Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

So there's this awesome caster in the Minotaur Maze, and I'm now convinced he's the most powerful caster in the game. Until I see evidence to the contrary; he is.

I asked my spellcasting buddy (Sirion Te'Dwa) for the duration on Bigby's Forceful hand, and he reported 6 seconds / caster level.

I present; in multiple images, the 41 round Bigby's Forceful Hand!!

First set - there's a bit of combat spam as the Bigby's hand didn't let me run away at first. Second set - waiting out the duration. Third set - does this end??? Anyway - just thought you should all know! When facing Two Horns; expect a level 41 caster!!

- Featherfox

Wait until you encounter a Necrolord in the Vault of the Dead. They make Bhaarzark look like a apprentice amateur. However for the common adventurer he can be a bit of a pain. His confusion spell along with the forceful bigby that does str checks is pretty good but if you can rush him fast enough and hit him quickly you got a great chance.

Calodan wrote:...but if you can rush him fast enough and hit him quickly you got a great chance.

This applies to just about every caster in the game, period, NPC and PC alike. Get to them quickly and lay the smack down on them.

So, you guys DON'T see anything wrong with a Minotaur Caster having a Caster Level of 41?


Is that what the take-away from this is?

That is what.. 4 minutes of doing nothing?

I have never seen the Mino cast that spell. Only seen him cast Missile Storms.

I wonder if the caster level is so high to give the spell more 'oomph'. I think I would have preferred a save or die spell, or another nasty more instant spell. The worst feeling is when it takes TIME for characters to die.

Don't forget the AI cheats by reading your toon's Character Sheet, then deciding which spell the NPC/mob should cast against your toon.

Nice, no?!

So, you guys DON'T see anything wrong with a Minotaur Caster having a Caster Level of 41?


Is that what the take-away from this is?

I care but this may be one of those things that is just not going to be fixed. Like I said if you rush him and do not play fade away with him you will most likely kill him....unless he casts that confusion spell and you have no PROTECTION FROM EVIL up......At that point if you are confounded by him I would just sit back and watch your PC die. I actually believe his ability to casts mirrors and greater invisibility are harder to get by than his forceful hand. I generally pray and hope to the gods that I can kill him faster than the invis. spell he casts.

If anything, caster level should be increased...

This actually is still an issue. I was there with my 20 str barbarian (24 while raging) and not only did the duration last 4+ minutes but I failed 35 of the strength checks. With a 24 strength (19 after rage ended I think with my items.) if I cannot resist the majority of the strength checks then I shudder to think what dex builds or wis builds would suffer. I've had the same happen on other characters with the Bigby spell that lowers AB in the Yuan-Ti temple. I typically have to just afk for 5 - 10 minutes even after I kill the mob for this to wear off. Spells like this that have no save and are a huge advantage over physical damage dealers should probably be a bit shorter in duration or have more counterplay such as being able to actually attack the Bigby's Hand.

I too often suffer bigby's molesting hand upon my ab and think being able to attack the hand in question, use escape artist to remove interposing on top of those it works on already, or use a less restore pot like we used to be able would be great. That or lower the duration to a round per/cl... even then 15-30 rounds of swinging wildly while the mage that cast it on you rains death and destruction on your parade is still pretty brutal. Extended lvl 30... 60 rounds... *shudders*

I agree. Maybe we can swap it with flesh to stone? Any better ideas for a challenge?

actually flesh to stone wouldn't be a bad idea. Either you make the save or you don't and there are a few spells to protect against it that would get used more often.

I'm wondering what kind of bug caused Bigby's to last that long in a low-ish level area, or any area for that matter where it lasts 4 + minutes?

It lasts so long that while waiting for the forceful hand to wear off he actually despawns. Have had this happen the last two times I have fought him. It seems very bad form to be able to neuter a melee class for several minutes with a no save spell.

Featherfox wrote:So, you guys DON'T see anything wrong with a Minotaur Caster having a Caster Level of 41?


Is that what the take-away from this is?

I believe that there's at least one monster whose bigby stays roughly one IRL hour, even after its death. You know, the health-draining-character-smashing bigby.

Minotaur Mage is obnoxious and is a quick death to some melee builds, the best strategy is to kill him in two or three rounds with a ranged weapon. Deal enough damage to disrupt casting and don't miss, basically.

Eclypticon wrote:I agree. Maybe we can swap it with flesh to stone? Any better ideas for a challenge?

I think the minotaur mage is nice the way it is and with the wrong build it can be a problem even to level 20 character. The best idea would be to fix bigby's duration, because the problem happens in other areas as well.