Spell Combinations

By Lyle Vertigo



Welcome to another Ten Ton Hammer Spell Tactics guide. This time we'll
be getting into the juicy bits: spell combinations. A spell combination
can be spells at your current disposal to create a compound effect that
the spells wouldn't be able to achieve separately. Though fights happen
quickly most of the time, using a combination of spells will make
things easier for you and your party. Remember, it's not the spells
that make them nasty but the skill used along with them. Now let's
begin. First, we will go over some simple 2-spell combos, which a lot
of fellow casters might be already using.



Two-spell Combinations

href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=Exclusive_Screenshots&id=sorcerer&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Masge Armor"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/Exclusive_Screenshots/sorcerer.thumb.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 60px; height: 100px;" align="left"> style="font-weight: bold;">Mage Armor + Shield - Very
effective for early level mages. Around the Level 3 or 4, the
availability of widow bracers renders Mage Armor obsolete. Still, +8 to
AC with protection from magic missiles is pretty nice.



Charm person + Cause Fear/Scare
- With this you are reducing the number of aggressive enemies engaging
your party and making use of the area's resources. First start off by
charming a nearby humanoid, preferably a fighter type since it will
have a lower will save. Then follow up with a Cause Fear on a nearby
spell caster-type or next level of threat, disabling its ability to
take action and--if by coincidence the charmed enemy is near the
frightened one--making it the target of your new pet. Cause Fear is
great against spell casters, and using a charmed enemy on it will allow
your party to take care of the hard-hitting melee fighters first before
having to go after the potential danger of the spell caster.

href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=Exclusive_Screenshots&id=ScreenShot00077_001&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Hypnotic Pattern"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/Exclusive_Screenshots/ScreenShot00077_001.thumb.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 150px; height: 113px;" align="right">


Grease/Hypnotism/Hypnotic Pattern +
Burning Hands
- Grease does have its uses (besides making Giants
fall), and in this case will help keep that gro style="text-decoration: underline;">up of enemies together
just long enough for you to position for an efficient area of effect
(AoE) like Burning Hands. If dealing with enemys that have a high
reflex save then style="text-decoration: underline;"> use Hypnotism/Hypnotic
Pattern to take advantage of
their low will save. If by chance they don't have a weakness to either,
then go with Hypnotism or Hypnotic Pattern since they will have a
better chance of stalling them.



Blindness/Glitterdust + Ray of
Enfeeblement
- Using this combo will severely impair an enemy's
chance to successfully hit.



Web + Burning Hands/Fireball -
Web + Burning Hands/Fireball - Some may gripe if you use this combo but
it can be very effective if you have enough spell points for it. While
you can actually destroy the web if the area of the spell hits the
center of the web, it makes your AoE's much more effective because all
your opponents bunch up in the area of the web.



Touch of Idiocy + Melf's Acid Arrow
- These two go hand-in-hand when dealing with mages. The Touch of
Idiocy will lower the caster's spell-casting stat, limiting its ability
to cast spells while Melf's Acid Arrow makes the mage roll a
Concentration check each time it tries to cast a spell.



Haste + Slow - Why stop at
using only one or the other? One alone will make the fight easier. Both
will make things cake.


Multiple-spell combinations

Now to the down and dirty. Most fights rarely last long enough for you
to cast more than two spells on a single enemy. It will be a waste of
spell points to try, which will hurt your party in the long run. Three
or more-spell combos are intended for extremely hard named or boss
enemies, as they usually strike very hard, fast, and/or cast spells
with deadly results.



Haste + Heroism + Rage - Turn
your melees into slaughterhouses with this three spell combo buff. Also
take into consideration that Heroism will stack with bless, which is
very nice indeed.



Touch of Idiocy/Feeblemind + Bestow
Curse + Crushing Despair + Ray of Enfeeblement + Ray of Exhaustion
-
This will turn any melee boss into a helpless baby. First cast Touch of
Idiocy/Feeblemind followed up by Bestow Curse to weaken the target's
saves. Then comes Crushing Despair, Ray of Enfeeblement and lastly Ray
of Exhaustion to make the target severely handicapped, if not helpless.
As far as I understand, Ray of Enfeeblement and Ray of Exhaustion
stack, href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=Exclusive_Screenshots&id=ScreenShot00008&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Web"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/Exclusive_Screenshots/ScreenShot00008.thumb.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 150px; height: 113px;" align="left">

so there is a potential for a –17 to strength. Ouch!



Bestow Curse + Web + Cloudkill +
Phantasmal Killer
- This is about trying to get the one-hit kill
from Phantasmal Killer. Hold the target in place with Web so it can
stick around inside Cloudkill. Then go for the coup de grace with
Phantasmal Killer.



As a spell lingers, it takes more than just having a spell in
possession to get the job done. By combining spells it will make you a
more skillful and tactical mage that any party will love to have.Using
the tactics in this guide can make mages a force second to none!


Do you use a particularly nasty spell
combination not mentioned in this guide? Tell us about it here!





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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Karen is H.D.i.C. (Head Druid in Charge) at EQHammer. She likes chocolate chip pancakes, warm hugs, gaming so late that it's early, and rooting things and covering them with bees. Don't read her Ten Ton Hammer column every Tuesday. Or the EQHammer one every Thursday, either.

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