Guide to Tactical mods (spoilers)

[Stworca]

Sorcerer and Kensai/Mage ...

Sorcerers are moar overpowered! -> [url="http://www.gamebanshee.com/forums/baldurs-gate-ii-shadows-of-amn-9/the-perfect-character-116652.html#post1074028"]Arguments[/url]

Away with Kensai/Mage love infidels! D)

[Edar Macilrille]

Well... Kensai/Mage/Thief is even more overpowered, but can only be done using SK, so may not be viable. But put it this way, the above Vanilla SoA game is the first time ever I go through SoA without a Sorcerer sidekick, either Kelsey or an MP Elf Sorcerer.

[Stworca]

I am happy to announce, that i finaly have enough time for some more Baldurs Gate, which means that i'll make another run through.

With SCSII v13. If anything has changed since v9 then i will update the listed fights. (also with all the other listed mods, however these did not have any updates that i am aware of)

However the primary reason why i bumped it, is that i am taking requests for other mods / specific party builds. Leave them here, or send them via PM. However, if the requested party will not have a spellcaster, then i will do it on Core difficulty only.

Kind regards

[Stworca]

Sorcerer spell picks

Here i am going to point out the most usefull spells for sorcerer. All the "must have" ones, and few others. Note that on some levels i may list more than 5. The choice will be ultimately yours. SR mark next to the spell means that it is considered a "must have" only with Spell Revisions. SR in the middle of spell description lists the changes to the spell. Also note, that some spells, even tho listed, have a "Only use scrolls" suggestion. This is because there are either other SUPERB spells on the same level, or the spells, even tho great, are very limited.

Level 1.

Magic missile - the unquestioned king of level one spells. Never misses. No save allowed. Hits 5 times. Magical damage (very, very few enemies have immunity to this type of damage). The easiest way to kill Mordenkeinen swords, but you will probably finish off a dragon or two with this one.

Shield - Unlike Armor spell, this one stacks with items like robe of vecna. Lasts shorter than Armor, but in addition to the AC bonus it also stops magic missile.

Grease SR - With spell revisions installed, grease does not allow a save on slowing effect (as it should be)

Spook - Surprisingly good for a level one spell, builds up a nice save penalty. After some time this loses importance, because monsters get insane save bonuses and / or immunity to fear effects, but it saved my butt once or twice. Since there are FIVE 1st level spells to pick for a sorcerer, take it.

Find Familiar - Only if you've installed Improved Illyich from tactics, where every point of health is priceless. Otherwise pick the scroll from D'Arnise keep.

Identify - Slot filler. If you want to take all of the above, just hire Edwin / Aerie / Jan to do the identification, and then kick them out. If it's your 100th play through, then just identify the items that HAVE to be identifies (the ones that have "Use" label) in shop, for mere 100 coins.

Level 2.

Blur - Great defensive buff. Cumulative with all other buffs. Gives a bonus to both AC and saves.

Glitterdust - AoE blinder, AoE invisibility detecter. Does not affect party. Surprisingly strong against beholders (as a matter of fact i can't recall one making a save. Need a confirmation on this.) SR reduces the area of effect, but adds a debuff that forbids invisibility powers for 4 rounds

Mirror Image - Bread and butter tank spell. Not taking it would be a crime. Stacks with everything else. Instant cast.

Know Opponent SR - Replaces the useless Know Aligment. Debuffs enemy AC and physical resistances. Ascensions Yaga-Shura killer.

Knock SR - Replaces the useless door opener. Works like dragons Wing Buffet. Knocks back + adds unconsciousness

Melf's Acid Arrow - Single target damage over time spell. Acid damage. Handy for chromatic demon. If you stack few of them its a nice tool against mages.

Stinking Cloud - AoE Save-Or-Suck spell that ticks each round for 10 rounds. Very, very nice to have. SR changes the sleep effect to unability to attack or cast spells. Which is better, because it does not break on attack.. And worse, because the targets can still move

Invisibility - I guess you could pick it up to fill a free spot. I however never use this spell for there are plenty of BETTER invisibility spells, invisibility items and potions. It might be handy for low level encounters, or to flee when you run out of high level spells (but why would you do that?!)

Level 3.

Clairvoyance SR - Replaces the utterly useless spell with Not-dispellable immunity to backstab, and a +2 buff to AC and Breath Save. Handy against dragons and thief heavy fights.

Melf's Minute Meteors - Turns your wizard into a HARD hitting ranged physical dps. The meteors hit 5 times per turn, have additional fire damage and high level of enchancement. You can throw these in between spells. (low-strength sorcerers should watch out, for the stones have weight!)

Protection from Fire - If you run solo, or don't have any clerics / mages then take it. It stacks with scrolls. You DO want to have 100 fire resistance (maybe even 127. See "Ust'Natha defenses")

Skull Trap - THE level 3 spell. Hits extremely hard, and the damage is physical. Only the person who triggers it gets magic resistance check. Watch out for the radius cause it killed countless careless sorcerers. Also note that there is a slight delay between placing the trap and explosion.

Remove Magic - A much better version of dispell magic, cause it does not affect party. Before you say "How am i supposed to get rid of the debuffs then!?" - PROTECT yourself from them!

Spell Thrust - The lowest and least powerfull magic protection dispell. It get's a significant buff if you have selected "Spell Thrust, Secret Word and Ruby Ray get a small Area of Effect" option in SCSII instalation

Haste - A slot filler. There are far too many Oils of Speed and Boots of Speed to bother with it. Only pick if you REALY want to. DO NOT take it if you run solo.

Flame Arrow - Another slot filler (unless you play with a party with another magic using tank). At first it may seem like a waste, but after few levels the damage with flame arrow is very high. The downside is - Fire resistance is the most common one. SR allows each arrow to hit a different target

Level 4.

Emotion - A truly wonderfull spell. The best AoE disabling spell in baldurs gate 2. Damage does not break the effect. This does not affect your party.

Teleport Field - It cripples all enemy melee fighters. Does not allow a save. The key to beat Eclipse Party. HOWEVER there are very few places where you realy need to use it. Hunt down scrolls or hire a mage with you. Do NOT take it if you run solo SR allows the victims a save each round.

Ice Storm SR Adds an unavoidable slowing effect to this useless spell, making it a very nice addition to fights like Eclipse party or Ust'Natha. However, it is only desired in those two fights so.. Do NOT take it if you run solo

Stoneskin - Just take it. There is absolutely no excuse to NOT have stoneskin.

Secret Word - Much more usefull than Spell Thrust. Get's a huge buff with SCSII

Great Malison - Lowers enemy saves. Beware - it does not bypass magic resistance which makes it MUCH less usefull in the toughest fights. SR makes this spell useless for this level.

Improved Invisibility - A slot filler. It should be left for the mage to buff people with improved invisibility. However, if you don't know what else to take, you might take II. SR gives this spell a small nerf.

Level 5.

Breach - Just take it. You will use breach more times than you could possibly imagine. Especially with SCSII.

Lower Resistance - Very handy spell. It lowers enemy resistance by up to 30%

Sunfire - Does fire damage. Hits party members. Is centered on caster.. But ignores magic resistance! Fry those damn drow!
Note however that if you cast it while in time stop, and then move even by an inch, you will get hit by it.

Spell Immunity - Don't leave home without it. A well prepared combo of spell immunity and other defensive buffs makes you completely invulnerable to enemy mages. (as long as they won't dispell it). Key to effordlesly beating demi-liches.

Spell Shield - Protects from one "piercing" spell (like Ruby ray of reversal). Stops beholder anti-magic rays. Key to effordlesly beat beholders.

Shadow Door - Take only if you don't plan on using Staff of the magi for some impossible to explain reason.. Faster casting time than Improved Invisibility.

[Stworca]

Sorcerer Spell Picks (2)

Level 6.

Death Fog - Fog spells are nice, because they stay active for 10 whole rounds. This one deals acid damage.. And instantly kills all summoned creatures (except for the toughest ones, like Planetars) SR changes the name to ACID FOG. No longer does it kill summons, but debuffs enemy movement speed (no save)

Death Spell - Instantly kills all weak enemies in area. Including Mordenkeinen swords, umber hulks and all types of Nishruu. It is recommended that you take EITHER Death fog OR Death Spell, not both.

Mislead - The best Invisibility version, and the only one you should consider taking. Spawns a clone that distracts enemies (and THIS is the reason why you should consider it) SR nerfs it to the ground

Globe of Invulnerability - Grants immunity to level 1-4 spells. Greatly diminishes enemy mages arsenal. However i strongly recommend using it only via scrolls. (and only for fights like Kuroisan)

>> Protection from Magical Weapons <<- Turns you into a god. Period. Get all the scrolls that there are in the game. Try not using any other lvl 6 spells unless you know you can survive. Level 6 belongs to this spell. SR reduces the duration from 4 to 3 rounds

True Sight - This spell is extremely usefull, you shouldn't ever run out of these. However due to superiority of PFMW (above) you should use it via scrolls / with other characters. Still you SHOULD have it in spellbook.

Pierce Magic - Its a damn shame that this is a level 6 spell. Very usefull combination of spell thrust and lower resistance. Take a note that this spell is usefull as hell.. But still use PFMW.

Protection from Magic Energy - Completely stops Horrid Willing. Lasts 10 rounds / level. Its worth sacrificing one PFMW cast to use PfME in mage-heavy fights.

Tenser Transformation - Turns you into a fighter. While nice - if you want it, use scrolls. It has a huge downside of disabling spellcasting. It's an awesome tool when combined with improved haste, few protection spells and black blade of disaster.

Improved Haste - A wonderfull spell, but not if your sorcerer does the tanking. Hire a mage to cast it / use scrolls / limit yourself to Ring of Gaxx and Bracers of Binding. However if you dont plan on tanking with the sorcerer.. (which makes pfmw slightly less priceless) then feel free to cast this.

Level 7.

Mordenkeinen Sword. - THE summon spell. Sword is immune to physical damage aswell as elemental damage. It can be killed only with magical damage (Horrid willing or magic missile) or with summon killing spells like Death Spell. It is immune to some other spells to, but not many. This is your summoned tank. Lasts only 10 rounds.

Finger of Death - If you debuff a dragon well enough, this will instantly kill it.

Project Image - This spell is cheesy by itself, and can be used for even more cheese. Most of the "Never ending spells" tactics that work 100% of the time (unlike wish) use this spell. I tend to use it only when soloing, and only the toughest mofos. (yes, it is THAT powerfull) SR balances it, but you still can use the never-ending-spells tricks.

Ruby Ray - Just take it. It's even greater with SCSII.

Spell Sequencer - Unleash hell with 3 level 4 spells at once.

Khelben's Warding Whip SR - For some people it's a must have even without SR. However the main problem with this spell is.. It does not affect spell trap, and all the worst mages have spell traps. SR adds a 4th "tick" of this spell. Only take if you have wand of spell striking (in that case you.. could perhaps drop Ruby Ray)

Spell Turning - A great spell, but very rarely essential. The only place where you realy want it is when you fight beholders.. But then again it runs out too fast, and SCSII beholders tend to NOT use fingers of death as long as you have this active.

Sphere of Chaos SR - Without SR its usefull only in Ust'Natha. With SR its also usefull in Eclipse Party (because teleport field is no longer)

Level 8.

Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Willing - The best damaging spell aside from Dragon's Breath. Deals magical damage, and as mentioned earlier very few enemies are immune to it. SR lowers the damage from "WTF!? HOW MUCH!?" to "WTF? HOW MUCH?" (without "!") THIS is the spell that kills your unprotected party.

Improved Mantle SR - By the time you get it, its useless. However Spell Revisions increases its protection range from +3 to +4. This will stop SOME tough enemies, but do not try to tank Melissan with it.

Maze - No save, but does not bypass MR. Unfortunately the toughest enemies tend to be immune to it.

Incendiary Cloud - The last, and the best of fog spells. If enemies stay in cloud for few rounds, this is the most damaging spell in the game. This is why you want your sorcerer to be immune to fire. Just stand in the middle of few Incen Clouds and watch the world burn. Important note - Since it may occasionaly ruin your casting, you may want to quaff the "All saves are succesfull" potion or boost your MR sky high. Robe of Vecna + Amulet of Power will allow you to skip the above, but watch out your timing.

Spell Trigger - Like spell sequencer, but you can use level 6 spells aswell. What does make it so powerfull? Fill it with 3 sunbursts and you shall see. (or a chain of protection spells. Or a chain of buffs. Or a chain of clouds. or... you see how great it is?)

Protection from Energy - A slot filler. Nice, but there are better spells. You may take it if you could not find few protective scrolls. Or just take PfE scrollsSR buffs it slightly

Level 9.

Chain Contingency - Fires 3 spells of level 8 or lower. In addition it is done automatically. (Triggered by condition you name when casting the spell) Take it.

Imprisonment - The "F*** You!" spell. No save. No MR. There is a reason why bosses are immune to it. To be quite honest this spell is NOT that great for tactical mods.. But i take it always, and use it more often than i would admit. It's the easiest way of killing Planetars & co.

Time Stop - The reason why Baldur's Gate has the best magic system of all RPGs. You want it. You need it. You will use it... You will accept the gifts offered to you.

Spellstrike SR - Spellstrike takes down everything, unless the target is protected with Spell Immunity. While not so great in vanilla, because we have tons of other usefull spells to do that. With SR spellstrike has a 10' area of effect, making it a killer.

Freedom SR - In vanilla you NEVER, under NO circumstances want to select this spell to memorise. There are tons of freedom scrolls that are to be used. With SR this spell is a "clear all debuffs on all allies" card.. But since there are so many scrolls, you still don't want to memorise it. Just take more scrolls!

Spell Trap - It does not only protect you from enemy spells, but by doing so it brings you back the spells that you've already cast. While "cool" in vanilla.. It is absolutely essential in SCSII / Tactics / Ascension and alike. Note that staff of the magi gives you a very-long lasting version of this spell (and this is why you want the staff!)

Shapechange - While this spell is great, and you WANT to use it in Ascension, take a scroll.

Power Word : Kill - This spell instantly kills a foe with 60 or less HP. No saving throw. However there is only one place that this one would be a great tool. Ascensions fight. Yaga Shura. There is a slight problem however - you cannot know just how much health left does the foe have. Take some scrolls instead, because spell slots are too valuable to waste on trial and errors. (note : i am not sure if Yaga Shura is immune to it! Never tried it!)

As for level 10.. Well, you get them all!

Most important thing when playing as a sorcerer :

"First survive, THEN attack your enemies"

[Stworca]

As an added cheesy-cheese bonus, here is an easy way to beat all the toughest encounters. It's so cheesy that i added Spoiler marks. Read only if you're realy interested in some heavy Camembert action!

Endless spells + Doubled firepower.

Spoiler

This is a tactic that works 100% of the time, unlike wish spell. It has some risks, but the rewards define the word "cheese". Use only when all hope is lost.

What you need :

- Spell trap (it is crucial that your spell trap is in your spellbook.)
- Chain contingency (once again, you want it in your spellbook.)
- Project Image (and this one, too, should be in your spellbook.)
- 1 single target damaging / debuffing spell of 7th or 8th level (Maze / Bigby's Clenched Fist / Power word : Stun / finger of death) either memorised or as a scroll in quick slot. I strongly recommend Power Word : Stun, because its casting time is instant
- 1 single target damaging / debuffing spell of 9th level ( Bigby's crushing hand / Imprisonment / energy drain / power word : kill) either memorised or a a scroll in quick slot. I strongly recommend Power Word : Kill, because its casting time is instant. I also recommend having it as a scroll, not spell.
- Something that will make your sorcerer invisible - staff of the magi is a good example. Otherwise one of the clones will have to protect your original mage.

How does it work :

1. Cast spell trap.
2. Cast chain contingency. Add 2 project image spells to it. The third slot can be left open.
3. Once the clones spawn, use both single target damaging / debuffing spells of both clones on your original mage.

This has returned you all the spells that you have just cast. Now you have two clones with your entire spellbook (minus 4-6 spells) Burn the world!

In tough fights (like Ascension) you'll have to command the clones to first protect themselves from harm. Set each one to cast Time Stop (if you cast it from scroll, it won't be interrupted. But it can take slightly longer to cast) note that the second clone should start casting at least a nanosecond later. Then pop Improved Alacrity. Then buff 'ze clones' with Spell Immunity : Divination and PFMW. THEN proceed with restoring spells to the original mage... and then unleash hell!

As mentioned above, you might want to cast some defensive spells on original mage (using clones) like Improved Invisibility or Otiluke's Resilient Sphere (or maze, if you have installed a fix that makes Maze NOT result in a game over)

Depending on how many spells did your clones cast from the book, and how many from the scrolls, each clone may have from 1 to 3 level 9 spells left. If you cast Time stop and the 9th level recharging spell from scrolls, then you'll have 3 left for each copy. If you cast all from memory, then you'll have only one left. Either way - have fun.

Few helpfull notes :

- Have both clones re-cast time stops, it is much better to annihilate the world when no-one but them can move (and some specific Ascension and Eclipse bosses) do it slightly out of sync, to prevent chaos and to make sure that you will encounter no bugs.
- Even tho your level 9 spells will be dried with use of time stops, you have all the Horrid Willings and nearly ALL level 1-7 spells left (excluding 2 level 7 ones) you don't have to worry about saving spells now, so just use EVERYTHING starting from the top.
- Don't worry about the clones too much (unless you fight Melissan / Balthazar) in time stop they are safe, and they will vanish long before you cast even half of your spells.
- If you have problems protecting your original mage, order both clones to summon some mordenkeinen swords!

- For the last time, have fun!

[Edar Macilrille]

Bump, should you not write a new version of both with the input you have had, then have the modders make it sticky?

[Stworca]

Of.. both? Yhm.. Im affraid that i have lost you

Edit : as a matter of fact, i understood only the sticky part.

[Edar Macilrille]

Did you not do one on spell choices as well? maybe it is merely me being confused.

Edit, it is "You lost me" BTW, when you are confused by what the other guy says. In this case my confusion lost you, so I lost you, but me being confused may be because you lost me ha ha ha...

*Palle casts Chaos and everybody is confused*

[Stworca]

Well, yes i did type spell picks. It's on page three, on the bottom. There is a link to them posts in the first post

It seems that misleading thy words may be.

I did not receive any third person input. Few opinions, few requests, but no input whatsoever.

[Edar Macilrille]

Here is one for you.

I am trying to figure out how to beat the Lich below The Asylum in SCSII, without my magical equipment...

Kensai-Thief Mage 11-13
Sorcerer 15
Haer'Dalis 15
Saerileth 16
Minsc 16
Anomen 15

I almost got him using summoned skeletons and Modenkainen's, but he has the ability to unsummon all your summons somehow. Then he dropped a Comet on my party and it went downhill from there...

One of the problems is that after running in, having him summon a Mordenkainen and Fallen Planetar, then running out again and closing the door and waiting for them to disappear, he has placed himself so I cannot repeat the trick, the door is openable, but not closable...

Holy Smite does not work against him and he laughs at Sunrays...

[Stworca]

What level 7 spells do you have? Mordenkeinen and..?

You mean the Lich in front of the library or the two liches inside the lib? (or are those added by Improved Asylum? hmm )

Outlasting the summons was a good move (your only chance too)
Mordenkeinens last only (here insert spell caster lvl) rounds, and can be wiped out with a single death spell. High level enemy mages always have at least a few death spells. This is how he desummoned them all.

After his summons vanish, send the skeletons one by one, to exhaust his Death Spells, then you might want to wait a bit till his short-length protections wear off (liches move very slowly, even if the doors are open now, you can run away easily out of his LoS)

THEN send the more valuable swords, swarm him with dispel magic (nearly every character of your has a way to do so) and help yourself with Melf Minute Meteors.

If my memory does not fail me, SCSII meteor can be reflected by spell turning. I have reported it as a bug however quite some time ago.
In any case, protect your party from fire, magic fire and magic damage if possible.
Spread your party in order to not get wiped out by symbols / ADHW / other.

An alternative is to send the mord swords one by one too, to soak as many spells of all kinds as possible. This is more time consuming but also less risky. With a party of pure nobodies, without gear, when facing a single mage.. Sending summons one by one is by far the best way to deal with the thread, and not lose too many party members

Once again, Mord swords last only <20 rounds, summon them only if you're sure that they'll swing wildly each round (or tank something), otherwise the spell is wasted

He laughs at your spells because he probably is protected from the damage they deal. I do not know what damage type does sunray deal to undead, but since there is no irresistable damage in BG2 (or at least i did not encounter such till now) he just popped the right spell to ignore it. Use the sunrays after breaching him, which should happen after you take down all his anti-breach protections.

Not much more that i can say

[Edar Macilrille]

His summoned Glabrezuu started teleporting without fail to whereever my character ran to and they are a pain to deal with without magic weapons ;-) And sleeping to replenish spells is dangerous in the SCS II dungeon, Bodhi turns up with an entourage, so no replenishing...

Eventually I hid CHARNAME in shadows with lots of buffs, ran past the lich to the vampyre you need to kill to take his hand and get out. Killed him. Hid again, ran past the lich and left the dungeon.

He is still there sadly. Saerileth has not complained, but she looks at me sometimes with blame in her eyes...

Thanks anyway.

Edit, that is actually one of the more difficult fights I have faced in SCSII, e mere Lich... because your gear is taken away from you. Quite fun.

[Stworca]

What? Get back there and kick his undead butt!

Don't you dare leaving without killing him! Ask yourself : What would Jaheira do!? She would complain ofcourse! Save yourself from that horrible fate, and punish the undead wizard! I shall give you all the support i can.

[Edar Macilrille]

I have my gear back now and am on my way to rendezvous with Saemon to sail back home peacefully on the ship he has promised is waiting for me in the harbour.

I think what I will do is get back, get Jaheira in my party Console back to the lich then leave her there to complain him to despair of undeath while I teleport back to confront the [url="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BigBad"]Big Bad[/url] and his [url="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheDragon"]Dragon[/url]...

[Anabella]

very interesting, thx for info.

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[vonhizzle]

Is scsii compatible with tactics? Like the smarter mages and components that affect many enemies in the game.

[dragon wench]

This is an excellent thread Stworca, and kudos to you for all your hard work. I'm making this a sticky.

This is probably obvious to everyone, but please try to keep this as on-topic as possible.

Anyway, carry on!

[Stworca]

Is scsii compatible with tactics? Like the smarter mages and components that affect many enemies in the game.

No, you have to watch out not to install more than one mod referring to the same encounter / script.

It is safe to instal : Kuroisan, Ritual, Red Badge, Lich in the Docks, Gnome in the docks, Random city/wilderness encounters, tougher marching mountains, tougher small teeth pass, tougher oasis from tactics, because it does not override nor is overridden by anything from SCSII. For all other options you will have to chose.

The choice should always be SCSII, with two possible exceptions.
- Improved Illyich (probably the hardest possible fight.. due to beign a lvl 7)
- Streamlined trolls (make them trolls dead without fire!)

And..

Why, thank You miss Wench.

[Rancid Sushi]

Update on my first serious romp through tactics/ascension:

I just beat Kuroisan last night. However, this wasn't really much of a tactical challenge as it was exploiting Kuroisan's weak AI. Because he likes to target spellcasters, it was very easy to kite him with my Kensai/Mage until he finally ran out of PfMW and Death Fog scrolls. I just had Aerie use a scroll of Spell Trap on herself so she could absorb the acidic backlash from having cast Breach over and over again. It actually took a total of six Breach spells, but Kuroisan's defense eventually ran out and I just finished him with Minor Globe + PfMW on my Kensai/Mage while Minsc was able to absorb the backlash because Kuroisan ignored him the whole time while he was pelting him with arrows. Jaheira and Jan cast Doom and Greater Malison respectively, but that did absolutely nothing. Same goes for Emotion which was either blocked by Kuro's magic resistance or saved against. I guess the problem with Kuro is that he's too immune to most things and is way too easily kited, making this feel more like an academic exercise and less like a tactical challenge. Oh well, at least Sanchuudoku is mine now. Oooh, this IS a good day!