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Picking a School of magic to focus on???
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 12:12 am
by Brutalix
What are the benefits of focusing on one? and why wouldn't I just pick General so i could have access to all of the schools? Or is that not how it works?
Re: Picking a School of magic to focus on???
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 12:15 am
by mrm3ntalist
Brutalix wrote:What are the benefits of focusing on one? and why wouldn't I just pick General so i could have access to all of the schools? Or is that not how it works?
+1 DC and +1 spell slot per level makes specialist wizards so much better. Especially the DC wizards.
Re: Picking a School of magic to focus on???
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 12:23 am
by Brutalix
What school of magic would be the least desired then?
Re: Picking a School of magic to focus on???
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 12:26 am
by mrm3ntalist
Brutalix wrote:What school of magic would be the least desired then?
Divination is the least desired mechanically. It has some very good RP spells though. You should research and see what spells you can do without. If you can make that sacrifice then you can specialize to a school.
Otherwise being a generalist is a good option.
Re: Picking a School of magic to focus on???
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 12:28 am
by Brutalix
Thank you.
Re: Picking a School of magic to focus on???
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 12:37 am
by Rinzler
In terms of pure mechanics, in my opinion, you have two routes:
Evocation or Necromancy
Evocation if you want to be a Bigby's/IGMS blasting machine or Necromancy if you want to instant kill. There's benefits to both and honestly at the end of the day I think it's a tossup. I'm also of the belief that if you go evocation then sorcerer is a much superior choice. Wizard is superior for DC Mages.
Re: Picking a School of magic to focus on???
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 1:30 am
by Tsidkenu
mrm3ntalist wrote:+1 DC...
Not sure where you pulled that from, but the rest is correct.
In terms of opposed spell schools, most folks choose either Divination or Necromancy to drop these days. There are not any significant spells of the school of divination you cannot survive without by other means (and the best is probably Battle Precognition, which you can swap for Hilater's [Greater] Misdirection, an abjuration that does the same thing more effectively, admittedly).
Good mages can consider dropping Necromancy as they will only lose out on Undead/Death Magic they probably wouldn't use anyway, and you can use Sunburst (Evocation) instead of Undeath to Death if you need some anti-undead clout.
Re: Picking a School of magic to focus on???
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 1:41 am
by mrm3ntalist
Tsidkenu wrote:mrm3ntalist wrote:+1 DC...
Not sure where you pulled that from, but the rest is correct..

oooook
whatever you say
@brutalix Dont listen to them. They do get +1DC.
Re: Picking a School of magic to focus on???
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 3:29 am
by Tsidkenu
Care to offer proof? Unless, of course, it is one of those completely undocumented bugsidian things because I've seen no references anywhere that specialist wizards receive +1 DC in their specialised school simply because they've specialised.
Re: Picking a School of magic to focus on???
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 11:36 am
by mrm3ntalist
Tsidkenu wrote:Care to offer proof? Unless, of course, it is one of those completely undocumented bugsidian things because I've seen no references anywhere that specialist wizards receive +1 DC in their specialised school simply because they've specialised.
I dont care. If you do, it is easy enough to test. Make a level 1 wizard and cast a level 1 DC spell of the school you specialized in.
Re: Picking a School of magic to focus on???
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 12:06 pm
by Pimple
Gotta say I'm 100% sure I don't get a +1 from specialization on the wizard I play. I've gone through the numbers again and again and they've never added up if I'm supposed to get +1 from school specialization. I do see that you get a +1 on nwn2builds though. So I made a wizard to test a few level 1 spells before and after choosing prohibition school with that feat we have on the server, just in case it makes a difference.
This is a level 1 human mage with a +3 intelligence modifier, no spellcasting prodigy and no spell focuses. I chose to specialize in Transmutation.
Before using the Prohibition School feat
I cast Know Protection which is a level 1 Divination spell and got a DC of 10 base + 3 intelligence modifier + 1 spell level = 14.
I cast Burning Hands which is a level 1 Transmutation spell and got a DC of 10 base + 3 intelligence modifier + 1 spell level = 14. No specialization bonus.
After using the Prohibition School feat the DCs were exactly the same.
It doesn't look like we get a +1 DC for specializing. Are we supposed to?
Re: Picking a School of magic to focus on???
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 12:47 pm
by Tsidkenu
No, you're not supposed to get +1 DC from specialising, just as I expected.
Re: Picking a School of magic to focus on???
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 5:42 pm
by Deathgrowl
Yeah, the +1 DC is only Kaedrin. Try building on nwn2db with only SoZ and check your DC calculation on a specialist wizard.
BG hasn't implemented that because it's not Vanilla and it's not according to PnP.
Re: Picking a School of magic to focus on???
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 8:36 pm
by Aspect of Sorrow
Pimple wrote:It doesn't look like we get a +1 DC for specializing. Are we supposed to?
No.
Re: Picking a School of magic to focus on???
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 10:42 pm
by Babuguuscooties
Would be cool though...

#wizardsneedallthepower