Transmuter spell conflicts

Remove all ads!

I was going through the manual (gasp) and jotting down the opposite spells for each of the specialist mages.

Transmuters have the opposite school of Abjuration, meaning they can't learn/cast spells of that school. Right? What about Lower Resistance and Spell Strike- they're *BOTH* Alteration and Abjuration!

 

Errr that is a good question indeed! Well I've no answer for you alas... My thought however is that you could, since it's an Alternation spell.

 

Their in game casting is Abjuration though, I mean the spell-school color and words of power, so this means...?

 

Spell always has only one spell school, even if it has two in description. Game engine doesn't allow two spell school.
Lower Resistance and Spellstrike are spells from Abjuration spell school, so Transmuters can't cast them.

 

Oh this means Transmuters suck...big time.

 

A short list of what Transmuters can't cast:
Protection from Evil/Petrification/Fire/Electricty/Acid/Cold/Normal Weps/Normal Missiles/Magical Energy, Resist Fear, Remove Magic, Dispel Magic, Minor Spell Deflection, Minor Globe of Invulnerablity, GoI, Breach, Lower Resistance, Spell Immunity, Spell Shield and Pierce Magic.

Yep, all those nice protective spells I make sure my mages have ready. It must be different in PnP.

 

Some more:
Khelben's Warding Whip, Mantle, Improved Mantle, Protection from the Elements/ Energy, Spell Turning, Spell Deflection, Pierce Shield, Absolute Immunity, Freedom, Imprisonment, Spell Trap, Spellstrike(?).

 

They don't only miss nice protection spells, they also miss Protection Stripping spells like Breach, Dispel, Lower Resist, Pierce Shield and Imprisonment! Now I hate imprisonment as it is cheesy but protection stripping spells are so vital to have to beat nasty mages of any kind! So I say they suck big time! (sorry, fellow transmuter players!)

 

Hmm, they may have one hit-kills, like Flesh To Stone and Disintegrate, but seems that missed spells are too much. Anyways, why not just use some other mage instead, seeing that, for example, Conjurer could cast both transmuting and abjurations?

 

In pen and paper, specialist mages received school knowledge, which means the spells they cast from their schools are harder to resist and thus gives a penalty of -1 or -2 to enemy saving throws. The transmuter in this case could be powerful with her Disintegrates, Flesh to Stones, or baleful Polymorph Other spells. They also gained a save vs spells bonus against their own schools, so it is harder to petrify a Transmuter or reduce her into dust pile via Disintegrate spell. Too bad these bonuses are not implemented into the game.

Is there anyone who choose transmuter, and what for? Besides strict role playing, ofcourse.

 

In PnP, most specialists have two opposition schools, and transmuters get the best options IMO. They're one of the few who can use both Invocation/Evocation and Conjuration/Summoning, and those schools make up for what they miss in their two barred schools. I also like Transmuters because their specific stat requirement is in Dexterity, which I would boost anyway (in PnP you can't just pick points like you can in BG character creation, you assign rolled scores). Here's the list of opposition schools:

Abjurer - Alteration & Illusion
Conjurer - Gr. Divination & Invocation
Diviner - Conjuration/Summoning
Enchanter - Invocation/Evocation & Necromancy
Illusionist - Necromancy, Invocation/Evocation, & Abjuration
Invoker - Enchanment/Charm & Conjuration/Summoning
Necromancer - Illusion & Enchantment/Charm
Transmuter - Abjuration & Necromancy

Of course, wild mages don't have any opposition schools. Just sayin'.

 

I was just curious. IIRC, there was a similar spell in BG1 that was Invocation/Conjuration or Enchantment, but Dynaheir knew it. No offense, Fel, but Transmuters get screwed in BG2.

 

Try looking here:

Eze's Mage Specialist Spell Guide (zip file)

 

None taken; after all, BG2 isn't as D&D-like as BG1, and my first playthrough in BG1 was as a Transmuter with no problems whatsoever.

And I can't find what spell you're referring to. Dynaheir only starts with Magic Missile (Evocation), Burning Hands (Alteration), Stinking Cloud (Evocation), Blur (Illusion), and Fireball (Evocation).

And for the record, in PnP, any spell that has two schools is treated as whichever one is more beneficial. For example, the fourth level spell "Fire Trap" is both Abjuration and Invocation/Evocation. Now while an Illusionist would not be able to cast it since it is forbidden both schools, a Transmuter would be able to cast it even though Abjuration is forbidden to them because it also qualifies as Invocation/Evocation. Likewise, Enchanters could cast even though Invocation/Evocation was forbidden to them, because it also classified as Abjuration.

As another example, the third level spell "Wraithform" is both Alteration and Illusion. Abjurers would naturally not be able to cast it since both schools are forbidden to them, but both Transmuters and Illusionists could cast it with skill as a spell from their specialty school. (And of course Necromancers wouldn't be forbidden it because it qualifies as Alteration in addition to Illusion.) Unfortunately for specialists (and fortunately for coders ), spells with these dual schools are fairly rare.

 

Well Another Difference Between BG2 and the table top game is Transmuters had some neat tricks of their own that were very useful. Such as Continual Light, Breathe Water, and Dimension door.

the Extension spell. which was always cool with two wizards working in conjunction. It would extend the duration of 1st-3rd level spells that have them and make the spell work 50% longer.

Another one that had surprising use in table top was Animal Growth. Double's hitpoints, damage, gives and improvement in combat. Would be nice to have a few times I think even though it only works on natural and large versions of such animals.

 

Can someone make a mod to correct opposition schools AND give specialist wizards their school knowledge, I mean, penalty to the saves of the enemies when they cast a spell of their own school, is it that hard? Just curious.