Going through HotU as a wizard.

Greater spell focus necromancy + wail of the banshee = death for all that dare to oppose me.

*insert evil laugh here*

The only bad thing is that the necromancer school doesn't get divination spells, so you don't get the best damage reduction spell in the game, premonition. So I find myself actually taking damage, which really isn't a good thing. But my strategy of time stopping then running up and casting a wail of the banshee seems to work just find and dandy.

[ January 18, 2004, 20:23: Message edited by: fade ]

Indeed. Wizards are the undisputed masters of magic in 3rd Edition, which they should be.

Their bonus feats and the ability to scribe scrolls or craft wands make them uberly versatile and deadly.

A well played Epic Wizard should be able to defeat any Sorcerer 10 levels higher in a spell battle.

Unfortunately, straight bards just suck in NWN single player campaigns.

I know that the Sorcerer/Wizard debate has reached overkill status, and I thought that the general conclusion for NWN was as follows:

Sorcerer - more of a battle/firepower magic user.

Wizard - Nice for multiplayer campaigns as has versatility/can afford to use many non direct offense spells etc.

-----

I have always liked the idea of a wizard who studies his art over the innately gifted sorcerer, but I also love the idea of a super offensive powered mage. So if you can convince me of your statement Shura, I will be more than happy to play a wizard over a sorcerer.

Tell me how and why you think a wizard would easily defeat a sorcerer in a one on one magic slug-fest.

Thanks.

Shura wrote: Unfortunately, straight bards just suck in NWN single player campaigns. Is there such a thing as a straight bard? :lol: :grin: :spin: :roll: :lol:

Wands + Scrolls make the Sorcerer's extra spell slots/day negligible.

Uber Metamagic feats + Spell Focus make the Wizard a far more potent spell caster.

The Sorcerer's limited spell choice makes it very easy for the Wizard to prepare the appropriate spell protections.

@ Sir Bel: LOL
:grin:

Drunken Monkey

A sorcerer seems to be quite the sad caster compared to the wizard. The is no advantage to them, least in the epic levels. By the time a wizard is level 21, he has more spell slots than he knows what to do with. I will at most use for spells in a battle, time stop, wail of the banshee, and then 2 delayed blast fireballs or horrid wilting.

And considering the fact that you need certain spells to hit certain enemies it helps to use the wizard instead of the sorcerer.

I remember in BG2 that Drow were pretty much immune to magic. So how does the wizard or sorcerer use magic against drow in NWN?

Spell Resistance works a lot differently in 3rd Edition.

With a high enough INT, Spell Focus, and the Spell Penetration Feats, any decent Wizard should be able to blast the heck out of upstart Drow.

And then there's always summoning spells. Don't see how a Drow can resist a Mordakainen's Sword or a Summoned Red Dragon with the Dragon Knight Spell.

The largest benefit to a Sorcerer is that they don't have to pic thier spells before hand. That makes them ALOT more versatile and to a degree, almost more useful in a multiplayer game. Because they don't have to changes spells around before various fights. However, in a one on one, and IF the wizard was properly prepared, the wizard would dominate. But if the wizard had not prepared to go against a caster, then it would be a hard fought victory.

THe limited spell selection that a sorcerer has and a lower number of feats make the wizard much better prepared for almost every encounter.

Gee, i hope i never meet your Red wizard of Thay fade :eek: ;)

btw, are wizards really sweet? with sugar over them? or just Thayans? :p


heh, and i thought arcane spellcasters are going to be weaker in HotU than before. Mostly becouse they've reached their highest lvl spells already, and are facing highly spell resistant Drow. I know there are epic spells, but they still go under lvl9 spell slots?

I can cast them(ALFA DM), but not memorise them :)

Epic spells are considered a feat. You are only able to pic them as a feat once you have become an Epic caster. Also, you must have a VERY high spellcraft in order to pick them. Furthermore, they are not part of your spell book. They are a different type of spell. They are not arcane or divine, therefore, all types of casters can access these spells. They are uninterutable, and do not have an armor penalty check, making them very sweet indeed.

As for magic resistant Drow, like Shura said already, with the Spell Focus feats and the Spell Penetration feats, a wizard shouldn't have many problems with thier restance. Also, I've noticed that almost nothing can survive a few Greater Missle Storms, this includes the Valsheress.

@fade, once you cast your 3-4 spells, do you rest, rinse, and repeat? Or do you go on with out them for a bit?

I never rest till my greater stone skin runs out, or when I am out of offensive spells.

Most battles can be taken care of with one wail of the banshee(the DC for it is 35), so almost nothing will save against it. One those run out I can use my horrid wiltings, and I generally only need 1, because they consistantly do over 100 damage.

For example, I was able to clear out the entire beholder caverns in HotU. I rested once, and that was before the fight with the eye tryant.

that rocks. Power hungry wizards are always so much fun! My only qualm with Hirrid Wilting is that it is so slow to go off, other than that, it rocks. During the seige in chapter 2, I helped them break down the door (I'm an impatient man :lol: ), and then cast timestop. I then ran out to the middle of thier field and did wail of the banshee, and meteor storm. Then i just sat there and did firebrands and greater missles storms. Cast horrid wilting on the reinforments. They never even got to summon the balor behind the gates! :evil: