RtK Magic Tips

MAGIC TIPS

The Basics

Don't equip weapons! Spell Casters cannot cast learned spells while equipping weapons. Either leave weapons in inventory when you enter combat or use SHIFT-S to drop the weapon to the ground and set up for casting on that turn.

Use Conservative Attack Style. Spell Casters need as much protection as possible. The Conservative style adds 50 more points to Defense than at the Aggressive Attack Style. Switch to Aggressive only to attack with a weapon.

Hide the mage. In order to take advantage of the true power of the mage, be sure to position them behind a strong hero. Sometimes you can take advantage of the layout of a room or the terrain to help avoid the enemy's attack.

Use Quick Casting. Slow Casting attracts enemies like a magnet, so stick with Quick Casting, except for the exceptions listed below.

Be selective when Slow Casting. In early mage development and on the Fighter focus- it may be necessary to attempt slow casting. Always block the path to mage by moving the mage into a corner or other obstructed area and then move a strong hero in front to help take the pounding.

"Stationary" combat casting. Except when it's necessary to open a line of sight to attack an enemy or avoid getting mobbed in close combat scenes, a mage should remain in background of the battle. This will force the enemy to expend part of its turn to reach the mage and also buy time to set up for casting.

Scrolls and enchanted items for emergencies. In early mage development and on the Fighter focus- scrolls, wands and spells hidden inside of some enchanted jewelry & weapons can bail the neophyte mage out of some tough situations.

Use teamwork to win. Extra damage from weapon-enhancement spells (like Demonblade) can really add up. For a nominal casting cost, a newbie mage can effect 50 or more points of damage in a single battle by using James or William as the agent. Pick a fighter with the greatest number of strikes (or shots!) to benefit the most from casting these spells.

Build Initiative skill quickly. Boy, nothing will get a mage killed faster than standing there and getting overwhelmed by a mob without ever casting a single spell. By building the Initiative rating quickly, prevent the tougher opponents (like Nighthawks, Vampires & Ghouls) from getting the upper hand.

Develop a "specialist". The sooner your mage can cast mass effect spells, the sooner your party will dominate the enemy, so develop one Path until the advanced spells are enabled. The most common Path for Jazhara to follow is the Path of Fire. A sure-cast ring for sale in Krondor (in every game!) makes this an attractive alternative to take. Kendaric's high Path of the Storms starting skill level seems to predetermine his magical direction of study. Now if he could just find a sure-cast ring... ;)

Beware of area-effect damage. The "spinning cloud" target spotter of an area effect spell (like Fire Rain) can injure your party members if you are not very careful. Close quarters like rooms are bad places to practice area-effect spells.

The Mage in Action Here's a step-by-step slideshow of one of the tougher fights in the early life of our adventuring band. But before the show, a quick glimpse at the vitals of the party members:

CHAPTER 3 SETTING = HARD/FIGHTER	.	.
.	JAMES	JAZHARA
Level	8	7
Health	94	48
Spell Points	N/A	60
Encumbrance	18% (25 lbs.)	13% (17 lbs.)
Attack Value @current Attack Style setting	97	5
Defend Value @current Attack Style setting	170	134
Attack Style	Conserv	Conserv
Strikes	3	2
Initiative	100	100
Paths of Magic	N/A	Fire - 100 Mind - 70 Change - 60 Storms - 50
Equipped	Starblood Simitar Studded Leather Jerkin, Vambraces & Greaves 2 Luck Rings	Ring of Flames Luck Ring
Inventory	2 Strong Heal Potions 3 Weak Heal Potions 2 Fire Oil Weak Potion of Striking	2 Strong Heal Potions 4 Weak Heal Potions Great Spellcasting Potion 2 Spellcasting Potions Scroll of Madness Scroll of Firestorm Scroll of Chaos Wand of Unbeing Toolkit (for James) 50 Large Diamonds

"Battle at the Dog" Slideshow

This example shows what your party can do when a mage has achieved basic magic skills. Equipment was intentionally limited to items commonly available (or found!) by this chapter and middle-range spells used. You will likely have found some enchanted gear and jewelry to make this combat even easier than it was here. So here we go...

First, check out the initial Battle Layout.

You should immediately notice that our pair of heroes are completely surrounded by 4 Nighthawks. But their high Initiative rating should guarantee at least a chance to survive. Let's see how it actually unfolds, eh?

Round 1

Turn: Nighthawk - Strikes/damages Jazhara (Health 32/48)

Turn: James - No move; drinks Weak Potion of Striking

Turn: Nighthawk - Strikes/damages Jazhara (Health 18/48)

Turn: Jazhara - Uses Scroll of Madness

Turn: Nighthawk - Strikes/damages Jazhara (Health 8/48)