That mage that threw out those multiple effects before you reacted was using a 'contingency' -- it auto casts 3 spells on the caster, you can get this too in time.
I think I have that as I loot the shit out of everything I encounter. I just don't think I'm high enough level to use it. I think Nalia is level 9. Either way, reading the spell description made my eyes glaze over. I guess I am a victim of Dragon Age in which I roflstomped everything on whatever difficulty is one notch below insanity, and CONTINUED to do so into Awakenings and DA2. Though I must say that 2 is a bit harder what with its wave encounters, although many people here might argue that that isn't real difficulty.
For some spells you can just wait them out, for others you'll have to disable them. This is one of those cases where the inquisitor's buffed dispel magic is very, very effective.
Not this guy. Dispel did nothing to his protections and nothing to the status effects he hit me with like confusion and such. Insect Plague (or anything, for that matter) didn't seem to penetrate his magic defense.
BTW, you may want to check the Infinity Engine Iron Man Challenge thread -- we had some good fun in there:
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/infinity-engine-ironman-extravaganza.22071/
People would often explain their strategies on how they got through some more difficult battles.
Ironmanning this game just seems like insanity considering the RNG. Although I suppose circumventing the RNG as much as you can IS the strategy.
As you get into mage battles you'll need to focus on anti-magic spells like breach, pierce, dispel, and others of that sort -- these all, to varying degrees, will disable defensive spells that have been cast.
Definitely. Load up on Breach, Remove Magic, Spell Thrust, Pierce Magic etc. Melf's Minute Meteors can be useful for rapidly chipping away at stoneskin or mirror images too. Also, if you have Jaheira or Cernd in your group the druid spell Insect Plague is very useful against spellcasters; if it gets them it causes a small amount of damage every second or so, and effectively makes any spell they attempt to cast automatically fail.
Insect Plague has been my go to when I see a mage. Best to shut those assholes up ASAP.
The first group had a guy throw up 4 defenses before I could do anything.
That just simulates pre-buffing, though in SCSII my preference is to set it only to long-term buffs like Stoneskin and the Armor line.
If I summon something and throw it at the mages while I hang back they'll dump a portion of their offensive load at it.
I think all newbs tend to take refuge in lolsummons when the mage seems impregnable, but later the enemy will just cast Death Spell on them, so you really need to learn how to duel them straight up by removing their combat and spell protections.
I thought I was quite the genius with my lolsummon. Until me coming and crying for help I've been running this spoilerless and actually haven't had a problem until this Planar Sphere.
Tell you what though, I've got an idea for when the mages get tough: LOTS OF LOLSUMMONS!
Any tips, you know, without breaking the game for me?
Says the guy who chose Inquisitor, the most broken anti-magic "tactic" in the game...
Indeed, yet my tactic did fuck-all against this mage in question. I had to resort to Haste and I was lucky to have a few normal weapons in my inventory, especially one that my main guy was specialized in in both type and fighting style. I couldn't use dispel to either drop his shields nor unfuck my party.
Anyway:
Breach removes combat protections like Stoneskin and Protection from Magic Weapons but you normally can't target a mage with Breach until you've pierced any illusions first, so for that you cast True Sight or use the Detect ability of a thief.
There are also three tiers of spell protections and higher level mages (and liches) seem airtight under Spell Trap, so your ace card there is Ruby Ray of Reversal. You can also use AoEs like Death Fog, DBFB and Nature's Beauty against many spell-protected casters.
So I need to make sure I have at least one of these memorized at all times just in case, or are there multiple ways of taking down the same defense?
A couple protips:
You can inflict 100% spellcasting failure on mages by casting Creeping Doom and Insect Plague.
LOVE THAT INSECT PLAGUE
Elemental weapons can hit mages through Stoneskins, which can kill the mage long before the skins are peeled off.
Enemy casters tend to ignore meleers under Improved Invisibility.
What about true sight. These advanced spellcasters always seem to be truesighting.
Solid defenses against casters include Spell Immunity (Abjuration against demi-liches), Chaotic Commands, Free Action and Death Ward.
If the mage has no Stoneskin, you can normally take him down with a backstab opener.
I think Nalia's "free action" sword has been an ace-in-the-hole that I've forgotten about, making everything easier with me blissfully unaware as to why, well, that and INQUISITORDISPELLOOLZ.
There are scores of ways to take on mages in BG2, and SCSII takes it to the next level, making it much more satisfying.
Well yeah, when you're familiar with it. When it's fundamentally brand new (and by it I mean D&D as a whole) it's a whole different ballgame. I did play a few of those goldbox games when I was a tyke, and shit, I still have Dark Queen of Krynn, but I never really got anywhere with them because they were hard as fuck and I was a little retard that liked the fantasy genre and figured that if I like FF and CT for SNES, I can haz D&D too.
Oh, and Minsc stinks. He misses every save, ever, without fail, and his AC is terrible. His face is always mostly red. And when he does get confused he puts a heavy handed beatdown on my peoples. Interestingly enough, I find I'm rarely ever able to confuse or charm my opponents in such a fashion.
And what the fuck was up with resting for SEVEN DAYS in that sphere after my haste spell made everyone tired? Is that a function of the interdimensional travel or is Haste just that tiring?
