Overused and underused spells

[Dr. Kevin Moon III esq.]

I went to the Wargames Illustrated Frostgrave gaming day on Saturday (and had a really enjoyable time), while there I was interested to play and talk to some new players from outside of my gaming group and see how they play the game.

It seemed the general consensus that leap, strength, elemental bolt and telekinesis were all very popular and effective spells and a lot of players liked to have an animal companion or raise zombie to give them an extra body. Both wall and fog also seemed to get some use.

This is about the same as my usual gaming group. Though we moved away from casting a lot of elemental bolts after a few games, they still get a lot of use.

During the day, I tried out a few spells I'd not used before (notably push and banish) which both proved really useful (though there were a lot of demons about, which made banish extra useful). I found brew potion very handy for a healing potion most games. One player I played used Elemental Hammer which I was very impressed by.

What I didn't see was a lot of illusionist or sigilist spells. What are peoples views, are these spells generally underused? Or have I just been playing a lot of Elementalists, Enchanters and Necromancers? Are there some hidden gems tucked away in the Chronomancer set we're missing?

[CPalmer]

   In our last campaign I made good use of Mind Control a lot.  The Chonomancer in our group loved to use Decay Weapon; there's nothing to take the wind out of you plans to suddenly find half you warband weaponless.  As far as Illusionist, I've seen Beauty used to great effect.  And in our current campaign it seems half the wizards took Reveal Secret

[Knabe]

Yes, Mind Control is useful unless it is being cast on your own figures carrying treasure causing you to "kill" them to get the treasure back (thank you very much CPalmer)   This is what caused me to take Dispel for our current campaign. 

I have used Transpose to good effect to get a treasure carrier out of danger.  I am starting to enjoy casting Draining Word, expecially on spells like Elemental Bolt and Bone Dart.

Write Scroll is useful for hard to cast spells your wizard already knows (like Reveal Secret); and Brew Potion is useful for a wide variety of potions - Invisibility, Teleportation, Heal, Chameleon, etc.

I have seen Glow and Illusionary Soldier used but not frequently.

Unfortunately, not all spells are created equally - its up to us, the players, to figure out creative uses for mundane seeming spells.  Hopefully this thread will generate some good discussion on some of the often overlooked spells.

I have a Sigilist in our new campaign; had a Witch last campaign.  In fact, we have two Sigilists.

My Sigilist does not have any attack oriented spells because I wanted to try something completely different.  We'll see how it goes.

Knabe

[Malebolgia]

Bone Dart is a popular choice with us, same as Push, Decay or Imp. Basically with us it's not as much about the use of the spell but a lot more about the casting value. I use Push and Imp a lot, because they are easy to get off and don't cost a lot of HP if you roll under. Spells like Elemental Hammer are awesome, but my wizard/apprentice cast them on 14/16. That's not great...
For my next wizard I will be playing a Thamauturge with a spell list of spells I've never used. Can't wait!

Ps. I personally think Decay is a bit too good, since you only need to get Decay working. There is no resistance involved. Can be VERY harsh against some expensive soldiers.

[jp1885]

I'm a serial abuser of the wall spell, and bone dart is my go-to choice for offensive casting. I also use leap a lot, and brew potion when the dice are on my side. My main wizard is a summoner, but I usually restrict summon demon for out of game (I have a summoning circle) however I pop down at least two-three imps behind my opponent's lines during a game.

[giles the zog]

Like JP, I also use Wall a lot.

However I do use Push quite a lot.

Enchant weapon/Armour has been used a lot, veery useful for certain scenarios.

Now that my wizards are of a useful level, and have a wider range of spells I'm starting top push the boundaries.

We've got a session lined up for Saturday, so will have some more ideas after that, as we have three newer players who will be trying things out.

[LiamFrostfang]

push  leap  wall yes.

 

[Karadek]

Leap and Possess are pretty big in the few games I've been able to play. 

[Darkson71]

My Chronomancer used (before retirement) Fast Feet to great effect.
Also Reveal Secret, as as it's still written it's pretty much a guaranteed treasure on turn 1 (Raise Zombie meant I didn't need to "waste" a soldier to get it either).

[Timeshadow]

Each school of magic has it's top spells but the ones I see in every warband are:

Heal
Leap
Raise Zombie
Fog

With Next most popular

Fast act
Reveal secret
Absorb knowledge
Glow

The main reasons for these to be most popular are low diff and high utility which means everyone can use them regardless of school and they make a big difference when used smartly/successfully.

[Coenus Scaldingus]

As in most games, abilities that allow you to gain additional models or restore wounds are always worth it - Heal and Raise Zombie especially, in Frostgrave. Given the importance of movement in the game, Leap has to be one of the best all-round spells too. In a previous campaign, my local group had few missile weapons, but many people did take several damage dealing spells - was the only player with Wall, but if it wasn't for the fact that I like to take new spells in every additional warband, I would never leave home without that one or Fog.

Several spells from for example the Illusionist school are great, but simply require more planning and insight. Transpose can be a game changer, but has to be set up well for it to be useful, unlike the partially similar movement gained with Leap. After not using it for the first games, Beauty suddenly became a staple for a first-turn casting when my wizard found Gloves of Casting and had ample health to empower the spell to near enough any desired level. Some spells are only really worth it in particular scenarios or against certain warbands - Control [X], Banish, Reveal Invisible. Terrific to have when you need it, but it's impossible to select all those spells in a starting warband. Of course, you may disable enemy tactics too - Possess is horrifyingly powerful, but few would risk it if the opponent has Banish. Summon Demon is amazing, but rather less attractive if the enemy can get rid of or take over the control.

All that said, I have by now seen most spells used at some point, and can imagine the others being useful in specific contexts and environments. Some spells probably only shine when playing long campaigns (reducing casting values) too, which may make them unattractive otherwise. Most importantly, I'd very much encourage players to try out underused spells and see what they can achieve - you may surprise yourself (and your opponents!).

[Wildcard]

Having seen my casters get murdered with some frequency, I've found Shield a very useful (and pretty much a first turn cast every game) spell.

Blinding light is a spell that can reek havoc on an opponent, especially if you manage to hit the wizard with a high roll.

Write scroll and Create Grimoire are like cash registers. Sell off your creations for gold!

Heal can be the difference between live wizard and dead wizard.

[Nrc5_is_online]

Our most used seem to be Teleport, Grenade, Elemental Bolt & Raise Zombie.

[Sin City Snowman]

Raise Zombie and Imp are two really big ones for my group.  Personally, I love Fog.  We've been heavy on archers for some of our games so being able to throw out something to block line of sight has been invaluable for me!

[Mr Tea]

I wish I had some OOG spells on my current campaign wizard (Summoner).

Using Imp, (attempting) leap, possess, elemental bolt (reducing the casting value for that one).  Heal proved useful the one time I attempted it.  I have also packed fog, enchant weapon & spell eater. And a exploding flask (grenade) came in handy once.

It is about context though. Fog is not very useful on a tight board when my opponent is casting lots of walls. Poison dart/ bone dart was effective for them.