16 réponses à ce sujet

[Mr Wuppet]

Hi all,

I wonder which spells other people choose their sorcerer companion to learn (and which to unlearn), when playing the OC on hardcore difficulty?

Incidentally, with the exception of the duergar/bladeling encounter upstairs in the Weeping Willow Inn, the mass of zombies in the Graveyard, and the thugs in Fihelis' estate; hardcore hasn't been that hard in all honesty - I rarely rest, and some area transitions force you to rest anyway.

On my way to Skymirror before heading to Old Owl Well (btw, do people recommend doing Skymirror first?) and all my companions are level 9 with the exception of Neeshka of course.

Anyway, so far, Qara has the following spells:
0- all cantrips except Touch of Fatigue
1- Burning Hands, Magic Missile, Protection from Alignment (replacing Shocking Grasp at level 8), Mage Armor, Shield
2- Fireburst, Combust, Melf's Acid Arrow, Blindsight (selected at level 9)
3- Fireball, Flame Arrow, Dispel Magic (selected at level 9)
4- Isaac's Lesser Missile Storm (selected at level 8), Stoneskin (selected at level 9)

Bearing in mind Qara is not going to be my crafter (although I may consider giving her Craft Wand), which spells should I choose (that won't harm the rest of my party)?  Which ones should I replace (and when)?

P.S. Currently, my own PC is 4Bard/3Ranger/1AA/1DC, with a view to increasing Bard and AA levels as she progresses

Modifié par Timothar, 15 février 2012 - 03:18 .

[M. Rieder]

Unlearn blindsight. Replace it with mirror image to provide some additional protection. Since you are playing hardcore, you will rarely get a clear shot to use fireburst, so you can unlearn that one too. I'd replace with Blindness/deafness or maybe melf's acid arrow. Once you get 5th level spells, you should consider firebrand. It's like a fireball that only hits your enemy. On hardcore, that is a must. Another spell that you should seriously consider is evard's black tentacles (4th). It is a very dangerous spell that paralyzes and damages enemies. Once in the grasp of the tentacles, few survive for long unless they are very high level. Warning: the targeting area for the tentacles is not completely accurate, so give plenty of buffer area to prevent from killing your party. I would consider picking up evard's tentacles next chance you have at a 4th level spell. If you have a cleric in the party, I would consider getting rid of dispel magic and adding lightning bolt for precision area damage, also lightning bolt generally gives you a little more damage than flame arrow and fewer creature are resistant to electricity than fire.

The other 5th level spell I would consider after you get firebrand is hold monster. This is very, very useful and will get you out of some tight spots. It's a will save spells so forget about casting it on wizards, monks, clerics and the like, but on all others, it is a death sentence. Avoid shroud of flames because if you cast it on an enemy and that enemy gets close to you, it will kill both of you in short order.

[Seagloom]

Haste - This is a must if you aren't planning to bring Sand or Grobnar along.

Displacement - 50% concealment is a lovely buff to give any warrior, or cast on Qara if she is under attack. Duration is identical to greater invisibility except it comes one level earlier.

Dispel Magic - You will want to ditch that eventually. It caps at caster level 10.

Orb of Sound - Sonic is rarely resisted. This spell can critical for nasty damage too. Consider exchanging lesser missile storm for it once you pick up greater missile storm. You can target single enemies without needing to thin them out first. Lesser missile storm damage is fairly dinky against groups. There are better spells for those situations.

Scorching Ray - Handy 2nd level spell that does decent damage against a small number of targets. Consider replacing the party unfriendly fireburst with it.

Ray of Enfeeblement - Consider losing mage armor for this. Qara can wear bracers of armor for an armor bonus. This spell has no save and inflicts a massive penalty to strength when empowered. See a nasty melee enemy? Zap them with this.

Firebrand - Good AoE fire damage with no chance of hitting the party.

Issac's Greater Missile Storm - Needs no explanation. You may want to consider skipping this, though. If you're playing on hardcore, I assume you want a challenge. This spell will ruin any.

Greater Spell Breach - Your replacement for dispel magic. The list of spells it affects is not all encompassing, but it never goes obsolete and is always guaranteed to strip up to four listed spells. It also reduces spell resistance.

Energy Immunity - Actually, you should probably have Grobnar, Sand, Zjhaeve, or Elanee cast this. Immunize the entire party against your most frequently used damage types, and you can leave Qara to cast as many party unfriendly spells as she wants. With this spell the likes of greater fireburst are no longer off limits.

Avasculate - Single target ray that halves the target's hit points. No save.

Sunburst - Does up to 20d6 damage to undead under the OC level limit. Kills vampires instantly. However, it's also handy in battles against other enemies since a failed reflex save blinds them permanently.

I always drop by the Skymirror soon after receiving the quest to get it out of the way quickly.

Modifié par Seagloom, 15 février 2012 - 05:55 .

[Mr Wuppet]

OK, I'll be sure to to take Firebrand. And yes, I was going to replace Fireburst with Mirror Image.

I'm a little dubious about Evard's Black Tentacles, though. In NwN1, my wizard loved casting this, but on hardcore difficulty in NwN2, my melee companions would only be able to sit and watch. Also, because I'm limited to only four 4th-level spells, would Lesser Spell Breach and Greater Invisibility be better suited to a party consisting of at least one archer and at least two melee fighters?

[Mr Ordinary]

My preferred spells/level for level 9 sorceror:

1) Grease, Magic Missile, Protection from Alignment, Ray of Enfeeblement, Shield
2) Cloud of Bewilderment, Ghostly Visage, Mirror Image, either Melf's Acid Arrow or Protection from Arrows.
3) Fireball or Scintillating Sphere, Haste, Slow
4) Isaac's Lesser Missile Storm, Stoneskin

[The Fred]

Leave Qara at home and take someone less annoying?

Otherwise, just give her a bunch of enemy-only spam spells (e.g. Isaac's) she can fire so you never need to control her. Alternatively, leave the melee at home and lay on the Black Tentacles and Fireballs good and thick.

[Mr Wuppet]

Mr Ordinary wrote...

My preferred spells/level for level 9 sorceror:

1) Grease, Magic Missile, Protection from Alignment, Ray of Enfeeblement, Shield
2) Cloud of Bewilderment, Ghostly Visage, Mirror Image, either Melf's Acid Arrow or Protection from Arrows.
3) Fireball or Scintillating Sphere, Haste, Slow
4) Isaac's Lesser Missile Storm, Stoneskin

Yeah, I like that selection (maybe not the Fireball or Scintillating Sphere); but the problem is the spell selection she has when I meet her at level 7.  I tried using DebugMode to reduce her XP so I could level her up again with spells I actually want, but the givexp -[whatever value] command doesn't seem to work for me.

Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

[Dann-J]

Whenever I've tried using Evard's Black Tentacles recently, the enemies who get damaged seem to ignore any melee fighters close to them and charge straight for the caster (leaving the area of effect). I don't think this was the case when I first played the OC, so it seems that changes to AI have occured during one of the subsequent patches or expansions.

[kevL]

Timothar wrote...

I tried using DebugMode to reduce her XP so I could level her up again with spells I actually want, but the givexp -[whatever value] command doesn't seem to work for me.

Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong?

sometimes (rarely) the console expects the original, pseudo-capitalized version of commands; try this

`
DebugMode 1
GiveXP -10000
DebugMode 0
`

while controlling Qara w/ no target,


( DJ, might have something to do with Tony's additions to SoZ - i really want to grasp what he's done, but )

[M. Rieder]

Timothar wrote...
but on hardcore difficulty in NwN2, my melee companions would only be able to sit and watch.

That's the beauty of the spell.  They only *need* to sit and watch.  But still, if you like combining melee with your magic, then the tentacles are probably not the way to go.  I like to stay back as much as possible and kill from a distance, but different strokes for different folks.  It's all fun in the end.

[Mr Wuppet]

kevL wrote...

`
DebugMode 1
GiveXP -10000
DebugMode 0
`

while controlling Qara w/ no target,


( DJ, might have something to do with Tony's additions to SoZ - i really want to grasp what he's done, but )

Brilliant; those capital letters did the trick!  Now I can re-level all my companions (staying true to their personalities of course) to how I want.  Especially useful for Qara's and Grobnar's spell selections!

Cheers!

P.S. I hear TonyK's AI mod being mentioned a lot; people recommending it and such.  But I'm sure I read in one of the patch notes that this mod was incorporated in that patch.  Or am I mixing up one of his mods with another of his?

[Mr Wuppet]

M. Rieder wrote...

Timothar wrote...
but on hardcore difficulty in NwN2, my melee companions would only be able to sit and watch.

That's the beauty of the spell.  They only *need* to sit and watch.  But still, if you like combining melee with your magic, then the tentacles are probably not the way to go.  I like to stay back as much as possible and kill from a distance, but different strokes for different folks.  It's all fun in the end.

I totally agree when playing with that kind of strategy; I adopted that when soloing as a wizard through NwN1's OC (although I gave up near the end of Chapter 2; got tired of the same old rigmaroll - Fetch this for Aribeth, fetch that!  Clear this area, then clear an almost identical area over here!  I heard Chapter 3 was an improvement in the story, but ah well!).

But seeing as the companions in NwN2 contribute more to the story, and don't affect the XP awarded (much), I'm taking as many as I can along with me.  My PC isn't really a powerbuild; more of a support/leader type-o-gal and so I'd like Khelgar and Neeshka to get stuck in too!

Modifié par Timothar, 16 février 2012 - 12:46 .

[Arkalezth]

Timothar wrote...

P.S. I hear TonyK's AI mod being mentioned a lot; people recommending it and such.  But I'm sure I read in one of the patch notes that this mod was incorporated in that patch.  Or am I mixing up one of his mods with another of his?

Only part of it. The complete version is here.

[M. Rieder]

Timothar wrote...

M. Rieder wrote...

Timothar wrote...
but on hardcore difficulty in NwN2, my melee companions would only be able to sit and watch.

That's the beauty of the spell.  They only *need* to sit and watch.  But still, if you like combining melee with your magic, then the tentacles are probably not the way to go.  I like to stay back as much as possible and kill from a distance, but different strokes for different folks.  It's all fun in the end.

I totally agree when playing with that kind of strategy; I adopted that when soloing as a wizard through NwN1's OC (although I gave up near the end of Chapter 2; got tired of the same old rigmaroll - Fetch this for Aribeth, fetch that!  Clear this area, then clear an almost identical area over here!  I heard Chapter 3 was an improvement in the story, but ah well!).

But seeing as the companions in NwN2 contribute more to the story, and don't affect the XP awarded (much), I'm taking as many as I can along with me.  My PC isn't really a powerbuild; more of a support/leader type-o-gal and so I'd like Khelgar and Neeshka to get stuck in too!

I liked Hordes of the Underdark a lot.

[ChibiGoro]

Have you considered flipping Fireburst for Gedele's Electric Loop. Similar damage, different type. Plus chance to stun and probably party friendly.

[Adam024]

I never noticed that a sorcerer could change spells- I thought that was only for Warlocks

[Niemroth]

In NWN 1 a Sorcerer could change it's entire spell-arsenal during level-up. In NWN 2 it's more like D&D 3.5, starting at level 4 a Sorcerer can change one spell during even level-up, as long it's at least two grades lower than your maximum spell-grade, example: at level 4 you could change one spell of grade-0, at level 6 one spell of grade-1 or 0, at level 8 one spell of grade-2 or 1 or 0 etc., that means grade-8 and 9 spells can never be changed.