Same as in the IWDII forum. Today, Tashia killed Firkraag in one shot with a Chromatic Orb (no Greater Malisons or Lower Resistance at all!).

As soon as he'd finished his chat, I had Tashia cast Chromatic Orb in a spell sequencer, while Firkraag felt like smacking Keldorn rather than buff himself up! Imagine my surprise when he failed his save and died.. instant death style :D

I'll try to upload my screenshot in a min.

The best, although cheeziest, way to kill any big baddie is 2-3 Finger of Deaths in a row. That is way more cheezy than the Orb because it's almost positive that the baddie will die. With CO, there's a really small chance that they'll be affected.

PS: I just noticed that the manual says "will paralyze the victim for 2 turns". Are there more than 7 levels for the CO, or is the manual wrong about the 7th level orb?

There's more levels for the orb. I remember it saying that either in game or the manual, but I don't remember which.

I believe 12th Level will Kill, but the victim get's a +6 (!) save. That's why I usually use two or more Greater Malisons first, but I just didn't have the time that time. :)

There's also flesh-to-stone at 10th level, but all CO effects are at a +6 to save. I don't think Greater Malisons stack; does anyone know if Greater Malison stacks with Doom?

Dont get too excited, it may just have been a minor bug.

Hate to burst any ego bubbles out there -- okay, I actually love it, you all know my position on cheese, etc. -- but IIRC, the readme for the Tactics mod points out that the great red dragon's spellcasting level is...first level mage....

@CamDawg

Greater Malison's don't stack, Doom's don't stack - but Greater Malison AND Doom stack !

I'm pretty sure Greater Malisons stack...

@Kovalis Darkfire - It's not a bug, Chromatic Orb does have a Kill effect, as well as Stun and Petrify effects. Why you think it is a bug I don't know, but you're wrong.

[edit] Oh, and I know that Dooms stack.

Baldurdash adds the line "multiple castings of this spell are not cumulative" to the spell descriptions of both Doom and Greater Malison. Certainly not definitive, but Baldurdash tends to be pretty reliable in its descriptions. Makes sense... if Greater Malison could stack, you could easily lower saves to where they would always fail allowing you to cheese through the game with instant death spells.

Yet another reason why cleric/mages are so powerful: the Greater Malison-Doom-Lower Resist spell sequencer. Followed by a triple Finger of Death spell trigger and a double Chromatic Orb minor spell sequencer, a single character has forced three saves vs. death at -8 (FoD is already at -2), two saves for petrification, and two more saves vs death.

Another great first level spell is spook, which saves at -1 for every two levels of the caster (up to -6). Works great on dragons, too. Greater Malison-Doom-Spook means a dragon saves at -12 or runs away. No attacks, wing buffets, breath atacks, etc. for three rounds. :D

Well, I finally got round to uploading that screenshot. Check it out HERE (http://www.jayhills.co.uk/main/images/firkraag.jpg). :D

Also, Greater Malison may not stack, but Doom most assuredly does! (http://www.sorcerers.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=10;t=001088#000001) :)

Not to rain on your parade, Gopher, but you do realize that just because the text lines come in a certain order, the Orb may not actually have been the thing that finished him off. Of course, if Tashia's character sheet says that he's the toughtest opponent she's defeated, that would just about cinch it. ;)

*Sigh*, Buck Naked... I've played this game a billion times. I think I know what killed Firkraag. I hardly think Firkraag killed himself after he'd slapped Keldorn about.

Regardless, here is your proof:
Click me for Tashia's Character Sheet (http://www.jayhills.co.uk/main/images/tashia.jpg)

Lighten up, Gopher, I wasn't asking for proof or accusing you of lying, lol.

And if you've played the game as many times as you've said, then you'd know that my statement still stands: the message window doesn't always display things in perfect order. Consider, for instance, how many times you backstab a mage, killing him by doing more than half his hit points in damage, and even though that kills him, his stoneskin contingency still goes off, even though he's dead.... Etc. ;)

So, technically, this only proves that Tashia did indeed kill Firkraag -- but not necessarily that it was done with the Chromatic Orb, since he might have died from something she set in motion before that spell took its effect upon him. I've seen it happen....

Noah Fence

Don't push it mate :p

Anyway, as I said; I let Chromatic Orb fly roughly 10 seconds after he'd finished talking. It was the only attack I made against him, and I doubt he'd damage himself somehow. Just take my word for it alright? ;)

I know this isn't related to BG, but does anyone know why Chromatic orb-my favourite spell for similar reasons to the one Gopher described, BTW, congratulations on that-why it isn't included in ToEE, as you won't get to a high enough level to exploit its uber-ness anyway.

Because 1) They forgot it, 2) Chromatic Orb doesn't exist in Greyhawk, or 3) Because they didn't want to include it.

Ahh, ok, thanks, I'm not familiar with the grewhawk setting so I'm not aware of the differences. I'm not even that familiar with any of the settings to tell the truth.

"Anyway, as I said; I let Chromatic Orb fly roughly 10 seconds after he'd finished talking. It was the only attack I made against him, and I doubt he'd damage himself somehow. Just take my word for it alright?"

OH, well, why didn'y you SAY so in the FIRST place?! :D

And thanks for not taking offense -- I have a bad habit of sometimes forgetting to soften my posts with smilies, so folks won't think I mean to be TOO harsh. :(

About Greater Malison and Doom.

- Greater Malison does not stack with itself.
- Doom - erroneously - stacks with itself. Get the fix or just don't abuse the bug!

I told you so! Why, who said that? :D