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Whenever I play a mage or sorcerer, I like to keep spell sequencers and spell trigger active. My favorite spell combos are below---what are yours?

Minor Sequencer: 2 magic missiles for sheer impact damage
Sequencer: Greater Malison, Emotion, Blindness--in that order
Spell Trigger: 3 consecutive doses of Lower Resistance--devastating on golems, especially when followed by the Minor Sequencer for a double-shot of Magic Missile

Of course, knowing what combat you're heading into might change some of these recipes, making them suitable for whatever you're about to face. But these are my usual starting points.

What are your favorites?

In a minor sequencer, I usually have 2 Melf's Acid Arrows; if there's a mage enemy, I use it on him/her since they do damage over time, possibly interrupting further spellcasting.

DragonBice wrote:In a minor sequencer, I usually have 2 Melf's Acid Arrows; if there's a mage enemy, I use it on him/her since they do damage over time, possibly interrupting further spellcasting.

Yup, Melf's is good--for one of the spells, but I don't think it stacks, so the 2nd slot might be better used with something else.

I rarely use sequencers, needs more micro management than I have the temperament or. My favourite spell trigger is triple dose of chain lightning.

galraen wrote:I rarely use sequencers, needs more micro management than I have the temperament or. My favourite spell trigger is triple dose of chain lightning.

Ooh.... triple chain lightning! I like that one.

Sequencers are definitely easier to maintain if you're a sorcerer than a wizard, since you always have your full array of spells readily available. When playing a wiz, I generally want to load up spells that I might not normally have loaded, which requires a double-rest period every time you set up a sequencer--and that's a royal pain, no doubt.

My favorit spell sequencer is Projected Image, one spell just sequences a whole spell book.

Fun topic! I love sequencers too...although the need to rest to re-aquire the spells is indeed a major pain...

As a Kensai/Mage:

Minor Sequencer: Blur, Mirror Image
Sequencer: Blur/PfF, Stoneskin, Spirit Armor
Spell Trigger: Tensor's, Imp. Haste, PfmW

Can't wait until Improved Alactrity which will allow med to blow them all at once i.e., "Godmode enabled"

For a standard Mage (Imoen in my case):

Minor Sequencer: Web, Stinking Cloud (They need to roll both death and spell saves)
Sequencer: Skull Trap, Fireball, Ice Storm...still working on this one, need to find a decent aoe-combo
Spell Trigger: So far, the best I came up with was like Ice Storm, Cloudkill and Death Fog...

Did I mention I like aoe spells? I love aoe spells.

Dilidor wrote:Sequencer: Greater Malison, Emotion, Blindness--in that order

Are you sure the Malison will hit first? I've considered using GM many times, but, I think it's better actually to cast GM manually, THEN have someone pull a sequencer afterwards to make sure their saves are lowered.

Thomas Brorsson wrote:Are you sure the Malison will hit first? I've considered using GM many times, but, I think it's better actually to cast GM manually, THEN have someone pull a sequencer afterwards to make sure their saves are lowered.

Well, no, I'm not sure it hits first. I mean, how would you know one way or another? It would be fun to reload a save multiple times, testing a sequencer with and without Malison to see if there's a noticeable difference. But even then, differences could only indicate a lucky save roll. I generally play a sorcerer to balance Imoen's wizard, so I should try doing your one-two combo of her casting Malison first. That would also give my sorc another slot to fill with joy and happiness for the monsters. Having said all that, when I cast Lower Resistance three times on a monster, I always check the read-out to ensure that it hit 3 times--and it always does--so I think it's safe to assume that Malison hits first, too.

I like the fact that you use the sequencers for self-defense and buffing, an idea which never occurred to me! One of the great aspects of BG is its allowance of so many differing styles of play.l

Re: Improved Alacrity, don't fail to buy the Robe of Vecna for your mage--assuming that you have the merchant named Diedre at the Adventurer's Mart (pretty sure she's included with any BG game now on the market). It lowers casting time by 4, which is nearly as fast as Improved Alac, plus it's always active and no spell slots are required. Plus it improves your AC and gives magic resistance--a must-have that I always purchase as soon as I have enough cash.

Dilidor wrote:Well, no, I'm not sure it hits first. I mean, how would you know one way or another? It would be fun to reload a save multiple times, testing a sequencer with and without Malison to see if there's a noticeable difference. But even then, differences could only indicate a lucky save roll. I generally play a sorcerer to balance Imoen's wizard, so I should try doing your one-two combo of her casting Malison first. That would also give my sorc another slot to fill with joy and happiness for the monsters. Having said all that, when I cast Lower Resistance three times on a monster, I always check the read-out to ensure that it hit 3 times--and it always does--so I think it's safe to assume that Malison hits first, too.

I like the fact that you use the sequencers for self-defense and buffing, an idea which never occurred to me! One of the great aspects of BG is its allowance of so many differing styles of play.l

Re: Improved Alacrity, don't fail to buy the Robe of Vecna for your mage--assuming that you have the merchant named Diedre at the Adventurer's Mart (pretty sure she's included with any BG game now on the market). It lowers casting time by 4, which is nearly as fast as Improved Alac, plus it's always active and no spell slots are required. Plus it improves your AC and gives magic resistance--a must-have that I always purchase as soon as I have enough cash.

I'm going to waste Imoen's current sequencer right now, so I can test it with GM.. ^^ If it does indeed always hit first, it would be insanely powerful. Just check the combat log to see which spell hits first... Try casting it like 5 times in a row; if Malison is always listed first, it works! ) Just that, I prefer to wait awhile between resting (I typically don't rest until I've wasted most of my spells, to make the game more challenging), so it might be awhile before I reply with what I found.

Well, if you look at all the enemy mages in the game, they always pop something like Stoneskin/Mantle/Mislead, so I figured most people would use them defensively. ^^ But the thing is, I rolled the Kensai/Mage with the sole intent of having a very powerful warrior: Mage protections are generally much better than warrior protections (though I get alittle jealous everytime Minsc blows Hardiness...). I don't see my Kensai/Mage as a Mage, rather as a Warrior with spells.

Deidre gets added if you play with ToB installed, and yes, I have the Robe of Vecna, AND the Amulet of Power. Casting time is one thing, but what Imp. Alacrity does is that eliminates the time your character has to wait before casting a new spell. Even with Robe of Vecna, you still have to wait one round (6 seconds) before you can cast a new spell; Imp. Alacrity erases the pause time, meaning you can, for example, blow all your sequencers instanteniously, or throw an obscene amount of AoE-spells in the space of two rounds.

Are you aware that Ice Storm can destroy items that anyone caught in it's AOE are carrying? I think the PC and her/his party are immune to this effect, and essential items too maybe, but I've found items I knew the target should be carrying had vanished.

galraen wrote:Are you aware that Ice Storm can destroy items that anyone caught in it's AOE are carrying? I think the PC and her/his party are immune to this effect, and essential items too maybe, but I've found items I knew the target should be carrying had vanished.

Bah, thanks for the info...no I was not aware of that. It's for that reason I stopped using Cone of Cold, though you can usually tell because the monster gets frozen then shatters... (I reload if that happens, same when Wave procs and the target dies from the proc) and I've never seen that happen with Ice Storm.

May I suggest you all have a read through Stworcha's guide to tactics above. He is a tactical genius and there are fine suggestions there.