Spells/items worth a second thougth

serjeLeBlade · Post by **serjeLeBlade** » Wed Sep 18, 2002 9:39 am

We all know that most experienced players end up using all the same spells and items, the ones who work best (or the ones most cheesy)

Looks like there are many spells/powers no one ever uses, and more other that no one ever bothers trying at all.
(Or it's just me?)

I would like to share, in this thread, all information we have about some spell or magic item we experimented and actually liked, or unexpectedly found useful, or devised some creative use of.

For example, I just dicovered that the HLA elemental transformation (ok this is ToB... but it works in SoA too and I discovered it playing SoA now!)

druids get is actually an ability and not a "spell". And this is really good!
(The manual says it's a spell, the game says this too, and so I never bothered taking it before... there are many more useful things you can cast from a 7th level slot imho... but this way, hey, it's for free)

Please, reply and convince me to try something else that I never used before... like some Bigby's hand... or the Rod of Lordly Might for instance

(Do these two things actually have any purpose in your knowledge?)

Leonardo · Post by **Leonardo** » Wed Sep 18, 2002 10:06 am

If it were not for the level 8 Bigby's hand I would not beat the final enemy of ToB with Ascension installed...
It held the final enemy for 3 rounds every time I cast it (and Edwin had a lot) giving me time to deal with the boss' "associates"

Alson · Post by **Alson** » Wed Sep 18, 2002 3:02 pm

Originally posted by serjeLeBlade
Please, reply and convince me to try something else that I never used before... like some Bigby's hand... or the Rod of Lordly Might for instance

(Do these two things actually have any purpose in your knowledge?)

Bigby's Hand, the 8th level version, is actually quite good!

Note the *no save* paralyzation!

There are many "hidden" items and spells in the game. Too many, actually. Here are some, from the top of my head:

Nature's Beauty - *no save* Blindness, AREA effect! This is one of the most dangerous spells in the game. Try it. You won't be disappointed.
Improved Haste - Makes Whirlwinds almost redundant for Dual Wielders... Combine with Critical Strike for total chaos.
Polymorph Self - Mustard Jelly is immune to magic. So long, liches!
Chaos - Not a very popular spell. Unrightfully so - this spell will NOT effect your party, and has a -4 penalty to the save.

There are many more...
Xyx is the expert for these kind of things.

I'm going to sleep now, i'll try to add some more tomorrow.

Littiz · Post by **Littiz** » Wed Sep 18, 2002 3:53 pm

Of course Alson, the 8th level Bigby!!!!
Great spell.
I used it too in the Ascension battle, with good results
(not for the boss though, I held the only opponent whom I COULDN'T kill
FAST......guess who)

Lightning bolt...
When soloing to reach Immie, my kensimage was a crappy mage waiting
to reactivate the kensai!
Killed Tanova with just ONE well placed lightning....
Since then, I always do this way!

Hindo's Doom...
I discovered that I love this Katana!!!!!
I had it equipedded with my kensimage, when a vorpal attack hit her.
She was supposed to die, I saw even her soul flying away....
But Hindo's Death Ward protected her!!!!
What a satisfaction!
I mean, you'll see it two times in the game, but it's worth it..
My next kensimage will go only for defensive weapons, and ultimately
Hindo's Doom.

Kaitsuburi · Post by **Kaitsuburi** » Wed Sep 18, 2002 6:34 pm

Bigby? I've never used that before... I guess I hadn't read the description well enough; thought that MR negates all effects... I will happily experiment though.

Another good Lvl.8 candidate is Power Word: Blind. Great for all those improved liches and stuff. I think they've a line in their script for when they get blinded: "Damn, where are they" or something of the sort. Pretty Funny. Wasting their Imprisonments, Abi-Dalzims etc on the nearby Gnoll Elites. Ruby Ray & Khelben from far away, PW:B then hit with Delayed Blast Fireball/Inc. Cloud/Abi-Dalzim's.

Works well as a disabler for big parties too. I remember it helped a lot last time with those nasties at the last level of WK before the Imprisoned One.

Kaitsuburi · Post by **Kaitsuburi** » Wed Sep 18, 2002 6:44 pm

@Littiz, I totally agree with you about Hindo's. The death ward bonus is definitely great, esp. when it's your main character

I guess it's a little cheesy, but since I tend to pause a lot during battle, when I see enemies flinging something dangerous at me (like confusion, domination, psionics especially), I quickly change/equip an item that provides protection. Can't do that when they time stop though, but it still works well and saves trouble.

The game has such a wealth of items with different protections; I never get rid of the special enchantment/protection ones and it provides for some great experimentation.

Littiz · Post by **Littiz** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 3:39 am

I guess it's a little cheesy, but since I tend to pause a lot during battle, when I see enemies flinging something dangerous at me (like confusion, domination, psionics especially), I quickly change/equip an item that provides protection.

hmm... I did it sometimes.
Then with my kensimage I avoided this, and removed even the secondary
weapon from the Quick Slot, and found it even more fun!!
You really have to plan the optimal, generic setting for your
equipment

Try it!

kopywrite · Post by **kopywrite** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 4:12 am

The shield of reflection was so useful in the improved underwater city. Infact it almost removed the need to make any effort. Also very useful against one of the ToB big baddies.

serjeLeBlade · Post by **serjeLeBlade** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 4:55 am

Originally posted by kopywrite
The shield of reflection was so useful in the improved underwater city. Infact it almost removed the need to make any effort.

Good idea! (And a reason to memorize "phisical mirror" too!)

Should have thought it when I was there.
(I settled for invisibility instead... you have to play an assassin/traitor/spy/secret messenger anyway, whatever you choose to do... This removes any effort as well, but I guess I got less experience for the killings this way)

@Leonardo, Littiz, everybody talking about Bigsby's.... I'm obviously missing something here. The spell should have some added bonus that I don't understand

I'll try asking.... wouldn't a Maze work better, for instance?

Holding an opponent for just some 2 rounds doesen't seem so good at first glance!
Please, enlighten me!

serjeLeBlade · Post by **serjeLeBlade** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 5:05 am

I want to add something about good katanas ...

Hindo's doom is great. Dakkon Zerth Blade is, too.
Give them both to Imoen, Nalia, or Jan to double wield!
They don't need to spend a single * in learning to use katanas or double wielding... they only want the bonus spells and protections

It's for free

(I assume you aren't planning to send Immy or Nalia in melee double wielding, am I right?)

Leonardo · Post by **Leonardo** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 10:25 am

@Leonardo, Littiz, everybody talking about Bigsby's.... I'm obviously missing something here. The spell should have some added bonus that I don't understand

Bigby's pros over Maze:
Greater range (most important point)
Deals (some) damage
Leaves the target there for you to pound freely

Unless you plan to set traps while the target is mazed, Bigby's is a better choice, given that they are both the same level. The different duration time was not a big issue, for me.

Another spell that played a great part on that battle was Power Word Kill, but it was only used to overcome the Near Death bug. I don't consider it a worthy spell outside that situation.

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 12:12 pm

bigby is great, no save, just like natures beauty....

but use against dragons with lower resist...works really well...

elemental transform....give to jahiera, as she can cast g whirlwind and smack people around as the prince of earth....

shapechange, the 9th level mage spell is great for protecting fragile mages in meelee situations,,,,iron golem is almost immune to magic...

cloak of sewers will give you that mustard jelly, and rat form which is immune to physical damage...

belt of con, makes your weak mages harder to kill, and easily recharged with bag of holding....

defender of easthaven, in off hand provides resistance to slash, blunt or pierce, way better than a ac bonus like stinky makalar...

hindos doom is great for death magic, but deathward is cheap, and the best part of hindo's doom is the uninterruptable, as you are using a device, g restore....recharge with bag of holding, and you can easily cast in battle, with immie to keep party alive...

flasher bruiser mates can stun undead, i've seen it...

Xyx · Post by **Xyx** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 1:08 pm

I'm actually pretty sure that no enemies cast Nature's Beauty because BioWare feared being flamed to ashes by hapless gamers that couldn't find out why they were blinded...

Alson · Post by **Alson** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 4:34 pm

Originally posted by Xyx
I'm actually pretty sure that no enemies cast Nature's Beauty because BioWare feared being flamed to ashes by hapless gamers that couldn't find out why they were blinded...

I don't remember any BioWare-created enemy using Nature's Beauty, either....

The Eclipse party, on the other hand...

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Thu Sep 19, 2002 5:40 pm

eclipse party casts temporary blindness with hours long duration....had to rest after smacking those kiddies around....

"a spell is truely good if it has elemental damage you get hit with even if you fail save...."

"a spell is truely good if it bypasses magic resist or and has no save...getting both is impossible, but nice...."

until telly field, alsons telly field the eclipse cheese....still great....

oh, btw, dont you just hate it when someone quotes himself???

these are my userified precis of some of the laws of xyx....

ever noticed spell table in bg resembles an engineers beer induced network diagram??? must be why i enjoy it so much...

burp....

scuse me...

Littiz · Post by **Littiz** » Fri Sep 20, 2002 4:06 am

D'akkon Blade is the secondary weapon for my MAIN char
(when kensimage!!)
Who cares about overkill, I like cool weapons!

@Leonardo: for the Near Death bug, I found instructions on another
Forum.
I pasted them in a txt file.
Here it is, how to cheat things back to how they should work
without wasting a night of efforts to win the battle!!!

Alson · Post by **Alson** » Fri Sep 20, 2002 10:21 am

Originally posted by UserUnfriendly
until telly field, alsons telly field the eclipse cheese....still great....

How could i forget!?
Teleport Field... A truly surprising and wonderful spell.
Most people don't even bother to give this spell a second look...

It will disrupt the enemy melee attacks with *no save* (from what i've seen), will affect a number of targets, and will not affect your party!

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Fri Sep 20, 2002 12:59 pm

did you know, like all white spells, as far as i can tell, it cannot be magic resisted against???

yes, magic resist is not a factor. it always works, except when spell disrupted...

hmmm...bun bun8....cannot be spell disrupted...with regen spell, mmmmmmmmm.....

str spell cast on golems, will make meelee against admantium golems, or the ravager, much more survivable...

they have str 25, and really major magic resistance, but the white spell always works, never fails....

same for telly field....like the few white spells that can be used in combat, only telly and str spell, it never fails even against magic resistant types....

plan on trying this for the sola new lich, if telly can disrupt spell casting, maybe combine with storm of vengence????

have aerie chain storm, telly and malison, we got even undead who will fail poison save.....

the carnage will be bad...

Alson · Post by **Alson** » Fri Sep 20, 2002 1:26 pm

Originally posted by UserUnfriendly
did you know, like all white spells, as far as i can tell, it cannot be magic resisted against???

Teleport Field ignores MR?!?!

...

That means... Un-savable, Un-resistable melee disruption?!
OMG!
So long, enemy fighters!

And no, it does not disrupts casting.

UserUnfriendly · Post by **UserUnfriendly** » Fri Sep 20, 2002 9:02 pm

well, if you have a wizslayer thief, with 100% resist to magic, still you can impr haste them, and cast haste on them, right???

white spells ignore magic and saves...telly field can only be stopped by disrupting the spell caster, and that wont work with chain contingency....

also try out the adding of storm of vengence...100% casting fail, should prevent them from casting total eclipse...

storm of vengence???

incase you did not know, storm is the best mage disrupter in game, better than creeping doom, since everyone in area of effect is hit FAST, and because its like getting whacked with foa and assassin poison, every round for 3 rounds, no mage can cast while in it....almost as good as natures beauty...better than doom, since its partially elemental, magic resistant spell casters are still effected...