TGDB.net - Game news, cheats, solutions, walkthroughs, trainers, saved games and much more!

- 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 -):

WIZARD/SORCEROR:  8hp/level
ROGUES/BARDS   : 10hp/level
CLERICS/MONKS  : 12hp/level
FIGH/RNG/PALAD : 14hp/level
BARBARIAN      : 16hp/level

DWARF       : Add +1hp/level

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.