i was thinkin, if i detect evil in someone, should i just kill em. cuz at the umar hills with the ogre group up there, i detected evil and only the mintotaur came out as evil while the other gnolls and ogres were fine. just how praticial is the spell

No... You cannot just kill something because it's evil. If in a populated area and you kill someone (unprovoked) you will still have alll the citizerns turn hostile on you...

The use of this spell is mainly for the spell 'Holy Smite', it damages evil only so it may be useful to 'check the waters' just in case.

You can find evil aligned nobles in the city too, if you wish to kill all evil, then you will not have any difference than them. (drop in rep.) Killing all evil is not always a good act my child.

I only found marginal uses for Detect Evil. Sometimes I need to find someone and casting it makes them glow red if they're evil. In BG1, it was great on those ambushes by ogre mages.

There's the occasional quest of 'go kill that guy because he is evil'. Cast the spell and find out.

It's just to use Holy smite lol... You are not on a quest to banish the evil from the world.

If it was the case you would kill yourself, child of bhaal.

Being a Child of Bhaal doesn't mean you're evil. Look at Imoen for crying out loud! :p :roll:

There's only one quest in BG2m which requirres you to throw Detect Evil...

*SPOILER*

And that is the Pally Stronghold quest wherein you are to guard the noble till her uncle comes.. Suffice to say, the guy that do come ain't her uncle, and the only way one can discover this is by throwing a detect Evil (He is suposed to be a goodie-woodie-I-hate-slavers type). Of course you're not *requirred* to throw Detect Evil, but it is the only way to learn that he ain't who he say he are (even though allignments are generally messed up in bg2), unless you know so already.

Actually, detect evil is a pretty useful spell because it reveals all evil creatures in the area, not just those you can see. The dialog window lists all the evil creatures in the area, as well as those resistant to magic when they resist the spell. This can be remarkably helpful when trying to determine the type and numbers of potential enemies in the area.

For example, say you're in a dungeon and beset by a couple shadows. After dispatching them, you cast detect evil to see what else may be around. In addition to revealing the presence of half a dozen mummies in the area, it also tells you that a lich has resisted detection by your spell. You now might want to consider using your scrolls of protection from undead before walking around that next blind corner.

Actually, detect evil is a pretty useful spell because it reveals all evil creatures in the area, not just those you can see. The dialog window lists all the evil creatures in the area, as well as those resistant to magic when they resist the spell. This can be remarkably helpful when trying to determine the type and numbers of potential enemies in the area.

For example, say you're in a dungeon and beset by a couple shadows. After dispatching them, you cast detect evil to see what else may be around. In addition to revealing the presence of half a dozen mummies in the area, it also tells you that a lich has resisted detection by your spell. You now might want to consider using your scrolls of protection from undead before walking around that next blind corner. Fantastic!
That's just what my Undead Hunter does!
He has a ton of these spells and that's the use for them.
A poor Paladin's wizard's eye. :D

Why yes it also helps yopu to kill all bad guys before leaving an area, Best example: the little Abyssyal place in Planar Sphere quest, the land is huge, there are a lot of weak critters who are worth good XP but they tend to play hide and seek most of the time. One casting and voila, there you are you pathetic bag of XP! :shake:

I always thought the spell would only work on things that are within a certain area (isn't that what the description says anyway? Just how big is 120 yards anyway?). I'll need to try playing around with this!

I've never really thought of that.

EDIT: How the heck I accidently posted that in the wrong thread, I do not know.

[ December 20, 2005, 19:59: Message edited by: olimikrig ]

The range in 120 yards (360 feet) and the area of effect is within sight. Only people you see will have a red glow. More might be listed in the message screen. I love how it picks up magic resistence, too.

Yes, Detect Evil has many flaws--it works over the entire area and returns magic resistance. The other huge problem is that, unlike BG, alignments in BG2 are completely wacky. Kish did an excellent job with alignment corrections in the Oversight (http://www.gibberlings3.net/oversight/) mod.

We've managed to fix all of this for the Fixpack.

YES Oversight is an excellent mod, and with Improved Sendai it is even better!

everyone in the shaugauin city is evil, and i dont loose rep points for killing them, it seems jusitifed

Shaugauins are set to be evil, BUT you can still help them and hope for the best? Killing all evil is not that of a good act IMHO.

Something like Sim's Virtue mod (http://www.pocketplane.net/virtue/) is excellent for adding more depth to RP decisions such as these.