Spell Changes

All spells have been re-balanced to provide usefulness at all stages of the game. Spells that deal damage will increase in strength as you level, and accumulate powerful item stats like 'Spell Damage' and 'Spellweaving'.

* Spell Damage will increase the base damage of all spells cast. This also applies to weapon enhancement spells such as Flame Weapon and Darkfire to anyone having spell damage gear.

* Spellweaving is a % chance that the spell will give +50% increased damage.

Increasing your Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma modifiers can also increase spell damage at a rate of +1 spell damage per modifier.

Spells and Abilities which require a saving throw can be strengthened with 'Voodoo' gear (+ to all spell and ability DCs), as well as the usual spell school focus feats.

#### **Libram of Quickcasting**

This module features a quick buff item for QoL - there's no longer a need to spend five minutes buffing yourself and your party after resting, you simply load the spells you want, use the book when you have casts of those spells remaining, and it casts all available spells on your target instantly. However, it won't work in combat.

You can buy additional Librams in Deep Forest Transit for different buff sets.

#### **Spell Evolution**

As you use offensive spells, your mastery over them will continue to grow. Continuous use of spells will cause them to grow in strength - potentially reaching 'Epic Spell' strength. This evolution can be slow going, however it allows for any offensive spell to be grown over time. Each spell has it's own individual mastery, and grows separately from other spells. Spells are only capable of growing when used against enemies of a similar level.

Many spells can have their mastery level checked using the Combat Dummy in Deep Forest Transit.

#### **Summon Spells**

* All summon spells, including undead, animal, elemental, and planar variations, now scale to the **player's** level (*not caster level!)*, including Corruptions.
* All summons get regen equal to their level. This effect is increased by Animal Empathy Skill

**Damage Spells**

All spells that deal damage scale their with CL. Exact values vary from spell to spell and are TBD.

**Cloud Spells**

Spells that create a cloud effect have have their durations capped very low. Don't expect them to last more than a few rounds.

#### **Damage Shields**

Spells which deal damage back to an attacker when struck (such as Death Armor, Melf's Acid Sheath, and Elemental Shield) all benefit from Spell Damage.

#### **Weapon Imbues**

Spells which add damage dice to a weapon on hit, (such as Darkfire and Flame Weapon) all benefit from Spell Damage.

#### **Corruption and Spells**

In general, Corruption does not impact damage, DC, SR, or CL. However, some spells do benefit from higher Corruption levels, namely summons.

### **Specific Changes**

#### **Bard**

Lvl 1

* Amplify
	+ *Rythm Focus:* Your acuity for sounds allow you to produce music with your swins, adding Sonic damage to your weapon based on your Listen skill (+1 per 5 ranks).
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 5

Lvl 2

Lvl 3

Lvl 4

* War Cry
	+ *War Scream:* Warcry emits a sonic shockwave which crushed nearby enemies.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 20

Lvl 5

Lvl 6

#### **Cleric**

Lvl 1

* Doom - Now deals Negative damage in addition to its normal effect.

Lvl 2

Lvl 3

Lvl 4

* Hammer of the gods -
	+ *Tidal Light:* Hammer of the God's damage cannot be reduced through saves or Evasion, however will no longer daze targets
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 5
* Greater Magic Weapon
	+ *Epic Magic Weapon:* Greater Magic Weapon provides Enhancement based on Cleric levels.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 20

Lvl 5

Lvl 6

* Harm -
	+ *Harmful Intent:* Harm affects multiple targets.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 30

Lvl 7

Lvl 8

Lvl 9

#### **Druid**

Lvl 1

* Entangle -
	+ *Entangling Thorns:* Entangle produces thick roots covered in razor-sharp thorns. Enemies caught in the entanglement will take Piercing damage based on your Thorns stat.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 5

Lvl 2

* Flamelash
	+ *Flaming Lasso:* If the target fails a Reflex saving throw, Flame Lash will wrap around them - stunning them in place for one round.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 5

Lvl 3

* Call Lightning
	+ *Air Channeling:* Call Lightning stuns the target for one round, and cannot be reduced by saving throws.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 10

Lvl 4

* Flame Strike
	+ *Flowing Flames:* Flame Strike's damage cannot be reduced by Evasion or Saving Throws.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 5

Lvl 5

Lvl 6

* Drown now behaves as a Tier 8 spell, and causes enemies to be 'Soaked'. Enemies under the effects of 'Soak' can be frozen with Ice Dagger or Cone of Cold.
	+ *Flood Creature:* Drown is capable of damaging and soaking anyone.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 5

Lvl 7

Lvl 8

Lvl 9

#### **Ranger**

Lvl 1

Lvl 2

Lvl 3

Lvl 4

#### **Paladin**

Lvl 1

Lvl 2

Lvl 3

* Blade Thirst -
	+ *Blade Hunger:* Blade Thirst will scale with your total character level, up to a maximum of 15.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 6

Lvl 4

#### **Sorcerer & Wizard**

Cantrips

* Ray of Frost - Impacts all targets in a very small AoE (~5ft) around the target.
	+ *Reaching Rays:* Increase Ray of Frost's multitarget reach by 5m.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 5
* Resistance - Duration increased to 1 turn/CL.

Lvl 1

* Shield - Duration increased to 1 hour/CL.
* Sleep - Total and maximum HD impacted scales with CL.
* Magic Missile - Fires only one missile, but total damage is concentrated in the single missile. Besides the visual change, this is helpful against targets with flat Magic DR.
	+ *Minor Missile Storm:* Magic Missiles release to nearby targets.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 5
* Ice Dagger -
	+ *Ice Spines:* Ice Daggers release to nearby targets.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 5
* Grease -
	+ *Oil Field:* Infuse your Grease spell with flammable oils. Enemies which fall into the Grease will be covered in oil for a short duration, increasing Fire damage taken by 5%
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 5
		- *Total Ranks:* 5

Lvl 2

* All Zoo buffs (Cat's, Fox's, Bull's, etc) now give a static bonus increasing with character level. +6 at 40. Can be Empowered for +9.
* Melf's Acid Arrow - Each tick causes the target to take 5% more acid damage for 35s. Unknown if this vulnerability compounds or refreshes.
	+ *Pure Acid Arrow:* Acid Arrow's poison duration increased by 50%.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 5
	+ *Melf's Acid Barrage:* A Barrage of Acid Arrows strike additional nearby targets, dealing instant damage. These Arrows do not benefit from Pure Acid Arrow.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 10
* Combust - Each tick causes the target to take 5% more fire damage for 35s. Unknown if this vulnerability compounds or refreshes.
	+ *Emberspark:* Combust's duration increased by 50%
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 5
		- *Total Ranks:* 10
* Gedlee's Electric Loop -
	+ *Electrostatic:* Gedlee's Electric Loop has double AoE range, and cannot be reduced by Evasion.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 10

Lvl 3

* Greater Magic Weapon - Enhancement bonus continues to increase into the epic levels.
* Haste - Duration is now 1 turn/CL to a max of 10 turns.
* Fireball -
	+ *Core Fire:* Fireball damage cannot be reduced by evasion or saving throws.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 5
* Vampiric Touch -
	+ *Vampiric Grasp:* Vampiric Touch's heal is increased by 100%.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 10

Lvl 4

* Ice Storm - Now 100% cold damage.
	+ *NAME:* Ice Storm deals half physical and half ice damage.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 4
* Evard's Black Tentacles - Now does Negative damage, not Bludgeoning.
* Isaac's Lesser Missile Storm - Fires a maximum of 6 missiles.

Lvl 5

* Bigsby's Interposing Hand - Duration reduced.
* Ethereal Visage - Duration increased to 1 hour/CL. Gives 50% concealment.
* Ball Lightning - The description is wrong even in vanilla NWN. Behaves more like Firebrand + Missile Storms. See https://nwn.fandom.com/wiki/Ball\_lightning.
* Cone of Cold -
	+ *Blistering Winds:* Cone of Cold damage cannot be reduced by evasion or saving throws.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 5

Lvl 6

* Chain Lightning - Damage to secondary targets is no longer reduced. Beware, enemy corpses in an area may cause the "chain" functionality to fail.
	+ *Arc Lightning:* Chain Lightning produces a discharge, ramping up damage by 5% with each target hit. Targets hit by the discharge are unable to evade or make saving throw checks to reduce damage.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 12
* Isaac's Greater Missile Storm - Fires a maximum of 8 missiles.
	+ *Isaac's Cataclysm:* Increases the amount of missiles produced by Greater Missile Storm. Each missile does 2% bonus damage.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 6
		- *Total Ranks:* 10
* Tenser's Transformation - No longer polymorphs you or prevents spellcasting. Duration increased.
	+ *Tenser's Swiftness:* Increases the amount of attacks per round by one.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 6
* Circle of Death -
	+ *Abandoned Circle:* Circle of Death hungers for the souls of the living. For each target hit which does not succumb to death, increases the DC by 5%.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 6
* Bigby0s Forceful Hand -
	+ *Bigby's Wallop:* Bigby's Forceful Hand smashes the target right in the mouth, causing single target magical damage.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 6
* Acid Fog -
	+ *Choking Gas:* Acid Fog's duration is reduced by one round - it's toxic effects concentrated.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 12
		- *Total Ranks:* 2
* True Seeing - Gives +30 Spot, +30 Listen, +30 Search. However, it does **not** function as See Invisibility!

Lvl 7

* Shadow Shield -  Duration increased to 1 hour/CL. Natural AC bonus increases with character level.
* Mordekainen's Sword - Duration increased to 1 turn/CL.
* Circle of Death - Now checks Will. Total and maximum HD impacted scales with CL.
* Great Thunderclap -
	+ *Fulminating Clap:* Great Thunderclap now deals damage in addition to it's effect
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 35

Lvl 8

* Horrid Wilting - Also attempts to Daze targets on a failed save for 1 round. Respects Mind Immunity.
	+ *Toxic Spores:* Horriwd Wilting slows enemies, damage cannot be reduced through Reflex or Evasion.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 15
* Bigby's Cleched Fist -
	+ *Bigby's OBsessive Hands:* Bigby's Cleched Fist targets multiple enemies
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 40
* Mass Blindness & Deafness -
	+ *Sonic Boom:* Mass Blindness & Deafness now also deals sonic damage
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 10
* Greater Sanctuary - Lasts only 1 round.
* Sunburst - No longer does different damage to different targets. Non-undead take as much damage as undead. On a failed reflex save, the Blind effect lasts 2 seconds (as opposed to permanent til removed).

Lvl 9

* Meteor Swarm - AoE range increased. Sometimes knocks down targets - seems to be ones that are "directly hit" by a meteor explosion and fail a Reflex save?.
	+ *Cataclysm:* Meteor Swarm damage cannot be reduced through saves or Evasion.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 10
* Black Blade of Destruction - No longer requires concentration, but is no longer invulnerable either.
* Timestop - Paralyzes enemies in a large radius. Will save negates.
	+ *Desyncronization:* Time Stop freezes time for 6 additional seconds, and causes those who succumb to slowly thaw from their state.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 10
* Wail of the Banshee -
	+ *Wailing Terror:* Enemies who fail to succumb to Wail of the Banshee will run in terror for 12s.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 10
	+ *Banshee Shriek:* Enemies who fail to succumb to Wail of the Banshee will have their mind's shattered, taking negative energy damage.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 50
* Energy Drain -
	+ *Leech Mana:* Energy Drain absorbs your enemy's mana, adding bonus spell damage to your next offensive spell
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 10
	+ *Squelch Power:* Energy Drain destroy the target's spell power, permanently reducing it by 1%.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 10
* Gate - Cannot be cast in certain areas to mitigate the potential for griefing.
	+ *Enchanted Pillars:* Your summoned Gates express magical binding symbols which releases a shockwave of magical energy, doubling the damage dealt against enemies.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 50

Epic Spell

* Greater Ruin -
	+ *Cascading Ruin:* Ruin no longer lowers target elemental immunities, but instead deals double damage and effects multiple targets.
		- *Cost Per Rank:* 55

#### **Side Note: Spell Selection as a Wizard**

When you take a new level of Wizard, you're allowed to select two new spells to add to your spell book. Most Wizards either will choose their favorites and depend on finding scrolls for the rest, OR fall into a state of paranoia and try to figure out which spells are readily available in scrolls and which aren't. This section is arguably for both types.

The world of the Culling is in a sorry state. When it comes to scrolls, this means two things:

1. There is no monolithic source of magic scrolls, like a grand library or Mage's tower.
2. Spells that don't rapidly kill a wide variety of stuff are rare, if they even exist at all.

Essentially this means you can safely anticipate finding direct damage spells of elemental damage types. For instance, Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Cone of Cold, and Mestil's Acid Breath are all examples of scrolls frequently found in loot, and thus occasionally resold by merchants. More rarely you can find negative damage like Negative Energy Burst or magical damage like the Missile line of spells. Very rarely you might spot a sonic scroll, though so with few sonic sources available to Wizards, the numbers are against you. Scrolls of Contagion have been found in areas that imply its use, though as a result, the spell itself is no longer so useful.

Additionally, a woman - or perhaps group of women? - going by the name of the legendary witch Baba Yaga, has been spotted in forgotten places of the world, both unconcerned with and unharassed by the creatures - and worse - that surround her. She deals in esoteric magic at a high price...

A smart Wizard will choose their level-up spells with this availability in mind. Offense may be a good defense, but there's plenty of offense available for free, but very little, if any, defense. Let alone utility.

First prioritize your "fundamental" protection spells. These are the ones which either save your life or whose absence means you die. Mage Armor, Shield, Endure Elements, Protection from Alignment, Ghostly Visage\*, Improved Invisibility\*, Stoneskin\*, Energy Buffer, Lesser Mind Blank, Ethereal Visage, Shadow Shield, Premonition, and Greater Sanctuary should be auto-picks.

\*Asterisked spells have direct upgrades and thus aren't 100% do-or-die once you have access to the direct upgrade, but all of them (excepting Ghostly Visage) can be cast on others, which is very handy for henchmen, summons, familiars, and party members.

Second, take your must-have utility. This is Haste, basically. Though sources of worn Haste do exist, you can't put them on summons.

Last, consider summons. Undead, planars, and construct spell lines are all good picks with varying strengths and weaknesses. However, Summon Creature loses much of its luster because picks are so precious, but more importantly, Henchmen exist.

Past these basics is mostly a matter of personal choice, though I'd recommend looking closely both at individual spell changes and what specializations exist, since specializations can make niche spells far more useful.