Paladin's & Aerie's HLA

[Majorman]

*Probably Spoilers*



So, I finally made it to ToB, thanks for the help so far. However, I have some new troubles:
1. I'm using both Imoen & Aerie and would like to have them both cast lvl 9 (or even 10) spells. But, according to the manual, they both can't because their INT is low. The question is, can I ever increase both mages INT to 18 via items (Imoen is currently wearing the Golden Ioun Stone, and I am nearing Lum's machine. If only there's another INT affecting item).
2. My paladin has a "Summon Deva" HLA. How does it work, since he cannot cast lvl 7 cleric spells?

[Crenshinibon]

1. You can still cast level nine spells. All NPCs can. The high level ability spells aren't really level ten but added to level nine.

2. The Summon Deva spell is added to the Paladin's special abilities menu.

[Jordoo]

Remember load up on Greater Whirlwind and Hardiness for all your fighter type characters. You can never have too many of those two abilities for front liners.

[galraen]

Don't ignore Deathblow and Greater Deathblow though, makes mincemeat out of Mind Flayers and a lot of others.

[Stworca]

If your warrior has 5 attacks per round then dont bother with Whirlwinds. Improved Haste all the way

You can think about Critical Strike affecting HLAs (unfortunately, many mobs have invisible, undroppable helmets)

[Jordoo]

I feel like using Improved Haste all the time when your Fighter has access to greater whirking can bog up some of those spell slots. Yes its better if your fighter already has alot of attacks per/round but there is alot you can do with those spell slots as well while your fighter takes care of his own buffing.

Greaterdeathblow will certainly clear out certain oponents very quickly.

[Majorman]

1. You can still cast level nine spells. All NPCs can. The high level ability spells aren't really level ten but added to level nine.

Wow, that's the last time I refer to the manual for anything Turns out Aerie is more of an Avatar of Death than I knew her to be.

Also, thanks for the suggestions. Yesterday I was able to test most of those attacks on a certain Chromatic Demon and was pleasantly surprised by Power Attack (which didn't sound impressive at first, but now I think of using it with Doom). But Deathblow - I would have never thought of taking it.

[Darth Malignus]

*Probably Spoilers*



So, I finally made it to ToB, thanks for the help so far. However, I have some new troubles:
1. I'm using both Imoen & Aerie and would like to have them both cast lvl 9 (or even 10) spells. But, according to the manual, they both can't because their INT is low. The question is, can I ever increase both mages INT to 18 via items (Imoen is currently wearing the Golden Ioun Stone, and I am nearing Lum's machine. If only there's another INT affecting item).
2. My paladin has a "Summon Deva" HLA. How does it work, since he cannot cast lvl 7 cleric spells?

The Deck Of Many Things looted from the cambion Aesgareth can also increase the primary stat of a partymember, if you play the cards right, so to speak. The neat thing is that if you're a Mage-class, Fighter/Mage, Cleric/Mage etc., you get a +1 to intelligence. Dan Simpsons Walkthrough has a list of possible outcomes from the deck.

[VoD]

Greater Whirlwind is useless as long as you have Mages in your party to provide Improved Haste. Better load up on Critical Strike, Hardiness, Deathblow.

[galraen]

Greater Whirlwind is useless as long as you have Mages in your party to provide Improved Haste. Better load up on Critical Strike, Hardiness, Deathblow.

Down to personal playing style really, I never waste a 6th level spell slot on IH, far more important spells to spend the slots on. Fighters always have more HLA slots than they need anyway. First choice for me though is always Deathblow->Greater Deathblow.

[VoD]

yes, but really, you have to cast Whirlwind which requires time and then you have like 10s double number of attacks. IH lasts 3+1round/level, which means in ToB it will last even through the most difficult fights, plus grants double movement speed to boot. USe CS instead and while you're improved hasted you'll get like 10 critical strikes per round. Greater Deathblow is very useful too. I usually have a lot of Mages in my party so spending a couple of slots on IH is not much of a problem.

[galraen]

The trouble with CH is that everything in the game seems to have helms, even those which don't have heads that they can actually fit on!

Rest edited out, just felt Fable frowning at me for going OT!

[Stworca]

Down to personal playing style really, I never waste a 6th level spell slot on IH, far more important spells to spend the slots on. Fighters always have more HLA slots than they need anyway. First choice for me though is always Deathblow->Greater Deathblow.

Woo.. Hold on there! none of us ever wastes 6th level spells on IH, there are oils of speed that grant improved haste. Lots of them! Simply visit all the merchants that you usually ignore, and look in every single chest. There are 2 oils even in Irenicus dungeon!

That means you should not ever take Whirlwinds if you can manage to get 4 or more attacks per round pre haste. However, if you dont have 4 attacks per round, whirlwinds have their uses. Whirlwind does not double the attacks, it sets them at 10.
Regardless of whirlwinds, you should not take IH, ever, unless you want to use it in spell trigger or contingency

Greater Deathblow makes short work of many mobs, mind flayers including. Hardiness should be picked few times too.

[Crenshinibon]

I was under the impression that oils of speed granted the effect of Haste, not Improved Haste.

Improved Haste aside, there's only a handful of spells that one might consider useful: Mislead, Tensor's Transformation and Protection From Magic Energy. Lower level spells you can just shrug off, or, if like, you use bards, then you can have your Globe of Invulnerability through your flute.

True Sight isn't really worth it as you can have the same effect by having a hundred points in the "Detect Illusions" skill.

Personally, I use Improved Haste a lot, at least until I get the Ring(s) of Gaxx, but even then, it's among my top choice spells for almost all characters.

[Stworca]

You forget the most important 6 lvl spell. Protection from Magical Weapons. (its a slight OT, for which i apologise )
and even tho im a fan of IH myself, there are oils (and items like ring of gaxx, which you mentioned yourself)

[Crenshinibon]

I'm pretty sure that the oils double one's movement speed and add only one attack per round.

As for Protection From Magical weapons, I don't really find it useful with spells like Stoneskin or Mirror Image active, and that's not even mentioning your high AC.

While Ring of Gaxx and Bracers of Blinding Strike do give the Improved Haste effect, it only lasts a few seconds, which is only good for a quick battle. The bracers especially have better alternatives. The only item which would grant a long term Improved Haste would be Darkfire Bow +5.

[galraen]

I'm pretty sure that the oils double one's movement speed and add only one attack per round.

You're 100% correct.

I do like Chain Lightning, Spell Trigger with three of those loaded is pretty tasty.

[Crenshinibon]

I usually tend to use a Spell Trigger that's usually filled self enhancing spells. If I need something to quickly clean the area, my favorite spell to use is Skull Trap.

[Stworca]

After checking it twice, you're right Cren, in Vanilla oil acts like haste, not impr. haste. Some mod has overriden my potn23 file and it grants double attacks, but its modded in that case.

I'll have to add this information to the guide, thanks for pointing this out

regards