Slagging off Wizard Slayer?

Kameleon · Post by **Kameleon** » Tue Aug 21, 2001 2:30 am

The first time I played SoA, I looked through the various kits, and thought that the Wizard Slayer looked good. So I made one (Half-orc) and I completed the game with it. Now I have read all the arguments against this kit, and I found that they weren't any problem. I had him wielding Celestial Fury and Crom Faeyr. Killed JonI easily.

I found that I had plenty of AC, good saving throws, and resistances. I got 3% MR per level, so I ended up with 57%. I think Bioware have nerfed this somewhat, because now it is 1% as in the manual. It was far better as 3%.

Another argument against WS is that the 10% miscast magic is useless, as once you are hitting a mage, he's going down. But what is forgotten is that you often have a few free hits before his contingencies go up. With Imp. Haste and Dual Wielding, you can get as many as 5 hits before the mage is protected, which means that he will then get a spell off only half the time. Brilliant. If the MR was still at 3% or even 2% per level, it would be a great kit for ToB. I think I might brush off the mothballs and continue him, or dual him to a thief for the Use Any Item ability and tons of time/spike traps.

Just think of putting a time trap next to a mage, and then hitting him as many times as possible. 100% failure almost guaranteed.

Your thoughts on the Wizard Slayer would be much appreciated, as I think he is greatly underrated.

TheDude · Post by **TheDude** » Tue Aug 21, 2001 3:54 am

now i read your post i don't only see disadvantages about the Wizzard Slayer.
The thing with them is:
no magic items!
Ok u can get the great weapons and Armor but :
NO Boots of Speed
NO Cloak of Mirroring
NO Cloak of the Sewers
NO Ring of Gaxx
NO Ring of Prot +2
NO Ring of Human Influense
NO Ring of Invisibility
NO Ring of Free Action
NO Ring of Earth Control (ok that where the rings

)
NO Griddle of Strenght ** (no need for themwhen u get the Crom but it is a long time before Crom gets there)
NO Griddle of Infurnal Barrier
NO Healing Potions (very importend in the early game)
NO Potion of Speed (very importend in the early game)
NO Potion of Invisibility (very good in the early game
NO Potion of Strenght ** (no griddle, no potion: only Crom to make u better)

There re a lot more things u miss when playing Wizzard Slayer but these thing would i defenatly miss the most.

And don't say he is bad, when i want a challenge i will defenatly play a solo wizzard slayer because there are some advantages (i just read them in your post

)

two · Post by **two** » Tue Aug 21, 2001 4:05 am

I totally agree!

Just yesterday I did a similar thing, made a half-orc Wizard Slayer with 19 str. and 18 dex. So far he's level 10 and clearing out the troll keep no problem. Just give him the 2-handed sword of chaos, which heals every hit, and some full plate, and you are on your way. He doesn't get hit very often, and is constantly adding 1-2 hp/round.

Also, the miscast magic thing IS useful. Attack a mage with stoneskin/mirror image/whatever. Hit 5-6 times doing no "damage" but, of course, every spell will fail after this. At lower levels it's great, since I don't have a weapon that can get through stoneskin.

The MR thing will be NICE at higher levels, for sure.

As for healing, use innate abilities, sword of chaos and later the dragon-slaying regenerating sword, an finally finish the game and go into TOB with the end-all weapon for this class: Black Razer. Heals, AND increases strength all at the same time. Perfect.

Meanwhile, I've only slept about 4 times, if I wanted to minimize this I could do better I'm sure.

He's not as good as a paladin or ranger, I don't think, but fighters are so overpowered in SOA that he's already a force to be reckoned with. At level 15 or so I expect he'll be able to spank some dragons in SOA.

Also, Wizard Slayers have one great benefit: since they can't USE any magic items, they have to SELL them all. This means you spend all your money on only two things: weapons and amour. And you will have a decent amount of it (money), don't worry. I've already got my sling-o-damage bonus, saving up for Balduran's plate or something like that.

Later --

ajpc · Post by **ajpc** » Tue Aug 21, 2001 7:05 am

Wizard slayers CAN wear the boots of speed, and they can now drink healing potions as well as antidotes. I soloed a half-orc wizard slayer wielding the flail of ages and the shield of harmony, and the only difficult fight was the illithid ambush in the underdark (first drow mission).

GrimReaper · Post by **GrimReaper** » Tue Aug 21, 2001 7:20 am

If I remember correctly, Wizard Slayers should be awesome at higher levels because they start getting 5% MR every other level. This doesn't seem like that much, but think about how fast you gain levels in ToB (especially solo). And one question. Does the 10% miscast go through protections on a wizard like stoneskin or prot from magical/normal weapons? Even if not, I can see the usefulness of a wizard slayer at times, especially now that they can use healing potions. I still think they'd be better off in the middle/back row firing arrows, though.

reedimus · Post by **reedimus** » Tue Aug 21, 2001 7:44 am

I love wizard slayers. I don't think they are weak at all. the problem with playing a fighter is that though good at melee they tend to have a hard time against mages. wizard slayer rounds out the fighter and makes him able to handle anyone he might come across. I don't know the exact rules on the spell casting failure thing, but I do know that I saw tons of them take effect while playing, it is not an insignificant ability like some say it is.

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about that wizard slayer/thief time trap idea... I used that with my wizard slayer/thief and she had no chance. though she can move around and fight you in your time stop, she doesn't cast any spells. so a lot of your hits get in before the battle really starts and she is riddled with your spell casting failures...and considering she is a cleric/mage that is a pretty big advantage.

reedimus · Post by **reedimus** » Tue Aug 21, 2001 7:47 am

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I meant to say I used that trick on melissan in that last post...it might make some sense now.

two · Post by **two** » Tue Aug 21, 2001 9:58 am

I can say with 100% certainty that the "miscast magic" goes through mage defenses such as stoneskin/mirror image. I had a situation with two mages so far (one in the pirate cave, the other the second floor or the troll keep) whereI was throwing sling stones at them and they were casting spells at me. I hit them 3 times before they did an offensive spell, and after that they just kept miscasting. I was doing no damage, because of stoneskin or mirror images, but I WAS hitting and their miscast percentage was soon 100% or greater. I just sat back and waited until they were out of spells, then when the poor mage attacked me my hand it was cuisinart time.

Once I get my attacks up to 3 or 4 a round, it's gonna be brutal. That's 30-40% miscast every round. If they even get one spell off they will be lucky. And since they usually start with a defensive spell... well, it just makes my life easier.

THE JAKER · Post by **THE JAKER** » Tue Aug 21, 2001 11:01 am

Two, I thought you said you were going to uninstall SOA/TOB at the end of the no deaths/no reloads thread! Now here you are trying to do the same for the wizard slayer kit that you did for the bard! I guess the insidious addiction is a little harder to shake than you thought, eh???

Maybe Gamebanshee can start some kind of BA (Baldur's Anonymous) thread about people who are trying to stop playing the game because it is ruining their lives...Every day you don't play you get a poker chip, and then at the end of the year you get a cake.

Forget it, I don't even like cake! I just wanna play!!!

two · Post by **two** » Tue Aug 21, 2001 11:17 am

Originally posted by THE JAKER:
<STRONG>Two, I thought you said you were going to uninstall SOA/TOB at the end of the no deaths/no reloads thread! Now here you are trying to do the same for the wizard slayer kit that you did for the bard! I guess the insidious addiction is a little harder to shake than you thought, eh???

Maybe Gamebanshee can start some kind of BA (Baldur's Anonymous) thread about people who are trying to stop playing the game because it is ruining their lives...Every day you don't play you get a poker chip, and then at the end of the year you get a cake.

Forget it, I don't even like cake! I just wanna play!!!</STRONG>

Dude, you totally busted me. I DID in fact uninstall it -- but then got curious abuot BGI, and played it some but didn't much care for it. So I re-installed BGII to "cleanse my palate" as it were, and started up a Wizard Slayer because everbody says they suck. But they really don't. I think a shapeshifter Druid would be much harder to solo.

THE JAKER · Post by **THE JAKER** » Tue Aug 21, 2001 11:30 am

Well, it's good to know that one of most celebrated (and most-mentioned) solo narrators on the board is still around to provide new insights.

Quitch · Post by **Quitch** » Tue Aug 21, 2001 1:22 pm

reedimus, please keep your ToB spoilers out of the SoA forum.

leeho730 · Post by **leeho730** » Wed Aug 22, 2001 3:25 am

They can wear:
boots
Girdles
bracers
shields
helms
NO cloaks
NO rings
NO amulets

Yes they can use healing potions in tob(now I'm thinking playing my wizard slayer/cleric again).

Kameleon · Post by **Kameleon** » Thu Aug 23, 2001 1:37 am

I played mine when you couldn't even use potions - the Ioun Stone of regeneration is an essential piece of kit. The other good thing I found with the magic item restrictions is that you spread the loot around your party more, giving you a better rounded party - when playing a straight fighter/berserker I tended to hog all the good stuff for myself.

Glad to see that my timetrap idea works. When I'm finished my current run through, I'll try dualling my WS and see for myself.

Kitka · Post by **Kitka** » Mon Aug 27, 2001 3:44 am

hmmm. my friend mishik soloed a WS through soa back in days of yore. reading these pages will show you that this is indeed a powerful class. the disrupt spell casting ability makes dragons and mages (like irenicus) fall easily. there are many benefits to a group with a WS pc, but even solo are a force to reckon with

check out the site?
[url="http://www.mishiksplace.homestead.com/"]http://www.mishiksplace.homestead.com/[/url]

Xyx · Post by **Xyx** » Mon Aug 27, 2001 12:42 pm

Bash any Mage with the Flail of Ages and they fall. I have yet to meet one that doesn't...

KaaZe · Post by **KaaZe** » Mon Aug 27, 2001 6:01 pm

Remember.. if you solo a wizard slayer, dont installed ToB until you have defeated Irenicus.
Would want you getting addicted to healing potions etc