| Spell Breach, Greater | |
| Spell Information | |
| Spell level : | Innate level: 6, Sorcerer/Wizard: 6 |
|---|---|
| School : | Abjuration |
| Components : | Verbal and Somatic |
| Range : | Medium |
| Target/Area : | Single |
| Duration : | Instantaneous |
| Save : | None |
Description
This spell strips an enemy mage of up to four magical defenses, including Spell Mantle, Globe of Invulnerability, Stoneskin, Premonition, Protection from Energy, Ghostly and Ethereal Visage, Mage Armor, Shadow Shield and Elemental Shield. This spell will also lower the target creature's SR rating by 5 for ten rounds which cannot be dispelled, but does not stack with any previous castings of this or Lesser Spell Breach. Only the highest SR decrease applies. Mord Disjunction and Nature's Balance are therefore the best spells to decrease SR, because they decrease SR by a greater number than the Breach spells and work on multiple targets.
The following is a list and the order in which spells are removed:
- Greater Spell Mantle
- Premonition
- Spell Mantle
- Shadow Shield
- Greater Stoneskin
- Ethereal Visage
- Globe of Invulnerability
- Energy Buffer - spell has been deleted from NWN2
- Etherealness
- Lesser Globe of Invulnerability
- Spell Resistance
- Stoneskin
- Lesser Spell Mantle
- Least Spell Mantle
- Mind Blank
- Protection from Spells
- Protection from Energy
- Resist Energy
- Death Armor
- Ghostly Visage
- Endure Elements
- Shadow Conjuration: Mage Armor
- Sanctuary
- Mage Armor
- Shield
- Shield of Faith
- Lesser Mind Blank
- Resistance
Bug notes
(Checked: 1.12) This spell fails to remove these new NWN2 spells, despite them being similar/new higher level replacements to the ones above:
- Energy Immunity
- Ethereal Jaunt
- Improved Mage Armor
- Shades (when cast on self - Premonition, Protection from Spells, and Shield are supposed to be breacheable)
- Greater Shadow Conjuration (Lesser Globe of Invulnerability and Ghostly Visage are supposed to be breacheble)
Gameplay Notes
For an increase of 2 levels to level 6, this spell provides an additional 2 defences removed from the target and an increase of 2 SR removed, from 3 to 5. It is still only a level 6 spell, which against some monsters is invaluable, and is hand to have prepared against high level mages, especially at higher levels where otherwise useless level 6 spells can be moved for this one it their place.
Useful against mages with a lot of spell protections that will resist most damage and mind-affecting spells cast against them. Some spells easily get past the protections removed by this spell however, and almost no Cleric or Druid protection spells are removed (such as Death Ward) which limits its general usefulness. It is really aimed at battling enemy sorcerors and wizards only.
It proves less useful then a targeted high-level dispel magic if you are of a near caster level of the opposition because dispel magic can remove more then 4 protections at once, however, the higher dispel magic spells take up high level spell slots - this only takes up a level 6 spell slot.
It is by far a great spell to have on a Scroll or Rod. It doesn't use caster level or the casters ability modifier for anything, and so even at its lowest casting level it has its full power and gets no better.
The other use, for lowering spell resistance, is secondary but proves useful against some high spell resistance monsters, and unlike Assay Resistance can lower resistance against all spells cast against the creature, not just those cast by the caster themselves. Combined with Greater Spell Penetration can prove an easy way to get past otherwise impossible spell resistance.
3.5E Notes
No spell like this exists in the 3.5E regular source books. This spell is probably a holdover from similar spells in Baldurs Gate II which required stripping a mage of their spell protections to even touch them. It is odd how there were additional Dispel Magic spells (Lesser was added, Mordenkiens dispel is basically changed to a higher level Dispel Magic) in addition to these.
The Breach spells do seem powerful enough, but only against specific enemies, meaning unlike Dispel, which can remove buffing spells (Bull's Strength, Tenser's Transformation, Aid and suchlike), this cannot. However, this spell removes several layers of protection without any opposing roll (something no other spell does), meaning in certain circumstances the mage lacking this spell will be the loser.