Larian Studios Forums Divine Divinity (English) Help/Tips/Tricks Successful Wizard? - Help Me With My Build, Please

Having grown somewhat bored with my warrior, I decided to have a quick go at a wizard to see what it was like. I had heard others say that wizards are the weakest and most challenging to play. Well, I tried it, and loved it. And, I wonder where anyone got the impression that wizards are weak or tough to play. I find him easily equal to my warrior, and often superior. He gets hit far less often. His spells don't miss (unless the enemy is moving rapidly), unlike the warrior's melee attacks. I can fire off the spells with brutal speed. And, while some have stated how the warrior's whirl special move is the best in the game, I have found the wizard's teleport to be very useful in mob situations. So, I am entirely hooked on my wizard.

Anyhow... I have reached that inevitable stage where I am making skill choices and don't want to blow my build, so I am asking for input as to which are the most effective skills, especially spell skills.

Here is where I am at currently:

For stats, I am at 52 Magic and 30 Constitution, having put no additional points into either Strength or Agility. My character has no use for weapons, other than so far as they provide special bonuses.

My current skills are: Elven Sight(2), Aura of Guarding, Lockpick (2), Restoration (free), Meteorstrike (2), Summon Vermin (starting skill), and Deadly Gift for those really sticky situations. I have been stingy with the skill points thus far, and have 6 points in reserve.

In addition to any skills you might recommend, the following are available to me now and are of interest: Withering Curse, Freeze, Lightning, Master Summoning (for Demon Knight later), Alchemy (I spend almost everything on potions, though I also sleep a lot), Blind, Charm, Know Creature (to determine weakness and resistances, if possible), Regenerate, Curse and Energy Cage.

And, I'd really like some answers to the following:

1) I assume that a curse of some sort is valuable to lowering resistances, especially later on. Is this true? And, if so, which is better, Withering Curse or Curse? I assume Curse is superior, since Withering Curse is negated by Spiritual Resistance.

2) How does Energy Cage work? What does it do?

3) Is Ranger Sight any different than Elven Sight? Is it worth raising either beyond a few levels? I can already see fairly far with Elven Sight(2), is a 3rd level beneficial?

4) Should I spend any additional points on Lockpick, since I am already at 2? I like the idea of being able to access anywhere and see what is in all chests, but I don't want to waste points unnecessarily.

5) Is Blind a waste of time? I figured that since I can target from some distance at present (with Elven Sight(2)), it might be a solid strategy.

6) I have heard Charm is fun. Does it work well? Is it worth it at low levels, when it lasts for but a short time, or should one wait awhile before investing in it, if at all?

7) Is Know Creature valuable, since it seems especially important for a mage to gauge which spells to use based upon the resistances of a particular foe?

8) Is any summoning spells worthwhile beyond Demonic Knight and "Skeleton Cage" (or whatever that is called)? I heard "Skeleton Cage" is good, but it isn't even in the summoning category, so "Master Summoner" wouldn't seem to apply.

Insights and input are greatly appreciated. And if anyone wrote a wizard guide, please shoot me the link.

Thanks,

ELB

Wow lots of questions! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Mage Guide - try this...


BTW - i loved both my Mages... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

More to help you...
Puts skills into Elementail hail - it can kill almost anything even towards the end...i also liked life leech.
Energy cage does just that, puts a cage around your enemy.

If you want the treasure maps (all of them) you will need lockpick to level 4 IIRC.

1.: Survivor curse can't be resisted, it' better


2.: energy cage imprisons the enemy, like freeze.

3.: No XP with the sight skills, sorry.

4.: you can gain 2 lockpick skills later on in the game - then look out for one item with this skill = you've got 5 <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

5.: blind is useful, mages can't cast spells anymore.

6.: had no large success with charm

7.: Know Creature is valuable, if you're a mage to use spells efficiently. I maxed it out (lvl 5 shows resistances)

8.: Resurrect is nice, you can gain your former boss enemies then, like the dragon rider, the succubus etc. as an ally. But you need Aura of Command IIRC - at higher lvls AOC can make the game unstable

[color:"yellow"]Summoner tips, click here

[color:"yellow"]More summoner tips, click here

skeletal wall is good.

There is no benefit to increasing your sight range past the mini map size, except to clear more fog of war. Using the shift key to move the screen focus lets you hit any enemy you can see with magic. However, enemies not shown on the mini map are not displayed when you move the focus over that area, so basically the range is a couple of screen heights/widths away from your character (I was using 1024x768 resolution).
With my warrior, I kept my sight range at about the screen size, to help keep track of where I had explored. I put one point into Elven Sight at the start, then eventually started avoiding equipment with sight bonuses.


Elven Sight is much better than Ranger Sight.

Elven Sight (Passive)
You can see further and thus target and attack your enemies from afar.

Level 1 Increase sight range by 2. Required level 1
Level 2 Increase sight range by 4. Required level 5
Level 3 Increase sight range by 8. Required level 9
Level 4 Increase sight range by 10. Required level 13
Level 5 Increase sight range by 12. Required level 17


Ranger Sight (Passive)
Grants you the keen eyesight of a ranger to help you see your enemies from afar.

Level 1 Increase sight range by 1. Required level is 6
Level 2 Increase sight range by 1. Required level is 12
Level 3 Increase sight range by 1. Required level is 18
Level 4 Increase sight range by 1. Required level is 24
Level 5 Increase sight range by 1. Required level is 30

You would also need lighting for the steel skeletons
<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/alien.gif" alt="" />

One of the guides mentions this, but it is worth mentioning again: use restoration potions! You already have alchemy, I would just get it up to make Normal potions (Level 3?) and then you're set (since Super Restoration is no better than Normal Restoration).

My mage is maxing Meteorstrike, Lightning, and Freeze, and then one of the high level spells (perhaps Elemental Hail, as suggested). Know Creature is highly recommended. I also am taking some points in that survivor skill that raises your resistances, since I would rather use mana and vitality charms than resistance ones. But I am not sure how popular that move is.

That info on the differences between Elven and Ranger sight is very useful; I hope I didn't pick the wrong one...I may add more levels too, I have enough extra skill points...

Game on,