[VonDondu]

Spellcasting is a fine art, and your own playing style will determine how you choose to use spells. You might want to search the forums for messages about spellcasting. In particular, the message threads that address the issue of Sorcerer spell selections are very useful. I learned a lot about spellcasting by reading those message threads. Or you could start a new message thread and ask us to give you a comprehensive "tutorial". I don't remember seeing a really good "tutorial" in any of the message threads here that covers all of the basic points, so you might have to read a bunch of messages and glean your own information from them.

For starters, here are some basic points:

- Learn what each spell does. Read the spell descriptions in the manual. You will probably use a limited number of spells 90% of the time, so you can become quite familiar with them.

- Learn what spell immunity means. For example, Spell Immunity: Abjuration makes spellcasters temporarily immune to spells from the school of Abjuration such as Dispel Magic and Breach. If your spells don't seem to be working against a particular monster, it might be because the monster has immunity. Monsters that have Stoneskin and Spell Immunity: Abjuration or natural immunity to Breach can be a real pain. Liches are naturally immune to every spell lower than 7th level, including Breach, and other monsters are immune to certain types of spells such as Charm and Hold. Don't waste your arsenal when a certain kind of spell or other attack won't work.

- Learn what kinds of damage various spells inflict. For example, Melf's Minute Meteors inflict fire damage. Even though a lich is immune to 3rd level spells such as Fireball, you can still hurt a lich with Melf's Minute Meteors, and that is a very useful thing to know. Liches are very susceptible to fire damage. To take another example, Glyph of Warding (the "holy hand grenade") inflicts "magic damage", so it doesn't work against monsters which have high magic resistance.

- Learn how to use protection spells and buff up your characters. Stoneskin, Mirror Image, and Spell Immunity are obvious choices, but other spells might also appeal to you. Don't neglect Priest and Druid spells like Armor of Faith (great for Minsc) or Wizard spells like Tenser's Transformation (great for Blades and other Bards) and Improved Haste (which can even be cast on summoned monsters--hasted skeleton warriors are very powerful). Shapechange is also a very interesting spell.

- Learn how to counter your enemy's protection spells. The spell descriptions will tell you which spells can be countered. Breach, Secret Word, Ruby Ray of Reversal, and the various assortment of spells like Pierce Magic and Spellstrike all have very specific uses.

- Use combinations of spells. For example, an 8th level Blade can inflict more damage than other 7th or 8th level characters (temporarily) by using Melf's Minute Meteors in combination with Offensive Spin. A multi-class Fighter/Mage or Cleric/Ranger can inflict a lot of damage by using Energy Blades in combination with Critical Strike. A Greater Malison/Glitterdust/Emotion combination will really soften up groups of enemies. Five or six Magic Missile spells can kill most monsters in Shadows of Amn, and nearly every monster is susceptible to them if you cast a few Lower Resistance spells.

Consider what will happen when you meet a group of enemies and cast the following sequence of spells. First, cast Project Image and have the image cast Spell Immunity: Divination (to keep from being detected and dispelled). Then have the image cast Improved Alacrity/Timestop/Greater Malison/Horrid Wilting x 3/Dragon's Breath and anything else you feel like casting--you've got time (especially if you use the space bar to pause the game between commands). Use Mordenkainen's Sword to mop up any survivors of your initial (unstoppable) assault. To give you some perspective, none of the dragons in Shadows of Amn can survive such an attack. When Project Image wears off, your spellbook will still be almost full, so you can do it again without resting. When you have a character like that, most melee enemies and enemy spellcasters are easy to kill, at least until you meet the most challenging opponents such as large groups of beholders or unique monsters like the Prince of Demons or enemy parties like the ones you meet on the fifth level of Watcher's Keep.