Baldur's Gate Level 6 Arcane / Mage Magic Spell Guide
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- Опубліковано 25 лип 2024
- This is the sixth installment of my arcane magic spell guide for the classic PC game, Baldur's Gate.
This video covers Level 6 (SIX) mage spells.
The Level 1 spells video is here: • Baldur's Gate Level 1 ...
The Level 2 spells video is here: • Baldur's Gate Level 2 ...
The Level 3 spells video is here: • Baldur's Gate Level 3 ...
The Level 4 spells video is here: • Baldur's Gate Level 4 ...
The Level 5 spells video is here: • Baldur's Gate Level 5 ...
This series will take an analytical / rule / power game oriented approach to discussing the strengths and weaknesses, and use cases, for each spell in Baldur's Gate, BG2:SOA, and TOB. The spells are assessed across the entire saga and mainly using the unmodded Enhanced Edition releases (so no SCS, although I do touch on SCS frequently)
Thanks to:
BG Reddit - / baldursgate
Davaeorn - ua-cam.com/channels/4kj.html...
BG Wiki - baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/B...
NearInfinity - github.com/Argent77/NearInfinity
0:00 - Intro
4:20 - Carrion Summons (Rating: 3/10)
15:27 - Chain Lightning (5)
27:23 - Conjure Air Elemental (2)
42:30 - Conjure Earth Elemental (2)
48:20 - Conjure Fire Elemental (3)
54:21 - Contingency (7)
1:21:55 - Death Fog (5)
1:32:10 - Death Spell (6)
1:35:00 - Disintegrate (3)
1:43:08 - Flesh to Stone (3)
1:50:28 - Globe of Invulnerability (2)
1:57:02 - Improved Haste (10)
2:07:43 - Invisible Stalker (3)
2:13:40 - Mislead (6)
2:30:52 - Pierce Magic (7)
2:39:21 - Power Word, Silence (2)
2:50:23 - Protection from Magic Energy (8)
3:00:00 - Protection from Magical Weapons (5)
3:16:00 - Spell Deflection (8)
3:30:55 - Stone to Flesh (2)
3:34:05 - Summon NIshruu (3)
3:50:57 - Tenser's Transformation (2)
3:58:18 - True Sight (8)
4:16:18 - Wyvern Call (2)
4:12:48 - Conclusion and Summary of Ratings - Ігри
I played bg1 and 2 when they came out, i cant believe there is still content being created from them by people that enjoyed them as much as I do
Thank you for continuing the project! I really appreciate your work!
You’re welcome and thanks for your kind words!
Hurray for nerdy and detailed! Thanks for level 6 and keep them coming!
Thanks Nathan ! Level 7 is a real grab bag with a lot of spells I haven’t looked into really so… already getting interested to do it
Pierce Magic my favorite
Using it under a time stop spell can be incredibly powerful
I just finished SOA and discovered this hidden gem. Keep up the good work!
Nice, love this stuff!
Yeah realy have learn alot from just watching these :)
Tenser's is much more useful for the Bard, especially the Blade. Bards level faster so they can get the maximum bonus earlier. They have fewer spells and they don't get higher level spells so losing their casting isn't as bad. Blades can use it together with Offensive Spin.
Since you released the level 5 video, I've started a solo Dragon Disciple run from BG1 EE, and just yesterday I killed Amelissan. Pierce Shield + multiple skull traps, which by the way I've only learned to use thanks to your videos. Keep doing the Lord's work man! Now to Icewind dale EE
I think that one of the best ways to undestand the magic system in BG, is playing as a mage or cleric combination, like pure or multiclass (better if solo). Of course you need real time to undestand how it works.
Yesterday, for example, I was killing solo Ankheg at level 1 with a pure mage (just testing something that worked with fighter/illusionist) Was so funny seeing how this things that arent easy prey, that can kill fighters with the same level 1, getting contionusly hit by rocks and dying by that.😅😅😅 Its no 100% safe, because they can save agaisnt blind (and then, you re gonna die with one hit), but that shows that a well used mage, its better in any way to a pure fighter.
Too true my friend.. sleep also works well on ankhegs
Awesome!! Congrats man. It is real hard to play pure arcane user solo so nice work. And yes that is a super satisfying way to nuke enemies!
@@WJ_24 Oh, I didn't know that. I gonna test it when I had time.
@@Frendlu Try Blindness too. Sleep, Greater Command and Blindness seem to be the big 3 in BG1.
This is the first video of this series that I've seen. Awesome work! I love it! Now, I largely agree with your assessments, but PFMW is criminally underrated here IMO, esp. once you start getting into ToB content. (This might be colored by my play: I tend to go for solo-no-reload games with MU/Ts & C/MUs; and I've never cared for or used SCS...)
Anyway, again, love the video! Now I have to catch up on all the others! :-)
Thank you! Hope you enjoy the whole series!
Thank you so much for these videos. I finally got the confidence to finish baldurs gate 1, and I did it solo! Now to work on the DLC and BG2 😅
Congrats man. BG1 has infinite replayability for me, it’s the perfect game. Always new little quests and wilderness areas. The rule set and spell casting really take off in bg2 though. Enjoy!
I really enjoyed this, thank you for your work! I've been playing the BG series since their original releases but I always love to see someone else's opinions.
You’re welcome. Thank you for the nice comment!
Love your content
Thanks!!
A new upload! Guess I'm changing my afternoon plans!
lol, thanks for watching/listening! Appreciate the comment!
You prob could have a dinner with Raistlin and keep him entertained. Nice job man.
Awesome breakdown dude, great analysis. Glad to have someone who focuses on solo play, my preferred playstyle lol
Small caveat for True Sight: While it is almost always more economical to have priests cast lvl 5 True Seeing instead of mages casting lvl 6 True Sight, note that True Seeing will not affect liches, as they are immune to spells of lvl 5 and below, in which case the lvl 6 True Sight is necessary to dispel their illusions (Mislead/Improved Invis/Mirror Images).
Holding my breath for lvl 7 😃
This series might become *the* definitive guide to arcane spells for BG. Looking forward to 7 and 8...with maybe a guide for divine magic down the road? Anyway, thanks for the thoughtful work you've put into this - I really appreciate the deep dives into some of the more overrated/underrated spells.
Julian!!! Super nice of you to say! I really appreciate it, it’s high praise…. I’m just starting in the prep work for level 7 spells now…
Conjure elemental is instantaneous for Druids. They are the only class that can safely cast those spells.
pfmw is necessary against Illasera and fallen solars in scs. Dispelling arrow means good bye stonekins, mirror images, etc
Time for my daily 4h education on Arcane spell power because to this day after playing BG2 for 6 runs i STILL don't know what else to take except improved haste for tier 6 lmao
Edit : "there's alot of variety in lvl 6" and me my brain is haha imp haste go bbbbb on Mazzy"
Lol!!! Well you already have a pretty good idea since you can almost never go wrong with imp haste haha
This is a really thorough and well documented work. Well done ! I especially appreciate the fact that you read every spell description, and then show them in action in the game : overall this is a methodical approach that has never been done so far, i think, even by Davaeorn.
But (even with great things there is usually a "but" :) ) there are two things i personally regret :
- you speak at times of SCS, but i think you don't play a lot with it, since you don't speak at all of some the most important changes of this mod. Best example would be Skull Trap, which SCS cap at 12d6. It's still a great spell, but i think such big changes should be mentionned, if you really want to talk about SCS.
- also and this is more crucial since it will also concerns players of the base game : you're obviously soloing the game most of the time. Yes, you spoke of it in the introduction of these guides, but i don't think you really see how much it affects your playstyle, and as such, what you think about BG's spells in general. Damage spells are almost what you want and rate high here, and crowd control spells don't seem to be usueful at all for you (i mean, you rate "Slow" 4/10 only, even after saying it's one of the best CC spells...).
If you solo this game with a mage, you'll obviously want to kill most of the ennemies very quickly, because otherwise you'll be dead in seconds.
But if, like most of Baldur's players i think (the game was designed after all to let you play with a party of 6), you play with six people, then fighters and all non-mages will take the damage on the front line, and will do the killing, and the most important thing for your mages then is to prevent the death of one of your heroes. As such, in this case, debuffing the ennemies or just stop them (with hold, sleep, polymorph, and so many more effects) will be much more important than damage. That's what i think at least in my experience, and why you rate so much higher damage spells overall, and rate so low almost every crowd control spells in these guides.
It's not a major flaw : i just point out that despite your very methodical approach, you have a great bias here because you play solo most of the time.
I don't want to reduce the value of your work overall, and i'm really looking forward to see the next guides for levels 7 to 9. Even with such a solo approach, your guides are tremendously informative, and very enjoyable to listen to. I mean, i learned a few things about minor spells like Clairvoyance or Know alignment, even after playing this game for 25 years :)
Keep up the good work, and thank you very much sir !
Well thank you for such a long and thoughtful comment! I don’t disagree with anything… I did a full party play through of bg1 recently and right away I was seeing how CC is much more useful when you have 3 fighters. Also aoe damage of course gets a lot less helpful when you have to separate your whole party to not hit them. Thanks for watching!!!
Also to clarify I do play with scs but I have other mods that overwrite spell damage caps like skull trap 12d6. So that is something I missed because it’s not in my install / settings of scs.
@@WJ_24 Well, i was about to comment in arcane 3 about Skull Trap, and speak about your overall preference for Aoe Spells vs spells like Flame Arrow. I don't need to do it now i guess. Aoe spells are still great with a party of 6, but you really need to think about when you can ue them safely, indeed. That's when having single-target damaging spells becomes very useful. At higher levels, Flame Arrows for example can one shot safely many types of opponents without hurting your companions. The same can be said about crowd control spells. Yes, Web will always be a good crowd control spell overall, but it's one of the only non-friendly spells of that type. That's why with a party, you'll have better success with crowd-control that don't affect your companions, like Sleep at first, then Slow, Chaos, Hold or even Polymorph other for fun. See my other comment on Greater Malison about that : in a full party, Greater Malison will soon become mandatory, especially in BG2 and ToB, when the saves of opponents will be much harder to break on a regular basis.
Enjoying these guides and think this is the best to date. Even got a semi-shout out for my previous comment on Air Elementals! haha
Never really used Contingency but feel I should utilise it more - would a Remove Paralysis work on a Helpless trigger for a C/M, do you think?
It's AoE too so would be helpful if a Hold Person or Symbol Stun hits your party
When you use project image you become helpless. Use this information for deviousness. Like chain contingency multiple project image and simulacrum plus resilient sphere on self. Go in battle cast project image you have 3-4 clones to destroy the enemies.
Contingency : Otiluke Resilient Sphere, Myself, Helpless.
Some people say friendly party must save vs Otiluke but in my instalation with SCS that's not the case, Otiluke is my ultimate "Oh shit i must close that person NOW or he's dead"
Keep in mind Project Image counts as being helpless which isn't necessary bad of you're cloning yourself in the middle of fight.
Another idea is obviously invisibility but chances are if your mage is stunned the fight isn't going too well and it's against someone who can see through invisibility while the Sphere lasts for one turn which is long enough for stun to wear off, or if your Cleric is higher lvl than your mage late game you can safely dispel both the Sphere and the stun
This is a great idea actually…. Why didn’t I think of it! Maybe the ONLY good use of otiluke’s! I will try it!
@@WJ_24 This spell is underrated if even you're like "only use" but you're playing solo so it's understandable.
Personally I've learned to use it when playing multiplayer and the first thing i took is Otiluke thinking "even if it has a chance in BG1 saves are terrible so it might just work" then i realized i can just troll my team by locking them in spheres
I think this might be one of the best ways to use Contingency. Especially on a wild mage. The only bad surge that a wild mage can't protect from, and which could have devastating results, is a held effect WITH NO SAVE on the wild mage for 70 seconds. As far as i know, Otiluke on the wild mage is the best way (and the only way in solo) to prevent an horrible death from this horrible surge. If he's the bhaal spawn, well it might be game over. Sure, a dinvine caster can cast a remove paralysis, but it means the wild mage is extremely vulnerable until remove paralysis can be cast.
@@thibaut7467 I think you cant go wrong with this, and even if you dont want to set it as "helpless" you can go with 50-25% HP if youre in distress and as far i know youre practically invincible in the sphere.
Since 2.6 allies don't save against friendly Otiluke's. In hardcore playthroughs, I have it in sequencers designed to save people who are about to be perma-killed (cast time is too long to cast normally unless Vecna is on).
Notes about SCS : one of SCS ' basic modifications remove the "conjuring mental battle/stuck for 10 seconds or so" when the Conjured elementals appears. It's mainly to help AI mages and let them use the spell without crippling themselves. But is also means you can cast the spell much more freely, and makes overall these spells less bad.
Melf's meteors are debuffed by SCS, and made into +2 weapons to hit. Also, Protection from normal missiles now protect from elemental arrows, and even +1 arrows if you choose to treat them as "fine" weapons instead of +1 weapons. True sight removes blindness in SCS (on the caster only : if your mage is blind, then a cleric can't help him if he''s the one casting True Sight)...
And i'm maybe forgetting a few others modifications you didn't mention, i think.
I'm not sure what mods you use, but it definitely feels they remove a lot of the most interesting (for me at least) /rebalancing aspects of SCS. To each his own i guess !
Contingency: fireball triggers at 10% health (if you have over 100 fire resist)
One important feature of Wyvern call that you neglect to mention is their innate immunity to web. Since you spent some time making reference to the power of the combination of stoneskin and mirror image I am a little disappointed in the lack of thoughtfulness about combinations. The combination of web and wyvern call is actually quite strong in any situation where you have access to both and the enemy isn't immune to web (many aren't even in ToB). Wyverns are actually really strong in Legacy of Bhaal difficulty as you need ways of doing massive amounts of damage quickly if you don't want to spend days getting through relatively tame battles since enemy HP are jacked WAY up.
I really appreciate how you've actually play tested and researched these spells. Well done!
However, I'm afraid you've gotten Globe of Invulnerability backwards. Limited Wish level 7 repeatable wish allows you to cast Minor Globe for your ENTIRE PARTY. Equip your mages with Lightning Wands and Fireball wands, load up Spell Sequencers with Skill Traps, walk into a room and just unleash! Thus, the only justification for memorizing Minor Globe is for your solo fighter mages, dual or multi. Load up a Spell Sequencer with Minor Globe and two Skull Traps, and when attacking a group, cast the Spell Sequencer on yourself. The Skullfire attack is best for fighter mages, for attacking groups.
I do agree with you on the one level difference between the protection between Minor Globe and Globe of Invulnerability does make it iffy to justify Globe of Invulnerability over Minor Globe. But there are still spellcasting enemies that use Spell Thrust throughout much of SOA. Globe of Invulnerability will stop Spell Thrust. It doesn't seem like much, but if you take your concept of stacking spell protections to its logical conclusion, Minor Spell Deflection and Minor Spell Turning should be added. They will ALL stack. Verified in the Wiki. And Spell Thrust will take down all your Minors. 😮. It will also make you invulnerable to Greater Malison, which is level 4. And I've become recently aware of just how horrific Mordenkainen's Force Missiles are. According to the Readme for SCS, 42d6 +75 damage for 3 Mordenkainen's Force Missiles in a Spell Sequencer...😮😮😮. Of course the level 1 spell Shield will block MFM. However, many sorcerers won't take Shield, because spells are tight every level. Besides, Spirit Armor is better in every way, except immunity to Magic Missiles and MFM. I usually get both Globe of Invulnerability and Protection from Magic Energy if possible. Globe is very useful throughout the game as part of my Spell Trigger of Globe, Protection from Magic Weapons and Protection from Magic Energy. I'm protected from the level three Evocation spells, (Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Flame Arrows) that every enemy mage uses, and the big, nasty of Abi Dahzims that liches use. Of course as a Dragon Disciple I laugh at Incendiary Clouds. 😈😈😈
Love the inputs., thanks for watching and your comment!
@@WJ_24 Quote from the SCS readme:
Remove the elemental-battle aspect of mages' Conjure Elemental spells
The fifth- and sixth-level Conjure Elemental spells on the mage spell list require a three-round mental battle to control the elemental. This in practice makes the spell mostly useless (three rounds is far too long to stand around in combat; players could cast it in advance, but the AI can't) and in any case very underpowered. This component just makes the summoned elemental directly under the player's control.
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I think that the Minor Globe of Limited Wish is cast at the individual MAGE level of its recipient, which is considered 1 (or: 7 rounds) for non mages, so factor in this rather low duration :)
@@quarktasche4997 Yep, you're right, according to the wiki. However, considering your mage level will affect Minor Globe's duration, is it really a penalty?
@@User_Un_Friendly not for the mage, who's allegedly casting this, but for Korgan, Viconia, Minsc or Jaheira also receiving this buff.
But 7 rounds can also be plenty of time, if you use this to unleash some AoE havoc as your steategy suggests 😀
Had a question if you have tested and seen any good affect from this. Have you tried Contingency with a Remove Paralysis with condition Helpless?
Contingency: If Hit: Stoneskin or Protection from Magic Weapons or Mirror Image. Sometimes, Sunfire is also a useful thing to put here. I agree it's less useful in general than its big brother Chain Contingency, but that's intentional. Even as a Sor, it's still useful to have an auto-renewal of a life-saving buff.
Normal Globe of Invulnerability also blocks Foncusion AKA Confusion. Accounting for mod-added spells and Sword Coast Stratagems, this globe is slightly better.
Early SoA makes Pro from Normal Weapons useful. Pf Magic Weapons is still spiffy with SCS, even if it's only for a brief time.
Thanks for the thoughts. Sunfire is a pretty cool one for a solo mage in a contingency!
@@WJ_24 Contingency improves if you have more than one spell list (normally Cleric/Mage), you use mods which improve your spell selection (IWDification, OlvynSpells, etc.) or/and you're a Wild Mage. Wild Mages can fit a Chaos Shield in a Contingency from the start. Contingency is also useful for spells you want to have on just in case they run out of duration or you get dispelled.
Contingency: Heal is a simple and effective game-changer in vanilla. It's like a preemptive auto-revive.
While I agree Contingency is situational, it's a rare spell that gets better the more spells you can access. It's similar to sequencers in that regard.
Thankee!
Tenser is actually decent for Fighter Mage Duals (not multis) if you want to boost your THACO and AC. A Kensai/Mage with Tensers can do things. Still, very niche and you dont really need it...
I don't know if this applies to the advanced edition, but in the original Baldur's Gate 2 beholders don't attack fire elementals with their death rays. Instead they attack them with melee. This means you could wipe out all beholders under the temple destricts just with enough fire elementals.
What the...I hadn't known that! Seriously, I never knew that's why people recommended Fire Elementals with Beholders! Wow. I literally never knew that. Well, I've always used waves of hasted Skeleton Warriors. Or I outright cheated with Greater Deathblow and Fireseeds. 😈😈😈
I want to test this - iirc they have hit my elementals with a death spell. I do tend to use fodder to absorb those death rays so my Skellies don't get wiped
Maybe not the most ethical... but it works XD
@@ps6704 Yep. The Wand of Monster Summoning should really be called Wand of Fodder. Remember, the Fire Elemental trick only works in the original game, not BG2EE.
When is the new episode going to be released?
Yesterday!!
Hi all! I have been trying to find a spell. What is the spell in which the casting sprite is a huge face appearing from the ground?
There may be a couple but the one I know of is Horror, level 2 arcane spell
@@WJ_24 Thanks! I carefully rewatched your video, It was Horror.
Honest question: what is the point of playing on Insane difficulty if the "more damage to the player" option is disabled? How is that any different from Core Rules?
There are extra enemies
@@kissaritari1609 i though that was only an Icewind Dale thing
@@agrippa2012 At least on enhanced editions it just has more enemies
How can you import cloverleaf to BG2? That' what you said was the best belt, right? It was really hard to hear the name for some reason. I can only see that belt being imported via mods. Am I missing something?
Yes. Mods or BGTrilogy, since BGTrilogy makes SoD part of the saga so you can take your items straight through.
@@WJ_24 Thank you for replying. I have to ask since you are so knowledgeable: I have access to a short sword and a scimitar with +1 luck in my game (item ugprade / sod mods I guess). Would you value those higher than belm/kundane? Any ideas for how to utilize them? and btw.: I've watched all your spell guide videoes from start to finish and I can do scs insane so much easier now. Thank you!
@@Madzak It depends on how many APR you are starting with and trying to get to, and also if you are trying physical damage dealing as your main source of damage (vs being a spellcaster). If you are going for a physical damage build, and Belm or Kundane would give you a full extra APR (2 with Imp Haste) then those weapons are a lot better. The extra damage from 20% more APR will just be way more consequential than having +1 luck. If you are a back liner / doing spell damage as your main source of damage, or Belm/Kundane are only getting you 1/2 APR, then the Luck becomes more valuable for all of its helpful defensive properties. Luck versus 1/2 APR is probably a close call but the 1/2 APR is probably still better IMO if you are focusing on physical damage.
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Might I confess, that I sometimes use these Vids to fall asleep 😁? #totallynotgay 😉
Regarding Magical Damage protection: Armor of Faith from the divine spellbook also offers up to 25% resistance against this damage type. combine that with: Belt of Inertial Barrier and maybe Valygars armor, and you take (close to) no damage from Skull Traps or ADHW; or just use AoF with the Level 6 spell for 125% resistance to get healed by those spells, which is pretty neat for frontliners.
PfMW: I mostly agree with your points made and while I usually have at least one of these memorized, I rarely use them. Sure, if you're getting swarmed by 5 Fire Giants beating you up Mirror Image and Stone Skin will run out in no time - but that's a situation you can mostly avoid (let your 100% crushing resistant Cleric tank them, while getting healed by lava; use invisibility etc.)
I think, that usually the combination of micro management (positioning, kiting etc) your long lasting lower level protections (stoneskins etc) and the quick casting speed of the Vecna Mage is vastly superior to PfMW.
BUT that leaves a couple of cases, where this spell really shines:
Getting dispelled. If you lose all protections at once, PfMW is the best way to recover from it - you basically get 3 free rounds to rebuff yourself
Counter timestops against attacking Mages (either predict it by watching out for Alteration school animations, or set Contigency: Helpless with PfMW) like Amelyssan: If you don't have the Shield of reflection equipped, Amelyssan can easily kill you during one sitting just with here "darts".
Getting swarmed by unavoidable enemies: Ravager Fight, again Amelyssan, certain Demon encounters in watchers keep, Sendais enclave etc.
Second Mage of the party: If you have IWD spells installed I really love the quasi-PfMW on my clerics/druids, albeit its even shorter duration, since the impactful divine spells are so slow/hard to get off. Same logic can be applied on the mage not wearing Vecna/Amu of Power.
Also the more Mages I have in my party, the more micro would actually be required to play the party to its full potential. For me this can get pretty tiring, so I end up not playing them to their full potential, unless it's really necessary. PfMW lets me play more than 1 or 2 casters more sloppily (just tank it and keep casting)
Thanks for the amazing comments and high praise! The point about getting dispelled is very good, I should have mentioned that!
I think you underestimate how powerful PfMW is on Fighter/Mages and Bards, since those classes are meant to stand still and tank and attack or sing. If you want your caster to tank then it's mandatory, at least on insane SCS. I always memorize 1-2 on all my arcane casters just in case, but otherwise I agree with you. In most parties your mages aren't supposed to stand still and facetank stuff like Planetars, Mind Flayers or Vampires and if you kite well enough then PfMW won't be as crucial.
It is a fair point. This can be key for just distracting enemies long enough on a mage tank. I probably don’t focus on bards and multi classes enough in this guide but will try to improve! Cheers
For those of you who aren't lactose intolerant, Improved Haste from items (Ring of Vecna, Tarlash bow) will stack with Offensive Spin. 😈
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Look buddy if this is at least not as good as Daveorn's I won't start watching them :P
Well, here, at least, show how the magic works, and not just goes from "I dont have enough good things to say about this spell, take it" to "its rubbish, never take it".
In some ways, I prefer this videos where he shows how it works, and not because he is pro player that make an infinite playtroughts with SCS max difficult not saves/not reloads and for that, without any type of showcases examples, can say what is good, and what not without any type of discussion. That's an authority fallacy
The Tier List from Davaeorn was a bit "lazy", good, but lazy.
Yeah he show s much more how the spells work but his rating system is really flawed, he showcases spell that can break most of the game and says " it's OK 5/10" like for e.g mislead, blindness ect
Typo meant 6