******************************************************************************* -< NEVERWINTER NIGHTS >- WIZARD GUIDE (Ver 1.01) BY: Troy McLaughlan t_mclaughlan@hotmail.com Copyright 2002 Troy McLaughlan December 3, 2002 ******************************************************************************* This FAQ has been made by Troy McLaughlan You can FREELY distribute this FAQ to anybody under the following conditions: 1- You must distribute it FREELY. I'm not receiving any money for making it, and I don't want other people to earn money for my work. 2- You don't change ANYTHING, even if it's an error. Just send me an email and I'll fix it. 3- If you want to post it on a Web Page you must ask me first. I will always give my approval if you meet the following requirements: A) Everybody must have access to this FAQ freely. No membership, no private areas, no fees for access to download it... B) You have to send me the URL of your HomePage via email. I will add it to the homepages list below. This guide may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. This guide is based on NeverWinter Nights Version 1.24 using the default rules. ******************************************************************************* Last version of this FAQ can always be found at: * HTTP://WWW.GAMEFAQS.COM * http://www.sorcerers.net/index.shtml * http://DLH.Net ******************************************************************************* ***** INDEX ***** 1- HISTORY 2- REASONS TO CHOOSE A WIZARD 3- WIZARD CREATION A) RACE B) ALIGNMENT C) ABILITIES D) SKILLS E) FEATS F) FAMILIAR G) SPECIALIZATION 4- HENCHMEN 5- SPELLS 6- EQUIPMENT 7- MULTICLASSING 8- CLASS VS CLASS 9- SOLOING TIPS 10- TIPS AND TRICKS ******************************************************************************* *********** 1- HISTORY *********** * Ver 0.99: First version. (November 25,2002) * Ver 1.02: (December 3, 2002) Corrected some errors (Thanks Garec) More tips, included stats in the list of spells, and added some multiplayer tips. Grammar and spelling errors were also corrected. After looking at the various wizard and Sorcerer FAQs I began to feel like there was a prejudice against the Wizard class in favor of the Sorcerer. Many people feel that the Sorcerer is superior because of the number of extra spells they can cast versus the Wizard. Having played both types I can tell you that there is a definite difference between the two, but I dn't consider one better than the other. I think that an adequately prepared Wizard can beat a Sorcerer of the same level with the same items and vice versa. This FAQ was created to help people who want to play a wizard and get the most out of the class. Because I will be approaching this FAQ from a Wizards viewpoint I will be emphasizing the Wizards strengths and weaknesses versus other classes including the Sorcerer. However, keep in mind that, IMO, any class can beat any other class given the right conditions. ******************************************************************************* ***************************** 2- REASONS TO CHOOSE A WIZARD ***************************** Many people think that a Wizard and Sorcerer are practically the same thing, but they are very wrong. Sorcerer players play to kill as quickly as possible with an emphasis on their direct-damage spells. A sorcerer can only know 4-5 low level spells per spell-level, 4 middle level spells per spell-level, and 3 high level spells per spell-level, so they need to choose a few defensive spells and focus on the direct damage spells to win. On the other hand, a Wizard can memorize a few less spells than a Sorcerer, but have a much wider variety to choose from each time they rest. Therefore a wizards strategy is to use this variety of spells to his advantage. One strategy a wizard may use is to have their familiar examine a battle area first to find out what monsters are in it and then rest to memorize the right spells needed kill them all quickly and efficiently. Another strategy is to know a variety of spells in each spell level so the wizard can deal with nearly any circumstance in an emergency. If a sorcerer that knows mostly fire spells enters a battle against fire giants he will most likely have to make hit a run attacks to dispatch them. A wizard can enter the same battle and use mostly cold and magic spells to kill them. This tends to make a wizard more strategic and versatile in battle versus the brute force and hit and run tactics that sorcerers generally use. A wizard can also choose to specialize in a particular school of magic. A specialist wizard is kind of a cross between a general wizard and a Sorcerer. Basically you get more spells to cast but you are prevented from memorizing spells from an opposing school of magic. You also can't cast the spells of an opposing school of magic from scrolls so just sell them if you find any during the game. The school of magic a Wizard chooses to specialize in becomes the first feat a specialist wizard learns. By doing so the wizard will gain 1 extra spell slot per spell level. The wizard also gains a +2 bonus to spell save DC against an opponent for spells cast from the school. This makes it harder for opponents to resist those spells. But remember the disadvantage is that the wizard can't memorize and cast spells from an opposing set school of magic. A specialist wizard also has a lower ability (-5) to counterspell spells from the opposing school. Given the extra spell per level and the added power it is defiantly worth considering if you want to be a powerful if somewhat limited Wizard. Note: you can only choose to specialize at character creation. You can't decide later in the game that you want to specialize in a school of magic so consider your options carefully. To help you make this decision I am listing all the schools of magic and some recommendations based on playing a specialist wizard in the WIZARD CREATION area. In multiplayer Wizards usually play the role of casting magic buffs on other players within their group and casting specific high level damage spells against opponents. Think of a wizard as a magic version of a cleric. A wizard doesn't use magic to heal but rather makes the players within his group stronger with magic buffs and enchantments. The wizard also gives the group some added magic firepower tuned to a specific need. Wizards also are used by the group as a scholar to identify any items found due to their high intelligence and lore skills. With the large number of spells available to a Wizard they can also make great counterspellers versus other enemy mages. A multiplayer group will commonly consist of a Wizard and a Sorcerer. The sorcerer for brute magic power and the wizard for special circumstances and magic buffs. Here are some advantages and disadvantages of Wizards versus Sorcerers. ***** Sorcerers advantages versus a generalist wizard Spells 1 more level 1,2,3,4,5 spells 2 more level 6,7,8,9 spells Charisma Spells based on charisma score so it is easier to get side quests and persuade NPC characters. 2 henchman items that you can receive will increase the charisma score. ***** Sorcerers advantages versus a specialist wizard Spells 1 more level 6,7,8,9 spells Charisma Spells based on charisma score so it is easier to get side quests and persuade NPC characters. 2 henchman items that you can receive will increase the charisma score. ***** Wizard advantages versus a Sorcerer Spells Sorcerer can only cast 5 types of level 1, 2 spells 4 types of level 3, 4, 5 spells 3 types of level 6, 7, 8, 9 spells Wizards can memorize and cast any spell in their spell book Wizards get to memorize a higher level spell one class level earlier. For example a Wizard can memorize a level 3 spell at class level 5 while a sorcerer must wait till level 6 to learn it. A very useful feat when you are trying to solo in the early stages of the game. Feats Wizards get 4 more Metamagic feats Skills Spells based on Intelligence score so a wizard will get more skill points Races An Elf or Gnome wizard does not suffer an XP penalty for multiclassing If you are going to be a Wizard remember you can cast any spell so you need to know what every single spell can do and when to use it. If you are going to be a Sorcerer you need to know what spells will get you the most mileage. You will only know a few spells from each level so make your choice very carefully. ******************************************************************************* ****************** 3- WIZARD CREATION ****************** ******************************************************************************* A) RACE ******* * ELF: IMO the best race for a wizard. You get some cool bonuses (sleep immunity, a +2 DEX bonus (great for longbows and crossbows), hardiness vs enchantment spells, weapon bonuses (Bows, Longsword, Rapier), search always on, keen senses, low light vision...) and don't forget that a Wizard is an Elves favored class in case you want multiclassing with no XP penalty. You have a -2 penalty to CON stat but you can easily beef it up to CON 10 (+0) so no real loss. Besides a wizard should never put himself in melee combat a lot. With all these bonuses you can solo without fear of traps and even take out a lower monster or two in melee that happens to get past your spells. By going solo you level up much much quicker. This is IMO the only race for a wizard that can solo effectively at the lower levels. * GNOME: Great race, with lots of spell casting potential and lots of bonuses. +2 CON can give a few extra HP and upgrade Fortitude saving throws, a thing that wizards and sorcerers usually have need of, small stature will make gnomes harder to hit, and spell focus in Illusion for bonuses to casting and stopping illusion spells - gnomes start automatically with Illusion. A -2 STR penalty is not a problem for a Wizard. Again you can beef it up but why when you're not going to engage melee combat. Wizard is gnome's favored class so again multiclassing with no XP penalty. One minor note: gnomes can't wield large weapons so no longbows. * HUMAN: Good choice for a wizard. No race penalties and two nice race bonuses: 1 extra skill point per level and 1 extra feat at 1st level * HALF-ELF: Well, they're not humans and they're not elves. They have no stat bonuses or penalties but the abilities they gain are more suited to the rogue-oriented class than a mage. Could be an interesting spellcaster, though. * HALFLING: Think Frodo from the Lord Of The Rings. If you still don't know who Frodo is then you should probably choose a different game. Much better rogues than mages as rogues are their favored class and their special abilites are geared more towards stealth. * DWARF: Dwarven Wizard? Don't even be tempted by the idea of a melee fighting Wizard. A dwarf will always wield an axe better than a spellbook. * HALF-ORC: In one word NO. NO spell casting bonuses, NO intelligence bonus (instead you get -2 penalty), NO dexterity bonus. If you really want huge challenge then go for it. ******************************************************************************* B) ALIGNMENT ************ Alignment is supposed to help you make decisions on how your character should act (role-play) when given a choice during the game. For example you would not expect a Good aligned cleric to indiscriminately kill towns people any more that you would expect an Evil rogue to do a side quest for free. Although this attribute is not set in stone and good aligned characters can commit evil acts, each action you take can affect this score. If your Alignment score gets too far out of range then your character will not be able to go to the next level (level up) when he gets enough experience. It is therefore, a good idea to keep a eye on this score and make corrections to it if necessary. Alignment is broken up in to two main categories with 3 levels in each. Good/Evil Law/Chaos ********* ********* Good Lawful Neutral Neutral Evil Chaotic As of this writing I could not get the Law/Chaos Alignment to change no matter what I did so your actions do not appear to have any affect on this part of the Alignment score. Your actions can change your Good/Evil Alignment score. Most actions do not appear to have any affect at all on this score and those that do will only sway this 3-5 points in either direction. I was, however, able to get drastic jumps of 9 points in both directions. It can depend heavily on the circumstances and NPC character your interacting with. Some examples are, completing evil or good side quests, bribing NPCs, not accepting rewards for completed side quests, indiscriminate killing of towns people, threatening NPCs... If you find your Alignment score is out of position try doing actions that will reposition your score to the one you chose. Your alignment will also affect the Planar Binding spells. More specifically what creature you can summon. Lesser Planar Binding Good Lantern Archon Neutral Red Slaad Evil Imp Planar Binding Good Hound archon Neutral Green Slaad Evil Succubus Greater Planar Binding Good Celestial Avenger Neutral Death Slaad Evil Vrock Most players think the Celestial Avenger is the best summoned creature for the Greater Planar Binding spell so you may want to take this into consideration. ******************************************************************************* C) ABILITIES ************ INT (intelligence) is the most important ability for a wizard. Your INT affects what spells you can cast and how powerful they are. Any bonus points over the amount need to cast the spell are used to counter the spell resistance of your opponent. Say you have a base INT score of 20 and a +3 int magic item and a +2 bonus from a fox cunning spell. When you cast a level 9 spell the remaining 6 points are factored into overcoming your opponents spell resistance. (20 - 10 - 9 = 1 + 3 + 2 = 6) Basically you want to max this out to keep your spells from being resisted. Remember a Wizards power is in his spells. Do everything you can to make your spells more powerful. Leave the melee fighting to the professionals. Try not to have ability penalties in key areas if you can avoid them. Here are some examples: Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha Character Concept 12 12 14 16 10 10 Balanced Spellcaster (A good all-round mage) 8 12 14 18 10 8 Pure Spellcaster (90 lbs Powercaster) 8 15 15 16 10 8 Defensive Spellcaster (Dodge, Dodge, Dodge) 10 12 14 15 12 12 Rogue, Monk Caster (Good for Multi-class) There are lots of ways to design a Wizard, but the above list should be enough to get you started. I wouldn't recommend Multi-classing though because IMO the Wizard doesn't make a particularly strong multi-class character. With spells being the life blood of a wizard every level in a different class equals spell power lost. A level of Rogue or Monk may be useful for the added feats. I'll make some recommendations here: * STR (Strength): Not very important for a Wizard. The only thing you gain is more lifting power to carry loot from chests and a small melee bonus. It is useful for certain types of magic bows but I wouldn't go above 12. There are Bags of Holding that can make your loot weightless and, as I have said so many times before, a wizard should not engage in melee fighting anyway so don't be afraid to lower this to 8 and have a -1 penalty to add more points to INT and gain more power for your spells. You'll just have to get used to casting Bulls Strength on yourself until you find an item to give you a STR bonus. * DEX (Dexterity): Important. Allows you to raise your AC a little against any bolts, arrows, or ranged touch attacks. It also helps your attack with crossbows longbows and shortbows. Always look for better bows to take advantage of it. You may want to raise it to at least 13 to take advantage of the Point Blank Shot and Rapid Shot feats. These feats will be a big help in taking out the monsters that make it through your spells and give you some long range hitting power so you don't have to waste a spell. * CON (Constitution): 1d4 hit points per level can make it very difficult for a Mage to survive solo. If your going to try to solo drop some extra points here (12-15) to make your life a little easier. This should allow you to survive at least 2 hits before dying. CON also allows you to get some bonuses on Fortitude Saves. This type of saving throw is where a Wizard is the weakest. Poison attacks from spiders will drive you crazy if this is too low. Also adds a bonus to concentration (a vital skill for a wizard). * INT (Intelligence): THE MOST IMPORTANT ABILITY for a Wizard needs. Throw as many points here as you can spare. Have at least 14 or you won't have the points later on to memorize 9 level spells. 16-17 is pretty decent while 18 will max this out. The more points you have here the harder your spells are to resist. The more points you have here the more bonus skill points you get as well so when you level so you can chose some non class skills. This stat should be your main focus for placing extra points at levels 4-8-12-16-20. * WIS (Wisdom): This really only serves 2 purposes. 1- it increases Will saves but Wizards have good will saves even without bonuses. 2- It helps you with your heal skill with healing kits. Unless, at the beginning of the game, you don't mind constantly running back to a Cleric to heal, you should keep this at 10. * CHA (Charisma): If there was a ever a place to take points from it would be this. For a wizard in NWN this stat serves only a few minor purposes and that is 1- to persuade NPCs to get side quests, 2- to get added information from them and 3- get a bigger reward. No bad really but, it is just too easy to increase this stat artificially by using the Eagles Splendor spell and one of many magic items in the game. You can get two of these from some henchman as reward for helping them during your main quest. When I played I was able to get virtually every side quest doing this and I had a CHA of 8. Just cast the spell and keep asking If the NPC won't give you the quest or info the first time and get used to NPC calling you ugly. By the middle of the game you should be very rich so a little less coin isn't going to hurt you. I personally don't think a wizard should be pretty anyway. ******************************************************************************* D) SKILLS ********* A Wizard, with his +INT skill bonus will get more bonus points than any other class. They don't have many class specific skills so you can invest the extra points in other skills and still max out your class specific skills. This can make for some interesting combinations. **** The most important skills are: * CONCENTRATION [CON]: No question about it. Max it out. This skill allows you to continue casting a spell even if your hit during the casting process. That way if a melee fighter gets a hit to connect you can still finish the spell and clobber him. May help against archers as well. * HEAL [WIS]: Don't max this one even though it is a class specific skill. This will allow you to use a medical kit to heal large amounts of damage and cure poison and disease. A single medical kit can restore up to 30 or more points per use! Normally you can always heal 20 points with this skill, so with 5 skill points you will heal 25+ damage on each use. 10 points will allow you to cure most poisons and diseases. The cost of a medical kit is very cheap and you will find lots of them in the game. * LORE [INT]: Get it high but it's not necessary to max this one. This skill allows you to freely identify magical items. It does save you a lot of gold at the beginning of the game so get it high initially. There are a ton of magic items and potions to help increase this skill. You can also use the Identify spell to increase it. If an item still lists as unidentified when you examine it then this can only mean that the item is so incredibly powerful that you should run to the closest shop to have it identified. * SPELLCRAFT [INT]: Two words... MAX it. Wizards are very good at counter-spelling opponents, so you better know which spells you can counter at all costs. This skills allows you to know what spell is being cast by an enemy mage and gives you a chance to counterspell it. As a bonus per every 5 skill points in this skill, you get a +1 to ALL spell saving throws. **** Some good places to put bonus skill points are: Remember that NON-CLASS specific skills cost twice as many skill points to increase the skill up one point. * DISARM TRAPS [INT]: I think that every wizard should put at least one point here right at the start of the game. With just one point you will be able to disarm the vast majority of the traps right up to Chapter 3. Examine a trap if it doesn't disarm the first time. You gain a bonus if you examine a trap before you disarm it. Note: Only rogues can disable traps with a DC of 35 of higher so there will be a few you can't get past. Here is a trick for disabling the traps you can't disarm. Cast a Summon Creature I spell on top of the trap and watch the badger set it off. Yes its cruel but it only costs 1 first level spell. There are a few chests you won't be able to disarm. In those cases use your familiar to trigger the trap or bash it open with arrows. You will need a lot of arrows so be patient. If that fails try the knock spell. * SEARCH [INT]: Good skill to place some extra points. Helps You find traps. You won't be as good as a Rogue but with the INT bonus you will be better than the other classes. Of course you can always leave this task to your familiar (Panther, Fairy...) so you can concentrate on disarming. * SET TRAP [DEX]: Nice skill for ambushes and you only need a few points here to set good traps. I personally like to use this skill when there are a bunch of low level monsters in a room. Just set the trap and then fire an arrow at the middle of the mob and wait. One decent trap can kill 1-3 low level monsters and damage many more. A row of traps in a hallway can kill the bigger ones. Great skill for soloing because it helps you save your spells for the realy tough monsters. * HIDE [DEX]: OK skill when you are out of spells. This skill allows you to hide from enemies. Can be of some help if you choose to solo early on in the game when you don't have a lot of spells. Also helps if you need to resort to hit and run tactics to kill a tough monster. Basically cast a few spells then run and hide, rest, repeat. * MOVE SILENTLY [DEX]: OK skill. Use this mostly to get a good first ranged attack or spell off. You get a bonus to your attack if you do this without being spotted. You will also loose your enemies quicker with this skill if you need to get away. Use it in combination with the hide skill to make good hit and run attacks. * SPOT [WIS]: OK skill. Helps you spot distant or hidden enemies. Great for spotting enemies before they see you. Allows you to know what your up against and get the first attack off. * LISTEN [WIS]: OK skill. Works like spot except you can sometimes detect a monster through a wall or door. * PERSUADE [CHA]: IF you have extra points and you can't put them anywhere else AND you don't have a 8 base score in charisma then put them here. This skill allows you to have NPC's give you optional quests and better rewards for quests completed. ******************************************************************************* E) FEATS ******** Feats are innate abilities to your character. There are no ranks or progression. You either have the feat or you don't. Feats are what distinguish a Wizard from a Sorcerer. Wizards get 4 more feats than Sorcerer. This lets the wizard specialize by allowing him to cast more of his spells at full power or longer duration. Many of the non-magical feats also work pretty well with a wizard. There are magic items that can grant added feats while they are worn. A wizard can choose 11 feats during the game. **** Some of the must have feats are: * MAXIMIZE SPELL: Far and away the most useful meta-magic feat. Allows you to cast your spells at full power. This feat will transform your mid-level damage spells into awesome spells of mass destruction. For example a Flame Arrow spell will hit for 120 dmg or 60 dmg against a successful reflex save. A Maxed Cone of Cold does 120 dmg. Requires you to cast your spells 3 slots higher so a level 6 spell becomes a level 9 spell. You begin to use this later when your at level 12 or higher. * SPELL FOCUS: You want to take Spell Focus in a school of magic that has a lot spells that require saving throws. Begin with Evocation for direct damage spells. Next take Necromancy for its death spells (lethal to mages) and then maybe Abjuration (for countering mages with dispell magic and Spell Breach). Also consider the Illusion school (Shadow Spells for fighting mages and Weird for battling fighters) and the Enchantment school (Mind spells). You get a +2 bonus against spell saving throws plus the bonus from the spellcraft skill in the chosen schools. Enemies get -2 penalty to saving throws against the spells from these schools. The bonus may not seem like a big deal until later in the game when the monsters will have a very high saving throws and every point will count. Only apply spell focus to each spell school one time as the effects don't stack. * SPELL PENETRATION: A must have spell feat. You might think that a +2 bonus isn't that big of a deal, but all adds up. This feat is invaluable in that you get a +2 added to EVERY spell you cast to beat an opponents spell resistance. A wizard would be foolhardy to not take this feat. * EXTEND SPELL: Very useful at mid levels for doubling the duration of buffing /enhancing spells. A simple Enhanced Bulls Strength cast at level 3 will last 18 hours or until your next rest. Requires you to cast your spells 1 slot higher so a level 2 spell becomes a level 3 spell. * EMPOWER SPELL: Useful spell feat for direct damage spells and protective spells like Spell Mantle. Gives you a 50% increase in your spell rolls (number of targets, damage, etc.) except for duration. Requires you to cast your spells 2 slots higher so a level 7 spell becomes a level 9 spell. * COMBAT CASTING: This feat is very difficult to decide if its a must have feat because it is so crucial to a wizards survival early on, but it then loses its importance when you get to the upper levels. The feat enables you to cast a spell at close range and not lose the spell if your hit while casting. Without this feat you get a -4 to all concentration skill checks when engaged in melee combat. If your hit with anything, even a stray arrow, at the early levels you will loose your concentration and the spell will be lost. With concentration being your primary skill, it will be very rare for you to miss a Concentration check at level 16 - 20 if concentration is maxed. If you chose to try and solo you may want this feat to survive the early levels. You can solo without it and hope for a magic item early on to increase your concentration score but, you will need to focus on hit and run tactics and save often to survive. Even if you don't solo this feat will save you early on and may even protect you when your fighting a high level fighter at the later levels. So if you die because you couldn't get a spell off and you didn't take this feat you can't say you were not warned. **** Some feats to consider are: * SILENT SPELL: The only real reason I even consider Silent Spell is for battling Bards and Clerics in multiplayer. When you get this feat, always - I mean ALWAYS - keep a Dispel Magic with this feat memorized. The first time you get your but handed to you on a silver platter by some lower level Bard because they cast a SILENCE spell you will understand why this feat is important in multiplayer. You will NEVER use this during the single player game but you just never know when a Bard or Cleric will cast Silence, Deafness, etc... so better be safe than sorry in multiplayer. If you don't take this feat and you plan to play online be prepared to run. Requires you to cast your spells 1 slot higher so a level 3 spell becomes a level 4 spell. * GREATER FORTITUDE: Nice feat. Helps a wizard where he is weakest; to overcome Fortitude based spells, poison, and diseases. This feat combined with a magic item can be a life saver in the spider infested areas of the game. You can also count on running into spider pets from other mages during multiplayer. Adds an extra +2 to Fortitude saves. * THOUGHNESS: Nice feat early on. Gives you 1 extra hit point per level retroactively. So if you take this at level 3 you get 3 hit points plus one more each time you level up. I think this a better feat to take earlier when you only have 5-7 hit points than later when you have 100 - 150. The extra hit points can make all the difference. Early in the game a single stray arrow after a fight can kill you. Just 1 or 2 hit points will let you survive to run away or cast a spell. Later on you will also appreciate the bonus hit points after a long and grueling battle. Gives a max of 20 permanent hit points. * POINT BLANK SHOT: Good feat when used in concert with the Rapid Shot feet and a Haste spell. Take this feat if you want to be more skilled with your bow. A couple of ordinary arrows can have the same effect as a magic missile spell. There are a lot of great arrows types out there that do additional damage as well. Use your bow to take out an opponent who has been weakened and save some spells for another target. Also makes it easier for a wizard to survive melee combat when he is out of spells. This feat avoids the -4 penalty to attack rolls for using missile weapons in close combat and grants a +1 to Attack Roll and Damage for using missile weapons (i.e. bows) within 15' of the target creature. * RAPID SHOT: Good feat when used in concert with the Haste spell. The Point Blank Shot feat and a DEX of at least 13 are required. Same as above. Use it with your bow to take out weakened opponents quickly without resorting to spells. A Wizard with this feat takes an extra attack per round when using a bow (doesn't work with crossbows), but all attacks made that round are at -2 to Attack Rolls. This feat works well for wizards because it helps him conserve spells and lets him attack at range where he is safer. Wizards can also afford the 2 feats needed because of the 4 extra bonus feats as compared to Sorcerers. * QUICKEN SPELL: Ok feat. Quickened spells can not be countered and they give you one more spell attack for that round. Some people really like this feat because they can cast a spell instantly if they have the feat. This might be a better feat for sorcerers who have a few extra spells to spend on it. For Wizards I can't recommend this feat because of the high cost of using it. It Requires you to cast your spells 4, thats right, 4 slots higher so a level 5 spell becomes a level 9 spell. The only real use I can see for this spell is to get a quick Improved Invisibility spell off to save you from getting killed. Could also use it to get a quick Flame Arrow off but I would much rather have the Maxed version instead. * STILL SPELL: Iffy. You can cast spells while wearing armor without any penalties but you need to get the armor feat first and it just isn't worth it to wear armor. Requires you to cast your spells 1 slot higher so a level 3 spell becomes a level 4 spell. * IRON WILL: Iffy. May save you from an instant death spell but wizards should have a big enough will save to not need this. There are also lots of magic items that improve this save. Gives you a +2 bonus to your Will saves. * LIGHTNING REFLEXES: Iffy. May save you from some of the effects of a magic arrow or better your chances at surviving a Fireball spell. There are also lots of magic items that improve this save. Gives you a +2 bonus to your reflex saves. ******************************************************************************* F) FAMILIAR *********** This is an important choice to make when you play in multiplayer because it gives you one more member for you group. The familiar can play the role of support fighter, rogue, or scout if your party doesn't have one. It can also substitute for a member if he gets killed or is otherwise incapacitated. I personally never used a familiar during the single player game for 4 reasons: 1- If your familiar dies you lose 1d6 hit points. Let me put it this way, a second level Wizard with 6 hit points that lets his familiar die could DIE as well. They work better when your wizard is at a higher level and has more hit points so he can survive if his familiar dies. 2- Your familiar will level up as you do so you don't get any bonus experience points for having him fight with you like you would with a Summon Creature I. In fact you will lose some because experience is based on the number and average level of your party. So it will take longer to level up if you have your familiar fight with you. You can get around this by unsummoning your familiar before the monster dies so only you get credit for the kill, but this is only practical when your alone facing one boss monster. 3- If you choose Elf as your race and configure his skills correctly then a wizard doesn't need one except as a meat shield. 4- The higher your level is the better treasure you get. You can level up much faster without one if you solo. With that said here are the familiars: * PANTHER, HELL HOUND: These are the best familiars for a wizard as they provide a good meat shield and decent melee attacks. They can also spot traps so they are better overall than the Imp, Fire Mephit, Ice Mephit, Raven and Bat. The larger size will, however, make them easier to spot. Despite this they still make great scouts. The panthers higher hit points, high sneak attack bonus, evasion, and uncanny dodge 5 feats make it the best attacker of the two. The panther is really the only familiar that can dish out damage at a decent rate. The Hell Hound gets a cone of fire attack at level 10 and 2 of them at level 20. His standard attacks will also do more damage, due to an added fire bonus on each attack, than the standard attacks of the panther (excluding sneak attacks). The Hell Hound is also the better scout due to his dark vision feat. All things considered I would still give the edge to the Panther as the best familiar for a wizard. To get the most out of them in a fight use them to attack from behind where you can take advantage of their special bonus attacks on an occupied opponent. If you need to use them as a frontline fighters then cast plenty of buffs (Bull Strength, Cats Grace, Stoneskin ...) before the fight starts to keep them alive longer. * PIXIE: Better than the Imp, Fire Mephit, Ice Mephit, and Raven and Bat in many ways. She can find the traps AND disarm them! A great little rogue. If you possess her she (you) can cast the Improved Invisibility spell on your wizard or members of your party. She has poor fighting skills so don't keep her anywhere near a battle or she will die quickly. The only thing keep her from being a top choice is the irritating twinkling noise she makes. Its OK for the first few minutes, even a little entertaining, but the noise will rapidly get on your nerves. If you can stand the noise she makes then she is the most practical familiar for her skills. You can also use her to trigger/unlock treasure chests you can't bash open. She even has a sneak attack that she can use if you can keep the monster busy. * RAVEN, ICE MEPHIT, FIRE MEPHIT, IMP: Use their dark vision feat to scout ahead in dungeons, caves, and other dark areas for danger. You can possess the familiar to take control of it. They can all find traps but not disarm them, you will have to do that when you get to them. Imps can cast the Invisibility spell. The Raven has a disarm weapon and taunt feat but they rarely work. The Imp, Fire Mephit, and Ice Mephit are better at fighting than the Raven and Bat but are by no means tanks so keep them all away from the front line. * BAT : Use this one for scouting in caves and other dark areas where you can get the most out of his Listen skill. His fear spells work well against weak to mid level monsters. Overall not a very useful familiar. ******************************************************************************* G) SPECIALIZATION ***************** Ok, you still can't decide if you want to be a Wizard or a Sorcerer. Fortunately there is a middle of the road spellcaster called the Specialist Wizard. More spell choices and feats than a Sorcerer. More spells than a Wizard. So what's the catch? Well if you want to be a Specialist Wizard you will have to give up a group of spells to memorize and cast. All Wizard/Sorcerer spells are organized into schools each with a pool of spells. When you specialize in a school there is a prohibited school that you can't memorize spells from. You can't even cast spells from the prohibited school using scrolls. The most important thing to decide when choosing to be a Specialist Wizard is what spells you can live without. Your spell school of choice will become your first or 0 level feat. A Spell Focus feat. Here is a list of all the spells organized into their schools: Abjuration - Prohibited school: Conjuration (0) Resistance; (1) Endure Elements, Protection from Alignment; (2) Lesser Dispel, Resist Elements; (3) Dispel Magic, Magic Circle against Alignment, Protection from Elements; (4) Lesser Spell Breach, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Remove Curse, Stoneskin; (5) Dismissal, Energy Buffer, Lesser Mind Blank, Lesser Spell Mantle; (6) Globe of Invulnerability, Greater Dispelling, Greater Spell Breach; (7) Spell Mantle; (8) Mind Blank; (9) Greater Spell Mantle, Mordenkainen's Disjunction Conjuration - Prohibited school: Transmutation (0) Ray of Frost; (1) Grease, Mage Armor, Summon Creature I; (2) Melf's Acid Arrow, Summon Creature II, Web; (3) Flame Arrow, Stinking Cloud, Summon Creature III; (4) Evard's Black Tentacles, Summon Creature IV; (5) Cloudkill, Lesser Planar Binding, Summon Creature V; (6) Acid Fog, Planar Binding, Summon Creature VI; (7) Summon Creature VII; (8) Greater Planar Binding, Summon Creature VIII; (9) Gate, Summon Creature IX Divination - Prohibited school: Illusion (1) Identify; (2) See Invisibility; (3) Clairaudience & Clairvoyance, Find Traps; (4) Remove Blindness & Deafness; (5) Feeblemind; (6) Legend Lore, True Seeing; (7) Power Word Stun; (8) Premonition; (9) Power Word Kill Enchantment - Prohibited school: Illusion (0) Daze; (1) Charm Person, Sleep; (2) Blindness & Deafness; (3) Hold Person; (4) Charm Monster, Confusion; (5) Dominate Monster, Hold Monster, Mind Fog; (6) Mass Haste; (7) Protection from Spells; (8) Mass Charm; (9) Dominate Monster Evocation - Prohibited school: Conjuration (0) Light; (1) Magic Missile; (2) Darkness; (3) Fireball, Lightning Bolt; (4) Elemental Shield, Ice Storm, Wall of Fire; (5) Cone of Cold; (6) Chain Lightning; (7) Delayed Blast Fireball, Prismatic Spray; (8) Incendiary Cloud; (9) Meteor Swarm Illusion - Prohibited school: Enchantment (1) Color Spray; (2) Ghostly Visage, Invisibility; (3) Invisibility Sphere; (4) Improved Invisibility, Phantasmal Killer, Shadow Conjuration; (5) Greater Shadow Conjuration; (6) Ethereal Visage, Shades; (7) Shadow Shield; (8) Mass Blind & Deafness; (9) Weird Necromancy - Prohibited school: Divination (1) Negative Energy Ray, Ray of Enfeeblement, Scare; (2) Ghoul Touch; (3) Clarity, Negative Energy Burst, Vampiric Touch; (4) Contagion, Enervation, Fear; (5) Animate Dead; (6) Circle of Death; (7) Control Undead, Finger of Death; (8) Create Undead, Horrid Wilting; (9) Energy Drain, Wail of the Banshee Transmutation - Prohibited school: Conjuration (1) Burning Hands; (2) Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, Eagle Splendor, Endure, Fox's Cunning, Knock, Owl's Wisdom, Ultravision; (3) Haste, Slow; (4) Bestow Curse, Polymorph Self; (6) Greater Stoneskin, Tenser's Transformation; (7) Mordenkainen's Sword; (9) Shapechange, Time Stop Study this list and the list of spells that I cover in SPELLS to help you decide what school to specialize in. With the automatic Spell Focus feat in the school you choose you are making it harder for an enemy to resist your spells cast from that school. Choose a school with a lot of spells that need saves against them like Evocation, Enchantment, Necromancy, or Illusion. With Specialization, remember to focus on what you are losing. Abjuration, Evocation, and Transmutation specialists lose all the Conjuration spells, so no Summons spells, Melf's, Web, Acid Fog or Cloudkill. Necromancers lose all Divination spells, so no Identify, See Invisibility, Feeblemind, Premonition, or Power Word Kill. Illusionists lose Enchantment, so no Holds, Charms, Mind Fog, Mass Haste, Protection from Spells, or Dominates. Divination and Enchantment specialists lose Illusions, so no Color Spray, Invisibilities, Phantasmal Killer, Shadow Shield or Weird. Conjurers lose Transmutation, so no attribute boosters, Haste, Tenser's Transformation, or Time Stop. This is just a sample of the spells each specialist wizard must give up for taking a school. IMO the ability to cast an extra spell per spell level is probably well worth the losses. One more thing to consider; a specialist wizard suffers a -5 penalty when trying to counter spell a spell from a prohibited school. My school of choice was the Illusion school. I chose it mainly for the prohibited school Enchantment. I'm just not a big fan of using a spell to hold or charm an enemy. Your going to have to kill him anyway so I would rather use a spell that will damage or kill my opponent than charm him. IMO Spell Mantle is a better spell than Protection from Spells so the only notable spell I was losing was Mass Haste. BTW Mass Haste is a huge multiplayer spell so be prepared to do some explaining when you join a party. I also never used any of the Enchantment spells when I was a generalist Wizard playing the single player campaigns. If you chose elf as your race you also get a +2 bonus to resisting Enchantment spells so elves make great Illusionists. ******************************************************************************* *********** 4- HENCHMEN *********** My first time through the game as a wizard I used a henchman for a while just to get used to the class and to test how beneficial each henchman was to a Wizard. IMO you can solo without one if you plan your character right. It will defiantly be much harder but you will gain more experience and level faster than by having one with you. Your first time through the game as a wizard you should get one, at least until your at level 7 and you can cast a level 4 spell. This will give you a chance to make a few mistakes and not pay for them with your life. At level 7 a wizard begins to get powerful enough to go it alone in the single player campaign without a lot of help. So here they are. The best idea is to find a henchman that compliments your wizards skills. I'll list them in the order of my preference. * GRIMGNAW - Combat Type (Monk): I hate to admit it but this guy was actually my favorite henchman. He is pure fury in a bottle with an attitude to boot. I have seen him connect with 40+ criticals and put a monster away with one hit. Probably the best melee fighting henchman in the game. You may have trouble with his king of death attitude (it is way overly done), and his rather grisly side quests. Beware, this guy loves trouble and frequently took off at the first sight of any opponent. Several times I had to rush into battle unprepared just to save him when he took off. If you need some heavy hitting power, and what wizard doesn't, then Grimgnaw is your choice. Make sure to buff him at all times with Bull Strength, Cats Grace, Owls Wisdom... to help keep him alive longer. - PROS: *Heavy damage per round. This guy is a pure tank. *Anybody attacking him will be wide open for a spell or a sneak attack from your familiar. *Great for clearing entire rooms while you raid the treasure chests - CONS: *No spells or special abilities *Poor at will saves *His attitude can make your stomach queasy *Will rush into a fight at any time so be prepared *You will need to detect and disarm traps * DALEAN RED TIGER - Combat Type (Barbarian): I expected a unruly, blood thirsty orc; but this guy is a priest with Conans body. Easily the most likable character with a tragic past. You will quickly get a soft spot for Dalean. He is like a little lost puppy that transforms into a vicious great dane when there is trouble and then back to a puppy when the coast is clear. However make no mistake about it, this guy can really dish out some solid hits. I think he is the best fighter at combating multiple opponents and keeping them away from you. A great henchman for a wizard. I had to actually force myself to get another one. Make sure to buff him at all times with Bull Strength, Cats Grace, Owls Wisdom... to help keep him alive longer. - PROS: *Solid damage per round. Probably the best fighter for taking on more than one opponent. *Anybody attacking him will be wide open for a spell or a sneak attack from your familiar. *Charming personality. Makes you want to fight along side and talk with him. - CONS: *No spells or special abilities *Poor at will save spells *Vulnerable to Fireball and other elemental attacks *You will need to detect and disarm traps * LINU LA'NERAL - Caster Type (Cleric): Lovely voice, absent minded demeanor. She has a hilarious past and is worth taking with you just to listen to it. Some of the comments she repeats do get a little annoying though. Great healer and will do wonders with undead attackers. She is kind of a half-warrior but she doesn't do a lot of heavy hitting until later in the game. Be prepared to dish out a lot of direct damage spells. You may want to summon a panther familiar for some added muscle. Make sure to buff your familiar or yourself at all times with Bull Strength, Cats Grace, Mage Armor... to help stay alive. Not a good choice for a henchman for a Wizard until you get to level 5 and can cast a level 3 spell. She works great on the undead areas though. - PROS: *Great healing spells *Great for the large number undead areas *Hilarious story *Autodetect traps - CONS: *Not a frontline fighter *You will need to do a lot of the damage *You will need to disarm the traps *You will need to open locked chests *You may want to summon a panther familiar for some added muscle. * BODDYKNOCK GLINCKLE - Caster Type (Sorcerer): Think of Spock in Sorcerers robes and you have Boddyknock Glinckle. His story was interesting but not nearly as entertaining as Linus. So what happens when you get two spell casters together for an adventure? Pure fireworks. Boddyknock has a lot of direct damage spells, unfortunately he doesn't use them very well and he seems to be better at buffing you then letting loose a Fireball spell. Our battles with other monsters seemed to vary with Boddyknock casting a lot of direct damage spells one time and lots of buffs the next. May have something to do with my location to a monster compared to his. When it works well, it's very cool with some nice looking effects. One irritating thing he would do, however, is to cast Knock spells every time I went over to a locked treasure chest, effectively wasting a spell. Just like a wizard he is a poor melee fighter so take your opponents down at a distance with your best spells and never get into a melee battle. Not a good choice for a henchman for a Wizard until you get to level 7 and can cast a level 4 spell but worth it when you do just to see two spellcasters laying down some serious smack. Boddyknock also has a VERY good magic item that he gives you if you help him complete his side quest. The magic item will also boost your charisma score so you can afford to keep it low. - PROS: *Great spell caster *Worth traveling with just to see all the direct damage spells *The magic item in his side quest is very nice for a Wizard - CONS: *Very weak frontline fighter *Inconsistent choice of spells in battle *You will need to detect and disarm traps *You will need to rest a lot to recharge your spells * SHARWYN - Rogue Type (Bard): Sensual voice, flirtatious demeanor. I'm sure she will be the favorite henchman of every teenage boy. Basically she a hottie, but I never really cared for her story as it was neither tragic nor entertaining. A kind of broken love story. She uses ranged attacks mostly so try and do most of your damage at a distance. Serviceable healer and spellcaster. You will want to summon a panther familiar for some added muscle. Make sure to buff your familiar, yourself, and her at all times with Bull Strength, Cats Grace, Mage Armor... to help stay alive. She is probably the worst henchman for a Wizard BUT if you complete her side quest you get a magic item that will help your charisma score. Not a good choice for a henchman as a Wizard until you get to level 7 and can cast a level 4 spell. I could almost see her pouty lips as I left her for another henchman. - PROS: *If your low on charisma then the magic item you get might be worth traveling with her *Decent healer *Decent spellcaster *Range attacker - CONS: *Not a frontline fighter *You will need to do most of the damage *You will need to detect and disarm traps *You need to summon a panther familiar for some added muscle. - TOMI 'GRIN' UNDERGALLOWS - Rogue Type (Rogue): I never liked Tomi so I spent the least amount of time with him. He seemed to much like juvenile delinquent. If you listen to his story you get the impression that he will turn on you at any time so I always kept a close eye on him. He has a decent list of skills and is probably the most versatile henchman out there but his voice and his attitude irritated me about as much as the Pixie familiars twinkling. Hmmm. Well maybe not that much. Still if you don't want to spend points to disarm traps and open doors and chests with spells then he is your man. He is not a fighter by any stretch but he can do a good deal of sneak attack damage when he gets the chance. You will want to summon a panther familiar for some added muscle. Make sure to buff your familiar, yourself, and him at all times with Bull Strength, Cats Grace, Mage Armor... to help stay alive. Not a good choice for a henchman as a Wizard until you get to level 7 and can cast a level 4 spell. - PROS: *Detects and disarms traps *Opens locked doors and chests *Can do sneak attacks - CONS: *Weak frontline fighter *You will need to do most of the damage *You need to summon a panther familiar for some added muscle ******************************************************************************* ********* 5- SPELLS ********* Ok here is a list of spells for a wizard. I don't include every spell so this is not an exhaustive list but I have all of the useful ones. I also have some spells to avoid so you don't waste a spell. If you are going to be a specialist wizard study this list closely especially the level 6, 7, 8, and 9 spells. ************** LEVEL 0 SPELLS ************** The only useful spell here is resistance. It was the only one I used during the game. Unfortunately its effects don't stack if you cast it twice. Memorize 2 or 3 of the resistance spells because it's effects doesn't last very long. **** DAZE : (Enchantment) Range : Long Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 2 Rounds Additional Counter Spells: Clarity Save : Will Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Daze 5Hd or less Weak spell. Only affects low level monsters at 5 hit die or less. Dazed for 2 rounds. These can be killed in one or two hits anyway so why bother. **** LIGHT : (Evocation) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Hour / Level Additional Counter Spells: Darkness Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Light source I guess you could use this if you don't want to carry a torch otherwise a useless spell. **** RAY OF FROST : (Conjuration) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : 1d4 + 1 cold damage I don't know why this spell is even in the single player campaign of the game considering that you get an unlimited use Frost wand that can be used to cast this spell. You would have to be a complete idiot to use this spell. **** RESISTANCE : (Abjuration) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 2 Turns Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : +1 to all saving throws Nice buffing spell to use during the entire game. Cast right before going into battle. ************** LEVEL 1 SPELLS ************** Lots of spells here that will affect multiple monsters and a couple of useful buffing spells. Use these in the early levels against weak monsters. Most of these spells will not scale up as you level. **** BUNRNING HANDS : (Transmutation) Range : 30 ft Area of Effect / Target : Spell Cone Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : Reflex 1/2 Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : 1d4 Fire dammage per caster level, Max 5d4 A great spell early on. Does 4-20 hit points of damage with reflex save for half damage over a wide area. Affects multiple enemies. A must have early in the game, but worthless once you can use Level 3 spells. Use it for crowd control. **** CHARM PERSON : (Enchantment) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 2 Rounds + 1 / 3 Levels Additional Counter Spells: Clarity Save : Will Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Charm Decent spell for the first few levels. I personally would rather use a spell to kill monster than charm him. You could use it on a crowd of monsters to thin them out. **** COLOR SPRAY : (Illusion) Range : Cone, 30ft Area of Effect / Target : Spell Cone Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : Will Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : 1-2 Hd: Sleep for 3 + 1d4 rounds 3-4 Hd: Blinded for 2 + 1d4 rounds Over 4 Hd: Stunned for 1 + 1d4 round Good spell early on. Does a variety of helpful ailments to enemy monsters over a wide area. Use it for crowd control. After this spell is cast quickly kill the sleeping monsters with a melee attack and then focus on the monsters that still move. **** IDENTIFY : (Divination) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Personal Duration : 2 Rounds Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : Effects : Lore skill bonus of 10 +1 per caster level I never used this spell during the game as I could identify every item I came across. This spell allows you to identify items that you failed at previously. The spell is cheaper than having the item identified at the temple or from a merchant at 42 gold for the spell scroll versus 100 gold for each item. **** MAGE ARMOR : (Conjuration) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Hour / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : +1 natural armor, +1 dodge, +1 deflection, and +1 enhancement A must have spell. Raises your AC rating. Dodge bonus will stack. Nice buffing spell to use during the entire game. Cast right before going into battle at the early levels. **** MAGIC MISSILE : (Evocation) Range : Long Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : 1d4+1 points of damage each A great spell that you will use throughout the game. Does damage at long distance and will kill most early level monsters. This is a good spell to use if your are trying to solo or use hit and run attacks. Later in the game you will use it to destroy trapped chests and doors. You get 1 missile per 2 character levels up to a max of 5. Does 0-5 hit points of damage per missile. A maxed magic missile always does 25 hit points damage. Magic Missles don't have saving throws but can be easily blocked with buffs by other mages. **** PROTECTION FROM ALIGNMENT: (Abjuration) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Hour / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : +2 deflection bonus to AC, +2 to all saving throws, immunity to mind based spells A must have spell. Increases your saving throws. Useful even at the later levels of the game. Nice buffing spell to use during the entire game. Cast right before going into battle. Most of the monsters you face in the single player campaign are of Evil alignment. Also gives a immunity to mind based spells and an AC bonus. **** SLEEP : (Enchantment) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Huge Duration : 3 Rounds + 1 / Caster Level Additional Counter Spells: Clarity Save : Will Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Puts 4 + 1d4 Hd monsters to sleep, 5 Hd or more are unaffected A great spell early on. You can cast this spell from a distance. Wide area of effect. After this spell is cast quickly kill the sleeping monsters with a melee attack and then focus on the monsters that still move. Use it for crowd control. **** SUMMON CREATURE I : (Conjuration) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Point Duration : 24 Hours Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : No Effects : Summons a dire badger A must have spell for 3 reasons: 1- Use the summoned badger as a meat shield, 2- Use the summoned badger to set of traps you can't disarm, 3- Use the summoned badger to get more experience points after you reach the 7th level. ************** LEVEL 2 SPELLS ************** Mostly ability buffing spells here. All of them increase one of the main abilities for a long time. Helpful to have these spells cast at all times. **** BULL'S STRENGTH, CATS GRACE : (Transmutation) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Hour / Level Additional Counter Spells: Ray of Enfeeblement, (none) Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Strength, Dexterity is increased by 1d4+1 Good buffing spells to cast on any member in your group. Adds a STR and DEX bonus. Try to cast them on the members doing most of the melee fighting like henchman, panther familiars, summoned creatures. **** EAGLES SPLENDER : (Transmutation) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Hour / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Charisma is increased by 1d4+1 A good buffing spell to use if your charisma is 8. Adds an CHR bonus to help you get the optional quests, information and added money from NPC characters. Great spell to cast on a sorcerer in your group as it will make their spells harder to resist. **** ENDURANCE : (Transmutation) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Hour / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : None Effects : Constitution is increased by 1d4+1 A must have spell to cast on your wizard in the early levels. Adds hit points to help you survive. Also increases fortitude saving throws. Helpful to have this spell cast at all times. Maximize this spell to get the greatest benefit. **** FOX's CUNNING : (Transmutation) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Hour / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Intelligence is increased by 1d4+1 A must have spell to cast on your wizard. Adds an INT bonus that can really help on making your spells harder to resist and helps your concentration and spellcraft skills. Helpful to have this spell cast at all times. Maximize this spell to get the greatest benefit. **** GHOSTLY VISAGE : (Illusion) Range : Personal Area of Effect / Target : Caster Duration : 1 Turn / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Damage reduction 5/+1, 10% concealment, immunity to level 0 and level 1 spells A great buffing spell early on in the game. Use it to protect you if you get surrounded. Loses its effectiveness after the first few levels of the game. Gives you immunity to level 0 and level 1 spells but you wont be fighting many mages early in the game. **** INVISIBILITY : (Illusion) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Turn / Level Additional Counter Spells: See Invisibility Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Invisible to normal vision. A good spell if you need to escape a battle. You will become visible again if you cast another spell or attack. I used this mostly to make my summoned badger harder to find and kill during the later levels of the game. **** KNOCK : (Transmutation) Range : Self Area of Effect / Target : Extreme Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : No Effects : Unlock doors and chests within 150ft radius. Doesn't unlock magicly sealed doors and chests. A good spell but I only use it on boss treasure chests to increase my odds at getting a better item. Opens all locked treasure chest in a wide area. Does not disable a booby trapped chest. Not worth memorizing early in the game as you need spells to help you survive. Later in the game its too easy to open multiple booby trapped chests with 1 fireball spell or use a weapon to bash them open. Most of the chests have the same treasure in them for OnDeath and OnOpen. Boss chests seem to be the only ones where you can significantly better your chances at getting a better item. **** LESSER DISPEL : (Abjuration) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Colossal Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : No Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Removes an effect from a creature if the caster can make a dispel check of 1d20, +1 per caster level (max +5) against a DC of 11 + the spell effect's caster's level. I never used this spell because there are only few spells that it works against and by the time you get to fight mages they will have spells that this spell will not counter. **** MELF'S ACID ARROW : (Conjuration) Range : Long Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Round, + 1 Round / 3 Levels Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : 3d6 dammage, +1d6 acid dammage for every round Great direct damage spell in the first few levels. Save this scroll when you get it in your basic training and drag it to your spell book when you get to level 3. Does more damage over time depending on your level but not as much you may think. Will kill most low level monsters and damage the stronger ones. Can disrupt low level mages from casting spells. I used this spell mainly to destroy chests and kill slower moving monsters like zombies. The inital hit from Melfs has no saving throw. **** OWLS WISDOM : (Transmutation) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Hour / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Wisdom is increased by 1d4+1. A good buffing spell to cast on any member in your group. Adds an WIZ bonus to help you resist any will based spells or overcome poison and disease with a healing kit. Good to use on fighters, barbarians, and your panther familiar. **** RESIST ELEMENTS : (Abjuration) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Turn / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Elemental damage resistance 20/-, ends after a max 30 points dammage from 1 elemental type A great buffing spell for elemental attacks and traps. Remove 20 hit points of damage. Short duration so cast right before a battle with mages or lower level Elemental attackers. **** SEE INVISIBILITY : (Divination) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Turn / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : See all invisible creatures If an enemy disappears use this spell to find them. I never used this spell in the single player campaign but I can see a need for it in multiplayer. **** SUMMON CREATURE II : (Conjuration) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Point Duration : 24 Hours Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : No Effects : Summons a dire boar Upgrade to Summon Creature I. Summons a dire boar; stronger and more powerful than the badger. **** WEB : (Conjuration) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Huge Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Freedom of Movement Save : Reflex Partial Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Entangles monsters, those that make save throw will move at a slower rate based on strength. A decent spell, it will trap lower level monsters and slow down the tougher ones. Loses its effectiveness after the first few levels of the game. Requires a reflex save to negate some of its effects. ************** LEVEL 3 SPELLS ************** This is when Wizards and Sorcerers finally begin to be a force to be reckoned with. You get the Fireball, Flame Arrow, and Lightning spell for a set of decent direct damage spells. The Haste spell also works great. **** DISPEL MAGIC : (Abjuration) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Single or Colossal Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Removes an effect from a creature if the caster can make a dispel check of 1d20, +1 per caster level (max +10) against a DC of 11 + the spell effect's caster's level. The only means you have early on to strip enemy mages of their protections. Good counterspell. A must have in multiplayer in concert with the Silent spell feat to defeat the Silence and Blindness and Deafness spells of Clerics, Bards and other enemy mages. **** FIND TRAPS : (Divination) Range : Personal Area of Effect / Target : Colossal Duration : 1 Turn / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : All traps within the area of effect are revealed Why would anybody want this spell! Use a familiar, pick elf for your race, use Linu or Tomi for your henchman. You going to have a lot of extra points so throw a few in to the Search skill. You will always have a rogue in multiplayer so this spell is rarely needed. **** FIREBALL : (Evocation) Range : Large Area of Effect / Target : Huge Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : Reflex 1/2 Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Fiery projectile that explodes dealing 1d6 points of fire damage per caster level, max of 10d6 A must have spell and your main weapon until you get 6th level spells. Detonates a fireball over a large area. Deals up to a max 60 hit points damage to multiple opponents. Make sure you know what rules you are playing when you cast this spell in multiplayer or you may toast your allies. A maxed Fireball does 60 damage. **** FLAME ARROW : (Conjuration) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : Reflex 1/2 Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Launches 1 fiery arrow at the target for every 4 caster levels. Each arrow does 4d6 points of damage. Very underrated spell. Scales up all the way to level 20. Each arrow does up to 24 hit points damage. You get an additional arrow every 4 character levels. A maxed Flame Arrow will do 120 hit points of damage or 60 if they succeed with their reflex saving throw. The dammage of each arrow is calculated separately. The Fireball spell is better at the early levels where there are more attackers or on those with elemental resistance. Good spell to use against Spell Mantles. **** HASTE : (Transmutation) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Slow Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Target gains 1 extra action per round and has their movement increased by 50%. A must have spell. Gives you one extra spell or attack per round and a 50% movement bonus. Use this spell on yourself or any member of your party including familiars and summoned creatures. **** INVISIBILTY SPHERE : (Illusion) Range : Personal Area of Effect / Target : Caster, 15ft Radius Duration : 1 Turn / Level Additional Counter Spells: Invisibility Purge Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Casts a zone of invisibility that travels with the caster. Those that leave the sphere are visible. A decent spell for multiplayer. Same as the Invisibility spell except that it works on a large group. A good spell to use to help your group escape. **** LIGHTNING BOLT : (Evocation) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Chain of targets in a straight line Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : Reflex 1/2 Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : The bolt does 1d6 points of electricity damage per caster level to all creatures in a straight line, max of 10d6. An underrated spell that has quite a few uses. Does electrical damage to multiple opponents in a straight line. It does flex a little to hit nearby opponents. Use it in hallways and corridors to kill a lot of low to mid level monsters. Excellent spell against undead opponents. **** MAGIC CIRCLE OF ALIGNMENT: (Abjuration) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single, Medium Duration : 1 Hour / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : +2 deflection bonus to AC, +2 to all saving throws, immunity to mind based spells to all allies within 10 feet including the caster. Your first group buffing spell. Same as the Protection From Alignment spell except that it works on a large group. Good spell to have for multiplayer. **** PROTECTION FROM ELEMENTS: (Abjuration) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 24 Hours Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Elemental damage resistance 30/-, ends after a max 40 points dammage from 1 elemental type Marginal upgrade from Resist Elements. You get an extra 10 points of protection. Lasts longer than Resist Elements. **** SLOW : (Transmutation) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Colossal, 1 Creature / Level Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Haste Save : Will Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : All monsters within the area of effect have movement lowered by 50% and lose a single attack per round. I only got this spell to work a few times to slow down a slower opponent. Its short range makes it difficult to target a monster and not get too close to it when your soloing. You could use it to counter the Haste spell. The spell is easier to use if you have henchmen, familiars or members of your party in multiplayer protecting you. **** STINKING CLOUD : (Conjuration) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Huge Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Fortitude Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : All monsters within the cloud are dazed. This spell never seemed to work very well for me because I would always cast a Fireball to kill the low level monsters and the ones that survived were not affected by this spell. **** SUMMON CREATURE III : (Conjuration) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Point Duration : 24 Hours Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : No Effects : Summons a dire wolf. Upgrade to Summon Creature II. Summons a dire wolf; stronger and more powerful than the boar. The wolf has the knockdown feat but doesn't use it very often. Your first decent attacking creature. **** VAMPIRIC TOUCH : (Necromancy) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Negative Energy Protection Save : None Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : The target takes 1d6 points of damage for every 2 caster levels. The hit points are temporary. The only bad thing about this spell is that is requires a touch attack. This spell gives you more hit points at the expense of your opponent with no saving throw. Use it on opponents that are trying to engage you in melee combat. A real cheesy attack is to use a maxed Vampiric Touch and Time Stop to get a ton of hit points. (This was fixed in version 1.25 so the effects no longer stack) The hit points are temporary and will disappear after a short time. ************** LEVEL 4 SPELLS ************** Good updates to several spells. These spells will however, lose their effectiveness when you get to level 14. **** BESTOW CURSE : (Transmutation) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : Permanent Additional Counter Spells: Remove Curse Save : Will Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Lowers all of the target's ability scores by 2. Why use this spell when Enervation is better in every way. **** CHARM MONSTER : (Enchantment) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 3 Rounds + 1 / 2 Levels Additional Counter Spells: Clarity Save : Will Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : In the eyes of the target the personal reputation of the caster is improved by 50%. Like I said before I don't think its worth wasting a spell to charm a monster when your going to have to kill him anyway. I never used this spell. **** ELEMENTAL SHIELD : (Evocation) Range : Personal Area of Effect / Target : Caster Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : None Effects : A successful melee attack on the caster will result in dammage equal to 1d6 +1 point per caster level. The caster also gains 50% immunity to cold and fire. The manual lists this spell as a 5th level spell but it is 4th level. Can only be cast on yourself. 50% damage reduction to cold & fire. Ring of fire also damages opponents who succeed in making a touch attack. Short duration so cast before combat. **** ENERVATION : (Necromancy) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Hour / Caster Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : The target creature temporarily loses 1d4 character levels. Much better spell than the Bestow Curse and Contagion spells. Target loses 1d4 points to nearly every stat. Target also loses memorized spells. **** EVARDS BLACK TENTACLES: (Conjuration) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Large, 1d4 Tentacles, + 1 / Caster Level Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Fortitude Special Spell Resistance : No Effects : For every round that a creature is caught it suffers attacks from 1d4 tentacles, each capable of doing 1d6+4 points bludgeoning damage. Each attack can be resisted with a successful Fortitude save. This is actually a cool looking spell. Its a shame it doesn't do more damage or scale up as you level. **** FEAR : (Necromancy) Range : Medium Area of Effect/ Target : Large Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Remove Fear Save : Will Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Affected monsters are consumed with mind-numbing fear that overrides all other actions. The affected monsters run away from all those they do not consider allies. Why when you just have to chase them down and kill them. Most monsters that this spell affects would be killed with a Fireball anyway. **** ICE STORM : (Evocation) Range : Long Area of Effect / Target : Huge Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : All monsters in the area of effect take 3d6 points of bludgeoning damage and 2d6 points of cold damage. Does an extra 1d6 cold damage for every 3 additional caster levels This spell doesn't do a lot of damage, but no saving throws make this a very nice spell to have around. Maximized Ice Storms work a lot better. **** IMPROVED INVISIBILITY: (Illusion) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Turn / Level Additional Counter Spells: Invisibility Purge Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : The target becomes invisible and impossible to detect using normal vision. After attacking or casting spells the target will become partially visible, retains a 50% cover bonus. A much better invisibility spell. You can attack and cast a spell while remaining partialy invisible. **** LESSER SPELL BREACH : (Abjuration) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Minor Globe of Invulnerability, Lesser Spell Mantle Save : None Spell Resistance : No Effects : This spell strips an enemy mage of up to two magical defenses, including Spell Mantles, Globes of Invulnerability, Stoneskins, Premonition, Protection from Elements, Ghostly and Ethereal Visage, Mage Armor, Shadow Shield and Elemental Shield. The spell will also reduce the target creature's SR by 3. Good spell to use on enemy mages. Strips a mage of up to 2 magic defenses. Works better than the Dispel Magic spell. **** MINOR GLOBE OF INVUNERABILITY: (Abjuration) Range : Personal Area of Effect / Target : Caster Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Prevents all spells of level 3 or lower from affecting the caster. Great spell to use when facing other mages. Stops level 3 and lower spells. **** PHANTASM KILLER : (Illusion) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: True Seeing Save : Will and Fortitude Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Target attempts a Will save to disbelieve the spell, failing that, the target then makes a Fortitude save to avoid instant death. A successful Fortitude save still inflicts 3d6 points of damage. Good instant death spell for taking out a low to mid level monster. Unfortunately this spell is not very consistent because it requires both a will save and a fortitude save failure to kill the monster. Not many higher level monsters will fail both. Works well on spiders, trolls, and beetles. **** POLYMORPH SELF: (Transmutation) Range : Personal Area of Effect / Target : Caster Duration : 1 Turn / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Caster transforms in to one of the following: Giant spider, troll, Umber hulk, Pixie, or Zombie Sounds like a great spell but it isn't. You can't cast spell in this form and heaven help you if it wares off in the middle of a fight. The giant spider is probably the best form if you do use it. **** REMOVE CURSE: (Abjuration) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : All curses and curse effects removed from target. Another useless spell. If your cursed you can go to a temple and get healed. Use a cleric in multiplayer to cure curses. **** SHADOW CONJURATION : (Illusion) Range : Special Area of Effect / Target : Special Duration : Special Additional Counter Spells: Save : Special Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : The caster conjures a shadow variant of one of the following spells: Darkness, Invisibility, Mage Armor, Magic Missile, or Summon Shadow. This spell gives the wizard some flexibilty in that you don't have to choose the particular spell until you cast it. You might expect the Magic Missile variant of this spell to less effective against mages because you would think it would require a will save for an Illusion spell but Neverwinter Nights doesn't implement this. The Magic Missile variant does the same amount of damage as the normal version with no saving throw. The Magic Missile variant of this spell can also get past Spell Mantles. This is a good spell to use against mages. **** STONESKIN : (Abjuration) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Hour / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Damage reduction 10/+5, absorbs 10 points of melee damage per caster levelup to a max of 100 Great spell to use on your familiar, henchman or members of your party that are engaged in melee combat. Your first full damage resistance spell (10/+5). The first 10 points of ANY kind of damage target receives are blocked. **** SUMMON CREATURE IV : (Conjuration) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Point Duration : 24 Hours Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : No Effects : Summons a dire spider Upgrade to Summon Creature III. Summons a dire spider; stronger and more powerful than the wolf. The dire spider can attack with poison on every round but doesn't have knockdown. Requires a DC26 in order to save from poison. **** WALL OF FIRE : (Evocation) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Wall 30 ft Long Duration : 1 Round / 2 Levels Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Deals 4d6 points of fire damage to any creature that attempts to pass through it. Good spell to cast in the middle of a group of enemies or in front of the opening to a room and attack from behind it. Does 4d6 of fire damage. Doesn't scale up as you level so it becomes less effective the higher you get. ************** LEVEL 5 SPELLS ************** You get a couple of very powerful spells in this level that when maximized will serve you during your entire career. **** CLOUD KILL: (Conjuration) Range : Long Area of Effect / Target : Large Duration : 1 Round / 2 Levels Additional Counter Spells: Save : Fortitude Special Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Its effects vary according to the Hit Dice of the affected creatures: 1-3 HD: Instant death, 4-6 HD: Fortitude save or death, Over 6 HD: 1d10 damage. Good spell for killing lots of lower level monsters like spiders, wolves, and goblins. Just cast the spell and fire an arrow to draw them into it. Good spell for casting on top of you if you get surrounded and those monsters that are not affected are slowed in the cloud. **** CONE OF COLD : (Evocation) Range : Cone, 30ft Area of Effect / Target : Spell Cone Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : Reflex 1/2 Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Does 1d6 points of cold damage per caster level to all those within the area of effect, max of 15d6. A must have spell for a Wizard. Will become your major direct damage spell during the entire game. Maximized Cone of Colds combined with Time Stop are a lethal combination. Does a max of 120 hit points of damage. A successful reflex save will cut this damage in half. **** DISMISSAL : (Abjuration) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Colossal Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Gate Save : Will Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : All summoned creatures, animal companions, and familiars belonging to enemy spellcasters are unsummoned within the area of effect. Good spell to have. Gets rid of any summoned creature including Balors. With the exception of Balors it's probably better just to kill the mage than use this spell. **** DOMINATE PERSON : (Enchantment) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 2 Rounds + 1 Round / 3 Caster Levels Additional Counter Spells: Clarity Save : Will Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : The target becomes under control of the caster OK spell. This spell will not charm the person but allows you to take control of him and get him to attack other monsters or trigger traps. I think it's better to just kill him instead with another spell. **** ENERGY BUFFER : (Abjuration) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Caster Duration : 1 Turn / Caster Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Elemental damage resistance 40/-, ends after a max 60 points dammage from 1 elemental type A great buffing spell for elemental attacks and traps. Removes 40 hit points of damage. You will keep using this spell during your entire career. **** FEEBLEMIND : (Divination) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Round / 2 Levels Additional Counter Spells: Heal Save : Will Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : The caster does 1d4 points of Intelligence damage to the monster for every 4 caster levels. Poor spell. I never liked this spell because even if it works you can only use it on other wizards and not other spellcasters as it only affects INT and does no physical damage. You might as well try to get the wizard to fail a spell that will kill him AND harm other spell casters. **** GREATER SHADOW CONJURATION (Illusion) Range : Special Area of Effect / Target : Special Duration : Special Additional Counter Spells: Save : Special Spell Resistance : Special Effects : Allows the caster to conjure a shadow variant of one of the following spells: Summon Shadow, Melf's Acid Arrow, Ghostly Visage, Web, or Minor Globe of Invulnerability. This is another shadow spell that gives the wizard some flexibilty because you don't have to choose the particular spell until you cast it. Once again you might expect the variants of this spell to less effective against mages because of the will save for an Illusion spell but Neverwinter Nights doesn't implement this. The Melf's Acid Arrow variant does the same amount of damage as the normal version with no saving throw. The Melf's Acid Arrow and Web variant of this spell can also get past Spell Mantles. This is a good spell to use against mages. **** HOLD MONSTER : (Enchantment) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Freedom of Movement Save : Will Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : The target is paralyzed for the duration of the spell. Poor spell. Why waste a spell to hold a monster when you can use a spell to kill him. Your going to have to kill him anyway. **** LESSER MIND BLANK : (Abjuration) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Turn / Level Additional Counter Spells: Confusion Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Renders the target immune to mind-affecting spells and removes all negative effects caused by such spells. A good spell for multiplayer as you can use this spell on a member of your party that falls prey to one of the mind spells. Good spell for the enchantment spells. **** LESSER PLANAR BINDING: (Conjuration) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Single or Point Duration : 1 Round / 2 Levels Additional Counter Spells: Dismissal Save : Will Negates Spell Resistance : No Effects : This spell has two modes 1- summoning a planar ally or 2- paralyzing an outsider for 1 round per 2 caster levels. The type of summoned ally is based on the caster's alignment: Good: Lantern archon, Neutral: Red slaad, Evil: Imp OK spell. A powerful summoning spell. Outsiders are more powerful than summoned creatures but only last a short time. Better spell to use in the single player campaign than the Summon Creature because you can use him to soften up the tougher opponents and then wait until the outsider disappears after a short time. Don't kill them until he disappears or you will lose experience points. **** LESSER SPELL MANTLE : (Abjuration) Range : Personal Area of Effect / Target : Caster Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Lesser Spell Breach, Lesser Spell Mantle Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Absorbs up to 1d4+6 levels of spells before collapsing. Good spell to use until a more powerful one becomes available. This spell doesn't block damage, but full spells. Keep in mind, however, that a fireball cast at your feet, without having you as the target, will still damage you. A good trick to use against mages that use this spell. **** MIND FOG : (Enchantment) Range : Long Area of Effect / Target : Colossal Duration : 2 Rounds + 1 / 2 Levels Additional Counter Spells: Save : Will Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Creates a blue fog where the Victims take a -10 penalty on Will saving throws against mind-affecting spells and effects. This penalty persists for as long as the creature remains in the fog and for an additional 2d6 rounds upon leaving. Iffy spell. Looks like it would be a good spell except the opponent must fail a Will save to get this spell to take effect. If a spell needs a save to take effect then you may as well try a damage spell so you will a least hurt or kill him if they fail their saving throw. **** SUMMON CREATURE V : (Conjuration) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Point Duration : 24 Hours Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : No Effects : Summons a dire Tiger. Upgrade to Summon Creature IV. Summons a dire Tiger; stronger and more powerful than the spider. The dire tiger has the knockdown feat plus a lot of hit points. You can only have one summoned creature so you need to choose between this and Planar Binding. ************** LEVEL 6 SPELLS ************** You get a lot of quality spells and upgraded spells that will serve you during your entire career. A wizard will mix and match most of these spells depending on the monster he is fighting. **** ACID FOG : (Conjuration) Range : Long Area of Effect / Target : Large Duration : 1 Round / 2 Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Fortitude Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Creatures entering the green cloud take 4d6 acid damage. Creatures inside the cloud must make a Fortitude save or have their movement reduced by 50%. Every round a creature spends in the cloud, it suffers 2d6 acid damage. Poor spell at this level. This spell just doesn't do enough damage to be worthwhile. IMO level 6 spells should be able to kill a mid level monster and this one will only damage them. **** CHAIN LIGHTNING : (Evocation) Range : Long Area of Effect / Target : Colossal, 1 Target / Level Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : Reflex 1/2 Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : The bolt does 1d6 points of electricity damage per caster level to creatures in a wide arc, max of 20d6 to the first target and half that amount to all secondary targets. Great spell. Does the same damage over a wider area as the Cone of Cold spell at a longer range. Great spell to use against undead foes. Can hit other enemies around a corner if you can see just one of them. **** CIRCLE OF DEATH : (Necromancy) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Colossal Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Death Ward Save : Fortitude Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Negative energy wave. A number of enemy creatures equal to 1d4 per caster level must make a Fortitude save or die. Creatures with 9 or more Hit Dice are unaffected. Good spell for crowd control but loses its effectiveness rather quickly in the higher levels. Will kill accompanying minions around a boss monster letting you and your allies deal with the boss itself. **** ETHEREAL VISAGE : (Illusion) Range : Personal Area of Effect / Target : Caster Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Grants damage reduction 20/+3, prevents all spells of level 2 or lower from affecting the caster and provides a 25% concealment bonus. Decent spell. 20/3+ damage reduction and immunity to level 2 and lower spells. Not bad but it only protects you from Melfs Acid Arrow and the like. Better to use a Minor Globe of Invulnerability than this spell against an enemy mage. **** GLOBE OF INVUNERABILITY: (Abjuration) Range : Personal Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Greater Globe of Invulnerability, Greater Spell Breach Save : None Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : This spell prevents all spells of level 4 or lower from affecting the caster. Great spell to use when facing other mages. Stops level 4 and lower spells. **** GREATER DISPELLING : (Abjuration) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Single or Colossal Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Attempts to strip all magical effects from a single target. It can also target a group of creatures, attempting to remove the most powerful spell effect from each creature. To remove an effect, the caster makes a dispel check of 1d20, +1 per caster level (to a maximum of +15) against a DC of 11 + the spell effect's caster level. Great counter spell. Upgrade to Dispel Magic. Will dispel a lot of mind effect spells and buffs. **** GREATER SPELL BREACH: (Abjuration) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Globe of Invulnerability, Greater Spell Mantle Save : None Spell Resistance : No Effects : Strips an enemy mage of up to four magical defenses, including Spell Mantle, Globes of Invulnerability, Stoneskins, Premonition, Protection from Elements, Ghostly and Ethereal Visage, Mage Armor, Shadow Shield and Elemental Shield. This spell will also lower the target creatures SR rating by 5. Great spell to use against mages or buffed melee fighters. Twice as powerful as lesser breach. Strips a mage of up to 6 magic defenses. **** GREATER STONESKIN : (Transmutation) Range : Personal Area of Effect / Target : Caster Duration : 1 Hour / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Damage reduction of 20/+5. The spell absorbs 10 points of melee damage per caster level, to a maximum of 150, before fading. Great buffing spell. Upgrade to Stoneskin spell. 20/+5 damage reduction so it is twice as strong. **** LEGEND LORE : (Divination) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Caster Duration : 1 Turn / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : This spell gives the caster +10 bonus to Lore checks, +1 per 2 caster level. Poor Spell. I haven't a clue why this is in the game. Do yourself a favor and sell any Legend Lore scrolls and get some gold out of it. **** MASS HASTE : (Enchantment) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Large Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : All allies within the area of effect gain 1 extra action per round (allowing an additional attack or spell casting) and have their movement speed increased by 50%. A great spell to use in multiplayer. Hast your entire group including yourself. **** PLANAR BINDING : (Conjuration) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Single or Point Duration : 1 Hour / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Will (-2) Negates Spell Resistance : No Effects : This spell has two modes 1- summoning a planar ally or 2- paralyzing an outsider for 1 round per 2 caster levels. The type of summoned ally is based on the caster's alignment: Good: Hound archon, Neutral: Green slaad, Evil: Succubus OK spell. Upgrade to Lesser Planar Binding. You can only have one summoned creature so choose this or a Summon Creature spell. **** SHADES : (Illusion) Range : Special Area of Effect / Target : Special Duration : Special Additional Counter Spells: Save : Special Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : The caster conjures a shadow variant of one of the following spells: Cone of Cold, Fireball, Stoneskin, Wall of Fire, or Summon Shadow. Decent spell. Conjures up a shadow version of Cone of Cold, Fireball, Wall of Fire, Stoneskin, or Summon Shadow. You can choose what spell to cast when you cast it. These spells should work better against mages because they don't require a will save like you might expect. The Cone of Cold, Fireball and Wall of Fire variants do the same amount of damage as the normal versions. The spell, like the other shadow variants, seems to be able to get past a Spell Mantle. This is a good spell to use against mages. **** SUMMON CREATURE VI : (Conjuration) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Point Duration : 24 Hours Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : No Effects : Summons a dire Bear. Upgrade to Summon Creature V. Summons a dire Bear; stronger and more powerful than the tiger. The dire bear has the knockdown feat plus a ton of hit points and great attacks. **** TENSERS TRANSFORMATION: (Transmutation) Range : Personal Area of Effect / Target : Caster Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : The caster becomes an engine of destruction, gaining a +1 attack bonus for every 2 caster levels, a +4 natural armor AC bonus, +2d4 Strength, +2d4 Dexterity, +5 to their Fortitude saving throws, and +1d6 additional Hit Points per caster level. In this state, however, the caster suffers a -10 penalty to his primary spellcasting ability score. Incredible spell. Transforms you in to a buffed melee fighter with a fire sword and extra hit points. You also get to keep any spell buffs you have cast like Stoneskin and Globe of Invulnerability when you transform. Use this spell if you get surrounded or on monsters that have a lot of spell immunities including enemy mages. You can't cast spells while in this form and there is an annoying bug that will remove one memorized spell from level 2 - 6 when you use it so remember to use your spell book to select the spells again before resting. It's easy to become dependant on this spell so be careful as it doesn't last long and you can't use potions to heal so you could die while in this form. **** TRUE SEEING : (Divination) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 1 Turn / Level Additional Counter Spells: Greater Shadow Conjuration Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : The target can see through Sanctuary and invisibility effects, and automatically spots nearby traps and hiding opponents. Unfortunately a good spell to use in multiplayer. Lets you see through Sanctuary, Invisibility spells and Stealth mode. You will find out the hard way that this spell is a necessary evil when you get online to play other people. I hated memorizing this spell because it seems like such a waste. Never used it in the single player campaign. ************** LEVEL 7 SPELLS ************** Good selection of spells with some standing out as ones you will use during your entire career. **** CONTROL UNDEAD : (Necromancy) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Huge Duration : 1 Hour / Level Additional Counter Spells: Sunbeam Save : Will Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : A single undead creature with up to 2 Hit Dice per caster level falls under the caster's control unless it makes a successful Will save. Poor spell. By now you should know how I feel about using a spell to take control of an enemy as opposes to killing them. **** DELAYED BLAST FIREBALL: (Evocation) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Huge Duration : 1 Round / 3 Levels Additional Counter Spells: Save : Reflex 1/2 Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : The caster creates a small, magical zone that can detect the passage of enemy creatures. When the field is activated, it explodes, doing 1d6 points of fire damage per caster level to all within the area of effect, to a max of 20d6. Great spell that is also an undetectable trap. Place a few of these down and then posses your familiar to lure the monsters into the traps or use your bow. Becomes more powerful as you level up. **** FINGER OF DEATH : (Necromancy) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : Fortitude Partial Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : The target must make a Fortitude save or die. If they succeed, they still take 3d6 points of damage, +1 point per caster level. Great spell when you get it but it becomes less effective as you level up. Instantly kills your opponent. Requires a Fortitude save. **** MORDENKAINEN'S SWORD: (Transmutation) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Point Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : No Effects : Summons a sword-wielding helmed horror. Summons a helmed horror that can hold its own against just about everything. Given the choice between this and elementals I'd rather have one of these. **** POWER WORD STUN : (Divination) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Clarity Save : None Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : Automatically stuns a single target for a duration based on the target's Hit Points: Under 50 Hit Points: 4d4 rounds, 51-100 Hit Points: 2d4 rounds, 101-150 Hit Points: 1d4 rounds Poor spell. Why? Just use a spell to kill them. **** PROTECTION FROM SPELLS: (Enchantment) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Large, 1 Creature / 4 Levels Duration : 1 Turn / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Within the area of effect, up to one ally per 4 caster levels receives a +8 bonus on all saving throws against spells. Excellent spell to use but overkill if you already have a Spell Mantle cast. 8+ bonus to saving throws to all spells. Great spell to use in multiplayer against enemy mages. **** PRISMATIC SPRAY : (Evocation) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Spell Cone Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : Special Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : All monsters within the area of effect randomly experience 1 or 2 of the following effects: 20 fire damage, 40 acid damage, 80 electrical damage, Struck with Bebilith Venom poison, Paralyzed for 10 rounds, Confused for 10 rounds, Struck dead Great idea but not a useful spell as its effects are random and you have to get fairly close to use it. Good against large groups of mid level monsters. There are better 7th level spells. **** SHADOW SHIELD : (Illusion) Range : Personal Area of Effect / Target : Caster Duration : 1 Turn / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : The caster is protected from the following effects: +5 natural AC bonus, 10 / +3 Damage reduction, Immunity to instant death effects, Immunity to Necromancy spells Great spell. A combination of stronger versions of Stoneskin, Mage armor and some immunities all in one. Immunity to death and Necromancy spells are big pluses. **** SPELL MANTLE : (Abjuration) Range : Personal Area of Effect / Target : Caster Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Spell Breach Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Absorbs all incoming spells and spell-like abilities. It can absorb up to 1d8+8 spell levels before collapsing. Great spell. Upgraded version of Lesser Spell Mantle. Absorbs up to 1d8 +8 spell levels. Empowered version can be more powerful than the Greater Spell Mantle at one spell level lower. **** SUMMON CREATURE VII : (Conjuration) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Point Duration : 24 Hours Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : No Effects : Summons a huge elemental of random type. Upgrade to Summon Creature VI. Summons a huge elemental of random type. Warning - You can't pick what elemental to summon so you may get a huge fire elemental in a fire based area effectively wasting the spell. Use the Mordenkainen's Sword instead. ************** LEVEL 8 SPELLS ************** A few standouts but not a lot of high quality spells. Use maximized spells instead. **** CREATE UNDEAD: (Necromancy) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Duration : 24 Hours Additional Counter Spells: Sunbeam Save : None Spell Resistance : None Effects : The caster brings an undead creature into being. The type of undead is based upon the caster's level: Under level 11: Ghoul, Level 12-13: Ghast, Level 14-15: Wight, Level 16 and over: Spectre Poor spell. If your really in to necromancy then go for it just remember you can only have one summoned creature and there are better choices. **** GREATER PLANAR BINDING: (Conjuration) Range : Single Area of Effect / Target : Single or Point Duration : 1 Hour / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Will (-5) Negates Spell Resistance : No Effects : This spell has two modes 1- summoning a planar ally or 2- paralyzing an outsider for 1 round per 2 caster levels. The type of summoned ally is based on the caster's alignment: Good: Celestial Avenger, Neutral: Death slaad, Evil: Vrock Great spell. Upgrade to Planar Binding and a good replacement for Mordenkainen's Sword. **** HORID WILTING : (Necromancy) Range : Long Area of Effect / Target : Colossal Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : Fortitude 1/2 Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : All enemy creatures within the area of effect take 1d8 points of withering energy damage per caster level, to a maximum of 25d8. Great spell. it has a large area of effect, unfortunately its effects won't stack during a Time Stop but it does a good deal of damage. Will damage elementals. Long range so you don't need to get close to your target. **** INCENDIARY CLOUD : (Evocation) Range : Long Area of Effect / Target : Large Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Reflex 1/2 Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : The caster creates a cloud of smoke and embers that causes 4d6 points of fire damage each round to all creatures within the area of effect. Decent spell. Damage over time spell. Covers a large area and can kill mid level monsters like mummies, trolls, and the like. Doesn't seem to do enough damage for an eighth level spell. Good spell to cast on top of yourself if you get surrounded. **** MASS BLINDNESS AND DEAFNESS: (Illusion) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Medium Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Remove Blindness / Deafness Save : Fortitude Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : All enemies within a 10-ft radius are struck blind and deaf. Poor spell. At this stage in the game it won't affect enough monsters to be worth it. **** MASS CHARM : (Enchantment) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Large Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Will Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : In the eyes of the targets the personal reputation of the caster is improved by 50%. The caster can charm up to twice his hit dice in creatures. Poor spell. I guess you could charm a group of monsters and maybe a few of them would be charmed. Never worked very well for me and I'd rather use a different spell to kill them all. **** MIND BLANK : (Abjuration) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Huge Duration : 1 Turn / Level Additional Counter Spells: Mass Charm Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : This spell renders all allies within the area of effect immune to mind-affecting spells and effects. All negative mind-affecting effects are also removed from the target creatures. Poor spell. Use the Lesser Mind Bank and save a slot for a better spell. Good spell for multiplayer if several members of your party fall under a mind spell. **** PREMONITION : (Divination) Range : Touch Area of Effect / Target : Personal Duration : 1 Hour / Level or until Discharged Additional Counter Spells: Feeblemind Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : Grants the caster damage reduction 30/+5, and absorbs 10 points of melee damage per caster level before collapsing. Great spell. Allows the caster to see a few moments into the future. The best anti-damage spell you have at 30/+5 damage reduction. **** SUMMON CREATURE VIII: (Conjuration) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Point Duration : 24 Hours Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : No Effects : Summons a greater elemental of random type. Upgrade to Summon Creature VII. Summons a greater elemental of random type. Warning - You can't pick what elemental to summon so you may get a greater fire elemental in a fire based area effectively wasting the spell. Use the Greater Planar Binding instead. ************** LEVEL 9 SPELLS ************** Much better spells for their level than 8th level spells and a couple of must haves for every Wizard. **** DOMINATE MONSTER : (Enchantment) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : 3 Turns + 1 Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Will Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : The target monster temporarily becomes a faithful and loyal servant of the caster. What a ridiculous 9th level spell. The monster is controlled for a short period of time and then you need to kill it. A complete waste for a 9th level slot. **** ENERGY DRAIN : (Necromancy) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Single Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : Fortitude Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : The target temporarily loses 2d4 character levels. Excellent spell, but a maximized Enervation seems like a better spell at a lower slot. (Level 7) **** GATE : (Conjuration) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Point Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : None Effects : Summons a Balor. Requires a Protection from Alignment, Magic Circle Against Alignment, or Aura Versus Alignment spell (Evil) be cast first or the balor will attack the caster and allies. The ultimate summon spell. Summon a Balor to do your bidding. You need to be protected against EVIL (Use a Protection From Alignment spell) or the Balor will attack you. Use a Circle of Alignment spell in multiplayer. **** GREATER SPELL MANTEL: (Abjuration) Range : Personal Area of Effect / Target : Caster Duration : 1 Round / Level Additional Counter Spells: Greater Spell Breach Save : None Spell Resistance : No Effects : Absorbs all incoming spells and spell-like abilities. It can absorb up to 1d12+10 levels of spells before collapsing. Great spell, but an empowered Spell Mantel might be a better choice at one level lower. (Level 8) **** METEOR SWARM : (Evocation) Range : Caster Centered Area of Effect / Target : Colossal Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : Reflex 1/2 Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : All those caught in the destruction take 20d6 points of damage. All creatures within 5 feet of the caster are protected from the spell's effect. Great spell. Does a ton of damage. (20d6) Unfortunately the spell is cast on top of you so you need to get close to your opponents to hit several of them and maximize the spells effects. Good spell to use if you get surrounded. This spell worked even when I was in melee range against my opponent so I don't know what the 5 foot protection means. **** MORDENKAINEN'S DISJUNCTION: (Abjuration) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Colossal Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : No Effects : Attempts to strip all magical effects from a single target. It can also target a group of creatures, attempting to remove the most powerful spell effect from each creature. To remove an effect, the caster makes a dispel check of 1d20, +1 per caster level (to a max of +20) against a DC of 11 + the spell effect's caster level. Also, this spell strips a single enemy mage of up to 6 magical defenses or a group of mages of two spell protections each. This spell will also lower the SR of all creatures within the area of effect by 10. Very powerful version of dispel magic. Will remove a lot of buffs and magical defenses. **** POWER WORD KILL : (Divination) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Large, Single Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Death Ward Save : None Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : This spell may be cast on a single creature or as an area effect. A targeted creature of up to 100 Hit Points is killed instantly. As an area effect, this spell will kill all creatures with fewer than 20 Hit Points, to a maximum total of 200 Hit Points. The ultimate instant death spell. With NO saving throw, the only requirement for this spell is that your enemy be under 100 hit points to die. Use it on enemy mages in concert with Time Stop and direct damage spells to kill them quickly. Use it on fighters that are near death or mages that are badly Wounded. **** SHAPECHANGE : (Transmutation) Range : Personal Area of Effect / Target : Caster Duration : 1 Turn / Level Additional Counter Spells: Save : Harmless Spell Resistance : No Effects : The caster is temporarily transformed into one of several creatures. Possible forms include: Red Dragon, Fire Giant, Balor, Death Slaad, or Iron Golem. Good spell in the right circumstances. Changes you in to one of the following of your choice: Red Dragon, a Fire Giant, Balor, Death Salad, or Iron Golem. Warning: you are not armed with any weapons in these forms and can only make unarmed attacks. You lose access to any of your spells and you can't use potions to heal so you could die while in this form. The form I would recommend is the Iron Golem. You get the most Hit points, best unarmed attacks, and immunity to a lot of magic. Change into this form if you fall under 100 hit points so the other mage can't cast Power Word Kill on you or if you find yourself surrounded. An extended Tenser's Transformation might be a better spell at a lower slot. (Level 7) **** SUMMON CREATURE IX : (Conjuration) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Point Duration : 24 Hours Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : No Effects : Summons an elder elemental of random type. Upgrade to Summon Creature VIII. Summons an elder elemental of random type. Remember You can't pick what elemental to summon. Use the Gate spell instead. **** TIME STOP : (Transmutation) Range : Personal Area of Effect / Target : Caster Duration : 1d4 + 1 Rounds Additional Counter Spells: Save : None Spell Resistance : No Effects : The caster is able stop time; casting spells, moving about, and attacking normally while the rest of the world appears suspended, as if in stasis. The ultimate spell. You may have noticed me mentioning it before. A Time Stop combined with a direct damage spell is lethal. The first mage to cast this spell is the winner nearly every time. This spell puts the Wizard versus Sorcerer debates to rest. **** WAIL OF THE BANSHEE : (Necromancy) Range : Short Area of Effect / Target : Colossal, 1 Creature / Level Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: Silence Save : Fortitude Negates Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : All enemies within the area of effect must succeed at a Fortitude save or die, to a maximum of 1 enemy per caster level. A great spell to cast on mages. All enemies in the area must succeed in a fortitude save or they die. Mages don't have great fortitude saves. **** WEIRD : (Illusion) Range : Medium Area of Effect / Target : Colossal Duration : Instant Additional Counter Spells: True Seeing Save : Fortitude and Will Spell Resistance : Yes Effects : All enemies within the area of effect must make a Will save or die. Those who succeed must then make a Fortitude save or take 3d6 points of damage. A great spell to cast on fighters. Similar to the Wail of the Banshee. Kills all enemies in an area but they now must succeed in a will save or they die. Fighters don't have great Will saves. ******************************************************************************* ************ 6- EQUIPMENT ************ With your wizard created let look at some of the equipment that you can use to get the most out of the class. Knowing the right spells is 3/4 of the battle but having better equipment can often tip the scales in your favor. Always be on the lookout for better items and don't be afraid to buy them from shops and temples. These are just suggestions so be creative. Try to find the combination that fits your playing style. In the beginning try to buy the best equipment you can as soon as you can instead of relying on chance to get a good item. Money is tight in the beginning levels so you may have to budget. It will make it a lot easier to adventure if you have equipment that works well together instead of a hoge poge assortment that you have randomly collected from chests. * HELMET: At the beginning levels you will only find helmets that give you a +1 to your concentration skill. If you plan to solo get one as soon as you can afford it. It may just save you. At the middle levels start looking for something called a Circlet. There are also magic helmets called Caps. Good things to look for in a Helmet/Cap/Circlet: * Bonus to Intelligence to increase the power of your spells. * Bonus to spells. * Bonus to skills. (concentration, spellcraft, lore, hide...) * Bonus to feats. You can find rare items that will give bonus feats when worn. * Immunity bonus. (critical hits, knockdown, death magic...) * ROBES: Also called mantels and cloaks. You won't find very many cheap robes in the beginning that will help you so try to make do without one. As you level you will find robes in chests and at magic shops that will be a great help to you since you won't be wearing armor. There are lots of robes in the game that can add bonuses to skills, AC, and spell protection. AC robes are not much help to you because you don't engage in melee combat. Good things to look for in a Robe: * AC robes. Not very useful unless you engage in melee combat. * Elemental resistance robes. (fire, ice, electrical...) Try to get +15 or better. * Bonus to skills. (hide, persuade, move silently...) * Alignment robes. The ones with bonuses against evil alignment are better. * Cloak of Protection. Improves all saving throws. * Improves saving throws. The most important one as wizards only have good will saving throws. * Spell resistance. +10 or better. * OUTFIT: Clothing that provides some sort of benefit to the wearer. These are often cheaper than robes but often don't do as much. Try to get a fire resistance outfit early on to help protect from traps and fire based attacks. Good things to look for in an outfit: * Elemental resistance. (fire, ice, electrical...) Fire is better. * Bonus to feats especially metamagic feats. Rare, but great items. * Bonus to skills. (hide, persuade, move silently...) * GLOVES: At the lower levels you should find some lesser gloves (+3) to concentration or spellcraft. Equip the concentration gloves ASAP especially if you don't have the Combat Casting feat. As you level up you will find greater versions of them (+6). Good things to look for in a Glove: * Bonus to skills. Especially concentration and spellcraft. There are two kinds: Lesser (+3) and Greater (+6). * Bonus to dexterity. Helps to raise to-hit bonus with ranged attacks. * AC Gloves. Only if you can't find anything better. * BRACERS: These are bands of leather or metal that are worn around the arms. Usually a type of armor. There are many that you can wear that will provide marginal help. Good things to look for in a Bracer: * Bonus to dexterity. Helps to raise to-hit bonus with ranged attacks. * Protection bonus. * AC Bracers. Only if you can't find anything better. * BOOTS: There is a lot of fancy footwear to help a wizard. These can be expensive early on but you will soon be able to afford them. Good things to look for in a Boot: * Bonus to saving throws. Common ones help Fortitude and Reflex saving throws. * Constitution bonus. Commonly know as Boots of Striding. * Haste bonus. Commonly know as Boots of Speed. Awesome boots that let you cast spells quicker and move faster. * RINGS: Common magic item. You will start finding these right away. You can wear 2 rings. Good things to look for in a Ring: * Light (15 radius). Cyan ones are the best. Avoid Crimson ones at all costs because the light color radiated is RED. The same color as traps. Makes traps harder to find. * Bonus to saving throws. Common ones help Fortitude and Reflex saving throws. * Ring of Protection. Improves all saving throws. * Intelligence bonus. * Regeneration bonus. Great rings to have on at all times. Saves healing potions by restoring a few hit points a second over time. * Bonus to spells. * Elemental Resistance Rings. 15+ or better. Grants resistance to all but negative energy. * NECKLACES: Not as many types as rings but still lots of variety. Also called amulets. Good things to look for in a Necklace: * Bonus to stats. Intelligence, Wisdom, dexterity, ... * Bonus to saving throws. * Bonus to spells. * Bonus to skills. (hide, persuade, move silently...) * Elemental Resistance. Single types common. (fire, ice, electrical...) * AC bonus. Called an Amulet of Natural Armor. These will stack with other AC bonuses. * BELTS: Belts are hard to find early on but become more common as level up. Good things to look for in a Belt: * Spell Resistance. Common trait in belts. Look for 12+ spell resistance. * Physical Damage Reduction. Common ones resist Slashing, piercing, and blunt damage. * Immunity bonus. * ARMOR: Don't even think about armor unless your planning to multiclass. Armor requires at least 2 feats to use reliably with spells (Still Spell, Light Armor) and it just isn't worth it. You would really need to burn another 2 feats to get decent protection at the higher levels anyway (Medium Armor, heavy Armor). By then the Armor would be to heavy to use without putting more points into strength. You could take the Armor off, cast a spell and then put it back on to save a feat but this isn't very practical in the heat of a battle. * WEAPON: Remember wizards should not get into melee combat. Take your enemies out from a distance especially if your soloing. If your an Elf look at Longswords and Rapiers in case the enemy gets too close. Your main weapon when you start should be you Frost wand. You can take out most enemies with 1 or 2 shots from this. At the lower levels as your Frost wand becomes less effective use a crossbow. If you get the Point Blank Shot and Rapid Shot feats use a Longbow or Shortbow. Look for a weapon that has nice bonuses instead of high damage at the middle and higher levels. Good things to look for in a Weapon: * Bonus to hit. A +1 light crossbow is better that a normal heavy crossbow because you will hit more often. * Bonus to spells. Haste and regeneration are common. * AC bonus. * Enchantments on swords. Acid, Sonic, Sleep, or Daze on hit... * Massive Critical. Doesn't happen very often but nice damage hits when it does, especially with Longbows. ******************************************************************************* **************** 7- MULTICLASSING **************** I personally don't recommend that you use multiclassing with the wizard. At 1d4 his character is just too weak and too dependant on spells to gain any real benefits from the other classes. Just 1 less Time Stop or Power Word Kill can really affect your wizards power at the higher levels where Wizards excel. If you must multiclass I think the best combination is to use a wizards skills as a second class to your main class. * MONK / WIZARD: Great multiclass Character. I think that even a half and half character would work out very nicely. * PROS 1- Monks don't wear armor. 2- Monks have access to some very powerful equipment (monk robes, monk bracers, monk boots) that can add a huge boost to your AC. 3- Monks have great saving throws. 4- Monks have a lot of extra feats. 5- Monks get extra speed attacks. 6- Monks can take advantage of a wizards buffing spells. 7- Monks can take advantage of the Pixie familiar for traps. * CONS 1- Monks add wisdom to AC. Not a useful wizard stat. 2- Every level of Wizard weakens the characters hit points. * ROGUE / WIZARD: Great multiclass Character. Add 3 Levels of rogue or wizard. * PROS 1- Rogues add sneak attacks. 2- Rogues can only wear light armor. 3- Elves make great Wizards and Rogues. 4- Rogues get a panther familiar for extra muscle. 5- Rogues have great reflex saving throws. 6- Having a high dexterity helps both classes. 7- Rogues can take advantage of a wizards buffing spells. * CONS 1- You will need to use one metamagic feat on Still Spell. 2- Rogues need high charisma to take advantage of the persuade skill. 3- Every level of Wizard weakens the characters hit points. * DRUID / WIZARD / : OK multiclass Character. * PROS 1- Druids can only wear light armor. 2- Good low level Druid spells. * CONS 1- You will need to use one metamagic feat on Still Spell. 2- Druids need wisdom to cast spells. Not a useful wizard stat. 3- Every level of Wizard weakens the characters hit points. * RANGER / WIZARD: Decent multiclass Character. The best fighter based wizard. * PROS 1- Rangers focus on ranged attacks. 2- Having a high dexterity helps both classes. 3- Rangers can cast some divine spells. 4- Decent frontline fighter. 5- Rangers can take advantage of a wizards buffing spells. 6- Rangers can take advantage of the Pixie familiar for traps. 7- Rangers can take a panther familiar for extra muscle. * CONS 1- Every level of Wizard weakens the characters hit points. 2- Rangers need wisdom to cast spells. Not a useful wizard stat. 3- You will need to use one metamagic feat on Still Spell. 4- Not a good pool of feats for both classes. * FIGHTER / WIZARD: OK multiclass Character. Best combo would be F17/w3 to get the bluffing spells. * PROS 1- Fighters can take advantage of a wizards buffing spells. 2- Fighters can take advantage of the Pixie familiar for traps. 3- Fighters can cast a few defensive spells. * CONS 1- Every level of Wizard greatly weakens the characters hit points. 2- High arcane spell failure rate due to armor requirements (30%+). 3- You will need to use one metamagic feat on Still Spell. 4- Not a good pool of feats for both classes. 5- Fighters need strength for melee combat. Not a useful wizard stat. 6- Carrying a Shield increases arcane spell failure rate up to 90%. * BARBARIAN / WIZARD: OK multiclass Character. Same Pros and Cons as a fighter. A little better due to dexterity helps both classes. * PALADIN / WIZARD: OK multiclass Character. Same Pros and Cons as a fighter. A little better due to clerical spells and other minor bonuses. * BARD / WIZARD: Poor multiclass Character. * PROS 1- Bards get a panther familiar for extra muscle. 2- Wizard gain the bard song. * CONS 1- Bards need charisma for bard songs. Not a useful wizard stat. 2- Loose a lot of skill points due to dissimilar skills. 3- Every level of Wizard greatly weakens the characters class. 4- Not a good pool of feats for both classes. 5- Shares a lot of similar spells. * CLERIC / WIZARD: Poor multiclass Character. Same Pros and Cons as a fighter plus: * CONS 1- Clerics need wisdom to cast spells. Not a useful wizard stat. 2- You end up with a lot of low level spells that are not very useful. * SORCERER / WIZARD: Worst multiclass Character for a wizard. * PROS 1- You get a few more low level spells * CONS 1- Fewer high level spells 2- Sorcerers need charisma for spells. Not a useful wizard stat. 3- Every level of Wizard greatly weakens the characters class. ******************************************************************************* ***************** 8- CLASS VS CLASS ***************** This section will give you some ideas on how to deal with different classes. This will help you deal with the bosses in the single player campaign and if you play multiplayer. These are just suggestions. If you find a style that works for you against another class, use it. * VERY LOW LEVEL FIGHTS: Character levels 2 - 5 * General 1- Summon your familiar and Summon Creature 2- Cast Color Spray to try to daze your opponent 3- Buff your minions or cast Foxes Cunning on yourself to make your spells harder to resist. 4- Cast Invisibility or Ghostly Visage to make yourself harder to hit. 5- Heal your familiar by feeding it. * VS Fighter, Barbarian or Monks 1- Do not engage in melee combat. Stay behind your minions. * VS Cleric, Paladins 1- Do not engage in melee combat. Stay behind your minions. 2- Cast Frost Ray, Magic Missile, or Melfs Acid arrow to disrupt their spell casting. 3- If they cast Sanctuary, an Invisible spell, focus your attacks on their minions or cast an area spell like Lesser Dispel or Web. * VS Rogue 1- Always face your opponent to prevent sneak attacks 2- Cast Frost Ray, Magic Missile, or Melfs Acid arrow to disrupt if they try to cast a spell from a scroll. 3- Cast Burning Hands if you are near them and they are fighting your minions. * VS Bard, Rangers, or Druid 1- If a they start using ranged attacks possess your familiar and attack the them directly then unpossess and attack their minion. 2- Cast Sleep on their minion and get your minions to attack them. 3- Cast Burning Hands if you are near them and they are fighting your minions. * VS Wizard or Sorcerer 1- Try to cast your spells first. The first one to cast generally wins. 2- Use mostly direct damage spells. 3- Cast Frost Ray, Magic Missile, or Melfs Acid arrow to disrupt their spell casting. * LOW TO MID LEVEL FIGHTS: Character levels 6 - 10 * General 1- Cast Improved Invisibility to make yourself harder to hit. 2- Cast Haste to speed up spell casting. 3- Summon your familiar and Summon Creature. Spiders work very nice at these levels. 4- Buff your minions or cast Foxes Cunning on yourself to make your spells harder to resist. 5- Remember to heal your familiar by feeding it. 6- Fireball, Flame Arrow, Cone of Cold, Dismissal, Enervation, and Phantasm Killer are your main weapons at these levels. 7- Stoneskin, Minor Globe of Invulnerability, and Elemental Shield are your best buffing spells * VS Fighter, Barbarian or Monks 1- Do not engage in melee combat. Stay behind your minions. 2- Use Ghoul Touch to paralyze them. 3- Beware of Knockdown spam attack. (Use Knockdown repeatedly.) * VS Cleric 1- Do not engage in melee combat. Stay behind your minions. 2- Clerics are very good a removing invisibility spells and dismissing summoned creatures so wait a few seconds before casting these. * VS Rogues 1- If a they start using ranged attacks possess your familiar and attack the them directly then unpossess and attack their minion. 2- Cast Ghostly Visage to make their ranged attacks less effective. 3- Cast Flame Arrows, Melfs Acid Arrows, and Magic Missiles instead of Fireballs. * VS Bards and Druids 1- Try to enter Counterspelling mode to break up their spells. 2- Cast Flame Arrows, Melfs Acid Arrows, and Magic Missiles to disrupt their spellcasting. 3- Use Enervation to weaken them. * VS Wizard or Sorcerer 1- Use Enervation to weaken them. 2- Cast Flame Arrows, Melfs Acid Arrows, and Magic Missiles to disrupt their spellcasting. 3- Use Dispel Magic to disrupt their invisibility spells. * MID LEVEL FIGHTS: Character levels 11 - 16 * General 1- Cast Improved Invisibility to make yourself harder to hit. 2- Cast Haste to speed up spell casting. 3- Summon your familiar and Summon Creature. 4- Use Tensors Transformation to finish them off if they are damaged. 5- Use Mordenkainen's Sword instead of Summon Creature. 6- Use Horrid Wilting as soon as you get it as a primary attack because most of your opponents will have some form of elemental resistance. * VS Fighter, Barbarian or Monks 1- Do not engage in melee combat. Stay behind your minions. 2- Maxed Magic Missiles work very well. * VS Cleric, Paladins 1- Immediately cast a Lesser Spell Mantle to stop Harm attacks 2- Use Enervation to weaken them. 3- Cast Finger of Death to kill them. * VS Rogues 1- Spiders still work very well. 2- Use your minions to kill them as area affect spells don't work well. 3- Cast Maxed Flame Arrows, Melfs Acid Arrows, and Magic Missiles. * VS Bards, Rangers, and Druids 1- Use Enervation to weaken them. 2- Use Spell Mantel to protect against their spells. 3- Try to enter Counterspelling mode to break up their spells. 4- Use Greater Spell Breach if they try to buff up and rush you. * VS Wizard or Sorcerer 1- Use Enervation to weaken them. 2- Use Spell Mantel to protect against their spells. 3- Use Greater Spell Breach if they try to buff up. 4- Cast Maxed Flame Arrows, Melfs Acid Arrows, and Magic Missiles. 5- Use Buffing and Magic Resistance Spells followed by a Tensors Transformation and engage in melee combat. * HIGH LEVEL FIGHTS: Character levels 17 - 20 * General 1- Time Stop is the first spell that should be cast followed by your choice of maxed direct damage spells, Save or Die Spells or Horrid Wiltings. Finish with a Power Word Kill. This will generally end the battle. If this fails use: 2- Premonition, Shadow Shield, Greater Stoneskin, and Spell Mantle are your best buffs. 3- Summon your familiar and Greater Planar Binding creature. * VS Fighter, Barbarian, Paladins, or Monks 1- Try to have 2 Time Stops and cast your second one as your fourth spell 2- Use maxed damage spells first then multiple Horrid Wiltings. 3- Use a Weird spell to end the fight right away. * VS Cleric, Druids, Rangers, or Rogues 1- Use a Time stop followed by a Greater Spell Breach and then your choice of maxed direct damage spells, or Horrid Wiltings. * VS Wizard, Sorcerer, or Bard 1- Use a Time stop followed by a Greater Spell Breach and then your choice of maxed direct damage spells, or Horrid Wiltings. Finish with a Power Word Kill. Due to low Hit points 2 - 4 Maxed Magic Missiles followed by a Power Word Kill is all that is needed to end the fight. 2- Use a Wail of the Banshee spell to end the fight right away. * POWER WORD KILL I need to include on section on this spell as it is a vital spell to use in conjunction with the Time Stop spell. At the higher levels Fighters, Barbarians, Rangers, and Paladins have an incredible amount of hit points and hit very hard. Clerics, Druids, Wizards and Sorcerers have a devastating array of spells. Monks, Rogues, and Bards have some great innate resistance to spells and high saving throws. Most opponents at this stage will also have resistance and or immunity to a range of spells. The Power Word Kill spell helps negate these advantages by eliminating 99 hit points without any saving throw or immunity but only if used in the right circumstances. Power Word Kill will not affect your opponent unless he is under 100 hit points. Usually this is Badly Wounded for a high level Wizard, Sorcerer, Rogue, and Bard or Near Death for Fighters, Barbarians, Rangers, and Paladins. Clerics, Druids and Monks are in between this. This spell causes instant death if used properly. Think of the Power Word Kill as the spell that delivers the final killing blow and therefore should be used last to end the fight. When to cast a Power Word Kill spell Fighters, Barbarians, Rangers, and Paladins - Near Death Clerics, Druids and Monks - Near Death to Badly Wounded Wizard, Sorcerer, Rogue, and Bard - Badly Wounded You can usually cast 3 to 5 spells while under a Haste effect during one Time Stop. So in a fight cast Time Stop spell first, followed by your choice of maxed direct damage spells, Save or Die Spells, or Horrid Wiltings, and a Power Word Kill spell last when you think an opponent in under 100 hit points. Remember that potions can quickly restore hit points often before you can finish casting the Power Word Kill spell so do this while the Time Stop is still in effect. **** Some great damage spells for a level 20 wizard are *Level 4 Spell Maxed Magic Missile - 25 Hp *Level 5 Spell Maxed Melfs Acid Arrow - 120 Hp over 18 rounds *Level 7 Spells Maxed Fireball, Maxed Lightning Bolt - 60 Hp Maxed Flame Arrow - 120 Hp *Level 8 Spells Maxed Cone of Cold - 120 Hp Horrid Wilting - 25d8 *Level 9 Spells Maxed Chain Lightning - 120 Hp to first opponent, 60 Hp to secondary opponents **** Some great Instant Death spells are Finger of Death - Wizard, Sorcerers, Bards, or Rogues Wail of the Banshee spell - Wizard, Sorcerers, Bards, or Rogues Weird spell - Fighters, Barbarians, or Monks ******************************************************************************* *************** 9- SOLOING TIPS *************** If you want to try and max out your wizard as quickly as possible then you need to go adventuring alone without help. This is called soloing. Most of the Wizard guides that I have read didn't recommend that a wizard or sorcerer go adventuring alone without help as this class is too weak to survive the early encounters. Soloing is difficult for a wizard or sorcerer and it requires both patience and tactics early in the game. Latter in the game it becomes much easier although you still need to plan your attack carefully. Here are some tips for those who are bold enough to solo as a wizard. Here is an example of a character that I used to solo successfully during the single player campaign. Using this character I was able to reach Level 19 just after I started Chapter 3 in the game. * RACE: Elf IMO the best race for a wizard especially you plan to solo. Elves have the following bonuses: * Keen Senses, Skill Affinity (Search) - Helps you spot traps so you don't need to use your familiar or a henchman. * Skill Affinity (Listen), Skill Affinity (Spot), Low Light Vision - Helps you scout ahead and spot monsters at longer range so you have more time to plan your attack. * Bonus Proficiencies (Longsword, Rapier, Shortbow, Longbow) - Gives you access to good melee weapons and bows without the need to take an additional feat. * Hardiness to Enchantments - Helps you resist the effects of mind spells. * Wizard is an elves favored class so you don't get any experience points penalties for multiclassing. * +2 Dexterity helps with ranged attacks. * Ability Score: Str 10 Dex 12 Con 12 Wiz 10 Int 18 Cha 8(-1) You can raise your ability scores by one point at levels 4, 8, 12, 16, 20. Put your first point in to Dex and every other point into Int. * SKILLS: In addition to your class skills (Concentration, Spellcraft, Lore, Heal) I'd recommend these skills to help you survive. * Disarm Trap - Just one point here will allow you to disarm the vast majority of traps you encounter right up to the middle of the game. * Set Trap - You find traps in chests all the time so put a couple of points here and use them. Helps you conserve your spells. More powerful than level 1, and 2 spells. * Move Silently - Helps you sneak up on an opponent and get the first shot off. You get a bonus on your attack if your opponent does not see you and is not prepared (flat footed). * Hide - Allows to escape your opponents if you need to run because you are out of spells or low on health. * FEATS: Your going too need to specialize here so you can maximize your chances to survive the early encounters. I will list the feats here in the order I would take them. * Level 0 - Spell Focus (Illusion) - Gives you more spells. Your spells are not that strong in the early levels so any help can be a huge boost. I choose the Illusion school because I never used spells from the enchantment school very much. * Level 3 - Point Blank Shot - The reason for choosing this feat over Combat Casting will become apparent in the Tactics section. I wanted to help my attacks on weaker monsters with my Longbow to save my spells for the stronger ones. * Level 4 put 1 ability point into Dex for the Rapid Shot Feat. Every other point should go to Int. * Level 5 - Spell Focus (Evocation) - Your going to have access to Level 3 Evocation spells at this point so you may as well maximize their effectiveness against the tougher monsters that you come up against. This will make your Fireball spell even more deadly. * Level 6 - Rapid Shot - With this feat you can kill 2 - 4 weaker monsters just using your Longbow and a Haste spell. This can really help you conserve your spells. You can go for longer periods of time without resting to rememorize your spells. * Level 9 - Toughness - IMO having more hit points is more important earlier than later. Will give you a 9 bonus hit points and one more hit point at each level up. * Level 10 - Great Fortitude - Allows you to better resist poison and contagion from your encounters with spiders and mummies. * Level 12 - Spell Penetration - The monsters your are going to face will be tougher so make your all your spells more deadly. * Level 15 - Spell Focus (Necromancy), Empower Spell - You gain access to some great Necromancy spells like Finger of Death and Horrid Wilting. Good time to start using Empowered Fireballs and Ice Storms. * Level 18 - Maximize Spell - You will want to start using maxed Cone of Colds to take down the tougher monsters. * Level 20 - Extend Spell - Extend your higher level buffing spells like Shadow Shield and Tensors Transformation to help you survive the difficult encounters. * TACTICS: Here are the tactics I used. These tactics only apply to soloing. You should also read my "TIPS AND TRICKS" section for some great general purpose tips. * EARLY GAME: Character levels 2 - 9. In the early levels you will be relying on 4 attack tactics primarily to win your battles. At this level You have very low hit points and 1 - 3 melee blows will be enough to kill you. Don't get in to melee combat. Run away if you have to or use an invisibility spell. This is the main reason I didn't choose the Combat Casting feat. You need to conserve your spells as much as possible so you can use them against the harder monsters. Most of these tactics will be used during your entire career but they are vital in the early levels. * Fishing: I call this tactic fishing. If you spot a group of weaker monsters get into the visual range of only ONE of them. When he spots you get him to chase you about 1/2 a screen away from his buddies BEFORE you attack him. This is to make sure that when he dies his buddies will not hear his death cry and come running to help him. Begin your attacks with your Bow and finish him with your Longsword. Repeat this tactic on his buddies until they are all dead. Only use your spells if you have to. You can clear entire sections using this tactic without using any spells and most will die from arrows running to you. * Traps: Setting traps is a great way to save spells and can often end the encounter as soon a they set off a trap. For a trap to work effectively set them on front of doorways or any other confined area and then use your bow to bait the monsters in to the trap. Always aim for the center monster so the whole group comes after you. If your firing a ranged attackers then hit them with an arrow wait until they get closer and then move a little way back so they will trip the trap trying to get within range of you. For tougher monsters set multiple traps in hallways and bait them in to each one of them. * Coup de Grace: Ok you tried to fish one guy out and now you have 4 bearing down on you. What to do? First try to kill one of them using your bow. When the group gets about 1 second away cast a Color Spray spell. This will daze 1 or 2 two of them letting you do a Coup de Grace attack with your Longsword killing them instantly. Now focus your attack on the one that did not get dazed. * Hit and run: You will have to take out a strong monster every so often and these guys won't go down with arrows. Take them out using hit and run tactics. Most NPCs can't open doors and won't pursue you if they lose sight of you. Use this to your advantage. Cast 1 or 2 direct damage spells like Melfs Acid Arrow, Magic Missile, or Fireball and then run around a corner. Cast 1 or 2 spells and then run into a house. Cast 1 or 2 spells and then close the door. Use your best spells and don't confront them until they are near death. * Summon Creature 1: When you get to level 7 start casting this spell. You will get more experience points and level faster if you kill a monster with a dire badger than by yourself at this stage. You won't get a lot more initially but as you gain more levels the amount will dramatically increase. Use your buffing spells, invisibility, and healing potions to help keep him alive. You can also have him stand his ground before you enter a battle to keep him out of a fight. Just remember to have him follow after the fight. This is a real cheesy tactic and a lot of people complain about it but losing experience points for using your familiar in a fight is also lame so you may as well use the rules to your advantage. * Henchmen: Just because you solo doesn't mean you can take advantage of henchmen. Every henchman is looking for an item and will give you a reward if you find it for them. Hire each henchman, have them talk about themselves and then release them from your service. You only need to pay them once. When they talk to you they will give you clues as to what is the item they are looking for. Go back each time you level up, hire and talk to each one and they will tell you more about themselves and give you more clues. Return the item they are looking for an they will give you a magic item as a reward. Boddyknock has a VERY good magic item for wizards. The others also give good rewards as well. Note: you must find the item they are looking for before you complete the chapter or you will not get a better replacement in the next chapter nor find the original item they were looking for as you can't go back to a previous chapter. * MID GAME: Character levels 10 - 16. At these levels you get more powerful spells and area effect spells. Your tactics will be similar because the game will throw tougher opponents at you but your new array of spells will let you stand up to them better. * Boots of Speed: I have to make mention of these Boots as they will dramatically change how you play the game when you solo. The boots give the wearer a permanent haste effect. This frees a spell slot giving you another spell to use for something else. Scouting and fishing tactics are much more effective when your wearing them. You can also cast more spells which makes hit and run tactics with your old spells seem like a different attack altogether. Buy or equip these boots as soon as you find them. * Area Effect spells: By now you should have a good selection of area effect spells to use. The area affect spells should always be used first followed by individual attack spells. Use these to clear out lower monsters and soften up the stronger ones. Use the cloud varieties with your bow to setup traps in doorways, city streets, and hallways. The lightning spell is particularly good on undead. Bait the undead to follow you in to a hallway to use them. Use the Fireball spell in place of your bow for hit and run attacks. * Tensors Transformation: You should always have one of these spells available as soon as you can. This spell will be a key spell for Wizards that solo. Use the spell to escape if your character is losing hit points rapidly. Transform and then get out. Use this spell to take down a boss monster after all your other spells have been used. This spell can also save you if you get surrounded by tough monsters or help you finish off a tough monster. Remember Tensors doesn't last long but the effects of most buffing spells like Stoneskin and Shadow Shield will still be in effect after you cast the spell. So buff up first then cast this spell. This spell dramatically increases fortitude saves so encounters with spiders and mummies won't be such a pain. * LATE GAME: Character levels 17 - 20. Here you reach the pinnacle of your power and you should be able to slaughter just about anything that comes your way. Time Stop, maxed spells, Horrid Wilting and save or die spells along with Premonition will be you main weapons. Always scout ahead and memorize the right spells to crush your opposition. Fire spells are of no use against Fire Elementals but a few Cone of Cold spells will kill them right away. * Time Stop: As soon as you get to level 17 memorize this spell. This is the wizards ultimate spell. You can use this spell in a variety of ways. The ultimate hit and run - Cast Time Stop and then rush in and cast 3 spells and run out. Run in and just before the enemies get to you cast Time Stop and then cast your best area of effect spells. Sneak up to your enemies cast time stop and then your best area of effect spells and you will catch them all flat footed for extra damage. Cast Time Stop to steal items from powerful opponents without fighting them. * Maxed Spells: Cone of Cold, Flame Arrow, Chain Lightning, and Fireball are examples of mid level spells that can be turned into spells of massive destruction when they are maximized. Use these spells with Time Stop to annihilate your opponents before they can even get a shot off. * Save or Die Spells: These are save throw spells where your opponent has to make the right saving throw or die instantly. Examples of these spells are Wail of the Banshee (Fortitude) and Weird (Will). Use Wail of the Banshee on enemy mages and Weird on fighters. Cast both these spells after a Time Stop to quickly clear an area of opponents. * Horrid Wilting: Cast this spell on foes that are resistant to elemental dammage. This spell doesn't stack so you need to cast a second Horrid Wilting a second or two after the first one. Good spell to use before a Time Stop. It has long range and can target a group of opponents. * Power Word Kill: One of the best spells you have for single combat. Just get an opponent under 100 hit points (badly wounded or near death) and cast this spell. This spell has NO saving throw. So it is always lethal. Should be the last spell you cast after a time stop. ******************************************************************************* ******************* 10- TIPS AND TRICKS ******************* Here are some added tips to help you get the most out of your wizard. Also check out the "SOLOING TIPS" section for more useful tips. Have fun. * Scouting: As weak as you are as a wizard you can't afford to get into melee combat so scout a head to see what your going up against. Is it 1 monster or 4? Is it a tougher monster? Right Click on the NPC and click the eye icon to find out. Proceed slowly and methodically and have an area of retreat planned in case you need to run. * Potions: Don't hoard these in the single player campaign, especially healing potions. They are not expensive, they don't take up much space and you find them everywhere. Always have at least 5 but never more than 10 of each kind on you at one time. If your wounded use a potion to heal instead of resting if you still have spells left. Use a potion when your hit points drop below the halfway mark so you can always survive 1 big attack. * Treasure: Search everywhere for treasure. Break down the doors of homes. Bookshelves, drawers, and corpses all have treasure. Don't be picky, in the early levels a torch or a book is worth 2 gold pieces. When you can't carry anymore go back and sell them. Later on you can be more picky and only collect the good treasure. ALWAYS identify an item before selling it. * Buffing: Buffing spells are vital during the early part of the game. Always cast them on yourself or your familiar and henchman and rest immediately after their effects wear off so you can recast them. Never go into a fight before using them. * Frost Wand: You should use your Frost wand to attack weak monsters and open doors and chests. Early in the game the Frost wand will do as much damage as an arrow. Start using your bow when you start getting 2 hit points or less out of each attack. Always use the Frost wand to open locked doors and chests until you get to the mid levels. * Gold: Gold does no good sitting in your pocket so spend it. Keep a few hundred gold pieces just in case you need it for bribes or to return back to a place via the temple. You won't need any money for identifying items because of your class unless you get real lucky. If you do get lucky then just buy an Identify spell scroll for 42 Gold and drag to your spell book. It's cheaper than an identifying the item at a temple or merchant. * Armor Class: AC is negligible to a Wizard. At low levels you won't have enough hit points to engage in melee combat and at higher levels any fighter will have too high to-hit bonuses so AC doesn't matter. Your defense will come from Damage Reduction spells like Stoneskin. * Melee Combat: If you choose elf as your race use your bows at range and then quickly switch to a Longsword or Rapier on EASY monsters only in melee combat. This will help you save on spells and arrows. You can actually get quite a lot of mileage out of this when you get a regeneration ring. DONT use this tactic on mid level or harder monsters. Use spells and hit and run tactics with your bow to finish off these guys. * Saving Throws: Wizards only have good will saves. For a Wizard to Fortitude save against a Wail of the Banshee spell he needs at least a DC of 23 (Base DC 10, +9 (lv9 spell), +4) *** Wizard must have an INT of 19 to cast a Wail of the Banshee so that's a +4 bonus.*** Same For a Reflex save against Enhanced Fireballs, Dragon Breath, trap damage... Use a combination of equipment and spells to get this higher. * Chests: It is better to try to open a chest rather than bash it open as you can significantly lower your treasure haul if you bash it open in many cases. Most of the chests have the same treasure in them for OnDeath and OnOpen. HOWEVER, most of the BOSS treasure chests and some of the others have DIFFERENT treasure for them. Use a Knock spell or Pixie familiar to open these. * Weapons: Always upgrade your weapons. Don't wait for a lucky break to get a good weapon from a chest. As you level up the game will become harder so you need to upgrade your weapons to match. * Spells: Don't be afraid to buy spells from a merchant if you have the money. When you level up only get to choose a few spells so if there is another spell you want after you level up try buying it from the temple or a merchant. * Quickbars: You can drag inventory items or spells to the quickbar (hot keys) for quick and easy access. Pressing the Shift and Ctrl button will show a different quickbar so you get 36 button assignment slots. Drag your most powerful spells and equipment to it. I try to keep mine organized with my best spells in the first one, buffing spells the shift one and equipment in the Ctrl one. Update these quickbars as you gain new spells and equipment. * Familiar: You can heal your familiar easily by feeding it. Click on your familiar Press 4 to feed him and 1 to end dialog. You can do this at any time even during combat. You can also take control of your familiar by possessing him. This is how you can use him to scout for you. * If you get badly wounded switch to a weapon with vampiric regeneration to help you gain hit points in a fight. Arrows of this type can be very useful. * Save often: You can't be sure what might be waiting for around the corner. It really stinks to beat a tough NPC, and then get killed by a weak one that you missed while your raiding the treasure chests. Now you have to play for an hour to get back to where you were. I always save before and after a tough fight or any duration longer than 15 minutes. * Character creation: This is a game where you want to plan your character out. Study the pros and cons of each class and race and plan what you want to do at each level up so you can get the most out of your character. This can make a big difference on how you play the game and how strong your character is. I also save before I level up so if I don't like the feat or spells I picked I can go back and change them. * Tab Button: When you press the Tab button everything that you can interact with like NPCs, treasure chests, and enemies will highlight on the screen. This will help you locate enemies and find hard to see items like loot bags and dropped weapons. Any opponents will highlight in red while chests, doors, and items will be in green. * Endurance: Don't rest if you have cast an Endurance spell and you are under 9 hit points. If you do rest, the spell will wear off and you will instantly die. Use a healing potion or go see a Cleric at the temple before the spell wears off. * Protection Items: Protection items (Ring of Protection, ...) improve saving throws and are universal so they don't stack. Use only 1 ring, cloak, or necklace of this type. * Enchanted Items: There are a lot of enchanted items that let you cast more spells like wands, staffs, and rings. These can be placed on a hot key button to quickly use the spell. * Bonus Experience: If you kill farm animals like cows, dogs, or chickens and docile forest animals like deer you can get some easy experience points. While you might think that this would affect your Alignment score it doesn't and it will not change how NPC characters interact with you. You will only get a few points for killing each one but it does add up. You can get over a hundred easy points of experience at each farm house using just your crossbow or a few high level spells. This is the same as killing one high level monster with practically no danger of getting hurt. * Bags of Holding: Buy bags of holding whenever you find them. They are expensive early on but you will make less trips back to sell your loot. They also work well to help organize the loot you want to keep like potions, weapons, and magic items so you can find them easier. * Save Weight: Place enchanted items like staffs and rings in Bags of Holding and then drag them to the Quickbar to access their spells. This is a great way to save weight and still use the items. Place equipment like weapons, gloves, robes... in the bag and then drag them to the Quickbar so you can quickly equip them. Works well for specific circumstances and saves weight. Always put your equipment back when your finished with it. * Spell Mantle: An easy way to get past Spell Mantles is to cast a Fireball spell near the mage instead of targeting him. This way the mage will still get damaged instead of having the Spell Mantel bock it's effects. Another way around them is to use the shadow variant spells like Shadow Conjuration, Greater Shadow Conjuration, and Shades. * Horrid Wilting: Horrid Wilting spells don't stack and really don't take effect until after a Time Stop so you should cast these after your direct damage spells and be ready to cast a Power Word Kill after the Horrid Wilting spells. Here are some multiplayer tips to help you play a wizard within a group. * Buffing Spells: Here is a list of good buffs to cast on your party. I am only listing the spells that affect more than one person. Invisibility Sphere, Magic Circle of Alignment, Mass Haste, Protection from Spells, Mind Blank There are other great buffs you can cast but those will only affect one member of your party. Most will help all classes but a few are geared for specific circumstances and some will only help specific classes. For example; the Eagles Splendor will not help your fighter or barbarian except in an unusual circumstance but it will always be invaluable to your sorcerer. Learn what each spell does and what spells work well for each Class so you don't waste a spell by casting it at a time or on a class that will gain no benefit. * Area of Effect Spells: Make sure you know what rules you are playing under before casting any area of effect spells. The default rules in the single player campaign of Neverwinter Nights do not let your allies get damaged from your spells BUT Hardcore DND rules will. Spells like Lightning, Flame Arrow, and Magic Missile work better under Hardcore DND rules when your fighters are engaged in melee combat. * Conserve Spells: Many parties that you travel with will not have a lot of patience if you need to rest after every fight so try to conserve your spells by learning what each can do and by casting spells at different targets instead of focusing on one. It is overkill to use a Cone of Cold spell to do 5 points of damage so switch to your bow or use a Frost Ray. * Roleplay: Try not to do too much. Its not your job to unlock chests with the Knock spell or bash open doors with a Fireball. Let the other members of your party play their roles so you can conserve your spells for when your party really needs them. * Spells: You will get higher level spells like Fireball and Time Stop 1 level before your Sorcerer so switch roles with him if he is willing. Your party will benefit from the higher level damage spells if you do. *******************************************************************************