How to dispel magic?

[hexnessie]

Hi all, I've only recently started playing BGEE, no previous experience. Therefore, sorry if I'm asking the obvious.


I have a problem with a companion that got hit with a polymorph spell (Neera got squirrelled).

I tried casting Dispel Magic on her by 2 different characters. I also took her to a temple and tried to buy Dispel Magic effect there (it shows as available and my 200 gold is spent but nothing happens.

From what I understood, polymorph should be reversible with dispel magic?

(I also have problems with reviving dead companions. When I go to a temple, the revive option is never available even though the companion's portrait is gray. What should I do to get it working?

[wendigo211]

The problem with wild mages is there's a random chance that their spell level is either increased or decreased by anywhere from 0 to 5 levels. So a level 7 Neera could be casting anywhere from a level 2 to a level 12 polymorph.

Dispel Magic has a base 50% chance of removing an effect that improves by 5% for every level the caster is higher than the effect caster and is reduced by 10% for every level the caster is lower than the effect caster (to a minimum of a 1% chance of success and a maximum of a 99% chance of success). So, if a level 5 caster tries to dispel a level 1 effect, they're 4 levels higher so they have a 70% chance of removing the effect. On the other hand, if they try to dispel a level 8 effect, they're 3 levels lower so they have a 20% chance of removing the effect.

I believe the dispels you buy from a temple are cast at a level of a scroll; level 5 in this case. If Neera's surge raised her caster level, the temple might only have a 1% chance to remove the polymorph.

My suggestion is to just drop her and let her enjoy her new life as a rodent, or keep her, she's probably more useful as a squirrel than a Wild Mage. However there are some tricks for removing the polymorph. If you have it, I believe you can use the wand of polymorph on her (which replaces the caster level of her polymorph with the caster level of the wand, making it easier to dispel). I think you can also kill her and raise her and it will remove the polymorph, but I'm not sure on that one.

I tend to reload if anyone dies, so I rarely use the temple services myself, unless if I'm soloing and need healing.

[philos3]

Edit: Wendigo covered the dispel process well. I deleted my comments on that.

When you hit the temple services button, do you then select (click on) the portrait of the dead party member? The services available reflect which one of your party is currently highlighted. Since your party leader initiates the interaction, the available services will by default reflect them. Try clicking on the dead member's thumbnail portrait.

Also, if your dead companion is an elf, raise dead will not work on them, it takes a resurrection.

[hexnessie]

Wow, thank you for the detailed explanation! The game is NOT beginner-friendly ;)

As this is my first playthrough, I decided to try out the "story mode" where companions can't die. Turned it on, killed Squirrell Neera, and she popped back again as a human. But I feel humiliated by the need to use story mode!

[D'amarr from Darshiva]

Originally posted by hexnessie:

The game is NOT beginner-friendly ;)

It comes with huge manuals, these days in PDF format. In case you haven't skimmed over the manuals yet, fetch the latest copies here --> https://files.beamdog.com

Apart from the manuals, a lot of documentation is found in the Baldur's Gate Wiki.

[best bulliet target]

https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Wild_Surge

and then SPWM183 (for the polymoph self effect squarll) 1000 hours. game time, not player time. so you can rest it away. but yeah the despelling it is though