High level abilities

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Okay, so I'm going through BG2 with a solo FMC right now, and I've hit the HLAs. I wasn't able to take cleric HLAs sofar, thus I picked Whirlwind, Greater Whirlwind and an extra 6th level mage slot. (I plan on getting the 7th and 8th as well)

Now I can pick one from the cleric's pool, but I'm doubting which to take. I've limited the choices down to the following, and would like your advice on which to take.

- Storm of Vengeance
- Elemental Summoning
- Summon Deva
- Summon Fallen Deva
- Implosion

Now, Storm of Vengeance seems nice for quickly getting rid of creatures <8HD. But I'm sure I can dispatch of those easily anyway. Other than that, giving 3d6 damage each round in respective elements for 3 rounds WITH a save for half doesn't seem all that great. Maybe I'm missing out on something.

Elemental summoning seems very good. 2 16HD elementals, with a 10% chance of summoning a prince. I'd use this spell mostly to get some cannon fodder However, is this spell as good as I think it is? Or would I be wiser to go with Summon Deva/Fallen Deva if I want something to take a beating for me?

What's the real difference between a Fallen Deva and a normal Deva anyway? Do they get different abilities/spells?

Implosion seems VERY good vs tough big critters, dealing 10d10 fire and 10d10 blunt damage. Okay, there's a save for half damage, but that's still 5d10 and 5d10. For two rounds even. This seems awfully powerfull. Is it as good as I think it is?

 

IIRC, there are only minor spell differences between the deva and the fallen deva. Good characters get deva; evil characters get the fallen deva; neutral characters can choose either of them.

Storm of Vengence is a good HLA also. Stays around for a while and while you might be able to dispatch of <8HD characters easily anyway, why not let the spell help you out. IIRC the first round, everyone is poisoned. A couple greater malisons ahead of time will lessen the chance of anyone saving during the storm. I've always used it successfully.

I leave the elemental summonings to my druids as they summon the elemental princes. My clerics go for the devas.

Never tried implosion largely because of the eternal casting time for the spell. Course Storm of Vengence takes a while too, now that I think about it.

Have you thought about energy blades?

 

Implosion is good and bad. The good part is it does do the damage it states. The bad part is it takes forever to cast, and on top of that it affects everyone in the area. This means you could have friendly fire casualities in your party. It works well, but handle with care.

Elementals are probably your best bet. The princes rock the world, although I think I've gotten an elemental prince exactly once with that spell. That's why the druid spell greater elemental summoning is better - you are guaranteed a prince.

 

Isn't implosion 1-target-only?

But yes; choose the elementals, since mages 'planetars' are a bit better than clerics 'devas.' Also, elemental summon does not require that 3 round pause to "ensure the control" -like mage variants.

 

Implosion only affects a single enemy.

I've never found it a very useful spell. Half the time my spellcasting gets disrupted before I've finished and even when I do manage to cast it, the damage it inflicts isn't that great considering the resistances most of the major enemies in TOB have.

 

Wow, imagine Implosion having an area effect? Actually, that would make more sense, and you could give it a reverse-wing-buffet, sucking evreyone in!

I like Elemental Summoning, and Greater E. S. just takes the whole damn cake. Often, it results in summoning a Prince and two elementals, or even better, two Princes....

 

I'm an idiot - I'm thinking of the wrong spell - disregard everything I said

 

I thought you could only summon one elemental prince at a time. Or does that just apply with devas and their fallen counterparts?

 

I can't remember about the elemental princes either right now.

Personally, I'd go for Storm of Vengeance first. Good area-effect spell, and distracts them somewhat. I've never tried Implosion. I've always thought it was just too slow and not worth it since it ONLY hits one target.

 

Personally, I'd go with the elemental summoning, I used it extensively throughout TOB, and the elemental princes are just awesome. I think they appear in abou 1-in-10 castings, although it seemed to me like a lot more.

 

I've actually killed of many a mighty foe with Implosion. Spellstrike a dragon, cast Implosion and he's down a few hp. Of course it takes a wee while to get off, though it's one of the best spells in the game IMO, atleast for me.

 

Regarding the elemental princes:

Elemental Summoning
"Drawing power from the environment, this spell summons 2 16HD elementals randomly chosen from earth, air or fire" ... "There is a 10% chance that a randomly chosen Elemental Prince will be summoned instead"

Greater Elemental Summoning doesn't really tell you anything useful, it just says that princes themselves are called. But in practise, I get, more often than not, at least two creatures, at least one of which was a prince. My two best castings were (1)Bringing forth Sunnis and Chan together, although they ended up fighting after, probably due to Chan's annoying Globe of Blades friendly-fire thing. (2) Chan and two greater fire elementals.