Sorceror Spell and Feat Selection (experts needed!)- may contain spoilers

[Scottg]

Your assassin archer looks good, but I doubt it can stand against a well prepared arcane spell caster. I cast Ethereal jaunt, and buff up. I have listening checks 5 times per round at: 33+1(lady's man)+3(bat)+10(C/C)+(+1~3)WIS modifier= 48~50. Good luck hiding. Camouflage will not help Move silently.

As for my AC (in a high magic setting): 10 base, 10 Armor, 8 deflection, 5 natural, 7 shield (shield of magi), 6 PM, 7 DEX (uncanny dodge protected) and 13 divine shield=66. + an additional 10 from interposing hand. If you don't use true strike there is no way you can hit me (except on a 20 of course). On top of that I have concealment, premonition, and mirror image...and all the nasty spells. The game is so unfair...haha. If true strike could be persisted, that would really make a difference.

"Improved Evasion doesn't mean squat here" - are you sure? b/c from the description: "Whenever a Reflex save is allowed for half damage, characters with this feat instead take no damage if they succeed at the save. Even if they fail the save, they take only half damage. " Polar ray fits in.

I

Firebrand is like a p!ss-poor Isaccs, it's fire, it's got a reflex save for half, and it portions-out the damage to multiple opponents. Greater Firebust provides 15d8 to ALL opponents within the radius. H U G E difference.

The Assassin would of course use Dexterity Modifiers (+4 there), and also skill modifiers. Stealth is after-all it's only real physical defense (..that and being far away when attacking for the most part). So it's likely that Move Silently would be pushing at least 55+. It would ALSO be a racial "hitter" with respect to favored enemies for a PvP build. Put in another +8 for the bow's attack and then True Strike, and provided no Bigby's Interposing Hand - it would hit. Again, when you need that Bigby's spell - you REALLY NEED IT. (..of course you would also have to knock down the Assassin's spell resistance before Bigby's.) And none of this includes the element of Traps. :mischief:

Polar Ray doesn't have a reflex save, or any save at all.

[mbz]

Firebrand is like a p!ss-poor Isaccs, it's fire, it's got a reflex save for half, and it portions-out the damage to multiple opponents. Greater Firebust provides 15d8 to ALL opponents within the radius. H U G E difference.

No it doesn't. Read the description...Neverwinter Nights 2 @ GameBanshee
and I've personally tried it a million times with wizards and sorcerors. It's one of the indispensable spells for campaigns.

Yes, I will use bigby's. I will use them to cripple you, bullrush you(quickend), and then if all that fails, crush you! . And then Vampiric feast, followed by X amounts of quickend, maximized, and empowered IGMS, all done in just a few number of rounds before my Divine shield falls off.

[mbz]

My NEW spell tree

Spells: (level 1-2: five, 3-5: four, 6-9: three)

Level 1: Magic Missile, Protection from Alignment, Grease( to be tested…), Expeditious Retreat, (Ray of Enfeeblement-to increase chance of success for the bigbys, Reduce Person, Shield/Night Shield, Reduce Person, ……color spray-only against low level chars? lesser sonic orb is bugged to do the damage of the regular orb?)

Level 2: Scorching Ray, Mirror Image, Gust of Wind (does “Web” affect spell casting, if so then choose Web instead of grease!), Blind Sight, (False Life, Eagle’s Splendor, bear’s endurance, Cat’s grace )

Level 3: Scintillating Sphere, Flame Arrow, Improved Mage Amor, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance

Level 4: Improved Invisibility, Assay Resistance, Enervation, Elemental Shield

Level 5: Fire Brand, Lesser Mind Blank, Lesser Spell Mantle, Interposing hand

Level 6: IGMS, Greater Spell Breach, Bigby’s Forceful Hand-must have, mage killer!6sec/r-and can be quickened! Always a lot of choices at spell level 6…

Level 7: Shadow Shield, Spell Mantle, Ethereal Jaunt(bugged? Needs to be tested)

Level 8: Horrid Wilting, Polar Ray, Premonition

Level 9: Bigby’s Crushing Hand, Shadow Simulacrum, Mordenkainen’s Disjunction

Epic: Vampiric Feast

[Scottg]

No it doesn't. Read the description...Neverwinter Nights 2 @ GameBanshee
and I've personally tried it a million times with wizards and sorcerors. It's one of the indispensable spells for campaigns.

I've tried it, but I've also used Greater Fireburst and Cacahponic Burst. In fact I've used all the spells at various times. Some of them have changed a bit over time with the patches. Greater Fireburst is one of those, and now has a colossal radius.

[Scottg]

Spells: (level 1-2: five, 3-5: four, 6-9: three)

Level 1: Magic Missile, Protection from Alignment, Grease( to be tested…), Expeditious Retreat, (Ray of Enfeeblement-to increase chance of success for the bigbys, Reduce Person, Shield/Night Shield, Reduce Person, ……color spray-only against low level chars? lesser sonic orb is bugged to do the damage of the regular orb?)

Level 2: Scorching Ray, Mirror Image, Gust of Wind (does “Web” affect spell casting, if so then choose Web instead of grease!), Blind Sight, (False Life, Eagle’s Splendor, bear’s endurance, Cat’s grace )

Level 3: Scintillating Sphere, Flame Arrow, Improved Mage Amor, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance

Level 4: Improved Invisibility, Assay Resistance, Enervation, Elemental Shield

Level 5: Fire Brand, Lesser Mind Blank, Lesser Spell Mantle, Interposing hand

Level 6: IGMS, Greater Spell Breach, Bigby’s Forceful Hand-must have, mage killer!6sec/r-and can be quickened! Always a lot of choices at spell level 6…

Level 7: Shadow Shield, Spell Mantle, Ethereal Jaunt(bugged? Needs to be tested)

Level 8: Horrid Wilting, Polar Ray, Premonition

Level 9: Bigby’s Crushing Hand, Shadow Simulacrum, Mordenkainen’s Disjunction

Epic: Vampiric Feast

Level 1. should have Shield. Look to overlap with your 1st level Cleric spells i.e. Protection From Alignment, Night Shield, etc.. (..for instance "Protection" lasts an hour per level and is on you Cleric list - therefor you don't need it.) Note that IF you have SOZ installed that you should select the "sound" orb version over any other offensive spell at this level, including Magic Missiles. When it is Maximized it does outrageous damage (..because of a bug). :mischief: Note that you can buy/find Magic Missile wands. Grease is excellent because it will slow without a save and has no spell resistance (though if you have to do without a spell at this level then Grease is it).

Level 2. should have Melfs (no save, no spell resist, different element). Forget Web, it just doesn't work well. Mirror Image and Blindsight are musts. Consider Curse of Impending Blades (a favorite PvP spell). Consider Invisibility to free-up 4th level Improved Invisibility. Note that even *if* Invisibility doesn't make you Invisible, it should still provide a 50% concealment as long as you don't perform an action that "outs" it.

Level 3. Displacement to free up Improved Invisibility.

Level 4. Lesser Spell Breach. Orb of sound if you have SOZ (no save, no spell resist, excellent damage - and along with the "lesser" variety, the only thing that can really damage a Demilich). Drop Elemental Shield.. Get it from Energy Immunity.

Level 5. Again, test out Firebrand vs. Greater Fireburst.

Level 6. Drop Greater Spell Breach.. Lesser does the trick at a much lower "cost", and mostly it's accomplished via MD. Pick-up Ethereal Visage.

Level 7. Drop Spell Mantel. You already have lesser, and Empowered or Maximised it's better. Ethereal Jaunt - yeah, definitely test it for the actual environment you are playing. Add Energy Immunity with Shadow Shield. (..I'll even take it over Avasculate and Bigby's at this level for this type of build.)

Level 8. Excellent.

Level 9. Excellent.

[Scottg]

BTW, if you wanted to sacrifice one of your domains.. you could add-on another *4* Divine Shields per day via the "Undeath" domain. (..I'd axe the air domain for it.) Plus, it seems rather apropos for your Undead character.

Also make sure to change your familiar to Rabbit to enhance your Listen skill.

[mbz]

Thanks, several questions before I fix the spell list.

Level 1: As of 1.23.1765, the lesser sound orb bug still exists? I'll definately take it if it does...I have no loss giving up Magic Missle.

Level 2: Point taken, I'll choose Melf's. I don't lose much on the damage anyways since it's a low level spell. I think I'll choose Eagle's splendor over False life, just in case I get spawned in a low magic world..

Level 3: And what do you propose I drop? Not improved Mage Armor obviously, as you've advocated it the entire time. And I don't want to drop Scintillating Sphere either. It's electricity damage, and the empowered version is as good as a level 5 spell.

Level 4: I think greater spell breach is still safer against mages with lesser spell mantles. MD cannot be quickened. I'll guess I'll pick the Orb of Song over Elemental shield, provided that...

Level 7: Energy immunity can be casted multiple times, each time applying to a different type of energy? Good point on Spell Mantle. I can't have two spell mantles the same time, they work similar, empowered lesser SM offers 10-15 spell protection, while empowered SM offers 13-24. They both get removed by breaches (get eaten up by flame arrows?), but since lesser SM is on the "lower part of the list", it is safer than SM NOT to be removed. So I am perfectly willing to let go of SM. But if Energy Immunity can't be casted multiple times...I'm thinking of getting it from a wand or scroll instead.

Level 5: Firebrand/burst is a campaign spell anyways, almost useless in PvP...its a personal choice.

Level 6: Ethereal Visage is good, as you said, but it lasts too short. And with Premonition, the premonition damage reduction kicks in first. And when it's gone, Ethereal Visage has probably expired as well. (Remember that I am immune to critical hits, and have improved invisibility and MI on too)

Level 1. should have Shield. Look to overlap with your 1st level Cleric spells i.e. Protection From Alignment, Night Shield, etc.. (..for instance "Protection" lasts an hour per level and is on you Cleric list - therefor you don't need it.) Note that IF you have SOZ installed that you should select the "sound" orb version over any other offensive spell at this level, including Magic Missiles. When it is Maximized it does outrageous damage (..because of a bug). :mischief: Note that you can buy/find Magic Missile wands. Grease is excellent because it will slow without a save and has no spell resistance (though if you have to do without a spell at this level then Grease is it).

Level 2. should have Melfs (no save, no spell resist, different element). Forget Web, it just doesn't work well. Mirror Image and Blindsight are musts. Consider Curse of Impending Blades (a favorite PvP spell). Consider Invisibility to free-up 4th level Improved Invisibility. Note that even *if* Invisibility doesn't make you Invisible, it should still provide a 50% concealment as long as you don't perform an action that "outs" it.

Level 3. Displacement to free up Improved Invisibility.

Level 4. Lesser Spell Breach. Orb of sound if you have SOZ (no save, no spell resist, excellent damage - and along with the "lesser" variety, the only thing that can really damage a Demilich). Drop Elemental Shield.. Get it from Energy Immunity.

Level 5. Again, test out Firebrand vs. Greater Fireburst.

Level 6. Drop Greater Spell Breach.. Lesser does the trick at a much lower "cost", and mostly it's accomplished via MD. Pick-up Ethereal Visage.

Level 7. Drop Spell Mantel. You already have lesser, and Empowered or Maximised it's better. Ethereal Jaunt - yeah, definitely test it for the actual environment you are playing. Add Energy Immunity with Shadow Shield. (..I'll even take it over Avasculate and Bigby's at this level for this type of build.)

Level 8. Excellent.

Level 9. Excellent.

[Scottg]

Thanks, several questions before I fix the spell list.

Level 1: As of 1.23.1765, the lesser sound orb bug still exists? I'll definately take it if it does...I have no loss giving up Magic Missle.

Level 2: Point taken, I'll choose Melf's. I don't lose much on the damage anyways since it's a low level spell. I think I'll choose Eagle's splendor over False life, just in case I get spawned in a low magic world..

Level 3: And what do you propose I drop? Not improved Mage Armor obviously, as you've advocated it the entire time. And I don't want to drop Scintillating Sphere either. It's electricity damage, and the empowered version is as good as a level 5 spell.

Level 4: I think greater spell breach is still safer against mages with lesser spell mantles. MD cannot be quickened. I'll guess I'll pick the Orb of Song over Elemental shield, provided that...

Level 5: Firebrand/burst is a campaign spell anyways, almost useless in PvP...its a personal choice.

Level 6: Ethereal Visage is good, as you said, but it lasts too short. And with Premonition, the premonition damage reduction kicks in first. And when it's gone, Ethereal Visage has probably expired as well. (Remember that I am immune to critical hits, and have improved invisibility and MI on too)

Level 7: Energy immunity can be casted multiple times, each time applying to a different type of energy? Good point on Spell Mantle. I can't have two spell mantles the same time, they work similar, empowered lesser SM offers 10-15 spell protection, while empowered SM offers 13-24. They both get removed by breaches (get eaten up by flame arrows?), but since lesser SM is on the "lower part of the list", it is safer than SM NOT to be removed. So I am perfectly willing to let go of SM. But if Energy Immunity can't be casted multiple times...I'm thinking of getting it from a wand or scroll instead.

1. You'll have to check it out for yourself, I've been playing DA:O recently.

2. If you are spawned in a low magic world then you should be able to have potions.. (and wands for that matter). This goes for Invisibility as well, though not Mirror Image that scales well in spell-caster level.

3. Either Scintillating or Flame Arrow. Go heavy on the defensive/counter offensive stuff for a PvP build. The offensive stuff just "works around" it. Or think of it this way: how many attack spells do you need? Also, what *type* of attack spells do you need. IMO you have more than enough single person attack type spells, so this suggests axing Flame Arrow (..even though I love the spell.) )

4. MD and the Breaches are all about 1st strikes. (..assay resistance however is not, it's actually a pre-1st strike spell in that it's not an attack and won't "out" Ethereal Jaunt.) Quickening a 1st strike is often a waste because you aren't "outed" from Ethereal Jaunt until after it's cast - i.e. it effectively *acts* like a quickened spell from this state. It's the second spell cast *after* the 1st strike that needs to be quickened. On the other hand if you are *stacking* breaches or are casting from a non-1st strike base then 2 quickened Lesser's = 1 quickened Greater, striping 4 protections. MD on the other hand strips 6 protections, and that is usually more than enough to take down the higher spell protections.

THEN you need to look at how long it takes for your opponent to put those protections back-up, what protections they are, and if *they* can quicken the process. Usually they can't match your ability to strip a protection in that you can strip 2 protections in the time it takes them to *quicken* 2 protections - *with the lesser version of spell breach*. Worse, they can't cast the higher level spell protections quickened. Practically speaking *if* they have access to Ethereal Jaunt then they will cast that again and start the process all over - IF they can (..and you haven't disabled them).

What I'm basically stating here is that the Lesser version of Spell Breach should be more than sufficient for most situations.

5. Yeah, it's a personal choice, and I don't think you can really go wrong here.

6. Ah, but Premonition can be beaten down *without* criticals/sneak attacks* pretty quickly, ..like 3-4 rounds in some cases (..though your high AC will help out a *lot* here, probably tripling that with the best melee builds). Ethereal Visage at level 30 (not extended) will last for 30 rounds, and for your build at level 30 will last for 28 rounds.. that's a pretty big difference. If you could only quicken Premonition..

7. Yes, Energy Immunity can be cast for *each* element and assuming it's not striped or you don't rest, will last 24 hours. Considering the amount of elemental damage melee-types have in their weapons (..especially dual-weapons), it's probably the most important defensive spell in a PvP environment. Really it *should* be cast from a scroll (multiple scrolls), but that will require you to able to scribe the spell to scroll, and you don't have that feat.

[mbz]

thanks, I'm having quite a clear picture here.

two last questions (hopefully):

1.
How does AC vs. Alignment work? e.g. If I have 5 AC to armor, and I cast Protection from Evil, do I get still get 5 AC (armor) against evil opponents? or 7 instead?
-I'm asking this is because I really like the reduce person spell because it gives me a flat +1 to AC and AB bonuses that stacks with other bonuses. Plus, I think it makes me immune to Evard's Black Tentacles.
As for cleric spell level 1 and presumably I'll have enough WIS to cast it, I think entropic shield is better than Protection from Alignment.

2.
Can quickend spells be interrupted? I haven't played a ASOC, so I'm really worried about the machanics. Does it work like contingencies as in BGII (I run arround, cast quickend spell, and buff goes up), or more like an extra spell granted by "haste" back in NWN? ( I have to stand still, wait till the spell is casted, and hope not to get interrupted during the process?)

This is a deal breaker. If it works like the former, than I will accept your suggestion and take Ethereal Visage, and make adjustments accordingly.

[mbz]

(it appears that one of the versions of 1.23 has erased all perks granted by AOSC. I reverted back to 1.22.1588 and everything went fine)

I've tested it, as of 1.22.1588, lesser Sound of Orb does the same damage as the 4th level spell sound of orb. This is a bug.

Quickened spells takes arround 2 seconds to cast, and has a less than 1 second of cool down (cast and run is not a desired option). While normals spells takes 3 secs, with a 3 second cool down. Which means

Quickened spells can be interrupted due to concentration failure. Because of this, Ethereal Visage (quickened) is no longer the only lifesaver (2sec cast). Ethereal jaunt can be casted for only 1 second longer, is more reliable (plenty of time to buff up), and has an equal chance of being disrupted.

(I thought about using ray of enfeeblement at level 1, but since its range is too short, I'd might as well use 2 bigby's forceful-hands. I can go "sniping" with the bigby's.)

[Scottg]

How does AC vs. Alignment work? e.g. If I have 5 AC to armor, and I cast Protection from Evil, do I get still get 5 AC (armor) against evil opponents? or 7 instead?
-I'm asking this is because I really like the reduce person spell because it gives me a flat +1 to AC and AB bonuses that stacks with other bonuses. Plus, I think it makes me immune to Evard's Black Tentacles.

As for cleric spell level 1 and presumably I'll have enough WIS to cast it, I think entropic shield is better than Protection from Alignment.

This is virtually everything about Armor:

Armor Class - NWN2Wiki, the Neverwinter Nights 2 wiki - Races, classes, skills, and more

Note that only Dodge bonuses stack.

Protection From alignment only protects you from Good OR Evil opponents. The AC modifier is *Deflection* +2. Note that you can have both Good and Evil "on" you at the same time, to protect against both alignments.. But Neutral isn't available.

In any event, you should NOT select this spell as a Sorcerer - again, because you have it via the Cleric grouping (..and it lasts a long time even with only 1 level). With a Wisdom of 11 (or more) you can cast 1st level Cleric spells, and it doesn't even have to be your own base Wisdom, it can be augmented via equipment.

Shield of Faith is the only other Deflection bonus spell in the Cleric 1st level listing, and it also provides +2 against any opponent. On the other hand it will only last a minute. Entropic Shield isn't an Armor-type spell.

[Scottg]

Quickened spells can be interrupted due to concentration failure. Because of this, Ethereal Visage (quickened) is no longer the only lifesaver (2sec cast). Ethereal jaunt can be casted for only 1 second longer, is more reliable (plenty of time to buff up), and has an equal chance of being disrupted.

(I thought about using ray of enfeeblement at level 1, but since its range is too short, I'd might as well use 2 bigby's forceful-hands. I can go "sniping" with the bigby's.)

ANY spell can be interrupted *except* when cast from Ethereal Jaunt. It depends on your Concentration check vs. damage taken, (physical only I believe), and if you are in defensive casting mode or not (..and why wouldn't you be?).

Concentration - NWN2Wiki, the Neverwinter Nights 2 wiki - Races, classes, skills, and more

Again, it is *highly* unlikely that you will fail a concentration check. Ethereal Visage as a life-saver isn't predicated on casting it without failure, because you will almost certainly cast it without failure (..especially with immunity to criticals).

Where it comes into it's own is with regard to multiple attackers.

Again, one excellent attacker may take several rounds to knock-down your Premonition. Several excellent attackers however can do it *very* quickly. Ethereal Visage is the "suspenders" to a "belt and suspenders" defense against physical damage. In other words have *both* in place, don't simply raise it after Premonition is gone. You can of course play it a little "loose" against a single attacker and use it only as an emergency (quickened), just when you think Premonition is about to go. Note though that it's all adamantine.. IF your attacker whips out an adamantine weapon then it's "chop chop" for you. Or if they use Epic Divine Might and can hit you then your also in a lot of trouble.

As for Ray of Enfeeblement..

It can reduce on average 8 of strength (at higher caster levels). That's ***+4 to hit*** and +4 to damage - FROM A 1st LEVEL SPELL WITH NO SAVE. Sure the distance is only ranged short, but it isn't melee touch attack.

IMO you would be crazy *not* to get it.

Then (factor-in) the spell in combination with the 6th level Bigby's.

[mbz]

Ok, last revision (hopefully):

Spells: (level 1-2: five, 3-5: four, 6-9: three)

Level 1:Shield, Grease(works wonders), Expeditious Retreat, Ray of Enfeeblement, lesser sonic orb. (Reduce person increases my chance of being knocked down and bull rushed, and does not grant immunity to Evards' B T. It looks pretty cool though.)

Level 2: Melf's Acid, Mirror Image, Blind Sight, False Life, Eagle's Splendor

Level 3: Displacement, Flame Arrow, Improved Mage Amor, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance

Level 4: Lesser Spell Breach, Assay Resistance, Enervation, Icestorm ( I'm leaning towards Evard's, since I'm probably the only one immune to paralysis, and with Ethereal Visage on...)

Level 5: Fire Brand, Lesser Mind Blank, Lesser Spell Mantle, Interposing hand

Level 6: IGMS, Bigby’s Forceful Hand, Ethereal Visage (Greater Spell Breach if the lesser version not taken)

Level 7: Shadow Shield, Energy Immunity, Ethereal Jaunt

Level 8: Horrid Wilting, Polar Ray, Premonition (With Ethereal on, this really looks like a waste)

Level 9: Bigby’s Crushing Hand, Shadow Simulacrum, Mordenkainen’s Disjunction

Epic: Vampiric Feast

[Scottg]

Only Ice Storm is a looser IMO ..even though I like the spell. Evards probably won't be to great for this character either - it's much better cast from wands where you can lay it so "thick" that you can't see the floor. Again, I'd certainly pick an Orb at this level (sound or acid), especially considering that you might run into a server that doesn't have the "bug" for the lesser variety.

Note that with Evards, it's only AC and Critical dependent - so you are "golden" there. Most players (except Clerics and Favored Souls) won't have access to the critical immunity, but will almost certainly beat the AC limitation. (..if your AC is high enough it won't touch Premonition.)

Premonition may *look* like a waste.. that is until you come across a High Strength Fighter with a two-handed weapon and the specializations.

Anyway - looks like your ready to play!

[mbz]

Thanks very much for all your comments.

You'r right, Evard's is basically useless against a character with >25 AC.

If I'm taking the acid orb, Melf's Arrow would seem redundant(damage sucks anyways). Since I have so many touch spells, I'll axe it for Cat's grace.

Also I would be a little lacking in area damage spells (discounting the epic feat, only 2), so I'll take Scintillating Sphere over flame arrow.

So now I have a complete repertoire of damage spells (I didn't orginally plan this):
fire: Firebrand
cold: Polar Ray
electrical: S-Sphere
acid: Orb of Acid
sound: lesser orb of sound
magic: IGMS + Horrid Wilting
and death: Vampiric Feast

[Scottg]

Thanks very much for all your comments.

You'r right, Evard's is basically useless against a character with >25 AC.

If I'm taking the acid orb, Melf's Arrow would seem redundant(damage sucks anyways). Since I have so many touch spells, I'll axe it for Cat's grace.

Also I would be a little lacking in area damage spells (discounting the epic feat, only 2), so I'll take Scintillating Sphere over flame arrow.

So now I have a complete repertoire of damage spells (I didn't orginally plan this):
fire: Firebrand
cold: Polar Ray
electrical: S-Sphere
acid: Orb of Acid
sound: lesser orb of sound
magic: IGMS + Horrid Wilting
and death: Vampiric Feast

Note that Evards can still critical opponents (unless they are immune), but again - that takes a LOT of them covering the floor.

Anyway, looks good!

Consider Gust of Wind instead of Cat's Grace.. It's good for knocking down rival mages - with an effect that lasts long enough for you to do something nastier. Good for the campaigns as well.

The campaigns will be more difficult at lower levels, but that was expected.

Have fun!

[mbz]

“Consider Gust of Wind instead of Cat's Grace.. It's good for knocking down rival mages - with an effect that lasts long enough for you to do something nastier. Good for the campaigns as well."

Can Gust of Wind be stopped by spell mantles?

Yeah, I'm level 6 and the campaign is horrendously hard for me. I keep dying at hard core difficulty. Most effective spell is Grease at the moment. Due to his lack of aggressiveness, he became a party buffer (Improved Mage armor). Ms. "Fire Hair" in comparison is doing a lot better with her level 8 fireballs. expected.

[Scottg]

“Consider Gust of Wind instead of Cat's Grace.. It's good for knocking down rival mages - with an effect that lasts long enough for you to do something nastier. Good for the campaigns as well."

Can Gust of Wind be stopped by spell mantles?

Yeah, I'm level 6 and the campaign is horrendously hard for me. I keep dying at hard core difficulty. Most effective spell is Grease at the moment. Due to his lack of aggressiveness, he became a party buffer (Improved Mage armor). Ms. "Fire Hair" in comparison is doing a lot better with her level 8 fireballs. expected.

No, Gust of Wind is not stopped by a Mantle. IF it doesn't have a spell resistance component then Mantle can't stop it. Part of the reason why the Orbs and Melfs are so valuable (..no resistance, no save).

Mages still can save from it because it's a spell however.. but that's where you pit your DC vs. their augmented save via spellcraft (..and protection from spells, etc.).


..yeah, 2-level penalties suck in the OC.

There you not only have to plan out the spell selection, but *when* you select certain spells. ..and Buffing's not all bad.

[mbz]

Uh...are you sure? because the in game description says Gust of Wind does have a SR check.

For a character that relies a lot on orbs (since as you claim they are so good), the low AB is really worrying.
14BAB, almost the worst one can have (the worst would be 13BAB). If the opponent has a high Deflection and Dodge bonus, and/or a high DEX bonus, then I'm totally out of luck. A simple mage vs. mage encounter would be: 14 vs. 8(deflection)+3(good boots, and possibly tumble (does divine shield AC count?), I will miss 35% of the time. Of course, I will always hit +1DEX fighters, who has no tumble, or dodge AC bonuses, but never a chance against rogues and archers...and I tried...+X darts don't help with ranged touch attacks.

But on the other hand, I have the bigby's...

I'm beginning to wonder if the AB bonus from Reduce Person and Haste really help on this. Is haste worth a level 3 spell for me?

[Scottg]

Uh...are you sure? because the in game description says Gust of Wind does have a SR check.

For a character that relies a lot on orbs (since as you claim they are so good), the low AB is really worrying.
14BAB, almost the worst one can have (the worst would be 13BAB). If the opponent has a high Deflection and Dodge bonus, and/or a high DEX bonus, then I'm totally out of luck. A simple mage vs. mage encounter would be: 14 vs. 8(deflection)+3(good boots, and possibly tumble (does divine shield AC count?), I will miss 35% of the time. Of course, I will always hit +1DEX fighters, who has no tumble, or dodge AC bonuses, but never a chance against rogues and archers...and I tried...+X darts don't help with ranged touch attacks.

But on the other hand, I have the bigby's...

I'm beginning to wonder if the AB bonus from Reduce Person and Haste really help on this. Is haste worth a level 3 spell for me?

I think I was wrong on Gust of Wind. Best to save before selecting the spell and then try it out on your own character.

Divine Shield is Dodge.

The low AB *also* had a d20 roll. Basically at lower levels you can miss a fair bit, but at higher levels you rarely miss UNLESS the opponent has a lot of Dex. Dodge and Deflection bonuses. Even then remember that you can use +5 dart in your hand to get a +5 attack bonus. Unless an opponent Mage has something like Divine Shield, it shouldn't pose a problem. Hast isn't worth it. Reduce Person *may* be worth it.