I-. HISTORY
II-. WIZARD CREATION
A) RACE
B) STATS
C) SKILLS
E) FEATS
F) FAMILIAR
III-. HIRELING
IV-. SPELLS
V-. EQUIPMENT
VI-. MULTICLASSING
VII-. PVP (PLAYER VS PLAYER) WIZARD
A) MAIN IDEAS
B) DUEL LEVELS
C) VS. CLASS TIPS
VIII-. PLAYING TIPS
Ok now, so you wanna create a very powerful Magic User to unleash hell to all living and
death cratures on the NWN modules, aren't U? Well... then stop reading my Wizard guide and
look 4 a Sorc one...
Many people think Wiz's and Sorc's are practically the same thing, but they're veeery
wrong; Sorc players mostly play and kill from their direct-damage spells (well, if they
only can know 4 or 5 spells per spell-level, there's not much to chose, only defense and
direct damage). Wiz's can memorize less spells than Sorc, but have a wider variety to chose
from; just find a way to block magic damage and specially elemental damage from an enemy
sorc and it's all done (premonition, mantles... thingies like these come to mind). Till
sorc's are active direct-damage casters, wizards are somewhat combat passive. Just
specialised in spell-countering and enhancing-fuck*** spells.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A) RACE
-------
* HUMAN: For me, this is maybe the best Wizard race available. No stat con's and two cool
race bonuses: 1 extra skill point per level and 1 extra feat at 1st level
* ELF: Pretty interesting, since the removal of the level-limit cap for non-human races
with the outcoming of 3rd edition rules elves are more wiz balanced than before. You get
some nice bonuses (sleep immunity, a +2 DEX bonus, hardiness vs enchantment spells...) and
don't forget that Wiz's is Elves favored class (in case u want multiclassing). Ok you have
a -2 penalty to CON stat (so you'll probably end with a CON 8 (-1) or CON 10 (+0) starting
char but... hope you're not thinking you're gonna put yourself in melee combat a lot,
isn't it?
* GNOME: Nice race, with lots of spellcasting potential and nice bonuses too (+2 CON can
give little extra HP and - most important - upgrade Fortitude Saving throws, a thing
wiz's and sorc's usually lack of...; small stature will make gnomes harder to hit, and
finally some bonuses against illusion spells - gnomes start automatically with Illusion
Spell focus anc concentration skill bonus). A -2 STR penalty is not a problem for a Wizard
(again... you're not going to engage melee combat). Wizard is gnome's favored class.
* Half-Elf: Well, they're not humans and they're not elves. Have not stat CON's/PEN's but
the abilities they gain are more rogue-oriented than Magic User oriented. Have some
spellcasting potential, though.
* HALFLING: Ehmmmmm, think those childies usually prefer toying with spell components
than using them for spellcasting purposes... :)
* DWARF: Dwarven Wizard? no way. Give a lv20 dwarven wizard an axe and surely he will
wield it better than he cast spells...
NOTE: LARRY BUEL (bravehome@cox.net) thinks differently about this... :). With the
Dwarven
CON bonus and natural spell resistance dwarves can stand some hits in close battle while
they
cast their spells and break havoc... maybe INSIDE enemy lines? XD. Their -2 CHArisma CON
can
give them problems while persuading NPC's for extra rewards, but that's not a very big
problem in my real opinion.
He says about wearing some +CHA equipment so CHA bonus helps a little... but I'd prefer
enhancing INT instead (maybe you can get an extra lv2 spell and use it for a permanent +CHA
buffer). Also, he usually likes to case Eagle's Splendor (+DEX bonus)... should be
interesting
at lower ACTS for upgrading missile to-hit throws; at higher acts an extra +1 to-hit may
not
make a very big difference when one wears a +3 (or higher) X-Bow... also, at those higher
acts
enemies just have soo much life for a X-Bow to ve really effective.
As for beginning stats, he chooses S 10 D 14 C 16 I 18 W 8 Ch 6. This gives good STR
(you
may downgrade STR to 8 and add the 2 points to WIS, for evading the -1 CON to Will Save
Throws... may have some encumbrance problems till you find some Bags of Holding, but...),
decent DEX (+2 to missile to-hit rolls, and extra AC) and nice CON (+3 to Fortitude saves
and 3
extra hit points per level). He chooses to Max INT (That's A LOT of points spent on INT,
but
hey, it's an extra +1 to the difficulty of the Save Throws); lowers a little WIS (as said
before, may change those two stats) and nearly forgets CHA.
He also tells about choosing a familiar... he usually picks the Pixie. I haven't had
much
testing with a pixie to try it for yourselves.
So in the end we have a Strong builded wizard with some problems while playing
Cooperative
games but... maybe we can find here a GREAT POTENTIAL at building DUELLERS? :) (just change
that Pixie with a Panther-Hellhound... XDDD)
* HALF-ORC: Well... in case a Half Orc'd be able to play as a Magic User, -2 to INT and
CHA are penalties i don't wanna see in a Wiz... sorry.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) STATS
--------
Well, INT is the most important stat for a wizard, but in most cases you'll not want
to have stat penalties if you can avoid them. I'll not give you exact stat points, but
I'll make some recomendations here:
- STR: Not very important for a Wizard. the only thing you'll use STR is for your maximum
encumbrance, so no matter if you keep STR at 10 (so you'll have no melee penalties in the
veeeery few cases you'll have to get dagger-crazy) or you can even drop the stat to 9
or even 8, so you'll have a -1 penalty. Encumbrance is not a big problem... there are
Bags of Holding, you know.
- DEX: Important. Comes in very handy cuz will allow you to raise your AC a little against
any lost x-bow bolt or ranged touch attacks. It also helps your main physical attack to
connect (Wizards go crazy on ranged attacks) and also will aid on some interesting
non-class skills you can take. 14-15 DEX for level 1 chara (that's +2) will do pretty well.
- CON: Hmmm, 1d4 hit points per level is just too low for a Mage surviving solo. There
are usually too many lost bolts, arrows and throwing materials that are somewhat destinated
to your Mage, and you'll not want to let a lucky hit from one of these to kill you, isn't
it?. A mage should be able to take at least two hits before dying, so drop some points
into CON (14-15, with +2 bonus should do well). But CON not only raises your hit points,
CON also allows you to have some bonuses on Fortitude Saves (a type of saving throw Wiz's
are not very well prepared against). Finally, can help a little in Concentration skill
(the most important for a wizard)
- INT: The MOST important stat a Wizard needs. Throw in plenty of points here. 16-17 is
pretty decent (this'll give a +3 to INT at level 1; that's a +1 lv 1-2-3 spell); the +3
to INT will allow to have even more skill points to invest, so you may even chose some non
class skills. This should be your main focus for placing extra points at levels
4-8-12-16-20...
- WIS: Well... this should be used mainly for increasing Will saves, but Wiz's have pretty
decent will saves even without bonuses. Just try not having penalties here.
- CHA: Hum... this stat usually did practically nothing on previous D&D games so usually
was the LOWEST of all stats... but as for NWN there are some interesting uses (you might
have to make some CHA checks, persuade, etc... so try not to lower this a lot will ya? I
think you'd first lower STR than this one
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C) SKILLS
---------
Wizards, with his +INT skill bonus are the most favored class in those terms. They have
not many class specific skills, but the ones they have serve them pretty well. Excess
points can also be used on any non class specific skills a mage wants to choose.
The most important skills are:
- CONCENTRATION [CON]: Just Max it. This skill allows you to continue casting a spell even
if you get hit during the casting process. A high concentration skill level will make
archers less annoying (archer were Wiz's bane on D&D 2nd edition, just play an archer on
Baldur's Gate II an set his/her AI to lock on enemy spellcasters).
- HEAL [WIS]: Doesn't have to be maxed, but throw in some points here. This will allow
to heal large ammounts of damage with a single medical kit (even 30+ points per use!)
you'll normally always take 20 with this skill, so with 5 skill points you'll heal 25+
damage on each use. Cost of a medical kit is very cheap.
- LORE [INT]: Two words... MAX it. This skill allows you to freely identify magical items,
with mage's INT bonus and skill maxed, if an item lasts unidentified when you examine it
this can only mean two things... the item is cursed OR the item is so damn powerful you'd
go at once to one shop to have it identified (well... you to could help yourself with a
lore potion - usually +5 lore - or an Identify spell - 25 + character level lore -)
- SPELLCRAFT [INT]: This is your friend. Wizards are veeery counter-spell oriented, so
better know which spells you'd counter at all costs, or whose should only be an annoyance.
This skills allows you to know which spell is being cast by an enemy mage AND, per every 5
skill points in this skill, you get a +1 to ALL spell saving throws ... sweet
All right... the skills up here were all class specific skills, and Wiz obtain
4+INT bonus skill points per level... so with a +3 INT bonus you'd have another 3 free
skill points (one more point if your wiz is human) even if you MAXED the skills before.
Where to put extra skill points? obviously, on NON-Class specific skills, some of them
very nice to have (remember that NON-CLASS specific cost twice as much skill points to
increase the skill in one point):
- SEARCH [INT]: Yep... very nice skill to place extra points. You'll be able to look
for traps - not as well as a thief, though... but you'll have an INT bonus on yer
searching... :) - You can leave this to your familiar (if it's a Panther, Fairy...) so
you can concentrate on disarming.
- DISARM TRAPS [INT]: Yesssss!! disabling traps for mages... only half the bonus of a
thief (and you'll not be able to disarm Difficulty level 35+ traps) BUT... you can (and
you should) always EXAMINE a trap before atempting to disarm it so you gain a bonus to
this take 20 action (so let's say at level 1, you have a +3 INT bonus, 2 skill points
here and you always Take 20 on disarming... that's at least a 25 skill check... cool!!).
It's almost sure you'll be able to disarm any ground traps you find; the only ones that
can oppose some resistance are the big treasure chest ones, wich usually have a DC of
32+... but well... you can always trigger them with your familiar or usually bash the
chest with ranged attacks (those big chests have about 15hp, and a damage reduction of 5,
so find a heavy x-bow - which makes 1-10 damage -; about half the conecting hits will
make some damage to the chest, opening it and destroying the trap at the same time)
- OPEN LOCK [DEX]: Useful for lock-picking if there's no thief in party. You'll have some
decent DEX bonus for pumping this up too. Remember that you can always try to bash the
chest open, but some of these have a damage resistence of 10, 15 and even more. If you
don't wanna open chests with Sorc mode (usually casting a firewall or somewhat damaging
spell) and have not knock spells learned (you shouldn't, just always have one or two knock
spells on stock and it's OK) this is the skill you want.
- PERSUADE [CHA]: IF there's a rogue in your party and you have excess skill points, THIS
is the place to put them. This skill allows you to have NPC's give you optional quests
(xp) and better rewards for quests completed (money and items); handy.
Feats are way important for a Wizard. Many feats allow Wizard to cast their spells
at full power, and some non-magical feats work pretty well on a wizard. Most useful feats
are:
- COMBAT CASTING: This feat enables you to cast a spell at close range (when engaged in
melee combat with an enemy). Without this feat you'd obtain a -4 to all concentration
skill checks AND enemy should obtain an Opportunity Attack against you. Don't leave home
without this feat.
- SPELL FOCUS: Start with Illusion (for countering) or Evocation (for direct damage).
Not only you get +2 bonus against spell saving throws (add the bonus from the spellcraft
skill for more fun) from the chosen schools BUT enemies also get -2 penalty to save
against spells from these schools you cast!. At later levels, when enemies have very
high saving throws, these points can make a big difference. Just look at the schools
you'll be using more and keep them in mind.
- MAXIMIZE SPELL: Gosh this feat can pack really a punch!!. You must learn the spell
empowered with this fest as if it was two (2!!) level higher BUT... this allows your
spell to be cast at maximum power, damage, duration... nice to maximice the direct damage
spells you'll use during your journeys.
- SILENT SPELL: When you get this feat, always - I say ALWAYS - keep a Dispel Magic with
this feat learned. Against clerics and so on you'll never know when they'll cast Silence,
Deafness, etc... so better be ready. You can always use the Dispel Magic for normal
dispelling if you don't battle clerics, though.
- STILL SPELL: Naarly as same as SILENT SPELL, but this not only helps on casting with
armor on, but helps on casting spells WHILE HELD/PARALIZED/SLOWED and the like. This feat
cancels Somatic Components (waving hands,...) required to cast the spell.
- EMPOWER SPELL: Very useful at mid levels for doubling the duration of protective -
enhancing spells you will use. a simple Enhanced Fox Cunning thrown at caster's lv9 will
last 18 hours... enough for the next rest.
- GREATER FORTITUDE: Nice feat because Wiz's are not very fond against Fortitude saves, an
extra +2 is always welcome.
- THOUGHNESS: Just gives extra hit points (1 per character level) which are always
welcome. You don't need to take this feat at 1st level, but is a good one to choose when
enemies start packing quite a bit...
Now this is a most important choice to make. You'd chose a familiar who compliment your
abilities and your hireling's, so the familiar you'd chose depends heavily on what members
your party will consist of. For me, the better choices are these:
- RAVEN: This one will allow you to scout ahead for danger (possess familiar comes to
mind). Can find traps (cannot remove them, though, but you could let your familiar find
the traps so you can disarm them; this'd make a good combination). Let the familiar away
from danger or you'll find yourself recasting him a looot of times.
- SPRITE: In many ways better than the raven. Not only can find traps, but also can
disarm them! Yep, a pretty nice little rogue we have here. Don't take this little thing
near combat or you'll start recasting her lotsa times; between... the fuck*** noise this
thing makes while flying can get annoying... better let the familiar keep distance from
you. She has very low life, so almost any lost hit will kill her automatically. Her high
level abilities are good though, so you'd take a look at her. Taking this as your familiar
should allow you to forget about traps and lockpicking, allowing you to concentrate on
PERSUADE skill, and having a combat-type henchman.
- PANTHER: THIS is the one for me, and the one I use most. Not only this overgrown kittie
is fast and has pretty good stats (+3 STR bonus, +4 DEX bonus...) but also has decent
life so he makes a decent minion and trap-triggerer. He's like the RAVEN on the way that
has good search and spot abilities, but cannot disarm traps (well, leave your familiar
spot the traps so you can concentrate on the disarm skill)... ah, something more I forgot
to tell about this one... It's a ROGUE type!!!!!.
So... what does rogue type mean? well... this kittie's so damn good at hiding in
shadows that you can explore (possess familiar) nearly full zones ahead and see what
you may encounter, so you can prepare against wathever is waiting for ya; you can also
(and you should) use the panther as a minion. Yep, you thing panther only hits per 1-3 +3
damage isn't it? Wrooong!!, You'll shortly find this kittie hits SO DAMN HARD because
HE/SHE CAN FLANK enemies thus making sneak attacks. This familiar is always 1 level AHEAD
of you, so if you are lv7 the panther will probably be lv8, will have two hits per
round (at +10/+5) and a sneack attack of 1-3 +3 +4d6 damage.... that's 8-30 damage PER
HIT while flanking.
OK, now you think... "well... rogues only sneak attack WHILE opponent is attacking or
being attacked by ANOTHER char, minion, etc at the same time... and Wiz's don't engage
melee combat so... what's the point in flanking?". And reply is... your familiar shouldn't
be alone on attacking. You should always have an hireling (usually a combat type one) AND
a summoned helper all times (or you could just play in a multiplayer party), so now you
have 3 fighters (familiar, minion and henchman) against one enemy; on most times sneak
attacking is a sure thing.
Ops I forgot... look at panther's rogue feats (uncanny dodge, improved evasion... maybe
even *ouch* defensive roll...) and the reflex save bonus this kittie has. This familiar is
the PERFECT trap triggerer if none on your party can disarm traps. And, with the decent
ammount of life this familiar has, there's 9/10 chances that will survive if the familiar
fails his reflex throw. And if this familiar gets injured just talk to him, choose the
"Feed familiar" option and... voila!! full life again!!
Here we must find a henchman that compliments our skills. The best idea is to find a
decent combat-type one... but there are other posibilities:
- COMBAT TYPE (BARBARIAN, WARRIOR...) This could be probably the most used one. With very
high hit points and damn powerful critical hits (have seen 50+ damage on criticals) these
are tanks you must beware of. Take one combat type, any minion and your pretty panther
familiar and you'll shred enemies onto pieces in no time. Find one with knockdown and
cleave and enjoy tons of damage per round.
* PROS:
- Heavy damage per round obtained. A Combat Fighter is a tank.
- Any enemy attacking your tank will be really open for unlimited sneak attacks from
your familiar unless decides to change target. Combat type have soooo much life so
they can take quite a buch of hits
* CONS:
- No more special abilities than the combat-oriented ones.
- Be warned of Will saves... combat types are not very good at they. Any mind
control spell can turn relatively easy your henchman against you.
- ROGUE TYPE (ROGUE): Yep... another rogue in the party. This one finds traps, removes
them, open locks,... and sneak attacks too. Having this one allows you to concentrate in
PERSUASION and other skills than the rogue-type ones. Remember this rogue will always be
helped by your minion and your familiar, so if a BOSS enemy is so damn stupid that
he/she/it attacks your minion instead one of yer rogue-type helpers... well... it's
flanking party, man.
* PROS:
- Thi's a Jack of all Trades... I'm sorry he/she can't make the laundry for me... :)
you can forget about traps and closed doors.
- Two flankers if you take the panther familiar. Enemy will have to choose which one
wants to leave flanking him.
* CONS:
- Not very much life. You can aid by having minions attacking at the same time, but
if an oponent choses to make him target he'll not last long alone
- CASTER TYPE (CLERIC, SORCERER): Not as useful as the other two hireling types but you'd
take a look onto. A cleric will be useful as half-warrior, but this one usually keeps
casting bless an heals on you and your minion/familiar instead of hitting the enemy. Well,
a bless helps somewhat... but I'd prefer just ONE bless (and maybe a hold person) and then
start hitting so my familiar can flank. You could pray for the cleric to cast a summon
spell too... XDDDD
On the other side I'd take a sorc (not other wiz) and hope he has most direct damage
spells he can. This will weaken enemies a lot while the minion and familiar do the rest.
* PROS
- You have a secondary spellcaster either offensive or defensive. If you don't mind
resting a lot both of you can unleash a whole barrack of fuck*** spells against all
who opose yourselves.
* CONS
- Again, you'll have to deal by yourself with traps and the like.
- Low HP. Two affortunate hits from a lucky enemy and you'll have to find another
henchman/resurrect the dead one...
All right, now let's see the most useful spells a Wizard can use to annoy enemies and
to help allies:
==============
LEVEL 0 SPELLS
==============
* LIGHT: If you don't want to keep carrying a torch, or waste a ring slot with a light
ring, you'd use this spell. There aren't more interesting spells here, though.
* RESISTANCE: A +1 to all saving throws is always welcome.
==============
LEVEL 1 SPELLS
==============
* CHARM PERSON: Pretty useful on the first levels, warriors an fighter-type enemies always
have a low will save throws so this spell connects damn well. Can turn the tides of early
battles.
* COLOR SPRAY: Not only hits an area, but deals a lot of helpful ailments. Only blinded
enemies can do something... and with a 50% failure chance.
* MAGIC MISSILE: some people prefers Burning Hands than this and it's OK for the first few
levels... but i prefer my Wizard not keep so close at later levels just for covering a
wider area. The nearer you're the more chances an enemy will chose to use you as a
punchin' bag. Also look at maximum damages:
Burning Hands: 5-20 with reflex save for half damage or even no damage (rogues)
Magic Missile: 10-25 with no saving throw
Well... I personally prefer something that never misses, specially against enemy mages.
* IDENTIFY: You'd have one or two id scrolls at hand always, don't memorize. Remember that
identify an item does cost 100gp... and an identify spell just 42gp (and you can identify
more than one item with this).
* SLEEP: Nice for crowd control. Wide area. Now you can take out lesser minions so you can
concentrate on BOSSES first
* SUMMON CREATURE I: No way a Wizard can live without this. Always have a minion present;
of course, replace with a higher summon when available. The badger's stats are poor, but
you can use it as a meat shield for your familiar to flank
==============
LEVEL 2 SPELLS
==============
* BULL'S STR & the like: These are pretty decent spells. All of them increase one of the
main stats during a lot of time. Having one or two at most casted at all times can be
really beneficial. Special mention to FOX's CUNNING (a + bonus to INT can really help on
making your spells harder to avoid, help your concentration and your spellcraft skills).
* GHOSTLY VISAGE: ten points of damage resistance against weapons lesser than +2, plus
full immunity against spells of lv0 and lv1. duration's pretty good too.
* LESSER DISPEL: Your first Jack-of-all-Trades counter. Remember you can always use Dispel
type spells as universal counters.
* RESIST ELEMENTS: Nice 20 damage reduction against all elemental types. Specially useful
of big multiplayer arena-type games where Fireballs are commonly the first attack from both
sides.
* SUMMON CREATURE II: As same as level one, but now you summon a dire boar; more powerful
than the badger.
* WEB: Good crowd control spell. Hold enemies and Coup-de-Grace them.
==============
LEVEL 3 SPELLS
==============
* DISPEL MAGIC: Your main dispeller for a long time
* FIREBALL: Powerful crowd control spell. Up to 60 damage with a lv10 fireball. Be
warned of rules used in your current game (you don't want to toast your own allies, don't
you?)
* HASTE: Haste is your friend. Haste kicks @$$. Haste your allies at all times (well, not
at all times but every time you face a boss). Chop-suey guaranteed.
* PROTECTION FROM ELEMENTS: Now we have 30 damage resistance against elements. Will last
an average level fireball.
* STINKING CLOUD: Another crowd control spell. Again, daze'em all and start killin'
* SUMMON CREATURE III: This one's much better than the previous, nice HP, good attack...
and knockdown for wolvie. Just wanted him to use knockdown more frecuently... any oponent
down is ready for tearing-time.
==============
LEVEL 4 SPELLS
==============
* CHARM MONSTER: Here you have the same charm spell of level 1... but now you can use on
nearly every living creature you find. Look for combat types.
* ELEMENTAL SHIELD: 50% damage reduction to cold & fire. Combine with any resist spells
* ENERVATION: gosh!. Much better in many ways than curse spells. Target loses 1d4 points
of nearly everything!! (to-hit, damage, defense...) target even loses memorized spells
(higher spell levels the first ones disapearing)
* IMPROVED INVISIBILITY: specially useful thrown on a combat-type hireling. Try it
* LESSER SPELL BREACH: Your first anti-magic user spells. have one always at hand.
* POLYMORPH SELF: U wanna help your allies/henchman/minion/familiar? just cast this and
chose Troll or Umberhulk. Happy hunting. Be warned that your life is not very high...
* STONESKIN: Ouch. First full damage resistance spell (10/+5). The first 10 points of ANY
kind of damage target recives are blocked. SO... who wants to take 10 less damage points
on any hit?.
* SUMMON CREATURE IV: Now you have spidey helping you. You lose knockback but gain free
poison attacks at all times. DC26 in order to save from poison, so any Spidey hit is
almost a guaranteed poison hit too (usually enemies don't last long so they can take
secondary poison damage).
==============
LEVEL 5 SPELLS
==============
* CONE OF COLD: A most powerful ice version of the fireball; limited to 120 max damage.
* DOMINATE PERSON: Thi's not a charm. You take FULL CONTROL of the target. Just make
him/her suicidal (trap triggering comes to mind) when don't need him/her anymore
* ENERGY BUFFER: Now you get 40 point damage resistance against elements
* FEEBLEMIND: Ouch!!!, Spellcaster's bane. You must be at least lv9 to cast this spell...
and target loses 'x'd4 INT where 'x' is your level. So, at least you make your target
lose 9d4 INT points (leaving him at INT 1 at most). The first mage succesfully casting
this wins, remember.
* LESSER PLANAR BINDING: Now you start summoning outsiders to help you, must chose what
you prefer... this or Creature summoning. Outsiders are more powerful, but last a very
short time.
* LESSER SPELL MANTLE: Now you don't block damage, but full spell levels. Have in mind
that a fireball thrown at your feet - without having you as the target - still will
damage you.
* SUMMON CREATURE V: Now it's a Bear (yep, a bear, not a Tiger) the helper. Lotsa fun, but
must chose this or Planar Binding
==============
LEVEL 6 SPELLS
==============
* CHAIN LIGHTNING: Just don't waste time repositioning yourself for a well placed cone of
cold. You lose a little damage to secondary targets but gain auto targeting ability.
* CIRCLE OF DEATH: Awesome crowd control spell. Most BOSS accompanying minions will fall
to this leaving yourself and your allies to deal with the BOSS itself.
* GREATER DISPELLING: Now we start talking of real counter power
* GREATER SPELL BREACH: Twice as powerful as lesser breach.
* GREATER STONESKIN: ... and this twice as powerful as stoneskin... 20/+5 damage
reduction.
* MASS HASTE: One spell, all allies (yourself included) hasted. Gotta go wild!! just cast
and see your allies start doing major damage. Better than casting haste four times, next
three rounds you should do something better than casting more hastes...
* PLANAR BINDING: More powerful outsider come to aid. Remember chosing between this or
Summon Creature.
* SUMMON CREATURE VI: Paper Tiger comes to help. So damn strong. Nice tank.
==============
LEVEL 7 SPELLS
==============
* DELAYED BLAST FIREBALL: You've had to wait a lot till obtained this, but it's so damn
killer; place some of these near an unaware enemy an lure him to the trap (posess familiar
anyone?). When target enters the area... BAOUM!!
* FINGER OF DEATH: Not very good (saving throws are just very high at those levels) but
some creatures can fall to this.
* MORDENKAINEN'S SWORD: Summons a pretty looking creature with a big sword to chop-chop
for you. Chose between this and elementals.
* PRISMATIC SPRAY: Damn powerful for crowd control. Any creature in the area of effect
must save against one of two saving throws (type depends of the color that touches them) or
will get damaged, fucked, crushed, petrified, banished... sweet!!. Too bad you cannot chose
all seven effects to converge on a single creature...
* SHADOW SHIELD: Nice combination of Stoneskin, Mage armor and some immunities. All in one.
* SPELL MANTLE: More spell block-level than the lesser mantle
* SUMMON CREATURE VII: Now you start summoning elementals rather than creatures. Be warned
that the elemental called is random, so you might summon a Fire Elemental in a fire-based
dungeon or something like this...
==============
LEVEL 8 SPELLS
==============
* GREATER PLANAR BINDING: Celestial Fury!!... Celestial Powa!!... Celestial avenger comes
to chop enemies!!.
* MASS CHARM: You'll like this against large armies of enemies. Charm 25-50% of enemy
creatures then sit and watch enemies killing themselves for you. Then take care of the
rest.
* MIND BLANK: No charming-dominating your allies with this spell
* PREMONITION: Mega stone skin... 30/+5 damage reduction.
* SUMMON CREATURE VIII: Bigger elemental comes to aid here... beware of the elemental
type.
==============
LEVEL 9 SPELLS
==============
* GATE: Death incarnate comes to your plane to play a little with your enemies. You need to
be protected against EVIL (A protection from Alignment should do the job) or the Balor
summoned will be able to attack you too.
* MORDENKAINEN'S DISJUNCTION: Most powerful dispel magic in the game
* POWER WORD O' KILL: No save throw. kill enemy mages with this. The first one casting
this succesfully is the one who wins. Hope your initiative roll is better than enemy
Mage's...
* SHAPECHANGE: If one Balor isn't enough, then shapechange into another one...
* TIME STOP: When you cast this the rest of the world gets stopped for some rounds, just
do what you want in that time (cast meteor swarms, cones of cold, power words o' kill,
summonings...) this is THE SPELL.
* WAIL OF THE BANSHEE: Nice caster-killing spell. All enemies in the area must success in
a fortitude save or they AUTOMATICALLY die. Remember that fortitude saves are wizard's
bane.
* WEIRD: Pretty much like Wail of the Banshee... kills all in an area but now the save
throw is a will one. Combat types oriented.
Now that we have our Wizard already created, it's time to place the best equipment we
can afford/find on him/her. These are my own equipment ideas, so feel free to change your
Wiz's equipment so it will fit your playing style.
* HEAD: At first levels you'll not have level prequisites/won't be able to afford a magical
helmet, so just a plain one will do. It'll look kinda weird on a Wizard (specially on a
female one...) but gives concentration skill +1 and no penalizations; at higher levels you
should start looking for a Thieves Cap or similar.
Bonuses you should look in a HELMET/CAP:
+ Bonus to spells. There are very nice caps with (usually low level) spell bonuses.
+ Bonus to skills (specially Concentration, Persuade, Search...)
+ Bonus to INT (or even CHA, so you'll be able to raise Persuade skill)
+ Immunity against Critical Hits (Think of a lv13 Half-Orc fighter With Boots of Speed,
speciallization on Greatswords and Enhanced Critical on Greatswords... ouch)
* ARMOR: Well... don't even think of wearing leather armor or something. At first levels
try to find a robe of resistance (any kind will do, but you'll find that at first levels
the Fire resistance ones are better. Next you should find Mage's Battlerobes to put on.
Think that AC is SECONDARY. At lower levels you'll have too low life to engage melee,
and at higher levels any fighter type opponent will have too high to-hit bonuses so your
AC will not be usefull (they'll just have to roll a 2+ to hit you, no matter which AC you
have...) a well crafted Fighter could have a +19/+14/+9 to hit at lv13 or even more - at
least I have this on my Greatsword Half-Orc fighter - ; so, your defense will mainly
consist of Damage Reduction spells.
Bonuses you should look in an OUTFIT:
+ Elemental resistance (better +10 to all than +15 to just one type, you don't know
what you'll find ahead... UNLESS you know what you'll find ahead)
+ Physical Damage Reduction (even +5 will help... but think that here usually will come
some penalties to any of the three kinds, so you can find 5/- to slashing and crushing
but +25% damage received with piercing... but, well... +25% damage received only is
added to the BASE damage of the weapon)
+ Bonuses to skills (usually you'll find here bonuses to mage skills, that's handy)
* WEAPON: At low levels we'll need some kind of support weapon for helping our minions
do their job, so find out a ranged weapon (Crossbows are best). At higher levels you'll
find you're not able to hit in a decent rate, so search for a weapon with nice bonuses
rather than damage.
Bonuses you should look in a WEAPON:
+ To-hit bonus (look FIRST for to-hit bonuses, damage is secondary. Remember that x-bows
don't add STR bonus to their damage, so it's way better a +1 light x-bow than a normal
heavy x-bow). Remember that you'll only use this weapon for the first levels, where
enemies are somewhat easy to hit.
+ Extra spell bonus. When you have a higher level and you find that enemies have too
high AC for you hit them in a decent rate, start looking for other bonuses instead
to-hit ones. At these levels you'll bang with low-level spells, so having +1 or +2
bonus to spells (usually you'll find +1 to lv1 spells, +1 to lv2 spells,...) will allow
you to damage a little more.
+ AC bonus. Yep, some weapons come as DEFENDER types, so better gain some AC here either
than a non-useful anymore +2 x-bow.
* MANTLES/ROBES: At low levels you'll not be able to afford even the lesser of the cloaks
(usually there are not normal cloaks out there) so you'll have some decent level when
you'll be able to afford one.
Bonuses you should look in a CLOAK/MANTLE:
+ Bonus to save throws. This is MOST important for a wizard. The only save throw wizards
can succeed without problems are the WILL ones... but you have to find a way to help you
succeed against FORTITUDE (Instant Death spells come to mind here, Wail of the Banshee
requires AT LEAST a Fortitude against DC 23 - Base DC 10, +9 (lv9 spell), +4 (at least a
Wizard must have INT 19 to cast Banshee's... that's a +4 bonus -) and REFLEX (Enhanced
Fireballs, Dragon Beath, trap damage...) ones.
+ Spell Resistance. Even only 10 spell resistance is good, look for this
+ STAT Bonuses (INT and CHA are the most common here)
* GLOVES: At low levels you should find some lesser gloves of somewhat (Concentration and
Spellcraft are most useful), and at higher levels llok for Greater versions of the same or
somewhat else.
Bonuses you should look in a GLOVE:
+ Bonus to skills. You'll find Concentrations and Spellcraft ones most useful; these
usually come on two kinds: Lesser (+3) version and Greater (+6) version.
+ Bonus to DEX (You can find too Gauntlets of Ogre Power too but... you're not going to
find them useful unless you want to acrry A LOT of equipment); +DEX bonuses can help you
raise AC a little, raise to-hit bonus with ranged attacks, and raise some thieving
skills you may have.
+ AC Bonuses (If all else fails, look for some of these... but only if ALL else fails)
* BELT: As usual.. belts are only magical, and somewhat hard to find... unless you find a
light one quickly. Later find any kind of protection type girdle.
Bonuses you should look in a BELT
+ Spell Resistance. Somewhat common in belts, even the lesser of these can give you a
nice 12 spell ressitance.
+ Physical Damage Reduction (as same as in ARMOR, look there for more information)
* BOOTS: You can find nice bonuses in boots. There are no non-magical boots, so'll have to
wait a little to obtain magical ones (but the lesser ones are cheap, you'll be able to
afford them shortly)
Bonuses you should look in BOOTS:
+ Save Throws bonuses. These will be the first boots you'll find/buy. Look for Fortitude
or Reflex ones.
+ CON bonus. Nice for some extra fortitude saves bonuses.
+ Haste. The universal known Boots of Speed. The +1 extra attack per round is not
useful, but being always hasted allows you to escape difficult situations. Also, getting
an extra spell cast per round can prove useful.... ^_^
* RINGS: Now here we can find a lot of useful MODs for our mage. At low leves we'll only be
able to afford the Light ones (which we shouldn't buy unless we find one, but then we'll
start finding Save Throw ones and more.
Bonuses you should look in a RING:
NOTE: There are lots of useful mods in a ring, so I'll list the most important ones for
low, medium and high end equipment
LOW END EQUIPMENT:
+ Save Throw bonuses (single). You'll quickly find rings giving you a +1 to ONE type of
save throw. Useful at low levels. As usual, look for REFLEX/FORTITUDE ones
* Light (15 radius). Look for a Cyan one and AVOID as Hell a Crimson type. The type
of ring will change the color of the light it generates (so, Cyan will make a Blue 15
light radius... and Crimson will make a RED 15 light radius... red... yep, red... SAME
COLOR as found traps. This ring only makes found traps harder to see, beware)
MID END EQUIPMENT:
+ +INT bonuses. Usually the main INT upgrader is a ring item, so look for them.
+ Saving Throws bonuses (All - Ring of Protection) Better than the single type, gives
a bonus to all saving throws. Remember that save throws are UNIVERSAL, so will not stack
with other save throw bonuses from other equipment - as the bonuses given by a Cloak of
Protection - so choose if you want the cloak, necklace or a ring to give you the bonus.
HIGH END EQUIPMENT
+ Stat bonuses (DEX and INT most recomended) As same as other + STAT equipment. Remember
that + STAT bonuses DO STACK.
+ Spell bonuses. As same as other spell bonus equipment
+ Elemental Resistance (Usually come in form of 15/- resistance to all but Negative
Energy. Nice)
* NECKLACES: Less bonuses than in rings, but you'll surelly find something that suits you
Bonuses you should look in a NECKLACE:
+ Stat Bonus (Usually WIS) You'll find mainly Wisdom enhancements here, but there are
other stat bonuses on Necklaces
+ Save Throws. As usual, choose which item you want to give U the bonus. Usually you'll
want the robe to give you the bonus, but can hose also to place the save bonus here so
you free the robe and/or a ring slot.
+ Spell bonuses. As same as other spell bonus equipment
+ Skill bonuses (usually somewhat rogue oriented)
+ AC bonus. Usually a Natural Armor modifier, so will stack very nicely with other AC
bonuses
All right, so you're interested on multiclassing your wizard and get some extra
abilities, ?aren't you?. Here you'll find some tips about the best multiclassing options
I've found so far.
First, I hereby recommend you not to multiclass unless you really want to do it. The
main power of any spellcaster comes from their higher level spells, and if you multiclass,
you can even forbid access to the higher spell levels. So, if you really want to multiclass
think that Slv8 (spell level 8) requires at least Wiz. lv15, and for Slv9 you need Wiz.
lv17. That only leaves 3-5 levels to multiclass if you want to keep some of the most
powerful spells.
* WIZARD / FIGHTER: I haven't found any armor wearing classes very useful for
multiclassing. As a fighter you'll usually wear a heavy armor, that can net you at
least 30%+ spell failure rate. Sure you can put off your armor, cast the spell and
place
your armor on... but that's not the way; as a warrior you'll be a frontline fighter
and
cannot afford lose time changing armor in mid-combat...
Of course, if you want to wear a shield, forget about multiclassing.
The best two multiclassing combinations here are to take W4/F16, or W9/F11. This
way
you get the +1 attack per round bonuses of the fighter and some spells. In case you
take
W4/F16 you'll end with a damn strong lv 16 fighter with 4 attacks per round, a lot of
fighting feats and some spells (Slv1 and Slv2) that you'll use mostly to enhance your
fighter (Bull's Strenght, Endurance, Ghostly Visage and Resist Elements) and whose you
can cast without armor before going adventuring. In W9/F11 case, you'll end with a
good
fighter with 3 attacks per round and decent hit bonuses. With very good protective
spells added (Lesser Spell Mantle, Energy Buffer and Stoneskin), enhancing spells
(Bull's...) and some dispellers in case they're needed.
* WIZARD / BARBARIAN: Slightly better than fighter's multiclass since Barb's rely more
on dexterity and light/medium armor than fighters, still, as a barbarian you'll end
wearing at least medium armor and in the frontline, so your wizard part of the
multiclass will mainly act as a support role, casting enhancing spells pre-combat. I'd
recommend same multiclass levels as like Fighter/Wizard (that's W4/B16, or W9/B11.)
* WIZARD / RANGER: By far the best wiz/fighter type multiclass. As a ranger you'll
mainly focus either on ranged attacks, or going two-feapon fighting, with light armor
as protection (20% arcane spell failure at most) and focusing mainly on DEX bonus to
upgrade AC. Acting as a ranger allows you to get get some divine spells (if level is
sufficiently high) and to be a decent frontline fighter if something nasty gets near
you. Also, you get only little penalties from your armor (look from Leather rather
than studded leather (you may lose 1 AC from armor , but can get +2 extra AC from DEX,
since Leather usually allow a max DEX bonus of +6, while Studded limits that to +4.
With that good DEX bonus you'll get very nice chances sniping while your henchman,
familiar and minion rush. the main problem you'll find is to chose between FEATS
(since you'll have two classes to worry about) Also, you'll have to worry of having
some WIS bonus, because some spells you'll obtain will come from that way.
As for levels, I'd take W9/Rg11. This way you'll have three atack per round (more if
Dual Wielding), and will be able to cast lv5 Arcane Spells, and lv3 Ranger Spells,
usually enough.
* WIZARD / PALADIN: Similar to Wiz /Fgt, but you lose some extra combat feats and
gain clerical spells and other bonuses instead. Also, as a Paladin, you'll find
yourself more oriented to Heavy Armor, and even you can carry a shield. That will be
a big Arcane failure rate problem (up to 90% if using a Tower Shield).
* WIZARD / ROGUE: Some interesting posibilities here. As a rogue you'll commonly not
wield more than light armor (and usually you'll stick to leather to take advantage
from high DEX bonus). As a rogue, you will get Sneak Attack, decent skills (you'd
concentrate on maxing SEARCH, DISABLE TRAPS, PICK LOCKS, PERSUADE and common rogue
skills; and leaving WIZ levels for maxing LORE, CONCENTRATION , HEAL and
SPELLCRAFT. That way you'll end with a bunch of useful skill so you can change your
hench, familiar and minion acordingly.
There are two ways to play this, as a pure wizard with some rogue levels added, or
by equaling levels. No matter what way you choose, but I'd start as a rogue (for
gaining the lv1 skill boost) then multiclass to Wiz at Chlv 2.
Now, the two main ideas. If you want to go pure wizard, you should end W17/R3,
you'll get a starting SKILL boost, you'll start MAXING quickly some useful rogue feats,
you'll get a +2d6 sneak (useful for adding damage done by a X-bow or similar if near
enough) and the ability to NULLIFY spell damage if a REFLEX save is involved. Then,
when you start to take wizard levels you can still add to rogue based skills. Also, if
you end choosing this idea, you'll be able to cast every spell level available to
wizards.
The second way is to equal the classes a little more. This way you'd end as W11/R9;
which allow you to cast Arcane lv6 spells, will have +5d6 sneaks, a LOT of rogue
skills and a pretty decent REFLEX save.
* WIZARD / BARD: similar to Wizard/Rogue, but i'd still choose the rogue variant. As
a bard you'll lose a lot of skill points, the always useful sneak and some rogue
based feats. The gains are only the Bard Song (that may prove useful if you have your
hench, minion and familiar around) and some extra arcane spells (and as a CON here,
you'll have to drop some points in CHA if you want those spells to be useful). I
shouldn't take this multiclass, but if you have tested it and have some opinions, feel
free to mail me.
* WIZARD / MONK: Ver nice multiclass available. As a Monk you'll get acceso to some
VERY powerful equipment (monk robes, monk bracers, monk boots) that can add a HUGE
boost to your AC. Also, you add your WIS bonus to your AC. And the best, Monk Robes
don't have Arcane penalties, so even adding a little monk levels may prove very
useful. More advantages are the improved Monk saves, extra speed and a bunch of
special
feats only available to Monks.
As for CONS... well, errr... the main CON I see in this multiclass is knowing when
stopping to level up in one class and start with the other. Since both classes
compliment very well (well, you only will lack some proyectile weapon potential here).
A W10/M10 is a nice option, that will allow cast up to Arcane lv5 spells, and will
allow you 3 attacks per round unarmed, 130% movement, +7 to all save throws from your
monk bonuses (Added to another +7 against MIND, and +3 against FORTITUDE and REFLEX.
Don't forget a lot of useful MONK feats (Evasion, Immunity to Poison, wholeness of
Body,...) that will enhance your Wiz.
Also, you may focus a little more or a little less in your MONK part depending on
your personal preferences.
* WIZARD / CLERIC: Well, you'll find three main problems here; First, as a CLERIC,
you'll mainly wear a Heavy armor, and commonly a shield (unless you want to chose a
heavy weapon instead) so you'll end with a lot of Arcane failure rate. Second, while
the DIVINE spells may probe useful, the fact is that you'll need to add also to your
WISDOM stat, in order to enhance them. Third, as for most spellcaster/spellcaster
multiclasses, unless you only take little levels form one of them, you'll end with
a lot of low level spells; and will have no big fuck***, and be sure that this will be
a real problem a higher levels.
* WIZARD / DRUID: I still prefer this multiclass even that it's cleric counterpart.
The
real advantage here is that Druids don't use heavy armors, and rely comonly on leather
or at most studded. Also, they hit decently, and you get some useful low level
Druidical
spells (Flame Lash, Silence) without worrying a lot from Arcane failure (maybe a 10%,
at
most 20%) also, the best idea here is to pick only little Druid levels (lv5 or at most
lv7) so you'll have a good quantity of spells to cast (lv7-8 Arcane; up to lv4
druidical - that nets you some pretty nice low level druidical killers -) and focus
mainly on your Wizard part. You can add more Druid levels here, but I'd want at least
be
able to cast lv6 arcane spells)
* WIZARD / SORCEROR: Ugh, don't like that. I'd go pure instead. If you pick little
sorcerer levels here, you'll end only with a bunch of lv1 and lv2 sorcerer spells at
most, non useful against the big suckers at higher levels, and your Wiz part will lack
extra high level spells that could probe more useful (what do you prefer, 6 extra lv1
magic missiles, or one extra Time Stop and one Celestial Avenger?)
===================================
VII-. PVP (PLAYER VS PLAYER) WIZARD
===================================
This section will talk about tips for making a good PVP (Player vs. Player) wizard; this
is not intended to be a tool for surviving against PK's (well, there are not many PK's in
Neverwinter Nights) but a tool to give you some nice killer ideas while fighting a fair
1 vs 1 combat.
If you're gonna play a Dueler, you should consider playing only on Servers who don't
allow local charas. That's because there's a lot of powerful equipment in NWN, and you
will not want to duel your lv3 mage agains a local lv3 fighter with dual +5 protection
rings, +5 full plate with haste and a greatsword +5... Think that most local duelers will
be uber equiped via Debug Console and the toolset.
Also, note that these are tips only, feel free to try other spell combinations (and if
you want, drop me a mail and tell me about them).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A) MAIN IDEAS
-------------
* RACE: I'd take Gnome, but humans or elves are good too. Humans are granted a bonus feat
very valuable for low level duelers, they also get one more skill point, but with your
maxed INT you'll not really need it; Gnomes usually get +1 hp per level (+2 to CON),
better fortitude saves and free Spell Focus (Illusion) feat. they are harder to hit too,
because their small stature. Elves are harder to hit too (+2 to DEX) and are immune to
sleep... but sleep will only be a problem at low levels.
NOTE: Also take look at DWARVES... they can make real resistant Wizzies... and they
don't
need CHA for duelling... :) (LARRY BUEL's idea)
* STATS: Try to max INT from scratch, the more INT you have, more spells you'll gain
at low levels and more dificult to avoid will they be (remember that your INT bonus adds
to any Save Throw DC your spells allow; specially at low levels this is very important.
The second most important stat is CON. It'll give you more life you you will be able to
take one or two more hits. STR and CHA are stats your dueler can even have penalizations
in (because you'll not use STR - just don't place a 3 here, you'll need some STR for
wearing some equipment on... - and CHA is useless fror a Wizard Dueler; if you could only
scare oponents when they see how horrible you Wizard is... XDDDD)
* BONUS POINTS: ALL to intelligence. Any bonus point obtained must get you more bang for
your buck (INT will add to your spells and to the difficulty to resist them)
* SKILLS: Max CONCENTRATION and SPELLCRAFT, you usually will not need other skills. give a
shoot to LISTEN and SPOT, will help a lot when fighting invisible enemies. MAX also the
DISCIPLINE skill (no matter it costs 2 points to increase one). This will help against
Fighter types knockdown combo.
* FEATS: I'd take feats in this order:
- COMBAT CASTING: You're a dueler, you cannot afford to lose any spell you're casting.
- SPELL FOCUS(School): Chose your main disabling spell school. At low levels this
feat will make the diference, because oponents will not have high Save Throw bonuses;
I'd personally take ILLUSION (Remember that Gnomes start with this FEAT for free, and
Humans can choose TWO feats at lv1) because at low levels Colour Spray ir a real
disabler [DC 10, +1 (spell level) +4 (INT bonus) +2 (Spell Focus)]. Thats a DC17 save
when oponents will have at most +1 or +2 against Mind Saves (because usually only
clerics and monks add to wisdom).
- SILENT SPELL: Most useful against low level Clerics, who like to caste silence. You
should have a Silented Dispel Magic at hand, just if it's the case...
- STILL SPELL: I think this is more useful than Silent, but you must chose wich you
want to learn first. You'll not use this for wearing armor... but for being able to
cast spells WHILE PARALIZED/HELD. Yes, the spell description only says that this feat
only negates armor penalties... but you can also cast any still spells when your wiz
is victim of a HOLD PERSON and the like... just look when you're held, you'll see it
says "You cannot cast any spell requiring Somatic components...", but with STILL SPELL
you DON'T require a Somatic Component to cast a spell... :)
- MAXIMIZE SPELL: You'll use this most for maxing the damage your spells will do. You
should rely more on casting only two maxed fireballs better than casting 4 normal
ones...
- GREAT FORTITUDE: useful for blocking one-hit killer spells, like Finger of Death and
the like. You don't need the Reflex feat because it's usually used when rolling for
half damage... and usually any roll against half damage will come from an elemental
source, which you'd be elemental protected against.
- THOUGHNESS: It gives +1 hp per level, so will not make a big difference at lower
levels. At higher ones will mean you can take maybe one more hit.
* FAMILIAR: At low levels take a Panther. You don't need search for traps and that crap
while fighting PvP, what you need is just a meat shield (specially one that is capable of
flanking if an enemy rushes you). At higher levels you might find interesting change to the
Fairy JUST for the invisibility spells she can cast, but the damage your panther's sneak
can do at higher levels is just A LOT.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) DUEL LEVEL
-------------
It's not the same dueling as a lv5 wizard than as a lv 20 one, the diference of spells
available and equipment is much wider while at high levels, so you'll have to change
tactics
acordingly. I ALWAYS assume that your mage has, AT LEAST, sufficient INT bonus from
INT bonus and equipment so you get +1 spell for EACH of the spell levels available (that's,
each time you get 1 new spell level you won't start with one spell from that level, but at
least TWO):
* LOW LEVEL DUELS (lv1-lv4): While playing very low level duels you'll have not sufficient
bang for your buck to being able to do something by yourself, you'll need to rely on your
panther and summoned minion to do damage, while you run around the battlefield with your
opponent chasing you. If your enemy ever stops and starts attacking your familiar or
minion, just cast a Daze so he'll lose a ronund and will be surrounded again; if opponent
continues the chase, your minions will get one free opportunity attack (and your panther
could even sneak...)
Here you have some tips to do:
- Your mage will not have sufficient hit points to stand two hits (well, you'll stand
two hits if your opponent is unlucky with his damage roll). At lv1 you could have
about 7-8 hp so maybe only rogues will have to hit you at least twice (because low
level rogues usually go for light weapons - usually 1d6 damage ones - and dual wield.
- At lv1 Your main way to attack is to cast your summon and then your most powerful
disabler(and start praying the disabler connects). Then try to cast Dazes (since
you're fighting less than HD5 opponents) while your minions attack. You can change
the Dazes for Rays of Frost, but I find Daze is safer 'cause it allows your minions 1
free attack while your enemy is defenseless. You should use that round to keep
distance and prepare your next daze. I'd have about three dazes and one Ray of Frost,
or all Dazes.
- At lv2 you gain one more lv1 spell, you should use it for another Disabler, or for a
Burning Hands if your enemy is not a heavy fighter. Also you could try a Ray of
Enfeeblement and hope it connects (and the Strenght damage roll is good).
- At lv3 you gain two lv2 spells. If you can cast pre-combat spells (if the module
allows combat preparations), I'd take a FOX CUNNING, because it increases your spells
DC at least by 1 (and you could even increase it by 2 or even by 3, depending on your
INT. Against heavy fighters your second spell should be a Ghostly Visage and have lv0
full of Dazes. Other great idea is to cast Blindness/Deafness on the enemy 'cause they
get a 50% hit failure rate, and a 20% spellcasting failure (unless they use Silent
Spells, which shouldn't be the case...)
- At lv4 you should take a Ghoul Touch if you feel confident you'll survive getting
near the opponent (and you're confident too that enemy's save roll will be not very
high) or a Melf's Acid Arrow (you'll get 3d6 + another 1d6 per round for every three
caster levels, so at lv4 you'll get 3d6 +1d6 next round)
- Also, you could change one lv2 spell for a Dire Boar summon, and use the now freed
lv1 slot for another disabler or a direct damage spell.
- Another nice way to protect yourself is by casting a DARKNESS centered on YOURSELF.
Since you usually don't rely on to-hit spells, but area disablers, you will not have
problems with the 50% concealement... but fighter enemies will still miss half their
attacks in the darkened area. Be warned enemies could enter the darkness area followed
by your minions, so they'll also get the 50% failure chance; best idea is to cast
darkness, cast the disabler and, since darkness is centered on you, area moves with
you, so you can remove the area from your enemy.
* LOW/MID LEVEL DUELS (lv5-lv8): At these levels you'll start finding that your loved
sleep/colour spray starts missing often than hitting but still can help; you will nedd to
start changing your tactics because fighter enemies will start having A LOT of Hp's (think
about 14-15 hp's per level, so they can have around 70-75 hp's)
- At lv5 you get one of the MOST useful spells you'll even have... the HASTE. Haste
is a MUST for a wizard dueler, not only because it allows you to escape faster... :)
but Haste also grant a PARTIAL ACTION per round . Now you'll say... "Well, ok, I gain
a partial action each round... and what?". Well, since upcoming 3rd edition rules
casting a spell is considered as a PARTIAL action, now Haste grants you ANOTHER
partial action... yes, You'll be able to cast TWO spells each round while hasted.
- Your second lv3 spell (at lv5) should be a Hold Person OR the nice Summon Dire Wolf
Dire Wolf is a great ally because it stands a few hits, has a decent attack bonus...
and has the KNOCKDOWN ability. If the wolf ever connects that knockdown and you have
your familiar around you will have half the combat won; just use the time the
knockdown gives you to cast melf's (you free your lv2 summon familiar spell slot) and
then start x-bowing your enemy while you wait him/her to start waking up so you can
cast your disabler. In case you choose and connect the Hold Person you just have to
use the same tactic above.
- You should consider changing some of your lv1 disablers to magic missiles (you'll
start throwing at least 3 missiles per cast with no saves available)
- At lv6 you gain another lv2 and lv3 spell. I'd go for some direct damage (Lv2 Melf's
and lv3 LIGHTNING BOLT). And I'd take LB instead of FB (FireBall) because usually your
enemy will be surrounded by your familiar and minion, and a Fireball would surely
toast all of them (you're fighting PvP, so server dificulty should be set at Hardcore
D&D rules) OR, you could take both Summon Creature III AND Hold Person.
- At lv7 you get two lv4 spells, and another one of the best protection spells
available: The IMPROVED INVISIBILITY. This spells allows you cast combat spells and
attack while hidden without the spell wearing off. And while being hidden you get a
50% concealement bonus (that's, HALF enemy's hits - not attacks, but HITS, succesful
attacks - will FAIL as if you weren't hit. This (or haste) should be your first spell
being cast. For the second lv4 spell you have confusion and Enervation for disabling
purposes, Lesser Spell Breach againt enemy casters, and Minor Globe of
Invulnerability/Stoneskin for Self Defence. The spider minion should be useful while
fighting fighter types, since it hits hard and the granted venom is almost impossible
to be saved from (DC 26). Usually spider's venom damages 1d6+ STR, so one or two hits
will severely disable a fighter type. This should be your minion of choice for some
time.
- At lv8 You get both one lv3 and one lv4 spells so you can pick the Spidey and free
another one lv3 slot. I'd recomend picking Hold Person and Flame Arrow (you'll get two
at 4d6 each) or change the Flame Arrow with a SLOW or VAMPIRIC TOUCH (If your enemy
is not a monk so he/she will have low touch AC)
* MID LEVEL DUELS (lv9-lv12): Now fighter type enemies start being a pain in the @$$...
they have too much life and all their attacks usually connect. Now that there's a lot of
useful equipment available opponents will be very well defended against your spells, and
usually their save throws will be mostly improved.
- At lv9 You get two level 5 spells (if your INT is high enough) and your main damage
spell for a long time (you'll be using it even at lv20...) the Cone of Cold. This
spell does 1d6 damage per caster level, and has no level limit so you can get up to
20d6 damage per single cast. When you start Maxing this spell you'll get 120 damage
per cast unless resisted (and you'll get 60 damage if resisted). Still, unless you're
at higher character lv than lv10, you'd stick with Lightning Bolt/Fireball because
they still do the same damage (but they are a little easier to resist). You could use
the lv5 slot for a Summoned Bear (I'd still take the Summon better than the Outsider)
so you free a lv4 spell slot. You may even MAX a Lightning or a Fireball here.
- Another useful lv5 spell is the HOLD MONSTER. You can cast this spell on your
opponents too :) (Yep, because usually most PvP charas have a low CHA, they're sooo
ugly they can be considered monsters XDDDD). Against Summoners you get Dismissal
- At lv10 you get an extra lv4 and lv5 spells. Your level 4 could be an Enervation or
a Stoneskin, depending on the opponent. As for the lv5 spell, you could pick one
underestimated spell in normal campaigns... but INCREDIBLY useful on PvP... the
MIND FOG. This spell causes everybody inside it to Save against MIND spells or they
will get a -10 to their MIND save throws. Just cast it so you are INSIDE the SPELL.
You'll eventually get the -10 to all your MIND saves... but unless you're fighting
against another spellcaster you won't mind the penalty. If any enemy ever fails their
save you'll have a nice time casting Color Sprays and the like... the -10 to the save
throws will nearly downgrade the will saves to the negative numbers. You can also
play cat-and-mice by running inside and out the cloud so if the enemy follows you will
have a bad time doing save throws.
- At lv11 you get two lv6 spells. One nice addition is the MASS HASTE, specially if
you like having your familiar and minion around... but remember that usually haste is
one of your FIRST spells to be cast, so only use this if you cant summon your allies
pre-combat. The second spell could be a Greater Stoneskin (against fighter types) or a
Greater Spell Breach (against other arcane spellcasters). chain Lightning is also a
nice spell to have, because damage gets up to 20d6 in time.
- Other interesting spell is the Planar Binding; similar to a summon but this spell
last much less time than it. Instead, the minion summoned is more powerful than the
one the Summon Creature makes. If you were playing an adventure, you usually should
stick with the summon, because they stay a whole day; but in one on one quick combats
it's better to switch to the Outsiders cast by this spell
- At lv12 you get another lv6 spell and one lv5 spell. Your lv6 could be an Acid Fog
(if you have some elemental resistance equipment/spell on) thrown at YOURSELF, so any
enemy who tries to get close will be damaged unless it's protected; and the level5 can
be either a MAXED LIGHTNING (for 60/30 damage) or a cone of cold (for 12d6/6d6 damage)
* MID-HIGH LEVEL DUELS (lv13-lv16): Battles are pretty though now. Most opponents have now
damn good saves against most spells, and start having good spell and elemental protections
as well.
- At lv13 you'll get two lv7 spells to choose from. The Delayed Blast Fireball can be
one of your main killers, specially if you have your Panther familiar. Damage from
this spell is just awesome (1d8 per level), but is specially useful for setting traps;
just cast the known Mind Fog and/or Acid cloud and put one of these inside. If your
enemy tries to rush you past the spells, will get caught inside the blast (just place
yourself inside the clouds BUT apart from where you placed the FB. You can even use
your familiar to lure them to the blast (and hope their superb dex save kicks in so
your panther will take no damage)
- Prismatic Blast is also a nice spell to have, your oponent gets up to two save
throws
(each one can be different, but usually are fortitude ones) or will get harmed or even
killed (if petrify or instant death ray is failed).
- At lv14 you get another lv7 spell. Mordenkainen's is a very damaging minion against
single opponents. And against spellcasters you get Spell Mantle, which will block at
least one lv9 spell, and usually will last more.
- Power Word O Stun is a great spell also if you have allies around. Remember that no
save throw is available, so you get extra turns; the downgrade is that the enemy must
have 150 hp or less.
- At lv15 you will get two lv8 spells and the best Damage resistance spell... the
Premonition. This spells grants a Damage Reduction of 30/+5, so nearly ONLY criticals
will be able to harm you... and if you get damaged with a normal hit, damage will be
near 0. This spell allows you to stand in front of a hasted fighter and survive while
you cast spells. You could take Greater Planar Binding as the second spell, so you
have a powerful Celestial Avenger as a Meat Shield
- There are not many useful lv8 spells (premonition the most interesting) so this
spell level is very useful for having if full of MAXED chain lightnings. this spell
level, and lv7 are the common levels for maxing direct damage.
- At lv16 you get another lv8 spell, so max another Chain Lightning here.
* HIGH LEVEL DUELS (lv17-lv20): Now matches start getting easier, because you get the most
powerful spells at this levels. Level 9 spells are what makes a Wizard damn powerful, so
use them wisely.
- At lv17 you'll (hopely) get your first two lv9 spells... and it's a no-brainer to
chose from them: pick a TIME STOP and a POWER WORD O' KILL. Time Stop, when learnt,
will always be your FIRST spell to be cast in any combat. This spell, with no save
throw available, grants you 2-5 free rounds with the opponent frozen. That's 2-5
rounds you have to freely kill your enemy. You could even pick TWO of these, a haste
(so you double the number of spells you can cast) and all direct damage spells. You
can also build up your defenses if you think you will not be able to kill your enemy
inside the Time Stop (usually against monks, barbs and rogues). Remember that NWN's
Time Stop allows you to ATTACK FREELY and DAMAGE FREELY (D&D real rules don't allow
this)
- The POWER WORD O' KILL is another powerful spell. With no save throw, it just kills
anything that has less than 100 hp. With the powerful save throws available you'll
need this spell to asure a kill when opponent is suficiently damaged... just calculate
damage on this base (usually on PvP all oponents will have maxed hp's - just level up
and if the HP roll is not a max, CANCEL the level up and try again -):
LOW LV : Add +1 hp/level (Usually given by thoughness feat)
LOW/MID LV : Add +2 hp/level (Thoughness and +CON bonus equipment)
MID LV : Add +2 hp/level or +3hp/lv if a fighter class
MID/HIGH LV : Add +3 hp/level
HIGH LV : Add around +4 or +5 hp per level
NOTE: These hp bonuses are calculated... you can find charas with up to +10 hps/level
or characters with no bonus hps/level.
- Other useful spell is the Summon Balor. This guy will just shred to pieces anything
in his path... including you if you're not protected against Evil (Cast protection
from Alignment- lv1 spell - before summoning). Very damaging.
- Also, Weird is a good idea if you still use the Mind Fog. It's an instant kill spell
which allows a WILL save against, so combines very well with the -10 to will saves the
mind fog gives...
- Levels 18 to 20 give you just some more lv 8 and 9 spells to cast, so change your
tactics acordingly on the number of spells you have.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
C) VS. CLASS TIPS
-----------------
* LOW LEVEL DUELS:
[VS. FIGHTER TYPES + MONK]:
- At very low levels your main way to victory is to quickly cast your summon and
familiar (if not already out) and then your most powerful disabler (try the color
spray). After that start Dazing each round and let your minions take care of the
physical damage. Ir you start near your opponent, first cast the disabler and then
the summons (panther out first so will get sneak earlier). If enemy rushes just
retreat past your minions and let them get Oportunity Attacks.
- When lv2 spells are available, the Fox cunning will make your spells DC up by at
least one point (and usually you can get two). Combine this with your maxed INT and
Spell Focus to make your will save-based spells very hard to resist (+4 INT, +2 Feat
and about +1/+2 per Fox's), so you get +7/+8 to resist DC's.
[VS. CLERIC]:
- They will try to cast their summon and then attack physically so they are even in
number against your minion and summon. Your first move (if near cleric) should be
to Daze him, or cast Ray of Frost and hope disrupts their casting.
- Also, you can Daze their minion while cast, or wait for their cast to complete and
then spray/sleep 'em both.
- Another dirty trick - well, you have yours too... :) - clerics have is to cast their
summon and then sanctuary themselves so your minions cannot see them. Well, while
"sanctuaried" clerics cannot attack you should take care of their minion as quickly
as you can... but watch for the cleric will surely try to rush you. Stand near your
minions if cleric starts casting sanctuary (so cleric may score a hit when rushes, but
also may get two oportunities from your minions...
- If Cleric sanctuaries, usually can try to HEAL him/herself And since hasn't attacked
sanctuary will not fade... one idea to do is to cast an area spell near, and other is
(if you have not other enemies near) to HEAL your Familiar :) Remember the
Click - 4 (Feed Familiar) - 1 (End Dialog) always. It's free.
[VS ROGUE]:
- Crap. Just face this one and you won't mind from sneaks. Damage done by them is also
lighter than fighter's Just let your summons rush. You could even help with direct
damage if available (Melf's Acid is nice). If they try to waste a round casting from
a scroll they'll quickly find themselves surrounded by your minions... and their Parry
will not be that good so they can block all attacks.
[VS. BARD]
- More balanced that you can think; bard will also keep a Summon around so the fight
will be two against three (you, your minion and your familiar), and you don't count
very much for combat already. Since minion's IA is somewhat crappy, you'll find that
most times your minios will engage your oponent's one; yep, your minions will surely
win the combat (specially if enemy minion attacks your minion, and not the familiar)
but the problems is than then you'll be alone against the bard. Bard should start
pelting you with arrows ('cause they usually have better DEX than STR) and at low
level it means a bad concentration problem, since your Concentration skill will not be
very high.
- If bard attacks ranged, the best idea is to POSSESS your familiar (you should have
it quicksloted) and force-attack the bard, then UNPOSSESS. That'll leave the bard
with a panther problem near him, that gets oportunity attacks if bard keeps firing...
- If bard rushes the best idea is to have a quicksloted "Guard Me", so minions will
automatically target the bard (one of them will get an oportunity from bard's summon
if it's around...)
- Also ve very warned that bards are spellcasters. They have SCARE and SLEEP, which
at low levels could be a big problem, not for you, but specially for your minions.
You'll just need to cast quicker.
- Also, when able to cast lv2 spells, ghostly visage will be a great problem, since
your main way to deal damage comes from your minions natural weapons. Best idea is to
Ghostly yourself too (bards usually use 1d6 damage weapons or bows) so you can wait
for your minions to crush their ghostly first.
[VS. DRUID]
- Very similar to Bard matches, but they have some more hp's and their main disablers
are SLEEP and ENTANGLE. The usually hit harder than bards too. Warning from their lv2
spell Flame Lash, damage taken from that spell can be a problem.
[VS. WIZARD/SORC]
- At these low levels usually the spellcaster that casts first wins the combat, just
cast your most powerful disabler and hope it connects. Be warned against sorcs, they
can try to win by barraging direct damage spells, one after another (specially Acid
arrows)
* LOW/MID LEVEL DUELS:
- Remember this combo: Improved Invisibility [lv4] + Haste [lv3]. Your first spell
cast at any combat should be one of these two.
- Be warned... enemies can start having spell resistances (usually a SR12 girdle)
[VS. FIGHTER TYPES + MONK]
- Improve Invisibility yourself. Now your enemies have a 50% failure rate on their
attacks so you can cast your spells peacefully (first enemies have to score a HIT and
then the invisibility concealement will be rolled). Second cast a Dire Spidey so if
it ever scores a hit, enemy will be doomed in matter of rounds (remember Spidey's STR
venom damage and DC26 save throw); third cast your disabler (a ghoul touch is nice,
since it paralizes - opponent doesn't "wake up" after a hit -) so you can wait for
venom to take effect. If enemy fails the disabler save throw, your spider nearly has
a granted hit, and your familiar will have a lot of fun sneaking. Just help a little
with direct damage.
- Be warned for rushes... They can perfectly forget about your minions and try to
knockdown-stuck you (they'll just use knockdown until u're dead)... that's why the
improved invisibility is a life saver
[VS. CLERIC]
- Be very warned against INVISIBILITY PURGE and DISMISSAL, these two spells, if
succesfully cast, can turn the tides of the battle; your best idea is just to wait
a little. If cleric rushes just cast improved invisibility, your familiar will be
already around. If enemy starts casting Divine Power or Summon, then disable and
if connects get your summon up. If cleric also waits soon will have your panther
rushing and you'll be free to cast something interesting...
[VS. ROGUE]
- You'll mostly find that the rogue will start using a Bow, yo he'll try to pelt you
and you'll not be able to cast many spells that way. The best idea is just to cast
a Ghostly Visage so at most (and unless Rogue has mighty bow and some +STR bonus)
you'll take 1-3 damage per arrow - if hit is not not a critical one - Think that not
many arrows will come your way since your Familiar should rush the instant it sees the
Rogue (and using a Proyectile Weapon allows Oportunity Attacks to nearby melee
atackers). Your Panther's SPOT SKILL should be sufficiently high to disable Thieves
hide-hit-and-run tactics. You'll find most thieves will play with two weapons and
will mostly use Parry skill. Parry is nice against physical damage classes... but you
just stick with magical damage. Also, be aware that your Fireballs and the like are
nearly guaranteed only half damage... so better pelt'em with Melf's and Magic
Missiles.
[VS. BARD]
- Again, a good mach to have. If Bard already has his minion around first thing he
should do is to sing, so they both will have pretty decent increased mods. You still
have a 3 to 2 advantage, but their minion is more powerful than yours because of the
Bard's Song.
- First, you should chose the Dire Spider as a minion. Since Bard's Fortitude usually
are low in one or two hits (very comon... those spider's are a pain in the @$$, if
you've played solo) This will disable most direct attacks in matter of rounds. Just
hide (improved invisibility and let her do the job. No matter bard's song... a DC26
is still tooo difficult to get rid of (opponents - fighter types - will have about +10
at most).
- Now that you've disabled direct attacks, you have to disable long range ones.
Stoneskin is very useful... but you should choose a Ghostly Visage since you should
not be against +2 bolts/arrows.
- Finally, pelt him with some Melf's and let the damage stack. He may become
invisible, but this will only help him for one hit/spell, or until your panther SPOTS
him. Just protect yourself with more spells or couter the one he'll try to cast.
[VS. DRUID]
- Difficult mach. You'll not believe, but they can ever have better direct damage
spells than you... FLAME STRIKE (lv4) will deal 1d6 fire/divine damage per level, and
there's no spell that can resist divine damage so you're guaranteed full damage from
the divine part of the spell... that's bad. They also get the Dire Spider and Dispel
Magic as lv4 spells... so you'll have a bad time. Be warned against their CALL
LIGHTNING... they can even have it as a pre-combat preparation.
- Your main way to win is to cast either a big disabler (and hope it connects) or a
big damage spell as a counter (hope you have better initiative than him); then pelt
him with Melf's, and hope he has not Acid Resistance
- Also... Invisibility (no matter normal or improved) is a life saver against Druids
since A) Thay cannot hit you with targeting spells (spells that require a seen target
to have effect - both FLAME STRIKE and FLAME LASH are targeting spells -) and B) the
always useful 50% concealement. I'd recommend Improve Inv. yourself and go
CounterSpell Mode so you can block Druid attempts to dispel you. If he turns against
your minions... pelt him.
[VS. WIZARD/SORC.]
Your main way to win is A) to have a Dispel ready and purge enemy's invisibility; and
B) kick in an Enervation so enemy's spells go to shit. Try to pair minions so you
stand an one on one combat. If Enervation kicked in you have level and spell
advantage. Else go elemental or physical damage (depending on enemy's protections...)
you can even Polymorph yourself and go physical.
* MID LEVEL DUELS:
- Duh... many +2/+3 protection equipment here... and the Ring of Elemental Resistance
(15/- resistance to elemental damages) is a big problem too.
[VS. FIGHTER TYPES + MONK]
- First... the ring of elemental resistance can negate a LOT of damage (think of a
maxed fireball - 60 dmg - resisted to 30 damage and reduced to 15 by the ring...)
- Main killing way... try the Mind Fog with a Will Save disabler (after Improved
Invisibility, of course) this will grant you time for readying your defenses and cast
your Spider (stick with the spider, just for the venom STR damage). Hold Monster is
a good idea after the Fog. Add stacking Melf's (look if damage is resisted after the
1st one) or throw volleys of Magic missiles.
[VS. CLERIC]
- Damn, there's a problem here... their HARM spell. This spell doesn't allow a Save
Throw, counts as a TOUCH ATTACK (so it'll nearly be a sure hit) and reduces your life
to a measly 1d4. HARM and a direct damage spell = you dead. Your first spell here
should always be a LESSER SPELL MANTLE, since it blocks spell levels targeting you
(HARM is one of them). Now Cleric will have to Dispel or rush (go counter if cleric
tries to dispel, cast Improved Inv. if he waits/rushes, then stoneskin). So,
first Mantle yourself, and then cast Improved Invisibility (so if cleric dispels the
mantle, his HARM will still have 50% failure rate.
- Be aware of this... if you're HARMED, cleric can turn and kill your familiar, so
you take another 1d6 (remember that you are only left with 1d4) and usually die. So,
if you see he tries to kill your familiar... unsummon him (you can wait a little so
your familiar deals some damage, but unsummon if he has less than half life) Cleric
could even HARM your familiar and then deal the killing blow.
- Also, be warned abour Blade Barrier, hold your dogs of war ("Follow Me" and even
use it on your advantage if you don't get struck in the middle.
- Don't try WILL save dispels... clerics are very good at them
[VS. ROGUE]
- Well, the main problem here is to get rid of his ability to nullify damage from
area spells. The best way is just to think the thief is a low end warrior (that is,
cast the Mind Fog and wait for it to connect, then lock him with will save based
spells while your minions do the killin' - again, spider summon will be more useful
than any other -.
[VS. BARD]
- Usually he'll try to protect himself via spells then rush to you. Still, he's a
thief with no sneaks and some spellcasting potential. An Enervation will do the job
against his spellcasting potential, while your spider will help against his physical
damage. It's a good idea to have a stoneskin and a Ghostly Visage learnt to use them
as COUNTERSPELLS (you'll want your minions to do the killin', so he must not be
protected against normal attacks)
[VS. DRUID]
- Oh shit... be warned against their SLAY LIVING. This can be a one-hit kill since it
involves a Fortitude Save (the ones you're not very fond of) So Spell Mantle can save
the day.
- Also... you'll really, really, really want to dispel their SPELL RESISTANCE (12 +
their character level), hope they haven't cast it pre-combat or you're in deep shit.
Still, this one has a short duration, so you may survive till it fades off.
- The best way is to play defensive (Greater Stoneskin, Spell Mantle, maybe even a
Glove of Invulnerability) and hope your minions will be able to do something with him
(usually not... Druid can also be Stoneskinned). Their main attack pattern is to cast
some protective spells and then rush you, not worried about your allies) So better
prepare your spells acordingly - that is... a lot of countering; DON'T allow him to
cast any defensive spell - if you can block/cancel his defenses, you'll have advantage
for you're three and they're usually only two. Spell Breach will be a must.
[VS. WIZARD/SORC.]
- If you feel risky, try Feeblemind; if it kicks in battle's over. Else, I'd recomend
Enervation first, then a Spell Breach, then go pure damage.
* MID/HIGH LEVEL DUELS:
- Well. Powerful equipment is so damn common at this levels that you'll have even
problems to raise your defences. You'll need something that gives you haste so you'll
have time to at least cast something.
- Usually your best choices are fight non-spellcasters. If well prepared they have no
chance breaking your spells.
[VS. FIGHTER TYPES + MONK]
- Hope you're hasted. At this level they'll have AT LEAST four attacks per round and
usually they will not miss. Also, 99% of them will have Boots of Speed or the like so
you'll have them near you in no time. So, first cast a GREATER STONESKIN so you will
be able to reduce a lot of damage coming your way. Now, summon a MORDENKAINEN or a
CELESTAL AVENGER to keep them busy and try a PRISMATIC SPRAY or a Paralyze spell (no
matter which one). Have your lv5 spell slots fully loaded with MAXED FB's/LB's, so
they deal some damage.
- Another idea, if you see they're not acid protected you can have a barrage of maxed
Melf's thrown at them... and then sit down and enjoy the pile of 6hp damage rise.
[VS. CLERIC]
- Hum... DESTRUCTION and WORD of FAITH can be one hit killers so cast a Shadow Shield
or have some instant death protection equiped. Then I'd recommend to have some Delayed
Fireballs around acting as a shield (so Cleric will think twice before rushing).
- You could try killing by direct damage (Horrid Wilting packs a punch and it's
Negative Energy, so no elemental resistance is available) followed by maxed Cones of
Cold too.
[VS. ROGUE]
- Treat this one as his low level partners... but now you have much more damaging
spells.
[VS. BARD]
- Be warned for his Greater Dispel and Energy buffer. You may waste precious time
dispelling/ getting up your defences.
[VS. DRUID]
- First: CREEPING DOOM. Usually anything nearby them will automatically get killed in
the process. Second: FINGER of DEATH: As same as the cleric. Third: PREMONITION: so
Greater Spell Breach will be a must. Fourth: HARM (ouch).
- Go for direct damage.
[VS. WIZARD/SORC.]
- Try as many consecutive Horrid Wiltings as you can. Damage will be sufficiently
high so they'll have concentration checks failed. If you think enemy is mantled,
Breach him first. Being quick is the key on mirror matches.
* HIGH LEVEL DUELS:
- If you have made this far... smile. Now it's your turn to crush everything in your
path. You'll find that not many opponents will want to oppose you since your powerful
TIME STOP. With this spell tactics are a no-brainer:
- Your first spell is always a Time Stop. You should at least have one memorized, and
two (if available) is better. Your main tactic is to Time Stop, haste (if not already
hasted by equiped items) and then just lower the enemy HP with direct damage and
finish with POWER WORD O' KILL.
[HORRID WILTING]
- AGAINST FIGHTERS + MONK: Better have two TIME STOPS learnt. The problem here is the
high life of your enemies and, on monks case, the ability to nullify damage done by
some of your spells. Cast a TIME STOP, haste yourself (if not already hasted) and
then start with Horrid Wiltings (will deal at least 17d8, and can only be halved -
not nullified nor reduced -). after about 4 horrids (you should be able to cast 4 lv8
spells), recast the TIME STOP and continue with MAXED Cones of Cold (at least 102
damage (wiz. lv17), halved to 51 and reduced to 36 with a Ring of Elemental
Resistance). four of them should do the job. If enemy still alive the idea is to cast
Greater Stoneskin and Improved Inv. and start throwing Lightnings and the like.
Damage will be low, but enemy should be near dead at this point
- VS. CLERIC/DRUID: Hmmmm, I'd take only one TIME STOP and a MORDENKAINEN'S to rip
your enemy off his protections. But you can also have two TIME STOPS at hand and a
Greater Spell Breach. So, TIME STOP, dispel defences and start with Horrids and MAXED
Cones...
- VS. ROGUE/BARD OR ARCANE SPELLCASTERS: TIME STOP, Dispel in case of arcane, horrids
... and a good idea to finish (since Rogues can nullify damage and Spellcasters can
still have some elemental defences up) is to MAX/EMPOWER some MAGIC MISSILES (that's
25 damage non halvable if MAXED, or 1d4 +1d2 ?+1 / +2? (not sure if the +1 is
increased by the 50% bonus) if EMPOWERED. Is nice to kill with level 1 spells... :).
[POWER WORD O' KILL]
The idea is to calculate enemy HP's based on this table (for non multiclased
characters); remember than HP's can vary a little, this is not a EXACT HP table, but
one that gives you ideas:
* MELF'S ACID ARROW <>: First number means initial damage (usually 3d6) while
the second number (the (###)) means TOTAL exposure damage. This damage is dealt within
a number of rounds equal to caster's level at a rate of 1d6 each round so, for
example, 18(102) means 18 initial damage plus 102 exposure damage, dealt at a rate of
6 damage per round during 17 rounds.
* MELF's ACID ARROW <>: First numbers (4d6 + 1d3 are initial damage, while
the secondary numbers (ACLV d6 + ACLV d3) mean TOTAL exposure damage. This damage is
dealt within a number of rounds equal to caster's level at a rate of 1d6 + 1d3 each
round So, if your caster level is 17 you'll deal 4d6 +1d3 initial damage plus
17d6 + 17d3 exposure damage, dealt at a rate of 1d6+1d3 each round during 17 rounds
round.
NOTE: ACLV is Arcane Caster LeVel. So, if you're lv17 Wizard you're a lv17 caster. If
you're a lv15 Wizard/Lv5 cleric, you're a lv15 caster; if you're a lv12 Wizard/lv8
Sorcerer your Arcane Caster level may be 12 OR 8 depending on how you throw the spell.
** MAGIC MISSILE <>: I'm not sure if the +1 is doubled or left as is.
- Now that you have the tables, the idea is just to drop enemy's HP to less than 100,
and then finish the combat with a POWER WORD O' KILL. Thinking that the enemy is
stopped it's very easy to do. Here you'll have more info about the spells:
MAGIC MISSILE: You can think this' pretty stupid, but is awesome, specially against
enemies that can nullify spell damage with a succesful REFLEX save. When hasted, two
MM's each round are 50 non halvable damage.
MELF'S ACID: Useful to make enemies cry... STOP anyone and start casting... throw 5-6
and recast TIME STOP; cast some more and then sit down while enemy's life slowly goes
down. Since Melf's damage stacks enemy will start seing a bunch of damage coming
their way each round. Be warned... a single Ring of Elemental Resistance will make
this spell useless. You require a touch attack to hit with one of these, but unless
you roll a 1 most of your attacks will connect.
XXX: Damage taken: 6 (Acid) \
XXX: Damage taken: 6 (Acid) |
XXX: Damage taken: 6 (Acid) |
XXX: Damage taken: 6 (Acid) > Ooooh I love this when it happens... :)
XXX: Damage taken: 6 (Acid) |
XXX: Damage taken: 6 (Acid) |
XXX: Damage taken: 6 (Acid) /
FIREBALL / LIGHTNING BOLT: Well, they're nice but think than their MAXED damage is 60,
and it can be HALVED (save throw), REDUCED (elemental resistance) or even NULLIFIED
(Allows a REFLEX save) final damage can be very low (maybe just 15 damage/spell)
CONE OF COLD/ CHAIN LIGHTNING: Like Fireball and Lightning, but MAXED can deal up to
120. They also can be halved, reduced or nullified.
HORRID WILTING: It's a shame this spell canot be metamagically enhanced, but the pros
are that it cannot be reduced nor nullified, so damage will be very nice.
- Now calculate enemy HP's, TIME STOP him/her, start casting spells and when you think
their life is under the 100's finish them off with a POWER WORD O' KILL
===================
VIII-. PLAYING TIPS
===================
All right, so you've created your Wizard and want to play, no matter if solo or in
multiplayer games, here you'll find some interesting tips that could help you surviving...
1-. Always, ALWAYS take a hireling if it's available in the module. Specially the first two
hireling types. The more wider variety of skills in your party, the easier the game
2-. Use the first zones while playing solo in order to familiarize with control and
(specially) with Quickbars. Try to play as most as you can without pausing the game. One
of the BEST NWN features is the multiplayer mode, and in most cases you'll find that the
Dungeon Master has disabled the PAUSE button.
3-. About Quickbars. Know where to place weapons, spells, special attacks... for example,
with a wizard you could use the first quickbar for Stealh and Detect modes, ranged weapon,
melee weapon, some slots for potions/scrolls, and finally Summon and Posess familiar. The
CTRL quickbar can be used for lesser level spells, and the SHIFT one for higher level
spells. Knowing where are your spells, potions... will make things easier on multiplayer
games.
4-. At low levels, your minion/familiar/henchman will be your main way of dealing physical
damage. Keep them healthy unless you don't mind resting a lot. Your main role at low levels
will only consist on creatures backup. A crossbow will be your main friend for a lot of
time. Usually as a mage you should have more DEX bonus than STR bonus, so use that bonus
for ranged attacks. Engage low-level enemies first and let all your party take the BOSSES.
5-. Until character lv7 or more you won't have that many spells that you are able to
memorize a lot of direct damage ones. At low levels look mainly for disabling spells with
a wide area, rather for an one-shot single damage spells. With two or three allies (three
with a henchman, two if it's unavailable) spells like sleep, web, color spray, stinking
cloud... can disable many enemies at once, leaving your allies to deal with the ones who
resisted your spell, and leaving YOU for quickly Coup-de-Grace disabled enemies.
6-. Use your familiar abilities as much as you can. Specially while in dungeon crawling. A
simple possess with your panther familiar can show you nearly the entire map. Just hide
your familiar (via spell or via stealth mode - your panther sould have 11+ in hide at the
very first levels - or via invisibility) AND set Detect mode active (again, on first
levels your familiar should have 8+ spot skill); then, just start discovering the level
and where are the traps and enemies. When you find any of these, come with the rest of the
party and make your preparations.
7-. If you can, always Summon your familiar BEFORE resting. Then, after resting, if the
familiar ever get's killed you can just re-summon on your next round. Familiars, unlike
minions, always get carried over from rest to rest (acts like a hechman), BUT the ability
to summon familiar is recovered upon resting so the ability will automatically appear
with one use available when your familiar gets killed.
8-. At higher character levels, always try to wear some protective and/or enhancing spells
up. For example, Fox's Cunning has a great duration (1h per chlv) and a +1-+3 stat bonus to
INT (spell raises your INT by 2-5 points, so if - for example - you have 17 (+3) INT and
roll in a 3, it will raise your INT to 20 (+5), that's two more bonus points) which always
helps. Spell Mantles and Stoneskins are also welcome.
9-. Keep your familiar healty... only costs a mouse-click and two button presses (4-. Feed
Familiar and 1-. End Dialog).
10-. Look at the types of saving throws your spells require. Use Fortitude against mages
and Will against combat type ones. Also, always go for enemy spellcasters first. Let your
allies engage the rest until you are able to help them. Remember this:
"You can win 1000's of battles... but you can only lose one"
Enemy spellcasters can quickly deal a large ammount of damage to all your party in a
matter of seconds, specially if they're Sorcs. No matter if their own allies get caught in
the middle of their fireball/cone of cold/meteor swarm... there will always be more
enemies than allies so every point of damage to all your party they deal will make the next
group of enemies to have an easier time defeating you (unless you won't mind resting half
your playing time or you have an unlimited ammount of healing potions)
11-. While playing Cooperative Multiplayer games, take a look at the chars the rest of
the players will use. If there's a Sorc in the game, then forget about direct damage and
let him handle it; if there is a rogue in the party, don't choose a fairy familiar... if
you're gonna play cooperative, look for a well balanced party. Usually you'll find yourself
better acting as a support. Usually casting some enhancements, a disabler here and there,
a little of direct damage before retreating past fighter's lines...
12-. Remember that wizards are more disabling-oriented that direct damage oriented. You'll
not toast 32 goblins with a well placed Maxed out fireball (as the sorc should do at all
times), but while fighting BOSSES, a single disabling spell can change the entire battle
in a way a damage spell would do. Just think of a lv 18 enemy wizard protected with
greater Stoneskin and Premonition, a summoned Balor engaging your melee allies, and
preparing a Meteor. Your nice party sorc has all fireballs, cones of cold and all kinds
of direct damage and self-defense spells... then you counter the Meteor with a good Great
Dispel counter and then smile while your Feeblemind/Enervation kicks in... ouch!!
13-. If you're gonna play Free for All multiplayer types (AKA Deathmatch Battles) THEN
start making your Wizard a more sorc type oriented (i.e add many Maxed direct damage spells
and many self-defense spells) BUT leave some crowd control spells. You won't be playing
much lv20 free for all games so forget about Wail of the Banshee and Weird... Mostly you'll
play games while your level is fomewhat from lv8 to lv14 so at most you'll be able to use
one lv7 spell. Have many low level damage spells and high level disabling/protection ones.
In case you are playing a massive Free for All or specially Team Arenas (yep, there are
some being played) try to be elemental protected at all costs... and place yourself in one
side of your team field. When fireballs start being thrown from both sides, the center of
the battleground is the worst place to be.
14-. In Team Arena cases think of Mass Haste and circles. If friends can take advantage
from the spells you cast, some of them will be more likely to protect you so you'll be
able to continue helping them - disabling enemies. Also, be aware from instant death spells
... can be a very big problem.
15-. The main attack patterns of the Wizard are:
* LOW LEVEL (1-5): Let your henchman/minion/familiar take care of the physical damage;
play a support role sniping with your X-bow and cast spells only when necesary. Have no
more than a 25% of your spells as direct damage ones and focus A LOT on disabling spells;
at these levels enemies won't have high saving throw bonuses so your spells are more
likely to connect and disable maybe half monsters in the spell effect area. Try to make
the first move (cast that sleep - charm - color spray) and then retreat past your minions
so they even get Opportunity Attacks while those stupid enemies try to get you and cross
their menacing area. Try to hold your spells for big packs of enemies; when enemies are
coming at a rate of 1-2 then better don't waste spells and snipe them. Start casting
when handling 4-5 enemy packs. Leave your direct-damage spells for BOSSES.
* MID LEVEL (6-14): Enemies will start having some saving throws bonuses, so low level
disable spells are starting to become obsolete (unless you spell focused on disabling
oriented magic schools). So change your low level spells to direct damage (Magic Missile,
Melf's...) and enhancing spells (Fox Cunning, Bull's Strenght...) Then look for high
level disabling and some protection spells. If you got a magical X-bow, It'll still be
useful for some time (up to lv 9-10, when you'll have too low attack bonus to hit
consistently). When that happens, search for a weapon that gives special bonuses just for
wielding it (+ stats, + spells, +AC, any spell effect X times/day...).
* HIGH LEVEL (15+): Combats are starting to get pretty difficult. Focus on low level
damage and enhancing spells (a lv 15 fireball will still do 10-60 damage for just a lv3
spell, and Bull' Str/Fox Cunning/Owl's... will nearly last a whole day). Have some
mid-level support spells always on (Stoneskins, lesser mantles - even cast them on your
allies -) and leave high level spells for disable (Prismatic Spray and Mass Charm come
to mind...) and one or two One-hit killer spells (Banshee's, Weird...). Have always one
big counterspell learned. Mages get so damn dangerous at these levels that a single spell
can kill all of you... and U don't wanna that happen, isn't it?
16-. You shouldn't rest a lot while playing; while most games don't mind if you take 4 or
40 days to complete a quest, this is not real. Try to advance as much as you can without
resting, so you'll start knowing when to start casting spells and where. If someone
makes a timed game ever, a wizard that does not rely on resting has a big advantage. If
can play and finish some levels without needing to rest, then you're in a good way to play
as a wizard even in real D&D RPG. Just search for a DM and play a mage in modules you
must finish in less than 3 days. Enjoy. Sorcs rely too much on direct damage spells so
they must rest often to obtain more bang for their buck; that's not the way.
17-. And finally, a well known rule of all RPG's: SAVE OFTEN!!!. Quicksave is your friend.
