My new favorite spells are....

[ericthecleric]

In my STAP game one spell I've come to be very impressed by is the wizard's Color Spray spell. Failed saves result in creatures out of the action for a short time- and there's no max HD limit! Although creatures of 5+ HD are "only" stunned for 1 round on a failed save, it still might come in handy in the future (especially if Heightened)!

[Olaf the Stout]

I found an Empowered Ray of Enfeeblement to be very effective. At 10th level (when it caps out) you can do anywhere between 9-16 points of Strength damage with just a ranged touch attack. What makes it even better is that it doesn't have a saving throw (although you still have to get past SR).

In fights where there is a single powerful character it can be quite a hit to their effectiveness. Against a strong melee type it effectively gives them a penalty to attack of somewhere between 4-8 points. It also reduces damage from their melee attacks by 4-8 points.

Cast it on weaker characters like Wizards and you may be able to drop their Strength to 1. With a Strength of 1, the weight of their possessions might leave them unable to move.

Cast it on a Cleric in Full Plate and his movement will also be slowed or halted completely. All of this from a 3rd level spell (if empowered, otherwise it is just a 1st level spell!). I'm sure the people here on the boards can think of some other uses for it as well.

Even if you don't empower it, it will still do between 6-11 points of Strength damage. I find it to be one of the few 1st level spells that still has a lot of uses at later levels.

The only bad thing about it is that it is a close range spell. Other than that it is all good.

Olaf the Stout

[Steven Purcell]

Where is Shivering Touch from? Checked Spell Compendium and PH 2 and PH (if I missed it I would appreciate someone pointing it out).

As for my favourite spells, Awaken (no it isn't necessarily incredibly powerful but the idea is intriguing), True Strike, Disintegrate, Monstrous Thrall (although why did it change from permanent to 24 h/level duration?), teleports of various sorts, Reincarnate (just hope the result doesn't land on kobold!), and if faced with low will opponents Zone of Truth and Discern Lies can be fun, plus various lesser orb and orb spells, and true res-expensive but it does work nicely.

[Lilith]

Steven Purcell wrote:

Where is Shivering Touch from? Checked Spell Compendium and PH 2 and PH (if I missed it I would appreciate someone pointing it out).

Shivering touch is from Frostburn.