Baldur's Gate: Divine Spells List

General Information

Divine spells are those castable by clerics, paladins, rangers, druids, and shamans. Divine spells are heavily geared toward buffing, healing, and curing status effects, with an increasing focus on offensive magic as you go higher up in the spell circles. Druids and Shamans lose out on many of the cleric's more useful buff and utility spells while gaining only a few truly good spells in exchange. Unlike arcane magic, Clerics and Druids gain extra spell slots from having high Wisdom, so get it as high as you can as those classes. The Cleric/Ranger multiclass is notable here because it can cast from both the Cleric and Druid selections (but only up to 3rd level Druid spells in the Enhanced Editions unless 'Cleric Ranger Spells' is set to 0 in Baldur.lua). The Enhanced Edition-exclusive Shaman spells are available here.

Spells castable only by Clerics/Paladins will be displayed in purple, while those castable only by Druids/Rangers/Shamans will be displayed in green. Finally, those castable by both sides will simply be white.

Level 1 Spells

Available immediately upon rolling a cleric or druid, or dual-classing into one, level 1 spells are your most numerous casts. As such, they tend not to be very powerful and the vast majority do not scale well later into the game. Rangers will not be able to cast these until they hit level 8, and Paladins until they hit level 9.

Armor of Faith

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Abjuration	0	3 rounds + 1 round/level	1	Caster	None

Description: The caster of the Armor of Faith receives significant protection against melee and magical attacks. This magical armor is a force of energy that absorbs a portion of the damage intended for the caster. At 1st level, the protection is 5%, and every 5 levels of the caster improves this by another 5%, up to 25% at level 20.

Comments: The only spell of level 1 that scales well with more levels, Armor of Faith needs lots of them to start making a recognizable difference in damage reduction. It gives resistance to all damage types except poison. Naturally it works best when combined with other sources of damage resistance, such as Hardiness and Protection from (element) spells. Fighter/Clerics, Fighter/Druids, and high level Paladins and Rangers should memorize this.

Bless

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	40 ft.	6 rounds	9	30 ft. radius	None

Description: Upon uttering the Bless spell, the caster raises the morale of friendly creatures by +1. Furthermore, it raises their attack and damage rolls by +1. The caster determines at what range (up to 40 ft.) the spell will be cast. At the instant the spell is completed, it affects all creatures in a 30-ft. radius centered on the point selected by the caster (thus, affected creatures leaving the area are still subject to the spell's effects; those entering the area after the casting is completed are not).

Comments: Awfully long casting time for just +1 THAC0 and damage for 36 seconds, though just about every divine buff features a huge casting time. The morale bonus is irrelevant. The short duration of this spell makes its use questionable even at low levels. It would probably be better to just help yourself to another Cure Light Wounds instead. A Thief with Paws of the Cheetah probably gets the most use out of this since the damage roll bonus multiplies on a Backstab, so this can help reach those one-shot backstab thresholds.

Command

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Enchantment	35 ft.	1 round	1	1 creature	Spell Special (see below)

Description: This spell enables the priest to command another creature to "die" (sleep) for a single round. At the end of the round, the creature awakens and is unharmed. Creatures with 6 or more Hit Dice (or experience levels) are entitled to a Saving Throw vs. Spell to ignore the command. Elves and half-elves have a 90% and 30% resistance to this spell, respectively.

Comments: This is the cleric's version of Sleep. It only affects one target, but as long as it is under 6 HD, it gets no save and is disabled for 1 round. Attacks against sleeping enemies automatically hit, so even characters with a mage's pathetic THAC0 can help beat them down. As with Sleep, it begins to lose its effectiveness after you breach the city walls of Baldur's Gate, but even if your target is 6 HD or higher, the spell still works as long as a save vs. spell is failed. That means it will still be somewhat useful against fighters, clerics, and druids since they have bad saves vs. spell. Drop it from your spellbook once you hit either Dragonspear or BG2.

Cure Light Wounds

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	Touch	Instant	5	1 creature	None

Description: By casting this spell and laying their hand upon a creature, the priest causes 8 points of wound or other injury damage to the creature's body to be healed. This healing cannot affect creatures without corporeal bodies, nor can it cure wounds of creatures not living or of extraplanar origin. Curing is permanent only insofar as the creature does not sustain further damage; caused wounds will heal—or can be cured—just as any normal injury.

Comments: Disregard that bit about it not affecting extraplanar, incorporeal, or non-living creatures because it totally will. Only the aTweaks mod enforces this. Also this spell cures intoxication, which is very useful to know if you plan on (ab)using Wish's luck penalty from the intoxication wish. Anyway, this is your basic healing spell and very likely your only way of healing yourself and others early on outside potions. 8 HP is 8 HP. Memorize several.

Detect Evil

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Divination	0	Instant	2	60 ft. radius	None

Description: This spell discovers emanations of evil from any creature. Any evil creature within the range of the spell will glow red briefly.

Comments: Perfectly useless as Paladins get a zillion casts of this for free.

Doom

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Alteration	25 ft.	1 turn	9	1 creature	None

Description: This spell causes a feeling of doom to overwhelm the target. For the duration of the spell, the target receives a -2 penalty to all their rolls, including THAC0 and Saving Throws. There is no Saving Throw for this spell.

Comments: -2 to saves is already enough to make this worth considering; the THAC0 penalty is just icing on the cake. I find this to be indispensable while attempting to kill Shandalar in Ulgoth's Beard. Especially effective when combined with Greater Malison. You'll want one of these. Even though it is subject to Magic Resistance this spell will find usefulness all the way from BG1 through Throne of Bhaal. Stack with Greater Malison and enemies have a +6 penalty to all saves.

Doom does not exist in the original Baldur's Gate 1.

In original BG2 it stacks with itself.

Doom no longer stacks with itself.

Entangle

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Alteration	120 ft.	1 turn; 9 seconds (entanglement)	4	30 ft. radius	Spell Negates (+3)

Description: By means of this spell, the caster is able to cause plants in the area of effect to entangle creatures within the area. The grasses, weeds, bushes, and even trees wrap, twist, and entwine about the creatures, holding them fast. Once per round, a creature can attempt to save vs. Spell with a +3 bonus to avoid entanglement. An entangled creature can still attack, but receives a -2 penalty to its Armor Class.

Comments: In old-school BG1, clerics could cast this too. It has since been changed to a Druid-only spell in BG2 and the EEs. Entangled enemies are not down for the count and can still attack you if you happen to be in melee range, or they'll just continue with ranged attacks or magic. This spell is more of a nuisance than anything because it hinders your own ability to tangle it up (snrk) with enemies, even if they do suffer an AC penalty for getting snared. Dwarves and Halflings with high Constitution can simply ignore this because of the +3 save bonus combined with their shorty saves vs. spell. Skip this.

Magical Stone

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Enchantment	50 ft.	Instant	4	1 creature	None

Description: By using this spell, the priest can create a small magical pebble, which then flies out and hits a target opponent. The stone deals 1d4 points of magical damage to whomever it hits. The stones are considered +1 weapons for determining if a creature can be struck (those struck only by magical weapons, for instance), although they do not have an attack or damage bonus.

Comments: The +1 weapon part is irrelevant since you do not actually perform any attacks with this spell since it can still hurt things that need +2 or better weapons to damage. It's just a pale imitation of Magic Missile. Avoid this and never give it a second thought.

Protection from Evil

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Abjuration	Touch	3 rounds/level	4	1 creature	None

Description: When this spell is cast, it creates a magical barrier around the recipient at a distance of one foot. The barrier moves with the recipient and has two major effects: First, all attacks made by evil or evilly enchanted creatures against the protected creature receive a penalty of -2 to each attack roll. Second, any saving throws caused by such attacks are made by the protected creature with a +2 bonus. Third, summoned demons cannot target protected creatures.

Comments: Lasts 1 round/level longer than the wizard version. The AC is handy early in the saga and the saving throw bonus is always extremely useful. Paladins get a billion casts of this for free as well. You may want to skip this and just wait for the 10' radius version at 4th level because it lasts even longer and protects multiple party members.

In BG1, the bonuses are not displayed on the character sheet but they work against any enemy, not just evil ones, contrary to the description. However, they do stack, which is the only way to hit the AC cap in the original game, allowing you to tank even Drizzt and Sarevok with ease . Additionally, only in the original BG1, this spell grants immunity to Charm.

Remove Fear

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Abjuration	30 ft.	5 turns	1	30 ft. radius	None

Description: The priest instills courage in the spell's recipients, raising their morale to its highest. The recipients' morale will gradually reset to normal as the duration runs out. If the recipients are affected by magical fear, this is negated.

Comments: ALWAYS have at least one of these memorized. No and's, if's, or but's. Being struck by fear is a one-way ticket to death if you're playing solo and it's always annoying if you aren't, because it is difficult to target panicked party members since the projectile to this spell has a travel time, and they can potentially run outside the AoE before it hits if they are hasted or wearing Boots of Speed.

Sanctuary

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Abjuration	0	1 turn	4	Caster	None

Description: When the priest casts a sanctuary spell, it causes all of his opponents to ignore his existence; as if he is invisible. While protected by this spell, the subject cannot take direct offensive action without breaking the spell, but may use non-attack spells or otherwise act in any way that does not violate the prohibition against offensive action. This allows a warded priest to heal wounds, for example, or to bless himself. He cannot cast spells on other creatures without ending the spell.

Comments: Counts as an illusionary protection so it will be dispelled by Detect Illusion, Oracle, and True Sight whether by priest or mage. Sanctuary is a special kind of invisibility because it will allow you to interact with lootables, pick locks, and pick pockets without breaking the Sanctuary - all of which would normally break invisibility (but not Mislead). Here's a handy chart to help you keep track of what actions will maintain the Sanctuary and what will break it.

Safe	Unsafe
Loot containers Pick locks Disarm traps Pick pockets Open/close doors Cast single-target spell on yourself Cast "caster-only" spell on yourself (spells like Chant or Protection from Evil 10' Radius are still safe)	Initiate dialogue Attack Cast spell that can target any point in range (e.g. Fireball, Bless) Cast single-target spell on someone else (e.g. Cure Wounds line, Improved Haste)

This is the ultimate scouting spell for cleric/thieves and is worth memorizing on anyone who can cast it just because it can get them out of danger if they need it. Enemies that can see through invisibility can also see through Sanctuary (dragons, liches). Memorize one or several.

Shillelagh

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Alteration	0	4 rounds + 1 round/level	2	Caster	None

Description:

This spell enables the caster to create a magical cudgel that has a +1 bonus to its attack roll and inflicts 2d4 points of damage on opponents.

This spell works just like the original BG1.

Comments: Does not count as a club for weapon proficiency purposes. As a 'magical weapon' (a weapon conjured by a spell) this can be dual-wielded with an off-hand weapon with no penalty. While it does count as a magic weapon, it has no enchantment value so it can hit enemies that require magic weapons, but not those that require an enchantment level of 1 or more.

Level 2 Spells

Not too many useful spells at this level and there's no dedicated healing spells at all at level 2.

Aid

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	Touch	1 round + 1 round/level	5	1 creature	None

Description: The recipient of this spell gains +1 to hit, damage, and saving throws, plus a special bonus of 1d8 additional hit points for the duration of the spell. The Aid spell enables the recipient to actually have more hit points than his full normal total. The bonus hit points are lost first when the recipient takes damage; they cannot be regained by curative magic.

Example: A 1st-level fighter has 8 hit points, suffers 2 points of damage (8 - 2 = 6), and then receives an aid spell that gives 5 additional hit points. The fighter now has 11 hit points, 3 of which are temporary. If he is then hit for 7 points of damage, 4 normal hit points and all 3 temporary hit points are lost. He then receives a spell that heals 4 points of damage, restoring him to his original 8 hit points.

Comments: The +1 to saving throws looks attractive but the duration is so short. The temporary HP is implemented as an effect that increases both your maximum and current HP, so this spell could also be used to heal minor wounds in addition to the combat bonuses. Still, the fact that even Cure Light Wounds out-heals this combined with the short duration makes this spell not worth memorizing.

Barkskin

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Alteration	Touch	4 rounds + 1 round/level	5	1 creature	None

Description: When a priest casts the Barkskin spell upon a creature, its skin becomes as tough as bark, increasing its base Armor Class to 6, plus 1 for every 4 levels of the priest: Armor Class 5 at 4th level, Armor Class 4 at 8th, and so on, up to a maximum of Armor Class 1 at level 20. In addition, Saving Throws vs. all attack forms except spell gain a +1 bonus. This spell can be placed on the caster or on any other creature he touches.

Comments: Again, the save bonuses are nice but it is hindered by its short duration. If you really don't have anything else to lower base AC (like potions of defense, stone form, or invulnerability), then this will do in a pinch. Stay away from it otherwise.

Chant

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	0	1 turn	9	30 ft. radius	None

Description: By means of the Chant spell, the priest brings special favor upon himself and his party and causes harm to his enemies. When the Chant spell is completed, all the priest's allies within the area of effect gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls, minimum damage/healing rolls, and Saving Throws. Furthermore, damage dice for all effects outside a weapon's base damage is reduced by 1 (equivalent to +1 Luck). For example, a 6d6 fireball will do 6d5 damage, and an arrow of fire that deals 1d6 piercing plus 1d2 fire damage will deal 1d6 piercing plus 1 fire damage instead. The priest's enemies suffer the opposite effects (-1 to hit, minimum damage/healing rolls, saving throws, -1 Luck).

Multiple chants are not cumulative.

Comments: Great buff/debuff spell that's almost equal to giving yourself +2 Luck. It may not be as noticeable as, say, a Haste or Slow spell, but this is still quite strong. Memorize at least one. Additional details about the Luck stat's effects can be found here.

Charm Person or Mammal

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Enchantment	25 ft.	1 turn	5	1 person or animal	Spell Negates (+3)

Description: If the spell's recipient fails their Saving Throw (with a +3 modifier), they regard the caster as a trusted friend and ally to be heeded and protected. The caster may give them orders, and the charmed individual will carry them out as quickly as possible.

If the caster harms — or attempts to harm — the charmed person by some overt action, or if a Dispel Magic spell is cast upon the charmed mammal, the Charm spell is broken. If two or more Charms simultaneously affect a creature, the most recent Charm takes precedence. Note that the subject has full memory of the events that took place while they were charmed. Also note that you cannot have a charmed creature leave the area where they are charmed.

Comments: Same as Charm Person but lasts twice as long, has a longer casting time, and also works on animals. If only it were a level 1 spell instead. Memorize this, if only because Druids don't have much to memorize at this level.

Draw Upon Holy Might

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Evocation	0	1 turn	2	Caster	None

Description: The priest calls upon his god to grant him power for a short period. When he does this, his strength, constitution and dexterity all are raised by 1 point for every 3 levels of the caster, up to 6 points at level 18. A third level caster would have his abilities raised by 1, while a 12th level caster would have all his abilities raised by 4.

Comments: Perfect buff spell for Fighter/Clerics and Paladins because it increases all three physical stats. The Strength bonus is especially good for anyone stuck below 18/Exceptional Strength, providing huge boosts to damage and THAC0. The Constitution bonus can also be used to regenerate most, if not all of your health by casting this first before resting. Paladins and combat-oriented clerics should memorize this whenever they get the chance. Players with 10+ reputation get this as a Bhaal power in BG1 as well.

Find Traps

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Divination	0	3 turns	5	30 ft. radius	None

Description: When a priest casts a Find Traps spell, all traps — concealed normally or magically — of magical or mechanical nature become apparent to them. A trap is any device or magical ward that meets three criteria: it can inflict a sudden or unexpected result; the spellcaster would view the result as undesirable or harmful; and the creator specifically intended the harmful or undesirable result as such. Thus traps include glyphs and similar spells or devices. Due to the nature of the spell, the caster must stop to concentrate 1 per round which will effectively interrupt any action. This however will not affect spellcasting.

Comments: Reveals all traps in 30 ft. radius of the caster every round 100% of the time. This doesn't allow the caster to disarm them, though they can be disarmed by a thief with sufficient skill. There's no reason to cast this if your thief has a good enough Find Traps skill, but if they don't, it still presents the problem of disarming the trap. Skip.

Flame Blade

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Evocation	0	4 rounds + 1 round/2 levels	4	Caster	None

Description: With this spell, the caster causes a blazing ray of red-hot fire to spring forth from their hand. This blade-like ray is wielded as if it were a sword that the caster already knows how to use, hence there are no bonuses or penalties. If the caster successfully hits with the flame blade in melee combat, the creature struck suffers 1d4 points of slashing damage, plus an additional 1d2+4 points of fire damage. However, it is not a magical weapon in the normal sense of the term, so creatures struck only by magical weapons are not harmed by it.

Comments: Only useful to finish off trolls if you have no other source of fire or acid. Cannot be used to finish off Fire or Desert Trolls (they're immune to fire), or Spectral or Spirit Trolls (they're immune to normal weapons). Can be used with a different weapon in the off-hand without penalty due to being a magical weapon, but still terrible due to not being a magic weapon.

Has an inaccurate spell description: in the original BG1 this deals 1d2+4 Slashing damage and 1d4 Fire damage.

Goodberry

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Evocation	0	Permanent	9	Caster	None

Description: Casting a Goodberry spell creates 5 magical berries that the caster can carry with them. These berries cure one point of physical damage for each one eaten.

Comments: The only 2nd level healing spell. These aren't terrible, even though you're using a 2nd level spell for 5 HP, but they're very very slow to eat. Unlike potions these cannot be consumed immediately so you cannot even use these without holding still for half a round to consume the berry. They sell for 1 gold each.

Hold Person

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Enchantment	35 ft.	1 turn	5	1 enemy humanoid and others in 7.5 ft. of initial target	Spell Negates

Description: This spell holds one or more humans, demihumans, or humanoid creatures rigidly immobile and in place for one turn. This includes: brownies, dryads, dwarves, elves, gnolls, gnomes, goblins, half-elves, halflings, half-orcs, hobgoblins, humans, kobolds, lizard men, nixies, orcs, pixies, sprites, troglodytes, and others. Thus, a 10th-level Fighter could be held, while an ogre could not. The effect is centered on the victim selected by the caster. Every enemy within 7.5 ft. of the target is also affected. Those who succeed on their Saving Throws are totally unaffected by the spell. Undead creatures cannot be held.

Held creatures cannot move or speak, but they remain aware of events around them even though they are helpless to change them. Time passes at a normal rate for the targets and hence being held does not stop any worsening of their condition due to wounds, disease, or poison.

Comments: Same as the 3rd level mage version with a longer casting time and minus the save penalty. Hitting multiple enemies with the very small AoE is difficult since they have to be right next to each other. Move your tank in and let them bunch up in front of him, then try casting this. Attacks against held creatures automatically hit, which can be an absolute godsend if you manage to launch the spell like that.

Know Alignment

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Divination	20 ft.	Instant	9	1 creature	Spell Negates (-2)

Description: A Know Alignment spell enables the Mage to exactly read the aura of a creature. If the creature rolls a successful Saving Throw vs. Spell, the caster learns nothing about that particular creature from the casting. When a character is hit by this spell, he will glow red if evil, green if good, and white if neutral. Certain magical devices negate the power of the Know Alignment spell.

Comments: Even Goodberry is more useful than this.

Resist Fire/Cold

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Alteration	Touch	1 round/level	5	1 creature	None

Description: When this spell is placed upon a creature, the creature's body is toughened to withstand heat and cold. The recipient has all damage sustained by fire or cold reduced by 50%.

Comments: Situationally useful in the event that you can't use mage versions of Protection from Fire or Protection from Cold which give 100% immunity and last far longer. Not worth memorizing for any other reason. In BG2 this can be combined with the plethora of various elemental-resistant gear to achieve 100% immunity to either element on multiple characters, but it still suffers from a terribly short duration. Still one of the better 2nd-level spells for Priests.

Silence 15' Radius

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Alteration	80 ft.	2 rounds/level	5	30 ft. radius	Spell Negates (-5)

Description: Upon casting this spell, complete silence prevails in the affected area. All sound is stopped: Conversation is impossible and spells cannot be cast. Each creature in the area must make a Saving Throw vs. Spell with a -5 penalty; if the save is failed then they are silenced for the duration of the spell. Note that this spell does not continue to affect the area after being cast; only those in the area at the time of the casting are affected by the silence.

Comments: Great spell to disable packs of spellcasters and useful against rival parties because of its huge save penalty. In unmodded BG2(EE), mages have this irritating habit of casting Vocalize on their next round to negate this even while silenced because their script commands them to ForceSpell() if that happens. Playing with Sword Coast Stratagems changes this so that mages are properly all but helpless if they are silenced. As this is an AoE spell, it ignores spell protections if not cast directly at a shielded foe, though it will be stopped by (Minor) Globe of Invulnerability. Memorize one.

Slow Poison

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	Touch	Instant	1	1 creature	None

Description: When this spell is placed upon a poisoned individual, it greatly slows the effects of venom, actually neutralizing all but the most deadly poisons.

Comments: The lesser of the two poison-curing spells. Also cures intoxication. You'll need this, especially when fighting wyverns. Players get this as a Bhaal power if their reputation is 10+; Dynaheir can cast this once per day. Extremely useful, but if you're poisoned make sure to issue the cast order on yourself only the moment after you take damage or you'll get interrupted and lose the spell.

Spiritual Hammer

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Evocation	0	3 rounds + 1 round/level	5	Caster	None

Description: By calling upon his deity, the caster of a spiritual hammer spell brings into existence a magical hammer. For the duration of the spell, the Priest may use the magic weapon without non-proficiency penalties. It strikes as a magical weapon with a bonus of +1 for every six experience levels (or fraction) of the spellcaster, up to a total of +3 to the attack roll and +3 to the damage roll for a 13th-level caster. The base damage inflicted when it scores a hit is exactly the same as a normal war hammer (1d4+1 vs. opponents plus the magical bonus).

Comments: Useful early on if you haven't killed Bassilus yet for his +2 warhammer. You should have a comparable weapon at the other breakpoints of this spell (7, 13). Skip. Branwen can cast this once per day. As with all magical weapons you can dual-wield another weapon with impunity.

Level 3 Spells

This is probably the only level where Druids don't get shafted too hard on spell selection. Call Lightning is really, really strong (but situational) and Summon Insects is pretty good.

Animate Dead

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	30 ft.	8 hours	9	Targeted point	None

Description: This spell causes a skeleton warrior to rise and serve the caster under any conditions. The type of skeleton warrior that appears depends upon the level of the wizard casting the spell. The skeleton warrior can follow the caster, remain in an area and attack any creature entering the place, etc. It remains animated until it is destroyed in combat, 8 hours pass, or it is turned. This spell cannot be dispelled.

Level	Skeleton Summoned	Stats	Combat Abilities	Defenses	Immunities	Special
1-6	3 HD	24 HP 16 STR 16 INT 9 everything else	THAC0 17 1 attack/round Longsword: 1d8 slashing damage Speed Factor 5	Base AC 6 100% Cold resist 100% Electrical resist 25% Magic resist 50% Slashing resist 50% Piercing resist 60% Missile resist	Stun, Sleep, Poison, Domination, Charm, Panic, Morale Break, Hold, Level Drain, Confusion, Fatigue bonus, Petrification, Berserk, Paralyze, Slay, Nature's Beauty Dragon Rain, Chaos	N/A
7-10	5 HD	40 HP 17 STR 16 INT 9 everything else	THAC0 15 1½ attacks/round Longsword +1: 1d8+1 slashing damage Speed Factor 4	Base AC 4 100% Cold resist 100% Electrical resist 45% Magic resist 50% Slashing resist 50% Piercing resist 60% Missile resist	See above, but also critical hits	N/A
11-14	7 HD	60 HP 18 STR 16 INT 9 everything else	THAC0 13 1½ attacks/round Bastard Sword +1: 2d4+1 slashing damage Speed Factor 7	Base AC 3 100% Cold resist 100% Electrical resist 65% Magic resist 50% Slashing resist 50% Piercing resist 60% Missile resist	See above, but also critical hits	N/A
15+	9 HD	80 HP 18/50 STR 16 INT 9 everything else	THAC0 8 1 attack/round Two-handed Sword +1: 1d10+1 slashing damage Speed Factor 9	Base AC 2 100% Cold resist 90% Magic resist 50% Slashing resist 50% Piercing resist 50% Missile resist	See above, but also critical hits and normal weapons	N/A

Comments: Be careful! These skeletons are vulnerable to your own Turn Undead attempts.

They are fairly durable thanks to their immunities, damage resistance, strong magic resistance, and above-average HP. Just don't pit them against anything using crushing damage or they'll fold easily. The 9 HD skeleton warrior is almost completely immune to magic, making it a good choice to tank enemy mages. That said, Bards and Clerics are better off casting this because they get access to the 9 HD skeleton sooner and Clerics get it as a level 3 spell.

Call Lightning

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Alteration	80 ft.	1 round/4 levels	9	Visual range	Spell 1/2

Description: Call Lightning must be cast outside; otherwise, it will not work and the spell is wasted. The caster is able to call down one bolt of lightning per turn round. The spell has a duration of 1 turn round every 4 levels of the caster. Each bolt causes 2d8 points of electrical damage, plus an additional 1d8 points per level of the caster. Thus, an 8th-level caster will call down two bolts, each dealing 10d8 (2d8 + 8d8) points of damage (up to 4 bolts at level 16 and 20d8 damage at level 18). The bolt of lightning flashes down in a vertical stroke at any of the priest's enemies. The first enemy struck by the lightning will be the enemy targeted. After that, any enemy (but no allies) may be struck by the ensuing lightning storm.

Comments: This spell can do Horrid Wilting-tier damage to a few targets over the course of a few rounds. The major drawback to this spell is that it only works outdoors, which is a major hindrance in BG2 as most of SoA takes place in dungeons or other interior areas, though about half of ToB is outdoors. However, its a fantastic spell in BG1 and SoD because at least 75% of both take place outdoors. Memorize at least one if you expect outdoor combat. As a special note, no other planes count as outdoors.

Call Lightning has this quirk where the spell will end and won't strike again if there is only 1 enemy in its AoE. For it to be most effective, it needs to have at least two targets still alive in order to call down all of the lightning bolts. If there are more lightning bolts than enemies, then at least one will be hit a second time if there any survivors.

Cure Disease

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	Touch	Instant	1	1 creature	None

Description: By laying their hands upon a sickly person, the caster can cure almost any disease with this spell. The cure is permanent, but does not grant the recipient of the spell immunity from further afflictions. Blindness, deafness, and feeblemind are also cured with this spell. Some magically created diseases may not be curable by this spell.

Comments: Diseases are nothing to be concerned about in an unmodded game since they're usually just a very slow poison. Should you be playing with aTweaks installed, diseases can be deadly and lead to death from within a week or even a single day. Besides curing disease, this spell also removes blindness, deafness, and feeblemind. Memorize one if playing with aTweaks, otherwise you can probably ignore it even if it does cure a few extra ailments.

Cure Medium Wounds

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	Touch	Instant	5	1 creature	None

Description: By casting this spell and laying their hand upon a creature, the priest heals 14 points of wound or other injury damage from the creature's body. This healing cannot affect creatures without corporeal bodies, nor can it cure wounds of creatures not living or of extraplanar origin. Curing is permanent only insofar as the creature does not sustain further damage; caused wounds will heal—or can be cured—just as any normal injury.

Comments: Healing spells just don't scale well in these games. This one has an acceptable 14 HP, but you will still get much more mileage out of spells that prevent damage of this level. Why heal 14 points of damage when you can move much more damage onto a summoned skeleton to tank for you?

Dispel Magic

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Abjuration	40 ft.	Instant	6	30 ft. radius	None

Description: A Dispel Magic spell removes magical effects upon anyone within the area. This includes effects given from spells, potions and certain magical items such as wands. It does not, however, affect enchanted magical items or spell protections such as Spell Turning and Spell Deflection. The chance of the dispel succeeding is determined by the level of the caster and the level of the magic being dispelled. The base chance of successfully dispelling is 50%. For every level that the caster of the Dispel Magic is above the original caster, their chance of success increases by 5%. For every level that the caster of Dispel Magic is below the original caster, their chance of success decreases by 10%. However, despite the difference in levels, there is always at least a 5% chance of success or failure. Thus, if a caster is 10 levels higher than the magic they are trying to dispel, there is only a 5% chance of failure. Similarly if the caster is 4 levels lower than the magic they are trying to dispel, there is only a 10% chance of success. Intuitively, this spell is almost useless if the target is 5 or more levels higher than the caster.

Note: While this spell dispels the individual effects of Grease, Web, Stinking Cloud, and other such spells, it does not dispel the area of effect.

Comments: Take note that Dispel Magic does not roll a dispel check for each individual buff/ailment; it either dispels everything or dispels nothing. However, the dispel check IS rolled for each source of buffs/ailments. For example, an illusionist/thief buffed by Haste has Protection from Evil cast upon him by the party's cleric. The cleric's caster level happens to be higher than the illusionist/thief's due to not being a multiclass. The illusionist/thief is affected by a Dispel Magic from an enemy mage, which strips him of his Haste buff but not the Protection from Evil cast by the cleric.

Unlike most spells, Dispel Magic's caster level does not have a cap. Because caster level matters on this spell much more than others, Bards, clerics, and BG1-range Druids are actually better off utilizing this spell than mages because they level up faster. In BG1, no matter your class, the difference between your caster level and your enemies' is not going to be very much so you still have a considerable chance of dispelling an enemy mage. But BG2 is all about high-level mage fencing, so this spell is not going to work on the particularly badass mages until you can catch up to them. Assuming you've done all the sidequests in Athkatla and the surrounding lands, this will happen for Bards and Clerics about the time you enter Spellhold and for mages it will be around the mid-way point of plumbing the Underdark. Druids won't catch up until the end of SoA if you have your XP uncapped, but if you don't, then it won't happen until ToB. This is just the offensive use of this spell.

Being a spell 100% dependent upon Caster Level for effect, its usefulness depends on the class(es) of the caster. In regards to Divine spellcasters, Druids start out better since they level from 1 to 12 faster than any other class in the game, but their maximum level of 31 combined with their extremely painful level chart until level 15 means their usefulness with this spell varies greatly. Clerics using this spell incur all the normal risks of Dispel Magic but their max level of 40 means for the later parts of SoA and ToB they'll be incredibly reliable at dispelling. Don't bother trying to use this on a multi-class character, even if you are severely overleveled your chances will be minimal against most enemies. Inquisitors get multiple uses of this per day at double their level meaning they dispel almost 100% of the time, with a 100% guarantee on any spell effect in the game at level 20.

For defense, this spell will attempt to cure any status effects on your allies caused by spells, and will dispel Feeblemind 100% of the time. Unfortunately it also tends to strip them of any buffs they have active too. Try using spells to cure them of specific ailments before trying Dispel Magic.

Spell immunity abjuration is the only protection from dispel magic, if you are casting this spell on enemies in a radius where your fighters are, you may want to consider using remove magic instead, which will only target enemies, thus preserving your fighters buffs.

Glyph of Warding

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Abjuration	60 ft.	Until triggered; instant	9	23.4 ft. radius	Spell Negates

Description: A Glyph of Warding is a powerful inscription magically drawn to prevent unauthorized or hostile creatures from passing, entering, or opening. It can be used to guard a small bridge, to ward an entry, or as a trap on a chest or box. Any creature violating the warded area is subject to the magic it stores, although a successful Saving Throw vs. Spell enables the creature to escape the effects of the glyph. When the spell is cast, the priest weaves a tracery of faintly glowing lines around the warding sigil. When the glyph is activated, it deals 1d4 points of electrical damage per level of the caster (up to 18d4).

Comments: Divine Skull Trap but so much worse. Slow casting time, less max damage, electrical damage, and - worst of all - a successful save means no damage at all. It's not party-friendly despite the flavor text in the description. Give this a wide berth.

Hold Animal

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Enchantment	35 ft.	2 rounds/level	5	1 enemy animal and others in 7.5 ft. of initial target	Spell Negates

Description: This spell holds animals rigidly immobile and in place. Only normal- and giant-sized animals are affected by this spell; monsters such as wyverns, ankhegs, and carrion crawlers do not count as animals. The effect is centered on the victim selected by the caster; every enemy within 7.5 ft. of the target is also affected. Those who succeed on their Saving Throws are totally unaffected by the spell. Held creatures cannot move or speak, but they remain aware of events around them and can use abilities not requiring motion or speech. Being held does not prevent the worsening of the subjects' condition due to wounds, disease, or poison.

Comments: Animals are no problem once you can cast this. Skip.

Holy Smite

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	25 ft.	Instant; 1 round (blindness)	5	30 ft. radius	Spell Partial

Description: This spell calls upon energy from the Positive Energy Plane in order to open a channel between it and the targets. The result is that any evil creatures within the spell's area of effect take 1d4 points of magical damage per level of the caster (up to 20d4), or half damage upon a successful Saving Throw vs. Spell. If the victims fail their Saving Throw, they are also blinded for 1 round.

Comments: Treat as a party-friendly fireball if you've got a non-evil party, and its still useful even if you are evil since most of the things you fight are evil too. The extra blindness is just gravy. Pick this up. The damage calculation is done differently in BG(2)EE and BG2.

Rolls double your level in d2s, save vs. spell for half (so a level 16 caster rolls damage for 32d2, 16d2 on a save).

Rolls half your level in d4s rolled twice (so a level 16 caster rolls damage for 8d4 with no save and another 8d4 for failing the save).

The end result is that, in general, you will see higher overall damage in BG2 and lower overall damage in BG1EE and 2EE, though they still share the same possible maximum amount.

Invisibility Purge

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Divination	0	Instant	8	235 ft. radius	None

Description: Any invisible creatures within the area of effect have their invisibility dispelled. This includes creatures under the effects of Sanctuary, Improved Invisibility, Shadow Door, Invisibility, Mislead, and so on.

Comments: Divine Detect Invisibility with a longer casting time and more than triple its radius. This does not dispel other illusionary protections like Mirror Image, Blur, or Project Image. Obviously True Sight is preferred, and if that's not an option, try Detect Invisibility. This spell just gives you one more way to dispel invisibility. Memorize if needed.

Miscast Magic

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Enchantment	50 ft.	1 turn	5	1 creature	Spell Negates (-2)

Description: Any spellcasting creature that is affected by this spell has its casting ability severely disabled (innate spells are the exception). When the creature attempts to cast a spell, it suffers an 80% chance of failure. Creatures can save vs. Spell to avoid the effect, but do so with a -2 penalty.

Comments: Good luck landing this on a mage. They'll probably be covered in magical protections and mages have strong saves vs. spell, even with a bit of a penalty. This will work better on clerics and druids since they have bad saves vs. spell and they don't have anything in the way of magical protections either. Skippable.

Protection from Fire

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Abjuration	Touch	3 rounds + 1 round/level	6	1 creature	None

Description: The effects of a Protection From Fire spell last no longer than 3 rounds plus 1 round per level of the caster. When the spell is cast, it confers complete invulnerability to normal fires (torches, bonfires, oil fires, and the like) and to exposure to magical fires (fiery dragon breath, hell hound or pyrohydra breath, spells such as Burning Hands, Fireball, Fire Seeds, Fire Storm, Flame Strike, Meteor Swarm, and so on), absorbing 80% of all the damage dealt by such magical sources.

Comments: While the description specifies Magical Fire as separate from Fire, there is no distinction at any point in the games. The duration takes more than a few levels to become useful but once you are in BG2 this becomes a handy way of making your party immune to fire before a fight. The Wizard version has a better duration, and Protection from Fire and Cold can still be use with equipment to make multiple party members immune to fire anyways. Situationally useful.

Remove Curse

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Abjuration	Touch	Instant	6	1 creature	None

Description: Upon casting this spell, the priest is usually able to remove a curse on an object, a person, or in the form of some undesired sending or evil presence. Note that the Remove Curse spell does not remove the curse from a cursed shield, weapon, or suit of armor, although the spell typically enables the person afflicted with any such cursed item to get rid of it. Certain special curses may not be countered by this spell, or may be countered only by a caster of a certain level or higher.

Comments: You'd have to be pretty dumb to equip a cursed item. They usually suck anyway - one exception being Durlag's Goblet from BG1 which has multiple full-heal uses. In ToB, this spell can also cure some of the negative draws from the Deck of Many Things.

Remove Paralysis

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Abjuration	150 ft.	Instant	6	30 ft. radius	None

Description: By the use of this spell, the priest can free all creatures within the area from the effects of any paralyzation or related magic (such as a ghoul's touch or a Hold spell).

Comments: I always have one of these memorized. Not only does it cure paralysis, it also cures stun and web. Essential to a party member's survival if they get paralyzed, which usually spells death soon afterward. Get this. Despite the description this only affects party members.

Rigid Thinking

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Enchantment	35 ft.	1 turn	5	1 creature	Spell Negates

Description: The target of this spell must make a Saving Throw vs. Spell or come under its effects. When under the effects of the Rigid Thinking spell, the victim will randomly wander, attack the nearest person, or stand confused.

Comments: Single target Confusion, which makes this pretty terrible. No save penalty either. Skip.

Strength of One

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Alteration	0	1 turn	3	30 ft. radius	None

Description: When this spell is cast, party members within the area of effect are given a Strength score of 18/75. If a party member has a Strength score higher than this (either naturally, or through a magical item), then their Strength is lowered to 18/75. The spell lasts for 1 turn, whereupon everyone's Strength returns to normal.

Comments: Depending on your party's makeup, this can be a neat buff spell or something you should ignore entirely. If you need to use this, send party members with strength higher than 18/75 out of the 30 ft. radius before casting. This may be good early on but it quickly loses its utility. Skip.

Summon Insects

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	60 ft.	7 rounds	9	1 creature	Breath Negates (-4)

Description: The Summon Insects spell attracts a cloud or swarm of normal insects to attack one enemy of the caster. This swarm gathers at a point chosen by the caster within the spell's range and attacks any single creature the caster points to. The victim may make a Saving Throw vs. Breath Weapon with a -4 penalty to escape the swarm; otherwise, the victim receives 1 point of damage every 2 seconds for the duration of the spell. Moreover, the victim fights with a -2 penalty to their attack roll and a -2 penalty to their Armor Class. The swarm will repeatedly bite the target, making it very difficult to cast spells (50% chance of spell failure; innates are unaffected).

Comments: Very nice for a Druid spell. Every class except the warrior-types (those who roll for EX Strength) has bad saves vs. breath, especially Thieves and Bards. That makes this an acceptable choice to hinder a caster if you don't have the level 5 Insect Swarm yet. The 50% spell failure and the damage ticks will make it very difficult for a caster to get a spell off without failure or being disrupted by the insects. Insect Swarm is better in every conceivable way, however, so it is okay to skip this if you want to wait for it in the case of Shamans.

Unholy Blight

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	25 ft.	Instant; 4 rounds (save penalty)	5	30 ft. radius	Spell Partial

Description: This spell calls upon energy from the Negative Energy Plane in order to open a channel between it and the targets. The result is that any good creatures within the spell's area of effect take 1d4 points of damage per level of the caster (up to 19d4), or half damage upon a successful Saving Throw vs. Spell. If the victims fail their Saving Throw, they also receive a -2 penalty to all their rolls for 4 rounds.

Comments: Evil Holy Smite which works a little bit differently. There's hardly any good aligned enemies to fight. The only ones that come to mind are the Amnish reputation police and enemies in Dorn's BG2EE quest lines. For some reason, this spell only scales up to level 19 instead of 20 like its good-aligned version. The damage calculation is done differently in BG(2)EE and BG2.

Rolls double your level in d2s, save vs. spell for half (so a level 16 caster rolls damage for 32d2, 16d2 on a save).

Rolls half your level in d4s rolled twice (so a level 16 caster rolls damage for 8d4 with no save and another 8d4 for failing the save).

The end result is that, in general, you will see higher overall damage in BG2 and lower overall damage in BG1EE and 2EE, though they still share the same possible maximum amount.

Of special note is the -2 penalty to saving throws: this stacks with Doom and Greater Malison. While the number of Good-aligned enemies in these games is minimal, this is an excellent debuff for those, especially silver dragons.

Zone of Sweet Air

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Abjuration	0	Instant	3	Entire map	None

Description: Zone of Sweet Air repels all noxious elements from poisonous vapors (including magically created vapors such as Cloudkill). This spell will dismiss all clouds in the entire area that the caster is currently in. The spell offers no protection against poisonous vapors created by a dragon's breath weapon (such as the chlorine gas of a green dragon).

Comments: Dispels Stinking Cloud, Cloudkill, Death Fog, and Writhing Fog. Useful to dispel one of those clouds so that you can rest, but not for much else. I usually have one memorized after the essentials of Level 3.

Level 4 Spells

Clerics are only exempt from one spell at this level. There are several strong defensive spells here.

Animal Summoning I

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	30 ft.	3 turns	7	Targeted point	None

Description: By means of this spell, the caster calls between 2 and 3 animals that have 4 Hit Dice or less. The animals appearing are randomly determined. They will remain under the caster's control until slain or the spell duration expires.

Comments: Gets you 2 or 3 War Dogs (17 HP) and/or Dire Wolves (33 HP). Fragile even for summoned fodder, they aren't worth making a summon table for since there is nothing special about them at all. You want something useful, cast Call Woodland Beings instead. Beast Masters get this as a 1st level spell but it's still useless.

Call Woodland Beings

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	25 ft.	3 turns	7	Targeted point	None

Description: This spell summons forth a nymph to assist the party. The nymph has several priest spells at her disposal and will use them in the best interests of the party. She will remain under the caster's control until slain or the spell's duration expires.

Stats	Combat Abilities	Defenses	Immunities	Spell List
40 HP 9 STR/CON/INT 17 DEX 16 WIS 25 CHA	THAC0 15 1½ attacks/round 1d6 crushing (strikes as normal weapon) Speed Factor 0	Base AC 9	N/A	2x Hold Person 2x Barkskin 1x Miscast Magic 1x Call Lightning 1x Cause Serious Wounds 1x Mental Domination 1x Mass Cure 1x Hold Monster 1x Confusion

Comments: Very nice Druid-only summon. The Nymph is a support spellcaster and not a meatshield, though her caster level is only 5. This makes a few of her spells less effective than casting it yourself (Barkskin, Call Lightning, Mass Cure, Hold Monster, Confusion) but its still nice to have someone else casting them anyway. Her Mass Cure will heal for 1d8+9 HP. Memorize this.

Cause Serious Wounds

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	0	15 seconds or until expended	7	Caster; creature touched	None

Description: This spell is the reverse of Cure Serious Wounds. Instead of healing the creature touched, it causes damage. On a successful hit (with a +2 bonus to THAC0) from the priest, the spell inflicts 17 points of magical damage upon the target. The next attack that the priest makes will inflict this effect, however, they only have 2 rounds 15 seconds to make the attack before the spell fizzles. If the priest misses the target creature, the spell is wasted. There is no Saving Throw.

Comments: The lowliest of the Cause Wound spells. Cause Serious Wounds counts as a +6 weapon (and also counts as Silver and Cold Iron), with a Speed Factor of 1 and a +2 bonus to hit. 17 damage isn't really enough to warrant memorizing this spell since a greatsword could easily do as much damage instead, and if you miss, this fizzles. I think its only use is for a cleric to help kill Karoug and Mendas due to a lack of +4 or silver weapons.

Cloak of Fear

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	0	Instant; 4 rounds (panic)	6	30 ft. radius of caster	Spell Negates

Description: Cloak of Fear empowers the caster to radiate a personal aura of fear out to a 30-ft. radius. All other characters and creatures within this aura must roll a successful Save vs. Spell or run away in panic for 4 rounds. Party members are immune to the effects, although the aura of fear may still disturb them.

Comments: Why in the world would you memorize a level 4 spell that essentially amounts to a short-duration casting of Horror?

Cure Serious Wounds

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	Touch	Instant	7	1 creature	None

Description: This spell is a more potent version of the Cure Light Wounds spell. The priest lays their hand upon a creature and heals 17 points of wound or other injury damage to the creature's body. This healing cannot affect noncorporeal, nonliving, or extraplanar creatures.

Comments: Only heals 3 more HP than Cure Medium Wounds. Third level spells are hard to justify for healing. This just isn't acceptable. Prepare anything else.

Death Ward

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	25 ft.	1 turn/level	9 (BG1EE) 1 (BG2/BG2EE)	1 creature	None

Description: This spell protects the target from all forms of death magic for the duration of the spell. This includes, but is not limited to, Disintegrate; Power Word, Kill; Death Spell; and Finger of Death.

Comments: I always have at least one of these memorized because the duration is quite long and protection from instant death is always good. Good candidates to cast this on include CHARNAME, thieves, and mages. There's nothing in BGEE or SoD that's nasty enough to have instant-kill powers, so this is definitely a BG2-oriented spell. Note that this does not protect from some effects classified as death effects, like negative levels or imprisonment. Incredibly long duration means this won't last a battle, it will last an entire dungeon.

While there are no effects in BG1 that this would protect from, it did not exist in the original BG1.

Defensive Harmony

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Enchantment	0	6 rounds	1	30 ft. radius	None

Description: Defensive Harmony grants affected creatures a defensive bonus by bestowing an enchanted coordination on their attacks and defenses. This allows a group of creatures to act as a single unit for a single battle or encounter. The effect is always centered on the caster, but affects all those within a 30-ft. radius. Those affected can move outside of this area after the spell is cast and still enjoy the benefits of the harmony. While the spell is in effect, each affected creature gains a +2 bonus to their Armor Class. This lasts for 6 rounds or until dispelled.

Comments: The duration is too short for my liking, but getting some extra AC when you need it with a fast casting time never hurt anybody. I think there's a pun to be made there.

Farsight

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Divination	Special	3 rounds + 1 round/level	4	Visual range radius	None

Description: When Farsight is cast, the caster is able to view an area of an unexplored map. After casting the spell, simply click on a section of the map that you want to view. For the duration of the spell, the caster can spy on that area, noting creatures and fortifications.

Comments: Lasts slightly longer than Wizard Eye but is immobile. Against creatures that can see through invisibility (dragons, liches), it is superior to Wizard Eye, so you can safely send in summons this way without risking the Eye getting destroyed. This spell is pretty situational as a cleric; mages have much better reasons to memorize this.

Free Action

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Abjuration	Touch	1 turn + 1 round/level	5	1 creature	None

Description: While under the effects of this spell, the recipient becomes immune to anything that affects their movement. This includes the effects of Hold, Web, Grease, and Entangle.

Comments: Also cures stun, but does not protect against it. The biggest strike against this spell is that it also makes you immune to Haste and any movement speed increase effects (e.g. Boots of Speed). But it can be used like Remove Paralysis as well since it cures the effects that it protects against. Memorize one if you want to wade into combat with Webs instead of using ranged attacks from outside its radius, just be aware that there are multiple Rings of Free Action in BG1 and BG2 that do the same thing but can be swapped-out at-will and won't immunize you against buffs like Improved Haste.

Holy Power

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Evocation	0	1 round/level	6	Caster	None

Description: Through this spell, the caster imbues himself with the strength and skill of a Fighter of the same level. The priest's Strength score is set to 18/00—even if it is normally higher—his THAC0 becomes that of a Fighter of the same level, and he gains 1 temporary Hit Point per level (up to 20). This will last for the duration of the spell or until dispelled.

Comments: Good for a number of attacks equal to your caster level if you're a straight up cleric and need to tank. For Fighter/Cleric multi- and dual-classes, this can be useful or it can be obsolete if you've already found a strength-increasing item. This spell will only set your THAC0 up to that of a level 20 fighter, so after level 20, this spell loses much of its utility.

Lesser Restoration

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	Touch	Instant	2	1 creature	None

Description: When this spell is cast, the life energy level of the recipient is raised. This reverses any previous life energy level drain of the creature by a force or monster. The casting of this spell is very draining on the priest and they will likely require rest immediately after the casting, as it will cause a day's worth of fatigue almost instantaneously.

Comments: Level drain causes the victim to lose levels (and therefore caster levels), Hit Dice, Hit Points, and abilities. It also causes any saving throw bonuses gained from any source (be they item or spell) to stop functioning - essentially setting your saving throws back to their default value at the level you are drained down to. This is why I always have one of these memorized: level drain is not just annoying, but it's also deadly.

Lesser Restoration bypasses your Constitution's fatigue modifier, bestowing a fatigue bonus of 7 upon casting it, which translates to a -1 luck penalty from a fresh rest. For more information on fatigue, visit the Constitution table.

Level drain clears out spell slots on casters as if you unmemorized them, so you have to go back and try to remember which spells you had memorized before you got level drained. Really annoying.

1.3+	At least now it just takes away the slot with the spell still "in" the missing slot so that it doesn't ruin your spellbook's organization. You still cannot cast the lost spells even though they're still "there," so you still need to get healed with a Restoration spell and rest to get them back.

Mental Domination

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Enchantment	40 ft.	8 rounds	4	1 creature	Spell Negates (-2)

Description: When cast upon a subject, the subject must make a Saving Throw vs. Spell with a -2 penalty in order to avoid the priest entering their mind. The effects of this spell are similar to those of exactly the same as the wizard spell Domination, with a few minor differences. The priest simply is able to command the subject to perform certain tasks or functions during the spell's duration. To control the subject, the priest must be within range and must be able to see the subject. This control will last until dispelled or for the duration of the spell.

Comments: Improved version of Dire Charm in that it lasts a bit longer, has a saving throw penalty, and works on a wider variety of creatures. Don't be afraid to burn your new ally's abilities and spells since Domination only lasts for 48 seconds. The nymph from Call Woodland Beings can cast this too, so Druids don't actually miss out on this spell. Fairly nice even for a cleric spell.

Negative Plane Protection

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	30 ft.	5 rounds	3	1 creature	None

Description: This spell affords the caster or the touched creature partial protection from undead monsters with Negative Energy Plane connections (such as vampires), and certain weapons and spells that drain energy levels. The Negative Plane Protection spell opens a channel to the Positive Energy Plane, possibly offsetting the effects of the negative energy attack. A protected creature struck by a negative energy attack is protected against any form of level draining for the duration of the spell. The protected creature suffers only normal Hit Point damage from the attack and does not suffer any drain of experience. This spell cannot be cast on the Negative Energy Plane.

Comments: If you're fighting things that can level drain you, you better kill them fast because this spell only lasts 30 seconds. The most likely culprits to level drain you are vampires. If you've got good enough AC, you can just avoid all their hits and kill them before they roll a 20 on you. Skip this spell and try to use items that give level drain immunity instead like the Amulet of Power or the illithium-coated Mace of Disruption. This spell is best prepared in bulk, and cast shortly before the duration ends on your frontliner(s) so it refreshes the duration. Level drain is one of the most devastating status effects in the game and until you possess the few items that protect from it, this is your only way to avoid it without the fatigue of Lesser Restoration.

Neutralize Poison

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	Touch	Instant	1	1 creature	None

Description: This spell removes all toxins from the body, both natural and magical in nature. When this spell is cast upon a poisoned individual, it immediately neutralizes any poison and restores 10 lost Hit Points. This spell will also cure any diseases that the target might be suffering from, as well as blindness and deafness.

Comments: Wonderful restorative spell that cures poison, disease, blindness, deafness, and heals more than Cure Light Wounds. What's not to like?

Poison

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	10 ft.	Instant; 1 turn	4	1 creature	Death Negates

Description: Through this spell, the caster can poison victims who fail their Saving Throw vs. Poison. The damage inflicted depends on the level of the caster as detailed below:

7–9th level: 2d8 + 2/round
10–12th level: 3d8 + 3/round
13–14th level: 4d8 + 4/round
15–16th level: 6d8 + 5/round
17+ level: 8d8 + 6/round

Those who make their Saving Throws are unaffected.

Comments: It's too bad that even the initial damage is subject to a saving throw, but at least poison damage is hardly ever resisted by living targets. The poison over time occurs once every 6 seconds. Best used on thieves, low-level mages, and anything else that happens to be physically fragile. That said, this is a single-target spell of a level that has multiple save-or-die spells that target multiple enemies. There are better sources of poison damage.

Protection from Evil 10' Radius

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Abjuration	0	1 turn/level	7	10 30 ft. radius	None

Description: When this spell is cast, all creatures within a 10 30-ft. radius are affected individually by Protection From Evil. It creates a magical barrier around the recipients at a distance of one foot. The barrier moves with the recipient and has three major effects: First, all attacks made by evil or evilly enchanted creatures against the protected creature receive a penalty of -2 to each attack roll. Second, any saving throws caused by such attacks are made by the protected creature with a +2 bonus. Third, summoned demons cannot target protected creatures.

Comments: +2 AC and saves against just about everything for 1 turn/level for the whole party is awesome. Great for fiendish gating too. Don't leave home without it! And yes, the actual radius of this spell is 30 ft., not 10 ft.

Protection from Lightning

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Abjuration	Touch	5 rounds/level	7	1 creature	None

Description: When the spell is cast, it confers complete invulnerability to electrical attacks such as Lightning Bolt, Shocking Grasp, and so on. The protection will last for the duration of the spell or until successfully dispelled.

Comments: Despite the fact it only has half the duration of the Wizard variant, 5 rounds per level is still an insanely long duration, and complete immunity to Electricity damage is not readily available on many magic items. Every Druid is going to cast Call Lightning and every Mage is going to toss Lightning Bolts that have cosmic luck that causes them to bounce through your party seven times killing everyone, carry this and avoid those situations.

Level 5 Spells

There are a lot of strong spells at this level for both sides of the divine aisle. This is probably the level where Druids and Shamans are at their best, solely because of Insect Plague and Iron Skins.

Animal Summoning II

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	30 ft.	3 turns	8	Targeted point	None

Description: By means of this spell, the caster calls from 1 to 3 animals that have 8 Hit Dice or less. The animals summoned aid the caster by whatever means they possess, staying until the spell duration expires. Only normal or giant animals can be summoned; fantastic animals or monsters cannot be summoned by this spell (no chimerae, dragons, gorgons, manticores, etc.).

Comments: Gets you any combination of 1-3 of the following:

Animal	Stats	Combat Abilities	Defenses	Immunities	Special
Black Bear	25 HP 16 INT 9 everything else	THAC0 17 3 attacks/round 1d6 crushing (strikes as normal weapon) Speed Factor 0	Base AC 7	N/A	N/A
Brown Bear	41 HP 16 STR & INT 9 everything else	THAC0 15 3 attacks/round 1d8 crushing (strikes as normal weapon) Speed Factor 0	Base AC 6	N/A	N/A
Cave Bear	50 HP 16 STR & INT 9 everything else	THAC0 13 3 attacks/round 1d10 crushing (strikes as normal weapon) Speed Factor 0	Base AC 6	N/A	N/A
Panther	33 HP 18 STR 11 DEX 9 everything else	THAC0 17 3 attacks/round 1d8 piercing (strikes as +1) Speed Factor 0	Base AC 6	N/A	N/A

These summons are terrible when cast as 2nd-level spells by a Beast Master. There is no reason to use an extremely valuable 5th-level spell slot on summoning monsters you can kill in BG1.

Cause Critical Wounds

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	0	15 seconds or until expended	8	Caster; creature touched	None

Description: This spell is the reverse of Cure Critical Wounds. Instead of healing the creature touched, it causes damage. On a successful touch from the priest with a +2 bonus to hit, the spell inflicts 27 points of damage upon the target. The next attack that the priest makes will cause this effect; however, they only have 15 seconds to make the attack before the spell fizzles. If the priest misses the target creature, the spell is wasted. There is no Saving Throw. The touch counts as a +6 weapon.

Comments: Upgrade to Cause Serious Wounds. It still counts as Silver and Cold Iron but only does 10 more damage. Skip and just wait for Harm at the next level.

Champion's Strength

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Alteration	40 ft.	3 rounds/level	2	1 creature	None

Description: When this spell is cast, the priest effectively draws on the strength of their god and lends it to the target creature, in effect creating a champion. The target gains a bonus to their THAC0 at a rate of 1 for every 3 levels of the caster. So a 9th level priest would confer a THAC0 bonus of 3 to the target, so on (up to +6 THAC0 at level 18). Also the target's Strength is set to 18/00 for the duration of the spell and receives all the bonuses to hit and damage rolls that this Strength confers. Note also that if the target's strength is above 18/00, it will actually be reduced to this value.

The drawback to this is that the priest must concentrate on the connection between the target and their god for the duration of the spell, hence losing the ability to cast any spells during this time. The effect lasts for 3 rounds for every level of the caster (up to 60 rounds at level 20) or until dispelled.

Comments: Also disables mage spellcasting for cleric/mage multiclasses. Pretty expensive for what it does, I think. The level 2 mage spell Strength can do mostly the same thing and without disabling spellcasting. The bonuses to THAC0 and damage can be easily substituted by the plethora of Strength-boosting belts in BG2. There is no reason to cast this and force a caster to not be able to cast for 3 rounds per level. Not worth a 5th-level spell slot.

Chaotic Commands

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Enchantment	40 ft.	1 turn/level	3	1 creature	None

Description: Chaotic Commands renders a creature immune to magical commands. The target becomes immune to Charm, Domination, Stun, Sleep, Feeblemind, Paralysis, Hold, Confusion, and Maze. This spell also protects the target from psionic blasts. This spell affects only 1 creature and lasts for the duration or until dispelled.

Comments: Basically provides protection from most mind-affecting spells for a long time. I always have this memorized. Anything that keeps your dudes under your control is a good thing. This confers most of the immunities of the Berserker's Enrage and it lasts forever. Prepare one per party member at a minimum.

Cure Critical Wounds

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	Touch	Instant	8	1 creature	None

Description: The Cure Critical Wounds spell is a very potent version of the Cure Light Wounds spell. The priest lays their hands upon a creature and heals 27 points of damage from wounds or other injuries. The spell does not affect creatures without corporeal bodies, those of extraplanar origin, or those not living.

Comments: Potions of Extra Healing heal the same amount of HP as this spell. Cure Critical Wounds eventually gets outclassed by Mass Cure at high levels since it heals a comparable amount to all friendlies in a 30 ft. radius. Skip.

Flame Strike

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Evocation	40 ft.	Instant	8	1 creature	Spell 1/2

Description: When the priest calls down a Flame Strike spell, a vertical column of fire roars downward in the exact location called for by the caster. The target must roll a Saving Throw vs. Spell. Failure means the creature sustains 1d8 points of damage per level of the caster (up to 20d8); otherwise, the damage is halved.

Comments: Potent single-target damage spell, although fire resistance is fairly common. That's all there is to say, really. Personally, I skip this in favor of more support and healing spells.

Greater Command

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Enchantment	35 ft.	1 round/level	1	30 ft. radius	Spell Negates

Description: As with the 1st-level spell Command, this spell enables the priest to command other creatures to "die" (sleep), except that the effects of this spell last 1 round per level of the caster (up to 20 rounds). The area of effect is similar to that of a Stinking Cloud or a Fireball.

Comments: Command with a party-friendly 30 foot radius. Great disabler and fast casting too, but since it causes Sleep, elves and half-elves are 90% and 30% resistant to this respectively if the G3 Fixpack is installed, or when playing with the Enhanced Editions.

Insect Plague

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	40 ft.	6 rounds	5	30 ft. radius of initial target	Breath Partial

Description: When this spell is cast by the priest, a horde of creeping, hopping, and flying insects gather and swarm. This swarm will jump first to the target, then to the nearest allies of the target's, until up to 6 creatures have been affected. Spellcasting within the swarm is impossible (100% chance of spell failure). Creatures in the insect plague sustain 1 piercing damage every 2 seconds they remain within regardless of their Armor Class, due to the bites and stings of the insects. Invisibility is no protection. Due to the suffocating nature of the writhing insect swarm, each victim must make a Saving Throw vs. Breath Weapon or run away in fear for 1 round.

Comments: One of the best, if not THE best offensive spells available to Druids. The casting failure shuts down priests and mages alike, though Liches are still conveniently immune to this since it's a level 5 spell. Hasted targets will suffer double damage over time. If an enemy happens to cast this on you, try running away from the insect swarm and lead it away from other party members so it doesn't spread to them. You can easily kite the swarm while Hasted or while wearing the Boots of Speed. Insect Plague will bypass spell protections if cast on an unprotected target within 30 ft. of a spellcaster. This spell is so ridiculously busted it may as well not have a saving throw. The fear debuff is great for alleviating incoming damage from melee enemies, and it makes casting impossible. Every 'tick' of damage (pun intended) eats through a single layer of Stoneskin. This spell would be overpowered as a 7th-level spell and it's a 5th-level spell. This is why you play Druid.

This spell is devastating in Siege of Dragonspear since there are literal armies of enemies, with casters in the back where it is difficult to reach them through their walls of meat. This spell will let you shut down and damage those casters, plus it may scatter their meatshields due to the panic effect, which lets you concentrate on carving your way through the ones who made their save. This spell is useful just about everywhere, but significant places to use it include the siege of Bridgefort, the attack on the Coalition Camp, and the siege of Dragonspear Castle.

Iron Skins

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Alteration	0	12 hours	9	Caster	None

Description: When a Druid casts this powerful spell upon himself, an outer skin of iron will move up from the ground, completely covering him. This skin is, of course, magical and will hinder the Druid in no way. The effect of this is to protect the Druid from physical attacks such as melee weapons and projectiles. For every 2 levels of the caster, an additional skin is gained upon casting (up to 10 total skins at level 20). For example, a 10th-level Druid would receive 5 skins. For each skin the Druid possesses, the spell will stop one attack, so a 10th-level Druid would be protected from the first 5 attacks made against him but the 6th would affect him normally. The skins will remain on the Druid until he is affected by a Dispel Magic, all of the skins are removed due to physical attacks, or the spell's duration expires. It is important to note that this will not protect the Druid from any area attacks such as Fireball; however, it will protect him from physical magical attacks such as Magic Missile.

Comments: Stoneskin for Druids and Shamans. Still incredibly useful and it doesn't get dispelled by Breach either since it apparently counts as a Spell Protection (like Spell Deflection or Minor Globe). Always have one memorized.

Magic Resistance

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Alteration	Touch	3 rounds + 1 round/level	9	1 creature	None

Description: When this spell is cast, the recipient receives a resistance to all magic. The resistance conferred is 2% per level of the caster, up to a maximum of 40% at 20th level. This resistance is set so that if the target already has more Magic Resistance than the priest would confer, it will actually lower it to the set value. This effect will last for the duration of the spell or until dispelled.

Comments: This one has varying use depending on whether your or your ally's gear offers any magic resistance. The duration is pretty short, though. Offensively, you can use this at low levels to set an enemy's magic resistance to a much lower value, making it easier to weaken them with spells. The long casting time and touch range can make this a bit difficult to achieve without being interrupted somehow. In BG1 a single-classed Druid at max XP (the only class in BG1 with access to 5th-level spells) can use this to drop Drizzt's MR from 98% to 18%. This can be used against Belhifet in SoD to drop his MR to 20% (normally 80% or 100% based on your difficulty setting).

Mass Cure

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	0	Instant	5	30 ft. radius	None

Description: When casting this spell, the priest must picture the faces of their fellow party members clearly and focus on the unity of the group. Upon completion, all party members within a 30-ft. radius of the caster are healed 1d8 + 1/level Hit Points (up to 1d8 + 20). Curing is permanent only insofar as the creature does not sustain further damage; caused wounds will heal—or can be cured—just as any normal injury.

Comments: Great party-wide healing spell that heals an amount comparable to Cure Critical Wounds at high levels. Also good for curing the area-wide intoxication wish, though the portrait icon will still remain. Memorize this.

Pixie Dust

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Illusion	0	24 hours or until broken	9	30 ft. radius	None

Description: This spell creates a small handful of pixie dust that the caster can use to toss into the air. Anyone hit by the dust becomes invisible (the range of the dust is about 30 ft.). Of course, the invisible creature is not magically silenced, and certain other conditions can render the creature detectable. Even allies cannot see the invisible creature or its gear, unless these allies can normally see invisible things or employ magic to do so. Items dropped or put down by the invisible creature become visible; items picked up disappear if tucked into the clothing or pouches worn by the creature.

The spell remains in effect until it is magically broken or dispelled, until the caster or recipient cancels it, until the recipient attacks any creature, or until 24 hours have passed. Thus, the invisible being can walk around and cast defensive spells; however, if they attack, they immediately become visible, although the invisibility enables them to attack first.

Comments: Druid version of Invisibility 10' Radius, except it only affects allies and has a larger AoE. As with the mage version, try using this to cloak the whole party and defeat an encounter from a different angle.

Raise Dead

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	Unlimited	Instant	9	1 dead party member	None

Description: When the priest casts a Raise Dead spell, they can restore life to a dwarf, gnome, half-elf, halfling, elf, half-orc, or human.

Note that the body of the person must be whole, otherwise missing parts are still missing when the person is brought back to life. The person has but 1 Hit Point when raised and must regain the rest by natural healing or curative magic.

Comments: I hope you don't need to memorize this too often. Pretty straightforward. Party members who were killed by being brought below -10 HP from damage (i.e. gibbed, burnt to a crisp, etc.), were victims of a Disintegration spell, or are otherwise permanently dead and therefore don't leave behind their greyed-out portrait on the party roster cannot be brought back.

Druids don't get this spell, but Jaheira has her own version called Harper's Call that causes 10 crushing damage to her in order to bring the party member back to life with 1 HP. The raised party member also suffers -5 to all of their stats for 1 turn after being raised.

2.0+	In the Enhanced Editions, Harper's Call also prevents the target from dying again immediately after being raised if their stats would reach 0 or lower from the stat drain.

Repulse Undead

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Abjuration	0	11 rounds	5	18.75 ft. radius of caster	None

Description: This powerful spell creates waves of anti-negative energy that sweep outward from the caster. These waves disrupt any undead that attempt to attack the caster, pushing them away from the caster for several seconds. There is one wave per round for the duration of the spell. All undead are affected with no Saving Throw.

Comments: This spell has too many downsides to be useful. The casting time is just a little too long to use in an emergency when you're overwhelmed, it works off the 'activate once per round' like how True Seeing dispels illusions and invisibility once every 6 seconds, and of more important note this spell does not bypass Magic Resistance. Even Skeleton Warriors will be almost immune to this. Most vampires will be immune. Liches will be immune. This might see use against hordes of Shadows and Mummies but even multi-class Clerics can turn those.

This spell may be more useful in Siege of Dragonspear than anywhere else just because it throws hordes of enemies at you on Core difficulty, but especially on Hard and Insane, Icewind Dale style. Repulse Undead will let you blast away the meat walls and destroy the skeletal mages and Shadowed Souls who buff the whole group and heal low-health enemies, respectively. Korlasz's Tomb and the Repository of Undeath are two such locations that encounters like this occur, and to a lesser extent, Kanaglym has this as well.

Righteous Magic

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Alteration	0	1 round/level	9	Caster	None

Description: This is a powerful combat spell that enhances the priest's physical prowess, transforming them into a juggernaut of destruction. The effect adds 1 temporary Hit Point per level of the caster, adds 1 point of Strength every 3 levels of the caster (up to +6 STR and +20 HP at level 20, to a maximum of 25 Strength), and causes every successful hit to inflict maximum damage. The effects last for the duration of the spell or until dispelled.

Comments: Fighter/Clerics and Fighter -> Clerics indeed become juggernauts of destruction with this spell. This lets them copy a Kensai's Kai ability but with the added bonus of extra strength and hitpoints, making them hit devastatingly hard. Combat focused clerics should pick this up. Also amazing for Cleric/Thieves since damage roll boosts are multiplied on a Backstab. Not very useful at all on pure Clerics or Cleric/Mages due to their lack of APR or backstab damage.

Slay Living

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	0	3 rounds or until expended	1	Caster; creature touched	Spell Partial

Description: Upon casting this spell, the priest has to touch an opponent in order to visit the effect upon them. An item is created upon casting. The next attack the priest makes, which must happen in the next 3 rounds, will use this item. If the first attack misses, the item disappears and the spell is wasted; however, if the attack succeeds, the victim automatically takes 2d6+9 magical damage. Also, they must make a Save vs. Spell or be instantly killed. Slay Living can be dispelled if cast between the casting of this spell and the necessary attack.

Comments: Slay Living works like the Cause Wound spells except it makes the target save vs. spell or be slain, else they take some magical damage. It still counts as Silver, Cold Iron, and +6, and the user gets a +3 bonus to hit with it. Still, this spell is quite the gamble since you have to roll to hit (possibly missing and ending the spell) and then the target must save or die (possibly succeeding and simply doing minor damage). This isn't 100% useless, but to get it to work you either need to be a Fighter/Cleric multi-or-dual-class or use every THAC0-boosting buff in the game, you need to hit the enemy with Doom and Greater Malison (and Unholy Blight for good-aligned targets), and also remove any magic resistance they have with Lower Resistance and/or Pierce Shield. If you do all that prep work, this spell kills pretty reliably. Without an entire football team's worth of support spells, it's useless.

True Seeing

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Divination	0	1 turn	8	235 ft. radius	None

Description: Instantly and once each round for 1 turn after True Seeing is cast, all hostile Illusion/Phantasm spells in a 235-ft. radius around the caster will be dispelled. The spells affected are Reflected Image, Invisibility, Mirror Image, Non-Detection, Improved Invisibility, Shadow Door, Mislead, Project Image, and Simulacrum. The target's Magic Resistance, if any, does not affect this.

Comments: Same spell, different name. Forces mages and invisibility-potion-spamming thieves to come out and fight you like a man. The radius of True Sight is absolutely huge, so moving a Mislead clone far away from an enemy using this spell will let you stay invisible while still being in True Sight's area of effect. Thieves have their own version of True Sight via their Detect Illusion skill, so if they have 100% in it, they will dispel any illusions within their sight range. Inquisitors and Clerics of Helm get this for free.

Note: If you play with SCS, this spell is pretty useless against invisibility-potion-spamming thieves, as it triggers once per round, so the thieves will gulp the potion immediately after it ticks and still backstab you. For this reason, I recommend installing True True Sight from the Tweaks and Tricks mod which makes True Sight/Seeing work as it is supposed to, dispelling illusions constantly for one turn.

Level 6 Spells

This level features several summons and a small array of various other spells, but the most notable spell of this level is definitely Heal.

Aerial Servant

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	20 ft.	1 turn/level	9	Targeted point	None

Description: This spell summons an Aerial Servant to do the caster's bidding for the duration of the spell. The servant will attack any enemies that the caster decides, staying until the duration of the spell expires or it is slain.

Stats	Combat Abilities	Defenses	Immunities	Special
128 HP 23 STR 9 everything else	THAC0 5 1 attack/round 4d8 crushing damage (strikes as +4) Speed Factor 0	Base AC 3	Normal weapons	Invisible when first summoned; loses invisibility once it attacks

Comments: Excellent summon. Its good THAC0, 23 Strength (+5 to hit, +11 damage), and initial invisibility (+4 to hit) all but ensure the Aerial Servant will strike its first target HARD. 4d8+11 is nothing to sneeze at, even if it only occurs once per round. It loses its invisibility after the first hit but thanks to its large pool of 128 HP and good AC, it can stay in battle once it starts. It is not immune to anything besides normal weapons, so watch out for disablers. aTweaks restores its proper PnP immunities and abilities as it is a being from the Elemental Plane of Air, making it quite annoying to fight against should an enemy priest summon one. Either memorize this spell or the Fire Elemental summon at this level.

Animal Summoning III

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	120 ft.	4 turns	9	Targeted point	None

Description: By means of this spell, the caster calls 2 or 3 animals that have 12 Hit Dice or less. Only animals within visual range of the caster at the time the spell is cast will come. The summoned animals aid the caster by whatever means they possess, staying until they are slain or the spell's duration expires. Only normal- or giant-sized animals can be summoned.

Animal	Stats	Combat Abilities	Defenses	Immunities	Special
Lion	42 HP 18 STR 9 everything else	15 THAC0 3 attacks/round 1d12 piercing damage(strikes as +1)	Base AC 5	N/A	N/A
Winter Wolf	63 HP 16 STR 19 DEX 15 CON 9 everything else	THAC0 10 3 attacks/round Ranged (15 ft.): 6d4 cold damage (save vs. breath for half; strikes as normal weapon) +2 bonus to hit Speed Factor 3 Melee: 2d4 cold damage (strikes as +2; no STR bonus damage) Speed Factor 3	Base AC 3 100% Cold resist 100% Magic Cold resist	N/A	N/A
Cave Bear	50 HP 16 STR & INT 9 everything else	THAC0 13 3 attacks/round 1d10 crushing damage (strikes as normal weapon) Speed Factor 0	Base AC 6	N/A	N/A
Mountain Bear	72 HP 18/00 STR 17 CON 16 INT 9 everything else	THAC0 11 3 attacks/round 1d12 crushing damage (strikes as +3) Speed Factor 0	Base AC 6	N/A	N/A

Comments: By the time you get 6th-level spells you have absolutely no reason at all to cast this. A Beast Master dualed to Cleric very early on can cast this as a 3rd-level spell, making this the only possibly useful Animal Summoning spell. And it's still not worth casting even then. By the time you get animals with magic weapons you already have multiple summoning spells that summon creatures with better magic weapons, not just a terrible gaggle of creatures with +1 or +2 weapons and a chance at a Mountain Bear who's just inferior to the equal-leveled Aerial Servant in every way. The Winter Wolf's ranged Cold-damage attack wasn't that threatening in BG1 and when you get this in BG2 it's useless before you can even summon it.

Blade Barrier

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Evocation	0	1 turn	9	Once/round in 4 ft. radius of caster	Spell Negates

Description: The priest employs this spell to set up a wall of circling, razor-sharp blades. These whirl and flash around the caster, creating an impenetrable barrier. Any creature attempting to pass through the Blade Barrier suffers 8d8 points of slashing damage. Creatures within the area of the barrier are entitled to a Saving Throw vs. Spell to negate the damage. The barrier remains for 1 turn.

Comments: Sounds cooler than it is because a save vs. spell or magic resistance completely negates the damage for that round. Not party-friendly either. All these drawbacks to Blade Barrier make it not worth memorizing. Skip.

Another Comment: It actually is pretty cool. As opposed to fireshields, you don't have to be hit by an enemy in order for them to take damage, and the damage is pretty good. Which means you can walk into a group of enemies under invisibility or sanctuary and chop them into pieces with minimal risk to yourself. SCS fixes the spell not being party-friendly part. Being hasted also doubles its trigger frequency to once per 3 seconds.

Bolt of Glory

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Evocation	40 ft.	Instant	9	1 creature	None

Description: By casting this spell, the priest channels a bolt of divine energy against the target. No attack roll is needed. Creatures struck suffer varying damage, depending on their racial type:

Enemy Type	Damage	Damage Type
Humanoid	6d6	Missile 1.3+ Magical
Undead	8d6
Elemental	3d4
Fiendish	10d6

Comments: This spell bypasses magic resistance and offers no save which makes it ideal for slaying demons and devils alike, but it has a long casting time. Memorize if you have trouble hitting fiends for some reason.

Conjure Animals

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	30 ft.	4 turns	9	Targeted point	None

Description: This spell allows the caster to summon forth and control 1 or 2 massive mountain bears. The bears will respond to the caster's every whim for the duration of the spell.

Comments: This spell guarantees you the Mountain Bear summon from Animal Summoning III, but only gives you 1 or 2 of them. Animal Summoning III could conceivably get you 3 Mountain Bears instead, and that spell's useless even if it did summon three bears, so I'm not sure why you'd choose this spell, considering the Mountain Bear summon itself is none too remarkable anyway.

If you install the "Shapeshifter Rebalancing" component of BG2Tweaks/Tweaks Anthology, this spell will instead summon two Greater Bearweres which are hideously overpowered (in line with Westley Weimer's tactical mods) and makes it Druid-only. I'm not sure why the spell revision part of the Shapeshifter Rebalancing component isn't divorced from the Shapeshifter Paws part.

Conjure Fire Elemental

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	35 ft.	1 turn/level	9	Targeted point	None

Description: Upon casting a Conjure Fire Elemental spell, the caster opens a special gate to the Elemental Plane of Fire, and a fire elemental is summoned in the vicinity of the caster. There is a 60% chance that a 12-Hit-Dice elemental appears; a 35% chance that a 16-Hit-Dice elemental appears; and a 5% chance that a 24-Hit-Dice elemental appears. The elemental will do the bidding of the caster until it is slain or the duration of the spell runs out. All the commands given to the elemental are done telepathically, so there is no time lost due to miscommunication and no need to know the language of the summoned creature. Unlike Mages, priests do not have to engage in a battle of the minds to control their elemental.

Elemental Summoned	Stats	Combat Abilities	Defenses	Immunities	Special
12 HD	96 HP 18 STR 14 DEX 14 CON 7 INT 12 WIS 7 CHA	THAC0 9 1 attack/round 3d8 crushing damage (strikes as +4) +1d6 fire damage Speed Factor 0	Base AC 2 100% Fire resist 100% Magic Fire resist	+1 weapons and lower	N/A
16 HD	128 HP 20 STR 14 DEX 14 CON 7 INT 12 WIS 7 CHA	THAC0 5 1 attack/round 3d8 crushing damage (strikes as +4) +1d6 fire damage Speed Factor 0	Base AC 2 100% Fire resist 100% Magic Fire resist	+1 weapons and lower	N/A
24 HD	192 HP 23 STR 14 DEX 14 CON 7 INT 12 WIS 7 CHA	THAC0 0 1 attack/round 3d8 crushing damage (strikes as +4) +1d6 fire damage Speed Factor 0	Base AC 2 100% Fire resist 100% Magic Fire resist	+1 weapons and lower	N/A

Comments: Identical to the air and earth elementals in most ways, but each fire elemental has 1 more Strength than both the air and earth elementals of the same HD and they do bonus fire damage, making them good at finishing off trolls. Fire Elementals are also immune to fire but with no accompanying weakness to cold. They last for a long time and the higher HD versions can do damage comparable to the Aerial Servant. This is the superior elemental summon once again and are even better than the Level 7 Earth Elementals.

Dolorous Decay

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Alteration	20 ft.	2 rounds (slow); 56 seconds (poison)	1	1 creature	Death Partial (-2)

Description: This spell affects a single living creature. Dolorous Decay is a rotting and withering of the body that spreads throughout the afflicted creature quickly. The target creature will automatically be slowed for 2 rounds. Furthermore, if the target fails a Saving Throw vs. Poison with a -2 penalty, they will suffer 1 point of damage per second until a total of 50 points of damage are inflicted.

Comments: This is a near-instantaneous no-save Slow. This can hit liches because it is above 5th-level. Snap your fingers, enemy is slowed for 2 rounds. Excellent panic button, prepare multiple times and repeatedly slow every boss monster, every dragon, anyone you want. Since it's cast so quickly you can swing some auto-attacks in-between casting this. Any battle against a single enemy is rendered trivial by this.

False Dawn

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Evocation	0	Instant; 2 rounds (confusion)	9	30 ft. radius of caster	None

Description: False Dawn calls into existence a bright reddish light, as if a sunrise were occurring, within the area of effect. All undead creatures within a False Dawn suffer 6d6 points of damage. There is no Saving Throw. Affected undead also act confused for two rounds after the False Dawn appears.

Comments: The damage isn't fantastic but the confusion effect is guaranteed for 2 rounds, even on Liches with spell protections up! Finally, something that can disrupt Liches' arcane assaults! This will give you some breathing room, and if you time it right before a Lich's Protection from Magical Weapons wears off, you will easily be able to tear through its Stoneskins and kill it while it's still confused. False Dawn should also work relatively well on SCS Liches too because the Confusion also prevents them from firing sequencers and triggers, but not contingencies. Pick this up when you're Lich hunting.

Fire Seeds

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	0	3 turns or until expended	9	Caster; 14.76 ft. radius of target	None; Spell 1/2

Description: Casting the Fire Seed spell creates 4 fire seeds that will appear in the caster's inventory. The seeds will remain in existence for 3 turns after the spell is cast. If they are thrown at an enemy, a fireball will ensue, causing 2d8 points of damage to all within a 15-ft. radius unless they make a Saving Throw vs. Spell for half damage.

Comments: Fire Seeds strike as +6 and have a +2 bonus to hit. Interesting spell with a couple of niche uses. The Fire Seeds can be given to other party members for them to throw. Since they explode in a ~15 ft. radius of whatever they hit, it means they can still hit mages Protected from Magical Weapons. The kicker is that any on-hit abilities/effects you have active at the time (Deathblow, Power Attack, even Wizard Slayer Spell Failure) will be given to all creatures in the Fire Seed's AoE. This can prove to be an effective combination as a Wizard Slayer -> Druid dual-class, or by simply handing them off to a straight-class Wizard Slayer to throw instead. Fire Seeds can be made permanent by dropping them on the ground and then picking them back up after the spell's duration expires. This tactic will allow you to stock up on them as much as you want if you're willing to invest the time.

Harm

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	Touch	15 seconds; Instant	9	Caster; creature touched	None

Description: This spell is the reverse of Heal. Instead of healing the creature touched, it causes damage. On a successful touch from the priest with a a +2 bonus to hit, the spell reduces the target to 1 Hit Point. The next attack that the priest makes will inflict this effect; however, they only have 15 seconds to make the attack before the spell fizzles. If the priest misses the target creature, the spell is wasted. There is no Saving Throw. Harm strikes as a +6 weapon and counts as Silver and Cold Iron.

Comments: Using Harm against a boss-type creature basically wins you the fight if you can land it on them. It is subject to Magic Resistance and requires an attack roll, but with MR-lowering debuffs and THAC0-boosting buffs this can be a guaranteed boss fight ender. It just sets an enemy to 1 HP. After that you've basically won the fight.

Heal

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Heal	Touch	Instant	9	1 creature	None

Description: The very potent Heal spell enables the priest to wipe away disease and injury in the creature who receives the benefits of the spell. It completely cures all disease and blindness in the recipient and heals all points of damage suffered due to wounds or injury. It also dispels a Feeblemind spell and cures those mental disorders caused by spells or injury to the brain. Naturally, the effects can be negated by later wounds, injuries, and diseases.

Comments: Your go-to panacea spell of level 6, Heal puts the target back at full HP and cures many status effects, including intoxication which isn't listed in the description. The drawback is that it takes almost a full round to cast. As such, if one of your party members is in dire need of health, you should cast this one round in advance before their condition reaches critical. Naturally, cleric/mage multiclasses have several ways of mitigating the casting time: by using equipment that reduces casting time, contigencies, and spell sequencers. Always have at least one Heal memorized, though you may have trouble filling out your spellbook with actually good spells on level 6, so I usually just fill it with Heals.

Physical Mirror

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Alteration	0	9 rounds	9	Caster	None

Description: This spell causes a localized folding of space. The folded space takes the form of an invisible disk that protects the caster. Any missile weapon that intersects this disk is instantaneously reversed in direction. Melee factors such as speed, range, and damage are unaffected; the direction of the object or force is simply rotated through a 180-degree arc. The sender of the missile finds themselves the target of their own attack. The caster of the mirror may direct missile attacks normally through the space occupied by the mirror.

Comments: The Reflection Shield +1 is for sale at the Adventure Mart in BG2 for a couple thousand gold which can give you the effects of this spell 24/7. By that time, archers are no trouble at all anyway. Skip this spell and just buy the shield if you want to reflect missile attacks.

Sol's Searing Orb

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Evocation	0; visual range	15 seconds or until expended	6	1 creature	Spell Partial

Description: When the spell is completed, it creates a glowing stone. This gem must be immediately thrown at an opponent, for it quickly becomes too hot to hold. It is not possible for the priest to give the stone to another character to throw. The priest must make an attack roll with +3 bonus and no penalty for lack of weapon proficiency. In addition, the glowing gem can be used to strike any creature, even those hit only by magical weapons, although there is no damage bonus.

When it hits, the gem bursts with a brilliant, searing flash that causes 6d6 points of fire damage to the target and blinds them for 1d6 rounds. The victim is allowed a Saving Throw vs. Spell for half damage and to avoid being blinded. Undead creatures suffer 12d6 points of fire damage and are blinded for 12 rounds (if applicable) upon a failed Saving Throw; otherwise, they receive 9d6 points of damage and are blinded for 6 rounds.

Comments: Sol's Searing Orb strikes as a +6 weapon. I can't help but compare this spell to False Dawn, as they both do fire damage and undead suffer a status effect even if they save successfully. Sol's Searing Orb is single-target only, does a bit more damage, and blindness is more useful than confusion. On the other hand, False Dawn is a 30 ft. radius AoE spell which does less damage and inflicts confusion for a short time no matter what.

Again, I can't help but compare their usefulness against Liches as they are unquestionably the most dangerous type of undead, because other undead are easy to deal with if you can defeat their their special abilities (like a vampire's level drain, shadows' Strength drain, Ghasts' paralysis, etc). False Dawn works better against Liches because they'll be affected by it even with spell protections up, but Sol's Searing Orb will be absorbed or reflected back by their spell buffs.

TL;DR: Use False Dawn instead because it's more reliable.

Wondrous Recall

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Alteration	0	Instant	9	Caster	None

Description: This spell enables the caster to bring back into memory two spells up to 5th level that have been previously cast. If no spells have been cast yet, nothing happens. Wondrous Recall cannot recall 6th-level or higher spells.

Comments: Wondrous Recall only restores priest spells. On a Cleric, this isn't very good. You'd rather be using 6th-level spells to do 6th-level spell effects. On Druid, this turns one 6th-level spell slot into 2 Insect Plagues or Iron Skins, which are better than any 6th-level spells.

Level 7 Spells

The final spell circle for priests is good - nothing amazing like Level 9 arcane spells - but more than serviceable. But it's peppered with trash that has absolutely no business being this high up. Level 7 slots are also shared by the divine HLA spells, so at least you'll have some variety when you try to fill them out.

Confusion

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Enchantment	45 ft.	1 round/2 levels	7	30 ft. radius	Spell Negates (-2)

Description: This spell causes confusion in one or more creatures within the area, creating indecision and the inability to take effective action. All creatures within the area of effect are allowed Saving Throw vs. Spell with a -2 penalty. Those successfully saving are unaffected by the spell, whereas those who fail their Saving Throws will either go berserk, stand confused, or wander about for the duration of the spell. Wandering creatures move as far from the caster as possible, according to their most typical mode of movement (characters walk, fish swim, bats fly, etc.). Any confused creature that is attacked perceives the attacker as an enemy and acts according to its basic nature. The spell lasts for 1 round every 2 levels of the caster.

Comments: Compared to the arcane version, the divine version has a longer range, duration, and casting time. The result is still the same: save vs. spell at -2 or be confused. Leave this spell to enchanters because it's absolutely not worth a Level 7 spell slot.

Conjure Earth Elemental

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	35 ft.	1 turn/level	9	Targeted point	None

Description: Upon casting a Conjure Earth Elemental spell, the caster opens a special gate to the Elemental Plane of Earth, and an earth elemental is summoned in the vicinity of the caster. There is a 60% chance that a 12-Hit-Dice elemental appears, a 35% chance that a 16-Hit-Dice elemental appears, and a 5% chance that a 24-Hit-Dice elemental appears. All of the commands given to the elemental are done telepathically, so there is no time lost due to miscommunication, and it is not necessary to know the language of the summoned creature. Unlike Mages, priests do not have to engage in a battle of the minds to control their summoned elemental.

Elemental Summoned	Stats	Combat Abilities	Defenses	Immunities	Special
12 HD	96 HP 19 STR 14 DEX 14 CON 7 INT 13 WIS 8 CHA	THAC0 9 1 attack/round 4d8 crushing damage (strikes as +4) Speed Factor 0	Base AC 2	+1 weapons and lower	N/A
16 HD	128 HP 19 STR 14 DEX 14 CON 7 INT 13 WIS 8 CHA	THAC0 5 1 attack/round 4d8 crushing damage (strikes as +4) Speed Factor 0	Base AC 2	+1 weapons and lower	N/A
24 HD	192 HP 20 STR 14 DEX 14 CON 7 INT 13 WIS 8 CHA	THAC0 0 1 attack/round 4d8 crushing damage (strikes as +4) Speed Factor 0	Base AC 2	+1 weapons and lower	N/A

Comments: The Fire Elementals from the previous spell circle are much better than the Earth Elementals of Level 7. Fire is always a good decision.

Creeping Doom

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	160 ft.	3 rounds	5	30 ft. radius of initial target	Spell Partial (-2)

Description: When the caster utters the spell Creeping Doom, they call forth a mass of venomous, biting and stinging arachnids, insects, and myriapods. This carpet-like mass swarms over a large area, spreading to all creatures within 30 ft. of the target. Those trapped by the insects suffer 2 points of damage each second and a spell failure rate of 100%. For each round the victim remains inside the cloud, they must make a Save vs. Spell at -2 or run away in fear for one round. The advantage of Creeping Doom over its 5th-level counterpart Insect Plague is that it does twice as much damage in half the amount of time.

Comments: Another advantage that Creeping Doom provides over Insect Plague is that it counts as a Level 7 spell, which makes Liches deathly allergic to this spell! The drawback is that it lasts half as long, which means the 100% spell failure only lasts for 3 rounds. The superior damage is just gravy. As with Insect Plague, Creeping Doom will bypass spell protections if the initial target is unprotected. Try placing an item on the ground and casting Creeping Doom on it to achieve this effect if you're faced with a single, protected target. An excellent disabler for Druids and Shamans, pick this up!

Earthquake

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Alteration	40 ft.	3 rounds	9	30 ft. radius	Spell Special (see below)

Description: When this spell is cast, a local tremor of fairly high strength rips the ground. The shock is over in several rounds. The earthquake affects all creatures in its area of effect. There are 3 tremors that are caused by the earthquake:

• 1st: All creatures affected take 6d6 points of damage and fall to the ground for 4 rounds. A successful Saving Throw vs. Spell with a -6 penalty halves the damage and negates the fall.
• 2nd: All creatures affected take 3d6 points of damage. A successful Saving Throw vs. Spell with a -2 penalty halves the damage.
• 3rd: All creatures affected take 2d6 points of damage. A successful Saving Throw vs. Spell halves the damage.

This spell will affect both enemies and friends of the caster's, so care must be taken in its use. Finally, earth elementals dislike mere mortals toying with the land and there is a 2% chance that casting this spell will cause a Greater Earth Elemental to appear and attack the party.

Comments: I would be more inclined to use this spell if it didn't violently shake the whole screen. Very annoying and disorienting. If you're willing to put up with it or mod that out, Earthquake has one of the toughest saves available to any spell. The damage is nothing spectacular but knocking out opponents so you can wail on them with impunity is always a good idea. Anything immune to Sleep will be immune to the disabling part of Earthquake, though Elves and Half-Elves have no resistance to it at all. Be mindful of the area of effect; it has a Fireball-sized diameter but there's no visual indication of where the Earthquake was centered.

Nota Bene: Anyone entering the Earthquake's area of effect after the initial tremor will not be subject to the aftershocks of the 2nd or 3rd round. Likewise, anyone caught in the initial tremor will suffer the aftershock damage of the 2nd and 3rd round no matter how far away they move from the Earthquake's initial area of effect.

Finger of Death

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	40 ft.	Instant	5	1 creature	Spell Partial (-2)

Description: The Finger of Death spell snuffs out the victim's life force. The caster points their finger at the victim after the incantation is complete, effectively ripping the life out of its body unless a Save vs. Spell is made with a -2 penalty. A creature that successfully saves still receives 2d8+1/level (up to +20) points of magical damage.

Comments: Slay Living is tough to justify because of the THAC0 roll and lack of a saving throw penalty. This spell can be used at a range, has no THAC0 roll, just forces a saving throw, and has a penalty on the target's save. Stack with Doom and Greater Malison for maximum effect. Dual-classed Necromancer->Clerics have no reason not to load up on this spell.

Fire Storm

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Evocation	80 ft.	4 rounds	9	30 ft. radius	None

Description: When a Fire Storm spell is cast, the whole area is shot through with sheets of roaring flame and then pelted with fiery balls of lava. Creatures within the area of effect receive 2d8 points of damage plus 1 per level of the caster (i.e. 2d8 + 1/level). This assault will last for 4 rounds and will continue to do damage to the creature during that time unless they move out of the area of effect. There is no Saving Throw.

Comments: This spell bypasses magic resistance. Compare to Meteor Swarm which does lower base damage but slightly higher max damage. While Incendiary Cloud still does more damage, Fire Storm is more consistent since it bypasses magic resistance and offers no save. Pick this up if you can buff one of your fighters to be immune to (or heal from) fire, then lob this at them as they fight.

Gate

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	30 ft.	33 rounds	5	Targeted point	None

Description: By means of this spell, the caster calls an outer planar creature—the pit fiend—to attack their foes as well as himself, if he's not careful. The caster must use a Protection From Evil spell on himself (and comrades) to keep the devil from noticing him. If the caster fails to protect himself in this manner, the pit fiend will tear the caster and his companions apart piece by piece, then feast on the remains.

Stats	Combat Abilities	Defenses	Immunities	Special	At-will Abilities
104 HP 18/00 STR 17 DEX 9 CON & INT 16 WIS 25 CHA	THAC0 7 5 attacks/round 3d4 piercing damage (strikes as +4) Speed Factor 0	Base AC -5 100% Fire resist 50% Magic resist	Poison, Charm, Fear, Domination, Confusion, Polymorphing, Feeblemind, Hold/Paralysis +2 weapons and lower	Regenerates 1 HP/3 seconds Detects invisible creatures	Demon Fear: Save vs. spell or be panicked for 2 rounds. 30 ft. radius, party-friendly. Fireball (20d6, save vs. spell for half) Remove Magic Symbol, Fear

Comments: Exactly the same as the arcane version but casts nearly twice as fast. The Pit Fiend can use Symbol, Fear and a very strong Fireball at-will, so you do not want to get close to it. Pit Fiends are a serious upgrade to Earth Elementals as summons at this level. Cast Protection from Evil 10' Radius first before casting. Remember that summoned fiends can and will kill neutrals and innocents if they see them, and you will deal with the reputation and quest repercussions if you're not careful.

Greater Restoration

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	Touch	Instant	3	1 creature	None

Description: When this spell is cast, the life energy level of the recipient is raised. This reverses any previous life energy level drain of the creature by a force or monster. A Greater Restoration spell will also restore the Intelligence score of a creature affected by the Feeblemind spell and negate any form of insanity, such as confusion or berserk. It fully heals the target and cures any diseases or poisons. The casting of this spell is very draining on the priest, and they will likely require rest immediately afterward.

Comments: Upgraded version of Heal and Lesser Restoration with a very fast casting time. Puts the target back at 100% health and cures disease, poison, fear/morale failure, feeblemind, and confusion. The go-to panacea spell of Level 7. Memorize several.

Greater Restoration bypasses your Constitution's fatigue modifier, bestowing a fatigue bonus of 7 upon casting it, which translates to a -1 luck penalty from a fresh rest. For more information on fatigue, visit the Constitution table.

With Throne of Bhaal installed, Greater Restoration affects the entire party!

This is undoubtedly an oversight as this does not happen if the game is SoA-only, nor does this occur in the Enhanced Editions.

Holy Word

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	0	Special	1	30 ft. radius of caster	None

Description: Uttering a Holy Word spell creates magic of tremendous power. The priest acts as a bridge between their god and the Prime Material Plane, causing a small explosion centered on the priest and reaching up to a 30-ft. radius. It affects only evil creatures and undead of any alignment that are caught in the area of effect. The effects vary depending on the target's Hit Dice:

HD	Effects
< 4	Death
4 - 7	Stunned for 1 turn
8 - 11	Slowed and 75% spell failure rate for 1 turn
12+	Deafened for 1 turn (50% spell failure rate)

There is no Saving Throw. The effects are instantaneous and last for the duration of the spell or until dispelled. Note that this spell may not be cast by any priest of evil alignment.

Comments: Great for mage-killing and lich-hunting as neither group has any special immunity to deafness. Deafness stacks with itself (strangely) so two castings of Holy Word will give a 12+ HD evil target or undead target 100% casting failure which offers no save and bypasses spell protections. If you memorize this, memorize two of them. This spell is party-friendly.

Nature's Beauty

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Illusion	0	Instant (death); Permanent (blindness)	6	30 ft. radius	Spell partial (+3)

Description: When this spell is cast, the caster appears to undergo a remarkable transformation. The caster becomes the very ideal of beauty: For a male, this is usually a nymph; for a female, it varies. As with a nymph, anyone viewing the disguised caster must make a Saving Throw vs. Spell with +3 bonus or die of longing for the denied illusion. Even if the Saving Throw is successful, hapless viewers of the transformed Druid are all instantly smitten with permanent blindness (until dispelled). The transformation is instantaneous, but lasts only seconds, affecting those near the caster (excluding fellow party members).

Comments: The instant death part of the spell only affects humanoids and is secondary to the typical use of this spell, which is permanent blindness with no saving throw in a fireball-sized AoE. Blinded enemies are sitting ducks under the default AI and even with SCS installed, though SCS mages and priests will try to counter this by casting True Sight, which removes and gives temporary immunity to blindness while it's active if you installed that component of SCS. Nature's Beauty is not to be underestimated in any situation. Get this.

Regeneration

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	Touch	1 round/2 levels	7	1 creature	None

Description: This powerful spell enables the priest to imbue one creature with the ability to regenerate. This regeneration will heal any wounds and even regenerate lost limbs. The creature affected will regain 3 Hit Points per second. The effect lasts for 1 round per 2 levels of the caster (up to 1 turn at level 20) or until dispelled. For example, a 14th-level priest would regenerate 18 Hit Points per round for 7 rounds.

Comments: Excellent combat spell that works twice as fast if the recipient is hasted. At level 20, this spell heals a total of 180 HP, but heals 360 HP if the target is hasted throughout the entire duration of the regeneration. 3 HP every half-second is a strong amount of regeneration and will take care of most scenarios where your tank has to absorb constant sustained damage. Get this.

Resurrection

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Necromancy	Unlimited	Instant	9	1 dead party member	None

Description: Like the 5th-level spell Raise Dead, Resurrection will return a character back to life. However, Resurrection also fully heals the character so that they are ready for the adventuring life right away.

Comments: The quintessential cleric spell. Resurrection can also fully heal still-living party members (though it also removes shapeshifting powers gained from Polymorph Self and Shapechange, plus spell sequencers and triggers). Party members who were killed by being brought below -10 HP from damage (i.e. gibbed, burnt to a crisp, etc.), were victims of a Disintegration spell, or are otherwise permanently dead and therefore don't leave behind their greyed-out portrait on the party roster cannot be brought back. Even though Mass Raise Dead is just a straight upgrade using the same spell slot, this is available a lot earlier.

2.6+	Resurrection spells were changed with patch 2.6 to no longer be able to target living creatures in order to bring the spells more in-line with the PnP rules.

Shield of the Archons

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Abjuration	0	3 rounds/level	9	Caster	None

Description: This powerful abjuration spell causes the spells cast against the priest to be absorbed and consumed. This affects a total of spell levels equal to half the level of the caster (up to 10 spell levels at level 20). This includes spells cast from scrolls and innate spell-like abilities, but excludes the following: area effects that are not centered directly upon the priest, as well as area effects that are stationary such as Cloudkill and Stinking Cloud. As long as the spell is cast directly at the priest, it will be absorbed provided that there are spell levels remaining. For example, if there is only 1 level left and a 3rd-level spell is cast at the priest, the spell will be absorbed while canceling the shield. It is not affected by Dispel Magic.

Comments: The only spell protection available to clerics. At level 20, it is identical to Spell Deflection. Shield of the Archons is subject to anything that tears down Spell Deflection, such as Secret Word, Pierce Magic, Ruby Ray, etc. Memorize one since this is a cleric's only means of protecting themselves directly from mages. Better on Clerics than Druids since Druids have a lower maximum level and a much slower leveling chart after level 12.

Sunray

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Evocation	0	Instant; 1 turn (blindness)	4	30 ft. radius	Spell Partial

Description: When this spell is cast, it causes a ray of sunlight to beam down upon the caster and everyone within a 30-ft. radius. All creatures within the area of effect take 3d6 points of magical damage and must save vs. Spell or be blinded for 1 turn. In addition, undead that are hit by the sunray take 1d6 magical damage per level of the caster (up to 20d6), and must save vs. Spell or be destroyed.

Comments: Great for annihilating groups of lesser undead, though once you get this spell you could simply explode them by Turning them instead, or casting False Dawn, or using the plethora of undead-slaying weapons in the game like Daystar, Azuredge, or the Mace of Disruption. There are better uses for 7th-level spells.

Symbol, Death

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	70 ft.	Until triggered; instant	9	23.4 ft. radius	Death Negates

Description: Symbol, Death is a powerful enchantment that allows the priest to inscribe a symbol on the ground or any other surface. The symbol will remain there until someone comes within 17.5 ft. of it, at which point it will explode, causing all those within the area to make a Save vs. Death or die. Creatures with more than 60 current Hit Points are immune to this effect.

Comments: Pretty useless. You can just cast a Horrid Wilting and do 60 damage with that instead. NOT party-friendly.

Symbol, Fear

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	70 ft.	Until triggered; instant	9	23.4 ft. radius	Spell Negates (-4)

Description: Symbol, Fear is a powerful enchantment that allows the priest to inscribe a symbol on the ground or any other surface. The symbol will remain there until someone comes within 17.5 ft. of it, at which point it will explode, causing all those within the area to make a Save vs. Spell at a -4 penalty or be affected by fear for 2 rounds + 1 round for every 3 levels of the caster (up to 9 rounds at level 21).

Comments: Why on earth would you use a level 7 spell slot for what amounts to a combination of Greater Malison + Horror? Skip! Also not party-friendly.

Symbol, Stun

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	70 ft.	Until triggered; instant	9	23.4 ft. radius	Spell Negates (-4)

Description: Symbol, Stun is a powerful enchantment that allows the priest to inscribe a symbol on the ground or any other surface. The symbol will remain there until someone comes within 17.5 ft. of it, at which point it will explode, causing all those within the area to make a Save vs. Spell at a -4 penalty or be stunned for 2 rounds + 1 round for every 3 levels of the caster (up to 9 rounds at level 21).

Comments: Better than the other two Symbol spells if only because stun isn't as useless as panic or slaying anything with ≤ 60 HP. Be wary of using it around allies because it's not party-friendly either, as with the other Symbol spells.

Unholy Word

School	Range	Duration	Casting Time	Area of Effect	Saving Throw
Conjuration	0	Special	1	30 ft. radius of caster	None

Description: Uttering an Unholy Word spell creates magic of tremendous power. The priest acts as a bridge between their god and the Prime Material Plane, causing a small explosion centered on the priest and reaching up to a 30-ft. radius. It affects only creatures of any good alignment that are caught in the area of effect. The effects vary depending on the target's Hit Dice:

HD	Effects
< 4	Death
4 - 7	Stunned for 1 turn
8 - 11	Slowed and 75% spell failure rate for 1 turn
12+	Deafened for 1 turn (50% spell failure rate)

There is no Saving Throw. The effects are instantaneous and last for the duration of the spell or until dispelled. Note that this spell may not be cast by any priest of evil alignment.

Comments: Far less useful than Holy Word because this doesn't affect undead as a whole and good-aligned enemies are rare. Again, the only ones that come to mind are Drizzt and co., enemies in Dorn's quest lines, plus the Amnish reputation police. That said, this spell's usefulness is limited by the levels of your enemies and very shortly into BG2 you will stop seeing enemies lower than level 12, especially Good-aligned ones. And Good-aligned casters are almost nonexistent.

---

Back to Baldur's Gate.