Robe of Vecna + Improved Alacrity - cheesy?

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Do people think the combination of Robe of Vecna and Improved Alactrity is cheesy? Since many spells have their casting time reduced to 0 by the robe, I can easily spray a room with half a dozen fireballs in under a second just as a warmup. Time Stop + Improved Alacrity allows me to empty a signifigant portion of my stock of spells, which is pretty impressive for a Sorcerer. Few things survive half a dozen Horrid Wiltings going off at once (after receiving a Spellstrike and three Lower Resistances), particularly if I spice it with 3-4 Comets.

Do people think this is a legitimate use of the powers granted to you, or is the use of the Robe of Vecna (which is after all from a Bonus Merchant) with Improved Alacrity something the developers did not anticipate and plan for, and hence unbalanced?

 

Yes, and no. Yes it is slightly cheesy, if only because you only have to buy it. I would greatly prefer if you had to fight some really tough battle for it, maybe against the last avatar of Vecna? Anyway, your example of spraying fireballs is a good one, because yes, it is massively powerful, but you are expending your own spells. Iin this way, it really rewards high level casters most. After all, a level 5 Mage isn't going to want to do that; he doesn't have enough spells to be able to do that.

 

Combine it with the Amulet of Power for some real fun. However Abi-Dalzim has such a long casting time that you cant throw more than 4-5 in one time stop unless you chain contingency them. You can toss as many dragon's breath you want though and practically any spell except the godly Abi.

 

Ahhh Dragons Breath, love that spell. In answer to the question, I agree with Kam, to get the Robe, I believe you should have to battle something pretty tough to earn it. Just buying it kind of defeats the purpose. Almost all other powerful items in the game require a pretty good fight.

 

It all depends on what you think of as cheese. By one definition, its not cheesy at all, since you're using items and spells that are in the game as they're intended to be used. If you want to use "unbalanced" as part of your definition, then the game is absolutely riddled with cheese. Witness Time Stop in and of itself, using illusionary scrolls from Simulacrums to achieve an infinate number of real spell effects, the list gets very long indeed.

 

Practically everything has some degree of cheese. IMO Robe of Vecna + Improved Alacrity has a low cheese factor.

Time Stop + Robe of Vecna + Improved Alacrity is seriously nasty, but I don't think it is particularly cheesy either since Time Stop on it's own is so powerful.
Loading a Chain Contingency with triple Abi Dalzim's HW in the middle of battle has a greater cheese factor IMO.

 

Don't forget to have a Projected Image cast all those spells!

 

A legit item, a legit spell. There is no exploitation of the game engine or mechanics here, so it's "no cheese" for me. Magic users need all the help they can get, especially when they are just about useless against magic immune monsters and bosses!

 

I have to agree with Tassadar. True, you get it from a bonus merchant, but it's a merchant the designers themselves put into the game. It IS unbalancing, true, but not cheesy: you're not exploiting any glitch, or an engine bug, or something like that. It's a legitimate item and a legitimate spell, used together in a legitimate sequence.

@Klorox: Now if you have a Projected Image do that for you, then yes, that would be the second greatest cheese ever

 

Why do you say that, Ziad?

Going by your logic, I'm only extending your opinion.

I'm using a legitimate spell (two, actually), a legitimate item, and a legitimate sequence.

 

Every time I see Project Image, I think the spell should have been different. A spell cast by the image should be used up from the caster's slot. I guess you're right, it is a legitimate spell... I just can't think of it that way

Ok, so I have a faulty logic... Let's call it Selective Logic

 

No, its not cheesy.

 

It's not cheesy. It's cool.

 

No, not cheesy. Those two power-ups are found in one game, therefore they were at least implicitly meant to be worn together. If someone thinks it's cheesy, he should start considering second best job offers because earning too much would be too cheesy.

 

No cheese. Legit all the way. For arguments, see above.

 

Yeah, although the robe and amulet are pretty good even without improved alacrity... Luckily hostile spellcasters don't have something similar, they're enough of a trouble anyway.
Although talking about cheese, the celestial fury / Karsomyr / Vorpal weapons + improved whirlwind are not too bad anyway... I guess almost every class has been made to have a few ultra combinations up their sleave.