Question on clerics and mages

[iloveoov]

Hi, I am new to this game. I just bought bg2 the collection a week ago. I got some questions about clerics and mages.
1) usually what kind of spells do clerics casts during or prior to battle? My friend told me i should be casting bless, chant, defensive harmony.
also, cure light wounds doesn't seem really effective. the casting time is long, and it doesn't heal much.

2) same question for mages, what kind of spells they cast to protect themselves, all i know is stone skin and mirror image. For offensive spells, which are the good ones other than skull trap? I tried fireball but i always hurt my teammates. What i usually do is just web and let my fighters shoot arrows at my enemies.

Thanks for answering my questions

[AvatarOfLight]

First of all grats on picking some awesome games, hope you enjoy them as much as I did.\!

1) usually what kind of spells do clerics casts during or prior to battle? My friend told me i should be casting bless, chant, defensive harmony.
also, cure light wounds doesn't seem really effective. the casting time is long, and it doesn't heal much.

It's true cure light wounds doesn't heal for much, but at the start it is all you have. You will be granted far more powerful spells later, but if you find your characters are taking too much damage now there are others things to consider. First of all, are you making sure it's just your fighters (tanks) that are getting hit? And do they have proper armor class/hitpoints? Potions will help, but you shouldn't have to use them to often.

2) same question for mages, what kind of spells they cast to protect themselves, all i know is stone skin and mirror image. For offensive spells, which are the good ones other than skull trap? I tried fireball but i always hurt my teammates. What i usually do is just web and let my fighters shoot arrows at my enemies.

Mages also have the blur, shield and mage armor spells, which will help them a lot. Keep in mind that your mages really aren't supposed to be taking any hits. Their job is generally to stay out back and take out your opponents. Fireball is one of the best offensive spells. It takes a little while to learn the exact radius of the explosion. Don't worry about that, just be careful. You will master it and hit just your enemies before long. Magic missiles is a much safer and easier spell, it's even level 1! I highly recommend stacking up on it.

[Lobster]

1. The spells you mentioned are all useful before entering battle. Protection from evil (10 ft radius) is also a very good spell for turning the tide in your favour.
Cure light wounds only heals 7 hp iirc, but as your cleric levels up, he/she will have access to more powerful healing spells - even resurrection!

2. Stoneskin, mirror image, blur, improved invisibilty, protection from normal missiles/weapons, spell turning, spell immunity, are all very good defensively.
Offensively for your mage, the first level spell magic missile will serve you very well for much of the game. As you level up, the first level spell chromatic orb will also become powerful.
But apart from those, the mage's attack spells are generally as effective as their spell level (ie - a 4th level spell will do more damage than a 2nd level spell).
Most area effect spells (like fireball) *will* damage your party members if they get too close. A notable exception is the 8th level spell Abi Dalzim's horrid wilting, which only damages enemies within its area of effect.

[RPG Guy (sorta)]

I feel for ya. The magic system(s) in AD&D, which BG uses of course, can be a little overwhelming at first. Then you learn that 60% of the spells are fundamentally useless in relation to the game.

Go here and read the 'arcane' (mage) and 'divine' (priest) sections:

Baldur's Gate II - Spells Reference

The guy who wrote this is a pro. He'll tell what's effective, when and how...and what to skip entirely. Just note that a lot of the 'cheese' he talks about has been addressed in the G3 Fixpak (i.e. it no longer works).

Good luck.

[VonDondu]

Hi, I am new to this game. I just bought bg2 the collection a week ago. I got some questions about clerics and mages.
1) usually what kind of spells do clerics casts during or prior to battle? My friend told me i should be casting bless, chant, defensive harmony.
also, cure light wounds doesn't seem really effective. the casting time is long, and it doesn't heal much.

2) same question for mages, what kind of spells they cast to protect themselves, all i know is stone skin and mirror image. For offensive spells, which are the good ones other than skull trap? I tried fireball but i always hurt my teammates. What i usually do is just web and let my fighters shoot arrows at my enemies.

Your combat tactics will probably change as the game progresses, because you will face stronger enemies with better saving throws and magic resistance, etc., and your own spellbook will give you more options.

Your Mage mainly needs protection from missile weapons and enemy spells. You should definitely use Stoneskin, and there are occasions when Mirror Image is useful, but in general, you shouldn't let your Mage be attacked. At lower levels, you should keep him in the back out of harm's way. From there, you should have him cast spells that will make it easier for your melee warriors to kill your opponents. For example, if your Mage is 8th level and your party runs into a group of monsters or enemy adventurers, I suggest casting Glitterdust, Slow, and Emotion. If your enemies are blind or slowed or unconscious, you will quickly gain the upper hand. Your Mage can also target single enemies with Spook. Your Mage can inflict some damage with a sling from a distance (there's no shame in that, especially if you have a magical sling and magical bullets), but if you want to cast spells that inflict damage, you need to use spells that won't hurt your own party such as Magic Missile, Melf's Acid Arrow, and Flame Arrow. Burning Hands is useful at close range, but you shouldn't need it very often. Melf's Minute Meteors is also an effective spell, not only because it can cause a lot of damage but also because the fire damage can hurt enemies that are protected from melee damage. It's a good way to disrupt enemy spellcasters who are protected by Stoneskin, for example.

Your Mage should not memorize any spells that can be replaced by a wand. For example, instead of casting Fireball, you should use a Wand of Fire. Same with Cloudkill, Lightning Bolt, and Monster Summoning I and II.

As your Mage gets higher in level, you'll have a wider choice of spells. When it comes to 6th level spells, for instance, Death Spell can be very effective (unless the monsters are immune to it). But you need to decide whether you would rather cast Improved Haste on your Mage's fellow party members. When it comes to 5th levels spells, Hold Monster is a good spell to use on groups of enemies, and you will frequently need to use Breach and Lower Resistance to make your enemies vulnerable to attack. When your Mage reaches 15th level, Animate Dead can be used to summon skeleton warriors, which are much stronger than ordinary skeletons. Mordenkainen's Sword is also one of the best summoning spells, exceeded only by the quest level spell Summon Planetar.

When your Mage can cast the 7th level spell Project Image, you can create a clone that can use all of your spells and all of the items in your quick slots. This enables you to use the same scrolls repeatedly and cast more spells without resting. When your Mage (or your Mage's clone) is able to cast Time Stop and Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting, you'll be able to wipe out most groups of enemies without taking any damage at all. When you get the quest level spell Dragon's Breath, your Mage will be able to kill almost anything except the toughest monsters in the game.

Many players like to use Spell Sequencer, Spell Trigger, Contingency, and Chain Contingency. You can search these forums for special tips.

Let's say your Mage is 10th level. Do an experiment. Find a group of enemies and try using the following spells while your melee warriors engage them in combat: Magic Missile, Spook, Glitterdust, Melf's Minute Meteors, Slow, Stoneskin, Emotion, and Hold Monster. Use as many of them as you can, and don't use any other spells. The results should speak for themselves.

As for your Cleric, you can use spells such as Bless, Chant, and Protection from Evil before going into battle, but I find that it's more useful to cast healing spells after the battle. There are also some specialized protection spells you should use if you know what kind of enemies you will face ahead of time, such as Chaotic Commands and Negative Plane Protection. Remove Paralysis and Negate Poison come in handy sometimes. As for damage spells, Holy Smite is very effective, and Glyph of Warding is essentially the Holy Hand Grenade. There are several spells you can use against undead monsters such as False Dawn. Holy Word is effective against enemy spellcasters, and Bolt of Glory is suitable for those rare occasions when you meet a demon. Magic Resistance is supposed to be a friendly spell for use on your own party members, but it can be used against your enemies to LOWER their magic resistance. Just read the spell descriptions, find an occasion to use them, and learn how they work.

I normally don't play single-class Clerics; I usually play multi-class or dual-class Fighter/Clerics and Cleric/Rangers. When they go into melee combat, I use Armor of Faith, Draw Upon Holy Might, and Righteous Magic. When they can use High Level Abilities in Throne of Bhaal, I use Energy Blades in combination with Critical Strike, and I use Summon Deva.

Good luck!