Your most hated spells

[OsaX Nymloth]

We have a topic for your favourite/best spells, why not make one for the worst ones. These could be ones you just dislike, think they're useless or maybe you absolutely hate enemies using them on your character.

Example: Good Berry from Baldur's Gate. Why even waste a spell slot on this? It heals a pitiful amount and selling it works only if you want to be a humble merchant. I guess it could work if you were a peace loving mage that loves to bake berry pies or something like that.

Other example of spells I hate being used against me: any kind of soul drain or any other ability drain. Be it in Baldur's Gate, be it in Pathfinder, if I realize enemy can do that I will actively seek out a means of protection against it and then destroy enemies wielding such power with extreme prejudice.

 

[Zloth]

Taunts - which sure seem like spells to me, even if they are "skills." Only mind altering spells would make even fool kobolds attack the mountain of metal rather than the old guy in robes no matter how crafty the insults!

What I don't like about them, though, is that they ruin the strategy by turning the enemies into idiots. It's not so bad if the effect only lasts for a few rounds but, especially in MMOs, they tend to keep going through the entire battle. Then the healer only has to pay attention to healing one character, the tank just makes sure everything is attacking him, and everyone else simply blasts away. Ugh.

Enemies with massive heal spells to go along with their massive health bars are bad, too. I think I might not mind it if there was a way to counter it, like the old Final Fantasy trick of casting spell reflection, but normally those things are just a psychologically cruel way to make the boss' health bar even bigger.

 

[Pifanjr]

The Disarm shout from Skyrim when used against you. It can be a real pain in the ass trying to find your weapon again, especially since most fights in which this is used against you happen in dark rooms/caves.

 

[Sarafan]

There are quite a few spells in BG series that are almost useless. I'd pick Infravision, Know Alingment and maybe Clairvoyance. But there are more of course.

 

[I Will Haunt You]

Ice Spike

 

[Frindis]

While I do generally like war cries, the Sovereign Shout in Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem has such an annoying sound that I cringe hard every time I hear it. It literally sounds like a velociraptor and turtle had a baby.

I never did like getting polymorphed or feared, but I love using the skills🙂 In BG2 I absolutely hated the 5% chance of any of your spells going bad if you had Neera in your party. One of those bad spells just happened to make me lose almost ALL the gold I had! When I found out the reason, I gently disposed of her.

 

[I Will Haunt You]

In BG2 I absolutely hated the 5% chance of any of your spells going bad if you had Neera in your party. One of those bad spells just happened to make me lose almost ALL the gold I had! When I found out the reason, I gently disposed of her.

In the last tabletop D&D campaign I ran my (then) wife made a wildmage directly inspired by Neera. She added one trait though: prankster. She was determined to cause chaos to the group one way or another. She was moderately successful.

 

[Mazer]

Basically every fear effect in Baldurs Gate/NWN, especially the auras around powerful undead and dragons. It's why so many of my characters end up being Paladins, having innate immunity to the most common crippling status effect is just too handy.

 

[Pifanjr]

Any spell that slows, paralyses or otherwise limits your movement can be very annoying. The one that sprang to mind was in Sacred Gold, where some enemies can use the Plant Cage equivalent, tying you down for a few seconds.
It's not so bad if you have a good ranged option, but if you've specialized in melee it just sucks being stuck every time you meet an enemy who can cast this spell.