Intelligence?

polysome · Post by **polysome** » Fri Sep 21, 2001 3:15 pm

My Kensai\mage's intelligence is only at 17. Did I make a huge mistake?

roguekiller · Post by **roguekiller** » Fri Sep 21, 2001 3:43 pm

Well you only get 75% to learn a spell, while if you have 18 you get 85%.

Yuusuke · Post by **Yuusuke** » Fri Sep 21, 2001 4:00 pm

A "huge" mistake? Not even close. A tiny inny small mistake? Yeah. Unless you're a super powergaming freak, maximum intelligence for a kensai/mage isn't totally necessary, because the mage spells are mainly there to support the fighting abilities, not the other way around.

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Fri Sep 21, 2001 8:49 pm

No mistake at all. however a low wisdom for a cleric, thats a mistake. the only role int really has in bg2 is you are limited in the number of spells you may learn per level, just drink genius potion and you can fill up th ebook with all the spells you want. It does nothing for the all important spell slots, tho.

but wisdom does determine number of spell slots, so a low wisdom is a much more serious issue. in fact, in many ways, wisdom is MORE important than int. to a mage!!!!

Limited wish and wish!

of course, you can also carry a potion of insight for when you need those spells, but generally, its better to be wiser than smarter in bg 2

THE JAKER · Post by **THE JAKER** » Fri Sep 21, 2001 9:03 pm

Since INT has no real bearing on a mage's slots, and potions of genius and mind focussing are plentiful, is there any reason for a mage to have a high INT at all? Why couldn't you just have an 11?

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Fri Sep 21, 2001 9:07 pm

I think in at least one sorc guide I've read that you should spend your mage rolls on dex and str and con.

It feels wrong, but you can indeed have a mouth drooling moron as your mage!

It JUST FEELS WRONG, damn it!

THE JAKER · Post by **THE JAKER** » Fri Sep 21, 2001 9:49 pm

I know what you mean... 11 isn't a moron, though, and I think you get into a cost/benefit analysis of the cost of potions - I think you could have your mage learn a whole bunch of spells at once with potions, and only do this about 4 or five times in the game - the lower your int the more potions you need, but if you only learn spells a couple times, the cost of the potions will not be too bad - unfortunately you usually cannot steal these potions because you can't steal from churches - how unrealistic.

Of course, this only works with multi and single class mages, because dualling to mage requires a 17 INT, right? So it makes it a lot easier to get good stats for a fighter/mage or thief/mage, and especially for the triple class f/m/t. It would certainly be nice for soloing.

THE JAKER · Post by **THE JAKER** » Fri Sep 21, 2001 10:00 pm

Oh yeah I just realized a sorceror doen't need to learn spells off of scrolls, so they wouldn't even need the potions!

Well I guess you could sort of imagine it - an idiot savant like Rain Man who can cast CERTAIN spells, but has no comprehension of others....

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Sat Sep 22, 2001 12:09 am

I once feebleminded a goblin for fun and torture, heck, my hacked sorc, about 10% of the spells are

drum roll please...

torture and coolness spells. I like disintegrating thingss, I like the cool effect of sphere of chaos,

quick side note, sphere of chaos is better for poly morphing enemies, since the efffects last a few rounds there is a better chance of squirrelification (is this a real word?)

sorry, back to the poor goblin I tried to feeble mind....

it was immune! I got that red jagged circle flash around my target that showed it was immune...identical to what you get if you power word kill a creature with more than 60 points, so I think it was too stupid to be feebleminded.
think of it this way....

if you get a mage with low enough int. you can make him immune to feeble mind spells!!!!

wow, what a great defense, stupidity! Might even confir partial protection from domination and charm as well...

giggle.

I need to get a life.

Sabre · Post by **Sabre** » Sat Sep 22, 2001 1:45 am

With an Int of 17, you will get the following:
- 75% chance of learning spells
- Maximum spell level of 8 (no level 9 spells)
- Maximum of 14 'learned' spells per spell level

If you had 18 you'll get:
- 85 % chance of learning spells
- Able to cast level 9th spells
- Max of 18 spells per spell level

19 is even better, but not possible naturally:
- 95% chance of learning spells
- Able to cast 9th level spells
- Max of 99 spells per spell level

Xyx · Post by **Xyx** » Sat Sep 22, 2001 2:07 am

Originally posted by polysome:
My Kensai\mage's intelligence is only at 17. Did I make a huge mistake?

Scribing level 9 scrolls is all you need Int 18 for.

Originally posted by UserUnfriendly:
a low wisdom for a cleric, thats a mistake.

There's nothing wrong with skipping Wisdom for Clerics. They still get their high level spells! You only miss out on some level 1-4 bonus slots, but it's not as if you really need those...

Originally posted by THE JAKER:
Since INT has no real bearing on a mage's slots, and potions of genius and mind focussing are plentiful, is there any reason for a mage to have a high INT at all?

There is a certain minimum to be able to cast from scrolls. Was somewhere around 10-12...

Originally posted by UserUnfriendly:
back to the poor goblin I tried to feeble mind....

it was immune! I got that red jagged circle flash around my target that showed it was immune...identical to what you get if you power word kill a creature with more than 60 points, so I think it was too stupid to be feebleminded.

That "jagged circle flash" comes with Power Words whether they fail or succeed, as far as I know. Of course, if someone gets Power Word Killed, they're not around to show the circle anymore.

Anyway, the jagged circle thingy does not indicate immunity.

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Sat Sep 22, 2001 9:58 am

oops, my bad, I forgot what it looks like when you land a power word silence on someone. having had it done to me quite a few times, I should know.

oh yeah, I almsot forgot you need smarts to cast 9th level spells. ok if you have jsut soa, but a disaster with tob installed.

time to whip out shadow keeper, eh?

King Leoric · Post by **King Leoric** » Sat Sep 22, 2001 3:20 pm

You don't need int 18 to CAST level 9 spells, just to LEARN them. So you can put your level 9 scrolls in your backpack, drink a potion of genious or anything that increases int, scribe the scrolls to your spellbook, and then cast them, even when your intelligence gets lower than 18

polysome · Post by **polysome** » Sun Sep 23, 2001 2:21 pm

So you are saying that I don't need int 18 to cast lvl 9 spells? Int 17 can cast time stop, etc?

King Leoric · Post by **King Leoric** » Sun Sep 23, 2001 3:09 pm