Fighting Spell Casters is frustrating.

[Nyaria]

I don't really know how else to put it, the spell caster NPC's at least appear to have infinite mana, can attack you from outside of your sight range if you happen to walk into their line, and are impossible to out maneuver at all, because they will never make a poor movement choice or move towards you, they will always just move left or right to keep in line with you. You can't bait them around trees because they will just stand there, and anytime I feel like I wait until they move the wrong direction (Going left so I can go right to catch them) they suddenly get to double move and cast a spell and hit me anyways. (Numerous times I've caught a Orc Shaman or Druid around a Tree, wait till they move left (For example) then I move right, then they immediately move right twice and blast me. (No idea why enemies sometimes get to move twice when I never do, I don't see anything in the game about a speed stat or something of the like, and Dexterity has no mention that it increases action speed)

Archer type enemies have similar frustrations, but Magic Users hit you with a plethora of effects that just do massive amounts of damage. Even if you equip all the Magic Resistant gear you can find / Enchant in the early game. Druids and Witches are possible the most frustrating enemies to fight. No matter how much I shift myself on the map, they will always perfectly line themselves up to always get at least 3 free spellcasts off on you as you approach, and they are not frail enemies, when you finally get to them (Probably having to chug 2-3 potions and take extra hits as you approach because their magic spells chunk you for 50+ damage a hit. You still have to hit them 5-6 times (With them still casting spells in your face) before they die.

I really feel like the early game spell caster enemies need to be toned down in defense or HP by alot. If they are going to always constantly get 3+ free spell casts on me no matter what, they should be frail and easily killed when you get ahold of them as is what is typical in these RPGs. Instead it's weather 3-5 spells approaching them (More if you need to potion mid approach) and then weather 4+ additional spells as you widdle down their health. Archery doesn't help, because the damage I deal is waaaay lower than they do (Even with my +20 Accuracy Necklace I got) So I just end up spending arrows, and MORE potions, and because I set myself up as a fighter my magic is more utility based than damage based.

The Swamp filled with witches is even more so frustrating when the witches just poison you and then infinitely run away.

I was pretty happy and buried into the game at the first roughly 6-8 hours, but now I'm just running into spellcasters non-stop, all of them are tanky, all of them do MAJOR amounts of damage, and I simply just do not have the tools (Outside of drinking literally dozens of healing potions) to deal with them, and it's now become a tedious slog, and that's just so frustrating after sinking a good 6 or so hours into the game.

And I know about keeping my weapon and armor conditions up, I do that, I'm not running into issues of diminished damage output due to bad weapons or poor armor. (Not that armor actually protects you from magic). So I'm really just unsure what my options are.

[EZeddie77]

As you level up, and get your grimy paws on weapons you can place Drain Health and Drain Mana, life becomes easier. Cast Magic Immunity, inch your way up to the caster and steal your mana back attacking the caster with melee. The game sort of forces you to dual wield for this reason. This tactic will be rinse, repeated a lot if you play any high level, Zarista content.

Having a shield and a decent Block skill makes life tougher on Archers. You'll get to a point where Archers will think you're Neo.

Bows can become pretty good, as you acquire gear you can enchant. Using a Light Bow takes advantage of Light Weapons, as well as the reverse for Heavy Weapons. So, placing Light/Heavy Weapons on armor pieces instead of held weapons (so holding the bow stacks the bonuses) is legit. The Bow will never hit harder than Dual Wielding but it softens things up pretty well as they approach. You'll never feel like you're playing Skyrim with a bow, assassinating everything while sneaking.

[Drakeema]

+1 Completely agree with OP. Playing as pure melee Warrior class.

[nateraade]

Just bought and trying this game out... was this addressed? Sounds awful, TBH.

[Drakeema]

Originally posted by nateraade:

Just bought and trying this game out... was this addressed? Sounds awful, TBH.

It's the game's one flaw, AFAIK. You'll likely have to restart the game with more spell powers, to counter this imbalance. Or maybe there's some cheats you can use, to deal with magic BS better.

Not sure if this issue also exists in the DLC, since I haven't gotten that far yet.

[Penguin?]

In a related note, kind of an odd decision how out of the five playable races, FOUR of them are all weak to spell damage, while the last one is resistant to it. The first time I played, I got annoyed by enemy spellcasters so much that I restarted the game as a Derth.

[Drakeema]

Originally posted by Penguin?:

In a related note, kind of an odd decision how out of the five playable races, FOUR of them are all weak to spell damage, while the last one is resistant to it. The first time I played, I got annoyed by enemy spellcasters so much that I restarted the game as a Derth.

Hey, great tip!

[Shirakyori]

Wand of Lightning Bolt obliterates these low level spell casters at range no matter how you invested in skills/attributes, you can refill wands at magic shop or with Recharge Wand spell. Wand of Magic Missile is half the damage of Wand of Lightning Bolt.

Starting as Derth is definitely best option if you want much easier time tanking magic damage early on. Later on you will have better access to Resist Magic potions, Resist Magic and Magic Immunity spells.

[nateraade]

Originally posted by Shirakyori:

Wand of Lightning Bolt obliterates these low level spell casters at range no matter how you invested in skills/attributes, you can refill wands at magic shop or with Recharge Wand spell. Wand of Magic Missile is half the damage of Wand of Lightning Bolt.

Starting as Derth is definitely best option if you want much easier time tanking magic damage early on. Later on you will have better access to Resist Magic potions, Resist Magic and Magic Immunity spells.

Awesome tips, thank you!!

[Martial Autist]

Originally posted by nateraade:

Originally posted by Shirakyori:

Wand of Lightning Bolt obliterates these low level spell casters at range no matter how you invested in skills/attributes, you can refill wands at magic shop or with Recharge Wand spell. Wand of Magic Missile is half the damage of Wand of Lightning Bolt.

Starting as Derth is definitely best option if you want much easier time tanking magic damage early on. Later on you will have better access to Resist Magic potions, Resist Magic and Magic Immunity spells.

Awesome tips, thank you!!

Yeah carrying around a few wands is always a good investment. Even as a battlemage (leaning towards attack magic over weapons, but with high heavy armor and block skill) I always carry a wand of create food, recall, cure wounds and drain magic.

One thing I've noticed about this game is that just like in TES you generally want to diversify somewhat. The game has a lot of low-requirement support spells that can make your life a lot easier. Healing, protection, mind, and environment magics are all invaluable and investing in at least one or two of these is a life-saver. Spells to heal and cure diseases, spells to pacify, weaken, or paralyze enemies, spells to diminish damage taken, and spells to enchant, recharge wands, set teleport points, etc. Even if you are 100% melee it is nice to have something like a wand of drain mana, paralysis, calm, and lightning storm on you, and just enough mana to cast recharge wand.