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Nothin' like an awesome-lookin' area-of-effect spell takin' out a mob of enemies in one BOOM!, with the charred corpses and chunky-death glibs litterin' the landscape. Cheers to Infinity Engine wizards, and the spells and wands they yield!

I remember somebody saying how Baldur's Gate is now too dated by today's standards, and one of their gripes was that spells don't have an area-of-effect indicator when you go to place and cast them.

I view this as a good thing. When my Dynaheir could cast Fireball, I went to a deserted field (lots of those along the Sword Coast), and practiced casting Fireball. I practiced it enough to understand at a glance what the area-of-effect would be, and how fast it got to its selected spot (to 'lead' the moving enemies, kinda like throwin' a football to a moving receiver). Fireball placement is everything.

I would also similarly practice other range spells. My ranged magic attack was deadly, and very fulfilling (way more than swingin' a sword or shootin' arrows), as it became a skill made proficient with actual practice.

But some folks need an indicator, I guess. So I guess not all wizards are created equal. BOOM!
Post edited May 09, 2017 by CFM
I remember taking out a ton of gnolls at the Gnoll Stronghold with a Lightning Bolt. I don't remember the numbers, but it took out a whole line of them, reflected perfectly and took out a whole other line of them. A little bit of luck on that one.

BOOM!
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CFM: Nothin' like an awesome-lookin' area-of-effect spell takin' out a mob of enemies in one BOOM!, with the charred corpses and chunky-death glibs litterin' the landscape. Cheers to Infinity Engine wizards, and the spells and wands they yield!

I remember somebody saying how Baldur's Gate is now too dated by today's standards, and one of their gripes was that spells don't have an area-of-effect indicator when you go to place and cast them.

I view this as a good thing. When my Dynaheir could cast Fireball, I went to a deserted field (lots of those along the Sword Coast), and practiced casting Fireball. I practiced it enough to understand at a glance what the area-of-effect would be, and how fast it got to its selected spot (to 'lead' the moving enemies, kinda like throwin' a football to a moving receiver). Fireball placement is everything.

I would also similarly practice other range spells. My ranged magic attack was deadly, and very fulfilling (way more than swingin' a sword or shootin' arrows), as it became a skill made proficient with actual practice.

But some folks need an indicator, I guess. So I guess not all wizards are created equal. BOOM!
"God help me, I do love it so!”
– General George S. Patton, Jr

It is a kick, when the ring of fire brushes but does not burn my thief's toes.
A good question. Makes me want to reply the game just to check it. The prime candidate locations for testing these are: (1) Gnolls' stronghold, (2) Firewine ruins, (3) Bassilius (or however you spell his name) with all those skeletons and zombies, (4) maybe Gnolls chasing Drizzt?

I guess if your main tank has low armor you can march him into xvart village, get him surrounded by xvarts, and then cast a fireball. I bet that would kill a good number, but it would feel like cheating.

But going back to the actual question, I have no idea. I love using fireballs and many times they have "connected" with a decent number of enemies, but doubt it crossed 10.
I remember reading, somewhere on the internet, an account of a wild mage hitting an entire area with a magic missile spell; it apparently produced so many magic missiles that it slowed the game to a crawl, despite the game running on a modern system. I am wondering what would have happened if the game were being played on a period system (that is, a computer typical of the time the game (in this case, Throne of Bhaal) was released); how long would it have taken before all the magic missiles finished animating?

Incidentally, I believe the Enhanced Editions have a cheat that allows you to force a specific wild surge to happen, so you could see for yourself what happens. Summon a bunch of bunnies (via Limited Wish), then use cheats to shoot an AoE magic missile spell at them.

(Of course, you could AoE other spells, including instant death spells and spells that normally only affect the caster.)
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dtgreene: Here's one way (in BG2, though this should also work in IWD:EE (with HoF disabled) to kill a lot of creatures with a single action:

1. Cast Limited Wish. Use the spell to summon a hoard of bunnies. Do this repeatedly. (These bunnies do not count against the summon limit, but you can't control them.)
2. Cast Protection from Energy on you main character to ensure that you survive step 4. (I believe Mirror Image would also work most of the time.)
3. Save the game in case you get unlucky in the next step.
4. Cast Wish. One of the effects casts Horrid Wilting on every creature on the map. Repeat until you get this effect, and if you run our, reload the save you made in step 3.

Congratulations! You have just killed dozens (perhaps even over a hundred) bunnies with a single action!

(If you are playing IWD:EE on Heart of Fury mode, the bunnies with have 83 HP instead of only 1, and will therefore likely survive.)
Bunnies aren't enemies, though.
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dtgreene: Here's one way (in BG2, though this should also work in IWD:EE (with HoF disabled) to kill a lot of creatures with a single action:

1. Cast Limited Wish. Use the spell to summon a hoard of bunnies. Do this repeatedly. (These bunnies do not count against the summon limit, but you can't control them.)
2. Cast Protection from Energy on you main character to ensure that you survive step 4. (I believe Mirror Image would also work most of the time.)
3. Save the game in case you get unlucky in the next step.
4. Cast Wish. One of the effects casts Horrid Wilting on every creature on the map. Repeat until you get this effect, and if you run our, reload the save you made in step 3.

Congratulations! You have just killed dozens (perhaps even over a hundred) bunnies with a single action!

(If you are playing IWD:EE on Heart of Fury mode, the bunnies with have 83 HP instead of only 1, and will therefore likely survive.)
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burn: Bunnies aren't enemies, though.
Maybe he works for United Airlines
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burn: Bunnies aren't enemies, though.
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macAilpin: Maybe he works for United Airlines
Maybe he's Australian.

Fun fact: In Australia, bunnies are an invasive species.
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Narf_the_Mouse: Fun fact: In Australia, bunnies are an invasive species.
That's true for pretty much every animal (bar marsupials, aligators and birds) in Australia, isn't it? Cane toads anybody?
Post edited May 23, 2017 by Hickory
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Narf_the_Mouse: Fun fact: In Australia, bunnies are an invasive species.
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Hickory: That's true for pretty much every animal (bar marsupials, aligators and birds) in Australia, isn't it? Cane toads anybody?
I'm not sure; I'm not Australian. :)

I just thought the bunny thing was funny.
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Hickory: That's true for pretty much every animal (bar marsupials, aligators and birds) in Australia, isn't it? Cane toads anybody?
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Narf_the_Mouse: I'm not sure; I'm not Australian. :)
You could have been an ex-pat. :)
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Narf_the_Mouse: I'm not sure; I'm not Australian. :)
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Hickory: You could have been an ex-pat. :)
True. (I'm not) :)

But how do you know I'm even from Earth? :p :lol: