Magic for beginners

[wired]

I just started my journey through the dungeon with my own party. There are two magician on board, one learned air- and ice-magic and the other earth- and fire-magic. Is this really a good choice? Now, Level 3, I found 1 scroll of fire-magic (Firebolt) ands two for earth-magic (Poison Cloud and Poison Bolt) but non for air- nor for ice-magic.

And what does "Spell: ???" mean? I learned the according level Spellcast but nothing changes, there is still written "Spell: ???". Whats my fault?

[Dr.Disaster]

You're doing nothing wrong. Those "Spell: ???" entries remain until the spell it represents was at least once cast successfully. To identify such a spell you either have to find a scroll it's written on or go trial and error.

[wired]

Ah, ok. So there is no need to find a scroll, I can also just find out, how ever, the right rune-combination? OK...

And the air/ice and earth/fire combination is also no mistake because all magic-schools are built equal?

[Komag]

Whether they are "equal" is debatable, but I can definitely say they are different. Some enemies at immune to certain magic types. In general you should stick with one school of magic per mage, because ranks increase power and spreading them out would dilute them all.

[wired]

In general you should stick with one school of magic per mage, because ranks increase power and spreading them out would dilute them all.

Interesting point. How could I forget?

Can you tell me the basic templates of the schools? I suppose FIRE is aggressive fighting; ICE is defensive, slows down; AIR helps, gains even life; EARTH protects - am I right?

[Dr.Disaster]

All elements have offensive (short and long range) and defensive spells so the main points in selecting one are
- monster immunities
- handling
- damage done (and energy needed) per spell; energy needs are: Earth < Ice < Fire < Air
- personal taste

[wired]

Aha, I'm used to different schools with diffident possibilities but this is also fine.

Thanks!

[Neutronium Dragon]

The four element types do behave differently, just not in as overt a way you're probably used to from other games:

Fire is pretty much pure direct damage.

Air also deals in pure direct (lightning) damage, albeit with slightly lower efficiency than fire. However, it is the only school to offer an additional utility spell - Invisibility - which has all kinds of tactical implications.

Water applies lower direct (cold) damage, but its projectile spell has a chance to freeze targets for a short time, which has various applications.

Earth damage, being poison-themed, is inclined toward damage-over-time effects. It is extremely efficient as long as you can leverage the DoT effectively.


In the original Grimrock dungeon there are also some other considerations at work. For example, there is a fire-immune creature that is very common throughout the mid levels (which the fire mage can't hurt with his magic), but strong fire protection effects (which a fire mage can provide) all but render it harmless, and fire-based traps (similarly ablated by fire protection effects) are also the most commonplace. There are a couple of items that are much more useful to fire mages than to other types, and fire magic makes solving a couple of puzzles a bit easier (or at least less resource-consuming).

[wired]

Fire is pretty much pure direct damage.

Air also deals in pure direct (lightning) damage, albeit with slightly lower efficiency than fire. However, it is the only school to offer an additional utility spell - Invisibility - which has all kinds of tactical implications.

Water applies lower direct (cold) damage, but its projectile spell has a chance to freeze targets for a short time, which has various applications.

Earth damage, being poison-themed, is inclined toward damage-over-time effects. It is extremely efficient as long as you can leverage the DoT effectively.

That sounds like my thoughts - I like that!

And the rest sounds for me like a Fire-Mage is very helpful in this adventure. So I'm glad to take one with me. The other one exercises ice-magic and than there is the must-have-Warrior and a Rogue (I hope there will be missile-weapons). Unfortunately there are only a few classes. I miss a cleric who aids and encourages the party. Or a Beastman who trains the rats.

Thanks again.

[Komag]

An interesting thing is the low level spells, the ice shards spell has some distance to it, whereas the other three schools are only the square in front of the party. Also, the earth school gets a long distance spell very early on, whereas with the other schools it comes later.

When you start getting to extremely high levels like upper 20's and 30's (playing Master Quest) you start to develop full immunities or close to it. With an added fire protection spell the whole party could become immune to uggardians or the lightning conduit, for instance.