What spells do you use most often in battle?

Locus · Post by **Locus** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 6:25 pm

I am in the first chapter of Tob and realized I only use a handful of spells. I recently started experimenting with other spells since my party is so high level. In the interest of making gaming more interesting, I would like to know what spells all of you use most often in battle.

There are obvious favorites like Magic Missile and Wail of the Banshee. What I would like to learn is what strategies you employ, the more creative the better. Thanks!

Nightmare · Post by **Nightmare** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 6:36 pm

With ToB, I use Comet and Dragon's Breath alot.

I also use Magic Missile alot, Abi Dalzim's Horrid Wilting, and Fire Arrow.

Delita · Post by **Delita** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 7:01 pm

Horrid Wilting, Clouds, and Time Stop

Oh and lots of Fireball

The fallen one · Post by **The fallen one** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 7:04 pm

Well at the higher level Dragon breath was a good spell. If I rember right the spell casting time was lower for that spell. Another gem of a spell was Mordenkains sword. It was immune to so many forms of attack. I like delayed blast fireball. And of coarse Abi-dalzim's hord wilting. Also Chain Contingency was great. Jeepers there is so many great spells out there.

I usally never play spell casters but I loved it when Edwin was in the party he is such a great mage to have around. IMO

Kaetania · Post by **Kaetania** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 7:30 pm

Summons

I haven't done ToB yet so I can't comment on higher level spells, but one of my favourites is Spell Sequencer with a bunch of summons loaded into it (especially the spider summons). Also, Simulacrum is great as it increases you spell casting capacity and the number of summoned creatures that you can have because creatures summoned by the Sim don't count against the total. Can you tell that I was playing a conjurer? lol

physco monkey · Post by **physco monkey** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 7:34 pm

i use chromatic orb alot its very powerful at the higher levels also breach is very handy for striping magic protections

Timekeeper · Post by **Timekeeper** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 8:38 pm

Time Stop and Improved Alacrity is a wicked combo which every mage uses. Just fire off 3x Horrid Wilting/Comet/Dragon's Breath = dead enemies.

samcu · Post by **samcu** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 9:10 pm

For crappy melee spell casters: melf's minute meteors, stoneskin, mirror image, magic missle, animate dead, project image, improved haste, time stop... If I have to choose a cheesy one, then it is project image otherwise animate dead.

The spells that I cast the most are actually priest spells cause there are more of them: chant, bless, protection from evil 15' radius, defensive harmony, draw upon holy might, righteous magic, aerial servant, regeneration... If I have to choose one then it is chant.

Cybot · Post by **Cybot** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 10:36 pm

In battle?

Stoneskin, Fireball, Magic Missile, Haste and Acid Arrows. Perfect spells for the run of the mill fight. Perhaps an Elemental or a Skeleton warrior or two.

In a big battle its usually Stoneskin, Mirror Image, Remove Fear, Haste, Spellturning(of some sort)before the battle and then as an opening spell is usually a Spelltrigger with Spell Thrust, Pierce Magic and a Breach(against any mages I see) followed by an insect swarm.

By then the battle is essentially won and merely a mop up unless its a lich, Big Drow or Dragon. Just keep pounding with Chain Lightning, Fireballs, Horrid Wiltings etc and he should go down.

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 10:52 pm

new fav for sorc kensai,

triple sunfire in spell trigger, and greater malison in chian with two symbol stund...

the sorc kensai is already a killer spell caster and warrior, so really I enjoy spells with blast radius, so you are in the middle of a group when things go out, very fast...

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Tue Mar 19, 2002 11:19 pm

very overlooked spell symbol stun. wont work on undead, but other things will, like sunfire triples in spell trigger.

but if you look at the description for symbol stun, you have -4 to save!!!!! if your target is vulnerable to stun, a malison and 2 symbol stuns has the same chance of sticking as AN AREA EFFECT FINGER OF DEATH...symbol stun has the same wonderful penalty to saving throw!!!

get ring of free action for main spell caster, and go wild, like liches you are now immune to all stun!!and paralysis too, i think...

heck, if the chain includeds malison, you have the same penalty to save as spook!!!best disabler in the game!!!

have kensai sorc with ring of free action run in a room full of flayers with chin on with malison and 2 symbols, I think you can get all of them...

Phantom Lord · Post by **Phantom Lord** » Wed Mar 20, 2002 3:11 am

In SoA I like to use combos of web and area effect spells (Fireball/Cloudkill/Fog of Death). The more different sorts of napalm are cast into the webbed area, the better it is.

In ToB I value "Summon Fallen Planetar" above all other.

speedball · Post by **speedball** » Wed Mar 20, 2002 9:05 am

The number one prep spell, for me, is Haste, followed by Protection from Evil - 10ft Radius, Stoneskin/Ironskins, Defensive Harmony, Bless, and sometimes Remove Fear. Draw Upon Holy Might, while useful, always seems like overkill to me. Imrpoved Invisibility is also useful.

Offensively, Holy Smite (assuming an all good party or careful placement of evil party members) is good at high levels. Flame Arrow is also good.

Leonardo · Post by **Leonardo** » Wed Mar 20, 2002 9:20 am

My favorite spells per level:
1 - Magic Missile: Fast and safe damage
2 - Melf´s Acid Arrows: Nullifies enemy mages and clerics
3 - Skull Trap: Great damage, you may stack several before atracting enemy to the spot
4 - Stoneskin: this spell should be called "Protection from Backstab"
5 - Breach: Allows my fighter to do what they do best
6 - Death: Removes annoying Sahuagin, Kuo-toas, Myconids, Uber-Hulks...
7 - Khelben´s Warding Whip: Followed by sequenced Magic Missile x 2/Melf´s Acid Arrow = Dead enemy Mage
8 - Horrid Wilting: Party friendly area damage rocks
9 - Wish: Get my spells back!
10 - Improved Alacrity: Edwin unleashes his fury upon those who oppose the mighty Bhaalspawn!

Astafas · Post by **Astafas** » Wed Mar 20, 2002 9:58 am

Throw plenty of Web, Entangle and Hold Person/Monster/Undead. Then have a melee fighter with Free Movement (from Ring, Armor, Weapon or Spell) and complete Fire Resistance (same here) run in. Start Fireballing (all fire-based area spells work, of course) as crazy. Smite Evil does wonders as well as long as you didn't throw Korgan (or Sarevok) into the fray. A simple but very effective strategy.

One underrated spell is Spook. Amazing at higher levels (level 12 and higher). Throw a Greater malison first for good measure.

Another nice but not so popular spell is Spider Spawn. This spells is great for ennemy mages. With five attacks per round and poisonous attacks, most mages are dead in a matter of seconds, Stoneskin or not.

Death is overrated IMO but works great for Umber Hulks, which can otherwise be bothersome with their Confusion.

Magic Missile, Chain Lightning and Cloud Kill are favourites as well.

frogus · Post by **frogus** » Wed Mar 20, 2002 10:04 am

I found Web an absolute miracle at low levels. Even if you've got 6 guys and they've got 5, it will almost always give you at least two rounds of free-hacking time with the opponents completely disabled. Now that I'm over level 20 though:

Time Stop, Imp. Alacrity, Dragon's Breath, Chromatic Orb, MM, Holy Smite, Breach, Dispel Magic.

no surprises there sorry, but the really interesting fights are the ones that are just sprung on you when you've only got crap spells memorised and you have to improvise. I think with free choice everyone would chose similar spells. Also fighting Dmogorgon etc who are

Spoiler

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ps why is Fireball so popular? I hardly ever use it because it's so damaging to my own guys

pps do you recon the just stuck the 'Minute' in Melf's Minute Meteors so it wouldn't shorten to MM?

Littiz · Post by **Littiz** » Wed Mar 20, 2002 12:24 pm

True. The first battles are the most fun, often.
Now I have a PC priest, (with 8 strenght, cannot even wield maces...),
Jaheria and Nalia in the keep...
You wouldn't believe how damn hard are those Trolls now (unless you rest
a lot, which I try to avoid)!

As for the most used spells, I dunno...
(I like to try many combos, that's why I don't like sorcerors, who are forced
to use always the same tactics)
Stoneskin and contingency are always there, though.

DaJir · Post by **DaJir** » Wed Mar 20, 2002 6:51 pm

A standard high level fight for me would be a chain contengency with 3 horrid wiltings and some skele warriors to play cleanup with whatever was lucky/strong enough to survive. I'd try my best do do all the casting from a projected image.

For low/mid level battles i'd use mislead and either send the clone away or have it run around in circles while i cast damage spells(skull trap, cloudkill from a wand) in relative safety. Mirror Image and running room keeps me from killing myself. Or i'll use mord sword/animte dead to distract the fighters so i can unload flame arrows and magic missles. And yet again a projected image would do all the work if i can manage it. Stone skin with protection from normal missles keeps me from get'n interupted and with the rare protection from magical weapons thrown in.

First tier spells
With my Sorc, Project image are the ones i use the most, by far. Hell, i make shameless use of all the clone spells the most frequently. With fights i have time to prepare for i'll use project image to do all my summon(animate dead and mords sword mostly. planetears when i can), spell scroll usage, and as many dmg spells as the time duration allows. To make this spell even more obscenely powerful i make full use of spell trigger. So useful and so powerful and at an insanely low spell level too.

Second tier spells
Mislead, Simularicrum(i usually only bother with this one on the really hard fights but if you have TOB or an xp cap remover its godly), and at lower levels mirror image and a few times at high levels too. With TOB or xp cap remover i'd rank improved alactrity and also chain contingency(makes for godly setups).

Third tier spells
Mostly my damage spells (that i end up casting with a clone or a chain contingency mostly) like horrid wilting, comet, dragons breath and incind. cloud(i would list cloud kill also, but its too easy to just keep a charged wand of it on hand) and skull trap. Also some protection spells like stoneskin and protection from normal missles.

Fourth tier spells
Cleanup and distraction spells mainly belong here. Stuff like magic missles(neat spell, very useful at the beginning and near the end to finish off dmg'd enemies) and the summon spells like mord sword, animate dead, and even nishruu(yes, nishruu. a very effective and under rated spell. think of it as a mord. sword, but for casters). I guess I'd tack on debuffs like remove magic/breach, but i don't really bother with em much. There are too many holes in spell and combat buff protection for you to bother remove'n em unless its a boss fight.

Alot of useful spells were left out like protection from magical weapons, debuffs, and insta kills were left out cause i only find myself using them for boss level fights.

And finally, no, i don't use timestop that often at all. Robe of vecna + improved alactriy + autopause on spell cast does the same thing and nothing is immune to that

. For the spell cast i'd say chain contingency will almost always be the better choice. I'd save timestop for the high level fighter mage duals (and xp cap removed or simmy with time stop spell scroll with multies). Whrilwind attack and even a dual wielder with improved haste can lay down alot of dmg, but you would need pretty darn good thac0 to make the most of it.

Kaitsuburi · Post by **Kaitsuburi** » Wed Mar 20, 2002 7:35 pm

I've recently experimented with "Power Word: Blind". It's an 8th level spell and since there is no saving throw, it's pretty useful for temporarily disabling several enemies at a time.

The spells I use the most? Well, probably the Project Image-Time Stop-Improved Alacrity sequence with my sorceror. It lets you unload almost your whole spell arsenal upon the enemy: quite obscene.

I just wish there would be a button to 'unsummon' your projected image after she's unloaded all her spells instead of waiting for her to unsummon.

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Thu Mar 21, 2002 12:56 am

"I just wish there would be a button to 'unsummon' your projected image after she's unloaded all her spells instead of waiting for her to unsummon."

i am the master, you are deciple, as past master of project image, listen and learn....

you may unsummon a image by using dispell magic. you cannot counter it, this is just like death spell for summons. so to get rid of friendly image have it cast dispell magic near yourelf.

now in combat, you can protect your image with spell immunity divination from true sight, but spell immunity abjuration WILL NOT protect you from dispell magic. nor will death ward or spell immunity necromancy protect you from death spell. but this is ok, as images are not good for combat, it cannot attack physically unless shapeshifted, so you can stack up 3 project images into chain contingency, set condition to helpless, and before battle cast project image. once the pc is helpless the chain will fire,and you got 4 images, who can all ahspeshipt into mindflayer, and try an int drain attack.

but simmy is immune to abjuration spell, dispell, but not immune, i think to true sight. you see, I know images, not simmy. so have kensai mages and fighter mages keep both, for summons and simmy for combat.

am i not a master of images?