Help me with my char plz.

[Lord Osadam]

So I'm not used to play mage chars and I think I made a mistake, I lvled up and instead of choosing empower spell I chose maximize spell. Can you guys give me some tips on how to use this effectively?
And some other useful advice regarding wizards if you can too.

Thanks.

[Vichtor]

Maximize is deadly, but not overly useful until later levels.

Right now; use it with things like Melf's Acid Arrow and Magic Missle if you find yourself in need of more firepower that may be lacking in some of the higher spell levels.

[lord_kelthuzad]

I do not use maximise spells but it is statistically better than empower spells.
Maximise spells could be useful for the attack spells with 1D6 dices like fireball, fire arrows. It is most useful with enervation spell (ouch!! 4 negative levels).

Empower spells can be used with fireball, enervation and so on. However, it is statistically less efficient. empower spells works well with spells with no or low random components like bullstrength, fox cunning.

Extend spells is a must have. It doubles the duration of spells. It is very useful for low duration spells like elemental shield, death armour, evard's tentacule, web, stinking cloud...

[lord_kelthuzad]

Tips : duration based damage spells are deadly with extend spells. For exemple, a melf acid arrow or a death shroud does twice the damage with an extend spells (much better than a maximised or an empowered version).

[Lord Osadam]

Thanks for your tips.

[GodBeastX]

Maximize blade barrier was overpowered What was it, 120 damage to walk into an area? Generally kills alot of people.

[Lord Osadam]

Nice, got to get me one of those

[Machiavelli]

Extend spell is a must! Not only can you double the time on buffs, but it works happily with spells like Melf's, Combust, Black Tentacles, Firewall etc...

[undeadsteak]

HEh, blade barrier is for clerics unfortunately. Maximized spells are useful, especially with fireball and junk.. I -dont- reccomend extended spells. Its not that useful higher level as your spells already last long.

[Kitsune]

In my opinion, Extended Spells are a must, for two reasons.

1) Still and Silent spell are, to be honest, useless. The chance that you actually use these metamagic feats is a bit null, so Extend is the obvious better choice. And boosting the duration of your protection spells is never a bad thing, especially for those pesky spells like Divine Might and Divine Favour for Clerics, and Elemental Shield and Summon Creature __ for Mages.

2) The ability to be a bit more flexible is invaluable. All your evocation spells happen to be in one level, because they're that level naturally or they got there via metamagic? But so are a couple of protection spells? No problem, use Extend Spell to boost them up a notch. (Especially in the later levels, when combined with Empower to let you boost Premonition and Protection From Spells out of the Eight Circle, where all your damage spells are).


As for Empower Spell versus Maximize Spell... Empower is almost always better, in my personal opinion, for a couple reasons.

1) The spell level that Empower Spell puts your evocation/damage spells into doesn't conflict with your Extended protection spells. It's a rather nice combination. On the other hand, Maximize tends to mess with the spell levels a bit, which is slightly annoying.

2) You can't Maximize Seventh Circle Spells. It may not seem like much at first, considering the spells at that level are mostly protection, until you take a look at Spell Mantle. If you run the numbers, Empowered Spell Mantle in always better than a Greater Spell Mantle. The average spells blocked is always higher.

3) Empowering Isaac's Greater Missile Storm and Chain Lightning, as well as Disintegrate if you want it, puts all your major evocation and damage spells into the Eight Circle, which is extremely useful for Mages who want a few extra spells to throw at their enemies without taking up some of the defensive spells of the Seventh Circle or the Disjunction, Etherealness, Extended Premonition, and Extended Protection From Spells, among other things, of the Ninth Circle.



So, to be honest, it isn't always the benefit of the metamagic itself that is the bonus from the feat. The ability to move spells around in levels, and free up the ability to cast other ones, is invaluable for both Wizards and Sorcerers (especially Sorcerers). Clerics and Druids can always get by without it, but it's nice to have it for them too. Bards tend to benefit more from Maximize though.

As for other advice, well, I've never found any use in Arcane Defense or Extra Slot, but then, I'm used to a Sorcerer. Combat Casting actually isn't necessary, from my point of view, if you boost Concentration (to be honest, with high Concentration, the feat is useless). Spellcasting Prodigy is a nice addition in NwN 2, as is Battle Caster for Warlocks and Bards. And the Globes of Invulnerability tend to be wasted with the addition of Spell Mantles (why couldn't we ever have those in PnP, eh?).

Oh, and one last word from me. A high AC mage is the way most people go, but a high HP one is always worth a try too, especially with sorcerers. It's actually quite fun that way.

~Kitsune