Should Chill Fog, a PL 1 spell, really do all the work it does?

[Stardusk78]

Large AOE, inflicts Blindness, PULSE....seems like at least the level is misplaced.

Edited August 26, 2018 by Stardusk78

[baldurs_gate_2]

Large AOE, inflicts Blindness, DOT....seems like at least the level is misplaced.

Not as good anymore on potd upscaled.

[Metaturtle]

It is a pretty good spell, but being where it is at the tier, it means you need PLs to make it relevant in higher levels since it has pitiful penetration and it targets fortitude defense.  Even a pure wizard needs to do some investment for it to land reliably on difficult targets.

Edited August 26, 2018 by Metaturtle

[Verde]

I remember in PoE when Mental Binding should have been a lvl 6 or 7 spell.

[Boeroer]

It does not do DoT. Instead it pulses with freeze damage which has to overcome freeze AR every time. So the damage usually isn't that good. The blinding is very good for a lvl1-spell though.

Edited August 26, 2018 by Boeroer

[Haplok]

Yes, pulsing Blinding is amazing. Even enemies with highish Fortitude tend to fail the save eventually. And what's really surprising is the long Blind duration. I'd expect it to also "pulse", but no, the duration is in line with 1-off debuffs which land or fail.

[hilfazer]

And what's really surprising is the long Blind duration. I'd expect it to also "pulse", but no, the duration is in line with 1-off debuffs which land or fail.

 

That's surprising indeed. Do druid's storm spells also have that long duration despite pulsing or does Obsidian love wizards more again?

[Boeroer]

I think that's just an oversight.

[dunehunter]

Wizard also has grimore slam Which is the ‘best’ level 2 spell. Damn Obs loves wizard more than other classes!

 

.....Well my point is there are still some terrible balance issue between each spells. Some seems to be too weak/strong for their cast level.

[Theosupus]

Highest single hit: Xoti 299

Blessed harvest (PL1)

Edited August 27, 2018 by Theosupus

[Boeroer]

The best spell overall is obviously Kalakoth's Sunless Grasp. For that totally overpowered thing they should expell him (Kalakoth) from the circle of Archmagi because it violates the Ghevena Convention or something.

Edited August 27, 2018 by Boeroer

[Marigoldran]

Even better when Tekehu casts it because he turns Chill Fog into "Foe Only." 

 

Of course for him it's a level 3 spell, but still.  Send your tanky herald into the thick of combat, have Maia cast Chill Fog around your tank, and have Tekehu cast Chill Fog around the rest of your party, and every fight is a breeze because none of the enemies can see.  

Edited August 28, 2018 by Marigoldran

[jintegrity]

I really wish Tekehu's unique Druid class was a player option. I probably wouldn't play anything else.

That said, every time I think about why I'd play Wizard, it pretty much boils down to Chill Fog at level 1. Like, seriously, no other 1st level ability has that much impact at that level except maybe If their Bones Still Slept Under that Hill, None Can Say, and Loremaster just gets both.

Every playthrough of the beginning island I've done (which is a lot because I keep learning about new class interactions and starting over; restartitis!), the game is torture until Aloth, and then ridiculously easy after just because of this spell.

Not that I want it nerfed. (I really, really don't.) I just wish other classes (besides Chanter and Cipher) had such powerful 1st level abilities. No, I personally don't count Suppress Afflictions, and rings of that are pretty common besides.

Edited August 29, 2018 by jintegrity

[Haplok]

Even better when Tekehu casts it because he turns Chill Fog into "Foe Only." 

 

Of course for him it's a level 3 spell, but still.  Send your tanky herald into the thick of combat, have Maia cast Chill Fog around your tank, and have Tekehu cast Chill Fog around the rest of your party, and every fight is a breeze because none of the enemies can see.  

 

Well, if you have a Streetfighter, you may actually prefer the base, "party unfriendly" version. It'll continuously reapply Flanked status, which will trigger Streetfighter bonuses.  You pay with -15 Accuracy (5 point Perception debuff, 10 Accuracy penalty), reduced speed (still it's a net speed gain with the Streetfighter bonus!) and -10 Reflex. And with the Defiant Apparel Hat you can downgrade Blind to Disoriented and remove the 10 Accuracy penalty.

 

Can't use Perception Inspirations then, so it's not so great for Swashbucklers - Fighter/Streetfighter multiclasses, who really benefit from Intuitive.

Edited August 29, 2018 by Haplok

[Stardusk78]

I really wish Tekehu's unique Druid class was a player option. I probably wouldn't play anything else.

 

That said, every time I think about why I'd play Wizard, it pretty much boils down to Chill Fog at level 1. Like, seriously, no other 1st level ability has that much impact at that level except maybe If their Bones Still Slept Under that Hill, None Can Say, and Loremaster just gets both.

 

Every playthrough of the beginning island I've done (which is a lot because I keep learning about new class interactions and starting over; restartitis!), the game is torture until Aloth, and then ridiculously easy after just because of this spell.

 

Not that I want it nerfed. (I really, really don't.) I just wish other classes (besides Chanter and Cipher) had such powerful 1st level abilities. No, I personally don't count Suppress Afflictions, and rings of that are pretty common besides.

His class is a player option. Just put this mod:

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/179

 

In your Override folder. Of course, because it is culturally unique, you would have to create an appropriate backstory for it but there you go.

[Somnium_Meum]

There are other extremely powerful low-rank spells, some of them are situationally way stronger than Chill Fog.

Chill Fog is great because Blind halves range and decreases accuracy, which coupled with it's pretty large size makes it amazing if you drop it between enemy front line and back line. As the back line gets blinded, they move towards their front line and this sets up other AOE abilities very well.

 

Also it's pulsing nature and long duration mean that it will affect even characters with very high defences eventually

[Boeroer]

I would say Slicken is even better than Chillfog. In PoE it was a one-time prone effect - not bad, but also nothing you would choose instead of Chillfog. In Deadfire it pulses and throws enemies off their feet and interrupts them all the time. With decent INT it's one of the best spells, given how early it comes, in my opinion.

[Haplok]

Yeah, I love Slicken too. Use it on some trolls or ogres and enjoy the show! But the effect depends on enemy Reflex saves at least. Enemies with high Reflex and Adept Evasion are almost immune for example.

Chill Fog eventually works even on high Fort enemies and the effect persists over 20 seconds even after the spell has ended (if it's applied in late ticks - on a hit or crit with decent Int).

Edited August 29, 2018 by Haplok

[jintegrity]

But the effect depends on enemy Reflex saves at least. Enemies with high Reflex and Adept Evasion are almost immune for example.

You can always lead with Dex/Per afflictions. Each one would reduce the defense by 10. Do both, and that could most certainly make a huge difference.

 

Coincidentally, this makes Chill Fog good for setting up Slicken. If you have a Druid in the party (or are even a Sorcerer, the novelty!) you can also use Nature's Mark and Tanglefoot, all at level 1, to give them -30 Reflex before you proceed to put them on their bums.

 

Combined with some accuracy buffs (Eldritch Aim, if you can spare the 1st level spell slot, or a Blessing from Xoti, for example), and you should have no trouble making it land.

 

- and by level 3-4, Miasma of Dull Mindedness stacks with the above, adding an additional -20 Reflex.

 

I would say Slicken is even better than Chillfog. In PoE it was a one-time prone effect - not bad, but also nothing you would choose instead of Chillfog. In Deadfire it pulses and throws enemies off their feet and interrupts them all the time. With decent INT it's one of the best spells, given how early it comes, in my opinion.

Thanks for pointing this out! I didn't realize it, assuming it worked like PoE, and remembered one fight where I got hit with it, and it always equaled death, and just assumed the enemies were spamming it. After a couple of tries I made sure to "Geek the Mage" as it were. Coincidentally, Chill Fog was how I kept them from doing so.

Edited August 29, 2018 by jintegrity