Spell Selection for a Buffing F/M

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I'm thinking about installing BG2/ToB again and playing a solo runthrough as a F/M or F/I. However, when I've played mage characters in the past I've had an obnoxious tendency to just use offensive damage spells and rest constantly.

So I'm thinking of using just non-damage type spells as a F/I or F/M.

I know this is "doable", as unmodded BG2 is easily beatable as anything, but what do you think would be good spell selections?

I'll allow myself any spell which does not directly do damage to the opponent. So magic missle is out, but timestop is allowed, etc. Confusion/Incapacitating type spells are allowed so long as they do not directly damage the enemy.

I mean, some spells are no-brainers (e.g. stoneskin, timestop, mirror image), but what I'm really interested in are the spells that would, but for my no offensive damage spell restriction, not be included (i.e. the spells that will replace offensive damage spells in my book).

Thanks.

 

SI:Abj is important to avoid having your buffs dispelled.

Haste and (later) impr. haste.

Mislead is an excellent spell, provided you can cast it before enemy encounters. Just send the clone to a safe place, then walk into the enemy areas, and have fun.

And spells to bring down enemy mage defenses are needed. Remove magic, breach, ruby ray, etc.

But it's been a long time since I've played BG2 without some difficulty-enhancing mods, so I'm a bit unsure what you'll really need.

 

some of the spells like sleep and confusion, power word: sleep and stuff like that might come very handy, especially early on

 

Make him good and cast draw upon holy might from your innate spells

 

Resillient sphere is quite useful as well. IIRC it can also save one of your party members by casting it on them. Not sure though.

Another fun one is the polymorph line. Though not as powerful, it's a nice change. Fire shields (blue and red) are quite good, as are the invisibility line. Oh and glitterdust, you can never go wrong with glitterdust.

 

Here is the list of the useful spells:

1st level:

Protection from Evil - extremely important buff. Almost in all battles, it means 2 AC and saving throw bonus.

Shield: even on higher levels, when you mage will use Ghost or Spirit Armor, Shield still provides total immunity to Magic Missiles and -2 AC bonus modifier vs missile weapons.

Protection from Petrification: A nice buff in many situations (for instance, vs those nastt Flesh to Stone traps).

Blindness: in the vanilla game (and in the most mods as well) this is an excellent spell: disables powerful enemies, 1st level spell with 10-turn duration, worsens enemy AC/THAC0. Try it against Dragons and you'll see.

Spook: Not as powerful as Blindness, but at 12 lvl allows save at -6 - very good. Again, try vs Dragons.

2nd level:

Mirror Image and Blur must occupy your slots on this level. Add a Remove Fear - and you need nothing more.

3rd level:

ProFire, ProCold, Ghost Armor (in case of F/I) and the rest slots occupied with Remove Magics - and that's it.

At lower levels use Haste instead of Remove Magic.

4th level: Stoneskins, a Spirit Armor, Improved Invisibilities, a Greater Malinson, a Minor Globe of Invulnerability at lower levels.
Minor Sequencer will be used of course
Teleport field might help you as well in some situations.
Farsight is very useful and underestimated spell as well. However, it will be rarely used nonetheless.
Use Enchanted weapon on lower levels, to supply your starting F/M with decent +3 swords.

5th level:

Breach
Lower Resistance in some battles (vs Dragons for example)
Animate Dead (in case of F/M)
Spell Immunities (multiple)
Spell Shield(extremely useful as well)
ProElectricity
ProAcid

Lvl 6

Death spell will be used on few occasions
ProMagicWeapons
Improved Haste
ProMagicEnergy
True Sight in some cases

Lvl 7:
Projected Image
Mordenkainen Sword
Spell Turning (in some cases)
Spell Sequencer
Limited Wish (in some rare occasions)

Lvl 8:
Pierce Shield
Spell Trigger
Simulacrum
Improved Mantle (not in all battles, but it's still a useful spell)
PW: Blind (most useful of all Power Words in the vanilla game).

Lvl 9:

Improved Alacrity (great spell for a F/M, allows activation of several fighter HLAs simultaneously)
Time Stop (a must as well, and far more reliable than Wish)
Wish
Summon Planetar
Shapechange (in some tough battles, this spell is a lifesaver).

Energy Blades are not that great IMHO for a F/M.

Edit: forgot to mention two extremely useful and important spells, Contingency and Chain Contingency. Even loaded with defensive spells only, they're of thremendous help.

 

You should probably invest in one or two summon spells early on, when buffs aren't as powerful yet.
Save a single slot for Glitterdust, useful until you get True Sight, as said.
Emotion is a spell that sometimes works better than Chaos/Confusion. It works very well against Humanoids.
Finally, Polymorph Self is one of the most useful spells out there. Works well as a panic button at least until +4 items, Spell Shields/Immunities and others start getting plentiful.

 

I would add magic missile as a very useful spell. It does decent damage and casts very quick. I've used this to disrupt powerful enemy casters mid spell, even if they are a bit of distance away.

 

Did you read the OP?

I'm not allowing myself to use spells that directly do damage.

 

Definitely play a Gnome. I've always argued a Gnome F/Ill as a more powerful character than an Elf F/M, but the Gnome is a hands-down winner since you won't allow direct damage spells (the only sound argument in the Elf's favor in the original argument was ADHW, which is a direct damage necromancy spell).

 

ahh a gnome... great idea! I usually play humans, half-orcs, or half-elves, so a gnome shall be a neat change of pace. Thanks!

I guess that would mean ghost armor and spirit armor are out, but thats no big deal.

 

Only Spirit Armor, actually. A Gnome will still be able to cast Ghost Armor (Conjuration spell) and Shield (evocation spell) for protection. Of course, this means losing the +3 saving throw bonus from the Spirit Armor spell, but on other hand, a Gnomish F/I with high enough constitution receives amazing innate saving throw bonuses vs Spells and Wands, which in addition to the bonus spell slot per each level put him way up in front of elven or half-elven fighter-mages.

 

Black Blade of Disaster isn't actually a direct-damage spell, nor Phantom Blade, which might be useful enough against undead in the beginning, especially with a F/I...

 

You guys left out some good disablers. Web and Stinking Cloud are excellent for breaking up groups of enemies. If you manage to take out the ones that get through the web, you can use your ranged weapon to take out the rest with no risk to yourself and an automatic hit. Horror is useful in a party, but since you're soloing it isn't as important. If you have some item that grants free action, web becomes VERY powerful.

For third level, you might not want to overlook the hold person and hold undead spells. Nor should you overlook slow. With the -4 to save, it works quite well.

Fourth level has things really competing, but Emotion:hopelessness and confusion could also be useful. Of course, Chaos is better than confusion, so you might prefer to chose emotion.

This is in addition to all the previous advice.