This is a really general question and the answers will vary greatly depending on personal preference, but what are some of the best spells in the game?
Which are most effective in terms of dealing damage, fending off enemies, usefulness, etc?
Arcane or divine?
mage hand, mage armor, magic missile, obscuring mist, invisibility, levitate, scorching ray, web, fireball, fly, dimension door, teleport
That's a short list. If you're playing an arcane caster, you need a balance of utility, escape, and offensive spells, especially spells that target or hamper multiple foes, at all levels.
I've become fond of spells that summon magical weapons, such as Spiritual Weapon and Mage's Sword.
It's a fun way to get a few extra hits on the enemy.
I also really like Spider Climb, Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Meld into Stone, Enlarge Person and Ice Storm.
I've enjoyed the following:
1) Greater command. Used it against some frost giants and made the fight into "1, 2, 3, 4 . . . ".
2) Holy aura. It's saved our party some pain, particularly the SR vs. evil spells or spells used by evil critters.
3)Heroes feast pre-Pathfinder. Immunity to fear when fighting a dragon is helpful.
4)Wind walk. Not as speedy as teleport, but we've used it to cover quite a bit of distance in the current campaign. And it gets style points!
Mind you, these are all higher level divine spells and I haven't gotten to try them in the post-Pathfinder age.
I've enjoyed the following:
1) Greater command. Used it against some frost giants and made the fight into "1, 2, 3, 4 . . . ".
How effective are the enchantment spells? I'm always worried that the saves will be too easy and enemies will be unaffected. Are you able to enchant enemies fairly consistently?
I've enjoyed the following:
1) Greater command. Used it against some frost giants and made the fight into "1, 2, 3, 4 . . . ".
How effective are the enchantment spells? I'm always worried that the saves will be too easy and enemies will be unaffected. Are you able to enchant enemies fairly consistently?
I still need to test it against Pathfinderized monsters; ours is a 3.5 game but the description hasn't changed significantly. I also need to use it more often; I've thrown it twice, and the second time I hit some illusory monsters with it.
With enchantment spells, there are always creatures you can't really affect (e.g. oozes, undead). For those that are left, big bruisers like giants are fine. Against humanoids, the spell is less effective if they have class levels as bards, clerics, druids, monks, paladins, sorcerers, and wizards all have good Will saves and barbarians can improve theirs while enraged, leaving you rogues (with slippery mind), rangers (often with a passable Wisdom score), and fighters to pick on. The true problem with these spells is that they are frequently all or nothing. So I've learned to choose when to use them carefully, e.g. against a group of four giants with no spellcasters in the lot. Too bad our next major fight involved a dragon, and the one after that some outsiders.
I like Flesh to Stone a lot. The visual is cool, and it's crazy effective against spell- casters.
Also, it's the closest thing that Pathfinder has to a good old fashioned save-or-die spell. And save-or-die spells are a great thing when used sparingly.
Enervation is great. Each negative level is -1 on each save. Two rays and then bring out the save or sucks!
Slow is also great. Horrid Wilting. The old Solid Fog drove my DM Mental. Another fun combo when fighting a magic based BBEG is an antimagic field and a grappler.
Enervation is great. Each negative level is -1 on each save. Two rays and then bring out the save or sucks!
That's an awesome strategy.