Ilbratha is a +1 shortsword that can cast mirror image, Namarra is a +2 longsword that can cast silence. Nothing very odd there.

However, you would imagine that you have to select one of these weapons to utilise it's special ability. In fact, that is not the case, the weapon only needs to be in a weapon slot for you to access it's ability, you can be wielding another weapon at the time.

This makes such weapons so useful I keep them long after other +1, +2, and even +3 weapons are sold. Ilbratha is particularly good for the fighter who has no other way of getting Mirror-Image cast on himself.

I wonder if this applies to Ras, the dancing blade?

Yep, Arya, my Kensai / Thief carries that Mirror Image sword in an unutilised weapon but now seldom uses that ability because she's too lazy.

I keep Daystar in an unused slot for the same reason. Very good for surprise vampire attacks.

Hmm. It would appear that this works, but is the mirror image really worth it? It doesn't seem to help prevent the enemy from bashing my mage to little bits, what is it supposed to do?

Well, a Mage can't equip the sword. A thief, Ranger, Fighter, ect. can all have it in a weapon slot, and even if they never equip it, they can cast Mirror Image if they're in trouble.

Hmm. It would appear that this works, but is the mirror image really worth it? It doesn't seem to help prevent the enemy from bashing my mage to little bits, what is it supposed to do? Well, a Mage can't equip the sword. A thief, Ranger, Fighter, ect. can all have it in a weapon slot, and even if they never equip it, they can cast Mirror Image if they're in trouble.What he probably meant was that a mage doesn't have much use for the mirror image, cast from scrolls or the spellbook, not that he actually gave the sword to his mage.

Mirror image is supposed to stop you getting hit i.e. each (successful?) "hit" kills off one of the mirror images before the character can be hit.

Doesn't always seem to work though, at least one of my characters has taken non-magical damage while still having some mirror images up and I haven't worked out why.

It's also quickly taken out by magic misile.

My take on mirror image is that it is percentage based.

If you have 4 mirror images, then there is a 20% chance that the caster will be hit, 80% that a mirror image will be hit; because there are 5 possible targets - 100/5 is 20.

Magic missile still works on this principle, so its posble that all could hit the caster and leave the images intact. This is very unlikely though.

I may be wrong but thats my perception of it.

According to this (http://members.chello.nl/~j.vanthull/BG2SR/Main.htm) (The Spells/Arcane Spells/Level 2), Malovae is correct.

@Caleb*:
Precisely what I meant.

It's just that when my mage casts it, it doesn't work very well, or for very long. Oh well...

What´s with this fascination of Ilbratha? I´ve NEVER used it, not even in a secondary weapon slot.... Well, not entirely true, I´ve used it on Minsc once and found, that I really did not have a use for it....
I guess I´m a bit of a deviant... Then again, Aerie is my favorite spellcaster, so I must be.

Yulaw9460.
The good thing about Ilbratha is that a fighter can have a mirror image up.

M/U's can only cast them on themselves, not others. If you are going up against something that can hurt you fast, then it is invaluable for buying time.

If you are a fighter with 4 weapon slots in your main hand, then you can afford one slot for Ilbratha with it's special ability. You don't fight with Ilbratha, nor do you need proficiency in short swords. Just think of it as a miscellaneous magic item that happens to go in a weapon slot.

I know. I´m just lazy.

i did the same thing i took daystar and had it to my monk and i never used it i just had it for sunray...some times +1 or +2 items have really good abilities

[ January 07, 2005, 09:13: Message edited by: San Ti ]

IMO it's cheesy to use abilities this way. You should at least have the weapon in hand.

Why? You just need to lift it out of its hilt use the ability, put it back in its hilt (or wherever it's stored) and grab your original weapon. It's not like the spell casts instantly - there is a casting time.

well there is a small casting time for almost all the item abilities but it is not such a long time