[Alson]

Listening to Xyx and Dundee debating about spells is something i wanted to see a long time ago... *My* best spells debates were with those two. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Xyx strikes back:

Another Email from Xyx: Dundee spake thus: "I get the impressive that your friend is not utilising the full potential of all the spells by being so negative towards those that allow a saving throw. Doom is one of the level one spell for a Priest. A -2 penalty to THACO, AC and saving throws is an excellent bargain for a fast casting level one spell." Spells with saves have the following drawbacks: - They're nothing but wasted time if the save is made (saves in ToB: 5-10). - They cause effects that most bosses have cheesy immunities against. Doom is probably the best spell at its level, and I'll give it that little more credit, but that says more about the other level 1 priest spells than Doom. I don't see how one measly 2-point save penalty compares to the big guns. It's only a 10% increase of the effectiveness of SOME of your future spells. I guess I'm more a fan of immediate effect. Sure, if you plan to cast a dozen Polymorph Others, Feebleminds and Disintegrates at one specific creature, then Doom is great. Somehow, a strategy like that doesn't appeal to me. "[about Resist Fire/Cold] Gah! His apathy to elemental resistances bugs me. It was because of this spell that my Cavalier could laugh at many a Fire-Breathing Dragon or stand in a pit of lava while fighting Fire Giants. It is not the most fantastic spell out there, but it is useful, and not a sad spell." "MANY a fire-breathing dragon"? I can think of, what is it, two? One of which you don't have to fight (Firkraag), and the other you don't even have to meet for any reason (Saladrex). Please let me know if I missed any. Fighting fire giants whilst standing in pits of lava doesn't sound like an everyday occurence either. This description was written before I ever heard of ToB, so it's a bit outdated. I'll admit that this spell is not COMPLETELY useless anymore. I'll update a bit. "[about Cure Medium Wounds] Typo, "Upgrade"." Good. Xyx hates typos. "[about Miscast Magic] For a level 3 spell, this spell is effective." Uhm. Compare this to Hold Person. That works on more creatures, has an area (tiny as it may be) and paralyzes creatures (they can't do anything, you get free hits). Hold Person is only a level 2 spell. How often do you use that? "[about Remove Curse] I do not suppose he gambles with the Cambion?" Ah, excuse me. Pre-ToB writing. Will reword. "[about Animal Summoning I] Friendly fire will turn the animals hostile." Don't know where I got that. More proof that everything has to be personally verified. X( Removed. "[about Aerial Servant] 1) They are not invisible 2) They suck against Mind Flayers" 1) They are. They have an undroppable Ring of Invisibility. Try it. 2) Indeed. I must've been confusing them with Invisible Stalkers. Removed. "Regeneration is possibly one of the cheesiest spells ever!" We do list the cheese (General Spell Info section, under "Regeneration"), but I dare say clones, triggers and Nahal's Reckless Dweomer are a TAD cheesier. "Pierce Shield remove one spell protection of level 8 or lower" Nope. Removes one spell protection period, up to and including Spell Trap, just like Ruby Ray of Reversal. Try it (like I did) and be amazed. "you and I both know that the PI illusion is free anyway." Unless he's referring to the Spell Trap tricks, no, I don't know. I'd like to hear, though. =D "Protecting against their Wail of Banshee, total immunity to their Flame Arrows and Melf's Acid Arrows( Mirror Image is not 100% guaranteed ), immunity to their Flesh to Stone, etc... These are the Liches, we also have to deal with traps that spit out horrifying spells like Maze or Imprisonment. Then we have the general-type enemy Mage that loves to cast Evocation spells. Spell Immunity generally has a use in all fights that involves hostile spellcasting." Uhm. This seems to imply casting some half dozen Spell Immunities before every fight. How do you fight off a lich with a single Spell Immunity? "I am not the guy behind Elmonster. As for cloning, I use it a lot. Alson knows about my PRATI cheese." I was merely pointing out that Kevin Dorner, the guy behind Elmonster, seemed, for all his BG2 prowess, oblivious to the awesome power of cloning. (Whoa, run-on sentence!) What's "PRATI" cheese? Sounds tasty. =D // Alson: I fail to see the cheese, but PRATI stands for Project Image, Robe of Vecna, Amulet of Power, Time Stop and Improved Alacrity. Just beacuse it's powerful doesn't mean it's cheese. [img]tongue.gif[/img] "I would garner that my success rate with sniping with FoD is around 75%, which is very good odds already." Considering the average dragon has 60% magic resistance and a save of 5, that is very unlikely even after a couple of Lower Resistances, a Greater Malison and a Doom. Not impossible, just very unlikely. "It is a little known fact that KWW disrupts a Mage's spellcasting when its' grayish sphere appears. It is possible to totally wreck a Mage's spellcasting by bombarding him with KWWs." Sounds like fun, but I can't get it to work. Can you guys reproduce this? // Alson: I have no means of testing. Dundee? Would you mind? Keep sending in the feedback. [img]smile.gif[/img] Oh, and the Ref has of course been updated. Still no real changes to the History (same date, only minor rewordings and corrections). Cheers, Xyx