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Baldur's Gate seriesHow to use spells effectively(27 posts)(27 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted December 28, 2010
It's hard for me to get a handle on what spells (both magical and clerical) to memorize, how many of each to memorize, and when to use any of them. I'm not sure how sparingly BG expects me to use my spells, or how often BG expects me to rest. The memorization system means that I have to know what spells I'll be using in advance. The effects of many spells seem subtle that I'm not sure which ones are worth investing a spell slot in. Some spells seem specialized for specific situations, like Protection from Petrification only being useful when I know I'm going to face basilisks. Area-of-effect spells like Fireball have been useful but I've found very few situations where I can use them without either the enemy moving out of the way first or my own party getting hit with friendly fire.

The only spells I've ended up using a lot are no-brainers like Identify, the healing spells, and a small small handful of buffs like Bless and Barkskin. The fact that most fights are solvable by Minsc gibbing everything while Kivan and Imoen snipes from afar is also making me complacent.

So, what spells (again, both magical and clerical) have been your favourite and most useful, and what situations have you used for each?
Posted December 28, 2010
The magic system is really complicated and confusing at first in terms of what spells to use, but eventually you discover your favorites of what is useful and what is not.

Clerical:
-Bless is a must, +1 is a very good bonus at the start of the game
-Chant is another good one, +1 for you and -1 for enemies
-Protection from evil is a great one to put on your tank, as most enemies in the game are evil
-Command is my favorite low-level spell. Use it on ogre's and they become cake.
-Don't underestimate the power of doom at low levels as well.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but as a general rule you want spells that buff your party while debuffing enemies.

Mage:
-Fireball is a good one, and great for disrupting multiple spellcasters. Just make sure you aim behind the enemies by a good amount, and it shouldn't be near your party.
-For the same reason as above, magic missile is great. It pretty much stops mages in their tracks.
-Stay away from spells that go in a straight line, (EX. lightning bolt or that one fire spell) as the chance of hitting friendlies is too high. Especially lightning bolt, I hate that spell.
-Melf's acid arrow is good for doing continual damage over time.
-Flame arrow is a must. It is probably my favorite single target spell.
-Horror is a great one to keep around, in case you need to make a quick retreat or your facing a large group.
I hoped that helped a little.
Post edited December 28, 2010 by blackakari
Posted December 28, 2010
Sleep is very powerful in games like BG where you only face low level monsters.
Haste is a great buff which doubles the party's physical attack power.
Posted December 28, 2010
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blackakari: The magic system is really complicated and confusing at first in terms of what spells to use, but eventually you discover your favorites of what is useful and what is not.

Clerical:
-Bless is a must, +1 is a very good bonus at the start of the game
-Chant is another good one, +1 for you and -1 for enemies
-Protection from evil is a great one to put on your tank, as most enemies in the game are evil
-Command is my favorite low-level spell. Use it on ogre's and they become cake.
-Don't underestimate the power of doom at low levels as well.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but as a general rule you want spells that buff your party while debuffing enemies.

Mage:
-Fireball is a good one, and great for disrupting multiple spellcasters. Just make sure you aim behind the enemies by a good amount, and it shouldn't be near your party.
-For the same reason as above, magic missile is great. It pretty much stops mages in their tracks.
-Stay away from spells that go in a straight line, (EX. lightning bolt or that one fire spell) as the chance of hitting friendlies is too high. Especially lightning bolt, I hate that spell.
-Melf's acid arrow is good for doing continual damage over time.
-Flame arrow is a must. It is probably my favorite single target spell.
-Horror is a great one to keep around, in case you need to make a quick retreat or your facing a large group.
I hoped that helped a little.
Excellent list. I'm just getting going again on BG after more than a decade away, so my memory is cloudy, but I also remember Web and Cloudkill as being incredibly effective mage spells. Color Spray and Grease are also handy low-level spells. (but Web and CloudKill remained essential "go-to" spells throughout most of the game)
Posted December 28, 2010
In BG 1 I find that crow control type spells are very effective. You get a lot of mileage out of first level spell Sleep. It's party friendly aoe that makes enemies fall down and do nothing if they fail their save. It stays effective for at least the first half of the game, as higher level dudes will be immune to it. Still, it will take entire groups of monsters out of combat, so you can deal with the ones left standing and possibly kill them as well before they wake up. Higher level Horror, Chaos and Emotion serve similiar purpose. Web is good as well, but can immobilize your party members too. If there are melee enemies closing in on you, you might pop Web in their way and pick them off with ranged weapons.

Blindness is a solid single target debuff that makes tougher enemies less dangerous. Slow isn't bad for this too.

Charm spells are unreliable but very entertaining if you do manage to charm a tougher enemy and make him attack his comrades.

Basically, while throwing fireballs and flame arrows around is effective, it's pretty useful to make half the enemies asleep, scared, blind or fighting on your side.
Posted December 28, 2010
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blackakari: The magic system is really complicated and confusing at first in terms of what spells to use, but eventually you discover your favorites of what is useful and what is not.

Clerical:
-Bless is a must, +1 is a very good bonus at the start of the game
-Chant is another good one, +1 for you and -1 for enemies
-Protection from evil is a great one to put on your tank, as most enemies in the game are evil
-Command is my favorite low-level spell. Use it on ogre's and they become cake.
-Don't underestimate the power of doom at low levels as well.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but as a general rule you want spells that buff your party while debuffing enemies.

Mage:
-Fireball is a good one, and great for disrupting multiple spellcasters. Just make sure you aim behind the enemies by a good amount, and it shouldn't be near your party.
-For the same reason as above, magic missile is great. It pretty much stops mages in their tracks.
-Stay away from spells that go in a straight line, (EX. lightning bolt or that one fire spell) as the chance of hitting friendlies is too high. Especially lightning bolt, I hate that spell.
-Melf's acid arrow is good for doing continual damage over time.
-Flame arrow is a must. It is probably my favorite single target spell.
-Horror is a great one to keep around, in case you need to make a quick retreat or your facing a large group.
I hoped that helped a little.
Great list. Maybe even sticky-worthy. I just want to clarify a few things though.

I was skeptical of Magic Missile at first because its damage seemed a bit low. Is it valid of using it more to distract enemy spellcasters**? As for aiming Fireball behind enemies, do you mean behind them as they rush towards them or are you suggesting my mage should sneak up on them?

You mentioned some spells being effective at low levels specifically. Does this mean they loose their effectiveness at higher levels/endgame?

What enemies does Chant effect exactly? Does it effect all enemies the party sees while it's in effect or only the enemies that are in sight at the time of casting?

rabblevox mentioned Cloudkill. Is that spell party-friendly?

** Enemy spellcasters are really the ones I have trouble with since they always mess up my party with fear or confuse. Is this where I'd use Dispel Magic, aside from interrupting the spellcasters with ranged attacks?
Posted December 28, 2010
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Aaron86: rabblevox mentioned Cloudkill. Is that spell party-friendly?
Negative on that, just like Fireball, Cloudkill can frak your party if you don't place it right, and you'll probably screw up a few times while learning (save early, save often!). You can also screw up by placing a cloud properly, then wandering into it 2 rounds later during the heat of melee. But it's area affect is pretty delicious and worth the effort.
Posted December 28, 2010
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blackakari: The magic system is really complicated and confusing at first in terms of what spells to use, but eventually you discover your favorites of what is useful and what is not.

Clerical:
-Bless is a must, +1 is a very good bonus at the start of the game
-Chant is another good one, +1 for you and -1 for enemies
-Protection from evil is a great one to put on your tank, as most enemies in the game are evil
-Command is my favorite low-level spell. Use it on ogre's and they become cake.
-Don't underestimate the power of doom at low levels as well.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but as a general rule you want spells that buff your party while debuffing enemies.

Mage:
-Fireball is a good one, and great for disrupting multiple spellcasters. Just make sure you aim behind the enemies by a good amount, and it shouldn't be near your party.
-For the same reason as above, magic missile is great. It pretty much stops mages in their tracks.
-Stay away from spells that go in a straight line, (EX. lightning bolt or that one fire spell) as the chance of hitting friendlies is too high. Especially lightning bolt, I hate that spell.
-Melf's acid arrow is good for doing continual damage over time.
-Flame arrow is a must. It is probably my favorite single target spell.
-Horror is a great one to keep around, in case you need to make a quick retreat or your facing a large group.
I hoped that helped a little.
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Aaron86: Great list. Maybe even sticky-worthy. I just want to clarify a few things though.

I was skeptical of Magic Missile at first because its damage seemed a bit low. Is it valid of using it more to distract enemy spellcasters**? As for aiming Fireball behind enemies, do you mean behind them as they rush towards them or are you suggesting my mage should sneak up on them?

You mentioned some spells being effective at low levels specifically. Does this mean they loose their effectiveness at higher levels/endgame?

What enemies does Chant effect exactly? Does it effect all enemies the party sees while it's in effect or only the enemies that are in sight at the time of casting?

rabblevox mentioned Cloudkill. Is that spell party-friendly?

** Enemy spellcasters are really the ones I have trouble with since they always mess up my party with fear or confuse. Is this where I'd use Dispel Magic, aside from interrupting the spellcasters with ranged attacks?
Magic Missile is handy because it gets another missile every 2 levels until it has 5 at level 9. Five hits on an enemy caster means guaranteed interruption.

By aiming fireball behind enemies, he means you want to center the spell behind the enemies so that the blast hits the enemies and not party members.

Some spells only affect enemies with a certain amount of hit dice (levels). Later in the game, and in the vast majority of BG2, enemies are too high level to be hit by these spells.

Chant affects all enemies in the sight of the caster at the time of the casting, so you'll have to wait until the fight begins before you cast it if you want to get the debuff.
Posted December 28, 2010
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rabblevox: Excellent list. I'm just getting going again on BG after more than a decade away, so my memory is cloudy, but I also remember Web and Cloudkill as being incredibly effective mage spells. Color Spray and Grease are also handy low-level spells. (but Web and CloudKill remained essential "go-to" spells throughout most of the game)
But Cloudkill is somewhere else. It's level 5 mage spell and it means you can't get it until level 9 (or using scroll before). Stinking Cloud is level 2 spell and similar to Web. Cloudkill does damage and Stinking Cloud just stuns.
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Aaron86: ** Enemy spellcasters are really the ones I have trouble with since they always mess up my party with fear or confuse. Is this where I'd use Dispel Magic, aside from interrupting the spellcasters with ranged attacks?
There is level 2 spell Resist Fear. Useful when you expect mages.
And as have bee nsaid already, Magic Missile is great against mages. It has low cast time so it's great to interrupt enemy spell and it also has good damage output, (It's most useful near the end of BG1, at baeginning it doesn't inflict too much of damage and later on it doesn't get better more and starts to lag behind)
Post edited December 28, 2010 by Vitek
Posted December 28, 2010
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Vitek: There is level 2 spell Resist Fear. Useful when you expect mages.
Does that also protect against confusion, or just fear?
Posted December 29, 2010
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Vitek: There is level 2 spell Resist Fear. Useful when you expect mages.
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Aaron86: Does that also protect against confusion, or just fear?
Just fear. There is not a good protection against confusion until the level 5 cleric spell chaotic commands, which you won't reach in the first game.
Also, what I mean by great early game is as another poster mentioned, saving throws and hit dice get better. EX command will barely get anybody to fall down near the end. However, it also means that the effects of the spell might be too minimal to even be worth it. After all, a -1 to THACO (doom) won't be as good on a person that needs a roll of 4 to hit you as a person that needs a roll of 15. Get what I'm saying?
BTW I though chant was enemies attacking your party, like protection from evil, not just in current line of sight.
Post edited December 29, 2010 by blackakari
Posted December 29, 2010
Fireball works great if combined with a Hide oriented Imoen, or invisibility. Send Imoen/someone invisible to scout ahead, locate group of baddies, then hurl a fireball at them from outside their view area. If the mage is hasted, it is possible to send another fireball in the enemies path as they rush the party.
Posted December 29, 2010
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blackakari: Just fear. There is not a good protection against confusion until the level 5 cleric spell chaotic commands, which you won't reach in the first game.
Also, what I mean by great early game is as another poster mentioned, saving throws and hit dice get better. EX command will barely get anybody to fall down near the end. However, it also means that the effects of the spell might be too minimal to even be worth it. After all, a -1 to THACO (doom) won't be as good on a person that needs a roll of 4 to hit you as a person that needs a roll of 15. Get what I'm saying?
BTW I though chant was enemies attacking your party, like protection from evil, not just in current line of sight.
Doom is -2 to THAC0 and to saving throws. To me it's really useful spell and I usually use it even at the end of the ToB. Used mostly together with Greater Malision and it vastly increase chances for spells to take effect.
Posted December 30, 2010
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termit: . If the mage is hasted, it is possible to send another fireball in the enemies path as they rush the party.
Haste doesn't speed up your spellcasting, so it wouldn't affect this.
Posted January 22, 2011
Bump because I think this could help other people
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Baldur's Gate seriesHow to use spells effectively(27 posts)(27 posts)
(27 posts)