Part 9: Bonus Update 7.5: Level 2 Spells, More Maps

Hmm. Thanks. Now I have to decide whether to create a new character and go to the trouble of grinding him up to the same level as the rest of the party. I probably will, because this is getting silly, and not in a good way. (But don't worry: I'll still show off the effects of every trap in the game even if I have to set them off deliberately!)

Bonus Update 7.5: Level 2 Spells, More Maps

Let's see what the hintbook has to say about the outdoors!



The sea is... woolly? Well, whatever you say, hintbook.



The big T is, of course, the town of Sorpigal. It's not entirely my scanner's fault if you can't distinguish mountains and trees here; they're hard to tell apart in the original map as well (mountains are black, trees are dark grey). Also, note that little area behind the secret passage at x2, y10: that's where the iron box full of garbage is. Just walk into the mountains where the arrows are and take a couple more steps. The treasure regenerates if you leave the area (such as by going into town) and return, so it's a good source of easy cash at the start of the game. If you have the patience, a couple of dozen trips there and back will earn you enough money to get everyone fully equipped at level 1 (or at least, as fully equipped as Sorpigal's shitty blacksmith can make them).

Our party is level 3 now (actually, level 4, since I did a little more grinding today), so we have access to level-2 spells! Let's see what we have:

Level 2 Clerical Spells

1. NAME: Cure Wounds
COST: 2 SP
TYPE: Anytime
TARGET: 1 character
DESCRIPTION: Cures more serious wounds, restoring 15 Hit Points to a character.
Like First Aid, it actually only heals 1-15 HP, not a consistent 15. Unlike First Aid, this spell seems to have a failure rate, and it fails especially often if you try and use it on unconscious characters. This is an almighty pain in the ass; if you need a decent amount of healing, just spend a damn gem and cast Power Cure.

2. NAME: Heroism
COST: 2 SP + 1 Gem
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 character of same alignment as caster
DESCRIPTION: Bestows 6 additional Hit Points and temporarily elevates a character 2 levels of experience. Spell lasts for the duration of combat.
I don't think the alignment restriction actually exists in-game; at least, I didn't get a failure message when Preacher tried to cast it on Tarquinn. It's mostly for casting on fighter-types in tough battles, if they're within 2 levels of gaining an extra attack per round. Not a bad spell, if you can spare a gem.

3. NAME: Pain
COST: 2 SP
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 monster, not undead
DESCRIPTION: Cripples monster with pain, inflicting 2-12 damage points, unless the monster is immune to pain.
This is the first direct-damage spell Clerics get, so if they don't have anyone to heal and aren't in melee range, it's going to see some use. It's not bad; apart from undead, very few enemies seem to be completely immune to it.

4. NAME: Protection from Cold
COST: 2 SP
TYPE: Anytime
TARGET: Entire Party
DESCRIPTION: Increases all characters' resistance to cold or freezing spells. Amount of the increase depends on the caster's experience level. Spell lasts 1 day.
Obviously, you're going to want to use this spell if you know you'll be facing enemies with cold-based attacks. That's not actually a very common situation unless you're fighting dragons, so even though the spell provides decent protection, it doesn't see much use.

5. NAME: Protection from Fire
Exactly the same as Protection from Cold, except that it protects you from fire instead. Fire is more common than cold, so this spell would be useful if I didn't keep forgetting to use it. Whoops.

6. NAME: Protection from Poison
Same as the previous two spells, except it protects from poison. I think Jon Van Caneghem's been padding the spell list again. I'm not sure if this actually reduces the chance of enemies and traps inflicting the poison status effect on you; it'd be much more useful if it did, since direct-damage poison attacks are pretty rare.

7. NAME: Silence
COST: 2 SP
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 monster
DESCRIPTION: Prevents the monster from casting spells for the duration of combat, or until it overcomes the spell.
I can think of better things to do with my cleric's turn than casting a spell that may or may not prevent one monster from casting spells.

8. NAME: Suggestion
COST: 2 SP
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 monster
DESCRIPTION: Coerces monster into refraining from attack, unless it is attacked. Lasts for the duration of combat, or until the monster overcomes the spell.
So basically it's a sleep spell, only it costs twice as many SP and only affects one monster. Jumpin' Jiminy, but do clerics ever get some terrible status effect spells.

Level 2 Mage Spells

1. NAME: Electric Arrow
COST: 2 SP
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 monster
DESCRIPTION: Electrocutes a monster, inflicting 2-12 damage points, unless monster is immune to electrical attack.
For some reason, a lot of monsters seem to have partial resistance to electricity. Still, it's an improvement over Flame Arrow... but then again, what wouldn't be?

2. NAME: Hypnotize
COST: 2 SP
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 monster
DESCRIPTION: Uses the power of suggestion to prevent a monster from attacking. Effective until monster is attacked or overcomes the spell.
Oh boy, it's like the sorcerer's version of Suggestion. I guess it probably has a higher success rate than Sleep, but it still sucks.

3. NAME: Identify Monster
COST: 2 SP + 1 Gem
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 monster
DESCRIPTION: Informs caster of the nature of any one monster during combat.
This is a pretty neat spell, except that the information it gives can be kind of vague. It'll tell you whether a monster has a special power, but not whether that special power is "breathe fire for moderate damage to one character" or "spray acid for massive damage and poisoning to the entire party". It's good for scoping out the HP and stats of an enemy so you can tell if you're completely outmatched and should try desperately to flee.

4. NAME: Jump
COST: 2 SP
TYPE: Non-combat
TARGET: Entire Party
DESCRIPTION: Gives all characters super strength, enabling them to jump 2 squares forward, providing there are no magical obstructions (force fields, etc.) in the way.
Jump spells will also be blocked by anything that obstructs your line of sight, like trees or doors, even if you can walk through it. It's good for bypassing traps or monster encounters if you already know exactly where they are. The Rope and Hooks item we found last update has the same effect as a Jump spell when used, but has a limited number of charges.

5. NAME: Levitate
COST: 2 SP
TYPE: Non-combat
TARGET: Entire Party
DESCRIPTION: Raises all characters above ground level, protecting them from various dangers for 1 day.
This is a good spell to know when there are pits around. Or lava. Or acid. Or pits full of acidic lava.

6. NAME: Power
COST: 2 SP
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 character
DESCRIPTION: Boosts that character's Might by 1-4 points for the duration of combat. Increases the potency of character's attacks on monsters.
If an enemy is highly resistant to direct-damage spells, this might be a more sensible use of your sorcerer's turns.

7. NAME: Quickness
COST: 2 SP
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 character
DESCRIPTION: Boosts character's Speed by 1-4 points for the duration of combat, moving him/her further forward in order of combat.
Wasting an entire turn from one character so that another character can possibly go earlier next turn seems like a pretty poor tradeoff to me.

8. NAME: Scare
COST: 2 SP
TYPE: Combat
TARGET: 1 monster
DESCRIPTION: Strikes fear into the monster's heart, decreasing its probability of hitting a character during combat.
Well, what do you know. There is a spell more useless than Hypnotize.