What is your favorite Magic school? (MM6 and MM7 only)

[DaveO]

In defense of Fire and Air Magic in MM6, you do have the Sparks, Fire Blast, Fire Ring(overlooked commonly, but quite useful in the Temple of Baa), and Wizard Eye spells. Sparks and Poison Spray are by far the most effective spells in terms of spell cost for damage provided. Both are quite nasty at point blank range. Body Magic has the mass heal spell, though I do admit that clerics get pretty shafted until they can learn either Light or Dark magic.

[Karry]

I dunno, Sparks and Fire Blast are not much of use to me. They are not that strong, and its hard to hit with all the missiles at once. Though they DO increase the number of missiles with expertise, its still not quite enough raw power.
And the Fire Ring - if they made it a timed spell, that would make more sense, i.e. there is a ring of fire around your group and it damages every enemy close to you every turn. That would make sense. Otherwise - why bother when there is Inferno ?

Poison Spray are by far the most effective spells in terms of spell cost for damage provided. Both are quite nasty at point blank range.

One thing though - Poison Spray misses alot. Yes, even at point blank.

Wizard Eye

This is probably the one spell in the game with overdone functionality. Okay, so it detects enemies, AND items, AND secrets, all of this for 1 MP at Master level ? Wow.
Now, if EVERY OTHER spell in the game was thought through the same way as this baby - i would be veeeery happy.

[UndeadHalfOrc]

Hey wait a minute - what's this talk about Body and Spirit magic sucking - bullshit!

In MM7 Body Magic got REGERERATION and Protection from Magic - both become Uber when grandmastered. And Power Cure is a decent spell

Spirit Magic sucking? Yeah right - it got Heroism - the prime way to increase melee damage in the game. And shared Life is a great spell to negate enemies focus firing one of your characters. Makes sure your low hp wizard is full health at all times.

And I disagree with you about most damage spells sucking - their damage formula is well balanced (at least in MM7) against might. For every level of skill in Fire/Air/etc, you get 1-8 damage for the typical expert level damage spell, 1-20 for the more powerful spells, etc. In comparison, for pure melee attacks, you need 1 weapon skill level to increase damage by only ONE. (Two for Knights/Monks/Thieves if they invest in GM Arms, GM Unarmed, GM Dagger). And magic is ranged.

[Karry]

In MM7 Body Magic got REGERERATION and Protection from Magic

Thats in MM7. Not MM6. MM7 got alot of things fixed, not quite enough, though...

Spirit Magic sucking? Yeah right - it got Heroism - the prime way to increase melee damage in the game.

Never actually used it, maybe because i've never been in a melee, being shooting stuff mostly.

And shared Life is a great spell to negate enemies focus firing one of your characters. Makes sure your low hp wizard is full health at all times.

In MM6 its basically doesnt work, you go all this way to get 3 x skill added to the pool, but it doesnt, it just "shares" the life without adding anything, it can do that at skill level 1, so Spirit can be experted for and be forgotten.

And I disagree with you about most damage spells sucking - their damage formula is well balanced (at least in MM7) against might.

I dont quite remember MM7, been too long, but anyway, like i said, its really stupid when ULTIMATE FIRE SPELL does pathetic 30 damage most of the time. Average HP of monsters in the game is 300-400. If it were not for Meteor Shower - Fire could be left without Experting even.

Anyway, my point is that M&M combat system is horrible, horrible mess, calling it "balanced" is a serious offence in my book. I mainly play M&M games for exploration, plus for a known universe. I want decent combat and magic system - i play Wizardry. Much more predictable results, you see.

[Bandobras Took]

Most of your comments seem most valid against MM6, and I'll agree with you. But then, I really can't stand anything to do with MM6.

In MM7, on the other hand, magic as buffs for your might characters is a great way to go (and works hand-in-hand with the title).

Fire Magic:
You only realize how good haste is when you start over and don't have it any more.

Also, GM Fire Aura is both a cash flow and a decent enhancement in its own right.

Earth Magic:
Slow and Stone Skin are great.

Water & Air:
Are mainly good for their travel spells, though you can do some good things with GM Enchant Item.

Body Magic:
Regeneration is huge. And Protection From Magic works on a far different principle than MM6's version.

Spirit Magic:
As somebody's mentioned Heroism is a monster. Bless is also surprisingly good even at higher levels.

Mind Magic:
Actually, this is the one I've always found the least use for.

[UndeadHalfOrc]

I agree with everything Bandobras just said, except about Haste, it doesn't work in my version of MM7 due to a bug (it does in MM6 though).

But. who needs Haste when I can enchant every Weapon I have with "of Swiftness"

[HodgePodge]

All those wonderful Elemental Magic spells are so necessary for a mighty win but also we couldn't do without the Self Magic spells either. Not to mention all those Stat & Resistance booster spells like Day of the Gods & Day of Protection. I'm glad that there is plenty of Magic in Might & Magic!

[Karry]

You only realize how good haste is when you start over and don't have it any more.

According to various sources Haste spell doesnt work in MM7.

Also, GM Fire Aura is both a cash flow and a decent enhancement in its own right.

Basically they threw away the useless spells like Fire Arrow and Fire Blast, and even fixed Fire Ring into Immolation, but couldnt think of anything half-decent to add, so they just copypasted Enchant Item into Fire magic.

[HodgePodge]

You only realize how good haste is when you start over and don't have it any more.

According to various sources Haste spell doesnt work in MM7.

Also, GM Fire Aura is both a cash flow and a decent enhancement in its own right.

Basically they threw away the useless spells like Fire Arrow and Fire Blast, and even fixed Fire Ring into Immolation, but couldnt think of anything half-decent to add, so they just copypasted Enchant Item into Fire magic.

Err, to my way of thinking, Immolation is the most worthless spell because if you have it activated, and are near to friendly creatures, it kills them too. Once when I had Immolation cast on my party, I went to Celeste and killed a number of Angels. Needless to say, my previously friendly Angels & Angel Lords suddenly became hostile. At first I couldn't figure out why until I noticed that Immolation was active.

Oh and Enchant Item is a Water Magic Spell; you must be thinking of Fire Aura … which at GM Level … is one of the most useful spells in MM7. Not only will Fire Aura enchant any weapon with Fire Damage permenantly, but if you don't need that weapon, you can always sell it for 2,000 more gold than what it would be worth without the Fire Aura enchantment. To my way of thinking, that's a really wonderful substitute for the Fire Arrow & Fire Blast spells. But everyone has their own favorites.

[PhoenixReborn]

Well I picked fire magic. I'm only part way through MM 6, but I can tell you it was quite a thrill to knock down everything in sight with fireball and then inferno later.

As for Mastering the fire magic, the fireball does good damage at higher skill point levels and having faster recovery time is great because my wizard can shoot that fireball twice instead of just once before the monsters close in. The faster she goes the more she can use all that mana...shorter recovery time is excellent.

I do agree that the upward spike should last longer though.

As someone said Wizardry 8 does a good job with it.

[Bandobras Took]

You only realize how good haste is when you start over and don't have it any more.

According to various sources Haste spell doesnt work in MM7.

In my experience, when I cast Haste I can attack noticeably more often than without it. It lowers recovery time for weapons. This happens in every game of MM7 I've played. It's more than possible to achieve the "blaster effect" with your bows early on.

Basically they threw away the useless spells like Fire Arrow and Fire Blast, and even fixed Fire Ring into Immolation, but couldnt think of anything half-decent to add, so they just copypasted Enchant Item into Fire magic.

HodgePodge has said what needs saying -- I'll merely ask how you kill the oozes in the White Mountain Caverns in the early game.

[Omega_Destroyer]

Water all the way. Lloyd's Beacon, Town Portal, and Enchant are excellant.

[CoffeeGnome]

in MM7 shrapmetal and armageddon are great for clearing an area quickly and easily, while fire is the best way to work your way up to the dark side in the first place.

[dcinroc]

Man!

I can't believe you guys are ignoring/dissing Sparks! One of the best spells in the game!

I mean, I have taken down every critter in the game with that little spell (except, obviously, the magic-immune critters)!

And consider this...when you go with your pittiful low level party to face Wromthrax, who ya gonna call? Sparks...never misses the big critters...just run right up to him and start unloading. My socerer does well over 50% of the total damage in that battle every time...all with sparks.

When you are stuck in the Barrows and surrounded by rats/undead...sparks will save you!

Hey, have I mentioned how much I like the spell "Sparks"?

[CoffeeGnome]

I admit that sparks is a great way to eliminate one opponent at a time but if you want to smile very big create a party of 2 clerics and 2 sorcerers (both evil) and unleash GM armageddon 4 times with each. You will not believe how much experience you can get without even having to confront a single creature face to face.

[UndeadHalfOrc]

HodgePodge has said what needs saying -- I'll merely ask how you kill the oozes in the White Mountain Caverns in the early game.

Fire Aura. Best early game spell. Better than sparks against oozes because it lasts long enough and is cheap mana-wise.

[darknessfood]

Well, i just love the Armageddon!!