Solo Wild Mage

OoNebsoO · Post by **OoNebsoO** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 7:50 pm

Hello there...just wondering if anyone have some advices on how to "optimize" wild mage while playing solo? Actually, for any mage will do.

What I mean, advices on quest order, advices on how to maximize chances against various enemies and such. Must say that I had quite a bit of troubles with slaver quests at the beginning. More than with Twisted Rune! (though, I followed nice guide by Saros on that which was posted on another board)

Also, what strategy is good for trolls, as don't have enough physical power to actually get them to "near dead" status for finishing...though, guess I could just avoid them now with Staff of the Magi. Also, how about Raksasha in the Sewers? Quite magic resistant if I noticed it correctly.

Thanks!

Btw, anyone knows a site with some monster listing? Where can see resistances, hp, and such things?

Crenshinibon · Post by **Crenshinibon** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 11:15 pm

SPOILER (Highlight to read):

Spoiler

Well, the vicious bugs aside, I suggest you use a sequencer to stack your Chaos Shields for a better effect. I ALWAYS use Nahal's and it works for me, so, if you have time to prepare, go right ahead and use it. For any mage type I'd suggest sticking with defensive and offensive spells that improve with levels and let you avoid damage altogether. Keep in mind that some of the spells can be found within the dungeon at the start of SoA, so you may want to learn other spells and get experience from the scrolls. As skeletons don't get good until level 15, you should be fine with Spider Spawn, a level four spell. Use Mirror Image and Stoneskin for defense. Blur for increased AC. The dungeon should be straightforward. Use area of effect spells, trap type spells or pre-summon, whatever works for you. After you get out, you should face the group at the Den of the Seven Vales and do the circus tent. That should get you about 15k already, given that you looted the dungeon. Oh, don't forget the nice experience. Anyway, start off by doing the thief stronghold quest, the druid quest and the fighter quest as well as any oddjobs you my find. After those you should be ready for the bard, mage and cleric strongholds. The latter one will earn you a Tenser's Transformation scroll. You should have a lot of gold at this point so if you have SE then get yourself a Robe of Vecna. If you have the stronghold get some equipment. Save as your apprentices may die. Oh yeah, a big experience gainer for me is watcher's keep. I go there almost immediately. You should be able to do some, if not all of the first level, get some loot and leave. If you feel up to it then to the Windspear Hills and the Umar Hills quests. By the time you're done you should be in your mid to late twenties although it is possible to reach the ToB cap before leaving Chapter Two. I never do the slaver quest, only freeing Hendak. It's too time consuming with bad loot and not enough experience. (Not to mention "not his problem" by my character's standards.)

For trolls, use summons to attack them and finish them off in the standard manner. Same with the Rakshasa, although for me, all spells worked.

limitedwhole · Post by **limitedwhole** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 12:43 pm

A high wisdom is good in itself for saves and it enables limited wish, which restores all your nahal's, chaos shields, and sequencers. LW is an easy to get scroll too. Get the Golem book from level one of watcher's keep. It makes several hard battles trivial. Since you have so much exp when soloing, don't be afraid to just turn invisible and save yourself allot of headache by just bypassing troublesome critters to get to the loot and bosses easier. So far, in my game, staff of power has been really awesome, stunning without save many potent enemies. Use the boots of electrical resistance to become immune to lightning then let fly. Lighting bolts in tight areas are capable of great damage (use teleport field). Melf's Minute Meteors awesome if you have max Dex as an elf. That should take care of those trolls.

Klorox · Post by **Klorox** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:30 pm

WIS actually doesn't affect saves, even though it's supposed to.

Saros · Post by **Saros** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 3:24 am

A solo wizard is probably the easiest way to complete the game. Anyway - some pointers:

Use first level spell Shield for AC protection + Blur. This is until you have the fourth wizard spell Spirit Armor. In that case, don't use Shield anymore, but instead SA + Blur.

Use stoneskin spell before you rest. Resting lasts 8 hours, Stoneskin 12. See my point? Also, leave the fourth lvl wizard spells for protection. I mean, forget about Spider Spawns. Better use Stoneskin, Spirit armor(only 1 slot) and Improved Invisibility. Later, greater malinson comes to mind, but no more than 1 slot.

Your second level spells should also be protective only. Have at least 1 Blur and 2 Mirror Images remembered(3 is even better). The rest of the slots should be Knock spells since you have to open some doors...

When you first appear at the Promenade, look around the spell stores a little. There is one merchant with scrolls in the southeastern part of the Promenade, night-time only. There's another night-time only in the Bridge district to the far west. The spells you need are:

Magic Missile
Sunfire(adventurer's mart, Lady Yuth)
Melf's Minute Meteors(promenade anywhere)
Haste(many locations)
Improved Invisibility(many locations)
Minor Globe of Invulnerability(many locations)
Breach(Ribald Barterman)
Lower Resistance(Lady Yuth)
Protection from Normal Weapons(Lady Yuth)
Cloudkill(Promenade's Spell Store or WK store)
Animate Dead(same places)
Shadow Door(same places)
Minor Spell Sequencer(Bridge district, night trader)
Death Fog(Leithan's corpse)
Improved haste(Bridge district, night trader)
Protection from Magical weapons(same location)
Protection from Cold(same location)
Protection from Acid(Promenade SE, night trader)
Protection from Fire(best is the one-time merchant who appears when you re-visit the City Gates several times)
Protection from Electricity(one of the houses in the Bridge district with 4 goons inside. Or Watcher's Keep trader)
Protection from Magical Energy(Rayic Gethrac's home, table first floor)
Spell Immunity(Bridge district, Night-time trader or Spider's den under the Graveyard)
Contingency(first of the night-time encounters. A dead thief will drop it)

These are the spells you will need most often in chapters 2 and 3. My tactic is:

Lvl 1: Magic Missiles as many as possible, and 1 slot for Protection from evil(demons are nasty).
Lvl 2: 1 Blur,2 Mirror Images, 3 Knocks
Lvl 3: 2 Haste, 1 Melf's Meteors, 2 Skull Traps(skill is needed for proper use)
Lvl 4: 2 Stoneskin, 1 Spirit Armor, 1 Impr Invisibility, 1 Minor Globe
Lvl 5: 1 Prot from Normal W, the rest Sunfire.

This is for the beginning. When I get lvl 6 spells, I often deploy the tactic Imprinvisibility, Death fog+Prot from Acid. Works especially for enemy spellcasters. Or any kind of trolls/enemy summons.

Use ImprInvisibility + Spell Immunity Divination to remain undetected and untargetable by enemy casters. Use Area of Effect spells often with appropriate protections. For instance, Ice Storm with Prot from Cold. Yet if I were you, I'd avoid ice damage spells because often items are lost this way/ Later, Skull Trap becomes killer when used in conjuction with protection from magical energy.

Spell Immunitiy is often used and good spell. Mostly used are SI: Divination(anti true sight) and Abjuration(anti dispellation effect and anti-Imprisonment). But the other type of SI are also good. You may use, for instance, SI: Enchantment against enemy Domination and Confusion spells. SI: Conjuration is frequently used against enemy Mazes or Power Words or Symbols or against Insect Plague/Creeping Doom of druids.

The Staff of the Magi should be obtained as soon as possible. This is doable on lvl 10-11 with a solo mage or wizard. With some equipment, which is not hard to obtain.

If you play a solo wizard, then don't pay your tax for spellcasting on the streets. Find the proper tactic to kill the Cowled wizard patrols. It is worth it. They often drop valuable and rare scrolls. Be advised, the last and most valuable one, Zallanora, runs away via Dimension Door during a Time Stop. Kill her at all costs.

The rest of the items a wizard should posess:
Robe of Vecna
Amulet of Power(as quickly as possible)
Pale Green Ioun Stone(Spider's Den)
Spider Figurine(same loc)
Golem Manual(WK first floor, western rooms, not trapped)
The golem summoned by the Golem Manual is a great ally for any wizard. He is Magic Resistant 100%, has Immunity to Normal Weapons and good combat abilities. He alone can kill masses of Rakshasa which use spells& normal weapons. Don't forget to Haste your golem before sending him in battle.

Efreeti Bottle - kill the Genies at Trademeet to get it
The Efreeti summoned is a good fighter with a +2 scimitar and knows a few spells. Most of them fire, even one acid, which can easily kill any troll on the ground.

Silver Horn of Valhalla(Bridge District) - Use SI: Conjuration and Abjuration to avoid the traps set there(Symbol Death and Imprisonment trap) + Diamond + Beljuril + 7000 gold + Maneer in the Promenade to upgrade it

There are more advices, yet I think it would be best for you to find things on your own. If you have a problem with certain enemy or area or finding a spell scroll/item, don't hesitate to ask.

Start with Wisdom 18. It is absolutely necessary later.

Deadalready · Post by **Deadalready** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 5:39 am

If I was to only give 1 point of advice for playing a solo wizard, it would be to pick up the wand of monster summoning from Chateu Irenicus, sell it and buy it back.

Recharged it costs around 15 000 to 7 000 and has 50 charges, with this on hand the game becomes pretty easy to handle without having the cowled wizards attacking for spell casting.

OoNebsoO · Post by **OoNebsoO** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:14 am

Thanks for advices everyone.

Must say that the first thing I bought was Girdle of Frost Giant Strenght. One from Ribald that raises strenght to 19. Got tired of carrying at most 50lbs. Also bought +2 sling (was it ...of Seeking?). So, now a bit out of money (around 5000), but eventually should be able to buy...well, anything I want, right? Aiming for Vecna next.

Also, now realizing that I haven't concentrating enough on summoning. Golem book is definatelly on my "to-do-asap" list. Think just one golem stands between entrance and book. But I anyway have Staff of the Magi, so can sneak around for it.

Already using most of the protections Saros mentioned (have to get Improved Invisibility), but have to utilize Spell Immunity spell. Still no level 6 spells...think in 7000 exp I'll get them (will be level 12 then) and sadly, payed already magic use taxes.

Going a bit slow with WM as I'm playing couple more classes also solo, plus one party in TOB, and one in SOA. Other solo classes are Monk (quite good playing it, also started it as wanted to see things from Oversight mod), Wizard Slayer (in TOB now, really *is* Wizard Slayer, but boy, does he have problems with improved Yaga-Shura, he actually *hits* you, hard), then Shape Shifter (absolutelly easiest to play with, Greater Werewolf - *improved* by G3 fixpack is quite a beast, got back from Underdark and it's just day 20 or so...usually with other characters, or parties I don't come back until day 50, or 60, or even more - also interesting to note, Greater Werewolf would need around a minute to heal completly, Wizard Slayer just 39 days and 8 hours!), Assassin (just finished Circus Quest with it, not enough impressions), and Cleric Thief (had to use half orc...had some trouble with CT, just couldn't hit anyone, even with Holy Power, and Draw Upon Holy Might, then started animating dead - no Warriors, but still quite helpful, a bit dissapointed I can't use flails though...too bad I didn't know that at the start of the game, as I used a proficient point at it).

But anyway, that's a bit offtopic. Again thank you all for advices, hope it'll all go fine. Just stole a necklace from Priestess of Talos, and rescued Haer'Dalis. Not sure if I'm ready for Planar Prison still though. Maybe after that golem book.

Cheers all.

Deadalready · Post by **Deadalready** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:22 am

If you've nabbed the Staff of the Magi, nothing in the game is out of your reach anymore. If you're low on ideas on how to get past a situation the journals of Elmonster are certainly entertaining and helpful.

Spoilers in link though
Baldurdash - The Journal Of Elmonster

Lark · Post by **Lark** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 11:47 am

Maybe this link will interest you.

[url="http://members.chello.nl/~j.vanthull/BG2SR/EndlessSpells.htm#NahalsRecklessDweomer"]Spells Reference: Endless Spells Strategies - Nahal's Reckless Dweomer[/url]

Lark

Thrifalas · Post by **Thrifalas** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 11:52 am

OoNebsoO wrote:Hello there...just wondering if anyone have some advices on how to "optimize" wild mage while playing solo? Actually, for any mage will do.Thanks!

Sunfire is your friend, since you're all alone. Wizard Eye + Project Image lets you cast all your spells five times over, good for particulary spellneedy battles (Sendai etc).

Skeleton summoning and Mordenkainens sword are just so awesome to keep things occupied. But hell, soloing a mage is generally just surviving the lower levels...

Saros · Post by **Saros** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 8:07 pm

You will be ready for the Planar Sphere or the Planar Prison when you can summon Mordenkainen's swords or Skeleton warriors. Swords come earlier(lvl 14) yet a scroll is hard to obtain. Skeleton warriors are yours at lvl 15. Send the summons alone against the demons. And wizards. Unless they have Death spell. In this case use Improved Invisibility + SI: Divination + Area effect spells.

About a solo Wizard Slayer - you must use Vhailor's helm and after that - Ilbratha. it will be best if you have completed Watcher's keep, because there is the one and only Improved haste giving item for a Wizard Slayer solo - the longbow, Taralash. Spectral Brand is another important item, as is Ras, the Dancing Sword. Use these, both from the Simmy and from your main PC, since they are nearly unbreakable summons and can hold the enemy at bay. Also, my WS is an Orc with strength 20(19 initial +1 machine of Lum the Mad, you can get another +1 if you reload enough with the Deck of Many Things), and usually gets Grandmastery in Slings and uses the Sling of Seeking(strength bonus) with bullets produced by Erinyes sling(+5). The simulacrum and PC both hurl stones while the swords keep the enemy occupied.

The Wizard Slayer often meets enemy mages Protected from Normal Missiles & Magical Weapons. In this case, he has to carry some normal melee weapons(which he has greatest skill with), and use them. Hits through Stoneskin still count and the spell casting penalty grows fast to 100%.

If an enemy mage has cast Protection from Magical weapons, but is not protected from Normal Missiles, the best weapon to use is the Heavy Crossbow of Searing with normal bolts. The normal bolts pass through the Magical Weapons protection, and the elemental damage from the crossbow disrupts spellcasting as well as applying penalty for each hit.

Some cheese for WS-solo-insane-no-reloaders:

Use Vhailor's helm with equipped scrolls of Protection from Magic*2 and Undead*1, and other green protective scrolls if needed(poison protection, elemental resistance. This way, when the scrolls are cast by the simmy, they are not lost. I.e. you can always have a WS protected by Protection from Magic and Undead and other scrolls.

Xaltotun · Post by **Xaltotun** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:15 am

Someone said start with Wisdom 18. You don't need to.

You can begin with minimised Wisdom and quaff Potions of Insight before casting Wish (in order to rest against Melissan). The potions are prolific.

Or you can begin with Wisdom 15 and get permanent +1 boosts in both SoA and WK, and then just wear the Silver Ioun Stone.

Either way, there's no need to fret about maxing Wisdom in character creation.

An easy and ideal roll would be: max, max, 16, 18, min, min.

The tank stats are helpful early and Charisma is boosted by a Ring in Chapter 1.

limitedwhole · Post by **limitedwhole** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:33 pm

In response to the proposed spells listed above as suggested, I wouldn't be so narrow. Spells like shocking grasp and firehand can be more effective and reliable than MM in some situations. Don't be afraid to use the touch attack spells. They almost always hit even with a mediocre strength(STR belt is better). VAmpiric touch is pretty good through the mid game. The touch attack that paralyses is good too. Early on Chromatic ORB is amazing and I never memorize MM. Don't be afraid to use versus save spells. They go off quite often against most baddies. Dominating someone is essentially taking out two enemies for one spell and gets you a tank. Spook is a strong spell and should be taken as at the start or you can't get it until TOB. It has -6 to saves. Glitterdust and horror are both emmensely powerful for level two spells. Just don't be narrow in your spell selection. Pay attention to what kind of saving throw your spells use as this is the key to selecting the right ones against certain opponents. Their are way better choices than just MM. Why deal damage when you can kill the person outright, dominate them to become your ally, stun them (which =death), etc. Instead of just be a catapult, use the powerful spells to dominate the battlefield and then finish off the stunned or held stragelers with your staff.

Polymorph self is pretty powerful early. (i.e Glitterdust, Polymorph, kill everything) Greater malison is a must. Otiluke's is pretty cool in a sequencer as it can be used to incapacitate a boss while you deal with it's minions, or to encapsulate yourself while your area effect cloud spells and such kill everything. Secret Word is essential. It removes a single high level protection taking up a very low level spell slot. Same with Ruby ray. Teleport feild makes it very difficult for anyone to actually attack you. Feeblemind is a great mage killer early, if it resolves he is dead and it gets past the low level globes and such. Spell shield is very very very powerful if used right.

Saros · Post by **Saros** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 11:55 pm

Xaltotun wrote:Someone said start with Wisdom 18. You don't need to.

You can begin with minimised Wisdom and quaff Potions of Insight before casting Wish (in order to rest against Melissan). The potions are prolific.

And I suppose that in tough situations, you will summon a Projected Image or Simulacrum and it will have to waste the first round to drink a potion of Insight? Oops, sorry, it is already dead.

High wisdom is absolutely essential. OK, maybe not 18, since one of the Hell Trials and the machine of Lum the mad each give additional +1, but 16 at least. Believe me, I've tested enough.

limitedwhole wrote:In response to the proposed spells listed above as suggested, I wouldn't be so narrow. Spells like shocking grasp and firehand can be more effective and reliable than MM in some situations. Don't be afraid to use the touch attack spells. They almost always hit even with a mediocre strength(STR belt is better). VAmpiric touch is pretty good through the mid game. The touch attack that paralyses is good too. Early on Chromatic ORB is amazing and I never memorize MM. Don't be afraid to use versus save spells. They go off quite often against most baddies. Dominating someone is essentially taking out two enemies for one spell and gets you a tank. Spook is a strong spell and should be taken as at the start or you can't get it until TOB. It has -6 to saves. Glitterdust and horror are both emmensely powerful for level two spells. Just don't be narrow in your spell selection. Pay attention to what kind of saving throw your spells use as this is the key to selecting the right ones against certain opponents. Their are way better choices than just MM. Why deal damage when you can kill the person outright, dominate them to become your ally, stun them (which =death), etc. Instead of just be a catapult, use the powerful spells to dominate the battlefield and then finish off the stunned or held stragelers with your staff.

Polymorph self is pretty powerful early. (i.e Glitterdust, Polymorph, kill everything) Greater malison is a must. Otiluke's is pretty cool in a sequencer as it can be used to incapacitate a boss while you deal with it's minions, or to encapsulate yourself while your area effect cloud spells and such kill everything. Secret Word is essential. It removes a single high level protection taking up a very low level spell slot. Same with Ruby ray. Teleport feild makes it very difficult for anyone to actually attack you. Feeblemind is a great mage killer early, if it resolves he is dead and it gets past the low level globes and such. Spell shield is very very very powerful if used right.

Sorry I will have to disagree with most of these, but it starts:

If you play a normal game with plentiful reloading, you could want to use Dominate and similar spells, because it is fun when they work. But if you intend not to rely on pure luck, forget about such disabling&charming spells. Because:

- they allow save. And if the save succeeds, no harm is done to the enemy. While some of the damaging spells also allow save, but always inflict damage, no matter whether the save roll is successful or not.
- as the game advances, more and more enemies become naturally immune to dominate/disable spells and similar effects granted by items.
- as the game advances, the enemies get such amazing saving throws(end of SoA and the whole ToB), that it is absolutely pointless using similar spells even in conjuction with Doom and Greater Malinson.
- All of the disabling/mind controlling spells are lvl 5 or lower, and some enemies like Liches are naturally immune to such spell levels.

Shocking Grasp I haven't tested. I will, yet it does electrical damage and requires a touching attack. Magic missile deals Magical damage(much harder to defend against unlike electrical), hits 5 times(i.e. can easily harm an enemy with MR, because each missile requires a MR check), can easily disrupt enemy spellcasting(again, hits 5 times), can clear a whole bunch of Mirror Images(again, hits 5 times), and finally, Magic missile is a Ranged spell, not touch attack.

About the Burning Hands and Magic Missile comparison, look above. The same issues are valid. Yet, sometimes in very rare occasions, Burning hands is useful, when fighting trolls. The only place where Burning hands is actually ten times better than MM, is an old game called Eye of the Beholder.

About Vampiric Touch - right, the spell is useful. I forgot about it since I almost always have Vampiric Touch Bhaal special power, and also I have issues with third lvl spell slots - there are always too few of them for my needs to waste on a Vampiric Touch spell. There are Haste, Skull Trap, Prot from Fire which I use frequently.

Glitterdust - a great spell, I agree. Indeed needed, yet it occupies a 2nd lvl spell slot, and there are always not enough slots, because of the Mirror Image and Knock spells(and sometimes Resist fear).

Polymorf spell is not that great, since in the new form you lose almost all your protective buffs. I.e. if you have casted on yourself Prot from Fire, turn into a Gnoll, you are not immune to fire anymore. Also, this affects bonus from items(most, if not all, are not applied to the new form). The Polymorph spell is only valuable if you so need to turn into something immune to missile fire. The Ochre Jelly form is immune to all missiles, but not to the elemental damage and other effects those missiles might carry.

Otilulike's resilient sphere, if it didn't allow save vs spell to negate the effect, would be perfect. But, as I said, it allows save, so it is unreliable. Even if cast on yourself, and you WANT not to save, it doesn't depend on you. It is actually far better to use Cloud and Area Effect spells with proper protections. There is a wizard protective spell from each and every cloud effect. Poison immunity is granted by the Ring of Gaxx.

Greater Malinson is a great spell, when used in conjuction with powerful instantkill spells like Finger of Death or Wail of the Banshee. But it is also good to be used with Chromatic orb with killing effect. Chromatic orb, unlike Dire Charm or Dominate, is acceptable to waste some slots for, because it is a first lvl spell and it has a death effect, which is better than charming(which usually enemies are immune against). Yet, on lower-than-12 lvl mage, never Chromatic orb should replace Magic Missile.
Yet, I prefer using the Malinson with damage spells like Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting, Skull Trap or Sunfire, for maximum damage of the spell.

Spook is indeed a good spell, only there are bugs with it(some enemies don't run even when affected, other continue casting or shooting at you even when affected). Yet, is is absolutely a must-pick from the beginning.

Secret Word is an interesting spell. Yet, it doesn't see much use against enemy mages without spell shield on. And there are very few enemy mages who use it. Actually, in SoA, I think only Irenicus uses a Spell Shield. Only in case of enemy Spell Shield(s) on, I use Spell Thrust or Secret Word. Otherwise, Breach, attack with Staff of the Magi and area effect spells are far, far more useful.

Teleport field is indeed a very powerful spell and a must-have. Same with Ruby Ray and Spell Shield. The Spell Shield is the only spell that stops enemy Breach and Spellstriking type spells, and the beholder's Anti-Magic ray. Yet, I wouldn't call Spell Shield and Ruby Ray early spells, because the earliest time you can obtain those scrolls for sure is lvl 5, Underdark. Although, if you're lucky, you may get both of these spells, as well as many more rare spells as a random treasure in chapters 2 and 3.

Xaltotun · Post by **Xaltotun** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 6:52 am

Saros

And I suppose that in tough situations, you will summon a Projected Image or Simulacrum and it will have to waste the first round to drink a potion of Insight? Oops, sorry, it is already dead.

"Tough" situations? There are none, even soloing Insane. The Insight potions can be quaffed at leisure, after each round with Melissan in order to Wish rest. There is no need to cast Wish in the thick of things. Projected Image, Simulacrum? Unnecessary for any battle, including against Melissan.

High wisdom is absolutely essential. OK, maybe not 18, since one of the Hell Trials and the machine of Lum the mad each give additional +1, but 16 at least. Believe me, I've tested enough.

It's neither "absolutely essential" to have a high Wisdom in character creation, nor is 16 "at least" required. A Wisdom of 15 is fine with the Silver Ioun Stone, and a Wisdom of 3 is fine with Insight potions.

limitedwhole · Post by **limitedwhole** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 3:24 pm

Saros, although vs save spells become weak by the end, they are very good as you play. I beg to differ about dominate. Yes it is weak by the end, but he is playing a mage. If he was playing a sorc then yes, just skip it, but dominating the baddy in the midst of weenies, allows you to clear a whole room with only two spells.

Polymorph self is awesome EARLY. Spider form is very good. Combined with Glitterdust it allows you to clear a whole room with two spells. I am talking about early enemies.

I mean it doesn't matter what spells you pick if you just rest between every room, but why would you when you can just use one or two spells?

Otiluke's is fun, probably not the best. Granted.

As for the level 1 debate, it is only important early as later a wildmage just has all nahal's. MM has it's uses, but I wouldn't just repeatedly cue up all MM. At level 10, Burning hands does 20 solid damage to anything which fails saves. It is better against things with low saves. MM usefullness for taking down Mirror is awesome admitedly. Its a wonder more enemies don't cast shield in a sequencer.

Melf's deserves a mention as it hits mages every round disrupting spells.

Saros · Post by **Saros** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 4:51 pm

Xaltotun wrote:Saros

"Tough" situations? There are none, even soloing Insane. The Insight potions can be quaffed at leisure, after each round with Melissan in order to Wish rest. There is no need to cast Wish in the thick of things. Projected Image, Simulacrum? Unnecessary for any battle, including against Melissan.

It's neither "absolutely essential" to have a high Wisdom in character creation, nor is 16 "at least" required. A Wisdom of 15 is fine with the Silver Ioun Stone, and a Wisdom of 3 is fine with Insight potions.

Apparenty, some people here like Xaltotun has never played Insane solo Ascension mod no-reload. Now that's one tough situation where every second counts. Also, the Insight potion occupies a valuable quick-slot, which can and should be filled by a much more useful item.

Not even one self-respecting mage or sorcerer will wear anything other than the Circlet of Netheril.
Of course, if you play the vanilla game and you are reloading unti you get the Rest option from a Wish, that's another story. I don't play this way.

Sometimes I've wished 25 times in order without receiving the rest option. That's why(and not only that) Simulacrum and PI copies are essential.

limitedwhole wrote:Saros, although vs save spells become weak by the end, they are very good as you play. I beg to differ about dominate. Yes it is weak by the end, but he is playing a mage. If he was playing a sorc then yes, just skip it, but dominating the baddy in the midst of weenies, allows you to clear a whole room with only two spells.

Polymorph self is awesome EARLY. Spider form is very good. Combined with Glitterdust it allows you to clear a whole room with two spells. I am talking about early enemies.

I mean it doesn't matter what spells you pick if you just rest between every room, but why would you when you can just use one or two spells?

Otiluke's is fun, probably not the best. Granted.

As for the level 1 debate, it is only important early as later a wildmage just has all nahal's. MM has it's uses, but I wouldn't just repeatedly cue up all MM. At level 10, Burning hands does 20 solid damage to anything which fails saves. It is better against things with low saves. MM usefullness for taking down Mirror is awesome admitedly. Its a wonder more enemies don't cast shield in a sequencer.

Melf's deserves a mention as it hits mages every round disrupting spells.

Both Melf's spells are useful for disruption, but I prefer Melf's Minute Meteors, since they can be thrown in between casting spells and still hit/disrupt/kill enemy mages.

If you want a room cleared on the low levels, with one spell, either use Sunfire, or run around a bit, buffed with Mirror Image and Stoneskin, assemble every enemy at one point, use the Staff of the Magi for Invisibility, run out of monster sight and cast either Cloudkill, Ice Storm or Skull Trap. Now if you are gonna ask me the noobish question "How to get the Staff of the Magi on lvl 10 solo wizard", I'd say I already described this about 2 months ago.

I agree for Dominate only on 2 conditions. One is called Mind Controling Circlet, the other Staff of Command. Both are found in the Mind Flayer area in the Underdark. The staff has 21 charges of Dominate and doesn't allow save. The Mind controling circlets cast Dire Charm when used(you can pick up to 4 if you know how), again no save and the effect lasts for 6 hours. Yet, even those items which are indeed powerful, are stopped by enemy's immunities to charm/dominate. All worthy enemies are IMMUNE to those effects. The only time I used a Mind Controling circlet was in the final ascension battle on Sarevok. They don't work on anyone else noteworthy.

The Staff of Command is stopped by magic resistance. The mind controling circlet bypasses MR though.

There are tons of good spells in the game, but this is BG2, not 1. In 1, so I heard, the Enchantment spells are powerful. Not anymore. In conclusion, I advise all who want a reliable specialist mage, to pick Invoker, since the only viable spell lost this way is Greater Malinson.

Crenshinibon · Post by **Crenshinibon** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 9:55 am

Just an add on, and don't expect me to say anything but aside from the staff of command (which I didn't know let you get a no save domination) and the circlet, there are three more items with that ability. If you're going to use bugs in the game might as well summon a bunch of PIs through a Simulacarum, each one having a rift device. Pfft. What fun is that?

The enchantment school can be useful at lower levels and in fact gives you a good amount of exp during the fighter stronghold quest, but, for a sorcerer where the spell selection matters, I'd probably stay away from them. Sorcerers and mages, especially wild mages, are very flexible characters. You can easily make a sorcerer a better fighter than a pure Kensai. Yes, I'm talking about melee damage, not spell flinging. There aren't really any battles that require you to rest in between, including the final one. Yes, simulacarums are very useful for spell conservation and what not, but I would never use them for Wish spells.

Again, if we're talking about bugs, the Wild Mage one I mentioned earlier, it can only be done with a Wild Mage. Not some extensive process of flinging spells at a Spell Trapped character.

limitedwhole · Post by **limitedwhole** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 10:59 am

Mage: Hey what's this? A book which tells where the staff of magi is and how to get it. Pretty weird how I wasn't supposed to get this early and have to do a bunch of retarded scroll hunting out of order (which also is incidentally in the book), forgetting about my sis Imoen and all my quests.

But hey that makes everything else worthless right?

Mage2: Hey a scroll of dominate. I think I'll go to level two of the traitorous thieves guild and dominate the boss, and cast shadow door. Oh look he killed everyone and almost died in teh process. Firearrow. Boy I'm glad, I didn't have to do a bunch of retarded stuff out of order in order to play the game so that I could claim that everything else was worthless. And to think I could have saved myself allot of time and cheese by just using good spells.

Saros · Post by **Saros** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 12:29 pm

Now I don't know what fixes and patches you play with, Creshinibon, yet I play with the original patch anc G3 fixpack. I assure you, this fixpack prevents you from casting multiple PI via a Chain Contingency, as well as if you summon a PI via a Simulacrum(or the other way around), the new copy has no items at all. And the Wish spell is powerful, yet not so powerful, because even with wisdom 18 in the thick of the battle when you need an exact option, you may not receive it even with 20 wish spells and more.

The Rift device(unless you cheat somehow) cannot leave the Sewers of the Temple district. If you try to carry it out while loaded(and even when used on the beholder), you will die. No save. No protection.

The Simulacrums are powerful, if created by a single-class mage or sorcerer at a very high lvl(27 and up). But if you create a Simmy from a dualled or multiclassed mage, they are quite weak. Something like a bug with level and xp calculation of the simulacrum.So the Simulacums are usually out of the question for casting Wish(unless you play a solo sorcerer lvl 31). And the PI is actually a gamble, since it may be dispelled in many ways during a battle, the simplest ways being True Sight, dispellation magics or hitting your main character. So a Wish through PI is not a cheat or bug, but an element from the game with its bonuses and minuses. The bonus - several spells more, the minuses - character immobile and vulnerable.

2 Limitedwhole - I was actually helping the creator of the topic. I am not trying to convince you how useless are the Enchantment school spells. If you want to understand, you will. To HIM my advice is 'Avoid at all costs remembering, casting and depending on Enchantment spells except Greater Malinson'