D1Nonly

well, having just solo'd bg1 with a wiz. i'd say selective combat and frequent withdraws isnt just for the clergy

quick suggestion. make sequencers and triggers able to target the ground.

Well, I personally have no problem if enemy wizards receive few more memorized spells than their level permits. This way their 'scroll' spells can also be interrupted as they should be, and the lack of extra loot is easily explained by items' fragility, like in the case with potions.

technicaly its not cheating as BG2 uses a nerfed memorizing table, or a hybrid between 2ed and 3rd ed?

I'm not much moved by that. The spells you need are the same spells you need to deal with any mage: a mixture of anti-magic spells like Secret Word, Ruby Ray etc. I agree, if you don't have a mage in the party, or if your mage hasn't bothered to learn any antimagic, you have a problem. That doesn't bother me. I've no problem with solo play, but I don't feel any obligation to go out of my way to make up for you not choosing to take a balanced party.

you're right, of course. The AI isnt as much a concern to me as the spell being used is capable of almost unlimited cheese when used by the PC. thats why im partial to advocating the removal of SI in favor of already established spells in D&D sourcebooks. like nondetection. im sorry for articulating poorly; has a less cheesy feel to it.

Not really. The dictionary definition doesn't especially help, since this is a technical context. I already know that you think II+SI:Div is abusive, so requoting that example doesn't help either. What I want to know is what you actually mean by that term. (My experience is that 90% of the time it doesn't mean anything very coherent beyond "I dislike this", but feel free to prove that you're in the 10%.)

its abusive in the fact that it makes it a do-or-die situation to have a mage WITH the right spell selection at hand to deal with in a timely fashion. a cleric, no matter how epic would be wasting his true sight. its abusive because it requires a few key spells to be memorized at all times. im sure there are various ways to deal with without dispelling and/or targetting, but im seeing it from a solo-play point of view.

I just feel that the SI is too powerful (im not saying that its wrong to use it, especially not in the context of 'smarter mages') but as a whole it has a feel of dictating the spell selection and style of the game.

On that basis, a high-level caster casting Remove Magic is cheap.

well, no. the dynamic of remove magic is that it is almost useless half the time. SI:I is useful ALL the time.

That's an example, not a definition.

well, an example serves better in the context of defining cheats/abusing in the game than quoting the dictionary...

Can you define "cheap"?

Can you define "abusing"?

Yay for that, really! Our current roster looks like this:

Non-detection as minor SI: Divination (allows save for detection).

Impregnable Mind and Mind Blank as SI: Enchantments.

Death Ward as minor SI: Necromancy (only against deadly effects).

Spell Shield as limited SI: Abjuration.

Other protection spells are good substitute for SI: Evocation.

 

And I think that it looks much better than terribly overpowered Spell Immunity.

 

And yes for MB being caster-only. Buffs are for clerics!

i second that motion

one could make MB only affect the caster, that would put it sub par CC in terms of team-buffing. it was discribed that way in at least one of the rulebooks.

SI is a right mess and should be deleted.. in most cases it does work, but for it to work to specs it should in reality block timestop too...

the effects of the 'greenstone amulet' is basically mind blank.

source: tome of magic, advanced dungeons and dragons 2.ed.

still, my point is in effect as 'tome of magic' would be published after the players handbook.

Mind Blank

That being said my "issue" with Mind Blank is not that I don't have space for it, but that I don't like it to be a mere arcane copy of Chaotic Commands that uses a spell slot three lvls higher, and that I kinda liked mages to not be as good "buffers" as clercis. I cannot nerf CC nor I think it should be nerfed, thus if we really cannot live without this spell (I can) I need to convince myself that Mind Blank has advantages worth its much higher spell slot. Let's see:

* it last a full day (8 hours is the max cap within SR to avoid the "rest exploit") but CC lasts more than enough (up to 4 hours)

* it protects from fear (Spook, Horror, etc)

* it should protect from few Divination spells like Know Opponent, which the AI never uses, or Know Alignment, which is completely useless

* I'm not sure but judging by its PnP description I think it should protect from spells like Doom, Chant, Emotion, and probably even Malison (am I wrong?)

 

What do you think?

well, it would be a copy, in a sense. but i havent seen CC in the 2.ed handbook. so in terms of 'reality' CC would be a copy of mind blank.. the effects of mind blank should be as described, but im unsure if it should effect GM though. but i think its about high time wizards got their own counter to mind flayers and those charming lady-demons

being used and being useful isnt always the same thing. but i guess its all how you prefer to play anyhoo!

still, being immune to any and all mind affects for a day is vastly more useful than a mazing someone, in my mind atleast.

Vanilla 8th level had several other good spells: PW: Blind was almost OP in Vanilla, Maze and Simulacrum were excellent, and Vanilla Pro Energy was vastly better than most people thought, particularly for Solo Sorcerers who could use it to shrug off all magic damage types without wasting slots on lower level protections.

pw blind was op, and i dont concern myself with cheesy spells. simulacrum doesent work for everybody, it depends on how you play. i never use that or project image because it makes me feel like a dirty cheater vanilla pro energy offered 75% protection from everything. that meant you could "almost" shrug of anything. combinded with pro elements you would be immune to everything but acid, but that hardly matterd as the 'take damage' animation would still be in effect and disrupt any and all but the quickest spells. maze has never been a spell worth a 8th level slot, and i suspect thats why ALL tactic mods made the npc mages switch it. this is all besides the point anyway. no matter how many and who thinks what spells are usefull, mind blank should be apart of the arcane library!

Turning CC into Impregnable Mind is only a cosmetic change, other than that the spell will remain as per V3. Impervious Sanctity of Mind is a divine spell, while Mind Blank is almost its arcane version. Long story short CC and Impregnable Mind were two different 5th lvl spells within AD&D (see here), and together they granted almost full immunity to mind affecting spells, but BG2's CC already grants all sort of immunities, deprecating ISoM and making Mind Blank extremely unappealing (8th lvl slots are not cheap).

not so. as solo sorcerers and solo mages, mind blank would be incredibly useful. especially with the amount of mind affecting magics out and about, not to mention that once charmed you're dead in the eyes of the game. mind blank would be invaluable. vanilla 8th had nearly no good spells, save trigger, wilting and incidiary. now with the pro-elements we have 4. arguably ggoi is usable, but its not part of 2.ed afaik atleast. mind blank is. and least of all it should not be kept out of arcane spell selection because something simillar is in the divine.

I suggested to make Meteor Swarm deal haf elemental half crushing dmg and the same could be done to Ice Storm indeed (it works like that in 3rd edition). That being said I'm not 100% sure because these spells are Evocations, not Conjurations, and thus they should be made of pure energy (magic or elemental dmg). hm.

 

Should Protection from Elements (and its 5th lvl cousins PfCold & PfFire) still grant immunity to them in case we opt for a similar tweak?

i've given my suggestion due prosess and might have to reconsider as i think it would make both spells hugely OP. im fairly certain that it should work the way i suggested, but the reality is that it would make the game less enjoyable. it would be little or no way to protect against. and with the AI the way that it is, one would have to re-program SCS2 so the mages there would have the same knowledge as you, else it would be another cheap trick... but as far as theory goes, it should deal crushing/blunt damage as well as elemental..

what is the current ideas for the limited wish and wish spells, if you're in a divulgatory mood

Animate Dead, Banishment, (Limited) Wish, Meteor Swarm are all in v4's todo list.

nice!

disitegrate too useful, damage needs to be reduced. but hey, i dont really use it anyway. just my opinion of the spell in general. its like avada kedavra..

Greater Globe of Invulnerability hehehe, yes, its not useless. i retract my comment. it is the only spell that makes you immune to cloudkill.

Mind Blank

As far as I remember Demi thinks about turning Chaotic Commands into Impregnable Mind, which is close to Mind Blank - but it's 5th level spell and it doesn't protect against psionics. There is 7th level spell which grants full immunity to any mind-affecting effects of Impervious Sanctity of Mind - I'm not sure if Demi thinks about implementing this one.

what is the reference to those two spells, i'm unfamiliar.. mind blank goes back far in the d&d spell books, so i think it should have priority. 5th and 7th level already has vast amounts of useful spells, 8th does not.

Ice Storm

I think that it is the difference between Druidic and Arcane elemental spells. Druids are summoning powers of elements - ice blocks which hit enemy's head and which should deal crushing and cold damage. Wizards don't. Instead of they shape pure magic into elemental shape similiar to those ice blocks... still, their attack is clearly energetic - not natural. That's how Invocations work as I think ... Well, that'd suggest turning druid's elemental spells into non-Invocation spells. ^^'

any which way you see it, its not the temperature thats killing

great job though i have a few commentaries/complaints.

here goes. bring animate dead back. i dont mind the shadows, but there is still room for both.

the damage in disintegrate is wrong, or atleast where AD&D 2ed is concerned. on my first tryout of the spell i hit someone for 111 damage + 16 dagamge + the disintegration effect while his body fell to the ground. right then and there i saw that is was broken. anyway, the damage should be removed as it is not 2ed IMO and should be nerfed in the d&d setting as it is one of THE most overpowerd spells atm (not counting the fact that it doesent work due to spellplague )

banishment needs to be put in the roster.. AND FAST.

the 8th level spell "spell shield" which as far as the description tells, is just a slighly better GOI.. useless. it should be replaced by mind blank. im really not sure why, as far as i know, no one has made part of this game yet. might be because of chaotic commands, but i gave up party-playing a long time ago. eighter way, if you replace it or not, mind blank MUST be a part of v.4!!

limited wish and wish needs to be reworked. they are only useful if you cheat atm. i installed the biggs cheesy wish, which in fact isnt really that cheesy if you can show some restraint. its exactly how it should be.

the 2.ed description of the spells leaves something to be desired, but 3.5ed fixed that,

here are links to the descriptions:

limited wish: http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Limited_wish

wish: http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Wish

granted this is a very powerful spell, so i'd go along with the penelty said in 2ed. -3 strength (1 nights rest should be enough though) and fatigue.

maybe its too much to ask, and too much clicking required to actually have the wish spell entail ALL the spells, maybe a poll of just a handful of the most useful ones.. i dunno. modders-choice

i'll finish of with some long overdue praise. the new AOE tweaks to acid fog and incidiary cloud are GREAT, and the fact that with protection from energy you can stand right in the middle without having to worry about being disrupted without taking any damage is amazing.. that annoyed the hell out of me before!

that reminds me. the damage output on some spells are weird. ice storm and meteor swarm. they deal only elemental damage which IMO is incredibly strange. if you get hit in the head by a giant shard of ice you dont die of hypothermia.... just saying!

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!