from Orrick in Kuldahar, and in the severed hand, as well as a few other places, like the mage in dorns deep

[Micah Foehammer]

Spoiler:

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The Summon Elemental spells are only available in IWD/HOW from Bandoth (the bad-tempered mage in the cavern just north of the entrance to Lower Dorns Deep). You have to do the Razorvine extract retrieval quest in order to get him to sell you the scrolls.

As for the rest of the spells, I believe that all of spells are available in at least two locations (except for the forementioned elemental summoning spells). Some of the HOW spells make an appearance as early as Orrick's tower in Kuldahar (cat's grace comes to mind). The lone exceptions might be cloudkill and stoneskin which I believe are fairly scare, but I could be wrong on those two. I know that my fighter/mage/thief ended up with virtually every listed spell in the game except for one or two that I opted NOT to add.

[NobleNick]

Er, hmmm, I was going to start a new topic for this, but Lord Brass' post seems eerily well suited (Twilight Zone music playing in the background) to pre-empt me from starting a new thread.

My "light cheating" has me in a quandry: Sashii, my multiclass Thief/Illusionist has been helping two parties, therefore getting twice the experience. In addition, she has soloed through enough expo enhancing quest rewards to get to level 8 mage and level 9 thief (I think I got that right). This has created a problem: Sashii has three (3) level four spell slots, but has not yet found any 4th level spells, for sale or otherwise.

I have HoW (and TotLM) installed; but am far from qualifying to enter those areas: My most advanced party has just left the first level of Severed Hand and climbed the stairs to the 2nd floor for the first time.

I could hack a few spells into inventory with DK, BUT I do have just a smidgin of scruples left, and don't want to do this. So.... when can I expect to start finding some of these juicy 4th-level spells?

Party On!

[Seraph]

I dont recall if you find any in the Severerd Hand, but there is someone in the next area who will sell them to you.

Are you sure that Orrick in town wouldnt sell you any 4th level spells?

[Ar-Cunin]

You could have gotten some in Dragon's Eye by talking to the Librarian in the fourth level.

You will level 5 spells in the Severed Hand (Cloudkill and Animate Dead)

[Cyril Darkcloud]

Just a quick note for those who might not be aware of it:

As soon as the party gets to Dragon's Eye, Chapter 2 starts and the ineventory in Orrick the Grey's magic shop back in Kuldahar changes. Upon returning to Kuldahar and visiting Orrick one should find that he now has several 3rd and 4th level spells available for purchase.

[ 10-15-2002, 04:26 PM: Message edited by: Cyril Darkcloud ]

[Lord Brass]

As Cyril says, this is true; check out Orrick's immediately after entering Dragon's. The purpose behind this is the game assumes that you now have sufficient XP to qualify in memorising and casting those spells. The only fourth level spells likely to turn up are the three from HoW (Mordenkainen's, Vitriolic Sphere, and Lance of Disruption) plus Otiluke's Resilient Sphere and Monster Summoning II. (In fact, that list my be spot on for fourth level spells.) This still leaves a large selection unaccounted for.

A good majority of spells are in the same location every time. Bandoth's is a good example, as is Presio's hoarding of the only Fireball scroll I've ever seen. So is this the case guys, or is there some more randomness inside the HoF difficulty?

[Cyril Darkcloud]

A listing of the mage scrolls in IWD and where they can be found is available here. Note that this list does not include HOW/TOL scrolls, only those for the basic campaign.

I'm not sure whether this list is exhaustive or not, but it looks to be fairly thorough.

[Lord Brass]

Sorry Cyril Darkcloud, what I meant to say was that I think I listed all of the fourth level spells available to the party from Orrick's, when you get to the Dragon's Eye section. Some you do find in DE itself, Confusion and Dimension Door I think with my last party, but there seems to be a plethora of random spells that you see again and again, but not the ones you want. Once you've committed Magic Missile to your spellbook, you might as well sell the scroll the next time you come across it - and you will come across it again, trust me.