A4 - magery vs spellcraft

[Shine123]

Hi

When training, what is the difference between Spellcraft, Magery, and Magical Efficiency, for either mage or priest?

In which should I invest skill points for the best results?

[Alorael at Large]

Spellcraft and Magery are functionally identical. Raise whichever costs fewer skill points (so you'll eventually raise both). They increase the bonus in the formula for spell effects.

 

Magical Efficiency doesn't improve your spells, but it has a chance of reducing the amount of energy you expend by casting them. Since this is a random chance and not very likely even for significant amounts of Magical Efficiency, it's generally considered a nearly worthless skill. I wouldn't bother putting points in it.

 

—Alorael, who can also add that all skills affect mage spells and priest spells identically except for the obvious pair of skills dedicated solely to one or the other.

[Aldin]

I have a Hedge Wizard who, between items and traits has a Magical Efficiency of 9 at level 12. Party First Aid is at 13 and, with less than 150 spell points, she NEVER runs out even though she is the sole spellcaster. Just my anecdotal evidence.

 

~Aldin, who has always been a fan of the post-signature blurb and is happy to see Alorael is also a fan

[Dintiradan]

The usefulness of efficiency depends on your style. If you're a packrat, or a 'dungeon dabbler', your constant returning to town to sell your items makes the skill redundant. However, if you prefer to blast through the opposition in one fell swoop, and don't like the idea of holding your spellcasters in reserve until they are absolutely needed, efficiency is a very nice skill to have.

 

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IF I EVER BECOME AN EVIL OVERLORD:

All bumbling conjurers, clumsy squires, no-talent bards, and cowardly thieves in the land will be preemptively put to death. My foes will surely give up and abandon their quest if they have no source of comic relief.

[Red_Sage]

Quote:

Originally written by Euphemism Wrapped in an Innuendo:
Spellcraft and Magery are functionally identical. Raise whichever costs fewer skill points (so you'll eventually raise both). They increase the bonus in the formula for spell effects.

Magical Efficiency doesn't improve your spells, but it has a chance of reducing the amount of energy you expend by casting them. Since this is a random chance and not very likely even for significant amounts of Magical Efficiency, it's generally considered a nearly worthless skill. I wouldn't bother putting points in it.

—Alorael, who can also add that all skills affect mage spells and priest spells identically except for the obvious pair of skills dedicated solely to one or the other.

Actually, at 100, your efficiency is so good that you end up might as well having infinite spell energy. Everything costs 0. With the odd spell costing 1 -2 albeit easily replaced by first aid.

[Walter]

I've found that at around level 20 with a number of points in magical efficiency due to 2 of my characters having both natural mage and pure spirit that it does have a noticeable effect. In casting spells that are suppossed to cost 15 or so, they almost never take the full cost, but vary between 1-5 points lower. Not a huge effect, but noticeable.

 

Also, I thought it was wierd that though magery initially costs more skill points to raise than spellcraft, if a trainer can train both skills magery costs less gold.

[Alorael at Large]

I've found that the investment required to get Magical Efficiency up to a level that produces noticeable effects would be more efficiently spent on Intelligence for more energy, First Aid for more energy recovery, or other skills. I had no magical efficiency and blasted through everything, yet I still played through A4 without ever drinking a single potion.

 

100 Magical Efficiency is just not possible without cheating.

 

—Alorael, who will admit that he is also energy conscious. It's amazing how far a few Bolts of Fire will take you and how much less they cost than lobbing Fireblasts around.

[Aldin]

I'll have to say, after thinking about this thread I started watching for the effect by comparing the cost of the spells to what was actually used. Generally, at ME 9 I saved a point per spell so that level is worth about a 10-20% increase in the number of spells you can cast before a refill. As an effect of equipping items it's pretty nifty. As an effect of spending precious skill points... probably not so much.

 

On a side note, what IS the base requirement for Magery in A4? I thought it was Int 8 / Mage or Priest 6, but that doesn't seem to give my Hedge Wizard access.

 

~Aldin

[Shine123]

Only if you're naked. As I understand it, items that add into or mage/priest don't seem to count toward this.

[Schrodinger]

Quote:

Originally written by Shine123:
Only if you're naked. As I understand it, items that add into or mage/priest don't seem to count toward this.

Nor do trait bonuses, like the ones from natural mage.

[Aldin]

*chuckle*

 

'Get naked so we can figure out what you're really worth' just seems SO inappropriate

 

~Aldin, who has both natural traits and is gonna have a hard time figuring out what's really going on here

[Lilith]

A relatively unambiguous measure of how many points you've put into a stat (not counting item and trait bonuses) is how many skill points it costs to raise that stat by another point. Perhaps it'd be best to rephrase the special skill requirements in terms of how much each prerequisite costs by the time you've raised them enough to get the corresponding special skill.

[Schrodinger]

Quote:

Originally written by Thuryl:
A relatively unambiguous measure of how many points you've put into a stat (not counting item and trait bonuses) is how many skill points it costs to raise that stat by another point. Perhaps it'd be best to rephrase the special skill requirements in terms of how much each prerequisite costs by the time you've raised them enough to get the corresponding special skill.

That is indeed what I did in the FAQ/walkthrough.